Art is an Explosion

Facing Gu Xue's questioning.

Misawa Hiroshi said awkwardly, "You should know about the Anime Mirai project. In principle, animation studios are required to provide some of their active key animators to serve as core animators, to guide newcomers, prevent accidents, and clean up messes. Back when you were still drawing the final episode key animation for You Are My Hero, I took the liberty of putting your name forward..."

"So, I have to participate whether I want to or not?" Gu Xue wasn't actually that angry. Misawa Hiroshi wanted her to join this project, and Mihara Chisa surely knew about it.

Gu Xue didn't think Mihara Chisa would set her up; perhaps she had her own considerations regarding this matter.

Besides, at the shopping mall yesterday, Mihara Chisa had already extended the invitation, and Gu Xue was already prepared to "eat her words" and accept. She wasn't resistant to participating in the project; the reason she asked questions just now was simply because she was confused about what position she would hold and what exactly she would be doing.

The Anime Mirai project had requirements regarding the subject matter. Because it only had the runtime of an OVA, the story had to be original. It could be based on early fairy tales or short stories, but it needed to be written by the director or be a collective creation. Now, Misawa Hiroshi was asking her to write the original draft and draw the character design sheets—he might as well have asked her to write the script and draw the storyboards directly. What kind of collective creation was this? Who was the director, anyway...

Misawa Hiroshi didn't know what Gu Xue was thinking and replied, "No, when I first put your name forward, it was rejected... At the time, the executive director thought you were relying on nepotism... No, wait, that you were too young and not really suitable."

Gu Xue: "..."

"However, after the final episode of You Are My Hero aired, it sparked a lot of discussion. The sales of the original work skyrocketed, and BD sales also recovered. Most importantly, the producers on the production committee were very satisfied, and our company's reputation in the industry has improved as well..."

"When I saw that the final episode I was in charge of had a good reputation, I nervously approached the executive director again, and then..."

Misawa Hiroshi gave a bitter smile. "The five core animators who were supposed to participate in this project are gone; now there are only two. Because another project of the company, You Are My Hero, is a two-cour, half-year series without a split broadcast, it's run into some problems, and the schedule is indeed quite tight. I walked right into the line of fire. If I hadn't argued my case, we might not have had anyone. The executive director even thought you alone would be enough."

At the time, the exact words of the executive director at Snakehead Animation Studio were: That, that, you know, that JK-san you mentioned last time, doesn't she draw quite well? I think she alone would be fine.

Misawa Hiroshi had really been speechless at the time.

Who was it that said she was unreliable and used backdoors last time...

"...So?"

Hearing Misawa Hiroshi's words, Gu Xue was also speechless.

"Please, you must participate in this project. As the animation director, and if possible, please take on the character design work as well."

Misawa Hiroshi stood up and bowed rapidly.

His attitude couldn't have been more sincere.

It made one feel that if Gu Xue refused, he would kneel down.

"I'm sorry." Mihara Chisa also lowered her head to apologize.

Gu Xue sighed and said listlessly, "You don't have to apologize."

She had already decided to participate in this project anyway. Looking at the bright side, she had even received a promotion. To become an animation director and character designer within three years of entering the industry—the speed was like riding a rocket.

However, looking at the downside, she would be working much harder. After all, this wasn't a TV anime, but a project to train newcomers. As the person in charge of the animation, the animation director was almost equivalent to a mentor for the newcomers and would have to shoulder more teaching responsibilities, which would be quite exhausting.

Thinking of all this, Gu Xue couldn't bring herself to be happy.

The only thing worth being happy about was that after completing this project, she would add another line to her resume, making her future path easier.

After all, the end goal for a key animator's promotion is usually animation director or character designer. A chief animation director isn't actually that different from the former. If this project succeeds, and with Gu Xue's ability and this experience on her record, as long as she doesn't break her hands, she'll be able to do key animation, and if a production team invites her, she'll be able to do animation direction and character design as well.

As for going further, Gu Xue was interested in directorial work, but only interested. As for being a director, Gu Xue had no thoughts on that for the time being.

Because of her sister Gu Rou, Gu Xue didn't have much financial pressure. She was working as a key animator now just because she wanted to do work she was familiar with and enjoyed, so as not to waste her time.

Although she understood directorial work, she had never done it before, so Gu Xue didn't want to expend the mental energy to make "the anime she wanted." Isn't it more comfortable to point fingers at the anime others make than to do it yourself...

If, if there ever came a day when her sister Gu Rou went bankrupt, perhaps Gu Xue would develop the urge to climb higher, the urge to become a director, to create good works, to earn more money, and to support the family.

But how could that be possible.

Misawa Hiroshi, who had been bowing at ninety degrees, straightened his back. Seeing Gu Xue's lack of interest and her wandering mind, he knew he was being a bit unreasonable. He hesitated for a moment and said, "I originally wanted to find the other two core animators in the company to serve as animation directors, but after considering it for a while, I gave up. As for the reason, it's probably because I feel that communicating with them would be quite difficult. If someone like me serves as director, there will be people who aren't convinced, but I have a lot of ideas for the work, so... I know my request is outrageous, but please. I will find a way to persuade one of the core animators in the company to serve as an assistant animation director, although persuading them to assist a newcomer like you is a bit difficult..."

Since they could participate in this project and serve as core animators, the abilities of the other two core animators in the company were beyond doubt. The issue of seniority existed in every company to some extent. If one were to be serious about it, Gu Xue might even have to call them "senpai." So, persuading them to assist a newcomer who had officially been in the industry for less than three years was indeed a bit troublesome.

Gu Xue was clearly aware of this as well.

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

She was more curious about something else.

"Then why don't you serve as the animation director yourself?" Gu Xue looked at Misawa Hiroshi. "You also started as a key animator, right? According to your personality, the task of an animation director for an OVA-level anime should be something you could finish just by pushing yourself a little, right? Why don't you just be the animation director, and I'll assist you? You draw pretty well anyway."

The cut where the Demon King and the Hero collided and exploded in the final episode of You Are My Hero was drawn by Misawa Hiroshi. It was indeed very good. For explosion scenes with things flying everywhere, smoke, dirt, debris, firelight, and so on, drawing several layers of key animation would easily require nearly a hundred sheets of key animation. Not just anyone could draw that well.

"..." Hearing Gu Xue's words, Misawa Hiroshi was silent for a moment. He showed an expression of reminiscing about the past and said softly, "When I first started doing in-betweening at this company, I thought explosion scenes were particularly cool. I always felt that art is an explosion, so I specialized in hand-drawn special effects. My exam to be promoted to key animator was successful because I drew explosion effects well. I was very young then and didn't know anything about balanced development..."

"After being a key animator for so many years, I haven't learned anything else. My character drawing is even more of a mess. I only know explosions, explosions, explosions, explosions, and then..."

Misawa Hiroshi lowered his head slightly, showing his bald spot to Mihara Chisa and Gu Xue, his face filled with despair: "My own hair exploded."

Gu Xue: "..."

Mihara Chisa: "..."