Kamiyā Yuu discovered that after finishing Episode 17 of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', he no longer had any spare time left for rest.
The most urgent task before him was the key animation work for the anime's ending.
Because he had personally participated in the production of Episode 17, the overall quality of that episode had exceeded all expectations. If the finale failed to surpass Episode 17 in quality, it would inevitably leave viewers with the impression of a strong beginning and weak ending.
Fortunately, the key animation for the final episode was not as focused on the ultimate portrayal of individual characters as Episode 17 had been.
On the contrary, it pursued the ultimate quality of the animation itself.
The final episode of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' served as the culmination of the entire story.
It brought together all the foreshadowing, all the plot developments, and all the characters, elevating the anime's themes through Madoka Kaname's self-sacrifice.
To put it simply, while character portrayal remained important, the greater requirement of this episode was the creation of truly grand spectacles.
For example, when Madoka Kaname became the Law of Cycles and embraced HOMULILLY, the Nutcracker Witch was created from Homura Akemi, or when she ultimately destroyed the Witch of the Universe.
Once those grand scenes were successfully presented, they would leave an unforgettable impression on viewers and allow them to directly experience the impact of the vast worldbuilding behind 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'.
In the original work, when Madoka Kaname transformed into Madokami and destroyed the Witch of the Universe, the entire cosmos served as the backdrop.
The awe-inspiring image of Madokami drawing her magical bow remained etched in the memories of many viewers even years later.
Kamiyā Yuu needed to further refine and enhance that scene, making it even more moving and visually overwhelming.
Yosuganosora Animation Studio possessed animation production technology that surpassed much of the industry. Achieving such an effect was neither particularly difficult nor particularly easy.
At the very least, it required Kamiyā Yuu's direct involvement in every stage of construction.
From storyboards to key animation.
From key animation to motion.
From motion to coloring and visual effects processing.
And so on.
The second matter keeping Kamiyā Yuu busy was planning for the project that would follow after 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' ended.
Normally, animation studios completed production approximately one month ahead of broadcast schedules.
That month was not intended as vacation time.
It existed so the studio could begin preparing its next project.
Kamiyā Yuu was already thinking about a new work because he had decided what it would be.
One of the best-selling anime titles of 2012 from his previous world—
'Fate/Zero'.
Another work written by the so-called Warrior of Love, Gen Urobuchi.
Kamiyā Yuu genuinely loved the Type-Moon franchise.
Saber had once been one of his favorite female anime characters.
Before producing the anime adaptation of 'Fate/Zero', the first thing he needed to do was write the novel version.
First, it would serve as practice.
It would help him better construct scripts and storyboards during animation production.
Second, it would allow him to fully explain many settings and concepts that could not be properly conveyed through animation.
After all, anyone encountering the Type-Moon universe for the first time would almost certainly be confused by the seemingly chaotic and complicated worldbuilding.
An anime could not afford to spend endless runtime explaining supplementary settings.
Doing so would significantly diminish the appeal of the work.
Even in the original version, despite already having the novels as reference material, the 'Fate/Zero' anime still had to dedicate nearly forty minutes to explaining its setting and background.
The original Type-Moon series came from the famous Japanese scenario writer Kinoko Nasu.
It was a work he had first imagined during his genuinely chūnibyō student years, only fully constructing it later after entering the industry as a professional writer.
The Type-Moon franchise had accumulated an endless amount of embarrassing black history over the years.
The most criticized point was that such an elaborate setting had originally appeared in a romance visual novel—
The famous 'Fate/stay night'.
Viewers loudly proclaimed that "King Arthur can't possibly be a girl," only to helplessly watch her be legitimately pushed into bed through the mechanism known as "mana transfer."
Many people who played the game felt it would have been better if all the H-scenes had simply been removed.
Kinoko Nasu and Gen Urobuchi were friends.
'Fate/Zero' was written by Urobuchi at Nasu's request as a prequel to the series.
As a result, the styles of the two works differed dramatically.
'Fate/Zero' carried an unmistakably strong Urobuchi atmosphere.
Every character left a deep impression on readers.
Yet none of them received particularly good endings.
Kamiyā Yuu even suspected that if not for the requirement that it serve as a prequel to 'Fate/stay night', even the true protagonist Saber would have ended in complete tragedy.
Although her ending in the original work could hardly be considered happy anyway.
Kamiyā Yuu viewed 'Fate/Zero' as an ensemble drama.
Among the Heroic Spirits were:
Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, who looked down upon all things.
Saber, the unqualified King of Knights.
The Lancer, whose luck eternally ranked E despite his unwavering loyalty.
Alexander the Great, the Conqueror King, dreamed of conquering the world.
Among the human participants were:
Emiya Kiritsugu, who carried out ruthless justice.
Kotomine Kirei, whose personality had already broken from the moment he was born.
Tohsaka Tokiomi, eternally wrong.
Waver Velvet, the timid disciple destined to become a great king's queen-like companion.
Matō Kariya, who carried much of the tragedy.
And the serial killer Uryū Ryūnosuke.
Each character possessed a distinct charm.
At the limits of imagination, they gathered upon the same stage to perform an unforgettable Holy Grail War.
That was probably the greatest appeal of the series.
"Back to my old profession..."
Kamiyā Yuu sighed emotionally.
Writing novels was no longer difficult for him.
A single trip into the consciousness space could solve nearly any problem related to writing.
Writer's block, in particular, had become almost irrelevant.
Moreover, his body now possessed coordination approaching abnormal levels.
His typing speed was astonishing.
Maintaining quality while writing ten thousand words per hour was not particularly difficult for him.
After all, the original 'Fate/Zero' novels totaled only around five hundred thousand words.
Of course, Kamiyā Yuu had no intention of copying the original novels word for word into this world.
While the story of 'Fate/Zero' was excellent, it still fell short of what Kamiyā Yuu personally considered perfection.
Combined with the modifications he intended to make, his preliminary estimates within the consciousness space suggested that his remake of the 'Fate/Zero' novels would likely expand to two or three times the original length.
For now, however, his plans for the 'Fate/Zero' novels remained entirely within the consciousness space.
In reality, his primary task was still the production of the latter half of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'.
At least until early June, he would not have the time or energy to devote to writing novels.