"That was fast."
Rei didn't throw himself entirely into the production of these short and medium-length new seasonal anime.
He knew the plots of the Big Three by heart, but Rei still found the time to follow the weekly updates of the Big Three anime.
Under his control, there were no nonsensical filler plots from the animation production teams of his previous life, nor were there any of those "half-episode of fighting, half-episode of flashbacks" maneuvers. The serialization of the three anime series went through without a hitch.
Rei still remembered watching TV during his elementary school years in his past life. He followed Naruto every day and would be driven mad whenever it went on a mysterious hiatus. It wasn't until he grew a bit taller in middle and high school that he started sneaking into shady internet cafes.
While others were playing games, he would spend the whole night watching anime, having to scrimp and save on internet fees just to catch up with the latest serialized progress of those long-running series.
That time span was long.
For the fans in Japan, having only followed the series for two or three years, they were already witnessing the first great battle between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End, and could then dive into the Shippuden plot without stopping.
"This Japan anime fans are so lucky," Rei remarked. He was just feeling a bit bitter when comparing it to his own experience of following anime in his past life.
He adjusted his mindset and turned his gaze toward the first Gundam series anime, which was set to premiere in July.
This anime was only meant to kickstart the Gundam project in Japan. Rei didn't expect it to achieve any world-shaking results in the market.
The Gundam IP was no less significant than Naruto or One Piece, but its IP value in Rei's past life had been built over a much longer period of thirty or forty years, with dozens of works spanning a century-long timeline, including various eras like UC, AC, and FC.
Putting it plain, anime with giant robot themes like Gundam were the evergreens of the anime world. People would watch them regardless of the era. But the spread and diffusion of an IP's influence required a large number of works and time to establish. It wasn't like Naruto or One Piece, which could reach the pinnacle of the industry and gain global fame within a year or two, whether in Rei's past life or in Japan.
"Hmm. Besides the dozen or so classic Gundam IP works from my past life, we can open up the IP rights to the screenwriting department here in Japan. If they have any good ideas or can conceive a great plot, they can create original Gundam works in Japan." A look of contemplation flashed in Rei's eyes.
Rei didn't believe anyone in the Japan anime industry would ever surpass his achievements, because he stood on the shoulders of the collective ideological fruits of the top anime creators from his previous life. If an individual could surpass his current results, he would first suspect that the person wasn't human.
He didn't mean to look down on the Japan anime industry. The improvement of the industry's overall level required time. Among the creators in Japan, who were several or even ten times more numerous than those in Japan in his past life, more creative geniuses should emerge. It was just that these people were still studying classics like the Big Three, Attack on Titan, and Hunter, and had not yet reached the stage of surpassing them after learning.
Rei believed that one day, the average level of the Japan anime industry would catch up to a level no weaker than that of the Japan anime industry in his past life. Under this premise, for an IP with flexible creation like Gundam, if any local genius creators did emerge, letting them join in and contribute would be much better than copying the classics of his past life.
Who knew if the local talent in Japan could also create original Gundam classics no weaker than Gundam 00, Seed, or G Gundam?
Then, there was the currently airing Clannad.
Because the plots of over a dozen routes from the original game were mixed into a single anime, the story of Clannad felt like an episodic series, with each arc spanning a few episodes. Due to the limitations of the format, the emotional atmosphere couldn't reach the heights of the original game.
This was the pinnacle of scripts for anime adapted from Galgames.
With a text volume of one or two million words in the original work, almost all routes were accounted for without the plot collapsing. It was just that many times, certain routes felt like they only scratched the surface, leaving the audience wanting more. One really couldn't find fault with it beyond that.
There was no original game in Japan, so there were no voices from the "game purists" criticizing it for ruining the original or having a rushed plot.
Because of this, the general evaluation of Clannad in the Japan anime circle was that of a high-quality anime. Its viewership ratings were above 6%, on occasion rising to the 7% level for particularly good episodes, but that was about it.
"Is this really what Shirogane himself calls one of the top-tier works of his creative career?"
Because Rei had set the bar quite high with his promotion before Clannad started airing, the work was facing skepticism in this regard across the market.
It was very good, but far from as good as Shirogane had claimed before the broadcast.
Even a slow-burn like Steins;Gate had started to heat up by this point. Why were the male and female leads in Clannad still playing house? It wasn't even clear if the male lead, Tomoya Okazaki, liked Nagisa Furukawa.
Time entered May.
By this time, the area around the Shirogane Animation headquarters had begun to take shape after such a long period of construction.
In this world, Japan was an infrastructure maniac too. As long as the project payments were sufficient, the construction parties had the ability to hire three shifts of personnel to work 24 hours a day without interruption. And as it happened, Rei had plenty of cash.
In May, Rei wasn't very busy with anime creation. With the encouragement of the Tokyo local government, he was negotiating with various giants of the Japan ACGN fan industry regarding the entry of businesses and cooperation models once the commercial district was established. This work would continue from now until the ACGN fan-themed commercial district was fully completed.
Rei was temporarily burdened with huge construction loans from the bank, but he was the bona fide owner of this development area. During this process, Rei acted more as a figurehead. The specific details of the negotiations had to be finalized by his dearest sister, Misaki.
The three works, Bleach, One Piece, and Clannad, finished their broadcast in the spring season without a hitch.
As for the work Clannad, it went through Fuko Ibuki's arc of sending blessings for her sister's wedding, Kotomi Ichinose's arc of resolving her inner conflict and helping her open the birthday gift sent by her deceased parents, the arc resolving the issues with the Advisor and Tomoyo, and most importantly. The School Festival and Confession arcs.
In the last episode of the first season, the male lead Tomoya Okazaki and the female lead Nagisa Furukawa successfully confessed and got together.
By July, the second part of Naruto, Shippuden, which had been on hiatus for a season, launched in Japan alongside the first Gundam series anime.
As for Naruto, there was considerable controversy. The plot had jumped to two and a half years later, and characters like Sakura and Naruto had completely changed their appearance, leading many fans to complain.
As for Gundam.
The overall atmosphere in the market was one of excitement.
Since Attack on Titan had existed in the market before, the audience managed to find a sense of familiarity.
Both featured battles between giant weapons. One was made of steel while the other was made of flesh and blood.
Then, there was the second season of the Clannad anime.
After finishing the first season, Japan viewers felt that the anime was already quite complete.
In a romance anime, the leads had already confessed. What was the point of a second season?
It couldn't be just to show the audience the sweet daily life of the couple.
As soon as the second season of Clannad began, the audience sensed that something was off.
In the setting of this anime, the female lead Nagisa Furukawa was frail and sickly. Every graduation season, she would fall ill and become bedridden, and so fail to graduate without a hitch.
The end of the first season was precisely their graduation season.
At the start of the second season, the male lead Tomoya Okazaki graduated without a hitch. Instead of going to university, he chose to start working straight after high school, finding a job as an electrical maintenance worker in the town and living together with the female lead Nagisa Furukawa.
As for Nagisa Furukawa. She was repeating her senior year for the second time, preparing to attend the third year of high school for the third time. No matter what, she wanted to get her graduation certificate.
"To be honest, it feels like it's starting to get tragic."
"So the second season of Clannad depicts the family story of the leads? It feels strange all of a sudden."
"Yeah, the first season of Clannad was very good, even if it wasn't as great as Shirogane-sensei claimed. I still liked it a lot. This second season, though. I feel like the plot has gone off track. A family drama? This would be interesting as a live-action TV series, but making it into an anime, isn't that too much?"
"Is Shirogane-sensei starting to just do whatever he wants?"
"Let's just keep watching. Shirogane-sensei has worked hard for over ten years. Now that he's married and has a daughter, he probably wants to create some parent-child oriented anime."
"Is that the reason? Then it's understandable."
"A romance anime ends when the leads get together. It's good that Shirogane-sensei wants to try depicting the post-marriage plot this time. People always have to challenge themselves."
"Shirogane-sensei's daughter is already two and a half years old, right? No wonder."
"She'll be three in a few months. She's at an age where she can watch anime with her parents."
"Hmm. Turning a romance anime into a family drama? You're something else, Shirogane-sensei. Regardless, I'm going to keep following it. If for nothing else, I'll support any work of Shirogane-sensei's."
"Me too."
There was controversy over the plot, but the reputation of Clannad didn't get worse.
In the current Japan anime industry, Rei no longer needed to prove himself.
Anyone saying Shirogane was at his wit's end wouldn't be able to say it if they saw how popular Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece were globally.
No matter how much the plot of Clannad differed from ordinary youth romance anime, its viewership ratings never fell below 6%. Even after the serialization passed half a year, even for very plain episodes, the ratings were approaching 7%.
Then.
The great turnaround in public opinion for the second season of Clannad happened in the twelfth episode.
The father of the male lead, Tomoya Okazaki, was arrested for taking part in illegal and criminal activities due to various reasons. Then, Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa went to the prison together to visit him.
Tomoya Okazaki's father just looked at the two of them with a smile, not saying a word.
In the first season, the portrayal of Tomoya Okazaki's father was very poor.
He was an alcoholic with an unstable schedule and a messy appearance, and he even treated his own son with the polite distance one would show a friend.
So-called family members being "polite as guests" is not a good thing. It means they don't treat you as family, which is why they use the attitude of a guest toward you.
The male lead had entered high school as a basketball athlete, but because his father had gotten into a drunken brawl and injured his arm, he had to give up his basketball dreams.
His relationship with his father was very poor.
Now, his father was involved in illegal events after his high school graduation.
Unable to bear it any longer, Tomoya Okazaki flew into a massive rage at his father.
"Facing the son you've dragged down, do you have nothing to say? Just live your life like this forever."
The first season was a romance series.
The plot before the second season was a fantasy-leaning daily life series about a couple.
In the twelfth episode of the second season, the plot turned heavy.
Tomoya Okazaki, walking out of the prison in anger, punched the wall with force until the back of his hand was scraped and bleeding.
His girlfriend, Nagisa Furukawa, who was chasing after him, grabbed the fist he was using to hurt himself in distress.
She held him and used gentle words to soothe the boy she loved.
She decided to marry Tomoya Okazaki.
It was a simple plot, but the popularity and heat of Clannad began to surge among the fan community after this episode aired.
"Long live Nagisa Furukawa."
"No wonder she's the female lead. It's true that her character design isn't as striking as Tomoyo's or the Fujibayashi sisters', but."
"Her personality is so good it makes me want to cry."
"I'm getting a bit teary-eyed. That scene at the end of the episode where Nagisa Furukawa hugs Tomoya outside the prison. Sigh."
"No wonder Shirogane-sensei started depicting family in the second season. This plot is interesting."
"I've never seen a romance manga develop in this direction in its later stages."
"I think the most interesting part is that this anime doesn't just show the beauty of the ACGN fan world. It portrays what happens after falling in love to a certain extent. After love comes marriage, and after marriage, family expenses and sources of income are minor issues. The most crucial thing is the mutual understanding between the husband and wife. On this point, Nagisa Furukawa really made me cry."
"At least she and the male lead, Tomoya Okazaki, are both people who understand each other and think of each other. Neither is particularly capable, but they are both doing their best to create a warm home for one another."
"In the first season, Tomoya Okazaki was a poor student who did nothing in school. Seeing him work hard at a grueling high-altitude electrical maintenance job just to be with Nagisa Furukawa after graduating high school makes me look at him in a new light."
As they watched the second season of Clannad, the Japan audience sensed that the flavor of the work had changed.
There were no more sweet romance elements, but the story was even more captivating.
The twelfth episode was one thing.
In the thirteenth episode, after working hard for a year, Nagisa Furukawa, who was attending her third year of high school for the third time, still hadn't recovered from her strange illness and had to delay her graduation once again.
At this time, all the people she had helped before gathered together. In that season of drifting cherry blossoms, they helped her hold a graduation ceremony that belonged only to her.
The only reason Nagisa Furukawa had repeated her studies twice was that she wanted to graduate normally like everyone else and receive the blessings of her friends.
While her wish was being fulfilled in this episode, in the closing scene with cherry blossoms falling, Nagisa Furukawa, whose wish had come true, took Tomoya's hand beside her on the street.
The two officially registered their marriage and became husband and wife.
Nagisa Furukawa advised Tomoya, more than once, to go to the prison and reconcile with his father, or at least not to keep their relationship so strained.
The airing of this episode also moved many viewers in Japan to tears.
It was a very plain plot, but for anyone who had seriously watched all the episodes from the first season until now.
It was hard not to fall in love with the character of Nagisa Furukawa. And it was hard not to be moved by the scene of these two holding hands.
This included Rei's wife, Miyu.
She had been waiting in front of the TV every Saturday night at 8 PM sharp for the past few weeks.
Because she refused spoilers from Rei, like the other Japan anime fans, she only learned the plot during the TV premiere.
Over these two weeks, she hadn't been able to control her emotions while watching the Clannad anime. She would wipe away tears with red eyes as she watched, while their daughter Hina beside her, who didn't quite understand the anime yet, just kept hugging her mother to comfort her.
As for Rei.
He already had an ominous feeling in his heart. Miyu was so sentimental. When she saw the plot climax of Clannad in two weeks.
He was going to suffer.
Ordinary Clannad fans might only curse the screenwriter in their hearts or online during the broadcast. Miyu, though, could vent all the resentment from watching this anime onto Rei in earnest.
"Hey, Rei, the second season of this anime will finish airing by the end of the year, right? Now that these two are married."
"What kind of plot comes next?" Miyu asked, turning to look at Rei, who was drinking tea, after she had recovered her composure.
Rei's heart skipped a beat, and he said with a smile.
"You'll know as you keep watching. The following plot is interesting."
"Hmm, I suppose so. I quite like the character of Nagisa Furukawa. I'll find it interesting to watch her daily life in the upcoming episodes." Miyu said with a long sigh and a smile, looking at Rei.
"You can create more of these family-oriented works in the future. I've been in an anime drought lately, and I like watching them."