Do You Need a Hug?

"Gentle?" Misawa Hiroshi's mouth twitched. "I've never heard that before."

"You entered the industry late and have only ever worked at this company, so of course you haven't." Abe Shinichi rubbed the sparse hair on top of his head and smiled. "Don't be fooled by how young Mihara Chisa looks. If I remember correctly, she should already be twenty-seven this year. Her appearance just hasn't changed much. In a sense, she truly has a childlike fa—"

Abe Shinichi was about to say the final two words when he suddenly remembered Gu Xue was there. After pausing for a moment, he silently wiped the increasingly lecherous smile from his face, swallowed those final words, and gave a dry cough. "...Mihara just looks young. She's actually been in the industry for quite a while. This is already her eighth year. When it comes to experience producing TV animation alone, there aren't many people at your company who can match her."

Snakehead Animation had only been established for six years. Though it had a few seasoned old-timers who had entered the industry early, most of its staff were newcomers.

"I've known Mihara for a long time. Back when 3.C PICTURE invited me to direct a certain work, it was Clover... Have you seen it?" Abe Shinichi suddenly asked.

Misawa Hiroshi nodded. That was Abe Shinichi's signature work, and also the only work he had produced in recent years that was worth mentioning...

Abe Shinichi revealed a nostalgic expression. "Mihara was part of the production staff for that anime. She served as production assistant for episodes one, five, and ten. I handled the storyboards and episode direction for the first episode as director, so I had some contact with her."

"She truly was an incredibly gentle production assistant back then. She spoke softly and was terrible at refusing the creators' requests. Even if their demands were outrageous, she would agonize over them for a while before accepting. Her work ability was exceptional too. And perhaps because she was young and pretty, basically no one would refuse the chance to get to know a girl like that. She had only been in the industry for three years then, yet her connections were already terrifying. Thanks to her, every episode of Clover that she was responsible for turned out incredibly well. I'm still grateful to her to this day."

It would have been fine if Abe Shinichi had not brought up the past, but once he did, Misawa Hiroshi remembered how Mihara Chisa had just roasted him so thoroughly that he had nearly been unable to respond. He became even more depressed. "Are you telling me that making anime changes your personality and leads straight to ruin? Or are you telling me Mihara Chisa actually hates me?"

Gu Xue, who had been listening all along, also stopped sketching storyboards. She spun her pencil once in her hand, looking similarly troubled.

"Neither. She treats everyone like that now. She used to be soft and sweet, but since last year, freelance key animators who know her have started calling her Miejue Shitai." Abe Shinichi smiled bitterly.

Misawa Hiroshi mocked himself. "So making anime changes your personality and leads straight to ruin."

"That was part of it, but I don't think it was the main reason." Abe Shinichi tapped the table, hesitated briefly, then continued. "You must have noticed too. Animation—especially TV animation—can be a very dangerous thing if no one keeps us in check and lets us run wild. In creative work, people with poor self-control can easily pursue certain ideals, overestimate their own abilities or others', and do reckless things. On the other side is laziness. Production assistant positions manage the day-to-day matters outside of the budget and so on, all to make sure we finish the anime on time. Naturally, I'm happy if the person managing the schedule is easygoing, but that is absolutely not a good thing."

"You saw 3.C PICTURE's Falling Feathers three years ago, right? The anime directed by the famous Narita Kei."

Misawa Hiroshi said in surprise, "No way... Mihara Chisa was involved in that too?"

"She was the production assistant for the Final Episode. And you know what happened. A perfectly good work was ruined at the last minute. After the Final Episode aired, the internet was full of condemnation aimed at the production team. The original author expressed their dissatisfaction very directly. Some fans even marched outside 3.C PICTURE's offices. It was terrifying."

"The reason it ended up like that was because Mihara didn't know how to refuse—or rather, because she let Narita Kei run wild too much. It was a slice-of-life show, but for the sake of so-called expressive power, he forcibly added scenes of mecha transformations and battles. He refused to use 3D as well. Everything had to be hand-drawn. The key animation was colored several times, but he was dissatisfied and sent it back to be redrawn. Narita Kei had already lost his head by then. Every time he made an unreasonable demand, he only said one thing: 'Mihara, remember to hurry them along. Please.' He never gave a thought to the deadline closing in. I don't know whether he trusted Mihara too much or trusted the animators beneath him too much."

"Mihara was young and hot-blooded back then too. Although she realized the problem was serious, she still didn't go discuss it with the production manager or producer. It was not until the day before delivery to the TV station that her two immediate superiors learned about it. But by then, it was all over. Everything was too late."

"When the anime aired, it caused a huge uproar. The original work was one of Ohashi Publishing's flagship titles at the time. And Producer Miyamoto, the producer on the committee's side and Ohashi Publishing's Senior Managing Director, personally loved the original work. 3.C PICTURE pulled something like that and thoroughly enraged her. I heard she called 3.C PICTURE's president that very night and chewed him out viciously. The next day, she stormed straight into their company to demand answers for their negligence."

"That same day, Producer Miyamoto made her stance clear: she would never give any of her company's works to 3.C PICTURE again. She also refused to pay the production fees that were supposed to be paid. Even the staff wages that had already been paid were to be recovered. At the same time, she filed a lawsuit against 3.C PICTURE, believing the studio had deliberately intended to smear the original work and had engaged in improper conduct, and that it should compensate the members of the production committee..."

Misawa Hiroshi swallowed lightly. "It was that serious...?"

Even just hearing about it made Misawa Hiroshi's back go cold. It had been a complete disaster and had triggered practically every landmine in animation production.

The original author, the investors, the audience.

Someone a little more fragile might have jumped off a building.

"It was that serious. It just wasn't widely publicized." Abe Shinichi shook his head with a bitter smile. "Although the lawsuit ultimately came to nothing, Producer Miyamoto, Ohashi Publishing's Senior Managing Director, truly did as she said. Since that incident, she has never given 3.C PICTURE another project. Even though 3.C PICTURE's president personally apologized many times, it was useless."

"What about Mihara Chisa?" Misawa Hiroshi scratched his head. He had already guessed, but he still asked.

"Between Narita Kei, a famous director and a board member of 3.C PICTURE, and a production assistant, whose words do you think people would find more believable... No, that's not quite right. Which person do you think had more say?" Abe Shinichi tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Director Narita Kei pushed the responsibility away completely. Or perhaps he genuinely believed he had done nothing wrong."

"First, 3.C PICTURE's planning department held a meeting, where the in-house producers tore Mihara apart. Then came the company inquiry meeting. I heard Mihara stood there for a full six hours and was berated for all six of them. At one point, she could no longer bear it and argued with Narita Kei for a couple of sentences. In the end, she was slapped twice."

"'If you're incompetent, then just obediently marry someone. If all you can do is shirk responsibility, what use are you? The company salary is so low—wouldn't you earn more being fucked by men!?' Those were the exact words that famous director said while slapping Mihara. Many people heard it and remembered it. It's absolutely true. But as his reputation grew bigger and bigger, fewer and fewer people dared to bring it up."

Leaning back in his chair, Abe Shinichi gave a mocking laugh. "It was devastating that the work had gone wrong, and the company offending Ohashi Publishing was a huge loss and a massive headache. But saying something like that still went too far, didn't it?"

Misawa Hiroshi: "..."

Gu Xue: "..."

"Well, there was nothing we could say. In the end, the matter concluded with Mihara lowering her head, admitting fault, and accepting punishment. If she hadn't had so many connections, she probably would have been fired on the spot."

"After that incident, the gentle Mihara disappeared. Her personality became extremely tough. Though she remained at 3.C PICTURE, lingering consequences meant things did not go very smoothly for her there. She only became a production manager for one team. That was only because she was capable and had some connections, and the company did not want to let her leave. Otherwise, she might still only be a production assistant now."

"I heard she stayed because she wanted to prove herself. But the company never gave her a chance. This time, she left and came to your company. Looks like she finally gave up..."

"Well, maybe not exactly gave up. I heard that famous 'great director,' whether it was because hate turned into love or something else, kept seeking Mihara out even after the incident had passed. A while ago, he called Mihara into his office, and the two had an argument. I heard that when the great director cursed and drove Mihara away in the end, he was still muttering things like, 'So ungrateful. Don't ever dream of getting ahead.' You can probably guess what happened. After all, Mihara..."

Misawa Hiroshi wore an expression like he was severely constipated. "No way, are you saying..."

"Cough." Abe Shinichi coughed and glanced at Gu Xue, cutting Misawa Hiroshi off.

Misawa Hiroshi obediently shut his mouth.

Gu Xue abruptly stood up, picked up the storyboards, and placed them before the two men. "Go on, say it. Wasn't it just that director wanting to introduce Mihara Chisa to a 'job' that, in his words, earned more money, and she refused? It's not like I don't understand anything."

"But since you already know that acting recklessly can have serious consequences, then next time you change the storyboards, please discuss it with someone first. Unless you have already found someone willing to draw such outrageous key animation. Aren't you two doing exactly the same thing as that so-called great director?"

Gu Xue glared at them, left those words behind, turned around, flicked her single ponytail, and opened the meeting room door to leave.

Unexpectedly, she walked straight into a "soft wall."

Gu Xue was slightly taller than the other person, so this should not have happened, but Gu Xue had been looking down...

Gu Xue raised her head, looked at the expressionless Mihara Chisa, and, in a sudden rush of impulse, blurted out, "Do you need a hug?"