That night, tens of millions of Re:Zero anime fans, just like Souhei, remained slumped in front of their televisions long after the 8:30 broadcast had ended, their minds completely hollowed out.
A lot of couples had watched that episode together.
The girls cried their eyes out.
The boys cried even harder.
Some fans who had immersed themselves too deeply in the story slammed their fists onto their desks in frustration. A few even shattered their phone screens on the spot.
No one had expected that, on the eve of the release of Re:Zero's first BD volume, episode fourteen would hit them with a blow this devastating.
If one had to ask whether this was a good way to boost first-week BD sales...
Then the answer was probably yes.
Because episode thirteen had already made Rem suffer enough.
She had been impaled through the body by multiple blades.
That kind of death would have led to rapid blood loss. Cruel, yes, but at least not prolonged.
But episode fourteen?
That was on an entirely different level.
Not a single bone in her body was left intact. And yet, relying only on the strength of her head and what little life remained in her, she crawled all the way to the protagonist's side. With the last of her strength, she freed him from the chains restraining him. Then, enduring unbearable agony to the very end, she smiled and told Subaru Natsuki to go on living.
To not give up hope.
To survive.
Heh.
A great many anime fans felt as though their hearts had already died, gone cold and numb like a butcher's blade.
Before nine o'clock had even struck, furious viewers had already detonated the anime section of NatsuYume.
"Rem"
"Live on"
"Sora is not human"
"Analysis of the latest Re:Zero episode"
Those four trending topics occupied first, third, seventh, and tenth place on the site's hot search list.
Posts about Re:Zero sprang up through the anime section like bamboo shoots after the rain.
Tonight marked the first time that fans of Dragon's Breath were completely overwhelmed on NatsuYume by the sheer momentum and numbers of Re:Zero fans.
"Sora, get out here and say something! How the hell did you even come up with a plot like this? Drop your address. We just want to have a little discussion."
"There was no need for this! Rem could die in the second loop if she had to, but did you really have to make it this painful?"
"After the depressing disaster that was episode thirteen, I never thought we'd get an even more soul-crushing episode fourteen. There's no time to grieve, because next week's episode fifteen is probably going to hurt even more."
"Rem… Rem! You damned old thief Sora, you're not human!"
"But I have to admit it. This episode was genuinely incredible. Rem as a character has completely transcended."
"I don't want that kind of transcendence! I just want her to stop being tortured to death by that bastard Sora in every possible way. It hurts to watch."
"Think about it. Last cour, when Rem killed Subaru, public opinion of her was awful. How has it been less than two months, and now the whole of NatsuYume feels this way about her? It's unreal."
"Even so, that bastard Sora builds characters through this kind of plot. Just endure it, brothers. This despair is only temporary. In a few weeks - "
"Temporary? Based on the way this loop was handled, he might knife Rem in several more loops in the future. She could get killed by the plot like this several more times. And you want me to stay calm?"
"Now that you put it that way… where's my knife? I want to go have a face-to-face talk with Sora."
"I'll say only this: Kantoku Sora is insane. My tear threshold is pretty high, and even I couldn't hold it in. And the way Rem was portrayed in this episode was phenomenal. Also, that Petelgeuse - I have never hated a villain this much in my life. Which, from another angle, just proves how monstrously well-written he is."
"Keh keh keh… you mortals are truly slothful. It was only some blue-haired girl dying, and you hate me this much? I'm different. I watched the whole episode from Petelgeuse's point of view. Damn, it was amazing. I've never seen such a charismatic villain before."
"Hahaha, I didn't expect to find a kindred spirit here. I've never liked anime where the protagonist defeats evil. Why does evil always have to lose? Petelgeuse is incredible. He crushed that self-righteous Emilia, beat that useless and furious male lead Subaru into the ground, and casually slaughtered the lovestruck Rem. This episode was pure bliss. In all my years of watching anime, this is the first time I've seen the so-called protagonist side get absolutely dominated by the villain."
"My brain trembles. Petelgeuse is definitely the best villain in Japanese anime this year. Shame about the Bowel Hunter - I started watching this series because of her, but the writer still hasn't given her another scene. Still, Petelgeuse more than makes up for it. What endless charisma. I hope next week's episode shows him continuing to massacre Emilia."
"You inhuman freaks, get the hell out. This is a Re:Zero fan gathering, not a pervert symposium."
"Episode fourteen of Re:Zero really dragged out all kinds of monsters. But one thing's for sure - tonight the entire NatsuYume forum is flooded with discussions about this episode. As publicity for the BD release, this is about as good as it gets. After tonight, whether they've watched Re:Zero or not, most anime fans across Japan are going to have the name 'Rem' burned into their minds."
"The question is whether this kind of publicity is good or bad. Right now a bunch of Re:Zero fans are furious because of episode fourteen. Who knows? They might collectively boycott the BD tomorrow."
"No need to say more. I'm definitely not buying the BD tomorrow. I'll only buy it when that old thief Sora realizes he was wrong and lets Subaru avenge Rem."
"That's right. Let's all boycott tomorrow's Re:Zero BD and make that old thief Sora understand that anime is not supposed to be made like this. He's just an anime creator - he can't pile misfortune onto the characters just because he feels like it."
"Boycott it together. Everyone boycott it."
That night, Touga Kuze and Natsuyuki Shirasawa watched the riot among Re:Zero fans on NatsuYume from beginning to end, then exchanged a look.
Episode fourteen had made them both feel an immediate and very real sense of crisis.
The entire episode's plot, pacing, storyboarding, visuals - especially the seiyuu performances, which were so raw they made one's skin prickle - had all been too strong.
The two of them had actually been worried that once this episode aired, Re:Zero's popularity might surge even more dramatically.
What they hadn't expected was this.
"Feels like he may have smashed his own foot with a rock," Natsuyuki Shirasawa said with a faint smile at the corner of her lips, a heavy weight finally lifting from her heart.
Neither of them was the arrogant type.
One was a Kantoku who had clawed his way up from the bottom of the industry.
The other was a genius writer who had fought her way through the brutality of the light novel world.
Both of them had long since seen the enormous potential hidden within Re:Zero.
To put it plainly, the slight ratings lead held by Dragon's Breath meant very little against a phenomenon-level anime that had already broken past the 5% ratings mark. For a show like this, all it would take was one god-tier episode in a single week for the entire situation to reverse completely.
There were plenty of precedents for that.
In Sora's previous life, Japan had seen examples like episode nineteen of Demon Slayer, episode three of Madoka Magica, episode twenty-two of Steins;Gate, and Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.
The Japanese anime industry had never lacked cases like these.
Ordinary TV viewers watching tonight's episode would only feel that the emotional swings were intense and the plot unbearably depressing.
But when these two watched episode fourteen of Re:Zero, cold sweat had run down their backs.
They were terrified that this would become exactly that kind of legendary episode.
"At least for now, this episode has undeniably elevated several key characters in the hearts of Re:Zero fans," Touga Kuze said coldly, rubbing his chin. "But whether that translates into lasting momentum still depends on how the later plot unfolds."
"The reason fans can still endure such a suffocating story is because the premise of the series offers infinite possibilities through the protagonist's return by death. That possibility keeps dangling in front of them and holds them there. But if Sora mishandles what comes next, then this oppressive tone will absolutely backfire."
"Well, whether it backfires later or not," Natsuyuki Shirasawa said with a quiet chuckle, "it'll definitely bite into the sales chart for Re:Zero's first BD volume tomorrow."
At that thought, her mood eased even further.
It wasn't that she hated Sora.
But the two sides were the biggest rivals of the year, and seeing a competitor stumble at a moment like this naturally felt good.
Dragon's Breath's first BD volume had gone on sale on Monday, while Re:Zero's first volume would launch on Saturday.
There was fierce competition between the two even in the home media market.
Consumers only had so much money to spend. If all those angry fans refused to buy Re:Zero's BD, then a good number of them might very well put that money into Dragon's Breath instead.
Late at night, Sora sat in front of NatsuYume reading the comments insulting him until nearly two in the morning before finally feeling sleepy.
"Time for bed."
He had long been mentally prepared for what was coming.
After all, he knew he was going to be cursed out for at least another month.
As for tomorrow's first BD volume release...
At that thought, the corner of Sora's mouth curved slightly upward.
Episode fourteen had indeed given Rem fans a miserable viewing experience.
But there was no denying it.
The episode's shaping of Rem as a character had been an absolute success.
And Sora had expected the current situation from the very beginning.
The next morning, in the anime shopping districts of Japan's major cities, a group of people were already up at dawn.
The Dragon's Breath BD posters that had been put up just days ago were replaced overnight with posters for Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.
And under Sora's firm insistence from the start, the central character featured on every single one of those posters was the same person.
The blue-haired girl, Rem.
As for the male lead, Subaru Natsuki, he only appeared off to the side as a tiny supporting figure.
At eight in the morning, when the merchandise stores opened, the anime fans who had arrived early to buy Re:Zero BDs all froze.
Inside those shops, Rem posters had practically occupied everything.
As a manufacturer and distributor of merchandise, the Noriko family's animation division still had enough influence within the industry to push offline and online promotion at the highest standard available.
On the posters, the blue-haired girl smiled with a tenderness so soft it nearly melted fans' hearts on the spot.
But what shocked them even more was this -
In the most eye-catching parts of the stores, besides the first BD volume stacked high with Rem on the cover, there were also Rem mousepads, mini cushions, and even officially licensed full-color Rem T-shirts.
And right there, in a highly visible place, it was clearly written that these items were not for sale.
They were bonuses bundled with the purchase of Re:Zero's first BD volume.
The specific bonus item depended on whether the buyer chose the limited edition, collector's edition, or deluxe edition.
There was also a clearly stated rule:
These gifts would only be available during the first week of the first volume's release. Buy it later, and there would naturally be nothing extra included.
Bundled bonus sales.
The Re:Zero fans who had come out early to buy merchandise were stunned for a moment.
Then, after that brief shock, excitement surged up all at once.
When they picked up the first BD volume and read the product information inside, they found yet another entry listed.
The first BD volume would include the first chapter of the IF route's Pride arc, as well as a small Rem character design booklet.
On top of that, there would also be three beautifully illustrated Rem posters drawn by three well-known artists from the anime industry.
In the original version of Re:Zero, Rem's character settings contained far more material than what the anime had shown so far. Sora had gathered that information together early on, then asked several famous illustrators from Tokyo to create three character visuals for Rem based on it.
In truth, Sora had long guessed that by this point in the broadcast, the fans' emotions would be weighed down and that it might affect BD sales.
But if their gloomy mood had come from Rem, then naturally, the only one who could save it was Rem herself.
So the first Re:Zero anime BD volume had been directly bundled with Rem merchandise.
And those bonuses were only available during the first week of release.
Half an hour later, the news had already spread across the country to Re:Zero anime fans who were only just waking up.
The united front they had formed the previous night - swearing revenge on Sora and vowing not to buy the BD - quietly collapsed without a trace.
On the surface, they had said they wouldn't buy it.
But in reality, most of them had only intended to delay the purchase.
They had planned to wait during the first week, use the weak sales numbers to scare Sora a little, then buy it in the second or third week for their collection.
But if the first week of Re:Zero's BD release came with exclusive, non-retail bonus merch...
Only an idiot would wait.
A great many Re:Zero anime fans jumped out of bed immediately, didn't even bother washing their faces, grabbed their bags, hopped on their bicycles, and sped straight toward the nearest merchandise store.
Veteran anime fans in Japan all knew one thing.
Including cheap bonus merchandise with BD sales was not a strategy invented by Sora.
But that tactic often came with one very familiar problem.
If the anime wasn't popular, no one cared no matter what bonuses you included.
If it was a major hit...
Then the bonuses were often nowhere near enough.
On the surface, the official notice said that buying the first Re:Zero BD volume during its debut week would come with Rem merch.
But in reality?
In reality, once they were gone, they were gone.
The old anime crowd knew this too well.
Who knew how many sets of the bonus merch Yume Animation had actually prepared?
If they ran out on the third or fourth day after release, then late buyers would have nothing to do except stare helplessly.
And with Re:Zero's popularity, did anyone even need to ask?
If you went late, then it really would be gone.
Very quickly, before ten in the morning, long queues had already formed outside anime merchandise stores in Japan's major cities.
Before noon even arrived, fast-moving anime news outlets had already reported on it online.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Additionally, more chapters exclusive content are available on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ImmortalEmperor?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
- CHRONICLES OF THE ICE SOVEREIGN
-PLAYING ANIME LEGENDS
-THE OTHER WORLD'S ANIMATOR
Join now and help shape the future of the story while enjoying special rewards!