Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

“Well then, I have some issues to deal with, so I think I’ll have to go back now.”

Saying this, the princess suddenly declared that she would leave this place as abruptly as she had invaded the barony.

“For now, I plan to go and tell His Majesty about the plan we’ve made here.”

“…You’re going to report to His Majesty the Emperor?”

I unconsciously made a sour expression at the princess’s words.

No, if a report about making anime goes up to the Emperor, there’s no way to back out anymore.

“Well, I know you might feel burdened. But no matter how much of a princess I am, I can’t handle matters related to the imperial budget as I please.”

Saying this, the princess patted my shoulder and smiled gently.

“But you don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll take care of all the troublesome things like budget or artifact distribution issues. If anyone bothers you with animation-related problems, feel free to use my name.”

“Hmm. Is that so.”

I don’t know about anything else, but as a mere Chikorita in noble society, I was very pleased with the fact that the princess, who could be considered at least a Charizard or at most a legendary Pokémon, was watching my back.

“Remember that I’m always on your side. Well then, I’ll be going now.”

The princess left those words and disappeared with light footsteps.

And I, grinding my teeth at such a princess, began preparations to produce a 50-episode long anime series.

First, what I started with was writing a synopsis.

“…Synopsis? What’s that?”

“Well, it’s like a kind of proposal for producing an animation. It’s briefly writing things like the title, planning intention, plot, setting, and such.”

At my explanation, Serika tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“But when you made ‘The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel’, you didn’t write such a thing. So why are you writing this synopsis thing this time?”

“Well, because the situation is very different from last time.”

That’s right.

In the past, when producing “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”, there weren’t many elements I had to pay attention to.

As I was making just a two-hour theatrical animation, there wasn’t so much work that I needed to write a synopsis.

After all, most of the work was solved with just one ‘click’ through fantasy magic or copy magic.

But this time, the circumstances were somewhat different.

‘Even if I can solve most of the work through magic, it’s absolutely impossible for me alone to make a 50-episode animation.’

So I needed to form a kind of production team to create the anime, just like in the 21st century Earth before my reincarnation.

‘I’ll need magicians who can use fantasy magic and copy magic with me, writers to fill in various setting holes, and an assistant director to help me. Ah, I’ll also need voice actors for supporting roles and extras, and staff to handle various odd jobs…’

Just imagining it is already troublesome and gives me a headache.

Before my reincarnation, I wasn’t part of a professional production team, but lived as a mere freelance scribbler taking subcontracts of subcontracts, so I had never experienced such things.
So how could I, who was merely a shut-in, possibly gather experts from various fields and form a team?

‘Ah, damn. Should I just ask for help from Duke Grinewald here?’

Just as I was hesitating for a long time, wondering if I should ask for help from the man who always looks at me like I’m annoying.

“Hmm, I heard the news and came. Ragna. I hear you’re having a lot of difficulty forming a production team?”
The princess, who said she was going to meet the Emperor, suddenly appeared before my eyes.

“…How did you know about that?”

Did she plant a spy around me or something?

Even though I looked at the princess with a bewildered expression, she opened her mouth towards me without blinking an eye.

“Well, isn’t that not important right now? Rather, I think I might be able to help you.”

“You say you can help me, Your Highness? How?”

And the next moment, I doubted my ears as I heard the princess’s words.

“I want to participate in your animation production as well. I want to help you as a staff member, what do you think?”

Excuse me? What did you just say?

After discussing animation production with Ragna, the princess immediately returned to the imperial palace and had an audience with the Emperor.

The man called Ragna Tersian, whom the princess had met in person, was someone who endlessly strived to create animations that all citizens living in the empire could watch and enjoy.

Then shouldn’t the princess, as Ragna’s partner, do her best to fulfill the tasks assigned to her from her position?

At this point, the only thing the princess could do for Ragna was to bring him a large budget so that he could fulfill his intentions as much as possible.

“Oh, animation. You mean that thing that’s been popular in the empire recently.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. While talking with Lord Tersian, the creator of animation, I became convinced that if we utilize the animation he created, we could create something that all imperial citizens could enjoy. Broadly speaking, I think this could be an opportunity to further develop the empire’s culture.”

“…Hmm.”

At the princess’s words, the Emperor showed signs of thinking about something, then opened his mouth towards her.

“Well, your words have a point. Indeed, it’s not a bad thing for all imperial citizens to have something to watch and enjoy.”

“…Thank you for understanding, Your Majesty. Then I’ll immediately allocate the related budget-”

“However, there’s one condition.”

The Emperor cut off the princess’s words midway and said.

“If we provide budget support from the imperial level to make animation, don’t we need to check if that budget is being used properly? There might be cases where this Ragna person wastes the budget on unnecessary things.”

“…Pardon? Ah, that’s…”

The Ragna that the princess had personally seen was not the kind of person who would do such a thing.

But the Emperor’s words had a point, so she couldn’t refute them.

But then.

“In that sense, we should send someone to monitor and control whether he’s making the animation properly from the imperial level.”

“…Pardon?”

“Listening to your words carefully, it seems like we could do a lot if we utilize this thing called animation well. For example, don’t you think we could use it to insert content praising the imperial family into the animation?”

“…..”

Hearing such words from the Emperor, the princess felt her heart sink.

In the princess’s opinion, the biggest advantage of the animation Ragna created was its infinite imagination and the freedom derived from it.

Both “Nymph and Goblin” and “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel” became masterpieces because they contained exactly what Ragna wanted to create, unbound by the shackles of reality.

But what if the imperial family interferes with Ragna at every turn and forces him to make animations to their taste?

Could an animation created in such an environment become a masterpiece like “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”?

‘No, that’s absolutely unacceptable!’

That’s why the princess stepped forward herself.

At least if she volunteered to be the imperial observer, it was clear that there would be no room for anyone else to interfere with the anime Ragna was making.

‘Ragna, you just need to make animation without any worries. I’ll block all the dirty worldly affairs.’

Meanwhile, Ragna, who knew nothing of these circumstances, just looked at the princess with a bewildered expression.

“…Are you serious? I’m sorry, but making animation is a very hard and difficult job. I don’t think it’s something Your noble Highness should be interested in.”

“It doesn’t matter. Do you see me as a child who doesn’t even know such reality properly? Also, I’m quite confident in my administrative work, if I do say so myself. I can guarantee that I’ll be of great help in the current situation where you’re having difficulties forming a production team.”

“Hmm….”

At the princess’s words, Ragna made an expression as if he was contemplating something.

But after a moment, he sighed deeply and said.

“…Let me say it once again, but I absolutely can’t give you special treatment as the princess during the animation production process.”

“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t join here to receive such treatment.”

“Also, I am the chief director of the animation. So if Your Highness joins the production team, you must unconditionally follow my instructions.”

“I will do so. No, I’ll do that. I promise to unconditionally follow Ragna-nim’s instructions during the animation production process.”

“Since you say that much… Alright. I’ll accept Your Highness as a member of the production team. I’ll give you the position of assistant director.”

“Please call me Kaya, not Your Highness within the production team. If the director calls me Your Highness, it might cause misunderstandings among others.”

“…Understood, Kaya.”

The first thing Kaya did after officially joining the production team was to satisfy her curiosity that she was so curious about.

“So, Director. What kind of animation are you planning to make for your next work?”

“What?”

“Even if it’s rough, please tell me a little bit about the plot. I was really curious. Is it a fairy tale-like plot full of romance like ‘The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel’? Or a humorous plot that can be watched lightly like ‘Nymph and Goblin’?”

“Um… well….”

At Kaya’s words, Ragna unconsciously scratched his head.

Because he couldn’t possibly say, ‘It’s a story where the protagonist receives a group applause saying ‘Congratulations’ from the surrounding characters at the end, and then humanity turns into orange juice.’
As Ragna showed signs of hesitation, Kaya sighed softly and changed her question this time.
“Sigh… Then can you at least tell me what the title of the next work is? It doesn’t matter that much since we’re going to start working on it soon anyway.”
“Hmm… The title of the work…”
At Kaya’s question, Ragna briefly pondered what to name this work.
“I’m not sure, but the title of the next work will probably be something like… ‘The Cruel Angel Becomes a Myth’.”
Isn’t it a perfect title that not only follows the sentence-style titles popular in recent web novels, but also shows respect for the work being plagiar… I mean, benchmarked?
Unaware that Ragna was inwardly smiling with satisfaction, Kaya made a somewhat disappointed expression.
“Um… Director… About the title of the next work… Couldn’t you think about it one more time?”
“…Why?”
“No… Honestly, sentence-style titles are too strange… I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from such things…”
“…..”
At Kaya’s words, Ragna’s face suddenly contorted.
‘Damn it.’

If you talk like that, what will become of Korea’s web novel market?
The princess doesn’t understand people’s hearts.