It did not take long for the relevant information to be released one piece at a time.
Seiun TV's new January anime, Toki no Maou, would be a two-cour production funded by the network itself, with an investment of 110 million yen. The project brought together Kenji Yoshida, one of Japan's top anime Kantokus, and Shōichi Takamura, a well-known screenwriter within the industry.
Yoshida and Takamura, both already past fifty, had been legendary figures in the world of animation twenty years ago. Back then, their fame was no less impressive than what Sora had now. In certain respects, it might even have surpassed his.
They were once known as the golden duo of Japanese animation. Over more than two decades in the field, they had collaborated on nine works. Among them, four had broken past a 5% viewership rating, one had exceeded 6%, two had sold more than three hundred thousand Blu-ray copies per volume, and one had reached the astonishing mark of more than four hundred thousand copies per volume.
Of course, that had been a different era. Technology had not yet advanced to its current level, entertainment options were far more limited, and television remained the preferred leisure activity for most Japanese audiences.
For that reason, breaking 5% or 6% in ratings twenty years ago had been much easier than it was now.
It followed the same logic as certain major television specials from the past: in their golden years, monstrous numbers seemed almost natural, but after the rise of the internet and the fragmentation of audiences, even maintaining half of that performance had become a challenge.
Still, their historical results were undeniable. Compared to Sora's current stage, whether in number of works, commercial performance, merchandise sales, or accumulated achievements, those veterans were still ahead.
And Aobane TV's main January project, the otherworld war and political fantasy anime Akai Uroko, was no lightweight either. The network had invited Masanori Kureha, an elite Kantoku in exactly that type of work. Fourteen years earlier, he had helmed the classic long-running isekai fantasy anime Chronicles of the Four Kingdoms, which had also achieved the impressive record of three hundred and forty thousand copies sold per volume.
The investment in Akai Uroko was slightly lower, but it still reached 97 million yen. Like Seiun TV's project, it would also be a two-cour production.
Shirakawa TV and HaiOn TV, which had long occupied the third and fourth positions among Japan's major networks, had not made moves quite as exaggerated as the first two. Even so, each had invested between seventy and eighty million yen and brought back two top Kantokus from the previous generation: Renji Kagura and Fumihiko Minase.
A detective mystery anime like The Mystery of the Black Detective and a work based on Japanese mythology like Unkai were clearly not projects to be underestimated.
Although all of them were veterans in their forties or fifties returning to the center of the stage, the Japanese animation industry still had considerable faith in them.
After all, it was not as though they had vanished completely. In recent years, they might not have personally directed an entire production, but they had served as supervisors, producers, investors, and consultants on many successful anime projects.
The key point was that, this time, four figures of that level were coming out of semi-retirement at the same time.
And all of them had chosen January of the following year to release their new works.
More than that, all four anime would be two-cour productions.
The target was far too obvious.
But it was not as simple as merely aiming at Sora.
The four major Tokyo networks were targeting Shikoku Alliance TV.
Originally, Japan's television industry had only four networks with true national broadcasting capability. Now, Shikoku Alliance TV had gone public, completed its internal integration, and become the fifth network with nationwide reach.
For the four old giants, what did that mean?
Naturally, it was not merely "healthy competition" or "a new challenge."
It meant that the cake which had once belonged only to the four of them now had a fifth person trying to sit at the table and cut off a slice.
In the previous months, the nationwide explosion of Re:Zero had already made the four networks feel the pain in their own pockets.
The money Sora had earned, in their eyes, was flesh carved directly from their bodies.
During the broadcast period of Re:Zero, the four major networks had seen their revenue in the animation sector fall by more than 15%.
They were already dissatisfied with Sora. After learning a few months in advance that he was producing two long-format anime, it was inevitable that each of them would begin preparing. With their industry connections and immense financial power, they assembled teams, summoned veterans, and waited.
All they needed was for Sora to announce the broadcast dates of his new works. Then they would release their own projects in the same period and confront him directly.
And it was not limited to animation.
Variety shows, dramas, television programs… in every field, the four giants began surrounding and blocking Shikoku Alliance TV.
They did not even try to hide it.
Everyone involved was backed by major capital. There was no need to resort to dirty tricks or shadowy pressure behind the scenes. That would only lead to mutual losses and bring no real benefit.
But normal commercial competition?
There was nothing wrong with that.
If Shikoku Alliance TV was so eager to rise in rank and steal a share of the cake, then it would have to endure the combined suppression of those who had already been seated at the table.
As for Sora?
As a deeply involved partner of Shikoku Alliance TV and the most visible figure pushed to the front of the battlefield, he naturally became the priority target.
The aim was precisely his two new works.
The production departments and executives of the four giants did not believe that, after years of working at such an intense pace, pressured by Shikoku Alliance TV and forced to rush two anime in order to align with the company's public listing, Sora could truly produce something divine.
Bringing in legendary Kantokus from the old guard to teach him a lesson while also suppressing Shikoku Alliance TV's rising arrogance - that was the true purpose.
At Yume Animation's headquarters, Sora remained silent, mentally going over the information on Kenji Yoshida, Shōichi Takamura, Masanori Kureha, Renji Kagura, and Fumihiko Minase.
Only after a long while did he open his eyes, looking almost speechless.
"Did they really need to go this far? I just wanted the works I loved in my previous life to be loved by more people in this world. Was it really necessary to surround me like this?"
Sora let out a sigh.
But he was not sighing because he felt too much pressure. What he felt was pity for the four veteran Kantokus who had been lured over by the four major networks, for the famous screenwriters, and for all those influential professionals in backgrounds, key animation, music, and art direction.
Those people were indeed extraordinary.
The problem was that they would have to face Steins;Gate and AD.
Even the best works they had created in their youth would still fall short of those two projects. Now, the gap would only be more obvious. Not everyone was like Hayao Miyazaki, capable of reaching the peak of creativity in their sixties or seventies.
For most people in the animation industry, once they passed fifty, the decline in the quality of their work became visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, across the Japanese anime market, major media outlets began covering the state of the following year's winter season with frantic enthusiasm.
The strongest winter season in history has finally arrived.
Kenji Yoshida returns to directing after so many years. What sparks will fly when the most talented Kantoku of the previous generation faces Sora, the strongest name of the younger generation?
Next January, the top six high-investment anime alone will exceed a combined budget of 550 million yen. Will this become the most powerful season in the history of Japanese animation?
The four major Tokyo networks join forces against Shikoku Alliance TV. In the animation sector, can Sora help Shikoku's network continue to maintain its advantage?
The counterattack of the four giants against Shikoku Alliance TV has begun. As expected, they will not allow Kantoku Sora to keep seizing their market in animation.
A once-in-a-decade festival for Japanese anime fans. Next winter, the greatest anime feast in history.
It was only September, but the media was already feeding the flames without the slightest hesitation, turning the rivalry between Shikoku Alliance TV and the four major networks into constant headlines.
And Sora, together with the industry veterans invited by the four giants, inevitably became natural opponents in the eyes of the press.
Sora did not know any of them personally. But once interests were at stake, strangers could easily become adversaries.
On Shikoku Alliance TV's side, the pressure was beginning to be felt as well.
The network had recently completed its resource integration, gone public, and obtained authorization for nationwide broadcasting. Starting in October, it would officially begin broadcasting across all of Japan.
With the four giants simultaneously increasing production budgets in animation, dramas, and variety shows, creating an intense internal arms race, Shikoku Alliance TV could not afford to fall behind.
Ryo Yukishiro, the Kantoku of the network's production department, met with Sora three times within a short period to discuss countermeasures.
In the fields of variety shows and television dramas, Shikoku Alliance TV did not possess a clear advantage over the four giants. But in animation, Sora had been continuously suppressing the rival networks over the past year.
For that reason, Shikoku Alliance TV placed enormous expectations on his two new works.
"Kantoku Yukishiro, please rest assured. I will give this everything I have."
After yet another meeting with Ryo Yukishiro, Sora held the man's hand before leaving and spoke in a calm voice.
"If Kantoku Kamakawa says so, then we can feel relieved." A smile appeared on Ryo Yukishiro's face, his white beard especially striking.
Sora was now the seventh-largest shareholder of the network, and the way Ryo Yukishiro addressed him had changed accordingly.
At first glance, 4.3% of the shares did not seem like much. But based on Shikoku Alliance TV's current market value, that stake had already exceeded 700 million yen. Naturally, Ryo Yukishiro could no longer treat him with the same casual attitude he had shown more than a year ago.
"You are being too kind, Kantoku." Sora smiled, but still asked one more question out of curiosity. "Next month, our network will begin nationwide broadcasting. I wonder if the network has any good strategy for dealing with the encirclement from the four giants."
At those words, Ryo Yukishiro gave a bitter smile.
"What good strategy could we possibly have? In terms of high-quality resources in dramas, film, and animation, the four giants are naturally stronger than we are. The good creative teams we can find, they can find as well. And often, they can find even better ones. But our network's greatest advantage is that we are willing to use young people with potential. Young people have infinite possibilities. They are the ones capable of creating miracles."
Ryo Yukishiro's gaze settled on Sora.
"Just look at the four giants. Faced with the pressure Kantoku Kamakawa has placed on them, they all chose the same solution: bringing back a group of half-retired antiques from the industry. To me, that only shows they do not want to take even the slightest risk. Since when can someone be a pillar of the industry in their youth and still turn the tide after growing old? Everyone at our network believes that, in January of next year, during the competition in Japan's animation market, Kantoku Kamakawa will make those old veterans understand the true strength of the new wave."
"I think so too." Sora nodded.
"The era will change. I am not directly involved in the network's other divisions, so I would not dare make promises about them. But at least in animation, the two works my company is producing, Steins;Gate and AD, will make Shikoku Alliance TV a new benchmark in the hearts of Japanese anime fans once their broadcasts are complete."
Hearing those words, Ryo Yukishiro finally felt at ease.
The network had made so many concessions in the share transfer agreement precisely because it needed this effect.
Whether Sora's bold declaration would fully come true was another matter.
But as the central figure in this game, he at least needed to possess that level of confidence.
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