Over the next two weeks, One-Punch Man continued to dominate Japan's animation viewership charts.
However, breaking the 7% mark proved to be a brief peak. After holding it for a single week, the rating gradually settled back to around 6.9%.
The reason was simple.
After King's legendary moment of suppressing multiple Dragon-Level monsters alone, his screen time all but disappeared.
Taking his place were Saitama and Garou, the two strongest beings on the battlefield.
One fought Evil Natural Sea, working tirelessly to neutralize the catastrophic tsunami triggered by its death.
The other battled Elder Centipede under the watchful eyes of the Hero Association.
These episodes were packed with nonstop combat. Although the main storyline advanced only marginally, the sheer intensity of the fights left audiences exhilarated.
Still, pure action could only carry things so far.
Without the layered tension and character-driven suspense from earlier episodes, ratings naturally dipped slightly.
In the grand scheme of things, though, this hardly mattered.
Riding on One-Punch Man's explosive popularity, the merchandise companies Rei collaborated with began rolling out massive quantities of related products across the globe.
Benefiting from the anime's momentum, sales could be summed up in a single phrase: They sold like crazy.
From a purely commercial standpoint, One-Punch Man was unquestionably the hottest anime broadcast worldwide that year.
Even though there hadn't been a major conglomerate pushing the project at the start, the companies and partners now involved with Rei had effectively formed a self-driven interest chain.
Rei didn't even need to sign additional contracts.
For their own benefit, these partners actively fought online against anti-fans who smeared One-Punch Man. Whenever pirated merchandise appeared, legal notices were often delivered before Rei even heard about the issue.
Japan's media outlets began reporting on Rei at a frantic pace.
Rei of Vocational University's Animation Department quickly became a well-known online figure, his reputation rivaling that of mainstream celebrities.
Naturally, Hunter × Hunter also benefited from this wave.
Its viewership climbed to 6.21%, opening a clear gap over Echoes of the End, which sat at 6.13% that week.
Meanwhile, the average per-volume sales of the Hunter × Hunter manga were approaching 17 million copies.
Even Rei's older works experienced dramatic rebounds.
Hikaru no Go broke 13 million average volume sales. Five Centimeters per Second surpassed 8 million.
Tonight crossed the 6 million mark.
Judging by paper sales alone, there were very few active manga artists left in Japan who could even be mentioned in the same breath as Rei.
Setting aside the fact that Hunter × Hunter had effectively become the second-highest-selling ongoing manga in Japan by average volume sales.
Among top-tier creators, who could rival Rei in sheer output?
The weakest-performing title in his catalog still averaged six million copies per volume.
Who could compete with that?
More importantly, Rei was only nineteen.
And Hunter × Hunter was still firmly in its growth phase.
Some optimistic, and deliberately provocative, well-known manga critics had already begun spreading a new line of thought online.
'If Echoes of the End couldn't beat Hunter × Hunter in broadcast ratings, what about the manga market?'
'Facing Hunter's relentless advance, how many more months could Echoes hold its ground?'
Hunter × Hunter's reputation was already higher.
If its sales overtook Echoes as well, then consider this: In animation, Rei's One-Punch Man had already reigned at the top of viewership for four consecutive quarters, more than a full year.
If he also claimed the top spot in manga sales…
Shirogane's status in Japan's ACG world would no longer be comparable to contemporary creators.
Instead, he would be measured against the handful of god-tier figures who had defined the industry's upper limit over the past sixty or seventy years.
Of course, not all voices in the ACG world were singing Rei's praises.
After Hunter × Hunter transitioned into the Greed Island Arc following Yorknew City, a number of readers and media outlets criticized the shift as being too abrupt.
The series had gone from a hot-blooded battle manga to something resembling a card-based strategy game.
The once-dominant Phantom Troupe suddenly felt merely "adequate," and many readers struggled to adapt.
At present, this was the only angle Rei's detractors in Japan could latch onto.
One-Punch Man was untouchable.
So all eyes turned to whether Hunter × Hunter would stumble.
Another week passed.
The eleventh episode of One-Punch Man Season Four aired.
By this point, the long-anticipated showdown between Garou and Saitama, foreshadowed across three seasons and more than thirty episodes, had finally begun.
This battle, which followed ONE-sensei's original manga almost perfectly, gave Japanese fans a sense of familiar flavor.
Garou was undeniably powerful.
That much was obvious from how he had nearly instantaneously defeated every S-Class Hero who was still conscious.
And yet, he was also strangely gentle.
How evil could someone really be if, while fighting an Above Dragon-level monster like Elder Centipede, he was still worried about protecting the child he had saved twice in the park?
Garou knew Saitama was only a B-Class Hero.
So he mocked him relentlessly, testing him again and again, before finally declaring:
"You're too weak. I don't even deign to kill you. Get lost."
Most viewers understood the truth.
Garou didn't actually want to kill Saitama.
But he also didn't want to ruin his image as the world's worst monster, so he wrapped his mercy in cruelty.
Even when the fight became unavoidable, Garou only began to fight seriously after gradually probing Saitama's strength and realizing that Saitama was genuinely powerful.
How evil could someone like that really be?
After the episode aired, many viewers found themselves reflecting.
"Yeah… why must heroes defeat monsters? Why does justice always have to beat evil? Who decided that?"
"If there are kids who like heroes winning, aren't there kids who want villains to win too?"
"I kind of understand Garou now."
"Honestly, I kind of hope Garou wins."
"Think about it, Garou hasn't killed a single human from start to finish. Hero-hunting just knocks heroes out, but when he fights monsters, he goes straight for the kill."
"I don't care what Garou believes. All I know is that Episode Eleven was incredible."
"Definitely the best action episode of Season Four. Garou's armored form was insanely cool."
"I thought it'd be another easy one-punch, but it feels like Saitama-actually has to get serious. He'll definitely need the Serious Series to beat Garou."
"Sigh, Episode Eleven was too good. Episode Twelve will be amazing for sure, but what am I supposed to do after next week? I feel an anime drought coming."
"You can watch the Hunter × Hunter anime."
"I already did. Back when Hunter and One-Punch Man were being cross-promoted, I bought a bunch of volumes to catch up. Now I'm fully up to date with Dream comic."
"In that case, all we can do is wait for Arcane in January. But seriously, why is there still no information? The investment is supposedly huge. Is Shirogane-sensei planning to air it without promotion?"
"Not sure… but maybe he's saving a big move."
As the end of the quarter drew closer, One-Punch Man fans were finally forced to face a reality they had been avoiding.
The anime was only one week away from its temporary conclusion.
At the same time, more and more viewers realized something else.
Rei had another anime in production, and almost no information about it had leaked.
Speculation exploded across the internet.
Fans, viewers, and media outlets chased rumors, analyzed scraps of data, and debated endlessly.
Time passed slowly.
Then, at last, Friday, September 22nd arrived.
The broadcast day of the final episode of One-Punch Man Season Four.
Related topics dominated the trending lists on every major ACG website in Japan.
Shirogane's fan groups were more active than ever.
Capital TV Station began a full promotional blitz from early morning.
By evening, the entire ACG world was holding its breath.
Everyone was waiting for 8 PM.
At this point, failure was impossible.
The only remaining question was, 'How would it end?'
Would it be a straightforward finale, with Saitama effortlessly defeating Garou before heading home?
Or, would tonight deliver something unexpectedly brilliant?
Something like the tear-inducing, regret-laced endings of Five Centimeters per Second, Tonight, or Hikaru no Go?
What kind of impact would the ending of One-Punch Man leave behind?
...
STONES