novelraw Chapter 112: Nohara Semashi Wants to Fall in Love! He Met the One Destined for Him!
Chapter 112: Nohara Semashi Wants to Fall in Love! He Met the One Destined for Him!
TV Tokyo, Executive Deputy Director's office. At this moment, the air seemed to have been completely drained, solidifying into a heavy, cold block of amber that sealed every living soul inside it within endless shock.
Takada Toshihide's normally somewhat gloomy face had already lost all color, leaving only an ashen, deathly pallor.
He stared fixedly at the screen.
Watching those comical performances full of childlike wonder and imagination, a look of fear surfaced in his eyes.
"Impossible... this... this is absolutely impossible!"
Yasui Takashi, the top director who was always cynical and treated variety shows like his playthings, stood blankly in place like a weathered stone statue.
At some point, the whiskey glass in his hand had tilted. The amber liquid dripped through his fingers, spreading into a dark stain on his expensive Versace suit, yet he remained completely oblivious.
His brain—that professional brain filled with the "iron rules" and "experience" of variety shows.
In this moment.
Was completely and utterly washed away by a more primal, more pure, and more powerful force known as "happiness"! "The pacing... the pacing is too fast!"
Beside him, Ito Choan's face was similarly filled with unbelievable horror.
He was like a classical samurai witnessing modern warfare for the first time, looking at the opponent's impenetrable square formation of musketeers, feeling that all the swordsmanship he had learned in his life had become a ridiculous, vulnerable joke!
"No buildup, no transitions, not even... not even any time for the audience to catch their breath! One concept after another, like an unceasing blizzard, densely and ruthlessly smashing all the punchlines right into the audience's faces! This... this completely goes against the production logic of variety shows! This will... this will cause the audience to suffer aesthetic fatigue!"
He spoke, yet his voice uncontrollably began to tremble slightly.
Because he didn't even believe his own words!
Because this show...
Was too brilliant!
As for Iwata Masao, he had long slumped onto a low stool in the corner like a dead dog with its spine removed.
He looked at those faces on the screen distorted by pure joy, listened to the roof-lifting roars of laughter coming from the speakers, and felt as if he were a sinner cast into the eighteenth level of hell, being forced to admire a grand banquet in heaven.
That comparison, that contrast, was like the sharpest of knives, relentlessly executing a death-by-a-thousand-cuts upon his heart, which had already been riddled with holes from jealousy and unwillingness.
"Hahahahahaha!"
In another office, Asumi was laughing heartily, like a gambler who had just won the bet of the century.
Asumi was admiring the comedic segments in Kasou Taishou.
Because it was just that funny!
It was just that happy!
It was simply worthy of Asumi roaring with laughter!
Asumi comfortably rested both feet on his mahogany desk, holding a steaming cup of rich coffee. Watching the same brilliant program on the screen, his normally refined and steady face brimmed with the relief of Feeling Proud.
"Monster... that guy, Hiroshi-kun, he isn't producing a program at all."
He muttered to himself, his tone filled with intense emotion. "He is... making rules. An all-new set of entertainment rules belonging only to him, named 'Nohara Hiroshi'!"
...
The speed at which this storm of rules whipped up by Kasou Taishou spread was far faster than anyone had imagined.
Osaka, Kansai TV.
"Is this... the strength of TV Tokyo?"
Bureau Chief of Production Waya Ichiro, along with his most capable variety show directors, also stared intently at the massive monitor screen in the Meeting Room like petrified statues.
A scorched scent mixed with tobacco and despair permeated the air.
"The pacing... is too fast."
A veteran director famous for "slow variety shows" spoke with a dry voice. His usually confident face was now filled only with bewilderment. "It completely discards the traditional introduction, development, transition, and conclusion of a variety show. It's like an action movie where all the exposition has been cut out, leaving only the climaxes. Can the audience... can the audience really accept this kind of information bombardment?"
"Accept it? They are practically... throwing a carnival!" another director adept at outdoor reality shows said, his voice trembling with disbelief. "This... this is no longer simple Viewership Ratings;
this is a social phenomenon! I dare bet that by tomorrow—no, by tonight!—these imaginative concepts will become the focus of imitation and discussion for all young people in Japan!"
"The most terrifying part is its core."
Waya Ichiro let out a long breath of murky air, carrying a sense of helplessness and admiration from recognizing reality. "This is purely being happy for the sake of being happy, feeling thrilled for the sake of feeling thrilled, and creating concepts purely for the sake of creativity. It's a product designed to make the audience happy! You can't say it's empty, nor can you say it has some grand theme, but it truly attracts viewers! It attracts Viewership Ratings! Perhaps, that is its core!"
These words plunged the entire meeting room into a long silence.
Currently, every program in Japan emphasized educating the citizens, especially animations, television shows, and movies.
All of them were like this.
Even if variety shows didn't have such high educational significance, they still had to contain some educational sentiment.
But now, they realized that Nohara Hiroshi's line of thought wasn't like that.
It wasn't the same as what they thought!
They finally understood that they weren't facing a simple competitor.
But rather someone who already stood at a higher dimension, overlooking the entire chessboard in a way they completely couldn't comprehend—a practitioner of a Dimensional Strike.
...
Nagoya, Chukyo TV.
"Is this... the gap?"
Fukuoka, Kyushu Broadcasting.
"Our loss... is not unjustified."
Sapporo, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting...
"Can one person's talent really... stand against an entire era?"
Endless questions, endless shock, and endless awe played out simultaneously in every corner of Japan.
Those local powerhouses who had once clamored to join forces to "encircle and annihilate" Nohara Hiroshi were now like people whose throats had been firmly gripped by an invisible hand, completely unable to utter a single word.
They were still there attempting to encircle and annihilate Nohara Hiroshi's Urban Legends.
But he...
Had already jumped out of Urban Legends and established a new kingdom!
They had fallen behind!
They finally understood that their so-called "Anti-Nohara Hiroshi Alliance," when faced with that young man's absolute talent capable of overturning an era, was nothing more than a ridiculous joke filled with black humor.
As for those Film Critics who had once harbored doubts about Nohara Hiroshi, they were now like a group of believers struck by a divine oracle, one after another putting down their prepared pens full of harshness and sarcasm.
They looked at the faces on the screen distorted by pure joy, listened to the roof-lifting roars of laughter coming from the speakers, and in this moment, that sense of superiority belonging to professionals was thoroughly crushed into powder.
They knew that starting from tonight, an all-new variety show myth belonging exclusively to Nohara Hiroshi had officially descended.
...
Kumamoto Prefecture, the Koyama home.
The living room had long since been laughing like a pot of boiling porridge.
"Hahaha! This... this 'human typewriter' is too funny! Ouch! I can't, I can't! My stomach! My stomach is going to burst from laughing!"
Koyama Musae laughed uproariously, her entire person almost rolling off the Tatami. Her usually lively and playful eyes had long since teared up from laughing.
"Yes, yes, it's really too interesting." Even the usually gentle and tranquil eldest sister, Masae, couldn't help covering her mouth and letting out bell-like giggles. Her usually reserved, pretty face was also dyed with a moving blush of pure happiness.
"What kind of bizarre things are stuffed inside the head of that child Hiroshi?" Mother Koyama Takasae laughed while using her handkerchief to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her gentle face was filled with the pride of Sharing the Glory.
Only Koyama Yoshiharu, the patriarch of the Koyama family, still forcefully maintained his dignity as a Head Teacher, keeping a straight face and attempting to scrutinize this "indecent" program with a professional eye.
"Hmph, it's simply nonsense! What a scandal!" he said, but the uncontrollably frantic upward curve of his mouth completely sold out his true inner thoughts.
"Second Sister! Second Sister! Hurry and watch TV! Brother-in-law's show is way too funny!" Koyama Musae had finally laughed enough. She picked up that brand-new Panasonic P100 and wanted to share this joy with her sister far away in Tokyo.
"Don't call!" Koyama Yoshiharu suddenly put on a stern face and grabbed her hand. His voice contained an awkwardness belonging to an old father that even he himself hadn't realized. "Your brother-in-law is definitely busy right now! Don't go disturb him! If you have to call... call your second sister!"
"Use the landline! That's cheaper too!" Koyama Takasae pointed at the telephone in the corner much more practically.
She simultaneously exchanged a glance with Koyama Yoshiharu, also understanding what this old man of hers was thinking.
"Okay then~" Koyama Musae made a funny face but still obediently ran over.
Soon, from the other end of the line, came Misae's voice, equally brimming with surprise and vitality.
The sisters chattered away across a distance of hundreds of kilometers, sharing each other's joy.
Koyama Yoshiharu pricked up his ears to listen to their conversation. Finally unable to maintain his stern face any longer, an unstoppable, smug smile quietly surfaced.
He picked up the glass of chilled beer in front of him and downed it in one gulp. The hearty thrill belonging to a victor swept away all the worries in his heart.
...
Akita Prefecture, Omagari City, the Nohara home.
"Ohohohohoho—!"
Nohara Ginnosuke's magical laughter almost lifted the roof off the old house.
He had long lost any shred of dignity as the head of the household. Like a child having achieved second youth, he rolled around laughing on the Tatami. His thick eyebrows, identical to his youngest son's, twitched up and down due to extreme excitement, full of comedic joy.
"Tsuru! Tsuru, quickly look! This 'ramen chef tossing noodles'! Hahaha! It's too similar! It's exactly as dashing as I was in my youth!"
"You dirty old man! Sit down properly! What kind of behavior is this?!" Nohara Tsuru frowned, attempting to use her authority as a wife to suppress her husband, who was letting himself go.
However, the uncontrollably frantic upward curve of her lips completely sold out her true inner thoughts.
This program was truly too funny!
Truly too comical!
Only Nohara Semashi, this honest farmer, was somewhat calm.
He just sat quietly in the corner, watching those comical performances full of childlike wonder and imagination on the television. An honest, genuine smile appeared on his dark, sun-tanned face.
However, as he smiled, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the sky outside the window.
In his mind, surprisingly, another cute smiling face, equally full of rustic simplicity and beauty, uncontrollably surfaced.
That was a girl he had met at a coffee shop a few days ago when he went to the city's agricultural cooperative to handle land acquisition procedures.
The girl was a new Intern at the coffee shop named Sakurada Ikuna. She was also a girl from a nearby village. Her personality was gentle, she spoke softly, and when she smiled, her eyes would curve into two beautiful crescents.
He remembered that day, when he was somewhat irritable due to the tedious procedures, it was that girl in the coffee shop who patiently explained every clause to him over and over again.
It was that girl who took the initiative to hand him a steaming cup of coffee when he scratched his head because he couldn't understand the dense legal jargon.
It was that girl who, when he finished all the procedures and prepared to leave, flashed him an encouraging smile brighter than the sunlight outside the window.
"Mr. Nohara, you are truly a remarkable person," she had said at the time, sincere light flickering in her clear eyes. "Nowadays, young people like you who are still willing to stay in their hometown and carefully manage the land are rare."
At that moment, Nohara Semashi felt his heart, which had already grown somewhat coarse from years of labor, uncontrollably skip half a beat.
He, an old bachelor nearing thirty who had never even held a girl's hand, actually... shamefully felt his heart flutter.
However...
Nohara Semashi let out a long breath, which carried a bit of masculine bitterness that even he himself didn't notice.
That day, he had seen with his own eyes a young guy in the coffee shop who looked like a slick dandy, driving a brand-new car, holding a bouquet of bright roses, and lavishing attention on that girl.
While the girl had politely declined the entire time, her face, which always bore a gentle smile, also couldn't hide a little bit of the youthful vanity belonging to a young girl.
He, a farmer who only knew how to work the fields, what could he use to compete with a young man working in the city who drove a car?
A bitter tide of an inferiority complex surged up in Nohara Semashi's heart.
He subconsciously took out the futuristic Panasonic P100 his younger brother had given him.
He looked at the pinned number in contacts named "Hiroshi". A trace of struggle flashed through his honest eyes, followed by a final, tiny sliver of hope.
He wanted to ask his younger brother, who could handle himself with ease even in a dazzling world like Tokyo, and who had even found a girlfriend as beautiful as a fairy.
He wanted to ask him what... he should do.
Perhaps...
His omnipotent younger brother could truly give him an answer capable of changing his destiny.
He took a deep breath and finally pressed that green, hope-filled call button.