In just three short weeks, Clannad reputation went through a rise, fall, and rise again so dramatic that it felt like a roller coaster.
After Nagisa Furukawa died, an even more lovable daughter character, Ushio, appeared.
A romance anime had completely transformed into a story about parenthood.
The move was so difficult to understand that nearly everyone in Japan's anime industry who worked in the same field as Sora could only stare at it in disbelief.
Had he predicted all of this from the very beginning?
Wasn't he afraid the whole thing would spiral out of control halfway through?
After all, if this had been handled by another Kantoku or another creator, the moment Nagisa Furukawa's death appeared in the story, most fans would probably have abandoned the series on the spot.
An anime where the heroine died and the public reception still managed to reverse itself for the better - those industry veterans had truly lived long enough to see something extraordinary.
Inside Yume Animation, because of Clannad stunning recovery in public opinion, a number of Japanese product-placement and advertising companies came knocking again. They offered astronomical fees in yen, hoping Sora would agree to cooperate with them during the broadcast of the final episodes.
Over the past few days, while handling those business matters, Sora also attended the celebration banquet for the completion of Clannad second season together with the production staff.
He had already taken part in this kind of event so many times that he could no longer count them. Even so, every time a project came to an end, he still felt a quiet sense of melancholy.
Sumire felt something similar.
After all, the two of them were the highest-ranking people responsible for this anime. Once production ended, it was only natural for that sense of reluctance to settle in.
Inside a hotel in Tokushima, hundreds of production staff members, dozens of seiyuu from the voice cast, and mid-to-high-level executives from partner companies filled the banquet hall. Laughter, cheers, and the clinking of glasses rose and fell like waves.
Sora and Sumire, however, stood away from the crowd, leaning near the hotel's floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Their expressions were almost identical.
"I didn't expect you to look like that too. The two of us really don't fit in with everyone else's celebration down there," Sora said, taking a small sip from his glass of red wine.
"The first time, you feel happy. The second time, that feeling weakens a little. By now, what remains is reluctance to let go."
Sumire wore a white dress and light makeup. Under the soft glow of the banquet hall, her cool, fair face looked even more striking than usual.
"Come to think of it, we've dominated who knows how many anime seasons by now. We're no longer like we were in the beginning, so excited over first place that we couldn't sleep."
"That makes sense. A student who always ranks first really wouldn't get too excited about taking first place again," Sora said with a smile.
Sumire looked at him, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
"And you? How do you feel right now?"
"Me?"
Sora thought for a moment.
"Everything was within expectations. Compared to you, my emotional fluctuations may actually be even smaller."
"And yet, over all these years, you've still enjoyed producing so many anime works," Sumire said softly.
"To be honest, I've always worried that, after achieving fame and success, you might suddenly grow tired of all this one day. Like some of those famous Kantokus from the past who left the industry behind and simply went off to enjoy life."
"How could that happen?"
Sora laughed lightly.
"The reason I'm still standing here isn't because I haven't made enough money. My reason for making anime has always been simple. I just want people in Japan to feel the same charm I once felt from these works."
He looked toward the lively banquet hall, toward the people celebrating the end of yet another exhausting project.
"Having something you love become loved by others is far more interesting than ratings, rankings, or any of that."
Sumire fell silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"You've been in the anime industry for so many years, yet you still keep that kind of mindset. Many people I know started out loving this field, but after working in it for too long, they more or less became tired of the industry they once adored."
"In my case, I'm still a little different from other people."
Sora turned his gaze toward her profile.
"What about you? After working in this industry for so long, have you grown tired of it?"
"No. I'm happy."
Sumire took a deep breath before answering.
"I see."
Hearing that, Sora felt quietly relieved.
"To be honest, I've always worried that you might start hating this work. If that happened, I'd have to face Yume Animation alone. I'd probably be overwhelmed from every direction."
"Why would you think that?" Sumire asked curiously.
"Because for so many years, you've stayed single because work has kept you too busy, haven't you? I've always worried that you might come to resent all of this because of that."
Sumire turned her head and looked at him.
"You worry about me, but not yourself? You've also been single for years."
"Cough, cough… What are you imagining? I really am just too busy with work. I don't have time to meet girls. Look at the works I've made - almost all of them have romantic elements. That should prove I don't dislike romance. I'm not some pure two-dimensional otaku obsessed only with paper characters."
He spread his hands, half joking.
"There are hundreds of people in the company. Among them, there are female key animators, animators, and even cute, charming seiyuu around your age. What do you mean you have no way to meet girls?" Sumire glanced at him.
"Cute and charming? The prettiest girls with the best personalities I know are you and Yumi. If I really had to think in that direction, you spend every day in the same office with me handling work. If I wanted to date without delaying production, wouldn't it be easier to just pursue you directly?"
Sora said it as a joke.
But after waiting for a while, the response he had imagined never came.
In his mind, Sumire should have answered with her usual calm indifference, saying something like, "Kantoku Sora, I have no such thoughts about you whatsoever. I hope you abandon all inappropriate ideas immediately."
Instead, Sumire, holding the stem of her wine glass, froze as if she had turned into a sculpture. Even the tips of her ears became faintly red.
Only after a long silence did she finally speak.
"Sora, don't make that kind of joke. With such an unserious attitude, I'll get angry."
Eh?
That was not what he had expected at all.
Sora quickly set down his wine glass and spoke in a serious tone.
"I was talking nonsense just now. If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize."
Sumire turned to look at him with a helpless expression, then sighed.
"Sora, you make romance anime so well, but in real life, you should pay more attention to a girl's feelings."
"At the very least, the next time you make that kind of joke, the premise shouldn't be that we work in the same office, that it's convenient, or that it wouldn't interfere with work. Even as a joke, that sounds careless and hurtful."
So she was angry because of that?
"No. What I said about not interfering with work and being convenient was only an objective bonus condition," Sora replied almost instinctively.
"From my point of view, even as a hypothesis, the main reason that hypothetical condition could exist was the sentence before that."
The sentence before that?
Sumire froze for a moment. But her memory had always been good, and she immediately recalled what he had said earlier.
The prettiest girls with the best personalities I know…
Less than half a minute later, Sora saw Sumire's fair face turn faintly flushed, as if she had just stepped out of a sauna.
"Sumire, you're…"
Sora paused.
What exactly is going on with you?
"This wine is too strong."
Although her face was very red, her voice remained as steady and composed as ever.
"But that's low-alcohol wine. At the last celebration banquet, you drank strong sake and didn't react like this…"
The moment the words left his mouth, Sora wanted to slap himself.
Sumire stared at him for half a minute, long enough to make him feel guilty. Only then did she repeat calmly:
"It's because of the wine."
At that moment, another burst of cheers erupted from the banquet hall.
The standards for distributing the project bonuses had just been announced.
Sora and Sumire tacitly chose not to continue the previous topic.
But Sora could still sense that something was not quite right.
He simply had no time to date. He was not that stupid.
Considering Sumire's usually calm personality, her reaction just now had been a little too strong.
"Well… it's already December. Speaking of which, in two months, the animated film Your Name, produced by our company, will be released in theaters."
Sora thought for a moment, then tested the waters with a question.
"Do you want to go watch the premiere together when the time comes?"
"To cooperate with Noriko Animation's film promotion?" Sumire asked after thinking it over.
"No. Just to watch the movie we made being shown in theaters. That period will be during the New Year holidays. I'm not such a heartless boss that I'd make employees work overtime then. This has nothing to do with work."
Sumire fell silent for a while. Then she turned her head toward him.
"All right."
In early December, the nineteenth episode of Clannad second season aired smoothly.
The plot of this episode mainly focused on the reconciliation between Takasaki and his father.
In the past, Takasaki had always believed that his father was irresponsible - a man who drank too much, lived in decline, lacked ambition, and had no desire to move forward.
But after experiencing the blow and pain of losing his own wife, he finally realized something.
His father and he were both only ordinary people.
His father had not been completely crushed. Instead, he had already done something incredibly difficult by gathering what strength he had left and raising his son into adulthood.
With a gentle voice, Takasaki told his father that he had already grown up. His father could return to his hometown, live with his own mother, and no longer worry about him.
His father's answer was only one sentence.
"Is it… all right now? Have I… fulfilled my duty?"
Under the gaze of Takasaki and his daughter Ushio, the man finally set foot on the road home.
He was a father.
But he was also someone else's child.
Originally, after episode nineteen, AD fans thought the anime's tearjerking scenes had finally ended. They believed that the remaining story would simply be warm, gentle everyday life between Takasaki and his daughter, Ushio.
No one expected this episode to contain another emotional bomb.
Starting from episode seventeen, when the theme of family affection began to take shape, the series had pushed that theme higher and higher, one episode at a time.
"I'm in tears."
"After watching this episode, I suddenly called my mother, whom I hadn't contacted in half a month, and talked to her for an hour."
"Kantoku Sora really knows what he's doing. How can he create stories this moving?"
"I heard Kantoku Sora has lived alone since he was eighteen, so maybe he has deeper feelings than most people when creating stories about family."
"Come on, that's just talent. Kantoku Sora doesn't date either, but he still created a romance film like 5 Centimeters per Second."
"Damn it. Watching one anime every week has made a grown man like me cry. My wife and kids have been laughing at me for two weeks."
"Who isn't like that? Tonight I was watching while wiping away tears. My wife started out laughing at me, then watched the ending of this episode with me. After it ended, she sat silently on the edge of the bed for a while, then called my mother-in-law for half an hour."
"When Clannad first episode aired more than half a year ago, who could have imagined that a school romance anime would develop like this?"
"All I can say is that, from beginning to end, there isn't a single character in this anime you can truly hate. Romance is only the most superficial label attached to this work."
"I wonder how high this episode's ratings will be."
"It's definitely breaking 6%."
"Of course. Last episode already reached 5.96%. There's no reason this one would drop."
"If AD really breaks 6%, this year's Tokyo Anime Festival will be worth watching. Between Steins;Gate and AD, which one will become Anime of the Year?"
"You only just thought of that?"
"Steins;Gate and AD… Damn, how are we supposed to choose? No matter which one loses, it'll be a shame."
"AD, obviously. Its exploration of family bonds gives it more story depth than Steins;Gate's theme of saving people."
"I actually think Steins;Gate's idea of overcoming fate has more depth than AD."
"Don't speak too soon. AD hasn't ended yet, but Steins;Gate already wrapped everything up with a god-tier ending. If AD wants to compete with Steins;Gate, it at least needs a finale that doesn't fall behind."
"Heh. If Clannad final three episodes continue steadily portraying the warm daily life between the protagonist and his daughter, then it's one hundred percent this year's best anime at the Tokyo Anime Festival."
"I'm honestly speechless. Why are Kantoku Sora's fans all like this? AD hasn't even finished airing, and both sides are already arguing. What's there to argue about? Aren't they both his works?"
"No, it's different. This is a battle of faith. Nagisa Furukawa may be the main wife, but Christina is a belief. I cannot accept a divine masterpiece like Steins;Gate losing to any work."