Chapter 244: Comic Debut
The studio quickly got on track.
It was originally a very mature studio with high-quality resources in all aspects. It was precisely because of this quality that it caught the attention of Mi Xiaolin’s venture capital group. Seizing an opportunity during a certain investment round, they used various unethical methods to push out the original manager and turn the studio into their group’s asset...
Many of the resources separated during this foreclosure were of such high quality. Xie Wenyuan, Zhong Yi, Old Zhu, and even that Xia Junjie must have reaped many benefits from this. Leaving that aside, for Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji, this studio was incredibly valuable.
Experienced and skilled artists were one thing, but they also had departments for copyrights and operations, along with collaborations with major websites. The studio had several ongoing projects, some of which were quite well-known. Chu Ge used to pay little attention to comic authors, not even knowing who drew what. Now he knew; it was his own company’s work...
Due to the company’s relocation to Nanjiang, a small number of local employees resigned and did not follow along. However, the majority of out-of-town employees made the move. Besides the locals, most people in this industry were young and unattached, so working anywhere was pretty much the same. The treatment offered by Zhu Mengmeng was even better.
Therefore, the overall structure of the studio was relatively intact and ready to operate immediately. There was hardly any awkwardness following the restructuring. It felt like they had merely changed locations... with a more beautiful boss.
In fact, most of the employees in the animation industry were avid internet users and had a strong presence in the world of anime. Among them were even fans of the “Sweetest Love In Early Autumn” couple... So when they discovered that their new bosses were actually that couple, they couldn’t have been happier.
The other female boss was a wealthy single woman. Well... anyway, no matter what, it was much more comfortable than when they were under the command of that detestable manager dispatched by the previous group.
With everyone working together, they managed to bring Chu Ge’s adapted script for the first three episodes to life within three days.
Qiu Wuji looked very satisfied. The visual representation of the scenes was indeed much more intuitive than just words. Chu Ge’s adaptation was excellent, and even his initial clichés had been transformed into the most delicate artwork.
Although she didn’t know much about the comic market, from her own perspective, she believed that it should be very popular.
“Chief Qiu, this comic is going to be a hit, I guarantee it with all my years of experience in this industry! I’ve never seen a comic portrayed so vividly before. Chief, you’re amazing!” the operations director patted his chest and said, “I’ll coordinate with the novel website right away, and we can launch it this week! Chief Qiu, you just need to check the data!”
November 11th, Singles’ Day.
The comic adaptation of ‘Chu Tian Wu Ji’ officially debuts on the Penguin Comics platform and simultaneously releases on multiple anime websites, with the first three episodes available. Updates will be on Tuesdays.
Whether or not the operations director patted his chest didn’t matter. The initial popularity of this comic had already exceeded his expectations for a new comic within the first hour of release.
Due to the involvement of Xie Wenyuan’s project investment, this project was, in a sense, one of the group’s own projects and received relatively high attention. Xie Wenyuan even allocated additional promotional expenses, which meant that when this comic was launched, it came with a large recommended spot, making it a thousand times better treated than when Chu Ge started a new book.
Qiu Wujie posted a new Weibo article: “The comic I drew, adapted from my boyfriend’s book. Do you all think the cover looks good?”
“Don’t just talk about the art style; the story is good too. Don’t forget that it’s Chu Chu’s book.”
“So it’s a perfect match, right? That’s why we’re fans of this couple.”
While some people had a favorable bias because they liked the people involved, there were also many newcomers who came due to the app’s recommendation and were completely bewildered:
“What are you guys talking about? Who are Chu Chu and Qiuqiu? There’s no one named Chu Chu in this comic.”
“Are you guys newcomers? Hey, from an outsider’s perspective, is the art good?”
“...Even though I have no idea about this Chu Chu or Qiuqiu, I’ve been in the comic industry for many years. Just based on the art alone, it’s enough to make me continue reading. As long as the story isn’t garbage, I’ll probably follow.”
“Don’t worry, how could Brother Chu’s story possibly be garbage?”
“The story in the first three chapters seems quite engaging. How often is it updated?”
“Oh, it’s two updates per week... That’s not too bad. But I can’t wait; I’m going to read the original novel first.”
The operations director could tell that it was taking off.
What is most feared in novel-to-comic adaptations? Original fans not recognizing it, and relying on newcomers who haven’t read the original to build buzz is very challenging.
Currently, the buzz was exploding from all sides, although the total number of readers didn’t seem very high; it had only been three chapters. As long as the quality of the later chapters was maintained, it would be difficult for it not to become popular given the current momentum.
Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji were both reading comments, and they were both stunned.
After reading for a long time, Qiu Wuji murmured softly, “Why do I always feel like... your book might not be as successful without the comic?”
“Be more confident and remove the ‘might.’ Or you can say the comic isn’t guaranteed to be successful, but if the anime adaptation is done well, it’s bound to be more successful than my original work.” Chu Ge remained quite composed. “My original work has a certain reading threshold, so there’s inevitably a limit. However, images have no threshold, which is why I’ve been longing to adapt... Only then can we achieve our world’s identity. Now, we’ve successfully taken the most crucial step.”
Chu Ge was still more clear-headed than anyone else.
Others wanted to be successful, while he wanted success only as a means to an end for the world’s authenticity.
Everyone’s pursuits were different.