For an entire week, the focus of Japan's anime industry remained fixed on a single question: would Ushio from C truly follow the same path as Nagisa Furukawa?
In the end, would Sora dare to stand against his millions of fans?
Would he really use a series whose ratings had already broken past 6 points to test the limits of his audience's patience?
Time passed quickly, and Sunday soon arrived.
That night, the internet seemed to awaken all at once. The comment section under Sora's account received several times more posts than usual, while people from every side - fans, curious viewers, and haters alike - hid in the shadows, waiting for the episode to air so they could strike.
It was already late when Erina was still locked in battle with a group of haters online. Her face had turned red with anger. The more famous someone became, the more trouble followed them; as soon as Sora made even the slightest move, a crowd would leap out from the darkness.
Even so, deep down, she could think of only one thing.
Please. Anything but using Ushio as the target.
Erina was a fairly rational anime fan. She knew very well that, as a viewer, she had no power over the direction of the story. That world belonged to Sora. The fate of every character depended entirely on him.
But killing Ushio now would make no sense at all.
It would be suffering for the sake of suffering. If the story went that far merely to crush the audience, then everything the previous episodes had built - the warmth of family, the struggle against fate, the attempt to heal old wounds - would become nothing but a cruel joke.
At eight o'clock, the Southern Alliance Network began airing promotional spots for Your Name.
At that moment, the official trailer had not yet been released online. The material shown by the broadcaster consisted only of production footage, interviews with Sora, Sumire, and Yumi, character design illustrations, and a few comments from Sora about his expectations for the film's performance.
A feature film capable of surpassing 5 Centimeters per Second in every way.
The problem was whether he meant reputation or box office.
If he meant reputation, that would be difficult. 5 Centimeters per Second held a 9.7 rating; surpassing that would be no simple feat.
If he meant box office, then considering that during the previous year's New Year season the first-place film had earned 29.3 billion yen, the second 20.5 billion, the third 14 billion, and the fourth 6.2 billion, Your Name would have to enter at least the top three of the season if the competition remained at the same level.
Honestly speaking, that would not be easy.
It was true that Sora was already a king of traffic within the anime industry. But among the films competing during the same period, which one did not have a famous Kantoku, massively popular actors, or a built-in fandom of its own? This was no ordinary contest. It was a battle between monsters.
Erina, who knew this sort of information well, let those numbers run quickly through her mind. Not long after, episode twenty-one of Clannad second season began.
She pushed all stray thoughts aside and fixed her eyes on the opening.
Every time she watched that sequence, it stirred something different in her.
And after tonight, there would only be one more chance to see it like this.
Next Sunday, Clannad would end.
Just thinking about it filled Erina with an indescribable sadness.
The episode began by revealing the reason behind Ushio's illness.
It was the same disease as her mother, Nagisa Furukawa.
No delay. No prolonged suspense. In just one minute, the story cast a shadow over the hearts of millions of C fans.
Soon after, the narrative returned to the girl and the robot in that lonely world.
The opening scene followed the two of them as they struggled to survive in that empty land, setting out on a journey through ice and snow. Even now, however, Japanese viewers still did not understand exactly what that girl and robot meant to the main story.
The only thing everyone knew was that, before snow had begun falling in that world, countless orbs of light had drifted through the sky.
The title of the episode was The End of the World.
The moment Erina saw those words, her breathing already grew heavy.
Seriously?
Ushio was sick. She could not go to school, could barely leave her bed, and her face was always flushed with fever. Takasaki, as her father, set aside his work and devoted himself fully to taking care of her at home.
The panic did not belong only to the viewers. Takasaki was panicking too.
A month passed, and Ushio's fever still had not gone down.
Her body was too weak to leave the house. In order to care for her, Takasaki eventually quit his job.
The little girl was so frail that she could not even change into her pajamas by herself. She felt frustrated, and at the same time, guilty for causing her father so much trouble.
Those first few minutes alone made Erina's nose begin to sting.
She did not want to believe it, but the direction of the story was far too obvious. No matter how she looked at it, Sora was preparing to use Ushio as a blade.
When Takasaki asked his daughter, lying in bed, what she wanted, Ushio answered only that she wanted to go on a trip with Daddy.
But because of her physical condition, Takasaki could not agree to her request.
No way… seriously? They're already raising death flags?
Kantoku Sora, you really don't listen to anyone, do you?
Erina clenched her fingers tightly. At this point, all she could pray for was a miracle.
A miracle proving that Sora still had a heart.
But in the events that followed, Ushio's illness still did not improve. She remained in bed, repeatedly telling her father in that weak, pleading voice that she wanted to travel.
She wanted to travel.
She wanted to travel.
Even so, afraid that going outside would worsen her condition, Takasaki never once agreed.
Had Ushio realized she wasn't going to get better? Was that why she kept insisting on the trip?
Erina's heart grew heavy.
The first true reconciliation between father and daughter had happened during a trip. To Ushio, that had been the happiest moment of her life. So perhaps, at the very end, she wanted to spend her final moments traveling again.
No. Stop.
She wasn't dead yet.
All of this was just Sora playing with the fans' minds, trying to deceive everyone's emotions. She could not fall for it.
What benefit would he gain from giving such a fate to such a beloved character? He could not possibly be that heartless.
Even at that point, Erina was still trying to comfort herself.
The story continued.
Summer ended, and autumn arrived.
Ushio's illness did not improve. On the contrary, it worsened more and more.
By the time winter came, she could no longer even sit up on her own. Takasaki had to support her just so she could drink water.
Even then, her wish remained the same.
She wanted to travel with Daddy. Just the two of them. And it had to be now.
Tears finally rose in Erina's eyes.
The story had already laid everything out to this point.
The emotion had already been pushed to this exact moment.
She understood. Ushio's fate had already been decided.
What did "it has to be now" mean?
It meant that this little girl only had this moment left.
Take her.
Erina gripped the television remote tightly in her hand. The story was too painful, and she wanted to change the channel, but she could not bring herself to do it. She was afraid she might be overthinking it. Afraid she would miss some brilliant reversal.
Didn't this anime have ghosts?
Didn't it have a robot and a girl in a lonely world?
Didn't it even have a cat that could turn into a human?
Then maybe a miracle could fall from the sky too and cure Ushio.
"I understand. Then let's go."
Takasaki's eyes were filled with deep sorrow as he began dressing his daughter.
The background music was mournful. The little girl was adorable, her face red from fever. The father looked exhausted, nearly broken from within.
Takasaki wanted to carry her on his back, but Ushio insisted on walking by herself.
"Can you manage, Ushio?"
"Yes."
She tried to answer in a cheerful voice, as if she still had strength.
"If you can't, make sure you tell Daddy, all right?"
Takasaki held his daughter's hand, and the two of them began walking slowly through the cold.
Snow fell in silence. The street was empty, wrapped in an almost cruel loneliness.
It was the same snow from the day Nagisa Furukawa had died. The snow Takasaki hated.
Erina held her breath.
On the screen, Takasaki looked as if he might collapse into tears at any moment, while Ushio kept walking with all the seriousness her small body allowed.
"Daddy, do you like snow?"
"I do. Daddy likes it too."
In the end, Takasaki went against his own feelings and said it only to make her happy.
"Ushio, let Daddy carry you."
"No."
Ushio refused.
Because Ushio was that kind of girl.
She wanted to do everything by herself. She did not want to trouble anyone.
Previous episodes had shown that again and again. She tried to dress herself, go to the bathroom by herself, eat by herself. And whenever she managed it, she would run to her father, seeking praise.
Don't do this…
Erina's vision was already blurred with tears.
Her stomach hurt.
For one instant, she wanted to run to the headquarters of Yume Animation, only twenty kilometers from her home, drag Sora outside, and beat him up.
Ushio's breathing grew more and more labored. Her steps left fragile marks in the snow.
At last, she lost her strength and fell.
Takasaki caught her in his arms, desperate.
"Daddy… where are we? Are we already on the train?"
Ushio's voice was far too weak.
"It's dark… Is it night?"
"Yes… it's already very late."
Tears streamed down Takasaki's face.
"Daddy… I love you so much."
Ushio smiled.
"I love you too. I love you so much, Ushio."
Ushio's expression froze in that instant.
Beneath the falling snow, the girl slowly closed her eyes, still wearing a smile.
That scene pierced the hearts of millions of anime fans across Japan.
Did it really have to be like this?
In the anime, Takasaki held his daughter's body and sobbed in the middle of the snow. That image was the exact shape of the emptiness swallowing the viewers at that moment.
"Nagisa… save Ushio…"
Takasaki's helpless cry completely shattered Erina's defenses.
But even Nagisa Furukawa had died from that same illness.
What gods existed in that world?
Who could possibly save her?
The image sank once more into a stream of consciousness.
In the lonely world, the girl and the robot, who had set out on a journey to escape that place, also collapsed in the snow, just like Ushio.
Then the scene changed.
The screen returned to the first episode of the first season, to the moment Nagisa Furukawa and Takasaki met for the first time.
Facing the girl hesitating at the foot of the hill, Takasaki seemed to want to say something, yet the words would not come.
If I speak to her here, I'll fall in love with her. I'll stay by her side. But maybe it would be better not to do that. If I had never met her…
The final shot of episode twenty-one lingered on the lonely backs of a boy and a girl.
The ending theme began to play.
"Ah…"
Erina stared at the ending sequence through clenched teeth.
What was this?
She pressed the button on the remote with force and turned off the television.
She wanted to sleep, but after lying down, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
In the end, she sat up all at once, turned on her computer, logged into the NatsuYume forum, and found Sora's creator account.
There was no helping it anymore.
She had always been calm. She had never attacked a creator because of the direction of a story.
Until that day, she had always believed that any theme, any development, and any narrative choice could have meaning. That her personal preferences were not necessarily the standard by which a work should be judged.
But now it was different.
Now, she could no longer swallow it.
What was the meaning of Ushio's death?