A few days later, the fifth chapter of To the Moon was released in the latest issue of the magazine, appearing before the eyes of light novel fans across Japan. In this chapter, the protagonists finally managed to navigate Johnny's memories back to his adolescent years. It featured Johnny and River's very first movie date. However, Johnny did not actually see River inside the theater. He eventually found her standing by the exit after the film had ended, even though she had been in the same room the entire time.
When he asked her about it, River's answer was simple. She believed that as long as they were in the same theater watching the same movie, they were watching it together, even if one sat in the first row and the other in the last. This was the unique logic of River's mind; as someone on the autism spectrum, her way of thinking differed fundamentally from the norm.
During their student days, Johnny had been captivated by River from the moment he first saw her. To him, she was special, eccentric, and cool, a girl with an interesting soul who refused to follow the crowd. However, he did not truly understand her heart or who she was at that time.
He mistook the symptoms of her condition for "cool independence," and he was drawn to that surface-level image, which spurred his desire to date her. This provided the context for the previous chapter's revelation.
The reason Johnny had approached River in his youth. The truth behind his motivation was what triggered the change in River's mental state, leading to her obsessive folding of paper rabbits and her relentless questioning of the elderly Johnny regarding the specific details of those rabbits.
Just as the two protagonists prepared to dive deeper into Johnny's subconscious, the fifth chapter ended with a shocking development. Johnny's memories hit a total dead end. Even with the advanced memory machine, they could no longer explore the years before his early youth.
End of Chapter Five.
At this point, the initial phase of foreshadowing and world-building for To the Moon had concluded. The story from here on out would focus on unraveling the true past of Johnny and River.
Haruto opened his Panda Music account to check the backend data. The song For River, which had been uploaded just a few days ago, had about a thousand listeners and roughly two hundred paid downloads.
For a music account with zero promotion, these numbers were perfectly normal. However, the high ratings and encouraging comments left by those few paying users gave him a sense of peace.
"It seems that regardless of the world, people's taste in quality remains the same," he thought.
Haruto closed the music app and spent the next half hour browsing the official Ascent of New Gods forums and the anime forums, keeping an eye on the latest fan discussions. Once he felt he had a good grasp of the situation, he stood up and headed toward Yukino's apartment.
Since the Ascent of New Gods magazine required a synchronized nationwide release, manuscripts had to be submitted to Tokyo about twenty days in advance to allow for printing and distribution. Today was the deadline for Haruto to hand over chapter eight of To the Moon to Yukino.
He had visited Yukino's complex so many times that he could find it in his sleep. She was so comfortable with both him and Reina that she had not even bothered to lock her door.
Upon entering, he saw Yukino reclining on the sofa in a black dress, her long legs draped over the cushions as she carefully read through Reina's latest draft.
Yukino's beautiful face shifted through a spectrum of emotions, tension, sorrow, and visible distress. She was clearly immersed in the story. Finally, she closed the manuscript.
"What do you think? Does it need more revisions?" Reina asked, her eyes fixed nervously on Yukino. She was wearing her usual school uniform, which, though simple, gave her an air of refined purity.
"There is no need. It's excellent. Based on what I've read so far, it's far superior to your previous work, Star Sea. Your growth is honestly terrifying. But I suppose that's how it goes for the legendary authors in Japan. It only takes two or three years from their debut to become nationwide sensations."
"People with true talent absorb experience so quickly that they reach their peak almost immediately. People without talent, like most regional authors in Minamijo, can write for twenty years and never make it out of the prefecture," Yukino said, standing up to give Reina an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.
"Ahem," Haruto coughed twice to announce his presence.
"You're here?" Both women finally noticed Haruto, who had been standing at the door for two minutes.
Reina looked curiously at the manuscript Haruto was handing to Yukino. She knew that if To the Moon was going to have a major plot twist, the groundwork for it would have to start appearing in chapter eight or nine.
Yukino took the manuscript and looked surprised when she saw the illustration Haruto had included with it. "An illustration?"
"I want it to be included in this issue's serialization, appearing alongside the text of chapter eight," Haruto explained.
While Yukino was not the direct editor for the competition, Crimson Maple Literature had to perform an internal review before sending anything to Tokyo to ensure no inappropriate content was being published under their name.
Yukino started reading the eighth chapter of To the Moon with a relaxed expression, but as she continued, her eyes gradually widened.
She quickly opened the illustration Haruto had provided, looking back and forth between the text and the image.
"To the moon..."
"The rabbits..."
"So... that's what it means."
Yukino looked up, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared at Haruto with a look of utter disbelief. "Haruto, how can a high school student come up with a plot like this? You're trying to kill your fans with sadness, aren't you?"
"It just came to me naturally," Haruto replied.
"W-what's wrong?" Reina asked, her curiosity piqued by Yukino's reaction. She wanted to snatch the manuscript from Yukino's hands and read it for herself. Why was Yukino acting like this? This reaction was even more extreme than when she had read the final chapter of Anohana.
"Is there a problem with this chapter?" Reina asked softly.
Yukino looked at the manuscript and the illustration in her hands and remained silent for a long time. "You'll find out when the magazine is released," she finally said.
"And Reina... your illustration is perfect. It's the soul of the chapter. Once this is out, the readers are going to be absolutely destroyed," Yukino added, her voice trailing off as she looked at the drawing and thought about the story.
---
In late February, the eighth and ninth episodes of the Anohana anime aired back-to-back. The plot focused on Menma's wish to set off fireworks with everyone and the Super Peace Busters coming together to make it happen.
Throughout the process, the characters were forced to reflect on their pasts and confront the ugliness hidden within their hearts. The novel had been moving enough on its own, but the anime adaptation, with its stunning visuals, haunting music, and the powerful performances of the voice actors, elevated the story to a whole new level.
The ratings for the show, which had started at a modest 1%, climbed steadily to 2.03% by episode nine. The show's popularity rank among the spring releases surged all the way to seventh place.
One could argue that Anohana wasn't a "megahit" yet, but it was impossible to say its performance was anything short of impressive.
An anime based on a regional Minamijo novel, and airing on a station like Tokyo TV7 without massive corporate backing had managed to build a loyal audience. After nine weeks, it boasted a rating of 9.2 on major review sites and held the seventh spot in the seasonal rankings.
On the AniSphere forums,
"I really didn't expect this show to be the dark horse of the season."
"At first, I thought Anohana was just some generic, boring ghost-girl-slice-of-life show. But episode nine last night actually made me cry."
"Honestly, the plot has been pretty quiet from start to finish, but the way it builds up makes you fall in love with Menma without even realizing it. I really wish my future wife could be like her."
"Keep dreaming. Menma is my wife."
"Can any of the novel fans tell me how this ends? Is it a happy ending?"
"You could just buy the two volumes and find out for yourself, couldn't you?"
"Hehe, it's very 'healing,' I promise."
"Don't listen to those two. The ending of the novel is heart-wrenching."
"Hey, stop trying to confuse the newcomers! Do you think there aren't any novel fans on this forum? The ending isn't 'sad' in a bad way. It's a happy ending! Everyone finds inner peace and fulfills Menma's wish."
"Damn it, you novel readers are so annoying. I have no idea which one of you is telling the truth. Fine, I'm just going to the bookstore to buy the books myself."
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