Chapter 128: 398! National Variety Show 《super Change Change Change Season 2》!
In the following days, Tokyo Television Station Studio Number Three, this massive auditorium forgotten for several years, transformed into a pilgrimage site filled with miracles and amazement.
Representative teams from the eight major regions of Japan, those ordinary people full of local flavor who emerged from hundreds of thousands in the auditions, stepped into this dream hall they had only seen on television for the first time.
Many of them brought ideas that were simple yet full of the wisdom of life, but could not hide the clumsiness and roughness unique to amateurs.
However, a lottery filled with destiny and chance completely changed everything.
Kei Tanaka, following Hiroshi Nohara’s instructions, broke down those god-level ideas into individual independent elements, wrote them on slips of paper, and put them into an unremarkable lottery box.
Then, like the most impartial dealer, he smiled as he watched the temporary assistants from the representative teams step forward one by one, drawing their destiny from that box filled with the unknown and possibility.
“……’Human Washing Machine’? What is this?”
“‘Ghost Night Walk’…… My God, this idea is simply brilliant!”
“‘Ramen Master’s Anger’…… Hahahaha! This is too interesting! Why didn’t we think of it?!”
When those seemingly random ideas were distributed to the various representative teams, the entire backstage was instantly flooded with uncontrollable gasps and exclamations of admiration!
The contestants who had been smug about their little “cleverness” saw these god-level ideas that could overturn all their perceptions, and their amateur pride was instantly crushed to powder!
They looked at the thin slip of paper in their hands, their eyes like those of ordinary people who had groped in the darkness for half their lives, glimpsing the light of divine wisdom for the first time!
Thus, in the subsequent recording, a wonderful chemical reaction occurred.
Those originally uncertain amateur performances, under the boost of Hiroshi Nohara’s perfectly designed, flawless creative script, erupted with an unprecedented, astonishing energy!
The recording went unprecedentedly smoothly.
When the last group’s performance ended, Kei Tanaka looked at the monitor with those perfect images full of imagination and pure happiness, and his heart, already filled with shock, began to pound uncontrollably.
He knew that a massive storm capable of overturning the rules of the entire Japanese television industry had been formed under the manipulation of a pair of big hands.
……
The first Saturday in September, 2:25 p.m.
All of Japan under the starry sky seemed to be paused at this moment.
From Sapporo in Hokkaido where the ice and snow were just beginning to melt, to Naha in Okinawa with its coconut breezes and sea rhythms; from the bustling Ginza in Tokyo, to Shinsaibashi in Osaka full of street life……
Countless pairs of eyes, drawn by an invisible gravitational pull, focused simultaneously on that small glowing box about to stage an unprecedented carnival.
【Hiroshi Nohara · Independent Production Department】.
In the huge office, the air seemed to be drained, solidifying into a heavy and icy cold amber.
Kei Tanaka and his reborn team sat upright, their faces filled with irrepressible excitement and anxiety.
Behind them, in the Department Head’s office overlooking all of Tokyo, Asumi and Toshihide Takada, these two number two figures from different factions, were unprecedentedly sitting together with the Production Bureau’s patriarch Nobuhiko Sakata on the leather sofa symbolizing power.
In front of the three, there was also a huge Sony Television, its black screen like a door to an unknown abyss, reflecting their three faces each with their own thoughts.
Toshihide Takada’s face bore an icy cold smirk of watching a show.
In Asumi’s eyes, there hid a trace of gambler’s madness that even he himself had not noticed.
Only Nobuhiko Sakata’s always smiling face showed no joy or anger, but his occasionally narrowed eyes flashed with the unfathomable sharpness of the ultimate judge.
2:30 arrived right on time.
That brainwashing melody full of childlike fun and magic resounded through the skies again!
《Super Change Change Change》 Season 2 Episode 1 officially aired!
Without any dragging, after the host’s affable opening remarks, the first performance from the Sapporo, Hokkaido representative team exploded with a earth-shattering posture!
It was an idea full of ice, snow, and fantasy—《Snow Woman’s First Love》.
On that stage created with the simplest white bed sheet and dry ice to produce a blizzard effect, a girl in a traditional kimono used body language to portray a Snow Woman who fell in love with a human, that tragic and beautiful romance full of tragedy……
All of Japan fell silent.
That cultural resonance unique to Japanese people, originating from folk legends, like an invisible hand, instantly gripped the throats of all viewers.
However, this was not the end.
Next came 《Hakata Ramen War》 from Fukuoka, 《Ninja Duel on the Castle Tower》 from Nagoya, 《Prayer》 from Hiroshima……
One performance after another, full of regional characteristics yet elevated by Hiroshi Nohara’s god-level creativity to a whole new artistic height, like an endless imaginative tsunami, wave after wave crashing against the heart defenses of all viewers!
All of Japan went crazy!
They had never imagined that a variety show could be…… so magnificent!
……
“It’s here! It’s here! The 15-minute ratings are out!”
Tokyo Television Station Data Monitoring Center, a young data analyst looked at the red line on the computer screen that had broken free from all restraints and was soaring vertically at a near-perpendicular angle, his voice filled with incredulous trembling!
Then he started having the staff behind him make phone calls one by one to notify.
‘Ring ring—’
The phone was picked up.
In the Nohara Classroom, everyone instinctively held their breath.
Kei Tanaka’s heart jumped to his throat.
In Nobuhiko Sakata’s office, the smirk on Toshihide Takada’s face instantly froze.
Asumi, who personally picked up the receiver, had his arm trembling uncontrollably.
“How much?”
Both sides asked almost in unison!
“32.7%!!”
The young data analyst shouted with a near-breaking roar that miraculous number capable of making the entire Japanese television industry tremble!
“Boom—!”
This number, like a real hydrogen bomb, exploded in everyone’s minds!
“We won! We won!”
In the Nohara Classroom, Kei Tanaka, like a general who counter-killed successfully in desperation, let out a long-suppressed cry of ecstatic joy!
“Good! Hahahaha! Good!”
In Nobuhiko Sakata’s office, Asumi suddenly bounced up from the sofa, his usually elegant and steady face now full of undisguised ecstasy and excitement!
While Toshihide Takada sat dazedly in place, all the color drained from his usually somewhat gloomy face in an instant.
He knew he had lost.
Lost utterly and completely.
Lost…… with not even the last shred of hope to turn the tables.
“National variety show……”
Nobuhiko Sakata let out a long breath, carrying a strange sense of emotion.
He looked at the program on the screen, his eyes bursting with blazing light!
He knew that from this night on, a brand new entertainment empire belonging solely to Hiroshi Nohara had descended.
And he, Nobuhiko Sakata, would be its staunchest guardian.
This was not an exaggerated description.
It was fact.
Because these television station leaders knew very well that any program exceeding 30% ratings could basically be crowned “national level”!
Last time, Season 1 of 《Super Change Change Change》 had already touched the threshold of national-level variety with 29% ratings.
Now the whole nation was participating.
And it had been preheated for nearly a month and a half with 《Super Change Change Change Season 2》.
As it should be.
Breaking 30% national level in the first 15 minutes!
Becoming a genuine national-level variety show!
You know, even though variety shows rely on entertainment attributes to break records most easily in ratings, because variety shows are at the bottom of the contempt chain among Japanese film and television types, no one takes variety show ratings seriously.
And this rating is 32.7%!
Not just simply breaking 30%.
But……
Still continuing to surge crazily!
This rating is for the first 15 minutes after broadcast!
According to the pattern, by the end of the full episode, the ratings will continue to rise further.
Even conservatively estimated, it might reach…… over 35% ratings!
Even…… around 38% is possible!
This is also why Director Nobuhiko Sakata sat on the sofa watching the program in front of him, a smile curling at his lips.
This time, he really picked up a treasure!
If 《Super Change Change Change》 Season 2 really reaches 38% ratings.
Then.
In Japanese film and television history, the number one variety show, the record-breaking variety ichiban, would be born again on their Tokyo Television Station!
Then he, the Director of Tokyo Television Station’s Production Bureau, who personally planned Tokyo Television Station’s acquisition of Kanto Television Station and merged Kanto Television Station’s talent as the first Deputy Station Manager.
Couldn’t he leave a heavy stroke in Tokyo Television Station’s history?
Wouldn’t that count as an achievement?!
“Hehehehe…… Hahahahaha!”
So while Toshihide Takada’s face was ashen, he heard a laugh from low and suppressed to arrogant.
Making Toshihide Takada instinctively look up.
Looking in astonishment.
Only then despairingly discovering that the one laughing arrogantly was the Director Nobuhiko Sakata whom he had always greatly respected!
……
Osaka, Kansai Television Station （KTV） Headquarters Building, that top-floor meeting room overlooking the brilliant night view of Dotonbori, was now shrouded in a deadly silence.
The air was filled with the bitterness of burned-out cigars, interwoven with the unspeakable despair in everyone’s hearts, forming a silent elegy.
Ichiro Iwaya, this man who had dominated the Kansai television industry for half his life, stared deadly at the ratings report just faxed from Tokyo, still carrying a bit of warmth.
All expressions had faded from his face that was always full of rage and unwillingness.
Only left with the powerlessness and awe from the marrow produced after being crushed by absolute strength.
“Monster…… that guy…… he’s not playing the same game as us at all……” he muttered to himself, his voice filled with the hoarseness after complete defeat.
He recalled his initial “Anti-Hiroshi Nohara Alliance” full of black humor, his confident “encirclement” declaration, his contempt full of professional superiority toward “amateur variety.”
At this moment, all were thoroughly crushed to powder by that terrifying 32.7% number!
“Deputy Director……” a usually most capable section chief spoke dryly, trying to break the suffocating silence: “We…… what should we do now? Should we…… immediately launch our ‘New Ghost Story’ project to compete head-on with him?”
“Compete head-on?” Ichiro Iwaya slowly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes showing a near-fearful self-mockery: “Compete with what? Use our stale old stories that audiences are tired of, against a rule-maker who can toy with all of Japan in the palm of his hand?”
He tossed the report onto the center of the conference table like discarding a piece of waste paper.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” His voice wasn’t loud, but like a heavy hammer smashing into every heart present: “This is no longer a simple ratings battle. This is a…… massacre. A one-sided dimensional reduction strike initiated by that young man named Hiroshi Nohara against us old guys clinging to old rules!”
At that moment, the heavy wooden door of the meeting room was suddenly pushed open, and a young assistant rushed in tumbling, his face full of horrified panic.
“Dep…… Deputy Director! Bad news! The final…… final ratings are out!”
“How much?” Ichiro Iwaya already had a prediction, but seeing the assistant’s panicked look, his heart still sank to the bottom.
“39.8%!”
The young assistant shouted with a near-breaking roar that miraculous number capable of making the entire Japanese television industry tremble!
“Boom—!”
This number, like a real hydrogen bomb, exploded in everyone’s minds!
39.8% ratings!
In the Saturday afternoon slot!
What does this mean?
It means that in that time slot, nearly four out of ten households in all of Japan that turned on the television were watching the same program!
This is no longer simply “national level”!
This is a near-religious cultural fanaticism!
“It’s over……”
Ichiro Iwaya could no longer hold on, this man who had dominated the Osaka television industry for half his life slumped into his chair like a puddle of mud.
His face that was always full of rage and unwillingness now only showed a deathly pale ashen.
He knew this war, they had lost.
Lost utterly and completely.
Lost…… with not even the last shred of hope to turn the tables.
However, this was not the most terrifying.
The most terrifying was that the fire named “national carnival” personally ignited by Hiroshi Nohara had long crossed the cold screen, burning into everyone’s real life with an unstoppable prairie fire momentum.
‘Beep! Beep beep!’
An urgent electronic prompt sound broke the silence of the meeting room.
A section chief responsible for program planning instinctively pulled out the pager from his pocket, glanced at it, and his already pale face turned three shades whiter.
【Mr. Yamamoto, this is the wife from the neighboring Yamada family. I heard you work at the television station? Could you…… please help vote for our good-for-nothing son? He’s representing our shopping street in 《Super Change Change Change》! Please! I’ll have my husband bring our freshly brewed plum wine over the other day!】
“Baka yarou!” He cursed lowly, about to delete this harassing message full of “human relations.”
‘Beep! Beep beep!’
‘Beep! Beep beep!’
Pager prompt sounds rose and fell in the meeting room, instantly buzzing like a poked hornet’s nest!
Everyone hurriedly pulled out their pagers, and without exception, all saw that message with almost identical format, full of the polite yet insistent “please” unique to Japanese people.
【Section Chief Watanabe, this is your child’s homeroom teacher. About your son’s midterm exam scores this time…… Ah, sorry, wrong message. What I meant was, our school also has a team in 《Super Change Change Change》, so could you……】
【Director Ito, this is the manager of ‘Kikushita’ that you frequent. About your reserved private room last time…… Ah, sorry, slipped. Actually, I wanted to ask you to vote for our Fukuoka team……】
This was no longer simple vote solicitation!
This was an all-pervasive national mobilization!
It was that young man named Hiroshi Nohara laying a huge, inescapable net of human relations in the real world in a way they completely couldn’t understand!
“Outrageous! Simply outrageous!”
Ichiro Iwaya looked at his own pager vibrating wildly, a hysterical rage from having his personal space thoroughly invaded appearing on his already ashen face!
He suddenly stood up, grabbed the phone on the table, and roared into the receiver in a near-roaring tone: “Immediately! Connect me to Tokyo Television Station! I want to find that bastard named Hiroshi Nohara! Immediately! Right now!”
But at this point, he didn’t even know what calling would achieve.
Only impotent rage.
……
And at the center of the storm, in the 【Hiroshi Nohara · Independent Production Department】 office, the atmosphere was one of victorious revelry.
Hiroshi Nohara calmly looked at the 39.8% ratings report, a faint, victor’s smile curling at his lips.
He knew this war was over.
From the moment he decided to bring that era-subverting proposal from that future spacetime to this world, the outcome was already destined.
“Department Head.”
Yō Kitagawa, this office director who had already undergone a complete transformation, gently placed a freshly ground Blue Mountain coffee on his desk, a mischievous look of watching a show on her capable pretty face: “Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka…… almost all local stations’ production bureaus have called, specifically asking for you. They say to congratulate you and Tokyo Television Station for breaking the new ratings record for variety shows. And express respect for you and Tokyo TV. Though their tones…… don’t sound very friendly.”
“Tell them I’m in a meeting.” Hiroshi Nohara didn’t even bother to lift an eyelid.
He stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel city below already going crazy for him, his clear eyes flashing with the uplift of heading to a new battlefield.
Television dramas, animation, variety shows……
Three mountains that seemed insurmountable had all been trodden underfoot by him.
This feeling was pretty good.
But in fact, the disturbance around 《Super Change Change Change Season 2》 was not that simple.
It even exceeded the expectations of the Japanese people themselves!
