Anime Production, Starting with Healing the Audience

"Um… I forgot. You know, I'm pretty much handling everything for Akame ga Kill! by myself. Did I get too caught up in it?"

Fang Zheng awkwardly explained as he looked at Zhang Siyu, whose eyes were practically spitting fire.

"Heh, so you're saying I, the CEO, have too much free time?" Zhang Siyu stared at Fang Zheng expressionlessly, fuming inwardly.

She had been incredibly busy with the company's establishment these past few days. Even so, she had to make time to help Fang Zheng with a promotional plan.

And Fang Zheng's response? He hadn't even glanced at the plan she'd worked overtime to create. This made her feel like she was going crazy, teetering on the edge of an outburst.

However, upon hearing Zhang Siyu's words, Fang Zheng's eyes lit up. He stared at the coldly glaring Zhang Siyu in front of him with a sparkle in his eyes, stroked his chin, and stood up to examine her closely.

"What… what are you doing?" Zhang Siyu's imposing presence faltered under Fang Zheng's blatant stare. She instinctively took two steps back, watching him warily.

"Don't think you can just brush this off! You owe me an explanation!"

Fang Zheng seemed not to hear Zhang Siyu, instead circling her while his eyes roamed all over her.

He muttered to himself, "Tsk tsk, so similar! Truly so similar!"

"How come I never noticed how valuable you were? What a blockhead!"

Everyone in the recording booth was stunned by Fang Zheng's actions and expression, which were very much like a hooligan's. They stood frozen, looking at Fang Zheng in disbelief.

Could their boss be a latent pervert?

Especially for Duan Shuiqing and the others who had just joined. Looking around the recording booth, with only women present besides Fang Zheng, the thought of 'Fang Zheng is a pervert' took root and began to sprout in their hearts.

If others felt this way, how much more so Zhang Siyu, who was directly involved?

Driven to distraction by Fang Zheng's series of incomprehensible actions, Zhang Siyu could no longer stand it. She grabbed the script beside her and threw it directly at Fang Zheng.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!"

Fang Zheng dodged the script Zhang Siyu threw, shouting loudly, "Are you suddenly going crazy?!"

"I'm going crazy?" Zhang Siyu, exasperated, looked at Fang Zheng, panting, and nodded. "Fine, I'll show you today why I'm going crazy!"

The recording booth immediately descended into chaos, with one chasing the other. Yang Li, as the big shot of the voice acting department, even took the lead in calmly being a spectator.

"Aren't you going to help?" Fang Zheng, seeing Yang Li's calm demeanor, became furious. "If you don't help, your salary will be docked!"

Having watched enough of the drama, Yang Li lazily got up, stretched, as if she had had her fill of spectating, and stepped forward to block Zhang Siyu.

"Siyu, calm down for a moment. Give Director Fang a chance to… well, to explain himself~"

Yang Li glanced at Fang Zheng with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Fang Zheng, looking somewhat disheveled at this moment, almost choked upon hearing Yang Li's words.

What the heck does she mean, 'explain himself'? What did I even do to need an explanation?!

"Fine, I'd like to hear how you're going to explain yourself!"

Zhang Siyu, perhaps exhausted, collapsed onto the sofa, but her eyes remained fixed on Fang Zheng, glaring fiercely.

"What did I do?" Fang Zheng was somewhat frantic. He looked at Zhang Siyu and said, "It's just that when I heard you speaking just now, I realized your vocal range is a perfect fit for the character Esdeath, which is why I was considering how to bring it up with you."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng plopped down onto the sofa and shot Zhang Siyu an annoyed glare. "As the CEO of the company, you're already handling a lot of work that doesn't technically belong to you. I felt awkward bringing it up directly, so I wanted to express it indirectly. Who knew you'd start going crazy like this?"

Zhang Siyu was taken aback by this. She looked at Fang Zheng with suspicion. "Really?"

"What else would it be?!"

Looking at the messy recording booth, Zhang Siyu suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

According to Fang Zheng, he had suddenly realized her vocal range seemed very suitable for voicing Esdeath, but because the company was just starting, she was already busy enough, so he didn't know how to bring it up.

Thinking of it this way, Zhang Siyu felt much better.

It seemed this chairman wasn't too unreasonable. At least he noticed everything she was doing, otherwise, he wouldn't have felt awkward bringing it up.

As Fang Zheng said, which CEO would personally handle tasks like printing contracts?!

"But I haven't studied voice acting, and my voice hasn't been trained," Zhang Siyu said, looking at Fang Zheng, hesitating for a moment. "Can I really do it?"

In the recording booth, Yang Li and the others also looked at Fang Zheng curiously. They were all professionally trained, and as long as they were a good fit for the character, they had the ability to complete the voice acting work.

But Zhang Siyu was different. She studied management, how to manage a company, not how to voice anime.

"Your current tone isn't quite right, but the tone you used when talking to me just now was perfect."

"Just now?"

"It was about the poster."

The moment he finished speaking, Fang Zheng instantly regretted it. He had managed to get past that issue, but he just had to open his mouth and mention it again. Wasn't he just asking for trouble?

As expected, Zhang Siyu's expression darkened at a visible rate.

It was better not to mention it; bringing it up only made her angry.

She had worked hard on a plan, submitted it to her superior with high expectations, only for him not to even look at it. Faced with such a situation, anyone would be angry, right?

"So, the reason you didn't look at it was simply because you forgot, correct?"

Zhang Siyu stared at Fang Zheng with unfriendly eyes, as if she would 'start the war' again if Fang Zheng didn't give her a satisfactory answer.

"Right, right, that's the voice!" Fang Zheng, however, didn't seem to be on the same page as her.

With a hint of excitement, he looked at Yang Li and the others and said, "This is the feel, doesn't it perfectly capture Esdeath's overflowing queenly aura?!"

Hearing Fang Zheng's words, Yang Li and the others reacted, looking at Zhang Siyu, whose expression was cold, and nodding in agreement.

???

Zhang Siyu rolled her eyes in exasperation as everyone's attention focused on her. She was too lazy to expose Fang Zheng's incredibly clumsy attempt to get away with it.

Sighing as if accepting her fate, Zhang Siyu looked at Fang Zheng and said, "I'll try my best, but don't get your hopes too high."

"It's okay, I'll help you!"

At this moment, Yang Li patted her chest and confidently assured Zhang Siyu.

She hadn't noticed it before, but after Fang Zheng's reminder, she suddenly realized that there was a voice actor right beside her who perfectly fit Esdeath's character.

Although she hadn't undergone professional, systematic training, Zhang Siyu's vocal quality was good, and combined with her naturally dominant personality, she could perfectly portray Esdeath's overbearing queenly demeanor.

Thus, the voice actor lineup for Akame ga Kill! was finalized.

Among the male characters, Fang Zheng would voice all of them. The voice acting for the remaining female characters would be led by Yang Li, with voice actors like Duan Shuiqing participating.

Fang Zheng summarized the list. This list of voice actors would be displayed at the beginning or end of the anime in the future, bringing the profession of voice acting to the forefront and showcasing it to the audience.

[Night Raid]: Tatsumi CV Fang Zheng, Brody CV Fang Zheng, Akame CV Sora Amamiya (dog head, protecting myself), Mine CV Duan Shuiqing, Leone CV Tang Yirou, Shiru CV Yang Li, Nacida CV Zheng Meiming, Susanoo CV Fang Zheng, Chelsea CV Liu Jiaqi.

[Hunters]: Esdeath CV Zhang Siyu, Kurome CV Sora Amamiya, Will CV Fang Zheng, Stylish CV Cai Xianghua (one of the meme trio, dog head~), Lubbock CV Fang Zheng, Dr. Stylish CV Fang Zheng, Bols CV Fang Zheng.

In addition to these, the Three Beasts, the Emperor of the Empire, Minister Honest, and others would all be voiced by Fang Zheng.

Among these voice actors, besides Sora Amamiya voicing the sisters Akame and Kurome, Fang Zheng was the truly monstrous one.

Looking at the frequently appearing name 'Fang Zheng' on the list, everyone except Yang Li's eyes widened. They looked at Fang Zheng in disbelief, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

"Director Fang, are you really going to voice so many characters?"

Even Zhang Siyu looked at Fang Zheng with a hint of suspicion and a somewhat dazed expression.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Hearing Fang Zheng's matter-of-fact reply, the others looked at him as if he were a monster. Especially Duan Shuiqing and the other voice actors who had just signed with Fang Zheng, they looked utterly incredulous.

Normally, a person's voice has distinct characteristics. Except for the voice change during adolescence, it is difficult for an adult's vocal range to change significantly.

This is true even with professional training. Therefore, hearing that Fang Zheng intended to voice different characters, Duan Shuiqing and others with professional broadcasting backgrounds found it unbelievable.

"Heh heh, don't underestimate our Director Fang~" At this moment, Yang Li stepped forward proudly. Looking at Duan Shuiqing and the others' disbelieving expressions, she said, "Let me tell you, Fang Zheng is a genuine pervert, the extremely perverted kind!"

"Pervert?!"

Instantly, Duan Shuiqing, Tang Yirou, and the others looked at Fang Zheng differently, and their steps subconsciously retreated a couple of paces.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Who's a pervert? I have cheat skills… pfft! Good talent!"

Fang Zheng rolled his eyes speechlessly at Yang Li's words. It was the first time he had heard someone praise him like this.

Although he was a cheater himself, a cheater had his dignity. If he couldn't even beat normal players with his cheat skills, he might as well go find a piece of tofu and smash himself to death.

"Alright, everyone, let's stop fooling around." Zhang Siyu stepped forward at this moment. Although everyone was laughing and chatting in a warm atmosphere, this was still a company.

A company has its rules. Since Fang Zheng, as the chairman, couldn't say it directly, she had to step in and play the bad cop. Otherwise, the company would eventually fall into chaos.

"Akame ga Kill! is about to be released. Tomorrow, everyone, let's strive to complete the voice acting work and make this our ACG company's first big hit!"

After speaking, Zhang Siyu looked at Fang Zheng beside her, signaling him to say a few words.

To put it bluntly, Star Dream was Fang Zheng's personal work back then and had nothing to do with ACG. Akame ga Kill! was the first work Fang Zheng published under the ACG banner.

In this regard, the reputation of Akame ga Kill! would directly affect ACG's reputation and recognition, making it particularly important.

"Cough, cough, everyone, quiet down!"

Seeing Zhang Siyu's gaze, Fang Zheng nodded knowingly, cleared his throat, and stepped forward to face everyone.

If nothing unexpected happened, these people would be the earliest pioneers of his ACG Culture Company.

"The company is just starting, and everyone is somewhat aware of the situation. The office space isn't large, the funds aren't very ample, and the core staff isn't fully in place yet."

Fang Zheng did not hide the situation of ACG Culture Company from the outside world, nor did he hide it from the newly joined voice actors like Duan Shuiqing and Tang Yirou. It was exactly as it was.

There's a saying, "A dog doesn't dislike its poor family." Although the saying is unpleasant, it's not without reason. Fang Zheng genuinely welcomed those who joined ACG under these circumstances.

Offering help in times of need is always better than adding to someone's wealth, which is human nature. Fang Zheng, being a common man, was naturally unable to escape this ironclad rule.

"However, I believe the company will grow bigger and better, and you won't regret your decision today. I will personally use my works to elevate you all to the pinnacle of your respective industries."