"This is the animation produced with the involvent of Kyoto Animation? As always, the quality is top-notch!"
"Boss, you must've spent a good amount, huh?"
Ichin smiled and nodded. "It was alright. The first two gas made quite a bit of money. Plus, because of so prior events, I got acquainted with Kyoto Animation in advance, so they gave a small discount."
Kyoto Animation—if you're an ani fan, there's no way you're unfamiliar with them.
You could say that so of Kyoto's stories aren't always the very best in terms of plot, but when it cos to animation quality, there's simply nothing to criticize.
For Persona, the in-ga cutscenes made by Kyoto Animation—with ample funding—were of stunning quality. Every fra was brimming with budget.
One of the female illustrators, after watching the PV, was overjoyed to be part of this ga developnt. With a cheerful heart, she flipped through the rest of the project proposal.
"Hm? Screenwriter? Kasumi Utako?"
Seeing the na, she frowned and thought for a mont before taking out her phone, opening Bilibili, heading to the ani section, and clicking on a new ani airing this season, produced by Kyoto Animation.
"Boss."
She called out to Ichin and showed him the screen on her phone. "The ga's screenwriter Kasumi Utako—is she really the author of The trono in Love?"
"Oh? You figured it out?"
Ichin smiled and nodded. "Yup, that's her. One of the reasons we got Kyoto Animation to do the in-ga animation is precisely because of her. Hmm~~~ but you all keep this under wraps for now. That Kasumi Utako… is your boss lady."
Boss lady?
Everyone's eyes widened, staring at Ichin in disbelief.
They had already been shocked when they learned Ichin was only eighteen, but this news was on another level entirely.
Unlike the Tokyo headquarters, which had several married employees, this team was made up of just over a dozen single individuals. And yet their eighteen-year-old boss already had a girlfriend?
Another illustrator suddenly recalled sothing and exclaid with sudden clarity, "That long-haired black-haired beauty who appeared in last year's livestream—was that your girlfriend, boss?!"
Ichin didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded.
"Damn it! I can't even compete with an eighteen-year-old! Have I just wasted these past few years of my life?!"
A programr, after staying silent for a mont, adjusted his glasses and said sothing entirely different.
"Boss, there are a lot of girls over there, right? Could you help out us lonely guys a little?"
"That, huh…"
Ichin chuckled and spread his hands. "I don't mind you guys chasing happiness. But before that, I think you should consider the language barrier. Even though the core mbers who'll be in contact with you are learning Chinese, you still need to show so initiative yourselves."
As for whether they could actually succeed or who they could even pursue—Ichin honestly didn't have much faith in them.
After all, not everyone could manage what he and Utaha had. Cross-national relationships were never that easy.
Although both teams belonged to the sa company, there would definitely be plenty of interaction in the future. If a few couples actually ca out of it, Ichin would be more than happy to see it happen.
After wrapping up the gossip, Ichin got back to business and started discussing their upcoming tasks.
"Later, your assigned tasks will be distributed. Since the ga frawork is already mostly complete, we're now at the stage of filling in content. For the programming team, the job will be to implent various features, optimize them, and reduce bugs in the ga. The art team will have a heavier load—once you're familiar with the developnt environnt, so of the main storyline dungeon maps will be handed over to you. And finally, there's the voice acting part. We're also doing a full Chinese dub."
Turning to the person he had temporarily appointed as team lead, Ichin said, "Brother Chen, you ntioned you know so voice actors. Please help get in touch with a few. What I need is professionalism—price is not an issue."
As for voice actors, there were plenty of professionals in the country, so Ichin was happy to spend a bit more ti letting soone handle the outreach.
For Persona, Ichin's goal was full voice acting for the entire story. Naturally, this ant his standards were going to be very high.
To ensure the quality of the voiceover, aside from reviewing sample recordings sent online, Ichin knew he'd have to fly back a few tis to personally supervise the sessions.
Once the specific tasks were assigned, Ichin added everyone into a workgroup chat. The Japan and China teams were organized into separate groups. He also brought Hazuki, Umiko, Kō Yagami, and Rin into the chat.
Task assignnts were being handled by Hazuki and Rin and were scheduled to arrive in the afternoon. So, during the morning, Ichin had everyone play through the prologue demo of the ga, to help them get a general understanding of the ga systems and art style.
Even though it was just a prologue—ending shortly after the protagonist awakened their Persona and fought a few battles—the overall gaplay experience gave everyone strong confidence in the quality of the still-incomplete ga.
That afternoon, the assigned tasks were delivered. Ichin reviewed them to confirm everything was in order, then distributed the work. The studio instantly shifted into production mode, with everyone diving into developnt.
After staying three more days and confirming the studio was running smoothly—and with his dad helping oversee things—Ichin was finally able to depart for Tokyo with peace of mind. Utaha had already started murmuring about missing their cat, Peppa.
As for the Chinese voice acting, several actors had been contacted, though they hadn't reached any final agreents yet. Ichin handed off that responsibility to his staff, then boarded a plane with Utaha.
After a day of rest, the two returned to the headquarters studio.
As soon as they walked in, Ichin was greeted by a familiar scene: the girls huddled together, eating snacks Hazuki had brought that morning.
"If I didn't know you all were ahead of schedule on your work, I'd be docking your pay."
Joking as he walked over, Ichin grabbed a pack of gummies, opened it, and popped one in his mouth.
"Where's Eriri? She hasn't shown up yet?"
"Not yet." Kō Yagami yawned after sipping her tea. "She's coming over today with Yukino. Yukino said she's bringing the cat too."
"Ah~~ is that so?" Ichin nodded, then looked at Utaha beside him. "How about we head ho during lunch and bring Peppa over too?"
Utaha happily agreed. "Sure, the little guy's grown quite a bit already. Should be fine to take him out now."
After a few bites of snacks, Aoba raised her hand curiously and asked, "Ichin-kun, Ichin-kun, what's the studio in China like? We haven't even seen any photos yet."
Though everyone knew the second studio was up and running, they only knew how many staff had been hired—they hadn't seen the actual workspace yet.
Hazuki chid in, "Exactly! If I'd known, I would've stayed a few extra days. Then I could've seen it all firsthand."
"I never said you couldn't stay. You guys just didn't want to spend the money to stay longer," Ichin teased as he pulled out his phone.
"Alright, here—let show you the new studio… and your new colleagues."
...
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