There are many works about Sherlock Holmes.
After getting a general understanding of the related novels, live-action films, animations and even games, Mu Xiuxing finally set his sights on the most original and classic original novel, Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".
I thought you would choose a work like "Detective Conan" that has a wider audience.
When the system said this, Mu Suxing was having a headache about how to transform the original author's description into a specific character. While thinking about how to express the character's characteristics in the form of a painting, he reminded without even looking up: "Don't forget, Kudo Shinichi is an absolute die-hard fan of Sherlock Holmes. Even the name 'Conan' comes from 'Conan Doyle'."
You know, in the comic "Detective Conan", "Sherlock Holmes" is the number one idol of the protagonist Kudo Shinichi, and his presence is quite strong. There are also many related plots in the comics. Without understanding Holmes, it is probably difficult to truly feel and understand Shinichi's so-called dream of "becoming the Sherlock Holmes of the Reiwa era."
As for the comics...
In fact, as early as when he failed from Baiyun Comics magazine, Mu Suxing had the idea of establishing a comic magazine under Huaying.
If we talk about the closest and easiest to adapt animation in the whole entertainment industry, it must be comics. As Huaying becomes bigger and bigger and has more and more employees, the animations it produces will not and cannot be limited to the system mall. On the other hand, as Mu Suxing said to the media not long ago, not all animations can show their charm in the first few episodes.
In this case, it would obviously be much smoother to let this type of animation appear as a comic first, and then animate it after it has accumulated enough popularity than to directly produce the animation.
"His name is Sherlock Holmes, and he is the protagonist of this mystery comic."
Dai Yuyan paused.
She carefully read the comic character design that Mu Suxing pushed to her, and neither said it was good nor bad. In the past two years, although Huaying has gradually become a legitimate company, the general direction of decision-making has always been based on Mu Suxing's personal will.
As a backbone of the company who has been working with Mu Suxing for a long time, Dai Yuyan has long been accustomed to believing and obeying any decision made by Mu Suxing.
If he thinks it's time for Huaying to try to move into the direction of comic magazines, then all they have to do is to do so and recruit as many comic editors and authors as possible within the time limit stipulated by Muxuxing. If he decides to personally write a mystery-themed comic as a masterpiece starting from the first issue of "Huaying Comics", then they just have to do as the other party says.
Therefore, Dai Yuyan carefully read the character design picture at this moment, and did not have any intention of talking about it or questioning the subject matter or decision. She nodded calmly, as if she had not considered whether Mu Suxing had the ability and possibility to carry the sales of "Huaying Comics" at all. Instead, she asked naturally: "What about time? If you are the main writer of the serialized comics and also have to take care of the animation, won't the time be too tight?"
In fact, this is one of the reasons why Mu Xiuxing chose "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".
"Although it is called a mystery comic, strictly speaking, it is actually a mystery comic series with Sherlock Holmes as the protagonist," Mu Suxing explained. "The original novel has 4 long novels and 56 short stories. When I draw the comics, I will follow the novels one by one. I will not serialize them weekly like an orthodox long comic, and there will be a certain 'window period' in between."
In this way, although time is still very tight, considering the comic assistants and the hiatus when a single short story is completed, it is not too difficult considering Mu Xuxing's current drawing speed.
Dai Yuyan nodded.
Since Muxuxing himself said it was okay, she no longer bothered or asked about anything else, and instead simply transitioned her work to the next itinerary:
"All the preparatory work for the second season of Cardcaptor has been completed. In addition, considering the high sales of Madoka Magica, Director Wei wants to know if the company has any ideas for a sequel or a theatrical version of Madoka Magica, and also..."
It was a rare opportunity to meet Mu Suxing in person, so Dai Yuyan simply threw out some of the issues that had been bothering her recently.
Muxuxing thought, "Magic Card can just follow the original plan. As for Madoka Magica, they should make a sequel movie to be released in theaters. I will print out the animation script before next week. The director has not been decided yet. I should be able to spare some time this weekend. Please tell them that those who are interested in directing the Madoka Magica movie can come and talk to me this weekend."
After all, Madoka Magica has a unique style. Gen Urobuchi can exchange and print out his script at any time through the system mall, but whether the director who takes over can perform the script well is another question, so this aspect naturally needs to be handled with caution.
"As for the animation..."
Now that The Magic Circle has been successfully completed, according to Mu Suxing's plan, he intends to continue the production of the short animation "Mulan" while adapting the original novel of Sherlock Holmes.
The process was not smooth.
For "Mulan", Mu Suxing wanted to create a more special art style that was more in line with the story background, which is why he has been lingering in museums since a long time ago. However, both the understanding of history and the recognition of antique styles and patterns are far from being mastered in just a few months.
Mu Suxing pondered for a while before speaking: "Ask Du Yutang to help me contact Professor Zhong Wenhua from the History Department of Shayi University, bring the script of "Mulan" with you, and ask him to be the historical consultant of this animation, as well as Professor Tan Qingyi from the Animation Department of Huaijiang Art University..."
Before he finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and changed his words, "Forget it, just contact Professor Zhong Wenhua. I will visit Professor Tan in person in two days."
Speaking of which, I got to know Professor Tan and others when "The Gift of the Magi" won the Best Animated Short Film Award. Later, he was busy with work, and although we kept in touch in the meantime, it was mainly through intermittent telephone conversations. Now that I can spare some time, it is natural for me to visit them in person.
—
This is a meeting room of medium size.
As a newly established comics department under Huaying, Huaying Comics was only assigned a small work area on the third floor near the south - but Qiu Fengmao didn't care about this.
He was not a rookie editor, quite the contrary. Before he was impressed by Huaying and took over this comic magazine that had not even been officially established, Qiu Fengmao was a well-known comic editor in the Blue Star comics industry. He could always find the most promising one among a bunch of mediocre comic authors, and use his keen market sense to help the other party make the leap from obscurity to fame.
During this process, he reviewed various comics and encountered various difficulties. He was confident that no matter what situation he encountered, he could face it calmly and solve it.
—Including now.
Qiu Fengmao raised his head and looked at the young man opposite him.
Since he gave up his original position at Baiyun Comics and turned to the uncertain future of Huaying Comics, he must have seen the potential of Huaying. And the young man in front of him, who brought Huaying to the top of the industry in less than three years, is naturally also part of that potential.
It was for this reason that Qiu Fengmao did not refute immediately when the other party announced without hesitation that the main comic of the first issue of "Huaying Comics" would be a mystery comic written by him personally.
He didn't speak, but that didn't mean no other editor spoke up. After a brief silence, there was a low chirping of birds:
"Mystery comics?"
"Our magazine hasn't hired any big names in the first place, and now is a critical period where we need high-quality works to retain readers. This is too..."
Muxiuxing understood what these editors meant.
Suspense and mystery have always been an unpopular genre in novels, comics, animations, and TV series. Especially in the field of novels and comics, mystery is the second most unpopular genre, with only science fiction being the first. Most mystery fans prefer traditional mystery novels that allow them to think calmly, and the overlap between their audience and the original audience of the comics is so small that it can be ignored.
At this point, it is no longer a question of quality, but a question of subject matter.
Even if the quality of suspense and mystery comics is high, their influence and audience are difficult to compare with popular themes. Of course, as long as the comics themselves are good enough, there will be no problem in serializing them in comic magazines.
But the problem is that "Huaying Comics" is not an old comic magazine, but a new one that was just established.
What it needs most right now is not a serious, slow-paced but exciting detective comic, but a comic that can quickly attract readers' attention from the beginning and make people want to buy.
And these are obviously not something that a mystery comic can do.
silence.
After a full ten minutes of silence, Qiu Fengmao finally spoke. He did not question directly, but asked calmly: "If I understand correctly, this will be a mystery comic set in the past of Beipu Province?"
In fact, although Blue Star had achieved global unification many years ago, the original cultural barriers did not disappear - this is why the sales of animations produced by Huaying have never exceeded one million.
The market that Huaying Animation has been targeting so far is mainly in Eastern regions and audiences. Its animation works, from character design to plot, all meet the preferences of Eastern audiences. However, the comics that Muxuxing is currently showing are obviously completely different, Westernized works.
There is an invisible "wall" between comics in different cultures.
So what about this mystery comic
As a comic genre that is already unpopular, can it really break down the barriers between different cultures and help the newly started "Huaying Comics" gain a foothold in the industry