A song from Chengdu revived a closed-down pub.

Masaki Sano moved very quickly.

The next day, he met with people in charge of animation business from several video platforms.

In the meeting room of the first platform, the other party had just sat down when he asked with a smile, "Mr. Sano, are you here today to discuss the next batch of collaborations?"

Masaki Sano placed the documents he brought on the table, smiled and nodded: "The list of films for the new season has been compiled, and there are a few works that you have been very interested in before."

The person in charge took the document, flipped through a few pages, and his smile became noticeably wider.

Among these works are sequels to two popular anime series, as well as several new series that have already garnered considerable attention in China even before their official release.

For the platform, such content means stable viewership and membership revenue.

He was about to inquire about the licensing terms when Masaki Sano spoke first: "However, before we discuss that, I'd like to confirm one thing: are you in contact with a company called Shan Hai Pictures?"

The person in charge paused slightly as he flipped through the documents: "You mean the 'Under One Person' series they produced?"

"right."

"We have indeed been in contact with them, but we are still in the evaluation stage and have not signed a contract yet."

Masaki Sano nodded: "That's good. I hope this contact ends here."

The person in charge tentatively asked, "Is there something wrong with this work?"

"Whether there are problems with the work or not is not the focus of my discussion today. We have been cooperating with your platform for many years and have always had a pleasant experience. We hope that this cooperation can continue. However, if you choose to import 'Under One Person,' we will probably need to reconsider our future cooperation."

The reception room fell silent.

The smile on the person in charge's face gradually faded: "Mr. Sano, do you mean that a domestically produced animation will affect our cooperation on other projects?"

Masaki Sano did not evade the question: "Yes."

"Including this film list?"

"This includes licensing new works, as well as renewing existing works upon their expiration."

The person in charge subconsciously glanced at the document in his hand.

The works that had just captivated him now seemed to have suddenly lost their significance.

He paused for a moment, then asked again, "What about the existing contracts?"

Masaki Sano smiled and said, "We will certainly fulfill the contracts that have already been signed, but cooperation outside of the contract needs to be renegotiated by both parties."

This statement is very clear.

They will not immediately remove works that have already been launched.

However, once the platform takes over "Under One Person", it may not be able to obtain the next season of those popular animations, as well as the licenses that are about to expire.

The person in charge slowly closed the document, his tone becoming much more serious: "I need to report this matter to the company."

"Of course."

Masaki Sano stood up and straightened his cuffs: "I'm not in a hurry for you to answer now, but the licensing window for the new film won't stay open forever. I hope we can finalize the next step of our collaboration as soon as possible."

……

After leaving his first platform, Masaki Sano went to two other platforms.

The content of the conversation remained almost unchanged.

First, present the film list, then mention Shan Hai Films.

There is only one condition: I will not accept the role in "Under One Person," but other collaborations will proceed as usual.

If they accept the offer, then the import of new anime series, the sequels to popular works, and the renewal of expiring copyrights will all be affected.

The head of one of the platforms had even seen some sample episodes of "Under One Person".

He was quite impressed with the work, and given Su Fan's reputation, he was originally planning to have the team discuss it further.

After listening to Masaki Sano's words, he frowned and said, "We've assessed that this work is very competitive among domestic animations. Coupled with Su Fan's popularity, it should perform well after its release."

Masaki Sano nodded: "I understand, that's why I came here in person today."

The other party did not respond immediately.

Sano Masaki glanced at him and continued, "We'll only know how much revenue a work can generate after it airs, but you should have clear data on how many users our content has brought to your platform over the years. It's not hard to calculate."

The person in charge stared at the document, remaining silent for a long time.

Personally, he can judge for himself whether "Under One Person" is worth a try.

But sitting in this position, he also has to be responsible for the entire animation sector.

If the introduction of this work leads to the inability of a number of popular animations to renew their contracts, and important works for the new season are taken by competing platforms, who will bear the responsibility?

Su Fan is indeed very popular.

However, whether the popularity can translate into a steady stream of viewers and sustain membership revenue remains to be seen.

In contrast, popular series that have been airing for many years have user base, viewing habits, and paid subscription performance all readily available in the backend data.

On one hand, there are new works that have not yet been validated by the market.

On the other side are the content sources that the platform has been operating for many years.

The person in charge finally put away the sample materials on the table and slowly said, "I understand what you mean."

Masaki Sano smiled again: "I hope this won't affect our future cooperation."

……

After several meetings, the news quickly spread to the various platforms.

Some have called for a halt to negotiations with Shan Hai Pictures.

Some people canceled the originally scheduled film screenings and instead convened the business and copyright departments to calculate the renewal periods for the imported works.

Another platform that was ready to discuss pricing directly asked the person in charge to postpone their response.

In recent years, a significant portion of the animated content on domestic video platforms has come from Xiaorijia.

What Honda Yuji and others controlled were precisely the licensing channels for a number of important works.

Their bargaining chip isn't a single animated film, but rather a list of films that's updated year after year.

Once this condition was presented, the merits of "Under One Person" were actually set aside.

The platform has stopped discussing its plot and production.

The question is whether it's worth the cost of losing a batch of works for it.

Soon, Masaki Sano reported the attitudes of the various platforms to Yuji Honda.

He put down the documents and said with a smile, "They all understand. From now on, Shan Hai Pictures probably won't receive any more good news."

Yuji Honda glanced through the records and asked casually, "Has anyone spoken up for that work?"

"There's one company that said the sample photos are good and it has great potential."

"and then?"

"Then they said a reassessment was needed."

Honda Yuji closed the file, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Let them take their time to evaluate it. They'll regret it later."