February 26th, Saturday.
At 11:30 PM, the twenty-first episode of "Shirobako" aired.
The title of this episode was: "Don't Hold Quality Hostage."
It mainly focused on the veteran production assistant, Daisuke Hiraoka.
He was a production assistant who joined Musashino Animation in the latter half of the series. Before joining Musashino Animation, he had worked at several other companies and had five years of experience as a production assistant. However, he had a rather peculiar personality, a very cold attitude when speaking, and was out of sync with those around him. He claimed to have extensive connections, but he often sought out useless key animators, and his work attitude was terrible.
This person represented another common reality in the animation industry: someone who entered the industry with dreams, only to be hit hard by reality not long after, subsequently losing their passion and beginning to slack off.
The entire twenty-first episode was mainly about his past and the changes in his mindset.
However, for many viewers, the biggest highlight of this episode was not the story of Daisuke Hiraoka, but Lin Zhiyan.
In the original version of Shirobako, the industry veteran making a cameo appearance in this episode was I.G president Mitsugu Ishikawa, whose character in the anime was Hisamitsu Isokawa, president of the newly established animation company A.C Tsuchinoko.
In Lin Zhiyan's version, the character Hisamitsu Isokawa appeared much earlier, replacing the plotline for the president of The Bones, who was played by Bones president Masahiko Minami. Even the production manager of The Bones in the anime, originally played by the production manager of J.C.Staff, was replaced by I.G production manager Ryuji Sanbon.
Of course, it wasn't just a simple swap of names and character designs; the plot was adjusted accordingly. Lin Zhiyan even wrote the character dialogue himself, based on his own understanding of Mitsugu Ishikawa and Ryuji Sanbon, making it different from the original version.
Since Hisamitsu Isokawa had already appeared earlier, it was natural to change the person for this scene in episode 21, so it became a role played by Lin Zhiyan himself.
The plot of this segment in the original version was as follows:
President Hisamitsu Isokawa of A.C Tsuchinoko personally delivered the keyframes to Musashino Animation.
The main character took the keyframes and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you to deliver them personally, President. Thank you for your hard work."
Upon hearing that he was the president, the main character's juniors, two production assistants who had just entered the industry, were shocked.
Hisamitsu Isokawa smiled and said, "That's right, production assistant and president. The company was founded only a year ago, so there aren't many people. It's not like a large enterprise such as Musashino."
Just as they were talking, Daisuke Hiraoka returned from outside.
Hisamitsu Isokawa greeted Daisuke Hiraoka, and the main character then realized that Hisamitsu Isokawa, Daisuke Hiraoka, and Erika Yano were classmates at an animation vocational school.
Later, there was a time when the main character took correction papers to A.C Tsuchinoko and chatted with Hisamitsu Isokawa again.
The main character said, "I just joined this industry because I wanted to make animation, so I've been wondering what I should do from here on out."
Hisamitsu Isokawa waved his hand, "It's the same for everyone. After I became a production assistant, I initially just focused on the work right in front of me. Then, because of the ability and passion of those creators, I couldn't help but be moved. I started wanting their talent to be properly recognized by the world, and then I began thinking about what I could do to achieve that goal. In the end, I felt that what I could do was to provide a platform for these creators, so I started the company."
After hearing this, the female lead felt that Hisamitsu Isokawa was completely different from Daisuke Hiraoka, saying she felt Hiraoka was very angry towards creators.
Hisamitsu Isokawa said, "If he only had anger, he would have quit this industry long ago."
The female lead pondered this, then quickly asked about the balance between animation quality and production schedule.
Hisamitsu Isokawa replied, "I think creators and production assistants should constantly explore a common goal together, in order to find a point where both sides can compromise. Whether or not we are pursuing quality just like them is something creators can sense through small details; on the point of working hard to produce an excellent piece of work, everyone is the same."
This was the content of the original version.
This version featuring Lin Zhiyan is different.
It also starts with him delivering keyframes to Musashino Animation, but not because the company had only been established for a year and had few people, but because he had business with President Marukawa of Musashino Animation and brought the keyframes along while he was at it.
Then, he also greeted Hiraoka Daisuke, with their relationship remaining unchanged as classmates, even though in reality, Lin Zhiyan had never actually attended an animation vocational school.
The specific content of the conversation and the reactions of the people at Musashino Animation were, of course, rewritten according to the scene's content.
Later, when the female lead delivered the corrected papers, the destination naturally became L.S.Produ.
As the president, Lin Zhiyan was very enthusiastic to have the female lead sit down for tea when he learned she had arrived. He then discussed the same topic with her, but with different answers based on his own thoughts. He also took the opportunity to mention the original intention behind founding L.S.Produ, which was the origin of the company's name: to have love and to pursue success.
That's roughly how it went.
Lin Zhiyan himself was an immensely popular animation director, and he had already announced that he would have a cameo role even before the anime "Shirobako" began airing, so countless viewers had long been looking forward to it. Naturally, after this episode aired, it was full of highlights for the audience.
Just as the twenty-first episode finished airing, discussions had already begun online:
"Finally, Lord Hayashi himself appears on screen. I've been waiting for this for so long."
"Old Thief Lin was classmates with Yano and Hiraoka at animation vocational school? Didn't they say Old Thief Lin joined IG right after graduating from high school at eighteen and never attended an animation vocational school? Or is it that he regretted not attending one, so he added this setting for himself in the anime?"
"I have to admit, Lin Zhiyan is quite handsome. He has the aura of a celebrity; compared to him, the other big shots in the animation industry look too ordinary."
"Well, although it sounds nice in the anime, but... wasn't the initial purpose of Old Thief Lin founding LSP to better depress the audience?"
"Exactly, it's just that Old Thief Lin has strayed from his original intention now. Who could forget that guy made five or six depressing anime in a row back then? Trying to whitewash himself now, who would believe that?"
"For a moment, I couldn't tell if the story in Shirobako was fictional or real. Mixing 2D with 3D... but it's pretty interesting nonetheless."
Lin Zhiyan was naturally aware of the discussions online, but he didn't offer any comments.
Saying he was handsome—that was a fact, nothing to deny. As for the remarks about him whitewashing his own image in the anime, that was clearly just teasing or nonsense, so there was no need to go out of his way to defend himself.
After finalizing the list of personnel who would be accompanying him to Kyoto for the exchange and study visit with Kyoto Animation, Lin Zhiyan spent most of his free time putting together a Kyoto travel itinerary.
The exchange and study visit was the primary task, but having some fun was also important.
He just wasn't sure how many days he would be staying there.
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