June 21st, Wednesday.
Ryuji Kageyama bolted from school the moment classes ended and headed straight for the nearest disc shop.
After searching everywhere, something bewildering happened: he had combed through every shelf and section, but Clannad's first volume DVD was nowhere to be found.
'What is going on?'
He quickly tracked down a sales clerk and asked, "Did you already sell out of the Clannad volume that went on sale today?"
"I'm sorry, sir. We're completely sold out. If you'd like to leave your number, we can contact you when..."
Before the clerk could finish, Ryuji spun on his heel and marched out, grumbling the whole way.
"Unbelievable!"
"How did it sell out that fast?"
"Are these people animals?"
Luckily this wasn't the only store in town that carried Clannad's DVD. Plenty of disc shops across Tokyo stocked it, and worst case, he could always try Akihabara.
They'd definitely have copies there.
He could also buy it online, but that meant waiting for delivery.
For a hardcore fan like Ryuji, waiting was not an option. Going to the store in person was faster.
After hitting several more shops, he finally got his hands on a copy.
As for how many copies he bought, that wasn't even a question. Three, obviously.
One to watch. One to evangelize with. And one as a backup.
Three DVDs set him back a decent chunk of change, but it was fine. Just a few weeks' worth of allowance.
It stung a little, but this was a necessary expense. At least that's what he told himself.
Besides, this DVD came with character posters drawn by Yuta and his autograph.
Yuta was basically a legend in his eyes right now. How could he not buy a few copies to show his support?
...
Over at Lumen.
A few members of Love Academy's production staff were chatting during a break.
"I heard that Starfall anime goes on sale today."
"Yeah, I think so."
"Has anyone here actually watched it?"
"Are you kidding? Starfall is our competition, and they've got beef with Lumen. Who's going to watch an anime made by the enemy?"
"Exactly. Anyone who watches it is a traitor."
"I'm definitely not watching it. But the buzz around it is insane. First week sales have got to be at least eight thousand, right?"
"Who knows how much they'll sell? Hopefully it tanks."
The group chatted for a bit, then went back to work.
But that evening, after getting home, some of them couldn't resist booting up their computers, navigating to the online DVD sales platform, finding Clannad Volume 1, and clicking the order button.
Watching it made you a traitor, sure. But that was okay. Dogs were adorable creatures.
...
June 26th, Monday.
The entire Starfall office was buzzing with nervous energy.
"How are the first week numbers not out yet?"
"This is taking forever."
"The show is this popular. The disc sales can't possibly bomb, right?"
"Who knows?"
"Lumen's Love Academy sold over two thousand in its first week. We can't possibly do worse than two thousand, can we?"
"No way. Five thousand at the bare minimum."
"I wouldn't be so sure. I've seen tons of people online saying Fuko's disappearance traumatized them so badly that they'd never buy the DVD even if you put a gun to their head."
Nobody could focus on work. They clustered in small groups, talking it over. There was hope, but the dominant feeling was anxiety.
Yuta was right there with them, waiting alongside everyone else.
He looked around the room and spoke up. "Relax. Whatever the first week number is, it's already a fixed number. Being nervous won't change it. Besides, Clannad is already the top anime of the season."
"Even if disc sales don't meet expectations, funding for a second season is not going to be a problem."
"That's right, getting nervous won't help."
Rika was holding a cup of coffee and nodding in agreement. "Look at me. Not nervous at all."
"Rika," Yuta suddenly called out.
"Hm?" Rika looked confused.
"Your hands won't stop shaking. You're spilling coffee everywhere," Yuta said, pointing.
"Oh!" Rika seemed to only just notice.
She hurried to set the cup down on a nearby table, but her hand trembled and the whole cup flipped over, landing upside down on the surface.
"Ah!"
Rika yelped and frantically grabbed paper towels, clumsily wiping down the table.
Fortunately there were no original drawings on it, so the damage wasn't anything serious.
A little after ten.
The first week sales results finally came in.
"First week: 21,038."
Seeing that number, Yuta was genuinely surprised.
If he remembered correctly, in the other world, Clannad's first volume DVD had sold just over nineteen thousand in its first week, not quite reaching twenty thousand.
And that was with the combined drawing power of Key and Kyoto Animation behind it. For a tiny studio like Starfall, you'd be lucky to hit fifteen thousand.
But now, Starfall's version of Clannad had hit twenty-one thousand in its first week. That was way beyond what he'd expected.
Then again, thinking it over, KyoAni's Clannad had been highly anticipated even before it aired. This world's Clannad hadn't blown up until after the first episode.
That meant a lot of people probably hadn't seen episode one when it originally aired. If that was the case, a good chunk of the first volume sales were likely people buying the DVD to catch up on what they'd missed.
And while Starfall certainly didn't have KyoAni's brand power, the current Yuta definitely had some personal pull. Otherwise the disc company wouldn't have asked him to contribute autographs and artwork.
Regardless, high sales were good news.
Twenty-one thousand in the first week meant this anime had the potential to break thirty thousand overall.
Once that realization hit, Yuta's fists tightened involuntarily.
Everyone else at Starfall had naturally seen the number 21,038 as well. For a moment, none of them could process it.
"How much?"
"Twenty-one thousand?"
"Am I reading that right?"
"That many people bought Clannad's DVD?"
"Is this a counting error?"
Nobody believed it at first.
After all, Love Academy, another bishoujo anime, had only sold just over two thousand in its first week.
After all, Starfall's previous anime, Heartbeat House, had only managed a cumulative total of six hundred something copies.
After all, Starfall was just a tiny nobody studio that had been on the verge of going under just a few months ago.
Twenty-one thousand in the first week. Was this really not a mistake?
Everyone stood there in stunned silence until Yuta's voice cut through. "You're reading it right. Twenty-one thousand. That's what Clannad is worth."
Hearing that, everyone exchanged glances, and then the cheering erupted.
"Twenty-one thousand! It's really twenty-one thousand!"
"This is amazing! This is incredible!"
"I can't believe it! I'm so happy!"
"That's insane! Twenty-one thousand in the first week alone!"
People cheered and jumped around, letting all the excitement and joy pour out.
A few of them, whether from the emotion of the moment or just being overwhelmed, had misty eyes that looked like they might spill over at any second.
Yuta kept his composure. He stood to the side, watching with a quiet smile, when his phone suddenly rang.
He checked the screen. Aoi Fuji.
He headed back to his office, picked up the call, and said, "Miss Fuji, congratulations!"
Aoi paused for a beat, then replied, "This is an anime your team at Starfall made. I should be the one congratulating you. But since you said it first, let's just say congratulations to us both."
Yuta smiled softly and didn't respond. His mind drifted back to when he had gone to Arcane to pitch for investment, standing in front of Aoi and boldly declaring that his sales target for Clannad was over ten thousand copies, and that he hoped to turn it into a classic.
That little goal from back then was starting to come true, wasn't it?
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