The first episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was scheduled to air at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5. It belonged to Japan's late-night anime slot.
Japanese TV stations arranged different time slots for different programs. The morning slot was generally used for news, weather forecasts, short dramas, and similar shows, mainly targeting elderly viewers and young people about to go to school or work. After that came the noon slot, which usually aired soap operas, family dramas, and the like, mainly aimed at housewives and elderly people at home.
The prime-time slot referred to the period from seven to nine in the evening, mainly broadcasting popular dramas, hit anime, well-liked children's programs, and so on. During this period, most Japanese families gathered together for dinner, so the targeted audience had to take the needs of the entire household into account.
Finally, there was the least popular late-night slot. At this time, most TV viewers had already gone to bed, making it suitable for short dramas, radio-style programs, broadcasts, anime, and similar content. It was worth mentioning that Japan's late-night slot had once been used for adult programs, so among many middle-aged and elderly Japanese people, the idea of "late-night slot = adult programs" had already become deeply ingrained.
In addition, programming slots changed again on holidays. In truth, with the rapid development of the internet, fewer and fewer young people use televisions to watch programs. The old myths of shows reaching ratings of sixty or seventy percent had long since disappeared.
Even when the most popular hot-blooded anime among young people aired on holidays, breaking ten percent in ratings was already extremely difficult. For ordinary anime, surpassing five percent counted as being popular. For late-night anime, the standard for a popular work dropped to around three percent.
Japan was a major anime nation, but many people did not know what the most popular anime in Japan actually was. Were they phenomenon-level anime like 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' from Kamiyā Yuu's previous world? National hot-blooded shōnen anime like 'One Piece'? Idol anime with enormous social influence like 'Love Live'? None of those was the orthodox answer.
The most popular, hottest, and most commercially valuable anime in Japan were precisely the children-oriented anime ignored by many otaku.
For example, 'Yo-kai Watch,' an anime that received little attention in China, held a position in Japan almost equivalent to what 'Doraemon' had once been. Its animated film seized first place at Japan's annual box office in 2015 with 7.8 billion yen. In terms of games, its popularity rivaled national titles like 'Dragon Quest' and 'Pokémon.'
Some people might not understand what 7.8 billion yen at the Japanese box office meant. To give a very simple example, the theatrical anime 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion' earned around 2.2 billion yen in Japan, while the theatrical version of 'Love Live' earned around 2.6 billion yen. Neither reached even one-third of 'Yo-kai Watch's box office.
In Kamiyā Yuu's previous world, Master Hayao Miyazaki's works were extremely popular in Japan. A series of Miyazaki animated films nearly occupied the entire top ten of Japan's film box office rankings, and the Oscar-winning 'Spirited Away' firmly held first place with a Japanese box office record of 30 billion yen.
But in terms of pure commercial value, a children-oriented comprehensive anime industry like 'Yo-kai Watch' ranked highest. Next came works popular among young people, such as 'Love Live,' and only after that came Miyazaki's series of animated films.
Judging the commercial value of a work was not simply a matter of box office revenue. The overall economic effect created by 'Love Live' reached over one trillion yen, including games, real-life idol projects, anime, and many other aspects.
These were some of the important reasons why Japanese TV stations almost always aired children-oriented anime during prime time.
Returning to the main topic, then, what exactly were the ratings for the first episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha,' a late-night anime?
The 'Yosuganosora' Animation Studio had only just undergone leapfrog-style development. With many areas still unprepared, they had not even had time to produce a promotional PV for the anime. As a result, the only information viewers had about 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was that this anime would air in the Tuesday late-night slot.
What was its art style like? What audience age group was it aimed at? Was it interesting? Viewers knew nothing about these personal impressions. Not many people would deliberately stay up until one in the morning for an anime whose name was the only thing they knew.
Its July 5 broadcast date was not considered very late among Japan's July-season anime release schedule. However, before that, the three other magical-girl anime of the season—'Miracle Girl,' 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow,' and 'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu'—had already officially aired.
'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow' was a children-oriented anime in Japan that had already been airing for over a year. It broadcast every Saturday morning at exactly 9:30, and its average ratings reached ten percent.
'Magical Girl MeowMeow Lu' was a side story of 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow.' It aired every Friday night at exactly 9:30. With the support of the original work's popularity, the first episode's ratings broke six percent, placing it among the ranks of popular anime.
'Miracle Girl' was an original anime like 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' Its earlier promotional campaign and high-quality PV animation had already attracted considerable popularity. It aired every Monday night at exactly ten, and its ratings reached slightly over five percent.
In addition, just like 'Magical Girl Nanoha,' 'Miracle Girl' mainly targeted a young audience, with its primary viewer age range set between five and fifteen.
'Magical Girl Nanoha' aired one day later than 'Miracle Girl.' News of its broadcast had been released extremely late. Its production company was a newcomer to the industry, and the lack of a promotional PV meant that almost no one was paying attention to the anime at all.
Kamiyā Yuu had positioned the target audience of 'Magical Girl Nanoha' between fourteen and twenty years old. Compared to orthodox magical-girl anime, 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was practically taking an unorthodox path, fundamentally overturning the audience positioning of the magical-girl genre.
Four magical-girl anime in one season meant that a fierce battle between all four works was inevitable.
On the morning of July 6, Kamiyā Yuu returned to the company and used a specialized website to check the ratings for the first episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha.'
Late-night slot: 1.46%.
Far below the general late-night anime average standard of 1.8%.
An expected number. Last place among the four magical-girl works. Well, it fully proves the importance of publicity, Kamiyā Yuu thought calmly.
With the polished production and battle scenes of 'Magical Girl Nanoha,' he did not need to worry about it lacking staying power.
Three episodes. At most, it should only need three episodes for the ratings to break past the average line for popular late-night anime: three percent.
But...
Kamiyā Yuu frowned deeply. A lingering shadow remained in his thoughts.
The overall framework of 'Magical Girl Nanoha' followed the original work. Was that ultimately a good thing or a bad thing?