Chapter 408: New Manga—Little Ding-Dang (Doraemon)
"Haha, seems like having good programming really can stimulate entertainment-related spending," Yang Wendong said with a smile.
In his previous life, there was a theory: when the performance of computer or smartphone chips exceeded daily user needs, the sales of high-end devices would depend on games. Once a blockbuster game was released, it could directly boost demand for high-end graphics cards, CPUs, computers, and even revive dormant internet cafés.
The same logic applied in this era. TVs weren't cheap, and without quality programming, most people wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money.
Liu Huayu added, "Yes, I watched Legend of the Condor Heroes last night as well. I spoke with quite a few people today—everyone was talking about the show. It felt like the buzz around a hit movie."
"Exactly," Yang Wendong said. "When a movie is on everyone's lips, its box office surges. The same is true for television. A popular series gets people watching, and those who were on the fence about buying a TV suddenly make the leap."
If someone was truly impoverished, then no promotion could help. But for many families, the cost of a TV wasn't completely out of reach—they were just hesitant. Once they saw clear value, they'd be motivated to spend.
In his previous life, many home appliance promotions and even car tax waivers in China followed this exact principle—push people who were already considering a purchase to act.
Qi Ruifan said, "Besides Legend of the Condor Heroes, I'm planning to adapt Changxing Manga's Black Cat Detective into an animated series. Also, I'm considering purchasing an anime from Japan.
The idea is to make sure every child with a TV in Hong Kong is watching our content. And since kids are natural word-of-mouth engines at school, the ones whose homes don't yet have TVs will definitely start bugging their parents to buy one."
"Smart strategy," Yang Wendong nodded. "Using the TV station to promote IPs is also more efficient—it benefits Changxing Culture directly.
Besides Black Cat Detective, you can also air some of our short-form animation movies from the past. Children don't mind repetition."
Even in later decades, when entertainment became overwhelming, kids still liked rewatching their favorite animated shows—Ultraman shorts, Boonie Bears, Kung Fu Bunny and Vegetable Dog, to name a few. No matter how many times they'd seen an episode, they wanted to watch again.
This kind of repetition was gold for a TV station's viewership ratings and also critical for IP licensing and derivative merchandise. Movies made money, yes—but they weren't free. TV shows, on the other hand, could be watched for free, building massive audiences and eventually selling toys, stickers, and other licensed products.
This was exactly why Yang Wendong had been so focused on launching TVB. With a television network, he could scale up the production of original animation, test-run it in Hong Kong, and then replicate the model in other countries, accelerating cultural export and establishing a model for Chinese IP globalization.
"Alright. That helps fill some of the current programming slots," Qi Ruifan said. "But if Changxing Culture could provide more animation content, it would be even better."
"I understand. Now that TVB is up and running, Changxing Manga should also speed up its content development," Yang Wendong said with a slight smile.
September 9, Morning – Changxing Tower
Yang Wendong was in his office when he received Zhang Zhiyuan, head of operations at Changxing Culture, and Wu Hailin, head of the manga division.
"Please, have a seat," Yang Wendong said warmly, then turned to his assistant. "Bring over the fruit tray from the meeting room."
"Yes, sir," the assistant replied and left.
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled, "Mr. Yang, that won't be necessary."
"No worries," Yang Wendong waved it off. "If no one eats it, it goes to waste. I usually have the staff take it home. I can't eat that much myself."
Fruits were healthy, but apart from watermelon, most were too high in sugar. Overeating wasn't good, so even that whole "eat apples to lose weight" thing wasn't entirely right.
Hearing this, Zhang and Wu didn't object further. Soon, the assistant returned with a tray of fruit. Yang Wendong gestured, "Help yourselves. It's all washed."
"Thank you, Mr. Yang," Zhang Zhiyuan said, not bothering with further politeness.
After eating some fruit and chatting casually, Yang Wendong asked, "How's progress on the manga side of things?"
Zhang Zhiyuan replied, "In the first half of this year, we wrapped up two short-form comics: Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother and Nezha Conquers the Sea. They've already completed serialization in the manga weekly and are now being adapted into animated films by our team on the mainland.
Ongoing projects include Black Cat Detective and Journey to the West. We also have two original concepts developed in-house, but they're not as popular as the others."
"That's fine," Yang Wendong nodded. "Slow and steady. No rush. You've all heard about TVB's launch, I assume?"
Wu Hailin nodded. "Of course. I watched half the night yesterday. The programming quality is already better than Rediffusion. And it's free—we're about to see Hong Kong's first truly dominant TV station."
"Becoming Hong Kong's top station isn't hard," Yang Wendong continued. "But to do it well, we need better shows. TVB has started filming dramas, but production is slow. So I'll need you guys to step up on the animation front."
Zhang Zhiyuan replied, "Mr. Yang, we've already produced 15 episodes of Black Cat Detective. We can also provide some previously released animated movies to TVB. But beyond that, we're limited—we only have a few manga properties.
We do have some original work, but it's not well-known. Turning it into animation probably wouldn't be cost-effective."
"I get it," Yang Wendong said. "Manga is an art form. It takes much longer to develop than something like a factory or service business. That's why I haven't pressured you over the past few years. The goal was to lay a strong foundation.
But now it's been a few years. The team is in place. The distribution channels are ready. It's time to scale up."
Wu Hailin leaned forward slightly, asking, "Mr. Yang, do you… have a new concept in mind?"
"Yes, I do have some ideas," Yang Wendong nodded. "As a manga company, I'd like us to create another long-running series like Black Cat Detective. So I'm planning to develop a new serialized manga."
Even Journey to the West, with its rich content, had a finite arc. Eventually, the story would come to an end. But a manga where each episode is self-contained—those could go on forever.
And children's manga didn't require adult-level logic. Just look at Detective Conan, which had been airing for decades without anyone asking why the main character hadn't aged or why the seasons kept changing. If it were an adult story, that kind of inconsistency would've gotten it thrown out long ago.
"What kind of story is it?" Wu Hailin's eyes lit up with curiosity.
These days, Changxing Group had built up significant influence and recognition across Southeast Asia. As a result, Changxing Culture had recruited many talented ethnic Chinese manga artists in the region. Plus, a number of skilled illustrators had migrated from the mainland to Hong Kong in recent years. Artistic capability was no longer a bottleneck.
The content team had also grown considerably. But in the end, the initial concept—the story idea—was the key to everything. Once the concept was finalized, the writers and artists could work together to bring it to life. But that original spark would decide whether the project would succeed or flop. Its impact on the outcome was easily 80–90%.
Crafting a hit storyline was the hardest part. The world was full of drawing talent, but brilliant storytelling ideas were rare. Most of the company's stories so far had leaned on traditional Chinese mythology and folklore, which meant they didn't have to invent plots from scratch. But their original works hadn't gained much traction.
Yang Wendong didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "How much do you guys know about robots?"
"Robots?" Wu Hailin thought for a moment. "You mean like the ones in Western or Japanese comics? Fully mechanical humanoids with combat functions?"
"Exactly. In Western and Japanese comics, robots are usually made for fighting," Yang Wendong smiled. "But mine will be different. I'm making a domestic-use robot—or rather, a robotic cat."
"Robotic… cat?" Wu Hailin and Zhang Zhiyuan both froze. A cartoonish image of a machine-shaped cat, about a few dozen centimeters tall, appeared in their minds.
A domestic robot? What was it for—catching mice?
Wu Hailin asked, "Mr. Yang, what's the robot cat used for?"
"Oh, it's very useful," Yang Wendong said with a grin. "The story is set 300 years in the future, when technology has advanced so far that robots are everywhere, helping people with everyday life.
One of these robots gets sent back in time—specifically to the 1960s, our present day—by a descendant of a family who wants to help his ancient ancestor, who was a shy, bullied boy afraid to confess to the girl he liked."
As Yang Wendong laid out the premise of Doraemon, the light in Wu Hailin's eyes grew brighter. The story was utterly captivating.
First, there was the futuristic robot cat, a companion any kid would dream of having.
Second, this setup allowed for an infinitely expandable storyline, just like Black Cat Detective. There was no end in sight, and the audience wouldn't mind if it ran forever.
After Yang Wendong finished explaining the concept, he looked at them and asked, "So, what do you two think?"
"I think it's brilliant," Wu Hailin said immediately. "Even as an adult, I find the premise incredibly appealing."
Zhang Zhiyuan added, "Mr. Yang, will the story be set in Hong Kong?"
"Yes, it will," Yang Wendong nodded. "But we'll keep it intentionally vague. We won't overemphasize the location or national identity. This way, when we eventually expand overseas, the setting won't feel alien."
A lot of Japanese manga, while clearly steeped in Japanese culture, avoided too many direct references so that global audiences wouldn't feel excluded. In international editions, many scenes were even modified for localization.
Cultural exports had to be subtle. If you pushed your identity too hard, it could backfire—especially early on, when global acceptance was still uncertain.
"Understood," Zhang Zhiyuan nodded. He was already getting excited. Just hearing this concept, he knew it had tremendous potential.
Wu Hailin asked, "Mr. Yang, could you describe a few sample stories? That would help our team get a feel for the structure and style. We can build from there."
"I'll write a few examples," Yang Wendong replied after a moment of thought. "But your team should also try brainstorming. Work from my concept and create a few trial stories for me to review."
Even though he had watched countless episodes of Doraemon as a child in his previous life, most of the plotlines had long since faded from memory. It was like Detective Conan—even the original author probably couldn't recall every case written decades ago.
Sure, he still remembered some iconic gadgets, which were crucial in the early episodes to hook viewers. But the detailed plots? Those could be recreated with help from the team.
"Got it. I'll organize a few mini-stories with the others," Wu Hailin nodded.
Yang Wendong added, "Old Wu, aside from the plot, you'll also need to design the robot cat. The basic shape is like this: it's not a realistic cat. It's more humanoid, with a cat's head. No neck. Kinda chubby."
As Yang Wendong described the character, Wu Hailin found the idea increasingly strange—but it made sense. In a futuristic society, robots built to assist humans would logically resemble humans themselves.
Yang Wendong continued, "And don't forget the dimensional pouch. From this pouch, it can pull out all kinds of items. Don't worry about science—this isn't a logical universe. Just make the tools fun and creative."
In online writing circles in his past life, there was a saying: Don't bring Xianxia protagonists into anime worlds—they don't stand a chance against anime logic. Even the strongest warriors would lose to a pouch that defied physics.
"Understood," Wu Hailin nodded. He already realized the dimensional pouch would be the most exciting feature of the character.
Zhang Zhiyuan asked, "Mr. Yang, what will the robot cat be called?"
"Let's call him Little Ding-Dang," Yang Wendong said. "Easy to remember."
In his past life, Doraemon was the Japanese name. Of course, he couldn't use that now. But Little Ding-Dang had been the Hong Kong name back then, and it had a nostalgic ring to it that worked perfectly.
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