Time waits for no one, so Takumi began preparing for Pokémon.
Although he had already done it once, this time he was more prepared. He dedicated half of his free time, and even Tomato and Sakura's lives were not good.
The two mangaka had to work in the afternoon and couldn't go home until midnight. To save time, Takumi even overlapped the work of Detective Conan and Inuyasha, and often the three of them rushed to finish the manuscript together.
This intense work was a great burden for Tomato and Sakura, but curiously, neither complained and even seemed very happy.
Takumi was very surprised by this phenomenon, and Aika laughed at him when she heard his question.
"You're still young; you'll understand when you grow up."
Her words surprised Takumi even more. 'What was it that he didn't understand?' He observed for a few more days, and then he understood that Aika had something in her words. Tomato and Sakura always looked at each other at work, and they fell in love!
"What do you think of my work?"
Takumi asked, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He had always believed that Sakura was married, so he didn't see it that way. After discovering the truth, Takumi found that there was always a strange atmosphere in the studio. Tomato and Sakura sat on either side, looking at each other. He felt uncomfortable in the middle.
However, this situation also brought them a benefit. No matter how heavy the task he assigned them, they completed it with pleasure. To be able to stay a little longer, they even asked to work overtime several times.
Takumi was happy.
Time flew by until January. During that period, Shiori called him to see him. Takumi refused several times and suddenly realized that the child was homesick again.
He felt very sorry for Shiori, but he didn't have time, so he asked Aika to bring her some fruit to see her.
As a result, that night, Shiori sent him a text message to scold him: "Who's homesick? You are!"
She ignored Takumi for several days.
Takumi thought she was stubborn and didn't care. He focused on drawing, and the original drawing of Pokémon came to an end.
In his memory, many questioned that the Pokémon animation wasn't good enough, but Takumi didn't believe it at all. The initial Pokémon animation was quite good, and the story was interesting. This animation has been released one after another, and the subsequent style change becomes boring.
Takumi, of course, is preparing to produce the first part this time, and the overall plot doesn't differ much from the original. It is worth mentioning that he has repaired some characters.
The original Pokémon was released in the 1990s, and the character style of the first part was inseparable from the era. But that style obviously didn't fit Takumi's current style, who didn't make many changes, just embellished it a bit.
For example, in the case of the protagonist Satoshi, Takumi removed the superfluous lines from his face and modified some outlines. The image is closer to the special edition of the manga. It doesn't look very attractive, but it gets more and more appealing.
As for the Pokémon, Takumi made no changes. They already seemed very adorable to him.
After completing the setting of the original manuscript, Takumi took the next step.
Animation production takes a long time, but the proportion of formal production is not large. Most of it consists of the various preparatory stages, which include, among others, planning review, budget calculation, script production, character and background drawing setup, staff organization, etc. Any process can cause the animation production company to lose several months. It is normal for an animation to have a span of more than half a year from the plan proposal to formal production.
Hinotori Publishing's approach was more direct and forceful.
Tsukimoto Genji ceded decision-making power over animation production to Takumi. The plan was approved, and the script was completed. Takumi acted as the original head and planner, giving himself a green light to cheat at all times. After handing his manuscript to Haru and Kenji, both animation production experts also praised him.
"Mirai-sensei, there's no need to change the character or Pokémon settings; you can use them directly."
"The story isn't bad; we can start working when the company allocates the funds!"
There was a dispute over funding. Funding is expensive, and the cost of animation production is very high. Takumi doesn't need to pay additional royalties to launch an animation, so CFO Kenji Sato generously allocated a budget of 20,000,000 yen per episode.
Currently, in the Japanese animation industry, the cost per episode ranges from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000 yen. Special themes or popular animations can have over 20,000,000 yen in funding. Haru and Kenji are satisfied with the funding, but Takumi disagrees.
"I want 30,000,000 yen."
His request made Kenji Sato frown. After the good impression he had made, Kenji Sato asked Takumi why.
"I want to make a good animation and I can't fall behind Kanto Manga Company in terms of funding,"
Takumi replied. The extent to which Kanto Manga Company has recently boosted Hinotori Publishing is explained by a phenomenon. In Osaka, there is practically no news about Hinotori Publishing in newspapers, posters, or television. As soon as Kanto's manga were published, Hinotori Publishing seemed to fade into oblivion. Osaka is Hinotori Publishing's base, and other places are even worse.
Furthermore, after investigating, Takumi discovered that Kanto Manga Company and Kira Kira Animation Studio began producing new animations half a month ago. Kanto adopted a dual strategy and simultaneously became a leader in both the manga and animation industries.
They are rich and powerful, and their animation budget is extremely high, unattainable by the market.
If it weren't for the fact that the animated version of Pokémon could be done well with 30,000,000 yen, Takumi might have asked for more.
"Kira Kira Animation Studio..." Kenji Sato's attitude changed when he heard these words: "Okay, 30,000,000 yen it is!"
"Mirai-sensei, you must make an animation that surpasses them!"
Hinotori Publishing has made a lot of money in the last six months. If he sees Taro Tanaka suffer a setback, Kenji Sato is willing to increase the funding.
Once the funding issue was resolved, animation production entered the preparatory implementation phase. Takumi did not participate in any specific work. Staff allocation and organization were decided by Haru and Kenji, while Takumi was responsible for guiding the animation content to develop as planned.
This is a complex job. He must pay attention to almost every detail. After several weeks of filming, other artists finally configured the characters and Pokémon to Takumi's satisfaction.
Pokémon can officially begin work. At Tsukimoto Genji's request, Tsuki Animation Company completed the name change and changed it to "Hinotori Publishing's Tsuki Animation Department," inheriting the company's logo: a phoenix rising from its ashes.
First, they must make a trailer for Pokémon and, at the same time, officially announce Hinotori Publishing's entry into the animation industry. Although it is a trailer, it requires a lot of work, and Takumi has a new concern.
He must select voice actors, but there are relatively few in Japan, and after sending out invitation letters, most refused.
"Sunrise Studio is also making animations. Wouldn't it be bad luck for them to be voice actors for you right now?" a voice actor replied.
- - - -
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