Sunday, a rare day off.
At Lin Zhiyan's house.
Nanase Mayumi watched the recorded 40th episode of Gundam SEED on the TV, listening to the insert song Akatsuki no Kuruma. She was utterly moved to tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
Sniffling and wiping her eyes, she said, "It's so touching, so beautiful."
Lin Zhiyan couldn't help but chuckle. "Mayumi, wake up," he teased. "Gundam SEED is our competitor. What's the difference between you and a traitor?"
Mayumi finally stopped crying and regained her composure before defending herself. "I didn't mean to! But the song is just so good, and when it's paired with the plot of the 40th episode, it's just so moving."
The 40th episode, corresponding to the 38th episode of the remade version, depicted the neutral nation of Orb, which, after being attacked by the Earth Alliance, knew it couldn't win but refused to surrender. After sending the main characters—the seeds of hope—away, the entire population detonated themselves.
The scene where Princess Cagalli, one of the heroines, tearfully bids farewell to her father, combined with the song Akatsuki no Kuruma, was indeed deeply moving.
The song was both sorrowful and grand. It was written and composed by Yuki Kajiura when she was just 19 years old, after she personally witnessed her beloved father battling illness, growing increasingly frail, and ultimately passing away forever. The profound pain of that separation and the lingering memories of her departed father inspired her to create this masterpiece.
As an insert song, "Akatsuki no Kuruma" had appeared twice earlier in the series without generating much buzz. However, when the fortieth episode aired, its perfect alignment with the plot propelled "Akatsuki no Kuruma" to legendary status, making it one of the three greatest anime anthems in Japan.
This was why Lin Zhiyan had always said he was glad the final episode of Lelouch corresponded to the thirty-eighth episode of Gundam SEED, not the fortieth.
If it had been the fortieth episode, it would have been nearly impossible to achieve the popularity surge.
He understood the logic, yet Lin Zhiyan shook his head and made a "refuse" gesture with his hand. "No need to explain," he said.
With a sigh, he added, "We have a traitor among us."
"I'm not a traitor! I just couldn't help myself!" Nanase Mayumi pouted, her cheeks flushed with indignation.
Lin Zhiyan reached out and gently pinched her cheeks. Mayumi deflated like a pricked balloon, her voice turning whiny. "Senior, you always bully me."
"Because you're too cute."
"..."
Cute. Makes me want to bully her. Makes me want to have... intense exchanges.
Later that afternoon, Lin Zhiyan finally opened his computer to remotely handle some company matters.
Lelouch was finished. The new animation, Gurren Lagann, had nine months of pre-production time and wouldn't premiere until April 2004, so he wasn't particularly busy during this period.
That said, the company's other animation, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, was about to be released in theaters. Although the marketing was outsourced, he still needed to cooperate with the promotion efforts, including the animation's advertising campaign.
The campaign's focus would be twofold: the original novel itself, and the creative team—Supervising Director Mamoru Hosoda and Character Designer Lin Zhiyan.
As for the scriptwriter, that was a pseudonym for Lin Zhiyan, named "Takagi Makoto," after the protagonist of a web novel he'd once read called My Anime Made Millions Cry.
There were two main reasons for using this pseudonym. First, as he'd told Mamoru Hosoda earlier, the animation's style was too different from Death Note and Lelouch, making it awkward to use his real name. Second, the original script was written by Satoko Okudera, a female scriptwriter.
Scripts written by female scriptwriters tend to have subtle differences from those written by male scriptwriters.
Within the company, even if Mamoru Hosoda found it a little strange, he wouldn't dwell on it.
But without the pseudonym, when the animation was released, some viewers might have raised eyebrows: "Hey, you're the burly, dark-browed Lin Zhiyan. Why does your new animation's script feel so... feminine? Did you really write it yourself? Or did some female scriptwriter ghostwrite it while you took the credit?"
In short, it would have caused unnecessary trouble.
Using the alias "Takagi Makoto" eliminated such concerns. While some viewers might still find it suspicious, the lack of any prior works or public recognition for this name meant they wouldn't dwell on it.
Creating this alias was essential. If similar projects arose in the future—like adaptations of K-On! or Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day—all scripts could be attributed to this pen name, preventing external speculation.
In simpler terms, it was more convenient.
However, when promotional materials for the animated film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time began circulating, some people grew suspicious.
Discussions erupted online:
"Just saw the poster for an animated film, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Supervising Director: Mamoru Hosoda. Character Designer: Lin Zhiyan. Scriptwriter: Takagi Makoto. I know the first two, but who is this Takagi Makoto?"
"I looked him up, but there's no record of any previous work. Not even basic information like age or appearance. It's like he just materialized out of nowhere. Maybe he's a recent college graduate who just entered the industry?"
"To be able to work with animation geniuses like Mamoru Hosoda and Lin Zhiyan right out of the gate? That's incredibly lucky, isn't it?"
"Could they be related to someone powerful, just getting some experience? Since it's an adaptation of an existing novel, the scriptwriting should be easier, right?"
"It is an adaptation, but the plot summary suggests it's an original story set 20 years after the novel's events, with the protagonist replaced by her niece. It's practically an original anime, and writing a script like that is anything but easy."
"It's releasing on July 25th. Anyone planning to see it? I don't recognize the scriptwriter, Takagi Makoto, but the Hosoda and Lin Zhiyan duo makes it worth checking out."
"I like both of them, and since it's an LSP production, I'll definitely watch it. Still, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. Hosoda was once hailed as a genius, but his only films were Digimon theatrical films. The character design might be good, but who even knows where this Takagi Makoto came from? There's no guarantee the script will be any good."
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