The release date for 5 Centimeters per Second was set for Friday, July 17.
It was exactly the period when elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities across Japan went on summer break. Throughout the entire seasonal window, which would last around a month and a half, seventeen mid- to large-scale films had already been confirmed. And on July 17 alone, no fewer than nine works would hit theaters at once.
Including 5 Centimeters per Second, five of those films were expected to surpass 100 million yen in combined production and promotional costs. Among them, two had already crossed into the 200 million range. Just looking at that list was enough to feel how brutal the competition would be that summer.
Even the production company connected to Yumi, which had maintained a strong working relationship with Sora, had already begun mobilizing its industry connections to help 5 Centimeters per Second secure as many screenings as possible on opening day.
Just thinking about the suffocating schedule waiting for him starting next month made Sora let out a weary sigh.
"When that phase begins, if anything comes up at the company, I'll really be counting on you again. I think from May onward, I'll have to travel frequently for work. By then, both Re:Zero and 5 Centimeters per Second will basically be under your supervision."
Hearing that, Sumire turned slightly toward him. The smile on her face was faint, almost serene.
"You're being too formal. We've been working together for over two years now. Even if you didn't say anything, I'd still give it everything I have."
More than two years...
A trace of nostalgia surfaced in Sora's expression.
"Yeah... it's already been that long."
Then, almost immediately, dissatisfaction followed.
"And even after more than two years, I've only managed to release three works in the industry..."
Sumire fell silent for a moment.
"Have you ever actually looked at how productive other anime Kantokus are? Touga Kuze took seven years to make only three works. And you, counting 5 Centimeters per Second, will have completed four anime in less than three years. At this pace, people in the industry already treat you like a monster. And you still think it's too slow?"
"Of course I do. At this rate, even if I work until I'm eighty, I'll only make around a hundred works."
After hearing that answer, Sumire genuinely couldn't think of a single response.
Only a hundred.
Was that really something a normal human being would say?
In the end, she gave up trying to understand him. Maybe geniuses were just like that.
Another Friday arrived.
As usual, Re:Zero fans gathered in droves in the comment section of Sora's account, waiting for episode 15 of the second season to begin.
Gu Ke was already sitting in front of the television long before the broadcast started.
Strictly speaking, the first half of Re:Zero's second season had mainly served to lay out, one by one, all the hopeless crises of the Sanctuary Arc.
Emilia, unable to withstand her own emotional burden and further shaken by the sudden disappearance of Puck, the contracted spirit who had been her greatest emotional support, could no longer complete the trial.
Roswaal, meanwhile, used magic to trigger a blizzard in the Sanctuary and lure in the Great Rabbit, while at the mansion he entrusted the Bowel Hunter with the task of killing Rem.
His goal was cruelly clear: force Natsuki Subaru to understand who mattered most to him, and turn him into a monster willing to abandon everything else for that one person.
Beatrice remained in the mansion, still waiting for that person to arrive - someone who could finally bring an end to a life of four hundred years of solitude.
As for Rem, if Subaru didn't go save her, her death was all but certain.
But if he went alone, it would be suicide.
And if he took Ram with him, then who would stop Roswaal from summoning the snow in the Sanctuary, bringing in the Great Rabbit, and condemning all its residents to destruction?
Even Garfiel, one of the most important characters in that arc, was trapped by the wounds of his childhood, traumatized by memories of his mother and sister, hostile to everyone and everything, unable to accept anyone freeing the Sanctuary.
It was a complete deadlock.
The more she watched, the more Gu Ke felt there was no solution to that situation.
On his own, Subaru had no way of saving everyone.
But in the previous week's episode, when Otto chose to throw himself into the fight without hesitation and risk everything to hold Garfiel back, giving Subaru the chance to enter the trial grounds and reach Emilia at the critical moment, something changed inside her.
For the first time in a long while, she found herself genuinely eager for what came next.
Episode 15 opened with Otto's past.
His childhood, also filled with suffering. The divine blessing that allowed him to communicate with animals. And above all, the gentle heart he had somehow managed to preserve even in such a cruel world. Otto, the traveling merchant. Otto, Subaru's true friend.
For the first fifteen minutes of the episode, he and Ram worked together to help Subaru stall Garfiel.
After that, Subaru finally made it to the trial site. He reached Emilia.
And at the very moment she was once again on the verge of a mental breakdown, crushed by the memories the trial was mercilessly dragging out of her, Emilia finally broke into tears and asked why he still insisted on helping her.
That was when Subaru answered.
Because I like you. I'm completely in love with you. To me, everything about you shines... even your weakness, even your ugly sides, even the parts of yourself that you hate. I love all of it.
The instant those words left his mouth, Gu Ke straightened up on the sofa.
Her whole spirit snapped awake.
There was no denying it: Re:Zero's second season had spent an eternity building tension. The relationships between the characters were complex, dense, difficult to fully untangle. But precisely because of that, Subaru's confession to Emilia landed on her - and on millions of fans across Japan - with devastating force.
"Huh? Just like that, out of nowhere?" she muttered, holding her breath, eyes shining. "That protagonist is way too brave."
"But you were just scolding me, and now you're saying you like me? How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Because I like you. That's exactly why I believe in you."
"Just liking someone isn't a reason to trust them."
"If you can't even believe that I'm helping you because I like you... then who would go through all this for a woman as troublesome as you? Who would suffer this much? I like you. I like you so much that even though I feel sick enough to throw up, I'm still standing here in front of you."
In the anime, Subaru clenched his fist as he looked at Emilia with an expression full of sincerity, anger, pain, and tenderness all at once.
And that was more than enough to completely melt the heart of Gu Ke, a veteran otaku with years of experience behind her.
The male lead of Re:Zero was probably the most useless protagonist in combat out of all isekai fantasy anime heroes.
After more than thirty episodes, he still hadn't shown any real fighting power at all.
Any major antagonist who appeared on screen could kill him in seconds.
And yet it was precisely that man who kept moving forward, dying over and over again for Emilia, enduring everything until he reached this point.
All because, in the very first loop after arriving in that world, Emilia tried to help him... and ended up being murdered by the Bowel Hunter.
And just because of that, he held onto it all this time. Fell for her so deeply there was no turning back. And for that girl, he endured dozens of horrific deaths.
If that wasn't love, then what was?
"If we're talking about the greatest pure-love warriors among anime protagonists in Japan, Subaru is number one. No one else even comes close."
Gu Ke's fingers had already gone stiff from tension.
This was the kind of confession that only happens once in a lifetime.
Subaru, for the love of God... don't mess this up.
And she wasn't the only one thinking that way. Countless viewers felt exactly the same. Even the fans who usually watched anime while posting live comments on the NatsuYume forum stopped typing on their phones.
Then Emilia said:
"But I never asked you to do all that for me."
The moment those words came out, many male fans in front of their TVs frowned.
The phrasing felt dangerous. The kind of response that, if handled the wrong way, could sour everything.
But Emilia kept going, and her very next line was enough to pull everyone's sympathy back to her side.
"When you hurt yourself because of me... you have no idea what it feels like for me to watch that. Why do you keep disobeying what I ask of you? You only had to do what I said... so why did you break the promise? Deep down... you hate me, don't you?"
"I like you."
Gu Ke's fingers tightened.
"You're lying..."
"I'm not lying. I really do like you."
A scene straight out of a real lovers' quarrel, the kind that felt painfully real, had just appeared inside an anime.
And precisely because everyone had already witnessed everything Re:Zero had built across more than thirty episodes - everything Subaru had done for Emilia, everything he had sacrificed for her - that exchange of words hit even harder.
Across countless loops, Subaru had died dozens of times for Emilia.
And Emilia had also died more than once because of him.
That was why, even those lines filled with insecurity, stubbornness, and pain - words that in another context might have sounded overly dramatic - felt, in the eyes of Gu Ke and so many fans across Japan...
far too sweet.
Sweet enough to make the heart ache.
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