Nakayama Takuya leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped over his abdomen.
"Sega Galaxy's current strategy is to concentrate absolute strength on expanding our core IPs. Since we already have a foundation for success, I want to bring the entire Macross series into Sega's broader entertainment landscape. Games, new animation, figurines and models, plus all kinds of merchandise—we'll roll them all out and build a super matrix spanning ten years. Matsushima, go negotiate with Sotsu and secure the rights."
The conference room suddenly fell silent for several seconds, with only the faint whoosh of air from the air-conditioning vent remaining.
Matsushima looked troubled. He gave a dry cough, seeming somewhat ill at ease. "Executive Director, this job—won't be easy."
Hattori Kiyoshi lifted his teacup, blew on the steam, and shot Matsushima a sidelong glance.
"What? With Sotsu backed by a giant like Sega now, you still can't get it done?"
"This isn't about money." Matsushima explained with a bitter smile, "The people at Big West and Studio Nue are all crazy perfectionists with artistic obsessions. They treat Macross like their own son. Sunrise has dealt with them often, so President Yamaura should know best. With the way they do things, they would never completely sell the copyright to anyone, no matter how high Sega's offer was."
Yamaura Eiji nodded repeatedly in agreement, as though recalling some unpleasant experience.
"That's true. Their desire to control their work is extremely strong. When we collaborated before, they personally scrutinized and repeatedly revised everything—even the paint details on a single mecha, even a few dozen seconds of BGM. Getting them to hand over ownership of the underlying IP would be harder than climbing to the heavens."
After hearing this, Nakayama Takuya did not get angry. Instead, a faint smile curled at the corner