Afterward, Kamiyā Yuu also participated in some of the discussions regarding voice acting and background music for 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu ' in his capacity as a musician.
He learned that 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu' was a side-story sequel to 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow,' an anime that had been airing for over a year. Its target audience ranged from children to young teens, and the main series was considered a top-tier popular magical girl anime within Japan's animation industry.
Because Sunrise Company was producing two magical girl anime this season, the enormous pressure forced Sunrise Company to ask outside contractors to handle some of the more troublesome steps. Fujiwara Tora had approached Shindō Tsukasa to help share part of the burden for voice acting and background music.
During the discussion, Fujiwara Tora asked curiously, "Speaking of which, Kamiyā, what's the name of the magical girl anime you plan to create?"
"The name? How does 'Magical Girl Nanoha' sound?"
"Hey, hey, isn't that naming style totally overused? It overlaps way too much with Fujiwara's 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu,'" Shindō Tsukasa said with a strange expression after taking a drag from his cigarette.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled without minding it at all. "I'm too lazy to change it. Isn't this naming style a tradition for magical girl works?"
"Counting 'Miracle Girl,' which is being produced by another company, there'll be four magical girl anime this month. The competition's fierce." Fujiwara Tora stroked his stubbly chin and sighed after thinking for a long while.
"Not confident?" Shindō Tsukasa looked at Fujiwara Tora with a faint smile.
Fujiwara Tora patted his chest and laughed proudly. "I have plenty of confidence in 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu,' though Kamiyā is definitely a strong opponent."
Shindō Tsukasa looked at Fujiwara Tora with a subtle expression. "Someone outsourcing this much work isn't really in a position to say that. This time, I'm betting on Kamiyā's 'Magical Girl Nanoha.'"
Miyamori Aoi finally found a chance to speak and said confidently, "'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu' is a side story of the hugely popular 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow.' Plus, based on what I know of the manga's plot, there's no way it will lose this competition."
Fujiwara Tora and Shindō Tsukasa both glanced at Kamiyā Yuu with subtle expressions.
Not long ago, they had learned about the global sensation caused by Kamiyā Yuu's 'RWBY.'
A hugely popular work?
Was it really fine to say that in front of a director who had created a magical-girl-like animated film with tens of millions of fans worldwide?
Sensing their strange gazes, Kamiyā Yuu spread his hands from where he sat.
"Well, this time I'm planning to create a 2D animation. I'm fairly confident in every aspect."
Shindō Tsukasa shook his head. "2D? Kamiyā, you really insist on walking the road that looks least open."
"Then I'll be looking forward to it. Let me see just how determined you are to enter Japan's animation industry, Kamiyā!" Fujiwara Tora laughed heartily.
...
On the drive back, Miyamori Aoi, seated in the passenger seat, seemed somewhat displeased as she asked, "Just who exactly is that Mr. Kamiyā? You all praised him so much, and even looked down on our company's 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu.'"
She said it politely, but paired with her dissatisfied tone, it was basically a complaint directed at Fujiwara Tora.
Fujiwara Tora, holding the steering wheel, took a deep breath.
"Those words don't count as looking down on it. As expected, I really didn't misjudge that guy Kamiyā. He's a genius."
"A genius?"
"Yes. Even using that word to describe him feels like I'm belittling him."
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated?" Miyamori Aoi frowned in confusion. Fujiwara Tora was not someone who casually bragged.
Fujiwara Tora slowed the car down to make conversation easier, then asked with a proud grin, "Do you know 'RWBY'?"
With Kamiyā Yuu's current achievements, Fujiwara Tora felt happy and proud simply to have such a friend.
Miyamori Aoi thought for a while, but could not find anything related to 'RWBY' in her memory, so she answered hesitantly, "Not really."
Fujiwara Tora's gaze carried a trace of nostalgia.
"'RWBY' refers to the English names of four colors: Red, White, Black, and Yellow. Those four colors also symbolize the four protagonists of the work. Last year, the first character promotional trailer for 'RWBY' was released. That was 'Red — Crescent Rose.' Miyamori, can you imagine a character promotional PV alone raising millions of yen in crowdfunding within a single day?"
Miyamori Aoi was not stupid. She asked uncertainly, "That work called 'Red — Crescent Rose' managed to do that?"
Fujiwara answered firmly, "Yes. And that character trailer was something Kamiyā created in his free time while working at his previous company. After the 'Red — Crescent Rose' character trailer was released online, it surpassed ten million views in just one week."
Miyamori Aoi was finally shocked. "Ten million? Just for an individually produced animated character trailer?"
Ten million views was already nearly comparable to the online view count of a single episode of a top-tier popular anime in Japan.
Fujiwara Tora's gaze toward the road ahead deepened.
"That's right. It achieved that much with only a character trailer. If I hadn't personally witnessed the production of that short animation, I really wouldn't have believed it was made by one person."
"Over the following months, Kamiyā successively released 'Yellow — Ashen Paradise,' 'Black — Leaping Shadow,' and finally 'White — White Oleander.' These four character promotional animations, each with completely different styles and uniquely excellent content, caused a small earthquake throughout animation circles worldwide."
"If that still doesn't count for anything, then the 'RWBY' animated film Kamiyā produced over a week ago completely set the global animated film industry ablaze. 'RWBY' received widespread praise from overseas media. Even though it streamed online for six dollars, it earned more than one hundred million US dollars at the box office within a single week."
"And that's not all. Many world-famous film critics have already called 'RWBY' one of the animated films with the greatest influence on the course of animation history."
"The storyboards, music, modeling, plot, and everything else for such an outstanding work were all personally planned by Kamiyā. Does that give you a more direct understanding of him, Miyamori? Based on the 'RWBY' animated film alone, calling Kamiyā Japan's most famous and most capable animation director would not be an exaggeration. He achieved a massive accomplishment on the world stage that Japanese animation had never achieved before."
At the end, Fujiwara Tora scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.
"Well, to be honest, even I don't really have a sense of reality about it. The fact that you don't know about this animated film shows that 'RWBY' hasn't had much of a response in Japan."
Miyamori Aoi looked utterly confused.
From the moment Fujiwara Tora began talking about 'RWBY,' she felt as though he were telling a story. Otherwise, why did it feel so unreal?
She rubbed her forehead and said with difficulty, "Wait... wait. Let me sort out my thoughts first. Also, let me look it up online."
After saying that, she used her phone to search 'RWBY' on Google.
"'RWBY' Selected as One of the Fifty Films That Influenced the World!"
"'RWBY' Enters Top Ten Best Animated Films Ranking!"
"'RWBY' Surpasses One Hundred Million US Dollars in Online Box Office Revenue at Six Dollars Per View—'Fakebook' Company's Most Successful Collaboration Yet!"
"'RWBY' Receives Praise from Famous Director Wells and Renowned Action Director Long Liu!"
"'RWBY' Wins the Hollywood Film Cinematography and Art Award!"
"The 'Yosuganosora' Animation Studio Behind 'RWBY' Revealed—What Incredible Magic Does Chief Director Mr. Kamiyā Yuu Possess?"
Miyamori Aoi: "..."