Eight o'clock in the evening, Huaying headquarters.
It was getting off work, and employees from various departments in the office building were packing up and leaving one after another. Only the office lobby where the "Naruto" production team was located was still as bright as day. Except for a few cartoonists, most people were lingering around their workstations, and did not seem to be in a hurry to leave.
Muxuxing understood it.
Too.
Although the entire production team was confident in this animation, the pace of "Naruto" in the early stages was indeed a bit slow compared to the popular hot-blooded youth comics on the market. The plot of the animation only really got on the point when it started with the Chunin Exams. In addition, Naruto itself is a super long series, so if the beginning was too difficult, even if the series caught up later, it would be difficult for the audience lost in the beginning to come back.
Fang Lian suggested: "We have nothing to do anyway, why don't we just watch the first episode in the company?"
This proposal was exactly what everyone wanted, but considering that their immediate superior was still present, everyone's attention subconsciously turned to Mu Suxing.
It was just turning on the computer and watching an animation, so Mu Suxing would not refuse such a small thing. He just said, "Okay, just remember to turn off the computer before you leave." He added a joke at the end, "By the way, this cannot be counted as overtime, so don't ask me for overtime pay later."
Everyone laughed and cheered.
"That's too much, Director Mu. Is it so real?"
"Forget about the overtime pay. Just because we care so much about the company's projects, you can give our project team some bonuses."
This is a joke.
Of course, no one really had the intention to complain or ask for bonuses. Seeing that Mu Suxing had no intention of objecting, they immediately dispersed and returned to their computer desks. Fang Lian shamelessly followed Mu Suxing into the small theater inside the company. As soon as he entered, he sat down on the single sofa inside and let out a satisfied sigh:
"It really is best to watch it here."
The company spent a huge amount of money to build a small cinema with the same effect as that of Bluestar’s first-class cinemas, so how could the viewing effect be bad
Mu Suxing did not expose his intention to stay and watch the movie for free. He turned on the multimedia equipment in the theater and adjusted the page to the "Naruto" playing page. Then he heard Fang Lian ask, "You really don't have any plans for Yunsu Theme Park?"
Finally, he spoke with some anticipation: "Let's not talk about Yunsu. When can we go there in advance to have a look? I've long wanted to see the real Hogwarts Castle."
Mu Suxing opened the first episode of "Naruto" and sat back on the sofa. He calculated the time: "As for Hogwarts Castle, it will be open in September or October. If you want to go, you can ask them for a permit."
While the two were chatting, "Naruto" on the screen officially began.
The beginning of the animation is a scene where the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox destroys Konoha, and the Fourth Hokage seals it with his life. In order to avoid revealing too many clues for the later period, there are not many plots here, and the simple narration ends here. However, considering the principle that there is no reason to hide a person because he can attract people with his face, Makusuko gave the Fourth Hokage a big close-up without hesitation.
Under the dark night, outside the crowd of seriously injured people.
The man stood tall, looking into the distance with eyes that were sober and calm that they were almost frozen. The moonlight stretched his figure, and the wind made the fire-patterned robe with the words "Fourth Hokage" written on it rustle. At this moment, under the half-bright, half-shadow background, it actually revealed a wonderful scene as if flames were burning and jumping.
The two people present were both members of the "Naruto" project team. They were naturally very familiar with the shots they had handled, but the early production and the final product were two different things. Looking at the back of Minato Namikaze who never looked back on the screen, Fang Lian couldn't help but sigh:
"To be honest, as a straight man, I think Minato Namikaze is definitely the most handsome man in this anime, bar none."
Mu Suxing wanted to say, is it possible that the Uchiha family is not worthy of your attention? However, considering what Fang Lian said about "straight men only", he seriously recalled the tangled plot of "sad love" in "Naruto", and he felt that he could not refute it.
“It seems to be true.”
"What do you mean by 'seemingly'? You dare to say you didn't do it on purpose?" Fang Lian glanced at him. "In the original manga, there was no shot of the Fourth Hokage at the beginning, let alone a frontal shot like you did. Do you dare to say you don't have any weird bad taste? First you give the audience a handsome male god, and then tell them that the male god dies at the beginning. Tsk tsk, you bastard, you are amazing."
Mu Xiuxing thought of the tons of blades in the later part of "Naruto" and looked calm.
As the saying goes, too much debt is better than a burden, and the opening death of Minato Namikaze does not seem cruel. The death of characters like Jiraiya and Uchiha Itachi, who the audience has spent a long time getting familiar with and building emotions with, is truly heartbreaking and helpless, but because of the plot, there is no way to refute and can only swallow the blade with tears.
While the two chatted, the animation on the screen continued.
After a simple opening, accompanied by the sound of the theme song, the copyright information of the work and the name list of all the members of the production team quickly appeared on the screen. At the same time, the plot of the animation, accompanied by the current soundtrack, slowly kicked off.
Like most feature-length animations, the first episode of "Naruto" is also the opening of the story, as well as an introduction to the animation background and main characters.
The naughty Uzumaki Naruto, who was chased by other ninjas because of his mischief, always ranked last in all grades, used his own "□□ Technique" in the transformation test, his hardworking old father Iruka, and the future Konoha Twelve Ninjas who only appeared at the beginning...
A very common opening to a shonen manga.
Fang Lian was certainly not unaware of the plot of the animation he was working on. At this moment, he was sitting in front of the screen, not watching the plot itself, but more interested in the overall effect of the picture. Therefore, at this moment, he was looking at the results of his work while evaluating it as objectively as possible:
“I don’t think the initial subscription numbers for this animation will be very good.”
After all, Fang Lian is now considered an experienced cartoonist, and he still has some basic judgment on commercial animation: "The early plot of "Naruto" is not bad, but the rhythm is still too slow. Although the setting of the battle system is novel, the overall plot lacks surprises."
He commented: "Overall, the number of subscriptions should not be bad, but it is unlikely to become a big hit in the beginning like our previous animations."
Mu Xuxing smiled and neither denied nor agreed.
As the first episode of "Naruto" was finished, a lot of comments emerged in the comment section below the video page. Although ordinary audiences may not see it as thoroughly as professionals, their viewing experience is almost the same.
“It still looks good.”
"It's good-looking, but I feel like it's missing something? Not really, I just feel like this animation is generally okay, above average, but it doesn't have the amazing feeling of Huaying's animations. If it were from other animation companies, it would be an extraordinary performance, but for Huaying, it feels like it's not good enough... Could it be that Huaying has spoiled my taste?"
"Based on the first episode, it can only be regarded as an average performance of Huaying."
"The background setting is quite interesting, and the art style is pretty good. The Fourth Hokage in the opening scene is simply soul-stirring, but unfortunately he died on the spot, which was heartbreaking. I heard that this animation is a long story? It feels okay at the moment, and I hope there will be some impressive and eye-catching plots in the future."
really.
Those who watched the animation as soon as it was aired and responded to the comments immediately were basically the more loyal fans of Huaying Animation. Since they said it was almost there, it was certainly not groundless. However, Fang Lian had already made predictions and judgments before the animation was aired, so he was not surprised to see the audience's comments now.
I wonder how these audiences would rate "Naruto"
8 points? 9 points is a bit of a stretch, but it’s not out of consideration…
As he was thinking, he searched for the rating on his phone. He thought the score should be between 8 and 9. However, the comprehensive rating that appeared on the right side of "Naruto" almost made Fang Lian dumbfounded.
9.5 points
Fang Lian was really shocked. "Didn't the reviews say it was average? How come the overall score is so high? This..." 9.5 points, this is a masterpiece, right? He didn't remember them hiring internet trolls to inflate the score.
"This is the brand effect." said Mu Suxing.
The early plot of "Naruto" is a bit slow.
For other companies, producing slow-paced animations in today's fast-paced market environment is undoubtedly asking for trouble, but the current Animation Studio will not have such worries - for audiences who are accustomed to watching animations, Animation Studio's products are high-quality. If you are not surprised at the beginning, please refer to "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".
Therefore, although many viewers have said that the early plot of "Naruto" was mediocre and not amazing, they did not give it low scores. Instead, they chose five stars without hesitation and wait and see.
When encountering passers-by who think that "Naruto" is half-or-so, many viewers even take the initiative to explain that they hope newcomers will not be discouraged by the dull beginning. According to Huaying's style, the subsequent plot will only become more and more exciting. The slow pace is the proof that Huaying wants to tell an interesting story seriously. They hope that newcomers can be more patient with Huaying, and Huaying will never let them down.
The same thing soon happened to One Piece.
Compared to "Naruto", "One Piece" has actually received more criticism - the reason is actually simple. If the style of "Naruto" is the kind that can attract audiences who are obsessed with looks, then "One Piece" is the kind that can discourage countless female fans just by its style.
However, even so, the reputation of "One Piece" is surprisingly high.
Whether it is the fans who like Huaying or the anti-fans who have no good feelings towards Huaying, no one cares about the slow pace at the beginning of the two animations.
It seems that everyone assumes that "Naruto" and "One Piece" will definitely be two indisputable high-quality animations. The reason why they seem average at the moment is only because the best is yet to come.
When the first episodes of "Naruto" and "One Piece" were broadcast and they topped the list of new summer animation with nearly 10 million online subscribers, no one objected.
Many animation-related media magazines even set up special columns to analyze detail after detail, proactively explaining to the audience why they felt mediocre, as if they were afraid that such a good feature-length animation would be forced to die due to lack of sufficient support.
Shen Nian, the editor-in-chief of Anime Online, opened a special topic on painting and shadow on the cover page of her own magazine. At the beginning of the article, she wrote directly:
“These are two very interesting animations—some people see the novel and fun battle system, while others see the boy’s passion, dreams, and never giving up. But my biggest feeling is that I can see the ambition of Huaying from the two worlds that these two animations unfold bit by bit without rushing.”