novelraw Chapter 50: Viewership Rating!
Chapter 50: Viewership Rating!
Monday night finally descended amidst the anticipation of the masses.
11 PM, TV Tokyo.
When that familiar nursery rhyme and drumbeat sounded, all of Tokyo seemed to quiet down.
Countless pairs of eyes, whether expectant, curious, or questioning, converged on that small screen.
【Yamishibai Season 2 Episode 1: Taro】
The opening of the story was a small community activity room. A man wearing a police uniform was somewhat clumsily performing ventriloquism for the children below the stage.
The doll in his hands was named "Taro", wearing a small police uniform, its appearance charmingly naive.
The children below the stage were amused to the point of rocking back and forth, their laughter crisp.
Everything looked so warm, so everyday.
However, there was not a sliver of smile on the police officer's face. A layer of fine cold sweat seeped out on his forehead. The hand holding the doll trembled slightly uncontrollably.Because he knew, this doll named "Taro" was somewhat amiss.
It would always, when he wasn't manipulating it, roll its eyes on its own, grin the corners of its mouth on its own.
And the words it spoke were also increasingly bizarre.
"Hey, Mister, did you know? That big brother riding the bicycle, his head... where did it roll to?"
"Hehe... Mister, your neck, looks... so soft ah..."
The children below the stage thought this was all part of the performance and laughed even happier.
Only the police officer himself knew, this wasn't a performance.
This doll named "Taro" was possessed. Possessed by the soul of a bicycle-riding youth who had just been decapitated at an intersection due to a traffic accident.
He wanted to stop, wanted to throw this doll away.
But his hands seemed controlled by an unseen force, simply not listening to command. He could only watch helplessly as "Taro's" mouth opened and closed, saying those hair-raising words, while the audience below the stage rewarded this with the warmest applause.
That extreme loneliness and fear of being the only one in the whole world who knew the truth completely drowned him.
【Yamishibai Season 2 Episode 2: Kitchen】
A socially awkward housewife was always ostracized by the wives of the neighborhood.
The bento she made was mocked as "soulless".
The flowers she planted were ridiculed as "lifeless".
Finally one day, she discovered that inside her house's kitchen, there was an extra person.
A "herself" who looked exactly like her, but whose face always hung a passionate, cheerful smile.
That "herself" could cook the most delicious cuisine, could plant the brightest flowers, could converse cheerfully with the wives of the neighborhood.
Everyone liked that "herself".
While the real her could only curl up in a corner, watching that impostor bit by bit replace her life, snatch away her husband, her child, her everything.
Finally, she was locked into the dark storage room by that "herself".
Outside the door, came the heartfelt praise and laughter of her husband, child, and neighbors towards that "herself".
...
The back-to-back broadcast of the two episodes ended.
In the homes of many people throughout Tokyo, it had already descended into a dead silence at this time.
Then that silence exploded with a rumble like a tsunami from telephones and from every social corner!
"Season 2... is even more terrifying than Season 1!"
"Moreover, compared to Season 1, the more you think about it, the more terrifying it is! The more you think, the more scared you get!"
"This is true terror!!!"
Word of mouth, at this moment, was completely detonated with an attitude far more furious than any promotion!
Especially since before this, their appetites had already been whetted through various television programs and newspaper reviews. Everyone wanted to see as quickly as possible just how good this highly praised "Yamishibai Season 2" exactly was.
There were even quite a few people who, unable to restrain themselves, went to Kanto TV to watch the 9 PM late-night rebroadcast of "Yamishibai Season 1".
They were similarly deeply attracted by that wonderful plot and novel concepts.
So to speak.
They were truly, practically unable to wait for the current "Yamishibai Season 2"!
...
Tuesday's morning light, like a magnanimous and benevolent monarch, sprinkled its indiscriminate golden grace across every inch and corner of the TV Tokyo Production Bureau.
Suzuki Section.
When Hashishita Ichiro rushed into the office like a gust of wind holding that brand new viewership rating report, everyone's hearts subconsciously skipped a beat.
"5.12%!"
Hashishita Ichiro's voice trembled to the point of changing tune somewhat.
"Ohhhhhh—!"
That magma named victory suppressed for a long time in the office finally erupted with a rumble at this moment!
This time's cheers were purer and more heartily thoroughly enjoyable than any previous time!
"It really succeeded! The first episode broke 5%! Banzai! Banzai!"
"Banzai! Yamishibai Season 2 Banzai!"
"Section Chief Suzuki Banzai! Nohara Hiroshi Banzai!"
Minamura Hoshi and Haseji Kakeru were like two youths winning the jackpot at a festival. They swept the empty wine bottles on the desk onto the floor in one motion, then jumped onto the desk, shouting and jumping without any restraint. That ecstasy belonging to youths unversed in worldly affairs almost lifted the roof of this small office.
Because they knew.
This was too difficult!
Previously, the starting viewership rating for their 'Yamishibai Season 1' was so terrible.
Later it directly counterattacked to become Ichiban of the early morning slot.
This was already earth-shaking.
Now.
Their 'Yamishibai Season 2' possessed such a high viewership rating right from the first episode. Thinking about the subsequent viewership ratings, one knew they would definitely be even higher!
This was already a very good start!
"It really succeeded." Even Suzuki Kiyoto, looking at that report, shed two streaks of scalding hot tears for the first time from those eyes bloodshot from consecutive days of overwork.
He walked to Nohara Hiroshi's side, patted his shoulder heavily, a thousand words ultimately formulating into a single sigh carrying endless emotion: "Nohara-kun, we... we really did it."
He knew, from this moment on, this small section, this young man named Nohara Hiroshi, had already become an existence even he himself had to look up to.
The gaze he used to look at Nohara Hiroshi was no longer a superior's appreciation for a subordinate, but an almost equal respect for a true comrade-in-arms.
Capable people, no matter where they are, will be worthy of respect.
Moreover, it was such a capable junior.
It was no longer ordinary respect.
But rather a type of respect that needed to be maintained as a connection!
"..."
Hashishita Ichiro stood in the crowd, a brilliant smile also hanging on his face. He clapped forcefully, cheering for this hard-won victory.
Except, deep within his passionate eyes, in that unnoticed corner, a cluster of jealousy flames burned quietly, scorching that heartfelt joy of his to the point of somewhat twisting as well.
Looking at that young man surrounded in the center with a faint smile always hanging on his face, he felt his own dozen years of conscientious and diligent work seemed so pale and so laughable in front of that world-shocking genius.
"Crack." Even though Hashishita Ichiro was still smiling, his molars were already clenched tightly.
Especially when looking at Nohara Hiroshi's unrippled face.
That calmness as if everything was within his grasp.
As well as what he learned...
Nohara Hiroshi currently lived in a high-end apartment, also had a young and beautiful girlfriend, and his manuscript fees were considerably handsome.
Then thinking about how he himself still lived in an old, run-down, small apartment.
His wife also frequently complained about his inability to make money.
That kind of sorrow.
That kind of jealousy.
That kind of jealous fire... was almost going to burn him to ashes!
"Yes, I need to learn, I will also possess all this." Hashishita Ichiro forcefully made himself grin and smile.
But in those eyes, the bloodshot redness grew increasingly crimson!