I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 345(3in1)

[NOTE:- I wrote this yesterday, but I needed to do some light editing. I had planned to release it and edit it later, but that wouldn’t have been good. Thank you for your patience, and sorry for the delay.]

"Are we ready?" Yusuke asked the crew, and the crew behind the camera gave a thumbs up.

Yusuke, the regional host for the Japanese guests invited to the show, did a final check on his mic and notes before walking onto the stage. Before inviting today’s guests, he began the episode with a few quick updates and news from the industry.

"Today, we have the biggest guests and the most popular team of this year. We have been hearing their names for the past six months. So please welcome the crew behind this year’s biggest anime. I think the title of biggest can’t even compare to what they’ve done. Welcome the crew behind Code Geass — Masafumi Mamai, sound director… Wes, animation director… David, producer… and the director of Code Geass, Kazuma… and the writer, composer, screenplay, who has taken all the roles… please welcome Muzishiro."

As their names were announced, all five walked out one by one. The live audience cheered loudly as they took their seats on the studio couch.

Yusuke smiled. "Welcome to the show, Muzishiro-san. This is your first time appearing on Anime Direct."

Haruki nodded slightly. "It’s good to be here."

Yusuke turned toward the camera. "When Evermark Studio revealed the crew behind Code Geass, I couldn’t believe it. Even now, I still find it unbelievable. Three world-class directors working together on one anime… and now all of them are here in the same interview."

He looked back at the guests. "So my big question is for you all. How do you feel now? How long has it been since you worked together? And what did you think when you learned the other two would also be working on this project alongside you?"

Masafumi answered first. "When Muzishiro and Kazuya sent me the script, I don’t want to reveal spoilers, but they sent me half the story. I hadn’t seen this type of work before, a story that tries to do so many things at once. And when they arrived to meet me personally, I told them this story deserved the best of the best people. If they couldn’t convince the right team, I was ready to go find people myself. But I didn’t need to. Whoever read the story agreed immediately."

Kazuya nodded. "For me, when I first read the story, I wanted to make the anime right away. But I didn’t think it would become this big. With Wes, Masafumi, and David joining, it created something else entirely."

Yusuke shifted slightly forward. "So, Muzishiro… people have been talking about Code Geass for the past six months, but your name hasn’t stopped appearing. Sometimes with manga, sometimes with anime. How do you have such high output?"

Haruki stretched his hand jokingly. "How do I tell you… I have a ghostwriter who writes all my stories."

The audience laughed, and Yusuke smirked. "You have quite a sense of humor. People online say you have a ghostwriter, but if someone has the skill to write this type of work, why would they be a ghostwriter for someone else? They would publish it themselves. Is it because you don’t want to tell your secret?"

Wes leaned in. "Haruki is really hardworking. Right now he’s working in animation with me, and he’s got a natural talent for it. He draws storyboards fast and clean, stuff most people spend years trying to get right. With his drive, there’s no doubt he’s going to make some really amazing anime."

Yusuke turned to Wes. "You said Muzishiro is working with you in animation. Does that mean he will be making anime, not just writing?"

Haruki nodded. "I will make an anime after Code Geass ends."

Yusuke brightened. "Can you tell us more about what kind of anime you’re working on? I think the audience wants to know what your first anime will be."

The audience cheered, some shouting for him to reveal it, others murmuring. Many had waited weeks just to get tickets. Normally, live audiences come to meet creators, but for Haruki, they had one question on their minds.

"Enough with the nonsense. Ask him why he did Euphy like that!"

"Of course they will take their sweet time. They won’t ask this early."

Back to the episode:

Haruki said, "It’s a surprise for my fans. I still need to learn more about animation from Wes."

Yusuke leaned forward. "Can’t you give us a small spoiler? Anything?"

Haruki smiled faintly but stayed quiet. Yusuke nodded, understanding he wouldn’t reveal anything yet.

"So, Kazuya," Yusuke continued, "what was it like working with three world-class directors? That must have been challenging."

Kazuya considered for a moment. "There was definitely some pressure," he said. "But everyone was supportive, and they made sure I didn’t feel overwhelmed by expectations."

Yusuke glanced at David. "I’ve been curious about the release schedule for Code Geass, two episodes a week. What led to that decision?"

David answered. "Haruki didn’t want the release schedule to drag on. As you know, he writes multiple stories for anime, and Code Geass would be long. If it released weekly, he wouldn’t have time to write anything else. He made a good point about generating momentum by doing double episodes at the beginning. The strategy paid off. I think in the industry, there will be chances to adopt this schedule for slow-burn anime. But since most studios work on multiple projects, we probably won’t see it too often. Still, for certain stories, this strategy works perfectly."

Yusuke added, "So it must have been quite the management challenge for you, huh? Producing a world-class anime in six months, with the level of production demands you all had. All of you seem determined to go beyond what’s possible."

David said, "It was challenging, but as you said, our team was world-class. I didn’t need to divide my attention too much into animation, since they all handled their parts. That helped me focus on other parts of the production."

Yusuke turned to Wes. "I heard the news that Wes, you’ve taken Muzishiro under your wing and are teaching him as a mentor?"

Wes gave a slight nod. "Yes, if you want to call it that. Muzishiro has good talent for animation, and with his storytelling, he will make great anime."

Yusuke turned to Haruki. "Muzishiro, how did you come up with this story? I think not many people have done what you achieved in this show, and even if some tried, they didn’t succeed like this. You incorporated all genres into one anime, and it still feels like one single story."

When he asked that, everyone in the audience was looking at Haruki. Even insiders in the industry couldn’t help wondering how he managed to mix so many genres without breaking the story.

Haruki saw everyone staring. "I will give you the same answer I give for all my work. One day I had an idea to write the story, and I wrote it. And as I wrote it, this was the product."

Hearing that, everyone couldn’t help feeling disappointed. They expected Muzishiro to have some lore behind how he made the story. Usually, lore behind creation elevates the project. But Muzishiro never needed lore. He just delivered the story and always told people to judge the story itself.

Even Yusuke looked a little disappointed, but he had mentally prepared for this answer. He had watched Haruki’s earlier interviews and public appearances.

Yusuke nodded. "Last year, Evermark’s Madoka Magica and 5 cm/s dominated the awards in Japan, and Madoka even won Best Anime of the Year at Liora. So this time, with Code Geass… did you aim to dominate Liora and the Japanese awards again?"

Haruki paused, considered for a moment. "When writing the story, I didn’t have awards in mind. But when I completed the full story, after that, I did have a goal to dominate Liora Awards."

After a short discussion, Yusuke moved on. The episode was nearing its end.

He faced the camera. "It’s time for our usual Q&A with the crew. We have prepared random envelopes with audience questions. Let’s see what they asked the team behind Code Geass."

He opened the first envelope and cleared his throat. "Ahem… first question. Here we go. ‘Why does Muzishiro want to write stories that give his fans nightmares? I can’t catch a break. Muzishiro drops one after another. When I recovered from Nina in Fullmetal, he made Madoka, then Code Geass. Why?’"

At home, Haruki’s newer fans leaned forward. They had been waiting for this. The older fans, who had survived his earlier works, were calm. For them, this question was predictable. They were mostly watching to see how Haruki would justify himself. To them, this whole thing had become entertainment.

On stage, Wes and the others looked at Haruki with smirks.

Haruki noticed all eyes on him. He had prepared an answer carefully. He had even asked Mika for advice, and she told him, “This is exactly how you should respond.”

Haruki cleared his throat. "I write this type of scene not because of shock factor. I want to write scenes that move the story or grow the character without using clichés. And from my work, I know these kinds of scenes are hard to replicate with clichés. So I write that way."

Yusuke blinked. Wes and Kazuya also expected something bizarre, but surprisingly, the answer had truth behind it. It still felt extreme just to avoid clichés, but it was Haruki’s logic.

Yusuke continued, "Okay, let’s move to the next question. ‘Why does Muzishiro want to write stories that give fans heartbreak?’ …Wait a minute, isn’t this the same question? Let’s move to another one. ‘Why does Muzishiro want to give us nightmares?’"

Yusuke stared at the envelope, then looked at the crew. "Can you guys open the rest of the envelopes to see if there are any other questions?"

Haruki said, "I think these are all the same question. No need to open another. I think every envelope will have the same question."

He felt a breath of relief; he only needed to answer one question.

Wes leaned forward. "No, no. People like us show our faces very rarely in public. Q&A chances are few. You shouldn’t be cruel to the fans. They support us a lot. The least we can do is answer their questions."

He said it smugly while looking at Haruki.

Haruki gave him a blank stare.

On the staff side, they opened around 150 envelopes. Out of them, 100 had the same question. Another 48 were concerns about Haruki’s health, asking if he was okay because he kept writing tragic scenes. Only 2 envelopes had questions unrelated to Muzishiro. The staff brought those to Yusuke.

Yusuke looked shocked. "We haven’t seen this type of situation before. This is the first time on Anime Direct where all the audience agreed on something and wrote the same thing. Usually, a few people think alike, but most assume someone else already wrote it, so they ask different questions. But it seems like this time, everyone really wanted to know and didn’t want to leave it to fate."

Wes, Masafumi, David, and Kazuya were all laughing. The rest of the audience was laughing too. Haruki just gave an awkward smile, not sure what expression he should make.

Yusuke opened the next envelope. "Okay, so let’s see the other question. This one is for the whole crew: ‘Would you all work together again after Code Geass ends?’"

Kazuya added, "You know, Muzishiro and I will be working for a while. So this question… you should probably ask the three of them." He pointed at Wes, Masafumi, and David.

Wes glanced at the others. "If the opportunity arises, we might work on another anime, if Muzishiro brings something on a higher level than this."

David groaned. "Don’t give him ideas… oh wait, he already has ideas. We semi-retired because we love anime but didn’t want to work this hard anymore. If Muzishiro brings this level of story again, we will have to join."

Masafumi said, "Muzishiro, give me a break. I need a year to recover. After that, maybe. I love working, but I don’t want to work myself to death. Those days are behind me. When you have a story that needs us, then tell me."

Yusuke nodded. "So based on their answers, it seems like, Muzishiro, you need to write a story that brings all of them together again and creates another big event like Code Geass."

The audience agreed loudly, some shouting suggestions or cheering.

Yusuke smiled. "Now you have to do it, Muzishiro-san. Write something that brings this team back and creates another level of Code Geass."

Haruki said, "I will see what I can do."

Yusuke opened the final envelope. "On to the next question. It’s about Code Geass… what will the second season be? Can you give us some spoilers after Lelouch reclaims Japan from Britannia?"

Hearing this, everyone on stage froze with poker faces. Haruki already knew he wouldn’t need to answer when the episode aired, but he wouldn’t mind giving some help to these four who clearly enjoyed the Q&A show.

He smiled faintly. "This is a surprise waiting at the end of the episode for everyone."

Yusuke nodded quickly. "Oh, a surprise. Well, I won’t push for spoilers. So we will meet next year for Code Geass Season 2. Until then, congratulations in advance on winning at the Liora Awards and any other award Code Geass will compete in."

As the episode ended, Online, the cliffhanger enjoyers were already active.

"These new fans are surprisingly persistent this time. They all wrote the same question just so he wouldn’t escape it."

"But the way Muzishiro answered… it makes perfect sense and at the same time it doesn’t. I’m really waiting for tomorrow when more comments accumulate. I will have a blast reading everything."

"You don’t have to wait. People are already going crazy right now. Comments are flying everywhere if you want to read them."

"Then I’ll check it out."

On the new fan side,

"Who goes in the opposite direction just to avoid clichés? Like, you could’ve written something that shows growth and still not added this type of scene."

"I think he was rage-baiting us. He said it with a straight face like he really believes what he’s saying."

"Who the hell writes Nina from Fullmetal and Euphy back-to-back? I can’t understand his justification. It’s his choice, fine, but what kind of reason is that?"

"Now I understand what the old fans meant when they said when you hear his reason for writing, you’ll wish you never heard it. It doesn’t make sense… and they’re right."

On another thread,

"Oh shit, did you hear Muzishiro will be making anime?"

"Person above me, I know this is a conversation starter, but look at the thread. Of course people are discussing it already. Try to be more creative."

"Stop it. Focus on the topic. Give him that lecture later. What type of anime do you think he’ll make? I can’t wait to see what his first anime will look like."

"Muzishiro will be making anime? I can’t wait."

"What will his first anime be?"

"I think I see a pattern. He starts his new works with romance, so maybe it will be like that."

"No, maybe adventure. He hasn’t done a big adventure series yet."

"Did you read Jojo? Part 3 is adventure, if you want that."

"So which genre he hasn’t worked on? I can’t remember."

"He hasn’t worked on horror. I hope he doesn’t. I don’t want to see what he could do with that. My heart won’t survive it."

"And I heard that Wes has been teaching Muzishiro his animation knowledge. Whatever he makes, I think it will be peak."

"Hey, what do you think Muzishiro meant when he said there’s a surprise waiting for you at the last episode?"

"There is something bad about to happen. You can’t trust Muzishiro when he says ‘surprise.’ His surprises aren’t good for my health."

"Please don’t kill another character I love. Kill Nina. If he kills Nina, I give him my unconditional support."

"Hey, isn’t it funny how Nina from FMA and Nina from Code Geass are so different even though they have the same name?"

As many people continued discussing the Anime Direct episode and Code Geass reactions, time passed. Over a week went by, during which Haruki attended two more interviews, one with Masafumi and another with Wes.

Now he knew that tomorrow would be the last episode of Code Geass.

“It’s time to go underground.”