I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 357

[Note:- I wanted to release the whole scene together, but the Echo Shroud celebration arc expanded from two chapters to three, and I'm still writing the third one.]

A day had passed since Fullmetal Episode 4 aired, and new fans were still trying to live with what they had seen.

At Evermark Studio, Haruki had been explaining Synesthetic Scoring to Masafumi for the past hour. The storyboards spread across the work table showed where all three techniques would intersect: Conscious Motion, Temporal Layering, and Synesthetic Scoring combined into one impossible pipeline.

"So," Haruki said, "what do you think?"

Masafumi studied the sheet where Wes and Haruki had mapped out how the three techniques would work together. He was quiet for a long moment.

"You want to synchronize all three of these..." He traced one of the timing marks with his finger. "It'll be extremely difficult. And very time-intensive."

Haruki nodded. "Can you do it? Sound engineering is the most important part of this movie."

"We can do it," Masafumi said slowly. "But there's a catch. You will need the entire scene finalized before we even start animating. That means voice acting recorded, music composed, story locked. Because with this pipeline, editing becomes nearly impossible."

He looked up at Haruki. "Even a two or three frame adjustment would throw off the rhythm of the music. The whole thing would collapse like dominoes. This pipeline will be extremely delicate."

"Don't worry about that," Haruki said. "I'll have the story and music ready. We just need to figure out how to synchronize everything."

Masafumi set his pen down. "If you didn't already have the story finalized, I'd suggest a different approach."

Wes looked up from his camera angle sketches. "What approach?"

He knew the current pipeline locked him in completely. There was no room for adjustments during editing. Any alternative that gave him even slight flexibility would be worth considering.

"We would create multiple versions of each key scene," Masafumi explained. "Animate them at different frame rates, 12fps, 24fps, variations in between. Then we would pick whichever version syncs best with the music." He paused. "But since Haruki already has everything mapped out, we don't need to go that route. It would triple our workload and budget anyway. Other studios could use that method if they need flexibility during production. Even then, editing would be a nightmare."

Wes nodded slowly. "Yeah... that would eat up way too much time."

Masafumi continued, "I heard from Kazuya that you are increasing the staff, but we will need far more specialized teams than a traditional anime production. And we will need a lot of talented people, plus someone capable of managing all of them." He looked at Haruki directly. "Are you sure you want this level of complexity for your first project? This goes beyond what we're doing on Code Geass."

Haruki was quiet for a moment, looking at the storyboards spread across the table. He had mapped it all out already. The system had shown him the finished product. He just needed to build the path to get there.

"You are right," he said. "Managing this will be the hardest part." He gestured at the storyboards. "But I have every scene mapped out already. Every cut, every music cue. That should at least help with coordination."

Masafumi shook his head. "Having the vision is not the same as executing it. You will be coordinating dozens of specialized teams, each working on different aspects. One miscommunication and the whole thing falls apart."

Wes shrugged. "Yeah, this will still be very hard to manage, Haruki."

"Kazuya will help me," Haruki said.

Masafumi's expression shifted slightly, almost amused. "Who is going to tell him? He mentioned he's under a lot of pressure from Code Geass. He said he wanted to take a break while you work on your first anime."

"I will tell Kazuya to shorten his break."

Masafumi shook his head slightly. "Alright then." He pulled one of the sheets. "I think we should produce the music first. It will help the animators visualize what we are trying to do. Do you have the music sheets ready?"

Haruki nodded. "Yes. And I asked Shiori to look for a band. We should have the full soundtrack ready by the end of November. It depends on whether the band we want is available. Once they are, we will need about twenty days of recording sessions."

"Don't get too focused on this," Masafumi warned. "We still have Code Geass Season 2 to animate. We do not have unlimited staff."

"Don't worry," Wes said. "We are just doing preparation work until the animators get the hang of Conscious Motion."

Masafumi exhaled slowly. "Fine. Send me the piano version you recorded. I need to practice with it too."

They went back to their work, Masafumi studying the timing sheets, Wes refining camera angles, Haruki marking adjustments on the storyboards.

The afternoon bled into evening. Other staff gradually left the production floor, but the three of them kept working. Around seven, Haruki's phone buzzed on the desk.

He glanced at the screen, then picked it up. "Hello?"

"Haruki." Haruka's voice came through, crisp and no nonsense. "Please tell me your speech is ready."

"Do I really have to give a speech?" Haruki said.

"Not a long one. Just a few encouraging words and some thank yous. It will be more like a toast," Haruka said. "So you have the speech ready, right?"

"Yes. I have the speech ready," Haruki said.

"Good. Saturday, Echo Shroud will send a car to pick you up."

"I will be ready," Haruki said.

"Alright."

The call ended.

Haruki set his phone down and looked back at the storyboards still spread across the table.

Wes glanced over. "Another event?"

"Yes," Haruki said. "Echo Shroud is celebrating reaching number three publishing house in Japan."

Wes nodded. "On the bright side, after that, you won't have any more functions to attend."

"Yes, that is a good thing," Haruki said.

Wes went back to practicing the technique. "Until the award show in February, then Liora in March, then Code Geass promotion."

Hearing that, Haruki put his head down on the table.