That's why, even though he knew Akame ga Kill had its flaws, he still wanted to create it.
At the very least, he was determined to avoid cheap, forced tragedies or nonsensical plot twists.
If he was going to make readers feel pain, it had to be in a way that made sense.
Thanks to these adjustments, when readers finished this volume of Akame ga Kill, no one felt that Sheele's death was unreasonable.
In fact, some fansespecially those who had a soft spot for characters like herfelt genuinely heartbroken.
"Sheele! My Sheele!! Why did she have to die so soon?! My heart can't take it!!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! This is only volume three!! If characters are already dying now, are you planning a full-on massacre like Madoka Magica by the end!?"
"Given how the story is progressing, someone was bound to die this chapter. I just didn't expect it to be Sheele. I really liked her character design."
"By the way, Esdeath is such a badass. She's amazing!"
"I love this dominant queen vibe~"
"Say what you want about Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei, but his character designs never disappoint."
"Akame ga Kill is getting better and better! Can't wait for the next volume!"
"Sigh Another school break means these kids are full of energy again. It's impossible to get my hands on Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei's manga. So frustrating."
The comments made it clearreaders were more than satisfied with this volume.
But as much as Akame ga Kill was getting attention, it was nothing compared to the overwhelming success of CLANNAD.
Because it had been featured in a major storytelling contest, CLANNAD had already reached mainstream audiences.
Even people who had never paid attention to manga before were now eagerly anticipating the story.
Unfortunately
Just like the last comment above suggested, it was impossible to buy a copy.
New readers had no idea just how popular Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei's works were.
So when they finally decided to check it out and rushed to bookstores, they were met with empty shelves.
Frustrated, they flooded Akifumi's account with comments:
"Wasn't CLANNAD supposed to be released today? Why isn't it in stores?!"
"Did they announce the wrong release date?"
"I went to the store full of excitement, only to leave disappointed."
"I heard about this from the storytelling contest and was looking forward to seeing the full story today. But was that just a lie?"
Seeing these complaints, longtime fans of Akifumi jumped in to "help" clear things up.
"Yeah, yeah! This Mangaka is always spreading false release dates! So frustrating!!"
"Don't get your hopes up. Every time he announces a new book release, you usually have to wait at least a week before you can actually buy it."
"Calm down, everyone. This is just how he operates. The release date and the actual date you can get the book are never the same."
"Once you get used to it, you become more zen about the whole thing."
Reading these responses, the new fans were completely bewildered.
"Wait What??"
This Mangaka kept giving out false release dates and people were just okay with that?!
Since when were manga artists allowed to be this reckless?!
Finally, a more reasonable veteran fan stepped in with a logical explanation.
"Has anyone considered the possibility that CLANNAD really was released today, but you all just showed up too late? Maybe it sold out already."
That comment made the new fans pause.
Sold out? By noon?!
Was it because the mangaka was too unpopular, and they printed too few copies?
Or was the series just that popularso popular that all the copies were gone within a few hours?!
They hesitated, then checked Akifumi's account again and saw his follower count had already surpassed a million.
It had to be the latter.
"Whoa."
"This guy is seriously that big of a deal?!"
At that moment, the new fans finally realized just how powerful this Mangaka was.
Sure, follower counts could be artificially inflated. But active, engaged fansones who actually bought books and left commentswere a different story.
At first, they thought they had just stumbled upon some average manga artist.
But now?
They understood.
This guy was the real deal.
[224] CLANNADs Ranking!
The sales of CLANNAD and Akame ga Kill continued to grow steadily.
Unlike Akame ga Kill, which had a minor climax in its latest chapter, the first volume of CLANNAD remained relatively calm.
But that was to be expected.
Not only was this volume just the beginning of the story, but as a slice-of-life work, its pacing was naturally slower, requiring ample groundwork to be laid.
Shounen battle manga dominate the mainstream precisely because they build tension until reaching a climactic moment where emotions explode in an intense, cathartic release.
Such climaxes can take many forms
The protagonist leveling up, defeating a formidable enemy in a desperate battle, or an epic and visually stunning fight scene...
Slice-of-life stories, however, lack these flashy elements.
Instead, they rely on the buildup of narrative conflicts and emotional tension to create an impact on the reader.
Because of this, writing battle manga is often considered easier than writing slice-of-life stories.
The same principle applies to novels.
If you're writing an action story and run out of ideas, you can simply introduce a stronger enemy and have the protagonist power up to defeat them.
But with slice-of-life, things are much more complex.
Of course, battle stories have their own challenges Keeping the story fresh and engaging is a difficult task.
That said, slice-of-life is still generally harder to write.
Even so, CLANNAD was selling better than Akame ga Kill.
The reason was simple
It had broken into the mainstream.
Its audience wasn't limited to anime fans; it had also drawn in movie and drama enthusiasts.
Many people had stepped out of their comfort zones, attracted by its compelling story.
And in this world, no matter where you go, movie and TV drama audiences far outnumber anime fans.
As a result, CLANNAD was on track to become Akifumi's best-selling work to date.
Of course, that was a discussion for another time.
Right now, it had only been two days since CLANNAD was released.
The magazine issue featuring it had just come out and hadn't even reached most bookstores yet.
At Akifumi's Home
"They're announcing the rankings at 8 PM tonight, right?" At the dinner table, Mahiru asked curiously.
"Yeah." Akifumi nodded in confirmation.
"With CLANNAD's popularity, it should easily rank in the top three," Eriri said with a proud smirk.
It was almost as if she were the one receiving the award.
Well, from another perspective, that wasn't entirely wrong.
Just like how men conquer the world, and women win over the men who conquer the world...
"Honestly, even first place isn't out of the question!"
Hearing this, Akifumi chuckled helplessly.
"I'm not too concerned about rankings," he said.
"I just joined this contest to see how far I could go under a set theme."
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Eriri responded half-heartedly, nodding dismissively.
She clearly wasn't taking his words seriously.
It was like when a billionaire says, 'I'm not interested in money.'
No one actually believes that.
Mashiro glanced at them, then silently lowered her head again, puffing her cheeks slightly as she focused on eating
She looked like a little squirrel nibbling on her food.
7:50 PM
Eriri and Mahiru had already pulled up the contest's official website, refreshing it repeatedly.
The announcement said rankings would be revealed at 8 PM.
But just like how game updates never finish exactly on time and often get deployed a few minutes early, there was always a chance the rankings would be released ahead of schedule.
Some games even had servers scheduled to open at noon but ended up launching silently at 8 AM.
If the contest did something similar and they missed CLANNAD's ranking in real time
That would be unacceptable!
Meanwhile, in one of the Warrior of Love and Hope fan groups, discussions were heating up.
Akifumi's fans were eagerly debating.
"I wonder what ranking CLANNAD will get in the preliminaries!"
"I've read some of the other highly-rated scripts. They're decent, but they all feel like they're missing something."
"For a story about life, their perspectives seem too shallow."
"Does that mean CLANNAD could take first place?"
"First place might be a stretch, but top ten for sure!"
"Why not first? If it's the best, shouldn't it win?"
"Let's just say... those who know, know. If you don't, there's no point explaining. The competition involves more than just quality. There are... other factors at play. I'll leave it at that."
"Basically, winning isn't just about being the best."
"Either way, as long as CLANNAD ranks in the top ten, the haters won't have anything to say!"
8:00 PM
The rankings were not announced early.
In fact, the sudden surge in website traffic completely crashed the site!
"The contest organizers seriously need to upgrade their servers!"
"The prize money for this competition is huge! Don't tell me they can't afford proper website maintenance!?"
"Hurry up! It's already 8 PM! Let us in!!"
Even Eriri groaned in frustration as she stared at the unresponsive page.
"Do they have to mess this up every time?" she grumbled.
"Every single year, the site crashes when the preliminary rankings are released! Have they learned nothing?!"
Akifumi chuckled, reaching out to gently pat her head.
"Relax," he said.
"We're already here. At most, we just wait a few more minutes."
Eriri rolled her eyes But she didn't resist his touch.
Instead, she softened, quietly enjoying the head pats.
8:05 PM
The site was finally back online.
Eriri's eyes lit up as she quickly navigated to the bright red "Top 128" ranking list and clicked in without hesitation.
And then
There was no need to search.
The moment the page loaded, the most glaringly obvious and familiar name was right there
CLANNAD
And next to it, in bold, unmistakable letters
1st Place!
[225] A Fan Frenzy! The Main Competition Begins!
"AAAAHHH!!"
"First place! You actually got first place!!"
Eriri jumped up excitedly, her face beaming with pure joy.
Beside her, Mahiru also smiled, watching Eriri bounce around like an excited rabbit.
Meanwhile, Mashiro, who had been quietly focused on her drawing, lifted her head, looking confused. She didn't understand Eriri's outburstonly that it was noisy.
Akifumi chuckled helplessly and said in a calming voice, "Alright, alright."
"It's just the preliminaries. No need to get so worked up over first place, is there?"
Eriri rolled her eyes and pouted. "You think that's why I'm excited?!"
Of course, he knew. But still...
Akifumi shrugged. "It's just the preliminary round."
"Hmph," Eriri huffed, lifting her chin proudly. "I don't care! First place means we can slap those haters in the face, and that's all that matters to me!"
Akifumi just shook his head, amused.
'She's still so nave,' he thought.
As if winning the preliminaries would be enough to silence the haters.
Sighing, he reached out and ruffled Eriri's hair. "No point arguing over things like that."
"Now that we've seen the rankings, I'll be heading back to work."
With that, Akifumi stood up and walked towards his room.
"Work, work, work! Why is that guy so ridiculously passionate about working?!" Eriri grumbled.
Mahiru chuckled. "You've known him for a while now. Haven't you gotten used to it?"
"Getting used to it is one thing. Complaining is another!" Eriri sighed and then hesitated before mumbling, "Do you think maybe we just don't appeal to him?"
As soon as she voiced the thought, she shook her head.
"Wait, no, that doesn't make sense."
Her face flushed slightly as she recalled his focus during their intimate moment. Neither she nor Mahiru could best him.
To say they had no appeal? That was ridiculous.
Mahiru, her own cheeks tinged with pink, glanced nervously at Mashiro. Seeing that the quiet girl showed no reaction, she let out a small sigh of relief.
'Eriri really says anything that comes to her mind...'
Shaking her head, Mahiru spoke up. "If he wasn't this dedicated, Mugiho-kun wouldn't have gotten this far, would he?"
"Yeah, that's true." Eriri nodded in agreement.
Maybe he was talented, but his effort went beyond even that. Compared to most in the industry, his level of dedication was on another level entirely.
'Talent isn't scary,' she thought. "Talent combined with hard workthat's terrifying."
Letting out another sigh, she muttered, "I mean, drawing manga is my dream, too, but... to work like him?"
"Yeah, no way!"
She had no doubt about that.
Mahiru smiled reassuringly.
"Well, as long as we do our part and support him, isn't that enough?"
"...I guess you're right."
Still, Eriri mumbled under her breath, "But he could at least pay more attention to our feelings sometimes..."
Mahiru's smile deepened.
She didn't say anything, but in that moment, the two girls were perfectly in sync.
At the same time, the internet was absolutely exploding with reactions to the ranking results.
"First place?! FIRST PLACE!!"
"I KNEW IT! I TOTALLY CALLED IT!!"
"With the quality of CLANNAD, this first place is 100% deserved!"
"Where are the haters now?! Come out and keep talking!"
"As everyone knows, the Story Creation Tournament is always fair and just. The fact that CLANNAD won first despite not having the highest fan votes says a lot."
"Guys, don't bother. You can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep. Haters will never admit they were wrong; they'll just find something else to nitpick."
"CLANNAD isn't just goodit's that the other entries were just worse."
"Bro, you predicted exactly what the haters would say!"
"So predictable! Too funny!"
"Before the rankings: 'What a trash series.'
After the rankings: 'CLANNAD didn't win because it's the best, but because others underperformed.'"
"If first place is 'trash,' what does that make the other entries? Even worse trash?"
"I almost feel embarrassed for these haters!"
After a month-long battle, the fans had finally claimed victory!
Any hater who dared to show their face that night was instantly drowned in a sea of mockery.
