President's office.
Production Department Head Kenichi Matsumoto suddenly ran over and asked anxiously, "President, I just heard the news, did you post an announcement about taking a break online?"
"Yeah."
Lin Zhiyan nodded, "Why? Is there a problem?"
"No, no, it just feels a bit sudden." Kenichi Matsumoto shook his head.
Afterwards, several other people came to ask Lin Zhiyan about the break announcement, including the Animation Department Head, the Cinematography Department Head, the 3D Department Head, and the employees who had first followed Lin Zhiyan from IG to L.S Produ.
There were others who didn't dare to approach Lin Zhiyan to ask about the situation, but that didn't mean they weren't surprised. In fact, almost everyone in the company was surprised by Lin Zhiyan's decision.
Lin Zhiyan's friends in the animation industry, upon learning that he was going to take a break for a while, also called him one after another or sent messages on LINE to ask what was going on.
To this, his uniform reply was: "It's nothing, I just want to take a break for a while and focus my main energy on the company first."
To this, his standard reply was: "Nothing special, I just want to take a break for a while and focus my main energy on the company first."
In the past, Lin Zhiyan would have needed to worry that not making animation for six or seven years would cause his popularity to plummet, leading to audiences not buying in when he finally released new work.
That is no longer an issue for Lin Zhiyan.
After all, having become a world-class animation director, even if he doesn't make an animation for six or seven years, audiences will likely still remember him when he eventually releases something new.
Since the audience will remember him, taking a few years off is not a problem.
Moreover, he used to produce an animation almost every year. "Your Name" took longer, but it still took less than two and a half years. Now, the only work Lin Zhiyan can "copy" is "Weathering with You," and even if he were to copy it, it would require major revisions, which couldn't possibly be finished in two and a half years.
If he doesn't do "Weathering with You" and chooses to do his own original animation instead, it would be difficult to complete even in three years. Under these circumstances, it is certainly better to issue an announcement letting everyone think he wants to take a break.
Regardless, Lin Zhiyan's announcement of a break caused quite a splash in the industry.
Television stations wouldn't report on it, but every single animation-related media outlet mentioned it.
Even on the trending search lists of major online platforms, related topics appeared.
The entire internet was abuzz with discussion:
"The director of 'Your Name' is stopping making animation?"
In fact, related topics even appeared on the trending lists of major online platforms.
The entire internet was abuzz with discussion:
"The director of 'Your Name' is quitting animation?"
"Who said that?"
"He's not quitting animation, he just said he's going to take a break for a while."
"What a pity. 'Your Name' is a global hit; shouldn't he strike while the iron is hot and make the next animation immediately? Why decide to take a break at such a critical moment?"
"Maybe the pressure is too high?"
"'Your Name' is too good. I feel like no matter what he makes next, it won't be able to surpass 'Your Name'. If it were me, I wouldn't do it either."
"He's made enough money. 'Your Name' grossed over 25 billion yen; that's more than enough money to last a lifetime, so why make more animation?"
"If you don't know what you're talking about, don't just spout nonsense, okay? Even if 'Your Name' grossed 25 billion, it's lucky if LSP gets 8 billion. That amount of money is actually less than what Lin Zhiyan made from his previous animations, not to mention his game company, LSG, is also super profitable. How could he possibly stop making animation just because he made a fortune from 'Your Name'?"
After all, not everyone is a fan of Lin Zhiyan, and not everyone understands him. When things don't go mainstream, people's comments are relatively rational. Once they go mainstream, naturally, all sorts of monsters and demons emerge, pretending to know things they don't, while engaging in cold sarcasm and mockery.
For those who aren't even fans, Lin Zhiyan had no intention of paying them any mind; he simply ignored their comments.
However, there was one topic on the forum that piqued his interest, which was a discussion about his goal as a producer:
"Old Thief Lin said he'd aim for two 'number ones' first—he certainly dares to dream. Whether it's EVA or Spirited Away, they are both legendary, hegemon-level works. Even his own Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Your Name could only settle for second place. If he only acts as a producer and doesn't serve as the supervising director, how could he possibly surpass those two anime?"
"I can only say that Lin Zhiyan is dreaming! I have to admit he has great talent and skill in animation production, but the disc sales of EVA and the box office of Spirited Away are absolutely unshakable."
"If Lin Zhiyan didn't choose to take a break at this time, but instead continued to produce animated films, and created one with quality not inferior to Your Name but with a wider audience, then it's indeed not impossible to surpass Spirited Away at the box office. As for EVA, don't even think about it."
"Actually, EVA's initial sales were only 110,000, not even as good as Puella Magi Madoka Magica's, but the anime is just too classic. Plus, they released several versions—VCD, DVD, BD—with each new version adding tens of thousands to the sales, and they keep churning out theatrical films. Under these circumstances, no other anime could possibly be a rival in terms of sales."
"EVA is the anime that saved the animation industry; the entire era back then was on its side. For a new century anime to have Puella Magi Madoka Magica's sales is already a miracle among miracles. It is absolutely impossible for any anime to surpass EVA's sales."
"That's right, even if Lin Zhiyan summoned Lelouch to use the 'King's Power,' it would be useless. It's impossible to make an anime that surpasses EVA in disc sales or Spirited Away in box office. He can't do it himself, and his company can't do it either."
"Heh, if one day he actually manages to create an anime project that surpasses EVA in disc sales or Spirited Away in box office, I'll livestream myself eating shit, and I wouldn't have any complaints."
"To the guy above, don't be so sure of yourself, that stuff is impossible to swallow."
If he had been reborn from 2018, Lin Zhiyan would certainly have thought that surpassing "EVA" in disc sales and "Spirited Away" in box office was pure wishful thinking.
But unfortunately, Lin Zhiyan was not reborn from 2018, but from 2022.
He knew very well that there really was an anime that could surpass "EVA" in disc sales. Although it hadn't surpassed it by the time he was reborn—there was still a tiny gap—and its ability to surpass it had a lot to do with "the power of kings" being inserted, in addition to the anime itself being good enough.
In addition, it was also true that there was an anime that surpassed "Spirited Away" at the box office, it just happened to have the right timing and favorable conditions, and it wasn't solely because the anime itself was excellent enough.
If you haven't experienced it, you can't believe it, and there's no way around that.
The only thing Lin Zhiyan could do was silently take screenshots of the flags the netizens had planted and save them on his computer, so he could take them out and use them at any time in the future.
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