How to raise a random guy's wife

The production manager would then let out such a wail.

Kobayashi Sora noticed Kasumigaoka Utaha and handed her a cup of coffee. "Have you been working hard? How are you feeling?"

“There are still some details to negotiate,” Kasumigaoka Utaha took the coffee, took a sip, and let out a long, relaxed sigh. “The success of ‘Your Name’ has made our communication with the investors much easier.”

"That's good."

Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her coffee cup towards the studio. "What's going on here?"

"A little trouble."

"Small?" Kasumigaoka Utaha sensed that the production manager was on the verge of despair.

“Now you can be smaller.” Kobayashi Sora chuckled. “You should come along too, since you’ll probably encounter this situation again soon.”

"It's best to avoid running into them." Kasumigaoka Utaha followed.

Generally speaking, at the top of the production pyramid is the [Animation Producer], the person in charge of managing the production progress of each episode is the [Production Manager], and the person responsible for managing and coordinating the overall project progress, or in other words, managing the Production Manager, is the [Production Supervisor].

The production supervisor is responsible for managing the production work according to the producer's needs, ensuring the steady progress of the overall project. This role is usually filled by someone who is very familiar with the animation production process and details.

Similarly, if there are problems with the production schedule, the production supervisor must also take the blame.

"Honda," Kobayashi Sora called to the production manager, "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Kobayashi..." The production supervisor was slightly overweight. Working on animation often meant working day and night, so maintaining a good physique was practically impossible. "It's like this..."

After listening to Honda's story, Kasumigaoka Utaha finally understood why the other person was so desperate.

First of all, according to the normal schedule, the final episode should have already finished its animation and reached the stage of coloring and compositing.

However, the director hasn't finished drawing the storyboard yet.

Forget about being nearing the end of production as planned, it hasn't even started yet.

Secondly, there is an explosion scene in episode 8 where the main character is driving a car. It was originally intended to be done with 3DCG, but due to communication problems with Taro, who was in charge of the production of this episode, both 3D production and hand-drawn animation were used for this scene. Both sides felt that they had done useless work, and Endo, who was in charge of special effects animation, simply quit.

Finally, episode 9 is connected to episode 8. The explosion scene for episode 9 has already been drawn, so in order to maintain stylistic consistency, episode 8 can only be drawn using special effects.

But now Endo doesn't come to the studio at all, and we can't get in touch with him.

Besides creating special effects, Endo is also the animation director, and there are currently 70 cuts that haven't been processed yet.

At this rate, there's no point in even thinking about the final episode; we can't even make an eighth one.

“70 cut,” Kobayashi Sora looked at Production Manager Taro, “meaning this situation has been going on for quite some time, right?”

"Hmm..." Taro was very young, having only been in the industry for a year. Faced with Kobayashi Sora's question, he subconsciously shifted his gaze. "Well, I didn't expect Mr. Endo to be so willful. I thought he would calm down in a couple of days."

"Report, contact, discuss," Kobayashi Sora said calmly. "These are the basic principles of our work, you should know that, right?"

Taro muttered, "So that's why... Mr. Endo so irresponsibly cut off contact..."

"You bastard!" Honda grew increasingly furious. "The problem is with episode eight, which is under your supervision. Get me a solution!"

"I'll definitely try my best!" Taro scratched his head. "It just takes time."

"Shiyu," Kobayashi Sora tilted her head, "how do you think this matter should be handled?"

"Now..." Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment, "we can only find someone to do this part of the work."

Kobayashi Sora shook her head. "Honda, you explain this."

“That won’t do… Finding someone to fill in at the last minute will offend a lot of people, both the person filling in and the person being filled in.” Honda quickly waved his hand. “Finding someone to fill in is absolutely not an option.”

"Huh?" Taro was taken aback. "Is that not allowed?"

"You're really planning to do that?!" Honda immediately started cursing. "You idiot!"

If the workload is too heavy and you really can't finish it, asking for help is the only option.

Such mutual assistance is also common in the industry.

But this is a case where someone quit for some reason.

If you seek help from someone else at this point, it will make the original person seem like they have a bad personality and the new person seem like they are easy to bully.

So no one will come.

Kasumigaoka Utaha understood, "Then we'll have to talk to Mr. Endo."

“I knew the problem was with Mr. Endo,” Taro complained. “He’s too stubborn.”

“However, before we start communicating, we need to figure out why he quit.” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s red eyes narrowed slightly. “Otherwise, it will all be ineffective communication.”

"What else could it be..." Taro pouted, "Just throwing a tantrum."

“So…” Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at Taro, “Why is he throwing a tantrum? And who is he throwing a tantrum at? As a production assistant, isn’t communication between various personnel your basic job?”

"I was just doing my duty," Taro replied matter-of-factly. "Is that so..."

Chapter 681 Fanning the Flames

Because there was an explosion scene in episode eight, Shimoyanagi, who was in charge of 3D supervision, created a CG animation and showed it to the director.

The director was very satisfied after reviewing it, so he asked Taro to communicate with Endo, who was in charge of special effects animation. If they hadn't started drawing yet, they didn't need to start; they could just further refine the 3DCG.

The supervisor here is considering the workload. Endo is not only the key animator but also the animation supervisor, so it's always good to reduce his workload.

Because the moving parts are drawn on celluloid film, Japanese-style hand-drawn animation is also known as celluloid animation.

Special effects painting, on the other hand, refers to special effects created by hand.

Common phenomena include explosions, thick smoke, clouds, water splashes, lightning, and debris.

In the celluloid era, without the support of computers, these special effects had to be drawn by hand. Also, because the pigments used in celluloid film were different from those used in paper, and the lighting during filming also affected the colors.

Therefore, when watching older cel animations, you will notice that the colors of broken rocks and other objects are inconsistent with the background.

In the computer age, special effects were quickly replaced by CG, because the film industry has accumulated a lot of experience in CG special effects, so it is much simpler to apply them to animation than to CG characters.

Due to its high maturity, high production efficiency, and good effects, most commercial animations now use 3DCG to create special effects.

From a production perspective, the development of 3D technology is indeed a time-saving and labor-saving thing, but for the creators who are replaced by the technology, it is not so easy to accept.

“Then I told Mr. Endo that the director had decided to use 3D, and since he hadn’t started, we shouldn’t draw it.” Taro sighed. “But he insisted on drawing it, so I had to ask the director again, and he told me to go find Mr. Yanagi.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha vaguely sensed the crux of the problem, "And then?"

"Mr. Shimoyanagi felt that he had to do both drawing and directing, and Mr. Endo had too much work, which would waste a lot of time, so he wanted to use 3D," Taro replied. "Then when I told Mr. Endo that it was unnecessary to draw, he got angry and said that the highlight of 2D animation is the drawing, not 3D. After I told Mr. Shimoyanagi about Mr. Endo's complete rejection of 3D animation, they ended up working on a scene together."

"Hmm..." Kasumigaoka Utaha crossed her arms, tilted her head, glanced at Taro, then looked at Kobayashi Sora, "Hmm..."

“You’re a senior, you’ve been in the industry longer than him,” Kobayashi Sora reminded him. “Say whatever you want.”

"Alright then." Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Taro. "Isn't this entirely your problem?"

"Really?" Taro asked, puzzled. "I feel I've fulfilled my duty as a messenger."

“From the perspective of fanning the flames and sowing discord, you have indeed done your job well.” Kasumigaoka Utaha was now really tempted to hit someone. “Now, the only way to achieve effective communication is to bring both sides together for a confrontation.”

“I’ve been trying my best,” Taro said, hands in his pockets, “but Mr. Endo’s attitude…”

"Shut up!" Honda was so angry he wanted to bite someone. "You just wait!"

Taro: "Huh?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha was a little worried, "But is it possible to contact Mr. Endo now?"

"Wait a moment." Kobayashi Sora dialed the phone. "Mr. Endo, this is Kobayashi Sora. Yes... that's right, I know. So could you come over now? Hmm... I was thinking of asking you to pick up a piece of clothing from the laundromat for me... Okay, I'll wait for you at the company."

"Alright." Kobayashi Sora put down her phone. "Mr. Endo will be here soon."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Taro exclaimed. "I tried ringing his doorbell, but it was no use!"

"Taro, go and call Mr. Shimoyanagi, the 3D director." Kobayashi Sora looked at the production manager, Honda. "Honda, you can think of a solution for the storyboard on the director's side. I'll handle this."

"You've been a huge help..." Honda hesitated for a moment, "Um..."

“I said…” Kobayashi Sora smiled, “I’ll handle it.”

"Alright then..." Honda gave Taro a look that said, "Good luck to you."

Taro: "?"

Before long, everyone had gathered.

"The main reason I called everyone here today is to discuss issues with episode eight." Kobayashi Sora glanced at her schedule briefly. "Mr. Endo, there's a 70% cut that needs revision, as well as the explosion scenes..."

"Don't we already have 3D?" Endo said with a straight face. "We don't need me anymore."

"Taro said that to you, right?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked. "Then, Mr. Shimoyanagi, what did the coach say at the time?"

Shimoganagi replied, "The director said the 3D effect is very good. If Mr. Endo hasn't started drawing yet, then we'll use 3D."

Taro nodded. "That's how I conveyed it."

“Using 3D before even drawing it is different from deciding to use 3D and not drawing it at all,” Kasumigaoka Utaha pointed out. “The implications are completely different.”

Saying to your mom, "If you haven't cooked yet, I'll order takeout today," and saying, "I want to order takeout, but since you haven't cooked yet, don't bother," conveys completely different feelings.

Taro was taken aback. "Really?"

Endo noticed the problem. "So he told me, 'Waiting for my original drawings is too time-consuming, so just use 3D directly and don't need to draw'?"

"Weren't you supposed to be both the director and the animator?" Shimoganagi recalled what she had said to Taro. "So I wanted to help lighten your workload—what he meant by 'we can't rely on 3D for the best parts; 3D is just an add-on to 2D,' what did you mean by completely rejecting 3D..."

Endo corrected, "I meant that the appeal of 2D animation is the animation style, not 3D, otherwise it would be 3D animation."

Taro nodded. "Isn't this the same as what I conveyed?"

Endo and Shimoganagi looked at Taro together, "How are they the same!"

Some parts were the same, but Taro's changes in the order of the messages and his haphazard summaries completely distorted the meaning the two wanted to convey.

In the end, the two of them seemed to be holding a grudge, wasting time and energy creating the same scene.

"It seems there was no conflict between the two, just a communication problem," Kobayashi Sora concluded. "Taro's procrastination, in addition, led to this situation."

Endo and Shimoyanagi looked at each other in bewilderment.

There are indeed conflicts, but they weren't as sharp as they used to be, and they didn't escalate to this point.

"So," Kobayashi Sora asked with a smile, "Taro, what are your thoughts?"