Tokyo: Oreimo

Ling Nai stared at the lines in the storyboard and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"What are you talking about, Kyubey...?"

She murmured to herself, looking at the next panel.

"Madoka, that's not Sayaka, it's just an empty shell."

"Sayaka, didn't you just throw that away?"

“…”

Upon hearing the next line, a chilling cold instantly swept over Ling Nai's entire body.

"How could I possibly let your bodies, which are as fragile as those of ordinary humans, fight against a witch?"

"When the contract was made, your souls were extracted and simplified into a more efficient and secure form."

"That way, even if the heart is pierced and all the blood is drained, it can quickly repair itself and continue fighting."

"I really don't understand. You always have this same reaction after I tell you the truth."

Wait... wait a minute!

Ling Nai covered her mouth, so shocked that even her pupils trembled uncontrollably.

"Wouldn't that be just like being a zombie?"

"In other words, the moment you make a contract with Kyubey and become a magical girl... you're already dead?"

"Shouldn't this have been stated from the beginning?!"

Kyubey on paper, the adorable creature under Ryosuke's abstract painting technique, Ryouna can no longer look at its cute appearance the same way.

It adopts an innocent and naive posture, its cat-like mouth barely moving as it smiles, pretending to be harmless.

This guy is actually a complete devil.

Chapter 110 The President Goes on Winter Break

In the morning, at the dining table in the living room, Takashiro Ryouno, with dark circles under her eyes, was eating bread in small bites.

Ryosuke was sitting opposite her.

Mieko felt relieved that the relationship between the Takashiro siblings had been restored. While cleaning the kitchen, she could be heard humming the theme song of Cardcaptor Sakura.

"You're such a shady character..."

"Ok?"

Ryosuke was texting Saori Hououin on his phone when he heard Ryouno suddenly speak, and he looked up.

The other person was looking at him with gritted teeth.

Why are you suddenly saying that about me?

Ryosuke raised the corners of his mouth, feigning ignorance.

"I should have known. With your awful personality, you would never write a normal story."

Ling Nai bit into the bread as if she were biting into Ryosuke's flesh.

She had experienced Ryosuke's twisted sense of humor when she watched "Fate/Zero," where he would push the fates of each character to the brink of despair and then kick them off at the highest point.

If Mami Tomoe's death left her feeling regretful and shocked, then the events of last night were downright terrifying.

Magical girls are zombies or something.

What's even worse is his disguise as Kyubey, his contracted beast. Before that, Ling Nai had always had a good impression of this cute guy.

"Excuse me, isn't Cardcaptor Sakura also a name I drew?"

"So you finished reading that notebook last night, right?"

Ryosuke put down his phone and watched his sister's reaction with great interest.

Is it interesting?

Ling Nai gave a soft snort, without giving a direct answer.

"When do you plan to draw the rest?"

"Animation production will take another six months, so there's no rush to finish the script yet."

"What's with all this dragging your feet? Hurry up and draw it, it'll be quick for you, right?"

Takashiro Ryouno couldn't help but grit her teeth. If the other party didn't draw it, when would she ever see the ending?

The feeling of being suspended in mid-air was so uncomfortable; she was really curious about how the story would unfold.

"I don't have the extra energy right now."

Ryosuke shook his head. "Let's talk about it at the end of the year. Until then, I need to focus my energy on the new visual novel."

"Tsk." Ling Nai curled her lip.

"Furthermore, we'll have to wait until the Cardcaptor Sakura anime is about halfway through its run before we can officially start promoting and producing it. By then, we can finally produce the complete script."

"why?"

Takashiro Ryouno cast a questioning look at her.

The Cardcaptor Sakura anime is a completely different matter. What does the company's release of the anime have to do with that work?

After finishing the last fried egg, Ryosuke put down his chopsticks, took out a tissue, and wiped his mouth.

"Well, I guess I'm just taking advantage of the current buzz."

"According to Director Saito, there are quite a few magical girl anime adaptations recently, and they should all be released at the end of the year."

"Once that wind blows, we can start promoting it publicly. With Rumiko Takashiro as the chief animation director, and this being Aniplex's first project with a theme of love and justice, it should have a good effect..."

As Ryosuke calmly spoke and picked up his schoolbag to leave, Takashiro Ryouno's eyes slowly widened.

Love and justice?

Are you talking about "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"?

The girl sensed a familiar malice.

I remember the feeling of secretly looking at those four Fate/Zero manuscripts that night.

Before opening the notebook, she approached it with the same anticipation as playing a Fate game.

But in the end, all that came out of the work was regret and despair.

This guy.....

His personality was worse than anyone could have imagined.

If it's promoted like that, fans will probably think it's a work of the same type as "Cardcaptor Sakura" or "Moon Witch Transformation".

After all, the name 'Rumiko Takashiro' can almost represent the benchmark of magical girl works in this era.

One can imagine the reactions of those who eagerly awaited their television viewing, upon seeing Mami Tomoe's death...

"Isn't it almost time? Aren't you going out?"

Ryosuke Takagi raised an eyebrow at her and pointed to the clock.

"Wait for me!"

Ling Nai hurriedly finished the last bite of breakfast.

...

For the next period of time, the Gao family lived a relatively peaceful life.

Ryosuke gradually settled into a regular creative routine, cycling through school, tutoring, scriptwriting, and sleeping every day.

I occasionally visit the company headquarters.

Starting in October, newly admitted graduates from Tokyo University of the Arts began reporting to their companies.

To this end, Ryosuke and Saori Phoenix hired a specialist to manage the company's personnel transfers.

By the end of October, the team was fully recruited, and Ritsuya Saito left Kadokawa to join Aniplex as a full-time employee.

For the first two months, Ryosuke did not assign work directly, but let the young people adapt to the newly acquired animation equipment on their own.

The experienced individuals were assigned to train the interns who were new to the workforce.

Ritsu Saito was so bored that he had nothing to do, so he came to see Ryosuke several times and took the revised script for the first six episodes from him.

The company's cash flow remains stable due to the strong sales of "FSN," but it has not yet shown signs of weakness, with average monthly sales maintaining around 8,000 to 10,000 copies.

Ryosuke predicts that sales will decline in two months and eventually stabilize.

"Time flies, Christmas is just over ten days away."

Ryosuke got off at Nerima Station and walked on the snow-covered streets. The trees had long since lost their leaves, and the cold wind swept across the road. Passersby were all dressed in winter clothes.

"Thinking back to this time last year, it seems like my relationship with Ling Nai was still pretty bad, right?"

The boy chuckled. Although they still argue from time to time, they're no longer at the point where they wouldn't even greet each other if they met.

He walked for a while and soon arrived at a small, old-fashioned office building. He glanced at the sign hanging on the wall—ANIPLEX—and strode into the building.

......

Good morning, President.

When employees see Ryosuke, they greet him with a smile. The overall atmosphere in the office building is relaxed, because in terms of workload alone, you probably can't find anyone in the entire industry who is so free.

After all, the company has not yet officially launched the project.

Rina Inoue walked quickly down the corridor, not expecting to run into Ryosuke at the corner, which startled her.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Ryosuke remembered her; she had been the one who received him at Tokyo Polytechnic University. He had passed the interview because of his good drawing skills and became a member of the company.

"The club president actually came today. Oh right, it seems like it's winter break now?"

Rina Inoue is one of the employees who is relatively familiar with Ryosuke. She knows that he is not the kind of person who would use his position to oppress his employees, so she acts quite casually.

Honestly, the words "club president" and "winter break" seem quite incongruous together.