Chapter 227 226
Because Sora had earned enormous box office revenue and almost mythical popularity in his previous life, Spirited Away also possessed an astonishingly high emotional value.
Castle in the Sky, on the other hand, though blessed with an excellent reputation, had failed to convert that acclaim into revenue when it was released in that other world. At the time, Hayao Miyazaki was only in his forties, yet because of the film's commercial disappointment, he had even declared that he would retire from directing and stop making animation altogether. Perhaps that was precisely why, within the system, the work had been valued at only two hundred million emotional points.
It was the first time Sora truly felt that a work offered by the system could be considered cheap.
Castle in the Sky cost only two hundred million?
After redeeming the two films, Sora looked at the tens of millions of emotional points he had left and had no intention of letting them sit idle. He divided them into four portions and began four draws.
Not long after, the titles of four works appeared before him.
Spice and Wolf, Rozen Maiden, Cooldays, and Scum's Wish.
Hm...
Although, at that point, Sora was no longer particularly worried about spending a few tens of millions of emotional points, drawing School Days and Scum's Wish still made his expression turn rather strange.
It could be said without exaggeration that if Sora truly had the courage to release those two works, he would end up embarrassing himself before the entire world. The image of an animation master that he had built in the minds of anime fans across the globe would likely collapse in an instant.
As for a work like Rozen Maiden, it also did not seem especially suitable for him to release directly at the moment.
Spice and Wolf, however, was a rather interesting choice.
A masterpiece of everyday fantasy, carrying a foreign atmosphere and a very particular narrative charm. It would be a good idea to finish the script first and then hand it to the team to turn into an anime, or perhaps pass it to Southern Alliance Television for a live-action adaptation.
Sora's consciousness left the system's space-time.
Without wasting any time, he immediately began writing the scripts for the two animated feature films: Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky.
Over the following weeks, Sora devoted almost all of his energy to that work.
Meanwhile, the anime adaptation of Attack on Titan had quietly reached its tenth episode.
After the revelation of Reiner and Bertholdt's identities in episode six, the series had reached one of its major turning points. In episode seven, the battle between Eren and Reiner's Armored Titan, combined with Bertholdt's sudden attack, resulted in Eren's capture and drove the story to a new peak of tension.
Eren and Ymir had been taken away, forced to flee to a distant place alongside the two traitors. Ymir's insistence on seeing Historia again, together with the memories of her past, revealed more and more layers of the world of Attack on Titan.
At the very least, through Ymir's memories, the audience learned that there were human organizations and forces beyond the walls where Eren and the others lived.
Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie had all come from there.
As the world of Attack on Titan unfolded before the viewers' eyes, the ratings also rose little by little.
In just a few weeks, the domestic audience rating reached an impressive 6.88%.
Even overseas, Attack on Titan's ratings began climbing, reaching 5.9%.
Before this, Sora had spent nearly all his emotional points redeeming new works. Yet in only a month, he had already accumulated a large amount once again.
At the beginning of December, the cold began spreading throughout Japan. In Tokushima, the company's employees were already arriving at work in thick winter coats.
Yume Animation's weekly meeting took place as usual.
"The development projects for the Attack on Titan and Battle of the Twin Cities games have already begun. The spin-off games for both works are expected to be released within a year."
"In addition to the four broadcasters we have already partnered with, television stations from nine other countries have expressed interest in cooperating with us and acquiring simultaneous broadcast rights for the Attack on Titan anime."
"The live-action project for Natsume Yuujinchou has been approved. The investment from our partner, Southern Alliance Television, will exceed ten billion yen."
During the meeting, employees from every level presented the company's latest updates one after another.
Sora, Sumire, and Yumi sat at the front of the conference room, watching everyone with solemn expressions.
To preserve his authority as president, Sora remained serious until the reports were finished. Only after everyone had spoken did he instruct his assistant to distribute the preprinted scripts for Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away.
Then, in a firm voice, he declared:
"The meeting is almost over."
"Our company has two new animated feature film projects planned for the near future."
Sora's words immediately stirred the entire room.
Everyone had assumed that he would not release any new work before Attack on Titan ended. Yet, without warning, two more animated films had suddenly appeared.
Even Sumire and Yumi, sitting beside him, were visibly stunned.
In truth, Sora almost never discussed the creation of new works with the two of them in advance. Most of the time, he simply announced everything abruptly during a meeting.
"New works? Two animated feature films?"
"Sora really is unbelievable!"
"That man has superhuman energy."
"He's already this rich, yet he still works this hard... incredible."
"So Kantoku Sora is preparing to break the Japanese animated film box office record again?"
Voices overlapped throughout the room.
Even so, that did not stop everyone from quickly flipping through the scripts of the two films.
To be honest, it was difficult to feel the full impact of an animation merely by reading its script. Once the work gained movement, subtle expressions, framing, color, music, and a life of its own, the sensory experience would be completely different.
Still, at least during that meeting, the scripts for Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away were approved without any issue.
There was nothing in them that could be questioned.
Soon after, another week passed, and the eleventh episode of Attack on Titan season two aired.
The episode mainly focused on the Survey Corps catching up to Reiner, while Reiner summoned wild titans to attack the soldiers pursuing him.
Naturally, the scene where Commander Erwin, even after having his arm bitten by a titan, still raised his voice and ordered everyone to advance and rescue Eren, left a deep impression on countless fans.
The audience rating for Attack on Titan had already reached 6.88%, but it was still just short of the 7% goal everyone had been hoping for.
While Japanese anime fans believed that this year's season would end with the twelfth episode of Attack on Titan season two, a major announcement came from Yume Animation.
The company would invest at least forty billion yen into the production of two new animated feature films.
Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky.
The two films were scheduled to premiere during the New Year holiday period and the following summer vacation season, respectively.
The production cycle would last one to one and a half years, and both feature films would be released simultaneously in major markets around the world.
As soon as the news was announced, it caused an immediate sensation throughout the Japanese animation industry.
Two new animated films? That was simply too big.
"Long live Boss Sora!"
"Do you remember that Your Name earned three hundred and twenty billion yen? Two years later... Kantoku Sora is about to shake up the film industry again!"
"Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky... those are pretty curious anime titles."
"It doesn't matter if the names sound strange. What matters is whether the story is good. Your Name is a classic. I still take out the Blu-ray and rewatch it almost every month... I just hope Sora's new animated film can be even half as good."
"You're not doubting Sora's scriptwriting and directing ability, are you? I'm only worried about his health. Can he really handle so many productions at the same time?"
"Attack on Titan, Battle of the Twin Cities, Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky... it's hard to imagine anyone producing four anime projects at once. As someone who also works in animation, I'm genuinely moved. This is unbelievable."
"If there is a god in the animation industry, it can only be Sora. His talent and skill are on a divine level. Even his effort feels like something beyond human."
"It's premiering during New Year and next year's summer vacation? All right, I'll remember those dates. By then, I'll find myself a girlfriend and take her to watch Sora's movie with me."
"Same here. When I watched Your Name, I was still single. But when Spirited Away premieres, I absolutely need to have someone beside me."
The news that Yume Animation, Sora's company, would begin producing two new animated feature films quickly spread through anime circles both inside and outside Japan.
For Japanese and overseas fans alike, it was a day filled with pure excitement.
The reaction abroad was especially intense, because Sora's announcement made it clear that the films would receive a simultaneous global release.
With Sora's current reputation and commercial value, bringing his animated feature films to cinemas around the world was no longer a difficult task.
Many fans, after thinking about it carefully, felt an emotion that was difficult to put into words.
After all, many of them had started following him back when Sora was still nothing more than a little-known name on Star Voice.
How many years had passed since then?
Sora had already reached this level.
However, the enthusiasm sparked by two new works could not last forever.
The initial popularity of Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky soon began to fade.
At the end of December, the day of the broadcast of the twelfth episode of Attack on Titan season two finally arrived.
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