Chapter 409 Bonding Time

While Brianna, Aidan, and the others discussed which animes the studio would produce next, Theo and Ryoko left the food court and headed to the Sound Department.

Before the creative meeting later, they had another meeting to attend. It was the first meeting that the voice actors would participate. Although the voice actors would only start working after the new year holidays, they would receive a briefing about what their jobs would entail when they started working.

Theo and Ryoko arrived at the department and greeted the sound engineers with smiles.

The two bosses made small talk with the sound engineers as they waited for the bridge with Sakura City to connect.

Meanwhile, in another part of the country.

Tokyo Branch Studio, Sakura City.

Nana had just arrived in the building, and after the shock of yesterday's happenings passed. She accepted her new reality without many difficulties. After all, for someone so confident as her, she would only cry once, but afterward, she would accept that she was talented enough to take the job.

So, Nana arrived at the studio that afternoon acting confidently as always. After greeting the receptionist, she was guided to the conference room where the meeting would happen.

When she arrived there, she noticed that were already other people there. And to her surprise, she recognized some relatively famous voice actors.

'They must be the other voice actors that are in the cast.' She thought as she took her seat.

So far, there was no other employee other than voice actors in the room. So, they started talking to each other.

"I guess everyone here passed the auditions. How about we introduce ourselves? After all, we will work together for the next period of time." One of the guys said suddenly.

The others nodded in agreement as they understood his argument.

After passing the auditions, their competition with each other ended. Now they were a team that needed to get along with each other to give their best during their work together.

"I'll start. My name is Eto Kimi, and I'll play Kirito in the anime. Before this production, I acted as a supporting character in some other animes as well." The guy declared as he tried to act calm.

It was his first time being a main character voice actor, so he had reasons to be nervous.

The others were a little surprised when they heard that he would be one of the main actors, but they still accepted it nonetheless.

"My name is Laura Addams, and I'll play Asuna in the anime. Before this production, I worked as the main actress in some animes, and as a supporting character in other animes." Laura said with a smile.

The others just smiled helplessly, because they knew Laura was being humble.

They all knew Laura's work in some famous animes!

Therefore, Laura was easily the most experienced and skillful voice actor there. They all admired her work.

They were not surprised that she was able to land the second main character of the anime with her set of skills.

"You're so humble, Laura-san!"

"I watched your work so many times!"

"Can I take a picture with you when the meeting ends?"

Everyone started swarming Laura with compliments and questions.

Laura had a helpless face when she saw their behavior. She was already used to these kinds of situations. But at the moment, they were coworkers, so she wanted everyone to be treated equally, including herself.

She could only say with a calm smile, "Please, guys. I can take any pictures or autographs after the meeting ends. But please treat me normally from now on. We are coworkers now, and I want our work together to be as normal as possible. But if you guys have any doubts or questions, you can search for me. I would be glad to help you." She looked at them with a calm smile on her face.

The others nodded and just looked at her in admiration. They could see that she was extremely professional with her job. They hoped someday, they could face others with the same professionalism and calmness.

Nana looked at Laura with starry eyes, she also hoped that when she assumed Naruto's voice, she could be like Laura. Nana already decided to ask Laura some doubts she had.

The others started to introduce themselves as well after that until it was Nana's turn.

"My name is Ozawa Nana. I'm playing a supporting character, they haven't told me which one yet. And this is my first time as a voice actress, so I would like to apologize for any mistakes I might make. Please take care of me." Nana said as she bowed her head a little.

The last phrase she said in Yamatese (Japanese), it was a Yamato tradition for a rookie to say those words when he/she started working on something.

Everyone there understood what she said, after all, they all spoke in Yamatese (Japanese) when they acted as voice actors.

What made them surprised was that she was a rookie, it was a relatively rare sight to see a rookie in a production.

"Please take care of me." The others replied back just like the tradition demanded.

Afterward, Laura smiled as she said, "You don't have to worry, Nana-san. It's normal to make mistakes for the first time. No one will judge you even if you make mistakes. You can come to me to ask any doubts you have any time."

The others also expressed their support for Nana with kind words.

Nana was touched when she saw them being so supportive, "Thank you, guys! I'll give my best!" She said with a wide smile.

Just like that, the voice actors started talking and bonding with each other.

It may sound like a coincidence that they were able to be alone for so long, but that was specially planned by Rio.

She knew that the actors needed to get along with each other if they wanted to perform together later, so she planned this time alone for them to bond.

And luckily, with the intent of helping Nana, everyone started bonding with each other.

They also started talking about the anime production. Everyone there had read the [SAO] Light Novel, so they knew the basics of what the plot would entail.

It was only when Rio and a few other employees entered the room that they stopped talking.

They all looked at her with eyes filled with expectation. They were curious to know what this meeting would be about.

"Good afternoon, guys!" Rio smiled at them.

"Some people may know me, but I will introduce myself to you guys. My name is Amano Rio, and I'm the Director Manager of this Branch Studio. These ones besides me are sound engineers." She started.

Everyone greeted each other when she said that, but the voice actors were intrigued when she said that they were in a branch studio.

"In a few moments, we will connect with Studio Headquarters. You guys will then understand the basics of the production." Rio declared with a small smile on her face.