Chapter 33: Mahou Shoujo is here!

The so-called special effects refers to special shooting techniques.

Pooh.

Tokusatsu refers to films that use special photography techniques and some special synthesis. Generally speaking, it uses leather suits and miniature models to create some scenes that look very grand, and then uses special post-production synthesis to produce shots that cannot be achieved in reality.

From the historical perspective of film development, stop-motion animation, special effects and computer special effects represent the three technical stages of film special effects.

In the 1970s and 1980s, when computer special effects were still in the blank period, special effects technology was applied to various scenes by film directors all over the world. In particular, when making various disaster scenes such as tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc., special effects miniature model technology has a unique advantage.

Japan is the country that has made the most perfect application of special effects technology. During the peak period of the development of special effects technology, special effects films even became Japan's national policy films.

Among them, the "Godzilla" monster series of movies and the three major special drama series "Ultraman", "Kamen Rider" and "Super Sentai" are extremely popular all over the world.

Unfortunately, with the development of computer special effects, special effects technology has gradually fallen into decline. Coupled with the audience's aesthetic fatigue, even in Japan, special effects movies and TV series are no longer as domineering as they were in the last century.

Most of the current special effects dramas are produced for children. In the view of the production team, children are always obsessed with the various props that appear in special effects dramas and beg their parents to buy corresponding peripheral products.

However, it is well known that works for children are often very attractive to adults. Compared with children, once adults become obsessed with them, they will have stronger purchasing power as individuals.

"Yes, I'm talking about Mahou Shoujo." Nanaya slammed his hands on the table and said loudly to the others in the conference room, "You'll never know how good it is until you see it!"

Bang!

Ori directly pressed Nanaya's face on the table.

"Don't do this useless thing. Did you call all of us here just to preach?"

"Tsk tsk."

Nanaya shook his finger and said, "My lovely junior, don't underestimate Magical Girl~ He will become one of the four major evil cults in the industry in the future!"

Then Nanaya's face came into close contact with the table again.

Ori clenched his fists and said, "It doesn't matter what happens! Just tell me the real thing!"

"Yes, Ki-chan. I came here with such great enthusiasm, thinking that I could hear your and Ori-chan's declaration of love. Even so, I heard that you two had made some extraordinary progress." Katsura Mamako stroked her forehead with one hand and looked heartbroken.

Katsura's words made Ori furious: "This has never happened before! Sister Katsura, please stop talking nonsense!"

"Tsk, stop pretending. Didn't you two go on a date to see a movie?"

As soon as Katsura Mamako said this, everyone looked at Nanaya and Ori with a strange look in their eyes.

"That is…"

"I invited Ori to watch a movie." Nanaya explained quickly, "Uh! But, that's because the two of us want to analyze the failures of the teacher's recent work, there is no other meaning. So, Ori, you can put the chair down!"

Nanaya glanced guiltily at Ori, who had already raised the chair above his head, waiting for him to drop it if he said something wrong, for fear that he would let go.

"Tsk, that's boring."

Katsura Mamako said with a pout.

"Sister Katsura, what on earth are you expecting?"

"Tsk, that's boring."

"How come even Illya..."

Nanaya has lost hope in this world.

[I really should find a girlfriend as soon as possible, otherwise it will be troublesome if I am misunderstood. ]

Nanaya wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He thought it would be better for him to divert these people's attention as soon as possible.

But Nanaya didn't know that the story between him and Ori was far from over.

Nanaya coughed twice and said, "Ahem. Anyway, our studio's next project is to produce a special drama for TBS TV at 8 o'clock on Sunday morning."

Nanaya said as he tried to change the subject by throwing a plan onto the table.

"Everyone, listen carefully. This is the first commission since the establishment of our studio, so everyone must complete it beautifully."

"Are you kidding me?" Ori threw the proposal on the table after taking only one look at it. "At this time, TV Asahi is the only one that dominates special effects dramas! Is TBS crazy and letting us compete with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai at this time?"

It has been mentioned before that "Super Sentai", "Kamen Rider" and "Ultraman" are the three major special effects series in Japan. The first two are produced by Toei and broadcast on TV Asahi on Sunday mornings, while "Ultraman" is produced by Tsuburaya and broadcast on TBS TV on Saturday nights.

Nanaya shrugged and said innocently, "Because TBS has already finished rerunning Ultraman Tiga, and Kamen Rider Kuuga and Future Sentai Chronoranger will not be broadcast until next year. It can be predicted that Asahi will dominate the special effects drama market for the rest of this year. TBS's President Takeda really doesn't want Asahi to be so proud for so long, so he asked us to produce a special effects drama to fill the gap in these few months."

Seeing that Ori wanted to say something, Nanaya quickly added: "Don't worry, Director Takeda also knows that it is unrealistic for us to directly overthrow those two dramas. His requirement is that they are just acceptable. And our time is Saturday night, so there is no direct conflict with them."

"Even so, it's still tough." Ori sighed. He didn't think he had a chance of winning.

"How should the production costs be calculated?" Subaru Ikeda was more concerned about this issue. He had had enough of the days of being penniless during the production of "Kara no Kyoukai".

"...The studio, Lin Bao and TBS will bear the responsibility together, and the cost will be distributed in the ratio of 4:3:3." Nanaya told everyone the result of the discussion with Nengcheng yesterday.

Ori opened the project book again and asked while reading it, "What about the special effects? This is the core part of a special effects drama. It can't be messed up like it was with "Kara no Kyoukai"."

"Tsuburaya will send some technical staff over by then, so there's no need to worry about the effects. And I plan to use 50 million yen to produce it, and most of the funds will be used on special effects. Thanks to the big profit from "Kara" before, otherwise we really can't afford it." When talking about money, Nanaya showed a rare smile on his face.

The first share of the revenue from "Kara no Kyoukai" has come in. After deducting the share from the theaters and other miscellaneous expenses, the first share of the production side of this movie, which had an investment of less than 50 million, was 570 million yen.

Naturally, as the distributor, Linbao took the lion's share, leaving the studio with only 200 million yen.

Of this money, Nanaya took out 10 million yen as bonuses for all the film staff, including the Linbao staff. Basically, everyone can get a reward ranging from 500,000 yen to 2 million yen. This is a little compensation from Nanaya to everyone who has been tightening their belts and working on their own.

Then Nanaya took out another 30 million yen and gave it to his teacher Hanai Ryuichi. It was not that he didn't want to give more, but Ryuichi only took this much.

"I invested 15 million yen, and I got back 30 million yen in less than half a year, which is very good. You can't find an investment project with a 100% return rate in one year."

When Nanaya and Ryuichi mentioned the profit sharing, this was the other party's response.

Nanaya was helpless about the teacher's insistence, but he had no choice but to accept it.

Most of the remaining money was used as start-up capital for Nanaya Studio.

In fact, according to the original investment agreement, most of the remaining money should belong to Illya. As a life-saving investment of 5 million, the little Lolita can take nearly 70% of the share.

However, Illya did not do so. Instead, she only took 10 million yen in cash, and then she put the rest of her money back into the studio account as an investment in exchange for a 67% stake.

In the words of the little girl, "Such an interesting team should stay together forever~"

[So, Miss, are you addicted to watching the crew? ]

Although Nanaya has doubts about Illya's motives, her actions at least allow the studio to have sufficient funds for the time being. From this point of view, Nanaya is still very grateful to Illya.

The remaining 33% of the studio's shares are held by Nanaya, the studio's creative core. However, this situation should not last long, because Nanaya plans to wait until the filming of this special drama is completed, and then give out his 5% of the shares and Illya's 10% of the shares as rewards to everyone.

But it was too early to tell everyone about this, and Nanaya didn't plan to tell everyone right away. After all, he had just distributed the money to everyone, and now it would make people lose their motivation to work. It would be most cost-effective to give everyone the shares as a reward after the special effects drama was finished.

Nanaya, who has completely put himself into the role of a capitalist, believes that his idea is perfect. It not only inspires everyone's fighting spirit but also ensures the smooth operation of the studio.

"I am a genius indeed~"

Nanaya was able to cross his legs, but he was interrupted by Ori before he could be proud of himself for long.

"Senior, your plan..."

Nanaya raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong with my plan? I thought about it for a long time before coming up with this plan."

"No...did this person agree?"

As Ori spoke, he glanced at Illya who was sitting opposite Nanaya, but the little girl nodded immediately.

"I agreed, because Illya has wanted to try it for a long time!"

"But..."

"No buts." Nanaya said firmly, "What we have to do next is to finalize all the preliminary work as soon as possible. You know, it's almost September now, and we need to wait until October for our premiere. You should start working on it according to the plan, because we are very tight on time."

Ori looked at the words "Magical Girl Illya" written in the title column of the project plan, and was still confused.

"Is this really okay?"