Anime rating game

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Yasuhara Ema thought for a moment, then added somewhat flusteredly:

"However, I've never drawn comics before, these are just some layman's superficial opinions."

“That’s right.” Masamune added with a smile, “What kind of story you can create depends entirely on the individual. Others can’t offer much help in terms of the story itself. As for storyboards and dialogue, they are just some ingredients outside the story.”

Ultimately, whether it's a light novel, manga, or anime, the story itself is the most important thing.

Mashiro nodded slightly, her facial expression unchanged, but her eyes clearly showed a thoughtful look.

Chapter Thirty-Six: You're Too Easily Influenced

After a few seconds of contemplation, Masamune smiled and suggested:

"By the way, it's still early and we don't have anything to do, want to play a game?"

"What game?" Miyamori Aoi asked instinctively.

"A drawing game. Everyone draws a picture, then they put them together and compare them to see which one is more interesting."

"I can't draw."

“I’m not good at drawing either. You can draw something a little simpler. No one will laugh at you even if you draw a square. After all, the theme of the competition is to be fun, not to improve your drawing skills.”

"That's not a problem."

Seeing this, Masamune turned to look at the others.

"Where are you two?"

“I’m fine with that too.” Yasuhara Ema hesitated. “However, I didn’t bring any art supplies.”

"I want to participate." Mashiro nodded gently.

"I have art supplies here; I bought some several years ago."

After Masamune retrieved a stack of drawing paper and several unopened sets of painting supplies from the room, a very simple painting competition began.

"Considering it's just a small game, the competition time is set at one hour. The drawings don't need to be outstanding, just passable."

"Ah."

After one hour.

"That's enough, I'll stop here!"

Yasuhara Ema subconsciously put down her pen and placed the drawing in her hand on the coffee table.

Soon, the paintings of the other three people were not left aside either.

"Wow!! President, you draw so well! Didn't you say you weren't good at drawing?"

Looking at the other three paintings, Miyamori Aoi even wanted to tear up her own.

"I'm not good at it. I was in an oil painting tutoring class in my first year of high school, and my grades were mostly at the bottom. It's definitely not something you can describe as being good at."

"I shouldn't have participated in this game; I should have been the referee."

Of the four paintings on the table, all four of them unanimously chose to depict anime girls.

Aoi Miyamori's drawing is just a simple stick figure, the only interesting thing is the many ugly parts.

Ema Yasuhara's drawing was quite conventional, exactly the kind of anime character she had been pondering for the past two days—how she would design the character if she were the designer for K-On!.

Due to time constraints, it was not colored, just a simple sketch.

Mashiro's drawing is exquisite, resembling a collector's edition poster, with flawless coloring, giving one the feeling of viewing a work of art.

The girl in the painting has no expression, sitting quietly on the sofa with her knees drawn up, giving off a cold and aloof vibe.

While the painting of the young girl by Masamune was far inferior to that of the other Mashiro paintings, it was still at an average level.

The girl's hair was parted in two, half white and half black. Her JK school uniform and leather boots were also vertically divided into black and white. She wore white stockings on her left leg and black stockings on her right leg.

A wicked smile hung on his face, which, set against his black and white pupils, gave him an unparalleled air of madness.

The background behind the girl is a collapsed building, filled with a sense of devastation.

"President, what work is this character from? She must be a villain, right? Is this what they call 'evil charm,' 'yandere,' or something like that?"

"It's unlikely that this type of character will appear in the work we're producing this time. Could it be in the next episode?"

"This character seems very interesting. He's full of stories. However, this kind of character isn't suitable to be the protagonist. He'd be much more interesting as a villain."

Because Aoi Miyamori was standing too close, Masamune couldn't help but take a half step back and shake his head slightly.

"I just drew a character randomly, there's no story or anything like that."

"That's all? I thought it was a character from some work. But, the president drew it beautifully."

"Mashiro's paintings are more than ten times more beautiful than mine."

Quietly gazing at the portrait of Masamune, and hearing her own name mentioned in his words, she softly said:

"Your painting is more interesting than mine, can I have it?"

"No problem, it's just a quick doodle anyway."

"Can we play the drawing game again?"

"Mom is cooking, it's almost lunchtime, let's play another day. Besides, aren't you tired? Drawing takes a lot of energy, I'm completely exhausted."

"Not tired."

"You're not tired, but I am. Let's end it here and play again another day." Masamune paused, then asked with a smile, "By the way, does this count as me winning?"

“That’s right, you won.” Mashiro nodded gently.

Yasuhara Ema took out her phone and photographed all four paintings at the same time.

"Ema, don't post it online."

"Yes, I want to keep it for future reference."

……

The next morning.

"Mashiro, it's time to get up and have breakfast! Hey...!? Why aren't you wearing any clothes? And you're sleeping in a pile of clothes, you'll easily catch a cold."

As he was going downstairs, he suddenly heard the voice of the young girl's mother coming from the next room, and Masamune sighed helplessly.

Honestly, it's so noisy so early in the morning.

It's the weekend today, and I'm taking Mashiro to the company with me. Starting tomorrow, I'll be taking her to school in the morning and picking her up from the company in the afternoon so we can go home together. I feel like my workload has suddenly increased a lot.

However, it's all worth the effort to improve the art style, one of the seven elements of the rating.

Masamune waited in the living room on the first floor for about ten minutes before his youngest daughter's mother and Mashiro came downstairs together.

“Zong-kun, listen to me. Mashiro wanted to wear two different colored stockings, one black and one white, and it took me a lot of effort to persuade her to stop.”

Masamune was speechless. You're too easily influenced by others, aren't you?

In reality, dressing like that would be incredibly embarrassing.

"Mashiro, manga and reality are different. Nobody dresses like that in real life."

"Yes, I've given up," Mashiro replied softly as she sat down opposite him.

"That's good."

Masamune smiled and then said:

"Before we eat, let me first talk about the schedule. We'll go to the company together in the morning, then learn about the animation production process, and then guide the animators on their techniques."

"Guidance doesn't require lengthy explanations; simply point out the shortcomings in their paintings and offer suggestions for improvement."

"If necessary, you may need to draw a character design as a base image for them to use as a template."

"Let's come back together after get off work this afternoon."

"That's all for today. I'll take you to school tomorrow morning. Ema will be with you on campus. You can ask her for help if you need anything."

"Tomorrow afternoon, I will pick you up around three o'clock, as agreed."

"Afterwards, I'll go to the company and repeat today's drawing technique instruction work."

"This is roughly the schedule for the future. If you have any suggestions, we can make further changes."

Mashiro put down her chopsticks and said softly:

"I have no objection, I'll do whatever you say."

"As for the payment, please keep it with me for now."

Masamune pondered for a few seconds, then sighed:

"I'll hand it over to you once this job is finished."

If possible, he would really like to give her money every month as usual, but he knows she would definitely lose it.

"I'll listen to you," Mashiro repeated.

"If there's anywhere you'd like to go outside of the itinerary, just let me know, and I'll try my best to accommodate you whenever I have the time."

"Comic shop."

"No problem, I'll take you for a walk after dinner. There are many bookstores around here."

"amusement park."

Let's go together next weekend.

"Editorial Department".

"No problem, are you going to submit it for publication?"

"Before that, I want you to see my comics."

"When? It shouldn't be now, right?"

"After the drawing is finished."

"How much longer until you finish drawing?"

"do not know."