Early in the morning, Su Yan calmly looked through the flood of complaints in his comment section.
He was already used to this level of fan backlash.
After all, he had endured the storm brought by 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'. Compared to that, the current reaction to 'Fate/Zero' was nothing.
"Guess I should avoid going out for the next few weeks."
Su Yan smiled, then got ready and headed to the set of 'Kimi ni Todoke'.
There were only four months left until the summer season.
For 'Kimi ni Todoke', Su Yan had no intention of adapting the entire original story.
Although the original manga was popular, its essence lay in the period before the confession between the female lead, Kuronuma Sawako, and the male lead, Kazehaya Shota.
After their confession, the story shifted into a typical couple's life.
To be honest, that lost the unique, youthful atmosphere of first love.
While it was still watchable due to the established characters and relationships, Su Yan had plenty of works in his system—
He would only adapt the most essential parts.
Additionally, before the confession, there were quite a few side romances and daily-life plots unrelated to the main storyline.
Those would be trimmed where necessary.
But even so, the series might not be able to conclude within a single season.
Stretching it into two seasons, however, would feel too dragged out.
Fortunately, Su Yan had already discussed these details with Sakura TV.
For most creators, TV stations required strict adherence to seasonal scheduling.
But for Su Yan—
They were willing to follow his vision entirely.
After all, conventions were meant to be broken.
—
On set, Gu Qingyuan, who played Kuronuma Sawako, no longer needed the earlier "gloomy yet pretty" makeup used in the early stages of the story.
Now, her look was fully bright and youthful.
By late February, early cherry blossoms had already begun blooming in parts of Tokyo.
At a large temple rented by the crew, Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan were filming scenes—
While outside, a large crowd of local fans had already gathered.
Shinozaki Ikumi was not only managing the shoot but also handling crowd control.
This was the downside of on-location filming—
It was impossible to avoid being surrounded by fans once word got out.
Sometimes, after filming, if the crowd was too large, Su Yan even had to hold impromptu fan meetings or press events.
Of course, in Tokyo—known for its extreme fans—
There had been incidents where fans rushed forward, attempting to hug or even kiss Su Yan, Shen Liqian, or Gu Qingyuan.
But with Su Yan present, none of those attempts ever succeeded.
—
After a morning of filming, the ratings for episode 9 of 'Fate/Zero' were released.
5.93%.
As it approached the 6% mark, growth had slowed.
But—
Su Yan had no doubt it would surpass 6%.
After all, 'Fate/Zero', which started slow, was now entering its true explosive phase.
From here on—
Each episode would be more intense than the last.
And more heartbreaking.
—
Early March.
The tenth Sunday of the winter season arrived, marking the broadcast of episode 10 of 'Fate/Zero'.
By now, the Spring Festival movie buzz had completely faded.
'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' had officially surpassed 2.9 billion at the box office.
Its biggest competitor, 'Breaking Formation', had just crossed 2.7 billion.
Both films now had daily box office numbers around 15 million, and with only a couple of weeks left, they would continue to decline.
Overall—
Breaking 3 billion for 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' was very likely.
For 'Breaking Formation', surpassing 2.8 billion was feasible—but 2.9 billion was almost impossible.
As for the third-place film, 'Fake Detective', its total box office stood just above 1.4 billion.
The small gap in word-of-mouth and screening allocation at the beginning had eventually led to a massive difference.
If you failed to build momentum early in the Spring Festival season—
You were destined to only "drink soup," not "eat meat."
All three films had entered their final sprint.
—
In the TV drama market, 'Fate/Zero' stood alone at the top.
The second-place show this season only had a rating of 4.86%, far behind and not a real threat.
—
That evening, as usual, Su Yan's fan communities became active from 6 PM onward.
His fans were perhaps the most unique group in the Xia Nation.
Whenever his works entered emotionally heavy arcs, they would complain endlessly—
Yet at the same time, their excitement peaked.
Even those who had been waiting to binge the series couldn't hold back anymore and began catching up.
Everyone knew—
Once Su Yan's works reached this stage, spoilers would flood the internet.
Unless you completely avoided going online, you would definitely get spoiled.
To fully experience the story—
You had to follow the live broadcast.
—
At night, Min Xinyi, a young office worker who had graduated just half a year ago, chatted in a fan group before quickly exiting when the time came.
She turned her attention to the TV.
The advertising slots before Su Yan's dramas were the most expensive in the entire industry.
On Sakura TV, these slots were used for shopping programs.
The advertisements were straightforward.
Companies didn't even need to produce their own ads—
Sakura TV had hosts directly promote products during these long segments.
To boost ratings, they even introduced a special offer:
Buy advertised products and receive limited 'Fate/Zero' merchandise.
How many products were sold aside—
The advertising revenue alone was enormous.
After trying for a while, Min Xinyi failed once again to grab the limited Alexander figure being offered that day.
She sighed.
["Sakura TV really mastered scarcity marketing. Compared to them, Zhongxia TV's operations team is just… amateur."]
Shaking her head, she focused on the screen.
The opening theme of 'Fate/Zero' began.
Even after hearing it ten times, the stunning visuals and emotional music still stirred her heart.
But recalling last week's portrayal of the protagonist—
She felt a bit annoyed.
She just hoped—
There wouldn't be more scenes of Kiritsugu's underhanded tactics this episode.
Just as that thought crossed her mind—
The screen shifted.
Episode 10 opened with a young boy diving from a height.
On a small island, the boy looked lively and cheerful.
Nearby, a beautiful girl named Natalia honked her car horn.
"Kiritsugu, sorry to keep you waiting!" the girl called out with a smile.
Min Xinyi blinked in confusion.
Natalia… Kiritsugu…
New characters?