When an IP is developed to its fullest, the most profitable part is games, hands down.
Most of the revenue for the world's largest IP, Pokemon, which Rei knew from his previous life, was contributed by the games.
The Pokemon anime can only be called a marketing tool to attract traffic. What supports its IP value of 100 billion dollars is the tens of millions in sales for each new Pokemon game released over the decades.
In this Japan, the same was true for the Big Three. Once the revenue data was announced after the games were launched for the first month, the market IP value of the three major anime soared.
That is to say, Shirogane Animation isn't listed. If Rei had let it go public, his paper wealth would likely have skyrocketed again.
Compared to giving up a share of the copyright for the IPs of the works under his command in exchange for paper wealth he couldn't use at all, Rei would not do such a thing. He has no interest in playing with finance. He has already earned enough money to spend for ten lifetimes. He wouldn't refuse to earn more, but he won't make earning money or raising his ranking on the Japan's rich list his primary pursuit.
Being a steady anime creator, a Tokyo landlord, an ACGN game boss, bringing the works he loved in his previous life to Japan, letting a group of ACGN fans in Japan experience the joy he felt back then. That was enough. He had no interest in interacting with those people in the financial and capital circles.
So this month, no fewer than ten waves of people from the capital circles came to the Shirogane Animation headquarters to find Misaki, excitedly informing her that they had an "excellent money-making cooperation plan." Without exception, they were all turned away, dismissed by Misaki on the grounds that Rei was in seclusion at home conceiving a new work.
"An excellent money-making plan?" Rei couldn't help but laugh when he heard Misaki say this. "What else could the plan be? It's just the same old tricks."
What else could the plan be?
The way those ACGN mobile game manufacturers in his previous life frantically raked in money and then let their works fall into ruin. These people surely had similar schemes.
Rei didn't even want to know more about it.
"Tall trees attract the wind." Misaki said in a soft voice. "Before, we were just operating the IPs and selling merchandise. The profit margin was high, but it wasn't this exaggerated. But the game performance of the Big Three has exceeded the market's imagination, and its revenue data is still rising."
"Don't worry, we've been in the Tokyo anime circle for over a decade. We're not without a background. At least I'm on very good terms with the Tokyo municipal government now. Normal competition is beyond reproach, but if someone wants to play tricks." Rei smiled.
Nowadays, in the global anime industry, from merchandise manufacturing, distribution, the television industry, the animation and manga industries, to the game industry, countless people are making a living on the Shirogane IP chain. If someone is truly envious and engages in unfair competition against Rei, they won't just be fighting Shirogane Animation. They'll be fighting a massive interest group across the entire world's anime circle.
After Rei finished speaking, he looked at the report data in his hand.
This world's Japan is simple. The ACGN mobile game market has just started, and there isn't a work like Honor of Kings that has already seized a large chunk of the market share as its own territory.
This also meant that after the three Big Three ACGN mobile games were launched, their market performance was even significantly higher than in the Japan of his previous life.
The market is only so big anyway. Without decent competitors, Rei's works can take a larger share.
The ceiling for ACGN mobile games is very obvious, though.
It's enough.
Rei doesn't just rely on the three Big Three works to eat for a lifetime.
In future plans, there's Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Gundam, EVA, Pokemon.
The auto-chess game TFT Mobile, adapted from Arcane, has been online in Japan for several years now.
Then, using Arcane and TFT Mobile as entry points, it's not impossible to bring the League Universe to Japan and release the LoL Mobile game there in the future.
Rei has too many IP works that can stir up trouble in the game market.
Games are very profitable, but interesting stories can move Rei, while games cannot. So he is still more willing to focus his energy on the anime industry and do the work he loves more.
"I'm very confused now. I completely can't imagine what kind of monster our company will grow into ten years from now." Misaki said to Rei, speaking her heart without hiding anything.
She wasn't stupid. She knew that the Big Three games would likely grow to a certain level in the next two or three years, and Rei. Could still create an unknown number of IPs in the future that would be comparable to the Big Three.
"There's nothing to be confused about." Rei laughed. "It's nothing more than earning more money and then becoming a bit more famous. Our lives won't change."
"During festivals, it will still be the whole family together."
Misaki looked at Rei and only let out a soft breath after a long time.
"You really haven't changed at all. Even now that you're successful and worth trillions, your mindset is exactly the same as when I first met you when you were sixteen."
"It's all the same." Rei said. "Misaki, you're still working in your favorite anime industry. Miyu is still drawing her favorite manga. I can even hear her proud laughter in her sleep at night when she dreams that her ranking has surpassed mine. No one has changed."
Summer ended, and time entered autumn.
The popularity of the Big Three mobile games, in turn, fed back into the popularity of the anime and manga.
The mobile game's plot is an expansion of the original manga. For example, in One Piece, there will be plots for other sea routes in the Grand Line besides the one Luffy and the others sail on. If the game's plot progresses to the later stages, players can assemble with Luffy's crew at the Sabaody Archipelago, and the Worst Generation will also include a character controlled by the player as one of them.
In the Naruto mobile game, besides Konoha, other Ninja Nations can also have exploration plots.
These side depictions made many newbie game players very interested in the original plot, so purchasing the Big Three original manga and anime discs to catch up on the series is only natural.
The advantage of long-running manga is reflected here.
The peak popularity of the three works, Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece, in the Japan dimension never surpassed Demon Slayer, and the average sales per volume of the manga were even significantly lower than Demon Slayer.
In terms of commercial value, One Piece already shows signs of surpassing it, Naruto is very close, and even if Bleach isn't as good, it hasn't fallen behind too much.
After the Demon Slayer mobile game was released, its popularity was far less than that of the Big Three. This is the gap between ongoing works and completed works in this regard.
By the end of the year, when the annual meeting bonuses for Shirogane Animation and Illumination Animation were distributed, because the company's earnings this year greatly exceeded expectations, even the worst-performing employees were given bonuses equivalent to more than a full year's salary.
As the company's earnings went up, the employees' salary levels also had to be raised. For large IPs of this level, even if the inspiration and plot scripts provided by Rei are the core of the core, without the support of this group of top talents in the Japan's anime and game industries, achieving the current scale would be a pipe dream. If Rei were stingy, there are plenty of anime and game production companies in Japan ready with money to poach people.
The end of the year passed, and the New Year arrived. In February, the Weathering With You anime movie was released during the new year holiday slot, raking in 260 billion yen in total box office in one month, ranking second in this year's new year holiday box office.
At the same time, the Bleach anime plot also entered the true late stage of the work.
In the Fake Karakura Town decisive battle, the strongest Soul Reaper, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai, was heavily wounded and unable to fight after being ambushed by Aizen using despicable means.
The battles between the other Espada and the Captain-level characters entered a fever pitch.
After this plot was broadcast, it encountered quite a bit of controversy among fans.
The plot of Old Man Yamamoto brutalizing Aizen that everyone had been looking forward to for several years, it's just gone like that?
The strongest Soul Reaper of the Soul Society that was hyped for so long before the fight, is that it?
Can a Soul Reaper who can be ambushed by small fry until they can't fight again be called the strongest in the Soul Society?
The so-called strongest means that conspiracies and tricks are useless against me. In a head-on confrontation, you're just a little brother. That's the real strongest.
A large number of Bleach anime fans must have resentment in their hearts.
Rei, who kept a close eye on the online reputation of the works under his command, also sighed in his heart.
There was no way around it.
If Bleach's later plot could have been handled a bit better, among the three Big Three works, it might not be the eternal third place.
The later plot of the Aizen arc was too rushed, and Old Man Yamamoto went offline in a bizarre way.
After Aizen obtained the Hogyoku and his true power, an intelligence-lowering aura mysteriously appeared. Despite being a master of the low-profile path and conspiracy before, he suddenly felt invincible and started being arrogant without any pretense.
Ichigo's power-up was also mysterious, and the battle with Aizen was far too plot-driven, appearing as a total stomp.
These problems are negligible compared to the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, though.
Rei then thought that compared to the bunch of outrageous manga endings in his memory, Bleach's small issues would pale in comparison to other popular works in the Japan anime circle.
Bleach just had its power-level logic break down in the later stages.
Like how The Prince of Tennis turned into murderous tennis in the end.
Rei could only adjust some details in this Japan.
For example, in his previous life, he was most dissatisfied with Ichigo's duel against Aizen. A boss who had been built up for three hundred chapters was stomped like a dog on the side of the road by Ichigo with his cheats. Even if you want the villain to lose, he has to lose in a grand and spectacular way. The fights against Grimmjow and Ulquiorra lasted for dozens of episodes, but the fight against Aizen ended in just one episode. It wasn't satisfying at all.
The Japan version of the Aizen arc plot will increase the battle storyboards and scenes for Ichigo and Aizen. It doesn't matter if the plot logic has issues, but at least for a battle manga, the fight scenes must be satisfying for the audience.
"After the Aizen arc. It's the final arc of Bleach, the Thousand-Year Blood War arc." Rei took a deep breath.
At this rate, the final day of Bleach will be around this time next year.
And then.
Rei looked at the planning proposal on his desk.
The anime production and full IP development plan for Dragon Ball.
The long-running anime that will take over after Bleach ends is Dragon Ball.
This work needs no introduction. In terms of commercial value, it was overtaken in Rei's previous life by One Piece, which had been serialized for nearly thirty years.
In terms of influence in the anime field and its contribution to the development of the anime industry, it is in a league of its own.
Before Dragon Ball, Japan anime could only be popular in the Asian region and wasn't popular in Western countries at all.
Dragon Ball was the first foundational work that made Japan anime popular all over the world.
A few days later, Shirogane Animation issued an announcement to a crowd of Bleach fans worldwide.
Bleach will enter its final chapter, the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, after the Aizen arc ends.
And after Bleach ends, the new long-running Shirogane anime to replace it is a work called Dragon Ball.
This news swept through the global anime circle in less than a day.
Countless Bleach fans were dazed.
Bleach's recent plot indeed has some small issues with blurred power levels, but compared to its peak 100-point brilliance, it has only slipped to an 80-point level. How could it end like this?
With so much revenue from the mobile game every month, plus the sales of other merchandise, is Shirogane really prepared to let it end within a year?
"I don't believe it, I can't accept it."
"Even though I've also been bashing Bleach's recent plot online, I definitely didn't want it to end. I just wanted it to get better."
"Is Shirogane-sensei really this willful after achieving financial freedom? Even a cash cow work like this is ending?"
"Is it a smoke screen? I don't believe it's ending like this."
"To be fair, if Aizen is defeated, what else is there to see in this anime? Everything that needs to be explained about the world-building has been made clear."
"It's still that the initial world-building framework was too small. If it were like Naruto, with a bunch of Ninja Nations at war, there would be more plot to expand on."
"Give it a rest. Naruto isn't doing much better right now. Sai's plotline finally ended, letting Sasuke appear and even form that Team Taka. It would have been better if a replacement character like Sai hadn't existed from the start."
"Only One Piece has been interesting from start to finish. Even Shirogane-sensei can't make a long-running manga maintain its peak level of interest forever."
"One Piece is having problems now too. In the Water 7 arc, Usopp and Luffy are having a conflict over buying a ship, and it's even gotten to the point where he's making a fuss about leaving the crew. Is it necessary for a battle manga to have such plots? Does it feel like Shirogane-sensei's thinking has changed in recent years for this to happen?"
"I support Usopp. What's wrong with the Going Merry? Just because it's a bit damaged, we have to abandon the ship? How can that be okay?"
"You can't go to sea in a ship that's already falling apart and can't be fixed, right?"
"Then what can I say? In One Piece, there was Mr. 3 with the Wax-Wax Fruit ability early on, and later there were all sorts of strange Devil Fruit users. If Luffy really wanted to fix a ship, ordinary people might not be able to, but Devil Fruit users couldn't? If he really wanted to look, he could find someone who could fix the ship. Across the battles, Luffy's firm will is constantly portrayed, yet when deciding whether to give up the Going Merry and Usopp, he isn't persistent at all and abandons his partner."
"Don't try to apply absolute real-world logic to an anime work too much. I believe that among the hundreds of millions of One Piece fans worldwide, no one wants to watch Luffy padding for seven or eight chapters on a plot about finding someone to fix a ship."
"Even putting those issues aside, don't you think the Water 7 arc is too mediocre? Before entering the Water 7 arc, the whole crew was crushed by Aokiji, and after being in Water 7 for so long, it's unclear what the main line is or who the boss is. The whole crew is just wandering around the city. It's a bit too sluggish."
"You Big Three fans are arguing again. Seriously, does no one care about Shirogane-sensei's next year's new work, the Dragon Ball anime?"
Because of the Bleach anime's ending announcement, it also triggered a global fan critique of some shortcomings in the three works.
At this time, in the global anime circle, few people would want to pay attention to the anime called Dragon Ball that debuted alongside the Bleach ending announcement.
Hearing the name makes many people's first impression that this work will be boring.
Industry professionals sensed something was wrong from Shirogane Animation's actions, though.
A work preview a year in advance.
Also, why have the various partners under Shirogane Animation already started promotional activities globally for the Dragon Ball anime that will start broadcasting next year?
Everyone is too familiar with this situation.
Works that Shirogane believes have the potential to become super popular often have similar moves from Shirogane before they are broadcast, preparing for a rainy day.
For Dragon Ball, Shirogane is making this kind of investment even though it's still a year away from the anime broadcast.
I always feel like there's something very unusual about this work.