After one media outlet declared Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day the "animation that moved all of Neon," others quickly followed suit.
Even when TV stations invited the voice actors of Anohana to participate in variety shows, they prefixed the animation's title with the phrase "the animation that moved all of Neon."
With media hype and audience approval, the idea that Anohana "moved all of Neon" gradually took root.
Even in major video stores, the packaging of Anohana animation discs would feature the slogan "the animation that moved all of Neon."
However, since discs are quite expensive, the sales were primarily driven by the dedication of fans.
Of course, some people bought the animation to catch up after hearing the "moved all of Neon" slogan, or those who had always known about it but lacked the time to watch it until the discs were released. But this group was relatively small.
The majority were those who had already seen the animation and felt it was worth collecting, buying a set for their collection. Others might have purchased it to recommend to others, or perhaps to ensure they could rewatch it in the future, fearing it might become unavailable.
"One for the collection, one for evangelism, and one for backup"—it wasn't just a saying.
Even with a slogan like "Moving All of Neon," it would be difficult to significantly increase sales in such a situation.
Fortunately, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day didn't need such tactics.
The animation itself had high collectible value. Lin Zhiyan had accumulated countless fans through his successive works, including the previous phenomenon-level Puella Magi Madoka Magica. This resulted in a fan base with far greater enthusiasm than the original version in the other timeline.
The result: by Monday of the second week, the first volume's sales were tallied at 29,938—nearly 30,000.
In the other timeline, the original version of Anohana had only achieved an average cumulative sales of just over 31,000 for its initial release. Lin Zhiyan's version easily surpassed the original's sales.
While the sales of subsequent volumes remained uncertain, based on past experience, the initial release was expected to exceed 40,000, with total cumulative average sales reaching around 50,000.
Although the original Anohana was hailed as a masterpiece by countless fans, upon closer examination, it contained numerous plot holes. However, its delicate emotional expression led most people to overlook these flaws.
Lin Zhiyan's version of Anohana optimized the original's bugs and improved the characters, lighting, and backgrounds, making it more visually comfortable for viewers and likely increasing fans' desire to purchase the Blu-ray.
In April 2008, the most popular animation was Macross Frontier. However, this wasn't a late-night slot anime, and its theme was completely different from Anohana. Their target audiences rarely overlapped, so they posed little competition. With no other strong contenders in the market, this situation was also favorable for Anohana's Blu-ray sales.
Regardless, the nearly 30,000 first-week sales were still impressive. This figure once again demonstrated Anohana's immense popularity and Lin Zhiyan's extraordinary influence in the TV animation industry.
While these sales fell far short of the 2006 hit Puella Magi Madoka Magica, no one could claim Anohana was a commercial failure with such figures.
Far from being a failure, it was more accurate to say that the legend Lin Zhiyan had created was still continuing.
When the sales figures were released, industry insiders who had long recognized Lin Zhiyan's prowess couldn't help but marvel anew:
"Another animation that's a massive hit! And they're all original works. How can he make every single one so successful? Is this guy cheating?"
"Back when he made [ Code Geass ], people said if he kept insisting on original animation, he'd eventually fail. Who could have guessed that [ Code Geass ] wouldn't be his downfall? Nor [ Gurren Lagann ], nor [ Puella Magi Madoka Magica ]... and now, not even [ Anohana ]."
"It's ridiculous. Other animation directors might never achieve such success in their entire careers, yet he does it with every single project. He's just too damn good."
"They called him the ultimate evil of humanity, yet so many people still support his anime. What a joke! In the end, we're the ones left heartbroken."
"Give it a few more years, and I bet at least a third of the top twenty animation sales charts will be dominated by him alone."
"Comparing yourself to him is just asking for misery. I used to scoff at the idea of a natural-born animation prodigy, but now I can't deny it anymore."
"And the worst part is he's still so young! He could easily keep making anime for another thirty years. It's just absurd!"
Given the already high pre-order numbers for the animation discs, Lin Zhiyan wasn't particularly surprised by the sales figures. He just hadn't expected them to surpass the original version by such a margin.
The previous animation, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, had been an overwhelming success, with average cumulative sales of over 110,000 units for the initial release. Combined with the earlier Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, which had achieved cumulative average sales of 60,000 to 70,000 units across its initial and later releases, even if Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day only sold 40,000 to 50,000 units, it wouldn't have been enough to excite Lin Zhiyan.
Still, being able to achieve another massive hit, surpass the original, and continue the legend was a source of great joy.
Along with his joy came an involuntary sigh of relief.
The previous animation, Puella Magi Madoka Madoka Magica, had achieved such terrifyingly high results in every aspect that he had been somewhat worried about Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. He feared that if its performance fell short, it would invite ridicule from the public.
Now that the animation had concluded, with both its popularity and critical acclaim solid, and sales exceeding expectations, he figured no one would criticize him anymore—except for those who accused him of traumatizing viewers and using deceptive marketing tactics.
There was also a special concert to be held, but that was considered a way to give back to the fans, a form of fan appreciation, and wouldn't attract any negative attention. The real concern was the next animation project.
In the next one or two years, the company had a large number of new animation projects lined up, including A Certain Magical Index, Sword Art Online, Psycho-Pass, Your Lie in April, and K-On!. In January 2009, there would also be a second season of Natsume's Book of Friends. After The Garden of Sinners was completed, they would also produce Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.
The remaining project was A Certain Scientific Railgun, a spin-off of A Certain Magical Index.
With so many projects, except for K-On!, they were all adaptations or original works that, while critically acclaimed, hadn't achieved massive popularity. This meant none of them were truly suitable for Lin Zhiyan to personally supervise.
Choosing which animation to personally supervise was proving to be a difficult decision.
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