March 13th, Wednesday.
In the evening, Shiga Taka went to a nearby DVD shop. He checked the shelves but, as expected, couldn't find the first volume of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion on DVD.
The DVD had been released that day, a fact he remembered clearly. Since it wasn't there, it must have sold out.
Although it was just a small shop and not a large chain, it still showed the popularity of Code Geass and the loyalty of its fans.
As expected, it should sell much better than Death Note did back then.
Fortunately, he had learned from his past mistakes and didn't need to run around town.
He walked straight to the counter and said to the clerk, "Um... I pre-ordered the first volume of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion DVD. My name is Shiga, and my phone number is..."
"Okay, please wait a moment while I check."
The clerk replied politely, then found the pre-order record and looked up the information.
After verifying the details, she confirmed everything was correct and retrieved the reserved first volume of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion DVD, handing it to Shiga Taka.
Shiga Taka glanced at the DVD cover, confirmed it was correct, and paid the remaining balance.
Just then, a female high school student entered the store and walked to the counter. "I'm here to pick up my five pre-ordered copies of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Volume 1 DVDs," she said.
"Five copies!" Shiga Taka was astonished.
He couldn't help but steal another look at the girl, thinking, So passionate, and so wealthy?
This is insane!
Even if this were a finished, critically acclaimed masterpiece, he'd only buy three copies at most. But buying five copies at this stage, when the plot was still unfolding and the animation's quality was far from guaranteed? This was the kind of extravagance only a rich young lady could afford.
As he was still processing this, two more high school girls entered the store.
"Erika, did you get ours?"
"Yeah, yeah, I did!"
By the time they spoke, the first girl had already paid the balance and handed two of the DVDs to the newcomers.
Seeing this, Shiga Taka secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
So it wasn't that she bought five copies in one go, but three. The remaining two belonged to someone else.
Still, buying three copies at once was a testament to her passion, especially since the future plot of the series remained uncertain.
As a die-hard fan who had followed Death Note from its early manga days, it stung that he couldn't match her enthusiasm. The thought made his mood complex.
Meanwhile, the three girls were completely unaware of Shiga Taka's inner turmoil. They hadn't even paid him any attention from start to finish. After getting their DVDs, they walked away together, chatting as they went:
"Erika, you bought three copies at once. What if the later parts aren't good?"
"Who cares if they're good or not? I bought these DVDs for Prince Lelouch. As long as they don't change the main character mid-way, it'll be fine."
"That should be fine. I just wish there were more interactions between Lelouch and Suzaku. Especially how they publicly act like best friends who care about each other, while secretly Zero and Lancelot want to kill each other—heh heh~ This love-hate dynamic is just too delicious to resist."
"Shut up! You fujoshi! Don't tarnish Prince Lelouch's image!"
As they spoke, the three of them had already left the shop and were walking away.
Shiga Taka averted his gaze and tucked his DVD into his bag.
Once outside, he muttered to himself, "Looks like Lelouch will easily outsell Death Note now."
In fact, he was right.
Just a week later, the first-week sales for the first volume of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion were released: 29,381 copies.
Nearly 30,000 copies sold in just four days.
While this was only the first-week sales for the first volume and didn't represent the final average per-volume sales, selling that many in four days made surpassing Death Note's sales seem effortless.
There was no difficulty at all.
When the sales figures were announced, industry insiders couldn't help but marvel once again: "This Lin Zhiyan is truly terrifyingly strong!"
With first-week sales of 29,381, as long as the subsequent content didn't falter, the cumulative average sales for the initial releases would typically be at least 35,000 copies.
As of March 2002, only one TV anime had surpassed 35,000 initial sales: Neon Genesis Evangelion. No other TV anime had achieved such high initial sales.
Mobile Suit Gundam had initial sales of only 28,000, Cowboy Bebop 19,000, Martian Successor Nadesico 33,000, Dragon Ball GT 31,000, and Lupin the 3rd 29,000.
Most other TV anime had even lower initial sales.
There was no room for argument.
What made it even more remarkable was that Lin Zhiyan had already achieved over 30,000 initial sales with Death Note. To follow that up with a second anime that not only matched but significantly surpassed the previous sales was truly extraordinary.
Truly the Animation Director who understands audiences and commercial animation best!
While industry insiders marveled at the numbers, fans of Lelouch felt a sense of pride upon learning about the first volume's first-week DVD sales:
"So strong! As expected of my favorite TV anime of the last two years."
"29,000 first-week sales—I contributed to that."
"Heh heh, I bought three copies."
"If it doesn't exceed 30,000, I think everyone here bears some responsibility."
"After all, this is the animation I was so high on. Sales this high are only to be expected."
"I feel like many people are still holding back. Otherwise, the DVD sales would definitely be higher. Death Note's initial sales were over 30,000, so Lelouch's first-week sales should have easily surpassed that."
"29,000 is just the beginning. I bet the final sales will definitely exceed 40,000. I'd bet my life on it."
With initial sales exceeding 35,000 units, this was a guaranteed success. With the later release of a follow-up version, the cumulative average sales would surely surpass 40,000.
While industry professionals marveled, fans swelled with pride, and the staff at L.S. Production were overjoyed and deeply satisfied. Yet, as the Supervising Director, Lin Zhiyan felt a complex mix of emotions upon seeing the sales figures.
Such numbers clearly indicated the animation's tremendous success.
Commercial triumph and massive profits should have made him elated, but he wasn't as happy as he expected. He vividly remembered that in another timeline, the first season of Lelouch had achieved an initial average sales of 45,000 units, rising to a cumulative average of 72,000 with the follow-up release.
Though the story hadn't yet reached its most thrilling arcs, and sales would undoubtedly surge in the latter half of the series, they still fell far short of the original version's performance in that other timeline.
What's more, the original was a 2006 animation that had competed in the same year as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and premiered in the same quarter as the thematically similar Death Note.
In this timeline, with no strong rivals and the added boost of Lin Zhiyan's personal fanbase, the results were still disappointingly low.
This wouldn't do. He had to find a way to elevate the animation's popularity to the next level, to make it a true cultural phenomenon.
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