Inside a izakaya, several animation industry professionals were drinking and grumbling:
"Damn it! That Lin Zhiyan guy pulled it off again."
"I really don't get it. He just turned a healing-genre Magical Girl Anime into a dark, depressing one, yet it's getting so much audience support and popularity."
"I watch the latest episode every week, and it's just... okay. It's probably just marketed really well."
"Exactly. Its current success is ridiculous. The animation quality doesn't match its popularity at all."
"It's wrong that dark anime like this are so popular. Think of the negative social impact! I wish some divine justice would strike this show down."
Envy, jealousy, and resentment towards successful people are common in every industry.
These individuals only know how to nitpick and can't see the good qualities of the animation.
However, if they try to criticize Puella Magi Madoka Magica online, they'll be roasted into silence by the show's massive fanbase. And private complaints have little impact on its success, leaving them to hope for some divine intervention to bring the show down.
Divine intervention, of course, doesn't exist. Yet, just as many animation industry professionals were sourly grumbling about Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the "righteous fist" was indeed thrown.
Before the eighth episode aired, the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) publicly criticized the animation, citing elements like "violence," "cruelty," and "melodrama" as unsuitable for children. They demanded that the animation production company, L.S Production, revise the script and strengthen the age rating.
The BPO, established by NHK and the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, might seem like an ineffective organization. In reality, when viewers find content inappropriate, they report it to this body, using it to pressure television stations and production teams.
The fact that criticism had been publicly published meant that Puella Magi Madoka Magica had undoubtedly been reported to the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO), and likely by many viewers, not just one or two.
This wasn't surprising. In another timeline, even the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which aired at 2:45 AM, had been reported and criticized. Although Lin Zhiyan's version aired at midnight, still considered late-night programming, it was likely that many children and parents still watched it.
Add to that the malicious reports from bitter rivals in the industry, and it was hardly surprising.
TV stations feared the BPO, wanting to avoid trouble. Although the organization appeared to have little power, it could actually hold them accountable.
Lin Zhiyan wasn't particularly afraid, but he still maintained a proper attitude. He had the animation's official account issue a statement saying: "We will humbly accept the criticism and make earnest revisions."
Of course, saying one thing was different from doing another.
Strengthening the age rating was feasible, but altering the script was impossible. After all, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a late-night anime, not a daytime or primetime show. Who cared about such things?
The best approach was to offer a perfunctory response, just enough to satisfy the BPO and give the complainants a sense of closure. To foolishly put pressure on themselves and revise the subsequent script over such minor criticism would be downright foolish.
In fact, the BPO had criticized numerous programs, not just Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
It was nothing new.
Still, even though Puella Magi Madoka Magica had exploded in popularity, even breaking into the mainstream, not everyone had watched or even heard of the animation.
Many people remained unfamiliar with it.
When these individuals saw the BPO's criticism of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, they were baffled: How could a Magical Girl Anime be criticized by the BPO?
Their confusion led them to search online for information about the animation.
Then, they discovered how popular the animation was, with so many people praising it, and curiosity inevitably drew them into the fandom.
The so-called "righteous fist" of the BPO actually had no negative impact on the animation's broadcast; rather, it served as a minor catalyst.
For Lin Zhiyan, this was merely a minor distraction.
While the public remained focused on the matter, his attention was fixed elsewhere—on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga.
For this official Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga, Lin Zhiyan collaborated with Houbunsha. Since the manga was relatively unimportant and not a prequel work, he didn't bother finding an artist within the company. Instead, he left it to Houbunsha's editors to find someone themselves.
The artist Houbunsha's editors found was not the original one. The original artist had been discovered by Houbunsha editors through their Umineko no Naku Koro ni fan art posted on Pixiv, which led to their invitation to bid on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga project.
However, Umineko no Naku Koro ni was a game that wouldn't be released until 2007. At this time, it hadn't even been created yet, so it was impossible for any artist to have been discovered through fan art of that work.
Given that Lin Zhiyan had moved the Puella Magi Madoka Magica animation's release date from 2011 to 2006, it was perfectly normal for the manga artist to change. There was nothing strange about it.
What made Lin Zhiyan laugh and cry at the same time was that Houbunsha's editors had found kakifly—the author of the K-On! manga—to draw the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga.
The K-On! manga had begun serialization on April 9, 2007. Although the author hadn't had any notable manga works before, they had been active since 1993, primarily drawing doujinshi.
He hadn't expected to be asked to draw the official Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga.
As the creator of the animation, Lin Zhiyan could have requested a different artist. However, the editor had clearly put a lot of effort into finding this person. Without a valid reason or a suitable alternative candidate, it would have been inappropriate to insist on a change.
Instead, he simply asked for a high-quality drawing and requested that the finished work be submitted to L.S Production for his review before publication.
Once the artist was confirmed, Lin Zhiyan couldn't help but wonder: If kakifly is being brought in to draw the official Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga, does that mean the K-On! project is still viable?
He had originally considered adapting K-On! in the future. His plan was to secure the animation rights, buy them outright, and then either produce it himself or entrust it to one of his supervising directors.
Now, if even the original manga were to disappear, there would be no animation rights to intercept.
If that really happened, what should he do?
Create an original animation instead? Or find someone else to draw the K-On! manga himself?
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