A Girl Who Likes Apples
"An apple, a common fruit. Apple trees belong to the Rosaceae family. Their appearance is round and vividly red, and due to the protection of natural fruit wax, the skin appears smooth. The flesh is white with a hint of red, crisp and delicious. Matching its bright red exterior is a rich and sweet flavor. It can also be used to brew fruit wine, with a sweet taste..."
"A girl who matches an apple can be understood as having an outwardly cheerful and lively personality, while inwardly being pure yet possessing a certain depth, with an attractive quality..."
Within the world of consciousness, Kamiyā Yuu lay on an endless plaza, contemplating the animation assignment given to him by Uehara Etsuki—to depict a girl who likes apples and embodies the characteristics of an apple.
In his mind, an anime girl quickly surfaced—Holo the Wise Wolf, from the anime 'Spice and Wolf' in his previous world. The plot of that series was basically a traveling merchant couple's diary of swindling (or so it jokingly seemed).
Holo the Wise Wolf was the heroine of that work. Both her appearance and personality closely resembled an apple, and most importantly, she loved apples. This kind of character setting was refreshingly innovative in both his previous world and this one. What left the deepest impression on Kamiyā Yuu was the smile of this "wise" character—a mischievous grin, like a prank successfully pulled off, yet bright and sunny enough to make it impossible to dislike. Such smiles were more commonly seen on protagonists of hot-blooded anime, like a certain rubber man, or a certain spiky-haired boy who forms spinning spheres.
Kamiyā Yuu had a fairly good impression of this work. Perhaps its plot was too dull for some audiences, but its unique worldbuilding and character design were undeniable highlights worth appreciating.
On the white-tiled plaza, a massive screen projection unfolded in the void. Kamiyā Yuu browsed for images of Holo, intending to use them as a reference to create his own "Apple Girl." He had no intention of plagiarizing the character design—otherwise, the purpose of completing the assignment would be entirely lost.
This excellent yet niche work might one day be "brought over" into this world once he achieves success. After all, he knew plenty of such hidden gems, but without guaranteed commercial value, producing them would require a considerable amount of funding.
Lying on the plaza, Kamiyā Yuu aimlessly browsed through the internet within his consciousness. After finishing his search for Holo's character images, he continued looking for cheerful female anime character designs.
"This is..." Kamiyā Yuu's gaze sharpened. He stopped scrolling, and as his expression subtly changed, the image displayed on the massive screen was magnified infinitely until it filled the entire projection.
In the image, set against a bright, pure moon, a girl stood at the edge of a cliff wearing a red cloak. The cloak, paired with a red-and-black gothic-style short dress, exuded a unique gothic charm. Her head was partially concealed beneath a lowered red hood, obscuring her full face while giving off a valiant and heroic aura. Around her, rose petals danced in the air, tracing a mysterious path around the enormous red scythe she held in her small hand. The contrast between her petite body and the massive weapon, combined with the blend of mechanical weapon design and classical gothic attire, created a striking yet harmonious aesthetic.
Ruby Rose.
An anime girl with a non-typical Japanese-style character design, from the animated series 'RWBY.' Why call her non-typical? Although 'RWBY' possessed strong Japanese anime elements, it was actually a 3D animation created by the American independent studio Rooster Teeth Productions. As such, while the character designs leaned toward Japanese styles, their behavior and mannerisms carried a distinctly "American" flavor.
In the title 'RWBY,' the letter R stands for Ruby, the protagonist Ruby Rose, also known as Little Red Riding Hood. W stands for Weiss, another member of the main team, codenamed Snow White. B stands for Blake, also part of the team. Y represents Yang Xiao Long, a member of the main team and Ruby's half-sister.
The creator of this 3D animation was Monty Oum, an American of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese, and Japanese descent. In 2007, in Kamiyā Yuu's previous world, he rose to fame with a one-man-created 3D animation titled 'Dead Fantasy,' which combined various game characters into a virtual fighting world where they battled to the death. Although 'Dead Fantasy' had rough visuals and almost no formal storyline, its thrilling fight scenes left a large number of viewers wanting more.
If a work like 'Dead Fantasy' could be considered exciting yet not widely captivating, then the piece that truly showcased Monty Oum's talent and propelled him to the pinnacle was 'RWBY,' where he served as animation planner, producer, and director. Its astonishing fight choreography made it stand out uniquely in the animation world, earning a massive global fanbase and widespread acclaim.
However, heaven envies genius. Not long after the second season of 'RWBY' concluded, Monty Oum tragically passed away in the hospital due to an allergic reaction to medication at the age of 33. The loss of his leadership at Rooster Teeth Productions directly led to the third season of 'RWBY' collapsing in many aspects.
The original creator's death caused Kamiyā Yuu to stop watching after the beginning of Season 3. In his view, if a continuation of a work was not created by the same author, then that continuation lost its meaning.
Upon seeing Ruby Rose, Kamiyā Yuu's first thought was: why not create a 3D animation like 'Dead Fantasy'? With his current capabilities, independently producing a 2D animation was impossible. In many respects, 3D animation was far simpler to produce than 2D, and with proficiency in various 3D software, a single person could create a 3D animation independently.
He possessed the learning ability within his consciousness space, along with access to the internet of his previous world. Learning computer-based 3D modeling techniques would be effortless for him.
"No, that's not right. Although this world has computers and a Windows system, the development of 3D software is far behind what existed in my previous world. If I want to create 3D animation, I'll have to start from the very basics—learning programming," Kamiyā Yuu pondered for a long time before thinking further, "Sooner or later, I'll need to get into computers anyway. Learning this knowledge earlier will only benefit me. Besides, if it's for recreating 'RWBY' in this world, this level of effort is nothing."
Yes—Kamiyā Yuu himself was a fan of 'RWBY,' even if not the most devoted one.