Tokyo: Oreimo

Page 160

Ryosuke flicked the back of her head in an annoyed manner.

"Ouch!" Ling Nai clutched her head and glared at him. "What do you mean I caused this? It was clearly that guy's fault!"

"Why don't you just not fight back?"

"How can that be!" Ling Nai puffed out her cheeks. "She already said that. If I don't accept it, wouldn't that be admitting that I'm not good enough?"

“You are Rumiko Takashiro, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.”

"...What? Don't say things like that."

Ling Nai suddenly quieted down, her voice becoming very soft.

"what?"

“I said, don’t say things like that.” She repeated, “I really got to where I am today because of you. The later parts of ‘Moon Witch Transformation’ were a disaster, and what that guy said was all true.”

Ryosuke was taken aback.

Ling Nai lowered her head and muttered, "It's not just about winning against her, I also want to prove to you that I'm worthy of the name you wrote. Otherwise..."

Will it be stolen?

The girl couldn't bring herself to say the next sentence.

"What? I don't like hearing that."

Ryosuke smiled, reached out and ruffled her hair, making her blonde hair a mess.

"What are you doing?!"

Ling Nai slapped his hand away and puffed out her cheeks.

"It is my honor to be able to work with Rumiko Takashiro."

"Although you're not the brightest and have a bit of a temper, you're otherwise a good partner. You're my best collaborator, so have confidence."

Ryosuke was generous with his praise.

In a way, there's something Arina Haruba is wrong about: the popularity of Cardcaptor Sakura was, to some extent, influenced by the fame of Rumiko Takashiro.

With such a great work to his name, Ryosuke has always believed that he and Ryono are complementary partners.

"Who are you calling brainless? I did a good job of recreating Death Note, and I didn't even ask you."

The blonde girl gave a soft snort.

"That's true, there's been progress."

Ryosuke chuckled, "However, there's one thing that's bothering me. When I looked at Light Yagami, he seemed kind of familiar."

"It's an illusion, entirely your illusion."

Upon hearing Ryosuke's words, Ling Nai's face showed a hint of guilt, but she quickly managed to cover it up.

However, her cheeks inevitably had a slight blush.

Since I've never drawn a man before, I can't let him know that I've made this guy the main character, or he'll definitely laugh at me.

"is it?"

"That's right!"

......

The brother and sister chatted casually along the way, and after finding a quick restaurant to have lunch, they arrived at Aniplex in the afternoon.

Upon entering the company, Ling Nai rushed into the animation team and chatted with the animators, while also checking on the progress of Madoka Magica's final touches.

Ryosuke, on the other hand, went to Saori Hououin's office.

The moment I opened the door, I was bombarded by the other person's good looks.

"You're late, Shi Yuze."

Saori pushed up her decorative gold-rimmed glasses, rested her chin on her hand, and tilted her head to look at him.

Her already delicate face seemed to have been enhanced with makeup today, and her smile made Ryosuke's heart race the moment he saw her.

Did you even put on makeup?

The afternoon sun shone on Saori, who was wearing a white shirt, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

Noticing Ryosuke's gaze, Saori Hououin felt a secret thrill.

It's always something to be happy about when someone you like stops because of your beauty, so getting up two hours early to get ready doesn't seem so bad.

"Sorry, I was delayed because I went to Shueisha."

Ryosuke took the initiative to explain that he had made an appointment with Hououin Saori and this was the first time he had been late.

"It's ok."

Anyway, she won't leave the company before the end of the workday, so since she's already here, there's no problem.

"Speaking of which, it's been a while since I've been here. Now that it's summer vacation, as the club president, shouldn't you set an example by attending more often?"

"Hmm? You would care about something like that?"

Ryosuke was quite surprised. Although he held the position of president, he delegated most of the company's management to Phoenix Inu.

Because I'm not very good at this kind of thing, I mainly came to the company to oversee the animation production.

Now that "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" is on track and has entered post-production, Ritsu Saito is capable of handling the project on his own.

Instead of spending time traveling, it's better to focus on creating at home.

Aniplex's strongest competitive advantage lies in its products.

"Of course I care, because I can't see you often, so I miss you."

Phoenix Inu Saori winked at him, her eyes sparkling like stars, making one's heart flutter.

Faced with this blatant offensive, Ryosuke was immediately defeated.

This guy, if he wants to make a request, he should just say so directly, instead of making jokes like this.

It's probably because they've been asked to do too much work and they're having second thoughts.

As the president, I really haven't taken on enough work. In any case, I should share more of the burden with Phoenix Inu Saori.

"I understand. I'll try to come to the company more often in the future. Also, you must have something important to discuss with me, right?"

He chuckled awkwardly and chose to change the subject.

"Please have a seat."

Phoenix Inu Saori chuckled softly, tapped the table, and gestured for Ryosuke to sit in the chair opposite her.

"Several months have passed, and both Clannad and FSN have sold well. The company currently has ample funds, and I plan to launch a new project and recruit some qualified programmers into the company."

Ryosuke sat down and nodded.

The other party had already made this request to me once, but I refused because he said he was temporarily busy.

But there's no problem right now; I only have the serialization of "Death Note" to deal with.

The serialization of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is progressing smoothly. The "Melancholy Arc" has been completed, and the "Disappearance Arc" is currently underway.

If I squeeze in some time, writing a script for a visual novel shouldn't be a problem.

"You can handle recruiting new people yourself. As for the new project, do you have any ideas?"

"I plan to start developing the sequel while launching the new project. You probably can't handle it all by yourself, so I'd like to find more people with script-related skills."

"FSN's setting has more potential than it does now, and it can be further developed. A sequel in the same genre should also sell very well."

Are you launching multiple business lines at the same time?

Are they preparing to heavily develop the Fate IP?

As expected, Phoenix Institute has a long-term vision.

Ryosuke glanced at the other person with considerable surprise.

As far as I remember, that's how 'TYPEMOON' did it, using Kinoko Nasu's script as the core to release generation after generation of FATE works, building a vast world around it.

This is the company's most important foundation, and also the fundamental reason why "FGO," which was launched shortly after the phone's performance was upgraded, was able to rake in huge profits.

Ryosuke wanted to do that too, but that would leave him no time for anything else.

Because he doesn't have a complete memory of all FATE works, this will definitely slow down his creation speed.

However, the suggestion made by Saori Hououin seems to make up for this.

"With you at the core, as long as you provide the character design set and the general direction of the story, I will arrange for a script planner to create your complete work, which will also reduce your workload."

"Yes, that's a good solution. This way, I can free up my hands to do other things."

Ryosuke expressed his approval.

Phoenix Inu Saori breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his answer.

'He agreed so easily; I was worried it would seem too fast.'

The reason she was so eager to expand her business lines was, of course, because of her agreement with her father.

Three months have passed since the agreed deadline.

To earn $100 million in three years, you have to hurry.

"You can make the decisions directly regarding these talent recruitments."

Ryosuke trusts his partner's abilities; even when he's not at the company, she manages it perfectly.

The development direction proposed by the advocate coincided with his own thoughts, so he was happy to relax and focus on his creative work.

"So, for your new work, have you decided on the genre yet?"

Phoenix Inu Saori raised a question.