Monday had arrived, and Code Geass episodes five and six had premiered. Haruki's eyes were fixed on the screen, scrolling through online reactions and comments, eager to see what people were thinking. He had removed the cat-and-mask gag, replaced it with something tighter, and rewritten this whole episode along with other weak sections. He had started doing this kind of editing with JoJo Part 1, which he had improved and refined. Now, within the fanbase, it wasn't seen as a skippable part anymore like in the parallel world. Since it was his first time doing something major, it still came out weaker than the other parts, but Part 1 was now worth watching for its story and didn't force viewers to watch it just to enjoy the later parts.
As for why, after improving the story, he had still decided to skip the serialization and go straight to the volume. Even after the improvements, it still felt weaker than the other parts, though not by a huge margin. Another reason was the fact that it was the shortest part. So instead of serializing, he decided that a volume release would be better. But even without weekly serialization, Part 1's sales had started to pick up since Dio was introduced in Part 3. Many people who had read Part 1 said online that Dio was an interesting character, which made more people want to check it out and read Part 1. Its volume sales were now on par with Part 2, so it was safe to assume the changes he made were well received.
For Code Geass, he had done editing for proper pacing, rewriting parts like the pizza party, the cat-and-mask gag, and even an entire episode.
At first, when he changed some parts of the story, he had been incredibly nervous about how people would receive it, since he had rewritten many things in Code Geass. About ten percent of the content had been added or rewritten. But after receiving positive reviews for JoJo Part 1 and those changes, his confidence started to build. Still, he felt anxious about how the public would react. The studio staff had already reviewed the story, and they all liked it. As for Haruki, he knew he was too close to the source material to accurately judge whether the changes were good or bad.
"I have more than enough World Points now," he muttered, almost as if reassuring himself. "If the manga or anime doesn't do well because I made changes and I get fewer World Points, or no lottery ticket at all, I'll just make one less manga."
When he first edited JoJo and received reader comments afterward, he had felt a kind of fulfillment he hadn't experienced before. It was a feeling that made him want to chase that same experience again. But each time he tried to change a panel or dialogue, he felt incredible pressure, wondering if he might ruin the story. He kept second-guessing himself.
As some time had passed since the Code Geass opening premiered, he opened the website's dashboard and let his gaze sweep across episode-wise ratings, story arc analytics, and viewer feedback. Episode five started strong at 9.5. Then came episode six. His chest tightened as he scrolled: 9.0. Solid, but weaker than the episodes averaging above 9.2. It had only been six hours since the episode aired, so there was still time before the final result, but the early chance of the rating going up was very low. Still, he had improved the story, though not as much as he had hoped.
For the whole weekend, nothing exciting had happened, as he had been busy with animation. He also met with Kotone on Saturday to pass the time. She had invited him to watch a movie. Except for that, nothing happened.
Next Week
Monday night would see the release of Code Geass episodes seven and eight. Three weeks had passed since the premiere, yet the series' hype hadn't died down. Many had thought it would fade after the initial buzz, as most series usually had a familiar pattern: strong hype at the start, some peaks around major twists, and another burst near the finale. It was rare for a show to maintain that momentum across the middle stretch, especially since anime episodes are only twenty-two minutes long.
When Mizushiro first announced releasing two episodes a week, many weren't sure it would work. Some even thought fans would suffer from "watching fatigue." But now, seeing how well it was doing, people began to wonder if this was something worth considering for the new generation of fast-paced consumers.
Aokusa Pictures
At Aokusa Pictures, Rikuya and the other staff were in a meeting discussing how they should handle the release of next month's sequel anime. They had made continuous plans for release schedules but hadn't grasped the full scope of what was happening. Their earlier assumption had been that the Code Geass hype would die down after the initial wave of debate, but it hadn't.
Koharu leaned forward. "I think we don't need to worry. With this, Mizushiro may have proven that two episodes per week can absolutely generate hype to a limit. But it still isn't ideal for the studio. Weekly episodes remain the best method."
Rikuya nodded. "Koharu is right. As for Code Geass's hype, I think it partially comes from the crew's work and direction. And as for the double release, it's only for the first twelve episodes. After that, it'll return to weekly. Naturally, the hype will go down a bit."
But one of the producers spoke up. "Still, I think we can look at Mizushiro's approach for new original IPs. Starting with a double release for the first twelve episodes could be a good way to generate early hype and hook the audience."
Rikuya considered it for a moment. "Yes, we can do that. I don't think it'll create as much publicity as Code Geass, but this approach could definitely work for our own original projects. We wouldn't even need to change our schedules much. As long as the content remains good, people will keep watching."
Shunsuke added, "I think it's a good strategy. Releasing two episodes helps monopolize viewers' time. If they're already hooked, it makes it harder for them to switch to something else."
After the discussion, they wrapped up the meeting and left the office. Rikuya quietly thought about how Mizushiro's experiment had reshaped the conversation around anime release formats, and how feasible it really was for them. Unlike Mizushiro's group, they had to answer to investors. At Evermark Studio, all the funding came directly from Mizushiro himself. Rikuya thought Kazuyoshi sure got lucky. He could work on this kind of project without having to worry about investors pulling out of the studio.
Shout out to santiago torres for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me.
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