If we're talking about the most popular anime of this season, it's undoubtedly L.S Produ's Uma Musume. However, the most popular person in the anime industry this season isn't Lin Zhiyan, but Nishi Yano, the character designer and chief animation director for the anime The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!.
The reason for their sudden popularity is primarily because Nishi Yano cosplayed as Ai Hinatsuru from The Ryuo's Work is Never Done! and uploaded it online. The cosplay was incredibly accurate, which caused it to go viral.
Of course, it also has a lot to do with their appearance.
Although Nishi Yano isn't tall at all—you could even say they are very short—they are still quite attractive. After becoming popular, they were even hailed by many media outlets as a "beautiful animation director."
Among the audience, there are quite a few fans who are only there for Nishi Yano's looks.
Lin Zhiyan, however, wasn't drawn in by Nishi Yano's appearance. After all, he's seen plenty of beautiful people, and in his eyes, Nishi Yano is just okay—not exceptionally beautiful. There are actually quite a few people in the industry more attractive than Nishi Yano; it's just that those people are more low-key.
If one were to include the voice acting industry, there would be even more people prettier than Yano Nishi. Given this, Lin Zhiyan naturally didn't have any particular feelings about it.
He was just a little surprised. He knew Yano Nishi liked cosplay, but he hadn't expected her to wear a cosplay outfit while working.
Surprised as he was, it wasn't an issue. As long as it didn't affect her work, Lin Zhiyan wouldn't stop her from wearing such clothes.
He shook his head and was about to leave when Yano Nishi, as if sensing something, turned her head to look.
Seeing it was Lin Zhiyan, she hurriedly stopped her work and called out, "President."
Lin Zhiyan nodded in acknowledgement, then asked, "Are you imitating Rinko Ogasawara from 'Shirobako', wearing a character's costume to get into character while you draw?"
As far as Lin Zhiyan knew, the Yano Nishi from the other timeline had entered the animation industry only after watching the studio feel.'s "Yosuga no Sora" and wanting to draw such erotically charged characters; otherwise, she might have entered the voice acting industry instead of the animation industry.
In other words, her reason for entering the industry had nothing to do with "Shirobako," as she had entered the industry in 2012, while "Shirobako" was an anime from 2014.
The timeline Lin Zhiyan was in was different; the anime "Shirobako" had been released in October 2010.
In 2012, Nishi Yano graduated from an animation vocational school. Lin Zhiyan didn't know if she had interviewed at other animation companies, but she did interview at L.S Produ, and Lin Zhiyan had ordered her to be hired.
During the interview, Nishi Yano had mentioned "Shirobako," saying that it was after watching this anime that she decided to fully commit herself to studying in the animation field, which was why she wanted to join L.S Produ after graduation. This was something Lin Zhiyan remembered very clearly.
Cosplay was indeed likely Nishi Yano's hobby, but wearing that outfit to work only made Lin Zhiyan think she was imitating Rinko Ogasawara, the lead key animator at Musashino Animation from "Shirobako."
Hearing Lin Zhiyan's words, Nishi Yano was stunned for a moment, but quickly replied, "You could say that, but it's also a technique I've grasped for drawing characters."
When it comes to animation drawings, they are generally created from imagination. However, some people don't have such a vivid imagination, nor do they possess max-level key animation skills like Lin Zhiyan. What do they do in such a situation? They cosplay as the characters from the animation themselves, make the expressions, and then draw while looking at themselves in the mirror.
This isn't exactly Yano Nishi's exclusive secret technique. It's just that most other artists, while they do make expressions themselves or get others to help them with expressions, don't go as far as cosplaying as the characters from the animation.
If every artist did this, animation production companies would turn into large-scale cosplay venues.
Lin Zhiyan's attitude towards such things remained the same: as long as it doesn't affect work, there's no problem.
Rebirth: Bo Lang Da Shi Dai
He smiled and said, "Keep it up. If you have any questions regarding drawing, feel free to ask me."
"Okay." Yano Nishi looked very happy.
Lin Zhiyan didn't say anything more and turned to leave, but he quickly remembered something and asked knowingly: "By the way, I heard you like cosplay, is that right?"
"Uh..."
Yano Nishi was slightly taken aback.
She hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "It's alright, I guess."
"At L.S Animation, for 'Kaguya-sama: Love Is War', which starts airing next January, I'm planning to have a hand-drawn otaku dance for the third episode's ending sequence. Depending on the situation, we might need someone to cosplay the character from the anime and dance it through first, record it as a video, and then have the animator draw the storyboard and specific frames based on that video."
Lin Zhiyan said this, glancing at Yano Nishi, "Do you want to give it a try? I won't ask you to help for free; you'll receive appropriate compensation. Plus, I think it's quite an interesting thing. If you're interested, you can try it out."
Yano Nishi was stunned for a moment. She didn't agree immediately, but instead asked, "Will you be the one animating it, President?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't need to find a real person to dance it first..."
Lin Zhiyan muttered to himself, but replied aloud, "I might not have the time. Unless no one else is able or willing to do it, I likely won't take it on myself."
Yano Nishi was silent for two seconds before replying, "I'll consider it."
"Sure." Lin Zhiyan had no objections.
He was just asking, it wasn't as if he absolutely needed Yano to agree.
As for the "otaku dance" he mentioned, it was, of course, the original Chika Fujiwara dance that had taken the ACG community by storm in another timeline.
In that other timeline, the anime Kaguya-sama: Love Is War was produced by A-1 Pictures. The anime's success was largely due to the production team's immense passion, which elevated the adaptation to legendary status; the Chika Fujiwara dance in the third episode was a prime example of this passion.
That otaku dance had nothing to do with the original manga.
Now that L.S. Animation had acquired the rights to adapt Kaguya-sama, if Lin Zhiyan didn't make special arrangements, the animation production team here certainly wouldn't think to create such a dance sequence, and the anime might not become as popular as the version from the other timeline.
This time, Lin Zhiyan had come to L.S. Animation partly to inspect the studio in his capacity as president, and partly to talk to the Kaguya-sama production team about the secretary dance, so they could prepare for it in advance.
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