Obviously it was stressful having to go without seeing him, but as a grown adult with a day job, those six weeks were over in a blink. Though I wasn’t personally affected by the spring renewal season, it still threw the whole station into disarray with old shows ending, new shows starting, and others getting full makeovers. That’s not even counting the outliers that didn’t fit into any of those three categories. Sets were hastily redesigned and new posters and commercials were made, all at the same dizzying speed with which my February and March flew by.
On the last Monday of March, every TV station switched into “new fiscal year” mode, and coincidentally, Newsment launched at the same time. We needed to get a look at the show if we were going to counter them, so after filming wrapped, we all met up in a meeting room to watch the recording of the first episode.
Their title sequence was ten seconds long with a rainbow of colorful CGI. In contrast with the predominantly brown set featured on The News, theirs was white with a long, curved table where all of the commentators sat in a row.
“Looks fancy with all those people sitting there,” someone in the room commented.
“But it gives me more of a morning talk show vibe,” said another.
At the center of the table sat the main show host, flanked by a commentator stage left and Kizaki Ryou stage right. Though only his upper body was on camera, it was clear at a glance that his physique was every bit as symmetrical as one would expect from a model. His facial features were velvety smooth, complete with a slender nose and jawline, but thus far he seemed no more exceptional than any other handsome TV personality.
Then the camera panned over the cast, settling on the main trio, and the host began to speak.
“Good evening. My name is Kadomatsu Nobuo, and starting tonight, I’ll be hosting our brand new program, Newsment. With so much information being reported around the world on a daily basis, it’s our goal to summarize these stories in a way that viewers can fully digest without waking up confused the next morning. Here with me tonight is my trusty partner, Kizaki Ryou-san.”
“Good evening, everyone. I’m Kizaki Ryou.”
After a quick bow, he curled his lips ever so faintly, freezing like a still image for the perfect shot. I could see his experience as a model paying off in spades here. Human facial expressions had the tendency to waver, and if you didn’t consciously hold them for a moment, you’d often come off looking sloppy.
“As I’m sure you’re all aware, we’re competing with The News in this timeslot, so I’ll try to keep my expectations realistic. What I mean is, it’d be great if we catch up or surpass them at some point, but I’m in no hurry.”
“Now, now, don’t be so pessimistic. This is only our first episode.”
“Okay then, I’d like to catch up to them by tomorrow.”
“Careful now. Remember that this is a live broadcast!”
“Ugh, he totally name-dropped us.”
“Daaaamn…”
“Was that in the script?”
“No, I think it was ad lib. Kadomatsu-san looks a little flustered.”
“This Kizaki Ryou’s got balls…”
Normally, presenters did not comment on competitors. After all, it could inspire viewers to change the channel out of curiosity, and they generally did not need any extra encouragement to go surfing. Either this guy was emboldened by his position as the underdog or he was an idiot angling for laughs.
What surprised me the most about him, however, was his speech. How was he so good? His rhythm, his articulation, his pronunciation—all of it was flawless. He wasn’t just self-assured; he showed signs of having attended a broadcasting school or taken special courses. Granted, it was entirely probable that his agency had trained him beforehand, but still. All this from a guy who looked like he walked off the cover of a hairstyle magazine at your local salon? His hair was bleached and messy (in that “effortless” way that an amateur would totally screw up if they tried to replicate it), yet there was a firm polish to his voice. Was that contrast intentional?
All I could say for certain was this: he was no mere fashion fanatic. It took a lot of conscious effort for a young guy with no acting experience to speak so eloquently in front of a camera. Plus—and this was more of a gut feeling than a factual observation—he had the kind of voice that made you take notice.
“Oh…?”
Just then, right in the middle of a pre-recorded segment, the feed reverted to the Newsment studio.
“Somebody hit the wrong button on the video switcher.”
“The timing on their chyrons has been pretty weird too. They must be frazzled since it’s day one.”
After the pre-recorded video, the host offered a cookie-cutter apology for the “technical difficulties,” to which Kizaki responded, “Looks like they showed the traffic-light trio for a second there.”
“What?”
“Oh, he means their clothes.”
“Ah, I get it. Clever.”
The erroneous cutaway of the studio had depicted three people who were coincidentally wearing red, yellow, and green, respectively. They all looked down at themselves and laughed in agreement, restoring the lighthearted atmosphere. Kizaki had to be pretty damn quick on his feet to think of such a good cover for the technical trouble.
Once we watched all the way through to the end of the show, comments sprang up like daisies.
“Well, that was casual.”
“That seemed to be what the host was going for. Maybe that’s their concept.”
“If we had a show like this, it would totally cause drama in the studio.”
“I wouldn’t mind watching something like this over the weekend.”
“We always take a fairly serious approach with our shows. Maybe some people find it too complicated.”
“What’s hard to understand? Just pay attention and you’ll get it.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m talking about the overall vibe…”
In summary, the conclusion was that: “Newsment seems fun, but it’s not going to change the way we do things.” No surprise there.
“Eh, not much we can say after only watching one episode.”
No matter how the numbers might tank, or no matter how hard the execs and editing department could breathe down his neck, Shitara would likely never bat an eyelash. At times like these, I was grateful to have that sly old fox as my producer. This way, I didn’t need to walk on eggshells.
“While both shows can be summed up as ‘news shows,’ they’re created by two entirely different sets of people, and as such, differences in design are par for the course. There’s no single right answer. That being said, I like The News just the way it is, and as long as we can all agree on that, we’ll be fine. If they start to outpace us, people might start telling us to tinker with the format or the commercial placement, but…well, we can cross that bridge if it comes to it. Thank you all for staying so late.”