Parallel world Manga Artist-Chapter 207: Undercurrent

At the beginning of April, the animation market in Japan remained largely unchanged from the previous quarter.

Even before the new season fully began, everyone already understood one thing clearly, the true overlords of this quarter’s animation industry were undoubtedly Hunter and Arcane.

Having been on air for quite some time, Hunter’s viewership ratings had stabilized at around 6.3%, consistently ranking among the top two programs across all television stations in Japan.

As for Arcane...

Starting from the sixth episode of the previous quarter, it had firmly secured the number one spot in viewership ratings.

And this quarter...

The first episode of Arcane Season 2 premiered with an impressive 6.74% viewership rating.

Despite a four-week broadcast gap, Arcane’s popularity had not diminished in the slightest.

Broadcast on Ion TV Station, the competition for advertising slots during Arcane’s airtime alone reached an astonishing price of over 170 million yen.

Of course, such success came at a cost. Ion TV Station had paid more than 100 million yen just to secure the broadcasting rights for the Arcane animation.

Both domestically and overseas, countless partner companies flocked to them like wolves scenting blood.

However, Rei no longer handled most of these matters personally.

With limited energy to spare, he had established his own company and hired professional managers to oversee copyright licensing and commercial collaborations for less critical works, significantly easing his workload.

As a result, within the current animation market of Japan, and even globally, Arcane had become an exceptionally unique existence.

In terms of pure commercial value, it might only be comparable to One-Punch Man, or even slightly inferior.

However, Arcane’s mature world-building and narrative depth far surpassed One-Punch Man. In simpler terms, its long-term development potential was much greater.

In fact, many industry insiders had already begun to sense something.

Would Arcane eventually evolve into a full-fledged franchise series?

Even if not entirely in animation form, could the factions mentioned in the story, such as Noxus and Demacia, appear in the Arcane spin-off mobile game Teamfight Tactics Mobile, which was scheduled to launch in a few months?

Yet while the entire animation industry of Japan was focused on these discussions...

On April 6th, Illumination Production Company, currently the most renowned animation studio in Japan, announced a nationwide public recruitment drive.

They were hiring animation film directors, producers, key animators, animation supervisors, and a wide range of other experienced industry professionals.

Not only was this information published on Illumination Production Company’s official website, it was also shared directly through Rei’s personal creator accounts.

It gave off one clear impression, Illumination Production Company seemed desperately short of manpower.

But could Illumination really be short of people?

That was impossible.

Producing an animation like Arcane while it was airing was already far more demanding than a standard TV anime. With each episode lasting forty to fifty minutes, production timelines were incredibly tight.

Even though only the first episode of Season 2 had aired, the final episode likely required nothing more than finishing touches.

And now, Illumination Animation, Shirogane’s dedicated animation production company, was recruiting talent specifically for animation films.

At that moment, professionals across the Japan animation industry suddenly realized something.

"No way... Is Shirogane preparing to enter the animation film market?"

"Is he even human? Damn it, does he ever get tired? He debuted at sixteen, isn’t even twenty yet, and in just four years he’s produced so many works. Hunter and Arcane aren’t even finished, and he’s already planning an animation film?"

"My scalp is tingling. How can someone be this ridiculous? Does he seriously never hit a creative slump?"

"I’ve already asked a friend in the industry to look into it. If the conditions are good, I’m planning to jump ship."

"Same here. At my current company, I haven’t worked on a popular animation in years. I might as well join Illumination, for both the money and the reputation."

"My friend works at Illumination Production Company. He said that ever since Shirogane started collaborating with Himari, his monthly income has increased fourfold... four times!"

"That’s only natural. Where do you think all the money from Shirogane’s animations, each with investments exceeding 100 million, ultimately goes?"

"He’s famous for being generous within the Japan animation industry... He pours everything he earns from drawing manga right back into producing his own animation projects!"

"So... is Shirogane really preparing a new work?"

Given Rei’s current fame in Japan, keeping any major development secret was impossible.

Moreover, Rei was simultaneously launching three animation projects related to Demon Slayer:

The Demon Slayer TV animation The theatrical animation film Mugen Train Arc. The first part of the theatrical animation film Infinity Castle Arc

A TV broadcast animation can, in fact, be completed in about half a year. With sufficient funding and talent, it may even achieve respectable results.

Animation films, however, are a different matter.

If high production quality is the goal, more than a year of production time is still required. Refining and polishing countless details takes time, and generally speaking, the longer the production cycle, the better the final result.

That was precisely why Rei chose to launch multiple Demon Slayer–related animation projects simultaneously.

With funding from Illumination Animation, an entity he personally invested in, money was not an issue. The real problem was manpower. Starting several animation projects at the same time inevitably led to a severe shortage of staff; otherwise, there would have been no need to recruit talent across Japan with such publicity and intensity.

Before long, the relevant news spread from professional animation circles into general audiences and fan communities.

That very evening, a rather mysterious trending topic: Shirogane has another new work! rose to the top of the trending lists on major animation websites.

Aside from discussions about Arcane Season 2, the issue animation fans across Japan cared about most was Shirogane’s supposed new work, one that existed only in speculation.

Meanwhile, the senior executives of Hoshimori Group, who had originally planned to give Rei the cold shoulder for a few days while formulating a counter-strategy, found themselves in a genuinely awkward position.

Misaki had already conveyed Rei’s intentions to Han, who then reported them to the board of directors.

Hunter would conclude after the Ant Arc.

After that, Shirogane’s next project would be primarily focused on animation adaptation, with all copyrights firmly under his personal control.

Out of consideration for past professional relationships, the adapted manga could still be serialized in Dream Comic... but Shirogane’s proposal, one in which he reaped virtually all the benefits, naturally triggered collective outrage among Hoshimori Group’s top executives.

They held four meetings in three days.

During these meetings, Jensen , the CEO of Hoshimori Group, openly and repeatedly criticized Rei’s approach. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But anger solved nothing.

Rei now possessed both capital and talent. If he truly had a strong work in hand, he was fully capable of producing it independently.

"Go and make this clear to Shirogane," Jensen said in a low voice after calling Han into his office.

"Hoshimori Group has never collaborated with a manga artist under such conditions. For works serialized in Dream Comic, Hoshimori Group must be involved in copyright operations."

"Moreover, if we allow such a precedent to be set," he continued, "won’t Hoshimori Group become a target throughout the entire Japan manga industry? If other partner artists follow suit, that would be the real nightmare."

After a pause, Jensen added, "That said, we can still negotiate with Shirogane. If he believes the previous royalty split, 8% for tankōbon sales and 4% for merchandise, is too low, we can raise it. We can discuss it and give him a few extra points. Offer better terms."

"But... what terms can we realistically offer?" Han asked, feeling somewhat helpless.

Works like Arcane and One-Punch Man generated hundreds of millions annually. What could Hoshimori Group possibly provide that would convince Shirogane to relinquish full control of his copyrights in exchange for a few additional percentage points?

Even if entrusting Shirogane’s works to Hoshimori might grant them greater global exposure...

It was obvious that Shirogane valued concrete returns far more.

...

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