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Thursday, April 3rd.
The weather was clear, and the temperature was beginning to climb with the early summer heat. Early that morning, Fukashi let out a long, weary sigh after finishing his re-read of the Parasyte tankobon volumes.
"Another masterpiece reaches its conclusion."
However, his mood shifted as he searched the internet once more for information regarding the upcoming anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. His eyes lit up with anticipation. He clicked into his favorite social media group: "Magical Girl Lovers Unite!"
Even though it was early morning, a pack of enthusiasts was already howling with excitement in the chat.
"It's been two and a half years! Finally, someone in the industry has the vision to create a new magical girl series."
"Who says magical girls are outdated? Magical girls are the eternal sun of the animation world. Like black stockings, white stockings, or bare legs, they are elements that people will always love, no matter the era."
"Everyone, get ready! We need to tune in exactly on time to boost the ratings for Madoka Magica."
"I've suffered through 'trashy isekai' light novel adaptations for far too long. I miss the days ten years ago when every season had at least three or four magical girl shows."
"Now it's all 'Overpowered Hero in Another World', I'm honestly sick of it. It took two and a half years for Madoka Magica to descend and save the genre from the flames. This 'Warrior of Love' sensei truly understands the market."
"Maybe the 'Warrior of Love' is actually a lurker in this very group of ours."
"Love and magic, warmth and healing! The story of girls in justice-themed outfits undergoing gorgeous transformations to defeat creatures of void and darkness never goes out of style. We have to push Madoka tonight. It has to break into the top twenty for the summer ratings, or else studios will stop making this genre entirely."
"Let's go, everyone! Do it for the glory of the magical girl!"
"To restore the honor of the genre, the 'Warrior of Love' has stepped up, and we must back him with everything we've got!"
Many anime fans viewed the magical girl genre as garbage, relics of a bygone era that deserved to be phased out.
However, this genre had accompanied millions of fans as they grew up. While some had grown tired of it, a dedicated core remained deeply in love with these stories. Admittedly, the production company, the screenwriter, the director, and the producer were all complete unknowns, names never before heard in the industry.
But as the first magical girl anime to be born after a two-and-a-half-year drought, the hardcore fans were ready to offer their unconditional support.
Furthermore, based on the information released so far, the enthusiasts actually liked what they saw. A production budget of three hundred million yen wasn't small, even by the standards of the genre's peak years.
And the fact that they were willing to spend forty million yen on a broadcasting slot guaranteed a certain baseline. It ensured that the ratings wouldn't drop below 1.3%, giving the work a solid foundation of viewers.
More importantly, the quality of the promotional PV was surprisingly high.
Fukashi opened the official website for Haru-Yuki Animation once again and clicked on the trailer for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He had watched it at least twenty times already.
The PV opened with a scene of a pink-haired girl with innocent, wide eyes and short twin-tails waking up in her bed. A hauntingly beautiful melody played naturally in the background.
There was the cute, pink-haired Madoka Kaname.
The cold, beautiful, long-haired Homura Akemi.
The somewhat ditzy but energetic blue-haired Sayaka Miki.
The sophisticated and elegant upperclassman, Mami Tomoe.
And the sharp-tongued, red-haired, hot-headed Kyoko Sakura.
Accompanied by the melody, their daily character designs and their dazzling magical girl outfits were showcased one by one. Fukashi's heart raced. This was exactly what he wanted to see.
Look at those designs! They were the definition of "cute."
Then there was the magical pet, Kyubey, a white creature that looked like a cross between a cat and a rabbit. It was so adorable that Fukashi was certain the merchandise would sell out instantly. No fan of the genre could refuse a high-quality figure of a creature like Kyubey.
"Hmph. So what if it's cliché?" he muttered, recalling the insults online.
"What do they mean, 'it's just a mindless cash grab'? Don't they think we know that? We watch it for the transformations. We watch it to see them defeat evil in style. We are perfectly happy to spend thousands of yen on their merchandise. What is it to anyone else?"
Fukashi sneered at the "sophisticated" fans who mocked Madoka for being old-fashioned or predicted a standard "justice-wins" plot where girls use the power of love to defeat enemies.
He looked over at his display cabinet. From the first shelf to the fourth, it was packed with figures of magical girls from every era. He then opened his closet, which contained various high-quality cosplay outfits of his favorite characters. Fukashi was certainly a hardcore enthusiast.
After eating an early dinner, his anticipation reached a fever pitch. He was waiting for the genre to be reborn after its long hibernation.
By 6:00 PM, the television ratings across Japan began to climb. After all, most people were busy at work during the day; the prime-time window from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM was when the real audience appeared. Normally, television stations saved their blockbuster anime and dramas for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thursday night was usually reserved for middle-of-the-road content.
Tokyo TV's Channel 1 was currently airing its regular scheduled programming. By 8:00 PM, they began airing two new anime titles with standard production budgets. The first-episode ratings for those two were 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. While the flagship channel had the potential to push a show past 6.0%, that only happened during prime slots with massive hits. For average-quality works, 1% to 2% was the standard.
Finally, as 9:00 PM approached...
Inside the rented office space of Haru-Yuki Animation, Haruto felt a knot of tension in his stomach.
This was the second anime of his life to be broadcast, but it was the very first one his own company had produced from scratch. In the main hall, all the employees had gathered together. Every eye was bright with hope as they stared at the white screen where the Tokyo TV live feed was being projected.
At 9:00 PM sharp, the screen flickered.
The show didn't start with sparkles or sunshine.
Instead, the opening scene was eerie and oppressive, with an art style that felt surreal and distorted.
Inside a hallway, a girl in a school uniform and white knee-socks was sprinting, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She reached a set of large doors at the end of the hall and pushed them open.
Outside the doors was a world where the laws of physics had been twisted, a broken, apocalyptic landscape that looked like the end of time.
Building debris floated in the air; corpses, trash, and blood swirled around a single point in the sky.
Watching from his room, Fukashi blinked in confusion.
This opening scene didn't seem to match the "truth, goodness, and beauty" usually associated with the magical girl genre at all.