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The following morning, Haruto was invited to the company headquarters by Kiyozawa Library early in the day. Since Parasyte was scheduled to be transferred to the flagship Kiyozawa magazine in two weeks, the cover art and promotional posters for the novel needed a complete redesign.
The publishing house also intended to take several professional portraits of Haruto to include in the magazine as a special gift for the vast community of light novel fans. This was standard procedure for any work joining the Big Three; once a series reached that level, every author underwent this ritual.
These industry practices have resulted in a culture where successful light novel authors are treated like celebrities. Publishing houses understand the fan economy intimately; they know that to make a novel truly go mainstream, it helps to market the person behind the pen.
Moreover, the stereotypical image of a light novel author is often a middle-aged man with a bit of a belly and graying hair caused by the relentless pressure of serialization.
A young and handsome author like Haruto was a rare gem in the industry. Consequently, the internal photographers at the publishing house found their eyes lighting up the moment they saw him.
A few days later, the nineteenth chapter of Parasyte was serialized.
This chapter primarily followed the protagonist, Shinichi, as he collaborated with the government to find a way to identify and eradicate the parasites in order to save more lives.
The strongest parasite in the series, Gotou, also made a brief appearance. While the plot was relatively calm, the total reader votes still surpassed six hundred thousand, maintaining the top spot.
Another week passed, during which the first three tankobon volumes of Parasyte were officially released and went on sale across Japan. The first-week sales for these three volumes were nearly two million copies each.
Even though Kiyozawa Library had been mentally prepared for success, these numbers exceeded their forecasts by more than three hundred thousand copies. With a first-week average of nearly 1.9 million copies per volume, total sales surpassing five million per volume were practically guaranteed.
The story contained in these three volumes covered everything up to the sixteenth chapter of the serialization.
By the beginning of March, it was time for the release of the twentieth chapter. However, this time, it was no longer being published in Azure Kiyozawa.
The cover of Kiyozawa, one of the three major light novel magazines in Japan, featured a high school boy with a cold expression and determined eyes. Dressed in a black school uniform, his right hand had transformed into a razor-sharp steel blade. At the tip of that blade, Migi's equally indifferent and calm eye stared out from the cover, looking directly at the readers.
"Cool." That was the immediate impression of most readers who picked up the magazine this week. The visual representation of Migi and Shinichi was striking and memorable.
Upon opening the magazine to the twentieth chapter of Parasyte, readers found a summary of roughly one thousand words detailing the previous world-building and plot points. This outline allowed new readers to understand the story so far and explicitly announced that the first three volumes were now on sale. The message was clear: if you are interested in this story, go buy the tankobons.
Tucked between the pages was a professional portrait of Haruto, with his career history and achievements printed on the back. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans, with his hair styled by a professional and a confident pose for the camera.
This was a far cry from the stiff, formal portraits of older authors that readers were tired of seeing. His looks and his age alone were enough to pique the interest of many new readers.
However, once they actually started reading the twentieth chapter and witnessed the parasites devouring humans within the first two thousand words, they were left in a state of shock. How could such a cute, youthful-looking boy write a story that was so terrifying and bloody?
The following day, the rankings for the twentieth chapter were released. It received a total of 503,215 votes, placing it sixth in the magazine. Although the raw vote count was lower than it had been in Azure Kiyozawa, the actual number of people reading the novel was far higher. In the secondary magazine, four million out of six million readers followed the series, with six hundred thousand voting. In the flagship Kiyozawa, perhaps eight or nine million people were reading it, but only five hundred thousand voted. This was because most votes were being sucked away by the long-standing pillars of the magazine.
The fantasy novel Crimson Abyss took the top spot with nearly three million votes. The isekai series Labyrinth of Another World took second with over 1.5 million votes, and the romance You and Me! took third with over a million votes.
These three series had all been running for over two years. They were the unshakable pillars of Kiyozawa Library, each selling over ten million copies per volume and being the only ones capable of breaking the million-vote barrier. Most other novels in the magazine fluctuated between two hundred thousand and seven hundred thousand votes.
"Sixth place, huh..." Haruto felt a slight twinge of disappointment upon seeing the results. He didn't believe Parasyte was inferior to the others, but the fan momentum built up over three or four years was not something easily overcome.
"Four chapters left," he thought.
There were only four chapters remaining before Parasyte concluded. In such a short time, it was unlikely the series would grow enough to surpass the top three pillars. However, he intended to show the other nine works in the magazine that Parasyte wasn't there just to look good.
While the story might not be the type to explode into a phenomenon in a flash, it held the highest ultimate critical acclaim among its peers. Haruto believed that before it ended, this work would give its competitors a massive shock.
---
As March progressed, the second semester of Haruto's freshman year officially began.
Meanwhile, the spring anime season was winding down, and fans across Japan were shifting their focus to the upcoming summer market. There were one hundred and twelve titles scheduled. Among them were four high-budget blockbusters, eight medium-budget projects, and thirty-nine small-to-mid-budget works. The remaining sixty-one titles were shoestring-budget projects.
Naturally, the twelve major projects were all slated for prime-time slots on the flagship channels of Tokyo TV and other major networks.
Other works had to negotiate and choose their broadcasting partners based on the strength of their production companies. Roughly ninety percent of all new anime projects had to pay the television stations for a broadcasting slot.
This was the reality in Japan.
But what did the anime fans see today?
The budget anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, produced by Haru-Yuki Animation, had a total production investment of 300 million yen, yet they had spent 40 million yen just to buy a slot on Tokyo TV's Channel 1.
On the animation boards of the AniSphere Forum, fans were already tearing into the news.
"Haru-Yuki Animation? Has anyone ever heard of this company?"
"Nope, never heard of them."
"A new studio?"
"Looks like it."
"A magical girl anime spending forty million on a slot and a 300 million budget? The owner of this company is a total genius!"
"Puella Magi Madoka Magica? Did I just wake up in the animation industry from ten years ago? What year is this? Who still does magical girls? And what's with the name 'Madoka'? That is hilarious."
"Magical girl shows have been rotting on the shelves for years. The plots are all carbon copies and incredibly boring. Only old studios make them now to squeeze money out of merch for existing franchises. I can't believe a startup company is brave enough to touch this genre. How cute."
"I bet this show is going to crash and burn. Recovering that money through the merch market is going to be impossible."
"With a title like that, it's destined to fail. You don't even need to say it."
"The industry is cruel. I doubt we'll even see this studio around next season. They'll probably be bankrupt after taking a massive loss."
"Wait, guys. I dug into the production staff while you were talking. Do you know who the screenwriter is?"
"Who?"
"It says 'Warrior of Love!' Hahaha, I am dying. 'Warrior of Love!'"
"Is there really a screenwriter this cringy? Using a stage name like that?"
"I wonder if the 'Warrior of Love' is going to be crying his eyes out when the show flops. I hope he can still bring us 'love and laughter' then."
"Based on that name, I already know Madoka Magica is going to be a sugary-sweet show full of rainbows and giggles. The writer shares love with the audience while weeping in private over his bank balance. How tragic."
"Failing studio name: Haru-Yuki. Failing anime title: Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Failing screenwriter name: 'Warrior of Love.' .
This project has every single ingredient for a disaster. I just hope it doesn't ruin the reputation of Tokyo TV's Channel 1. If the ratings are too low, it's going to be an embarrassment for the flagship network."
After the details for the summer anime season were released, Madoka Magica did manage to stir up some discussion online, though it was almost entirely mockery.
It was viewed as a relic of a dead genre, and while people were happy to make fun of it, no one paid it any serious attention.
---
In mid-March, Haruto handed the final chapter of Parasyte to Hime. He let out a long, weary breath.
Even though the actual word count wasn't massive, the pressure of the serialization had been significant. He was primarily afraid of failing the source material. But looking at the current situation, things were going well.
"This ending..." Hime's expression tightened as she finished the final chapter. The greatest strength of Parasyte was its stability; from start to finish, the quality of the plot remained consistently engaging. Even the finale was full of highlights.
"I honestly don't know how a boy like you has so many insights into life. From the first chapter to the last, this work explores the meaning of humanity and existence."
"While the themes are profound, serializing a work like this in a magazine is a natural disadvantage."
She continued, "After all, most magazine readers are looking for something light and simple. A mature, thoughtful work like Parasyte has a bit of an uphill battle."
"I've come to realize that during this run," Haruto replied with a smile. "For my next work, I'll try to write something a bit more lighthearted and enjoyable for a younger audience."
"The next one, huh?" Hime felt a wave of relief. This confirmed that Haruto had no intention of jumping ship once Parasyte was over. "Very well. I'll be waiting for you, the most brilliant genius in the light novel world, to write a masterpiece that will shake the industry to its core."
"Of course," Haruto replied, nodding with a look of serious determination.