In the following weeks, the development of One-Punch Man was basically consistent with what Rei had said.
The 5.35% viewership rating of the third episode was not the limit for One-Punch Man.
Because strictly speaking, One-Punch Man is not Saitama's solo animated show at all.
Instead, it is an ensemble animation featuring various heroes, with Saitama as the key character connecting them all.
Sonic and the Hero Association made their appearances.
The Hero Association's ranking system, from S-Class to D-Class heroes, was revealed. Furthermore, the Hero Association mistakenly believed that the House of Evolution was eradicated by Genos, and that Saitama was just a small fry who tagged along with Genos to steal battle achievements. As a result, in the Hero Association's assessment, Genos was rated as an S-Class hero, while Saitama was only given a C-Class rating. The entire world-building of the work was thus unveiled.
From the fourth to the seventh episode, the animation's viewership ratings climbed from 5.37%, to 5.45%, to 5.52%, and finally to 5.61%.
Although the growth rate slowed, the viewership rating was clearly still increasing.
Initially, everyone thought that while One-Punch Man's third-episode viewership surpassed Burning Sin Season Four, it was only temporary, and that the autumn anime market would see the two works alternate at the top.
But no one expected that Burning Sin, a highly popular manga adaptation with a massive fanbase, would be defeated so quickly in its confrontation with Shirogane's original animation.
The viewership rating of One-Punch Man was rising every week.
However, Burning Sin's viewership basically stagnated at around 5.30%, and after being surpassed in the third episode, it showed no opportunity to fight back.
Even if the manga's core fans worked together, it was to no avail.
After all, true manga fans are those who already follow updates weekly. How many casual anime viewers could they really persuade?
By contrast, the weekly increase in One-Punch Man's ratings showed that even viewers who missed earlier episodes could jump in midway and still enjoy it thoroughly.
Moreover, the most impressive aspect of One-Punch Man was not just its popularity, but its speed in generating memes.
Every week, new characters appeared, whether monsters or heroes, and each character's storyline produced fresh memes that entertained fans for the entire week.
Among them, the most classic was Sonic the Speed-o'-Sound, who appeared in Episode Seven.
As a speed-type assassin, Sonic completely disregarded Saitama. When confronting him, he intended to overwhelm Saitama with speed, only to be unexpectedly outmatched and struck squarely in his most vulnerable part by Saitama's Rising Uppercut.
In Rei's previous life, the anime did not specify the severity of Sonic's injuries, but later official materials confirmed that Sonic was lucky, losing only one "egg" and keeping the other.
Of course, Rei did not miss this meme opportunity in this version of One-Punch Man, and directly incorporated the relevant plot.
As a result, after Episode Seven aired, "Single Egg Sonic" became an explosively popular meme.
A villain, an assassin, a morally gray character, simply because of this meme and his handsome design, directly topped the character popularity rankings in the domestic animation industry that week.
In the following days, a large number of people cosplaying Sonic appeared at major anime conventions.
Under Rei's creator account, countless fans called for the collaborating merchandise company to produce Sonic's signature bodysuit.
At this point, less than two months had passed since One-Punch Man first aired.
This anime may not have received as much critical acclaim as Hikaru No Go at the beginning, but in terms of popularity and spread, it had already surpassed it among domestic anime fans.
This was a reflection of genre advantage.
In terms of artistic depth, One-Punch Man might not catch up to Hikaru No Go, but its genre allowed it to surpass it in popularity and commercial value.
During this same period, Miyu's new manga, Touch of Glass, also began serialization.
Its first-week ranking was 17, followed by rankings of 14 and 16 in the second and third weeks. The results were stable, but her bold declaration before serialization, about surpassing Hunter X Hunter within half a year, now seemed distant.
Seeing friends and colleagues discuss One-Punch Man both online and offline, she was not exactly jealous, but she was undeniably envious.
Even her mother, at her peak, had never produced a work as popular as One-Punch Man.
This anime truly belonged to a genre that others could not understand, learn, or imitate.
Every week brought new characters, and despite the protagonist being invincible for seven episodes straight, viewers were not bored. Instead, they grew increasingly eager for what came next.
"I wonder what kind of brain Rei has. 5 Centimeters Per Second, Tonight, Hikaru No Go, Hunter X Hunter, and now One-Punch Man. How can one person create so many works of different styles, all of which explode in popularity?"
"Could it be that I'm not a manga genius after all, just an ordinary person?"
Miyu was stubborn with Rei, but when alone with her sister, she tended to overthink.
"Don't think too much," Misaki said softly, taking a sip of tea. "Looking at young famous manga artists in domestic history, many hadn't achieved as much as you at the same age."
"It's just that Rei is too abnormal. I don't know about the future, but at the age of eighteen, no one in domestic manga history has achieved more than him."
"Sometimes, if you can't be better, you just can't. If you can't take first place, then take second."
"Isn't second place just the biggest loser?" Miyu said.
"Sophistry. Then wouldn't last place be the smallest loser? If losing a little counts as losing, would you rather be last or second?" Misaki replied.
Miyu froze.
"But I just want to surpass him once. From childhood to adulthood, Rei is the only person I've ever wanted to surpass, and I haven't even seen a single opportunity."
"Maybe that's not a bad thing," Misaki said.
"Do you remember what Go Saint Kuwabara said in Hikaru No Go?"
"What did he say?"
"Go requires two players. The birth of a famous game, the appearance of the Hand of God, requires two equally matched geniuses to create."
"You mean Rei and I are those two geniuses?" Miyu's eyes lit up like crescent moons.
"I didn't expect you, Sis, to think so highly of me!"
"No," Misaki replied calmly. "I mean, you might not be able to reach Rei's height, but having someone constantly above you can actually stimulate your potential. You've been a manga artist for six years. For the first three, your results were lukewarm. But Rei's appearance, in just three years, pushed you forward and brought you into the main journal of Dream Comic. You are not the equally matched genius in Rei's life, but for you, Rei's influence might be greater than that of a so-called equally matched genius."
"Are you encouraging me, or are you still my sister?" Miyu snapped.
"I'm just stating a fact," Misaki said with a smile.
"Alright. I'm going to an anime convention in two weeks. I already bought tickets. The clothes I requested from Rei's collaborating merchandise manufacturer have arrived. I'm going to cosplay as Fubuki from One-Punch Man. If you're interested, you can come along. You can cosplay as Fubuki's sister, Tatsumaki."
"Okay, I'll go too." Miyu immediately brightened up at the mention of going out to have fun.
Then she reacted.
"Fubuki? Tatsumaki? Who are they? Why don't I know them?"
"They're characters that will appear soon in One-Punch Man. Since Rei has been discussing collaborations with merchandise manufacturers, he sent character designs for many future characters to the partners in advance, asking them to prepare related products. I overheard this when I went to his place to pick up manuscripts, so I had the idea to ask Rei for two sets of outfits that were already designed but not yet released."
"I see. Rei really trusts you. He doesn't even hide such confidential IP operations from you."
"I'm not the type to blab. Besides, a lot of information about Rei's works is hard to hide from me. How many connections can a manga artist who draws all day really make in Japan?" Misaki said.
"The animation production company for One-Punch Man, Illumination, the merchandise manufacturer, Atsuo, and the distributor, Hideki, were all introduced by me. Of course, with One-Punch Man's popularity, even without my help, many partners would have approached him. But it would have taken him a lot of time and energy to deal with them. Naturally, he wouldn't avoid me in these matters."
"As a manga editor, you introduce these to artists under your wing. Aren't you afraid Hoshimori Group will find out and fire you?" Miyu asked.
"I'm a manga editor out of interest. I don't do unrelated things during work hours. I entered this industry because I don't have talent for manga creation, so I wanted to discover more excellent creators," Misaki said.
"You really don't care about the small salary Hoshimori Group gives editors? Ten years of work wouldn't even earn as much as a year's interest on the inheritance Mom left us."
Miyu was momentarily speechless. Her sister always shut down topics effortlessly, so she returned to the original one.
"By the way, why am I cosplaying as the older sister Tatsumaki while you're cosplaying as the younger sister Fubuki? Isn't that reversed?"
"Hm. You haven't seen Rei's character designs for One-Punch Man yet, so I won't blame you," Misaki said, glancing her sister up and down.
As One-Punch Man became increasingly popular, the most distressed party was actually the Hoshimori Group.
The two high-level executives who had originally rejected both One-Punch Man and Hunter X Hunter for simultaneous serialization had already been demoted.
Even so, it did nothing to stop peers in the Japanese manga industry from enjoying the spectacle.
Rejecting a work like One-Punch Man was undeniably laughable.
Had it been serialized normally, it would surely have become another pillar manga.
Regret was meaningless now. However, in late November, the Hoshimori Group entrusted Misaki to inform Rei that if he had new ideas, he could submit them freely, and the rule against simultaneous serialization would no longer apply.
Rei's response was simple. He was not Superman. Managing three ongoing works at once would be impossible unless he dropped out of school entirely.
November passed, and December arrived.
By then, the Hunter X Hunter manga had finally concluded the Hunter Exam arc.
Hisoka, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, the Chairman. A large cast of distinctive characters was firmly established.
The Zoldyck Family, the Phantom Troupe, and the most important combat system in Hunter X Hunter, Nen, also revealed their first hints when Killua's older brother, Illumi, used it during the final stage of the exam.
The Hunter Exam ended with Gon badly injured, Hanzo conceding, Killua returning home, and Leorio and Kurapika passing.
Among the four main characters, only Killua failed the exam.
Next came the truly explosive arcs: Heaven's Arena and the Phantom Troupe arc, the early-to-mid highlights of Hunter X Hunter.
Although the manga had already topped Dream Comic's popularity rankings with just the Hunter Exam arc, Rei knew very well that it had not yet begun to show its real strength.
His goal was never simply to be number one on Dream Comic.
At the same time, starting from Episode Eight, the One-Punch Man anime entered the Deep Sea King arc.
...
2 chapters are back.