I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

The promotion and distribution of "Hanzawa Naoki" in China was already quite extensive.

The main reason is that it has a lot of free time, so it's the kind of thing that comes with its own traffic.

But in Japan, they really spent a lot of money on marketing and promotion.

The main issue is that the Japanese film and television market has been in a slump for many years.

Major television stations and various local film and television companies are all trending towards a downward trajectory.

Therefore, Feng Ge's entry into the Japanese market was much smoother than her initial experience in Korea.

There is no xenophobia among our peers; there is only the joy of new capital entering the market.

Negotiations with the TV station for cooperation went quite smoothly.

Even our Sister Hong thought this was the least challenging task she had ever undertaken.

……

Although Tencent Video and Tudou Video have different opinions, they have reached almost the same conclusion: it will be very difficult for Feng Ge's new drama to become a hit.

This is due to the limitations of workplace dramas.

It actually has little to do with the reputation and quality of the show itself.

It's just that it's not that easy to explode.

For most viewers, workplace dramas are just something to watch while eating or to pass the time; they don't actually inspire a strong desire to watch them on purpose.

That is, it relies on Xu Kong's own popularity.

Otherwise, the initial publicity and promotion alone wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

Of course, the exclusive broadcasting rights have now been bought by iQiyi.

It doesn't really concern them anymore.

Just sit and watch the show.

……

Amidst various voices and discussions, the audience's expectations and skepticism, and the confusion and doubts of peers, "Hanzawa Naoki" has finally ushered in the day of its official broadcast.

Because it was September, the start of the school year, the domestic film and television market as a whole was in a slump with little attention.

Therefore, there are no competing dramas in the same period for "Hanzawa Naoki".

At the same time, the shows were either low-budget online dramas or traditional period dramas that seemed unlikely to have a large audience, targeting the few remaining television viewers.

Of course, even though the drama "Hanzawa Naoki" hasn't aired yet, it already has a lot of buzz.

But almost all the traffic came from the name Xu Kong.

Aside from that, the trailers and other related information released are still too little.

Even a professional film critic like Yiguo, who has seen an astonishing number of films, felt a little curious at this moment.

What exactly will this new drama, supposedly produced by Xu Kong to help Feng Ge enter the Japanese market, be like?

……

Fortunately, the broadcast time was the same as that in Japan.

It's only been a little over a week since the drama was officially announced and scheduled to air.

Yiguo also turned down some of her work for the next two days and began to focus on waiting for Fengge's new drama.

"It's on air!"

Finally, after a long wait, Ego finally got to see the official premiere of the show.

As expected, since it's a drama aimed at the Japanese market, the overall setting, including the characters and background, is based on Japanese culture.

Of course, it seems that the male lead is the actor who plays Feng Ge?
She had seen it before in "Infernal Affairs".

……

Soon, with the end of Feng Ge's signature opening sequence, the entire series officially began.

It was only then that Ego finally learned the name of the drama, "Hanzawa Naoki," which turned out to be the male lead's name.

The story begins with a scene where Hanzawa Naoki is interviewing at an industrial bank.

He said that his family was a small manufacturer back then, on the verge of bankruptcy, and only survived thanks to a loan from the bank.

To repay his debt of gratitude, he felt compelled to join the Central Industrial Bank; there was no other way.

Soon, time began to fly by, and Hanzawa Naoki had gone from being a newcomer to becoming the head of the branch's financing department.

"Is it really just a pure workplace drama?"

Ego was somewhat surprised.

However, it soon dawned on me that if Xu Kong was the screenwriter and producer, then this might not be so incomprehensible.

……

The story then officially begins.

Under the strong instructions of the branch manager Asano, a 5 million yen unsecured loan was granted to Nishi-Osaka Steel.

Although Hanzawa had reservations about the company, the higher-ups had the final say, so he had no choice but to accept the branch manager Asano's assurance that he would "take full responsibility" and sign the loan agreement.

However, although the company appeared to be a high-quality enterprise, it actually falsified its accounts to conceal its huge debts and went bankrupt just three months after receiving the loan, leaving the 500 million yuan loan unrecoverable.

Branch Manager Asano attempted to shift all the blame onto Hanzawa. Undeterred, Hanzawa vowed at the head office's hearing and investigation meeting to recover the 5 million yen loan at all costs, striving to clear his name.

Is the first episode really over just like that?

When Ego saw the end credits, he was stunned for a moment.

The plot is definitely not boring; in fact, it's quite exciting.

The pacing is very tight, and it clearly portrays the male protagonist's character and the cruelty of the workplace.

Especially the male lead's boss, who is ambitious and always takes credit for himself, but whenever something goes wrong, he simply tries to shift the blame and even uses psychological manipulation to make the male lead take the fall.

This is incredibly immersive.

However, this drama is not the kind of realistic drama that only reflects the cruelty and darkness of the workplace.

Because the male lead's personality is just too likable.

They will never completely give in, and even if they suffer a setback, they will still refuse to give up.

In particular, the catchphrase that is repeatedly emphasized in the show is: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

It has a surprisingly strong sense of a hot-blooded drama. More importantly, based on the style and direction of this drama, Igor thinks that Hanzawa Naoki will definitely be able to defeat the villains in the end.

……

To be honest, before watching it, Ego never imagined that this show would actually be a workplace drama, and so purely so.

There was hardly any romance, and not even any significant female characters appeared.

The entire series truly focuses on Hanzawa Naoki's struggles against his superiors, rivals, and schemers at the bank.

Too pure!
Even some of the better-received workplace dramas in China cannot achieve this.

Of course, the reason why Ego was able to empathize so deeply is because when she first graduated, she worked as a copywriter at an advertising company.

As a result, she encountered a disgusting boss and annoying colleagues, so when watching this show, she was truly able to immerse herself completely in it.

Moreover, it must be said that the male lead's character design and personal charm are indeed too strong.

The young actress in Feng Ge, although speaking Japanese in the film, has truly impeccable acting skills.

His role in "Infernal Affairs" was just a fleeting one, but in this drama, he completely brought the male lead to life.

It's unclear whether Fengge already had a full pool of talent, or whether Xu Kong demonstrated his ability to discover actors after taking over.

Regardless of the circumstances, given his performance in this drama, if Feng Ge provides him with resources, he will likely be able to establish himself in the domestic film and television industry, and might even become a top-tier male actor.

……

Of course, there was also something that Ego was not entirely sure about.

So, while "Hanzawa Naoki" is entertaining, can such a purely workplace drama really become a huge hit in China?
It's worth noting that in the past, workplace dramas already had a fairly limited scope.

It's not that there's no way to make money, it's just that it's impossible to become a viral sensation.

Of course, there have been some popular workplace dramas in the past. But strictly speaking, those dramas should be classified as sitcoms.

It also tells stories of love and friendship in the office.

It definitely cannot be discussed together with "Hanzawa Naoki".

……

The day after the premiere of "Hanzawa Naoki", Qin Xian went to the company early in the morning and immediately checked the relevant data.

"The number of views has exceeded 80 million, and it shouldn't be a big problem to reach 100 million in 24 hours."

The person in charge of backend data operations spoke up.

"How is the buzz and level of discussion?"

He spoke again.

"The level of discussion was average, but it still made it onto the trending topics list many times."

"Strictly speaking, this is already a pretty good result, but..."

The relevant operations team also responded at this time.

Although the words were not fully spoken, Qin Xian clearly understood what the other person wanted to express.

For other dramas, such premiere viewership figures would certainly be quite impressive.

But this is Feng Ge's drama, and the cost they, Kiwi, paid was not low.

Putting everything else aside, the investment in publicity and platform operation alone during this period amounts to a considerable sum.

It's not that it will lose money, but compared to previous hits like "Candle in the Tomb" which became an instant sensation or even a phenomenon as soon as they aired, "Hanzawa Naoki" can only be considered a popular drama, far from reaching the level of a blockbuster.

……

"Where exactly is the problem?"

Qin Xian asked.

It's also a way of asking myself questions.

In his opinion, the plot of Hanzawa Naoki is fast-paced throughout, and it's the kind of book that gets more enjoyable the more you read it.

The original plan was for it to become a huge hit immediately after its premiere.

However, it seems that this start is not quite what was expected.

"President Qin, I feel it's still a problem with the subject matter."

"In fact, almost all viewers who watched the first episode gave it rave reviews."

"But many people are indeed not very interested in workplace dramas. Our exit rate in the first three minutes is lower than that of ordinary dramas, but it is far less than that of some hit dramas."

Qin Xian nodded after hearing this analysis.

It seems that this is indeed the case.

There's no way around it; audiences in China have been fooled by workplace dramas for a long time.

Putting aside the issue of its professionalism, the plot is riddled with holes and is designed to fool uninformed viewers.

Besides that, the most frequent joke is the question that many netizens often ask: "In which episode do they start dating?"

There's nothing we can do; these are all stereotypes.

It's as if the screenwriter can't write a script and the director can't make a film without adding a love story.

But these are all lessons learned. Only by adding elements of romance can we retain the audience to the greatest extent possible.

Because if a screenwriter only focuses on the workplace, they simply cannot create a script that is engaging enough to keep the audience engaged.

……

"I told you, this show isn't worth that much investment!"

There were quite a few colleagues watching the play at this time.

As Tencent, which almost acquired the rights to this drama, Zeng Xi was visibly pleased after seeing the premiere's viewership numbers.

Qin Xian acted impulsively after all.

After all, because the company doesn't have enough power, many times it's necessary to take risks to achieve so-called performance targets.

While it seems unlikely that "Hanzawa Naoki" will lose money at present, iQiyi itself is unlikely to make too much profit either.

This was clearly the result he was most pleased to see.

……

On the other hand, Tu Zong of Tudou Video had a slightly different idea.

"It seems we have all underestimated Xu Kong's current influence in the domestic film and television market."

In her own opinion, this workplace drama should actually have only achieved mediocre results.

However, it seems that although it hasn't become a huge hit, one of the data points for the premiere was surprisingly good.

This has far exceeded her expectations.

Of course, it wasn't because Tu Qiao'er's judgment was flawed, but rather because she had almost no experience in a similar workplace.

Her family background, coupled with her outstanding abilities, led her to a management position from the very beginning.

So, strictly speaking, this workplace drama feels somewhat exaggerated and lacks a sense of immersion.

In her opinion, this show is indeed not worth spending too much money to buy the copyright and operate.

……

Of course, as the one who produces the square, Feng Ge is not most concerned about the domestic market at this time.

It's actually a premiere data point from Japan.

"The first episode's ratings peaked at 11!"

"This data has already broken records for the Japanese domestic TV drama market in nearly ten years."

"It's performing well on video platforms too, and there's a lot of discussion about it online in Japan. This show is going to be a hit!"

"And it was a huge fire!"

The branch manager in Japan spoke excitedly during the video conference.

"We must maintain the previous plan and not let our guard down."

Lin Hong took the initiative to speak.

Although, strictly speaking, she didn't hold a very high position within the company.

However, Feng Ge has almost always been in charge of overseas markets.

Therefore, even though there were people like Yan Rui, the head of the film and television department, and other senior executives present at this meeting, Lin Hong herself still held the dominant power of discourse.

……

"The premiere ratings in China were also good, but..."

Yan Rui couldn't help but mention it.

Lin Hong then indicated that he should just say what he wanted to say.

"However, it's nowhere near as good as some of our other dramas from this period."

The standards for folk songs have indeed changed now.

In the past, a premiere performance like that of "Hanzawa Naoki" would definitely be considered a successful project.

But now, almost every drama Feng Ge stars in is aimed at becoming a hit.

This makes it seem that the premiere results of this new drama were indeed not very impressive.

Lin Hong nodded thoughtfully.

Not too surprising.

"Wait a little longer; it's too early to draw conclusions now."

...(End of chapter)