Friday night, 8 PM.
Since Akifumi Mugiho had already posted about it in advance, a lot of fans had tuned in on time to watch the interview.
Tanaka was no exception.
This time, he didn't even bother pretending to study.
Instead, he openly declared that after dinner, he needed a break.
Given his recent good behavior, and the fact that it was a Friday, he was granted permission to relax.
As he scrolled through the constantly updating SNS feed, a wide smile spread across his face.
Every now and then, his expression would shift to one of surprise.
"Huh? I didn't know sensei could do music too!"
"Wait, what?! That song was written by Sensei as well?!"
With revelation after revelation dropping like bombs, Tanaka couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
"Now that I think about it, if sensei had no understanding of music, there's no way Your Lie in April could have been drawn so convincingly!"
From an outsider's perspective, a story like that must have been extremely challenging to create—expressing emotions through music, designing storyboards—these were all tricky aspects to tackle.
"Wait, sensei has been working on Your Lie in April since last year?!"
"Then why didn't they submit it for the Tezuka Award back then?"
As this thought crossed his mind, Tanaka instinctively compared Your Lie in April and Madoka Magica in his heart.
In the end, the scales tipped in favor of Madoka Magica.
"Well, one is a completed short story, and the other is an ongoing long-form series."
Of course, even if Your Lie in April were completed, Madoka Magica would still hold a special place in his heart.
"It paved the way for an entirely new genre!"
As he eagerly awaited more updates from the live broadcast, a shocking piece of news suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"Your Lie in April—Final Chapter in April?!"
"Is this for real?!"
Anyone who had read Your Lie in April would immediately notice how different it was from Sensei's previous short stories.
This was clearly meant to be their first long-form series!
After all, the first two volumes had merely set up the premise—there was definitely a lot more story left to be told.
There was no way it could end so soon!
Hoping for a denial, Tanaka instead saw an official confirmation.
............…
Sensei: "This isn't an April Fool's joke. The news is 100% true! Ending Your Lie in April in April—it just makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"
............…
"It's really happening?!"
Tanaka stared at the screen in shock.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind, leading him to one inevitable conclusion:
'So Your Lie in April was actually a short story all along?'
'Will it have a tragic ending?'
[TL Note – You have no idea....]
Kousei had already left the hospital, hadn't he?
If the story took a dark turn and killed off Kaori using this as a setup, wouldn't that be completely logical?
'Will Kousei not participate in the piano competition?'
If that were the case, then this story...
Tanaka forced himself to push away those grim thoughts, but fortunately, a new update on SNS quickly distracted him.
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Host: "So that means there isn't much content left in Your Lie in April, right?"
Sensei: "Of course not. I originally planned for the story to be at least 7 to 10 volumes long!"
———————————————————————
"Wait, what?"
So it really is a long series?!
Tanaka was completely confused.
"Then how are they supposed to wrap it up in April?!"
At that moment, fans across the country collectively voiced the same concern in their hearts.
The host, understanding the audience's curiosity, asked the question directly.
———————————————————————
Host: "If there are still so many volumes planned, how do you plan to finish it by April?"
Sensei: "Isn't it simple? We just release more volumes per month!"
Host: "You mean...?"
Sensei: "After discussions with the publisher, we agreed to release around three volumes per month… Oh, and by the way, make sure to save up for Your Lie in April!"
———————————————————————
"Three volumes per month?!"
Tanaka's jaw dropped.
His brain struggled to process the sheer amount of work that entailed.
"How many pages would Sensei have to draw per month to pull that off?!"
It was simple math, yet Tanaka was too stunned to do the calculations.
"Wait, no—Sensei did say they had been working on it since last year and had a huge backlog!"
That meant... it was possible!
Tanaka's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Three volumes a month, huh?"
"If you dare to release them, I'll buy them all!"
The rest of the fanbase seemed to share Tanaka's sentiment, and the interview continued.
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Host: "This is incredible! It seems you weren't joking when you said you had a lot of material prepared!"
Sensei: "Of course! When it comes to serious matters like this, I never joke."
Host: "Was this a last-minute decision, or had you planned it all along?"
Sensei: "As everyone knows, I had two simultaneous serializations in Weekly Shonen Jump, but both wrapped up early.
"Since magazine space is limited, even if I could draw more, I didn't want to monopolize every slot and risk getting ambushed by another mangaka on a dark street one night!"
"So, reluctantly, I had to wait for my serializations to end before publishing my next work."
"This gave me plenty of time to work on Your Lie in April and WorldEnd."
"And while people thought I was just lazing around, I secretly wrote a few light novels too"
"When the publisher analyzed sales trends, they realized that early volume releases performed surprisingly well. "
"As fans completed the magazine versions, they would rush to collect the physical copies, boosting overall sales."
"Seeing this, my editor-in-chief at Shueisha suggested extending this approach."
"However, I was hesitant. What if fans didn't like Your Lie in April? What if its sales flopped?"
"I hesitated until last week's simultaneous release of two volumes received overwhelming support. That gave me the confidence to move forward."
Host: "You're referring to last week's two-volume release?"
Sensei: "Exactly. The response was fantastic, both in reviews and sales figures. So, after further discussion with Shueisha, we decided—if the content is ready, why not release it as quickly as possible? Let's see how a story named after April performs when it actually concludes in April!"
Host: "Both you and Shueisha have a lot of confidence in this! Has the industry ever seen such a rapid release schedule before?"
Sensei: "Not really, which is why I say I'm just being shameless, dragging the publisher along for the ride."
Host: "It's clear that Shueisha holds you in high regard."
Sensei: "That just makes me feel guilty, so let me shamelessly remind my fans one more time—when Your Lie in April releases, please buy it!"
Host: "I'm sure everyone will rush to buy it! At least, I know I will get it as soon as it comes out! I absolutely love the story between Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori~"
"By the way, speaking of this, I have to complain on behalf of the many fans—why can't you print a little more when your new work is released? It's ridiculously hard to get!"
"It's like a battlefield, no exaggeration!"
Sensei: "Eh, is it really that extreme? But I remember the company said they print quite a lot each time!"
Host: "But everyone says it's still not enough! cat shrugging image"
Sensei: "Ahem, I don't think we should blame anyone for that. It's just that no one expected the demand to be so high. "
"I didn't have that much confidence myself, and the initial print run from the company is actually pretty large—about 100,000 copies."
"The bookstore owners probably didn't think my work would be this popular either, so they might've been a little too conservative in their estimates."
Host: "Wait, the first print run is actually 100,000 copies?!"
Sensei: "Yes, my royalties for the first batch were based on 100,000 copies, so I'm sure of it."
Host: "Well, I guess we can't blame anyone now."
"It looks like the company's faith in you actually exceeded even your own!
Sensei: "Maybe that's true."
Host: "By the way, this little ad break has shortened the flow a bit. Let's get back on track, shall we?"
Sensei: "Sure."
Host: "In "Your Lie In April," Kousei and Kaori have actually met before, right?"
Sensei: "Oh, did I not make it obvious enough? Friend A is clearly the lie woven by the girl~"
Host: "So, Kaori was initially trying to get close to Kousei, right?"
Sensei: "I can't say too much about that, but if everyone just keeps reading, the answer will come."
Host: "Well… An hour has passed, and the interview is nearly over."
"Since this is a written interview, we're communicating through typing, which is why it took this long!"
Host: "Thank you so much, Sensei, for coming and sharing all these stories with us!"
Sensei: "I'm really happy to have been invited and to be a part of this interview!"
Host: "Now, it's time for the usual fan Q&A session!"
"Our staff has picked three of the most popular questions, and we hope Sensei can answer some fan questions for us."
Sensei: "Alright, go ahead."
Host: "Here's the first fan question 'Sensei, I really love 'Your Lie In April,' but my favorite work is still 'Madoka Magica.' Will there be a sequel to 'Madoka Magica'?'"
Sensei: "Eh? Are you all just going to give me a question like this right off the bat? You're being too polite~"
"About this, didn't the last chapter of "Madoka Magica" already give you the answer?"
"If you're asking about the next arc, it's called the "Beast" arc, and I'm not sure when it will be published yet…"
"Oh, wait, did I say too much? You just wanted to know if there's a sequel, right?
Well, the answer is yes!"
———————————————————————
At that moment, all the fans watching the live stream had only one word in their minds—"Idiot!"
———————————————————————
Host: "You really pranked us like this, Sensei. You're such a trickster."
"Can I change the next question to something else?"
Sensei: "Wouldn't that break the rules? Is that allowed?"
Host: "Of course… not."
"Okay, the second question then. Let's see… eh, seriously?!"
Sensei: "I have a bad feeling about this…"
Host: "Sensei, do you have a girlfriend? What's your standard for choosing one? cat sly grin image"
Sensei: "Can I really talk about this kind of private stuff!?"
Host: "If you don't want to answer, we can move to another question!"
Sensei: "Well, it's not like I can't answer it. I definitely have a girlfriend. As for the standards for choosing one, of course, she has to be like my girlfriend!"
Host: "Eh, so you do have one? I'm really curious—how amazing must she be to catch Sensei's attention!"
"But all the female fans must be heartbroken now!"
Sensei: "Eh? Why heartbroken? Don't you all like my works more than anything else?"
Host: "You know exactly what I meant, Sensei. You're so sly."
Host: "Alright, last question—Is "Your Lie In April" a healing story or a depressing one?"
"There's been a lot of discussion about this online lately!"
Sensei: "Isn't "Your Lie In April" wrapping up in April?"
"The final answer, I think, is something you'll all have to experience for yourselves to truly enjoy."
"What do you think?"
Host: "If we still had a lot more time, I'd love to hear the answer directly from you, Sensei."
"But I can wait until April. That's fine with me!"
Sensei: "I think most fans probably agree with you!"
Host: "Well then, thanks for your hard work, Sensei!"
Sensei: "You've worked hard too."
Host: "That's it for today's exclusive interview with the Warrior of Love and Hope!
Thank you to all the fans for watching!"
Sensei: "Thank you so much, everyone! By the way, volumes 3, 4, and 5 of "Your Lie In April" will be released in mid-February, so don't forget to grab your copies!"
Host: "Sensei, I think you owe us some advertising fees now!"
Sensei: "Eh, shouldn't I be getting an appearance fee instead?"
Host: "Ahem, well, that wraps up today's interview. If you want us to interview anyone next time, make sure to leave a comment!"
———————————————————————
"Phew." Tanaka sighed contentedly, a look of excitement on his face.
"It's true!!"
Having watched the entire live stream, he had no more doubts about "Your Lie In April" ending in April.
The boy eagerly picked up his phone and went to comment on Akifumi's SNS page.
———————————————————————
On the other side,
Akifumi stretched and walked out of the room.
Honestly, this online interview method was quite new and interesting.
He glanced around.
"Eh, did Eriri leave already?"
"Hm." Mahiru lowered her head, her expression unreadable.
"Mahiru, are you okay?" Mashiro asked worriedly.
Mahiru shook her head.
"I'm fine. Mashiro, can you go grab me my pajama from the room?"
"Pajama?" Mashiro blinked, confused about why she needed it now.
But she obediently nodded.
"Okay."
She quickly headed for the entrance.
With the sound of the door closing, she stepped outside.
"Mugiho-kun… why did you have to say that?"
Mahiru looked up, her face already streaked with tears.
Ah, now Akifumi understood everything.
He sat down beside the girl, gently wiping away her tears.
Softly, he spoke, "This kind of thing… you can't hide it forever, right?"