Before episode thirteen of 'Fate/Zero' had even aired, Kamiyā Yuu was already engrossed in drawing key animation storyboards. Meanwhile, the first episode of 'Twilight of the Knights', an anime based on the side-story novel he had written and produced by Sunrise Company, officially aired.
The anime was scheduled for twenty-four episodes, with the latter twelve airing in April of the following year. A 300,000-character novel wasn't particularly long even by light-novel standards. However, the amount of information packed into the 300,000 characters of 'Twilight of the Knights' was so enormous that even twenty-four anime episodes would feel overly rushed and tightly packed. How well the adaptation ultimately turned out would depend on the director's abilities.
'Twilight of the Knights' wasn't a serious historical anime. It was a fantasy work combining Japanese fantasy with elements of English legends and epics.
The novel itself worked well enough, but if the anime adaptation was handled poorly, it could easily become an incoherent mess—neither Japanese fantasy nor history nor epic. Add a gender-swapped King Arthur on top of that, and the screen would practically overflow with awkwardness and incongruity.
Considering the unusual nature of the 'Twilight of the Knights' novel, Kitagawa Shūichi adopted a highly unconventional approach to directing the anime.
It used a composite filming style similar to a biographical film, with a chronological timeline running through the entire anime and keeping the audience in the position of observers as they watched Artoria's legendary life unfold.
This production method was suitable for more serious works. It could smoothly connect plotlines separated by large spans of time while maintaining a dignified tone throughout the anime.
Its weaknesses were equally obvious.
The most serious was the lack of immersion in a central point of view.
Even Kamiyā Yuu was surprised after watching the first episode of 'Twilight of the Knights'. As the original author, he had merely offered suggestions. He hadn't expected Kitagawa Shūichi to be bold enough to adopt such an innovative directing method.
This kind of approach was basically used only in large-scale biographical films. Nobody knew what effect it would have when applied to anime. Even in Kamiyā Yuu's previous world, anime using a similar style were exceedingly rare, leaving almost nothing suitable for direct comparison.
But after carefully considering it, this unusual approach might actually be extremely well suited to 'Twilight of the Knights'.
...
October still belonged to the magical girls, but it was also the perfect time for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' to make its graceful exit from center stage and hand the spotlight over to Yosuganosora Animation Studio's many major projects.
In October, there was the second season of the 'Fate/Zero' anime, the anime adaptation of the side-story novel 'Twilight of the Knights', the main story of Kirigami Ruri's novel 'Gate of Mystery', the manga created by Matsumoto Kura, Irie Naoki, and Yoshitomi Akihito, and the 'Throne of Heroes' project.
The overall project had truly expanded across all three major ACG industries—Animation, Comics, and Games—as well as the novel industry.
With an advantage like this, how could they possibly lose?
After 'Twilight of the Knights' began airing, audience reception was temporarily inferior to that of 'Fate/Zero'. Still, the excellent animation quality of its first episode had at least not tarnished the reputation of the original novel. A proper judgment would have to wait until the plot developed further.
'Twilight of the Knights' could be considered one of the prequels to 'Fate/Zero' and inherited some of its popularity. From the moment it premiered, its ratings left every other new October anime far behind. In terms of popularity, it ranked second only to 'Fate/Zero', which was preparing to air its second season.
...
Sunrise Company.
Fujiwara Tora pushed open the conference-room door. After looking around the room, he shook his head in disappointment.
"Kamiyā isn't here again?"
"Yosuganosora has probably already started producing the second season of FZ. And considering the scale of everything Director Kamiyā has always undertaken, it'd be stranger if he actually had time to attend our meetings," Kitagawa Shūichi, chief director of 'Twilight of the Knights', replied helplessly from his seat.
He was an anime director himself, so naturally he understood the hardships of the job. He had been so busy producing 'Twilight of the Knights' lately that he hadn't enjoyed a single proper day of rest.
"Haha, you've got a point."
The relevant staff members entered one after another. Once most of Sunrise Company's senior production staff had arrived, producer Towa Kenji was the first to stand.
He took a deep breath before solemnly announcing, "Everyone has worked hard lately. The ratings report for the first episode of 'Twilight of the Knights' is out."
"Wait~ Wait! Give me a second to breathe. I'm suddenly really nervous."
Animation director Suzuki Ō hurriedly raised a hand to stop him. He pressed a hand against his chest and steadied his breathing before nervously saying, "Okay. I'm ready."
Unlike Uehara Etsuki, Sunrise Company's animation directors weren't responsible solely for key animation. If anything, the assembly-line production structure of Yosuganosora Animation Studio, centered entirely around Kamiyā Yuu, was the unusual one.
Suzuki Ō simultaneously had to handle duties involving episode direction, key animation, overall animation supervision for individual episodes, episode directing, and more.
The first episode was easier because Kitagawa Shūichi usually handled the first and final episodes personally to maintain consistency in the anime's visual style. Most episodes in between were handled by different animation directors. It wasn't unusual for the director to change from one episode to the next.
"Then I'll continue. According to the report provided by TV Asahi, 'Twilight of the Knights', which aired at 1:30 a.m., achieved a rating of 9% and an audience share of 18%."
A smile appeared at the corners of Towa Kenji's mouth.
A 9% rating!
The moment they heard that figure, every production staff member present showed their surprise. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, the result still shocked them.
And this was only the first episode of 'Twilight of the Knights'.
A late-night anime had achieved ratings comparable to those of prime-time programming.
Besides their excitement, however, the animation staff present also felt a certain heaviness.
This was Sunrise Company's best result in nearly a decade.
And they all knew perfectly well where the foundation for that success had come from.
Clap! Clap!
Kitagawa Shūichi clapped his hands forcefully. Looking around at everyone, he smiled.
"Those are excellent results, aren't they? Then we'll just have to keep working hard from here on. We absolutely cannot disappoint Mr. Kamiyā, the original creator, or betray his expectations of us."
Suzuki Ō patted his chest and breathed out in relief.
"You're right. Just like the director said, this is where our real battle begins. If this 8% rating represents the work's baseline popularity, then all we need to do is surpass it!"
"Hahaha! That's the ambition young people ought to have! Let's take Yosuganosora's F—no, let's take 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' as our goal and work toward it together!"
The middle-aged president of Sunrise Company stood up and laughed heartily.
Beside him, Fujiwara Tora was left speechless.
The man had just stolen the exact line he was about to say.
...
Sunrise Company and the anime production committee were practically grinning from ear to ear.
As long as the anime didn't sabotage itself, its position as the sales champion was basically secure. Riding on the popularity of 'Fate/Zero', once the production committee obtained the anime's licensing rights, the character of Saber alone would become a veritable money tree.
Meanwhile, the popularity of the manga by Matsumoto Kura, Irie Naoki, and Yoshitomi Akihito also rose considerably within a short period.
The reason was the 'Throne of Heroes' project and 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' announced by Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
Although the stories of the manga did not intersect with 'Fate/Zero', plenty of readers who became interested in the specific contents of the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' went on to read the manga.
'Fate/Zero' was the stage of the Heroic Spirits.
'Gate of Mystery' was the world of Magi.
Aside from the manga adaptation of 'Gate of Mystery', one of the other two manga was similar to 'The Garden of Sinners', telling a story centered on the Root, while the other dealt with the setting of the True Ancestors.
The threads of the setting were intricate and interconnected.
With the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' at its center, an enormous web was slowly being woven.