How to raise a random guy's wife

Director Fukase was a little confused...

Kasumigaoka Utaha narrowed her red eyes slightly.

She remained a quiet observer, mimicking Kobayashi Megumi's previous behavior, minimizing her presence as much as possible to better observe.

First, Kobayashi Sora pointed out the most unfavorable situation for UWANPICTURES, and then Kobayashi Megumi proposed the best solution for UWANPICTURES. Not to mention Director Fukase, who was overwhelmed by the current situation, even Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was watching from the sidelines, had an urge to agree immediately.

Kasumigaoka Utaha witnessed the incredible antics of the UWANPICTURES members.

But the reason why Megumi Kobayashi proposed this plan has already been clearly stated by her: "RER wants to produce good animation."

It's that simple.

Is the situation at UWANPICTURES really as bad as Kobayashi Sora says?

It's not that bad.

The quality of animation is difficult to measure, and RER cannot refuse to pay simply because the finished product is unacceptable.

If they really go to court, the outcome is really uncertain.

But if Kobayashi Sora says it, the people at UWANPICTURES will start thinking in that direction.

In reality, once the two parties go to court, UWANPICTURES will not have the time and energy to remake the animation. Finding another animation company to produce it will waste a lot of time, and the quality and schedule cannot be guaranteed.

If RER doesn't take responsibility for UWANPICTURES's issues, UWANPICTURES will have to sue Sato and won't have the time or energy to remake the animation.

Therefore, if RER wants to produce good animations, it cannot sue UWANPICTURES; it must instead help them with their lawsuits.

If you say this directly, you might be manipulated by the other party, and no one can predict the final outcome.

But after Kobayashi Megumi and Kobayashi Sora took action, the situation became completely different.

Now that UWANPICTURES is in dire straits, RER has put aside past grievances and provided assistance, giving UWANPICTURES another chance. They even took the initiative to help deal with Sato's embezzlement and absconding, allowing UWANPICTURES to focus on producing animation.

If it weren't for RER's large and powerful family, backed by Akane Akasaka, and Kobayashi Sora, who has a bad reputation but an excellent reputation, Director Fukase would have thought these people were another group of fraudsters.

“If a decision is made,” Kobayashi Megumi pointed to the documents in the other person’s hand, “the contract will be revised according to the proposed changes.”

Director Fukase was initially surprised by the sheer number of suggestions, but upon flipping to the back, he realized that most of them were related contracts. "Sorry, we need to discuss this."

Kobayashi Megumi raised her hand, "Please go ahead."

The UWANPICTURES staff left temporarily, and when they returned, the contract had already been signed.

"Regarding the producer..." Director Fukase inquired, "What are your thoughts?"

"From now on, I'm the new producer." Kobayashi Sora finished reading the contract and put it in her briefcase. "I need a list of the director, scriptwriter, script supervisor, character designer, animation director, key animator, animator, animation checker, art director, art director, background designer, color designer, colorist, colorist, colorist, special effects artist, cinematographer, and production staff, plus..."

Chapter 577 Busy Work

A producer is someone who is responsible for arranging and managing the schedule, coordinating funding and staff, and providing support for the production of a work.

It sounds simple, but the actual work is far more complex than these concise descriptions suggest.

Under Akane Akasaka's tutelage, Kobayashi Sora learned the practical aspects of animation production—basically, the surface-level work—in three months.

It took me six months to fully master these superficial skills and reach the point where I could teach others.

It also took a whole year to master the most important "silent practices" in animation production, which are the things that cannot be seen by the eyes.

This was under the premise of one-on-one instruction from top industry professionals, plus Kobayashi Sora's own exceptional memory.

If it were anyone else, even a smart person, it would take them six years to master the work of a producer.

The most agonizing of all is the silent practice.

The producer's responsibilities mainly consist of three parts.

One of my job duties is the management of work materials.

Kobayashi Sora flipped through the documents in her hand, quickly browsing and memorizing the contents.

He hadn't done this kind of high-intensity memorization work in a long time.

Fortunately, his memory did not decline with age; in fact, it seems to have improved considerably.

Animation production requires various materials, including physical materials such as storyboards, compositions, keyframes, animation, and backgrounds, as well as digital materials such as coloring and lighting.

In simple terms, management means knowing the location of these materials and not losing them.

This matter itself is not difficult.

The difficulty lies in the quantity.

"I'll Show You My Panties with a Disdainful Look" is a five-minute short anime, but the amount of material is still quite considerable.

This includes, but is not limited to, a 20-page storyboard booklet (one for each staff member), 60 cuts (shots) of composition, 1200 animation frames, 60 backgrounds, 1240 coloring frames, 60 cinematography frames, varying numbers of DVDs for verification, 50 invoices, 50 related documents, 300 lens bags...

All of these were piled up in two sections in front of Kobayashi Sora, each half a meter high.

Kobayashi Sora doesn't need to memorize all of these things; even if he did, it wouldn't matter since he can't draw them.

The main goal now is to have a general understanding of the documents so that it will be easier to find them later.

That's why he flipped through the documents at a frightening speed.

“There’s a conflict between coloring sheet number 54 and sheet number 832.” Kobayashi Sora looked at the staff member next to her. “Check what’s going on.”

"You're actually watching?" The staff member's eyes widened.

He thought Kobayashi Sora was just playing around here.

"Go quickly," Kobayashi Sora waved his hand. "Time is of the essence."

"Okay... okay."

Kobayashi Sora's one hand moved swiftly while the other deftly answered the phone and held it to her ear. "This is Kobayashi Sora. Um... okay, it's all arranged, right? The details of the payment have been agreed upon? Very good. Let's finish as soon as possible, before the re-dubbing. Yes, at the current pace..."

The second job responsibility: schedule management.

Excellent works begin with good schedule management. Animation production is divided into different tasks: director, animation supervisor, sound engineer, key animator, animation, coloring, 3D, background artist, cinematographer... Creating a video requires the participation of various professionals. In order to make it more professional, there must be sufficient time for work.

This requires the producer to set a necessary work schedule and then allocate it to each department. Of course, this setting cannot be just theoretical; it needs to solicit opinions from each department and be fine-tuned to create a practical schedule.

During this process, it is important to pay attention to one's schedule, as most workers have other jobs on the side; the current situation also matters, such as if the background and coloring are not completed, the subsequent work cannot proceed; one's physical condition cannot be ignored, as health problems will affect both efficiency and quality; the time spent on different tasks will vary; and of course, there are also necessary recreational activities, etc.

Taking all factors into account, creating a suitable schedule, distributing it to various departments, and getting them to start working—that's not the end of the story...

Or rather, it's only just beginning.

When the schedule was received, the staff from each department greeted them with smiles.

However, the situation is different once you get to the actual work.

Original animation is delayed, there's a backlog of production checks, the animation supervisor isn't releasing any shots, the backgrounds aren't finished, there's a shortage of photography materials, I can't contact the person in charge of the project, I have a cold and fever, and I got dumped by my girlfriend and can't get motivated...

Creating a schedule is relatively simple; executing a schedule is hellish.

The work is done by people, and people have good times and bad times. The producer must coordinate each department. Sometimes he needs to be gentle, sometimes he needs to be strict, and sometimes he has to apologize while working. He must learn to read people's expressions and negotiate to ensure the progress of the work.

Kobayashi Sora's method, however, is relatively simple.

Seeing Kobayashi Sora put down the phone, Kasumigaoka Utaha approached and asked, "Will talking to you now affect you?"

"Yes," Kobayashi Sora answered truthfully, "The efficiency will decrease slightly, but it will be within an acceptable range."

"The phone call just now?"

“It’s Iori calling,” Kobayashi Sora replied while glancing at the materials. “Given the current situation, the anime remake will inevitably be delayed. Whatever the reason, RER should make some kind of statement—it can’t just be an apology.”

“Uh…” Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment, “It seems like most of them are just apologies.”

"The mobile game even gives away a 10-pull gacha as an apology," Kobayashi Sora explained. "What we need to do now is something similar. I had Iori contact the voice actors in charge of the voice acting and we're going to ask them to help record some fan-made audio and put it on the official website for free as compensation."

"A fan-made audio recording?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked curiously, "What was the content of the recording?"

"Regarding this matter..." After talking for a while, Kobayashi Sora finally looked up for the first time, "I'm going to ask you about it."

"Huh?" Kasumigaoka Utaha paused for a moment, then realized, "You want me to write the audio text?"

"After this incident, my already meager trust in others has become even thinner," Kobayashi Sora replied. "If not you, who else can I rely on?"

“Alright…” Kasumigaoka Utaha declared, “but I’ve never actually written anything like this before.”

Chapter 578 The Culprit

"This is just one of them," Kobayashi Sora explained. "The other items include a BD limited edition package, a collection of setting materials, an original art book, shikishi (art boards) autographed by the director, voice actors, and Kashiwagi Eri, a panty enthusiast certificate card, and panties matching the character's..."

"I won't ask any more questions about the proof of identity or anything like that." Kasumigaoka Utaha was a little confused. "And panties too?"

"After all, this is the core selling point of the animation, and it's not the original kind, it's a legitimate product," Kobayashi Sora concluded. "Your audio text is the same, so the content can be a little more stimulating."

The term "fan-made audio" can be simply defined as a stereo surround sound product that primarily features human voices.

Listeners should wear headphones and immerse themselves in the audio from a first-person perspective to experience it.

Unlike ASMR audio, which is also a stereo audio product, ASMR mainly focuses on various sound effects and pays more attention to the 3D surround sound auditory experience and the pursuit of a special experience.

Fan-made audio primarily features human voices, with a wider range of themes and genres. It places greater emphasis on the content of the audio rather than 3D surround sound effects, pursuing the appreciation and enjoyment of human voices.

Of course, there are also differences between works for all ages and those designed for practical use.

Kobayashi Sora wanted Kasumigaoka Utaha to write it...

Kasumigaoka Utaha raised an eyebrow, "Trying to skirt the line, huh?"

"That's the idea." Kobayashi Sora finished memorizing the existing documents and then turned on the computer to do another task.

The third aspect of the job is the management of the work environment.

Regardless of the type of job, the work environment is of paramount importance.

Whether there are work tools, work space, indoor temperature, and the ability to concentrate on work... to enable professionals to work most efficiently, the environment must be well-maintained.

Different people have different requirements for the environment. Some people like to work in a studio, while others prefer to work from home or in a personal office.

This means that the protection of documents, management of work tools and work space, adjustment of room temperature, maintenance of equipment, and even the location of the hospital must be taken into account.

"Are there really so many things to be aware of?" Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Kobayashi Sora's screen. "I feel like when we were making 'Sakura Promise,' it wasn't this complicated."

“First of all, ‘Sakura Promise’ is a doujin game. Although it eventually surpassed many commercial games in scale thanks to your efforts, it is still essentially a small project,” Kobayashi Sora replied. “Secondly, the production team was small, which made it easier to manage. Finally, many of my tasks were shared by Megumi.”

"Oh?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked curiously.