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Following the conclusion of the fan meeting, his statements regarding Cyberpunk 2077 and the teaser information for the Code Geass spread across the internet like wildfire. The mecha, in particular, caused a sensation. Although the giant robots only appeared for a few brief moments, they served as a complete game-changer for the anime community.
"Good grief! I came for the 2077 movie news, but I didn't expect Haruto to drop something that incredibly cool during the presentation."
"Was it called a 'Mecha'? Those giant robots that showed up in the Code Geass teaser?"
"That was so badass!"
"Guys, I'm a total idiot. I posted last month saying Haruto's new project would flop because of that name, 'Lelouch of the Rebellion.' I take it all back now."
"I wonder why he didn't just name it 'Flying Combat Mecha' or something equally flashy. 'Lelouch of the Rebellion' is honestly such a confusing title."
"To be fair, if he hadn't released that PV ahead of time, I probably never would have given an anime with a title like that a second look."
"The scenes in the teaser were clearly a war, right? Does this mean the anime is going to be a military drama?"
"I don't get it. I don't want to stay in this year for another second. I just want it to be next April already!"
"When the figures for those mecha come out, I'm going to buy every single one of them."
"I can already see the merchandise market for this anime exploding. Compared to buying those Soul Gems from Madoka Magica, these robot figures are what real men should be buying."
"Heh, a real man would admire his robot figures while rewatching Madoka."
"The guy above me is a total degenerate!"
Haruto's objective had been achieved.
The release of the Code Geass PV ensured that the series gained massive traction in the anime community despite being months away from its premiere.
Furthermore, because it wouldn't air until next April, the hype wouldn't negatively impact the current sales or popularity of the Cyberpunk 2077 Blu-rays.
Two days later, the first part of the Cyberpunk 2077 movie Blu-ray was released simultaneously across Japan.
For this specific launch, Haruto's entire company had spent nearly 100 million yen on marketing and promotion over the course of the previous month.
For a theatrical Blu-ray release of a TV spin-off, that figure was astronomical. Many anime films released in theaters nationwide don't even see that much investment in advertising. However, with the profits from Puella Magi Madoka Magica serving as a benchmark, the company was able to estimate the sales range and potential revenue for Cyberpunk 2077. To Haruto, this investment was perfectly reasonable.
Once the Cyberpunk 2077 movie finally reached the public, fans at last understood the story it was trying to tell. The protagonist was V, a mercenary nomad navigating the treacherous streets of Night City. The story used his perspective to peel back the layers of the city's hidden corners, exposing its inherent darkness and the cold mechanics of its society.
Following a catastrophic war, governments had collapsed, replaced by mega-corporations that controlled all resources and functioned as the true masters of the world. Among these giants, the Arasaka Corporation, headquartered in Night City, was the most formidable. They possessed private armies, independent weapons manufacturing lines, and controlled resources across the globe.
The narrative was significantly different from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
While Edgerunners focused primarily on David and offered a narrower view of the world, 2077 used the protagonist V to explore the full breadth of Night City.
It delved into strange technologies, various bizarre cybernetic enhancements, Scavengers, Fixers, and the Afterlife bar, concepts that were only briefly mentioned in Edgerunners but were fully realized here.
Admittedly, while the plot didn't have the same raw emotional resonance as Edgerunners, it was still of exceptional quality. The first part of the movie depicted how V and his best friend, Jackie, survived at the bottom of the city's social ladder before being scouted by a Fixer for a major job.
During a mission to infiltrate Arasaka Tower to steal an experimental biochip, they witnessed the son of the Arasaka CEO murder his own father. The blame for the murder was then pinned on V and Jackie. Jackie was fatally wounded during their escape, dying in V's arms. In a desperate move to protect the biochip, V inserted it into his own neural socket, leading to his mind being invaded by the digitized personality of a legendary Night City figure, Johnny Silverhand.
Finally, when V brought his partner's body to the Fixer to collect their payment, he was betrayed and shot in the head. He only survived because of the unique properties of the biochip, but his time was running out as Johnny Silverhand's personality slowly began to overwrite his brain.
The story was devoid of superfluous romance. Instead, it focused on combat, gore, cruelty, darkness, and revenge.
This was the core of 2077.
On the day of the release, long lines reappeared at merchandise shops across Japan.
However, once fans got home and finished the two-hour runtime of the first part, seeing V and the phantom of Johnny Silverhand set aside their differences to work toward a common goal, destroying Arasaka, the movie cut to black at a tantalizing cliffhanger.
"This feels very different from the story I was expecting!"
"I just want to see David and Lucy again!"
"It looks like there's no room for David and Lucy to appear in 2077."
"Who says? Arasaka had the tech to store personalities on chips decades ago. That's how Johnny Silverhand is there. Maybe David's personality was stored by Arasaka too?"
"Maybe they'll show up in the second part."
"Setting that aside, the production value of this movie is incredible, but the tone is so different from Edgerunners!"
"I agree. Compared to the TV series, the plot feels a bit less engaging."
"I disagree! That's just your personal taste. I thought it was amazing. The friendship between Jackie and V was great, and I actually cried when Jackie died. Then the Fixer betrayed him and shot V right in the face. I thought for sure the protagonist was dead, but then the biochip saved him. It was wild."
"Is it just me, or is Johnny Silverhand basically a form of Cyberpsychosis? The protagonist installs a chip and starts seeing a ghost in his head. That sounds like a mental breakdown to me."
"So is this basically the protagonist's superpower now?"
"It seems that way. The plot hinted that because of the chip, the mental strain from other cybernetics almost vanished because Johnny's personality takes the hit. Does that mean V can go full machine without worrying about going psycho?"
"The story certainly seems to be leaning in that direction!"
"Everyone should stop being so critical. Personally, I think the 2077 movie is great."
"If you keep comparing it to the Rebellion, you're never going to be happy. Usually, anime movies are just recycled content meant to squeeze money out of fans. Haruto actually wrote a whole new story in the same universe. Letting V get revenge for David and Rebecca is a cool idea. It's asking too much for a spin-off movie to surpass the original TV series."
"The problem is that Rebellion was so good that our expectations for 2077 were through the roof."
"I think people only think it's 'worse' because the style changed. I personally love these gritty urban gunfights. I think 2077 is just as good as Edgerunners."
"Exactly. Stop obsessing over the romance subplots. If you actually look at the world-building in 2077, you'll realize this franchise has massive potential!"
"I actually found the plot of 2077 more interesting because it takes the setting seriously. I'd give this movie a perfect ten out of ten."
That night, the forums were flooded with fans who had bought the Blu-ray that day.
While some were still adjusting to the shift in tone from the romance-heavy Edgerunners, the general reception was overwhelmingly positive.
The next morning, as the employees at Haruto's company arrived for work, the weight that had been hanging over their heads for the past week finally lifted. Based on the online reviews, the sales of Cyberpunk 2077 weren't going to suffer at all.
The vast majority of the audience was satisfied. Haruto immediately called a meeting with the members of the Cyberpunk project to discuss the feedback. He directed them to shift their focus entirely to the release of the second part next month.
After the meeting, Haruto let out a long sigh of relief. "It's over," he said, a smile appearing on his face.
By "over," he meant the heavy lifting for the animation studio's work for the year.
With only the second part of the movie left to release and Code Geass not airing until April, he finally had a moment to breathe after a year of non-stop work.
In the afternoon, he checked in with the Code Geass production team to monitor their progress and handed over his arrangements of the original soundtrack to the music department so they could begin recording the songs.
By the time he finished his daily tasks, it was evening.
He spent two hours checking the manuscript for Sword Art Online that was due the next day and delivered the latest storyboards for Hunter x Hunter to Shizuru. Between his work and his university classes, he often found himself working until midnight.
This was his daily routine.
A few days later, the first-week sales figures for the first part of the Cyberpunk 2077 movie Blu-ray were released. It had sold 840,000 copies. Despite the fans' debates about the tone shift, their financial support was undeniable.
The news sent ripples through the industry. His competitors were green with envy, his fans were bursting with pride, and his detractors were devastated.
"840,000 copies in one week? That's insane!"
"Is this the power of Haruto's brand now? This is terrifyingly high."
"I thought so many people online said they didn't like 2077? Where did all these sales come from?"
"Most of the people buying Blu-rays don't spend their time arguing on forums, so don't let the internet noise fool you. With Haruto's reputation, a few people calling it 'boring' isn't going to scare off his fans. Even if he released total garbage, his fans would still buy it just to see for themselves before they complained. They aren't easily swayed by rumors."
"I told you 2077 was good. It was just the romance junkies complaining. Most casual viewers thought it was great."
"With a 840,000 start, it's definitely going to break two million total sales."
"Two million is a given! If it has good legs, it might even hit two and a half million."
"If it hits two million, then the only two franchises in Japan with TV Blu-rays over a million and movies over two million will both be Haruto's creations."
"That is a terrifying thought."
"What is inside that guy's head? Achievements and works that others couldn't manage in a lifetime, he just pumps out back-to-back for two years straight."
"There might even be a third one coming. Based on what I've seen, Code Geass doesn't look like an average show either."
"It's definitely not. The production budget for Code Geass was posted on the studio's website. The investment exceeded 3 billion yen."
"What?! 3 billion?!"
"Yeah, but apparently the series is going to be very long. They haven't announced the episode count because Haruto is still writing the scripts, but it has to be more than just a single season to justify that kind of money."
"That's ridiculous. 3 billion yen for an anime? Most movies released in Japan don't even have that kind of budget. Is he planning to make every single episode look like an animated film?"
"Who cares? It's airing on TV for free. The bigger the budget, the better."
The entire winter anime market was completely dominated by Cyberpunk discussions. People were theorizing about the world of 2077 and predicting the plot of the second movie.
The other new series airing that season were almost entirely ignored. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was the undisputed king of the year.
However, while the anime industry was obsessed with the movie sales, the manga world saw the sixth chapter of Hunter x Hunter quietly hit the stands.
And with this chapter, the story finally arrived at its true beginning.
The Hunter Exam!