Waaah...
After returning to her seat, Mitsuishi Kotono couldn't hold back her sobs.
Hayashibara Megumi, seated beside her, was startled and quickly rushed over to ask what was wrong.
"Kotono-chan, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling up a chair and gently patting Mitsuishi Kotono's back.
This gesture broke Mitsuishi Kotono's composure completely. She collapsed onto the table, sobbing uncontrollably.
When asked what had happened, she refused to speak.
Hayashibara Megumi suddenly recalled Mitsuishi Kotono's recent work schedule—she had been voicing for a company called Pokeni.
Her eyes narrowed, fury burning within her.
Those damned capitalists! They must have exploited Kotono somehow. There's no other explanation for her being this upset.
In Japan, though not as corrupt as South Korea's chaebols, under-the-table dealings were rampant.
But she never expected the President of Pokeni to be such a despicable piece of trash.
"Kotono, you should call the police," Hayashibara Megumi said.
"Huh?" Mitsuishi Kotono froze, utterly stunned.
Mitsuishi Kotono, having voiced characters in the Onmyoji series for Pokeni twice, had essentially become P Corporation's go-to voice actress.
Though her roles weren't extensive, she successfully made a lasting impression on players, who expressed deep gratitude for her portrayal of Yuki Rei and later Asakura Reimu in the sequel.
Originally, she would have been embarrassed to admit she'd worked on a galgame. But hearing such heartfelt appreciation from players deeply moved her.
The Onmyoji series even changed her perception of galgames. She had initially dismissed them as crude, male-oriented entertainment, but working on Onmyoji revealed a level of meticulous craftsmanship that rivaled even anime production.
She grew to love the characters so much that she personally bought two copies each of the Onmyoji and Onmyoji 2 cartridges.
Even now, when she occasionally revisits them, the experience still fills her with profound emotion.
Arts Vision, the ability agency, had collaborated with Pokeni on several projects. This time, Pokeni once again requested Mitsuishi Kotono to voice Suzune in their new work, The Mermaid's Heart.
When Mitsuishi accepted the job, she was genuinely thrilled.
But little did she know that after reading the script, she would feel utterly disheartened.
What a...
heart-wrenching story!
Voice acting differs from other roles. Even though you're merely providing your voice, you must fully immerse yourself, merging your emotions with the character to deliver an unparalleled immersive experience for players and audiences.
Yet, she never anticipated encountering such a script.
Immersive it was, indeed.
Mitsuishi Kotono even believed this game had the power to stir deep emotions. She didn't need to force herself; entering the character's mindset came effortlessly.
But...
precisely because of that, the pain was unbearable after recording her lines.
The internal turmoil felt like a knife had been plunged into her heart.
Even now, back at the company, she still hadn't recovered.
Not only was she deeply disturbed by being forced to voice such a terrifying and heart-wrenching script, but she also felt terrible for Suzune, the character in the story.
Hayashibara Megumi's soft, caring words shattered Mitsuishi Kotono's defenses, and she burst into tears.
"Ah~ so that's how it was," Hayashibara Megumi sighed in relief after Mitsuishi Kotono explained everything.
"I'm truly sorry for wrongly accusing Mr. Aoki Haruhi."
"From now on, I'll never voice another game produced by Kogahara Tsubakiaki again."
"It was truly brutal."
"It made me physically ill."
Mitsuishi Kotono sobbed into a tissue, vehemently denouncing the wicked Kogahara Tsubakiaki.
"Huh?"
Hayashibara Megumi was utterly astonished.
Despite this, she found herself even more curious about Kogahara Tsubakiaki.
What kind of game could this be? She'd never seen a script that could drive a voice actress to such despair.
In truth, Mitsuishi Kotono still hadn't seen what Kogahara Tsubakiaki looked like.
This time, Mikami Shinji was in charge of overseeing the studio recording for The Mermaid's Heart. He maintained high standards for quality.
By the time it reached the dubbing stage, the project was already nearing completion. The total recording time didn't exceed three days. After some minor processing by the sound effects team, the audio was quickly integrated into the game.
On May 5, 1991, The Mermaid's Heart was finally fully completed.
After a week spent fixing bugs, the game met the standards for release.
Thus, Aoki Haruhi sent the game cartridge to Nintindo for approval, simultaneously submitting it to the Rating Committee for rating.
Meanwhile, Nintindo was holding a high-level meeting.
Yamauchi Hiroshi, now 64 years old, still appeared remarkably robust. Dressed in a black suit with his hair neatly combed, he sat upright, radiating authority. His amber glasses framed a face that seemed more suited to a man in his forties than one in his sixties.
No one in the room dared meet his gaze.
This was the legendary Game Tyrant.
"Since the Super Famicom's release last year, we've faced countless challenges. But now, at long last, we've managed to carve out a narrow path to survival."
Before the SFC's launch, Nintindo had suffered significant market losses, primarily due to the impact of Sega's Mega Drive and NEC's PC Engine—both 16-bit systems.
Fortunately, they had finally gained ground. Had they allowed their competitors to continue unchecked, Yamauchi Hiroshi feared the consequences would have been dire.
In its first week, the SFC sold over 550,000 units.
Then, in March of this year, Nintindo released Super Mario World, an SFC-exclusive game that instantly propelled sales to over 3,300,000 units.
According to Nintindo's internal statistics, Japan had now sold over 6,000,000 SFC consoles.
We've finally caught up to Sega's Mega Drive in terms of sales.
I have to admit, Sega has given Yamauchi Hiroshi more than his fair share of headaches.
Fortunately, the Super Famicom has solidified its position; otherwise, who knows what the future would have held?
The thought still sends a shiver of fear down Yamauchi's spine.
"Our previous strategic direction needs some adjustments. Everyone, let's prioritize both game quality and hardware development."
Before the Super Famicom's release, Nintindo had relaxed its content review standards, allowing some games that would never have been approved for the FC to hit the market.
Now that the Super Famicom has achieved such success, it's time for the company to return to its original principles.
"In January of this year," Yamauchi said, glancing down at his notes, "a galgame called Street Flirtation 2 was released on the Super Famicom."
"The impact has been largely negative. Many players have complained that we're tolerating low-quality products on the Super Famicom, leading to a flood of negative reviews."
"It's time for a crackdown."
"I urge our review team to strictly scrutinize third-party game quality going forward. Thank you for your efforts," Yamauchi concluded.
"Yes, President!"
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