I, Hiroshi Nohara, the star of Japanese cinema

Chapter 98: Kei Tanaka! The most talented variety show star in Kanto!

When Nohara Hiroshi appeared in Asumi's office again, the leader of the Kanto faction on the power chessboard of Tokyo TV was standing in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel forest under his feet that was like a crawling monster.

The sunlight outside the window is scorching, cutting the outlines of countless skyscrapers into sharp corners. The interweaving of light and shadow is like a grand painting depicting ambition and desire.

"coming?"

Asumi didn't turn around, but his voice was filled with an irrepressible smile, a joy that came from the heart: "Nohara-kun, I can't wait to see what your final version of the variety show plan looks like."

"Please take a look." Nohara Hiroshi smiled and placed the surprisingly thick plan in his hand, which still exuded the fragrance of new ink, on the table.

Asumi immediately walked over and picked up the plan.

He turned to the first page.

Then, his breathing stopped.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" Asumi took a breath.

What is on it is no longer a simple creative concept, but a ridiculously detailed and perfect variety show bible.

The kind of Scripture that has successfully constructed the divine person!
Perfect blueprint!

From every aspect of the program process to every detail of the scoring criteria; from the host's style of connecting the words to the emotional rendering of the background music; even the seating arrangement of the guests and the way the audience interacts are all clearly marked.

What made his scalp tingle even more was the fifty creative "change" illustrations that came with it, all drawn with simple strokes and full of wild imagination.

Each illustration is like a carefully designed perfect bomb that is enough to make the whole audience laugh.

"This...this..." Ming Hai's hands began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.

He raised his head and looked at the young man who had been smiling calmly from beginning to end. His eyes were as if he was looking at a demon from another dimension who had just taken out a whole set of future technology from his fourth-dimensional pocket.

"Nohara-kun...you..." His voice became a little dry due to extreme shock.

He thought it would be a miracle if Nohara Hiroshi could give him a preliminary idea within a week.

But he never expected that the other party would come up with a flawless final plan that could be put into filming directly within just a few days after only discussing it with him a few times!
This is no longer a simple genius, this is a monster! It is enough to make all his peers despair, a dimensionality reduction attack!

"I just organized some unformed ideas into a systematic way." Nohara Hiroshi's tone remained calm, as if he had just completed an ordinary homework.

"You bastard!" Ming Rihai let out a long breath, and that breath seemed to take away all the astonishment and shock of his half life.

He carefully placed the business plan back on the table as if it were a rare treasure, and a bitter smile appeared on his always elegant and calm face.

"I finally understand why so many people call you a monster. Being born in the same era as someone like you is truly... a sweet torture for us mortals."

Asumi paused, his shock quickly turning into more practical concerns. "The plan is perfect, but what about the manpower? Nohara-kun, producing a variety show is much more complicated than a TV drama. It requires an experienced team to execute it. Your special class is currently full, with only a few core members. There's no way it can support such a large scale."

“There really isn’t enough manpower.”

Nohara Hiroshi nodded. He had anticipated this. "I need to expand my special class. At the very least, I need a complete, independently-operating variety show production team."

"But I don't need too many." He added: "After all, variety shows don't need to be broadcast daily like 'Wonderful Stories of the World'. One episode per week, given a mature team, should be enough."

"I understand." A glimmer of understanding flashed in Asumi's eyes.

He walked to an old-looking metal filing cabinet in the corner of the office, opened the lock with a key, and took out an equally new manila file bag from it.

It's as if it was just put in not long ago.

Asumi handed the brand new brown paper file bag to Nohara Hiroshi, with a look of complexity and regret from someone who had experienced it.

"Here, take this and have a look."

Nohara Hiroshi took the file bag and felt it sink slightly. On it, written in faded handwriting, was the name of a variety show project - "Saturday! Let's Go!"

Hiroshi Nohara has also watched this variety show.

interesting.

But that's about it.

"This was the only and last time our Kanto group tried to compete with the Tokyo group in the field of variety shows a year ago." There was a hint of desolation in Asumi's voice.

"The director was Kei Tanaka, the most talented second-level director in our Kanto faction at the time, and my most promising junior. Unfortunately... the show only lasted five episodes before being ruthlessly canceled last month because the ratings never broke 5%."

"Since then, Tanaka has been a broken man. He's completely broken down, drinking all day, unkempt, and has become... a living dead man who has given up on himself."

Asumi looked at Nohara Hiroshi, and in those elegant eyes there flashed a solemnity that was almost like entrustment.

"Although this team failed, its foundation is still there. Many of them are veterans who followed me from Guandongtai back then. They have experience and skills, but... that failure has worn away all their spirit."

"Now, I'm handing them over to you, along with that useless Kei Tanaka. You will be their new chief director, the one and only, absolute king of this 'Super Transformation' project."

"I'll call Tanaka Kei myself. I'll also tell them all that within your team, there's only one rule—absolute obedience to your orders. Anyone who dares to disobey, anyone who pretends to obey but actually disobeys, I, Asumi, will personally make sure they pack up and get out!"

These words were so powerful that they sounded like an unquestionable supreme order.

It is also the highest authority given to Hiroshi Nohara.

Nohara Hiroshi looked at the file bag in his hand that contained the failure and humiliation of a team, then looked at Asumi's face that was full of trust and entrustment, and a sense of pride surged in his heart.

"I understand." He nodded without any extra words and put the file bag into his briefcase.

A ready-made team.

It's just a small mental issue.

For him, it's not a problem.

……

When Hiroshi Nohara returned to his office, which had long been the focus of the entire production department, he was greeted by the faces of Kenji Sato and Takeshi Yamamoto, which were full of curiosity and expectation.

"Section Chief, the Deputy Director..."

"The project for "Super Transformation" has been approved." Hiroshi Nohara put his briefcase on the table and went straight to the point.

By the way, I took them to my office.

He then pushed two thick stacks of drawings in front of the two of them: "These are the complete storyboards for the first twenty episodes of the second season of 'Tales of the Unusual'."

"What?! Season 2?!"

Kenji Sato and Takeshi Yamamoto looked at each other and saw horror in each other's eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

They just finished filming the first season, and this freak has already prepared the drawings for the second season?!

"The broadcast department is already pushing us." Nohara Hiroshi's tone was as calm as if he was discussing a trivial matter. "The 'Wonderful Stories of the World' IP is very popular right now, and we must strike while the iron is hot. Therefore, the filming of the second season will be fully handed over to you two."

"I believe, with your experience, as long as we strictly follow the instructions on the drawing, there will be absolutely no problems."

These words were less of an arrangement and more of an absolute command. Kenji Sato and Takeshi Yamamoto looked at the artwork in their hands, a work of art, and then at the young man who had entrusted them with such an important project without hesitation. Their hearts, weathered by time, began to pound uncontrollably.

"Hi!"

The two men bowed together, and their voices were filled with the determination of a man willing to die for his friend!
"We will definitely live up to your trust!"

Nohara Hiroshi nodded with satisfaction.

If you want to open up a new battlefield, you must first stabilize your rear.

Kenji Sato and Takeshi Yamamoto, two experienced and loyal veterans, are undoubtedly the best candidates to guard the base camp of "The Wonderful World of Tales" for him.

At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Dangdangdang——"

Nancun Xing poked his head in with a strange look on his face. "Um... Section Chief, there's someone outside looking for you. He said... his name is Tanaka Kei."

coming.

Nohara Hiroshi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let him in."

After a while, the door was pushed open.

A mixture of the sour smell of cheap liquor and the stench of sweat from days of unwashed skin, like the most domineering invader, instantly occupied every corner of the office.

A figure walked in unsteadily like a ghost.

The classmates who were still busy working in the classroom subconsciously frowned, covered their noses, and glared at the figure.

"Who is this? So rude, is this a homeless person on the street?"

"It feels a bit familiar."

"Hey, hey, hey, he looks like someone we used to know, right?"

"No way, but there's no way a homeless person could get into TV Tokyo. He must be a TV Tokyo headquarter employee, right?"

At this time, Nohara Hiroshi also looked outside.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early forties. His hair was greasy like a bunch of weeds soaked in cheap lard, and his beard was untidy. His suit, which should have been quite decent, was now wrinkled like a rag that had been casually discarded, with a few stains of suspicious colors on it.

The most striking thing about him is his eyes.

Those were a pair of eyes like dead fish, all the luster had been completely drained away by failure and alcohol.

Empty, numb, and filled with the deepest despair towards this world.

"You are...Tanaka Kei?"

Nohara Hiroshi looked at the man in front of him who had almost lost all human decency, and frowned slightly.

It's not that he dislikes the other person's slovenliness. He just can't imagine what kind of devastating blow a second-level director who was once praised by Asumi as "the most talented in variety shows" had to go through to end up in this state today, even worse than a homeless person on the street.

"Tanaka! You! What made you look like this?!"

Before Nohara Hiroshi could speak, Sato Kenji and Yamamoto Takeshi on the side had already rushed forward like two enraged lions!
"Look at what you've become! Do you still look like a director?!" Yamamoto Tsuyoshi pointed at his nose and cursed loudly. His face, which was always as sharp as an eagle, was full of the pain of being disappointed in his children.

"How dare you come to see Section Chief Nohara in this state?! This is the greatest disrespect to the Section Chief! Do you know that this is the last chance that Deputy Director Asumi has fought for you and all of us?" Sato Kenji's voice was filled with anger that was almost a roar.

Of course they knew Kei Tanaka.

They were even comrades who fought side by side.

It is precisely because of this that they find it even more unacceptable to see their former companions degenerated into what they are today, a state that even they feel ashamed of.

"……Chance?"

Kei Tanaka slowly raised his head, and a faint ripple finally appeared in his empty eyes.

He looked at the two old friends in front of him, and then looked at the "section chief" who was a little too young and had just looked at him calmly from beginning to end. The corners of his mouth curled up in a self-deprecating arc that was uglier than crying.

"What opportunity? Are you going to ask me to film another rubbish show that can't even get 5% viewership?"

His voice was as hoarse as if it had been polished by sandpaper, and every word was filled with the most bitter mockery of himself.

"I remember that my show, 'Saturday! Let's Go!', was treated like a joke by the entire production team from the very first episode onwards. It lasted for a full six months."

"They said my creativity was 'kindergarten-level playhouse'; they said my rhythm was 'a lullaby for elderly people taking a stroll'; they even said the comedians I invited, even the street stand-up comedians, were funnier than them."

He lowered his head, his greasy bangs covering his eyes and the scar that had penetrated deep into his bones and could not be healed.

"I...I have nothing left."

"Talent, dignity, future... all gone."

He raised his head, and stared at Nohara Hiroshi with his dead fish-like eyes. There was no pleading or hope in his eyes, only a cold numbness like the Siberian permafrost.

"So, this young, legendary Section Chief Nohara."

"What do you want to do with a useless person like me?"

"Do you want me to serve you tea or do you want to use my failure as a negative example and hang it on the wall to warn your subordinates?"

These words were filled with a sharp and almost self-degrading anger.

Everyone in the office was shocked by his desperate look and was speechless.

However, Nohara Hiroshi just looked at him calmly, his clear eyes were like a bottomless lake, without the slightest ripple.

He had no anger, no sympathy, not even the slightest emotional fluctuation.

Just watch.

After a while, he slowly stood up, walked to the man who had already lost all hope, and gently placed a document on the table in front of him.

The final plan for "Super Change".

"I didn't come here to humiliate you, nor to sympathize with you."

Nohara Hiroshi looked at Tanaka Kei and said calmly, "I asked you to come here because I wanted you to see what a real variety show that would drive the entire Neon world crazy should look like."

He paused, and a cold look flashed across his clear eyes, as if a god was looking down at an ant.

"Finish reading it."

"Then, tell me, are you still qualified to stand here and talk to me?"

(End of this chapter)