As soon as the first episode of Your Lie in April aired, SNS exploded.
Driven by the novel's fans, discussions spread like wildfire. Before long, anime fans who had never heard of Your Lie in April were jumping on the bandwagon and giving it a watch.
For most people, anime was simply more appealing than light novels. Reading had become something of a luxury.
In an era dominated by endless short videos and shrinking attention spans, anyone who could sit down and finish a novel was becoming increasingly rare.
On top of that, Kentaro and the others went into full promotional mode, recommending Your Lie in April across every anime community and chat group they belonged to.
The "Your Lie in April Fan Club" was reborn. This time, though, their strategy was far more straightforward than before.
Everyone had the same goal.
If the anime became a hit, more people would buy the light novel.
If the light novel sold well, the publisher would organize more events.
And more events meant more signed copies of Your Lie in April.
It was a surprisingly logical chain of reasoning. Whatever their individual motives, after disappearing from the spotlight for quite some time, Your Lie in April once again climbed into the Top 10 trending topics on SNS.
A-1 Pictures' gorgeous animation. The soundtrack. And the tireless promotion from the novel's fans.
Together, they sparked the curiosity of countless newcomers who had never touched the light novel before.
Discussion forums quickly filled with posts asking about Your Lie in April.
One thread, in particular, attracted an overwhelming number of replies.
"Ah! This feels so sweet, and the pacing is really nice. I kind of want to read the novel now, but I saw people saying it's a bad ending. Is it really bad? If it is, I'm skipping it."
The replies beneath it were almost entirely from existing readers.
["Bad ending? Where did you hear that? Your Lie in April is a healing story, and the ending is a happy one. Seriously, I can't recommend it enough!"]
["Exactly! Don't you know bast... I mean, Copycat-sensei. Every novel he writes is heartwarming. Here, let me show you a few pictures from Clannad. It's incredibly healing."]
["Yo~ Don't just think about it, go buy it! When the second volume came out last time, I had to wait two whole days before I could get a copy. Now that it's been adapted into an anime, those little neighborhood bookstores are going to sell out in no time. Hurry! People online keep spreading rumors because they're jealous. Copycat is just too good, so some of his competitors can't help trying to drag him down. Don't pay attention to that stuff."]
...
Kaoko Maeda stared blankly at her rapidly growing thread.
She'd planned to wait a bit longer and ask a few more questions before deciding whether to buy it.
But was Your Lie in April really selling this well?
Thinking was overrated. Action was better.
She hurriedly threw on a jacket and called toward the living room, "Mom! I'm heading to the bookstore!"
Then she sprinted toward the neighborhood bookstore.
Less than five minutes later, she came back carrying both volumes of Your Lie in April, along with Volume One of Clannad.
She set the three light novels on her desk, snapped a photo, and made another post. Seeing the cherful replies, she smiled, closed the forum and opened Your Lie in April volume one
On the title page was the author's signature, along with a handwritten message: {Wishing you a wonderful day.— Copycat Transmigrator}
"Wow... it's a signed copy! I'm so lucky!"
Grinning from ear to ear, she took another picture before turning to the first page.
—That autumn, when I was eleven years old... I lost the ability to play the piano. Then, in April, two years later, a girl named Kaori Miyazono entered my world.
"Looks like it really is a heartwarming story. My favorite kind!" With that thought, Kaoko eagerly kept reading.
She'd already decided to stay up all night to finish Your Lie in April, then fall asleep with a smile on her face and spend the entire next day happily sleeping in.
She wasn't the only one.
Scenes like this were playing out not just across anime forums, but in countless private chat groups made up mostly of women.
Compared to men, women tended to be more emotional. They were more likely to make impulse purchases, and more willing to trust recommendations from other people.
Besides, both volumes of Your Lie in April plus Volume One of Clannad cost less than 3,000 yen altogether.
That wasn't exactly an expensive purchase.
As if that weren't enough, some members of the Your Lie in April Fan Club took things a step further. They enthusiastically recommended the novel to girls they were flirting with, and even to their girlfriends.
Ridiculous schemes always seemed to come from ridiculous people.
Oikawa, of course, knew nothing about any of this. After watching the first episode of the anime, he'd played games for a while before heading to bed.
_ _ _
The next morning—
Oikawa was eating breakfast and casually scrolling through Twitter, as usual.
The moment he opened his notifications, he froze.
His DMs and comment section were overflowing with hostile messages.
["You damn bastard, Copycat! Seriously, go to hell! How dare you advertise it as a healing story when it ends like that? What's wrong with you? Were you abused as a kid or something?"]
["You heartless mutt. With how shameless you are, your conscience must weigh less than air."]
["Anyone who writes an ending this twisted has to be some obese shut-in in real life. Probably the kind of guy whose face makes people think his parents weren't paying attention when they made him."]
["Watch your back when you go outside. Stay away from traffic. Stay away from train tracks. And pray I never find out what you look like."]
"..."
Oikawa stared at the comments in complete disbelief.
His wonderful morning had been destroyed the instant he opened Twitter.
The worst part was... He genuinely felt wronged.
Back when people cursed him out, at least he understood why.
But lately? He hadn't done anything!
The second volume of Clannad hadn't even been released yet!
He clicked through a few more comments.
Every single one came from women.
It was honestly hard to imagine such venom coming from people with cute profile pictures.
Sometimes girls could roast someone with far more finesse than guys ever could.
Frowning, Oikawa closed Twitter and logged into the alternate LINE account he'd created months ago.
That account had quietly infiltrated the Your Lie in April Fan Club.
The entire reason he'd made it was so he'd get advance warning whenever this bunch of lunatics started plotting something.
Judging by the atmosphere online, he had a strong feeling these people were responsible.
Sure enough. After scrolling through the chat history for a while, his expression turned into a mix of anger and helplessness.
Early that morning, the group chat had already exploded with messages.
[Wickedly Polite]: "HAHAHA! This is incredible! I did a rough count. I tricked at least a dozen girls yesterday. I even snuck into a moms' group and recommended Your Lie in April there."
[Kentaro (Admin)] : "Copycat is going to be so grateful when he sees this. We boosted his sales for real! Hahaha! I just came back from Copycat's Twitter. Look at these screenshots! These girls are absolutely roasting him. They're tearing him apart without even swearing. This is exactly the kind of internet trash talk I aspire to."
[Justice Bringer] : "I finally understand the joy that Copycat-sensei feels. What a beautiful day."
[Kentaro (Admin)] : "Guys, I'm sharing a video. I just can't stand seeing women cry. pfff" (Video)
...
Oikawa's fist clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
His eyes sharpened with murderous intent as he stared at the idiots in the chat.
Taking a deep breath, he clicked on the video.
A girl with swollen, bloodshot eyes filled the screen. The very first thing she said was: "Copycat... do you even have a heart? Why did you kill Kaori? Why? Why would you do that? And if it was supposed to be a healing story, why does it hurt this much? Why did you trick me?"
"Give me back my money! Give me back my tears! Awoo... You... Why are you such a terrible person?"
"You even had someone compose that song on purpose! Do you know I cried so hard I scared my mom? I was planning to sleep happily all day after finishing it..."
"But now I'm so exhausted I can't even fall asleep. And that message... 'Hope you have a wonderful day.' You weren't wishing me happiness at all. You wanted me to be miserable."
"You're the worst... You... you... Go to hell!"
.
.
.