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As March arrived, Haruto found himself significantly busier than he had been in the first two months of the year.
First and foremost, the ALO arc of Sword Art Online was rapidly approaching its conclusion. After tormenting the fans for over half a year, the villainous Sugou's schemes and true motives were finally being laid bare.
In the latest chapter, Kirito finally stormed the World Tree for his long-awaited confrontation with Asuna and Sugou.
Naturally, Haruto exercised far more restraint in writing these scenes than the original source material. The infamous scene, where Sugou enthusiastically licked Asuna's face or suspended her in mid-air within the ALO game to tear at her clothes, were omitted.
Even with this toned-down approach, where Sugou's depravity was perhaps less than half of what it was in the original world, the character still pushed the fans past their breaking point.
Following the release of the latest light novel chapter, a wave of righteous indignation swept across the internet as fans denounced Haruto for his cruel plotting. Yet, despite the frustration and the insults directed at his writing, the sales data told a different story.
The average sales per volume for the Sword Art Online tankobon finally surpassed the 23 million mark previously held by The Otherworld Reformer.
It officially became the highest-selling ongoing light novel!
While it currently sat at sixth place in all-time sales, it was undeniably the number one novel of the current era. To celebrate, Kiyozawa Library spent a fortune on promotional spots to ensure Sword Art Online dominated the trending charts.
They even organized a press conference, inviting dozens of journalists to witness Haruto as he marked this historic milestone.
Everyone was well aware that Sword Art Online was far from over. It was sixth on the all-time list while still being actively serialized, and no one knew exactly how long its run would last. If Haruto could maintain the quality of the SAO and ALO arcs and produce more captivating volumes, the series stood a chance of seizing the throne as the number one light novel in history.
During the press conference, several journalists questioned Haruto regarding the future of the series. They wanted to know if he planned to turn it into a massive, long-running epic, or if the ALO arc would serve as the final conclusion.
"The ALO arc is certainly not the end of the story. I find myself constantly struck by new inspiration as I continue to write.'
"I can confirm that immediately following the conclusion of ALO, we will begin the next major arc, titled 'GGO,'" Haruto announced with a faint smile. He stood before the cameras in a sharp white suit, looking refreshed and confident.
This announcement had been pre-arranged with Kiyozawa Library, who had already discussed the project's longevity with him. The journalist who asked the question was, in fact, a plant arranged by the publisher. However, the fans didn't care about them.
The news that ALO was not the end remained in the top three trending spots on every major ACG site for three consecutive days.
While Initial D had been a massive hit, its shorter serialization meant its cultural footprint couldn't quite match the phenomenal presence of Sword Art Online.
Once the matters with Kiyozawa Library were settled, work for Prime Manga followed immediately. The first tankobon volume of Hunter x Hunter was ready for release.
Although only about twenty chapters had been serialized, the fan demand for a physical volume was overwhelming.
The industry maxim of striking while the iron is hot applied here as much as anywhere else.
By mid-March, Haruto had to coordinate with Prime Manga for a series of promotional events to support the launch of Volume One.
Although the likelihood was slim, a significant portion of the industry was secretly hoping to see Haruto finally stumble.
Their definition of a "failure" wasn't something as drastic as selling fewer than a million copies in the first week. Instead, they were hoping for a "mediocre" debut of around three million copies. While such numbers would be a career-best for almost any other creator for Haruto, it would be considered a significant drop in form.
Haruto had no intention of giving his haters that satisfaction. He put a great deal of effort into the promotion of the Hunter x Hunter volume. He travelled beyond the major hubs to visit several secondary cities. Since he was in the second semester, and had very few classes, his schedule was flexible enough to accommodate the tour.
Throughout this period, the Hunter x Hunter manga continued its weekly serialization.
However, Haruto faced a difficult decision regarding the arc following the Trick Tower. He was considering the Battleship Island arc, which had been an original creation of the 1999 anime production team in his memories.
In that world, the fan reception for Battleship Island was incredibly positive. Experienced fans can usually spot anime-original filler within five minutes due to the noticeable drop in quality. However, the quality of Battleship Island was on par with the original manga. His only concern was that inserting it at this point might disrupt the narrative flow. Ultimately, because he personally loved the arc, he decided to include it as a Side Story within the fourth volume of the tankobon release. He used this news as a major selling point during the current promotional tour for Volume One.
By the time the promotional activities concluded, it was late March. While Haruto had been focusing on his novels and manga, the main event was looming.
The first season of Code Geass was about to premiere.
The studio had been releasing promotional teasers for some time, but they had remained vague and atmospheric.
While the visuals were stunning and the character designs were undeniably beautiful, the actual setting and plot remained a mystery. Everything changed on March 21st.
When anime fans across Japan woke up that morning, they found that the AniSphere Forum featured a massive, unmissable pop-up for the final Code Geass trailer. For a site of that size, such an aggressive tactic was unheard of and happened perhaps once every few years.
When the fans clicked the link, a grand, high-energy orchestral score erupted from their speakers. A split second later, a massive roar filled the air. The screen showed a peaceful blue sky that was suddenly torn apart by the silhouettes of thousands of mechs clashing in a series of violent explosions. The visuals were breathtaking.
Haruto had spent over 3 billion yen on this production. He wasn't aiming for the quality of the original TV broadcast from his memories; he was aiming for a cinematic standard. The fluidity of the aerial dogfights and the intensity of the explosions in those opening seconds left the audience in a state of shock. Then, the actual trailer content began.
"Suzaku!" a black-haired youth shouted, blood trickling down his face as he leveled a gun at a boy in white.
"Lelouch!" the other youth yelled back, firing his own weapon in response.
The scene shifted to a peaceful, sun-drenched academy. The black-haired boy sat with a bored expression, idly playing with a chess piece.
A soft female narrator began to explain the world: how Japan had been conquered by the global superpower, the Holy Empire of Britannia, and stripped of its name to become Area 11.
Important characters like C.C., the Imperial Princes, and Princess Euphemia were introduced in a series of rapid-fire clips, interspersed with combat footage of various generations of Knightmare Frames and the ace pilot, Suzaku. It was completely different from the previous teasers. This final trailer contained numerous plot hooks and foreshadowing for the entire first and even second seasons.
The fans watched with racing hearts. Even if they still didn't fully understand the intricacies of the plot, their instincts told them that this was something special. The music, the production values, the character designs, and above all, those massive robots the likes of which had never been seen in animation.
"How can those things look so cool?"
By noon that day, Code Geass was the number one trending topic in the country.
"That final trailer was absolutely explosive. Is the entire show really going to look like that?"
"I'm not sure, but with a budget of over 3 billion yen, it shouldn't be surprising. He's clearly going all out."
"After seeing this, every other military anime I've ever watched feels like garbage."
"Is this going to be a full-scale world war drama?"
"There seems to be a fantasy element too. Did you see Lelouch's eye glow with that red bird symbol? Is he some kind of esper?"
"A high-stakes mecha war with superpowers? It sounds a bit strange, but I'm in."
"April 4th, Sunday at 8:00 PM. Be there. It's on broadcast TV so it's free anyway. There's no reason not to watch."
"Guys, the entire ACG district near my house is covered in Code Geass posters from one end to the other. It's insane. Is all this really necessary for one show?"
"Tell me about it. On my way to work today, every bus was wrapped in Code Geass art. Even the screens inside the buses were looping the final trailer."
"Same here. I went to buy some books at a specialty shop and the owner gave me a free character guide booklet for the show."
"How much did Haru-Yuki Animation spend on marketing? Not even the Big Three studios promote their flagship titles this aggressively."
"I heard the 3 billion budget didn't even include the marketing costs. My dad works at a VFX house and he told me Haruto has been hiring every top-tier company for months to handle the special effects. He is throwing money around like it's nothing. But I guess when you make ten billion a year, you can afford to be flashy."
"Special effects? You mean the robot battles? I couldn't tell they were CG at all."
"That's the point. They're using 2D digital effects to maintain the hand-drawn look while pushing the complexity. It's incredibly expensive to do it that way, but there's no visual jarring."
"So that's why the combat looks so fluid and intense."
"I'm ready. But if the production cost is this high, the Blu-rays are going to be twice as expensive as a normal show, aren't they?"
"That's why you have to pay attention to the TV broadcast. Don't miss a single detail, or you'll have to shell out a fortune later to catch up."
"April 4th. Ten more days. Why is this spring taking so long to end?"
With the release of the final trailer and the massive promotional campaign, the hype for the premiere reached its absolute peak. Haruto had invested a staggering amount of capital into this launch. He had the money to be bold, and he knew that as a long-form series, the potential returns far outweighed the initial investment.
By the end of March, almost every conversation on the anime forums revolved around Code Geass. March faded away, and April finally arrived.