Chapter 202: Male and Female Leads Swap Bodies? Seems a Bit Toxic

After uploading the script to the USB drive, Li Zhaoyang went to work.

I just realized I forgot to eat breakfast this morning, and now I can hear my stomach rumbling.

After breakfast.

Upon arriving at the company, Zhaoyang was immediately pulled into the director's office for a private discussion about the script.

“You mentioned that you wanted to make a 2D animated film for your new movie. This type of film has extremely high requirements for technology and script. I was originally planning to call Director Yang today to talk about this. Now that you have the script ready, let’s arrange to meet Director Yang later to discuss it.”

Zhang Shulan has her own plans. She keeps everything related to Zhaoyang in mind, and she has already asked Xiao Zhang to handle the affairs of the new department and recruit a group of professional technical talents.

Since Zhaoyang truly intends to develop the film and television industry in the long term, talented individuals are indispensable.

Not long after.

Li Zhaoyang took a USB drive out of his pocket and handed it over: "Director, please take a look first. I'm going to make myself a cup of water."

"good."

Zhang Shulan watched Zhao Yang's retreating figure before inserting the USB drive into the computer host.

What comes into view is a file archive, and upon opening it, the format is somewhat unexpected.

Because it wasn't the script format she remembered.

It differs greatly from the movie script.

For example, it doesn't specify what lines each character should have, or what type of actor is suitable for each role.

Instead, these scripts are described through explanation.

This is understandable, after all, it's an animated film. Zhang Shulan was only surprised for a few seconds before continuing to watch.

The script's opening introduction gave her a general idea of ​​what kind of story it was.

The protagonist is from the city, while the female protagonist is from a small town in the countryside.

The story begins with our male and female protagonists swapping bodies, and from there the story unfolds.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Shulan suddenly felt a shock, realizing the plot point was too outrageous: "Swapping bodies..."

If it weren't for Zhaoyang writing the script, she would have said it was rubbish.

Many people have fantasized about body swapping, especially male-female swapping, but if a movie actually brings this kind of element to the big screen, it will be criticized.

For example, if a man swaps bodies with a woman and does some naughty things, he'll definitely spit it out.

Zhang Shulan felt that the Truman script was still the best, given the overall storyline.

We can't be too demanding. Zhaoyang's greatest strength is music, so it's understandable that the script for his second movie was a bit lacking.

Zhang Shulan's mindset gradually changed as the story continued.

The idea of ​​swapping bodies between men and women is a problematic aspect from a cinematic perspective, but for some reason, the main storyline of this script is very powerful.

The story continues in a daily manner until the first plot concludes, at which point Zhang Shulan gradually gets into the swing of things.

The first turning point is when the two stop swapping bodies, and the male protagonist wants to find the female protagonist.

However, his memories of transmigrating into the female protagonist's body were already quite hazy; he only remembered that the female protagonist lived in a beautiful small town.

And so, the male protagonist, along with his best friend, embarked on a journey to find the girl.

But.

We searched for several days but found no clues.

Just when the male protagonist was about to give up, he was eating at one of the restaurants and showed the photos to the owner, who recognized the scene in the photos.

And it was said with a feeling of deep nostalgia: Ah, this is Itomori Town. So many years have passed, I never thought anyone would still remember this place.

The first plot point comes to a close here.

Later in the script, the male lead is also described asking the boss why no one remembers this place.

The boss revealed the truth: the town of Itomori was destroyed by a small meteorite three years ago. Only a few people survived that night, or were people who were not in town that night.

Three years have passed, and the boss suddenly saw these photos and called his wife over.

The two of them talked back and forth, reminiscing about the small town of the past, which held countless dreams.

Seeing this, Zhang Shulan began to be confused.

"What's going on... Could it be that the male and female protagonists live in different worlds?"

She had initially assumed that the two lived in the same world, one in the city and the other in a small town.

Now that I'm seeing this, something seems off.

But as the story unfolds, Zhang Shulan is once again taken aback by the plot twist.

It's the same world, and the same city.

But the only difference is that Zhaoyang actually used a time difference method to write it.

The male protagonist, three years in the future, swaps bodies with the female protagonist, three years in the past.

In other words...

When the male protagonist switched bodies with the female protagonist, the time he saw was three years ago.

The female protagonist is swapped into the male protagonist's body, and the time she sees is three years in the future.

This time difference started to make Zhang Shulan's mind race.

The story suddenly shifts from a heartwarming, everyday plot to a mind-bending one, giving off a Truman Show vibe.

The Truman storyline followed a similar pattern until the very first plot point, which ended in a shocking conclusion.

This script once again replicates that extreme plot twist.

Even more remarkably, Zhao Yang included a captivating little subplot in the script.

After the two bodies stopped transferring to each other, the female protagonist wanted to go to the city to meet the boy. She wanted to see why she had ended up in his body, and also to see if she could... get to know him.

But.

When the two met on a bus, the boy didn't recognize himself.

That's impossible. She and the boy swapped bodies, so she must know what she looks like. How could she not recognize him? Is she pretending not to know him?

It was only at this moment that Zhang Shulan fully understood the horror of the plot.

Yes, how could a boy possibly know that?

The timelines are different. From the female lead's perspective, the male lead could never have known her. The one who transferred bodies with her was the male lead three years in the future, not the one in the present.

This foreshadowing was revealed later.

Because it was just a script and not presented as a complete story, Zhang Shulan had to fill in many scenes in her mind while watching it, making it impossible to perfectly recreate the plot.

Only at the very end did the male protagonist understand everything; it turned out that the person who had swapped bodies with him was Mitsuha from three years prior.

He begins to take action, seeking the truth and secret behind the renewed body swap. He wants to re-enter Mitsuha's body, return to three years prior, and evacuate all the townspeople before the meteorite strikes, thus saving Itomori Town.

The story ends with the male and female protagonists turning around and looking back as they walk up a long staircase.

Before it ended, they both asked each other the question that had been hidden in their hearts for a long time: What is your name?

The script was recorded in the form of a brief summary. After reading the story, Zhang Shulan was still not satisfied and wanted to see the full version of the script.

If this were just a simple romance story about a man and a woman swapping bodies, she would think it's a major flaw. Even if it were made into a film, the box office wouldn't be very high, and it might even ruin the reputation Truman had just built up.

However, adding a time difference to this body-swapping element will create an unparalleled impact!

The impact of the plot made Zhang Shulan smell a business opportunity.

Then he looked up and stared out the window at the office next door, which only had a small window showing.

How many trump cards does Zhaoyang still have up his sleeve?

Not only is he a talented musician, but he's also an incredibly skilled screenwriter. "The Truman Show" already surprised many in the industry, and now "Your Name" is here.

A love story that transcends time, a fresh romance theme that doesn't feel stale.

Moreover, the fantasy-themed romance of "Your Name" will have a wider audience and greater popularity than "The Truman Show".

Especially for today's young people, if you ask them to watch The Truman Show, they might not be able to get into it, even if they know the plot is very compelling.

But if you ask them to watch fantasy romance movies or anime, they'll watch them whenever they have time.

Zhang Shulan suddenly had an idea and immediately contacted Director Yang.