I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

Shuya gave a few perfunctory replies, coaxing him into agreeing to buy three sets of DVDs before hanging up.

After that, more people called one after another. Aside from Aoki Shin and Hirai Ryuji, many others who had collaborated with Shuya also called to pour out their thoughts.

Shuya's hands were sore from answering calls all night.

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

He tried calling Inoue Hikoo, but he couldn't get through. It appeared he was in the same situation as Shuya, with his phone being blown up.

Shuya then called Hanazawa Sakura, and after waiting for a while, the call finally went through.

Hanazawa Sakura explained the situation to Shuya.

It turned out that shortly after the episode aired, the phones at BTS TV Station were the first to be overwhelmed, followed by the phones at Inoue Hikoo's company.

Next to suffer were the personal phones of Inoue Hikoo and Hanazawa Sakura.

Compared to them, the number of people calling Shuya wasn't actually that high.

In addition to industry peers, a massive number of media outlets had called to schedule interviews.

The popularity of Alien Baby Hikari-chan had already transcended the realm of ACG, reaching the level of a social phenomenon.

Of course, at this moment, Shuya and the others were unaware that a wave was rising not only in the Japan Administrative District but also in the neighboring Great Hua Administrative District.

Shuya had originally wanted to chat with Rena about their thoughts.

...But now, Shuya was tired of talking. He couldn't even bother with building rapport and decided it was better to just go home and sleep.

He didn't stay the night, just in case a phone call came through and disturbed Rena.

As for the Quintuplets, once they fell asleep, they were like logs and couldn't be woken up at all.

Just before Shuya left, Rena called out to him.

"Shu-chan."

"What is it?"

Rena tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "I'm going back to my hometown later. Do you want to come with us? My dad would probably be very happy, too."

"Sure."

Shuya agreed immediately.

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

It was a hot spring inn, located somewhere quite rural.

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

The next day.

Shuya was sitting in his father's company early in the morning.

It wasn't for work; he was purely there to see how things were going.

Neither Inoue Hikoo nor Hanazawa Sakura were with him, as they were busy giving media interviews.

Fortunately, those annoying media outlets didn't know Shuya was here, otherwise, he definitely wouldn't be as free as he was now.

Surrounding Shuya were the company staff, excitedly bragging about their experience of having their phones blown up yesterday.

After yesterday's episode aired, it garnered immense attention. These core staff members were receiving significant notice; not only from industry peers, but even their friends had called out of curiosity to chat.

And at this moment, laid out in front of Shuya were newspapers everyone had bought.

Those reporters were very quick to react and had already featured yesterday's events in their headlines.

Shuya saw many exaggerated titles, such as:

"Uesugi Yuichi—The man who made the entire Japan Administrative District cry!"

"Alien Baby Hikari-chan, it made all of America cry."

"This is the best animation of the year!"

"Shocking! What is it that makes men silent and women weep worldwide! Alien Baby Hikari-chan descends!"

"Heh."

Shuya shook his head.

These media outlets—when there's hype, they follow the trend faster than anyone.

Don't let their praise for Alien Baby Hikari-chan fool you into thinking they are on their side.

The moment Alien Baby Hikari-chan has any negative news, they will be the first to kick them while they are down.

Media outlets all over the world are like this; anyone who believes them is a fool.

However... I have to admit, when they speak with one voice, feeding and praising you, it really feels great.

As one of the main creators, Shuya naturally felt proud with a smile on his face, and the surrounding staff felt the same.

In the animation industry, although the pay was better than in Shuya's previous life, it still couldn't compare to a normal job.

Without love, it's hard to keep going.

The sense of achievement brought about by creating a hit anime is incomparable.

It might not be an exaggeration to say that animators give their all for this very moment of glory.

The success of Alien Baby Hikari-chan is definitely not the work of Inoue Hikoo alone.

Everyone in the company has the right to be excited.

Shuya is also very happy for them.

In this way, he thinks, the company can finally be considered to have escaped the crisis of bankruptcy.

The massive sales of the DVD are to be expected; Shuya heard from the staff that the number of pre-orders at storefronts today is skyrocketing, with the first volume already exceeding ten thousand and still growing.

That is not even counting the pre-orders from the Great Hua Administrative District; although they do not place much importance on anime there, there are still shops that sell these things.

Alien Baby Hikari-chan has already locked in the title of this season's hegemon ahead of schedule.

The only problem is...

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

Shuya sighs with worry.

He knows.

Inoue Hikoo is a total disaster.

When he is on the verge of bankruptcy, he can kneel and grovel to the audience, but when he has money, he is more reckless than anyone else present.

The script for the next season of Alien Baby Hikari-chan has not been written yet, and everything is full of variables.

As long as one has the heart, a single ending in anime can reverse public opinion and feed the audience excrement.

For example, a certain Martian princess and a certain shrine maiden.

"Hahahaha! Everyone, you've worked hard! My treat today, let's go have a feast!"

Just as Shuya thinks of Inoue Hikoo, he arrives.

Inoue Hikoo is laughing so hard he is shaking, his ego so inflated that his own son wants to slap him.

Hanazawa Sakura does not want to look at him either and turns her face away.

Section 48 42 Kong Yanxiong

Something that makes Inoue Hikoo even more inflated happens the next day.

Reports praising Alien Baby Hikari-chan are trending in the Great Hua Administrative District.

It has achieved success in both the Japan Administrative District and the Great Hua Administrative District.

Inoue Hikoo has already received a pile of Great Hua newspapers, among which the most famous, Global Daily, is even well-known in the Japan Administrative District.

Inoue Hikoo does not speak Great Hua Language, but that does not stop him from collecting them to get high on his own supply.

As long as he knows they are praising him, that is enough.

Shuya is quite interested, so he picks one up to take a look.

The author of this article is someone named Wu Ping, whom Shuya has never heard of before.

The title of the article is: "Alien Baby Hikari-chan, an artistic, educational, and heartwarming cartoon."

Look at that praise!

Shuya continues reading.

"I haven't watched cartoons for many years, but yesterday, my daughter suddenly called me..."

From the author's personal account, Shuya learns the reason why he is hyping up Alien Baby Hikari-chan.

Then follows a whole article of flattery.

"In today's society, which is gradually becoming obsessed with grades, Alien Baby Hikari-chan implicitly criticizes social issues through the protagonist learning to draw..."

Does it? Shuya is bewildered.

"In the latest episode, Alien Baby Hikari-chan develops a touching take on the issue of running away from home. The creators of the cartoon have integrated profound truths into a medium aimed at children, achieving an educational effect that allows children who are impatient with lectures to actually take it in..."

Brother, you are over-interpreting! Shuya is speechless.

He knows his old man better than anyone; Inoue Hikoo was just frantically pulling at heartstrings to trick people into crying, and he doesn't have a shred of social responsibility!

He just didn't want to go bankrupt!

"In the cartoon, there is a line that left a very deep impression on me; it is a new interpretation of the relationship between parents and children."

"Family relationships should be about mutual understanding, not forced forgiveness. I believe this is the root cause of the conflicts between many parents and children..."

"In our society..."

"If we could..."

"Finally..."

Next, Wu Ping's writing style shifts, and the focus extends from Alien Baby Hikari-chan, starting to exert effort on family issues and turning into a moving editorial.

Oh wow, this Brother Wu Ping has a sharp pen; he hyped it up so well that Shuya almost believed him.

If Shuya hadn't known Inoue Hikoo's character, he would have almost fallen for it.

In fact, the article hyped up Alien Baby Hikari-chan so much that Shuya even started to suspect whether Inoue Hikoo had paid someone off.

But Shuya immediately dismissed the thought upon remembering that Inoue Hikoo didn't have much money right now.

The popularity of Alien Baby Hikari-chan showed no signs of stopping.

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

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

It could be said that there were pictures and therefore proof.

Then on the fourth day, the Great Han Administrative District also officially imported Alien Baby Hikari-chan, and after discussing Inoue Hikoo's birthplace, they reached the conclusion that he was actually a Great Han person, thereby listing Alien Baby Hikari-chan as an original animation of the Great Han Administrative District. They were as high as ever, and their delusional behavior was just as ridiculous as always, never failing to disappoint.

Following that, the fifth day, the sixth day...

Numerous administrative districts across Asia imported Alien Baby Hikari-chan, and it became incredibly popular.

In truth, Alien Baby Hikari-chan wasn't necessarily that likable.

But one must realize that everyone is a follower; since this animation was such a hit in the notoriously difficult-to-conquer Great Hua Administrative District, not following the trend to import it felt like being left behind.

However, Alien Baby Hikari-chan wasn't omnipotent, and it wasn't as popular in the European and American regions where family values were relatively weak.

In their view, Alien Baby Hikari-chan was a well-produced animation, but they couldn't understand why it had become this popular, and not many television stations imported it specifically.

But it didn't matter; Asia alone was enough to rake in the cash.

Inoue Hikoo threw himself into his work with even more passion.