Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

After the princess… no, Kaya joined my production team as the assistant director.

The preparations for making the next work were progressing literally smoothly.

Kaya, who had boasted that she was confident in her administrative work, had indeed solved the tasks that seemed utterly daunting to me with ease.

From the budget issues needed to make the animation to the casting issues of voice actors, everything was handled perfectly.

Once the casting was roughly completed, I took the time to gather all the staff and voice actors in one place.

I thought it would be good to familiarize ourselves with each other’s faces before we officially start the animation production.

On the day, I arrived at the meeting place about an hour earlier than the appointed time.

“Ah, Director. You’re here.”

Kaya had been waiting for me at the venue much earlier than I arrived.

“When did you get here?”

“Not long ago. So, roughly… about an hour ago?”

When I clicked my tongue at her answer that she had come here two hours earlier than the appointed time, Kaya smiled softly.

“The reason you’re producing this animation includes some of my responsibility, doesn’t it? So I want to do my best in everything as well.”

As there was some tension on Kaya’s face as she said this, I unconsciously tried to pat her head like I do with Serika, but then flinched.

‘…That was close.’

It was a perilous moment where I could have been arrested by the police for insulting royalty before even officially starting the animation production.

As I instinctively took a step back from Kaya, she made a somewhat sullen expression towards me for some reason.

…Why?

Is she disappointed that she couldn’t send me to prison?

While I was making such a rational deduction, the voice actors and production team staff started to enter one by one.

“Ah, hello! I’m Lizé Milleiu who passed the voice actor casting! Pl-Please call me Liz comfortably! N-Nice to meet you all!”

First, Liz, the newly cast leading voice actress for this animation, bowed her head to greet everyone.

Seeing her face turn bright red when everyone’s attention focused on her, it seems she has a very shy personality.

“Um… normally I shouldn’t be here… but I want to express my sincere gratitude to the director for choosing me. And thank you so much for helping me at the audition, Director!”

As Liz bowed her head to me so deeply that I could see her crown, Serika, who was next to me, whispered in a small voice.

“…What’s this about? What happened at the audition that’s making her act like that towards you?”

“Oh, well. It’s nothing much…”

I answered in a nonchalant tone, shrugging my shoulders.

“At the audition, a high-ranking lady was acting up quite a bit. Saying things like why is such a lowly girl being accepted while I’m being rejected.”

“…And then?”

“So I just said one thing. If you want to be evaluated for your family, you should go back to your dad at home, not here.”

“…You’re really something. Seriously.”

At my casual answer, Serika made an expression as if she had lost words to say.

But in fact, what happened at that audition didn’t end there.

Because after that, the villainous lady who heard my words completely lost it.

You mere second son of an insignificant baronial family! Do you know who I am? And do you know who looks after our family?

It was truly like a line from a villainous lady template, so rather than getting angry hearing those words, I was inwardly impressed.

I was seriously considering whether I should hire this person as a consultant if I ever make a villainous lady anime.

That’s why.

I didn’t notice that our villainous lady, who had become very angry, had somehow approached right in front of me.

Since she probably didn’t come to hug or kiss me, I was conflicted about how to react to this, when at that moment.

Grab.

Someone else in between grabbed the villainous lady’s arm.

…What’s this now?
That’s enough. This person is not someone you can treat carelessly.

It was Hildegard, Kaya’s maid.

And then.

Very well done, Hilde.

Thud.

A voice I knew very well came from right behind.

If that woman’s hand had touched the director’s body, I don’t know what I would have done today.

The owner of the voice was none other than Kaya.

Th-This can’t be. Y-Your Highness the Prin…

Indeed, as if her claim of being of high status wasn’t a lie, the villainous lady’s face turned pale as soon as she saw Kaya’s face.

But Kaya gently raised her finger to quietly block the villainous lady’s mouth, and whispered to her quietly.

It might get a bit noisy in the audition room if we talk here, so shall we go over there and have a private conversation?
Y-Your Highness… Th-That is…
Oh my, why are you like this? Someone might think I’m threatening you. Right?
……

No, honestly, you are threatening her, Your Highness.

Thus, the situation was blandly terminated by our Princess.

Later, when Kaya returned to her seat, she earnestly asked me to keep what just happened a secret from others.

That’s why I’m keeping it a secret from Serika even now in this place.

Anyway, starting with Liz, other voice actors including Serika began to greet one by one.

After all the voice actors finished their greetings, this time Kaya stepped forward to greet.

“Hello. I’m Kaya von Auvergne, who will be taking on the role of assistant director this time.”

By the way, Auvergne was the surname the princess was temporarily using.

She said something about not wanting to burden the production team members by revealing her identity.

“I’ll do my best to make a good animation together with the director, so let’s all work hard together.”

When Kaya, who was already an incredibly beautiful woman, smiled and said that, the atmosphere at the venue became warm.

“…..”

And Serika was quietly watching Kaya with a somewhat subtle expression for some reason.

After all the staff had finished their greetings, I stood up and slowly looked around at everyone sitting in this place.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Ragna Tersian, the producer who made ‘The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel’ and also the director of this animation production team.”

At those words, everyone’s attention started to focus on me.

“As those of you here know well, we’re planning to produce about 50 episodes of animation, each roughly 30 minutes long, with the support of the imperial family. In other words, it means we’re in a relationship where we have to face each other for at least a year, whether we like it or not.”

“…..”

“We’re in a position where we have to use time very tightly, so let’s start talking about animation production. The genre of the animation I’m going to produce this time is machine god (機神) anime.”

“…Machine god?”

“You mean… those golems used in the military that look similar to humans?”

In this underdeveloped fantasy world, there were no words like ‘robot’ or ‘mecha’, so I had no choice but to substitute it with the word ‘machine god’.

“Are you saying you’re going to use golems as the main characters in the animation instead of people?”
At someone’s sharp question, I nodded.
“That’s half right and half wrong. In the animation I’m making, people will directly board these machine gods.”

“…Pardon? People board the machine gods and control them?”

“I can’t believe it. I’ve never thought of such an idea before.”

As expected of an underdeveloped world where the concept of mecha anime didn’t exist, people couldn’t hide their surprise at every word I said.

Seeing such reactions from people, I felt like I understood a little bit why isekai bayo-en stories were so popular in my previous life.

“Well, just because it’s a machine god anime doesn’t mean that machine gods are the center of the story. Machine gods are just part of the story’s devices.”

Saying this, I briefly explained about the clichés of mecha anime I had seen in my previous life… no, the story of the animation I had conceived while watching them.

One day, unknown monsters invade Earth to annihilate humanity.

And the only answer humanity came up with to defeat these monsters, machine gods.

But unfortunately, only children in their early teens can board the machine gods.

Thus, humanity initiates the final war for their survival against the monsters…

‘Ah, this is it.’

And I felt my chest swell as I explained the story.

It was a story I had seen more than dozens of times in mecha anime, but there must be a reason why such stories are endlessly recycled.

But then.

“You’re saying machine gods are the only way to kill monsters? Where have all the great magicians and masters gone?”

“If monsters can be killed by machine gods, wouldn’t they be cut down at the level of magicians’ fireballs?”

“Why make children board the machine gods? It seems like they could have made the machine gods for adults to board from the beginning.”

“If there were just dwarves, they could modify those machine gods for adult use in a day.”

“The setting doesn’t seem very realistic, does it? Should I say it’s somewhat sloppy?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to revise the setting while it’s not too late, Director?”

“…..”

Of course, there are no additional settings.

These are just common clichés on Earth, what kind of additional settings would be needed?

‘Damn this fantasy world.’
I forgot that people in a fantasy world who treat magic not as magic but as a documentary don’t have any concept of ‘romance’.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have just made a romantic comedy where the female lead cuts the male lead’s throat on a boat.’
I sincerely thought that.