Chapter 221: Chapter 220: The Warrior of Love Is Still Hiding His Face... the Awards Ceremony Is Going to Be Chaos

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"Damn, you really have to hand it to the official committees! Puella Magi Madoka Magica has been a cultural phenomenon for over six months, and the entire industry couldn’t find a single person who could unmask the creator. Yet, the moment the Seika Awards committee steps in, the guy finally agrees to release an audio clip."

"But honestly, if he’s willing to share his voice, why is he still hiding his face and refusing video? Besides, that audio sounds like it went through a heavy distortion filter. You can only barely make out the tone. Is he that terrified that we’ll identify him just by the nuances of his voice?"

"It’s actually pretty easy to guess why. The fact that the committee handled the audio this way suggests that the Warrior of Love might have given interviews under a different name before. They’re trying to prevent people from connecting the dots too early."

"Is that really necessary, though?"

"Of course it is! The true identity of the Warrior of Love is the biggest mystery in the anime industry right now. If they keep the suspense building until the very last moment when the winners are revealed at the end of April, the viewership ratings for the broadcast will be insane. If you were the head of the awards committee, which path would you choose?"

"I’ve never been more excited for an awards season. If we set aside the video game categories and just look at the ACG awards, we have Initial D for the Ryugin Award, Sword Art Online for the Naoki Award."

"Finally To the Moon for Best Animated Film, and Madoka Magica for Best TV Anime under Seika Awards. If those aren’t the winners, then these ceremonies are officially rigged and worthless."

"Well, To the Moon might have some competition. There were several excellent animated films last year. For instance, Backlight took the box office crown during the New Year period with over 8 billion yen. To the Moon might not actually beat it in a formal vote."

"Give me a break. If Backlight beats To the Moon, I’ll eat my hat. Those box office numbers were purely because of its holiday release window. If it had gone head-to-head with To the Moon on even ground, it would have been decimated. Just look at the scores on the AniSphere forums. Backlight has an 8.6, while To the Moon is sitting at a 9.8. They aren’t even in the same league."

"I agree that Backlight was a decent movie, but To the Moon is objectively on a different level of storytelling. However, Backlight made more money and performed well in the international market. To the Moon is still tied up in complicated licensing negotiations for overseas distribution. Considering those factors, you could make a case for either one winning."

"Last year was truly a miracle year for the ACG industry. So many legendary works were released one after another."

"If you think about it, the industry is the same as always, except for two people: Shiori Takahashi and the Warrior of Love."

"That’s true. If you take away the works those two created last year, the rest of the industry looks like a dumpster fire. It’s the same old story: generic isekai light novels and cookie-cutter anime tropes. There’s nothing innovative happening in manga either. Even though millions of new casual fans join the hobby every year and support those mediocre titles, as an old fan, I’d say the industry would be doomed without those two."

"Regardless, I’m counting down the days. I can’t wait to see what kind of person the Warrior of Love actually is during the awards gala in April."

The distorted audio clip sent Haruto’s fans into a frenzy of speculation that lasted all night. The organizers’ strategy worked perfectly; the traffic to the official website for the Seika Awards more than doubled in a single day.

As the first half of January flew by, the sales figures for Initial D reached a new milestone. The first volume of the tankobon had reached 15 million copies, while the second volume hit 9.0 million. Based on these numbers, the manga had officially joined the ranks of Japan’s elite, top-tier franchises. Since the volumes hadn’t been on the shelves for very long, they still had plenty of time to accumulate even higher numbers. Industry analysts predicted that it was only a matter of time before the series averaged over 20 million copies per volume.

Currently, the manga had moved past the intense battle at Mt. Usui. The recent Chapters focused on Takumi Fujiwara dealing with various small fry challengers from the RedSuns and other local teams. Watching a high-level driver absolutely crush overconfident amateurs was a classic trope that readers found incredibly satisfying, especially as it built anticipation for the inevitable showdown with the series’ most popular antagonist, Ryosuke Takahashi. The weekly reader votes for the series were now rapidly approaching the three-million mark.

Meanwhile, in the world of Sword Art Online...

After two consecutive weeks of sweet, domestic life between Asuna and Kirito, the plot took a sharp, dark turn. One of the greatest strengths of Sword Art Online was its pacing; the slice-of-life moments were warm and cozy, but when it came time to build a villain, the author could make a character utterly loathsome in just a few pages.

In the most recent Chapter, Kirito was forced to interact with his comrades after joining the Knights of the Blood Oath. Among them was Kuradeel, the former head of Asuna’s guard who held a deep grudge against Kirito and harbored a creepy obsession with Asuna. Consumed by jealousy over the relationship between the two, Kuradeel conspired with the notorious PK guild, Laughing Coffin. He used a paralysis poison to disable Kirito and another teammate during a training exercise, intending to murder them both outside the safety of the protected zones.

Readers were initially frustrated when Kirito let his guard down and drank the poisoned water, thinking of Kuradeel as a teammate. However, the tension broke when Asuna, sensing something was wrong, raced across the map to save Kirito just as his HP was about to hit zero.

The drama reached the peak when Asuna, out of the kindness of her heart, hesitated to deliver the finishing blow. Kuradeel tried to launch a cowardly sneak attack, only to be cut down by a recovered Kirito. The Chapter provided a massive sense of relief for readers who had been holding their breath for two weeks.

Furthermore, Haruto included some specific details in the novel that had been a bit more ambiguous in other versions of the story. In the anime adaptation of this arc in the previous world, the scene where the two express their feelings after their near-death experience was followed by them waking up together in bed. Fans who hadn’t read the source material often assumed they had shared a night of passion.

However, the truth was much more humorous. While Asuna was certainly prepared for that level of intimacy, Kirito knew everything about the game’s combat system but was completely oblivious to the fact that the game even had a marriage and intimacy simulation feature. Because he was a total novice in matters of the heart, he missed his chance, and the two of them ended up just having a pure sleepover.

This revelation left the Sword Art Online fanbase with a question marks over their heads.

Is this a story written by a human being?

The atmosphere was perfect, Asuna was ready, and you’re telling me Kirito did nothing?

At the end of the Chapter, Asuna, traumatized by the thought of losing Kirito to another unpredictable event like Kuradeel’s betrayal, proposed that they temporarily leave the front lines of the clearers. She suggested they retreat to a quiet area in the back to live in seclusion for a while to recover their mental health. With this, the Aincrad arc was preparing to enter its next major phase.

However, the ending of the Chapter sparked a wave of complaints from the fans.

"I’ve read tens of thousands of words just to see if they finally take that final step. Shiori Takahashi, are you okay in the head? Why did you make Kirito such a clueless brat? He’s a top-tier gamer; how is it possible he didn’t know about that game function? It makes no sense!"

"The first half of the Chapter gave me a near-aneurysm from the stress, but thank God Asuna showed up. But that ending... I didn’t sign up for a story about a monk! Shiori Takahashi, you better fix this in the next Chapter!"

"Don’t get your hopes up. Shiori Takahashi never writes long, drawn-out romance scenes. Remember in Parasyte when the protagonist and the heroine finally got together? It was over in a single sentence. Sword Art Online will probably be the same."

"This is painful! Shiori Takahashi, was that really necessary? Why couldn’t you just let them have their happy ending? Why do you have to tease us like this?"

"I’m giving this Chapter a failing grade. The combat and daily life parts were 100/100, but because Kirito was so clumsy that he and Asuna just had a pure sleepover, I’m docking 90 points. This is too frustrating!"

"I can’t take the frustration!"

"Everyone, stay calm. This is exactly what that sadist Shiori Takahashi wants. He wants us to suffer. We can’t fall for his trap!"

"Well, at least this Chapter confirms who the main heroine is. Asuna’s position is now unshakable."

"Dammit! What about my Silica? What about Argo? What about Liz? Is there any chance this novel ends with a harem route?"

"Probably not. Those other female characters are destined to be part of the Losers’ Club now."

"The Silica faction is outraged!"

"The Argo faction is outraged!"

"The Liz faction is outraged!"

"The Asuna faction is celebrating! You harem-seekers and NTR-lovers can get lost. Sword Art Online belongs to us Pure Romance fans!"

The official website was flooded with comments after the latest Chapter. However, the actual reader votes continued to climb. In this issue, Sword Art Online maintained its number one spot in the magazine with a staggering 3.2 million votes. Meanwhile, its former rival for the top spot, Crimson Abyss, had dropped to second place with only 1,123,142 votes. Almost a million of its readers had been absorbed by Sword Art Online.

It wasn’t just Crimson Abyss; almost every other serialized novel in the magazine saw a decrease in total votes, except for one.

Reina’s Absolute Realm was rising against the tide. In this issue, it secured the fifth spot in the rankings with 531,245 votes. Furthermore, the novel’s rating had climbed to 9.1, making it the third highest-rated series in the magazine, sitting just below Sword Art Online’s 9.7 and Crimson Abyss’s 9.2.

The professionals in the light novel industry were stunned.

Sword Art Online had already conquered Kiyozawa magazine, yet its popularity showed no signs of slowing down. If this continued, the series’ influence would transcend the niche and attract readers from other rival publishers.

This could fundamentally shift the hierarchy of the Big Three light novel publishers, where Hoshizora Novels was currently first, Kiyozawa Library was second, and Seisawa Books was third.

Furthermore, it seemed that Kiyozawa Library’s decision to market Reina Fujimoto and Haruto as a package deal wasn’t just a marketing gimmick. While Absolute Realm wasn’t as explosive as Sword Art Online’s debut, you couldn’t call it a failure just because it wasn’t as bright as a once-in-a-generation sun.

Across all three major publishers, if you excluded a freak of nature like Haruto, the growth of Reina Fujimoto’s votes was actually quite phenomenal.

Kiyozawa Library had also nominated Absolute Realm for the Naoki Awards. Given the current trajectory, who knew how popular the book would be by the time the results were announced in April? It was likely to rank very high. It seemed that Kiyozawa Library had hit the jackpot, recruiting two genius novelists back-to-back.

The veterans of the industry found this situation strangely familiar. Fifteen years ago, Kiyozawa Library was the undisputed leader of the industry, but Hoshizora Novels managed to nurture three top-tier authors at the same time. On the backs of those three major hits, they flipped the market and took the top spot.

As for Reina Fujimoto, she certainly had the potential, though she hadn’t fully peaked yet. But looking at Haruto, whose weekly votes were now exceeding three million, if his popularity kept growing at this rate... the top-ranked publisher, Hoshizora Novels, was starting to look very vulnerable.

After all, a transcendent hit novel doesn’t just use a magazine to grow; it feeds the magazine back. You could see it in the data.

Before Sword Art Online began its run, Kiyozawa magazine’s circulation was 13 million copies. Now, it had grown to 14 million. The gap between it and Hoshizora’s 15.5 million copies was closing fast.

It was clear that Sword Art Online and Haruto’s personal brand were single-handedly lifting the magazine’s bottom line.