BIUBIUBIU was a new-style danmaku video website. Aside from users interested in ACG culture, a large proportion of its audience had come for other reasons as well. After 'Fate/zero' began airing, BIUBIUBIU had put tremendous effort into promoting it in hopes of attracting that group of users, and the effects were finally becoming apparent now.
Over the past few years, Kamiyā Yuu had created 'RWBY', 'Magical Girl Nanoha', 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', and now 'Fate/zero'. Their far-reaching influence was gradually beginning to transform China's ACG community, turning what had once been a stagnant pool into something filled with new vitality and attracting more and more people into the field.
Most of the anime produced by Kamiyā Yuu lacked the bad habits commonly found in District 11 animation and aligned extremely well with the tastes of most Chinese viewers when it came to film and television works. As a result, every anime he produced was regarded as a classic within China's ACG community.
Now that the first season of 'Fate/zero' had concluded, its setting, plot, characters, and animation were all considered top-tier. The character of Lancer Zhao Yun had also attracted considerable attention. Less than a week after Episode 12 aired, the enthusiastic audience response was already approaching the level reached when 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' ended.
'Fate/zero' had thus become the best anime to recommend to newcomers within China's ACG community.
Although this world was already in the year 2018, ACG culture was nowhere near as widespread as it had been in Kamiyā Yuu's previous world.
Around 2018 in his previous world, China's ACG community had gradually matured and had begun drawing on District 11's experience to develop an ACG industry of its own.
In this world, however, the prevalence of ACG culture was roughly equivalent to the period before 2010 in his previous world. Aside from the current BIUBIUBIU, there was basically no mature ACG community anywhere.
The biggest reason District 11 animation had so little influence was that the anime industry of District 11 in this world was nowhere near as outstanding as that of his previous world.
There were no pillar-level hot-blooded shōnen anime like the Big Three. It lacked phenomenon-level classics such as 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', 'Dragon Ball', and 'Pokémon'.
Its insufficient influence directly resulted in Chinese television stations rarely importing anime from District 11.
From that alone, one could imagine just how impoverished China's ACG field currently was.
Before going any further, perhaps another question needed to be discussed: how exactly should ACG culture be evaluated? Was introducing ACG culture a good thing or a bad thing?
Kamiyā Yuu's own answer was rather complicated.
First of all, although he supported the development of ACG culture out of personal interest, he did not believe it was necessarily a good thing.
To put it simply, it was similar to web novels—something meant for spiritual entertainment and recreation.
Anime possessed an even more terrifying ability to erode people mentally than web novels did. If the anime happened to be produced by District 11, its toxicity could climb another level entirely. Kamiyā Yuu had seen no shortage of examples online where people had watched so much anime that their brains seemed to short-circuit.
District 11 itself was a good example.
District 11 was a major animation-producing nation, yet its own social circles simultaneously rejected ACG culture. That alone was enough to demonstrate the issue.
Of course, the way District 11 had now evolved into indiscriminately discriminating against the entire ACG community was itself another unhealthy tendency.
Since ACG culture itself did not occupy a particularly favorable position, why did Kamiyā Yuu still want to promote it in China?
The reason was similar to the situation of District 11's animation industry today.
There was no particular mystery to it.
Unless a Third World War broke out, the development of China's ACG culture was an inevitable process of social history. If it failed to develop properly, the outcome could very well resemble the predicament China's early ACG community had faced in his previous world.
The fundamental reason was market demand.
Living in the modern age, once people's material needs were satisfied, they would inevitably begin pursuing spiritual fulfillment.
Novels, anime, manga, films, and the like were all part of that.
Even if no hidden forces were pushing the development of ACG culture, people interested in it would seek it out on their own.
In that case, Kamiyā Yuu might as well become one of its founders himself.
With the experience of his previous world, he could at least guide the community in the right direction and help it avoid unnecessary detours.
During that process, coming into contact with and learning from District 11's animation industry as a pioneer was unavoidable.
Of course, Kamiyā Yuu had no interest in making anime for the sake of "the rise of China's ACG culture."
What he wanted to see even more was China becoming like his previous world, where outstanding works emerged in an explosive wave.
After all, he himself was an anime fan.
...
After the explosive climax of Episode 12, 'Fate/zero' firmly cemented its reputation for "dumping the budget into the ocean."
Quite a few viewers came specifically because of that episode and ended up watching the entire anime.
Although 'Fate/zero' remained less popular than 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' among District 11 audiences, its outrageous animation quality had already become a favorite topic of discussion throughout the anime industry.
Even veteran animation directors from the older generation had praised it on Twitter.
They were the ones who had personally experienced the golden age of District 11 animation.
Back then, animation on ones and twos had still been commonplace. Seeing the smooth frame rate and full-motion animation of Episode 12 filled them with nostalgia.
Kamiyā Yuu logged onto the internet with his laptop and saw that some fans had @-mentioned his Twitter account to direct him toward the evaluations posted by veteran directors.
["I never imagined that in an industry already so thoroughly commercialized, I could still see animation this moving. No matter what aspect you examine, 'Fate/zero' makes you feel the sincerity of Yosuganosora Animation Studio." — Taniguchi Kai]
Taniguchi Kai was a retired animation director who had participated in several famous animated films during the golden age of District 11 animation.
["Ahh~ Indeed. Someone recommended the episode to me, and after watching it, I found myself thinking, 'Only animation like this deserves to be called true animation.' Director Kamiyā's storyboard details were also excellent! When I think that these storyboards came from a rookie animation director who has only been in the industry for a few years, even I feel ashamed of myself. Just as Director Taniguchi said, it is a genuinely moving work." — Miyamoto Kento]
Miyamoto Kento was a semi-retired director. The last time he had participated in a production, he had served as animation director for key animation. Most of the anime he had worked on had already faded into obscurity and were rarely mentioned anymore.
["Rookies are monsters." — Kobayashi Jin]
Kobayashi Jin was another veteran director and now basically only participated in theatrical animation productions.
["How should I put it? Yosuganosora Animation Studio truly is different. Other animation studios simply cannot reach this level due to various practical limitations. But Yosuganosora Animation Studio did it. This isn't to say that today's animation studios lack sincerity. Rather, Yosuganosora Animation Studio has exceeded the normal standards entirely. Director Kamiyā's boldness is astonishing." — Fujii Tsutomu]
Fujii Tsutomu was one of the more active veteran directors currently working in the industry and possessed extremely high seniority.
He was presently serving as chief director at Forest Animation Studio, a company considered comparable to Sunrise Company.
Receiving praise from him was itself a considerable honor within the industry.
Because he was still actively working as an animation director, he could clearly see where the issue with 'Fate/zero' lay.
Even the large animation studio he worked for would have been unable to produce the level of quality seen in Episode 12.
Faced with all these glowing evaluations, Kamiyā Yuu thought for a moment before using his own Twitter account to leave a reply.
["I'm relieved to see that everyone has responded so positively to Episode 12. Everyone at Yosuganosora Animation Studio and the many freelance key animators worked extremely hard. This time, I'll accept these compliments on their behalf. In the future, Yosuganosora Animation Studio will continue striving to create even more interesting works."]