Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

……

While Section Chief Yamazaki was bearing everything alone in the meeting room...

The music producers who were "waiting" in the lounge area were bustling with noise.

"Xia Fan, did you actually submit your work?"

"Ah."

"If you're selected, remember to treat me to fried chicken!"

"Okay, not only fried chicken, but also burgers."

A producer saw Xia Fan and came forward to tease him.

"Hey, did you see that? Not only the director and the music crew, but even the voice actors are here. What a big scene."

"What's the big deal? I heard that this theme song was originally meant to be sung by the voice actors of the characters, so of course I have to come and listen to it together."

"Hey, speaking of voice actors, I think I saw Sakura Inori just now. She's so pretty. At least she has a C, which is the voice actor..."

"You know, I met the voice actor Shinkai in the bathroom before, and it was much shorter than I thought..."

More producers, however, are discussing content that has nothing to do with the song.

The topic of discussion is not the evaluation of the theme song, but the "voice actors".

With the development of the animation industry in District 11, voice actors are no longer just “animation voice actors”, but comprehensive artists active in the fields of radio, film, singing, and movies by leveraging the popularity of their animation characters.

Therefore, the industry's requirements for voice actors have gradually changed from "being able to dub" to being proficient in appearance, singing, dancing, rap, and musical instruments.

"Tsk, the information of several well-known voice actors can be found on the Internet, and they can also be easily seen in person at various offline promotional activities. There's nothing strange about it."

"However, among the voice actors for the movie Curse of the Soul, there is a female voice actor who has never shown her face in public."

One of the short and fat producers wearing an "OTAKU" T-shirt shook his head and narrowed his eyes mysteriously, as if to say, "I know a lot about this, come and ask me."

"Are you talking about the new voice actor who plays the villain 'Queen of Curse', the YouTuber VTUBER, Kurokawa Tsubasa?!"

"Speaking of Miss Kurokawa Tsubasa, her queenly voice is unique in the industry. She must be a generous big sister. I really want to hear her scold me to my face..."

"Who said that? She attracted attention with her unique childish voice in her debut work, so she should not be very old."

"What does the real person look like? Do you want to go to the door of the meeting room and stare at him when the meeting is over..."

Several producers immediately came over and started "group power generation" with ambiguous expressions.

"Kurokawa Tsubasa?"

Xia Fan's ears pricked up like a husky's and he typed the name into the search engine.

Kurokawa Tsubasa, gender female (? ), age unknown, solo voice actor.

She made her voice acting debut in the animation "Tamama Gunsho" last year, and in the same year she voiced the protagonist in the popular animation "Ono-senpai who loves sushi", and gradually came to prominence.

This year, Kurokawa Tsubasa played nine roles and voiced nine characters in the game "Dream Hunter Cardi", and was called the "Queen of Variety" by netizens.

At the same time, she also operated a YouTube channel under the name of her two-dimensional virtual image, the singer "Kurokawa Tsubasa", and released a large number of cover songs, which received good responses.

Xia Fan put on his headphones, clicked on one of Kurokawa Tsubasa's cover songs, and listened silently.

Kurokawa Tsubasa has a wide vocal range, suitable for all ages and roles. She can also match her voice to the songs she sings, and even her speaking tone and idioms change with the role, making her worthy of the title of "Queen of Variety."

"Yes, as expected, Kurokawa Tsubasa is the squad leader."

"By the way, the class leader is actually a popular voice actor and VTUBER. The 'impolite' tone and occasionally 'dirty' content in his works are really different from his usual serious self."

After hearing a familiar voice, Xia Fan nodded slightly, confirming a guess in his heart.

"Report, the film production team said that if the songs are not up to standard after the first listen, the producers don't need to go in for communication."

At the same time, the producer who took turns to be the "spy" by drawing lots came out of the meeting room with tea and the latest news.

"What? You don't even give the creators basic respect?!"

"Great! I don't want to be criticized in front of so many people. I'll just leave Section Chief Yamazaki in there to bear the stress and lose his hair alone."

The producers who submitted their works seriously were indignant, while the producers who just wanted to give it a try were relieved.

"Report, the 10th song was killed!"

"What? So far, not a single producer has been called in!"

"Who's the next person to pour the tea? Let's check again!"

Xia Fan was listening to the singing video of "Kurokawa Tsubasa" with great interest and didn't notice that new "bad news" kept coming out of the conference room.

"Shi Jiuran, the producer, the review team invites you in."

After an unknown amount of time, the producer who served as the "spy" finally brought good news.

Chapter 37 Haidilao

2024-07-13

"Finally, someone was called in!"

"Come on, Lao Jiu!"

“History will remember you!”

"Hey, you guys, stop looking at me like a kamikaze!"

A thin, bearded producer walked into the conference room amid everyone's expectant gazes.

"..."

A few minutes later, he came out with a pale face.

"How about it?"

"The sharp questions and the terrible atmosphere on the scene almost suffocated me... Anyway, after Director Haruo's 'interrogation', he thought that the quality of my song was above standard, but the artistic conception and core did not match the movie, so he did not agree to the trial recording."

Shi Jiurang shook his head and took a deep breath of the free air in the hall.

"Report, the 14th song was killed!"

"Add water and explore again!"

"Report, the sixth producer who entered the judging panel was rejected!"

"Report, the 24th song was killed!"

Since Shi Jiurang, many songs have been rejected one after another.

The few music producers who were selected entered the conference room with nervous faces and came out in despair.

"More exploration..."

"It's over, the water machine is broken."

"Plan B, bring the lunch box, and explore again!"

Seeing that the stock of submitted songs was running out, and no one had qualified for the audition, a group of music producers subconsciously had a terrible idea in their minds...

This time, is the entire music department going to be shut down?

……

In the conference room.

"Come on, Section Chief Yamazaki, this should be the last song."

"Let me make it clear in advance that we have reviewed all the songs provided by your department according to the agreement. If none of them meet the standards, we will still consider giving you the hard work fee, but we have the right to cooperate with other music production companies in an open manner."

Tsuchiya Haruo took off his headphones, rubbed his tired ears, and drank a sip of tea.

According to the current "production committee" model in the animation industry, members of the committee will generally be animation producers, model publishers, film publishers, theater companies, music companies, audio-visual companies and other companies related to the industry chain.

These companies are both investors, sharing profits according to their investment ratio, and are also responsible for the entire life cycle of animated films, from initial promotion, production, voice actor dubbing, to later theatrical release, TV and network promotion, derivative product development and distribution.

The production committee model has many advantages. While dispersing risks for investors, it solves the funding problem of animation. It also ensures that professional companies are responsible for each link, allowing animation production companies to focus on making animations.

But the biggest disadvantage is that when a committee member fails in the professional field he or she is responsible for, it will be difficult to replace him or her temporarily, which will affect the performance of the entire project.

As a veteran capital in the entertainment industry, Bethesda is responsible for music production within the committee this time. For a supervisor like Haruo Tsuchiya, whose only pursuit is "artisticity", he is the committee member who is most reluctant to cooperate but difficult to refuse.

Because, in his opinion, the production level of Bethesda's music department is absolutely the best in the industry, but it is a bit too "mechanical". It is not at the forefront of the industry in terms of artistry and creativity, and is not the first choice for music cooperation.

"Is the music department's golden signboard going to fall into my hands?"

Hiroshi Yamazaki next to him was almost lying on the table, holding the mouse with difficulty.

With such a strong sense of despair, he didn't even bother to put on his headphones and just clicked on the last song.

"I understand. The reason for becoming stronger. Take me with you and move forward!!!!"

"Intoxicated by the muddy revolving lantern."

"A strong heart, trembling hands, trying to grab something, that's all."

There was a faint prelude that gradually grew stronger, and an increasingly high-pitched female voice came out from the headphones.

But Yamazaki had long since lost interest in the matter. He was concentrating on preparing his speech and thinking about how to explain it to his superiors.

"VOCALOID's virtual singer? They don't even use real-life recordings. That's too perfunctory."

Listening to the mechanical voice of "Yi Ai", Tsuchiya Haruo sneered.

“Wait, this song…”

But the next second, the smile on his lips froze quietly...

"How is it possible that they couldn't choose the right song out of dozens of them? This must be a commercial conspiracy by the animation company!"

"That's right, it's a conspiracy. They already have other potential music partners! Now, they are just following the contract procedures and deliberately 'eliminated' us..."

"No, it's not that simple. Their real purpose is to use this to suppress Company B's box office share and shake our position in the entertainment industry..."

Just when Yamazaki Hiroshi was thinking hard and finally found a reasonable "excuse"...

"Oh!"

Haruo Tsuchiya, who was sitting next to him, slammed his hands on the table and stood up!

"Hey, are you ready to slam the table and leave after listening to the last song?"

Muttering this inwardly, Yamazaki Hiroshi stood up.

"Director Tsuchiya, what are you doing?"

But he found that Tsuchiya Haruo was staring at the ceiling blankly, and had no intention of leaving.

"Hiss... I'm fine. I just remembered those cursed warriors who died at the hands of the cursed spirits."

"what?"

Two lines of clear tears slid down Tsuchiya Haruo's cheeks, wetting Yamazaki Hiroshi's Mediterranean sea.

Yamazaki looked around and found that the other members of the film production team in the room were all immersed in the song, their faces full of excitement and enthusiasm.

Wiping the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, Tsuchiya Haruo looked at Yamazaki Hiroshi seriously: "Section Chief Yamazaki, please bring in the producer of this song."

"what?"

"Wait a minute, let me see whose song it is..."

After being stunned for a few seconds, Yamazaki Hiroshi finally reacted and quickly clicked on the song information.

"The song is called "Red Lotus", the lyrics were written by Xia Fan, the music was composed by Xia Fan, and the arrangement was done by Xia Fan..."

"...Xia Fan, it's his song?!"

……

Outside the conference room, the producers whose songs were rejected had already "left work early" or returned to the office area, leaving only a few gentlemen still "waiting for the voice actors".

"Xia Fan!!!! Xia Fan, where are you?!"

Yamazaki's bright Mediterranean face peeked out from the crack of the conference room door, making a roar that defied the heavens, revealing the sadness of a drowning man grasping at a straw.

"I came down to earth to call you. I'll leave the final pressure to you."

"Oh, is it finally my turn?"

After watching videos for the entire afternoon, Xia Fan took off his headphones, stood up and walked towards the meeting room.