After Kamiyā Yuu finished conceiving the future Banquet of Kings plot for 'Fate/Zero' in his consciousness space, he began practicing the key animation storyboards for Episode Seven that he needed to draw the next day.
'Fate/Zero' had introduced the concept of magi, so battles between magi naturally aroused the audience's curiosity. What were magi? How did magi fight one another? What was the concept of magecraft?
If Kamiyā Yuu wanted to highlight the distinctive traits of the magecraft system, he needed to construct battle scenes that exceeded the audience's expectations.
In the original, the only thing about the confrontation between Emiya Kiritsugu and Director Kayneth that made Kamiyā Yuu's eyes light up was the concept of 'Volumen Hydrargyrum.' Its visual presentation had not been bad either.
However, the battle itself truly couldn't be called exciting. It failed to emphasize Emiya Kiritsugu's title and ability as the 'Magus Killer.' Meanwhile, Director Kayneth, despite being an elite magus, made fatal mistakes more than once. The entire battle process merely showed how foolish and arrogant he was, which ran completely counter to the qualities of a magus.
This confrontation between magi was worth expanding into an entire episode, or even several episodes.
"'Fate/Zero's' plot is extremely compact. There isn't enough room to expand further within twenty-four episodes, so the best option is to expand this magus confrontation into a full episode. It shouldn't be too long. The 'Magus Killer' Emiya Kiritsugu mainly uses modern weapons, and his various methods should be more precise, rather than just a few lines and shots like in the original anime. For example, setting traps to test the functions and uses of 'Volumen Hydrargyrum' instead of recklessly trying it out in person. Director Kayneth remaining so arrogant and conceited even after suffering a loss doesn't fit the image of a magus. The plot needs to emphasize that Kayneth is very powerful and cautious as a magus, yet in the end, still cannot overcome the cunning of the 'Magus Killer.'"
Kamiyā Yuu muttered inwardly as he recalled the Episode Seven plot he had constructed in the consciousness space a few days earlier. Gripping his animation pencil, he began drawing Episode Seven's storyboards, letting his body in the consciousness space memorize the feeling of drawing the key animation. Later, when he returned to the real world, he would be able to easily "copy" this portion of the storyboards from the consciousness space.
...
While Yosuganosora Animation Studio was producing 'Fate/Zero,' the impact of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica's' finale still had not died down. The ending of Episode 24 had even been praised by the media as the most shocking anime ending in the history of Japanese animation, attracting more and more anime viewers.
The plot had gone through four major turning points. Episode Seven revealed the looping world. Episode Seventeen exposed the tragic fates of Sakura Kyōko and Miki Sayaka, uncovering the truth of magical girls. Episode Twenty-One revealed the truth of the looping world through Akemi Homura's transformation into a witch. Finally, Episode Twenty-Four tied together every clue and served as the greatest turning point of the entire anime. The protagonist, Kaname Madoka, finally made her wish, bringing the whole story to an ending that was complete despite not being perfect.
The effect caused by the ending of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was undoubtedly sensational. Most viewers who had not been deeply exposed to anime were left speechless after watching it. So the magical girl genre did not have to be limited to children's animation. So anime could also tell a story like this.
In the third week after 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' ended, the anime's BD officially went on sale to the public.
...
Motegi Shin was the owner of an anime disc specialty store.
One day earlier, he had obtained the sales rights for three hundred copies of the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BD through official channels. Three hundred copies of the same anime BD were no small amount for an anime disc specialty store. It was like how a bookstore would not go out of its way to stock three hundred copies of the same book for no reason. Even for a fairly popular anime, selling a hundred BDs in a single disc specialty store was already an extremely exaggerated number.
'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was different.
Motegi Shin had fought hard to secure those three hundred anime BDs himself.
Well, perhaps it should be said there were two hundred and ninety copies, because he personally wanted three of them: one for collecting, one for lending out, and one for watching. The other seven had already been reserved by the part-time clerks in the shop.
Before the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BD had officially gone on sale, his store had already received more than one hundred preorders. Many came from customers in other regions who asked him to mail copies to them and were willing to pay an extra "delivery fee."
By comparison, the similarly popular anime 'Mobile Suit 007' had only received a dozen or so BD preorders during the same period.
"Ikuta-kun, I'll be counting on you next. Clear out the entire third sales shelf and fill it all with 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BDs."
Motegi Shin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and glanced uneasily at the scene outside the shop.
The glass doors had not even opened yet, but the people who had come to buy the anime BD were already about to crowd the storefront to bursting. It was the complete opposite of the deserted state the shop had been in yesterday.
Through the glass, Motegi Shin could also see that quite a few of these customers had come wearing "battle robes"—T-shirts or jackets printed with characters from 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica.' Their solemn readiness looked no different from soldiers about to go to war.
"Yes."
The clerk named Ikuta swallowed, opened the packaging around a bundle of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BDs, then carried the discs to the shelf. As he sorted them, he placed the BDs one by one.
Outside the door, the fans of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' immediately surged and squeezed together, their eyes practically glowing green. They looked as if they might smash through the glass door and rush in at any moment.
"Tweet, tweet, tweet!"
Just as the clerks were trembling with fear, they heard a sharp whistle. Everyone, Motegi Shin included, sighed in relief upon hearing it.
This was the distinctive whistle of a Japanese patrol officer. At the very least, they no longer had to worry about these people rushing in and looting all the BDs.
"Hello. Are you an employee of this disc specialty store, sir?"
A young patrol officer came over and knocked on the door.
Motegi Shin hurried over, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and replied,
"Yes, I'm the owner. Officer, I'm sorry for all the noise so early in the morning."
"It's fine. This is a commercial district. That said, your store really has a lot of customers. At this rate, there may be a dangerous crowding incident. Could I trouble you to help maintain order? It would be best to have the customers line up so they don't disturb other pedestrians."
"Of course, of course!"
"And also..."
"Please go ahead."
"Ahem. Are you selling the BD of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'? Could you reserve one copy for me? Price isn't an issue."
The patrol officer was a young man, and he asked in an embarrassed whisper.
Motegi Shin froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded with a smile.
"Of course. You can come pick it up whenever you like."
That day, Motegi Shin's anime disc specialty store achieved an unprecedented breakthrough in daily sales.
Less than an hour after opening in the morning, all of the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BDs had sold out. From afternoon until night, customers continued streaming in to ask whether there were any remaining copies of the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BD.
On the very first day of public release alone, the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BD sold 80,000 copies.
This was far from the true sales potential of the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' BD, because that number represented the entire first-day shipment. It was impossible to add even one more copy.
Many BD retailers sighed that they had never encountered such a crazy day in their entire lives.