novelraw Chapter 115: Department Manager! Nohara Hiroshi! Everything Is Under Control!
Chapter 115: Department Manager! Nohara Hiroshi! Everything Is Under Control!
Takada Toshihide was truly anxious.
However, facing the anxiety of this Executive Deputy Director, the smile on Sakata Nobuhiko's face didn't change in the slightest. Yet his eyes, which were always squinted, revealed an unquestionable authority, like a sharp blade wrapped in a warm jade scabbard—seemingly harmless, but actually full of sharp edges.
"Rules?" he asked rhetorically with a chuckle. "Takada-kun, at our TV Tokyo, the biggest rule is 'results.'"
"Nohara-kun used an afternoon slot variety show to produce a 27.5% Viewership Rating;
used a Sub-Prime Time episodic drama to produce Viewership Ratings stably over 21%;
and even used a late-night animation that was beaten half to death by you Tokyo Faction people to produce a Viewership Rating breaking 10%. Tell me, which Level 2 Director under your command can present this kind of report card?"
"..." It was as if a ball of scorching hot cotton had been stuffed into Takada Toshihide's throat;
he opened his mouth but couldn't say a single word. That gloomy face instantly flushed the color of purplish-liver.
He couldn't refute it.
"Enough." Sakata Nobuhiko waved his hand, his posture like he was waving away a noisy fly. "The Board of Directors has unanimously passed this matter. So it is decided."
After he finished speaking, he no longer looked at Takada Toshihide's thoroughly unsightly face. Turning to Asumi, he revealed a smile as warm as a spring breeze. "Asumi-kun, send down the notification. Starting from today, our Production Bureau has gained a new—and also its youngest—Department Manager possessing independent production rights."
...
When Asumi's chief secretary, that intellectual beauty who usually looked down on everyone haughtily, personally delivered an appointment document stamped with a bright red seal and a brand-new nameplate carved from top-tier zelkova wood to the Nohara Hiroshi Special Production Team, the entire office instantly sank into a bizarre, pin-drop silence.On that nameplate, carved in vigorous and powerful calligraphy, were several large characters capable of driving any television worker crazy—
[Nohara Hiroshi Independent Production Department].
The air seemed to freeze.
Everyone looked as if they had been hit with a paralyzing spell, staring blankly at the nameplate, their faces written full of unbelievable shock.
"My... my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, right?"
After an unknown amount of time, a laugh filled with self-deprecation and absurdity pierced through the dead silence.
The one speaking was Tanaka Kei.
This former Level 2 Director was currently looking at that nameplate like he was looking at a monster. Then he looked at that young man who had simply been calmly drinking coffee from beginning to end, a bitter smile of being Dumbfounded appearing on his face.
"It's one thing for me, a Level 2 Director, to work under a Level 3 Director, but for a Level 3 Director to have an Independent Production Department nameplate, which is treated even higher than me... This... does this even exist in the entire Japanese television industry?"
His words acted like a switch, instantly detonating the entire office!
"And it's not just you!" Sato Kenji also pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. On his face, which usually carried a somewhat gentle smile, there was now a look brimming with astonishment. "Yamamoto and I are both Level 3 Directors too. After working at TV Tokyo for so long, this is the very first time I've ever seen a Level 3 Director have the authority of an Independent Production Department..."
"Independent Production Department... My god..." Yamamoto Takeshi also nodded in shock, his eyes widening as he looked at the sign. "Isn't... isn't this the special treatment only granted by the station when a veteran Level 2 Director is preparing to push for Level 1 Director? Section Chief Nohara, he... he just got promoted to Level 3!"
"This is no longer a simple exceptional promotion;
this is... ascending to the heavens in a single step!" Sato concluded, pursing his lips. "The special treatment of a monster."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
And in the corner, Hashishita Ichiro stared blankly at that nameplate. In his eyes, which had long been filled with remorse and awe, there was now only the purest form of... reverence from the depths of his soul, born from witnessing a true miracle.
He thought of himself, having struggled at the television station for seven or eight years before barely climbing to the position of a veteran Level 4 Director.
Yet that young man had taken less than half a year to become a Level 3 Director.
No, to be accurate, going from a Level 4 Director to a Level 3 Director, and then finally getting his own Independent Production Department, had only taken him less than two months.
This speed could no longer be described as "genius."
This was an anomaly!
It was a Dimensional Strike capable of making all of his peers in the same era feel despair!
"What's there to be weird about?"
Just amidst this discussion filled with shock and absurdity, Minamura Hoshi's voice sounded exceptionally matter-of-fact.
He stood with his hands on his hips, his young face written full of the pride of Sharing the Glory, looking like a fanatical fan defending his idol. "Just look at what kind of achievements our Section Chief has made!"
"27.5% for Kasou Taishou! 21% for Tales of the Unusual! And over 10% for Yamishibai!"
"Take any one of these three works out, and it's enough for an ordinary Level 2 Director to brag about for a lifetime! Our Section Chief single-handedly created three myths in three different fields at the same time! Forget about just being a Level 3 Director, even if they explicitly promoted him to a Level 1 Director right now, I'd still think it's perfectly justified!"
The office instantly fell quiet.
Everyone looked at each other, and then knowing, bitter smiles appeared on their faces.
Yes, they were still hung up on that long-ossified hierarchy system, yet they forgot that in the face of absolute strength, all rules appeared so pale and powerless.
"Minamura is right." Yamamoto Takeshi let out a long breath, nodding with emotion. "I've been shooting for twenty years, and my best result is nothing more than a police drama with a 15% Viewership Rating. Compared to the Section Chief's results that routinely break 20%, it's simply... child's play."
"Our loss is not unjustified." Tanaka Kei also shook his head. All the unwillingness on his face had faded away, leaving only pure, heartfelt conviction. "This era is no longer ours. It belongs... to monsters like him."
These words caused all the veterans of the Kanto Faction present to fall into a long silence.
It was a powerlessness and awe stemming directly from the marrow—feelings generated after bearing witness to a true genius.
Age? Seniority?
In front of absolute strength... they truly weren't enough!
...
The massive shockwave brought about by Nohara Hiroshi's promotion rapidly swept across the entirety of TV Tokyo with an unstoppable momentum.
The pantry—the place inside the television station with the most well-informed gossip and the most mixed bag of people—was currently enveloped varying discussions full of sour grapes.
"Did you hear? That Nohara Hiroshi got promoted to Level 3 Director! And... and he got his own Independent Production Department!"
A Level 3 Director who looked to be in his early forties, sporting a shiny bald spot, held a coffee cup, his voice overflowing with irrepressible jealousy.
"I've heard. How could I not have? The whole Production Bureau has gone crazy over it now." A companion beside him with hollow cheeks curled his lips, his voice sour enough to choke someone. "Fuck me, I suffered at this station for fifteen years, almost losing all my hair, just to barely crawl up to this position. What right does a twenty-something kid have? Just because he got lucky, stepped in dog shit, and shot a few passable shows?"
"Passable shows?" Hearing this, the bald director let out a bitter laugh, his voice brimming with despair. "Buddy, stop lying to yourself. You call that 'passable'? That's called a 'myth'! 27.5% afternoon slot variety show! 21% Sub-Prime Time television drama! 10% late-night slot animation! You and I combined, adding up the Viewership Ratings of everything we shoot in our entire lives, wouldn't even total higher than a single one of his dramas!"
"..." The hollow-cheeked director's face instantly flushed the color of purplish-liver. He opened his mouth but couldn't retort a single word.
"Sigh!" The bald director let out a long sigh, carrying a sense of helplessness from recognizing reality. "Forget it, there's no comparison, we can't compete. Being born in the same era as a monster like that is the misfortune of mortals like us. Right now I'm just hoping he won't get another whim and run over to shoot the Asadora we're best at. Otherwise, the likes of us will truly not even have a single bite of food left to eat."
These words were full of black humor, but they also laid out a cruel reality.
In the face of Nohara Hiroshi's absolute talent capable of overturning the rules of an era, the struggles of everyone else appeared so insignificant and full of comedic color.
They didn't even have the qualifications to be jealous anymore.
All that remained was to look up to him, and pray.
Pray that that deity wouldn't cast his destructive gaze upon their own, already incredibly barren patches of land.
...
The Personnel Department's decisive actions were astonishingly fast. Almost at the exact same time the appointment document was issued, a middle-aged man who looked like a Maitreya Buddha, his face piled with a genial smile, personally brought two subordinates and appeared at the doorway of the office that had already become the focal point of the entire television station.
"My, oh my, Department Manager Nohara! Congratulations! Congratulations!"
The person who arrived was the Deputy Manager of the Personnel Department, a slick veteran surnamed Watanabe whose eyes normally looked down haughtily on everyone;
even when facing Level 2 Directors, he would only nod out of courtesy.
But right now, an enthusiasm bordering on sycophancy blossomed on his chubby face. His posture was as if Nohara Hiroshi wasn't a newly promoted Level 3 Director, but rather his long-lost family member.
There was no helping it.
Who told Nohara Hiroshi to be 'favored by the emperor' right now?
Even Bureau Chief Sakata highly valued Nohara Hiroshi. Just the number of times he had heard Bureau Chief Sakata praising Nohara Hiroshi outside, praising him in front of many leaders, was innumerable.
Furthermore, Nohara Hiroshi was also the trusted confidant of Deputy Director Asumi.
And most importantly, Nohara Hiroshi was so young.
Suppose...
Suppose they waited another twenty or thirty years.
When he himself was already old enough to retire.
Nohara Hiroshi, this young man who was already so famous now and could completely rest on his laurels for twenty or thirty years, what kind of achievements would he have by then?
What kind of position would he hold?
Just thinking about it was enough to make one shudder;
he absolutely had to fear and respect him!
As the saying goes, it is better to bully the old than the young. Right now, Nohara Hiroshi's talent and future were already a bright, open road.
So who would dare offend him?
"Deputy Manager Watanabe, you're being too polite." Nohara Hiroshi stood up with a smile, shaking his hand neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"No, no! It's nothing at all!" Deputy Manager Watanabe waved his hands repeatedly. His squinted eyes quickly swept around the office, which, although spacious, now appeared a bit crowded due to the expansion of personnel. Then, he spoke with a deeply caring tone: "Department Manager Nohara, you now possess the only Independent Production Department in our station! This office space... seems to wrong you a little."
He paused and took a floor plan from his subordinate. Like the most professional real estate agent, he enthusiastically pointed things out on it:
"Look, on this entire floor, besides your place here, there's only the Iwata Section left. I've already spoken with the higher-ups just now. The Iwata Section will move to the seventh floor next week. At that time, this entire half-floor of space will all be allocated under your name! See, whether you want to knock down the walls to make a large open office area, or partition out a few more independent editing rooms and Meeting Rooms, it's completely up to your wishes!"
These words made everyone present subconsciously suck in a breath of cold air.
The Iwata Section... got "exiled" just like that?
One must know, that was one of the core sections of the Tokyo Faction!
And now, simply because of one person's rise, they were mercilessly swept out the door.
"There's also this."
Deputy Manager Watanabe handed over another document, the smile on his face growing even brighter: "According to the station's rules, an Independent Production Department possesses the authority to establish subordinate sections. Additionally, every month, you can also apply to the Finance Department for an independent operating fund up to a maximum of ten million yen. This money is entirely at your disposal and doesn't require anyone's approval!"
"Of course, whatever the funding for your department should be remains unchanged;
this special independent operating fund is completely your own say!"
Ten million yen!
Every month!
An irrepressible cry of surprise echoed across the office once more.
This was no longer a simple delegation of power;
this was practically... handing him a gold mine he could mine at will!
"Of course." As if remembering something, Deputy Manager Watanabe added another sentence, but his tone was filled with the mischievousness of wanting to watch a good show: "According to the rules, an Independent Production Department must also churn out an A-grade proposal with a Viewership Rating no lower than 15% every year. However..."
He looked at Nohara Hiroshi, his squinted eyes flashing with undisguised worship: "For a Department Manager Nohara like you, who casually creates ratings myths, this tiny requirement is as simple as eating meals and drinking water! Hahahahaha!"
"Thank you, Deputy Manager Watanabe." Nohara Hiroshi merely smiled calmly. "I will submit the department's remodeling plan and personnel expansion plan as soon as possible."
"Good, good, good! I will await it at any time!"
Deputy Manager Watanabe spent a pleasant time kissing up and left feeling completely satisfied.
And the moment his back foot left, the entire office was like a depth charge had been dropped into it, instantly boiling over!
"Department Manager! Can we establish sections now too?"
"My god! I'm not dreaming, am I?!"
Everyone looked like they had been injected with chicken blood, their faces completely red with excitement.
Although they had understood it in theory before, that was one thing.
But now.
Experiencing it personally.
Was an entirely different thing!
"Alright, quiet down."
Nohara Hiroshi's voice was like a basin of warm water, instantly extinguishing the powder keg that was about to explode.
He walked over to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote down several large, powerful words on the pristine surface.
[Nohara Hiroshi Independent Production Department]
Then, he turned around. His gaze swept over the subordinates standing before him, who had long since been utterly won over by him, and began to make arrangements with a calm voice:
"Starting from today, I announce that three core sections will formally be established under the Independent Production Department."
"First, the Variety Show Section. Directed by Tanaka Kei, who will assume the role of Section Chief. Fully responsible for all production matters regarding the Kasou Taishou project."
"Second, the TV Drama Section. Directed by Yamamoto Takeshi, who will assume the role of Section Chief. Fully responsible for the Tales of the Unusual project."
"Third..."
He paused, his gaze landing on the man who had kept his head lowered from the very beginning, his body taut as a fully drawn bowstring.
"The Animation Section. Directed by Hashishita Ichiro, who will assume the role of Section Chief. Fully responsible for the Yamishibai project."
"..."
The entire office instantly plunged into a bizarre, pin-drop silence.
Everyone was stunned. They turned their heads and looked at the young man standing in front of the whiteboard, complexities written all over their faces.
They had imagined countless possibilities, yet the only thing they hadn't expected was for Nohara Hiroshi to actually make a decision bordering on madness!
Letting a traitor assume the position of Section Chief for an independent section?!
"S-Section Chief... I..."
Hashishita Ichiro abruptly raised his head, his eyes equally filled with horror.
Right now, he had no idea what he should be thinking. His mind was blank, leaving only terror that was completely overwhelmed by an immense, unendurable heavy favor.
Hashishita Ichiro subconsciously wanted to open his mouth to refuse, his voice hoarse and brimming with humility: "I... I'm not worthy..."
However, before he could even finish speaking.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
A burst of crisp applause, full of goodwill, rang out from behind him without warning.
He stiffly turned his head, only to see Minamura Hoshi, Haseji Kakeru, and Kitagawa Yao—the three young people who had once Hated him to the Bone—taking the lead to applaud for him.
Although there were still some traces of awkwardness on their faces.
That ice-cold contempt from back then had long vanished from their eyes, replaced by a complex, unique sort of approval born from witnessing a prodigal son's return.
Immediately after, thunderous applause converged into a torrent capable of melting steel!
"Section Chief Hashishita! Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
Those expressions of goodwill and congratulations acted like the gentlest pairs of hands, delicately lifting up Hashishita Ichiro's heart, which was already riddled with holes.
"Wu... wa—!"
He couldn't hold on any longer. This thirty-five-year-old man let out a suppressed, agonized wail, crying just like a child.
Within those sobs was remorse, gratitude, and more importantly, the endless rejoicing of Surviving a Disaster.
Facing Nohara Hiroshi's direction, he gave a heavy, ninety-degree bow.
"Thank you... Department Manager Nohara!"
The crowd erupted in another cheer.
Watching this highly dramatic scene, Sato Kenji, who had been quiet in the corner, showed a bitter smile of being Dumbfounded on his face.
Holding his coffee cup, he walked to Yamamoto Takeshi's side, nudged him with his elbow, and said self-deprecatingly, "See that, now even Hashishita has become a Section Chief. And I, a Level 3 Director, have conversely become an idle liaison. Really... comparing oneself with others only makes one mad enough to die."
Despite saying this, there was an irrepressible, complex glint filled with frustration and unwillingness flashing in the eyes hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses.
Yamamoto Takeshi just gave him a calm glance without a word.
But a bit more scrutiny appeared in his eyes.
Truth be told, Yamamoto Takeshi had always felt that this old friend acting as a liaison seemed to have someone else backing him.
But he had no proof.
Moreover, he also sensed that this old friend hadn't seemingly done anything to betray the Kanto Faction, nor had he gone against Nohara Hiroshi's arrangements, instead doing his utmost best when working.
He quietly retracted his gaze, some speculations forming in his mind.
It seemed this old friend of his had, after all... accepted rations from a certain someone during that bleak period in the past.
Nohara Hiroshi didn't pay attention to this undercurrent of an interlude.
He looked at the three Section Chiefs he had just entrusted with heavy responsibilities, his voice ringing out once more, filled with unquestionable power.
"Alright, Section Chiefs."
"From now on, your first task is to expand your teams. For personnel, go poach them yourselves within the station;
as long as they are from the Kanto Faction and capable, I want them. If you can't poach them, tell me, and I'll personally go ask Deputy Director Asumi for people."
"Within a week, I need to see three fully staffed production sections ready to fight independently."
"By then, Yamishibai Season Four! Tales of the Unusual Season Two! And the subsequent production of Kasou Taishou! All of them must keep pace!"
"Meeting adjourned!"
With a single command, the entire dead-silent office instantly came alive.
Everyone acted like wound-up clockwork components, beginning to operate with precision and unprecedented high efficiency.
An expansion of the department that appeared almost miraculous to outsiders officially kicked off.
Time slipped away quietly amidst this busyness filled with passion and hope.
And that young man, who was either worshipped, envied, or resented by countless people, acted like a true chess master behind the scenes, delegating all the specific affairs to his subordinates who had long sworn absolute loyalty to him.
He himself returned to that tranquility uniquely belonging to him.
He began to have more time to conceptualize the even more earth-shattering stories for the follow-ups to Tales of the Unusual.
He had more time to polish every single detail of Kasou Taishou that was capable of igniting a nationwide carnival.
He even had more time to pick up the paintbrush he had set aside for so long, and continue depicting the grand world of YuYu Hakusho—filled with hot-blooded passion and friendship—onto the pristine white drawing paper.
Of course, he also hadn't forgotten that most important personal project he had dubbed the "Big Brother Happiness Reformation Plan."
He used that massive sum of money, which no one could refuse, to pave all the roads for his brother's "Nohara Agricultural Corporation."
Taking advantage of the fact that everyone in Japan was focusing their sights on the cities.
Relying on the local connections in their hometown.
From the most advanced automated agricultural machinery, to top-tier organic fertilizers, to hiring the most professional agricultural consultants in all of Japan...
It could be said that using a method bordering on cheating, in a short span of time, he swiftly transformed that small country farm, which was originally just taking shape, into a modern agricultural Kabushiki Gaisha capable of turning the heads of the entire Akita Prefecture JA!
It could even allow his blood brother, Nohara Semashi, to enter the JA to work and hold an elected leadership position.
After all, when the Economic Bubble popped and the Economic Crisis arrived.
The JA was a massive piece of fat meat!
Even amidst the decline of Real Estate and all industries.
The JA, which held a massive number of farmers and guided a massive number of agricultural workers, still possessed significant manipulation power over elections!
And he himself, like the finest hunter, patiently waited for that crucial person—capable of changing the trajectory of his older brother's life—to appear.
Sakurada Ikuna.
He knew that the kind and beautiful girl would very soon appear in his older brother's life due to the vicissitudes of life.
Without a first marriage worth lamenting over.
Only a beautiful romance!
With his older brother!
At that time, a romantic comedy filled with rustic flavor—directed by him personally—of a domineering President falling in love with her, would officially pull open its curtains.
Everything was going very well.
Everything was in the palm of his hand.
This summer, for Nohara Hiroshi, was destined to be a golden season filled with harvest and hope.
[ignoring loop detection]