Anime Production, Starting by Healing the Audience

Those editors could only smile helplessly. It was not that they did not want to include pictures, but the posters had been handed out as prizes, and every audience member who received one treasured it dearly.

They had also tried contacting the winners and asking them to take photos, but no matter how they persuaded them, they refused.

As for the few hurriedly taken screenshots from the livestream, the poor image quality made the editors reluctant to post them online and invite even more criticism.

Those editors felt so wronged that they practically wanted to cry.

Fang Zheng knew nothing about the situation online, and even if he had known, he would not have paid much attention to it. He was far too busy right now.

He felt that he had overestimated his Drawing Ability. Anime Production was calculated by frames, and out of habit, Fang Zheng divided each second into twenty-four frames.

Each frame required one original drawing, meaning one second of animation needed twenty-four drawings. In practice, though, because movements were continuous, the same drawing could be used several times.

On top of that, background art and character art were separate. Different combinations could create different scenes, so not nearly that many original drawings were actually needed.

Generally speaking, a single episode of relatively smooth-looking animation required around fifteen thousand to thirty thousand original drawings. Twenty-four frames per second was also standard practice.

Human dynamic vision operated at around 0.1 seconds. If an anime's frame count was too low, it would not look as smooth, severely affecting the viewing experience.

Naturally, Fang Zheng would not do something like that. Even if it meant drawing more slowly and delaying progress, he did not want to fob the audience off with shoddy work.

Ever since learning that he had won the award, Fang Zheng had begun drawing the PV for Akame ga Kill!, the promotional video.

But Fang Zheng had completely overestimated his own abilities and underestimated the time needed to produce anime.

Akame ga Kill! was the first anime he had truly made himself, because Star Dream had come as a fully completed version in the system's beginner gift package from the very beginning.

"Hiss—"

Fang Zheng set down his pen and sucked in a sharp breath. The promotional PV was only a minute and a half long, yet he had only finished half of it so far.

If this had been an actual episode, would he not have to draw until the end of time?

In his previous life, most anime he followed updated once a week, and even then he had thought the updates were painfully slow.

But now that he was doing it himself, he felt that even one update a year might barely keep up with the schedule. But one update a year...

"System, is there any way to solve this problem?"

Fang Zheng had no choice but to place his hopes on his cheat. He was not stubborn enough to struggle for a solution himself when he had a golden finger available.

"Ding~ The host may enter the system space. Within the system space, time flows at a five-to-one ratio compared to the outside world."

Fang Zheng's eyes lit up. He had not expected the system to have something like this.

"How do I activate it?"

Fang Zheng could barely wait. According to the system, one hour for him would equal five hours in the normal world. At his current speed of forty drawings per hour, that meant he could complete two hundred drawings in one normal hour!

"The system space consumes one thousand Reputation Points per hour. The minimum activation period is one hour. Would you like to activate it?"

Fang Zheng pressed his lips together. He knew it—the system would never give him anything for free.

Last time, a single ACG Community server had cost him five hundred thousand Reputation Points. The system space was obviously even more high-tech than a server.

One thousand Reputation Points per hour meant ten thousand for ten hours, and in those ten hours, he could draw two thousand storyboard panels.

By that calculation, as long as he worked a little harder, drawing enough original art for one anime episode per week did not seem impossible anymore~

"Activate it for one hour first and see how it goes!"

Fang Zheng gritted his teeth. As the saying went, money was meant to be spent; only spending could motivate you to earn more. Reputation Points were not money, but in the system, they were even more useful than money.

"Ding~ System space activated. Have a pleasant work session, host."

Fang Zheng looked around and found that he was still in his study. The computer was still the same computer, the drawing desk was still the same drawing desk, and nothing had changed in the slightest.

"System, are you scamming me?"

"This system treats all customers fairly. Although the flow of time is different, the host's surroundings will not change. This is also for the host's safety."

The system's words made Fang Zheng fall silent. If anyone discovered a space where time flowed differently, he would very likely be dragged off and sliced apart for research.

But with the system's help, there was no difference between this and his usual work. Only he knew that time was flowing differently. He had to admit that although the system was stingy, it was fairly reliable.

Fang Zheng shook his head, threw out those random thoughts, and patted his face, forcing himself into work mode.

The PV for Akame ga Kill! needed roughly two thousand storyboard panels. He had already drawn more than nine hundred and seventy, leaving about half the workload.

Fang Zheng picked up his pen and quickly immersed himself in his work. He did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that the system space had greatly improved his work efficiency.

Although his Drawing Ability had already reached Lv5, that only referred to his drawing skills and techniques.

During ordinary work, he still made mistakes and needed to make revisions. That was unavoidable for any anime professional. No one could guarantee they could finish a storyboard panel flawlessly in a single stroke.

Yet at that moment, Fang Zheng felt that he was in an extraordinary state, a wonderful feeling difficult to describe with words. His pen seemed guided by divine inspiration—that was exactly how he felt right now.

Fang Zheng attributed that wonderful feeling, something akin to the "unity of heaven and man" described in novels, to the system. After all, he had only begun feeling this way after entering the system space.

Time slowly passed, and Fang Zheng was stunned when he realized that it had taken him less than half an hour of real time to complete all the original drawings needed for the promotional PV.

But he quickly entered the system space again and continued drawing original art for the PV. He had not forgotten that he had activated the system space for an hour, and that cost one thousand Reputation Points. He could not waste it.

The result, naturally, was that the promotional PV for Akame ga Kill! went from two thousand drawings to three thousand five hundred, and the viewing experience would definitely improve by leaps and bounds!

After all, he had gone all out for this short one-and-a-half-minute promotional PV.

Fang Zheng then arranged the completed original drawings in order. Next came the part that tested his directing skills.

Drawing the original art was only the first step. Next, he had to complete the voice acting, filming, editing, music, and more. Only after all that work was done could the promotional PV be considered fully complete.

Aside from his Drawing Ability and Voice Acting Ability being Lv5, all his other abilities were Lv3. Still, that was more than enough to make an anime promotional PV.

Take filming, for example. An inexperienced cameraman needed more storyboard panels because they could not combine background art and character art as skillfully as a veteran.

But Fang Zheng did not need to worry about that at all, because he had already drawn far more original art than necessary!

After busying himself all day, Fang Zheng finally finished filming the promotional PV for Akame ga Kill! Since it was only a promotional PV, he handled the voice acting himself as the narrator and did not need voice actors for any other roles.

"Ring ring ring~"

Fang Zheng stretched his somewhat stiff shoulders. Just as he was about to wash up and head out for dinner, the phone on the table started ringing.

"Hello, who is this?"

Fang Zheng picked up the phone. The displayed number was not the familiar 10066. Then again, aside from 10066, he hardly recognized any other numbers.

"It's me, Yang Li." On the other end of the call, Yang Li froze briefly when she heard the exhaustion in Fang Zheng's voice, but she quickly understood.

Yesterday, on the interview program, Fang Zheng had announced his New Work. His exhaustion today was probably because of Akame ga Kill!~

It seemed producing anime really was not an easy job~

"You sound exhausted. Want this lady to show you some mercy and treat you to dinner?"

When Fang Zheng heard Yang Li's voice, it took him quite a while to remember. When he had left Modu TV Station yesterday, he had indeed given this feisty woman his phone number, but he had not memorized hers, so he had not recognized her right away.

"Sure. It's rare for a little rich woman like you to treat me to a meal. I'd better make sure I eat you out of house and home."

"Hehehe, go right ahead. Do you really think you have what it takes to eat this lady broke?"

Fang Zheng smiled and shook his head. Yang Li's straightforward personality made it easy to be around her. Rather than feeling restrained, people found her company comfortable.

After Yang Li cajoled and pestered him for a while, Fang Zheng finally gave her his home address.

"Wait there. I'm coming to pick you up!"

Beep beep beep!

Fang Zheng stared blankly at the dead line for a moment, then shook his head and headed toward the bathroom.

He could guess Yang Li's reason for seeking him out without even thinking. That somewhat reckless beauty was definitely after Shiru's voice acting role.

Though neither of them had mentioned it, they both knew perfectly well.

Before long, Yang Li knocked on Fang Zheng's door.

When Fang Zheng opened it, he saw Yang Li dressed in a sharp, heroic style, bringing with her a fresh and refreshing presence.

"Come on. Big sis is taking you out for a feast, and I'll introduce you to a friend while we're at it."

With that, Yang Li grabbed Fang Zheng and pulled him toward the elevator in the hallway.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait! The door isn't locked! The door isn't locked!"

Fang Zheng irritably shook off her grabby hand, turned around to lock the door, and only then followed Yang Li into the elevator.

Sure enough, this woman's personality was a little reckless. No matter how prettily she dressed, she was still a little reckless.

"Fang Zheng, I've thought about that voice acting job. You absolutely have to give it to me!"

On the road, Yang Li drove while speaking to Fang Zheng, afraid that if she waited any longer, he would find someone else.

Fang Zheng nodded. He had thought from the beginning that Yang Li's voice suited Shiru's role fairly well, so it would not hurt to let her try.

"I can give it to you, but you have to come to my place tomorrow for an audition. Whether you get the role will depend on how the audition goes."

Fang Zheng merely felt that Yang Li's voice was suitable, but if her voice acting did not meet his expectations, he could only apologize to her.

"Don't worry. This lady is a professional!"

Yang Li seemed delighted by Fang Zheng's answer. The two chatted and laughed all the way until they arrived at the Magic City Grand Hotel.

After Yang Li parked the car, Fang Zheng got out and looked at the lavishly decorated Magic City Grand Hotel before him, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Across both his lives, this was still the first time he had entered such a luxurious place.

"I couldn't tell. You really are a seriously wealthy woman~"

At Fang Zheng's words, Yang Li snorted. "You've got me wrong there. This lady may have money, but I wouldn't waste it in a place this extravagant. Someone else is treating us today."

As she spoke, Yang Li led Fang Zheng toward the hotel entrance and continued, "So? This lady is pretty loyal, right? The moment something this good came up, I thought of you."