Yosuganosora Animation Studio
Conference Room
The senior staff of the animation production department had gathered together: key animation director Uehara Etsuki, animation director Gogyo Ruri, 3D director Yūki Chinatsu, assistant director Kamiyā Sora, production director Morishita Aoi, the newly promoted art director Chishima Akisa, and others. With so many people present, the already modest conference room felt even more cramped. Shindō Tsukasa from the sound department did not need to attend. For one thing, he still had work to do, and for another, this meeting largely had nothing to do with the sound department.
"Please, have some." A calm, gentle voice sounded. Uehara Etsuki placed the prepared hot tea in front of everyone before quietly returning to her seat. Dressed in an elegant black kimono imbued with traditional Japanese charm, she seemed composed and graceful at all times. Her long hair was pinned up with a classical hairpin, and her quintessentially Yamato Nadeshiko bearing naturally inspired goodwill.
"Thank you. I wonder why the director called us here this time. Sora, do you know?" Gogyo Ruri elegantly lifted her cup with both hands and took a sip. Despite wearing a Gothic-style long dress, the way she drank tea was completely Japanese, yet strangely enough, it did not feel incongruous at all.
Kamiyā Sora calmly shook her head. "No. I never ask about company matters."
"Aoi, what about you?" Everyone turned their attention to Morishita Aoi, who was organizing some documents. They all knew that Morishita Aoi also served as Kamiyā Yuu's secretary. If anyone could be the first to learn of important developments within Yosuganosora Animation Studio, it would undoubtedly be Morishita Aoi.
She stopped what she was doing, frowned, and nodded. "Mm, but it's better if Yuu announces this himself."
Uehara Etsuki said softly, "Be patient."
The newly promoted art director, Chishima Akisa, was a woman who wore black-rimmed glasses. Despite the glasses, however, she did not have the slightest air of intellectual sophistication. She timidly surveyed the conference room, looking exactly like a frightened rabbit. Her appearance was the complete opposite of Morishita Aoi's. If Morishita Aoi wore refined, light makeup, then Chishima Akisa was the type who barely knew how to take care of her appearance. Her long black hair instead gave her a gloomy, somewhat slow and absentminded air. Anyone seeing her for the first time would probably think she was unreliable.
A month ago, she had still been an ordinary member of the art department. It was precisely because of her outstanding performance on 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' that Kamiyā Yuu noticed her and selected her to become art director. Although she did not look particularly dependable, her actual abilities were quite impressive. The art department was generally responsible for an anime's backgrounds, including its artistic atmosphere, overall visual tone, structural composition, and so forth, which demanded extremely rigorous knowledge and experience.
There was no need to go over again why the art department was responsible for drawing anime backgrounds. Instead, it was worth explaining a question many people had while watching anime: in most anime fight scenes where the environment was destroyed, the portions about to be destroyed were often visibly different in color from the surrounding background.
Take a wall, for example. The moment you noticed an area whose shade differed from the rest, you knew that wall was about to be smashed apart. This was one drawback caused by the lack of uniformity in animation background production. The backgrounds drawn by the art department were static. They would prepare the already-destroyed version of a scene in advance, leaving a large gap where the wall was supposed to collapse, while the dynamic sequence of the wall actually being smashed apart would be completed by the key animation department.
Seeing so many senior company staff gathered in the conference room, Chishima Akisa sat there cautiously without daring to speak.
"Whatever. It's already been ten minutes since the meeting was supposed to start. Why isn't that guy here yet? If he doesn't show up soon, I'm going back to play games." Sitting in her conference chair, Yūki Chinatsu yawned and muttered to herself.
The office door opened.
"I hired you back to make anime, not to play games." Kamiyā Yuu had heard Yūki Chinatsu's complaint. As he passed her, he rapped her lightly on the head, both annoyed and amused.
Yūki Chinatsu rubbed her aching head and glared at Kamiyā Yuu unhappily. "You're the one who was late."
"Director."
"Director."
"Yuu."
The others stood one after another to greet him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. First, I apologize for being late. I was busy finishing the storyboards for Episode Sixteen. If I'd stopped midway, it would've been difficult to find the right feeling again the next time I picked them up." Kamiyā Yuu sat down in his seat, looked around at everyone in the conference room, and nodded. "The main people in charge of each production department are all here. I'm fairly busy myself, so I'll keep this brief. The reason I called everyone here is actually because of another plan concerning our company. This decision may affect the company's entire production structure, which is why I gathered everyone for a meeting."
Kamiyā Yuu nodded to Morishita Aoi, signaling her to distribute the documents in her hands, then explained, "This is the detailed schedule for each department's work on 'Fate/zero' during this period. From these schedules, you can compare the efficiency of the different departments. Our company has developed extremely quickly lately, and discrepancies in progress have begun appearing among the various production departments."
Gogyo Ruri put down her teacup and hesitantly asked, "Director, do you mean you want to lay people off?"
"You're jumping to conclusions. This isn't about layoffs. Considering the imbalance in the development of our various production departments, I want to readjust personnel across them and establish a subsidiary animation studio under Yosuganosora." Kamiyā Yuu folded his arms and pondered as he spoke.
"A subsidiary animation studio?"
"Yes. For the time being, it'll be called Yuu no Sora, and it'll likewise be responsible for animation production." Kamiyā Yuu nodded and looked at the department heads. "What each of you needs to do is return to your department and prepare a personnel report for your respective department as soon as possible. You should also recommend one particularly capable member."
"The deadline for the personnel reports is the first of next month. At that point, I'll use the personnel evaluation reports to transfer some members of the company to the subsidiary. Also, I need to make it clear that this isn't a demotion. If anything, because of various circumstances, the benefits at the subsidiary may actually be better. The art department doesn't need to submit a personnel report for now. You're already short on talent as it is."
Art director Chishima Akisa froze for a moment, lowered her head, and answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, "Okay."
"Aoi, I'll have to trouble you to look for a new company location during this period. Preferably somewhere close to our current studio. The necessary animation production equipment will need to be prepared as well. Barring any surprises, Yuu no Sora will be formally established during the lull after 'Fate/zero' concludes next year."
"Yes. I'll make the arrangements."
·······
The 'Throne of Heroes' project had been an enormous operational success. Its foundations were now solidly in place; building a skyscraper upon them was merely a matter of time. After setting down the burden of that project, Kamiyā Yuu turned his attention toward another major priority—something that could also be considered a small reform of Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
Establishing the subsidiary Yuu no Sora.
Yuu no Sora would remain an animation production division centered around Kamiyā Yuu. The difference was that Yuu no Sora would primarily produce theatrical animated films rather than TV anime. It could handle original works like 'RWBY' or extensions of properties owned by Yosuganosora. It could also serve as support for Yosuganosora itself. Whenever Yosuganosora Animation Studio encountered another tight production schedule, Yuu no Sora could temporarily suspend its own animation work and help shoulder Yosuganosora's burden.
Kamiyā Yuu had long harbored the idea of establishing Yuu no Sora. After all, the animation industry did not consist solely of TV anime. Theatrical animation was also a sizable market, and in terms of creative freedom, it was more than a level above television anime.
The latter half of 'RWBY', '5 Centimeters per Second', the animated version of 'The Matrix', or works by Master Hayao Miyazaki, the man regarded as the "Disney of Japan"—animated films of this kind could all make their way onto the big screen.
Yuu no Sora had not been established with the original purpose of catering to the market. Yosuganosora was already rather unusual compared with the animation industry as a whole, and Yuu no Sora would be even more unconventional compared with Yosuganosora. The first anime Kamiyā Yuu planned to produce after Yuu no Sora was established was '5 Centimeters per Second'.
Kamiyā Yuu had always considered this anime the pinnacle of the work of Makoto Shinkai, the famous animation director from his previous world who, like himself, had been called a genius. Even 'Your Name', the animated film that later created a Japanese animation box-office miracle in China, was somewhat inferior in his eyes. The difference was that '5 Centimeters per Second' was far more niche, while 'Your Name' was much more commercial—or rather, it catered to mainstream tastes while retaining Makoto Shinkai's style. Even its ending was a happy one.
Tragedies left a deeper impression, and Makoto Shinkai's understanding of this had permeated all his previous works.
If Yuu no Sora wanted to produce '5 Centimeters per Second', Kamiyā Yuu knew perfectly well what the outcome would be. Put it on the market, and it would absolutely be the type to flop. No matter how excellent the animation was, it could never become a major hit. Its subject matter was simply too niche—so niche that innovation could not solve the problem. The very definition, style, and objective of the anime itself were niche. If it were not niche, then it would no longer be '5 Centimeters per Second'.
Makoto Shinkai had once said in an interview, "Watching '5 Centimeters per Second' makes me cringe like I'm reading notes I wrote during my chuunibyou phase."
Perhaps many viewers did not know that '5 Centimeters per Second' was a story Makoto Shinkai had written based on his own first love. There were a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. The '5 Centimeters per Second' in Kamiyā Yuu's eyes and the '5 Centimeters per Second' in the eyes of its original creator, Makoto Shinkai, could be said to be entirely different works. What Kamiyā Yuu wanted to create was the part that belonged to him.
Putting the commercial aspect aside, 'Your Name' as an animated film actually had quite a few imperfections beyond the familiar flavor of Makoto Shinkai's direction. The first time Kamiyā Yuu watched it, he had come away with the impression that it lacked sincerity.
'Your Name' had excellent animation, a solid story, and a distinctive style. So why say it lacked sincerity? Because 'Your Name' was better suited to being made as a TV anime. The original animated film crammed together too much information, while many things that should have been properly explained were handled ambiguously. For example, why did neither protagonist notice that the timelines of their two worlds were different?
Here, Makoto Shinkai resorted to a rather convenient device, which inevitably left Kamiyā Yuu with the impression that it was half-baked—blurred memories.
When the two exchanged bodies, their memories became hazy. Once they returned, they could not remember anything.
But there were reminders of the date everywhere—their phones, calendars, even the television and the blackboard in the classroom. After discovering that they were living in different timelines, wouldn't they investigate what was going on? Were their memories hazy? Then write the information down for the male protagonist, and when he entered the female protagonist's body, record it in diary form. That would have solved the problem.
The development of the relationship between the male and female protagonists was also extremely abrupt. The opening was lengthy, yet their emotional development was summarized in less than ten minutes of footage. Changes in the timeline of the scenes were not made obvious enough, to the point that viewers could barely feel the development of their relationship. Because of the film's limited runtime, the body-swapping plot was summarized through numerous rapidly changing shots. If changes in the timeline had been used here to emphasize the changes in their relationship, it would have worked much better. That was why this anime would have been better as a long-form TV series.
Furthermore, the mechanics of the time travel were rather peculiar. There was no need to mention the earlier parts, but later on, the kuchikamizake was rather...
The time-travel setting in 'Your Name' should have been caused by something special about the female protagonist's constitution, because her grandmother had also experienced something similar. In that regard, it might have been better to give the audience a hint from the very beginning. For example, when the grandmother saw the male protagonist, she could have frozen for an instant before pretending nothing had happened. That single shot alone would have corroborated what the grandmother said later.
Instead, in the original work, the grandmother explained it away as her own memories having become hazy, to the point that she could not even remember experiencing the time travel itself.
There were too many similar factors. Commercialization had caused a slight change in Makoto Shinkai's style. If his previous works had been flights of unfettered fantasy, this time he had tried to move closer to the mainstream and conceive a work that fit mainstream ways of thinking. And this was clearly where his attempt at transformation had failed.
······
Time passed swiftly.
The new October anime began airing one after another, and the second season of 'Fate/zero' finally aired on the evening of the ninth. The story was gradually reaching its climax, and the explosive developments of Episode Twelve sent the anime's overall popularity soaring. The duel between Lancer Zhao Yun and the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, had already been hailed by countless anime fans as one of the finest sequences in the history of animation. The breathtaking spectacle of the 'Ionioi Hetairoi', together with Zhao Yun single-handedly standing against an army of a million, captivated countless viewers.
Before this, no one had ever imagined that 2D animation could produce such a breathtaking effect.
There were even more viewers waiting in front of their televisions for Episode Thirteen than there had been for Episode Twelve, and Episode Thirteen did not disappoint them. Although the confrontation between the 'Ionioi Hetairoi' and Zhao Yun was forced to end prematurely, the deep-sea monstrosity summoned by Caster astonished them once again. From the side-story novel and the manner in which Caster had first appeared, it was already apparent that he played a suitably bizarre role in the anime. Together with Uryū Ryūnosuke, he presented a "hymn offered to God," making the atmosphere and structure of the entire anime even more peculiar.
Some viewers who had read the third volume of the novel were extremely excited. They knew what should come next: Saber unleashing her Noble Phantasm, 'Excalibur', and Lancelot's battle against Gilgamesh.
The novel's depiction of the 'Ionioi Hetairoi' confrontation had been extremely vivid and detailed, and ordinary readers had worried that the anime would be unable to reproduce the novel's atmosphere. Yosuganosora Animation Studio had done it. Not only had it completely recreated the effect of the 'Ionioi Hetairoi' described in the novel, but the anime's visual spectacle had taken it to an even higher level. As a result, every reader was now eagerly anticipating the upcoming 'Excalibur'.
The radiance of the King of Knights was displayed as Artoria remained true to her ideals.