In the chat group named "Paradise":
[Edogawa Ryunosuke]: I never expected it, but our group actually has a genius female Supervising Director.
[Princess Kaguya]: Working with handsome guys every day and suddenly becoming so successful in my career... whimper~ I'm so jealous.
[Headless Knight]: Speaking of handsome guys, could our group admin be Lin Zhiyan?
[Edogawa Ryunosuke]: I heard they're not the same person?
[Princess Kaguya]: Speaking of which, Sakurako-chan hasn't posted in ages. And the admin and Sail Village too.
[Headless Knight]: Sail Village is Mr. Shinbo, right? His new animation, Summer Storm, looks like it's in serious trouble.
[Edogawa Ryunosuke]: The character designs are just too awful. I can't accept them at all.
Among the many anime that premiered in April 2009, Summer Storm was one of them. However, the series was not only unpopular after its release; even before its premiere, its character designs were so widely criticized as ugly that many viewers found them utterly unacceptable, causing the anime's overall reputation to plummet.
The first and second seasons of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (2007-2008) had earned Akiyuki Shinbo a substantial fanbase. Yet Summer Storm proved to be a Waterloo, even setting a new record for SHAFT's lowest average sales per volume. The character designer, Kazuhiro Ota, resigned in disgrace, and Shin Oonuma, Shinbo's most promising disciple, left SHAFT.
If not for the phenomenal success of Bakemonogatari in July, Shinbo's team might have been adrift for some time after Summer Storm.
Of course, that's all hindsight.
At that moment, only Lin Zhiyan knew the chain of consequences this anime would trigger.
While his friends chatted idly in the group, Lin Zhiyan was busy with various trivial matters.
Meanwhile, Naoko Yamada, as the supervising director of K-On!, was being interviewed by an animation magazine reporter in L.S Produ's conference room.
"Director Yamada, K-On! has become a super dark horse of the April anime season, defying low expectations to become the most popular animation of the month. What are your thoughts on this?" reporter Fukuda Miyuki asked Naoko Yamada.
"Thoughts?" Yamada pondered. "Well... I'm certainly happy, but more than anything, I'm surprised."
"Surprised?" Fukuda Miyuki looked taken aback.
"Yes."
Yamada nodded. "Because before the show even aired, President Lin told me that even though it wasn't expected to do well, it would definitely be a huge success and become a super dark horse of the April season."
She paused, then continued. "To be honest, while I, as the supervising director, had great confidence in the quality of this animation, even I didn't expect it to become so popular. It's even caused a surge in popularity for high school light music clubs and inspired countless viewers to start learning music. It's truly astonishing."
"So, all the success K-On! has achieved was already predicted by President Lin?" Fukuda Miyuki asked in surprise.
"Yes."
Naoko Yamada confirmed, "Many outside the industry call our President a god-like Animation Director because he excels at the highest level in directing, scripting, music, and art. I used to think so too. But after working at L.S Produ for a while, I realized his true divine talent lies in planning."
She spoke with growing excitement, her hands gesturing involuntarily. "I think he must have eyes that can see into the future. With every animation project he plans, he seems to have a clear prediction of its success. As long as the animation quality meets his standards, it should achieve the results he anticipates."
"Eyes that can see into the future?" Fukuda Miyuki paused, surprised.
Quickly, she grabbed her pen and jotted down this key piece of information.
But as she wrote, she felt something was missing, so she immediately crossed it out and rewrote: "Lin Zhiyan, the magic eye that sees into the future."
After recording this, she continued her questions. "Before K-On!, you worked at Kyoto Animation, right? What made you join L.S Produ?"
"Well..." Naoko Yamada pondered for a moment before answering. "First, someone recommended me to the president. Without that recommendation, I'd probably still be at Kyoto Animation. But the most important reason is that I find this company's compensation and work atmosphere excellent. I also really like the animations they've produced since their founding."
"What do you think of President Lin?" Fukuda Miyuki asked. "There have been rumors about you and him having some special relationship. Do you have anything to say about that?"
"No, no," Naoko Yamada shook her head vigorously. "Our relationship is purely that of a subordinate and her superior, nothing more complicated. As for how I see him... I suppose I admire him. But not in a romantic way. He's handsome, talented, and achieved tremendous success at a young age while remaining kind. I think everyone at the company must like him."
"Kind? In what way?" Fukuda Miyuki's interest was immediately piqued.
"When I first learned he was the Assistant Director for K-On!, I assumed he wanted to make the anime himself but didn't want to be the Supervising Director, thinking the director's role was just a puppet job. I later realized that wasn't the case. It was mainly because I was young and an outsider. He was afraid the rest of the production team wouldn't cooperate with me, so he took on the Assistant Director role to protect and support me."
Naoko Yamada explained, "Also, whenever I had questions, he would always answer them seriously and patiently. I rarely saw him lose his temper. According to people in the company, he only gets angry when someone makes a fundamental mistake."
"What constitutes a fundamental mistake?" Fukuda Miyuki asked urgently.
"For example, if someone is slacking off during animation production, just going through the motions, he might lose his temper or even fire them completely," Yamada said.
"I see," Fukuda Miyuki said, quickly jotting down the key points.
Finally, she steered the conversation back to its original topic: "As the Supervising Director, what are your thoughts on K-On!?"
"I love it. I really love it."
Yamada answered without hesitation. "This kind of anime, depicting the everyday lives of girls, is truly beautiful. Being the Supervising Director for this project was a great honor for me."
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