my animation era

Neon, Momoyama Town.

15-1 is an ordinary residential area. It is not well-known in the local area, and outsiders have no way of knowing about it.

However, last year, with the release of an anime called "Hyouka", Momoyama Town became very popular, attracting countless otakus to visit.

The reason is because of the animation.

The residence of Kyoani Studio, which is famous in the neon animation industry, is located in this residential area.

The popularity of animations such as "Hingguo" and "Yama Market" has driven the development of surrounding commercial streets and tourism, because many of the filming locations of these two animations are located near the Kyoani studio.

As a standard neon otaku, if there is a chance, how can you not go to the Holy Land to visit a wave?

"Ah this..."

"You're not short of money, are you? Why don't you move to an office with better conditions?"

Seto followed in the footsteps of Kyoani President Miki, looked at the surrounding environment, and couldn't help complaining: "Wouldn't it be inconvenient to work in such a remote place?"

"Nope!"

Miki explained with a smile: "Many members of our team live nearby, and it would be more inconvenient to move to other places."

"Besides, for people in our line of work, it doesn't matter where we work, right?"

"makes sense."

Seto deeply agreed with his explanation.

Animators really don't care about the working environment. Rather than the convenience of urban life, it is better to say that the suburban environment is elegant and quiet, which is more conducive to artistic creation.

Besides, the production team members’ homes are nearby, so it would be inconvenient for the company to move further away.

After understanding these two points, Seto could immediately understand why Kyoani Studio did not move to the Manpower Animation Neon headquarters.

No need to move!

The place is quite comfortable, and the place is very spacious, why move away?Could it be more comfortable and convenient to move to the headquarters?

"Seto-kun, please come with me."

Because this was Seto's first time to visit Kyoani studio offline. In the past, he mostly communicated by phone or online, so Miki patiently introduced him to the main members of Kyoani.

Kyoani studio is not small.

Although it is not comparable to a giant like Wanbao Animation, as an animation studio with more than 100 full-time employees, it is already quite remarkable.

Of course, they also have non-staff personnel.

The so-called non-staff refers to those people who are attached to Kyoani Studio and earn a certain amount of compensation for their work, but are not formal employees of the company and are freelancers.

"The creation of "Tamako Market" was mainly done by ourselves, and we did not hire many non-staff members to participate."

After introducing the general situation of the Kyoani studio, Miki immediately said: "But when making the theatrical version of "Tamako Love Story", we must use a large number of non-staff personnel."

"Understandable."

Seto nodded.

Kyoani Studio itself only has a small number of people. If they don’t hire non-staff to work for them, how long will it take for the theatrical version to be completed with just these hundreds of people?
"How is the progress of the theatrical version?"

Seto's trip was not just to visit Kyoani Studio, he also shouldered a task assigned by the president of the parent company.

The wise and powerful President Gu Miao sent instructions, asking Seto to go find out the general situation of the theatrical version of "Tamako Love Story" and then write a work report to him.

How could Seto dare to ignore President Gu Miao's mission?

After receiving the call, he immediately put down his work, not even caring about the ongoing serialization of "Inuyasha", and went directly to Kyoani studio.

Miki welcomed his arrival very much. After all, he was his direct superior, so he should be treated warmly.

During working hours, it is free to drink sake and visit custom shops, but it is still possible to be a tour guide to guide the tour and explain the work content.

"The production progress is very good..."

"With the support of sufficient funds, the whole project has not encountered obstacles. This is Yamada-san, the supervisor of the theatrical animation."

"Hello there!"

"Please take care of me, President Seto!"

After greeting supervisor Yamada and exchanging a few pleasantries, Seto cut to the point and said, "Yamada-kun, can you tell me the general plot direction of the theatrical version?"

"Hey! The timeline of the movie version is later than the TV version. Both Tamako and Mochizo have entered the third grade of high school..."

Yamada narrated the plot summary of "Tamako Love Story" to the two of them.

When entering high school, everyone was worried about their future, and Okja also inadvertently expressed her desire to inherit the family business.

At the same time, Tushan Commercial Street, who happens to live in the cake store opposite Yuzi's house, seems to have awakened something...

The plot of "Tamako Love Story", to put it in the most understandable terms, is the youth love story of Tamako and Mochizo, childhood sweethearts, who finally realize each other's feelings and achieve positive results.

Childhood sweethearts lose to the sky?

That is another animation. In "Tamako Love Story" or the TV version of "Tamako Market", there is no such thing.

This is a big victory for the Ome Party!
The growth of adolescent boys and girls, the delicate depiction of the heart-warming atmosphere like spring rain, and the human atmosphere of the commercial street make this animated film as beautiful as a painting.

This was Seto's first feeling.

It's not that he hasn't watched excellent animated movies. He was born in a big animation country like Neon, and he has watched all the animated movies since he was a child, at least hundreds of them.

But among the hundreds of animated movies he has watched, "Tamako Love Story" is definitely a special one.

What's so special about it?
The reason is that after he has seen it, he will not receive too much sensory stimulation, but more of an emotional resonance.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a cake or jade.

On the bodies of the male and female protagonists, he saw the shadow called youth, and he had a very familiar feeling, as if he was watching his own experience.

"The picture is very clean!"

After praising him, Seto said with regret: "It's a pity that there are not a lot of materials and I can't see the complete samples."

"no way……"

Yamada rubbed his hands in embarrassment: "We have just started production not long ago, and there are not so many materials for you to watch."

"Haha, I don't blame you, don't be nervous! You have done a good job, I will truthfully tell President Gu Miao about your work situation, I believe he will be very satisfied."

"really?"

"of course it's true!"

Seto explained with a smile: "Don't think too scary about President Gu Miao. He just checks on the progress of the project as usual and won't pay too much attention to you."

"I can rest assured that."

Yamada breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

After learning that Seto's trip was actually to inspect with President Gu Miao's instructions, he couldn't be more nervous.

President Gu Miao? !
That's a legendary figure!Not to mention Yamada, even Mr. Miki, the president of Kyoani Studio, has never gotten along with President Gu Miao.

Who knows the temper of this legendary president?
If you are dissatisfied with their work, woe betide you!The economy is in recession. If the president is upset and loses his job, where can he find another job at his age?

Seto didn't know what Yamada was thinking. If he knew, he would definitely laugh uncontrollably.

Made the president unhappy?
Who are you?President Gu Miao may not even know your name, and if he knows it, he may not be able to remember it. To make him angry is because he thinks too much.

What's more, from Seto's point of view, President Gu Miao is usually so busy with work, the project of "Tamako Love Story" is at most a question, and it is impossible to attract attention.

……

Seto thought that Mr. Gu was just asking about the animated theatrical version of "Tamako Love Story" as a matter of routine and would not take it too seriously.

But he was wrong.

Not only did Gu Miao attach great importance to it, she even gave him the instruction to "cooperate fully" after reviewing Seto's work report.

This made Seto a little confused.

Fully cooperate?

These four words are so confusing. What should he do to make him try his best to cooperate with the production team of "Tamako Love Story"?Or just pretending?

Seto, who was unsure of Mr. Gu's attitude, simply made another phone call and asked Mr. Gu about the arrangements for the "Tamako Love Story" animation.

"I ask you to cooperate fully, are you deaf?"

"Since the progress of the production is a bit slow, won't you deploy people? With so many idlers, except for the "Inuyasha" project that can't be stopped, is it difficult to recruit people from other places?" Gu Miao said angrily.

"It's not difficult, it's not difficult!"

After being scolded for no reason, Seto hurriedly patted his chest and promised that he would deploy people to support the production team of "Tamako Love Story" and try to make the movie released as soon as possible.

"By the way, Mr. Gu."

"Even Kyoani Studio has released a theatrical version. When will the theatrical versions of "Pretty Cure" and "Dragon Ball" be arranged?"

"Guangmei and Longzhu?"

Hearing this, Gu Miao, who was about to hang up the phone, frowned immediately, and couldn't help but ask, "Which animation movie do you want to make first?"

"Dragon Ball!"

Seto probably had a premeditated plan, and when faced with Mr. Gu's question, he spoke his true inner thoughts without hesitation.

He said that Dragon Ball is the most suitable animated series for a theatrical version.

On the one hand, the IP of Dragon Ball is famous all over the world and its influence is large enough. The box office foundation of the theatrical version is guaranteed.

On the other hand, Nishio, the gold medal supervisor of Wanbao Neon Division, is the animation producer who is best at portraying fighting scenes. Dragon Ball Movie + Nishio is definitely a combination.

"So what's the budget?"

After listening to Seto's story, Gu Miao admitted that he was a little excited. The combination of Nishio + Dragon Ball was indeed promising, and the possibility of losing money was very low.

But the heartbeat is the heartbeat, he also knows the situation of the Wanbao Neon branch, there is a little money but not much, and if he wants to make a "Dragon Ball" theatrical version, he may encounter problems in funding.

"The budget... doesn't need to be too much, about [-] million yen is enough." Seto was a little unsure.

"Three hundred million yen?!"

Gu Miao was amused by him.

Spending [-] million yen to make the first theatrical version of a super popular anime IP like "Dragon Ball", Seto might not be awake yet.

What is this money enough for?
Dragon Ball is not an ordinary anime IP. It is a super popular anime that is famous all over the world. For such a work, a mere [-] million yen is really shabby.

Maybe it was enough 30 years ago.

After all, in that era, 30 million yen for a theatrical version was considered a high investment.But today, [-] years later, [-] million yen is really hard to come by, and doubling it is almost the same.

"Then you mean..."

Seto clutched his chest, fearing that he would hear a number from Mr. Gu's mouth that would make his heart stop.

"Double it, tentatively [-] million."

"Don't be so petty. Since we are going to make a theatrical version of "Dragon Ball", we should aim at the global market. To be honest, I think [-] million is too little. Only one billion is worthy of the popularity of the "Dragon Ball" IP."

Gu Miao touched her chin: "The Neon Branch should be able to get this money, right?"

Seto: "..."

Seeing that Seto on the other end of the phone didn't speak, Gu Miao was a little confused and asked: "The company's money has been embezzled by you? Why can't you even get out a mere [-] million?"

A mere [-] million!

Listen, is this human?
Seto didn't want to talk anymore, he knew that no matter what he said, he could not wash away his charge of embezzling the company's funds.

Where can I get [-] million?
Wanbao Neon branch is not backed by a toy company like Jiangchuan headquarters, and can produce animation peripheral derivatives by itself.

The income of the Neon Division, in addition to selling licenses, is also a matter of selling licenses. After finally saving some money, "Inuyasha", "Tamako Love Story" and "Dragon Ball GT" were thrown into it again.

Oh yes, it cost another fortune to build the company building before...

"I am not corrupt!"

Seto said badly: "Anyway, we can't spend so much money, and we can squeeze out [-] million at most."

"Four hundred million is fine. You ask Nishio to write out the plan for the theatrical version first, and we'll talk about the money later."

Gu Miao didn't embarrass Seto because he knew that Seto was telling the truth and the Neon Branch really couldn't afford that much money.

Why do you need so much money?
This has to do with the production budget of an animation, which is mainly used to pay employees’ salaries.

Take Wanbao Animation as an example.

Employees in the core studio are basically on the "hourly wage system", where wages are calculated by the hour, and there are corresponding bonuses and dividends after the project is completed.

All expenditures in this part, although recorded as wages, are still included in the "production budget" of an animation.

to be honest.

Some animations often cost tens of millions of dollars in investment, which may seem exaggerated, but it is not a one-time expenditure, and most of it is used for wages.

The most important thing is that he was just promoting his words. He said that he spent [-] million yuan to make animations, but he didn't provide evidence. Who knows how much he spent?

The Neon Division doesn't have much money left on its books, but it can still start an animation project with an investment of over [-] million.

Anyway, it’s not spent all at once, if you have less money, you can install it in installments, pay a little this month, and pay a little more next month. Add up and invest more than [-] million.

Dragon Ball The Movie is no small project.

Gu Miao didn't expect the Neon Branch to complete the production on its own, it was really short of money, and the headquarters would just transfer a little over there.

and……

The so-called Dragon Ball Theatrical Version didn't even have a plan, so why are you so anxious?At least a business plan needs to be written, and then a meeting will be held to discuss whether the money is worth spending.

anyway.

With the influence of the IP of "Dragon Ball", the approval of the theatrical version is almost 100% a matter, and the meeting and discussion are purely a process.

No one really objected, right?