Online, a post suddenly caught everyone's attention:
"Who said before that once Demon Slayer came out, LSP's legend would definitely be shattered?
I originally also thought this animation wouldn't perform very well, but until I chatted with my brother who is still in elementary school today, I discovered that this animation is incredibly popular among elementary school students.
It's only 'not popular' because everyone thinks it isn't. In reality, at least 6 out of 10 elementary school students now have heard of this animation, and at least 4 are following it. It's just that those elementary schoolers don't participate in online discussions as often as us veteran anime fans do.
It's hard to say how the disc sales will be, but in reality, this animation's popularity is not bad at all."
Below this post, there were many comments:
"Really? Elementary school students actually like watching Demon Slayer?"
"The special effects are too strong; it's not surprising it can attract elementary school students. When I was in elementary school, if there had been an animation like this, I probably would have liked it a lot too."
"Never mind attracting elementary school students, just for those flashy special effects in the animation, even I, a veteran anime fan who has seen too much animation, can keep watching."
"Setting aside the plot, the production quality is genuinely strong."
"I also have a younger brother in elementary school who's been constantly fighting me for the TV remote lately, just so he can watch LSP's 'Demon Slayer'. At first, I found it very strange, but after asking him about it, I discovered that this anime is incredibly popular among elementary school students."
"The main reason is that this anime airs at 11 p.m. Although 11 p.m. is already quite late, some elementary school students can still manage to stay up for it. If it had been scheduled for 1 or 2 a.m., even if it could attract elementary schoolers, it wouldn't have become such a hit among them."
"Actually, when you think about it, Lin Zhiyan's judgment has always been very sharp. Could he not have known that the plot and setting of 'Demon Slayer' weren't particularly outstanding? Yet, he still stepped forward personally to secure the animation adaptation rights and even made it his main project for the year. He must have seen its potential to attract elementary school students."
"Whether the plot is outstanding or not, I don't know, but as an adult, I quite like this anime myself, especially the protagonist's personality. It's truly very likable; he's easily one of my favorite male leads from the past two years."
"Heavenly Descent"
In fact, in another timeline, Ufotable's Demon Slayer was not broadcast at 11:00 PM, but at a much later time. It wasn't until the second season, after the anime had become a hit, that the broadcast time was changed to 11:15 PM.
Lin Zhiyan knew that this anime would be very popular with elementary school students, so during the planning stage, he chose to spend more money to set the broadcast time at 11:00 PM—a time slot that elementary school students could stay up for, yet not too early for high school students or even adults.
The result was that this version of the anime became a hit much earlier than the Ufotable version in that other timeline.
Of course, at this stage, even if the anime was a hit, it was only really popular among elementary school students.
Naturally, there were many viewers in older age groups who watched it, but for those demographics, the anime at best had high popularity, not quite reaching the level of being a "phenomenon."
Regardless, the anime's popularity and reputation by mid-season were completely different from when it first aired.
After the first episode aired, some people within L.S Produ were quite disappointed. By the middle of the season, however, they were no longer disappointed, but rather as full of energy and drive as ever. In private conversations, they all praised Lin Zhiyan's wisdom, remarking on how discerning his vision was.
Those netizens who had previously claimed that Lin Zhiyan had misjudged the situation by choosing Demon Slayer for adaptation and as his main animated work for 2019, now turned around and heaped praise on him, saying it was just like Lin Zhiyan to do so.
That said, it wasn't as if there weren't those who mocked Lin Zhiyan because Demon Slayer had become a massive hit among elementary school students. For example:
"This guy Lin Zhiyan has really fallen; he's actually resorted to pandering to elementary schoolers."
"Is he starting to prioritize the elementary school demographic because the box office for Your Name couldn't surpass Spirited Away back then?"
"This isn't the Lin Zhiyan I know! The Lin Zhiyan I know would never pander to those elementary school kids."
"I never thought I'd see the day when one of Lin Zhiyan's anime had to rely on elementary school students to save it."
"The Lin Zhiyan I know would never pander to those elementary schoolers."
"I never imagined that Lin Zhiyan's animation would have to rely on elementary schoolers to save it."
Mockery aside, there were even more people speaking up for Lin Zhiyan:
"Demon Slayer just happened to be popular with elementary schoolers; how does that make Lin Zhiyan pandering to them? Even if you're going to spout nonsense, you don't have to be this ridiculous."
"Exactly. He just chose Demon Slayer to adapt, and once he obtained the rights, he produced it with genuine care. Where on earth does it look like he's pandering to elementary schoolers?"
"Elementary schoolers like it because of the strong special effects, but as an adult, I like the strong special effects too."
"Setting elementary schoolers aside, there are also many original manga fans following this animation. To say it's being saved by elementary schoolers is incredibly arrogant, even if you look down on the original manga."
As the person involved, Lin Zhiyan didn't take the mockery on the internet to heart at all. After all, he was well aware that the positioning of the Demon Slayer animation was not that of a children's show, but a shonen show—it just happened to be liked by elementary schoolers.
As the person involved, Lin Zhiyan didn't take the mockery on the internet to heart at all. After all, he clearly knew the positioning of the Demon Slayer anime: it was not a children's anime, but a shonen anime, which just happened to be liked by elementary school students.
As for the claim that he was pandering to elementary school students, those students likely didn't even know who he was, and probably didn't even know who the supervising director of the anime was. They just liked the content of the anime and the cool special effects in it.
Any anime, anyone, once liked by elementary school students, is bound to be mocked indiscriminately by some people.
Just ignore it; taking it seriously means you've already lost.
While netizens were discussing the anime, he was busy on one hand with work for his new anime, and on the other, performing his duties as producer of Demon Slayer and president of L.S Produ.
He had previously teased information about the new anime in an interview, saying it would be released in '22 or '23. Now, the layout for the new anime was initially complete, but still being adjusted and not yet ready to enter the production stage, so he still had plenty to keep him busy.
His work as president of L.S Produ mainly involved anime planning, reviewing finished works, occasionally participating in important meetings within the anime industry, and from time to time, listening to work reports from the heads of the various subsidiaries.
As for his work as the producer of Demon Slayer, Lin Zhiyan let the animation production team have free rein, provided they met the quality standards. If he had one special requirement, it was the special effects.
The special effects had to be flashy! Even flashier!
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