novelraw Chapter 45: Widespread Discussion
Chapter 45: Widespread Discussion
"Bang!"
Minamura Hoshi slammed a fist on the desk. In those eyes that were always burning with flames, at this moment was full of the unbelievable anger of being publicly humiliated.
"On what grounds?! On what grounds is this?!" Minamura Hoshi's voice trembled with anger.
"Black box operation! This is absolutely a black box operation!" Haseji Kakeru also trembled all over with anger: "Their viewership rating is clearly lower than ours, and right now their daily viewership rating is dropping! On what grounds give it to them?!"
The entire office was instantly shrouded in a wave of anger.
"Why?"
Nohara Hiroshi's voice appeared exceptionally calm amidst this clamorous anger. He walked in front of Suzuki Kiyoto, looking at his ashen face, and asked softly: "Section Chief Suzuki, since the Production Bureau arranged it this way, then what is the reason given?"
Everything has a reason.
Even if everyone knows this reason is definitely absurd.
"Reason? Hah..." Suzuki Kiyoto slowly raised his head. In those murky eyes was full of exhaustion and helplessness. He opened his mouth, as if using all his strength to squeeze out those few words from his throat: "Viewership rating... average value."
He pushed over another attached data sheet.
On it clearly recorded the daily viewership rating numbers of the two animations during their broadcast period.
The curve for 'Onibo Samurai' was high up from the very beginning. Although it dropped eventually, its two-week average viewership rating still stood steadily above 5.5%.
Whereas the curve for 'Yamishibai' was a tragic and steep straight line climbing desperately upwards from the bottom of the valley. Even if it created a myth at the end, that dismal opening in the first few days ultimately dragged down its average score.
Calculated out, it was only around 4.88%.
"They said, assessing 'Ichiban' doesn't look at a momentary explosion, but rather the stable performance during the entire broadcast cycle." In Suzuki Kiyoto's voice carried a powerless self-deprecation: "They said, this is the rule."
Rule.
What a cold, yet grand-sounding vocabulary.
In the office, it fell into a deathly silence once again.
Everyone understood.
This was not a fair contest.
This was an out-and-out scam where people played them in the palm of their hands using "rules" they themselves formulated right from the very beginning!
That so-called victory, that so-called counterattack, at this moment, all seemed like a massive joke.
They won the word of mouth, won the people's hearts, won the final dignity, yet solely, lost to this damn, icy rule that could be arbitrarily interpreted by anyone.
Nohara Hiroshi looked at that data sheet, looked at those two entirely distinct curves. He wasn't angry, nor was he unwilling.
On his face, there wasn't even the slightest shred of expression.
Only in those eyes that had always been calm as an ancient well, something was quietly, bit by bit, turning icy cold.
That was an absolute icy coldness unique to a chess player discovering the opponent not only despicably took back a move, but even modified the rules of the entire game right in front of his face.
"Can't afford to play?" Nohara Hiroshi's eyes turned increasingly cold.
But this coldness also flashed and disappeared.
Immediately returning to calmness.
Anger is the behavior of the weak, the venting of incompetence.
For a chess player, when the opponent begins to flip the table, the only thing you need to do is calmly watch him, and then switch to an even sturdier chessboard, using the method he can least understand to nail him dead to the chair, leaving him without even the strength to stand up and flip the table.
He didn't speak again, merely walked slowly back to his seat, picked up his pen, and continued outlining a grander war belonging to another world on the manuscript paper.
The entire Suzuki Section was seemingly infected by this extraordinary calmness of his.
That anger and unwillingness sufficient to drive one mad unsurprisingly slowly settled down, transforming into a more resilient determination.
They still had the opportunity of 'Yamishibai's' second season.
They...
Desired to prove their own success!
...
However, this disturbance triggered by the "average value", like a pebble tossed into the deep water pool of TV Tokyo, its rippling waves were far broader than this small pond of the Suzuki Section.
The pantry of the Production Bureau Headquarters Building had always been the best hotbed for the fermentation of various rumors and office politics.
"Heard about it? April's Ichiban went to Iwata's 'Onibo Samurai'." A Level 3 Director wearing gold-rimmed glasses who looked quite refined lowered his voice, saying to a colleague of seemingly similarly deep seniority in front of him.
"Heard about it, truly... unimaginable." The man opposite shook his head, his face carrying a sarcasm after seeing through worldly affairs: "Calculating using average values, fortunately they could think of it. This is like having a 100-meter sprint champion compete with a marathon runner on the average speed for the whole course, and then telling everyone the marathon runner won."
"Who says it isn't so. I heard Deputy Bureau Chief Takada forcefully pushed aside all dissenting views at the meeting, saying this is the most 'fair' assessment standard." The gold-rimmed glasses chuckled lightly, that laughter full of unconcealed mockery: "However, these table manners are somewhat too ugly."
"Ugly? I think they're anxious. These people from TV Tokyo are inherently xenophobic like this."
Another person took a sip of coffee, a shrewd light flashing in his eyes: "I also went to watch that 'Yamishibai'. To be honest, it has some merit. Especially that episode called 'Paper'. After I finished watching it, I felt that concept of a ghost suddenly appearing in an originally empty frame was truly ingenious."
His words drew a burst of tacit laughter.
"I actually find that 'Contradiction' the most interesting. Pure logical terror, that's the high-class way to play." The gold-rimmed glasses adjusted his frame, his tone carrying a bit of professional appreciation: "That young man named Nohara Hiroshi is truly not simple. Besides, I heard he's just a newly graduated intern?"
"Intern? The version I heard is he's also the author of that 'YuYu Hakusho' in 'Shonen Jump'."
"What?! YuYu Hakusho is his work?"
"This manga is very hot among young people."
This news was clearly more impactful than any viewership rating numbers, causing shock among the others.
"Deputy Bureau Chief Asumi's side, I fear his face will bloom with smiles this time." The gold-rimmed glasses' gaze looked out the window, deep in thought: "This time Takada, in order to protect that piece of trash Iwata, can be considered to have pressed his own face onto the ground and rubbed it. However, the more he acts like this, the more it proves that he is scared."
"Yeah, scared." The man also lamented: "Not scared of that old stubborn Suzuki, but scared of that young man named Nohara Hiroshi, and that entirely new play style of his that doesn't follow common sense."
"But so what? This TV Tokyo still belongs to their own TV Tokyo people. Isn't this an example right now?" Someone also complained in a low voice on the side: "How could we outsiders compete with their own people?"
"Alright, stop talking." The topic was halted. After all, the relationship between these few was decent; if these words really spread out, it'd be bad for everyone.
"Should we also study some concepts in Yamishibai? I feel it's quite interesting."
"Indeed, that young man is truly full of whimsical ideas."
PS: Asking for recommendation tickets, extremely grateful!