Anime Production, Starting by Healing the Audience Chapter 14

"Sorry, Tatsumi. I already... can't hold you in my arms anymore."

Seeing that line, Fang Zheng seemed to understand something.

Slapping his forehead, Fang Zheng let out a depressed sigh. How had he forgotten about that? Yang Li might be a little scatterbrained, but she was Shiru's die-hard fan.

The foreshadowing in the script was so obvious that there was no way Yang Li had failed to notice it. No wonder she had cried her eyes out.

Thinking of that, Fang Zheng felt pretty depressed too. Yang Li had hopelessly fallen for Shiru, yet Shiru—the gentlest member of Night Raid—was precisely the first major character to die.

Was this fate playing tricks on people?

Thinking of Yang Li's slightly swollen eyes just now, Fang Zheng unconsciously sucked in a breath. He had specifically watched the replay of that livestream.

From the comments, he knew quite a few viewers liked Shiru. If those viewers found out that Shiru, whom they liked so much, would die in Episode Six, then the consequences...

"Sure enough, what goes around comes around. No zuo, no die~"

Fang Zheng sighed helplessly. He had not forgotten how he had previously promoted it as an incredibly hype action anime.

Although he had not explicitly said on the show that it was a "healing" anime, he had misled the viewers by saying it was different from Star Dream.

Anyone who had watched Star Dream knew its style. Since the author had said this anime was different from Star Dream, then it definitely was not the sort that would leave viewers depressed for an entire day.

The masses of viewers had innocently reached their own conclusions, never realizing that this was Fang Zheng's sinister intention.

An anime could have many labels. It could be an action anime, but it could also be a "healing" anime. There was no contradiction there.

Viewers who had only recently gotten into anime were still too innocent. They did not understand the tricks involved at all. They simply assumed depression and healing were opposites.

Since their beloved Big Shot Fang said Akame ga Kill! was not the same kind of depressing anime as Star Dream, then it surely was not a tragedy.

Just thinking about the eager viewers reaching the end, only to discover that the title Akame ga Kill! was merely a survival roster, was enough to make one shudder.

Fang Zheng came into the living room and looked rather gloomily at Yang Li, who was sitting on the sofa with red-rimmed eyes.

He had not expected Yang Li to be so obsessed with Shiru that she would cry so hard over nothing more than a few lines.

"Um..."

Fang Zheng handed Yang Li a box of tissues, opening his mouth but not knowing what to say.

According to the plot of Akame ga Kill!, Shiru would die in Episode Six, and in a rather tragic manner at that.

She was already crying like this over just a few lines. If she watched the complete anime, would she not come after him for his life?

"Fang Zheng, does Shiru die?"

Yang Li accepted the tissues, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked up at Fang Zheng.

She did not know what was wrong with her. She had only read through the lines once, yet she already felt this awful.

She had watched plenty of touching television dramas and movies, but she had never felt so oppressed before, as though she could barely breathe.

Even though she knew the Shiru in the anime was fictional and unreal, she still could not stop feeling sad.

Sad for no reason at all.

"Well... probably... maybe... I guess..."

Fang Zheng looked at Yang Li's reddened eyes. Though he truly did not want to strike another blow against her, according to the script, it was simply the truth.

The reason Akame ga Kill! was so depressing and suffocating was because its characters died one after another, leaving the audience full of regret.

There was a reason people in his previous life jokingly called Akame ga Kill! "Akame ga Slay Girls." Shiru, especially, left an incredibly deep impression as the first major character to die.

Back then, Fang Zheng had wanted nothing more than to mail the author a box of razor blades. Such an airheaded girl had died just like that, and in such a miserable way too.

Shiru, who treasured her companions the most, was the first to die. The irony was especially heavy.

It was precisely because of Shiru's death that the conflict in Akame ga Kill! surfaced in such a sharp, brutal manner, directly showing the audience how irreconcilable the two sides were.

It could be said that Akame ga Kill! was destined to be a tragedy.

"I understand." Yang Li took a deep breath. Fang Zheng had not said it outright, but seeing how hesitant he was, she already knew the answer.

Although Shiru's death made her fantasy collapse in an instant, she also knew it was an established fact.

As the author of Akame ga Kill!, Fang Zheng must have planned out every part of the story already. He could not possibly change the plot he had set just because of her.

She was not that childish either!

Besides, she had a stubborn fire burning inside her. Since Fang Zheng had already arranged Shiru's ending, she wanted to see just how "heartless" he could be.

"I'm going to read the script!"

Yang Li stood and headed for the recording room, determined to give Shiru the best possible voice performance.

From the moment she met the companions she cherished to the moment she died, Shiru's ending was already crystal clear.

Like fireworks in the night sky—brief, yet dazzlingly beautiful!

"Since that's the case, then I have to finish Shiru's voice work even more! I'll make the audience remember Shiru's fleeting splendor!"

Yang Li clenched her fists and looked at the poster she had hung on the wall, her eyes full of determination.

Meanwhile, Fang Zheng looked at the somewhat unusual Yang Li, feeling completely baffled.

Could this be the calm before the storm?

Fang Zheng nervously entered the recording room. When he opened the door, he saw Yang Li studying the script with complete focus, muttering under her breath and occasionally writing something in the pages.

Seeing how serious Yang Li was, Fang Zheng did not disturb her. Instead, he went to prepare everything in the recording studio and waited for her to test her voice.

"I'm ready."

Near noon, Yang Li finally looked up and spoke to Fang Zheng.

She had prepared all morning, and Fang Zheng had waited for her all morning. During that time, Yang Li had immersed herself in Shiru's role.

She carefully considered Shiru's emotions in every line, especially the few lines Shiru spoke before her death.

To Yang Li, those lines were heartbreaking, but she had to admit that in just a few short sentences, Shiru's emotions erupted and were elevated to an unimaginable level.

Regret, attachment, relief, reluctance—so many complicated emotions were woven together. It was absolutely not as simple as merely reading the lines aloud.

"Are you ready?" Fang Zheng softly asked Yang Li as she entered the recording booth, looking fully prepared.

"Mm. Let's begin."

Fang Zheng moved to the side, put on his headphones, turned on the equipment, and gave Yang Li a gesture to begin.

Since the recording would need to be edited and cleaned up afterward, it did not require the actors to perform their lines together like in movies or television dramas.

Yang Li only needed to read the lines in the script to finish her work. Fang Zheng would later edit them into the anime.

"I won't tell the others, so it's okay if you have a good cry~"

"When I cooked, I burned the meat and Akame coldly scolded me. When I cleaned, I made an even bigger mess and only caused Brody more trouble. When I went shopping, I mixed up sugar and salt, and Leone laughed at me mercilessly. A few days ago, when I was doing laundry, I accidentally washed Mine along with it."

"I'm so glad I was useful in the end. Night Raid... my home... I love everyone so much... I'm really happy~"

"Sorry, Tatsumi. I already... can't hold you in my arms anymore."

There was no sound in the recording room other than Yang Li's emotion-filled voice. When she finished her final line, the room became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Originally, this was only a voice test, meant to determine whether Yang Li's voice suited Shiru and matched the voice Fang Zheng had imagined.

But the instant Yang Li opened her mouth, Fang Zheng was drawn in by her voice. Every line perfectly conveyed Shiru's emotions.

Whether it was Shiru's usual airheaded innocence, her heartfelt affection for her companions, or the regret and longing before her death, Yang Li brought them all to life vividly.

Listening to Yang Li's voice, Fang Zheng suddenly had an illusion.

This did not seem like voice acting. It felt as though Shiru had crossed the boundaries of dimensions, leaned down beside him, and whispered softly into his ear.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

After a long while, Fang Zheng saved the recording, shut off the equipment, removed his headphones, and opened the glass door to the booth. Looking at Yang Li, who was already sobbing uncontrollably inside, he applauded sincerely.

Watching Yang Li crouched on the floor and weeping without stop, Fang Zheng suddenly felt a little envious of her.

At that moment, Yang Li looked exactly like the him who had just entered the world of anime. Back then, when he first encountered it, it had felt as though an entirely new world had opened before him.

Anime had given him too many memories and too much beauty. But as time passed, he had gradually gone from a rookie new to the medium into an old hand.

Though he could proudly say he had seen it all, that slightly immature sense of being moved had unknowingly faded away.

At some point, his standards for anime had become pickier. He became harsher toward plots and more nitpicky about character settings.

Fang Zheng did not know how others felt, but this had indeed been his own mental journey after spending a long time immersed in anime.

He had even once suspected that the anime he had loved had somehow lost its flavor.

It was not until today, when he saw Yang Li crouching on the floor and crying like a child, that he suddenly realized it was not that anime had become crude and poorly made. It was that his tastes had become increasingly demanding.

"Thank you~"

Fang Zheng stepped forward and helped Yang Li to her feet, solemnly thanking her.

He was grateful for her help with the voice acting, but even more grateful that she had helped him rediscover that feeling he once had.

"Fang Zheng, does Shiru really have to die?"

Yang Li leaned against Fang Zheng's shoulder. Her tears quickly soaked his clothes, and her voice was thick with sobs.

"Beautiful things can be remembered for a moment, but tragedies can be remembered for a lifetime."

Fang Zheng gently patted Yang Li's back and comforted her softly.

Humans were contradictory creatures. On the one hand, they longed for all beautiful things, yet they soon forgot them. But the tragedies they hated would remain etched in their memories for a very long time.