Chapter 215 214 - Progress
The second half of episode 13 of Attack on Titan showed Eren using his own body to block the wall and save the city. Afterward, he was captured by the troops responsible for fighting the Titans and placed under custody. And in the final moments of the episode, a major figure finally appeared before the audience: Captain Levi.
When Shōgo Hoshino finished watching, he felt as though his mind had been flooded with too much information all at once.
That was the charm of truly outstanding animation. It did not merely entertain; it left something inside people, a deep, almost spiritual tremor that continued to echo long after the credits had ended.
He logged into NatsuYume and aimlessly scrolled through the comment section, watching other anime fans who, just like him, were still completely caught up in the story of that episode. He replied to a few messages, discussed details of the plot, threw out guesses about where Attack on Titan might go next, and allowed himself to be swept into that collective excitement that only appeared when a work truly struck its audience at the core.
The happiness of an ordinary anime fan could be as simple as that.
The original Attack on Titan manga already possessed considerable expressive power.
In Sora's previous life, that work had become popular all over the world. Even after facing restrictions in certain markets because of sensitive themes, disappearing from major platforms and often circulating through pirate sites or file-sharing services, it had still managed to gather an enormous and fiercely loyal fanbase.
But above all else, the quality of the animated production was high enough to sustain all that attention.
Among all the factors that shaped the impact of an animation, music played a decisive role.
In particular, Hiroyuki Sawano's compositions, with memorable tracks such as "The Rebellion Song," "The Flying Song," and "Call of Silence," remained popular online even more than ten years later. They were pieces of music capable of carrying entire scenes on their backs, turning silence into tension, movement into catharsis, and tragedy into memory.
Added to the quality of the animated version produced in this alternate Japan, with a budget reaching tens of billions of yen, all those elements made the experience of watching Attack on Titan something truly special.
For Japanese animation fans, it represented an enormous shift.
Attack on Titan was already extremely popular, and its performance ranked among the best in the entire industry. Even so, after the thirteenth episode aired, its popularity surged once again.
Before that, many people had criticized Eren, the protagonist, saying that he lacked charisma, lacked ability, and only knew how to express useless rage.
Even after the story revealed his ability to transform into a Titan, many fans still complained that Eren had simply been lucky. They said Attack on Titan was a story about bloodlines, and that anyone with a father capable of giving his son the power to transform into a Titan could have taken the protagonist's place.
But the plot of episode 13 showed everyone why Eren truly was the protagonist.
It showed his conviction at the most difficult moment. It showed what he clung to when almost nothing remained.
The desire to break through the walls, drive out the giants, and seize the freedom to think, to exist, and to move forward on his own feet.
That struck every fan of the animation deeply.
Those accustomed to darkness, those who lived with their feet buried in mud, had no right to mock someone who still dared to seek the light.
It was from that episode onward that Eren truly became a beloved character among Attack on Titan fans.
And it was also because of that episode that, in the minds of many viewers, Attack on Titan stopped being merely an action anime about monsters and spectacular battles, becoming instead a denser, more ambitious, and far more profound work.
"Does anyone know the name of the song that plays in episode 13, when Eren carries that huge boulder to block the wall?! Does anyone have a link?"
"That track will be included in the official Attack on Titan OST album, which comes out next week! Keep an eye on Yume Animation's official website!"
"It looks like the song is called 'Call of Silence.' It had several versions in series before Attack on Titan, but all of them were softer and more melancholic. I never imagined a rearranged version could sound this powerful."
"You can find the answer by looking up the behind-the-scenes clips for Attack on Titan on the official site. That song was composed under the supervision of Kantoku Sora, and the overall musical style of Attack on Titan was also defined by him. It's hard to imagine where Kantoku Sora finds the energy to handle all of this while also producing Your Name."
"That's why I find certain opinions from Sora fans online so funny. They think that because he has such a powerful creative drive, he should focus only on writing anime scripts and stop taking on direction or music supervision, so he can save time and hurry up with sequels to Natsume Yuujinchou and Re:Zero. That's pure fantasy. Think about it for a second. If Sora hadn't been so deeply involved in Your Name, would its visual style have been that beautiful? If Attack on Titan didn't have this soundtrack and those insanely cool aerial combat scenes, would we be this impressed by it?"
"Exactly. Some people think animation only needs a good story. That's a huge misconception. Visual quality, animation style, and musical direction all elevate the narrative."
"Kantoku Sora is truly a genius. This episode of Attack on Titan raised my expectations for the series to the absolute highest level. If the following episodes can maintain this standard, it might even surpass Clannad and Steins;Gate!"
"That still sounds difficult. The average Blu-ray sales for Steins;Gate in Japan were 430,000 copies per volume, and when overseas sales were included, the worldwide average reached 650,000 copies per volume. The first season of Clannad sold an average of 320,000 copies per volume in Japan and 410,000 worldwide. But the second season of Clannad reached 510,000 copies per volume in Japan and 940,000 worldwide. Attack on Titan still has a chance to surpass Steins;Gate in both popularity and Blu-ray sales, but to surpass Clannad... it would need to explode overseas as well."
"In other words, to break Clannad's record, Attack on Titan needs to sell at least one million Blu-rays per volume worldwide!"
"Basically, yes. Either way, the environment is brutal. Extremely brutal."
"I'm jealous of Kantoku Sora. With the ridiculous success of these anime, the worldwide revenue from Blu-rays alone must already be around eighty or ninety billion yen. Add merchandise, licensing, and other income sources on top of that... Yume Animation, Kantoku Sora's studio, must be making more than one hundred billion yen a year."
"Actually, it has already passed that. Yume Animation is the anime production studio with the strongest cash flow in the entire Japanese industry. Rumor says the company has more than one hundred billion yen sitting in its accounts. Otherwise, how could Kantoku Sora set aside thirty billion yen to produce nine episodes of Battle of the Twin Cities?"
"In just five years, Sora went from having nothing to holding assets close to two hundred billion yen... This is practically a life straight out of a fantasy NovelPhoenix. I'm so jealous."
"No need to be jealous. He's already twenty-three and still doesn't have a girlfriend, hahaha. At least we're better than him in that regard."
"But I'm twenty-seven, I don't have a girlfriend either, and I'm poor on top of that!"
"Brother, I'm twenty-nine. Don't worry, I'll take care of you."
"I'm not jealous of how much money Sora has made. His talent, ability, and hard work deserve it. If I were him, I would've spent my first ten billion yen on food, drinks, and fun. Why would I work more than ten hours a day like a monk? No way."
"This episode impressed me so much. I just hope the rest of Attack on Titan doesn't fall apart. I'm genuinely worried."
"Has any of Sora's work ever collapsed before? What are you worried about?"
"You don't understand anything. Attack on Titan is an anime with a very distinct worldview. It's not like Steins;Gate or Clannad, where the scope of the story is limited to a few people, a school, or a small town. Attack on Titan has to deal with its world, character construction, religion, beliefs, the origin of the Titans, the main storyline, and many other things. Its background is extremely complex. I trust Kantoku Sora's ability, but I'm also worried that he may not have enough experience yet and might not be able to tie everything together perfectly."
The thirteenth episode of Attack on Titan achieved a 6.42% audience rating.
It was still an increase compared to the previous episode.
The entire Japanese animation industry still had no idea how high the ratings for this work would climb before finally stabilizing.
The June animation expo had already come to an end.
From the first episode to the thirteenth, Attack on Titan had remained firmly at the top of the domestic anime industry's ratings.
At the same time, the first season of the television drama adapted from the novel Claire had also concluded successfully.
Although its ratings had not surpassed the 6% mark like Attack on Titan, the series still averaged around 5.3%.
And because it was a live-action adaptation derived from an original animation, it received harsh criticism from many fans of the source work. Even so, the adaptation of Claire remained firmly positioned as the best-performing television drama of the season in Japan.
As a result, Southern Union Television's stock price continued to rise.
Compared with its initial public offering two years earlier, its share price had already increased by 40%, and the company's total market value had surpassed 2.4 trillion yen.
At the same time, Sora had been using personal funds to buy, on the open market, shares of Southern Union Television sold by individual investors during that period.
He now held 5.1% of the company's shares, making him the fifth-largest shareholder of Southern Union Television.
Within Japan's television circles, Sora felt that he was no longer merely the president of an ordinary anime production studio.
Whether because of his position as a major shareholder of Southern Union Television, the more than one hundred billion yen in cash circulating through Yume Animation's accounts, or the value of the copyrights and intellectual properties accumulated through the studio's works, Sora and Yume Animation had become an extremely influential capital force in Japan's anime and television industries.
Naturally, everything Sora had gained came precisely from the market share and profits that, in the past, should have belonged to the four major national broadcasters.
In late June, all employees of Yume Animation gathered for a celebration party at a mansion on the outskirts of Tokushima.
Under normal circumstances, celebrations like that were held every quarter.
However, since Sora's works occupied first place quarter after quarter, there was no reason not to celebrate.
Besides, that day was also when the company would pay out project bonuses.
The first season of Attack on Titan had only reached the halfway point of its broadcast. The second half would air during the summer cour of the following year.
Even so, the bonus received by each member of the team had already exceeded the value of an entire year's salary, which made the members working on nearby projects, such as Battle of the Twin Cities and the second season of Attack on Titan, feel an envy that was almost impossible to hide.
Watching all the employees celebrating inside that spacious, brightly lit hall, Sumire, Sora, and Yumi stood by the window. On all three of their faces, there was an emotion difficult to name.
"I never imagined that Yume Animation could reach this point in only four years," Sumire said, her voice low, as though she were still trying to believe what she was seeing before her. "Over the next three months, the second season of Attack on Titan will be broadcast simultaneously in four markets: the Western Alliance, the neighboring island nation, the United Nations across the ocean, and Japan itself..."
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