Chapter 343 - 342: Development

Chapter 343: Chapter 342: Development

Haruto maintained a close watch on the fan controversies surrounding Slam Dunk during this period.

In the parallel world, the public had a high tolerance for delinquent culture. As long as the protagonist wasn’t a senseless bully but rather a hot-blooded youth who repaid kindness with kindness and an eye for an eye, the audience tended to embrace them.

In this world, however, the audience held slightly different views on such narratives. Haruto had anticipated this before the premiere, but he chose not to modify the story.

These scenes were simply unmovable; while they seemed tangential to the basketball plot, they were absolutely vital for character development.

Sitting in his office, Haruto let out a long sigh as he reviewed the fan feedback reports submitted by his team.

"It’s manageable. Even though I didn’t change the nature of the plot, I compressed it slightly. What should have taken many episodes in the original has been trimmed down," Haruto said, setting the report aside.

An issue of this scale wouldn’t bother an average creator, but Haruto was different. He stood at the very center of the industry spotlight. Even the smallest flaw would be magnified by those with hidden agendas. While the Big Three animation companies appeared to have made peace with him, they were undoubtedly waiting for any opportunity to undermine his position.

After finishing the reports on Slam Dunk, Haruto turned his attention to the recently premiered Gurren Lagann. The only reason he produced this work was his personal love for it. That brand of pure hot-bloodedness, over-the-top energy, and the bonds of brotherhood was something he felt was completely missing from modern animation.

Of course, he didn’t expect Gurren Lagann or the upcoming Monogatari series to break any records.

As expected, the premiere ratings for Gurren Lagann were considerably lower than those of Fullmetal Alchemist or Slam Dunk.

After processing and approving matters for the three ongoing series, Haruto checked in on the newly established gaming division.

While the division was officially up and running, they wouldn’t be releasing anything in the short term.

Haruto planned to launch the first generation of Pokemon within two years to establish a market presence.

From there, he wanted a new title released every year. He estimated it would take seven or eight years for the IP to fully mature and become a household name both locally and globally.

The roadmap for Doraemon followed a similar pace. The production of the short-form anime had already been greenlit, and the details of a partnership with Tokyo TV1 were finalized.

It was scheduled to air at 6:30 PM next year, the prime time when students returned home from school.

Doraemon was aimed squarely at the youth market.

Meanwhile, the company’s program for nurturing original talent continued.

Haruto had essentially written off the current generation of veteran creators, but he was curious to see what kind of geniuses would emerge from the younger generation, those who had grown up under the influence of the masterpieces he had brought to this world.

His presence had fundamentally shifted the industry landscape.

The styles of the original local market and the imported styles from the parallel world were already beginning to merge. Whenever Haruto looked at new works by established local creators, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he were looking at the industry of the eighties or nineties.

However, they were still in the imitation phase.

"Perhaps in twenty or thirty years, this industry will enter its own golden age of legendary creators, much like the parallel world’s eighties and nineties," Haruto mused, leaning back in his swivel chair with a faint smile.

"That wouldn’t be bad at all. If I just kept bringing over works from another world until the day I died without any local creator ever catching up to me, it would be a bit of a tragedy in its own way."

From his perspective, he genuinely hoped for the rise of local talent. He didn’t want to spend his entire career simply steamrolling the industry with alien masterpieces.

After dwelling on these thoughts for a while, he got back to work on the latest manuscript for his novel projects and the storyboard drafts for Hunter x Hunter. Even though his proficiency had made him incredibly fast, managing so many concurrent projects was still a significant burden.

Two more weeks passed in July.

Gurren Lagann reached its third episode, and the fan reception was positive. The ratings stabilized at around 5%. Still, a consistent performance like that would net Haru-Yuki Animation hundreds of millions of yen. From a profit standpoint, Gurren Lagann was a certified success.

The Initial D anime, which wasn’t produced by Haruto’s studio, was well-received but felt a bit hollow to Haruto himself, mostly because it lacked the iconic Eurobeat soundtrack of the original world. Its ratings sat steady at 5.6%.

The production company, however, was ecstatic. Unlike the perfectionist employees at Haru-Yuki who worried about getting scolded if a show only hit 5%, the Initial D team was more than satisfied.

As for the most controversial work of the last two weeks, that title belonged to Slam Dunk.

From the introduction of Mitsui Hisashi to his escalating conflict with Miyagi, leading up to the moment Mitsui gathered a gang to storm the Shohoku gymnasium, the plot was careening in a direction no fan could have predicted.

On another Saturday, just before the premiere of the latest episode, the fans were once again out in force.

"Another Saturday! Hell yeah. Let’s see how much crazier Slam Dunk can get this week."

"Is the author really still not going to do any basketball? This Mitsui looking for trouble arc has been going on for three weeks. I want to see hoops, not headbutts."

"I don’t get the point of this. What does fighting these random thugs and lowlifes like Mitsui and Tetsuo have to do with the main plot? How does this help them win the Inter-High?"

"I don’t think it’ll actually turn into a brawl, right?"

"Before this author came along, I don’t think anyone had ever depicted a high school gang war in a sports anime with this much detail."

"I’m actually hyped for this episode."

"Why are you hyped for a street fight? Isn’t this just proof the author has lost the plot and wandered off-track?"

"I hate to admit it, but I’m starting to think he doesn’t have an outline. He’s clearly just making it up as he goes along."

"Let’s just wait until the arc is over before we judge, okay?"

"I think it’s hilarious. Why are you all so grumpy? I like the basketball and I like the fighting. I want to see Hanamichi do a flying kick and protect the club’s honor."

"The guy above me is killing me. ’If we can’t beat Ryonan at basketball, at least we can beat them in a parking lot brawl,’ is that it?"

"I’m calling it: Shohoku is the strongest fighting team in the basketball world."

---

While they questioned the direction, the atmosphere among the fans was lively. Rationally, they felt the story was veering into unpredictable territory. Why spend episodes with the protagonist only scoring one basket? Why ignore the Road to the National Championship to focus on a locker room fight? At this rate, Hanamichi might as well become a martial artist.

Emotionally, however, Haruto’s track record was too perfect.

The fans were still willing to believe that there was a deeper meaning to this madness.

Finally, at 8:00 PM, episode seventeen of Slam Dunk aired.

The plot was, quite frankly, a total riot.

Mitsui Hisashi used the threat of the club being disbanded for fighting as a weapon, bringing in outside thugs to beat the members of the basketball team. Rukawa and Hanamichi were beaten until they were covered in blood because they knew that if they fought back, the club would be finished.

Mitsui’s taunt forced them to endure a one-sided thrashing.

"If you fight back, your precious club is dead!"

It was exactly the opposite of the delinquent hero saves the day story the fans had expected. It was a humiliating, frustrating episode that left millions of viewers fuming.

Even so, after the episode ended, fans tried to comfort themselves with the idea that the author was just building the tension before the payoff, hoping that Hanamichi and Rukawa would finally explode in the next episode.

But when episode eighteen aired the following week, the focus remained on the brutalization of the club.

In this episode, Ryota Miyagi finally snapped. Ignoring the consequences, he charged Mitsui and gave him a savage beating. Rukawa, despite being a bloody mess, managed to take down thugs before collapsing. The highlight, however, was Hanamichi’s fight against the strongest thug, Tetsuo. It was visceral, bloody, and violent.

Mops, brooms, and fists were used as weapons. Tetsuo even repeatedly slammed Hanamichi’s head into a steel door. Hanamichi’s face was a mask of blood.

But then, something shifted. Hanamichi seemed to awaken like a wild beast, a cockroach that refused to die. He began to dismantle the thugs, finally landing a crushing blow on Tetsuo.

From a pure action standpoint, it was exhilarating. The basketball team had finally broken the seal and fought back. Assisted by the members of the Sakuragi Gang, the club successfully repelled the invaders. However, in terms of the bigger picture, they had lost everything.

Mitsui had achieved his goal. If they didn’t fight back, they got beaten to a pulp. If they did fight back, it was a school-wide scandal, and the club would be abolished.

No matter the outcome, Shohoku was finished.

At the very end of the episode, a key player arrived.

The captain of the team, Akagi, walked into the gym. After the massive ruckus drew the attention of the school, a student had run to fetch him.

Under the sound of Akagi’s knock, the Sakuragi Gang opened the door to let him in.

The moment he saw the carnage inside, he reached back and slammed the door shut, locking out the approaching teachers.

Then came the most satisfying moment of the arc.

Akagi walked straight up to Mitsui and slapped him across the face three times.

Episode nineteen ended on that agonizing cliffhanger.

By this time, it was the end of July.

The delinquent brawl arc had been running for over a month. Fans were starting to forget the hot-blooded thrill of the Ryonan game.

The only people still actively praising the show were those who loved the violence. Many of the fans, unable to stomach the bloody brawls, had stopped tuning in. This caused the viewership ratings to dip from their peak of 6.13% during the Ryonan game down to 6.02%.

With the arc dragging on, the media finally found the courage to publish critical articles.

They had been afraid of the Haruto defense force, but now that even the fans were complaining, the journalists smelled blood.

[Has the Genius Writer Fallen Prey to Arrogance? Slam Dunk Faces First Wave of Negative Reviews.]

[Six Weeks of High School Brawling: Was This Arc Really Necessary?]

[Missing the Mark: A Rookie Mistake No One Expected from a Master Like Haruto.]

[The Familiar Cycle Begins: Criticize the Writing, Predict the Downfall, Witness the Miracle, and Bow Down to a Masterpiece. Is the Industry About to Get Slapped in the Face Again?]

[Putting the Title Aside, the Writing is Solid, But Fans Want Basketball, Not Blood. If Haruto Continues to Ignore His Audience, His Fame Will Eventually Devour Him.]

The media’s critique was just the vanguard.

Other creators in the industry also crawled out of the woodwork to pile on. They didn’t have the guts to criticize his talent directly so they focused on moral grandstanding, claiming that the delinquent plot was corrupting the youth and the violence was harmful.

As the first anniversary of Haruto’s graduation approached, his reputation was facing its first real test.

In early August, episode twenty of Slam Dunk aired.

The fans expected Akagi to join the fight and finish the job. Instead, the story took a bizarre turn.

After the slaps, the story shifted entirely into a flashback.

Mitsui Hisashi’s flashback.

The fans were utterly bewildered. They had seen flashbacks for protagonists before, but why was this low-life thug getting a tragic backstory?

"Author, have you finally lost your mind?"

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