Ryuko couldn't do much about the Initial D fans venting under Haruki's fend account.
Honestly, she wished she were Haruki's actual girlfriend, like all the online rumors claid. But... from the day she confessed to now, despite doing everything she could to spend more ti with him, Haruki remained just as evasive. She had asked him out two or three tis to go sightseeing around Tokyo but each ti, sohow, she ended up helping him grind through online gas instead.
Whoever said that "it's easier for a girl to chase a guy" clearly hadn't t Haruki.
What made it worse was that Haruki's fans completely misread the situation. Even Ryuko's own roommates were convinced he was her boyfriend, often teasing her about when she'd finally bring him around.
And thanks to her connections around campus, the rumors had spread fast. It was a miracle Haruki's identity hadn't been exposed at school yet.
He was majoring in animation, wasn't he? How had none of his classmates connected the dots? Didn't they read his manga or follow the ani news?
Ryuko sighed and picked up the latest issue of Shroud Line.
These days, it wasn't just the fans speculating. Even she couldn't help wondering. Maybe Haruki had gone through sothing in the past that made him view love differently. His stories never ended with a fulfilling romance. Not one.
Could soone write tragedy after tragedy like that without being affected by it?
Was it really just storytelling style... or did he fear real love?
Ryuko stared at her phone for a mont, then searched, "How to make soone with commitnt issues fall for you."
Haruki, for his part, was fast asleep completely unaware that soone had just ntally labeled him with a psychological condition.
Still, the Initial D "Mako and Iketani Arc" arc had wrapped.
He had considered giving Mako and Iketani a happier ending. Maybe sothing like he misses the ti, she's already gone, but then drives back because she just couldn't let go...
But in the end, he dropped the idea.
It just didn't fit the overall tone of Initial D. Takumi had already been betrayed in love, Takeuchi's situation ended in a car accident and heartbreak, and Iketani being part of their crew getting a perfect ending felt too inconsistent.
So even though he knew it would stir backlash, Haruki kept the ending as it was.
By now, fans had accepted that Mizushiro liked to serve emotional poison in his stories. One more heartbreak wasn't going to change that.
Besides, readers were fickle. Now that the love story was over, the next arc Takumi vs. Ryosuke—would start. In a few weeks, people would stop talking about Mako and Iketani and start cheering for the racers again.
Ti passed. March ca and went. April arrived.
Since 5 Centiters per Second and Voices of a Distant Star ended, Haruki had been keeping a low profile, focusing only on the ongoing serializations of Natsu's Book of Friends and Initial D.
That quiet spell had disappointed so of his ani fans. But in early April, the ani adaptation of Natsu's Book of Friends premiered.
Out of loyalty to Mizushiro's work, fans tuned in without hesitation.
While manga readers often followed ani, ani only fans rarely crossed over to read the original. So even though Natsu had been serialized for so ti, many were experiencing it for the first ti through the adaptation.
With both longti manga fans and Haruki's ani audience supporting it, Natsu's Book of Friends had a strong start.
Out of the 36 new ani released in April, its first episode racked up 2.9 million views in its debut week, ranking third. The second episode pushed its average to 3.2 million—earning it second place among spring debuts.
Industry insiders were pleased. The show was doing well, even if it wasn't hitting the explosive highs of 5cm per Second or Voices. The story didn't rely on shocking twists, and its steady, healing tone ant it was less likely to spike in viewership later. Still, expectations were high for a solid season average maybe 5 to 6 million views per episode by the finale.
Compared to the spring season, this sumr's ani lineup already looked stronger. Aside from 5cm per Second and Voices, the top title from spring— he Ice Witch had only just passed an average of 5 million.
With sumr just beginning and only April releases on the table so far, Natsu's Book of Friends was neck and neck with another rising series.
But the thing about Mizushiro's work was… it had a habit of surpassing expectations.
When Natsu's Book of Friends started serialization, it hadn't made waves. But a few chapters in, it exploded in popularity.
Now, history repeated itself.
After the third episode aired, viewership jumped from 3.2 million to 3.9 million launching it to the number one spot among April ani.
The industry started to get nervous.
"Is this happening again...?"
At Kazanami Animation Studio, the production team behind Natsu could hardly believe it. Their internal goal had been to reach an average of 4 million views and land sowhere in the top 8 for sumr.
Now, just three episodes in, they'd hit that benchmark and with the third episode pulling in 3.9 million, a 6 million average by the end of the season wasn't out of the question.
After all, the story quality was consistent, and fan support was only growing. As long as it stayed that way and got proper promotional support it would keep rising.
Thankfully, the fourth episode saw only a moderate bump, to 4.2 million. Still impressive, but not a runaway surge. That slowed the panic a bit.
Even so, the question lingered in every studio boardroom:
Why this show?
Several respected manga adaptations had aired in April. While not all had the sa core fanbase as Natsu, the gap in viewership over million was hard to explain.
How was it that Mizushiro's works kept outperforming the rest?
The only answer the industry could settle on was this:
Haruki's success wasn't just about quality, it was about originality.
Whether it was 5 Centiters per Second with its emotional devastation, Voices of a Distant Star with its sci-fi lancholy, the friendship-driven Anohana , or the healing quiet of Natsu, each brought sothing that hadn't been done quite this way before.
So filled a void in the market. Others simply outclassed similar predecessors.
And because these series were ani-first releases available online, they weren't bound by the limits of magazine serialization or print distribution. If the quality held up, word-of-mouth spread fast and viewership followed.
Natsu's Book of Friends had strong early support from existing fans, but now casual viewers were joining in too. As more people tuned in and praised it, the buzz only grew.
Once again, Mizushiro had done the impossible.
[Note:- Hey everyone! I have an exam on Saturday, so updates might be a bit irregular for the next few days.]
Shout out to Wyat Frost for joining my p-atreon! your support ans everything to .
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon/Alioth23 for 60 advanced chapters)
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