Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

Kamiya Yuma goes to the warehouse twice a week.

Go and check out the latest original artwork and color samples.

Shiori Shirakawa always went with him, carrying a folder in her hand.

Record the details of every expenditure.

Rin Hoshino would sometimes go there, carrying her own sketchbook.

Then he sat in the corner and began to depict the many illustrators who were working at their desks.

She described Tamura as falling asleep on the table, still holding a pencil.

It depicts Kobayashi supporting her stomach with one hand and mixing colors with the other.

It depicts Yamazaki using an HB pencil to repeatedly modify the same leaf on a background image.

She pasted many of her sketches on the walls of her studio.

The receipt was right next to Joe Hisaishi's.

One night, Fujita stood in front of that wall for a long time, then turned around and said to Kamiya Yuuma.

  

"Mr. Kamiya, could these drawings be placed in the ending credits of the anime?"

"Isn't there a scrolling credits at the end?"

"In addition to the subtitles, add one frame. Right after the end credits of the final episode, a line of text appears on the black screen—'This work is dedicated to all those who work overtime in the warehouse.' Then show these sketches, one after another, accompanied by Joe Hisaishi's eight-note variations. No theme song, no lyrics, just those eight notes."

He was talking a lot at that time, and the lights in the warehouse were very dim.

Kobayashi was at the color mixing table, mixing the final draft of the Freyland blue.

Tamura lay on the table, already fast asleep.

Yamazaki held up his HB pencil, pointing it towards the light, to examine the grayscale of a leaf.

In the corner, Nonaka repeatedly adjusted the focus of that close-up shot.

Shiori Shirakawa wrote down the minutes of the meeting regarding the ending theme design in a folder.

Meeting time: 1 a.m.

Location: Warehouse.

Attendees: All were present.

Resolution: Unanimously adopted.

The end is approaching in early spring.

Joe Hisaishi's original soundtrack was finalized in the latter half of the year after his return from Karuizawa.

Fujita's team worked overtime to get the initial cut of the animation done well.

Finally, the initial cut of the animation was completed.

The group agreed to meet at Joe Hisaishi's music room at 8 p.m.

That's where we started working on refining the visuals and soundtrack.

Ryota Onodera traveled from Tokyo to Karuizawa. He had just entered the house when...

Joe Hisaishi then pressed him down onto the chair.

Joe Hisaishi then made him listen to the soundtrack for a full ninety minutes.

As the last note faded away.

Ryota Onodera realized that his cigarette had burned his fingers.

Joe Hisaishi tapped the music stand lightly, then turned his head away.

His gaze was fixed on Kamiya Yuuma, who remained standing by the window.

"This is the music you wanted. It's not exciting enough, not uplifting enough, not good enough to be the theme song for any shonen manga."

He put the entire score together.

I tapped the cover of the score lightly a few times with my finger.

The title, written by his hand, is on the cover.

There were only four words.

"But it's enough reason for an elf who has lived for a thousand years to keep going after losing everything."

.........

The issue of the premiere channel was brought back to Tokyo by Ryota Onodera.

The day after returning from Karuizawa, he made more than a dozen phone calls to the editorial office.

On the other end of the phone, the editorial director of TV Tokyo hesitated for a long time.

He finally said only, "The schedule for the spring adaptation is completely full," and then hung up the phone.

Holding the phone receiver, Ryota Onodera listened to the busy tone for quite a while.

Only then did he slowly put the receiver back in its original position.

"The so-called full schedule is actually because they don't want to offend that big client who invests 300 million in GG fees every year."

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, looked up at Kamiya Yuuma sitting opposite him, and said.

"It seems that the path of using TV Tokyo is not viable."

Kamiya Yuma leaned back leisurely in his chair.

"If this path is blocked, then let's try another one."

"Which path should we take? There are only a few nationwide broadcasting networks in Japan. If TV Tokyo doesn't accept it, the other networks will likely face the same situation. After all, Yamato Toys' GG fee wasn't just invested in one TV station, but spread throughout the entire industry. Similarly, the risk warning letter issued by Koichi Matsumoto wasn't just sent to one TV station; it was a mass message sent to the entire industry."

Ryota Onodera took a list out of his briefcase, which listed the names of all the nationwide broadcasting organizations in Japan.

Each name was marked with a red cross.

"I made thirteen phone calls, but not a single company was willing to take on our animation project."

Shiori Shirakawa came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea and placed it in front of Ryota Onodera.

He glanced at the list and asked.

"That local TV station."

"The coverage of local TV stations is too small. The revenue they can generate is not even enough to cover a fraction of the production costs. Moreover, anime broadcast on local TV stations cannot enter the industry's award system at all, and even the voice actors are unwilling to have their names credited in the end credits."

Ryota Onodera picked up his teacup but didn't drink from it; instead, he put it down.

"Fujita has finished the final cut of the first episode, and Hisaishi's score has been recorded. We now have a complete anime, but no TV station is willing to broadcast it. What's the difference between this and opening a restaurant but no one coming to eat?"

"There is a difference."

Kamiya Yuma spoke up.

"The restaurant will go out of business if no one comes to eat, but we don't need a restaurant."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You just mentioned that the coverage of local TV stations is too small, and the revenue from GG (Google Video) can't cover the production costs, but what if we don't need GG revenue?"

Ryota Onodera was stunned.

"Our original intention in making this animation was not to sell GG or related products, but to let everyone see this work."

Yuma Kamiya's voice was very calm.

"Since the national broadcasting network is unwilling to broadcast, then we won't take that route. Local stations have limited coverage, so we'll find more local stations. If a local station's signal can only cover one county, then we'll find ten or twenty counties and combine their coverage areas to form a broadcasting network."

"You mean we'll deploy our own network?"