So, what kind of success would Izumi Masamune's second work, "puella magi madoka magica," achieve?
Would it be because of the change in genre, leading to fans not buying into it, and its popularity gradually declining?
Or would it be able to withstand the pressure, earn more people's recognition for his creative vision, and use "puella magi madoka magica" to elevate him to a higher position?
For now, this remained an unknown.
But Izumi Chihiro chose to believe in himself; as long as he could interpret this story well and bring a different experience to everyone, he would surely push his fame to new heights!
Sales would naturally rise as well!
…
The date gradually arrived at release day.
Although his chosen genre was unexpected, giving online haters a reason to doubt his work's success, predicting it would be cut after three volumes at most and revert to its original form!
However, for many loyal fans, they wouldn't consider such issues; they would only decide whether to abandon it after reading the beginning and judging if it suited them.
Thus, on this day, some Fujikawa Bunko bookstores experienced crowding, with many fans waiting outside to read.
Even self-operated bookstores like Takasago Bookstore saw higher-than-usual popularity.
It seemed that due to some core factor, the proportion of old fans left over from his previous work was higher than that of other authors' fans.
This was why such a situation occurred.
Even with a completely unrelated genre change, people were still willing to believe his creations wouldn't disappoint.
Lining up in an orderly fashion, one by one, they bought the first volume of "puella magi madoka magica" from the store clerks, and everyone finally began to read.
At first, everyone noticed something was off.
["Huh? The cover character isn't Madoka after all?"]
["Looking at the title, Madoka should be the protagonist, right? Not being on the first volume's cover… Old Thief is really messing with us, isn't he?"]
["Who exactly is the cover character, and is her importance really that high? Even the first volume of 'demon slayer' followed the protagonist-as-first-cover rule, didn't it?"]
Initially, the promotional illustrations and cover didn't specify Homura Akemi's name, so they didn't notice anything amiss.
But after flipping to Madoka's image on the first page, they surprisingly found that the name didn't seem to have any sense of incongruity.
Because the name 'Madoka' is just cuter, right?
If it were replaced with that cold and aloof appearance, it would look strange.
After an enigmatic opening dream sequence, the story officially began.
Clearly, the title was also fine; besides the cover, it was indeed told from Madoka's perspective.
The story depicted gentle, everyday scenes with a warm writing style, which was refreshing.
It was then that they realized Old Thief seemed quite adept at writing these kinds of slice-of-life school stories?
However, what they didn't know was that to reach such a level, Izumi Masamune had also gone through the baptism of one work before he could write with such flavor.
For example, in his previous work, such everyday descriptions were very rare, mostly focusing on battle.
But in this work, it seemed to be the opposite?
Currently, there were indeed elements of combat, but it didn't seem to be primarily a battle-focused mode.
As the plot progressed and several characters were introduced one by one, the character from the cover finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
It turned out this girl was named Homura Akemi, and in the setting, she was a newly transferred student, full of unknown mystery.
Her classic attributes of long black hair and a cool demeanor instantly struck many readers' moe points.
["Black-haired, long-haired girl, I'm in love, I'm in love…"]
["The character drawn by Eromanga-sensei has that flavor! Not only did he draw Homura Akemi exactly as I wanted, but he also brought her expressions to life!"]
["Heh, just a seductive femme fatale. I still prefer cute girls like Madoka."]
After Homura Akemi's appearance, all the main characters in everyone's minds had appeared, so they believed that after the everyday introductions, the main plot should formally begin.
However, the subsequent developments left people quite bewildered.
For example, Homura Akemi's actions were very strange; she was actually hunting down what was clearly a magical pet meant for making contracts. Was Homura Akemi actually an antagonist?
Dividing magical girls into good and evil was not surprising, as such a plot appeared in the recently popular anime "Stardust ★ magical girl meruru."
However, such a simple division also seemed too subtle.
Because although Homura Akemi appeared very aloof, she didn't show any malice towards Madoka and the others.
Therefore, this led them to different associations.
Just as everyone was pondering Homura Akemi's true nature, a graceful and valiant beauty suddenly appeared: an upperclassman named Mami Tomoe.
Mami Tomoe displayed her power as a magical girl, leading everyone into another world.
Everyone understood; this was a guiding character.
It's a relatively conventional trope for a guiding character to appear and teach the protagonist when he first begins his training, similar to a master-apprentice relationship, so the design here wasn't hard to understand.
It was also through Madoka's contact with Mami Tomoe that everyone learned some of the work's settings as the plot progressed, such as Apostles and Witches.
Most of this information seemed fine to everyone; for instance, Kyubey, the magical pet, also conformed to the beloved character design based on the illustrations.
When a contract is made, Kyubey can grant any wish, but in exchange, the girls become magical girls, tasked with fighting and eliminating Witches.
This rule is also fine.
Only when there is conflict between the two sides, creating opposition, can the battles feel more confrontational.
After finishing the first volume of "puella magi madoka magica," everyone still felt it was a bit bland, and the two battles that occurred were both handled by Mami Tomoe, the senior magical girl. Madoka, the magical girl mentioned in the title, didn't appear at all.
This plot setting was truly confusing.
Other anime usually start with the protagonist becoming a magical girl, and then the story unfolds around her, right?
But why is it different here? She's like a background character.
Also, in the story's design, Homura Akemi seems unwilling to let Madoka become a magical girl. Why is that?
For now, everyone doesn't quite understand.
By the time they do understand, they'll find it's already too late…