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The reason Haruto had decided to split the home video release of the Madoka Magica movie into two separate volumes, aside from extending the product's lifecycle and allowing the series' influence to ferment, was rooted in a hard logistical reality.
The manufacturing capacity of his partners was utterly insufficient.
The Blu-ray volumes of the original television series, despite containing content that had already aired for free, were moving hundreds of thousands of units a week. How could the factory lines possibly keep up with the demand for The Rebellion Story, a sequel featuring entirely new footage?
Despite Haruto and his staff working around the clock to coordinate with the manufacturers, the inevitable happened. Within a mere six hours of hitting the shelves, The Rebellion Story: Volume 1 was officially sold out nationwide.
At that moment, the portion of the fanbase that had planned to "watch later" was left in a state of shock.
"What is happening? Does anyone in Tokyo know where I can find a physical copy of Rebellion? I've checked seven different shops and they are all completely cleaned out."
"Where can I buy a Madoka Blu-ray? This is agonizing! I only hesitated for the morning. How can twenty thousand units disappear that fast? I thought the first shipment was supposed to be massive!"
"Could this be another one of those Warrior of Love psychological games? Is he engaging in hunger marketing? Making it look like there's no stock just to trigger a buying frenzy among the fans while the warehouses are actually full?"
"You think you're so clever, don't you? Well, I'm the owner of a Blu-ray shop, and I can tell you the truth. I've been begging my distributor for more stock, but the second shipment won't even arrive until tomorrow afternoon."
"Haru-Yuki Animation is a tiny startup, and their partners are small-to-mid-sized manufacturers. Those factories have orders from other anime and game studios too."
"They can't just stop production on everything else and face breach-of-contract lawsuits just for Madoka! So, if you want a copy, you'd better move fast. I won't be putting my next shipment on the shelves. I'm advertising here in the group. Limited Editions are marked up three times the retail price, and Standard Editions are double. Pick up in-store or pay for express shipping. First come, first served."
"A res... a reseller? A scalper?"
"Call it what you want. But look at the facts. Two hundred thousand copies gone in half a day. We 'shrewd businessmen' know exactly what that means. I can tell you right now that for the next two weeks, you won't find a copy of Madoka anywhere in the country."
"I'm glad I had the foresight to see this coming. When I saw the line outside the shop this morning, I knew there wouldn't be enough to go around, so I grabbed five extra copies. I'm not a monster, so I'll let them go for only double the price. Hand-delivery available in the Tokyo area for a small fee. DM me if interested..."
The Rebellion Story had sold out across Japan by noon; by the afternoon, the internet was already crawling with scalpers and opportunistic resellers. Some were regular fans who saw the chaos and decided to turn a quick profit, while others were professionals who had anticipated this exact scenario a month ago and had conspired with distributors to hoard the supply.
This development didn't just stun the millions of Madoka Magica fans across the nation. It left Haruto himself staring at the reports in total bewilderment.
"What is this? How did we end up with a nationwide scalping epidemic?" Haruto asked, his voice tinged with genuine frustration.
"There's nothing we can do, Chairman. Our partner's production ceiling and distribution channels simply aren't strong enough," the head of the operations department explained with an embarrassed shrug. "When the market goes into a deficit, the scalpers appear like vultures. We've already pushed the manufacturer to their absolute limit. They've promised that as long as they aren't in breach of their other contracts, every spare machine is dedicated to Madoka."
Haruto listened to the explanation, his expression grim. He didn't blame his staff, but the situation rankled him.
Seeing a product he priced at 6,900 yen being flipped for nearly 20,000 yen was physically painful. It was more frustrating than losing money from his own pocket.
Worst of all, he wasn't seeing a single yen of that marked-up profit, yet the fans who couldn't find stock were flooding his social media accounts to blast him for "predatory marketing tactics." He looked at the mountain of unread notifications on his forum app and decided to close it immediately. He didn't need to read them to know he was being called every name in the book.
Inside the office, Yukino and Reina, both of whom acted as directors and handled various high-level administrative tasks, were equally overwhelmed by the day's events.
"Haruto's work is... it's just too popular," Reina remarked, her voice a mix of pride and a lingering sense of melancholy.
She was thrilled for his success, but she couldn't help the slight pang in her heart. While Haruto's "alter ego" was setting the entire animation world on fire, her own new manga had its own path to climb.
"The man is a freak of nature," Yukino added. She had spent the last half-year in a state of numbness.
While Haruto controlled the creative quality of the shows, she was the one handling the external operations and dealing with corporate partners. She understood the market influence of Madoka better than anyone. The show's popularity this year had transcended the "dark horse" category. It was an ascension to godhood. In terms of commercial value and critical reputation, it had no peers.
"But he's standing in the spotlight now, and that brings its own kind of heat," Reina noted. "With Madoka Magica reaching these heights, the pressure on the studio's next project is going to be suffocating. According to Haruto's schedule, 7 Years From Now is set for the first half of next year, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is lurking somewhere behind it. No matter which one airs first, they are going to be scrutinized under a microscope."
After all, these would be the follow-up works from "The Warrior of Love." If they were anything less than legendary, the backlash in the industry would be tectonic.
Reina glanced at the closed door of the conference room.
Inside, Haruto was meeting with the mid-level managers, demanding an immediate solution to the Blu-ray supply crisis. She and Yukino exchanged a look.
Only now did they truly realise just how much Haruto had grown.
He was no longer the simple, carefree boy who would stay up late with them two years ago. He had become a titan.
---
The rest of the animation industry, meanwhile, had fallen into a silence.
Before the movie's launch, the "Big Three" studios had spent a fortune on internet trolls to smear the project, and while they suspected the smear campaign wouldn't be a total success, they never expected it to be this utterly irrelevant. If a cultural phenomenon could be derailed by a few negative comments, it wouldn't be a phenomenon in the first place.
But this was unprecedented. The sales data was still being compiled, but for a title to sell out nationwide in six hours, the numbers were clearly going to be historic.
As night fell over Japan, the discussion regarding the movie's plot finally began to ferment as the lucky fans who had secured a copy finished their first viewing.
Why did Homura's city turn into a Labyrinth?
How is Sayaka back from the dead?
How does Madoka have a physical form again?
What are the characters actually trying to achieve?
The first volume of The Rebellion Story had been a masterclass in suspense. It dug a dozen different narrative holes and didn't fill a single one. It forced the fans to once again suffer through the "Warrior of Love's" legendary ability to cut a story right at the peak of the tension.
But for the fans who couldn't find a copy, the situation was even more dire. They were forced to watch the internet explode with half-spoiler discussions, unable to participate, hearing only that the movie was peak.
For several days, the new autumn releases currently airing on television were completely ignored. A series that had technically finished months ago had reclaimed the center of attention.
If you were a fan of anime in Japan during that week, there was only one topic of conversation.
The mainstream media began reporting on the "Rebellion" mania.
[Preliminary reports suggest Volume 1 of "The Rebellion Story" has surpassed 400,000 units in its first three days.]
[Supply crisis: Rebellion Blu-rays are impossible to find at retail. Second-hand copies are selling for triple the original price on private auction sites.]
[This year's masterpiece: Rebellion exceeds even the wildest expectations with universal acclaim from the fanbase.]
[Madoka Magica shatters the 'Sequel Curse': The theatrical feature is currently outperforming the original series in user ratings.]
[The 'Big Three' in retreat: Home video sales for "Mechanical City," "Dragon's Secret Treasure," and "Throbbing Heart" continue to plummet as Madoka dominates the market share.]
[Haru-Yuki Animation issues an official statement against scalping, urging retailers to implement strict purchasing limits.]
[A Creator of Integrity: The 'Warrior of Love' chose the difficult path. Instead of a cheap cash grab, he delivered a masterpiece that elevates the entire franchise.]
[The Final Countdown: If the second volume maintains this level of quality, Madoka Magica will be remembered as the greatest theatrical conclusion of the decade.]