Design Work

The meeting had been going on for five minutes.

But Gu Xue still had a blank mind, pencil in hand. She took a deep breath, dropped the pencil, leaned back in her chair, and gave up. "I'm done drawing."

"What's wrong?" Miss Mihara, who had been watching her the whole time, stood up with both hands on the table and came around behind Gu Xue. After hesitating for a moment, she worked up the courage to place her hands on Gu Xue's shoulders and gently massage them.

"You've scrambled my brains." Gu Xue turned and glared at her.

Mihara Chisa paused. "Then I'll step out for a bit and come back later. I'll bring you something to drink."

With that, she started to leave.

"Hey..." Gu Xue looked as if to say, "I was just saying that. You're really leaving?"

But Miss Mihara really did leave.

Gu Xue watched her disappear through the doorway and let out a sigh.

It wasn't quite enough to scramble her brains, but the mood between them had been a little strange. Mainly, Miss Mihara had an odd way of showing her gratitude, and Gu Xue found it strange and hard to get used to.

After Miss Mihara left, Gu Xue's mind finally cooled down.

Though Miss Mihara had a strange way of saying thanks, Gu Xue was relieved to realize that she was simply awkward by nature and didn't have any other intentions.

Now she could finally spend time with Miss Mihara without worrying, and admire her beautiful photos to her heart's content. She could see a side of her she'd never seen before, without reservations or any more worries.

She could kiss her and hug her whenever she wanted—and even pick her up... Maybe not pick her up. She was afraid she might drop her.

That was probably what Gu Xue was thinking.

She felt relieved, and a little happy.

At a crucial moment, Miss Mihara had sensed what Gu Xue was thinking and told a little lie, but it seemed to have pushed Gu Xue even farther away.

Still, that wasn't something Gu Xue needed to worry about.

After Mihara Chisa left, Gu Xue gathered her thoughts and prepared to continue working on the initial concept.

An initial concept wasn't the same as a script. It meant the early designs or outline of the story. Since the story hadn't been approved and finalized yet, it was only for the other key creators to review and discuss, so it didn't need to be polished.

To put it more simply, it was roughly the original work—the story.

Since Gu Xue had come up with the story, she needed to explain to the key creators what it was about. After they discussed it, they might have to make changes.

For an anime to be made, they would definitely need a proper script to create the storyboards.

Gu Xue was a key animator, which was why Misawa Hiroshi had simply asked her to draw it out.

The same idea applied to character design. For manga and light novel adaptations, for instance, the original character designs were generally done by the manga artist or illustrator. Then the anime's character designer adapted them into designs suitable for animation. Anime production schedules were tight, so they had to reduce the number of lines as much as possible—in other words, make the designs easier to draw—and fill in or refine various details.

The characters in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress were gorgeous, weren't they? That was thanks to the original character designer, Mikimoto Haruhiko. The anime's character designer had also done their best to preserve and recreate his style.

But not every character design stayed faithful to the original. Some were heavily stylized, with the original designs changed so drastically that even their mothers wouldn't recognize them.

Of course, Gu Xue wasn't worried that anyone would drastically alter the characters she'd drawn. She was the character designer, after all. The characters she drew were still being called initial designs, or drafts, only because they hadn't yet been approved or discussed with the other key creators. They might still need some minor adjustments.

As for what character design was for... It served as the standard for the work that followed. Gu Xue wasn't the only one drawing the key animation; many people were involved. Others might draw the characters differently due to their style or habits, so giving them character design sheets to refer to would help prevent those inconsistencies.

Of course, this couldn't make every drawing one hundred percent identical. That was why there was a role called animation director. One of the animation director's jobs was to fix differences from the standard—for example, when a face or the contours and lines didn't match the design sheet.

The chief animation director was responsible for the entire production, correcting inconsistencies throughout the work.

That was how they kept the characters' appearances and body shapes consistent throughout an episode or series, so viewers wouldn't think someone was the protagonist one second, then stare in confusion and wonder who they were the next.

A lot of anime looked off-model because the schedule was too tight to make corrections, or because the animation director wasn't skilled or dependable enough, leaving them no choice but to air it as it was. When a face didn't match, the off-model look was especially jarring.

As for the key animation Gu Xue had worked on for Ore-sama, why hadn't anyone corrected the protagonist's face, which was so handsome it didn't match the rest of the show?

First, it was what the director wanted. Misawa Hiroshi had plenty of ideas and had persuaded the others, so they went with it.

Second, perhaps every viewer thought Gu Xue had made the protagonist handsome. But in truth... the cuts Gu Xue had handled had been drawn according to the character design sheets. Hers were actually the closest to the designs. Rather than saying Gu Xue had made him handsome, it would be more accurate to say the others had drawn him off-model...

What a sad story...

Besides character design, anime productions might also have roles such as mechanical designer, weapons designer, and prop designer.

For example, the staff Gu Xue was drawing now—the cold weapon Akko wielded in Little Witch Academia, which looked like it could bludgeon someone to death with its butt—wouldn't normally have been assigned to her. In most TV anime, there was probably a prop designer specifically responsible for that kind of work.

But even if the production had someone in that role, Gu Xue probably wouldn't let anyone else draw those props. They might not seem important, but they were. If they didn't fit the style of the show, they could easily pull viewers out of it.

As the person most familiar with the work, Gu Xue had simply taken on all the design work herself. She wasn't getting paid extra, but it was just a matter of convenience. She was drawing from memory, so she didn't need to look up references or come up with designs from scratch.

She also drew the brooms and the ordinary staffs used by the other witches.

Gu Xue's hand moved faster and faster, and she grew more and more absorbed in her work. One sheet after another, covered in character or prop designs, piled up beside her.

By the time she got to the protagonist, Akko, Gu Xue could barely control her right hand.

For character designs, the most important things besides body shape were the faces—in other words, the characters' expressions. You had to draw a few for the key animators to use as references: happy, angry, dejected, and so on.

But when Gu Xue drew the protagonist, Akko, she ended up drawing twenty expressions—two full sheets.

It was like making reaction stickers.

Could I ask you to vote for this book...? (I'm really embarrassed to ask, but it does matter. Thank you...)

Also, thanks to Lazy Tourist for the 500-reward, Nanjo Yoshino for the 1,000-reward, A Tale of the Flowering Season for the 500-reward, Wuwang Sky01 for the 1,000-reward, akatsukiryuu for the 100-reward, Book Friend 5079 for the 500-reward, and Ruyán Fēi Wúyán for the 100-reward, and Xian Kai for the 100-reward. Thank you all, and thanks for reading my book.