Chapter 110
At the end of September, the anime of the summer cour began to wrap up one after another.
That season had given birth to two absolute phenomena: Dragon's Breath and Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. And by a perfect coincidence, both were productions planned for two consecutive cours.
By that point, there was already a near-unanimous consensus across the entire Japanese anime industry. With the level of popularity those two series had built up, once the fall cour began in October, the rest of the season would be like lambs thrown before two beasts. The real issue, however, was not how the next phase would begin, but what would come after it.
The crucial point was something else: how would the ratings and momentum of those two works evolve once autumn arrived?
That answer mattered too much.
More than likely, the performance of both series in the next cour would directly influence the distribution of awards at the Tokyo Animation Festival at the end of December.
From the current outlook, Dragon's Breath still had a ninety percent chance of maintaining its lead over Re:Zero in the fall cour and preserving its position. But what if that unlikely remaining ten percent became reality?
Deep down, quite a few people in the industry actually wanted to see that happen.
On September 23, Touga Kuze published the promotional video for Dragon's Breath's next cour on the anime's official NatsuYume account. Seiun TV aired the material simultaneously, and the teaser dropped several major plot hooks into the public eye. In just two days, the video surpassed ten million views on NatsuYume.
In contrast, by September 26, neither Yume Animation nor Southern Alliance TV had made any new announcement at all regarding Re:Zero's position in the fall market. No teaser. No promotional video. Not even a single article.
That level of carelessness was almost absurd.
A great many industry insiders were genuinely surprised. Even if the fall cour was, in practice, merely an extension of the rivalry that had already begun in summer, it was still normal to run some kind of promotional campaign.
But at seven in the evening on September 27, Sora finally made his move.
Using both Re:Zero's official NatsuYume account and his own personal account - which was already approaching seven million followers - he released a whole set of documents and videos in one go.
A few minutes later, some of Re:Zero's more idle fans, who had made a habit of checking those accounts every day to see whether there was any news about their favorite series, stumbled across the update.
The first thing they saw was the teaser for the second half of Re:Zero's first season.
That, by itself, was still normal.
But right beneath it was an announcement that made everyone's minds go blank.
The second season of Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu had officially been greenlit, produced, and scheduled for broadcast.
The moment the fans read it, their brains froze.
What?
The series was really getting a second season?
And when they looked more closely at the air date, the shock only deepened.
January of the following year.
Which meant the first and second seasons of Re:Zero would air back to back without any gap.
In less than two hours, the announcement regarding the production and broadcast of the second season had already shot to the number one spot on the site's trending list. One discussion thread after another sprang up, and the entire community erupted.
"I'm dizzy. Re:Zero is really getting a second season?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course it can get a second season."
"That's not what I mean. The problem is the gap. It's way too short. This doesn't match my image of anime studios here at all. This level of efficiency is insane."
"To be honest, I'm excited and worried at the same time. Being able to watch season two of Re:Zero without waiting is amazing, but can Kantoku Sora really guarantee the quality of the script and the production at this speed? There are tons of writers and Kantokus who can barely handle a single series in a year."
"I'm not going to overthink it. I trust him."
"The production side is one thing. What really worries me is the writing. Anyone who's been watching anime for years knows that a story like Re:Zero isn't easy to write. What I'm afraid of is the Kantoku rushing the continuation and destroying the very thing that made the series so strong."
"I agree. Re:Zero isn't an anime that lives off visual spectacle. The reason it exploded was the strength of its story. If Sora rushes season two and the writing quality drops, I'd rather he spend years polishing it before even thinking about a sequel."
"Don't try to measure a genius with the mindset of ordinary people."
Thanks to the impact of the second season announcement, the news that the first season would resume on Friday, October 4, at eight in the evening spread right alongside it, as if it were part of the same package.
Over the following days, the internet was buried under news, discussion, and speculation surrounding Re:Zero.
On the other side, inside the production department at Seiun TV, several emergency meetings had already been called one after another.
And, as expected, the center of all of them was Shiori.
In more than one meeting, her name was dragged out as an example of failure. People said that if she had not been so arrogant in the past and had managed to bring Sora into Seiun TV, then that year the station could have achieved something historic: airing two anime with ratings above five points in the same season.
There were even people who said, without the slightest restraint, that if Re:Zero really managed to overtake Dragon's Breath in the fall cour, then she would be the station's greatest sinner that year.
Under mounting pressure, Shiori ended up being forced to take a clear stance in that day's meeting. With her voice tight in her throat, she declared that if Re:Zero truly surpassed Dragon's Breath in autumn, she would accept responsibility and resign.
But the moment she stepped out of the building, the pretty composure on her face collapsed completely.
The anger she had tried to suppress during the meeting darkened her eyes at once.
When she spotted a promotional poster for Re:Zero pasted along the street, showing Rem, Emilia, and Subaru Natsuki together, something inside her snapped. Pulling a marker from her bag, she stormed over and began scribbling all over the image without any restraint.
"As if it would be that easy for Re:Zero to overtake Dragon's Breath..."
"Those bitches at the station really only know how to kick someone when they're already under pressure, huh? They saw that my performance this year was too good, got jealous, and now they want to force me out so they can take the deputy chief position next year? Keep dreaming."
Even after that outburst, the resentment inside her barely faded.
Ever since the moment Re:Zero broke past the five-point ratings mark at the end of the summer cour, she had already been feeling suffocated.
Because deep down, she knew perfectly well that the situation was also her own fault.
If, during the initial negotiations, she had adopted a less rigid attitude and offered less outrageous terms, then considering the attitude Sora had shown at the time, there had been a high chance he would have chosen to join Seiun TV.
And if both Sora and Touga Kuze had produced, under her supervision, two works with ratings above five points, then the deputy Kantoku position in the production department - soon to be left vacant at the beginning of next year by someone about to retire - would most likely have fallen straight into her lap.
Instead, she now found herself facing the possibility of having to carry the blame for pushing Sora away from the station and, because of that, being forced to resign if the standings were reversed.
But by then, the direction of events was no longer hers to control.
All she could do was place her hopes in Touga Kuze. Place them in Dragon's Breath. Entrust everything to the performance of that work in the fall cour.
Because as long as Dragon's Breath held firmly to the lead, all those fears would vanish on their own.
Time passed, and September slipped away in silence.
October arrived.
For anime fans across Japan, the new premieres of the fall season no longer held that much appeal. Everyone's eyes were fixed on only two works.
Dragon's Breath.
And Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu.
On Friday, October 4, as evening fell, the NatsuYume forum was completely overtaken by Re:Zero fans. Everyone was active, everyone was waiting, everyone was eager to see what kind of impact the return of the Royal Selection arc - interrupted for two weeks - would bring that night.
For Souhei, even though less than three weeks had passed, the wait had felt as long as three months.
The twelve episodes aired during the summer cour had already fully expanded the scale of the Royal Selection arc in Re:Zero.
The struggle among the five royal candidates, Emilia included, had pushed the story in an entirely new direction almost all at once. Five heirs, five forces colliding, schemes and clashes taking shape from every side. And at the center of it all, Subaru Natsuki would step forward as Emilia's strongest support, determined to carry her all the way to the throne of that country.
And when Emilia became queen, Subaru would shout before everyone that he would be the man of the future sovereign.
Just thinking about it already made the story feel thrilling beyond measure.
Souhei had watched the two arcs of the summer cour with enormous enthusiasm, and he had also been deeply moved by everything Subaru had gone through up to that point.
But that story could not keep making Subaru die in such miserable ways forever.
At some point, it also had to deliver catharsis. It had to give the audience a measure of relief, triumph, and exhilaration. That was how tension and payoff were meant to balance each other.
So when the clock struck eight that night, the Southern Alliance TV broadcast flickered for a brief moment.
In the very next second, the familiar scene of Re:Zero appeared on the screen.