Discussions in the Men's Hot Spring

3 PM.

The men's hot spring bath is filled with steam.

Nakayama Takuya leaned against the edge of the hot spring, the warm water reaching above his chest.

Floating beside it was a small square wooden basin containing a pot of warmed sake and two white porcelain cups.

The sliding door was pushed open with a "whoosh".

Masami Kurumada changed into a loose yukata and walked in wearing wooden clogs.

He put the towel on his head, went into the water, and let out a long, comfortable sigh.

"President Nakayama, you're really unfair." Masami Kurumada wiped the water from his face. "You left me alone at the club while you went to see the cherry blossoms. The waiters outside, seeing my reaction, probably thought I'd been abandoned by the company."

Nakayama Takuya picked up the sake bottle from the wooden basin and filled the empty cup opposite him.

"How does it feel to be blocked out with project proposals and pressured for storyboards?"

Masami Kurumada picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"You know what," he said, sinking deeper into the water and leaning against the pool wall, "My mind was a complete mess before I came here, but now, soaking in this water, all the anger that's been building up has completely dissipated."

"You need to Panasonic to think clearly." Nakayama Takuya took a sip himself. "So, while the water's temperature is just right, let's finalize the important matters we need to discuss. If I don't tell you today, you probably won't be able to sleep well tonight."

The cup in Masami Kurumada's hand froze in mid-air.

He didn't refute it; instead, he nodded.

This young leader of Sega is a master at setting things up.

First, spend a whole day helping them unload their burdens, and only begin the incision once they are completely relaxed.

"Let's set the tone first." Nakayama Takuya put his wine glass back in the wooden basin. "The Saint Seiya IP has fans who have a passion for it, and there's market demand. Sega wants this piece of meat, and Toei and Bandai also want a piece of the pie. We're definitely going to make money, don't resist that. This money will be your biggest source of confidence to create freely later on."

Masami Kurumada held his cup without saying a word.

No comic book artist who serializes a work turns down money.

What he resisted wasn't making money, but rather the short-sighted money-making methods employed by Toei.

"The hurdle you can't get over is that you feel the Hades Chapter was rushed back then." Nakayama Takuya hit the nail on the head, directly exposing the wound that Masami Kurumada was trying so hard to hide.

"Back then, Shueisha was pushing hard, and Toei was working on original content, which was slowing things down. You were forced into it and hastily drew an ending."

Masami Kurumada smile, tilted his head back, and downed the sake in his glass.

"The story outline was already finalized. Now they want me to redraw it, and I don't even know where to begin."

Nakayama Takuya took the sake bottle and filled it up for him again.

"The Hades Chapter framework in the manga is fine. The introduction, development, climax, and resolution are all there; there's no need to change the core storyline."

Masami Kurumada looked up.

"If the main storyline remains unchanged, what's the point of resetting it?"

"The problem lies in the presentation." Nakayama Takuya traced a line on the water's surface, creating ripples. "Your plot progression, from the Galactic Arena to the Twelve Gold Temples, then to the Poseidon Chapter and Hades Chapter, is always the same: an explosion, a beating, another explosion, another beating. This formula might have worked in the 1980s."

He paused, then emphasized.

"But it's 1998 now. Readers are tired of it. You haven't made any changes in visuals or narrative pacing. As soon as they see the protagonist fall, they know Athena is about to speak again."

Masami Kurumada fell silent.

That's a harsh statement, but it's entirely true.

This is also the root cause of why he feels awkward no matter how he sits in front of the easel lately.

How can you expect to move readers with something you yourself find tiresome?

Nakayama Takuya leaned forward, breaking the silence in the hot spring.

Actually, you're sitting right next to a gold mine, but you don't know how to mine it.

"What's the meaning?"

"The opening scene of the Hades Chapter, where Shion is resurrected and leads the traitors Gemini, Cancer, and Pisces into the Twelve Temples," Nakayama Takuya points out the core of the plot. "That part of the story is very exciting. There are plot twists, struggles, and complete character arcs. But that's not enough."

He looked at Masami Kurumada.

"You didn't unleash the full charm of the twelve Gold Saint."

Masami Kurumada frowned.

"Didn't they have enough screen time in the Twelve Temples arc?"

"That was before." Nakayama Takuya leaned back against the pool wall. "You designed the most magnificent armor for them, the most heaven-defying moves."

In the minds of readers, the Gold Cloths are synonymous with aesthetic appeal and absolute power. But what happened? In the Poseidon Chapter, they were just spectators in Sacred Domain, and in the Northern Europe arc, they were completely irrelevant. This resulted in Toei's dragging Northern Europe arc, which not only exhausted the audience's patience but also diluted the prestige of the Gold Saint.

Masami Kurumada gripped his wine glass tightly.

The Northern Europe Saga was Toei that Toei Animation had forcibly inserted to keep up with the manga's progress, and it was the main culprit for the plummeting viewership ratings.

"Therefore, for this reboot of the anime, I want to significantly increase the role of the Gold Saint in the Hades Chapter," Nakayama Takuya proposed. "Not only in the initial storming of the palace, but also in the battles in the Underworld and the gathering at the Wailing Wall. We need to give them enough screen time to show what true loyalty, courage, strength, and fearlessness really mean."

"Should we overshadow the main characters?" Masami Kurumada hesitated.

"That's exactly the effect we want," Nakayama Takuya said decisively. "The main character getting beaten up no longer excites the audience. Fans need to see those god-like Gold Saint fighting desperately for their beliefs. You need to use their sacrifices to awaken the initial emotions fans felt when they watched the Twelve Temples on TV back then."

Masami Kurumada's mind flashed through a series of characters he had drawn himself.

Shaka's closed eyes, Saga's inner conflict, Camus's coldness.

If all these characters were detonated in the Hades Chapter.

That was absolutely a feast for both the eyes and the heart.

"Then let's make this piece—" Masami Kurumada was tempted, but he knew the ways of the industry.

"Toei will definitely insist on making it a weekly TV anime, otherwise the picture quality and pacing simply can't be guaranteed."

"Who said we were going to make a TV anime?" Nakayama Takuya scoffed.

Masami Kurumada was stunned. If they weren't making a TV anime, what was Toei's point?

"The Hades Chapter is the ultimate explanation for fans all over Japan and even the world." Nakayama Takuya tapped the edge of the wooden basin with his fingers.

"We can't use the old, cheap methods of padding each episode with still frames. We'll use OVA format for everything. Top-notch animation, top-notch special effects, and the cost per episode is maximized."

"OVA?" Masami Kurumada gasped.

In the Japan animation industry, OVAs represent a high production cost per episode.

If a Hades Chapter with dozens of episodes were all in 0VA format, the budget would be astronomical.

"The pressure to break even is too great. Can Bandai really sell that many toys?" Masami Kurumada, after all, had been in the industry for so long and was very familiar with business operations.

Nakayama Takuya picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp.

Don't use the tiny Japan market to measure Sega's current size.

He threw the empty cup into the wooden basin.

"Sega will use this OVA to dominate the videotape and VCD rental market in Europe and America. Combined with Silicon Valley Online Online's online marketing, the influence of this brand in South America and Europe is unimaginable. As for Toei— "

Nakayama Takuya snorted coldly.

"I'll sign the agreement according to their terms. The animation production rights belong to them, but the supervision and scriptwriting leadership will be entirely yours and Sega Galaxy's. Yoshimura won't dare utter a single word."

Masami Kurumada was completely convinced.

With a full budget and guaranteed distribution channels, even the most troublesome Toei was brought to its knees.

Sega has paved the way to Rome; all that's missing is to carry him in a sedan chair.

"Okay. I'll do it."

Masami Kurumada downed the sake in his hand in one gulp.

The long-standing creative block shattered completely at this moment. The long-dormant Gold Saint in my mind came alive again.

"However, the Hades Chapter will eventually be completed." Masami Kurumada put down his cup and looked at Nakayama Takuya.

"Now that this series has been rebooted, what's next? We can't just finish the Hades Chapter and then completely stop writing, can we?"

Nakayama Takuya did not answer immediately.

He picked up the sake bottle and poured himself a full cup of sake.

The water rippled in the white porcelain cup.

He tilted his head back and downed the glass in one gulp, then tossed the empty glass into the small wooden basin floating beside him.

The wooden tub struck the side of the pool with a dull thud.

"Now that we've figured out the roles of the twelve Gold Saint, let's talk about the basics of the story." Nakayama Takuya leaned against the pool wall, the warm spring water reaching above his chest.

Masami Kurumada straightened up from where he was leaning against the pool wall, placing his hands on his knees underwater.

"Back then, Shueisha was in a rush, so your setting actually left a lot of room for interpretation." Nakayama Takuya tapped his fingers on the edge of the steps. "What right does Athena have to rule the earth? In the original Greek Mythology, she wasn't the absolute supreme god. Above her was Zeus, and there was a whole host of other major gods on the same level."

Masami Kurumada touched the stubble on his chin.

Back then, we didn't have time to think about these things; all we needed was for villains to appear and fight for Seiya.

"Hades is defeated, Poseidon is defeated. And then what?" Nakayama Takuya posed the core question. "Athena's actions on Earth have brainwashed a group of teenagers into fighting desperately, causing them to bleed and sacrifice themselves at the drop of a hat. She launches Holy War in the name of love and justice. Do the other gods on Mount Olympus really just let her do as she pleases?"

Masami Kurumada was stunned.

This is a very pointed question.

This directly questions Athena's legitimacy at its core, but it also instantly elevates the scope of the plot to its highest level.

Following this line of thought, Masami Kurumada gestured with his hands on the water's surface.

"If other gods do not agree with Athena's actions—then it won't just be the sea and the underworld that challenge her."

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"Yes." Nakayama Takuya took the sake bottle and poured himself another cup. "The twelve Olympian gods—any one of them could be the subject of much discussion."

Masami Kurumada's mind raced. His instincts, honed through years of drawing manga, were fully activated.

He dipped his finger in the hot spring water and drew a few circles on the edge of the pool.

"Aphrodite? The goddess of love—no, gods like that aren't tough enough to fight, and the battle scenes would be hard to design." Masami Kurumada muttered to himself, then suddenly slapped the water's surface. "I've got it! Ares! War God Ares!"

Water splashed onto Nakayama Takuya's chin, but he didn't flinch; he simply wiped it away.

Ares and Athena frequently clashed in the original myths. One was a raging and cruel god of war, the other was—

Masami Kurumada stopped mid-sentence.

"The goddess of war and wisdom." Nakayama Takuya completed the second half of the sentence for him.

Masami Kurumada rubbed his face.

"Have you noticed the problem?" Nakayama Takuya looked at him. "In your manga, Saori Kido has always shown her 'compassion.' She shields humanity from floods and sheds blood to atone for humanity's sins. But how much have you emphasized the word 'wisdom'?"

Masami Kurumada laugh.

He picked up the wine glass from the wooden basin and gulped it down his throat.

"During those years of serialization in the weekly magazine, the deadline was like a relentless, agonizing death knell. We had to submit over ten pages of artwork each week, plus color pages. There was no time to ponder any ideological conflicts between deities."

Masami Kurumada grabbed a handful of his wet hair, looking somewhat helpless.

"Back then, all I could think about was how to make Seiya others' Cloths look cooler, and how to draw their special moves to be more impactful. Intelligence? As long as we unleash our cosmos and win, that's intelligence."

Nakayama Takuya laughed, reached for the sake bottle, and filled Masami Kurumada's cup.

"So, once you escaped the high-pressure, devilish serialization environment of Shueisha and started drawing ' BT'X B'TX' on your own, the logic and depth of the plot immediately improved."

Upon hearing this, Masami Kurumada shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

"That one was definitely easier to draw. I didn't have to rush to reach the page count, so the story could settle down, and I had time to polish many ideas."

He sighed and leaned back against the pool wall.

"But that's an exception. You can't expect every work of mine to be exceptional. To be honest, if I were to go back to writing long-running serials now, I simply wouldn't have the energy to develop such a grand and meticulous mythological worldview."

Declining physical functions and waning enthusiasm for serialization are realities that older generations of comic artists cannot avoid.

Moreover, his early aspirations for the underworld meant he lacked sufficient experience, and his later focus on creative work left him with little time for further development, resulting in a persistent lack of inspiration.

With this groundwork laid, the time is ripe.

Nakayama Takuya straightened up and gripped the edge of the pool with both hands.

"If you can't draw it all by yourself, why insist on struggling alone?"

Masami Kurumada raised his head.

"Commercial development, relying solely on the original author, has too many limitations." Nakayama Takuya dropped his bombshell, "Would you mind adding other people's names to your work?"

"What do you mean?" Masami Kurumada didn't understand.

"Find a scriptwriter to collaborate with," Nakayama Takuya offered as a solution. "You'll be responsible for overseeing the overall direction, core character design, and final supervision. As for the specific plot details, mythological research, and side story expansions, leave those to a professional scriptwriting team to flesh them out."

Masami Kurumada frowned.

In the Japan manga industry, it's somewhat difficult to accept having your hard work delegated to others.

Nakayama Takuya give him time to hesitate and continued to increase the stakes.

"It's not just scriptwriting; illustrators can also be outsourced."

"What?" Masami Kurumada was so startled that he almost stood up from the water.