"Video game production?"
Miyuki's words surprised Takumi. He said them, but he didn't yet have a serious plan to create video games.
Creating video games is no easier than creating animations. Takumi was lucky enough to acquire Tsuki Animation, but he didn't know of any video game production companies he could directly acquire. 'Wait a moment...'
Takumi was stunned. The hacker organization Miyuki worked for had people creating animations. 'Was it impossible that no one was creating video games?'
He quickly asked Miyuki.
"Yes." Miyuki nodded: "I'll go recruit people. It's not difficult to form a video game production company with 20 or 30 people."
All members of the Red Alliance are computer experts, and most also work in this field. Miyuki doesn't dare to guarantee how many people she can recruit, but 20 or 30 people will certainly not be a problem.
However, it's easy to create a company. Without funds or planning, a game cannot be created. It so happens that Takumi can provide this aspect. He showed a happy expression: "What kind of games do you know how to make?"
"I don't know about large-scale online games, but most others are not a problem,"
Miyuki replied.
"Can you make text adventure games? And bullet-hell games? And simple RPGs?"
Takumi asked excitedly.
"Danmaku games are very simple, but RPGs are much more complex...". Miyuki frowned: "As for text adventures, what kind of games are those?"
There are no galgames in this world, and the concept of cultivating love through text has not yet developed. Takumi simply had to explain to Miyuki the specific details of this type of game.
"Ah, that's it...". Miyuki was surprised to hear this: "With current game technology, this type of game is very easy to make... But will anyone play this kind of game?"
In her opinion, this is not a game at all. Games are for playing. And what Takumi said is more like a story machine within a game. Others don't play games at all, but read stories.
"Don't worry if anyone plays it." Takumi didn't care: "Tell me directly, can you make this kind of game?"
"No problem." Miyuki nodded: "It's too simple to create the structure of this game. We can do it in a few weeks, but it requires a lot of scripts, stories, drawings, and music. We can't do that."
The most expensive part of a galgame is its content. The script, music, and voice actors take a lot of time. Even the requirements for the drawings are very high, and it cannot be completed like manga alone.
But this is not a problem; Takumi already has a great idea.
"First, gather the people; I'll take care of the company." Takumi said: "You can start working immediately after gathering the people."
He decided bluntly. The cost of a galgame is very low, and he provides most of the content, so a budget of 100,000,000 yen is the maximum. Such a small amount of money is not worth mentioning to Hinotori Publishing; Takumi doesn't even care about it.
"This way... Mirai-sensei's House will also be given to you." Takumi thought about it and said: "I'll invest."
When buying a house, Takumi didn't pay for it all at once. He still had almost 200,000,000 yen on his bank card. This money would not only allow him to maintain Mirai-sensei's House but also to create the first game.
However, Takumi prefers to buy it in Hinotori Publishing's name. The investment is not large, and Hinotori Publishing's resources can be shared. In short, the game's artists can be selected from the company.
Miyuki agreed. She said she could gather 10 people to start working in a few days, and the rest might take longer. Takumi thought this speed was already amazing, so he said nothing.
At the end of the meeting, Takeshi Kimura left first, and Miyuki had something else to tell Takumi.
"Last night, we interrupted The Young Emperor's uproar, but it's still being talked about today. Should we help stop it?"
She knew that Pokémon was The Young Emperor's rival, so she said so, but Takumi disagreed: "Forget it, let it be, give it all the publicity it wants."
In animation, publicity influences viewership, but the audience is not blind, and the final decision is still the animation's quality. Takumi did not take The Young Emperor seriously.
"Okay."
Miyuki smiled and, after returning home, immediately asked her colleagues to stop suppressing it.
"It's useless. Mirai-sensei said we shouldn't pay attention to them."
She told this to her colleagues, and somehow, this phrase reached Tanaka's ears.
The reason for the publicity is simple: The Young Emperor aired after Pokémon and had good viewership. Osaka TV acquired the first broadcast rights for 40,000,000 yen per episode.
Tanaka was very proud to have recovered the cost after broadcasting an episode. The Young Emperor's potential was so great that if he seized the opportunity to promote it, 'it wouldn't be difficult to surpass Pokémon!'
He invited online promoters to help him, but the result was predictable: he was inexplicably defeated on the first day.
On the second day, Tanaka was determined. If one didn't work, he would invite three or four! He personally supervised the battle that day, but he hadn't expected that three or four promotion organizations could only match the Pokémon team.
"That guy must have found promoters too!"
Tanaka thought, and he spent money to hire a few more groups. Indeed, everything went perfectly, and in the blink of an eye, Pokémon was overwhelmed. But before he could rejoice, he received sudden news: the reason he had successfully promoted it was because Mirai-sensei didn't want to pay attention to it.
"This is inevitable mud!"
Tanaka exclaimed, gritting his teeth. He misinterpreted that these were Mirai-sensei's original words and was so enraged that he trembled completely.
"Okay, okay... If you don't want to care, I'll force you to care!" Tanaka didn't sleep all night. He found thousands of newspapers and media outlets, determined to spread the news of The Young Emperor throughout Osaka.
"Report it? No problem..."
"Don't worry, Tanaka, all the headlines are yours!"
"I saw that The Young Emperor is very popular online. We would have reported it even if you hadn't said so, Tanaka!"
All the newspapers responded affirmatively. Tanaka went home to sleep peacefully. Although only half the night had passed, he felt refreshed upon waking and asked his bodyguards to buy him newspapers.
"Huaya Company published the latest viewership data. Pokémon's viewership on Osaka TV surpassed 28%, becoming the first animation work in the history of Japanese animation to exceed 20% in a single episode."
"The dark horse is coming! Pokémon's viewership is expected to surpass popular television series!"
"In the financial field, experts interpret the effect of mangaka Mirai-sensei's fan economy based on Pokémon's viewership."
"Pokémon has created a viewership miracle. No other animation in Japan can compete with it. NHK's animation team has finally become a laughingstock...".
In the newspaper, the news printed in the headline column is all Pokémon. Tanaka can only find a lonely title below: "The Young Emperor has caused a sensation online."
This title is funny and ridiculous in Pokémon's ratings.
Let alone defeating Pokémon, The Young Emperor is not even qualified to fight alongside it. Tanaka turns pale and feels as if his heart has been stabbed.
"Tanaka, I'm sorry. Huaya Company suddenly published the viewership data. Pokémon's ratings are too amazing! We can no longer give you headlines. Oh, I won't talk to you anymore! I have to rush to Hinotori Publishing to report!"
"Tanaka, please be open-minded! When Pokémon's ratings are released, there are people who want to cry more than you do!"
At that moment, the one who wanted to cry the most was, of course, S5. Early in the morning, thousands of reporters surrounded them.
"Captain Haruto, Pokémon's first episode viewership is 28%. If there are no problems afterward, it will undoubtedly surpass The Cat and Mouse Couple's 34%. How will you fulfill the bet then?"
"I don't have time to answer that question."
Haruto, with a cold face, asked the bodyguards to separate the reporters and disappeared with his bandmates.
The publication of Pokémon's viewership was like a stone falling into a calm lake. Not only the animation industry, but also others who don't like animation, started paying attention to this animation.
On Vladivostok TV, in the Far East, the morning news anchor talked about this animation with the guests.
"We all know that, according to the viewership data published today by Huaya Company, Pokémon created a miracle. Before, the animation with the highest viewership was Animation of the Three Kingdoms two years ago, but its first episode only had 18%, a 10% difference. Professor Qin, what do you think this shows?"
"What does this show? First, we must understand the context. Animation of the Three Kingdoms is an adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is based on the original work, so it is not appropriate to compare it with Pokémon."
The middle-aged professor, sitting in the guest seat, replied: "We should compare it with original animations. Of course, the most popular original animation lately is The Cat and Mouse Couple. If I remember correctly, its first episode had a viewership of 7.2%, almost a quarter of Pokémon."
"But as for these two animations, I think many people know that they were sent to NHK's animation group at the same time." The professor shook his head and smiled: "As a result, Pokémon was rejected three times and ended up being burned. Now I think NHK made a serious mistake. It almost made us lose this animation."
"So, if you want to say what this incident shows...". The professor paused and said: "The first thing that comes to mind is that it shows that NHK no longer has authority. Local television stations will have better and better results in the future, and they might even surpass NHK."
"And the second thing it shows is that I believe this incident can trigger a wave of animation production. Our country is developing related industries, and Pokémon's viewership is high enough to be compared to popular television series. Then it will be very tempting for others, and it will naturally attract capital and talent to undertake."
"I admire the mangaka Mirai-sensei. He lit a fire..."
- - - -
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