Starfall and White Dove were very close to each other, so it did not take long for Aoi to arrive.
Seeing that Yuta had already read through the situation, Aoi got straight to the point. "So what do we do now? If this isn't handled well, it could hurt Code Geass's popularity, and there are probably plenty of parties with a stake in this who might see it as an opportunity to pile on against Starfall."
"No need to panic," Yuta said, looking entirely unbothered. "Yuzuki did end up hospitalized from overwork, that part is true, but it doesn't really have anything to do with Starfall. If they're trying to use that angle to start trouble, they picked the wrong target."
"It doesn't have anything to do with Starfall?" Aoi looked a little surprised.
Yuta did not explain.
He simply said, "Anime Talk is a rival publication to Anime Weekly. Since they want to stir things up, all we need to do is invite Anime Weekly to run an interview. Not with me, though. With the rest of the Starfall staff and all the companies we've worked with."
"Are you sure about this?" Aoi asked, frowning slightly.
"Absolutely."
Yuta had full confidence in his own character and full confidence in Starfall.
As long as the truth came out, people would be able to judge for themselves whether Starfall was actually the kind of company being implied.
Since Aoi was not part of Starfall, her understanding of it, while decent, was nowhere near as thorough as Yuta's. But since he was this certain, she had no grounds to second-guess him, and she immediately pulled out her phone to get in touch with Anime Weekly.
At that moment, the office phone rang.
Puzzled, Yuta picked it up, and an unfamiliar voice came through. "Hello, am I speaking with President Shido of Starfall?"
"Yes, this is Shido."
"My name is Junpei Murase, a reporter from the Kanto Economic Times. We'd like to request an interview with Starfall, if you're available."
"So you've read that article from Anime Talk as well?"
"Well..."
"That's fine. Come on over."
As the saying went, a clean hand wants no washing. As long as the outlet in question was not the kind that threw facts out the window, Yuta was more than happy to let them come.
He had originally been counting on just Anime Weekly, and he had been mildly concerned that its credibility might be questioned given its relationship to the situation. But with the Kanto Economic Times now joining in as well, that concern was off the table.
He had Code Geass's enormous popularity to thank for it.
Without that, even if Starfall had been accused of working its staff to the bone, a general-interest outlet like the Kanto Economic Times would not have given the studio a second glance.
...
Online, public opinion was moving fast.
The criticism aimed at Starfall grew louder and more intense with each passing hour.
Then, in the middle of all the noise, two interview pieces dropped.
First came the Kanto Economic Times, a print publication rather than an online outlet. Their coverage of Starfall's situation was not extensive, but they gave the studio a clear endorsement, describing it as a company with genuine integrity.
Anime Weekly was far less subtle about it. They went straight for the headline, calling Starfall "the conscience of the industry," and released a full video interview to go along with their piece.
A number of Starfall staff members and some of their partner companies appeared in the video.
The interview was conducted in a question-and-answer format.
For instance, the segment with Yuzuki herself, the person at the center of it all.
"Ms. Amane, we've heard that you were hospitalized after collapsing from overwork. Is that accurate?"
"It is, but it was entirely my own doing and had nothing to do with the company. When we were making Clannad, I was the one who handled all of the design drafts for the show. For Code Geass, our president felt that my style wasn't quite the right fit, so he brought someone else in. I didn't fully accept that, so on my own time, I..."
"And the hospital fees, did you cover those yourself?"
"Of course not. The company took care of all of it. I didn't pay a single yen."
"What's your overall impression of President Shido and of Starfall?"
"The president is a genuinely kind person who really looks out for all of us. Even though this whole situation was my own fault and caused trouble for the company, he didn't hold it against me at all. He even asked if I was having any difficulties at home and told me to come to him if I ever needed anything, and not to feel awkward about it. I really love the atmosphere at Starfall too. Everyone there has a dream they're chasing, and being able to work toward the same goal together is something truly special."
...
And from the segment with other Starfall staff members.
"We've heard that overtime is common at your company. Is that true?"
"Is there any anime studio that doesn't do overtime?"
"Does overtime feel like something you push back against?"
"Not really. At Starfall, overtime comes with proper compensation. On top of that, the president is by far the one working the longest hours out of anyone. Especially since Code Geass started airing, he's basically been the first one in and the last one out every single day. And even while he's grinding away like that, he still tells us not to follow his example. Honestly, sometimes we feel a little guilty watching him."
"How would you describe the compensation at Starfall?"
"In the early years when we were just getting started, it was pretty average. But ever since Clannad did so well, everyone's pay went up significantly. I can't share the exact figures, but Starfall's compensation right now is absolutely in the top tier of the entire industry, actually a bit better than NovaLine and Kobe Animation."
...
In short, there was not a single negative word from anyone inside Starfall, and the external partners who weighed in gave the studio equally glowing reviews. For example, multiple parties noted that whenever Starfall hired outside contractors, the pay was always more than fair and was never delayed.
That alone was something not every company could claim.
A studio that consistently delivered on that was, in their eyes, more than worthy of being called a company with integrity.
"The conscience of the industry." That was the verdict from Anime Weekly and every person who appeared in the interview, applied to Starfall without hesitation.
The moment both pieces went public, the tide of opinion flipped completely. Every single critic went silent, while Yuta's supporters and Code Geass fans came flooding out from everywhere.
"I'm honestly moved. I had no idea Starfall was this kind of studio."
"Hearing this makes me actually want to quit my job and apply to Starfall."
"Why can't I have a president like that..."
"Back when Clannad was just getting started, someone from Starfall reached out to recruit me. I turned it down at the time because I thought the studio had no future. I've been second-guessing that ever since."
"Anime talk went way too far. Dragging a studio like Starfall through the mud just for clicks, with zero regard for accuracy. Don't they have a conscience?"
"This makes me wonder, if Starfall is the standard for integrity, what does that say about every other studio out there?"
"Forget everything else. Just for being the kind of studio Starfall is, I'm going to support Code Geass all the way. I'll watch every single episode and buy the DVD the moment it's out."
...
The backlash against Starfall was over, and Anime Talk found itself in the crosshairs instead.
The outlet clearly had not anticipated that Starfall's situation would look like this when put under actual scrutiny. Realizing they had badly miscalculated, they quietly deleted the original article and went completely dark.
For the foreseeable future, things were not going to be easy for them at all.
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