In early January, inside one of the internal meeting rooms at Yume Animation in Tokushima, part of the company staff had gathered around the conference table.
Sora sat at the head of the room. His expression was calm, almost relaxed, as if this meeting were merely another ordinary step in the studio's routine. Beside him, Sumire maintained her usual cool, composed expression, her eyes focused as she listened to the deputy head of the operations department present the report at the front of the room.
"The police thriller Marionette, with an investment of 2.6 billion yen and directed by one of Japan's top filmmakers, is considered one of the strongest contenders for the New Year box-office crown."
He changed the slide without haste, but the weight of the information made the atmosphere in the room grow increasingly heavy.
"Likewise, the comedy Crazy Horse Race 2, backed by an investment of 3.1 billion yen, is coming in extremely aggressively. Its cast includes three award-winning leading actors and two acclaimed actresses. The first film, released five years ago, ranked second during the New Year season and exceeded 21 billion yen in total box office. With an investment of this scale, there is no doubt they are aiming directly for first place."
Another slide appeared.
"The adaptation of the famous mystery novel Darkness Before Dawn, the work that made writer Kiyoshi Makino's name, has also received roughly 2 billion yen in funding. The lead role is being played by Shiori Nanase, one of the most popular actresses in the country right now, whose fanbase is exceptionally loyal. On top of that, the project is backed by Aomine Pictures, the largest film company in Japan. It is one of the biggest uncertainties of this season."
The deputy head paused briefly before continuing.
"In addition, there is Forest of Animals, a children's animation franchise that has remained highly popular for many years. Although it is often criticized for being too childish and having overly simplistic plots, the problem is that the audience who grew up watching the series is now adult. In recent years, they have released an animated feature almost every New Year season, and the box office usually hovers around 10 billion yen. Like Your Name, it is also an animated film. The overlap between the two audiences cannot be ignored."
Sora listened to the report with a calm face. Outwardly, he looked completely at ease. Inwardly, however, it would be a lie to say he felt no pressure.
In his previous life, as soon as Your Name premiered in Japan, it had sparked a genuine moviegoing frenzy. During its theatrical run, it had directly surpassed the domestic box-office record that Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away had held for more than a decade.
Later, Spirited Away would reclaim its position through global re-releases and particularly strong performance in overseas markets, and both films would eventually be surpassed by the theatrical release of Demon Slayer. Even so, the fact that Your Name had earned the equivalent of tens of billions of yen in a country with just over one hundred million people was already absurd enough.
But the Japan before him was not exactly the same Japan from his previous life.
It was true that the public in this world also loved otaku culture, and Sora was highly confident that Your Name would become a hit. The fundamental quality of the film was there. That was not something easily erased.
Even so, he understood very well that turning Your Name into the same nationwide phenomenon it had been in his previous life might not be so simple.
Cultural differences, schedule differences, the struggle between investors, broadcasters, distributors, and theater chains - every one of these factors could influence the film's final result in a different way.
Still, there was one thing he did not intend to force.
Taking the all-time number one spot in Japanese film history with Your Name was not something Sora would set as an absolute requirement.
But at the very least, claiming first place during the New Year season had to be established as a goal.
"All right. Everyone understands, yes?" Sora asked, looking at the executives and department heads seated around the room.
The people around the table looked back at him with curiosity.
Understands what?
"Your Name will be released during the New Year season surrounded by powerful rivals. Today, our company is no longer what it used to be. We have enough funding channels and resources to support the film's release. But the works premiering in the same period have the same advantage."
Once he finished speaking, everyone nodded in silence.
As expected of Kantoku Sora. Young as he was, he still understood the situation clearly.
No matter how popular he might be, the other films were not paying tens or hundreds of millions of yen in acting fees to award-winning stars for nothing. In terms of capital strength, Yume Animation might not necessarily have any advantage over the production companies behind those competitors.
It was true that, over the past few years, Sora had dominated the television anime field and accumulated an enormous fanbase. But the New Year season was a different kind of war. The wisest target would be to secure a place in the top three and try to fight for second.
That would be the prudent strategy.
"Therefore, our goal of dominating the New Year box office…" Sora paused briefly before continuing. "Will indeed be somewhat difficult."
The moment he said that, several silent gazes settled on him.
Kantoku Sora, could you speak a little faster next time?
Because all the thoughts and analysis that had just passed through everyone's minds now seemed completely foolish.
And besides, what did he mean by "somewhat difficult"?
It was obviously extremely difficult.
The previous year, 5 Centimeters per Second had reached a total box office of 13 billion yen. But the New Year box-office champion in Japan had finished with 29 billion. If this year's situation remained similar, then for Your Name to claim first place, it would need to reach at least 30 billion yen to be considered safe.
Your Name did indeed seem to be of extremely high quality, at least judging from what they had seen so far.
But that was 30 billion yen.
The film had not even premiered yet. There had not even been public test screenings. And Kantoku Sora already had this level of confidence?
Sora observed the expressions around him and realized that no one truly believed it.
To be honest, if he had not had the film's performance data from his previous life as a reference, even he would not have believed that a romantic animated feature could achieve that kind of result.
In fact, if 5 Centimeters per Second had not exploded at the Japanese box office, he would not have dared set such an ambitious goal either.
It was precisely the performance of 5 Centimeters per Second that had confirmed to him that Makoto Shinkai's style had a market in this Japan. Adding that to the reputation Your Name had earned in his previous life, Sora had finally settled on this objective.
His gaze moved to Sumire.
Among everyone present, she was the only one whose expression had not changed.
After all, from the beginning, she had already witnessed far too many miracles at his side. Faced with Sora's bold and seemingly absurd predictions, Sumire appeared to have developed a kind of immunity.
Judging from past experience, almost every goal he had announced had eventually come true.
So before doubting him, it was better to believe first.
"The next month will be the main promotional period before the release of Your Name. Kantoku Sumire and I will participate with the staff of Noriko Animation in fan meetings and promotional events for the film," Sora said. "During this period, production work on Attack on Titan cannot stop. I hope everyone understands."
"Understood."
"Yes, Kantoku."
Responses quickly came from all sides of the room.
With that, the meeting came to an end.
After most people had already left the room, Yumi called out to the two of them.
"If both of you are away from the company for the next month, aren't you afraid something will go wrong with Titan's production?"
"It is not as if we will be gone for the entire month," Sora replied with a smile. "We will simply go out every few days to accompany Noriko Animation's team for promotional events. Whenever there are no outside commitments, we will return to the studio immediately to work."
He tilted his head slightly, as if he found her concern amusing.
"Besides, if the company stops functioning just because Sumire and I are not here, then perhaps I need to start wondering whether there is a problem with the billions of yen I spend on salaries every year."
Yume Animation now had several hundred employees. Among them were many people who had previously held important positions in animation projects at other companies. To put it bluntly, if Sora did not insist on personally controlling the style of his works, he could simply hand these people the scripts. The final quality of the animation they produced certainly would not be poor.
"So if any decisions or problems come up while the two of us are away, I will leave everything entirely in your hands," he said, still smiling.
Yumi was speechless for a moment.
"I feel like I boarded your pirate ship. At first, the agreement was that I would be an investor. So why is everything being pushed onto me now? I already hold two positions inside the company, and you still want more?"
"Thank you for your hard work, Yumi," Sumire said softly.
Yumi glanced at her. In the end, she said nothing more.
Early January passed, and the middle of the month arrived.
With one month remaining before the New Year season, the eight films scheduled to premiere during that period began intensifying their campaigns all at once.
No film dared enter that release window unprepared.
Not only did every one of them have investments exceeding 1 billion yen, their promotional spending was also higher than the next. In this market, everyone understood the same cruel logic: if the initial theater allocation was poor, the first-day box office would also be poor. If the first day was weak, then from the second day onward, the screening rate would drop even further, creating a vicious cycle that was difficult to reverse.
The major theater chains were carefully watching the heat surrounding each title among moviegoers. Search data, online discussions, advance reservations, social-media engagement - everything was being counted to determine what percentage of screens each film would receive on the first day of the New Year season.
Naturally, the distributors behind the releases, such as Noriko Animation, Brothers Films, Nippon Media, and other companies, would not neglect negotiations behind the scenes with the theater chains.
Box-office revenue splits, first-day subsidies, screening agreements, joint promotional support.
Doing all of this did not necessarily guarantee a clear advantage over the competition. But failing to invest in these areas meant entering the battlefield at a definite disadvantage.
At its core, this was also a form of competition pushed to the extreme.
Many excellent films failed at the box office not because they were bad, but because they lacked enough money to be seen. After all, making an audience that knew nothing discover that "there is an excellent work currently in theaters" already required an enormous amount of money, strategy, and operation.
Digital marketing teams, influential accounts, and promotional groups also began receiving payments from the companies, stirring up discussions online, provoking comparisons, and inflaming fan rivalries.
The New Year season had not yet arrived.
But the promotional war between the films had already begun.
patre0n ImmortalEmperor