The 'White — White Oleander' chapter was probably the most heavily gothic among the four character promotional trailers. Weiss Schnee's beautiful and luxurious western-style dresses, the gloomy ancient castle, and even the armor designs of the enemy knights were all deeply rooted in Western culture. Because of this, Kamiyā Yuu handed all of those tasks over to Uehara Etsuki, who understood Western culture best within the 'Yosuganosora' Animation Studio, while he himself focused on designing Weiss Schnee's songs, dances, and combat choreography.
Even Uehara Etsuki, who usually carried herself with a relaxed demeanor, had lost that leisurely air when faced with such a heavy workload. Every time Kamiyā Yuu stopped drawing to take a break, he would either see her deep in thought with pen in hand or discussing ideas with Yūki Chinatsu.
The 'White — White Oleander' chapter was probably also the work that tested the abilities and teamwork of the 'Yosuganosora' Animation Studio the most so far. Weiss Schnee's character design would influence the dance choreography Kamiyā Yuu created. Kamiyā Yuu's choreography, in turn, had to synchronize with the music. Whether the music itself could possess a soul also depended heavily on the background design. These interwoven relationships were ultimately connected by the 3D department responsible for production. While working on the 'White — White Oleander' chapter, the amount of time everyone spent discussing and coordinating actually exceeded the time spent on formal production.
Designing dance choreography was far more complicated than designing combat movements. Aside from matching the music, there were also elements of body language involved. Furthermore, because the choreography had to harmonize with the music, the limitations became even greater. Kamiyā Yuu spent two entire nights in the consciousness space analyzing over a thousand dance references before he finally managed to create a dance that truly belonged to Weiss Schnee.
"The movements are light and elegant, yet carry a silent solemnity. Close-up shots of Weiss Schnee's eyes and expressions could strengthen the emotional impact of that wordless atmosphere."
Sitting before his desk, Kamiyā Yuu flipped through the storyboard sketches of the dance choreography he had designed page by page. The drawings only contained simple character figures and descriptions of movement transitions. A complicated choreography storyboard like this was impossible for ordinary people to understand, so after the 3D models were completed, he would still need to personally use MAYA to create the dance animations himself.
As his full attention focused on the storyboard sketches, a faint singing voice drifted into his ears and resonated with his thoughts. It was the English version of 'This Life Is Mine', which had been endlessly looping within his consciousness space for the past two nights, making him intimately familiar with every single note. Accompanied by the ethereal and melancholic singing, the storyboard sketches he flipped through seemed to come alive, dancing gracefully in rhythm with the rises and falls of the melody.
"Viewed outside the consciousness space, it still feels slightly off somewhere... but I can't pinpoint exactly where."
Before long, the miscellaneous sounds within the office interrupted his concentrated state. Everything he had been envisioning instantly vanished like smoke.
Kamiyā Yuu let out a tired yawn. Every time he entered that state, it gave him the sensation of being half-asleep. Although it could not match the effects of the consciousness space, it allowed him to examine flaws in his work from a completely different perspective.
"It feels like the changes to my mental state are becoming more and more obvious. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing." Kamiyā Yuu shook his head and sighed inexplicably. As his abilities continued to develop, perhaps one day he would be able to achieve "imaginary materialization" within his thoughts without even entering the consciousness space. At that point, would he simply be mentally unstable, or would he become a superhuman? Kamiyā Yuu neither knew nor intended to overthink it. He had no intention of letting such an ability go unused. Since transmigration had granted him this cheat-like power, naturally, he should make full use of it.
"Yuu, the song Mr. Shindō was responsible for has already been completed. Should I send it to your computer?" Inside the office, Morishita Aoi, who was editing documents on her computer, received an email from Shindō Tsukasa. After glancing at it, she turned around and calmly reported to Kamiyā Yuu.
Kamiyā Yuu's expression brightened as he nodded. "Perfect timing, I really need it right now. Send me a copy."
With the official song completed, he no longer needed to rely on vague intuition to judge whether the song and dance felt out of sync.
Uehara Etsuki, who had been conceptualizing the castle background and lighting effects, paused her drawing upon hearing that and softly said, "Please send me a copy as well. Before Kamiyā-kun finishes the choreography, I'd like to familiarize myself with the song first."
Although she had already completed the interior castle decoration designs, she still had not begun Weiss Schnee's character design. She wanted to wait until Kamiyā Yuu finalized the dance choreography and combat style before drawing in coordination with them.
At present, the plan for Weiss Schnee's design was for her to wear one elegant dress during the first five-minute song-and-dance segment, then switch into a lighter white female battle armor outfit during the latter ten-minute combat sequence.
"Sorry, I'm currently making the final revisions to the choreography. It should be ready for you by this afternoon, sensei." Kamiyā Yuu said awkwardly.
"No, I should be the one saying thank you for your hard work, Kamiyā-kun."
"Wait~ wait, I want a copy too!" Yūki Chinatsu, who had been concentrating on creating 3D models on her screen, turned around with interest after seeing everyone's reactions. However, because her body was leaning too far to one side of her office chair, she lost her balance and nearly toppled over, along with the chair.
Kamiyā Yuu reacted swiftly, immediately grabbing the back of the chair and pushing its center of gravity back into place. Using a helpless tone, he scolded her, "Chinatsu, can't you sit properly? That's dangerous."
"Uh... sorry." Yūki Chinatsu froze briefly. Feeling the instability from just now, she obediently sat back upright, though she still muttered unwillingly, "Even if I fell from that, it wouldn't be a big deal."
Ordinary people would not have been able to react to that situation in time at all. But the moment Kamiyā Yuu noticed the imbalance of the chair, his thoughts accelerated rapidly, instantly arriving at the conclusion that she would fall and calculating the proper response. His superhuman reflexive thinking was another side effect brought about by the changes to his mental state.
"Just sit properly first."
"Yeees~!"
After his computer received the English version file of 'This Life Is Mine', Kamiyā Yuu put on his headphones and once again reviewed the dance choreography he had drawn. The clear singing voice made it much easier for him to identify the awkward parts of the choreography.
Compared to the original Japanese version, the more ethereal English vocals caused Kamiyā Yuu to inwardly praise it endlessly.
"Mr. Shindō's music studio really is impressive. The choice of vocalist was excellent. Even though it's an English song, it doesn't have that awkward Japanese-English pronunciation at all."