After the New Year, Pokeni, as planned, simultaneously launched two game projects:
"CLANNAD" and "LIFE-LINE."
President Aoki returned from his vacation and immediately threw himself into the bustling work.
"diablo ii" and "Pokemon Gold and Silver" were in their final stages, proceeding with development, promotion, and release as scheduled.
The English version of "The Witcher" was completed and was about to be released in Europe and America.
As a Producer, Aoki Haruhi was slightly more relaxed and had time to focus on other projects.
The higher priority project was CLANNAD.
Aoki Haruhi had a very deep impression of this game; although it wasn't a complete replica, he remembered most of its content.
After designing the character original art and script content, he entrusted the project to Ishino Mika to execute the subsequent parts. Afterward, he would simply check on the progress periodically to ensure it hadn't deviated from the original design.
Besides these, Aoki Haruhi also discussed the soundtrack in detail with Maeda Jun and Atsushi Shirakawa in the recording studio.
"Huh? President, you can compose music too?" Shirakawa expressed great surprise.
Although he knew Aoki Haruhi had a high appreciation for music, understood what kind of music a game needed, and what a composer's job entailed, he had never seen Aoki Haruhi display any musical talent before.
Many speculated that Aoki Haruhi's singing was terrible in private.
Because the President never went to KTV with everyone.
(Aoki Haruhi thought, "Is it that I don't go with you? I'm considering your feelings, afraid you wouldn't relax with a leader present.")
In short, in many people's minds, Aoki Haruhi was the type who could appreciate music but couldn't sing.
However, for Atsushi Shirakawa, it wasn't too important. A food connoisseur doesn't necessarily have to be a chef, and appreciating music doesn't require one to be a professional. Everyone can have their unique musical aesthetic.
The President's musical aesthetic wasn't particularly outstanding, but it had a very good 'flaw'—
It was Popular (mass appeal).
After all, game are made for the majority of people to experience. Although they are hailed as the ninth art, they are not truly art; game are ultimately commodities, serving more people.
The more people who buy, the more money is made.
In such a situation, if the President could represent popular aesthetics, then that in itself was something to be very proud of.
"Yes, I didn't even realize that the President also had accomplishments in the field of music," Maeda Jun said, perplexed.
Aoki Haruhi's face darkened, his soft spot ruthlessly poked by the two, and he could only laugh awkwardly.
I can write code, can you?
My drawing skills are so strong, can you do that?
Why do I have to be a hexagonal warrior?
"I don't really understand this, but I do have a small request."
Aoki Haruhi glanced at the recording studio door, then walked over and carefully closed it, ensuring no one would come in or overhear. Only then did he turn back to the two and say:
"Listen to this tune I'm humming."
"Mm." The two nodded and stepped back.
"Mm mm, ahem, mm~" Aoki Haruhi cleared his throat, then swayed his head and began to sing, "Dango, dango, dango, dango, dango daikazoku..."
Maeda Jun and Atsushi Shirakawa exchanged glances, their faces a little pale.
But it didn't seem to have any major problems.
Although the President's voice wasn't that pleasant, and his rhythm wasn't that accurate, at least his pitch was correct.
Moreover, the two could vaguely discern the inherent quality of the melody:
Lively, relaxed, and a little cute.
It's just that... this song really wasn't suitable for the President to sing.
It felt more suitable for a young, cute girl.
"Mischievous grilled dango, gentle red bean paste dango,
Dango always dreaming under the moon...
...The little rabbit in the round moon in the sky waves at us,
All happy and sad things are contained within it.
La la la la la la la...
Dango, dango, dango, dango, dango daikazoku!"
After Aoki Haruhi finished singing, Maeda Jun and Atsushi Shirakawa were both at a loss for words.
The two stood stunned for two seconds, then clapped.
"That was truly beautiful, President, did you write it yourself?" Atsushi Shirakawa asked.
Maeda Jun looked at Shirakawa with some astonishment from the side, thinking, "You can actually say 'truly beautiful'?"
"Does it have to be this song?" Atsushi Shirakawa asked, "Won't it be a bit too... how should I put it, eccentric, or childish, and not quite fit the tone of our game?"
Shirakawa had also read the script and was well aware of the story that unfolded in CL.
To be honest, if the script hadn't been written by the President, he would have wanted to kill the Author.
"Yes, it must be this song." Aoki Haruhi nodded earnestly.
In his previous life, this song was adapted from "Nagisa," a BGM from the game "CLANNAD."
Due to the immense influence of this song, the Chinese title of the animated version of "CLANNAD" was also translated as "dango daikazoku."
It was written and composed by Maeda Jun, with Chata as the lead singer, which is why some praise Maeda Jun as a top-tier composer.
This person truly had some talent.
Maeda Jun, listening to the conversation between the two, inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu—
As if he had heard this song somewhere before.
Or rather, when he heard this melody and lyrics, he felt goosebumps all over his body. To put it in a more mystical way, it was as if he and this piece of music were fated.
No, not just this song, but even the entire plot of CL gave him a similar feeling.
It was as if everything was tailor-made for him.
...
"Yes. It has to be this one." Maeda Jun nodded in agreement, "CL appears to describe love, but its true core is centered on family affection; family is the essence of this game. The song 'dango daikazoku' truly fits perfectly."
Although the President's singing wasn't very pleasant, at least there was no problem with the message being conveyed.
Atsushi Shirakawa nodded, recording the simplified musical notation with a pencil beside him.
Afterward, he and Maeda Jun would enrich it further, completing the entire orchestration.
"In the game, the vocals will be removed, and the story will be interspersed with BGM. Then, after completion, the song with lyrics will be released as the ED," Aoki Haruhi said.
If it were to be animated in the future, it would save some resources.
Aoki Haruhi had considered "animation" from the very beginning. An un-animated CL would be incomplete; it shouldn't just let players experience warmth, healing, and emotion within the game. It should also allow those who don't play game to receive this beauty from television.
Thereby guiding more people to experience this game, that was the most important thing.
"Okay, understood." Atsushi Shirakawa and Maeda Jun nodded.
After Aoki Haruhi left...
"But... who should we find to sing it?" Shirakawa was also troubled.
...
After the New Year, as Pokeni and Ghibli signed the contract and cooperation began, even with both parties trying to conceal it, the news still spread like wildfire.
Some reporters caught wind of it, seeing Aoki Haruhi often dining with Hayao Miyazaki.
It was already strange for two figures from different fields to be so close, and then Hayao Miyazaki was seen frequenting Pokeni every few days.
This was even stranger.
How to put it, this feeling was a bit like big stars secretly meeting without publicizing their romance, and then being caught red-handed by paparazzi.
So, with persistent probing, the media also obtained some confirmed information.
Seeing that it could no longer be hidden, Aoki Haruhi discussed it with Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki, deciding to make the cooperation public.
Thus, Pokeni and Ghibli held a joint press conference.
Upon hearing this news, large and small media outlets from the industry flocked to the scene.
"First, Pokeni and Studio Ghibli will be collaborating; this is confirmed news, but the specific details of the collaboration are not convenient to disclose at this time."
Toshio Suzuki, as the main spokesperson, held the microphone and said:
"Only a few things can be revealed:
Studio Ghibli is inherently passionate about exploring animation, and at the same time, we are seeking more forms in other fields to express our ideas.
By chance, we saw "Your Name" produced by Pokeni. This is a very impressive game work, even reaching animation standards.
Some of the key storyboards within it left us full of praise. Although they were dynamic images, they were already very remarkable.
After our research, we felt this was a very novel and viable model to try, which is why we intend to entrust future new works to Pokeni for game adaptation.
But when it will actually meet the public is still an unknown."
"As for other things," Toshio Suzuki glanced back at Aoki Haruhi. They had already reached an agreement beforehand, so he could now disclose a few specific details. "Besides the animated film Studio Ghibli is about to produce, we also have another deep game project collaboration with Pokeni."
At this point, Toshio Suzuki turned his gaze to Hayao Miyazaki, and the media cameras also turned towards the latter.
"Um... how to put it." Hayao Miyazaki took the microphone and responded earnestly, "It's like this: during a conversation with President Aoki, he extended an invitation to me, asking, 'Could you draw some original art for our game?'
At the time, I was a little hesitant.
It wasn't for any other reason.
Mainly, I was worried about whether I could handle it.
For me, this is a completely new challenge, as I am just an animator and have no understanding of game whatsoever.
However, regarding this game, upon receiving President Aoki's request, I read the relevant script and decided to accept.
The script alone was captivating enough; it had already moved me, and such a thought arose in my mind, so I felt I had to accept."
...
Several people took turns to elaborate, briefly introducing some aspects of their collaboration, but anything specific was glossed over.
Next, it was time for open questions.
"Excuse me, could you please tell us the name of the animation Studio Ghibli will be producing?!" A TV Tokyo reporter raised his hand.
Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki exchanged glances. They discussed it and seemed to agree that announcing the name now shouldn't be a major issue.
"The current tentative title is 'princess mononoke,' but we can't say much about the specific content. It's still in the initial stages of production, and the cycle is very long," Toshio Suzuki responded.
The media reporters were like a pack of rabid dogs; if you didn't throw them some bones, they probably wouldn't be satisfied.
At least after hearing the specific name, the reporters' faces showed knowing smiles.
Regardless, even if they didn't know the animation's content, just the name alone was enough to spark imagination.
Tomorrow's reports would at least have some content to write about, instead of knowing nothing at all.
Afterward, reporters asked some innocuous questions, such as how Hayao Miyazaki decided to make a comeback, why he chose to produce such a work, and what thoughts and philosophies were behind it...
Hayao Miyazaki had no comment on these, basically evading them as much as possible.
Flashbulbs flashed wildly at the scene, but mostly focused on the Ghibli side.
This was also natural.
Even if Pokeni had some fame in the game industry, it was far from comparable to Hayao Miyazaki.
In fact, most of the media present basically believed one fact deep down—
This wave belonged to Pokeni riding on Ghibli's coattails.
In reality, they overlooked an important point: Pokeni's revenue last year had already reached over 30 billion, with a net profit of over 10 billion, which was already the sum of several Ghibli movie box offices.
The most profitable "porco rosso" only had a box office of 5.4 billion Japanese Yen.
To be truly accurate, Pokeni should be considered more financially powerful.
...
The atmosphere at the scene was particularly lively, mainly because the news this time was truly unexpected. After all, for so many years, apart from "nausicaä of the valley of the wind," Studio Ghibli had never authorized its works to any game developer for game adaptation.
And the fact that Hayao Miyazaki would draw original art for other game was unheard of, simply a fantasy.
The press conference was drawing to a close.
"One last question."
Aoki Haruhi scanned the room, his gaze finally landing on a somewhat inconspicuous young reporter—
Katayama Reiko from Famitsu.
Today, Famitsu and Famitsu, as well as relevant game magazine reporters, were all present, but there were more from television and the animation industry.
"Hello! I just have one question." Katayama Reiko took the microphone.
"Please ask."
"Who is the Producer on Pokeni's side? Is it Ishino Mika? Or Shinji Mikami?"
"Um... neither."
Aoki Haruhi hesitated for two seconds, then decided, "It's Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei. All of these game."
Whoosh~
Immediately, a wave of uproar erupted below, like a surging tide.
Reporters from the game circle had already gone wild, rushing back to their companies to publish reports, leaving reporters from other industries standing bewildered in place.
"Furuhara Tsubaki, who is that?"
"Yeah, who is Furuhara Tsubaki? Are they very famous?"
"Why are they so surprised to hear that name?"
"Eh? Why did everyone leave?"
...
Early the next morning, in Famitsu's urgent special issue, the front page carried explosive news:
"The legendary galgame Producer Furuhara Tsubaki is about to make a comeback, joining forces with Master Miyazaki Hayao to produce a new game!"
"What?! Furuhara Tsubaki is making a comeback?!"
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