Tokyo, a certain hotel.
The press conference for the Puella Magi Madoka Magica project was about to begin.
On stage, Lin Zhiyan had just announced the name of the new animation when the audience of fans and reporters erupted in a clamor:
"It's really a magical girl theme!"
"No way! Out of all the themes he could have chosen, why this one?"
"How niche."
"Exactly. Even if he didn't want to make another Knightmare Frame anime, he could have at least picked something more popular."
"If all else fails, he could have done a manga adaptation or a game adaptation. Anything would be better than a magical girl anime."
The audience's reaction was exactly as Lin Zhiyan had expected. After all, Magical Girl Anime had always been perceived as childish, primarily appealing to girls in kindergarten through middle school.
While teenagers and adults did watch these shows, they usually did so in secret, fearing ridicule if they admitted it.
If the target audience were children, this genre would be a super popular, even oversaturated, market. But Lin Zhiyan's fanbase consisted mainly of teenagers and adults.
For this demographic, the genre was extremely niche and unconventional.
Before anyone could ask questions, Lin Zhiyan raised his hand, signaling for quiet, and explained, "Yes, it's a Magical Girl Anime. But ours is absolutely not for children. It's mainly for people aged 15 to 30, and it's completely different from typical Magical Girl Anime."
After a pause, he continued, "This time, I've specially invited Akiyuki Shinbo, the supervising director of a certain hit magical girl anime from last October, to serve as the assistant director for our Puella Magi Madoka Magica."
With that, he invited Akiyuki Shinbo to the stage.
Amidst thunderous applause, Shinbo walked onto the stage and bowed to the crowd. "Hello everyone, I'm Akiyuki Shinbo. I'm honored to collaborate with Mr. Hayashi as assistant director on his new animation, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Please look after me."
The audience below watched Shinbo, murmuring quietly:
"Akiyuki Shinbo? Isn't that the guy who failed with Soul Hunter and disappeared for years?"
"Yeah, that's him. But he came back last year. He directed Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha."
"Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha? That anime was pretty good. And yeah, even I, in my twenties, found it really engaging."
"If it's anything like Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, then it's definitely worth watching."
"With Lord Hayashi's talent, he probably didn't need to collaborate with anyone, right? Hiring Shinbo as assistant director must be mainly because of his successful experience with Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha."
After a brief discussion, a reporter couldn't resist asking, "Director Shinbo, what was the reasoning behind your decision to collaborate with President Lin?"
"Well..." Akiyuki Shinbo held the microphone, paused briefly to recall, and answered, "After Nanoha was finished, Mr. Hayashi approached me with an idea for a Magical Girl Anime with a unique healing genre. He asked if I'd be interested in co-directing. I've known Mr. Hayashi for years and he's even mentored me, so I agreed without much hesitation."
"Is Puella Magi Madoka Magica considered a healing genre anime?" The audience immediately seized on the key point.
Some couldn't help but remember the online blog post that Aoki Ume, the author of Hidamari Sketch, had published years ago.
So it was all true, not just rumors.
Lin Zhiyan nodded without hesitation. "It is a healing genre. That's why we invited Teacher Aoki Ume, the author of the four-panel manga Hidamari Sketch, to design the original character concepts. Unfortunately, Teacher Aoki isn't comfortable with public appearances like this, so she couldn't attend the press conference."
"Is the reason you're making a healing-genre animation to mend the hearts broken by Death Note, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, and Gurren Lagann?" a reporter asked Lin Zhiyan.
Lin Zhiyan wanted to say "yes," but on second thought, it didn't feel quite right.
He shook his head. "I primarily wanted to make a healing-genre animation. I didn't overthink it that much."
"Since it's a healing-genre animation, does that mean no one will die in this one?" a reporter suddenly asked.
Lin Zhiyan paused, slightly surprised, but didn't miss a beat. "We're making a healing animation, not a soul-crushing one! Besides, I've only directed three animations in total. Please don't associate death with my work!"
He put on a slightly displeased expression. "Constantly fixating on death is, frankly, boring. I'm a creator. Even if a character dies in my animation, it's only because it serves the story and makes it more compelling. It's a complete misunderstanding to assume every animation I make will inevitably involve death!"
Seeing that Lin Zhiyan seemed to be getting angry, the reporter quickly shut up.
The others clearly thought he was stirring up trouble:
"This is a Magical Girl Anime, a healing genre at that. How could anyone possibly die?"
"True, death is common in Knightmare Frame anime. The deaths of the male and female leads in Death Note and L were also predictable. The genre itself dictates that kind of thing. But this time it's a Magical Girl Anime. Based on the genre alone, there's no need to worry about that."
"I've never seen a Magical Girl Anime where a major character dies."
"That's going too far. Even if we ignore the deaths, at least Lord Hayashi's three previous animations were truly brilliant and captivating."
"I actually predicted some major character deaths in Gurren Lagann before it aired. I just didn't expect Kamina and the female lead to die. It's a pure Knightmare Frame story, so it's normal. But this time it's a Magical Girl Anime. It's unthinkable that a major character would die."
"While deaths are common in Lord Hayashi's animations, at least he's never lied in his promotions. His integrity is solid. Last time with Gurren Lagann, he only said it would have an unconventional plot, not that it wouldn't have deaths. That was everyone's own misunderstanding."
Everyone chimed in to speak well of Lin Zhiyan.
Only on stage, standing beside him, Akiyuki Shinbo pinched his thigh, desperately trying to suppress a laugh.
Lin Zhiyan didn't want the audience to focus too much on the topic. After all, the element of surprise would make the reveal all the more shocking. If they guessed it beforehand, it would lose its impact.
He quickly changed the subject: "For this new animation, we aim to move and heal our viewers, leaving them with courage and hope after each episode. By the way, we'll be producing and broadcasting it in high definition, making it the first high-definition TV animation in Neon's history. Those with HD-compatible TVs are in for a treat, but don't worry if yours isn't—it won't affect your viewing experience."
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