They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 282: Pay out of pocket
Shintaro Kawakawa drove and took Zhang Wei to Zhushe.

While driving, Kawakubo Shintaro introduced: "The president of Production IG is Ishikawa Mitsuhisa. He is the son-in-law of Yoshida Tatsuo. Have you heard of Yoshida Tatsuo?"

"No." Zhang Wei shook his head: "Is he a well-known figure in the Japanese anime industry?"

"Yes, he is the founder of Tatsunoko Studio and the eldest son of the Yoshida family. In the field of Japanese animation, the Yoshida family should be considered as godfather-level figures." Shintaro Kawakubo continued to introduce.

"I've heard of the Dragon Son Studio. It's quite famous."

"Of course. Tatsunoko Studio is the equivalent of Tokiwa-so in the animation industry. However, Tokiwa-so has been demolished, but Tatsunoko Studio is still there."

Tokiwaso is an apartment in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. This area did not originally belong to the old Tokyo City, but to Kita-Toshima County. Later, when Tokyo City expanded its administrative districts, this area was included in the scope of Tokyo City.

During the Shogunate era, Toshima Ward had many temples and shrines, so it became a cultural and religious gathering place. This situation has continued to this day, and many people engaged in the cultural industry work or live here.

In the early 25s, Japan ushered in an economic recovery, and Japanese industry quickly returned to its pre-war level. It was also at this time that a -year-old young cartoonist felt that the factories in downtown Tokyo were too noisy and that he could not concentrate on his creation, so he moved to Tokiwaso Apartment in Toshima Ward. Although the environment here is not elegant, it is very quiet and there are no factories around, which is very suitable for signing and creating.

This cartoonist is Osamu Tezuka, who created the classic manga "Astro Boy" in Tokiwa-so and also triggered the entire Japanese animation industry.

At that time, the circle of Japanese cartoonists was not large. When other cartoonists learned that Osamu Tezuka was creating works here, they came here one after another. They also felt that the creative environment of Tokiwa-so was very good, so they settled down here.

These include Fujiko Fujio and Fujiko F. Fujio, which means that Doraemon and Nobita Nobi were born here.

There is also Shotaro Ishimori, whose "Kamen Rider" series has a huge influence in Japan. The prototype of the Ultraman in Crayon Shin-chan is Kamen Rider.

Because many famous cartoonists were born in Tokiwaso, it is also regarded as a cartoon holy land by the Japanese. Unfortunately, in 1982, it was demolished to build the Shinkansen. Later, as the Japanese animation industry gradually grew, the Tokyo Municipal Government rebuilt a Tokiwaso apartment nearby, and added a cartoon street to make it a tourist attraction.

If Tokiwa-so is the holy land of Japanese manga, then Tatsunoko Studio is the holy land of Japanese animation.

Although Tatsunoko Studio has not produced many excellent works like Toei, it has provided many top talents for Japanese animation. For example, Joker Studio, which produced "Naruto" and "Bleach", was spun off from Tatsunoko Studio.

The Zhushe that Zhang Wei is going to visit this time was originally a production branch of Dragon's Son.

In addition, people such as Kunio Ōkawara, the producer of the Gundam series, Mamoru Oshii, the producer of the Urusei Yatsura series, and Yoshitaka Amano, the art designer of the Final Fantasy games, were once members of Studio Tatsunoko.

These people are all the pioneers of Japanese animation production. Today’s Japanese animation producers are basically the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Studio Tatsunoko.

Ishikawa Mitsuhisa, the president of Ishikawa, is the son-in-law of the founder of Studio Tatsunoko. This qualification alone is enough to secure him a place in the anime industry in Japan's rigid society.

After arriving at Zhushe, Zhang Wei met Mitsuhisa Ishikawa smoothly.

Ishikawa Mitsuhisa is about 50 years old, looks like an ordinary Japanese, and dresses like a standard Japanese middle-aged office worker. If you go to a Japanese subway station during rush hour and look for office workers in their 50s, nine out of ten of them look like Ishikawa Mitsuhisa.

When he saw that there was business coming to his door, Ishikawa Mitsuhisa, a respectful man in his fifties, nodded and bowed to Zhang Wei, a young man in his twenties. Not only did he not have any mental burden, but he was extremely sincere.

This is easy to understand. Over the years, Kodansha has been doing this and that but has basically accomplished nothing. It is still living off the success of "Ghost in the Shell". Now, finally a top work from Kodansha has come to them, so of course they will treat them well and try to get the project.

Ishikawa Mitsuhisa introduced the animation production team of IQIYI to Zhang Wei, and looked at the comic works produced in recent years. Zhang Wei also put forward several requirements of his own. Ishikawa Mitsuhisa said that there was no problem and he would definitely do it.

Next comes the bargaining phase.

Ishikawa Mitsuhisa offered 2000 million yen per episode for the animation of Attack on Titan, but Kawakubo Shintaro thought the price was too high and said Kodansha would only offer 1500 million yen.

"Ishikawa-kun, the production cost of 2000 million per episode is really too high. The production cost of each episode of "One Piece" is only million yen." Shintaro Kawakubo said.

"So the production quality of One Piece is not very good. Many parts are just slides. It is far worse than Naruto. This is not only obvious to the industry, but also to many viewers."

"But the production cost of Naruto is only 1400 million yen per episode."

"That's when there's no fighting, so we can use 8 frames per second. If we calculate based on 1300 yen per frame, the cost per second is 1 yen, and one minute is 10400 yen. An episode is 624000 minutes long, and if we remove the opening and ending credits, we can indeed control the production cost to 25 million yen per episode. But if there's fighting, it's a different story. 1400 million yen is far from enough."

"That's why I give you 1500 million yen per episode!" Kawakubo Shintaro continued.

"Kawawa-kun, we have known each other for more than 1500 years. I am not lying to you. 8 million is really not enough. I just said that when there is no fighting, 18 frames per second can be used, but if there is fighting, 24 frames per second is needed. Some more intense and fast-paced fighting scenes even require frames per second.

At 1300 yen per frame, 24 frames is 31200 yen. Just one minute of fighting would cost 187 million yen. If there are five minutes of fighting in an episode, that's 935 million yen! You only give me a budget of 1500 million yen per episode, what should I do? Slides throughout?"

"Okay, then I'll add a little more, 1600 million yen per episode!"

"No, the minimum is 1900 million yen."

"Then I'll give you another 50, 1650 million!"

"It's not impossible to do it with 1650 million, but some battle scenes may need to have their effects reduced. If the animation effects are a little worse, can you accept that?"

"No! The animation effect must be guaranteed!" Zhang Wei said first.

"If you want to guarantee the effect, 1800 million per episode is the bottom line!" Ishikawa gave the final offer.

Kawakubo Shintaro shook his head and said, "No, our Kotai Club can only make 1700 million yen at most for its debut, which is the limit of our budget."

"1700 million is fine, but some scenes may need to be streamlined, such as cutting long shots into close shots, or omitting some battle actions. In this way, although it is just a little lacking in perfection, if the audience is not picky, they should be able to accept it." Ishikawa said.

Listening to the two people bargaining, Zhang Wei sighed helplessly. He had heard that making animations was very expensive, and now he finally experienced it firsthand.

In an era without AI assistance, it was indeed very expensive to make a high-quality cartoon.

Many of Hayao Miyazaki's films and theatrical versions of well-known anime have production costs that are no less than those of a big-screen movie.

For example, the production cost of "Spirited Away" was 20 billion yen, which was equivalent to 2001 million RMB in 20. In the same year, Stephen Chow's "Shaolin Soccer" only cost 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars, including the cost of special effects.

In the same year, Feng's "Big Shot" hired foreigners and filmed in the Forbidden City, which cost only 300 million US dollars, which was 2400 million RMB at the exchange rate at the time. "Spirited Away" can be filmed into six "Big Shots".

By this calculation, making an animated film is more expensive than making a movie.

In 2007, the production cost of each episode of a popular cartoon was generally between 1000 million yen and 1500 million yen. At that time, the animation of "One Piece" was often criticized because the production company Toei was too stingy. In order to save money, the production was too shoddy, and the characters often did not move with just their mouths.

In "Naruto", the battle with Pain is the most expensive episode to produce. The battle between Naruto and Pain took 10 minutes and 24 frames. The production cost of this episode exceeded 3000 million yen.

The animation of "Attack on Titan" is so exquisitely made that it is naturally a big spender. For example, the first time Eren actively transformed into a giant, it was a forty-second long shot. He kept moving through various arrows and bamboo shoots, changing perspectives, and finally turned into a giant and fell to the ground. The production cost of forty seconds was 10 million yen.

Also because of production costs, many domestic animations use 3D technology.

Without AI assistance, 2D animation requires artists. It is normal for more than artists to work for four or five days on a -minute animation episode. The cost of these artists alone is definitely not low.

3D animation only needs a modeler. Once the 3D modeling is done well, the rest will be much easier. There are many 3D modelers in China, and they are cheap and have good skills. Relying on high-quality 3D technology, the cost of animation per minute can be compressed to 3000 to 5000 yuan. One episode of animation can be done with yuan, and a better one can only cost or yuan.

By this calculation, the cost of one episode of domestic animation is only one tenth of that of Japan. The money that Japan uses to make one episode is enough for China to make one season. What can Japan use to compete?
Therefore, the rapid rise of domestic animation in recent years is also a historical necessity.

……

Shintaro Kawakubo and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa bargained for a long time and finally set the price at 1700 million yen per episode.

The fact that Kodansha offered this price showed sincerity. After all, at that time, the average production cost of each episode of the three major comics, Death, Fire, and Sea, could not reach this price.

Obviously, Kodansha is willing to pay so much production fee in the hope of making a comeback with "Attack on Titan".

However, Zhang Wei was not satisfied. He felt that since he was going to do it, he should try his best to do it to the best of his ability.

"It seems that the two of you have reached a consensus." Zhang Wei smiled slightly and continued, "But I don't agree with the budget of 1700 per episode."

"Mr. Zhang, I know you want to strive for excellence and make an excellent animation, but our Kodansha's budget is really limited. We can't come up with more money. Please understand." Shintaro Kawakawa immediately explained.

"I know that Kodansha can give 1700 million, and I am very grateful, but I do think that this money is not enough to produce a good manga. So I thought of another plan."

"Please speak, Mr. Zhang."

"The production cost of each episode will be increased by 300 million yen, and the production cost will still be 2000 million yen. The additional 300 million yen will be funded by me personally!"

"Mr. Zhang, are you saying that you want to pay for the production of the animation yourself?" Shintaro Kawakawa and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa were both shocked. It was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

"Of course, the profit from the animation will be shared with me according to my investment ratio," Zhang Wei said.

"There will definitely be no problem in giving you a share according to the proportion, but Mr. Zhang, I need to remind you that this is 300 million per episode. If the number of episodes increases, it will be a huge sum of money. You will have to invest hundreds of millions of yen!" Kawakubo Shintaro reminded.

Even if an ordinary Japanese office worker goes without food and drink for twenty years, he may not be able to save up 100 million yen. After all, the salary of office workers is relatively low when they first start working. They have to wait until they have worked for a period of time and their salary has increased before they may be able to save up 100 million yen in twenty years.

If you own a house and are not married, 100 million yen is enough for you to live comfortably in Japan. You can even go play pinball occasionally or go to a brothel to release some tension.

In Shintaro Kawakubo's opinion, if you have 100 million, why not keep it for yourself? Go to Okubo Park to ask for prices. Isn't that better than investing in making an animation?
Moreover, the price of 1700 million per episode is considered a big production, why must it be increased to 2000 million?

Zhang Wei then said, "Thank you for your reminder, if we really want to produce hundreds of episodes, I really can't afford that much money, so I suggest that we do one season first to test the waters."

"You mean, instead of serializing it continuously, we should do it season by season? This is one way, but I'm worried that if there's a break in the middle, we'll lose a lot of viewers," said Shintaro Kawakubo.

"Chuanwa-kun, you have to have confidence in my work." Zhang Wei paused, then continued, "And I think that doing it season after season is more conducive to the fermentation of word-of-mouth of the work.

Do you usually watch American TV series? Many American TV series are broadcast in seasons, and they often become more popular as they are broadcast. For example, "Friends" has been broadcast for a full ten seasons, and the number of fans has not decreased, but has increased significantly. "

"That makes sense. We also have many Japanese dramas in Japan. They have been broadcast for several seasons and still have good ratings." Shintaro Kawakawa nodded.

"And if the first season is good, we might be able to find some investors to invest in the production of subsequent seasons. We can look for cooperation with DVD distribution companies, or find online video sites. In the past year, online videos have been very popular around the world."

What Zhang Wei said may be a bit too advanced for Kawakubo Shintaro. After entering the Internet era, Japan is no longer the world's second largest economy. Video websites have blossomed in China and the United States, but Japan has not even sprouted seeds.

DVD is probably the limit of technology that ordinary Japanese can accept. It is hard for Chinese people to imagine that even in 2024, when China's three major video websites, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video, have been fighting for several years, Japan will still use DVD as the main medium for film and television works.

In 2007, Chinese people had already started downloading movies online, and many Japanese families were still using black box videotapes, a retro thing that the Japanese only stopped producing in 2016.

……

Zhang Wei proposed to pay out of his own pocket, and Kodansha would certainly not refuse. Someone willing to pay to make the Attack on Titan animation more refined was something they had always wanted.

On the IKO side, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa was of course also very happy. Making animations is just like making movies. They are not afraid of having too much money. They will spend all the money they have.

What's more, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa also hoped to make a comeback with the "Attack on Titan" animation.

With a production cost of 2000 million yen per episode, it is definitely possible to polish out a very fine work. Ishikawa Mitsuhisa is also confident that it can achieve the quality of a movie.

After finishing the animation production of "Attack on Titan", Zhang Wei returned to China.

The Beijing Division Top 10 competition of "Happy Boys" will be broadcast live to the national audience, so Zhang Wei needs to hurry up to rehearse. If the performance is terrible, it will be embarrassing in front of the national audience.

Moreover, this year's "Soon Come On Boys" will be kept on the video website. I wonder how many people will go to do some archaeological research in the future!
If this were to go wrong, it would be a stain on my life.

(End of this chapter)