Art Is an Explosion

Faced with Gu Xue's question,

Misawa Hiroshi replied awkwardly, "You should know that, in principle, for the Anime Mirai project, animation studios need to provide some of their current key animators to serve as senior animators. They guide the newcomers, prevent mishaps, and clean up any messes. Back when you were still drawing key animation for the final episode of Ore-sama, I took it upon myself to put your name forward too..."

"So I have to take part whether I want to or not?" Gu Xue wasn't particularly angry. If Misawa Hiroshi wanted her to join the project, Miss Mihara must have known about it too.

Gu Xue didn't think Miss Mihara would set her up. Maybe she had her own reasons for doing this.

Besides, Miss Mihara had already invited her yesterday at the shopping center, and Gu Xue was ready to come around and join the project anyway. She didn't object to participating. She had only asked because she was a little confused about what role she was supposed to take on and what she was being asked to do.

The Anime Mirai project had requirements for the subject matter of its works. Since it was only OVA length, the story had to be original. It could be based on an old fairy tale or a short story, but the director had to write it, or it had to be created collectively. Now Misawa Hiroshi was asking her to write the original concept and draw the design sheets. He might as well ask her to write the script and draw the storyboards too. How was that collective creation? Who was the director here, anyway...?

Misawa Hiroshi didn't know what Gu Xue was thinking. He replied, "No. When I put your name forward, it was rejected... At the time, the managing director thought you'd gotten in through connections—no, I mean, you were too young, so he didn't think you were suitable."

Gu Xue: "..."

"But after the final episode of Ore-sama aired, it got a lot of attention. Sales of the original work shot up, and Blu-ray Disc sales started recovering too. Most importantly, the producer on the production committee was very pleased, and our company's reputation in the industry improved as well..."

"When I saw that the final episode I'd been responsible for had been well received, I nervously went to the managing director again. And then..."

Misawa Hiroshi gave a wry smile. "The five key animators who were supposed to take part in the project are no longer available. Now there are only two. The company's other project, You Are My Hero, is a two-cour series, running for half a year without a split broadcast, and it's run into some problems. The schedule's really tight, and I walked right into the line of fire. If I hadn't argued my case, there might not have been anyone at all. The managing director even thinks you could handle it on your own."

The managing director of Snakehead Animation's exact words at the time had been: "Um, that, you know, that JK-san you mentioned last time—doesn't she draw pretty well? I think she could handle it on her own."

Misawa Hiroshi had been completely speechless.

Who was it that said last time that relying on connections wasn't dependable...?

"...So?"

Gu Xue was speechless too after hearing Misawa Hiroshi's explanation.

"I'm begging you to take part in this project as the animation director. If possible, please take on the character design work as well."

Misawa Hiroshi stood up and bowed quickly.

He couldn't have been more sincere.

It felt as if he'd get down on his knees if Gu Xue refused.

"I'm sorry," Mihara Chisa said, bowing her head in apology too.

Gu Xue sighed and said listlessly, "There's no need to apologize."

She had already decided to join the project anyway. Looking on the bright side, she'd even been promoted. She'd become an animation director and character designer in less than three years in the industry. That was practically rocket speed.

But looking on the downside, she'd have even more work to do. This wasn't a TV anime; it was a project for training newcomers. As the person in charge of the animation, the animation director was practically the newcomers' instructor and had to shoulder a lot more teaching responsibilities. It would be exhausting.

Thinking of all that, Gu Xue couldn't feel happy about it.

The only thing she could be glad about was that once the project was finished, she'd have another accomplishment on her resume, and her career would be easier from then on.

After all, becoming an animation director or character designer was more or less the furthest a key animator could go. Chief animation director wasn't all that different from the former. If the project succeeded, Gu Xue had the ability, and she'd have the experience on her resume. As long as she didn't break her hands, she could keep working as a key animator, and if a production team invited her, she could also work as an animation director or character designer.

As for moving further up, Gu Xue was interested in directing, but that was all. She didn't have any plans to become a director for now.

Because of her older sister, Gu Rou, Gu Xue wasn't under much financial pressure. She was working as a key animator because it was work she knew and enjoyed, and she didn't want to waste her time.

She knew what a director did, but she'd never done it herself. Gu Xue had no desire to spend her energy making "the anime I want to make." Wasn't it more comfortable to criticize the anime other people made...?

If—if one day her older sister, Gu Rou, went bankrupt, perhaps Gu Xue would feel the urge to climb higher and think about becoming a director. She'd make good works and earn a bigger paycheck to support the family.

But how could that happen?

Misawa Hiroshi straightened up from his deep bow. Seeing Gu Xue looking uninterested and lost in thought, he realized he was asking too much. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Originally, I wanted to ask the other two key animators at the studio to be the animation directors, but after thinking it over, I gave up. The reason is probably that I think it'd be really hard to communicate with them. If someone like me took on the director's role, some people wouldn't accept it. But I have a lot of ideas about the work, so... I know I'm asking a lot, but please. I'll try to persuade one of the key animators at the studio to serve as assistant animation director. Though it might be a little difficult to convince them to assist you, a newcomer..."

Since they'd been picked for the project as senior animators, there was no question about the abilities of the other two key animators at the studio. Every company had some degree of seniority-based hierarchy, and if they really wanted to get technical, Gu Xue might even have to call them her seniors. So it would indeed be a little troublesome to convince them to assist someone who, on the surface, had been in the industry for less than three years.

Gu Xue understood that perfectly well.

So she didn't really care whether there was an assistant animation director or not.

She was more curious about something else.

"Then why don't you take on the animation director role yourself?" Gu Xue looked at Misawa Hiroshi. "You seem to have started out as a key animator too, right? With your personality, directing the animation for an OVA-length project should be something you could finish after pulling a few all-nighters, right? So why not do it yourself and let me assist you? You draw pretty well, after all."

The final episode of Ore-sama had featured an explosion when the Demon King and Hero collided. The cut had been drawn by Misawa Hiroshi, and it had been really good. For an explosive scene with all kinds of things flying around—smoke, dirt, rocks, flames—drawing layer after layer of key animation could easily take nearly a hundred drawings. Not just anyone could do it well.

"..." Hearing Gu Xue's words, Misawa Hiroshi fell silent for a moment, then wore a wistful expression. "When I first started working at this company, doing in-between drawings and clean-up, I thought explosion scenes were incredibly cool. I always felt that art was an explosion, so I focused on hand-drawn effects. I passed the key animator promotion test because I was good at drawing explosions. I was young back then, and I had no idea what it meant to develop a balanced skill set, to have the best of both worlds..."

"After all those years as a key animator, I never learned how to draw anything else. I was awful at drawing people and the like. All I knew was explosions, explosions, explosions, explosions, explosions. And then..."

Misawa Hiroshi lowered his head slightly, showing Mihara Chisa and Gu Xue the bald patch on top of it. His face was utterly despondent. "My own hair exploded."

Gu Xue: "..."

Mihara Chisa: "..."