Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

In the 21st century Earth where I lived before reincarnation, the mecha genre was quite popular in its own way.

Of course, it wasn’t an anime genre that was extremely popular among the general public or appealed to people of all ages and genders.

Nevertheless, it was clear that it had a very thick core fanbase.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the phenomenon of ‘Gundam’ plastic models costing at least hundreds of thousands of won selling like crazy.

The buyers weren’t all suspiciously wealthy furries… I mean rich people, but they must have shown their affection for the work even at the cost of such expenditure.

As such a popular genre, mecha anime had quite a few formulas… that is, clichés that had been standardized over a long time for success.

For example, the existence of a “machine that shouldn’t exist” or a “machine that shouldn’t be allowed to exist” within a unit.

Or a hastily assembled machine made of only defective parts but equipped with a limiter release system.
Or “non-standard parts” forcibly installed.

There were plenty of these kinds of clichés that seemed forced and nonsensical, but at the same time stimulated a man’s romance.

And in making the first episode of “Machine God Chronicles”, I included an element among those clichés that was no different from a cheat key.

Berserk!

Since ancient times, isn’t it the norm for the protagonist’s machine to suddenly go berserk when the protagonist is in danger?

Moreover, the machine goes berserk when the protagonist loses consciousness, or when the power is off and it shouldn’t be able to move normally.

Why?

Because it’s just so damn cool.

Just as Skull Greymon, who underwent dark evolution, is much more powerful than Metal Greymon, who underwent normal evolution, a berserk machine also demonstrates the power to tear apart extras encountered in the first episode with one hand.

If you think about it a little, it’s far from common sense, but people watching mecha anime don’t consider such common sense at all.

Why?

Because as long as it’s cool, everything is allowed and forgiven.

So I too, without considering the aftermath or subsequent settings at all, just put in a berserk scene for the impact of the first episode.
But.

‘Hmm, I wonder if it was too much after all.’

I arbitrarily drew a berserk scene in the anime to realize my mecha-like romance.

But now that I think about it, I also felt some regret that it might have been a bit of a stretch.

Because as I said before, people in the fantasy world tend to take magic as a documentary, so they often nitpick if the setting doesn’t fit perfectly in magical terms.

In other words, right now the berserk scene might look impactful to the viewers.

But when they come to their senses the next day after the berserk high wears off, I couldn’t predict at all what kind of reaction they would show.

‘Ah, whatever. I made the scene I wanted to make, so I have no regrets even if I die now…!’

Flop.

Thinking this, I lay down on the bed with an incredibly irresponsible attitude and tried to sleep.

“Ragna, Ragna! Wake up quickly, hurry!”

“Director, it seems like something big has happened.”

The next morning, I opened my bleary eyes using Serika and Kaya’s urgent calls as my alarm clock.

“…What is it, what’s going on?”

“Well, you see-”

But Serika and Kaya looked at me with somewhat perplexed expressions and opened their mouths.

“People’s reactions in the capital are not normal right now. Regarding… the ‘Machine God Chronicles’ that aired yesterday.”

“…Hmm, is that all?”

And I didn’t feel much surprise even as I heard their words.

Because by this time, I had already expected that it would be time for the viewers’ berserk high to wear off and for them to regain their composure.

But.

“Director. Do you know what people are saying as they gather in front of the imperial palace square right now?”

“…Well, I don’t know.”

I was lying on my bed snoring through the night, how would I know that?

I’m sure they’re just saying things like send the animation director who has no common sense about magic back to Hogwarts for re-education.

However, unfortunately, the words that came out of Kaya’s mouth were something beyond my imagination.

“They don’t care about anything else, they just want the next episode right now.”

“…?”

“They’re protesting, demanding the broadcast of episode 2 of ‘Machine God Chronicles’ right now!”

“…What did you say?”

Turning back time a little, right after the broadcast of episode 1 of “Machine God Chronicles” ended.

People were staring at the merciless letters that appeared on the television with somewhat blank expressions.

[To be continued in the next episode.]
“…..”

“…..”

Most of the people here were in a state where their brains weren’t working well because they had just witnessed such a shocking scene.

Nevertheless, they still had enough intelligence left to interpret what the letters appearing on the television meant.

“To be continued in the next episode, it says…?”

“Does that mean… today’s portion ends here?”

“So when will the next episode be broadcast? Of course, they’ll take a short break and broadcast it after 10 minutes, right? Right?”

However, as if mocking everyone’s desperate wishes, new sentences began to appear following that.

[Episode 2 of “Machine God Chronicles” is scheduled to air next weekend. We ask for your continued interest and love.]

“…..”

“…..”

It’s said that there are 5 stages that people go through when they experience a shock strong enough to lead to death.

“Well, well, it seems the creator is trying to tease us. I know that episode 2 will be broadcast after 10 minutes.”

“Hahaha, this is actually a lie, right? There’s no way this reality can be true, right?”

Denial.

“Damn it! It’s been 10 minutes, why aren’t they broadcasting episode 2! Why!”

“Do you want to see me go crazy? Huh? So what happened after the Machine God went berserk!”

“Give us the next episode, the next episode!”

Anger.

“Um… Is it not possible to broadcast episode 2 quickly even if we pay money every time we watch?”

“Honestly, broadcasting one episode per week is too much… Can’t they change it to at least once every two days, or once every three days? Huh?”

Bargaining.

“Fuck… Endure a world without episode 2 of ‘Machine God Chronicles’ for a week… Is this something humans can do…?”

“I want to die… I wish someone would knock me out for a week and wake me up 10 minutes before episode 2 airs…”

Depression, and Acceptance.

And so people went through the five stages of death and slumped in their seats as if they had lost their will to live.

In fact, this was inevitable.

Most of the people gathered in this tavern were those who had experienced animation for the first time in their lives through the just-aired “Machine God Chronicles”.

They too had heard rumors that animation, and “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”, were trending among the nobles.

But because they had to pay for tickets to watch “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”, they could only suck their thumbs.

Where would people who feel that even coming to a tavern and having a beer is a considerable expense have money to go to the theater?

Therefore, they watched “Machine God Chronicles” without knowing how fun Ragna’s animation was.

And just now, they had their eyes completely rolled back while watching the Machine God’s berserk scene that Ragna had deliberately put in for dopamine release.

For commoners who had been finding the fun in life by watching street strongman shows or circuses at best, “Machine God Chronicles” was nothing short of a cultural shock.

“They shouldn’t have shown us anything from the beginning… Where on earth is there such a law…”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep properly tonight because I’m so curious about the next scene.”

Just as people were staring blankly at the turned-off television with dejected expressions.

“…Everyone here.”

Jump.

Someone who had been watching the animation with a dazed look until now suddenly stood up and opened their mouth.

“Don’t you think it’s too regrettable to give up everything like this?”

The person who uttered those words was a quite young man.

Well, he looked considerably older than his actual age because he had grown a mustache under his nose.

“I’m a student who applied to the Imperial Art Academy and failed. Well, I was just drinking beer in a tavern just now, shocked from failing art school.”

“And?”

“Because I studied art, I know well what value the animation that was just broadcast has. It is clearly no different from a masterpiece created by an artist with tremendous skill, putting their soul into it.”

The mustached student said this with an expression of admiration.

“A work of that quality cannot be produced overnight. Even at the shortest, it would take days or months of time investment to make it possible.”

“…So what exactly do you want to say?”

“I don’t know for sure, but there’s a high possibility that the animation creator has already made episode 2.”

“What?”

“Is that really true?”

At the mustached student’s words, everyone in this tavern brightened their eyes.

In their eyes, despair had already been replaced by hope.

“For some unknown reason, the animation creator has made episode 2 but is not revealing it. Well, the creator probably has their own circumstances for revealing episode 2 next week. But.”

“…But?”

“That’s the creator’s personal circumstances, isn’t it none of our business?”

“…!”

“Isn’t it wrong in the first place to end episode 1 of ‘Machine God Chronicles’ like this and make us wait until next week? Does he have the qualifications as an animation creator to not broadcast the anime when we are so curious about the next episode? I don’t think so…”

The mustached student’s words had a bizarrely powerful magic, and the people here felt as if they were being enchanted by his eloquence.

“That’s why I think everyone needs to rise up. If we just sit here and lament our fate, episode 2 of ‘Machine God Chronicles’ will be broadcast next week, but if we join forces and show the power of the people, something might change, don’t you think?”

“Oh… Indeed, that’s not wrong!”

“That’s right. If we just sit here, nothing will change!”

Moreover, everyone here had drunk beer to the point of tipsiness, so their judgment was blurred.
In other words, to put it simply, they weren’t in their right minds.
And when these drunk people who weren’t in their right minds fell for the temptation of an agitator with a devil’s tongue, an absurd synergy began to occur.

“So let’s stand up. Show the power of the people, and the power of the viewers! Viewers of all countries, unite!”
“Unite!”

“Let’s show our power to make the creator release episode 2 tomorrow!”

“Woohoo! Let’s go!”
It was the real beginning of the revolution.