Not long after the third episode of Your Lie in April aired, Oikawa received a call from Chris Yamada.
"Oikawa-sensei, I've got some good news."
"The proposals to adapt Clannad into both an anime and a game have been approved. From this point on, Full-Drive Bunko will be handling the entire anime adaptation. According to the message from the editor-in-chief, they're planning to invest at least 800 million yen into producing Clannad."
"As for the game adaptation, we're still in talks with several game companies. Full-Drive Bunko has never adapted one of our works into a game before, so they're being especially cautious with Clannad. But don't worry, we will definitely find a first-rate partner from within the industry."
Chris sounded extremely excited, and Oikawa was just as thrilled.
Eight hundred million yen for the Clannad anime.
There was no doubt about it. That kind of budget would put it several tiers above the Clannad anime Oikawa had seen in his previous life.
In the anime industry, you generally got what you paid for.
"What about the second half of Your Lie in April? Wasn't it supposed to be developed jointly with Dengeki Bunko? Have you still not reached an agreement?"
As excited as Oikawa was about Clannad getting both an anime and a game adaptation, he was still more concerned about what would happen to Your Lie in April.
"We still don't have a definite answer. The main issue is how the profits would be divided. Full-Drive Bunko and Dengeki Bunko are currently arguing over whether the second half of Your Lie in April is worth investing in at all." Chris patiently explained everything he knew to Oikawa. "So they're worried that increasing the budget for the second half could end up losing them money?"
After listening for a while, Oikawa more or less understood what Dengeki Bunko was hung up on.
They simply thought the ratings for the first two episodes had been mediocre, so they didn't want to take the risk of investing more money.
And honestly, their concerns weren't entirely unreasonable.
After all, Your Lie in April was a healing anime. There was definitely a market for that kind of story, but compared with the mainstream battle-oriented series, it obviously wasn't as immediately appealing.
"Exactly. That's what Dengeki Bunko thinks." Chris immediately reassured him. "But Oikawa-sensei, you can rest easy. Full-Drive Bunko absolutely won't abandon Your Lie in April. Even if we can't reach an agreement with Dengeki Bunko, we'll develop it independently."
Oikawa said nothing for a moment before calmly replying, "It's too early to worry about that. Let the ratings speak for themselves tomorrow. They're the most objective judge."
In truth, Your Lie in April might not have had spectacular ratings, but they were by no means bad.
It had comfortably stayed within the top twenty.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that being twentieth was embarrassing.
The monsters sitting above Your Lie in April were on another level entirely.
At number one was none other than Attack on Titan, which had already entered its final arc!
Right behind it were One Punch Man and Sword Art Online.
Then came That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen.
For Your Lie in April to maintain a spot in the top twenty was already an impressive achievement.
And besides... Your Lie in April had only aired three episodes so far.
As far as Oikawa was concerned, if Your Lie in April could break into the top ten before the anime finished airing, he'd consider the adaptation a success.
If it made the top five?
That would be nothing short of a miracle.
Chris nodded in agreement. "You're right. Letting the ratings speak for themselves is definitely the most direct and objective way to settle this."
The two of them then spent a long time discussing the promotional campaign for the second half of Clannad.
After getting the editor-in-chief's blessing to go all-out, Chris was practically overflowing with excitement. He came up with one wild promotional idea after another.
Chris had actually set his sights on some famous manga artists.
And not just famous ones.
These were internationally renowned manga legends.
Every name he mentioned made Oikawa wonder whether the man had completely lost his mind.
The list of manga artists Chris had just proposed... The least famous person on it was none other than ONE, the author of One Punch Man.
As for the others, it was difficult to rank them. That was really a matter of personal opinion.
So, who exactly had Chris named?
Masashi Kishimoto, the author of Naruto.
Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece.
Noriaki Kubo, the author of Bleach.
And the legendary bastard himself, Yoshihiro Togashi, author of Hunter × Hunter.
Ah!
Well, damn.
Even if they actually managed to bring those three over, how much money would that cost?
They really weren't treating the company's money like money anymore.
As far as that was concerned, Oikawa could only give Chris one compliment: Absolutely fucking insane.
Still, Oikawa couldn't deny that he was secretly looking forward to it.
If he could meet that old bastard Togashi face-to-face again, even better.
---
Anime in Japan generally followed a fairly predictable schedule when it came to ratings.
After an episode aired, the major websites would publish preliminary ratings reports at eight the following morning.
The more accurate figures would come out around two in the afternoon.
And before long...
Sunday arrived, eagerly awaited by countless people.
Eight o'clock in the morning.
A website called Most Collection released an announcement containing the ratings for the third episode of Your Lie in April.
The announcement was presented as a simple table.
Title:Your Lie in April
Broadcast Station: TV Tokyo
Broadcast Date: January 21
Start Time: 20:00
Average Individual Viewership: 4.8%
Chris stared at the 4.8% rating displayed on the website and immediately pumped his fist into the air.
There was no question about it.
This was a new high.
Even the first episode of Your Lie in April had only managed 3.6%!
Just as Chris was about to share the news with Oikawa, his phone suddenly rang.
It was the editor-in-chief.
"Chief, did you need something?"
"Dengeki Bunko just called. We've settled the investment for the second half of Your Lie in April. They'll invest 300 million yen, while we'll put in 100 million. As for the anime revenue, it'll be split three ways."
Chris was confused. "We get thirty percent and they get seventy?"
"We get seventy."
"...Huh?"
"We handled all the preliminary work on the Your Lie in April anime, and we're planning to continue working with A-1 Pictures for the rest of the production. We're the ones who put the whole thing together. Dengeki Bunko is basically just paying the bill."
Chris finally understood.
No wonder Dengeki Bunko had kept saying they wanted to "wait and see."
So this had been their endgame all along!
Sure enough... People who played the long game really were shameless.
"How's the promotional campaign coming along? I've already given the printing department the order for 300,000 copies today. There isn't much time left until February 26, when the second volume of Clannad goes on sale."
At present, the first volume of Clannad had already sold 270,000 copies.
And it had only been on the market for a little over half a month.
Starting the promotional campaign for the second volume now would inevitably make readers even more eager to buy the first volume.
That, in turn, would help the first volume blast past the 500,000-copy milestone even faster.
The editor-in-chief was determined to make it happen.
Ever since Full-Drive Bunko had been founded, not a single light novel had ever sold more than 500,000 copies for an individual volume.
In previous years, Full-Drive Bunko had managed fewer than ten light novels that even surpassed 500,000 copies in total sales.
The editor-in-chief had taken plenty of mockery from their competitors over that.
But now... Everything was different.
It was only a matter of time before Clannad broke through the one-million-copy mark.
And all he had to do was give it a little extra push!
What was the big deal about throwing money at the problem?
Full-Drive Bunko might be short on plenty of things, but money definitely wasn't one of them!
"Chief, I've already come up with several promotional plans. I was just about to send them over so you could take a look. It's just that... every one of these plans is going to cost quite a bit."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on the editor-in-chief's face.
He answered with astonishing generosity. "No problem. Spend whatever needs to be spent. If there's something worth paying for, spend the money. We have plenty!"
To a planner, those words were nothing short of music to the ears.
It was like coming up with a variety show and, because of budget constraints, planning to invite a few minor celebrities.
Then the boss suddenly told you, "Do it big! Invite whoever you want. Money isn't an issue."
With a boss that understanding, as long as the script wasn't absolutely terrible, how could the show possibly fail to become a hit?
...
..
That morning, as soon as Oikawa got up, the first thing he did was open Most Collection to check the ratings for the third episode of Your Lie in April.
When he saw the 4.8% rating, a smile that he couldn't suppress appeared at the corners of his mouth.
With this third-episode rating alone, Your Lie in April should be able to climb another two or three places in the rankings.
It was getting closer and closer to his goal of breaking into the top five.
[Senpai, did you see the ratings for Your Lie in April? A full 4.8%! Isn't that ridiculously high? Even Detective Conan only got 4.5% yesterday.]
The message came from Utaha Kasumigaoka.
Oikawa was grinning from ear to ear as he replied, "Keep it low-key, keep it low-key! It's nothing more than a tiny, insignificant achievement. What's there to brag about? We'll celebrate when Your Lie in April finally beats Attack on Titan. No need to get excited before then."
4.8%.
It was only 4.8%.
Why make such a huge fuss about it?
There was absolutely no need.
None whatsoever.
At least, that's what Oikawa Tooru told himself.
Then he took a screenshot of the Most Collection webpage... and posted it to Twitter.
---
The "Copycat Supporters Association"
On the surface, this group looked like a gathering of hardcore Copycat fans.
In reality, though, it was a hate group led by Kentaro.
Ever since the last time the "Your Lie in April Fan Club" had been overrun by those mothers, and their social-media accounts had subsequently been swarmed as well, the people in this group had learned their lesson.
Now, to join the group, you have to pass one screening after another.
—(Screenshot)—
[Kentaro (Admin)]: "This fucking Copycat is way too smug! Last time, he got the moms to come after us, and today he's here bragging about himself? This is absolutely intolerable! I can't put up with it, even my ass cheeks can't take this shit!"
[Justice Bringer]: "Brothers, somebody come up with a good plan. As far as I'm concerned, I'm officially a Copycat hater for life!"
[Irrelevant]: "Same here. What he did last time was just too fucking heartless."
[Kentaro (Admin)]: "I'll buy his books and I'll watch his anime, but that doesn't mean I can't call him an asshole!!"
The whole group was up in arms.
They were practically itching to point at Oikawa's nose and give him a proper verbal thrashing.
They were just too damn aggrieved.
Last time, those mothers had spent an entire week mocking them with passive-aggressive comments. Even now, they occasionally received private messages on social media filled with all sorts of insults.
"Everybody, listen to me!" The group's resident mastermind, group owner Kentaro, spoke up.
"Brothers, I've got a brilliant plan. It'll absolutely disgust that bastard Copycat!"
"Isn't the second volume of Clannad coming out soon? We've learned our lesson from last time. Instead of going around other books and leaving bad reviews, we're going to do the opposite."
"We'll drive as much traffic toward Clannad as possible and make sure as many people as possible know about the book."
"I've got a very reliable bit of inside information. The second volume of Clannad is going to be absolutely brutal."
"Starting today, we're going to recommend Clannad to women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight. Make them cry their eyes out!"
"Girls these days are all fucking warriors. When they start insulting someone, they can be ten times more vicious than a bunch of men put together. When the time comes, we'll let these women give Copycat a proper taste of his own medicine."
"And that's not even the whole plan. Besides Japanese women, we're going to recommend this book to women in other countries too. Once they finish reading it, they'll come over and start cursing Copycat themselves."
"That's not all. We're also going to guide the women who come over to curse Copycat. Tell them that if they curse him hard enough, there's a very good chance he'll actually change the second volume of Clannad."
"You think they're not going to go all out after hearing that?"
"If anyone doesn't know Japanese, come to me. I'll translate for you."
"Besides English, I know a little Russian and Korean too."
"This time, we can absolutely disgust Copycat to death."
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