In just one or two days, Su Yan's creator account was flooded with private messages.
'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' was his very first work in the Xia Nation—about 90% of his fans had seen it.
And Yukishiro Tomoe's status in fans' hearts went without saying.
Some viewers, just from analyzing details in the trailer, had already figured out that the movie version would have a different female lead.
Some could accept it—but many couldn't.
The more extreme ones even sent messages cursing at Su Yan.
But Su Yan was already used to this.
Every time a popular character died in his works, there would always be some extreme fans sending him angry messages. After all, among tens of millions of viewers, there were bound to be impulsive ones.
Fortunately, one of the best things about Su Yan's mindset in the Xia Nation—
was that he didn't take it too seriously.
These stories weren't originally his creations; he had simply brought them into this world.
So even when people criticized the plot, he didn't feel much pressure.
"Alright… the full promotion campaign has begun."
Su Yan looked at the document in his hand.
It contained detailed information on the eight competing films for the Spring Festival season.
Including 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', there would be a total of nine films released.
Any movie that made it into the Spring Festival lineup typically had a production budget exceeding 100 million yuan—and at least another 100 million for promotion.
Otherwise, without enough buzz, theaters wouldn't allocate screening slots.
Even though 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' had a combined production and marketing budget exceeding 400 million—
It only ranked slightly above average among this year's Spring Festival films.
There were still two films with even larger investments.
After taking note of those two key competitors, Su Yan memorized their names.
On the day of the Spring Festival, when things were quieter, he planned to invite Shen Liqian, Gu Qingyuan, Shinozaki Ikumi, and the others to the cinema—
to personally check out the competition.
The third weekend of January.
Today, two major topics dominate the entertainment industry:
Episode 3 of 'Fate/Zero', airing tonight—
and the 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', set to release in just over half a month.
Throughout the day, discussions around both works pushed online activity to new highs across forums and fan communities.
At 8 PM, episode 3 of 'Fate/Zero' aired on schedule.
After episode 1's setup and episode 2's background exposition—
Episode 3 finally delivered what audiences wanted most:
combat.
During filming, Zhuang Yuxin's fight scenes had been personally guided by Su Yan.
Though she wasn't a professional action performer, there was still a noticeable gap compared to Su Yan's performance in 'Rurouni Kenshin'—
Her scenes were still clearly above the average standard of Xia Nation TV dramas.
The battle between Saber and the unknown Lancer.
A true duel between knights.
Meanwhile—
Iskandar watched from the sidelines,
Kotomine Kirei and Tokiomi Tohsaka lurked in the shadows.
As the story progressed, the identities of the Heroic Spirits also began to unfold.
Overall, episode 3 didn't push the main plot forward much—it was essentially nonstop fighting.
But because each side feared being ambushed by hidden enemies, no one fought at full strength.
It mainly served to showcase each Heroic Spirit's combat style—
and demonstrate the show's visual effects.
After the episode aired, discussions once again topped trending charts across major platforms.
["Kayneth is such a scumbag. Lancer respected knightly honor and didn't attack Saber, but he used a Command Seal to force a sneak attack."]
["Who is that Berserker? The moment he saw Saber, he went completely berserk—do they know each other?"]
["After this episode, I feel reassured. This is clearly just a hype battle series—I don't have to worry about depressing plotlines!"]
["It's only episode 3—what can you even tell at this point?"]
["Is the whole show just going to be ten episodes of fighting?"]
["Probably not. There'll definitely be twists later."]
["Don't you get it? This is an ensemble cast. One of the key appeals is uncovering each Heroic Spirit's identity and motivations, then connecting that to their historical legends. It's still early."]
["I bet the Su yan will update Lancer's backstory on the website tonight. We can go check it out."]
["The Su Yan's works are never that simple. Right now, it's exploring the Heroic Spirits' pasts—but soon, the focus will shift to the Masters. The fights are just surface-level; the real story is about people."]
["I'm just enjoying it. Totally a fan of Iskandar now."]
["I like the golden guy played by Su Yan!"]
["Am I the only one who finds Saber great, but her Master Kiritsugu kind of… off? That gloomy type—always talking about saving the world while constantly killing people. Isn't that ironic?"]
["I'm used to the Su Yan's romance dramas, so this pure action series feels a bit strange—but it's still really fun to watch!"]
["I actually prefer 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'. On the surface, it's about magical girls fighting witches, but it's really about despair. Now that 'Fate/Zero' isn't depressing, it feels like something's missing."]
["You've been influenced too much—you're complaining just because it's not depressing now?"]
The next day, episode 3 achieved a viewership rating of 5.43%.
Just as industry insiders predicted, it saw a solid increase.
Strictly speaking, 'Fate/Zero' currently gives audiences the feeling of watching a blockbuster popcorn film—
exciting, visually impressive, and leaving them wanting more.
But in terms of plot progression—
It was relatively slow.
Still, compared to complex, brain-heavy shows, Xia Nation audiences generally preferred something more straightforward and entertaining.
In Tokyo, after receiving the latest report from Sakura TV, Su Yan relaxed slightly.
He browsed through online discussions about the show.
"Exciting."
"High-octane battle series."
"Nonstop action."
"No depression."
"Heh… that'll only last a few more weeks," Su Yan chuckled.
"Once the story fully unfolds… they'll understand what it means to be the 'Warrior of Love.'"
In his previous life, Gen Urobuchi had gained worldwide fame through 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' and 'Fate/Zero'—
earning the nickname "Warrior of Love" among fans.
A purely action-driven story could never achieve that level of acclaim.
The early episodes were just groundwork—
introducing characters and setting the stage.
Later on—
Each episode would hit like a knife.
Until, in the end—
No one would be spared.
Taking a deep breath, Su Yan uploaded a newly organized document to the official website.
As 'Fate/Zero' continued airing, he would gradually release background information and past stories for each character as their identities were revealed.
This staggered release also helped avoid spoilers.
For example—
If he revealed the full story of Lancelot and King Arthur now, perceptive fans would immediately guess that the unseen Berserker was Lancelot.
So for now, Lancelot had only been briefly mentioned in Artoria's profile.
After uploading the document, Su Yan got up and headed to the meeting room at the scheduled time.
Next came a company-wide meeting to discuss upcoming plans.
Starting this week—
while preparing to attend the Xia Flame Awards—
He would also need to coordinate with the operations team for promotional roadshows for 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie'.
Things were about to get busy again.