In a conference room, a meeting for Gundam SEED was underway.
One of the producers slammed his hand on the table, visibly annoyed. "That's despicable! Lin Zhiyan is despicable!"
"Yeah, he actually released the DVD before us!" another producer chimed in, equally disgruntled.
Their Gundam SEED, though it had aired starting in October 2002, was a half-year series, so its DVD release was planned for a later date—March 28th, according to their schedule.
However, before they could even announce their release date, L.S. Production had already announced the DVD release for Lelouch Season 2—March 21st, a full week ahead of their planned release.
Both anime had similar themes and were competing in the same market. During their TV broadcasts, the situation had been manageable. Though airing on the same day, they were in different time slots—one during primetime in the evening, the other in the late-night slot at 11 PM—so viewers could watch both without conflict.
The situation in the DVD market was different. A single DVD cost nearly 10,000 yen. For ordinary office workers, their monthly salary was typically around 200,000 to 300,000 yen. For students who didn't receive pocket money from their families and relied on part-time jobs after school to earn spending money, they could usually only make a few tens of thousands of yen a month.
Under these circumstances, excluding reasons like catching up on missed episodes, buying a single DVD meant the viewer truly loved the animation.
Buying a single DVD was already a significant expense. Unless they were die-hard fans or came from wealthy families, most people wouldn't buy two DVDs.
Although the fans of Gundam SEED and Lelouch had been locked in a bitter online war for months, with the conflict still ongoing, the number of people who enjoyed both series was actually greater.
If Lelouch Season 2's DVD had been released a week earlier than Gundam SEED's, it's likely that many fans who bought Lelouch's DVD would have either run out of money or been unwilling to spend more on Gundam SEED's DVD.
Failing to suppress Lelouch earlier was already a loss for them. If this DVD's sales far lagged behind Lelouch Season 2, Gundam SEED's popularity would likely be further eroded by Lelouch.
In that case, Gundam SEED would remain in the shadow of Lelouch until Season 2 of Lelouch concluded.
Despicable! Absolutely despicable!
Of course, there were also more rational voices:
"That Lin Zhiyan, he couldn't possibly know the exact release date of our Gundam SEED DVD. Besides, Lelouch is a half-year series. Based on the release patterns of his previous animations, it's about time for a DVD release. It probably wasn't intentional, right?"
This reasonable suggestion was immediately countered:
"How could it not be intentional? It's too much of a coincidence!"
"I suspect someone leaked the information somewhere."
"Just because they released the previous anime at this time doesn't mean they have to do the same this time. If it weren't for our Gundam SEED DVD release schedule, they might have even released theirs in early April."
"Exactly! That guy is a shameless scoundrel—there's no doubt about it."
After the heated debate, the group finally began discussing their countermeasures.
"We definitely can't stick to the original March 28th release date. We'd be at a huge disadvantage."
"Let's move it up, but we need to keep the pre-order channel open. It might still be impossible to beat their Lelouch DVD release."
"What's the earliest we can release it?"
"Probably March 21st, give or take."
"March 21st? That's the same day as their Lelouch release!"
"Competing head-to-head... Do you think we can win?"
"I don't know, but releasing a week later would be far worse. Even if we don't win, at least we won't let their Lelouch DVD dominate the market."
"Makes sense."
L.S. Production, President's Office.
When Lin Zhiyan learned that the Gundam SEED team had also set their DVD release date for March 21st, he nearly choked on his own blood.
He wanted to curse out loud!
Gundam SEED's original DVD release date was March 28th, a fact he was completely unaware of. Although he had watched the anime in another timeline, he had never bought the DVD, and even if he had, he couldn't possibly remember the exact release date.
His memory ability only applied to anime, not every detail related to it.
Setting the release date for March 21st was strategic. He needed to announce the DVD during the animation's peak popularity, and that was the earliest possible release date that aligned with this goal.
Ultimately, all he needed to ensure was that Gundam SEED wouldn't ambush him. He couldn't be bothered with their DVD release schedule.
I never imagined they would choose to release their DVD on the same day as Lelouch.
"This is deliberate! This has to be deliberate!" Lin Zhiyan couldn't help but click his tongue.
The news was first announced by L.S., and Gundam SEED followed closely after. He refused to believe it was a coincidence.
If they had simply staggered the release dates by a week or two, it would have benefited both parties. Lelouch might have gotten an advantage with its first volume, but the second volume would have struggled. After all, Gundam SEED's first volume would inevitably release before Lelouch's second, no matter what.
Releasing on the same day put both series' fanbases to the test, pitting their devotion and purchasing power against each other. It was highly likely that both would suffer losses.
Unfortunately, now that Gundam SEED's DVD release date had been announced, convincing them to change it seemed impossible. Unless offered substantial incentives, they would likely refuse to budge.
And even if it were Lin Zhiyan himself being asked to change the release date and back down, he wouldn't agree either
He had no choice but to push through.
As it turned out, Lin Zhiyan's prediction was spot-on.
When March 21st arrived and the first volumes of both anime series were released on DVD, fans who loved both shows found themselves in a difficult dilemma.
The result? In the first three days, Lelouch season 2 volume 1 sold just 27,681 copies, while Gundam SEED season 2 volume 1 sold slightly more at 28,023 copies—a negligible difference.
These numbers only represented the first three days, and sales would continue to climb. Both would undoubtedly surpass 30,000 copies, and likely even reach 40,000. Still, given the immense popularity and high viewership of both series, neither breaking 30,000 copies in its first week meant it was a lose-lose situation for both.
There was no one to argue with about this. Lin Zhiyan could only repeatedly reassure himself that these sales figures were still excellent—achievements most anime could only dream of.
After this mental pep talk, he refocused his attention on the day-to-day work of animation production.
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