February 5th, Lunar New Year's Eve.
Although the weather in the Tokyo area was still cold, the streets and alleys were already filled with a festive atmosphere.
Most of the staff at the Hoshimori Group had already begun their holiday, and Rei had submitted the latest Hunter × Hunter manuscript to the editorial department two weeks in advance.
Misaki had also set aside her work two days earlier. As for Rei himself, as the creator of both the One-Punch Man anime and the Hunter × Hunter manga, he still had a few unavoidable obligations. Like other animation creators in Japan, he needed to record short New Year greeting videos for his fans.
In addition, he had to record promotional material for Five Centimeters Per Second, which was scheduled to premiere on February 14th, in cooperation with the film's distributor.
Of course, Rei's exclusive camerawoman was Miyu.
He had no intention of hiring a professional just for something like this. That would be unnecessary trouble. Besides, both of them were manga artists serialized in Dream Comic and often had similar needs, so helping each other out was only natural.
After setting the camera down, Miyu rubbed her slightly sore arm and asked casually,
"By the way, Rei, do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
She paused, then added curiously,
"Are you going to spend the Spring Festival alone again, like last year and the year before?"
"Yes," Rei replied calmly. "You know my parents have passed away."
Miyu hesitated for a moment before continuing,
"My sister said that if you don't mind, you could come to our place for dinner tomorrow afternoon. It'll be livelier with more people."
"To your house?" Rei asked.
"You don't want to?"
"No, I was just curious."
"Honestly," Miyu said with a smile, "my sister thinks you're too pitiful, spending the Spring Festival alone every year. She can't stand seeing that."
"Last year and the year before, my sister and I even talked about you during New Year's, wondering what you'd be doing at home all by yourself."
"And what did you imagine?" Rei asked.
"Drawing manga."
Rei didn't deny it.
"Even though I draw quickly, producing more than forty pages every week isn't something I can always finish on schedule. During Spring Festival, holidays, and weekends, I usually work at full speed. On regular school days, I draw a little less."
"On top of that, there's the One-Punch Man anime script. Over the past few months, I've also been responsible for character designs and music planning. Sometimes I even have to go out for dinners and meetings with partner companies."
"Alright, alright, stop," Miyu interrupted, her expression turning strange. "My head's spinning."
She stared at him for a moment.
"Just answer me one thing. Are you working at home, or are you coming to my place for dinner?"
"Of course I'll go," Rei replied without hesitation.
"I'm not a born workaholic. If there's fun to be had, I won't refuse."
"And your manga? Your work?" Miyu asked.
"If I really can't finish, I'll take a break," Rei said with a smile. "All my work is done on the premise that it doesn't harm my health."
After all, Yoshihiro Togashi had taken more than ten years of breaks while serializing Hunter × Hunter. For Rei, taking ten days or even half a month off would hardly be a problem.
"Then…" Miyu asked suddenly, "are you free on February 14th?"
Rei thought for a moment. "Yes."
"I'm interested in the Five Centimeters Per Second movie premiere. Want to go together?"
"Of course," Rei nodded.
As the original author of Five Centimeters Per Second, he would definitely attend the premiere. And since Miyu didn't mind watching a movie with him, he certainly had no reason to refuse.
With just a few sentences, the arrangements were settled.
That evening, Rei posted the greeting videos recorded earlier in the day.
There were New Year messages for One-Punch Man fans, Hunter × Hunter fans, and fans of the upcoming Five Centimeters Per Second film.
He also released a greeting video for the currently airing Hikaru no Go anime.
The comment section beneath that video, however, was filled with curses.
After all, the most recent episodes had depicted Sai's disappearance.
With the enhancement of music and visuals, the anime version of Sai's farewell was even more emotionally devastating than in the manga.
On the other hand, news of the live-action adaptation of Five Centimeters Per Second immediately energized Rei's fanbase. Across various forums, fans eagerly began promoting the film on their own, acting as spontaneous and enthusiastic marketers.
Among Rei's current active fans, fewer than one-third had actually read the Five Centimeters Per Second manga.
A large portion of his fanbase had only heard of this early work. Whether out of laziness or a lack of interest in the genre, many had never bought the tankōbon to read it.
But a movie was different.
Reading manga required time and focus, but for a film, all you had to do was buy a ticket, sit in a theater, and relax. Because of that, many people were genuinely looking forward to the movie adaptation of Five Centimeters Per Second.
Moreover, it was being released on such a sensitive date, February 14th.
In a way, going to see the film could also be considered a form of support for Shirogane.
"I'll definitely go support it!"
"I fell in love with Teacher Shirogane's work starting with Five Centimeters Per Second!"
"What kind of results do you think this movie will achieve? Do you think the total box office can exceed 300 million?"
"I think that'll be difficult. Teacher Shirogane is famous, sure, but most of his fans are more focused on anime. And the February 14th slot comes right after the Spring Festival period, which starts on the 7th. For a movie like Five Centimeters Per Second, with a total investment of less than 50 million, reaching one to two hundred million at the box office, and then making additional profits through streaming rights and peripheral licensing, would already be considered a success."
"Don't underestimate Teacher Shirogane! Once his otaku fans get serious, their spending power is no joke!"
"What otaku fans? Most Five Centimeters Per Second manga readers are women, okay! Just imagining all the couples in Japan going to the cinema on Valentine's Day to watch this movie makes me laugh. The distributor of Five Centimeters Per Second is a real genius!"
On Lunar New Year's Eve, Rei's fans continued to argue enthusiastically with anti-fans and media outlets online.
That evening, Rei changed into clean, neat clothes and arrived at Miyu's home ahead of the agreed time.
There, he saw a side of the two sisters he had never seen before.
At the very least, despite being billionaires, they personally prepared the New Year's Eve dinner themselves.
And more surprisingly, their cooking skills were genuinely good, far exceeding Rei's expectations.
As night fell, fireworks bloomed across the Tokyo sky.
Standing together on the large second-floor balcony and watching the scenery, Misaki spoke first.
"I hope that next year, the sales of the Hunter × Hunter tankōbon can exceed fifteen million per volume, not only surpassing Source War Chronicle in ranking, but also in reputation. And that its average sales per volume can catch up as well, truly becoming the number one manga in Dream Comic."
Then Miyu spoke, her eyes reflecting the exploding fireworks.
"My New Year's wish is for my manga to get an anime adaptation next year. It's finally climbed to thirteenth place, it feels like an adaptation isn't that far away anymore."
As she spoke, she couldn't help glancing at Rei.
Her wish was for her work to be animated.
As for Rei, three of his works had already been animated, or were confirmed for adaptation, and all of them were major hits.
When neither of them heard Rei speak for a while, Miyu finally asked,
"Rei, what's your New Year's wish?"
"To reach the top," Rei replied with a chuckle.
"In every sense, to reach the summit of Japan's animation industry."
Misaki and Miyu both froze.
Rei's tone was casual, almost joking.
But for some reason, both of them could clearly feel that he meant every word.