Tokyo: Oreimo

Her canvas bag swayed gently at her side.

"Ayumi-senpai's original artwork is quite good, Takeda's programming is also very meticulous, and you've seen the president's enthusiasm. Everyone has been working on this project for more than half a year. If in the end we can only produce a half-finished product due to budget issues, it just feels like..."

"Feeling resentful?" Ryosuke continued her question.

Ling Nai did not deny it.

Of course, she was unwilling to give up. This was the first time the comic club had made a game, and it was also the first time she had participated in a collective creation in the form of "helping to look at the artwork".

Although she didn't directly put pen to paper, every time Ayumi brought her original artwork for her to revise, she could feel the satisfaction of teaching others the techniques she knew little by little and watching them improve.

This feeling is completely different from when I used to draw on my own or collaborate with Ryosuke alone.

Previously, making games was Rumiko Takashiro's job; they were commercial works, and they had to be perfect finished products.

But this time was different. This time, a group of people were making a ruckus in the activity room, staying up all night to finish their drafts, arguing for half a day over a single line of dialogue, and then looking forward to bringing their work to COMI.

This atmosphere reminded her of when she first worked with Ryosuke on "Cardcaptor Sakura." It wasn't for money or performance; they just wanted to tell a good story and make the people who received the finished product think, "This is truly a great work."

"You've always been very demanding of your work, haven't you?" Ling Nai turned to look at him. "You even came to me to borrow money when we were working on FSN, so it would be very unfair if everyone's hard work was lost because of the lack of voice actors."

She bit her lip.

"If you really don't have the budget, I can pay for that part."

Ryosuke stopped in his tracks.

Ling Nai took two steps forward before realizing he had stopped, and turned around to look at him.

"You'll pay?"

"Why? I've saved up a bit now, so I can afford to hire a few voice actors."

She crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, and spoke with an unquestionable certainty, "I'm one of the three major shareholders of Aniplex. Who do you think I am?"

"Anyway, there's nowhere to spend the money. This money is just sitting there anyway, so it's better to use it on everyone's hard work than to let it lie in the bank account."

Ryosuke looked at Ling Nai's face under the streetlight, a face that seemed to say "I've thought this through all along," and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He wasn't really that obsessed with being a voice actor.

Many fan-made games don't have voice acting, and players won't deny the quality of a work because of that.

Making a version without voice acting when the budget is limited is perfectly normal in the fanfiction community.

But Ling Nai clearly didn't think so, or rather, after working with me for so many years, she had become accustomed to the standard of "perfection".

It's not that she's changed, it's that I've set my standards too high.

He really is a good student he taught.

"You don't need to pay."

Ling Nai frowned. "So, are you going to contribute? The club's budget is limited, as the president just mentioned..."

"I'll figure out a way to solve the budget problem."

Ryosuke put one hand in his pocket and said in a flat tone, "As for voice actors, I have some connections with SP. I can contact them and see if we can get a discount. If there's still a budget shortfall, I also have some ways to solve it."

He did not elaborate on his method.

Ling Nai opened her mouth, as if to say something, but in the end she didn't ask.

That's how it's always been; he'll say "I'll figure something out," and then the problem will be solved in a couple of days.

From helping her resolve Iori Setsuna's contract issue at the beginning to easing her relationship with Ruri later, he never made promises about uncertain matters in advance, but since he had spoken up, it meant he already had a plan in mind.

"Hmph." Ling Nai turned her head away. "Since you've said so, I'll assume you really have a solution. But if you can't handle it, remember to let me know. My money is always available."

"understood."

"What do you mean 'I understand'? Shouldn't you say 'thank you' at this point?"

"Yes, thank you, Miss Ling Nai."

"Your tone is completely insincere!"

Ling Nai raised her foot as if to kick him, but Liang Jie dodged to the side. The two walked a few steps on the Ginkgo Avenue, and then Ling Nai suddenly spoke again.

"Actually," her voice was a little softer than before, "how did you feel when Kobayashi and the others told you to join Aniplex in the activity room today?"

"How does it feel?"

"That's the feeling. When everyone there doesn't know you're the president, and they keep saying good things about you, saying you can become a key member, how do you feel? Are you proud? Amused? Or secretly pleased?"

She turned her head to look at Ryosuke's profile. The light from the streetlamp fell from above, softening the contours of his face more than usual.

Ryosuke thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'm very happy to see that they can recognize my abilities as a writer."

Ling Nai blinked.

"that's it?"

"that's it."

"Don't you think they're being silly? The president is right in front of them, and they keep talking about how to get into Aniplex."

“I don’t think so.” Ryosuke shook his head. “From another perspective, what they said wasn’t anything strange, and the fact that their own members agree with it proves that the company is on the right track.”

Ling Nai stared at him for a few seconds, then turned her gaze back to the road ahead.

That's just how this guy is. He's a pragmatist at heart and doesn't like playing the empty game. I've been by his side for three years, and I know that best.

"When do you plan to go to SP Agency?" Ling Nai changed the subject.

"I'll contact Shinpei Ito in a couple of days and ask him if he has any suitable voice actors. I'll try to finalize the voice actors before the rainy season ends, so that Takeda will still have time to implement the audio."

“I’ll go too, I’m the art director.”

Ryosuke glanced at her.

"The art director doesn't care about voice acting when selecting actors."

“I said I’ll take care of it.” Ling Nai slung the canvas bag over her shoulder and quickened her pace to walk ahead of him.

Ryosuke chuckled.

He could probably guess what his sister was thinking; she was probably afraid of running into someone there.

Chapter 283 Voice Actor Discount

On Wednesday afternoon, Ryosuke pushed open the glass door of SP Agency.

The receptionist looked up, recognized him, and stood up immediately. "President Takashiro, Ito's manager is already waiting for you. Please come with me."

Ryosuke followed her through the corridor, with Ling Nai walking beside him, her gaze sweeping over the newly hung posters on the wall.

The Dream Chaser tour poster took up the largest space, with a half-length portrait of Shizuka Hayakawa at the very front, her blue-streaked bangs gleaming coldly under the lights.

"Agent Ito has recently signed several new groups of talent," the receptionist said, pushing open the door to the meeting room. "The agency has expanded considerably since last year."

Shinpei Ito was already waiting in the reception room.

He was wearing a light gray summer suit with his tie loosely hanging at the collar. On the coffee table in front of him were several voice actor profiles and a price list.

Seeing Ryosuke enter, he stood up and bowed slightly, saying, "Long time no see."

Ryosuke sat down opposite him.

Ling Nai naturally sat down on the sofa next to Ryosuke, placing her canvas bag at her feet and her hands folded on her knees, maintaining an upright posture.

"This time, I mainly want to discuss a batch of short-term voice actor commissions," Ryosuke said bluntly. "We need about five people, with a recording period of about two weeks, for the voice acting of one visual novel."

"Not an Aniplex project?" Ito took the folder and opened the first page.

"No, it's a fan-made game by my university club. We have a budget limit, so I'd like to see if you can offer a suitable discount."

Ito flipped through the materials; script excerpts and character settings were attached, formatted in a very standard way, clearly the work of Ryosuke.

“It’s a fan-made game.” Ito put down the documents and stroked his chin. “You know the different fee tiers for voice actors. Five people recording for two weeks, the fee isn’t high.”

"What is the approximate budget?"

Ryosuke gave a number.

Two million yen—that's the remaining royalties from "Kara no Kyoukai" that he has, since it hasn't been released for long and sales haven't picked up yet.

Using the revenue from this source to support the manga research institute, and then making up for it later, is perfectly reasonable.

Ito's lips twitched.

"To be honest, I can't accept that number."

"The newcomers in Group A and Group B are no good?"

“The hourly rate for newcomers in Group B is much higher than what you’re asking for,” Ito said with a wry smile. “It might have been okay two or three years ago, but the voice actor market has skyrocketed. Even for newly signed newcomers, the lowest quote from the agency is more than three times your budget.”

Ling Nai had an expression that said, "I knew this would happen."

She knew this would be the result; after voice actors like Sumika Kujo voiced characters in "Fate," their prices have skyrocketed.

"So?" Ling Nai couldn't help but ask.

Ito glanced at her, then turned to Ryosuke and said carefully, "Actually, there is a compromise."

"tell me the story."

“If the bet is placed under the name of Aniplex, we can go with the long-term discount offered by our partners, which can reduce the cost to about half of the current quote, barely meeting your required budget.”

Ryosuke did not answer immediately.

Issuing the game under the Aniplex name does not mean that this fan-made game by Manga Research Institute will be associated with Aniplex.

It's essentially just using Aniplex's name to enjoy discounts, which is an excuse that Shinpei Ito used to report to the company.

Is this considered a discount based on obligation?

"Thank you very much then." Ryosuke smiled.

Since the establishment of Aniplex, the company has always chosen to cooperate with SP for voice acting business, and SP has made a lot of money from him in the past two years.

This incident also helped to promote many voice actors, so it's only natural that they enjoy this benefit.

Shinpei Ito took a pen from his suit pocket, wrote a new line of numbers on the price list in front of him, and then pushed it to Ryosuke.

“If we issue the contract under the name ANIPLEX, I can offer a long-term cooperation discount. Five people for two weeks, including the cost of the recording studio, totaling 2.1 million yen.” He paused. “This is the lowest price I can offer. If I push it any lower, it will be difficult to explain to the agency.”