Anime Production: Starting by Healing the Audience

At first, hearing one or two compliments like that could still feel satisfying, even make him a little lightheaded. But with every judge praising him like this, a highly formal award ceremony was practically turning into his personal commendation conference.

Several judges spoke in turn. Fang Zheng was embarrassed beyond words. He was starting to wonder whether the person in those judges' mouths was really him. Was he truly that outstanding?

But no matter how awkward he felt, the Annual Best Creation Award Competition proceeded as scheduled. The award ceremony had a lively atmosphere, but after a while, it still became boring.

After all, the competition's award ceremony was extremely official. Contestants like Fang Zheng, especially after standing in the middle of the stage for so long, were exhausted.

He had barely waited for the ceremony to end before he had to attend an interview program. At that moment, Fang Zheng suddenly regretted agreeing to the interview.

"Ah... That was rash. Wouldn't it have been nicer to just go home and rest?"

Dragging his tired body along, Fang Zheng slowly followed the staff toward the live studio. This TV station interview would not only air on television, but also be livestreamed online.

It could be said that Star Dream had become wildly popular online, so Modu TV Station intended to ride the wave of internet hype this time. Otherwise, given the station's lofty status, it would never have opened an online livestream room.

"It's here, it's here! The stream is about to begin! We can finally see what Big Shot Fang really looks like."

"He's definitely some greasy middle-aged uncle. Someone without a few stories couldn't create something as profound as Star Dream."

"Don't be so pessimistic. What if Big Shot Fang is a handsome guy?"

"Diagnosis complete: the person above is a lovestruck idiot!"

The livestream had not even begun, yet the room was already packed. Dense bullet comments flooded across the screen, with most people speculating about Fang Zheng's age and appearance.

After all, they were extremely curious about his age as well. Many guessed that anyone who could direct such a profound work as Star Dream must have lived through countless stories.

Even if he was not a white-haired old man, he had to be a greasy middle-aged uncle with extensive life experience.

At Modu University, Chen Qian squeezed in front of the window with several roommates, staring unblinkingly at the computer screen. The livestream was still black, but the dense bullet comments were overwhelming.

"How old do you think Big Shot Fang is?"

"Forty!"

"Fifty!"

Hearing his roommates' discussion, Chen Qian rolled his eyes speechlessly. Then, without saying a word, he got up and walked over to the bedside cabinet.

"Old Chen, what are you doing? The stream's about to start."

Chen Qian did not answer. Instead, he took an incense burner from the bedside cabinet, lit several sticks of agarwood incense, and watched blue smoke curl through the air. Then he clasped his hands devoutly and closed his eyes in prayer.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!"

"Come on, Old Chen. What's the point of doing all this mystical stuff? Weibo giveaways are all about probability."

"Yeah. Tons of people enter those drawings. Burning incense and praying to Buddha won't help much."

Hearing his roommates tease him, Chen Qian took a deep breath, bowed devoutly to the incense burner, then returned to his desk and sat down.

"What the hell do you know? I don't care about Big Shot Fang's age. I just want that poster!"

Chen Qian's eyes sparkled. From the moment he had seen the attached image on Fang Zheng's Weibo post, he had been unable to stop thinking about that poster. He even dreamed every day about getting it.

Hearing Chen Qian's words, his roommates thought he had gone mad. They all shook their heads and stopped bothering him. Damn it, he had even resorted to mysticism for a poster. If they kept talking, Chen Qian might challenge them to a real-life PK match.

At eight-thirty, the livestream screen switched to the studio right on time.

"Big Shot Fang, look at me!"

"Praying for a promotional poster!"

"Praying for a promotional poster!"

Before the stream began, everyone had been spamming "Begging for promotional posters." But the moment the image switched over, the bullet comments froze for an instant.

After that brief silence, the comments came flooding in like an avalanche.

"Holy shit, he's so handsome!"

"Holy shit, he's so handsome!"

"Holy shit, he's so handsome!"

"..."

The atmosphere in the livestream changed completely. Seeing that unbelievably young face on screen, paired with neat, energetic short hair, Fang Zheng looked incredibly handsome and sharp.

In the studio, host Yang Li sat across from Fang Zheng with a smile on her face. She had just finished hosting the award ceremony and, before she could even change clothes, had been asked to host Fang Zheng's special interview.

The news had delighted Yang Li for quite a while. She had never expected the station to assign her to receive Fang Zheng a second time. It was simply unbelievable.

"Good evening, everyone watching in front of your screens. I'm your old friend, Yang Li." After a simple opening, Yang Li showed that she understood the audience's mindset very well and did not spend much time introducing herself.

Instead, she smoothly shifted the topic to Fang Zheng.

"I'm sure everyone is very curious about who this young and handsome man sitting beside me is. Perhaps some of you have already guessed, but following the usual procedure, let's ask him to introduce himself."

Hearing Yang Li's words, Fang Zheng smiled. To be honest, he did not like highly formal settings like award ceremonies. They made him feel restrained.

But an interview show did not have nearly so many rules.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Fang Zheng—the Ultimate Healing Mentor you all talk about, the author of Star Dream whom countless people want to send local specialties to but cannot because they don't have my delivery address, and the beloved creator adored by audiences everywhere."

Fang Zheng's string of introductions left even Yang Li staring blankly for a moment. It was an interview program, so it did not need to be overly serious, but wasn't he letting himself go a little too much?

"Damn, Big Shot Fang, are you getting carried away?"

"You bastard, dare to give us your address? I'll make you switch careers and open a wholesale razor-blade factory!"

"So this is Big Shot Fang? He's so handsome!"

"The screen is full of bitches trying to steal my husband!"

"Big Shot Fang is so mischievous. I want to give you a buff!"

The Netizens in the livestream exploded at Fang Zheng's introduction. Many were righteously indignant at his blatant provocation of the audience.

Yet the man on screen sat there without a care, chatting calmly with the host as though he was not worried in the slightest.

In the studio, Yang Li helplessly looked at Fang Zheng, who was wildly testing the limits of self-destruction, and sighed. "After hearing Big Shot Fang's introduction, I'm sure everyone knows now."

"That's right. The overly handsome, overly young man sitting beside me is Fang Zheng, the creator of Star Dream that everyone has been eagerly awaiting online!"

"You flatter me, Miss Yang. You're very beautiful too, and extremely elegant. From the first moment I saw you, I thought you were a very graceful woman."

"Really?" Hearing Fang Zheng praise her like that, Yang Li turned toward him excitedly.

No woman disliked being praised, not even the star host of Modu TV Station.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited. I was joking."

"Pfft!"

Chen Qian, sitting in front of the computer, sprayed the soda he had just swallowed all over the place. He coughed continuously while frantically wiping down the computer screen.

His roommates were laughing so hard they could not straighten their backs, while the livestream was filled with endless laughter and a fiery atmosphere.

"Damn it, I thought it was going to be some standard commercial mutual praise, but Big Shot Fang secretly took a turn."

"I can now tell everyone with certainty that this isn't scripted!"

"You really are something else. As expected of the Ultimate Healing Mentor."

"Humorous Big Shot Fang is so charming. I've fallen for him!"

In the studio, Yang Li stared at Fang Zheng in stunned disbelief. Even though she had seen plenty of major events, Fang Zheng's outrageous maneuver had still completely thrown her off.

Seeing Yang Li look at him resentfully, Fang Zheng smiled and waved his hand. "Relax. You seemed very nervous just now, and I personally don't like that kind of atmosphere, so I loosened things up a little."

"6666"

"Are you sure this is Modu TV Station's serious livestream? Why do I feel like the Art Style went completely off track the moment Big Shot Fang arrived?"

"I don't like that atmosphere, so all those compliments were jokes. Hahaha!"

"I feel like I'll never be able to look Miss Yang Li in the eye again."

Hearing Fang Zheng's words, Yang Li pretended to cough twice to hide her embarrassment. Yet in the end, she could not hold back her laughter.

She gave Fang Zheng a complicated look. Was this young man really being interviewed for the first time? Why did he seem like such a seasoned veteran, even better than her, a professional host, at controlling the atmosphere?

"All right, I'll take it as Big Shot Fang complimenting me." Afraid that Fang Zheng might say something else shocking, Yang Li hurriedly skipped over the matter.

"Big Shot Fang, today is your special interview program, so in order to interview you, our production team specifically found some particularly tricky questions online."

"Can I skip the tricky questions?"

"No!" Yang Li gave Fang Zheng a helpless look. Why did this young man never play by the rules? At the same time, she was secretly amazed by how capable he was.

With just a few sentences, he had seized the initiative of the program. Though he was young, his ability to control the scene was anything but ordinary. No wonder he could create a smash-hit work like Star Dream.

His composure and calm attitude in the face of situations alone far surpassed those of his peers. Even compared to seasoned veterans, he was not inferior in the slightest.

"First question: Could Fang Zheng introduce everyone to this fresh new form of work known as Star Dream?"

Although Fang Zheng had clearly brought up the concept of "anime" during the award ceremony, the ceremony's audience was obviously nowhere near as large as the livestream's. Most people still did not know about it.

That was precisely why Yang Li had placed this question first.

"I define the form of Star Dream as anime. Anime is a visual technique in which images are shot frame by frame and played continuously to create movement."

Fang Zheng paused, then continued. "Anime is a comprehensive art form involving drawing, photography, digital media, music, literature, and many other cultural forms. None of these elements can be absent when producing an anime."

Fang Zheng explained what he knew. He was not worried that anime production techniques would be leaked. Anime becoming popular was absolutely not because making it was difficult, but because its content was excellent enough and engaging enough.

In fact, Fang Zheng believed that many people had already figured out the methods used to make anime. To professionals, it was not particularly difficult.

So rather than hide it away, he might as well reveal it openly. If anyone wanted to compete with him in the anime field, he would welcome them wholeheartedly.

He longed to build a 2D Empire. The more people who participated, the more popular anime would become. That was a good thing for him. All he had to do was firmly occupy the top seat.

If he could not even manage that, then all the anime he had watched in his previous life would have been for nothing.