Inside the Produ president's office.
Lin Zhiyan looked at the data reports related to the "Uma Musume" game and animation, lost in deep thought.
The popularity and buzz surrounding this IP were already explosive, and after the airing of episode 10 of the second season of the anime, its popularity and buzz rose even further, driving up the number of pre-orders for the Blu-ray discs.
Of course, it wasn't just the pre-orders for the second season's BD that were being driven up; in fact, the sales of the first season's BD had also been steadily increasing recently.
When the first season's BD was released in 2018, the average volume sales were just over 10,000, not reaching 20,000. Now, driven by the popularity of the second season and the game, the average volume sales of the first season's BD had risen to over 20,000, surpassing the average volume sales of all other anime discs that year and becoming the annual sales champion.
However, even with average volume sales of over 20,000, making it the annual sales champion for 2018 anime, it still paled in comparison to the sales of the second season, and it couldn't help Lin Zhiyan achieve that final goal.
To achieve that final goal, he still had to rely on the sales of the second season.
In another timeline, the initial release of Uma Musume Season 2 had an average volume sales of around 190,000, while the cumulative average volume sales of EVA were around 200,000, leaving a gap of about 10,000 in average volume sales.
Given the terrifying sales figures of this initial release, logically, just by releasing a subsequent version, it could easily achieve an average volume sales of over 200,000, and surpassing EVA should have been a breeze.
However, Lin Zhiyan hadn't witnessed the release of a subsequent version of Uma Musume Season 2, nor had he personally seen this anime break the average volume sales record of EVA.
If possible, he would prefer not to wait for the launch of a subsequent version to break EVA's average volume sales record, but rather for the initial release's average volume sales to surpass the cumulative average volume sales of EVA.
The question is, can the initial sales of Uma Musume Season 2 successfully surge past 200,000 copies to exceed the cumulative average volume sales of EVA?
Compared to the original version in the other timeline, Lin Zhiyan's version has advantages in several aspects:
First is the production quality, which is above that of the original; while the original was very excellent, his version is flawless to the point of being unimpeachable.
First of all, the production quality is above that of the original version; it's just that while the original was very excellent, his version is flawless.
Secondly, the original version didn't have the benefit of his personal fame, nor the buzz he personally brought. The original version was a huge hit, but the level of popularity his version reached was even greater.
Thirdly, Lin Zhiyan's version of the BD will, of course, include the "King's Power" such as game character cards or items. In addition to that, it also comes with quite a few miscellaneous items. Most of these are not worth mentioning, but there is one thing that is quite attractive: a collection of character designs and illustrations for "Uma Musume" drawn by Lin Zhiyan himself.
In the past, Lin Zhiyan did this in some of his other animations, but ever since he stopped serving as an animation director, he has almost never included things he personally prepared in the BDs or DVDs of his animations. He didn't even do so for the first season of "Uma Musume" in '18 or the first season of "Demon Slayer" in '19.
In other words, this item is quite rare. Coupled with his very high level of artistry and his immense personal fame, it has a certain collectible value.
With so many advantages, it should attract more people to purchase the BD.
However, even so, Lin Zhiyan would not dare to say that the first-week sales of his version of the BD will definitely exceed the cumulative average volume sales of "EVA".
However, even so, Lin Zhiyan dared not say for sure that the initial sales of his version of the BD would exceed the cumulative average volume sales of "EVA".
It would definitely be higher than the original version, that much was certain, but exactly how much higher was anyone's guess until things were set in stone.
All he could do now was to try his best to "buff" this anime, making its popularity and hype even greater than the original version from the other world.
With only three episodes left until the anime concluded, what other good buffs could he add in this situation?
Should he take the initiative to leak the news that Takagi Makoto was his alias, in order to attract public attention and discussion?
It was now the year '21, and his Memory Cheat would only be usable until '22, which meant he only had one year of usage time left. However, anime production cycles were always quite long; even for a single-cour anime, there was usually at least a year of preparation time, so in reality, his Memory Cheat was already essentially nearing its expiration.
From now on, he would have to rely more on himself. However, he had already achieved fame and success. If it weren't for the consideration of giving back to his fans, he could completely stop making anime from now on, leaving it to others in the company, while he only worked on anime planning and final product approval.
The so-called "giving back to the fans" means releasing an animated film every three to five, or even seven to eight years. For this, Lin Zhiyan would use his real name to participate in scriptwriting, without needing to use the pseudonym Takagi Makoto.
In other words, in a few months at most, the pseudonym "Takagi Makoto" could disappear.
If it didn't disappear naturally, but was instead exposed, it would certainly generate a certain amount of discussion.
However, it's hard to say whether such discussion would really provide a buff to the second season of Uma Musume. Besides, he created this pseudonym back then specifically to avoid trouble; if it were exposed now...
It doesn't feel right.
He can't do that.
Apart from this, what other means are there?
Lin Zhiyan thought it over and simply went online to post on his account:
"There are only three episodes left until the end of the second season of the Uma Musume anime, which means there isn't much time left until the first volume of the anime BD goes on sale.
Back in '14, I said that my goal as a producer was to create an anime with an average volume sales exceeding EVA and a box office surpassing Spirited Away. Among these, the goal of surpassing Spirited Away at the box office has already been achieved; only the goal of exceeding EVA in average volume sales remains."
I hadn't said anything before, but now is a good time to talk about it. You all guessed correctly: Uma Musume Season 2 is indeed the anime I wanted to use to achieve my final goal.
Even now, I wouldn't dare say for sure that this goal will be realized, but... the animated film I am personally directing was originally scheduled for release in 2023, with information to be revealed in the second half of 2022. If I manage to achieve my final goal, then, to reward the fans for their support, I will release some information about the new animation ahead of schedule.
He hadn't openly stated before that Uma Musume Season 2 was the card he wanted to play because he wanted fans to speculate, thereby increasing the buzz.
Now, anyone can see that he is counting on Uma Musume Season 2 to achieve his final goal. Since no one will be debating whether it is or isn't anymore, openly admitting it in this situation can actually generate a certain degree of topic engagement.
Additionally, using information about the new animation to entice fans into purchasing the Blu-rays of Uma Musume Season 2—Lin Zhiyan isn't sure what kind of effect this will have, but in any case, it won't be a negative one.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a try.