Inside Yume Animation in Tokushima, the atmosphere that night was anything but ordinary.
As soon as work ended, the company's dozens of employees gathered in the large common area. Someone hauled out an old projector that had barely seen use in ages, and before long, the live broadcast of the ceremony was shining across the wall, as though the entire studio had, at once, fallen into the same breathless anticipation.
An event like the Tokyo Animation Festival already carried enormous weight on its own. Behind it stood major sponsors, powerhouse broadcasters, animation companies, and influential figures from across the industry. Every year, the four biggest networks covering the festival aired the ceremony together. And that night, there was a very real chance that the boss of Yume Animation would step onto that stage in front of the entire country.
Naturally, no one wanted to miss it.
Vice director Sumire, animation director Haruto, Hina, and the rest of the studio's core staff all wore tense expressions. None of them would be the ones walking onto the stage, yet the pressure was already spilling out from the television screen and settling over the room like something tangible, heavy enough to make everyone sit a little straighter.
It was only 7:50 p.m. The ceremony had not officially begun yet, and the live feed was still drifting aimlessly from one shot to another, flashing across tables, guests, famous faces, and scattered reactions from the crowd. The camera lingered for nearly twenty seconds on Natsuyuki Shirasawa and the renowned director Touketsu. After that, it gave the same respectful treatment to a number of retired veterans from the previous generation of anime, all of them invited as special guests for the evening.
Then, all of a sudden, someone in the studio blurted out:
"Hey, did you see that? Director Sora Kamakawa was on screen just now!"
"Really? I missed it!"
"It was that seating shot when they were showing everyone taking their places. The camera was focused on the director of Akane no Sora, but Sora Kamakawa was sitting right beside him!"
"That has to be intentional, doesn't it? Putting the directors of the number one and number two titles of the season side by side..."
"Of course it is. The committee wants ratings too. This is definitely ending up in tomorrow's headlines."
The moment Sora Kamakawa's face appeared, the entire office burst into excited chatter.
Sitting a little farther off, Yumi Noriko glanced toward Sumire.
From the instant Sora appeared on screen, Sumire's hand had unconsciously clenched into a tight fist. Her whole body had gone rigid. The tension in her was so obvious that, after a moment's thought, Yumi lowered her voice and said,
"Sumire... try to calm down. Sora's there in person and he looks completely composed. There's no reason for you to be this worked up here."
Sumire stayed silent for a few seconds before replying.
"Sora Kamakawa is there representing Natsume Yuujinchou. And to a certain extent... he's representing all of us too."
Her voice was quiet, but there was a weight in it that couldn't be ignored.
"I know being nervous here won't change anything. I know I have no power over whatever the committee decides. But even knowing that... my heart still won't stop pounding."
Yumi blinked, still not fully understanding.
"Is it really that important? At the end of the day, they're just a few awards..."
"It is," Sumire said. "It matters a lot."
Her eyes remained fixed on the television. And the moment the broadcast finally gave Sora a full two-second close-up, something in her gaze changed. The seriousness there became almost solemn.
"To you, Yumi Noriko, anime might be an investment. A hobby. Something you happened to care more about than expected. But to me, anime is the road I decided to walk for the rest of my life when I was still a child. It's the life I chose for myself."
She drew in a slow breath before continuing.
"If Sora wins, then Natsume Yuujinchou will be recognized. And if Natsume Yuujinchou is recognized... then the life I've spent in this industry, everything I've built until now, will also have been recognized."
This time, Yumi did not respond right away.
Only after a few seconds did she soften her voice and say,
"I'm sorry. I was being flippant. I spoke without thinking... and I was disrespectful."
Online, the atmosphere was no different.
Across Japan, Sora Kamakawa's fans were already beside themselves. The moment his face appeared in the broadcast, the comment section on his NatsuYume account was instantly flooded.
"So that's Director Sora Kamakawa? He's way more handsome than the photos online!"
"Seriously, if Natsume Yuujinchou ever got a live-action adaptation, Director Sora could play Natsume himself. His aura fits perfectly."
"Then who would play Natsurei?"
"His big investor, Yumi Noriko, obviously. She's got the height and the presence. She'd totally suit that mature older-woman vibe."
"I think Yume Animation's vice director Sumire would work too. She's gorgeous."
"Come to think of it, maybe the Natsume Yuujinchou production team isn't the strongest in the entire industry in pure technical terms... but in appearance? Aren't they basically top tier?"
"People in anime fandom really should stop focusing so much on the creators' looks. It feels kind of rude."
"What's the problem? It's not like people are praising only his face. The quality of his work comes first."
"Exactly! Since when did being talented and attractive at the same time become a crime?"
Time continued to move.
By 8:20 p.m., the ceremony had already been underway for twenty minutes.
To Sora Kamakawa, though, the whole thing was proving surprisingly dull.
The hosts on stage kept taking turns delivering overlong introductions, overly polished speeches, and predictably stiff commentary. Sitting next to him was the director of Akane no Sora, a broad-shouldered, thick-bearded man with an easygoing nature named Hiro. Every so often, he casually struck up another conversation with Sora as though they had known each other for years.
It was oddly unexpected.
Natsume Yuujinchou had finished the season as the second most successful anime in the country. Akane no Sora was one of its direct competitors. In theory, there should have been some sense of rivalry between them. And yet Hiro showed no real hostility at all. There was only an open, almost relaxed frankness to him, something that genuinely surprised Sora at first.
Then, after thinking about it, Sora realized that perhaps his own recent experiences had distorted his view a little.
After all, the world was not full of narrow-minded people.
In the anime industry, the truth was simple: strength spoke for itself. Petty schemes, malice, backstage sabotage... none of that would raise a show's ratings. None of that would sell more Blu-rays. People like Maki, with his small mind and constant urge to suppress those coming after him, were the exception, not the rule.
Then, suddenly, the entire hall erupted in applause.
Hiro lifted his head at once.
"Oh... now that's a heavyweight. So Touketsu is presenting this category tonight?"
Sora turned his eyes toward the stage as well.
There he was.
Tall, dressed in an immaculate suit, his expression cold and posture rigid, Touketsu stood beneath the lights and looked out over the audience of more than a thousand people as though their presence meant very little to him. His entrance had the same effect it always did. He was the kind of man who could alter the entire atmosphere of a room simply by stepping onto the stage.
"So that's why he was at the hotel earlier," Sora murmured, finally understanding.
Touketsu had no anime airing that year. He had not been nominated for anything either. Even so, he had been invited. Now the reason was obvious: he was there as a presenter.
Beside him, Hiro tilted his head with curiosity.
"You actually ran into him?"
"I did, at the hotel. I tried to hand him my business card, and he refused it on the spot."
Sora said it with an easy smile, as though he no longer took the slight too seriously.
Hiro laughed.
"Hah, that really does sound like him."
Then he shook his head, still amused.
"He was like that even with me. It took several meetings before he finally remembered my name."
"So he really is exactly like the rumors say?"
"More or less. The problem is that he's an anime fanatic. The only things he cares about are anime works and anime production. The people in the industry he actually bothers to remember are usually the ones who caught his attention through the quality of what they made."
Sora thought about that for a moment, then replied half-jokingly,
"I see. So that means my Voices of the Stars and Natsume Yuujinchou still haven't reached the level required to enter his field of vision?"
That man's standards were absurdly high.
Even with the judgment of two lifetimes combined, Sora still believed that both Voices of the Stars and Natsume Yuujinchou were excellent works. And yet even that seemed insufficient to draw any reaction from someone like Touketsu.
"Not necessarily," Hiro said after thinking it over. "There's also the simple possibility that he hasn't watched your work at all."
"He hasn't?"
"Voices of the Stars is a short anime. From what I know, he doesn't really like short-form works, so he probably never bothered with it. And he also has this strange habit when it comes to watching anime. Unless it's a series competing directly with his own in the same season, he prefers to wait until all the Blu-rays are out, buy the full set, and watch everything in one go. The fourth volume of Natsume Yuujinchou only comes out next week, doesn't it?"
"So he hasn't even started Natsume Yuujinchou yet..."
"Exactly."
Sora gave a slight nod.
"You know his habits pretty well, Director Hiro."
The other man laughed.
"Didn't I say earlier that I had to meet him several times before he finally remembered me? The first two times, he barely registered who I was. But when we met for the third time at last year's festival, he recognized me immediately. I was so surprised that I asked him why. Later I found out that shortly before that meeting, he'd bought the Blu-rays for an anime I directed the year before, watched the whole thing in one sitting, and then dug up a mountain of material to study my storyboards and directing style."
"I see..."
Sora replied with a faint nod.
At that moment, the host on stage continued guiding the ceremony along, and at last the night arrived at the announcement for Best New Anime Director.
More than a dozen cameras suspended throughout the venue turned toward different sections of the hall.
On the joint broadcast from Seiun TV, Shirakawa TV, Aobane TV, and HaiOn TV, five faces appeared at once in split-screen: three men and two women. All nominees. All trying, in their own way, to hide something.
The hostess, dressed in a long crimson gown, elegant and beautiful beneath the lights, paused at exactly the right moment and stretched the suspense to its limit.
"And the winner of this year's Best New Anime Director award is..."
The broadcast direction was as merciless as live television always was.
Within the five-way split screen, Sora Kamakawa's calm, handsome face appeared alongside the expressions of the other nominees. There were traces of resignation there, strained smiles, anticipation, bitterness, tension.
Inside Yume Animation, no one made a sound anymore.
The large hall, packed with dozens of employees, had fallen into complete silence. It felt as though even a single dropped pin would echo through the room.
All across Japan, countless fans of Sora Kamakawa stared at their screens with tense, hopeful eyes.
And then, at last, the name rang out.
"Sora Kamakawa!"
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