A television studio's recording room.
Host Miyuki Komatsu clapped her hands and said, "Welcome, welcome, Mr. Lin Zhiyan."
Lin Zhiyan smiled and said, "Thank you."
With the complex pandemic situation, he really didn't want to show his face, but since it was an invitation to a TV interview program rather than an anime magazine, it had higher prestige, so he couldn't refuse and had to bite the bullet and attend.
Miyuki Komatsu, naturally unaware of what was on Lin Zhiyan's mind, began to introduce the topic after welcoming him: "After the massive success of 'Your Name' seven years ago, you have become a world-class animation director, and I'm sure everyone knows you. However, your self-introduction information must have been updated by now, so could you please introduce yourself to the audience again?"
"Sure."
Lin Zhiyan nodded and began his self-introduction: "Hello everyone, I am Lin Zhiyan. I am a mediocre animation director and animation producer, and also the president of L.S Produ. My representative works include 'Death Note', 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion', 'Gurren Lagann', 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'..."
He spoke very quickly, reciting the works one by one. In just over a minute, he listed fully twenty or thirty animations, including both those he directed and those he produced, such as the latest, "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train."
After finishing the introduction, he added, "What I just mentioned is only a part of it, not all. In fact, there are many more works that I have produced."
"There are more?"
Miyuki Komatsu looked surprised. "It seems that Mr. Lin has made a truly significant contribution to the entire animation industry since you entered it."
She paused, then continued, "From what I know, it seems you entered the animation industry in '95 and founded the animation company L.S Produ in 2000, right?"
"Yes," Lin Zhiyan confirmed simply.
"This year is 2020, which means it's the twentieth anniversary of your company, L.S Produ," Miyuki Komatsu said, as if she had discovered a blind spot.
Lin Tomohiko nodded: "Yes, it is indeed the 20th anniversary. We were originally going to hold 20th-anniversary celebration events this year, but due to the pandemic, they couldn't be held. I still find that quite regrettable. The animation project to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary was also shelved due to the pandemic. I hope that in the next decade, there won't be any more unstable factors like a pandemic."
"I see..."
Miyuki Komatsu had just learned about this, and quickly followed up on Lin Tomohiko's words: "But could this year's Demon Slayer theatrical film be considered your biggest gift to the fans?"
Lin Tomohiko thought for a second and replied: "I don't know if it's the biggest gift, but judging from the current trend, this animation will indeed be our company's most successful work this year."
"Speaking of which..."
Miyuki Komatsu glanced at Lin Tomohiko and began to get to the main point: "It seems that not long after Your Name ended its theatrical run six years ago, you announced your goal as a producer, saying you would create the best-selling TV animation on disc and the highest-grossing animated film, right?"
"That is correct," Lin Tomohiko confirmed.
Miyuki Komatsu continued, "Although the box office of Demon Slayer: Mugen Train still has some way to go before becoming number one in film history, it seems to be a destined outcome... Did you predict back then that such an anime would come to be?"
"No, how is that possible?"
Lin Zhiyan denied it without hesitation, "It was just a personal goal. The real world isn't an anime, and I'm not a protagonist, so where would I get such an ability? If I had such an ability, my achievements might not be limited to just what they are now."
"But when you were interviewed by a magazine in 2018, you mentioned that your two goals as a producer were likely to be realized before 2022, and now one is about to be realized..."
Miyuki Komatsu asked while observing Lin Zhiyan's expression, "Maybe you couldn't predict it in 2014, but at least by 2018, you predicted it, didn't you?"
"That shouldn't be counted as a prediction," Lin Zhiyan shook his head slightly, "It should be described as a general assessment of the animation market based on an understanding of my own company's works."
Miyuki Komatsu immediately became interested: "Could you explain that in more detail?"
Lin Zhiyan nodded slightly and explained, "Back in '18, I already had a general grasp of the animation market trends for the next four or five years. I knew what kind of animation could help me achieve my goals as a producer, so when I said it was promising, it was just a matter of actually making the animation and presenting it to the audience..."
He paused, then added, "However, although I felt hopeful at the time, I didn't actually have much certainty. It wasn't until the first season of Demon Slayer became a hit last year that I felt much more confident about achieving my goal."
"In other words, it was only after the first season of the Demon Slayer animation became a hit last year that you realized this theatrical film had a chance to break the all-time box office record?" Komatsu Miyuki summarized.
"More or less, but ultimately it just meant there was a greater chance of success. In reality, even after the first season became a hit, I wouldn't dare guarantee it 100%," Lin Zhiyan confirmed, while slightly correcting her.
Komatsu Miyuki ignored whether or not Lin Zhiyan had 100% certainty and said, "But... according to analyses by many experts, the reason why the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train theatrical film is as popular as it is now, besides your company's excellent production, also has a lot to do with the pandemic..."
Implicit meaning: Are you saying that you even predicted this pandemic?
In fact, it wasn't that Miyuki Komatsu was intentionally trying to make things difficult for Tomohiko Lin; rather, many people online were discussing this very topic, feeling that Lin had not only predicted the box office of "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train," but had even predicted the 2020 pandemic.
Lin had already seen such comments online, so he was neither angry nor surprised. Instead, he calmly replied:
"Actually, I didn't foresee the pandemic either. However, even without the pandemic, this animated film would still have had a chance to take the number one spot in box office history. At the end of the day, the pandemic factor added at most ten billion yen to this theatrical film's box office; even without that ten billion, this film would still have been qualified to challenge for the top box office spot.
If you ask me why I have such confidence, I'll say it again: this is a judgment made as a producer, based on the success of the first season.
Such judgment is quite common, isn't it? If I didn't even have this much judgment, I wouldn't have been able to build L.S. Produ into such a strong company over the past twenty years."
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