"Um... Miyazaki-senpai, your drawings are truly excellent, and the works themselves have a distinct Hayao Miyazaki style."
Sakata Taiji stood up and looked at the two drawings pasted on the glass board. Miyazaki was indeed a master; his drawing foundation was impeccable. The color schemes alone were enough for Sakata Taiji to study for a year.
And even though they were fragmented and it was impossible to discern any concrete information from them, these were requirements for the game LIFE-LINE. In a way, one couldn't really blame Miyazaki for being wrong.
"If I had to say—
Just by watching, one can feel the emotional information conveyed by the images themselves.
Yes, emotion."
Sakata Taiji tilted his head, quietly admiring them. "Being able to read the emotion in the drawings is amazing."
"Right?!" Miyazaki crossed his arms and huffed.
"So, does that mean the art style of the entire game needs to change along with it?" Aoki Haruhi asked from the side.
"Ah... well..."
Sakata Taiji's heart skipped a beat, and then he said hesitantly, "It's not exactly like that. As the President said, CL and LL are already unified in style. If that side is finalized, this side should be determined accordingly."
Hayao Miyazaki frowned. "That's why I said, I really don't like this pattern of being fixed by other works. We are clearly making LIFE-LINE; I haven't watched CL, nor do I know what CL is.
LIFE-LINE is LIFE-LINE.
Our goal is to make this work well, isn't it?
Even if we take a step back and say that the two are related, why isn't it CL that's being adjusted?"
Aoki Haruhi frowned deeply.
Damn old man, he's too stubborn!
"Setting aside CL," Aoki said, "I also want LIFE-LINE itself to adopt this existing style."
"Foolish!"
Miyazaki said harshly, "Have you forgotten the work Blanket Man? How creative Pokeni was back then, able to make a game with such childlike innocence and a dreamlike art style.
But look at your CL, look at this LIFE-LINE, what is the main art style being used?
That cliché, dime-a-dozen romance manga style.
Something like this can never become a classic, okay?"
The current art style of the game was the art style of CL from Aoki's memory.
In the field of games and animation, against that era's backdrop, it was considered qualified, even seeming quite aesthetic because of Kyoto Animation's excellent storyboarding. But to Miyazaki, it was unqualified!
"No creativity!
Or, to use Hayao Miyazaki's words, it's called 'soulless.'
'Soulless animation—no, soulless visuals—even if you make it into a game, it's still soulless!' Miyazaki raised his voice. 'Aoki-san, you are ruining such a good script by doing this!'
Huh?
Jun Maeda, who was cowering in the corner silently observing all this (mainly because he was a newcomer whose opinion carried little weight), was suddenly stunned.
Why was he being praised out of the blue?
Even though the situation was terrible—the atmosphere was tense and filled with the scent of gunpowder—still...
He had been praised.
Jun Maeda thought to himself, and by Hayao Miyazaki, no less.
He felt a strange little thrill of happiness.
In reality, Jun Maeda did not oppose Aoki Haruhi's ideas. Even when he saw the first version of the art style for CL and LL, he had felt, just like now, that it was very beautiful and matched his imagination perfectly.
But now, having heard Miyazaki's take, he began to waver.
To some extent, Miyazaki was right. The art style of CL was beautiful, but it was modularized and standardized; it lacked its own unique character and soul.
Soul, huh~
Jun Maeda raised his head and looked out the window, pondering deeply—
The soul of a script and the soul of a character were easy enough to understand.
But what was the soul of the art?
***
Now Aoki Haruhi finally understood what Tsuda Nao had meant back then when she said, "If you don't have the ability to tame a dragon, you'll be devoured by it."
Hayao Miyazaki was indeed a stubborn old man with a foul temper, and he was so incredibly persistent that he could be impossible to communicate with at times.
Moreover, Aoki's original intention had been for him to help out and provide the finishing touches, but who could have foreseen that he would want to renovate the entire dragon instead?
It just goes to show that the imagination is full, but reality is skinny.
For an animation master with such immense creativity and his own strong opinions, expecting him to just shut up and not voice his thoughts was completely impossible.
Aoki should have anticipated this from the very beginning.
After all, a famous director like Hayao Miyazaki had long since grown accustomed to being the center of everything; all Ghibli animation productions revolved around him.
If you were to entrust the entire production of an animation to him, you could rest easy; but such a person could never work as a subordinate.
Trying to convince him to cooperate with you is harder than reaching the heavens.
"Could you two stop arguing?" Sakata Taiji held up his hands, feeling miserable trapped in the eye of the storm.
"Um... I've thought about this issue too, maybe... what if we just left it as is? Letting two jarringly different styles exist in the game? After all, it can be explained through the plot—this is a work of art created by a character within the game."
Yes, from the perspective of the plot, the painting Miyazaki needed to complete was a work drawn by a girl named Narae in the game.
A painting within a painting.
It didn't feel like it necessarily had to match the game's own art style.
"No!" Aoki Haruhi and Miyazaki Hayao roared in unison.
"Ah... pretend I said nothing." Sakata Taiji quickly shrank into a corner.
***
"Miyazaki-san, come here for a moment, I have something to discuss with you."
Just then, Toshio Suzuki pushed the door open, wearing a kind and amiable smile as he beckoned to Hayao Miyazaki.
Though he was still in a fit of anger, Miyazaki obediently followed him.
Suzuki led him into the smoking room and handed him a cigarette. "Miyazaki, I could hear your argument from outside. It sounded like quite a heated battle."
But on the other hand, being able to withstand Miyazaki's pressure, Aoki Haruhi is quite something.
According to Suzuki's judgment, if you cannot withstand Miyazaki's pressure, you will never become someone capable of surpassing him. At the very least, in terms of spirit and attitude, Aoki had achieved that.
If only there were someone like that among the young people at Ghibli.
Hearing this, Miyazaki scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"We were just having a normal discussion about work, just a discussion."
"Hmm." Suzuki pursed his lips into a smile, his eyes sparkling as he looked at his old companion in front of him.
We've known each other for decades, don't you think I know you by now?
Hayao Miyazaki is actually quite easy to talk to in daily life; sometimes he's even a bit childlike. Overall, he's a kind-hearted fellow when interacting with others.
But the moment work is involved, he becomes a completely different person.
Within the entirety of Ghibli, Miyazaki's strictness is legendary—everyone is afraid of him.
This fear stems partly from Miyazaki's own immense talent, and partly from his incredibly high standards.
However, this is not Ghibli.
This is Pokeni.
"Miyazaki, you're a veteran; besides, we're in a partnership here. Can't we just talk and communicate properly?" Toshio Suzuki said.
"But when it comes to work, you have to be serious and give it 100% of your energy. That's the only way to do it right, isn't it?" Miyazaki said, looking a little aggrieved.
"I'm talking about your communication style. I'm not asking you to cave in. The goal is to collaborate and get it done, otherwise we're just stuck, aren't we?"
"Hmm... I understand."
***
About half an hour later, Hayao Miyazaki returned to the conference room.
"Aoki-san, let's call it a day. Let me go back and think about this, and we can communicate again. We'll see if there's a better way."
Miyazaki certainly wouldn't apologize, that wasn't in his nature. Besides, today had been mentally draining, and he needed some buffer time. Still, just reaching this point was no small feat.
Aoki Haruhi was somewhat pleasantly surprised. He bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Let's discuss it again next time. Miyazaki-senpai, thank you sincerely."
"Mm. Keep it up!"
Miyazaki waved his hand, grabbed his jacket, and pushed the door open to leave.
For some reason, seeing his stubborn yet exhausted back, Aoki felt a twinge of guilt.
***
While out for a walk with Tsuda Nao that evening, Aoshi Haruhi chatted about the events of the past few days, sighing with emotion, "Miyazaki Hayao seems so kindly, and he was so friendly and amiable just a while ago. How did he change so completely now?"
"People and work are two different things, aren't they?" Tsuda Nao replied. "It's perfectly normal to have different attitudes toward work and toward people. It's like how I'm speaking to you quite relaxed right now, but have you ever seen what I'm like when I'm working?"
Hearing this, Aoshi Haruhi silently took a step back and sized up Tsuda Nao.
Could this person actually be a tyrant on set?
But thinking about it, it wasn't like he hadn't worked with Tsuda before. Back then, when DUN was Pokeni's financial backer, Tsuda Nao had been incredibly overbearing.
And in daily life, she didn't seem much better, either.
"Didn't I tell you? Bringing in Miyazaki Hayao to do original artwork is a double-edged sword. The key is whether you can handle him," Tsuda Nao said.
Aoshi Haruhi looked up and thought for a moment, an image of the serious side of Miyazaki Hayao flashing through his mind, and quickly shook his head.
"No way, no way. I can't handle him."
What kind of ability would it take to handle someone like Miyazaki Hayao?
At the very least, Aoshi Haruhi didn't think he was capable of it.
***
The two walked side-by-side for a while, when Tsuda Nao turned to face him, reached out both hands, gently grasped Aoki Haruhi's collar, and pulled it together.
After tidying it up a bit, she thought the young man looked quite handsome.
With a meaningful smile on her face, she looked at the shirt he was wearing underneath and asked, "If a button on your shirt fell off, what would you do?"
"Go to a store and buy a new one," Aoki Haruhi replied.
"What if you couldn't buy one? What if you absolutely couldn't find one that looked exactly the same?"
"Then... I guess I'd pick one from a less important spot and swap it with the important one." Aoki Haruhi pointed to his collar. "For example, I don't really like buttoning my collar; it always makes me feel like I can't breathe. So, I could use that button for a more important place."
"That's not it," Nao chuckled. "My dear President, you really don't do any needlework at all, do you?"
Aoki Haruhi frowned. Where would he find the time for such things?
"The correct approach is to replace all the buttons."
"Wouldn't that make it imperfect?" Aoki Haruhi frowned. "Since it's this specific shirt, it should naturally be paired with its original buttons to be a perfect match."
Tsuda Nao rolled her eyes.
"Is there really only one kind of button that can go with this shirt?"
"Eh?"
Aoki Haruhi was stumped by the question for a moment.
***
At night, after having a deep conversation with Tsuda Nao, Aoki Haruhi lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
After a while, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
For a long time, he just murmured, "Change the buttons?"
Honestly, he hadn't given this much thought before because his impression of CL was so deeply ingrained that he felt the game's art style should just be that way.
If Nagisa didn't look like that, she wouldn't be Nagisa, and she wouldn't be perfect enough.
But thinking about it, that might not actually be the case.
The times are constantly evolving.
The character designs of Shinkai Makoto in the future are clearly much better looking.
By the time Kyoto Animation reached "Violet Evergarden," the character lines, proportions, and colors were all much more pleasing to the eye.
So what if there was a difference between the current CL and the CL from his past life?
If it were Hayao Miyazaki, what kind of effect could he draw, and how would he design it?
Would it turn out even better?
Change isn't necessarily a bad thing, right?
***
The next morning, Aoki Haruhi made a point of finding Miyazaki Hayao.
He held out his hand and said earnestly, "Miyazaki-senpai, let's forget the past and start over, shall we?"
"Eh?" The old man's fingers trembled.
What was this kid talking about?
"If you lose a button, finding an identical replacement isn't necessarily the best way," Aoki said with a smile. "Replacing all the buttons might be a pretty good choice too."
"Hmm?" Miyazaki blinked, puzzled.
"So I've figured it out," Aoki said. "Miyazaki-senpai, I would like to invite you to serve as the animation director for both CL and LL. If you oversee the entire artistic style, then there won't be any issues with mismatching."
"I believe that with your ability, you will certainly be able to find a brand-new set of beautiful buttons that perfectly fit this garment."
The script is the garment.
As long as the foundation of the script remains unchanged, the rest can be left to Miyazaki.
This was Aoki's idea.
Miyazaki was stunned; Aoki's words were completely beyond his expectations, but...
"Well then, I look forward to working with you."
Miyazaki reached out and took Aoki's hand.
"You're too kind. I look forward to working with you as well," Aoki quickly bowed slightly.
***
Toshio Suzuki observed everything silently from the doorway, and seeing how it ended, he couldn't help but chuckle.
Not bad, this kid. In such a short time, he's already found a way to "handle" the Miyazaki Hamster.
Actually, it's not really handling him; it's just enabling him to be himself in the right way at the right position. That is the greatest ability a president can have.
Well done.
After Aoki Haruhi left, Miyazaki Hayao sat alone in his chair, a faint smile on his lips.
A moment later, he suddenly realized:
"Wait a minute? Did my workload just increase again?!"
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