Originally, he didn't have much of a concept of what 150,000 copies in first-week sales meant, but hearing that it had broken the previous first-week sales record for the light novel industry did indeed surprise him a little.
Is it really that impressive?
To this, Mr. Sasaki smiled understandingly and said, "To be honest, we and the people over at the light novel imprint were also shocked when we learned of this result."
O
Although they previously thought that Kara no Kyoukai should be able to achieve decent results, they didn't expect them to be so brilliant.
So they immediately held a meeting, analyzed the current situation, and ultimately summarized the following reasons:
First was the advertisement placed in our Shonen Jump magazine, along with the offline promotion from Super Fantasy Bunko that practically threw everything they had into it, which attracted a lot of attention;
Secondly, Akira's identity;
The fact that a serialized Manga Artist published a light novel was a very strong gimmick that could easily pique the curiosity of followers;
Finally, the quality of the light novel Kara no Kyoukai itself;
Although it isn't a particularly mainstream type and did indeed receive some controversy, because the quality of the novel itself was indeed outstanding enough, it ultimately managed to successfully handle this massive wave of traffic.
Therefore, the cross-industry collaboration between Shonen Jump and Super Fantasy Bunko, the gimmick of a serialized Manga Artist writing a novel, and the excellent quality of Kara no Kyoukai—
The first-week sales of Kara no Kyoukai ultimately achieving a brilliant result far beyond their expectations was due to these three elements being indispensable.
In fact, any one of these three conditions would be rare enough, let alone all three coming together.
This is absolutely an unprecedented case.
And not only is it unprecedented, but even in the future, it will likely be difficult for the entire industry to put together a second case with the same conditions.
"In short, that's how it is."
"Being able to break the previous sales record was due to many external factors that are hard to replicate. Once the initial excitement passes, things might return to normal."
Saying this, Mr. Sasaki smiled. "But in any case, with such a brilliant start, our collaboration with the other party can be considered very successful."
Having already gained such massive exposure at the start, as long as Kara no Kyoukai continues its normal publication, reaching over a million copies in total sales is practically a sure thing.
And after an anime adaptation in the future, sales will likely soar even further.
After all, compared to the audience of an anime, the readers from Shonen Jump probably won't count for much.
Anyway, hearing this, Akira also smiled and said, "That's good."
Because the sales of Kara no Kyoukai weren't high in his previous life, he was actually worried that Kara no Kyoukai wouldn't be able to hold its own and would mess up the project.
So, hearing Mr. Sasaki's words, he also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which,"
Since the sales of Kara no Kyoukai were mentioned, Akira took the opportunity to ask another question: "How are the sales for the first tankobon volume of Fate/stay night doing now?"
Since the release of the first Fsn volume, Mr. Sasaki hadn't taken the initiative to mention the sales to him, so he hadn't asked.
"Well—"
Mr. Sasaki replied, "So far, it should have sold over 300,000 copies."
"Only—?"
"For a new serialized manga, such a result is already very excellent!"
As if he had long known what Akira was going to say, the moment he opened his mouth, Mr. Sasaki immediately interrupted him, his tone somewhat helpless.
This was also why he had been reluctant to explain the sales of the Fsn tankobon to Akira.
After learning that Akira was also developing in the music field, he naturally kept an eye on the situation there.
Therefore, besides what Akira had told him before—that the single sales for 'Marigold' had already exceeded 1 million copies—he also knew that the sales for 'Snow Flower' were equally good.
And naturally, as a fan of Tsukirin, his daughter had also contributed to the sales of the 'Snow Flower' CD.
In short, compared to his achievements in music, the current tankobon sales for Fsn seemed a bit meager.
But since Akira mentioned it, Mr. Sasaki could only emphasize again: "The sales logic for manga tankobon is different from the sales logic for music CDs! Manga tankobon focus more on long-term effects!"
Sales of music CDs are mainly concentrated in the first few months after release, after which sales only decrease until production stops.
But manga tankobon are the opposite.
As the serialization of the manga continues, the sales of the tankobon will gradually accumulate smoothly, becoming more and more.
Especially after a work is adapted into an anime, the sales of the manga tankobon will see an explosive surge in growth.
"Therefore, for Fsn, which has been serialized for less than half a year and has only released one volume, these sales are already quite excellent!"
Facing the aggressive Mr. Sasaki, Akira explained, caught between laughter and tears, "—I know."
"But I was thinking about how Kara no Kyoukai had 150,000 copies in its first week, so I felt a bit surprised."
And he quickly realized that it wasn't that Fsn's sales were too low, but that the marketing for Kara no Kyoukai was indeed very successful.
This gave him a deeper understanding of the first-week sales of Kara no Kyoukai.
However, he didn't expect Mr. Sasaki to veer off into the sales of the single CDs.
Hmm—
Thinking carefully, he actually felt a bit embarrassed.
He felt that the reason Mr. Sasaki had such a reaction was probably because he had mentioned the sales of 'Marigold' in front of him last time, which left a very deep impression on him.
So, he simply apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry, Mr. Sasaki."
"I shouldn't have used the single sales of 'Marigold' to provoke you during our previous chat. I won't mention those things again in the future."
On the other side, hearing Akira's explanation, Mr. Sasaki was feeling embarrassed by his own overreaction.
But the next moment, hearing the other's sincere apology, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, feeling a warmth in his heart.
Then, he confessed with a wry smile, "Actually, it's my side; I was too sensitive."
"Perhaps it's because Mochizuki-sensei's achievements over there were too fast and too high, so I couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis?"
In the manga industry, although Akira was highly valued within the editorial department, in the entire industry, he could only be considered a rising supernova.
However, in the music industry, Tsukirin was already about to become a top-tier popular singer group.
Comparing the two, it was indeed difficult for him not to feel pressure.
"Well—"
Akira scratched his cheek awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
While Mr. Sasaki smiled first and said, "Anyway, since both of us were in the wrong, let's each take a step back and correct ourselves."
"In addition—"
Mr. Sasaki hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "Thank you, Mochizuki-sensei, for bringing this up so we could talk it out."
"Uh, you're welcome—"
Akira scratched his cheek and smiled. "I have to say, it's quite embarrassing for two grown men to say these things to each other."
"Anyway, I'll be in your care from now on, Mr. Sasaki."
"Same here, please take care of me from now on, Mochizuki-sensei."