That evening, as usual, Kamiyā Yuu entered his consciousness space.
Within the pure white world of consciousness, Kamiyā Yuu unfolded his thoughts. Using the Sakurā Kyōko created from Gogyo Ruri as the foundation, he reworked the plot of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' and the way its characters' personalities would be portrayed.
He considered Sakurā Kyōko's entrance timing, how she would react to different developments, and what she would be thinking at the very end when she chose to perish together with Miki Sayaka.
His thoughts extended endlessly. New scenes flashed by one after another, gradually connecting into complete sequences. Every line spoken by the characters was repeated hundreds and thousands of times in the sea of his thoughts. From the meaning of every individual word to the tone with which each sentence should be delivered, everything was carefully planned in detail.
Who knew how much time had passed within the consciousness space? Eventually, a thick stack of storyboard drafts appeared in Kamiyā Yuu's hands. These storyboards represented the later portions of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica,' rebuilt with subtle adjustments based on Gogyo Ruri's version of Sakurā Kyōko.
It was difficult to say whether the original Sakurā Kyōko or the Sakurā Kyōko from Gogyo Ruri's heart was better or worse. The contrast between the two versions was extraordinarily subtle.
"Either version would work, but judging from Kuroneko's reaction, if she gets hit by another emotional blow, she'll probably start questioning her entire life. Well~ I'll just have to work a bit harder and revise the storyboards myself."
In the end, Kamiyā Yuu decided to adopt Gogyo Ruri's version of Sakurā Kyōko while making a few additional modifications.
"If this character consistently embodies a strong-willed personality from beginning to end, then she naturally becomes a strong-willed character."
"Based on Kuroneko's characterization, I'll make a small adjustment to her final scene. Not through dialogue, but through something more subtle and yet unmistakable, to reveal the character's true nature."
"A smile."
"Just like the impact Ayanami Rei's smile had back then, all of Sakurā Kyōko's feelings will be entrusted to that final smile. That smile will undoubtedly express Sakurā Kyōko's soul."
"Looks like there's even more work to do. An ordinary key animator wouldn't be able to imagine such a smile, much less draw it. From key animation to the final animated scene and special effects, I'll have to handle the close-up personally. Parts of the earlier story will also need adjustments to build toward that smile."
"Ayanami Rei's smile wasn't especially powerful from a visual standpoint alone, but because of all the buildup beforehand, it became legendary."
...
After finishing his revisions and planning for the storyboards of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica,' Kamiyā Yuu patted his head.
Come to think of it, there was another matter he had entered the consciousness space to verify.
Busujima Murasaki.
The traditional Yamato Nadeshiko who had challenged him to a kendo match.
Kamiyā Yuu connected his mind to the network of his previous world. With a single thought, his immense computational power began filtering information related to Busujima Murasaki.
There was pitifully little information associated with the full name, so he simply searched for the surname Busujima instead. Even in Japan, Busujima was an extremely rare family name.
'Yuriko Busujima's Diary'—a 2016 Japanese drama? The heroine's personality clearly didn't match.
'The Busujima Family'—a uniquely Japanese adult film? The Busujima surname came from a yakuza family. Tsk tsk... portraying yakuza as helpful model citizens was probably something only Japan could manage.
Whether in his previous world or this one, Japanese yakuza organizations were officially recognized by society as active social groups. The Yamaguchi-gumi genuinely existed and had tens of thousands of formal members.
Kamiyā Yuu had never been fond of this "good citizen yakuza" image. He especially found Japanese yakuza tattoos unbearably ugly. Ukiyo-e aesthetics combined with traditional Japanese painting techniques gave them an artistic quality comparable to Western Impressionist painters. For ordinary people, simply finding them inexplicably ugly was enough. [T/N: 😏]
'Tokyo Forbidden Love'—there's actually something like this...
Before long, Kamiyā Yuu found the character who truly resembled Busujima Murasaki's prototype.
The same personality.
The same appearance and temperament.
And this prototype also came from the world of anime.
Her name was Busujima Saeko.
'High School of the Dead' was an anime that had never become particularly popular, even during the rise of Japanese animation. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it had simply appeared at the wrong time. Had it debuted five or six years later, it would almost certainly have become a huge hit.
Its theme was the relatively rare zombie genre in Japanese animation. The series was filled with all kinds of "double fanservice" scenes—on one hand, conventional fanservice; on the other, graphic violence that made viewers uncomfortable.
The anime had three major highlights.
The first was proving an interesting rule of Japanese anime: "Anyone who steals the protagonist's woman usually doesn't survive past the second episode."
The second highlight was that it was a genuine Japanese zombie anime, without superpowers or bizarre plot developments.
The third highlight was the upperclassman Busujima Saeko, whose presence eclipsed that of the heroine Miyamoto Rei countless times over.
In the anime's setting, Busujima Saeko came from a prestigious kendo family. She was the protagonist's upperclassman in high school and also the champion of a national kendo tournament.
As a descendant of a traditional Japanese family, she was an exceptionally refined traditional woman. She excelled at cooking, treated others with humility and gentleness, and thoroughly understood the virtues expected of a wife. Combined with her cold beauty, stunning figure, and mature, feminine charm, she was practically the dream woman of every man.
Yet beneath this traditional and classical Yamato Nadeshiko lay an extremely deep desire for violence.
When she was in middle school, a criminal once attempted to assault her. She deliberately allowed him to approach so she would have an excuse to use the wooden sword she carried with her and break his leg and shoulder bones.
She did all of this fully consciously.
As a middle-school girl bravely resisting a criminal, coupled with public opinion, Busujima Saeko had already anticipated that even if her actions were considered excessive self-defense, nothing serious would happen to her.
Busujima Saeko was actually one of the milder cases. Her violent impulses were completely released when the zombie outbreak began.
However, Kamiyā Yuu sensed that what Busujima Murasaki possessed in reality was not merely a desire for violence.
Those deep and icy eyes felt more like those of a battle maniac.
The same type as the berserker maid from 'Black Lagoon'.
This violent impulse had been suppressed within civilized society for who knew how many years. But after witnessing Kamiyā Yuu's astonishing skill in kendo, a crack had opened in the dam restraining it.
Rather than yearning for a kendo match, the look in Busujima Murasaki's eyes seemed more like anticipation for a life-and-death battle capable of fully unleashing the savagery hidden within her heart.
"Tsk... so people like that really do exist."
Kamiyā Yuu withdrew his thoughts and frowned, realizing he had gotten himself involved in an unnecessary problem.
"The teacher won't let her touch a real sword, which means firearms are fine? The teacher knows about her personality issues. The safest solution would be to tell Uehara-sensei everything directly and cancel the match."
"No..."
"That look in Murasaki's eyes..."
"I'll spend this week properly conditioning my body. As long as I make all the necessary preparations, it shouldn't be a problem."
Recalling Busujima Murasaki's peculiar gaze, Kamiyā Yuu ultimately decided to proceed with the kendo match scheduled for the following week.
Compared to canceling the match, it would be better to settle the matter once and for all with an overwhelming victory.
Of course, that didn't mean actually eliminating Busujima Murasaki.
It meant defeating her in the kendo match with absolute dominance.
And if even that wasn't enough, then his only option would be to "tell the teacher."