How to raise a random guy's wife

"What exactly are your thoughts?" Kobayashi Megumi pressed.

"To put it simply..." Kasumigaoka Utaha gathered her thoughts, "When I was involved in the production of the theatrical anime, I clearly realized the gap between animation and live-action films. To be precise, it's the difference in visuals. The realism of live-action films is something that animation can't match."

Eriri puffed out her pink cheeks slightly, "Isn't that obvious?"

"But the aesthetics of animation are something that live-action films cannot achieve." Kasumigaoka Utaha pointed out the key point: "If we make an animated film with the ultimate visuals, we can simultaneously obtain the realism of live-action films and the dreamlike beauty of animated films."

"You're overthinking it..." Eriri muttered. "It's easy to say, but to expect an animation to have the feel of a live-action film is just wishful thinking."

“It’s difficult to create animated characters with the texture of real people, and it’s very expensive.” Kasumigaoka Utaha was aware of this, so her idea was simple: “What about the scenery? Can you draw a beautiful scene that is similar to reality, but surpasses reality?”

Eriri frowned slightly. "What kind of effect do you want to achieve?"

"When photos and paintings are placed side by side, it is difficult to distinguish them, but I prefer the paintings."

"It's not that it's impossible... but is it necessary?"

“Of course it’s necessary.” Kasumigaoka Utaha further explained, “The number of fans of the live-action movie exceeds the combined number of fans of the manga and anime. This means that the number of people who watch the movie far exceeds the number of people who read the manga. The fame of the two main characters played a big role in this, and what should have been the core story became icing on the cake.”

"so?"

"So this means that as long as there are enough highlights, the audience can overlook the plots that we don't think are very good." Kasumigaoka Utaha took a sip of coffee. "We can talk about criticism later. What we need to do is take advantage of this phenomenon—use visuals that are clearly different from other animated films to attract the audience."

Eriri was speechless. "I knew you held grudges, but I didn't expect you to be this vengeful..."

But upon calm reflection, as Kasumigaoka Utaha said, there are currently no animated films featuring realistic landscapes.

If it actually turns out...

"I roughly understand what you're thinking, senpai." Kobayashi Megumi sorted out her thoughts. "It's about using Eriri's artwork to create differentiation and attract viewers—do you have any specific plot ideas yet, senpai?"

“I need inspiration…” Kasumigaoka Utaha thought of her editor, “How about asking Sora?”

"No need to ask," Kobayashi Megumi shook her head. "He has it."

Chapter 515 A Single Flower Stands Out

"Do you remember when we were working on 'The Cherry Blossom Promise'?" In Kobayashi's house, Kobayashi Sora opened the storage room and took out a proposal. "This is the idea that came about back then."

Kasumigaoka Utaha casually took the proposal, saying, "The Cherry Blossom Promise has been in production for so long, and your direction is too vague."

“It was when we were deciding on the script,” Kobayashi Megumi added, “that we talked about tragedies involving using memories to change the past.”

Eriri thought for a moment, "Why don't I remember this?"

“You weren’t there at the time.” Kasumigaoka Utaha recalled what had happened back then. It had really been a long time. Looking down at the proposal, Kasumigaoka Utaha quickly found the key points of the plot: “Body swapping, dream encounters, time travel... It does have some similarities to ‘The Cherry Tree Promise’.”

"After all, these are ideas that arose during that period, so it's normal for them to be somewhat similar," Kobayashi Sora explained, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Kobayashi Ran, who was happily playing with rice cakes.

After becoming a father, this subconscious action has gradually become a habit.

No matter what I'm doing, I always glance in my daughter's direction whenever I think of her.

Eriri moved closer to Kasumigaoka Utaha and looked at the proposal with her. "You want to turn this game project into a movie?"

"The plot is very interesting." Kasumigaoka Utaha carefully reviewed the plot flowchart. "The final twist is excellent. This kind of design would be less impactful in a game; it would be better as a movie."

Having collaborated for so long, after seeing Kobayashi Sora's concise outline, Kasumigaoka Utaha naturally envisioned various dialogues and began to imagine the scenes Eriri might draw.

Because games need to showcase gameplay, both the route and the pace are difficult to control.

In contrast, stories like this, with their clear logic, good pacing, and shocking ending, are better suited for making into movies than games.

“That’s true, but considering all other factors,” as the chairman of RER, Megumi Kobayashi considered more, “the better the story, the less impulsive we should be.”

Eriri agreed, saying, "Just like the Superstar project, everything was done little by little. We could make adjustments as soon as problems were discovered. If we had started production directly... the risks would have been too great."

“I originally intended to make this movie as a sequel to ‘The Cherry Tree Promise,’ since three years have passed,” Kobayashi Sora explained her thoughts. “Just like when I was making the second part of ‘Liella! Superstar,’ my first thought was what kind of changes I wanted to make to create a difference from the first one.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment, "The difference with 'Liella! Superstar' is that the character illustrations have been changed to more articulated Live2D, so what about this... the background?"

“That’s right, it has a realistic texture, but a beauty that far surpasses reality.” Kobayashi Sora chuckled. “It’s almost exactly what you were thinking.”

"Interesting..." Kasumigaoka Utaha rediscovered a long-lost feeling. Ever since Kobayashi Sora and Kobayashi Megumi got married and had children, and her focus gradually shifted from work to family life, she hadn't felt this sense of peace in a long time. "What are your plans?"

No need to worry, no need to fret.

Kobayashi Sora will handle everything.

She only needs to focus on her creative work.

“It started a long time ago.” Kobayashi Sora opened her computer and showed them the folder. “I had someone take a lot of outdoor photos, and I’ve organized them into categories, from spring to winter, from the city to the seaside… And of all the outdoor photos, this is my favorite.”

Everyone looked at the screen. The air currents from the tram carried cherry blossoms in a flurry. A lovely girl stood on the other side of the tracks, holding an umbrella and smiling at the other side.

Eriri turned her head and said, "Megumi, he likes other girls."

"I was referring to the overall picture," Kobayashi Sora corrected.

"It looks really great," Kobayashi Megumi chuckled. "It feels like it has a story to tell."

Kasumigaoka Utaha sensed Kobayashi Sora's thoughts, "You want me to write a short story based on this picture?"

“It’s three stories.” Kobayashi Sora waved her finger. “Each story will be about twenty minutes long, which is about the length of one episode of an anime.”

“This length isn’t enough to tell many stories…” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s gaze shifted to Eriri. “This is where you come in.”

"Me?" Eriri was completely confused. "What happened to me?"

"Your drawing skills will attract the audience," Kobayashi Megumi explained. "Time is limited, and it's difficult to complete character development and plot development, so what can attract the audience the most is the scenery you draw."

“Even if you say that…” Eriri frowned slightly.

It feels really good to be trusted, but...

"Is it a bit too wishful thinking to expect to attract viewers with just scenery in a simple plot and limited length?"

Kobayashi Sora looked at Eriri strangely and opened her mouth.

Kobayashi Megumi also gave the same strange look.

Eriri asked, puzzled, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha crossed her arms over her chest. "Eriri, you've clearly forgotten your original intentions."

"Huh?" Eriri raised an eyebrow, disgruntled. "How could I...?"

"I remember someone who, despite having no story or plot, attracted a lot of readers and fans with limited space." Kasumigaoka Utaha's lips curled up. "Isn't that right, Ms. Kashiwagi Eri?"

"..." Eriri blinked, a glimmer of light appearing in her azure eyes. "You mean..."

"Treat the scenery like a painting!" Kasumigaoka Utaha succinctly summarized, "Give the scenery the same beauty as the human body, immerse the audience in it, make them unable to extricate themselves, make them ignore the issues of plot and length, and immerse themselves in the sensory stimulation provided by the beautiful scenery!"

"Wh...what?!" Eriri instinctively took a step back. "This kind of thing..."

It doesn't seem to work either.

Having discussed this much, Eriri roughly understood their thoughts.

Simply put, it's about using three short stories to test the audience's acceptance.

With such limited space, the appeal of the plot and characters is reduced to a very low level, leaving only the art style to attract viewers.

This is entirely Kashiwagi Eri's home turf. If she can still get a lot of attention under these circumstances, it means that attracting viewers with her art style is a viable tactic.

Chapter 516 Serious Problems

Having identified the theme of erotic films with scenic views, Eriri's task is to find an art style that will captivate viewers at first glance.

Kobayashi Sora gathers information and searches for suitable personnel for animation supervision, character design, art direction, color design, music composition, voice acting, and more.

Unlike the visual novels we initially collaborated on, short films involve a wider range of professional knowledge and require more personnel.

Kobayashi Sora has done this kind of thing many times before, so she's quite experienced at it.

Megumi Kobayashi, as the chief director, stayed at home to keep track of the progress of the original drawings and script.

Compared to Eriri's repeated attempts and setbacks, Kasumigaoka Utaha's problems seem to be more serious.

Although it's a short story that doesn't rely on plot as its selling point, Kasumigaoka Utaha clearly didn't intend to just do it casually.

Instead, she wanted to demonstrate her ability to control the reader's emotions as much as possible in the shortest amount of space.

but......

Completely clueless.

Kasumigaoka Utaha tapped the keyboard in frustration, deleting the line she had just typed.

Having written quite a few long novels, it's really hard to get used to writing short stories now, especially such short ones.

The psychological changes and emotional fluctuations that could have been described at length need to be reduced to the bare minimum.

But if you reduce it to the limit, how do you describe the emotion you want to portray?

What emotions do you want to depict and convey?

So what should we do?

One question after another appeared on the screen, only to be deleted one by one by Kasumigaoka Utaha.

What exactly do we want in terms of results?

Kasumigaoka Utaha picked up the photo again.

The air currents stirred up by the tram carried cherry blossoms in a flurry, and a lovely girl stood on the other side of the tracks, holding an umbrella and smiling at the other side.

Who is the person on the other side?

Kasumigaoka Utaha gazed at the girl's smile, and suddenly realized...

It doesn't matter who that person is.

The important thing is that there is someone present on one side.

He stood amidst the cherry blossoms, just like himself.

He and I were separated on opposite sides of the tram.

A truly moving story may not need to be complicated.

Everyone's life is different, but the various emotions contained in different lives are interconnected.

Kasumigaoka Utaha subconsciously looked up in the direction of Kobayashi Megumi.