In mid-March, as 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' neared the end of its theatrical run, its total box office finally surpassed the 3 billion mark. It became the first—and very likely the only—film in the Xia Nation's market this year to achieve that milestone.
After all, the purchasing power of the Xia Nation's currency remained strong, inflation wasn't significant, and ticket prices were relatively low. Even in the Xia Nation, films crossing 3 billion weren't an annual occurrence. Moreover, movies that reached such heights were usually released during the Spring Festival slot. While there were occasional exceptions where a summer release topped the yearly box office, such cases were extremely rare—especially considering that Su Yan also had a new film, 'Your Name', scheduled for release this summer.
If that rare scenario were to happen… could it be that Su Yan's new film would surpass 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie'?
For several consecutive days, media outlets across the Xia Nation flooded the headlines with reports about 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' breaking the 3 billion mark. At the same time, in the television industry, news of Fate/Zero surpassing a 6% viewership rating spread rapidly, fueled by numerous drama critics.
📰"Renowned Xia Nation screenwriter, actor, and investor Su Yan tops both the film and television industries simultaneously—an unprecedented dual dominance in the entertainment world."
📰"There is no longer any doubt—Su Yan is the number one figure in the Xia Nation entertainment industry. At just 25 years old, he and his Dimensional Pictures have become a rising star."
📰"'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' surpasses 3 billion at the box office, claiming the top spot of the Spring Festival season. 'Your Name', set for summer release, is now the most anticipated film in the Xia Nation!"
📰"Black fans disappear. Over the past month, all negative discourse surrounding the genius Su Yan has vanished—no amount of hired trolls can tarnish him anymore!"
📰"'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' confirmed for international release in multiple countries. Dimensional Pictures is expected to achieve over triple returns on investment!"
📰"From obscurity to nationwide fame in just five years—an analysis of Su Yan's meteoric rise as a screenwriter."
Far away in Tokyo, where Su Yan was filming, he had long been at the center of media attention in the Xia Nation's entertainment industry. But in recent days, coverage about him had surged even further.
With fame—both for individuals and companies—came capital.
Several major Xia Nation investment giants had expressed interest in buying shares in Su Yan's company. However, Su Yan had no interest in going public. At his current level, it was also difficult for others to undermine him through underhanded means.
After all, Su Yan wasn't running a traditional industrial business. There was no way for competitors to suppress him through supply chains, raw materials, or import-export channels.
Dimensional Pictures was a cultural enterprise. All intellectual property produced belonged to Su Yan himself. The company's greatest value lies in Su Yan as an individual. Even if someone wanted to scheme against him, there was little they could actually do.
That said, Su Yan was very interested in partnerships with industry capital and advertisers—as long as they didn't involve equity.
Following the massive success of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', Su Yan had effectively broken through every major channel in the Xia Nation's film industry.
At this point, which celebrity or company would dare put on airs and refuse to collaborate with him?
Before 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' began filming, Dimensional Pictures had approached many well-known actors for key roles—but they had looked down on Su Yan at the time. Now, although those actors claimed in interviews that they had no regrets, the bitterness in their tone was unmistakable.
Meanwhile, production on 'Kimi ni Todoke' and 'Your Name' had both entered post-production.
A youth campus romance like 'Kimi ni Todoke' was relatively easy to film, with minimal special effects required.
But for 'Your Name', Su Yan had placed extremely high expectations.
Time passed quickly, and before long, it was Sunday again.
After the Spring Festival, temperatures across the Xia Nation began to rise, and Tokyo was now blanketed in cherry blossoms.
As Su Yan filmed cherry blossom scenes for both 'Your Name' and 'Kimi ni Todoke' in Tokyo, Fate/Zero had, over the course of a week, completely exploded in popularity among his fanbase.
Many fans who had planned to wait and binge the series could no longer hold back.
Even though everyone complained about how depressing Su Yan's works were, they couldn't deny that they loved watching them.
The familiar emotional devastation, the familiar brutality, the familiar plot twists—it all gave many viewers the same feeling they had when watching 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'.
And the ultimate direction of the story had become the hottest topic among Fate/Zero fans.
["Can they stop letting Gilgamesh act so smug? I'm getting annoyed with this character."]
["Feels like Gilgamesh just relies on his weapons. His actual combat strength should be pretty weak."]
["From start to finish, he's been fighting using his Gate of Babylon. Without his Noble Phantasms, he'd probably only be at Hassan's level."]
["But the thing is—he does have all those Noble Phantasms. What can you do about it?"]
["Just wait. They're building Gilgamesh up this strong—he's definitely going to crash hard later!"]
["No way. Would Su Yan personally play a character who crashes that badly?"]
["You're all arguing about whether Gilgamesh or Artoria will win the Holy Grail War… am I the only one hoping Alexander wins?"]
["The King of Conquerors faction cannot be ignored!"]
["Even if the chances are low—he clearly feels like a supporting character—I still really like him."]
["Does no one like Berserker? He's the only one so far who can actually go toe-to-toe with Gilgamesh."]
["Come on, Berserker just looks insane. Who would like that?"]
["That unstable mental state is probably a side effect of being summoned as a Berserker. The official settings on Dimensional Pictures' website mention that if he were summoned in another class, he wouldn't have that issue. But in exchange, his madness boosts his combat power—otherwise he might not have been able to fight Gilgamesh earlier."]
["What I really want to know is—if Emiya Kiritsugu actually wins the Holy Grail War, what kind of wish would he make? Can the Holy Grail really grant something as vague as world peace?"]
["It's Su Yan we're talking about—what are you expecting? In 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', so many magical girls made wishes, but the only one who didn't regret it was Madoka. I'm telling you, this wish is definitely a huge trap."]
Since the drama began airing, just like in Su Yan's previous life, "power-scaling fans" had begun emerging one after another.
Every character had their supporters, and debates raged online daily.
As the male lead, Emiya Kiritsugu's popularity continued to rise, and more and more fans began discussing him.
If a good deed is accomplished through despicable means, is it still a good deed?
If someone acts with good intentions, can all their wrongdoings be forgiven as long as the outcome is good?
As the broadcast progressed into its later stages, the influence of Fate/Zero continued to expand, with discussions lasting from day to night.
And just like that, time approached 8 PM—the airing time of Episode 11 of Fate/Zero.