….
The editing bay hummed with the quiet intensity of post-production work, but Regal's attention kept drifting from the Spider-Man footage flickering across multiple monitors.
His assistant, Emma, and the people around her already recognize these moments - while their genius director's physical presence remained anchored in Los Angeles - his mind traveled eight thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean to possibilities that most Hollywood executives couldn't even imagine.
Japan.
It is a country representing something fundamentally different from the entertainment machine that had consumed his life for the past several years.
While West's obsession with live-action blockbusters, an entirely separate storytelling ecosystem thrived on the other side of the world, operating by its own rules, driven by its own creative imperatives.
2D animation, or Anime in this world, much like in his old one, wasn't just "cartoons."
Animation in Japan possessed something that live-action cinema, for all its technical sophistication, struggled to achieve -
The ability to make the impossible feel intimate, a character's internal struggle could manifest as literal demons. A moment of determination could shatter mountains, and the medium operated in a realm where emotional truth mattered more than physical plausibility.
Of course, anime existed here in his world just like in the one he came from.
The classics already held their thrones: Dragon Ball was still the giant that defined generations, One Piece still sailing endlessly forward with a boy in a straw hat at its helm.
The difference, though, was in the future.
This world's "anime industry" wasn't anywhere as structured, or as global as it will be.
It had power, but the world hadn't caught up to it.
And that was Regal's opening.
He saw the medium the way he saw cinema: a weapon of imagination.
Anime didn't just tell stories - it bent the laws of emotion, slipped past realism, and made the impossible intimate.
A punch that shattered mountains could feel as personal as a whispered confession.
A boy crying in the rain could make an audience sob harder than any Oscar-winning drama.
It was a medium that lived in exaggeration but hit with precision.
What struck Regal most was what hadn't happened yet.
Huge stories - stories he remembered as cultural earthquakes - were still only ink on paper.
Bleach was already finding readers here, its early manga chapters creeping through bookstores, but no studio had yet gambled on animating its terror-filled world.
Tokyo Ghoul was in the same limbo, loved by a niche, waiting to be unleashed. Blue Exorcist, Noragami, even Berserk - all seeds themselves, but none had yet been watered by animation.
He knew if he played his hand right, if he moved before others saw the storm coming, he wouldn't just be producing anime - he had been shaping the way the world experienced it.
Hollywood gave him power, reach, and reputation.
But Japan, if handled carefully, could give him something rarer.
Japan's animation industry had evolved to support exactly the kind of storytelling that Regal envisioned.
The serialized manga tradition created a pipeline where stories could be tested and refined through reader response before receiving animation budgets.
This process produced narratives with proven audience engagement and sophisticated character development that had been refined through years of publication.
The technical infrastructure in Japan had been specifically designed to handle the demands of long-form serialized animation.
Studios understood the pacing requirements, character design consistency, and world-building challenges that came with adapting complex source material over multiple seasons.
Their production pipelines could maintain quality standards across hundreds of episodes while managing the budget constraints that made such ambitious projects financially viable.
It was the same Regal who had once looked at Hollywood and thought: This place is asleep.
Let's wake it up.
The seed was there.
And Regal was already pouring water.
….
It was the year 2013 here.
While anime like Dragon Ball is already legendary, One Piece had been sailing strong, and had carved its way into countless hearts.
Yet compared to his past life, the reach of anime outside Japan was… contained.
Niche.
A whisper in the global market rather than the thunder it would eventually become.
In the West, anime was still treated like a "subculture thing."
A handful of VHS tapes, DVDs, or underground fan-subs circulated among enthusiasts who hunted down content with the dedication of treasure seekers.
It hadn't broken through the mainstream, not yet.
Regal knew why.
In his old world, it took a global lockdown - millions trapped in their homes during the pandemic, starved for something different - to shove anime into living rooms where it had never been before.
Binge-watching replaced idle curiosity, and suddenly anime wasn't just "Japanese cartoons" - It became a phenomenon.
That accident of history had accelerated what might have otherwise taken another decade.
But here? That catalyst hadn't happened.
Also? Will it even happen?
Anime in 2013 was still quietly growing, its brilliance mostly confined within Japan's borders.
Manga was the real powerhouse here.
Serialized chapters hitting weekly magazines, volumes stacked in bookstores, children and adults alike waiting eagerly for the next release.
Manga shaped the culture.
Anime, more often than not, was just an extension - a colorful commercial that boosted sales for the original work.
Regal leaned back in his chair, half-smiling at the thought.
"They don't even realize what's sitting in front of them."
He wasn't wrong.
Beyond the big names, so many stories were lying dormant, waiting for someone bold enough to bring them into a larger light.
And that was the thought that lingered with him even as he returned to his Hollywood madness: Japan wasn't just a side project, it was going to be his long game.
And to start everything… Regal had the best card in his hands.
Naruto.
Yes - the original, not the watered-down sequels or spin-offs that people in his old world would one day debate endlessly on forums.
Here, in this parallel 2013, it was still nothing more than an idea quietly inked into the early pages of a young mangaka's draft book.
Not even serialized yet… Just a seed waiting for the right sunlight to grow.
So to Regal - it was an entry ticket into an entirely new empire of entertainment.
The author, Masashi Kishimoto-sensei, was still an unknown name to the wider public.
A dreamer sketching rough panels with the stubbornness of youth.
Regal had already reached out, his words carefully measured - respectful, but carrying the confidence of someone who saw what this story could become.
And soon, very soon, everything was going to begin.
…And with Regal's touch, it could be the spark that ignited anime as a global force in this world - years, perhaps even a decade earlier than it was supposed to.
The Hidden Leaf.
The bonds of brotherhood.
The ache of loneliness.
The clash of ideals.
Regal could already see it - not on a page, or in a panel - but alive, breathing, a cultural wave.
While Naruto is his entry into manga...
His steps into the Animation industry are something else.
Regal is obviously planning to adopt both [Solo Leveling] and [Lord Of The Mysteries] into 2D Animation.
However, the Animation Studio will be established in Japan.
Why? Is Hollywood lacking in talent for 2D artists?
No, not particularly.
It is just that, Japan is a leading contender due to its extensive anime industry, which offers a vast range of complex stories for diverse audiences.
Hollywood's animation studios excelled at particular types of storytelling, but those strengths didn't necessarily align with the narratives Regal wanted to bring to life.
The major American studios had spent decades perfecting family-friendly content that could appeal to the broadest possible audiences, generating massive box office returns through carefully tested formulas.
Smaller American studios could be considered - but they lack the resources and infrastructure necessary for the kind of long-term serialized storytelling that anime excelled at producing.
American animation tended toward feature films or short-form series rather than the multi-season epics that could properly explore complex fictional universes.
There are other countries too, such as South Korea, that are significant in the industry, particularly for outsourcing work to larger studios, while nations like Ireland and France also boast strong and reputable animation sectors.
So the first thing needs to be done is establish a new or acquire any established animation studio.
And for that he needs to visit Japan.
…and certainly, he can't be doing that anytime soon - since he had the whole post-production of [Spider-Man: Web of Desity].
Well, maybe it will be a good holiday break once the film is released.
Yep. Regal is really looking forward to the trip.
He couldn't do that in his past life - be he wont gonna miss out this time around.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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