A week quickly passed by.
Since Ren redeemed the three works a week ago, he had been busy.
He needed to draw the character designs and storyboards for "Bleach" and "Cardcaptor Sakura" to give to his assistants.
As for "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Knights"? Since it was his favorite, he decided to draw it himself.
After a busy week, he finally finished the drafts for these two works and gathered his assistants.
When his assistants arrived, they all had smiles on their faces.
They remembered that a similar event happened not long ago, where they each got the opportunity to draw a manga.
Even though they didn't create the story, only doing the artwork, by constantly imitating, learning, and drawing, they could learn certain techniques and eventually come up with their own good plots.
Felix squeezed next to Ren, smiling broadly. "Teacher, is it a new manga? Is it the one you promised me?"
Previously, he was supposed to draw "Ultraman Tiga," but Jada, who loved Ren dearly, bought a tokusatsu company to bring Ren's work to the screen.
So, the Ultraman project was taken away, but his teacher promised to give him something good next time.
"No!" Ren said coolly.
Seeing Felix's hopeful face turn into disappointment, Ren handed him a storyboard and smiled. "Just kidding. Here, this is for you. It's perfect for you!"
Felix looked up, surprised, and took the storyboard from Ren.
The title caught his eye.
"Bleach." Look at that powerful name, Bleach!
While Felix was looking at "Bleach," Ren turned to Claire and Jaz. "These are for you. You'll need to work hard, drawing both 'Cooking Master Boy' and 'Cardcaptor Sakura.'"
"Cardcaptor Sakura?" The three assistants' eyes widened in unison.
Was their teacher planning another heart-wrenching series?
The despair from "Madoka Magica" was still fresh in everyone's minds. Now there was "Cardcaptor Sakura"?
Did their teacher have a grudge against the magical girl genre?
"…"
Ren looked at the horrified trio and fell silent.
Was his magical girl genre really that terrifying? It was a great story!
'Oh well, they don't understand my passion,' Ren thought to himself. 'It's important for children to know about the world's darkness. I chose to create "Madoka Magica" to teach my daughter about the dark side of the world. This is all fatherly love! This is what they call fatherly love as strong as a mountain.'
Clearing his throat, Ren tapped the table with his finger. "It's not a tragedy. It's not 'Madoka Magica,' it's 'Cardcaptor Sakura.' This is not a sad story."
"Really?" The three looked at Ren skeptically, not quite believing him.
"The storyboards and designs are all here. You'll see."
After entrusting the two works to his assistants and students, Ren felt relieved.
He planned to take a break and go on a trip with his wife and child as a belated honeymoon. Since they missed the wedding ceremony, they should enjoy the honeymoon. Ren even took some time off from Yueyue's kindergarten.
Weekends alone wouldn't be enough time to enjoy it.
Just as Ren was humming a song, waiting for tomorrow, his phone rang on the table.
Ren glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered, "Hey, honey, what's up?"
"Our honeymoon might have to wait."
Hearing Jada's words, Ren felt a bit flustered.
"What? What's going on? We were all set to go. How come it's not happening?"
"I have some good news for you."
Ren listened to Jada's words and was stunned.
Honeymoon canceled, good news... Could it be…
A smile slowly spread across Ren's face. "Are you...?"
"What are you thinking? Not yet!" Jada teased, making her secretary shiver and quickly leave the room.
She had never heard her boss speak in such a tone.
Love indeed changes people. Since her husband returned, the boss had been a different person.
Jada continued, "The animation movie project for 'Your Name' has been approved."
??
Ren, who was initially a bit disappointed, was now surprised.
An animation movie?
An animation movie refers to a film made using animation. If not strictly defined, even theatrical versions of series like "Conan" and "One Piece" could be considered part of the genre.
But strictly speaking, an animation movie is a large-scale film made in the animation format, like "Spirited Away," "Millennium Actress," "Havoc in Heaven," "Lotus Lantern," and "Frozen."
Typically, a manga would first be adapted into an anime series based on market reaction before getting a movie adaptation.
After all, animation movies are a big deal.
Just like how movie directors often look down on TV series directors, they're on different levels.
The revenue and fame an animation movie brings are immense. Ren thought that if the movie got made, he wouldn't even need to release new works. The reputation from the movie would be enough to exchange for his next set of works.
"That's great news," Ren said, smiling.
In his previous life, "Your Name" was released as an animation movie. Ren had published it as a manga, and due to its short length, the story didn't fully shine in the manga format.
Many elements that could only be showcased in an animation movie weren't conveyed in the manga.
"But I want to fight for the scriptwriting position."
Writing an animation script is similar to writing a regular movie script but requires more detail.
Live-action scripts often rely on real locations, so minor details like passing cars can be decided during filming.
In animation, everything needs to be specified, since the drawings are static, and there can't be any uncertainties.
The script helps animators understand the story's progression. After the "storyboarding" phase, different artists take on parts of the animation to create a cohesive piece.
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