Leaving the screening room, Shiozawa Makoto couldn't help but exclaim, "This animation is really good! The animation quality and art style are excellent, the plot is outstanding, and the pacing is perfectly executed."
"Agreed," Shiga Taka nodded. "And I was really surprised to learn that Chiaki is the one who actually time-leapt."
"The female lead's growth is also quite compelling," Shiozawa Makoto smiled. "No wonder she shares my name."
After a pause, she added, "I'm heading back to write a glowing review for this animation. What about you?"
"I'll walk with you—it's on the way," Shiga Taka replied without hesitation.
The two returned to their respective rented apartments and immediately began writing positive reviews for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
In fact, they weren't the only ones who were satisfied. The majority of viewers gave the animation high marks after watching it.
Many even spontaneously helped promote the film, went to the cinema for a second viewing, and invited their friends to see it.
Initially, this animation had limited screening slots in major cinemas. However, thanks to its exceptional quality and overwhelmingly positive reviews, audience attendance grew steadily with each showing, largely driven by spontaneous word-of-mouth promotion. Eventually, cinema chains were forced to increase its screening schedule.
Before its release, few people had high expectations for this animated film. Yet after its debut, particularly in August, it emerged as a box office dark horse.
The animation's already excellent reputation was so strong that even the Big Three Anime Magazines published special features dedicated to it.
While it didn't set the animation world ablaze, there's no doubt the film was a resounding success.
Financially, it not only recouped its costs but also turned a modest profit.
Merchandise was challenging, but releasing a manga, a DVD after its theatrical run, and eventually a Blu-ray edition proved feasible.
Beyond its commercial triumph, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time achieved explosive success in awards, sweeping the Grand Prizes at Japan's Big Three Animation Awards and securing numerous other domestic and international accolades in animation and film.
The animation swept up over twenty major and minor awards, leaving its creators with hands sore from accepting prizes.
Of course, this success was also due to the fact that 2003, like 2006 in another timeline, lacked any other particularly strong animated films.
Had this animation been released in 2004 instead of 2003, it would have faced competition from Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Masaaki Yuasa's Mind Game, which had defeated Howl's Moving Castle to win the animation grand prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival.
While it would undoubtedly have still won many awards, it's uncertain whether it could have secured quite so many.
Regardless, the animation's success was undeniable.
Mamoru Hosoda, who had been fired by Studio Ghibli, leading to a severely damaged reputation in the industry and a period of self-imposed isolation, made a stunning comeback. This prompted many industry insiders to remark:
"That Hosoda guy... he's still got it."
"Indeed. When he was fired by Ghibli, I thought he was finished. I never expected him to make such a successful comeback in just two years."
"It seems the credit really belongs to L.S. Production. This company understands its audience so well; otherwise, Mamoru Hosoda, who only knew how to make Digimon theatrical films, couldn't have created such a brilliant new animation."
"Who deserves the credit is debatable for now, but without Lin Zhiyan recruiting Hosoda in the first place, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time would never have been made."
"Lin Zhiyan's eye for talent is truly remarkable. First Makoto Shinkai, now Mamoru Hosoda. The key animators at his company are also becoming famous one by one. It's truly impressive."
"When Hosoda first joined L.S. Production and was starting to work on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, he actually invited me to collaborate, but I turned him down. If I'd known it would become such a success, I wouldn't have refused."
"Hosoda might not be trustworthy, but L.S. Production is definitely reliable. Especially after the success of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, it's clear this company isn't limited to TV animation. We can't easily miss future collaboration opportunities."
For Mamoru Hosoda, his triumphant comeback and the overwhelming success of winning so many awards was a cause for immense joy.
For a long time, he remained in a state of euphoria, so much so that he had little motivation to advance the new animation project, Summer Wars, that Lin Zhiyan had entrusted to him.
The bitterness he had felt after being fired from Studio Ghibli had long since vanished. Now, when interviewed about his past dismissal, he could face it with such ease that it seemed no longer a dark chapter in his history.
Fortunately, he hadn't become so arrogant as to dismiss Lin Zhiyan. He clearly understood that Lin Zhiyan had played an indispensable role in the film's monumental success.
Since it wasn't his own project as the Supervising Director, unlike The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Lin Zhiyan didn't feel a great sense of personal accomplishment from the film's triumph.
For him, the film's success was more significant in proving L.S. Production's capabilities in animation filmmaking, further enhancing the company's reputation. The pen name "Takagi Makoto" began to gain recognition, and future collaborations involving scripts in a similar style and L.S. producing animated films would proceed much more smoothly.
Before its release, few people had high hopes for this situation.
To put it bluntly, the benefits were mainly reflected in the company's development and future potential, with little direct advantage for Lin Zhiyan himself, as his only involvement was in character design.
His reputation as a character designer was already well-established in the animation world. Even if The Girl Who Leapt Through Time proved to be a box office success and won numerous awards, it wouldn't further enhance his standing in this field.
As for financial gains, despite The Girl Who Leapt Through Time's decent box office performance—less than 300 million yen—the profits after deducting marketing and production costs were minimal. The amount that reached L.S Production's accounts was a mere fraction of what Lin Zhiyan earned from producing TV anime.
His income from this project was truly negligible.
While Mamoru Hosoda was busy traveling to accept awards, Lin Zhiyan even had someone accept the Best Script award given to "Takagi Makoto" on his behalf. He devoted most of his time and energy to producing the new TV anime Gurren Lagann.
He would definitely produce animated films in the future, but for now, TV anime remained the foundation.
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