Anime rating game

"Your voice sounds weak. Are you sick?"

[No, I've been staying up late these past few days and haven't been sleeping well. What's wrong? Tell me.]

"Alright, take good care of yourself."

Masamune didn't waste any words and went straight to the point:

Have you noticed the anime popularity rankings this season?

[Yeah, I've been watching it. Compared to K-On! Season 2 and Nozaki-kun, our anime isn't very popular.]

Frankly speaking, we are currently in a golden age of rapid development in the animation industry, with an overwhelming number of anime series each season. To rank among the top ten in popularity and fifth in sales among hundreds of anime is actually quite an impressive achievement.

However, as the male protagonist of the anime, Sagiri's older brother, Izumi Masamune, cannot accept it at all.

"That's it. It's too late to change the animation's plot. Forcing changes will likely make it worse."

"But if we add one or two OVA episodes, as long as the quality is good enough, it might be able to reverse the rankings."

"Even if it only improves my ranking by one place, I think it's worth it."

At that moment, Izumi Masamune's somewhat rapid breathing could be heard from the other end of the phone.

[Yes, that's what I think too!]

[Not only the OVA, but the mini-dramas included with the Blu-ray are also an important part; I've been staying up late these past few days writing the scripts for them.]

[President Hayase, is this why you called?]

Masamune paused for a moment, then laughed:

“That’s right, we’re thinking the same thing.”

"Time is of the essence. How's your script coming along?"

[I checked, and it's about 500 pages long.]

How long did it take you?

[I started writing on the night the first episode aired, and the second episode aired the day before yesterday; it took me eight and a half days to write.]

Masamune was speechless. He had written more than 500 pages in eight and a half days, and there were probably a lot of discarded drafts. He was risking his life.

It seems he cares about this animation far more than I do.

That makes sense; all she cared about was the ratings and rankings, while he cared about Sagiri.

"That's enough. If you write more, it's just a waste of time if you can't use it. Come to our Musashino scriptwriting department this afternoon to discuss your script and see which plot points can be used."

[No, that's not enough. Even though I've written over 500 pages, I still haven't captured Sagiri's charm. I think…]

"It's not up to you to decide, it's this afternoon. If you don't come, I'll ask Hachiman to write an article for me."

[No, I'm leaving right away.]

Bang! Thud! Clang...

Hearing a series of strange noises suddenly coming from his phone, like a chain reaction after a fall, Masamune couldn't help but ask:

"What happened to you? Did you fall?"

[Ouch...that hurts. My right little toe accidentally bumped into the computer desk, and after I fell, I knocked over the chair and the teacup as well.]

Is the computer okay?

[Shouldn't you be asking me if I'm okay at a time like this?]

"Since you can still speak, it means it's not a big deal. In comparison, if the computer had been smashed, your 500-plus pages might have been lost."

[That makes sense. The computer is fine; I only knocked over the chair to protect it. Wait a moment, I'll come find you right away.]

There's no need to be in such a rush...

Upon discovering that he had already hung up the phone, Masamune sighed speechlessly.

Several tens of minutes later, Izumi Masamune, sporting huge dark circles under his eyes, pushed open the door and entered breathlessly.

"Hoo hoo... President Hayase, I'm here."

"Because I was in such a hurry, I didn't have time to go to a print shop, and all the scripts I wrote were on a USB drive."

"Okay, let me take a look." Masamune took the USB drive, then couldn't help but glance at him again. "Haven't you been sleeping well these past few days? Let me ask you in advance, if I announce later that everything you wrote is scrap, will you suddenly faint?"

"Why……!?"

Izumi Masamune looked bewildered, staring blankly at the computer on the table, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Indeed, this is very likely; one's own perception may not be the same as another's.

"No, I'm not that fragile."

"I can rest assured that."

Masamune breathed a sigh of relief, then opened the document on the USB drive and began reading it from the beginning.

The story begins from Izumi Sagiri's perspective, recounting her past life living with her mother.

Because her mother was still alive, her personality wasn't as introverted as it is now, though she wasn't particularly lively either.

These elements are also present in the main story, but they are only briefly mentioned and not described in great detail. The current plot expands upon these elements.

After flipping through more than ten pages, the perspective shifted, this time to that of a passerby.

Not far from the Izumi family home lived a high school girl who accidentally discovered that there were two people living in the Izumi family, but only Izumi Masamune went out each day.

Murder and concealment of the body, keeping a mistress in a gilded cage, incestuous relations between siblings—because he was thinking too much, he secretly launched an investigation.

Through tireless observation and tracking, they gradually learned about the composition of the Izumi family and also learned about Sagiri's past.

With the intention of befriending her and helping her overcome her psychological trauma, I tried knocking on the door of the Izumi family.

Then, a new perspective emerged.

The story offers a new perspective on the Izumi family from the viewpoint of Izumi Kyoka, the guardian of the Izumi siblings.

Flipping through the pages, there are over 500 pages, all featuring Izumi Sagiri from different perspectives.

It's practically brainwashing the world, making everyone in the world believe that they should be Sagiri fans.

Chapter 190 Self-praise is never very convincing

"Izumi Masamune, may I ask you your reasoning for writing it this way? Is it just padding the word count?" Masamune looked at him speechlessly.

"No, I never pad my word count; this is to let the world know the charm of Sagiri."

Izumi Masamune did not hesitate at all, his eyes filled with seriousness:

"Although Sagiri is very cute, I am, after all, her brother. It's not very convincing for me to praise my own sister."

"Therefore, I adopted multiple perspectives."

"The first one is ostensibly Sagiri, but it's actually from the mother's perspective; the second is from the high school girl's perspective; the third is from Aunt Kyoka's perspective; the fourth is from the cat's perspective; the fifth..."

"Stop! There's no need to say anymore." Masamune quickly interrupted, "I understand your thoughts, but your praise is too much and may provoke the audience's disgust."

"However, the stories you've written are quite good, with excellent ideas. Let's go upstairs to the scriptwriting department and discuss which ones we can use."

"Okay." Izumi Masamune smiled unconsciously, and his tense mood relaxed.

It seems we haven't fallen to the point where even short stories are useless.

Of the fifty or sixty short stories, there's bound to be one that comes in handy.

……

"Yamada Elf is still very cute, and I have a feeling that she will have a lot of interactions with the protagonist."

"Does this even need a prophecy? The voice actress for the fairy is Hyakka Sono, so her role can't possibly be small."

"Baihua's acting skills are still amazing. Listening to her voice is a real treat."

“That’s right! Yuan Sheng Baihua is indeed very talented. Given time, she will definitely surpass her mother. I look forward to the moment when the mother and daughter perform on the same stage in the future.”

"Musashino has very high standards for voice actors. Although Yamada Elf is probably only the second female lead, compared to the roles that Momoka Enno has voiced before, she is still a very important resource."

"Musashino is truly amazing; she brings surprises every season. I never expected to see Momoka Sono in Eromanga Sensei. She voiced the character very well; I never knew her acting was so good."

"I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the voice actress for Kanno Megumi is Karasuma Chitose, who was heavily criticized recently."

"I saw it, and her acting was quite good this time. However, the character is not likable; I still prefer the fairy."

"Karasuma Chitose should take on more supporting roles to hone her acting skills. Her previous role as Yuna was simply ridiculous. However, the production of Nine Emperors is so bad that we can't blame her."

"That's right, the gap between different animation companies is just too big. There are big companies like Musashino that produce high-quality works every season, and there are also those garbage companies that just give the audience a perfunctory attitude."

As discussions about "Eromanga Sensei" gradually increased in the chat group, Izumi Masamune's serious expression gradually faded.

He's been writing non-stop all week and hasn't had time to read online comments.

Compared to the lack of interest after the first episode aired, the second episode gradually attracted more discussion.

However, the discussion focused more on Yamada Elf and her voice actress, Momoka Sono.

Izumi Masamune was somewhat puzzled by this.

The voice actress for Sagiri is also a popular voice actress, but there isn't much discussion about her. Why is that? Is it because of the age and appearance differences between the voice actresses?

Keep scrolling through your phone screen to find more discussions about Sagiri.

Whether it's good or bad, he wants to know whenever someone mentions Sagiri.

Why is no one talking about Sagiri in real life? I didn't intentionally keep it a secret.

As I pondered, a knock came from the door beside me.

Is anyone there?

When Izumi Masamune came to his senses, he realized that he had been in the Musashino toilet for more than ten minutes.

"Sorry, I'll be right there."

"No, I'm not trying to kick you out. I'm out of paper here, do you have any? Give me some."

"Huh...!? Wait a minute."

Izumi Masamune quickly tore off three pieces of paper and handed them over.