Chapter 8: A Girl Guided by the Gods
MOMO
I set to work drawing the black and white concept for the character, also known as manga. As I drew, I felt like I was bringing this Momo to life. The feelings that I got as I drew were similar to being guided by a muse. I knew how she would respond to certain circumstances, and the words to each page just fell into place as though she was speaking to me. But in another sense, my real muse was Noah. Aside from that pretty brutal honest first impression, she was very supportive and managed to get me motivated when I was in a bad mood. She always took pride in her appearance, and she made me want to put in extra effort myself. And so, I came in early, I stayed late, all because I wanted to be more like her. But it wasn't just envy or something. The more I was around her, the more I really felt like I liked her. In some ways she was right, I guess I didn't like the some of conventionally manly guy. But I understood now that Gemini hadn't known what she wanted, whereas this Noah knew exactly who she was and what she wanted out of life. And so, I wanted to please her, if only to get closer to her.
Magical Princess Minky Momo eventually became popular enough to become an anime. All sorts of merchandise are sold for this anime, from magic rods, to plushies to sewing machines. I worked with the toy merchants to help keep the design consistent. I worked with the animators to be sure every frame was up to snuff for the anime. I got to hear the voice actress who played Minky Momo said her needlessly overcomplicated magic words to summon her transformation staff. And saw as we made money hand over fist from merchandise. In fact, the show itself was almost cynical the way it manipulated children into buying toys. But it was an entertaining show, and at the end of the day, I enjoyed watching it.
After a long day of work, I would curl up in a couch next to Noah, watching the show we made with love and care. If anyone asked, we were market-testing the show by making sure it ran without any technical issues, like blurry characters, off-sync animation with the sound, or characters with too many fingers. Normally, this would be against company policy, and the both of us would be fired. But well… this company had no board of supervisors. And it had Noah as the head of the company. And I was the lead artist, with complete creative control over the anime. As long as Noah didn't object, and I didn't object, there was really nobody to object. The others were just there to work on the color and sound of the anime, and were not really in charge of anything. As the two of us grew closer while hanging around with each other, I never imagined that anything would go wrong with this anime. But things have a way of happening...
ISEKAI
"Why does this series feel so familiar?" I asked Yuki as I watched it, "what's this show called?" Yuki attempted to explain, "Magical Princess Minky Momo. It's about some girl who... you know it's better if we just watch it. It's some silly show I can't explain." The girl on the screen said, "Pipiruma Pipiruma Puririnpa Papareho Papareho Doriminpa! Minky touch de jūi ni nare!" before turning from a child to an adult veterinarian. Yeah, I'm not sure in her position, I'd be able to explain any better.
Then I remembered. Since my powers were of being reincarnated in other worlds, I was somewhat familiar with the events of both the 'real' world and those of 'fiction' (I put those in scare quotes, because actually all of these worlds are real, the artists simply see a version of reality that nobody else can). So now I remembered where I had seen it. It was a series most often made in either 1982 or 1991, with some realities having two versions of the same show. But the series was usually made in Japan by Takeshi Shudo. What was going on here?
I discussed it with Yuki and she said, "Well, I happen to know that this is a brand new show. So I don't know what you're talking about." She went on to use a DuckDuckGo (what's this Google thing?) search and found zero hits for the show, instead being asked if she wanted a mink coat or some nice blankets, and being told about the Momo Challenge. Indeed further searches for Takeshi Shudo likewise turned up nothing. I asked Yuki about this man and she really didn't know him. So I said, "You know, the guy who also did that show about catching monsters?" I sang a cheesy and slightly catchy song, but she said I was singing it all wrong. Then she proceeded to sing the 'proper' version of the song.
I wanna go on my own quest
Like no one ever does
To shove them inside a chest
To train them just because
I will travel around the world
Seeking far and wide
Teach Fantamon to understand
Their power is outside
(Fantamon
Gotta catch 'em all) It's destiny
I know it's just you and me (Fantamon)
Oh, you're my best friend
There's no need that we pretend (Fantamon
Gotta catch 'em all) A love so true
Your passion will get us through
I'll teach you if you'll teach me
Fantamon! (Gotta catch 'em all)
Gotta catch 'em all!
Like many people, she didn't know the words to the main song, just the one on television. "You mean Fantamon, right? That one's made by Ken Sayato." She also showed me several plushies that we indeed very cute looked similar to the critters I had grown up with, but were off in some key way. There was an electric rabbit, a fire snake, a water snail, and a grass platypus. I sighed. A world without (that show) sounded awful, but it was a tradeoff for a world where Yuki didn't know me.
