Anime rating game

Maitake nodded slightly, then smiled with a hint of relief:

"Fortunately, Director Kinoshita is busy with CL, which will take half a year to produce, so we don't need to work with him."

“When I was making those adaptations in the past, he would always come up with a new idea, but no matter how many times I revised it, the first version was always the one that was ultimately adopted.”

……

That afternoon, the framed portrait of Doma's mother was sent to Musashino.

Since it wasn't a school day, Masamune took two photos and sent them to Doma.

Inside Class 1-A of Arayada High School, Doma Umaru suddenly felt a pang of sadness as she looked at the portrait in the photo, and the image of her mother involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

At the same time, more memories of spending time with my mother came to mind.

Coming to my senses, I hurriedly edited the text message, but I kept writing and deleting for three minutes before finally tapping send.

[Thank you, Mashiro's drawing is very lifelike. I originally thought it was a two-dimensional character, but I didn't expect it to be an oil painting version of a real person. Have you seen your mother anywhere?]

The next moment, a file was sent over.

Because there was so much content, Doma Umaru almost thought his phone had been infected with a virus. His flustered state quickly caught the attention of the teacher on the podium.

To avoid being caught again, I had to concentrate on the lesson and didn't pick up my phone again until school was over in the afternoon.

Opening the file reveals a written report accompanied by numerous photos on the first page.

Starting with my mother's original surname, the photos go from elementary school to adulthood, marriage, childbirth, and death. There are only a few photos of myself, very few, but there are many photos of the scenes.

From small things like middle school gates, school addresses, classrooms, graduation photos, wedding photos, and even a few photos taken by street surveillance equipment.

Of course, the latter is too vague; it can only be seen from the high school boy next to the mother that it is a scene of her going to the supermarket with her brother.

My mother's passing was so sudden that her funeral was handled entirely by her relatives, and even my brother didn't have any photos of her.

Following the document are analyses of her personality, interpersonal relationships, cause of death, and impact, as well as a page analyzing the current status of the Doma Group and the possibility of reclaiming its assets.

The report was so detailed that Doma was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses and started editing the text message again as he walked home.

[Thank you, Mr. Masamune. I just finished reading the document. Who prepared this report, and how much did it cost?]

(Don't worry about the money; this is a reward for your hard work over the past few months. The documents were done by a renowned detective I've been working with for a while now. To be precise, the investigator was the detective himself, and the report was written by his assistant.)

[Thank you, thank you so much! The painting is wonderful, and Mr. Masamune's reward far exceeded my expectations. I don't know how to repay such a kindness.]

(Since it's a reward, and it's a gift from me, I decide what it is and how much it's worth. Just accept it. By the way, do you need a paper copy?)

[Do you have a printed version?]

(How much do you want?)

[Two portions, one for my brother, he must miss Mom too, and one I want to keep for myself.]

(No problem, I'll print it out later and have someone deliver it to you along with the framed painting.)

Chapter 245 It's too late to make a move once you've fallen in love.

In mid-November, after the airing of episode 7 of the second season of Oregairu, Iroha Isshiki's popularity soared.

Both on campus and online, it sparked a lot of heated discussion.

At Soubu High School, although the election for the new student council president has not yet begun, the candidate has already been decided. The student council and the service club will be temporarily merged, and all teachers and students have been informed. Everyone agrees that the next student council president will be Yukino Yukinoshita, and the one after that, Iroha Isshiki.

Therefore, the upcoming election is just a formality.

The daily routine within the service department continued as always.

After listening to Hachiman Hikigaya's report on his recent situation, and learning that he had resumed writing the next volume of the light novel and had some ideas about the ending, Masamune was relieved.

But as soon as the call ended, the phone rang again.

This time, the caller ID displayed was Iroha Iroha.

This piqued Masamune's curiosity somewhat, as he hadn't had much contact with her beyond the initial authorization.

[...Is that President Hayase?]

"Yes, it's me. What's up?"

Are you aware of the current situation of our Service Department and the General Armament High School?

"Yes, I've heard Hachiman mention it."

[The animation analyzed my personality quite thoroughly. Of course, because the plot was so good, it wasn't exactly a denigration, and my popularity on campus rose rapidly.]

However, I feel increasingly lost about my future.

[As the editor-in-chief, who is also one of the authors of this novel, do you think I have any hope?]

"A romantic relationship?"

[Um. ]

Masamune fell into deep thought.

As a third party, Masamune naturally adopted a wait-and-see attitude, and he was open to either choice.

If he chooses a particular person before the third season of Oregairu begins production next year, the anime will make that person the female lead.

However, as someone directly involved, the wait must be incredibly agonizing.

Moreover, after reading the script at the end of the animation, she would definitely question her existence.

"Do you need me to ask for you?"

[Why…?]

"Don't hang up yet. Let's both put it on speakerphone. After that, I'll use the landline on the table to call Hachiman and see what he thinks."

[Is that still possible? Thank you for your help.]

"Don't mention it, I'm also very curious to see who he will choose."

Masamune pressed the speakerphone button, put his mobile phone aside, and then dialed Hachiman Hikigaya's number from the landline.

The connection was established quickly and smoothly.

[What's wrong, President Hayase? Was there something you didn't finish saying?]

"Now that the novel is almost finished, considering there are only a few volumes left until the end, shouldn't the romance aspect be clear by now?"

"Besides, you're already in your second year of high school and will soon be in your third year."

What are your thoughts on the ending of Oregairu?

[......]

silence.

Seeing that the other side did not speak, Masamune spoke again:

"I plan to produce the third season of Oregairu next year, with the ending consistent with the light novel. The light novel will definitely be finished before then, unless you deliberately delay it."

"The keyboard is in your hands, the road ahead is under your feet. It's been so long, you can't have been thinking about nothing, right?"

[...For the Oregairu novels, I plan to end with an open ending, with one volume for each character, and all three volumes published simultaneously.]

[Similar to visual novels, each heroine has her own route. If there's only one chapter, readers will definitely be very dissatisfied and full of complaints. But if each heroine has her own volume, over 100,000 words, the plot can be presented in great detail.]

Masamune was speechless for a long time before finally saying:

"Of course you can do it that way in a novel, but in reality, you can't just not choose any of them, can you?"

[Yes, that's what I think.]

[After Ebina rejected Tobe's confession, their relationship completely collapsed, and the atmosphere within their group became extremely tense.]

[If I were to date someone, wouldn't the atmosphere within the service department become extremely bad?]

[I don't want things to become like this. At the very least, I want to maintain this relaxed atmosphere until I graduate high school.]

Is it a fake harem?

Masamune didn't ask any more questions. Many light novels do this: to avoid disrupting the atmosphere within the club, they pretend to be oblivious or interrupt the confession with an accident, only choosing a particular person at the end.

If it were me, I probably would have done the same.

"I think I understand what you're thinking. So, you want to wait until university to start?"

[It depends on fate.]

"May I ask how you've planned the three storylines?"

[Time jumps to a few years later, where they meet by chance at university, and this is the beginning of the story.]

[Although the novel hasn't reached that point yet, I've already put myself in the shoes of each girl I like and thoroughly considered the plot arrangements, to the point that I'm almost having a mental breakdown.]

“If you divide the plot into three parts, that’s how it will turn out.” Masamune chuckled involuntarily. “Since you already have a plan, I’ll just copy it directly next year.”

[Will the anime ending also be split into three parts? Wouldn't that be too short?]

"We can divide the episodes into segments. The first four episodes tell the story of a particular female lead, the middle four episodes feature a different female lead, and the last four episodes feature another female lead. In the final thirteenth episode, we can omit the female lead and end with Hachiman Hikigaya living a lonely life."

"That's not bad either." Hachiman Hikigaya chuckled.

……

After chatting for a few minutes, Masamune hung up the phone and turned his gaze to the cell phone on the table, which was still connected to another call.

"That's it, you should have heard it all."

[Yes, I heard everything. However, I will definitely try to persuade you to change your mind.]

"I won't help you, because, to be honest, I'm on Hachiman's side."

[No need for help, what I just heard is enough. In the anime, it's obvious that the senior will choose between Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, with Yukinoshita having the highest chance. I have absolutely no chance of winning.]

[Although Hayama-senpai is a good prospect, he's still a bit lacking compared to the male lead. Besides, the competition on his side is quite fierce; I don't think Miura's chances are very high, let alone mine.]

[Therefore, I'll intensify my efforts to win over my senior, aiming to capture him before the third season of the anime starts production next year. That way, I'll be the sole female lead in the third season next year.]

Masamune was speechless. As expected of Iroha Isshiki, her words, half-truth and half-lie, were completely unpredictable.

Do you really like Hachiman?

[Mr. President, liking someone is a very luxurious thing. Having a good impression of them, plus the target being outstanding enough, is already a reason to make a move.]