How to raise a random guy's wife

"Sharing a room." Eriri blinked her bright blue eyes.

"Friction caused a fire."

"One who has tasted the marrow knows the true flavor."

"It's never going to end."

“××〇〇”.

“〇×〇×”.

“×〇×〇”.

“×〇〇×”.

"Stop for a second." Kobayashi Sora couldn't take it anymore.

This has reached the point where even written records need to be censored.

"Senior and Eriri are getting more and more in sync," Kato Megumi said curiously. "It seems like something heartwarming happened between them while they were working together."

"..." Kasumigaoka Utaha subconsciously looked at Eriri, then abruptly stopped her gaze from moving. "So, you invited us here just to appreciate the work of a new artist?"

"I thought it was to comfort me for all the suffering I've been through..." Eriri muttered.

"Judging from your energetic appearance, it's clear that things haven't reached the point of torture yet." Kobayashi Sora briefly explained the ins and outs of the matter, "That's roughly the situation."

“I see,” Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head to look at the person beside her, “Now that you mention it, Kashiwagi Eri really can’t solve this.”

The better the character design, the greater the discrepancy.

In other words, the better the drawing, the more serious the problem.

"That's not true at all," Eriri scoffed. "To put it bluntly, it's just a lack of ability that's why I'm troubled by these kinds of problems."

Chapter 351: Changing the Order

Kasumigaoka Utaha raised an eyebrow. "That sounds familiar."

How could it not sound familiar? It's similar to what Akane Kousaka said about Eriri before.

It's hard to learn good things, but it's easy to learn bad things.

"Don't try to learn everything," Kobayashi Sora said helplessly.

“They say there’s a solution to that,” Kasumigaoka Utaha reminded her. “What about you?”

"I..." Eriri opened her mouth, "Um..."

“It’s also our requirement that’s flawed,” Kato Megumi thought for a moment. “The current requirement is that the character illustrations should be attractive, but not too attractive; they should be likable, but not too likable.”

If the characters aren't appealing, the audience simply won't be interested in the project.

But if it's too good-looking, it's hard for the audience to accept the real person.

If people don't like it, the project can't proceed.

However, if people like it too much, their expectations for the real person will be too high.

Eriri snorted, "Drawing according to the requirements is an artist's professional competence. If you can't complete it, it means you lack ability."

Kasumigaoka Utaha stated directly, "Tell me the method."

"You think I don't have any?" After thinking it over, Eriri had an idea. "Simply put, it's about seeing the flaws."

"You see the flaws?" Kobayashi Sora seemed to grasp something.

“It’s easy to create a character with long, straight black hair, but to connect her to the real person, you need to make the character more three-dimensional. For example, you could add flaws like being sharp-tongued, having a bad personality, being gloomy, or always talking about color.” Eriri rattled off her ideas.

“That’s right, blonde twin tails and a tsundere personality are typical traits, and the fangs can also show that she is mean-spirited.” Kasumigaoka Utaha also had an idea. “Of course, she can’t be too tall, and her development should be the kind that makes people feel sorry for her and makes it hard to tell her front from her back.”

"Kasumigaoka Utaha!"

"Oh, and the little detail of how, after provoking someone and getting humiliated, they don't know what to do and just ask someone else to stand up for them is also very good."

"That sounds pretty good," Kato Megumi said thoughtfully.

“Let’s stop hurting each other for a bit,” Kobayashi Sora asked. “That makes sense, but it can’t be expressed in a single image, can it?”

“Yes, that’s why we need a really good script.” Eriri revealed her true intentions, “I wonder if the person who keeps asking others to come up with solutions has any solutions of their own.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha: "...Do you have a script outline now?"

"Here you go." Kobayashi Sora handed over the script outline prepared by the production team.

“Hmm…” Kasumigaoka Utaha quickly browsed through the text, “Starting from scratch to build a star cluster, encountering difficulties along the way, asking the male protagonist to solve them, and repaying him with a date afterwards—a very common trope.”

Kato Megumi asked with some concern, "Is it too old-fashioned?"

"It's less like it's old-fashioned and more like it's melodramatic," Kasumigaoka Utaha pointed out incisively.

"Huh?" Kato Megumi became even more worried.

"However, the fact that it's old-fashioned and melodramatic means that this model has been successfully repeated many times and has been validated by the market," Kasumigaoka Utaha added. "Big companies are basically like this, adopting a conservative strategy, which is why each generation is more boring than the last."

"Remember to buy it after you've finished criticizing." Eriri wholeheartedly agreed, "Buy it and then continue criticizing."

“For otaku, this kind of formula means they can basically predict what will happen next after watching one episode.” Kasumigaoka Utaha flicked the printed paper. “But this project aims to combine real-world idol activities with the world of anime, which means it’s designed to lure non-otaku into the fandom. This old-fashioned and melodramatic method is just right.”

"So, are there any ways to improve this?" Kobayashi Sora asked.

"To be honest, once you start using this kind of formula, there's basically not much room for creativity left," Kasumigaoka Utaha said, shrugging. "The only way to improve it is by changing the writing style."

"She can't do anything herself and she's trying to shift the blame..." Eriri muttered.

"Who says I have no solution?" Kasumigaoka Utaha chuckled. "Just add character descriptions."

She gestured in the air, "Isn't the project supposed to release silhouettes first? Then let's design a webpage where a text box pops up below when the mouse hovers over the silhouette, with a personal description or a signature line to enrich the character."

Kasumigaoka Utaha paused for a moment, "At least we don't have to shift the blame for the script onto the illustrator."

Eriri glared at her. "Are you trying to say that I shifted the blame for the illustrator's job onto the scriptwriter?"

"Otherwise what?" Kasumigaoka Utaha retorted. "What kind of illustrator would make the scriptwriter write character biographies before they can draw the characters?"

"What kind of screenwriter makes the artist draw the character first before they can write the character biography?!"

Kobayashi Sora sighed; it seemed that the collaboration between the two with Akane Akasaka was not going well.

However, to achieve such results under these circumstances, these two are quite remarkable.

"Um..." Kato Megumi leaned forward slightly, "How did you guys resolve it later?"

"What else can we do?" Eriri huffed. "We'll just deal with whatever we have first."

“When I have inspiration for a character biography, I write the story first, and then I have her draw the illustrations,” Kasumigaoka Utaha explained further. “When I have inspiration for a character illustration, she draws the illustrations first, and then I write the story based on the illustrations.”

"Isn't this order fixed?" Kato Megumi pressed.

"There's no way to fix it..." Eriri muttered. "Let's just do whichever side goes smoothly first."

Kato Megumi's eyes lit up, and she turned to look at Kobayashi Sora, "Whichever side goes smoothly first, we'll proceed!"

The girl's eyes were sparkling.

"Hmm...hmm?" Kobayashi Sora was taken aback, then quickly realized, "You mean..."

"That's right! Will there be any trouble?"

"It will indeed cause some trouble, since so far the focus of the event has been on the other side, but the goal is to gradually shift the focus and achieve channel integration, so it's not a big deal."

"This way, all the problems can be solved, and Mayu will have more time to perform."

"My wife is so smart!" Kobayashi Sora hugged Kato Megumi and gave her a big kiss.

"It just popped into my head," Kato Megumi said with a smile. "It was my senior and Eriri who reminded me."

"So this is how you repay us?" Eriri asked, her face darkening.

Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her leg in frustration, "If you're not going to explain things clearly, then we can just leave like this, confused and clueless."

"You really think everyone else is as telepathic as you are...?"

"A little more care, at least a little more respect."

"Alright, alright." Kobayashi Sora waved her hand. "My mistake. Megumi's idea was simple: just change the order."

Chapter 352 A Kind Spoiler

"Change the order?" Eriri asked, puzzled. "What order?"

"The order of script and character design?" Kasumigaoka Utaha thought of the discussion earlier. "Perfect the script first, then have the illustrator draw the character designs?"

"No," Kobayashi Sora asked Eriri, "If your favorite anime were to be made into a movie, what would be your first thought?"

"It's been made into a live-action version." Eriri thought of many unpleasant scenarios.

"So, what about adapting live-action movies into animation?"

"That's not how it's done... Huh?" Eriri's eyes lit up. "You mean, the order of dimensions?"

“It was Hui who said it,” Kobayashi Sora corrected.

"The inspiration came from you guys—whichever side is going smoothly first," Kato Megumi explained her thinking. "Right now, the idol activities of the Star Group are going very well, so let's focus on that side first."

“The three-dimensional world cannot satisfy people’s expectations of the two-dimensional world, but the two-dimensional world can satisfy people’s expectations of the three-dimensional world.” Kobayashi Sora explained her thinking: “Most people find it difficult to accept live-action adaptations, but many people can accept live-action anime adaptations.”

Very few anime adaptations have been successfully made into live-action films.

In comparison, adapting live-action characters into anime is simpler.

“Revealing the character art first, and then the star cluster members, feels like stuffing one person into another,” Kasumigaoka Utaha pondered seriously. “But revealing the members first, and then the character art, feels more like adding another character.”

“In this way, the star clusters can start their activities and promotions now, and then announce their respective character illustrations according to the voting results.” Eriri nodded. “Mayu will have more time to create slowly, without worrying about failing to meet expectations, and the pressure will be greatly reduced.”

Kato Megumi doesn't know how to draw. "Would this make it easier?" she asked.

"Yes, she might, but only a few," Eriri explained truthfully. "Like I said before, the reason she can't draw is essentially due to insufficient ability to meet the requirements of commercial collaborations. Although we don't need to worry about her failing to meet expectations, her inherent problems still exist."

Kasumigaoka Utaha and Kobayashi Sora suggested, "Why don't you ask Akasaka Akane for help again?"

“I can already see the ending.” Kobayashi Sora shook her head. “If you can meet her requirements, she will help you. Then I will have to find another artist.”

Eriri pressed on, "What if you're not satisfied?"