Sora pulled his gaze away from the computer screen, finally looking up from the flood of fan comments filling the discussion section of his account.
It had already been two months since the second season of Re:Zero began airing.
The overall reaction from viewers was more or less within Sora's expectations. Still, the faction wars among character fans in the anime community had become so intense that even he found the whole situation difficult to deal with.
And that was only with episode ten.
The fans were already close to losing control, and once the upcoming episodes aired, Sora could easily imagine truly unhinged people showing up at the front gate of his company to block his way.
"Sora, the company has already received more than a hundred complaint letters this week alone. You should be careful," Sumire reminded him after noticing the complicated expression on his face.
Re:Zero was simply too popular now.
Especially Rem and Emilia.
During this winter cour, the two of them had overwhelmingly surpassed every other character from every other anime in terms of popularity. And with Re:Zero being the kind of story where both heroines were constantly killed off and put through emotional torment, no one could say for sure whether some truly deranged fans might appear.
"I'll be careful," Sora replied.
"And there's something else. We've received word from Noriko Animation. They're hoping our company, especially you as Kantoku, can cooperate with them in promotional activities for 5 Centimeters Per Second before the movie's release. They want to begin before May."
"So early?" Sora asked in surprise.
"Of course. The production budget for 5 Centimeters Per Second has already exceeded seventy million yen. In the film industry, that's by no means a small-scale project. On top of that, you've prepared even more money for marketing, so Noriko Animation wants to promote it with the goal of making it one of the top three box office hits of this summer. If that's the target, then naturally the earlier the promotion starts, the better."
"Top three at the summer box office?" Sora repeated.
"That's the performance target Noriko Animation has set for the film."
He fell silent for a moment, and Sumire immediately caught the dissatisfaction hidden in his tone.
"The main reason is that several major productions are releasing during the same summer window this year," she explained. "Among them are two films with bigger total investments than 5 Centimeters Per Second, and both are directed by first-tier names in the Japanese film industry. If you weren't so famous in the anime world right now - honestly, more famous than those Kantokus in some circles - Noriko Animation probably wouldn't even dare to set expectations this high."
Japan's animation industry was thriving, with influence that did not lose out to live-action television dramas at all. But that was mostly true for TV anime airing on broadcast networks.
When it came to theatrical films, live-action productions were still the mainstream.
Among the top twenty highest-grossing films in the domestic market, animated films held only a small number of spots.
That was one of the biggest differences from the world Sora remembered from his previous life.
Back then, in another Japan, the all-time box office rankings had been dominated by animated films, with only a handful of live-action works managing to break into the top ten.
So when Sumire and Noriko Animation made that judgment based on past market performance, they were already showing considerable faith in both 5 Centimeters Per Second and Sora's ability to draw fans.
Hearing that, Sora's expression turned thoughtful.
For works like Re:Zero and Natsume Yuujinchou, he could roughly estimate the results by comparing them to what he knew from another life.
But 5 Centimeters Per Second...
That one was different.
Its original theatrical release had been painfully awkward.
The total investment back then had been barely more than two million RMB in equivalent value, promotion had been almost nonexistent, and the Kantoku at the time had not yet built much reputation within the industry.
Its box office performance in that life had been only average.
And yet, even after the Kantoku later achieved overwhelming success with other works, many of his fans still believed 5 Centimeters Per Second remained the finest film of his directing career.
Because of that, Sora actually held much greater expectations for this new version - one made with real investment, real promotion, and released while his own name carried enormous weight in the anime industry.
"I know what you're thinking," Sumire said as she looked at him.
"You want every work you make to become the best among its competitors in the same season."
She paused slightly before continuing.
"But the market isn't something personal willpower can control. I love the story of 5 Centimeters Per Second too, but whether a story built on that kind of tragic core can win over the majority of moviegoers in Japan..."
"I understand," Sora said with a smile, cutting her off.
"You don't need to worry that I'll collapse under the pressure because I'm too concerned about the results. That's absolutely impossible."
Sumire had always been emotionally shaken by Re:Zero, and she knew perfectly well that her mental state around the series wasn't healthy. So when she saw the heaviness on Sora's face while discussing the possible performance of 5 Centimeters Per Second, her instinct was to try and reassure him.
"Really?" she asked, blinking once before repeating herself.
"Of course it's true. Though I'll admit I do have expectations. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping 5 Centimeters Per Second could take first place at the summer box office."
Sumire stared at him.
"As long as I have a clear goal, I'll give it everything I have," Sora said with an easy smile. "But even if I don't reach it, I won't lose heart or sink into despair."
She fell silent for a few seconds, then let out a long breath.
"I'm honestly jealous of you, Sora."
"Why?"
"Whether you have results or not, you never seem bound by them," Sumire said while looking straight at him. "If it were any other Kantoku in the industry, after winning Best Kantoku and Best Animation last year, they'd definitely be under tremendous psychological pressure over the box office performance of 5 Centimeters Per Second. Because it affects their reputation. If the results were bad, they'd be mocked mercilessly by antis across the anime world. But with you... I don't see any of that at all. I'm not like that."
Sora glanced at the faint dark circles beneath her eyes and immediately knew that over the past few weeks, she probably hadn't slept well at all.
He had the advantage of a godlike perspective from another life. He knew Re:Zero's reputation would not collapse just because the story became brutally painful.
But for Sumire, everything was still unknown.
"All right, enough idle talk between coworkers," Sumire said, shifting the topic. "As one of the company's shareholders, there's something else I need to remind you of. Our total staff has now exceeded three hundred people."
"So?"
"It's already March. The second season of Re:Zero is expected to gradually wrap up production by early June. During that period, those staff members will move one after another onto 5 Centimeters Per Second. But that will only last until early July at most. Once 5 Centimeters Per Second is finished too, we'll have more than three hundred people drawing salaries with no work to do."
She laid out the company's situation point by point.
Over the past month, Sora had been constantly away on research trips and location scouting, so he really had not thought much about that side of things.
"So you need to start thinking about what all those employees are supposed to work on after July. Do you have another new script ready? If not, should we start contacting well-known game companies, publishing houses, and manga publishers to take on anime adaptations of popular existing titles?"
She hesitated briefly, then added:
"As for the idea of adapting other people's successful works, I've actually spoken with many people in the Tokyo anime industry about - "
"There's no need," Sora interrupted again.
"Eh?" Sumire looked at him in surprise.
The truth was, although she had said all that, part of it had only been a formality.
She had watched Sora's working state through everything - from Voices of a Distant Star to Natsume Yuujinchou to Re:Zero.
He was already so overwhelmed just handling those productions every day that it was hard to imagine he would have had any time to conceive a new work.
She had only raised the subject as an early warning.
No animation studio could survive forever on original anime alone. The risks were too high. For large studios in the industry, the norm was always to alternate between original productions and anime adaptations of popular games, novels, or manga.
But Sora only smiled, then tapped his temple with a finger.
"When it comes to assigning work to my staff, that's one thing you can always trust me on. I'm not some charitable boss who's going to let people slack off while collecting my salary money."
He said it like a joke.
Then he pointed at his own head.
"When the time comes, I'll bring out a new work that can surpass Re:Zero."
"Hey, Sora, this isn't the kind of thing you joke about," Sumire said at once. "You've been this busy for the past two years. Where would you even have found the time to think up a new script?"
"Other people can't. I can."
She stared at him.
"Sumire, you're going to keep working with me for a very long time. So sooner or later, you'll see this kind of thing plenty of times. In short... don't treat me like a normal person. At least when it comes to the speed of creating works, I consider myself beyond the human level."
"Beyond human?" Sumire froze for a second. "What are you, an alien?"
"An alien?" Sora's expression turned awkward.
"If you're beyond human, then that means you're a god."
At times like this, he had to bluff confidently enough to silence her doubts and establish the impression that his creative speed was both absurdly fast and backed by equally absurd quality.
Otherwise, when he started pulling out one new work after another in the future, it would be very hard to explain.
"A god of the anime industry?" Sumire said, a smile she could no longer suppress rising on her pale, delicate face.
"I didn't expect you to be this chuuni, Sora."
He instantly looked embarrassed, the tips of his ears turning slightly red.
"All right," Sumire said, her tone becoming serious again. "You're the boss of the company. I'm just your subordinate. I've already reminded you of what I needed to remind you of. I won't interfere in your final decision. I'll only carry it out."
Then she looked at him with genuine curiosity.
"But I really am looking forward to seeing whether you can actually bring out this new work you claim will surpass Re:Zero."
Time moved on into early March.
Spring gradually arrived.
Heavy winter coats disappeared, and once again the girls around the company changed back into lighter outfits and short skirts.
At this point, Sora and Sumire were effectively sharing responsibility for both 5 Centimeters Per Second and Re:Zero.
And the emotions of anime fans across Japan were growing more restless with each passing day.
Then came another Friday.
Episode eleven of Re:Zero aired smoothly.
And this episode completely exposed the most fragile part of Beatrice's heart.
The book in her hands - the one capable of foretelling the holder's future - had not given her any guidance for hundreds of years.
And before the mother who created her, the Witch of Greed Echidna, died...
The most important thing she told Beatrice was that one day, she would meet "that person."
Who was that person?
When would they come?
What would they do for her?
Everything was unknown.
But the fact that the book had given her no guidance for four hundred years made Beatrice believe she had already lost her future.
Abandoned by her mother.
Abandoned by the world.
She had lived only by acting according to the book's instructions, and after it stopped showing her any future at all, her heart had long since been torn apart by four hundred years of loneliness. The desire for death had already taken root inside her.
Only because she was an artificial spirit bound by contract to her mother, Echidna, was she unable to end her own life.
And then there was Subaru Natsuki.
That man who kept entering her forbidden library again and again.
With every conversation they shared, he filled her heart with expectation.
In the fifth loop, when Subaru broke into her forbidden library once more in order to save Rem, Beatrice - who had been sitting at the door as if waiting for something - finally revealed a look of release.
She was willing to believe that Subaru Natsuki was the "that person" her mother had spoken of four hundred years ago.
And she hoped he would bring an end to this hopeless, endless, painful life of hers.
Kill her.
After four hundred years, that had become Beatrice's greatest wish for the arrival of "that person."
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