The first Friday of January arrived, the day One-punch man Season Two premiered.
Although it was merely a reunion with fans after a two-week hiatus, it was clear that Capital TV Station was taking this season extremely seriously.
Generally speaking, television variety shows, dramas, animation series, and films all have their respective broadcast slots after they finish production.
However, among them, TV dramas usually achieve slightly higher ratings than the other three.
After all, their target audience includes nearly all citizens of Japan.
Yet in the previous quarter, Capital TV Station's highest-rated program was One-punch man.
Television stations are straightforward in their logic. Since this work had already proven its strength, the second season of One-punch man was directly scheduled into the prime-time slot, with promotional efforts pushed to the maximum.
Seven days a week, during almost every commercial break, Capital TV Station aired promotional spots for the premiere of One-punch man Season Two.
Furthermore, the advertising slots before, during, and after the premiere were sold at extraordinarily high prices.
What made the situation even more awkward was that Hoshimori Group's operations department had also spent a massive amount on advertising this quarter, specifically placing ads during the broadcast of One-punch man.
At present, the weekly sales gap between Dream Comic and Koken Manga was only around seven to eight hundred thousand copies.
Under normal circumstances, Dream Comic did not need heavy advertising, but at a critical moment like this, promotion was unavoidable.
Naturally, Koken Manga was doing the same.
As a result, the groups behind these two major manga magazines became the largest television advertisers for the premiere of One-punch man Season Two.
This series of actions only caused the Hoshimori Group to become the subject of even more ridicule within the industry.
Japan's manga industry had never lacked stories where famous manga artists were rejected when they were unknown, only to submit their works elsewhere and achieve massive success.
However, Rei's case was something else entirely.
He was a top-tier artist under his own magazine, an extreme workaholic with high-quality output, rapid updates, no scandals, no drama, good looks, and an outstanding reputation among fans.
Yet when he requested to serialize two manga simultaneously, he was rejected.
Afterward, he self-funded an anime adaptation that went on to become the most popular anime of the year.
The most ironic part was that his original company was now spending huge sums of money to advertise its magazines during the premiere of that very anime.
Although there were no public rumors of conflict between Hoshimori Group and Shirogane, many people who had long been exploited by companies could not help but feel a sense of satisfaction watching this unfold.
"Hoshimori Group, seriously, this will be an industry joke for ten years."
"If One-punch man had been serialized in Dream Comic back then, the magazine's weekly sales would have broken 20 million already, and they could have saved tens of millions in advertising fees."
"The senior executives must regret it deeply now. They're just pretending not to care."
"By the way, did you see the photos circulating online from Hoshimori Group's annual meeting last week? Teacher Shirogane attended!"
"I don't care about that. One-punch man Season Two airs in twenty minutes. That's all I'm interested in."
"No, listen. In those photos, Teacher Shirogane was standing next to two incredibly beautiful girls."
"Huh?"
"What's going on? Is Teacher Shirogane in a relationship? No, that won't do. Dating would affect his hand speed. If Hunter x Hunter drops from forty pages a week to twenty, that would be disastrous!"
"No, what you said sounds weird, but I can't actually refute it."
"It's just a rumor online. One of the girls is his manga editor, Misaki. The other is Misaki's younger sister, Miyu."
"Oh? And then?"
"Miyu was Teacher Shirogane's high school classmate. They're now attending the same university."
"Huh?"
"No, Teacher Shirogane, don't date! Someone hurry up and win over Miyu so Shirogane can die alone!"
"What are you even talking about? Haven't you wondered why Miyu was at the Hoshimori Group annual meeting at all? The rumor is that she's the author of the manga Touch of glass serialized in Dream Comic… Saki."
"Huh?"
"???"
"Saki? Teacher Shirogane's close friend in the manga industry?"
"I remember when Teacher Shirogane debuted two years ago, he admitted that his good friend was Saki. Back then, Saki was pretending to be a female manga artist, and we all thought they were just best friends."
"Damn, how was this hidden so well? That tiny high school produced two of Japan's most talented young manga artists?"
"Can Saki really be compared to Shirogane and be called a genius?"
"An eighteen-year-old girl whose work is already serialized in Dream Comic, if that's not a genius, what is?"
Looking at all the shōnen manga artists in Japan, aside from Teacher Shirogane, who is simply abnormal, Saki has the strongest achievements by far.
Looking back at the history of manga industry, her accomplishments at this age are already among the very top. Who exactly are you looking down on? Even someone like Saki has been earning tens of millions every year for two consecutive years!
Late at night, before a group of One-punch Man fans even finished waiting for the anime update, explosive information had already begun spreading everywhere.
Rei's high school classmates and teachers were completely stunned.
At home, Miyu lay on her bed and let out a soft sigh. She already knew that once Monday arrived, her reputation in the economics department, where she was already well known for her looks, would probably explode a hundredfold.
But there was no helping it. Once you're serialized in a top-tier magazine like Dream Comic, your identity being exposed is only a matter of time.
She and her sister, Misaki, sat together in the living room, also waiting for the premiere of One-punch Man.
"Don't overthink it. There isn't a single top manga artist in this world who never shows their face," Misaki said calmly.
"If you want to become famous, if you want to one day reach achievements comparable to Rei's, this is a path you have to walk. Rei has been serializing manga nonstop for two years under intense public scrutiny from fans. Now it's your turn to reach that stage as well."
"I know…" Miyu pouted.
"It's just that I've always pretended to be an ordinary girl from an ordinary family at school, and even then people kept confessing to me for no reason and bothering me. Now my identity has suddenly become a manga artist who earns tens of millions a year. It just feels even more annoying."
"What are you even thinking?" Misaki looked at her with an expression that screamed disbelief.
"The more outstanding you are, the higher your income, and the better your personal conditions, the more likely you are to stay single. Men are very realistic. If they feel that they're inferior to you overall, they'll instinctively back off."
"How do you know that?" Miyu asked, confused.
"Why do you think I've been single for so many years?" Misaki took a sip of tea.
While the two sisters chatted and snacked, One-punch Man Season Two officially began airing.
A brand-new opening song. Brand-new characters.
During the ninety-second opening sequence, in addition to several distinctive S-Class heroes from the first season, a large number of new monsters also appeared.
And it was immediately obvious;
The animation quality had risen significantly.
"It feels like Season Two got a huge budget increase. This animation quality…" Miyu stared at the screen, practically drooling. She couldn't help but imagine her own manga one day receiving such a high-level adaptation.
"Of course," Misaki said. "Actually, by around the sixth episode of One-punch Man Season One last year, the momentum was already unstoppable. Rei and Illumination Animation Production Company expanded the team and outsourced part of Season Two's production to several reliable large studios."
"The cost was higher, but the total investment for the entire second season exceeded Three hundred million."
Misaki glanced at the television screen and smiled.
"But at this point, that's pocket change. Compared to One-punch Man's current popularity and influence, these costs will be paid back two or three times over sooner or later."
As she spoke, the opening song ended.
The episode began with a monster rampaging through the streets.
Just as the monster was reveling in its own arrogance, a figure appeared before it without warning.
Tall. Wearing a plaid shirt. Deep claw-like scars around his left eye. A terrifyingly calm expression.
And then...
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A heavy, drum-like heartbeat echoed from his chest.
The strongest man on Earth.
King.
The King Engine.
Miyu swallowed unconsciously, her nerves instantly tightening.
...
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