"Mr. Kitagawa Shūichi? If I remember correctly, he's one of the signature directors of your Sunrise Company, the director of the famous early mecha anime series 'Mobile Suit.' Speaking of which, I used to watch that anime on television all the time when I was little. It was the only TV program I looked forward to every week, but even now I still can't let go of the ending where the protagonist and the enemy self-destructed together."
Hearing Fujiwara Tora mention Kitagawa Shūichi's name, Kamiyā Yuu immediately recalled a mecha anime that had left childhood trauma on him. Back when he lived in the orphanage, the children loved crowding together to watch anime. 'Mobile Suit' was one of the orphanage children's favorite cartoons. Whenever it was broadcast, a group of children would squat in front of the television, waiting eagerly for it to start.
But who knew whether anime directors from that era all liked pretending to be profound? Despite being one of the founding works of the mecha genre in this world, 'Mobile Suit,' clearly a children's anime, had created an emotionally devastating ending filled with deeper meaning. After watching it, Kamiyā Yuu had been so depressed he couldn't eat properly for days.
On the phone, Fujiwara Tora laughed heartily.
"Yeah, the anime 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu' from our company the year before last was directed by him. Although it used the classic magical girl formula and was very popular with children, in terms of online popularity, it still lost to your 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' He thinks very highly of both 'Magical Girl Nanoha' and you. After learning about our relationship, he's often muttered in front of me that he wants to meet this rising anime newcomer."
Kamiyā Yuu became interested. Sitting up straight in his chair, he pulled out a fountain pen and prepared to note down the time and place.
"It would be my honor to interact with Director Kitagawa as well. What's the time and location?"
Connections in the anime industry were critically important. The anime 'Shirobako' from his previous world, which described the harshness of the anime industry, perfectly demonstrated this. In the anime, Musashino Animation frequently faced crises, but the protagonist Miyamori Aoi's cheerful and earnest personality resolved one interpersonal crisis after another.
Reality would never produce a plot where a single production assistant saved the entire company. If an animation production company encountered trouble, what it relied on more was the power of connections among upper management.
Anime failed review approval? That was when someone like Watanabe, a line producer, needed to step in. Usually, it was just a matter of having a meal with the reviewers.
Insufficient production manpower? Then producers with broad industry connections would contact freelance key animators. If that still wasn't enough, they could contact other animation companies or studios.
Knowing a veteran anime director was even more valuable. Even if such a veteran merely praised a newcomer director's work on Twitter, it could very likely bring a significant boost in popularity to the work.
Of course, Kamiyā Yuu himself didn't need favors like that. Thanks to 'RWBY' sweeping countless awards across Europe and America, he himself was already one of Japan's most famous anime directors.
What interested Kamiyā Yuu was meeting the anime director personally. Since they shared the same profession, they would naturally have many common topics. Being able to meet the director of an anime he watched as a child was also an incredibly exciting thing.
On the phone, Fujiwara Tora was briefly stunned by Kamiyā Yuu's enthusiasm.
"Don't rush. You're planning to release a new work this January, right? I watched the PV too. Although it uses the standard magical girl setup, it still feels like the anime you're making won't be simple. Kitagawa thinks the same way. Interested in competing again this season? Our company's main long-running title this season will be 'Mobile Suit 007.'"
"Then wouldn't I definitely lose? The 'Mobile Suit' series is such a famous anime IP. Even I'd watch it for nostalgia alone." Kamiyā Yuu joked with a smile. Whether he truly thought that way, only heaven knew.
Fujiwara Tora praised him generously.
"Who knows? Director Kitagawa said he saw something different in your promotional PV. He thinks your next work has the potential to surpass the popularity of 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' Right now, according to the official statistics from the Nice-net website, 'Magical Girl Nanoha' is the best anime of last year, ranking first in both popularity and approval ratings. I personally like Nanoha-chan a lot too.
"If you can create an anime that surpasses 'Magical Girl Nanoha,' then defeating the 'Mobile Suit' series would naturally be easy. So? Give me a hint. Do you have confidence in surpassing 'Mobile Suit 007'? I'm really looking forward to it."
Kamiyā Yuu pondered for a moment before trying to keep a lower profile in his answer.
"Although I can't say we'll surpass 'Mobile Suit 007,' surpassing 'Magical Girl Nanoha' shouldn't be much of a problem."
Fujiwara Tora laughed loudly, clearly seeing through his answer.
"So you're extremely confident. The loser has to treat everyone at the sushi restaurant 'Sukiyabashi Jiro.' For a big landowner like you, that amount shouldn't be a problem."
"Oho~ The famous 'God of Sushi' place? I've watched the documentary too, but I've never had time to taste it myself. Forget one meal—if you introduce me to Director Kitagawa, treating you there for a whole week wouldn't be a problem." Kamiyā Yuu's eyes lit up.
Speaking of that underground sushi restaurant made him swallow involuntarily as well. According to the TV program 'Words of Celebrities,' the ninety-two-year-old Ono Jirō was a legendary figure in the sushi world. His pursuit of quality earned him the title of Japan's "God of Sushi," and he was also the world's oldest three-star chef.
Fujiwara Tora sighed.
"That won't work. Even if sushi is delicious, eating it continuously for a week would destroy my stomach."
Kamiyā Yuu laughed and shook his head.
"Then it's settled. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
"Alright, see you."
After hanging up, Kamiyā Yuu sat in his office chair and pondered for a while. Then he typed the official URL of the Nice-net website into his computer and clicked through. Very quickly, he found the statistical data page Fujiwara Tora mentioned.
Just as Fujiwara Tora had said, 'Magical Girl Nanoha' had been selected as the Best Anime of 2017. After one season of momentum, its popularity and BD sales had already surpassed the long-running anime of the same genre, 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow.'
'Magical Girl Nanoha' — Overall Popularity: 13,273,927 / Seasonal BD Sales to Date: 47,263
'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow' — Overall Popularity: 11,273,849 / Seasonal BD Sales to Date: 32,738
'Miracle Girl' — Overall Popularity: 6,273,917 / Seasonal BD Sales to Date: 13,728
'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu' — Overall Popularity: 5,018,275 / Seasonal BD Sales to Date: 11,276
BD referred to the Blu-ray HD version of an anime. It would also optimize certain details of the animation, such as correcting scenes where the animation quality collapsed.
In his previous world, the anime 'Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na' had once produced the famous "cabbage animation collapse incident." The production team lazily drew cabbages as green spheres. From then on, that scene became one of the standards used to measure animation collapse. It was only in the BD version that the cabbages were finally corrected into something resembling actual cabbages.
Animation collapse was neither a major nor a minor issue. Episode 4 of the hot-blooded mecha anime 'Gurren Lagann' also suffered animation collapse, forcing the company president at the time to resign. Yet, famous animations like "My pain is greater than yours" didn't have much impact.
The price of a normal anime season's BD was usually around 3,000 to 10,000 yen. With discounts, they could generally be bought for around 3,000 yen.
Sales exceeding fifty thousand meant that BD sales alone had already earned Kamiyā Yuu more than twenty million yen. Although that wasn't particularly much for Kamiyā Yuu, such revenue meant that even if the second, third, or fourth seasons sold zero copies, the project still basically wouldn't lose money.
Actually, all four magical girl anime released that year performed very well. Were several thousand to ten thousand sales already considered impressive within the industry? Although it looked somewhat modest, perhaps even inferior to a diamond-tier mobile phone seller on some online shopping platform.
BD sales: 2,899 — the break-even line for an ordinary anime.
BD sales: 5,000 — the second-season line. Reaching this level meant there was hope for a sequel.
BD sales: 10,000 — the bestseller line. Rather than merely having hope for a sequel, unless special circumstances occurred, a second season was practically guaranteed.
BD sales: 33,813 — the "Wall of Masterpieces," the average full-volume sales of the TV anime 'IS
The meaning of "Wall of Masterpieces" was somewhat complicated. On the surface, it meant that once BD sales surpassed that number, the anime could be called a masterpiece. But in reality, "Wall of Masterpieces" specifically referred to 'IS
The work itself was cliché, shallow, and had no remarkable settings, yet it inexplicably sold extremely well. Thus, "Wall of Masterpieces" became both a mockery of the work itself and a satire of the anime industry. If one made an anime with many strengths, yet those strengths still weren't enough to surpass 'IS
There was also another interesting story regarding the "Wall of Masterpieces." The author of 'IS
"What the hell is this garbage you wrote?"
The resulting psychological blow probably left a lifelong trauma.
For most anime, BD sales accounted for one-third to one-half of total revenue. The remaining profits came from copyright collaborations, project partnerships, figures, and so on. If the anime also produced a game like 'Love Live!' or 'Fate/GO,' it earned even more.
Among worldwide rankings for mobile game spending, Japanese mobile games ranked first, with China second.
Kamiyā Yuu felt somewhat surprised. According to his expectations, although 'Magical Girl Nanoha' would become highly popular, the limitations of the genre should have prevented it from reaching this level.
He continued browsing the website statistics and discovered that very few large-scale productions had been released the previous year. It was practically a "trash fish year."
Kamiyā Yuu immediately felt both amused and speechless. If no outstanding works appeared across all four yearly seasons, it was called a trash fish year. Such situations either appeared during industry stagnation or industry decline.
So what about this year?
Kamiyā Yuu clicked into the January seasonal anime anticipation rankings.
"1st: 'Adventure King' — Adapted from the long-running hot-blooded manga serialized in Shueisha's 'Weekly Shounen Jump.' It had already been serialized for over two years and had accumulated unimaginable popularity, once being rated one of the must-read manga of the past decade. [Votes: 163,472]
"2nd: 'Warlords of the Sengoku Era' — An original large-scale anime production set during China's Three Kingdoms period, using Cao Cao as its central focus to depict a grand Chinese historical epic. Directed by the famous director Mutō Takashi, who once directed 'The Burning of Honnōji.' Extremely popular among teenagers and adults. [Votes: 92,856]
"3rd: 'Mobile Suit 007' — Part of the 'Mobile Suit' series, one of the founding representatives of the mecha genre, holding an irreplaceable position in the hearts of both adults and teenagers. [Votes: 89,261]
"4th: 'Legend of the Hero from Another World' — Adapted from a long-running light novel series whose popularity was equally astonishing. It had ranked in 'Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!' for three consecutive years. [Votes: 85,278]
"...
"11th: 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' — Original anime directed by Kamiyā Yuu, the youngest genius director in the industry, known for 'RWBY' and 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' [Votes: 17,484]"
"Damn, it didn't even make the top ten!"
Kamiyā Yuu broke into a sweat. He had thought he already possessed at least some fame in Japan, but 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' had still ended up in an awkward neither-high-nor-low position.
In his previous world, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica,' created by the collaboration of Gen Urobuchi and Akiyuki Shinbō, had ranked first on the seasonal anticipation charts.
"It probably won't have too much impact. Although my version of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' is even slower to heat up than the original, its eventual explosion should also be much fiercer. Even ultra-slow-burning works like 'Steins;Gate' survived in the previous world. There's no reason 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' shouldn't become popular."
After thinking about it, Kamiyā Yuu smiled bitterly in silence. Those words had planted a standard death flag.
Given the overall environment, Kamiyā Yuu, a young director making magical girl anime, truly didn't have much influence.
The promotional PV for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' lacked the large-scale production and grand scenes of 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' Nearly all of it consisted of eerie imagery full of abstract artistic style. The various mismatched visuals disappointed many viewers who had high expectations for Kamiyā Yuu. Some came expecting a large-scale production, while others came expecting exciting battles like 'RWBY.'
Yet the more things turned out this way, the more excited Kamiyā Yuu became internally.
He looked forward to the official January broadcast. He looked forward to what expressions viewers would make when faced with the turning point of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica.' He also looked forward to causing the same sensational impact as in his previous world.
At that point, forget 'Mobile Suit 007'—he was confident he could even crush the first-ranked 'Adventure King.'
It was time to use Urobuchi-style "love" to refresh the worldview of all anime fans.