Episode 78: The First Animation in Another World (3)
The first thing I tackled after deciding to produce an animation was the story.
Naturally, we had to decide what kind of story it would be before we could set the concepts for the characters and draw the key art to match.
“Author Wei. So what are you thinking of doing for the story of the animation?”
“Hmm.”
And since this was the first step in animation, as well as the crucial part that would determine the overall setting,
we had no choice but to spend quite a bit of time agonizing and debating over what kind of story to use.
“How about choosing one of my existing works and adapting it?”
At first, in order to help with promotion and give people a sense of familiarity with this new genre called animation,
we considered turning one of my existing works into an animation.
“In that case, surely we should do the most talked-about work lately, [Magic Armored Machine God Gigant & Knight]...!”
“That one only came out recently, so isn’t there too little material built up to make an animation out of it?
For symbolism’s sake, wouldn’t it be better to draw your first work, [The Betrayed Hero Takes Revenge]?”
“Hmm, wouldn’t choosing a work connected to the royal family right from the first project place too much pressure on the team members?
Everyone is already under a lot of pressure because it’s our first work. Adding even more on top of that would be a bit much.”
“Hmm, then what does everyone think of the story from the [Genius Mage of the Slums] series or [Raysiz Fighter]?
I doubt there are many people who dislike exhilarating battle scenes.”
“It’s a good idea, but if the work centers on battle scenes, I’m worried the difficulty of production and the finished quality will become an issue.
Right now, everything is new to us, so awkward parts are bound to come out.
As you all know, in a work where battle scenes are the main focus, if those battle scenes look shabby, the fun drops sharply.”
“Then wouldn’t the romance [I Became the Ice Duke’s Maid] be the right answer here?
It doesn’t seem like there would be any especially difficult parts in production, and it should draw people in reliably.
If it goes well, we could even continue with a sequel about the villainess.”
“They’re all good, but since it’s already been made into a play and a comic first, won’t people find it stale?
I think a work that feels a little fresher might be better...”
But the more we held selection meetings over my existing works, the harder it became to shake the sense that something felt vague and burdensome.
I wasn’t disparaging my own works.
It was simply that, given the circumstances of our team, which was “producing animation for the first time in the world,” every work had some aspect that could become a burden.
If we had already accumulated more experience and know-how, that would be one thing.
But if we tried it now, I had the feeling we would instead be swallowed up by the popularity and image those existing works already possessed.
In short, everyone was afraid of hearing that it wasn’t as good as the original.
‘If I were making this alone or with just a small number of people, we might be able to push ahead anyway...’
But this was a massive project being carried out by a team of nearly a hundred people, so I judged that if the team members felt that much pressure, it would be hard to properly complete it in any case.
“You can’t suddenly order a novice adventurer who should be hunting slimes to go hunt an ogre.
I suppose we’ll have to put the plan of selecting from my existing works on hold for now.”
“Urgh, we’re sorry. It’s because we’re lacking...”
“Author Wei wishes to run, yet ordinary men like us dare not keep up with you...”
“Not at all. Without all of you, making animation would only be something I could dream about.”
Thus, we had no choice but to cancel the plan of animating my existing works.
After soothing the team members, who were blaming themselves for their own inadequacy,
we were just about to begin the meeting again to plan the direction of the story completely from scratch.
‘Huh? Come to think of it.’
All of a sudden, I realized something I had never thought about until now.
‘Among all the works I’ve made so far, I don’t really have any for young children, do I?’
Of course, as one could tell from seeing children playing Genius Mage or Gigant in the streets,
as long as it wasn’t a work exclusively for adults, children seemed to watch whatever there was to watch.
But I had never made a work specifically aimed at children.
And once I realized that, it naturally combined with our present situation, giving me a decent idea.
“...How about an animation for young children?”
Namely, an animation with young children as its main target audience.
Of course, that didn’t mean we would abandon the adult audience.
“One that anyone, regardless of age or gender, could enjoy comfortably together as a family with their children.”
Rather, I intended to make it so the whole family could watch it together.
Not an animation only for children, but one that all the family members who came to the theater holding a child’s hand could enjoy.
This wasn’t a prejudice that animation was something only children watched.
It was a conclusion I reached through extremely cold calculation.
‘Even in my past life, many famous and successful animated films were works families could watch together.’
Even calculating simply, the ticket sales would multiply several times over with children plus their families, so it was only natural.
Even putting commercial success aside, the fact that every member of a family could enjoy it together and build memories
also seemed suitable as the starting signal for spreading a new culture called animation.
‘In this world, where household TVs don’t exist yet, the animation we produce will also be intended for theaters.’
Wouldn’t it be good to benchmark the strengths of the works that succeeded in my previous life?
“Oho. That seems like a fine idea.
If the entire family can enjoy it together, of course it would be even more delightful!”
“Now that I think about it, we didn’t consider children at all.
Goodness, it seems we were too narrow-minded in thinking only adults would enjoy it.”
“Hmm, if children can be brought in as customers as well, our income will increase accordingly, so there’s no reason to oppose it.”
“Indeed, if only people with certain tastes or from certain classes can properly enjoy it, that might tarnish the fame of it being the first animation.
I’m in favor! Let’s make our goal getting every family in the kingdom to visit the theater!”
Fortunately, that idea of mine drew an overwhelmingly positive response from the others participating in the meeting as well.
And by unanimous decision, we confirmed the direction as “an animation that every member of the family, including children, could enjoy together.”
“Then now we need to decide on the specific theme and story.”
In order to draw in customers of every class, regardless of age or gender,
we needed to touch upon a common emotion that could appeal to customers from every class.
Content that would be easy for young children to understand, while adults viewing it from their perspective could discover different implications or metaphors.
Characters stylized enough to make it obvious that this was not reality.
Direction and development that allowed people to watch comfortably and laugh lightly without any serious burden, and so on.
Combining the things that came to mind, I arrived at one conclusion.
“How about a comedy story with animals and a child character as the protagonists?”
An exaggerated-to-the-max comedy featuring anthropomorphized animal friends and a cute child.
I thought this might be the best choice for every class to enjoy without burden.
‘Comedy can be enjoyed by anyone without strong likes or dislikes.
And animals and children are... cute!’
Cute plus cute would naturally be even cuter, wouldn’t it?
There also weren’t many people in the world who disliked cute things.
And that cuteness would offset the burden of the exaggerated direction unique to comedy animation.
‘Something like the cartoon-style animations from my previous life.’
The kind of sensibility where someone could be struck on the head with a hundred-ton hammer, get only a little bump, and then pop right back up perfectly fine.
And if we added just one spoonful of emotion on top of that?
‘Perfect.’
I already wanted to watch that animation myself.
“Then let’s move straight into the story and key art design meeting!
If anyone has any opinions or ideas, please speak freely!”
“Yes!”
Unable to hold back the desire and passion boiling up from deep within my chest, I immediately called out to the team members.
And perhaps the team members felt the same, because everyone began production in earnest without even taking a break.
“Then shall we go with a conflict between animal friends who help the protagonist child left home alone, and wicked invading beasts who target the child to eat them?”
“The protagonist child and the animal friends join their strength and wisdom to make fools of the wicked beasts and drive them away.”
We created the story.
“We should draw the animal friends who become companions to look as good-natured as possible, right?
To do that, we should choose species that give off that kind of feeling from the start.”
“On the other hand, for the wicked beasts, we’ll need to choose species that scream villain from their appearance alone. Shall we put in wolves first?”
And in line with that story, the settings and key art for the characters were drawn.
And after the rough framework had been decided,
the real animation production began.
“Could we make the frames in this part a little smoother? It looks too stiff.”
“I told you not to waste your wrist and your time drawing even the unnecessary parts so intensely!
For the parts that go in between here, you actually have to break down the forms moderately for them to connect more smoothly!”
“Background frame! Where’s background frame number three with the tree?!
I told you to put it back in its place after using it!”
There was the endless repetitive labor required to make the animation truly move.
And alongside it came the development of all sorts of tricks to make that work a bit easier and more convenient.
“Is there no way to express the animals’ appearances and behavior a bit more accurately and realistically?
Even if they aren’t real animals, I think it would be more fun if we preserved a certain degree of authenticity.”
“Hmm, then how about bringing them right next to us, raising them there, and observing them?”
“...Oh!”
In order to portray the animals, who were the main characters, more realistically and preserve authenticity,
we even brought them next to the workshop, raised them, and observed them.
After a little time passed, they practically became the team’s shared pets.
“No, no! That’s scene thirty-seven!
The next one is number thirty-five!
Don’t you know that if the order gets messed up, we have to film it again from the beginning?!”
“Which bastard stuck the wrong drawing into scene forty-five?!
A child suddenly passes by smiling among the wolves!!”
Aside from that, there was always loud shouting going back and forth over filming issues.
“Haah, you little thing, please just bark like you normally do.
You bark just fine usually, so why do you shut your mouth tight when we’re recording?”
“You still haven’t recorded the puppy’s bark?
Why don’t you just give up? We already decided that the animals would speak human language for ease of communication anyway.”
“That’s true. But I still think adding animal-like cries from time to time would make it more perfect.”
“Tsk, then it can’t be helped.
Do your best! I’ll go record with the stage actor I’m in charge of.”
On the recording side as well, there were countless attempts to obtain the sounds we wanted.
Like that, amid grueling work and occasional fights, yet within a fairly harmonious teamwork, animation production continued steadily.
“It’s do—done! We finally finished it!”
“Urgh, to think it would take so long that the year would actually change.
Still, we did it in the end!”
At last, this world’s first animation was complete.
And the year had changed anew as well.