Just before 11 p.m., inside the interview room.
"Thank you for your guidance."
The candidate who had just finished the interview stood up, bowed to the five interviewers, and slowly turned to leave the room.
The interviewers were naturally all high-ranking officials from IG, including President Ishikawa Mitsugu, Vice President and Head of First Department Goto Tatsuyuki, Head of Second Department Kazuchika Kise, Production Department Head Sanbon Ryuji, and the last person, though not of such high status, was still a producer at IG.
While waiting for the next applicant to arrive, the five of them couldn't resist whispering among themselves:
"It feels like none of the candidates this year are particularly promising."
"Don't be so picky. Anyone willing to work in animation these days must truly love it."
"Things were so much better in the '70s and '80s. Back then, animators didn't face this kind of pressure."
"Yeah, exactly. Sigh, I wonder when the ACG industry will ever recover to the standards of the '80s."
"Working in animation is a dead end."
"Not working in animation is even worse. At the end of the day, what else can we do besides animation?"
"True."
As they chatted, the five interviewers casually glanced at the next candidate's resume.
What they saw brought them amusement.
Name: Lin Zhiyan. Education: High School. Graduated from an ordinary school, not one with an art program.
No mention of joining the high school art club or animation society, no indication of having made animations at school, and no awards from art competitions.
Age: 18, just graduated from high school, so naturally he couldn't have studied at an art school or animation academy.
He had nothing to show for himself, yet his boasting was impressive. The self-introduction section of his resume read: "Self-taught artist for 12 years, possessing a deep foundation in keyframe art."
Turning 18 this year, self-taught for 12 years—does that mean he started learning art at age 6?
If that were true, he should be quite skilled. Why didn't he win any major art awards in elementary, middle, or high school?
Or maybe he did win awards but didn't list them on his resume?
The most audacious claim was his self-proclaimed "deep foundation in keyframe art."
How dare he! He's shooting his mouth off to the skies!
Even graduates from art schools need several months of training at an animation company before they can become qualified animators.
Even key animators who have passed the company's key animator exam and successfully shed their low-level animator status don't dare claim to have a deep foundation in keyframe art.
In many cases, they can only draw relatively simple scenes or serve as second-in-command to more skilled keyframe artists, all while enduring the brutal corrections from the animation supervisor's iron fist.
How could a high school graduate with no animation experience possibly have a deep foundation in keyframe art?
Even though job seekers often exaggerate their skills, claiming to have a "deep foundation in keyframe art" is simply absurd.
"Is this guy joking?" Kazuchika Kise was the first to complain. "He hasn't even studied at an art school or an animation specialist school, yet he dares to claim a deep foundation in keyframe art? I wouldn't have dared to make such a claim even in my first two years as a key animator."
The others nodded in agreement, all thinking that this Lin Zhiyan kid was boasting far too much.
Even President Ishikawa Mitsugu chuckled along.
But quickly, he flipped to the next page, focusing on the portfolio attached to the resume.
Then, with just a single glance, he was utterly stunned.
First was a drawing of a young girl. Tall and slender, with delicate features, she wore the uniform of an unknown school. Her gaze, slightly tilted upward, fixed on the sky, carried a complex emotion, as if she had countless words to say to someone far away. The background showed a sky drifting with light snow.
As the president and producer of IG, Ishikawa Mitsugu had been in the industry for over a decade. He had been involved in the production of over twenty animations and had reviewed countless more.
Yet he felt that the girl in this drawing was more gentle and refined than any female character in any animation he had ever seen.
The entire scene was breathtakingly beautiful, or perhaps a touch melancholic. The desolate atmosphere seemed to seep out of the drawing, affecting his very soul.
Moreover, the drawing employed perspective, creating a sense of depth and three-dimensionality.
It was simply exquisite!
A truly stunning illustration.
He couldn't wait to turn to the next page.
Another girl, but not only were her appearance, attire, posture, and the angle of the drawing different from the previous one, the overall style had changed completely. It was no longer the melancholic beauty of the previous piece, but rather conveyed a sense of cuteness, vitality, liveliness, and lightness.
The only similarity was the meticulous craftsmanship—both drawings were exquisitely detailed, the kind that drew you in and left you admiring them.
"This Lin Zhiyan guy might actually be quite something," Ishikawa Mitsugu mused, his admiration growing as he studied the artwork.
By now, the other four members of the panel had also begun flipping through the portfolio attached to Lin Zhiyan's resume.
Even the two seasoned artists, Goto Tatsuyuki and Kazuchika Kise, were equally astonished by the quality.
Lin Zhiyan had submitted ten sketches in total. Half depicted girls in various styles, while the remaining five featured a cat, a dog, a horse, a mecha, and a ruined landscape.
The animal drawings emphasized lifelike realism. The mecha exuded a cool, awe-inspiring presence, while the ruined landscape conveyed a desolate, abandoned atmosphere.
"The mecha and ruined landscape are drawn just as well as mine," Kazuchika Kise marveled.
Goto Tatsuyuki couldn't help but comment, "This skill is impressive. Is he really not some veteran artist pretending to be new? Or did some top-tier artist draw these for him?"
Just moments ago, they had found the self-introduction on the resume—"Twelve years of self-taught drawing, with a solid foundation in keyframe illustration"—absurd. Now, they no longer found it absurd.
While they couldn't fully assess his animation skills, if Lin Zhiyan had personally created these drawings, his artistic foundation was undeniably strong.
"I'm starting to look forward to this," Ishikawa Mitsugu suddenly remarked.
He was anticipating Lin Zhiyan's interview.
Though the others remained silent, they shared similar thoughts.
However, as they silently waited—one minute passed, then two—no one arrived for the interview.
"Where is he?"
"What happened to this Lin Zhiyan guy?"
"Why hasn't he shown up?"
Ishikawa Mitsugu, puzzled, asked Kazuchika Kise to check outside. Within seconds, Kise returned with the news: Lin Zhiyan had left over half an hour ago and hadn't returned.
They had finally encountered someone who might be a true genius, and now they'd missed their chance!
The group sat stunned, their hearts filled with regret.