"Ah~~! In just one more month, this animation desk won't belong to me anymore." Sitting in front of his animation desk, Kamiyā Yuu yawned listlessly. After staying up all night again, fueled by excitement, he had finally completed all the 3D scene modeling and rendering for 'Red—Crescent Rose.' Since the entire animation only featured a single dilapidated white rose garden surrounded by a forest, both the modeling and rendering work saved him a considerable amount of effort.
For example, once he finished modeling a few large trees, he could simply copy and paste them into other positions, tweak the branches and leaves slightly, and voilà—a perfect forest background. Unless someone had nothing better to do than scrutinize it with a magnifying glass, no one would notice the awkward repetition of assets.
Compared to the MAD-style PV released yesterday, 'Red—Crescent Rose' no longer needed to hide unfinished scenes behind clever camera cuts, and the level of detail had been pushed even further. Next, he just needed to direct the entire 3D animation, manually check for flaws in MAYA's real-time rendering, and finally obtain two music tracks from Shindō Tsukasa for editing. After that, 'Red—Crescent Rose' would be ready for official release.
But what Kamiyā Yuu was thinking about now wasn't any of that—it was the possibility that Kyoni Animation Co., Ltd. might announce its dissolution in a month. What would he do after that?
In terms of key animation experience, he couldn't compare to masters like Uehara Etsuki, who specialized in distinct styles. However, he possessed a drawing style that surpassed this era of animation, along with near-omnipotent adaptability. Whether it was rough, simple key frames or large-scale productions demanding strict fundamentals, he could handle them all with ease. This was the result of his daily training in his consciousness space.
To be honest, there was no longer any meaning in his staying in the key animation department. But he had grown accustomed to this lifestyle and didn't find anything wrong with its pace. If he left Kyoni Animation, the exclusive streaming rights fee from 'Red—Crescent Rose' alone would sustain him for quite a while. On top of that, he could continue producing short animation clips for the remaining three 'RWBY' characters to keep making money.
"In other words, life is worry-free. I just need to think about my next step. In the end, I'm just like Sora—a complete energy-saving type." Kamiyā Yuu shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew his own personality very well. Others might see him as a genius blessed with both talent and diligence, but in reality, without something pushing him from behind, he would become utterly lazy—a textbook procrastinator.
"In that regard, I'm different from Yuu-nii and Umaru's brother. If I had to compare, I'm more like Minami Haruka from that anime… So tired, so tired. Shouldn't this 'May blues' phase be over already?" Kamiyā Yuu stood up and stretched, idly mocking himself in his thoughts.
"I need a complete plan. At the very least, I can't let myself become idle after leaving the company."
He walked to the balcony of the key animation department, gazing at the distant streets for a long while. After concluding, he returned to his desk, picked up his pencil, and began writing down the titles of masterpieces he wanted to create—
'Code Geass,' 'Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha' trilogy, 'Magical Girl Academy,' 'FATE' series, 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' 'Nichijou,' 'EVA,' 'The Matrix,' 'Death Note,' 'Love Live,' 'Non Non Biyori,' 'One Piece'…
Some of these weren't even anime, and some hadn't made a widespread impact in his previous world. But in his heart, all of them fell into the category of "interesting." In reality, even producing just the first ten titles on his list would take an ordinary animation company over a decade—if not several decades.
"There's no time in life to overthink. If you want to do it, then just go do it!"
Kamiyā Yuu continued sketching on the paper, drawing a simple stick figure paired with the famously expressive face of Jacky Cheung, saying "Eat shit!" along with its iconic pointing gesture. Combined with the "quote" he wrote, the image seemed to carry a strange, compelling force. It was something he used in his previous life to snap himself out of hesitation whenever he procrastinated while writing novels.
"Plus all the non-anime projects I want to make… this really leaves me no time to slack off. Sigh~ I'll use leaving the company as an opportunity to officially establish my own team! No matter how troublesome it is, if I want to create my own animations, this is a step I'll have to take sooner or later."
Determination filled his thoughts. Looking at Jacky Cheung's expression on the paper, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Comrade Jacky, thanks!"
…
During the lunch break, as usual, Fujiwara Tora drove him in a modified minivan to Shindō Tsukasa's music studio for "auditioning." As the client, Kamiyā Yuu needed to be present to give his opinions.
"Kamiyā, how's that… what was it… Online crowdfunding thing you mentioned going? Three million yen—what's that in dollars with the current exchange rate?" Fujiwara Tora stroked his stubbled chin and asked curiously. Ever since watching the PV for 'Red—Crescent Rose,' he had been even more concerned about its progress than Kamiyā Yuu himself. His thoughts weren't complicated—he was simply genuinely happy that his friend had created such an outstanding 3D animation. As an animator, he knew how rare and valuable an innovative, high-quality work was, and he intended to do everything he could to help Kamiyā Yuu complete it.
"The exchange rate is about a hundred yen to the dollar, so three million yen is roughly thirty thousand dollars. That's more than enough to cover the costs of Mr. Shindō's music studio."
"Geez… three million yen isn't a small amount. Even if I didn't eat or drink, I'd need over a year and a half to save that much. How's the progress?" Fujiwara Tora clicked his tongue, though when he thought about the PV's exquisite 3D visuals, the cost didn't seem so excessive after all. The quality of Kamiyā Yuu's personal work wasn't far off from those animated films made with budgets of millions or even tens of millions of dollars.
Kamiyā Yuu's expression turned slightly strange as he explained, "The crowdfunding project is already complete. The funds should be released sometime this week."
"So fast?" Fujiwara Tora said in surprise.
"Yeah. A foreign tycoon donated over twenty thousand dollars right when the campaign launched. When the official animation is released, I'll need to give special thanks to that sponsor at the end." After a pause, Kamiyā Yuu smiled and asked, "Leaving that aside, have you decided what you're going to do next, Fujiwara?"
Fujiwara Tora scratched his head awkwardly with his thick left hand. "Ah… thanks to the president pulling some strings, Sunrise Company sent me an invitation. They want me to join them as a deputy director in the production department."
Sunrise was currently the leading giant in Japan's animation industry. Most works that could be called outstanding Japanese animation came from this company, and its working environment and treatment were famously excellent.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled without hesitation and continued, "After the company dissolves, I'm planning to start my own animation studio. Are you interested in joining me?" There were no additional conditions—just a straightforward question.
"Screeeech—!" The minivan came to an abrupt stop on the road.
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NOTE:
MAD (Music Anime Douga) = A fan-made video (popular in Japan and China) where clips from anime, games, or original content are edited together with music.