In the L.S Produ president's office.
Lin Zhiyan welcomed a guest, anime magazine reporter Fukuda Miyuki.
The purpose of Fukuda Miyuki's visit was, of course, to interview Lin Zhiyan. However, after meeting him, she didn't start the interview immediately, instead exchanging pleasantries: "President Lin, it's been a long time."
"It has been a while," Lin Zhiyan nodded and invited Fukuda Miyuki to take a seat.
After Lin Zhiyan said he would temporarily shift his focus to being a producer in 2014, he hadn't accepted many media interviews. Without new works or topics of interest, the media wasn't very interested in him either.
In 2016, after "A Silent Voice," directed by Naoko Yamada, was released, Fukuda Miyuki did visit L.S Produ for an interview, but the primary subject was Naoko Yamada, not Lin Zhiyan.
Of course, since it was at L.S Produ, the interview took place within the company, so Lin Zhiyan and Fukuda Miyuki had met and greeted each other at that time.
However, in the 18 years since then, it's been nearly two years since we last met; it really has been a while.
To be honest, it was a bit surprising that Miyuki Fukuda would choose to interview him this time, but upon further reflection, it wasn't actually that strange.
In 2014 and 2015, the main anime produced by L.S Produ were the second season and the theatrical film of "Love Live!", respectively. Although the project was initially proposed and spearheaded by Tomohiko Lin, compared to him as the project manager, the voice actors and the characters in the anime clearly generated more buzz and received more attention.
Even if there were to be interviews, the first choice would only be the voice actors, followed by the director and the on-site executive producer.
For 2016's "A Silent Voice", it was also Director Naoko Yamada and the voice actors who garnered more attention. After that, it was the original manga author, Yoshitoki Oima, who received the most focus, while Tomohiko Lin... most people probably felt that other than the fact that this anime was produced by L.S Produ, which he founded, it had nothing to do with him.
The 2017 major release, "Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale," was in a similar situation. In any case, it wasn't promoted using Lin Zhiyan's name, so naturally, audiences wouldn't pay attention to him because of this animation.
The current "Uma Musume" is different. Although the director isn't Lin Zhiyan either, his name was used in the promotion. Coupled with the fact that he was the one who proposed both the game and the animation projects, it has received relatively more attention from the audience. Under these circumstances, it's quite normal for the media to want to interview him.
After some pleasantries, the interview officially began.
However, Miyuki Fukuda didn't start with questions related to the content of "Uma Musume." Instead, she said: "President Lin, for the past few years, many netizens have speculated that you are planning to create an animation project that can surpass "EVA" in disc sales and "Spirited Away" at the box office, before producing an animation that you personally direct. Is this true?"
As someone who frequently follows online public opinion and often lurks on forums, Lin Zhiyan was naturally aware of the related discussions online, but he hadn't expected Fukuda Miyuki to ask this question first.
He paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "You could say that, but it's not entirely correct."
"Hmm?"
Fukuda Miyuki couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled; she didn't quite understand what Lin Zhiyan meant.
Lin Zhiyan smiled and explained, "In fact, the planning document and script for my new animation are already complete, and I am currently drawing the layouts bit by bit myself. However, because I have quite a lot to keep me busy every day, it probably won't enter the official production stage until next year or the year after. The release date might be '22 or even '23."
"Does that mean we still have to wait another four or five years?" Fukuda Miyuki didn't know whether she should be happy or not.
Being able to see another animation personally directed by Lin Zhiyan was naturally something to be happy about, but having to wait another four or five years was just a bit too long.
On second thought, she had already waited five years from '13 until now, so waiting another five wasn't exactly impossible. It was certainly better than Lin Zhiyan retiring his pen and never releasing another animation directed by himself again.
"Wait!"
She suddenly realized something. "Since you already have a new animation project, what did that mean, what you just said?"
What did you mean by "you could say that, but it's not entirely correct"? If you already have a new animation project, doesn't that mean the netizens' guesses are wrong?
Lin Zhiyan naturally knew which "sentence" she was referring to. He waved his hand, signaling her to calm down, and then continued to explain, "An animation where I personally serve as Supervising Director will indeed take another four or five years, but the animations that our L.S Produ has focused on these past few years are all ones I have been heavily involved in and can be considered my animations, including this season's Uma Musume..."
He paused, then added, "Also, regarding the goal I mentioned before as a producer—to produce an animation that can surpass EVA in disc sales and Spirited Away in box office—although I haven't been able to achieve it in the past few years, there is hope to realize them one by one in the next two or three years. If all goes well, it might even be completed before the new animation that I personally direct is released."
"Um..."
Fukuda Miyuki was a bit surprised. "Does that mean that between '18 and '21, over these few years, your L.S. Produ will release anime that have the potential to achieve your goal as a producer?"
"Yes."
Lin Zhiyan nodded. "Of course, the current anime market is unpredictable, and even I wouldn't dare say I've completely mastered the secret to success, so it's only a hope. Whether it will actually allow me to achieve my goal is hard to say. But regardless of whether it succeeds or not, an anime that I personally direct will be released in '22 or '23, so that's why I said the netizens' guesses are right, but not entirely correct."
"I see," Fukuda Miyuki said, looking like she understood.
After a moment of thought, she asked again, "This year, which is '18, L.S. Produ's main anime will only be Uma Musume, right? Aside from that, will there be any other major anime this year?"
From 2014 to 2018, L.S Produ did indeed only have one flagship animation per year, but there was no rule stating that an animation company could only focus on one flagship production a year. Back in 2013, for instance, L.S Produ even had two flagship animations: Your Name and Attack on Titan.
Moreover, while the number of animations produced directly by L.S Produ has been steadily decreasing over the years—with more projects being shifted to L.S animation—it's not as if they only do one production a year; it's just that the others aren't considered "flagship" titles.
Lin Zhiyan had said they hoped to reach their goal in two or three years, so it was possible there could be other flagship animations this year.
Lin Zhiyan, however, didn't hold back regarding this.
He shook his head: "No, there's only Uma Musume this year, but that's enough. The rest are flagship animations for next year."
"You seem very optimistic about Uma Musume?" Fukuda Miyuki couldn't help but ask.
"You could say that."
Lin Zhiyan confirmed, "Its current performance is already enough for me to be optimistic about this animation, but I'm even more optimistic about its future performance. This animation can go much further in the future; you can look forward to it."
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