An Unexpected Development

Ever since the fifth episode of Kimi ni Todoke aired, thanks to that infuriating cliffhanger and the delicate plot and character portrayals within the show, Amidst the chorus of complaints from fans, the popularity of Kimi ni Todoke began to grow at an exaggerated pace.

On Japan Island, the average playback volume per episode of Kimi ni Todoke surged to 2.5 million in just one short week.

While this data might seem average, it was truly staggering when compared to the population ratio of Japan Island.

As for Cat Wish, which was still competing with Kimi ni Todoke just last week, it had now been completely overtaken.

Even Toradora! and Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun had managed to surpass it later, forming a strong threat to works like Cat Wish.

As for the Dragon Country mainland, this phenomenon was even more exaggerated.

After all, how did that saying go?

In truth, it wasn't necessarily that Kimi ni Todoke was truly divine or that good; it was simply that the mainland animation industry was failing to live up to expectations.

Back when Chu Yu hadn't been banned, he would basically release a top-tier work every season, with all sorts of data looking pleasing to the eye, making the mainland animation industry appear prosperous.

But once Chu Yu left, those works produced by mainland companies purely for a cash grab—full of selling cuteness and yaoi, and intended to recoup costs through merchandise later—how many fans, whose tastes had been spoiled by Chu Yu, were still willing to pay for them?

Setting aside Chu Yu's works, the best-performing works created by other companies in the mainland animation industry last year didn't even reach an average of 9 million views per episode.

Compared to the 20 million average per episode of Lelouch, this performance was truly