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Following the completion of the three-volume Blu-ray release for the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners television series in Japan, the distribution plans for overseas markets were officially put into motion.
Generally speaking, ACG culture maintains a prestigious reputation worldwide. Haruto placed a high priority on the global earnings of a breakout hit like Cyberpunk. While he lacked the time to fly overseas for promotional tours, the company's operations department arranged for him to meet with international merchandise distributors and record short videos tailored for global fans. .
After handling the initial wave of international cooperation matters, the release date for the Blu-ray of the theatrical follow-up, Cyberpunk 2077, was set for the middle of the following month. The production of the movie had actually been greenlit while the television series was still in development.
A team of over a hundred staff members had been working tirelessly on it for over a year.
Admittedly, the narrative of Cyberpunk 2077 was somewhat more conventional compared to the emotional weight of Edgerunners.
Since the original source material was a game that prioritized gameplay mechanics and world-building over a tight narrative structure, the plot was naturally a bit thinner. Nevertheless, the overall quality remained well above industry standards. While matching the historic success of Rebellion might be a challenge, Haruto's primary goal was simply to provide a definitive conclusion to the saga.
In the parallel world, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners ended where it did specifically because the game existed; the anime functioned as a way to draw viewers into the gaming experience through its open-ended conclusion. However, in this world, the Cyberpunk 2077 game did not exist.
Therefore, regardless of other considerations, Haruto felt compelled to adapt the 2077 storyline to at least allow the characters to settle their scores with Adam Smasher, the man who had crushed Rebecca and ended the life of the protagonist, David.
Naturally, it was impossible to cram the entire breadth of the 2077 story into a two-part movie. Haruto's script had been carefully trimmed to focus on the core bond between Jackie and V, detailing their meeting and the life-and-death friendship formed during their missions.
He chose to omit secondary details like specific cyberware modifications or casual bar scenes.
As November arrived, the official website of Haru-Yuki Animation pulled no punches. They released a high-definition promotional poster featuring Adam Smasher collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood after a brutal beating.
It was a direct declaration to the fans.
If they were unsatisfied with how the ultimate villain had walked away after killing the heroes in Edgerunners, they needed to buy the Cyberpunk 2077 Blu-ray. Everything they wanted to see would be there.
The moment this poster went live, Haruto's millions of fans were instantly excited.
"Holy cow, this movie poster is as blunt as it gets! It literally shows Adam Smasher's death scene right there!"
"Knowing Haruto, it might just be a bait-and-switch. Smasher is over ninety-five percent machine. As long as his brain is intact, losing limbs is about as significant as us chipping a fingernail."
"Even so, he has to die in the movie. There is no way the story ends with the villain just walking away scot-free."
"True, though I find it hard to imagine who could actually take him down. David was a beast and he still got toyed with. How are the other small fries in Night City supposed to stand a chance?"
"Why are you overthinking it? Haruto built this world, so whoever he wants dead is going to die. I saw the trailer, though, and the protagonist is someone named V. I don't get it. he doesn't look like a high-tier cyberpunk at all."
"The trailer mentioned something about a biochip. Maybe there is some insane new experimental cyberware in 2077?"
"They also mentioned Johnny Silverhand. That name popped up in the Afterlife bar during Edgerunners. He's supposed to be a legend of Night City, but he's been dead for decades."
"I have no idea what's going on. I thought Edgerunners told the whole story, but looking at this trailer, it feels like Night City still has so many secrets left."
"Sign me up! I'm definitely buying the Blu-ray when it drops on November 16th."
"The only problem is the price. Haruto's stuff is always premium."
"Is it, though? Rebellion was two hours long and split into two volumes that cost nearly double that for a complete set."
"Now it all comes down to the animation quality. Rebellion is the only movie Blu-ray in history to average over three million sales per volume. If 2077 hits those numbers, Haruto will be the undisputed king of the industry. You can call one hit a stroke of luck, but doing it twice? The haters will have to crawl back into their holes."
By early November, the market was completely saturated with the hype for Cyberpunk 2077. Even though the release was still weeks away, it dominated the trending topics on every major sites.
A few days later, Prime Manga released the second chapter of Hunter x Hunter.
This chapter followed Gon's encounter with his new companion, Leorio, during the journey to the Hunter Exam. Together, they exposed a fraud masquerading as a Hunter and rescued a group of animals that had been mistreated by the imposter. The plot was solid, but the pacing remained noticeably deliberate.
After two chapters, there was still no sign of the actual exam starting or what it would even entail. Fans felt a bit teased, which was a frustrating but addictive feeling. Despite the complaints about the slow burn, Hunter x Hunter maintained its top position in the magazine's rankings.
The vote count actually increased to 2.8 million. While fans grumbled online about the speed of the story, their support remained unwavering. Any other creator might have seen a drop in popularity with such a slow start, but because it was Haruto, the vast majority of readers were willing to be patient for a few more months.
Another week passed, and the third chapter was released. Finally, the story moved into the main arc. Gon and Leorio boarded the ship heading toward the exam site, and it was revealed that the Hunter Exam had actually begun the moment they stepped on board. The chapter depicted the treacherous sea conditions, the physical toll of the journey, and the constant testing of their willpower.
The captain even went so far as to throw insubordinate crew members overboard. It was here that Gon and Leorio met a new character, Kurapika.
The chapter highlighted a duel between Kurapika and Leorio sparked by a verbal disagreement, followed by a scene where the three of them set aside their differences to save one another during a violent storm.
Although the specific details of the exam were still shrouded in mystery, perceptive readers began to notice the depth of the character writing.
"I'm starting to think this series isn't going to rely solely on crazy world-building. These early chapters are all about the people."
"Exactly. We had Mito's tenderness in chapter one, Leorio's gruff kindness in chapter two, and now Kurapika's rigid morality in chapter three. It's only been three chapters and I already remember all four names clearly."
"Did anyone catch that foreshadowing in chapter three? When Kurapika saw a spider while eating, his eyes flashed red and his expression became terrifying. Is he just afraid of spiders, or is there something darker there? Definitely feels like a plot hook."
"I've read dozens of chapters of other manga and I can still only remember the protagonist's name. This is different."
"It's definitely a slow burn. The exam alone will probably take a couple of months."
"A couple of months? Try half a year. We're three chapters in and they've only just reached the location. I bet we won't finish the exam arc in thirty chapters."
"So what actually happens in the exam?"
"Who knows? I was disappointed at first because there were no superpowers and the hero fights with a fishing rod while the enemies have guns. It felt a bit grounded and dull. But after three chapters, I'm completely hooked."
"Me too. It's refreshing and not depressing. It turns out Haruto can write great shonen stories too. I don't know why he felt the need to have Takumi get cheated on in Initial D or let that creep Sugou be so arrogant for so long in SAO."
"Don't mention Sugou. I hate that guy. In the latest light novel chapter, he threatened to violate Asuna's real-world body if she didn't obey him. It made my skin crawl."
"Luckily he's a narcissist who wants her to submit mentally first. If he were a common thug, the real Asuna would have been in trouble a long time ago."
"It's disgusting. Let's change the subject. I hope Haruto kills him off soon. I can't take it."
"That's why reading Hunter x Hunter after SAO feels so good. There's less plotting, the hero isn't a pushover, and the side characters aren't idiots. It's great."
"I'm enjoying it. The haters can say whatever they want. Knowing Haruto, there's going to be a massive payoff by chapter ten."
"We'll see then if those people claiming he's only surviving on his reputation are right. They're saying it'll be canceled by chapter twenty, which is just delusional."
"Do people actually believe that? How low is their IQ?"
"Haters don't have IQs. Haha!"
Haruto had just left his office and was browsing the fan comments. Because the recent light novel chapters had featured Sugou's villainy, the Hunter x Hunter comment sections were being partially hijacked by SAO fans.
However, he viewed this as a positive sign.
It meant a significant portion of the novel's fans were now following his manga. His fans across anime, manga, and novels were successfully crossing over.
As for the comments complaining about the lack of superpowers or the "boring" plot, Haruto could only smile to himself. In terms of power systems and world-building, the "Nen" system would eventually become one of the absolute peaks of imagination in the history of battle manga. The only issue was that Nen didn't appear until quite late in the story, nearly dozens of chapters in.
Would a normal manga creator do that?
Delaying the primary battle system for so long was a massive gamble.
He often wondered if the original creator had simply come up with the idea mid-serialization, similar to how Haki was introduced in One Piece.
The next morning, Haruto woke up at five. He had taken another leave of absence from university to catch a six o'clock flight to Osaka.
Two days later was the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 Blu-ray, and he had a full schedule of fan meetings and promotional events. Outside the stadium in Osaka, a massive crowd had gathered since the early hours.
A twenty-meter promotional poster for Cyberpunk 2077 towered over the entrance, while giant LED screens looped the movie's trailer. Haruto's team had expected five thousand attendees, but the staff was currently overwhelmed as the turnout far exceeded their projections. The stadium was over capacity, leaving many fans standing in the aisles.
Dozens of media outlets and journalists had set up cameras in the center of the venue to prepare for a live broadcast. Several legendary veteran creators from the anime industry had also been invited as guests.
The scale of the event surpassed even the launches of the Big Three animation studios.
Fans who could make it to Osaka had been lining up since dawn, while those who couldn't were glued to their televisions and computers. Even before the fan meeting and Blu-ray presentation officially began, the online streaming room had over six hundred thousand viewers. The local TV station that had secured the broadcast rights saw its morning ratings hit 4.1%, nearly double its viewership for that time slot.
Even without aggressive marketing, the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 movie Blu-ray had become the single most significant event in the anime world that month.
This was the true extent of Haruto's influence in the industry.