Tens of thousands of feet above the ocean, an aircraft traveled at supersonic speed.
Its destination was the Sakura Abode Country.
Most of the passengers in the plane at that moment were sleeping already, that was because it was already over midnight at the Kokoro Islands, the place where the plane was flying from.
But two girls in first class were an exception.
Kaori and Ryoko had their cabins closed to isolate the sound they were making as they were on a video call with their respective companies.
Ryoko was talking with her secretary Amber, "How's the studio this morning?"
"Boss, the anime production came back without any problems. All the departments are working in full force." Amber replied with a professional voice.
"Did anyone try to contact me?" Ryoko asked.
"Yes, some team leaders sent reports and projections for you to check. I already sent it to your e-mail address." Amber replied, "But the thing that demands your attention is the voice actors."
"Rio-san already started a meeting with the voice actors, the sound engineers, and the others. But they are waiting for you so that they can start the table reading." Amber added.
"Oh, the table reading." Ryoko repeated with a smile.
Some people might not know, but a table reading is an organized reading of a script in which the speaking parts, stage directions, voiceover, and scene headings are read out loud. A table reading also provides an opportunity for the cast members, screenwriters, and other members of the production team to hear the script aloud for the first time.
Basically, the table read is an informal reading of a script.
A table reading is essential in an anime production for various reasons.
For example, a table read is often the first time that the producers will hear the entire script read out loud by actors. In many cases, the producer will have already cast most, if not all, of your main roles. Listening to these actors inhabit their roles for the first time can help the producer confirm whether they have been properly cast or if adjustments need to be made. If there are roles that have not yet been cast, table reads can be a great way to allow an actor you are considering to read the role in question to determine if he or she might be right for it.
Another point is that even great scripts can have issues, and sometimes it's hard to pinpoint a script's problems until the director hear the whole thing read out loud. Whether it's stiff dialogue, boring stretches, or plot moves that don't make sense, sometimes it takes a table read to truly determine the places where a script needs work.
And finally, the table reads often serve as the first occasion in the production process in which the cast and production team are gathered under one roof. In this sense, table reads offer an opportunity for the entire anime production group to meet each other, socialize, and discuss the script.
When Amber said that everyone in the meeting was with the voice actors, she meant that the whole sound engineers team, art department team, editing team, and other teams were in the meeting with them!
The only ones missing from this meeting were Ryoko and Theo.
They had been talking for two hours already and they were not even close to finishing discussing everything necessary to discuss.
But they could do that at another time, as the table read was more important.
Therefore, Ryoko didn't waste any more time and connected her computer to the meeting call.
Shortly later, everyone in the meeting was warned that their boss was about to appear on the screen.
"Guys, the Head Director is about to come into the meeting call." Amber warned them.
When everyone heard that, they immediately forgot what they were talking about and just waited for the boss.
When Ryoko's pretty face appeared on the screen, everyone greeted her politely, "Good morning, boss!"
The employees in the two studios greeted her at the same time. And as they were talking through a video call, they didn't even suspect that Ryoko was talking with them from thousands of meters above the ground. They just thought that she was speaking from her office, as the cabin that she was at was fancy enough for them to mistake for her office.
"Good morning, everyone!" Ryoko greeted them with a gentle smile, "I do hope the meeting going well so far."
"Yes, boss, the production was explaining the anime concepts to the actors." Rio replied promptly.
"That's great. But we can do that later. We should start the table read as it will be much easier to explain things to actors afterward." Ryoko commented.
"Yes, we should start." Everyone agreed with the boss.
At that moment, all the actors had the script of the first episode of the [SAO] Anime in their hands. Each of their lines was highlighted to make it easier for them to know which part they should speak.
"Are you guys ready?" Rio asked the voice actors.
They all nodded in agreement as they tried to concentrate on aligning themselves with their characters. They all had read and studied the SAO Novel, so they had a basic idea of how they should act in their roles.
Even Nana tried to follow her seniors' instructions and tried to focus on the task. It was her first table reading, so she had to admit that she was a little nervous. But her character had minimal participation, so she only had to follow the others' leads.
ραΠdαsΝοvεl ƈοm "I'll start then." Rio declared as she picked up the script and started.
"The episode opens on November 6, 2022. A player puts on his NerveGear and boots up Sword Art Online."
...
Just like that, the voice actors started the table read with Rio as the narrator.
Ryoko trusted her enough with this responsibility.
Ryoko observed every detail of the voice actors during the table read and noted down some points she noticed as she watched the exercise.
Things like if the voice actor should force his voice a little lower, the details of their actings, their timing during their lines, the emotions they passed during their lines, and many other details.
The other animators also made notes related to their own areas.
For example, Nora noted down if any scenes were too rushed to see if she needed to edit them, but that was not the only thing she noted down.
The sound engineers observed the actors' voices to see if they need to adjust anything during the sound processing.
And the other animators also noted down their own views of the process so they could express when the table read was over.
They had a long day ahead of them as they needed to analyze and correct any mistakes that were shown during the table read.
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