Chapter 753

It did indeed rain during the night~ The weather got a bit colder.

By morning, the rain had stopped, but the sky remained gloomy; it was unclear how long this rainy weather would last.

Looking at the sky outside, Naoki Nagayama had the urge to recite a doggerel poem like "New rain in Tokyo, autumn arrives in the evening," but he put the thought aside... One shouldn't be too thick-skinned!

Akina Mori had already gone out to work early; there were too many year-end programs... However, for Naoki Nagayama, there were no major events for the next few days, and his homebody nature had kicked in, so he just wanted to stay in Sanyingyuan for a while.

"Eitaro, be happy, today your master has the whole day to play with you!"

Scratching the dog's head, Naoki Nagayama, having finished breakfast, made a big promise, but he broke his word soon after...

In the second-floor study, many manuscript papers were arranged on the desk, and Naoki Nagayama was bent over, organizing them.

"Scripts, songs... and some novel fragments..."

The "golden finger" that seemed to have updated once was generally very good; it increased the range of his memories and reduced the pressure on his brain, but it also had a drawback... the things he recalled now were always incomplete.

"Which animation should I start producing next year?" Naoki Nagayama wavered between the scripts for "The Garden of Words," "My Neighbor Totoro," and "Neon Genesis Evangelion"~

"In this era..."

Naoki Nagayama thought for a moment and discovered to his surprise that he didn't really understand the hobbies of young people today... the animations and comics they loved to watch...

If they were in their teens... Naoki Nagayama searched his mind and suddenly realized he didn't seem to have any teenage friends...

"Wait... I think I do..."

Just at this moment, the ultimate tool-man, Daio Otomo, came online again! His son happened to be that age!

And his family had been quite wealthy in recent years, so he had enough pocket money to pursue these hobbies~

Wait, Shuichi-san's daughter, Regarding Jia Yi Yin Tang, also seemed to be a potential viewer!

Daio Otomo, who was at the studio, was very confused when he received the call.

"Naoki-san, you want to find Jingxin to consult about something?" Daio Otomo asked with some uncertainty. "Are you sure? Find him?"

"Hai, it's about the hobbies of teenagers... It has something to do with next year's animation project." Naoki Nagayama said. "I also want to consult Regarding Jia Yi-chan later..."

"Nani? Why consult Regarding Jia Yi-chan?"

Shuichi Yin Tang's voice suddenly came through the receiver. This daughter-obsessed father's vigilance shot up the moment he heard Regarding Jia Yi Yin Tang's name.

"It's just about things like the hobbies of teenagers today..." Naoki Nagayama explained again. "Because if I just went out on the street and asked a random teenager, it would definitely be awkward, right~"

"Animation?" Once Shuichi Yin Tang understood the situation, he didn't say anything more.

However, Daio Otomo became serious. Since it involved next year's plans, he took it very seriously:

"Naoki-san... if you want to understand the current animation hobbies of teenagers, two individual cases might not be enough..."

Naoki Nagayama realized this too: "Then what does Otomo-san mean?"

"Hmm... I think we have good relationships with Fuji TV and TV Asahi right now, and we have some connections at TV Tokyo... Our relationship with TBS is a bit weaker, but we do know people there..."

Daio Otomo thought for a moment and offered an idea,

"Why don't we conduct a survey at these television stations... distribute questionnaires among the programs that teenagers mainly watch... and collect the answers..."

This experienced middle-aged man was more meticulous in his thinking than the young people. He had only mentioned an idea, yet he had already perfected the rough plan...

"Hmm... this is a great idea..." Naoki Nagayama replied. "However, I only have a rough idea right now and haven't clarified the underlying logic. I'll communicate with Jingxin-kun and Regarding Jia Yi-chan first to sort out a concrete set of requirements, and then align the granularity with you and the others, Otomo-san..."

As soon as he thought about project issues, the workplace mindset from his later life flooded his mind, and he spoke industry jargon without realizing it.

"?"

Daio Otomo and Shuichi Yin Tang, who were listening together in the office, were both completely confused. Naoki Nagayama, what are you saying? How come I understand every word, but when they're put together, I don't understand it but feel it's profound?!

"Ahem... Naoki-san, I can more or less understand the 'underlying logic' you mentioned, and 'concrete' probably means something that can be executed... What does 'align the granularity' mean?"

Daio Otomo had been in the workplace for so many years that he could still more or less understand.

"Ah... 'align' means communicating and unifying, and 'granularity' means the level of detail..." Naoki Nagayama had to cover it up. "I accidentally slipped into the jargon from when I'm drawing~"

"So that's how it is..."

Daio Otomo nodded,

"Jingxin and Regarding Jia Yi-chan should both be at school; they probably won't be able to call Naoki-san back until tonight... So, how about Shuichi-san and I align that, granularity? I mean, the resources at the TV stations..."

"..." Naoki Nagayama felt as if he had brought something strange into the workplace of the Showa era...

"Then I'll leave it to you..."

After hanging up the phone, the office was silent for a short while, but Shuichi Yin Tang spoke first:

"Naoki-san is truly full of strange and curious ideas~"

"That's right... he is Naoki-san, after all~" Daio Otomo echoed.

Just at this moment, the office door was knocked, and the distribution department's Yoshihiko Sugiyama and Eiichiro Watanabe walked in:

"Shuichi-san... Otomo-san, the box office data for the two recent films has been compiled... and the promotional plan for 'Crows Zero 2' has also been preliminarily completed..."

Shuichi Yin Tang nodded: "Alright, then let's align the granularity..."

"???"

Since they wouldn't have time until the evening, Naoki Nagayama wasn't in a hurry to decide on next year's project.

The cold autumn wind blew in from the second-floor window, bringing a chill that made one clear-headed, but this was just the right season for reading.

After stretching, he touched Eitaro, who was lying to the side, once more, and then took out a copy of "In Search of Lost Time" to read~

One hundred world classics, he had almost finished one-tenth of them!

Suddenly, a large orange cat ran over from downstairs, jumped up with effort from the floor, awkwardly burrowed onto Naoki Nagayama's lap, and then found a comfortable angle to lie down...

"You actually treat me as a human electric blanket..."

Naoki Nagayama gently stroked the orange cat's spine, slowly making the large orange cat emit a purring sound, while he read and muttered to himself,

"The French upper-class aristocracy... the luxurious style of that era is far inferior to what we have now... Times are indeed developing..."

The dog at his feet yawned and buried its head on the carpet~

The atmosphere in the study felt quiet and peaceful...