Anime Production: I Asked You to Heal People, Not Depress Them

Recently, the renowned animation master, novelist, manga artist, animation director, and screenwriter Xu Sheng stated publicly on Weibo:

“I hope my works can warm people's hearts. I've always written with the idea that ‘love will eventually conquer all’ at their core. After all, I'm a warrior of love!”

Several well-known domestic forums, critics, and voice actors responded:

“Looking back at Teacher Xu's works, he really did pull it off. He just mixed the love with darkness, and the blood that flowed from the characters after they died was certainly warm enough!”

“Does Old Xu have some kind of misunderstanding about what it means to warm people's hearts?”

“Old Xu's works have no good guys or bad guys, just dead people and people who wish they were dead!”

“When I found out Teacher Xu was writing the script for the show I was voicing, I knew my character wouldn't be happy! I know him! I know him! I know him!!!”

Xu Sheng, the greatest animation master of the twenty-first century.

His Clannad moved millions to tears. Countless people said that finishing Clannad felt like having lived an entire life: life is about arriving, meeting, staying together, and parting!

His Puella Magi Madoka Magica turned being a magical girl into a high-risk profession.

When the Moon World IP, built from works such as Fate, The Garden of Sinners, and Tsukihime, came along, audiences lamented, “The King doesn't understand people's hearts, but Old Xu doesn't have one!”

At last, Xu Sheng gave in to the countless pleas from his audience and agreed to make something a little more healing. He brought them Violet Evergarden.

After just the first episode aired,

the audience cried, “We asked you to heal us, not traumatize us, you bastard!!!”