At a certain elementary school,
Several boys were imitating the poses and lines from Code Geass:
"By the name of Lelouch, I command you: Die!"
"Heh, rebound! You should be the one to die."
"Exactly! Only those prepared to be shot have the right to fire, and only those prepared to be rebounded have the right to command others."
"As you command! Fire! Bang bang bang! There, you're dead."
"Hey, hey~ You guys are cheating."
At a high school, a group of students gathered during a break to discuss the anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion:
"This season's new anime, Code Geass, is absolutely amazing."
"Yeah, I think it's even better than Lin Zhiyan's previous work, Death Note."
"Lin Zhiyan is a god!"
"My idol's new anime really lives up to the hype."
"Huh? Girls are watching this too?"
"Of course we're watching our idol's new anime! But it's genuinely good too. It's just as thrilling as Death Note."
"This feels like another masterpiece."
Animation Research Clubs at various schools and major animation vocational schools were all abuzz with discussions and analyses of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.
"A protagonist with such ambition, drive, and ruthless determination, who suddenly gains mysterious and overwhelming power—that setup is just irresistible. It's impossible not to be drawn in."
"Exactly! And the plot is so tightly paced. In just three or four episodes, it's already incredibly satisfying, with plenty of suspense. I can't wait to see what happens next."
"Compared to Death Note, what makes this anime even better is the sheer catharsis it offers. To be honest, even when the male lead in Death Note writes the names of criminals in his notebook and eliminates his enemies, you never quite get that same sense of satisfaction."
"The main thing is, the male lead in Death Note is a true villain. While Lelouch in this new series also gives off a villainous vibe, he also has the identity of a avenger. Everything he does is for revenge, to destroy Britannia. Plus, in the animation, he stands with the Japanese people who are oppressed by Britannia, so watching him feels satisfying."
"To put it bluntly, the male lead in Death Note is hard to relate to. The new Lelouch animation is much more immersive."
"I remember Lord Hayashi saying in an interview that Lelouch is a more charismatic character than Yagami Light. Looking back, that's true. He doesn't kill innocent people and has strong leadership skills. This is completely different from Yagami Light, who even Misa Amane sees as a burden."
"Compared to that, I prefer Lelouch, the protagonist of the new animation."
"Me too. Death Note is just entertaining, but the new animation really excels in its character development of the male lead."
While Death Note also gained popularity in its early episodes, achieving both high ratings and critical acclaim, it truly became a super-hit animation only in its later half, especially in the final few episodes.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion was different. After just four episodes, it had already risen to super-hit status.
The male lead's chuunibyou-cool actions and dialogue prompted countless elementary and middle school students (still in their chuunibyou phase) to imitate him. High school and university students, as well as working professionals who enjoyed anime, were all discussing the animation's plot, pacing, the male lead's charisma, and Lin Zhiyan himself, who wore multiple hats during the production process.
In short, Code Geass was incredibly popular, with a massive fanbase.
The animation's ratings were also excellent. Although only four episodes had aired, many viewers were waiting for the series to conclude before rating it. Still, compared to other animations released at the same time, Code Geass's ratings were significantly higher.
Of course, this alone might not have been enough to prove anything. However, when the latest issue of Newtype, one of the animation magazine giants, was released, many in the animation industry had no choice but to acknowledge its dominance. The magazine featured a survey of new anime series, and the results showed Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion dominating nearly every single chart.
The anime ranked first in popularity, first in ratings, and was the most anticipated for its sequel. Lelouch was the most popular male character, and even Karen, due to a bathing scene in the third episode, managed to secure the top spot for the most popular female character.
Although this was only a survey of new anime series and not a comprehensive ranking of all currently airing or all-time animated works, its overwhelming dominance on the charts was undeniable and commanded respect.
Due to the animation's immense popularity, Lin Zhiyan, as its Supervising Director, scriptwriter, music composer, and Chief Animation Director, once again became the subject of intense discussion within the industry:
"Two consecutive wildly popular animations... this Lin Zhiyan is truly incredible."
"Yeah, and the fact that he's only 25 with decades of creative potential ahead of him... I can't even imagine what heights he'll reach."
"When he was on IG, even at that young age, his animation skills were terrifyingly good. Now it seems he was severely held back there. Breaking free from IG was like unleashing a tiger from its cage—he's unstoppable."
"A natural animation prodigy."
"When I was 25, I was still struggling at the bottom of the animation industry. Sigh, comparing myself to him is just depressing."
"And on top of it all, he's handsome! I heard he even has a stunning producer girlfriend. A born winner—how unfair!"
"Envy, jealousy, and resentment... I secretly hope this new animation of his starts strong but fizzles out. Otherwise, I'll never be able to catch up to his achievements."
Adoring the strong is in the Japanese nature, but many secretly envied, envied, and hated Lin Zhiyan, cursing him and hoping his new animation would start strong but fade, crashing from its peak to failure.
However, these people only dared to whisper such things in secret, never saying them to Lin Zhiyan's face.
Lin Zhiyan did receive some malicious anonymous emails, but because his new animation had once again exploded in popularity, he also received many congratulatory messages from friends.
At first, he would glance at the malicious anonymous emails, but eventually, he started batch deleting all anonymous emails regardless of their tone. As for the congratulatory messages, he replied to a few individually and sent a standard response to the rest.
The fact that Code Geass had achieved such popularity just a few episodes after its premiere was a bit of a surprise to Lin Zhiyan. However, he knew the animation's potential was far from exhausted.
A super popular animation wasn't enough; it needed to become a cultural phenomenon.
Therefore, in addition to maintaining the quality of production, he had to increase investment in promotion.
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