How to raise a random guy's wife

Chapter 606 Difficult Transformation

So, just as Eriri had hoped, Kasumigaoka Utaha began collaborating with other illustrators.

May all your wishes come true! Congratulations!

No, that's not true!

Kasumigaoka Utaha, who has always collaborated with me, is now collaborating with someone else.

I don't want that kind of thing!

For a moment, Eriri even felt that this was retribution for her past drawing of doujinshi.

"We initially chose Iori as the producer because of their blood relationship and the fact that her art style is relatively niche, so we wanted Iori to handle the commercial aspects," Kobayashi Sora explained her thoughts. "However, we didn't expect the conflict between the two to be so great... But since this is our debut work, we should focus on the idea of ​​going international, so it's more suitable for my senior, who is also a creator."

“My goal right now is to become a producer,” Kasumigaoka Utaha reminded, “It’s better not to use the student-era term of address like ‘senpai’ in the workplace. Just call me Utaha.”

Eriri is so angry.

Now they don't even have a special nickname anymore.

"Really?" Hashima asked excitedly as he tried it out. "Utaha...senpai?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed, "There's no need to add it after that."

"Shiwa!" Izumi Hashima called out happily.

“Let’s go to sea,” Kasumigaoka Utaha replied.

"..." What kind of crime is this... Eriri remained silent and turned to leave.

"Shiwa..." Kobayashi Megumi looked in the direction Eriri had left, "Eri, she..."

“I understand.” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s eyelids drooped slightly. “But… I have to do this.”

Eriri left herself far behind.

But from another perspective.

I also let Eriri down.

But this is the only way right now.

Kasumi Eri's model is excellent; it allows capable people to fully utilize their abilities.

But Eri Kasumi's model is too good; it allows people without real ability to present a false sense of strength.

The natural leader, Kobayashi Megumi; the all-around tool, Kobayashi Sora; and the talented painter, Eriri.

With this lineup, they could make money as long as they have a competent screenwriter.

But Kasumigaoka Utaha was not satisfied with just being qualified.

Therefore, she had to break away from Kaori, break out of this overly comfortable comfort zone, face difficulties head-on, and hone herself.

"I understand," Kobayashi Megumi chuckled. "But I still need to find some time to have a good talk with Eriri."

"Let's wait until she calms down before we talk about it," Kasumigaoka Utaha had already planned. "Right now... she probably won't listen to anything."

Kobayashi Megumi didn't say anything more.

First of all, this is between Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha;

Secondly, the two have no plans to separate and will still go home together after get off work, so there is no need to worry that a lack of communication will cause the problem to worsen.

Finally, Kasumigaoka Utaha said that Eriri couldn't listen to anything right now, the subtext being that Kasumigaoka Utaha herself hadn't figured out what to say yet.

“But…” Hashima Izumi said, “I feel that Eriri will listen carefully to what senpai… Shiho says.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha opened her mouth as if to say something, but her red eyes were filled with confusion.

Kobayashi Sora sighed. This is the importance of seeing through things but not saying them.

"We can take our time with this, but some things can't be delayed too long." Kobayashi Megumi looked towards the harbor trip to Hashima. "How's your plan coming along?"

"Ah... I've revised the first story according to Utaha's previous instructions," Hashima replied excitedly.

“But your plan is three episodes per story. If it’s twelve episodes, you’ll need three more stories,” Kobayashi Megumi reminded her. “Your plan is the core of everything. If you don’t complete it, it will be difficult to carry out a lot of subsequent work.”

“I understand!” Hashima Izumi clearly recognized his responsibility. “Shiyu, I’m going now. I’ll find you again after I finish writing the rest of the story.”

“Yes.” Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Watching Hashima depart with great enthusiasm, Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Kobayashi Sora and asked, "So, what should we do next?"

“You might not believe it,” Kobayashi Sora said, spreading his hands, “but in the current environment, there is neither a systematic educational theory for animation producers nor a mature educational system.”

"Hmm?" Kasumigaoka Utaha was quite surprised. "With Japan's highly developed animation industry, how could they not have these?"

"In recent years, the animation industry market size has reached an average of 2 trillion yen per year, of which the sales revenue of animation production companies is around 2000 billion yen, which is equivalent to the turnover of a single company, Morinaga & Co., but is the annual sales revenue of many animation production companies." Kobayashi Sora tapped her forehead, searching her memory. "According to the Animation Industry Report of the Animation Association, a total of 356 TV animation works were produced last year, of which 126 were short animations of less than ten minutes. Children's animation has a slightly shorter total production time than adult animation, but considering its relatively low production cost, the total annual sales revenue of all animation production companies is only 2000 billion yen."

"Isn't there still 1.8 trillion?"

"Those sales figures come from secondary consumption of anime DVDs, Blu-rays, and related merchandise, and are generally handled by companies within the production committee that are better positioned to develop secondary consumption models," Megumi Kobayashi added. "They have little to do with the anime producers."

“Market demand is one aspect, but the difficulty of education is another problem,” Kobayashi Sora pointed out. “Japan simply doesn’t have universities that train producers. The skills involved in animation production are too broad to teach.”

"So where do producers come from these days?"

"It depends. At a large company like Toei Animation, recruitment is divided into general positions and creative positions. General positions mainly involve learning about the production process and business management. You start as a character designer, production assistant, or production supervisor, then become a producer assistant, and finally a producer," Kobayashi Sora explained. "In other companies, there are two paths: production assistant to director, or production supervisor to producer. There are also producer positions obtained from animation disc manufacturers and record companies that are involved in the animation business. There are also those who switch jobs from banks or consulting firms to become producers—the latter are the ones I just told you about, the ones who are more good at business."

Kasumigaoka Utaha had thought that after staying at RER for so long, she would be able to quickly adapt to her new role, but now it seems... things are not as simple as she thought. "How did you become a producer?"

Chapter 607 Unexpected

"Believe me," Kobayashi Sora sighed, "you won't try my method."

"Ok?"

"I initially worked on the animation production alongside Akane-nee, getting familiar with the process through being scolded, receiving on-site guidance, trying to produce an episode myself, and finally completing the work independently." Kobayashi Sora recalled that time. At such a young age, he was able to become a qualified producer in a short period of time, partly due to his own abilities, but more importantly, due to Akane Kousaka's comprehensive and rigorous guidance.

In fact, there has always been a traditional teaching method in animation production: immediately putting newcomers, who are like blank slates, into the production environment to train them.

Simply put, it means getting scolded by everyone, and in the process of being scolded, you'll learn what to do.

Producers trained in this way have exceptional resilience under pressure and can master various tasks extremely quickly.

Conversely, due to excessive workload, heavy mental burden, and physical and mental exhaustion, quite a few people quit their jobs in less than a year.

Kobayashi Sora's approach is clearly not suitable for Kasumigaoka Utaha. Kasumigaoka Utaha now wants to forge a different path from Akane Kousaka, so naturally she can no longer return to Akane Kousaka's tutelage and learn from her.

As for following Kobayashi Sora...

First of all, Kobayashi Sora learned from Akane Akasaka, so there's not much difference between learning from him and learning from Akane Akasaka.

Secondly, Kobayashi Sora is a member of Kasumigaoka Eri's group, and now Kasumigaoka Utaha wants to leave Kasumigaoka Eri's comfort zone.

Finally, there's the criticism of Kasumigaoka Utaha and such...

We're too familiar with each other; I can't bring myself to say anything.

"Compared to how to become a producer..." Kobayashi Megumi asked earnestly, "Have you thought about career planning?"

“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Kasumigaoka Utaha replied. “I’ll first study at RER, create a decent piece of work, and then try to start my own project and complete it independently outside of RER.”

“I’m not talking about that kind of career planning,” Kobayashi Megumi shook her head, “but career planning as a woman.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned slightly. "What?"

“Akane-nee is amazing. I’m also the president of RER now. This might give you the illusion that women can easily succeed in the workplace.” Kobayashi Megumi further explained, “In reality, there are very few typical cases of female animation producers getting promoted in the industry. There is a lack of reference, and you have to figure it out yourself. In addition, there is the choice between getting married and having children or working. After all, the work of a producer is closely related to the scene, and time is greatly restricted.”

“Don’t worry about the latter, I don’t have that plan yet. As for the former…” Kasumigaoka Utaha paused, “I need a situation without any reference right now.”

“Since you’ve already made your decision,” Kobayashi Megumi said, looking at Kobayashi Sora, “we can let Utaha learn some basic knowledge first, so that she can start working more quickly once the overseas project is completed.”

“Okay.” Kobayashi Sora asked, “Shiyu, do you have any questions?”

“There really is.” Kasumigaoka Utaha recalled what had happened before. “Why was UWANPICTURES on the verge of bankruptcy because of five million yen?”

"Well... actually, it's not just UWANPICTURES, basically no animation production company has sufficient cash flow," Kobayashi Sora replied. "Basically, animation production companies are constantly forced to keep taking on orders and operating at a loss."

"Wait a minute..." Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't accept it. "Shouldn't the premise of business activities be to make a profit? Why do it if you're not going to make money?"

“Because it might make money,” Kobayashi Megumi chimed in. “In reality, out of a dozen or so anime series each season, only a few hit shows are profitable. The mainstream business model in the anime industry is to invest in just one hit show out of a few anime series.”

If one film becomes a hit, it's considered a success.

“That makes sense…” Kasumigaoka Utaha realized this point. “This kind of content creation work definitely involves some degree of gambling. But with the completion of the ‘Panty’ animation this time, UWANPICTURES shouldn’t be in such dire straits as before.”

Thanks to the addition of Kobayashi Sora and Eriri, as well as Kobayashi Megumi's generous support, the quality of the animation was greatly improved, and it received a very positive response after its broadcast.

UWANPICTURES, the company that produced this animation, must have a much better cash flow now... right?

“No.” Kobayashi Sora said the second fact that surprised Kasumigaoka Utaha. “The animation production company does not have the copyright, so the revenue generated from the secondary use of the work has nothing to do with them.”

This is one of the reasons why many people say that making animation is not as good as working at a convenience store.

In the music industry, anyone who is a musician, lyricist, or composer owns the copyright and related rights to their works.

However, in the animation industry, the copyright of a work belongs not to the animation production company, but to the production committee.

Kasumigaoka Utaha asked, puzzled, "Aren't animation studios members of the production committee?"

"No, that's not quite it. The animation production company is the commissioned party." Kobayashi Sora explained the composition of the production committee by taking out a piece of paper. "In most cases, the production committee is usually composed of multiple companies with different marketing channels, such as DVD and Blu-ray production and sales chains, major radio and television stations that broadcast the animation works, publishing houses like Shinazugawa Bunko for books, and merchandise companies. These investors bear the production costs, jointly enjoy the copyright of the work, obtain commercial utilization channels that match the nature of their own companies, apply for relevant exclusive production and sales rights, and conduct commercial activities."

“The money earned through various commercial channels will be distributed proportionally to the companies that actually generate revenue, the production committee, the original creators, and the television stations,” Megumi Kobayashi added. “Animation production companies that did not contribute to the production costs, that is, those without copyright, cannot receive this revenue generated from the secondary use of the work.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha realized the crux of the problem: "Wouldn't it be enough if the animation production company just funded its participation in the production committee?"

"This brings us back to the initial problem. Basically, animation production companies are constantly forced to take on orders and operate at a loss, without sufficient cash flow." Kobayashi Sora roughly calculated, "The production costs paid to front-line production staff alone account for 80% of the total production cost. The remaining amount has to cover fixed expenses such as management salaries and venue rentals. If problems arise during production, money has to be spent to cover the losses... The remaining money invested in the production committee is just a waste of money."

Chapter 608 Difficult Situation

The flourishing animation industry does not contradict the difficulties faced by animation production companies.

“In that case,” Kasumigaoka Utaha came up with a new idea, “why don’t the animation production company ask for an increase in production funding?”

Not enough money? We need more.

"Animation is basically priced at 1500 million yen for 30 minutes, which is the amount the production committee can barely break even with," sighed Megumi Kobayashi. "Ultimately, there's a world of difference between the number of animation studios that can take on projects and the number of companies that the production committee manages. The production committee has far too many animation companies to choose from, giving them a significant advantage in negotiations. Unless they have the support of a die-hard fanbase or a top-tier animation production company negotiating the fees, the outcome of the negotiations is usually..."

Kobayashi Sora imitated the production committee's tone, "Huh? You can't do it without 3000 million yen per episode? Then don't do it. If you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will."

Kobayashi Sora's imitation was so perfect, it was as if he had actually said those words.