After the promotional PV for Lin Zhiyan's new animation was released, discussions quickly erupted on forums and animation-related sections of major online communities:
"Has anyone seen the PV for Old Thief Lin's new animation?"
"The one for Anohana?"
"Just finished watching it. It looks pretty good."
"I love the art style, and since it's directed by Lin Zhiyan and produced by LSP, it's definitely worth checking out."
"The key thing is that this time, the script wasn't written by Old Thief Lin himself. It's by Takagi Makoto, the scriptwriter for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. So, it might not be the usual formula for a guaranteed depressing ending."
"They say it's about friendship and growth... I can't quite picture it. Can anyone give me an example of a similar animation?"
"Who cares about the genre? As long as Lin Zhiyan and LSP are involved, it's guaranteed to be high quality. It won't disappoint."
The discussion naturally focused on the PV's content, but other aspects outside the PV also sparked considerable debate, such as:
"Old Thief Lin really doesn't dare to hold a Project Announcement Conference for the New Animation."
"He's scared, definitely scared."
"After how badly Puella Magi Madoka Magica tricked everyone, if he dared hold a Project Announcement Conference for the New Animation this time, he'd almost certainly get a razor blade mailed to him."
"Who was it that claimed Old Thief Lin's New Animation was a collaboration with Fuji TV's noitamina? It was just a rumor, but it turned out to be true. As they say, 'urban legends are always true'—no lie there."
"I want to know where that person got that rumor from in the first place. Also, could you dig around a bit more? Is it a healing genre or a depressing one? After all, just because Takagi Makoto wrote the script doesn't mean it won't be depressing."
Since the promotional PV was released directly online and uploaded to N Station, the site was flooded with videos piggybacking on the hype.
Some preemptively praised the animation, predicting its explosive success and commercial triumph, with titles like "April's Chart-Topping Hit Guaranteed."
Others expressed concerns.
Lin Zhiyan's previous animations had indeed achieved remarkable success, and LSP's involvement was a mark of quality. However, Takagi Makoto had always collaborated with Mamoru Hosoda. Moreover, when Lin Zhiyan served as Supervising Director, he had never partnered with anyone else on the script. Under these circumstances, it was uncertain whether the two could work together harmoniously to create a high-quality animation.
What's more, Lin Zhiyan's previous works had always featured combat elements. Death Note was a special case—a battle of wits—but it still fell under the category of combat-driven animation.
This time, the goal was to create an animation devoid of combat elements, focusing instead on friendship and growth with a delicate emotional touch. Even with Takagi Makoto's assistance, it remained uncertain whether they could truly nail this subject matter.
These concerns weren't unfounded. While Lin Zhiyan's past achievements had been nothing short of astonishing, they couldn't guarantee that his future animations would never fail. They merely instilled greater confidence.
Moreover, stacking too many "buffs" doesn't always guarantee success. Sometimes, an animation that gathers too many celebrities during production can backfire, resulting in a final product that's no better than average—or even a complete disaster.
Additionally, Lin Zhiyan's New Animation was a collaboration with Fuji Television's noitamina block.
The noitamina block on Fuji Television targets a different audience than typical late-night anime. This led many to suspect that Lin Zhiyan's New Animation might alienate his existing fans in an attempt to pander to the noitamina demographic.
If the animation is specifically tailored to a particular demographic, it's highly likely that the noitamina audience will be enthusiastic, while Lin Zhiyan's original fans might find it unwatchable.
This is also a cause for concern.
Regardless, the promotional PV for Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day has garnered immense attention.
Major animation-related media outlets were among the first to watch the PV. Without exception, they all featured the animation, set to premiere in April, in their latest issues. Some even used scenes from the PV as cover art for their new issues.
Media outlets with close ties to Lin Zhiyan or L.S. Produ proactively contacted him, hoping to secure interviews.
After all, without a Project Announcement Conference, the PV, while revealing the animation's themes and production staff, offered very little information about the plot.
There was so much information to mine from Lin Zhiyan, and given his immense popularity and fame in recent years, interviews with him were highly valuable.
Though busy, Lin Zhiyan never refused interviews from animation media outlets he had previously collaborated with.
This was part of the promotion, helping to increase exposure for the New Animation. Besides, he felt it was only right to show some respect to these long-standing partners and couldn't easily refuse.
However, while he didn't refuse, he didn't answer every question truthfully either.
For instance, when a reporter asked why he hadn't written the script for the New Animation himself, instead collaborating with Takagi Makoto as the script supervisor, Lin Zhiyan couldn't reveal that Takagi Makoto was, in fact, himself. Instead, he said, "The theme of this work is quite unique. Moreover, audiences have developed a deep misunderstanding of me in recent years; they seem to believe that any script I write will inevitably have a bleak ending. I'm willing to bear all the blame myself, even if I'm misunderstood, but I can't let my animation be misunderstood."
After this statement, reporters immediately pressed further: "Does this mean the new animation finally won't have a depressing ending?"
Lin Zhiyan didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he said, "As I've said before, asking me about the ending before the animation has even aired is tiresome. I can only say that I won't let my animations be misunderstood. I didn't say the new animation won't be depressing. Whether it's depressing or not, you can speculate for yourselves. There's no need to ask me. All I can say is that no matter how the animation ends, I'll put my heart into making it. I'll never let fans who love my work down."
Of course, he couldn't outright deny that it would be depressing. That would be too obvious and raise suspicions. Besides, spoiling the ending before the animation even airs would be boring. It's better to let the audience guess for themselves.
After all, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was depressing, while Summer Wars wasn't. Based on these two works, there's a 50/50 chance of either outcome.
The uncertainty is what makes it interesting.
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