Chapter 303
Chapter 303
The penalty stages or skits on T-Holic’s Show Business were, naturally, intended for comedic purposes.
They usually involved taking a famous meme—either a trending one or a steady-seller—and reinterpreting or recreating it exactly as it was.
‘Up until now, T-Holic has handled about half of them.’
Actually, since they often let the guests win, it might be even more than that. And because those guys were so good at making things hilarious, even if the guests were well-directed or coached, the general perception remained that T-Holic were the ‘originals.’
So, what was the most important thing to keep in mind when putting this stage together?
“Next is a draft where I’ve added drum sounds and restructured the beat.”
Vroom!
As an accompaniment reminiscent of a sleek engine exhaust note rang out, Cha Yu-jin’s eyes sparkled.
“This is cool! Let’s do this one!”
“Wait.”
I stopped Cha Yu-jin.
“Let’s listen to the others first.”
“Yes, then I will play number three.”
The thing to be careful of was that we shouldn’t just do a ‘wholesome, good job.’
‘If we’re just good, they’ll say it’s boring.’
The viewers were expecting a funny stage. If we performed perfectly without any humor, there was a high probability they’d think we were ‘refusing to let go of our image.’
The fact that we poured our souls into it with only a week to prepare was none of their business.
‘That kind of narrative only works in a survival show.’
It didn’t stand a chance on a regular variety program.
However, aiming solely for laughs wasn’t the best strategy either.
‘There’s no shortage of guys who’ve been funny in these penalties.’
It would be faster to find the ones who failed to be funny and made the atmosphere awkward. The production team was skilled and knew how to structure things well.
If TeSTAR simply followed that trend, we would just be absorbed into the program’s good reputation.
Isn’t that the kind of reaction the program usually expects?
‘They even gave us a list of recommendations.’
I skimmed through the candidates for ‘Nostalgic Anime Theme Songs’ provided by the staff.
A motorcycle racing anime, a Greek and Roman mythology anime, a mystery anime…
‘The one we just heard was the mystery anime opening…’
Kim Rae-bin had transformed it into a sophisticated, hard-boiled rhythm with a great beat. In short, it wasn’t funny at all. It was just cool.
The next song was the same.
“The music for this is great!”
“I agree.”
The next one was the theme song for the Greek and Roman mythology anime. Having arranged it to be easy on the ears, it sounded exactly like an easy-listening indie band track.
It was only then that I realized my mistake.
Thinking we should look at the arrangements first to set the direction was the wrong order of operations.
‘I should have coached him on the direction from the start.’
Given the order to ‘arrange an anime theme song to fit a TeSTAR stage,’ Kim Rae-bin had produced exactly that.
Nothing ridiculous, just sophisticated.
‘No, it would probably be hard for this guy to even make a low-quality, funny arrangement in the first place…’
Of course, since he had talent, he could probably churn one out if he looked at a few references, but it definitely wasn’t his specialty.
Especially in this state, where he’d gone out of his way to produce drafts for all the candidate songs because he thought it ‘seemed fun’… there was a high chance he’d be discouraged.
“What do you think? I haven’t started the detailed adjustments or mixing yet, so it may sound a bit rough, but I believe all the important elements of delivery are there!”
“Yeah. It’s definitely easy to listen to.”
“Thank you!”
Right. This guy was completely excited.
‘And we don’t have much time.’
If I said something unnecessary and Kim Rae-bin fell into a state of confusion, wondering, ‘Funny… music?’ it would be a headache.
I listened to all three songs Kim Rae-bin had prepared and sank into thought.
The purpose of the video.
‘Why did they only list anime that went viral on WeTube as candidates?’
I’d like to stop talking about this generation stuff, but… anyway, it was a choice aimed at both Gen Z, who had seen the trending videos, and Millennials, who had watched the cartoons themselves as children.
In the end, the keywords were… relatability and buzzworthiness in terms of content.
“Hmm.”
It was while I was rubbing my chin.
Cha Yu-jin asked without hesitation.
“Moon-dae Hyung! You don’t like this?”
“…!”
Oops.
“…! If you point out the shortcomings, I will rectify them immediately!”
Kim Rae-bin was startled and snapped to attention like a private in the army.
‘Was I too quiet?’
Well, if someone had even a bit of intuition, they could tell I wasn’t entirely satisfied. I’d let my guard down because it was Kim Rae-bin.
In times like this, the reaction needed to be casual to keep the atmosphere from getting too serious. I shrugged my shoulders.
I’d just thought of a way, anyway.
“The arrangements are good… but I don’t think these are cartoons you guys would know. I was wondering if you actually knew them.”
“I don’t!”
“I have watched Detective Arthur, but I have only heard of the others by reputation.”
Cha Yu-jin asked brightly.
“Hyung, do you know these? Have you seen them?”
…I see. Park Moon-dae was only two years older than these guys.
I gave a sensible answer.
“…I saw them on WeTube.”
“Oh.”
“I see. For the sake of the stage… your preparation is truly thorough!”
I’ll just let them misunderstand.
“Anyway, the songs the production team gave us are fine, but they aren’t exactly related to us…”
I threw out the bait.
“Wouldn’t it be more fun if we did a song related to us?”
“Is there such a song?”
“I like Billy’s Exciting Animal Tale!”
An American cartoon I’d never heard of popped out.
I shook my head and said, “We have to pick something that was famous in Korea around the 2000s. Those are the penalty conditions.”
“Uuuu…”
Since it was ‘Nostalgic Anime Theme Songs.’ In that sense, Cha Yu-jin’s taste was rejected.
‘This should do it.’
Instead, I showed them a WeTube video of the candidate I had just thought of.
This had definitely become a meme on TickTackTok because of the creative gestures.
“So… how about this?”
“…?”
With this, there was no need to dampen Kim Rae-bin’s motivation by forcing him to make a ridiculous arrangement.
‘And we don’t need to dress up ridiculously either.’
We could be funny in a different way.
‘The stage itself isn’t funny, but the situation makes it funny.’
Humor created through context.
So that the person arranging it could immerse himself and create it comfortably without even realizing it was supposed to be funny.
“This is… ah.”
As expected, Kim Rae-bin’s expression brightened.
“I see. Certainly… this could be a meaningful challenge. Please wait a moment!”
And Kim Rae-bin put on his headset and went straight to work.
‘…From scratch without even the original track?’
Anyway, the fire had definitely been lit. I nodded.
‘Is it settled?’
Then, the last unit member right next to me spoke up with a serious expression.
“Hyung.”
Ah, this guy might be the obstacle.
I could guarantee this wasn’t Cha Yu-jin’s taste.
“What?”
“Do you and Kim Rae-bin really like this? Really?”
“Yeah.”
At that, Cha Yu-jin looked at the video once, looked at Kim Rae-bin once, and finally looked at me before letting out a deep sigh.
[Oh my god!]
Look at him.
“This is a comedy stage meant to be funny. This much is fine.”
“I know! Ugh…”
Cha Yu-jin smacked his lips a few times with a disappointed face, but soon shrugged his shoulders.
It was a declaration of surrender.
[Hyung. I’m really doing this for the team. I never thought I’d do something like this in my life.]
I chuckled. I get it, kid.
“Adjust the pitch here…”
Kim Rae-bin worked hard, adjusting the key and matching the accompaniment, and produced a 1-minute and 24-second arrangement in half a day.
And so, an urgent dawn practice was set.
*
Shifting scenes to the point where the main broadcast of the sophistry debate with TeSTAR had just ended.
In reality, the penalty was filmed after a one-week interval, but in the broadcast, the penalty cut followed naturally after TeSTAR’s insane defeat.
Of course, after a commercial break.
[What is the penalty stage TeSTAR prepared?]
[Revealed in 60 seconds]
People already accustomed to such marketing tactics spent the interval making various predictions.
There were several funny songs and concepts that came to mind when thinking of nostalgic anime.
And given this program’s track record of never failing to be funny, they already had certain expectations for the production and vibe.
They meant that ‘out-of-this-world’ sensibility that intentionally leaned into B-grade tackiness.
This program didn't do half-baked ruin; it knew how to faithfully recreate that hilarious vibe!
However, when the screen returned after the commercial break.
The three members of TeSTAR were standing in the studio wearing neat school uniforms.
The lighting hitting TeSTAR as they stood with their backs turned was modern and sophisticated. No other filters were used.
At that moment, the song began with a bright and cheerful accompaniment.
Park Moon-dae, in the center, turned around and performed a symbolic gesture.
[A dream of love delivered through song
It starts right now]
It was the exact gesture from the transformation theme of the 2001 magical girl anime, Melody Angel.
A classic magical girl cartoon where the protagonist becomes a magical girl through melody and purifies enemies with magical songs.
TeSTAR, having recreated those school uniforms realistically without exaggerated costumes, began their live performance holding real microphones.
[Magical lights up!]
This cartoon had been invested in by an ambitious animation specialty channel, so it even had original songs instead of just translated ones, and the song playing now was exactly that.
The theme song of the protagonist group.
A nostalgic theme song, now cleanly arranged to be perfect for listening.
The melody, which almost everyone in their 20s and 30s knew, was played with its original sentiment intact.
[Filling a pure song with love
Fly away, magical Heart Bullet!]
Because of those lyrics and movements, a parody video where people collapsed as if hit by a real bullet had once trended as a childhood-shattering gag. Thanks to that, even teenagers knew the original video.
But TeSTAR didn’t use that meme or production. They simply faithfully recreated the original anime.
In the chorus, they even brought out capes and gloves as stage props and continued the performance.
It was exactly the point where the capes would appear in the full transformation scene of Melody Angel.
[Open your heart, LOVE
Today, I’ll make a wish]
TeSTAR worked really hard.
In terms of the reproduction rate and the coolness of the actual cartoon, it was better than any video uploaded on the internet. Their singing, expressions, and even the group dance were truly professional.
And that’s why it was beyond hilarious.
Overflowing respect for the original creator!
The sincerity of those whose debut song was ‘Magical Boy’ covering ‘Magical Girls who sing’ with all their hearts!
It was true over-immersion, so it couldn't help but be funny.
It was a perfect picture, even down to the shot of a T-Holic member caught in the background with his arms crossed, looking as if he were saying, ‘To that extent…?’
From the viewers’ perspective, this was the peak of the ‘sincerity’ vibe that connected from the debate they had just seen. People burst into helpless laughter.
[Draw. A. Won. Derful. Dream
The world is beautiful~]
A CG sparkle effect was used only once, but even that was the same production as the cartoon, making it even more absurd.
And during the short interlude toward the end of the stage.
The comments that appeared where the program traditionally placed testimonial captions were the highlight.
[Senior Peperto from Melody Angel, thank you for the wonderful song. I respect you. by Park Moon-dae]
[I felt a common goal in the concept of saving people through song, so I worked hard on this cover. I’m rooting for you! by Kim Rae-bin]
[It’s my first time seeing it, but everyone likes it. by Cha Yu-jin]
The stage was cool, the interpretation was funny.
The three members of TeSTAR finished the stage with a serious attitude until the very end.
And just as Park Moon-dae had intended, the buzz began to explode.