Spirit Animation
“I’m always going to be by your side, anytime and anywhere! Honjou Nia has arrived!”
It was a young woman with short, dark hair, wearing glasses while singing a tune similar to a convenience store slogan, as she appeared in the Itsuka household.
Just as she had said in her little song, her name was Honjou Nia. Normally, she lived in a high-rise apartment in the city. She was a popular manga artist, and one of the Spirits whose powers Shido sealed.
“Hum hum, Hum hum ~ ♪”
Nia strolled happily into the living room and looked around at the Spirits sitting there.
“Hello Tohka, Good morning! Imouto-chan, how are you? Mikki, Yoshii, Kaguyan, Yuzurun, Oririn, you are all so cute today. Ah, Nattsun, what do you think about being my assistant today?”
“Well, good morning would mean that it’s still morning, right? It’s already afternoon.”
“Wait, did you just wake up? You shouldn’t stay up so late.”
“…In any case, you’re the one who put the brushes and ink for manga in my mailbox, it’s not like I can really stop you…”
When she finished speaking with everyone, Nia smiled and chuckled before turning on her heel and sat down on the sofa.
Nia, who was usually plenty cheerful as it was, seemed in a particularly good mood today. Shido couldn’t help himself and asked.
“So what’s up, Nia? Did something good happen to you?”
At that moment, Nia’s eyes seemed to light up, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
“Oh so you noticed it, did you? Boy here has a really good heart. That’s why I plan to marry you!”
“Yes, yes… So what happened?”
After Shido took it into stride, Nia chuckled once more and then pulled out a stack of papers held together with a large clip from her back and put it on the table.
“Huh? Isn’t this…”
Shido picked up and quickly scanned it then his eyebrows twitched in surprise.
There was the familiar A4 frame logo drawn on the page and several pictures similar to drafts were drawn inside the frame.
For a moment, Shido thought that it was a draft for a manga, but… that didn’t seem to be the case. He was just seeing the real thing for the first time; this is—
“Is this… an anime?”
“Yes! This is an animated storyboard script!”
Nia suddenly raised her right index finger while spreading out her left hand wide, and declared that. Upon hearing her words, the other Spirits’ eyes widened in surprise.
“Animation? The so-called animation is like that? Will those pictures move around?”
“Like Misty…?”
“Amazement. Is Nia’s manga going to be animated?”
After Yuzuru finished speaking, Nia nodded proudly.
“That’s so cool! That’s amazing!”
Nia showed a proud attitude as she basked in the applause from the other Spirits.
“Wait, but <Silver Bullet> was already adapted into an anime already.”
“Well. That’s not the one that’s being adapted into an anime this time, but < The Chronicles of the Dead> that I drew before.”
“Ah… I remember that one. Isn’t that the one with the zombies?”
<The Chronicles of the Dead> was remembered as Nia’s horror action manga that she drew during the early serialization of <Silver Bullet>. Although it has long since been completed, the hardcore style was still quite popular and it still had its charm.
“Really? Thank you for your support. It’s just that <The Chronicles of the Dead> won’t be adapted into a full anime, but just an OVA… No one mentions that now? It’s not going to be broadcast on TV anyway.”
“Yeah, but it’s still really amazing. Congratulations, Nia.”
“Hehehe, I was congratulated. Will you be making red bean rice for dinner tonight?”
Nia asked jokingly with sweat trailing down her cheeks.
“I never said that…”
“Muu? Why cook red bean rice?”
Tohka tilted her head in curiosity. Shido didn’t know how to respond to that, and groaned as he looked at Nia.
“Ahaha, sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Anyway, Boy, would you be interested in voice acting for the anime?”
“Huh?”
Hearing her unexpected question, Shido forgot all about his complaint.
“Voice acting?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a kind of voice acting where the actor watches the scene first and then repeats the line.”
Shido listened with wide eyes and made a sound to indicate his understanding. He remembered watching special features like behind-the-scenes for animation on TV before.
“It would be a lie to say I’m not interested. After all, you usually don’t get a chance like that.”
“Right. The other party said that we can bring a friend to visit. If you’ve got some time, let’s go together.”
The Spirits’ eyes lit up instantly with excitement.
“Oh! I want to go! I want to go!”
“I… me too…”
Oh, that’s not bad~. Do you need someone to help sing the theme song~?”
“… Eh? Is such a thing really possible?”
“! Nattsun… I didn’t expect you to care so much about me! I’m so moved!”
“I didn’t mean it like that… Hey! Let go of me… Ah ah! Ah ah ah ah!”
The Spirits were all very excited as they discussed it. One of them was being embraced tightly in Miku’s arms, with her face pressed against Miku’s chest, making it difficult to breathe, but it was easy to think that was an accident.
Shido glanced at Miku and said “You should probably let go of her…”, then looked back at Nia.
“But if all of us go with you, won’t that cause problems with the voice acting work?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. The other party said that the studio being used for this is really big. Ah, could you help by being extras?”
“Extras?”
Hearing what Nia said, Shido tilted his head in confusion. So, Nia nodded emphatically and explained:
“I’m talking about the people on the streets, classrooms, concert venues, among other things. Basically people who aren’t the main characters and chat in the background. That’s what I mean by extras.”
“Yes… I’ll do it!”
Yoshino’s eyes widened and Kaguya’s eyebrows twitched. Yuzuru noticed this and responded as though she realized something.
“So… in other words, our magical voices will be sealed in shining rings and live on forever in time and space?”
“Commentary. So Yuzuru and the others’ voices may be included in the animation?”
Yuzuru immediately translated. Having heard her explanation, Nia flashed a thumbs up.
“In simple terms, that’s right. How about it? It’s very interesting, right? Ah, this is the original manga. If you’re curious, take a look at it first.”
After Nia finished explaining, the Spirits’ eyes shone even brighter.
“Oh…! This is amazing!”
“Wow! You could actually draw such a thing?”
“Incredible…”
Shido noticed this kind of reaction and knew that it would be impossible to refuse. After grinning gently, he nodded in agreement.
“Well… this kind of opportunity is really rare. We’ll take it.”
“Oh—!”
Hearing what Shido said, the Spirits all made an excited noise together.
However, if anyone looked at Nia in that moment, they would have noticed the evil smile that stretched across her face. Still… everyone was too distracted to notice it.
◇◇◇
A few days later, Nia and her friends made their way to the recording studio in the city.
The recording studio was located on a side street next to the commercial district in an ordinary building. Although <Gray Studios> was written above the entrance, it came as a complete surprise that anime voice acting would be taking place here.
“This is the place. The studio staff should already be here. Let’s head on in.”
After speaking, Nia led the others into the building. They thought that there would be some sort of strict security screening system in place but… that didn’t seem to be the case. Shido wondered if he may have been influenced by visiting <Ratatoskr>’s secret headquarters.
“Muu? Shido, is there something wrong? Why are you just standing there?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing—let’s go.”
“Umu! I’m looking forward to it, Shido!”
Tohka smiled innocently. Shido replied with a smile of his own, “Well, let’s go.” Then he entered the building along with the other Spirits.
They followed Nia down the stairs leading to what seemed like underground and came to a room full of machines—the so-called Control Room.
“Whoa!”
As they walked into the room, Shido’s shoulders shook in surprise.
However, such a reaction was completely understandable. There were already a few people in the room… Everyone’s outfits were very unique.
There was a man as burly as Frankenstein’s monster, a man in black suit, like a vampire. There were probably some injured people in front of them, so there were bandages wrapped around their bodies like a mummy, and a woman dressed in a scantily-clad outfit like a demon.
Honestly speaking, it looked more like the scene of a clash between monsters rather than a studio for voice acting. In addition, Shido and the other Spirits also showed surprised expressions… However, a young girl let out an “Oops!” when she spotted the woman dressed like a demon.
When they noticed Shido and his friends standing in the entrance, the burly man waved them over.
“Oh, Honjou-san, we’ve been waiting for you!”
…On closer inspection, it looked like there were sutures on his forehead. Did he just have surgery? Whatever the case, it certainly added to his brave aura.
However, Nia waved at him as though they were good friends and then nodded to introduce Shido and the others.
“Hello, director. Ah, these are the people I mentioned before. Please take good care of them.”
“Hello, I am director Kenza Furano. Please take care of me as well.”
“Ah… I… we’re sorry to trouble you like this. I’m sorry for bringing such a large group of people to visit without letting you know in advance.”
“It’s fine, no need to be so formal. I welcome it. Anime production is often full of accidents and incidents like this! It’s just an accumulation of such things, and the completed product is going to be very interesting.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes. But then again, the production process rarely ever goes according to schedule, so it’s not a big deal. You can enjoy it as you want.”
The director laughed uproariously as he smiled boldly. Shido was shocked by his enthusiasm.
“…What should I say? This man is so fierce in every sense…”
Shido whispered to Nia quietly. Origami, who’d been standing next to Nia, had her eyebrows raised as though she remembered something.
“Furano Kenza… you wouldn’t be…”
“Surprise. Master Origami, do you know him?”
“I’ve heard his name before. He’s a genius when it comes to improvisation and deployment. He uses production strategies that go against conventional wisdom and cause headaches for anyone working for him. It’s said that, as a result, ten production studios refuse to work with him. Everyone calls him a Frankenstein.”
“That name is definitely from the outside!”
Shido could not help but yell, so the director laughed while he smiled happily.
“Anyway, let me introduce everyone else. This is the producer, Tora, the sound director, Hirai, and studio staff member Sakiba.”
With the director’s introduction done, the vampire, mummy, and demon all nodded in turn.
“Kekekekeke… Please take care of me today.”
“Heehee… After all, I didn’t expect Honjou-sensei to be a woman…”
“Hehehe, that is to say, she looks so pretty…”
The people greeted them with odd laughter. Origami’s eyebrow twitched again.
“Producer Tora… is a well-known workaholic, everyone who works with him will end up exhausted, so his nickname is vampire.”
“Huh…?”
“The sound director, Hirai; because his guidance is too strict, everyone who works with him will end up wanting to quit, so his nickname is mummy.”
“Uh, what you just said…”
“The studio staff, Sakiba… I don’t know why, but all the people who end up working with her end up exhausted, so her nickname is banshee.”
“Why are all the origins for the nicknames the same?! You really do know everything!”
After Shido screeched, Origami flashed a thumbs up.
Still, she smiled and looked at the person nicknamed “banshee”… Actually it was Sakiba who stretched out her hand and licked her lips in a seductive manner, her gaze fixed on Nia.
“I remember reading <The Chronicles of the Dead> when I was in high school. You look so young, Sensei. Hahaha… I really envy you.”
“Oh, uh… H-Hey, the biggest secret to looking young is eating, sleeping, and living a happy life.”
“Oh, it looks like Sensei has really lost it… to think that there are such people who can get enough sleep.”
The two mature women smiled at each other… Shido couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed and looked away, his cheeks a deep red.
Incidentally, Nia spoke in a casual manner, but that could have become a difficult situation. After all, it wasn’t like she could admit she had Spirit power that allowed her to always look young.
Truthfully, Nia’s refrigerator held only alcohol. When it was the night before a deadline, Nia would almost always have dark circles under her eyes. To be honest, Nia didn’t live a healthy lifestyle at all. As far as a sex life was concerned… that was also nonexistent.
At that moment, Tohka looked around curiously and said:
“Hey, Shido, is this where we do the voice acting? Where do we do the voice acting?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I know what you mean…”
Shido listened to what Tohka said and tilted his head to express his doubts. None of the people they’d met so far were voice actors who provided their voices for the characters.
“Have the voice actors not come out yet?”
“Eh?”
After hearing Shido’s question, the director, producer, and the rest of the staff members tilted their heads in wonder.
However, almost immediately after, as though they all remembered something at the same time, they clapped their hands together.
“O-Oh! Y-Yeah, the voice actors! They haven’t come in yet, right Sakiba?”
“Y-Yeah, they aren’t here yet. Let me just give them a quick call!”
After he finished speaking, Sakiba pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and held the phone to his ear. However, they didn’t hear the usual ringing of an incoming call… instead it turned into a vibration.
“Hello, what’s going on… Huh! The voice actors who were supposed to come in today all came down with food poisoning?!”
“You… what are you saying?!”
Everyone heard Sakiba shriek in a pretentious manner with the other staff members responding in an equally pretentious manner. Their behavior was so unusual that Shido could feel sweat trailing down his face.
“That… uh…”
“The voice actors can’t make it in today!”
“Everything is ruined! It’s over! It’s doomed!”
‘We’ll be banned by the industry and we’ll have no way to receive any new jobs!”
“Damn… it would be nice if we could get someone to help with the voice acting at a time like this…!”
The staff wailed mournfully in between the panicked shouts.
At that moment, Nia stepped forward calmly with her arms folded.
“Everyone, just calm down. The voice actors—”
She suddenly opened her hands and pointed to Shido and the other Spirits and said:
“We have nine people right here!”
“…Eh?”
After hearing what Nia said, Shido was completely dumbfounded. No, not just Shido. The other Spirits were all also staring at Nia blankly.
“No… no no no no no!”
Shido finally understood Nia’s intentions as his mind finally caught up. He shook his head frantically in refusal.
“Wait a minute! What are you talking about all of a sudden, Nia?!”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry! Your voices are all beautiful! Besides, I gave you the original manga, so you probably already know the story!”
“That’s not the issue here!”
“Eh~? It isn’t? But didn’t you see how stressed out the producer looked just now~?”
“But we don’t have any experience! Besides, the producers and director wouldn’t want to accept—”
As he mentioned them, Shido’s words died in his throat. The reason was obvious:
The director and the producer had clapped their hands to their chests, made a gesture of praying to the gods, and looked at them with wet eyes. To be honest, it was an unsettling sight to behold.
“That’s how it is… so please help us!”
“Just help us out!”
“No matter how… it’s too hard for anyone to say anything anymore! Right… right, what do you say…—!”
Shido glanced at the other Spirits as his last resort, but then—he held his breath.
The reason was simple. Because the Spirits who heard the whole situation—especially Tohka, Yoshino, Kaguya, and Yuzuru, all showed fascinated expressions and their eyes seemed to shine brightly.
“Y-You…”
“Alright! Then, everyone, let’s assign roles now!”
“Oh!”
After Nia’s voice broke Shido out of his thoughts, Tohka and others responded enthusiastically. After seeing this, he sighed in resignation.
—As a result, nine people including Shido suddenly participated in the voice acting for the anime <Chronicles of the Dead> as voice actors.
Shido couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the situation, but since Tohka and the others were very interested, they couldn’t help it.
Additionally, even though he didn’t have any experience, since he agreed to do it, he should give it his best shot. Shido slapped his cheeks to cheer up.
By the way, based on Nia’s nominations, the roles were assigned as follows:
Shido… “Klein”. The protagonist, who’d been struck dead, was awakened thanks to the spell.
Natsumi… “Melissa”. The girl who was able to master the mysterious dark magic.
Yoshino… “Emily”. Klein’s sweetheart.
Tohka… “Aphrodite”. Klein’s partner who was a pastor of the church and the local genius.
Kotori…”Jack”. Klein’s younger brother, who was bitten by the enemy halfway through the story and became a zombie.
Kaguya…”Master Gris”. A powerful sorcerer, the mastermind behind everything.
Yuzuru…”Zombie A”. A Fresh dead body.
Miku…”Zombie B”. Starting to rot.
Origami… “Zombie C”. Rotten corpse.
“…I’m the protagonist?!”
“…Wh-Why do I have to play the heroine role? I’d much rather be one of the zombies…”
“Emily… I will do my best…!”
“Oh! I’m Shido’s partner!”
“Little brother… that’s nothing.”
“Oh? Looks like I’m a sorcerer and I know my craft well!”
“Dissatisfaction. Why is Yuzuru a zombie? Agh!”
“Don’t say that, we were only supposed to be extras to start with so this is already really good.”
“The role of attacking Shido—it turned out like this.”
…Although some people were dissatisfied with their roles and held some nasty thoughts, the roles have been decided. Shido and his friends picked up their scripts marked with their lines and moved from the control room to rooms with soundproofed glass.
It was a space with a special atmosphere: a screen and a loudspeaker were set on the wall with five microphones set up at an equal distance in the center of the room.
“Oh…! So this is what it looks like on the inside!”
“There are so many microphones…!”
“Hmm~ I think that things are going to get much more interesting~…”
Yoshino and her rabbit puppet Yoshinon worn on her left hand said one after the other.
At that moment, Sakiba walked into the voice acting room and adjusted the height of the two microphones on the left.
“I adjusted the height for the two microphones here, those of you who aren’t very tall should use the microphones on the left.”
“Thank you…”
“Oh! The height is just right!”
Yoshino bowed gratefully while Yoshinon waved its hands in amusement. Seeing this heartwarming image, Sakiba left the room back to the control room with a smile.
[—So, are you all ready? ]
At that moment, the loudspeaker installed in the room sounded out Nia’s voice.
“Hehe! Do you think you’re talking to just anyone? This fortress requires no preparations. Because the children of the hurricane are always ready to fight!”
“Acknowledgement. No problem. We’re ready to go.”
The Yamai sisters reported no need for further preparations, but nonetheless struck an impressive pose. It seemed the sound from the soundproofed room still made its way to the control room. Nia nodded happily.
[“Ahaha! That’s excellent! Excellent! Then please listen to the sound director as he explains the process.”]
[“Right. Please take care of me.”]
After Nia finished speaking, the sound director spoke up. The Spirits responded: “Please take good care of us~.”
[“—Basically, you just need to say the line shown on the video on the main screen. The screen will also show which character is supposed to be speaking. You can check it for reference.”]
The sound director finished and a video demonstration was shown on the screen.
It showed the whole process from a line to the complete picture with the picture starting to move on its own.
“Oh~ It was originally playing on this kind of screen. I thought it would play the finished video. Would it be better for us to voice-act on this screen?”
As Shido finished speaking casually, the director and the other staff members on the other side of the glass screen looked away awkwardly.
“Huh? Did… Did I say something wrong?”
[“No… It’s just that your pure heart is too dazzling to us, and we can’t look directly at you.”]
“…?”
Nia exuded a sense of inexplicable sadness along with cold eyes. Shido didn’t quite understand what they were talking about and tilted his head in confusion.
[Anyway, let’s get started. Before we have you start voice acting, let’s rehearse the scene and try to catch the feeling a bit.”]
“O-Okay, I got it.”
[“Okay, let’s start with the prologue with Melissa as done by Natsumi.”]
“…!”
After being called on by the sound director, Natsumi’s shoulders shook.
[“There’s no need to be so scared. Whenever you’re ready.”]
“…I… I know.”
While Natsumi’s face was not known for being red, her face was much paler than normal. Nonetheless, she stood in front of the microphone, which had been adjusted for her height.
[“Well, let’s get started then.”]
As the sound director finished speaking, the light above the screen lit up red and the video began to play.
The first scene shown features the moment where Melissa, the heroine played by Natsumi, was desperately trying to escape the zombie hordes after her.
“…”
Natsumi held the script tightly and stared at the screen restlessly. This role is the one that the original author, Nia, sincerely hoped would be voiced by Natsumi… but, to be honest, it was almost impossible to not worry. After all, Natsumi was very bad at talking to other people.
At that moment, the screen showed the image of Melissa running with her hood covering her face. Natsumi took a deep breath and began to speak:
“—Hooh! Ah… I’ll feel much better once I manage to get out of here… I can’t let them get ahold of this cursed spell—”
“…!”
As Natsumi’s acting was too natural, Shido couldn’t help but watch her with wide eyes. No, it wasn’t Shido, but the other Spirits sharing the room with them were also caught by surprise.
However, Shido immediately remembered that Natsumi was still a Spirit who possessed the Angel <Haniel>, and therefore, was naturally very good at transforming herself into other people.
Additionally, Natsumi read the original manga far more enthusiastically than anyone else. It must have been this that allowed her to completely step into the role of Melissa in that moment.
Nia flashed a thumbs-up from the other side of the glass, as if to express “that really didn’t surprise me!” It seemed that she’d already suspected Natsumi’s talent before she made the absurd decision to let the Spirits do the voice acting.
There was still a chance that they could pull this whole thing off. He felt a weak hope flare up in his heart as he clenched his fists in determination.
—However, reality was always a cruel mistress.
After Natsumi finished speaking, the screen showed the image of the zombie hordes.
Standing in front of the microphones, the three people voiced the zombies at the same time:
“Gah~♡!”
It was clearly a dead body, the voice was that of the beautiful Miku.
“Oh…”
In contrast, Origami’s voice came out dull and unpretentious.
“Roar. Aha—”
And then there was Yuzuru who, without permission, added lines that weren’t part of the script.
“…”
Shido could feel a nervous sweat trickle down his face.
However, the story was only just starting. It should also be said that the zombies’ lines were very short and had little impact on the story overall.
The key was Master Gris, the enemy leader who appeared from behind the zombies.
“Mwahaha! Your efforts will be in vain! Do you think you can escape our clutches?”
Because this was an anime, it didn’t matter what the voice actors themselves were doing, but Kaguya struck an impressive pose anyway.
Unlike Miku, her acting wasn’t the problem, but… Unfortunately, it didn’t match the tone in the character’s voice.
However, this wasn’t a surprise. After all, Kaguya had been chosen to voice a supporting character, mainly because she could act similar to the character’s image. Additionally, it was going to be difficult for any of the others to closely match the role of a majestic elderly male.
Nonetheless, there was no use focusing on that issue.
In the next scene, after showing the title of the show, the scene transitioned to a quiet street view. This scene featured characters voiced by Shido, Yoshino, Tohka, and Kotori.
“Right…”
It was finally his turn. Shido felt his heartbeat accelerate slightly, but he stood in front of the microphone with Yoshino and the others.
“Hey! Emily! Don’t run so fast, you’ll fall!”
He did his best to act natural and read out the lines… Although his acting skills probably wouldn’t be good enough to be praiseworthy, Shido tried his best.
Then, Yoshino responded with a nervous voice:
“No… No way. Hahaha… the weather is really nice today.”
…It was clear that she was trying her hardest, but perhaps due to her nervousness, her voice couldn’t stop shaking. Later, when she was talking to Klein, who was voiced by Shido, her talking speed was slower than Emily’s.
However, the video didn’t wait for anyone. At that moment, Jack, who was voiced by Kotori, appeared on screen.
“Hehehehe, Klein, w-wait for me!”
…She sounded even more tense than Yoshino. It was clear that she was not good at something like this, which came as a surprise to Shido.
Just as Shido tried to find a way to make Kotori feel a little more comfortable. However, Pastor Aphrodite, voiced by Tohka, appeared on the screen.
“Hey, you three! We’re all together today! I have to head to the… Um? Shido, how do you pronounce this?”
Halfway through the sentence, Tohka paused and frowned as she asked while turning the script toward Shido where the word “Church” was written.
“…That’s ‘the Church of worship.’”
“Oh! Thank you! Will you come along with me? …Muu? The picture changed.”
Finished, Tohka looked at the screen and tilted her head. The picture transitioned to the next scene, the protagonist Klein’s mouth was moving.
“Ah, wait.”
Of course, this was the character Shido was voicing. He hurriedly looked down at the script.
—Fifteen minutes later, they’d rehearsed their lines, but the results were obvious. Aside from Natsumi who voiced Melissa, the others were terrible.
“Muu… this is quite difficult.”
“I am very nervous…”
“There is now way, after all, this is our first time.”
“Criticism. Honestly, Kotori is even more tense than Yoshino.”
“Rrrgh…! You… you’re annoying!”
The Spirits argued about the quality of their performance. Noticing this, Shido glanced at Nia who’d been sitting outside the glass with a gaze that plainly said: “laymen really can’t do this”.
“…What are we supposed to do?”
But—
[“Director, what do you think? Is it okay?”]
Hearing Nia’s question, the director nodded confidently.
[“Well, it’s definitely not bad.”]
“Eh?!”
In the face of this unexpected response, Shido couldn’t help but let out a surprised shout. But the director continued nonchalantly:
[“Let’s start by marking the script first. We can add the zombies’ voices later, so it’s okay to match it however you want. Then, Honjou-san, I want to discuss this with you first.”]
The director then faced Nia with his eyes shone excitedly.
[“Can I play ‘my’ role?”]
[“Oh…?”]
Hearing the Director’s words, Nia smiled playfully at him.
[“It looks like you finally recovered your former look, director. Yes, you can play to your heart’s content.”]
[“Excellent.”]
After the director slapped his knee, he looked at Shido and the others.
[“Everyone, do you understand how the characters act and the story overall? Then, we can adjust the lines afterwards.”]
“How can he say such things so calmly…?”
[“Right. Is it nerve-wracking to read sentence by sentence with the picture in front of you? Let’s just read it naturally, as nice and easy as you can.”]
“Hmm…”
“So it’s like that…”
Hearing what the director said, the Spirits all nodded to each other to express their understanding.
“Tohka, can I borrow your script for a bit? I’ll write out the pronunciation for the difficult words for you.”
“Oh! Thank you, Shido!”
Tohka showed a cheerful expression as she passed the script over to Shido. Shido grabbed a pen from the next room and marked the pronunciations into Tohka’s script.
At that moment, the rest of the Spirits also looked at their scripts and moved their lips slightly, mouthing the words. It was more like following the director’s instructions to want to understand the characters’ development and the story overall.
Ten minutes later:
[“Alright! Let’s try this again. Begin!”]
“—Hoo! Ah… I’ll feel much better once I manage to get out of here…”
The prologue started and Natsumi stepped into the role of Melissa just as smoothly as before.
The acting skills of the zombies were the same as before, but since they could use technology to adjust the sound, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Then the scene changed and the dark background turned into a tranquil street view.
“Hey! Emily! Don’t run too fast! You’ll fall down!”
“No way! Hahaha! The weather is so nice today…”
“W-Wait a minute, Klein. Wait for me!”
Although the lines were slightly changed, Yoshino and Kotori felt much more comfortable than the first time. Kotori still looked a little nervous, but it was in line with the personality of a character without confidence, so it wasn’t an issue.
“Hi, you three! We’re all together today! I have to go to the chapel in a bit. Will you please come along with me?”
Thanks to Shido’s annotated pronunciation in her script, Tohka was able to speak the lines smoothly this time. However, because her tone and mood was still the same as the usual Tohka, it was a little too cheerful for the calm pastor, but it was within an acceptable range.
Seen from this perspective… perhaps they would be able to complete it successfully this time.
However, this faint hope was shattered almost immediately afterward.
For a while, everyone struggled to follow the story’s development and perform the necessary voice acting, but… as time passed, it was clear that they were clearly getting off track.
The problem came up during the scene when Klein met Melissa and everyone embarked on a journey to uncover the cause of the undead phenomenon.
The current stage was an inn on the lakeside. At night, Klein couldn’t sleep, so he snuck out of his room and spotted Melissa standing alone, bathed in the moonlight. Then, while talking to each other, they slowly became attracted to each other.
They naturally moved closer to each other and ended up hugging and kissing each other.
Unfortunately Emily happened to witness this scene. However, at that moment, a group of zombies appeared—this is how the story was meant to develop.
This scene wasn’t strange, but it was a popular development.
However, Natsumi, who’d managed to portray Melissa very well, started behaving strangely.
“—Melissa, I…”
“Klein, I…”
On the screen, Klein and Melissa stared deeply into each other’s eyes. Since the relationship between the protagonist and the heroine is established, this wasn’t a surprise. The two shown on the screen looked like a couple.
…What could be said? The indescribably sweet and sour atmosphere was a little nervous. Shido glanced away from the screen and turned his gaze to Natsumi.
“…!”
“…!”
At that moment, he and Natsumi’s eyes met.
“Uh, I…”
“Ah, oh, uh…”
Natsumi, who’d been in the mindset of Melissa, slipped out of it at the last second and her face flushed a deep red—and it was at that moment when “Melissa” reverted to “Natsumi”.
Natsumi’s lines, which had previously been spoken without hesitation, were suddenly awkward. As if to see the timing, Emily’s figure appeared on the screen.
“Ah… Klein… Melissa…”
Yoshino was following along with Emily’s debut and whispered that line. Natsumi’s shoulders shook in surprise and responded:
“N-No… Emily! You misunderstood!”
“Eh?”
Hearing what Natsumi said, Yoshino was taken by surprise.
In this scene, Melissa should be looking away awkwardly without saying another word.
“It’s just… It’s not what you think! I don’t like Klein! There was a little more development in the original story for me to fall in love with him, but the anime cut that part out, so I don’t have a clue about him!”
“H-Hey!”
Shido couldn’t help but protest loudly, glancing at the next room—of course with a look telling them to pause.
However, the director and Nia only raised their thumbs with a smile on the other side of the glass, as though saying, “This is great! Just keep going!”
“Melissa, you… what’s wrong with you…?”
Yoshino asked in confusion. Natsumi was acting as though she’d been caught in a cheating scene and then said:
“Well… Of course, Emily is definitely more attractive than my unknown and inexplicable self. You’re kindhearted, strong, and very dedicated! Klein thinks so too, right?”
“Wait, what?”
Suddenly dragged into the conversation, Shido made an alarmed sound.
“Yeah! After all, it’s your fault for not being able to notice Emily’s feelings! Be more honest! Don’t you dare treat a sweetheart like her as a side girl you can throw away when it suits you!”
“I-I would never do such a thing!”
“Melissa, calm down…”
Yoshino tried her best to appease Natsumi. So Natsumi grabbed Yoshino’s shoulders.
“Emily, do you like Klein? You have to tell him what it is you want!”
“Ah… t-that…”
“Okay!”
Yoshino was egged on by Natsumi’s imposing force, and her face was flushed a deep red.
Then, facing Shido instead of the microphone, Yoshino slightly opened the trembling lips.”
“Then I…”
“Wait a minute!”
However, at that moment, a loud voice rang out from next to them, interrupting Yoshino—it was Kotori.
“This is ridiculous! How did the atmosphere become so ambiguous? …If anything, my relationship with Klein has been longer than Emily’s!”
“Jack, why did you kick me?!”
Shido couldn’t help but shout out loud.
It wasn’t clear whether the timing was good or bad. The screen only showed Jack walking towards Klein. It was reasonable to expect a scene of Jack screaming at Klein with a slight love for Emily, but… because of Kotori’s lines, it seemed that Jack was instead confessing to Klein.
At the same time, the image showed Pastor Aphrodite trying to play peacemaker between the two of them, Tohka said aloud:
“Muu, you two are acting quite treacherous! I also like Shido… Klein!”
“Pastor—!”
Even the pastor was starting to say such ridiculous words. Yoshino felt the three of the characters on screen looked like a tangled triangular relationship. Seeing this scene, it was no surprise that Emily would be running away while crying.
However, the situation only seemed to only get worse from here.
That’s right. Because the next scene showed—
“Gah~! Darling, what are you doing~? It looks like so much fun!”
“Anger. Let Yu… zuru join. Ragh!”
“Hey, Klein, do you remember? Although I look like this now, it’s me, Jennifer! The woman you once loved!”
“Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-What?!”
In the current scene, there were countless zombies attacking Klein and the others while Miku, Yuzuru, and Origami surrounded Shido.
Of course, Origami also casually fabricated a tragic past of one of the zombie characters. Miku and Yuzuru’s expressions indicated “there’s still one last trick”, and their eyes sparkled.
“Whoa, hey! Let go of me…!”
“Oooooaaah, you are so cruel~. Do you plan to abandon others’ bodies after you finish playing with such boring people~?”
“Sorrow. I’m doing my best for you, why do I have to be killed?”
“Klein, I still love you even now. What’s wrong with me? I promise I will change it all for you. Please promise not to abandon me ever again, won’t you?”
“Hey! What the hell kind of setting are you imagining?!”
Shido couldn’t help but protest angrily. Han Klein, originally a passionate and just man, had been turned into a scumbag. Given this, it was no surprise he was being attacked by zombies.
“Ah… rest in peace, in death! Everyone else is acting more dramatic than I am!”
Even Master Gris, who was voiced by Kaguya, had joined the battle. Yuzuru scratched her cheek.
“Reflection. In that regard, I forgot. Master Gris, you also love Klein deeply.”
“Hey… I never said that! I don’t like Klein!”
She shouted a completely typical kind of arrogant line. The old man with a fierce expression on the screen suddenly seemed a little cute.
Unexpectedly, everyone joined in the battle, causing everyone to appear in the room. Because everyone was speaking at the same time, their voices began to overlap like the noise seen with street noise. Ah… it turned out that this was indeed a kind of acting. Inexplicable emotions filled his heart.
“Ah, really…! S-Stop! Serious voice acting, please!”
Shido, now fully swarmed by the Spirits, finally snapped and shouted, and everyone finally settled down. At the same time, the video that had previously insisted on continuing to play, was temporarily paused.
[“Ahahaha! You guys are amazing!”]
[“This is so powerful! Just because the lines were changed, the fight scene became a romantic comedy!”]
A loudspeaker sounded in the room with Nia and the Director’s pleasant voices. Shido frowned deeply and responded.
“You both are acting so relaxed… why didn’t you stop us sooner?”
[“Sorry, sorry. I was fascinated by what was happening.”]
Nia smiled and laughed while looking around at everyone.
[“Fortunately, it seems like everyone is much more relaxed than before.”]
“That is to say, I feel like my shoulders are not as tense. Now, let’s start the official voice acting. This time, let’s try not to go off the script.”
The sound director responded with a bitter smile to Nia.
“Well…”
That much was true… Although their content was messy, there was a major gain in being able to chat like usual with everyone while doing their voice acting.
Could it be that Nia deliberately stopped them from pausing to help Shido relax?
“…”
Shido mentally passed the idea over in his mind, then noticed the energetically evil expression on her face and changed his mind. She was probably just looking for fun.
“…In short, although things somehow turned out this way, we promised to take on this job, so we have to do it completely seriously.”
Shido coughed a few times to try to cheer himself up and said that. The Spirits slumped their shoulders in apology.
“Muu… I’m sorry, Shido, I made a mistake.”
“…I… I’m sorry too…”
Tohka, Natsumi, and the others bowed their heads slightly to apologize.
Hoping that it would be okay, Shido smiled.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m also sorry. I think they’re right. I’m going to go…”
Before Shido could finish speaking, Origami secretly spoke to the staff in the next room.
“—Director, how much will the zombie’s voice be adjusted? It would be ideal to be able to distinguish what was originally said.”
“Origami, can you not come up with bad ideas before we even start officially voice acting!”
Shido couldn’t help but shout.
[“Haha… now, let’s start the official voice work! Everyone, please position yourselves!”]
Everyone followed the sound director’s instructions and returned to their original positions.
Then—
[“Now… let’s get started!”]
With that, they officially started the voice acting.
◇◇◇
“I’m crazy and passionate about what I love! Honjou Nia has arrived once more!”
At some point in the future, Nia appeared in the Itsuka household, singing a strange slogan.
“Wow, you’re a hundred times more lively today… in many ways.”
Shido remarked with a wry smile. Nia smiled as she tugged on her collar.
“You’re right! Every part of my body is 100% more lively. Do you want to see?”
“It was just an expression! You should be more mindful!”
“I can’t help it, Boy! It was so thorny-horny!”
“I keep telling her, really…”
Shido clutched his head in his hands while Nia laughed happily.
Tohka watched the conversation between them and then tilted her head in confusion.
“Muu? Nia, what are you holding?”
“Huh…?”
Shido also looked at Nia’s hand and muttered, “Ah.”
It was because Nia was holding a disc in a transparent case in her hand.
Shido realized it was a CD immediately, but—that didn’t seem to be the case. There was no printed label on the disc, but instead in handwriting was written <The Chronicles of the Dead>.
“Hmm, so did you notice it? That’s right! I received the animation samples for the first attempt at voice acting! It’s the so-called white box!”
“Hey! Why do you have two of them?!”
“Anyway, let’s all gather around. Prepare some snacks and drinks, and watch the screening!”
Nia ignored Shido’s questions and instead spoke to the Spirits who’d been sitting in the living room. The Spirits’ eyes all flashed in excitement as they began to prepare snacks in accordance with Nia’s suggestion.
“I can’t handle this right now…”
It was still a little too early for a snack break, but… never mind. They might as well order takeout today. Shido sighed and began to prepare for the screening as well.
He moved the sofa that was originally oriented in a diagonal shape so that everyone could see the TV screen clearly and then placed glasses and various drinks, cookies, and chocolates in accordance with the number of people. If he could, he actually wanted to enjoy snacks like a proper movie-going experience and eat chips.
After everything was ready, Nia stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
“Ladies and gentlemen… Wait, there’s only one gentleman here. Never mind. We will now hold a screening of <The Chronicles of the Dead>!”
“Woah!”
“Ah~! I’ve been waiting so long for this moment~!”
“…To be honest, I only have a bad feeling in my heart.”
The Spirits all raised either excited applause or sighs.
Having said that, after the official voice acting work started, everyone successfully acted the characters according to the original story. Of course, it wouldn’t be as good as a professional voice actor, but it should at least be decent.
“Okay, then I’m going to play it now.”
Nia inserted the disc into the player and pressed the play button.
Several seconds later, the words “An Original Work by Honjou Nia” appeared on the screen.
Then there was the dark cemetery background, and a girl making her way through the cemetery. They’d seen the composition during the voice acting process, but now that it was fully colored, it was really beautiful!
[—Hooh! Ah… I can finally rest easy once I get out of here.]
“Ah! That’s Natsumi-san’s voice…!”
“Yeah. It really matches her well.”
While the heroine “Melissa” was speaking, the Spirits cried out excitedly. Natsumi heartily blushed in embarrassment and buried her face in her thighs. It seemed that it didn’t matter when she was acting as another character, but having her work shown to an audience was still embarrassing.
[“■■■■■—!”]
[“■■■ … ■■■!” ]
[“■■■■■■■!”]
This time, the ground split open and a group of horrifying zombies appeared.
Originally Miku, Yuzuru, and Origami provided the voicing for the zombies, but after some adjustment, it sounded more like a monster’s roar.
“Ahaha, it looks like we can’t hear our lines~!”
“Agreement. However, each zombie’s voice has some subtle differences.”
“That one was probably mine.”
They remarked. It’s true that the original sounds were retained somewhat. It would be fun to guess who provided the voice for which zombie.
“Hmm… it sounds better than I expected.”
Shido rubbed his chin and sighed.
Since the lines weren’t read exactly according to the script, there were a few subtle differences in some places, but the visuals had been fine-tuned to match the words. Shido once again admired the skills of a professional.
But—
The video continued to play for a while—just as they reached the scene by the lake and Shido couldn’t help but hold his breath in fear.
The reason was very simple.
[“N-No, Emily! This is a misunderstanding!”]
Melissa, who witnessed the meeting with Klein, made a panicked sound.
“Eh?!”
He remembered that during the official voice acting, according to the script, Natsumi was supposed to be silent.
In other words, this voicework was from—
[“It’s just… It’s not what you think! I don’t like Klein! There was a little more development in the original story for me to fall in love with him, but the anime cut that part out, so I don’t have a clue about him!”]
After hearing this line, Shido realized that this wasn’t just his imagination or a mistake. That’s right, this sound came from their rehearsal, and the images were modified to match the lines.
While everyone was confused, Pastor Aphrodite, Jack and the zombies all appeared.
[“Klein, I still love you even now. What’s wrong with me? I promise I will change it all for you. Please promise not to abandon me ever again, won’t you?”]
That voice came from a zombie voiced by Origami and the others. Although the sound played was completely different from their original voices, it was still possible to understand what the lines were saying. Natsumi and Yoshino screamed.
“H-Hey, Nia!”
Shido couldn’t help but yell. However, the original author herself just smiled happily:
“Hmm? What’s the matter, Boy? Isn’t this fascinating?”
“It’s not a question of whether it’s interesting; this shouldn’t be broadcast at all! You aren’t really going to sell this kind of thing, are you?!”
After hearing Shido’s question, Nia pushed her glasses up and shook her head.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. This won’t circulate to the general market. I asked the production team to do it at my own expense. This is an independently produced animation.”
“Huh?!”
After hearing her unexpected answer, Shido’s eyes widened in surprise.
“W-Wait a minute! What do you mean at your own expense…”
“Well, it costs money to make an anime, but as long as it’s not broadcast on TV, I only need to take care of the production cost. So I used my connections from the adaptation of <Silver Bullet> and asked someone to introduce me to the staff.”
After she finished talking, Nia smiled cheerfully. Shido’s eyes narrowed.
“…Hey, was it true that all of the voice actors came down with poisoning? Was the food poisoning bit also faked? Did you plan all of this out from the beginning?”
“Boy, look! Look! Klein is being hugged by a zombie bear!”
“Shouldn’t you aim for perfection and try your best?!”
Shido shouted… However, what’s done is done.
He sighed helplessly and his gaze drifted back to the TV screen.
“…This is all very chaotic. There are so many changes, so wouldn’t it cost a lot of money?”
“Yeah. But…”
“But what?”
Shido tilted his head as he watched her suspiciously. Nia simply raised a finger and tapped on the tip of Shido’s nose.
“—These memories are priceless, Boy.”
“…”
Nia’s words and actions turned Shido’s emotions into a mess, but… if she realized what she’d done to him, she would probably feel miserable. Instead, Shido turned his gaze back to the TV to conceal his thoughts.
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