Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

The theatrical animation created by Ragna, “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”.

After watching it, the duke found himself thinking involuntarily:

‘He’s completely insane.’

Elli, an ordinary country girl, ends up in the spirit world where spirits live while playing in the forest.

Naturally, at first, the spirits don’t like Elli, an intruder who entered their world carelessly.

But because Hamel, an extremely handsome and talented magician, protects Elli, she manages to save her life.

Under Hamel’s protection, Elli gradually builds friendships with the spirits while doing various things in the spirit world.

But she learns that Hamel, whom she thought was her protector, has some “curse” that could lead to his death.

In the process, she realizes that the Spirit King who rules the spirit world is the one who placed the curse on Hamel.

So Elli goes to the Spirit King who rules the spirit world and asks him to lift Hamel’s curse, and the Spirit King imposes numerous trials on Elli for this.

During the trials, Elli realizes that true love is the only key that can break the curse, and she finally lifts Hamel’s curse.
And the Spirit King also acknowledges the true love between the two and sends them back to the human world.

The story concludes with the two returning to the human world and sharing a kiss once again.

“…..”

From Ragna’s perspective, he had simply taken the plots of successful animations from DiXney and Ghibli and mixed them like a chimera.

But the duke, unaware of this background, had a slightly different thought.

‘That Ragna… he’s truly a genius.’

A girl has a fateful encounter with a boy, and they fall in love as if by magic.

Looking at just this, “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel” might seem to have a very common story structure.

But Ragna made it so that viewers couldn’t take their eyes off by using the ‘spirit world’, a fantastical space that doesn’t exist in this world, as the background for the story.

Moreover, because Elli and Hamel shared their love against such a dreamlike backdrop, people couldn’t help but be completely immersed in the story.

‘The spirit world, a place where all the spirits of this world gather and rest at the same time. What an amazing idea. How did that guy come up with such a brilliant concept?’

And that wasn’t all.

Hamel is actually a narrow-minded, pathetic man. But at the same time, he’s a man who’s honest with others and loves nature. There’s no way such a person would harm spirits. I might not believe it if it were someone else, but I believe in this fact. So please lift the curse on Hamel. I beg you, Spirit King.

‘Is that Serika’s voice….’

In the past, after watching “Nymph and Goblin”, Ragna’s first animation, the duke had thought:

It’s already providing such entertainment just by having the pictures move dynamically and depicting various situations.

What would happen if human voices were added to this?

What he had only vaguely imagined then was now unfolding before his eyes, and the duke experienced a kind of culture shock.

When Serika’s beautiful voice and the experienced voices of various actors came together in one place, the synergy was explosive.

Even though he knew well that the animation before his eyes was just a picture and not reality.

It was to the extent that he had the strange thought that Elli and Hamel might really be sharing their love somewhere in this world.

‘If nothing else, I should thank that Ragna for this one thing. It’s become an opportunity to make Serika’s beautiful voice widely known to the people of the world.’

The duke, an extreme daughter-lover, unconsciously smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

‘The pictures are also very beautiful, the backgrounds are as delicate as if a master had spent months pondering over them, and the music that flows in various situations is enough to captivate people’s hearts. Is this really a work that can be created in just two months?’

In fact, Ragna had simply ‘clicked’ and output the concept art and OSTs from various works he had seen in his previous life using fantasy magic.

But the duke, unaware of this fact, couldn’t help but marvel repeatedly.

‘But that’s all.’

However, the duke also made such a judgment in his mind at the same time.

‘The anime he made is very interesting, contains lessons, and is enough to be praised as a masterpiece by anyone regardless of age or gender. But…’

Very regrettably, that guy was born in the wrong era.

Because the people of this world still didn’t properly understand what ‘animation’ was, and what kind of thing the anime Ragna made was.

So there’s no way people would pay money to watch animation.

Of course, it’s interesting, so it might have some success, but at the same time, that’s all.

The animation he made would end up failing miserably as a result.

That was the final conclusion the duke had reached.

‘And when the anime fails at the box office, I can use that as an excuse to separate him from Serika. Perfect.’

As time passed, the day for the official release of “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel” approached.

The duke decided to visit the theater to coincide with the end of the anime screening.

Personally, he was hoping for the anime to fail completely, but as an investor in “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”, he had a duty to see how the audience reacted.

But.

“…This is unbelievable.”

The duke unconsciously made a bewildered expression.

Because the road from the street to the theater was blocked with carriages as if there was a traffic jam.

Also, the theater where “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel” was premiering was filled with people from the entrance to the main hall.

These people currently filling the theater were the owners of those carriages.

“So, who exactly is the person who made this thing called animation!”

“If there’s someone who made the anime or a theater official, come out now! Before I buy this entire theater!”

“My daughter says she has questions about the anime content! If there’s anyone related, come out now!”

They were nobles who usually boasted of their noble and elegant image.

But now, even though it had been over an hour since the anime screening ended, they were shouting at the top of their lungs, having lost their minds.

In the end, the theater owner and related staff came out and pleaded for them to go home as today’s anime screening was over.

But it was impossible for nobles who usually look down on commoners to listen to such requests.

Especially in a state like this where they had lost their minds.

“Just go home like this? No, I said call the producer! I want to have a conversation with that person, why are you talking so much!”

“Tell us who voiced Elli and Hamel too! We want to know their identities!”

The theater owner, who had been delegated related authority from Duke Grinewald, was explaining while sweating profusely.

“Um… For privacy reasons, the identity of the person who made the animation is a secret. And the same goes for information about the voice actors.”

“What? Are you playing with us now? Are you calling that an explanation?”

“…The same goes for information related to the content of the animation. If you’re curious about that, you can come to the theater again tomorrow and watch the anime. The feeling of watching the anime once and watching it a second time will be quite different.”

“That’s obvious! Of course I have to watch it tomorrow too! There’s still such a strong lingering feeling!”

Seeing the nobles speaking as if it was obvious, the theater owner quietly opened his mouth.

“Today we held a special preview screening for nobles only, but from tomorrow, we plan to open the opportunity for everyone to watch the anime. That means, if you have money, even commoners can watch the anime.”

“…So, are you saying we should sit in the same place as commoners to watch the animation?”

“Well… it’s good that more people who know the value of this work are increasing, but that’s a bit…”

When a few nobles showed some reluctance, the theater owner quickly opened his mouth.

“Of course, VVIP box seats are prepared separately for nobles. Well, there’s a minor disadvantage that it’s a bit more expensive than regular seats, but…”

“…Is it possible to reserve that seat right now? I’ll pay twice the original price.”

“Me too! I’ll reserve too. I’ll pay three times, no, four times!”

“Five times, no, ten times!”

The VVIP box seats were already being sold at a price at least ten times more expensive than regular seats.

Seeing the nobles casually offering ten times that price again, the theater owner opened his mouth.
“To all the distinguished guests who have watched ‘The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel’. But isn’t it a bit disappointing to just go home like this?”

“…? Of course it’s disappointing. Isn’t that why we’re gathered here right now?”

“That’s why I said to quickly call the anime producer or voice actors. There’s a mountain of things I want to ask about the work!”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. However… for those who feel such disappointment, the anime producer has specially prepared something.”

Saying this, the theater owner pointed to a shop set up in one corner of the theater.

“…Th-that…!”

The nobles who saw this widened their eyes.

The identity of the shop was none other than:

“It’s a special shop selling merchandise related to ‘The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel’.”

The theater owner said with a bright smile.

“From small statues of Elli and Hamel, the protagonists of the anime, to Hamel’s staff, to dolls modeled after the spirits.”

“…..”

“These items, produced in extremely limited quantities for true fans of this work… I’ll give the right to purchase them only to those present here. Of course, these are also a bit expensive, but I think true fans will know how valuable these are…?”

“…!”

At those words from the theater owner, a quiet silence flows for a very brief moment.

But only for a moment.

“Me, I’m first! All the small statues of Elli and Hamel are mine!”

“Hamel’s staff, give it to me quickly! I’m a magician, you know! If I have that staff, I can use magic like Hamel!”

“The spirit dolls! My daughter really liked Undine, I don’t care about the price, just give it to me!”

“…..”

And the duke was finally at a loss for words as he watched this pandemonium.

“Could it be that when Ragna asked for secondary creation rights when making the contract, it was all for this…?”

Scary bastard.

At this moment, the duke genuinely felt fear towards the guy called Ragna.