Kong Yanxiong

Shuya gave him a few perfunctory replies, got him to agree to buy three sets of DVDs, and then hung up.

More people called one after another. Aside from Aoki Shin and Hirai Ryuji, many others Shuya had worked with called to share their thoughts.

Shuya spent the entire evening answering calls until his hand nearly gave out.

It seemed Alien Baby Hikari-chan had really become a hit.

He tried calling Inoue Hikoo, but couldn't get through. It seemed he was in the same boat as Shuya, with his phone ringing off the hook.

So Shuya called Hanazawa Sakura instead. After waiting a while, he finally got through.

Hanazawa Sakura explained the situation to Shuya.

It turned out that not long after the latest episode aired, the phones at BTS TV Station were the first to start ringing off the hook, followed by the phones at Inoue Hikoo's company.

Then the calls started flooding Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura's personal phones.

Compared to them, Shuya hadn't received all that many calls.

Aside from people in the industry, a huge number of media outlets had called to arrange interviews.

The success of Alien Baby Hikari-chan had already spread beyond the world of anime and manga, becoming a social phenomenon.

Of course, Shuya and the others didn't yet know that a wave was building not only in Japan Administrative District, but also in neighboring Great Hua Administrative District.

Shuya had originally wanted to chat with Rena about how they felt.

...But he was already worn out from talking. He couldn't even be bothered to raise her affection anymore. He'd better go home and get some sleep.

He didn't stay over, in case someone called at some point and disturbed Rena.

As for the Quintuplets, once they fell asleep, they were like logs. Nothing could wake them.

Just before Shuya left, Rena called out to him.

"Shu-chan."

"What is it?"

Rena tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "I'll be going back to my hometown for a visit soon. Do you want to come along and have some fun? I'm sure my dad would be happy to see you too."

"Sure."

Shuya agreed at once.

He had never been to Rena's hometown, but he knew about it. Every year, she took the Quintuplets there.

It was a hot spring inn, apparently somewhere pretty rural.

Rena wanted to take him to meet her parents, and Shuya had no reason to turn her down.

The next day.

Shuya was sitting at his father's company bright and early.

He wasn't there for work. He had just come to see how things were going.

Neither Inoue Hikoo nor Hanazawa Sakura was with him. They were giving interviews to the media.

Luckily, those annoying reporters didn't know Shuya was there. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have been able to relax like this.

The company's staff were gathered around Shuya, excitedly boasting about how their phones had rung off the hook the day before.

After yesterday's episode aired, it attracted a huge amount of attention. The core team members had all found themselves in the spotlight. Not only had people in the industry reached out, but even their friends had called out of curiosity to chat.

The newspapers everyone had bought were spread out in front of Shuya.

The reporters had reacted incredibly quickly, already giving yesterday's events prominent coverage.

Shuya saw plenty of over-the-top headlines, such as:

"Uesugi Yuichi—the Man Who Made All of Japan Administrative District Weep!"

"Alien Baby Hikari-chan Made All of America Cry."

"This Is the Best Anime of the Year!"

"Shocking! What Made Men and Women Around the World Weep? Alien Baby Hikari-chan Has Arrived!"

"Heh."

Shuya shook his head.

The media sure were quick to jump on the bandwagon when something was trending.

You'd think they were all praising Alien Baby Hikari-chan like they were on its side.

But if the show ever got caught up in some negative news, they'd be the first to kick it while it was down.

The media were like that all over the world. Anyone who trusted them was a fool.

But...there was no denying it felt great when they all sang the show's praises and showered them with compliments.

As one of the main people behind the show, Shuya was naturally beaming with pride. The staff around him were just as delighted.

The anime industry paid better than it had in Shuya's previous life, but it still couldn't compare to an ordinary job.

It was hard to stick with it without passion.

The sense of accomplishment that came from creating a hit anime was incredibly powerful.

It might not be an exaggeration to say that anime creators worked themselves to the bone for moments like this.

Alien Baby Hikari-chan's success was certainly not Inoue Hikoo's doing alone.

Everyone at the company had a right to be excited.

Shuya was happy for them too.

At this rate, the company should be out of danger of going bankrupt.

The DVDs were sure to sell like hotcakes. Shuya had heard from the staff that store preorders had skyrocketed today. Preorders for the first volume had already passed ten thousand, and the number was still climbing.

That didn't even include preorders from Great Hua Administrative District. They might not care much about anime over there, but there were still shops that sold it.

Alien Baby Hikari-chan had already secured the top spot for the season.

The only problem was...

"I hope Dad doesn't fall back into his old habits."

Shuya sighed worriedly.

He knew what his father was like.

Inoue Hikoo was a hopelessly reckless idiot.

When the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, he could get down on his knees and grovel to the audience. But when he had money, he was more reckless than anyone in the room.

The script for the next season of Alien Baby Hikari-chan wasn't ready yet. Anything could happen.

With anime, one ending was all it took to turn public opinion around and leave fans feeling betrayed.

Just look at that one Mars princess and that one shrine maiden.

"Hahahaha! You've all worked hard! Dinner's on me today. Let's go eat somewhere great!"

Shuya had only just thought of Inoue Hikoo when he showed up.

Inoue Hikoo was laughing so hard he seemed to wobble with every step. He was so full of himself that even his son wanted to smack him.

Hanazawa Sakura didn't want to look at him either, and turned away.

Section 48: 42 Kong Yanxiong

Something that made Inoue Hikoo even more full of himself happened the next day.

Articles praising Alien Baby Hikari-chan were all the rage in Great Hua Administrative District.

It had become a hit in both Japan Administrative District and Great Hua Administrative District.

Inoue Hikoo had already received a pile of newspapers from Great Hua. Global Daily, the best-known of them, was famous even in Japan Administrative District.

Inoue Hikoo didn't know Great Hua Language, but that didn't stop him from collecting the papers and basking in the praise.

As long as he knew they were complimenting him, that was enough.

Shuya was quite interested, so he picked one up to take a look.

The article was written by someone named Wu Ping, a name Shuya had never heard before.

The headline read, "Alien Baby Hikari-chan: A Heartwarming Cartoon That Educates While Entertaining, and Is a Work of Art."

Now that was some praise!

Shuya kept reading.

"It has been many years since I last watched a cartoon, but yesterday my daughter suddenly called me..."

From the writer's own account, Shuya learned why he was praising Alien Baby Hikari-chan.

The rest of the article was nothing but glowing praise.

"In a society increasingly focused on academic achievement, Alien Baby Hikari-chan subtly criticizes social problems through its protagonist's pursuit of painting..."

Did it? Shuya was baffled.

"In the latest episode, Alien Baby Hikari-chan delivers a moving portrayal of running away from home. The creators have woven profound lessons into a medium aimed at children, achieving the effect of educating while entertaining. Even children who don't have the patience to listen to a lecture can enjoy it..."

You're reading way too much into it, man! Shuya was speechless.

He knew his own father. Inoue Hikoo had just been ramping up the sentiment to make people cry. He didn't have even the slightest sense of social responsibility!

He just didn't want the company to go bankrupt!

"There was one line in the cartoon that made a deep impression on me. It offered a new interpretation of the relationship between parents and children."

"Family members should understand one another, not demand forgiveness. I believe this is the root cause of the conflicts between so many parents and children..."

"In our society..."

"If we could..."

"Finally..."

From there, Wu Ping's article shifted focus from Alien Baby Hikari-chan and began exploring family issues at length, turning into a moving editorial.

Well, Wu Ping sure had a sharp pen. His praise was so persuasive that Shuya almost believed it.

If Shuya hadn't known what Inoue Hikoo was like, he might have fallen for it.

The article made Alien Baby Hikari-chan sound so profound that Shuya even started wondering whether Inoue Hikoo had paid the guy off.

Then Shuya remembered that Inoue Hikoo was short on money, and dismissed the thought.

The frenzy over Alien Baby Hikari-chan didn't die down.

On the third day after the latest episode aired, the Japanese media reported that Alien Baby Hikari-chan was a hit in Great Hua Administrative District.

They even included a partial translation of the article published in Global Daily.

The proof was right there in black and white.

Then, on the fourth day, Great Han Administrative District officially brought in Alien Baby Hikari-chan. They also discussed Inoue Hikoo's birthplace and concluded that he was actually from Great Han. They promptly claimed Alien Baby Hikari-chan as an original anime from Great Han Administrative District and were thrilled about it. Their imagination was just as ridiculous as ever, as expected.

Then came the fifth day, the sixth day...

One Asian administrative district after another brought in Alien Baby Hikari-chan. It was an unbelievable sensation.

It wasn't necessarily that Alien Baby Hikari-chan was everyone's favorite.

But people everywhere were sheep who followed the crowd. If a show had become such a hit even in notoriously hard-to-crack Great Hua Administrative District, then any place that didn't bring it in would seem out of touch.

Still, Alien Baby Hikari-chan wasn't a universal hit. It wasn't nearly as popular in Europe and America, where family ties were comparatively less important.

They considered Alien Baby Hikari-chan a well-made cartoon, but couldn't understand how it had become so popular, and few television stations went out of their way to acquire it.

But it didn't matter. Asia alone was more than enough to make a fortune.

Inoue Hikoo threw himself into his work with even greater enthusiasm.