Inside the conference room of Zhiyin Manga.
This meeting was not attended by the company's management. Besides Lin Baicheng, Maoli Haruko, and company president Koyama Yuta, everyone else present were the company's manga artists.
"These are the three works I want each of you to draw. They're all sci-fi stories about mechanized battleships. For two of them, I've already provided the general main plot. You just need to fill in the details based on that. For the last one, I've only given you the world-setting — you will need to come up with the main storyline yourselves. Draft it first so I can review it before you begin the artwork."
"First is Mobile Suit Gundam. I don't need to say much about the plot — the art style must be sharp. Gundams are the true protagonists, so put your effort into designing a variety of Gundam models. Make as many types as possible, and make their height, weight, arm length, weapons, and other specifications as realistic as you can. If necessary, seek data support from academic experts."
"Next is The Super Dimension Fortress (Macross). In this one, the real protagonist is the fortress — a space fortress traveling across the stars. It's a war set in the galaxy, so the story is equally important. You must balance both. A manga with only a fortress and no real story has no soul."
"Lastly, Transformers. I haven't given any plot for this one — you'll have to write it yourselves. But in my setting, there exists a mysterious energy called the Spark, which can give machines life. Simply put, it can grant consciousness and intelligence to any kind of machinery."
"The robots in this work are intelligent beings like humans. The only difference is that they cannot reproduce biologically. And, once given life by the Spark, they can transform — into cars, televisions, tape recorders, and other mechanical devices. That is the meaning of 'transformers' and the key selling point of this work."
The three works Lin Baicheng brought out were, in essence, more like anime than manga.
Especially Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross — in the original world, these were anime series, not manga adapted into anime. Lin Baicheng had watched many anime, and he knew these two stories inside out.
In RB (Japan), Lin had no access to TV broadcasting channels, so he could only adapt them into manga. Since he had just acquired the manga company and didn't know if readers would like these without involving the original authors, he decided to test the waters using these two works.
As for Transformers, people in the future know it as a film franchise under Hasbro. But originally, it belonged to a Japanese toy company, and Hasbro merely selected some of their robot designs and created Transformers from them.
Right now, there are no transforming robot toys on the market — the idea of "transforming" has not yet appeared in mechanical toys. So Lin decided to introduce this concept directly. He asked the artists to draw based on his Transformers settings and "claim the concept first."
To Lin, as long as the manga performs decently, that's enough. Later, he could adapt them into anime shows, animated films, and then produce toys to sell. The main goal was to make money from the toy market.
Even if the adaptation failed and Transformers flopped, Lin wouldn't lose much. If he didn't do it himself, someone else would eventually — and then he'd have to spend money to buy the rights and promote it anyway.
"For the next couple of days, sketch the mecha and the fortress designs first. Show them to me, and I'll review them — style, aesthetics, everything."
"Yes, Chairman," the artists responded.
They weren't sure whether such works would be successful or not, but since it was the boss's order, they had no choice.
These artists weren't big names in the industry. They had created works before, but none became popular. They were more like assistants now, helping others draw. Their creativity had faded.
Still, their technical drawing ability was solid — they could execute assigned tasks well.
Despite that, Lin didn't fully trust them. He turned to Koyama Yuta and said, "Mr. Koyama, we still need more professional lead talents for these three works. I want these three series to become the company's main pillars for the next few years."
Koyama nodded. "Understood, Chairman. I'll recruit people as soon as possible."
"Good."
Lin nodded slightly, then added, "From now on, for the company's newcomer contests, send me all works that pass the preliminary selection. I'll make time to review them." There were too many manga in Japan — Lin couldn't remember them all. But seeing familiar names or storylines might trigger his memory. To avoid missing great works, he didn't mind spending time screening them.
"Understood, Chairman," Koyama replied.
Over the next few days, Lin stayed in Tokyo instead of returning to Hong Kong. He went to Zhiyin Manga daily.
Each day, he discussed with the artists, reiterated his requirements, and made constant adjustments. Within two days, the artists produced character designs that looked familiar to Lin — and these designs would now become the official versions for future manga.
Of course, in the Japanese manga industry, creators and readers interact frequently. If a large number of readers dislike a character's design, the artists often revise it accordingly — so character designs are not fixed forever.
Although the character designs were finalized, Lin also required that the mecha designs should be as realistic as possible — the data must be accurate. So the team would need to consult experts, and actual manga production would start later.
This time, Lin didn't stay in Japan any longer. Once the initial designs were done, he would come back to review them. If unsatisfactory, he'd send them back for revision. No need to stay in Tokyo every day.
Maoli Haruko was left in Tokyo to help develop Zhiyin Manga and to keep an eye on Koyama Yuta on Lin's behalf.
And to prevent Haruko and Koyama from teaming up to deceive him as a foreigner, Lin had the company's finances managed by staff sent from Hong Kong. Lin himself would also frequently check the company situation — to avoid being kept in the dark.
Even earlier, when planning to establish overseas branches, Lin's sister Lin Shufang had already hired additional finance personnel to rotate through foreign branches. It was an extra cost, but far better than being cheated.