Late June.
Across the Xia Nation internet, discussions about 'Kimi ni Todoke' flooded film and television forums.
At the same time, movies set to release during the summer season also began their pre-release promotional campaigns.
This year's summer lineup included six films with investments exceeding 100 million yuan—four scheduled for July and two for August.
Among the four major July releases, aside from 'Your Name', two others were set to premiere on the same day.
Although the summer season spanned two months, there were really only two or three prime release windows.
Based on experience, late July was often when the box office champion of the season emerged.
Two years ago, during the summer season, 'The Garden of Words' had been seen as an underdog before its release.
Last year, Su Yan had already secured the seasonal box office crown.
And this year—
Among the five films with investments exceeding 100 million, 'Your Name' ranked first with a production budget of 280 million yuan. And that didn't even include promotional expenses. After all, it was still only late June, with a full month left before release—how much would ultimately be spent on marketing could only be known after the fact.
In terms of momentum, Su Yan's 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', released five months ago, had just won the Spring Festival box office championship. Naturally, his next major film after that had been eagerly anticipated by countless movie fans across the Xia Nation for months.
Even though Su Yan wasn't the lead in 'Your Name', he still had an important cameo role.
So by the end of June, media across the Xia Nation's film industry had reached a rare consensus in predicting the summer box office trends—
Almost everyone believed 'Your Name' would take the top spot.
The only question was how high its box office would go.
At the same time, this period also marked the beginning of heated fan wars between Su Yan's supporters and those of other movie stars.
In this world, some people didn't even care about money—so naturally, there were plenty who disliked Su Yan. From late June onward, various groups had already set their "flags" and predictions.
And just like that, June passed.
July arrived.
"Cut!"
On the set of 'Fate/stay night', Sato Yuhiko, who played Emiya Shirou, immediately felt his confidence falter as he faced Director Shi Peihua's slightly displeased expression.
If Su Yan wanted to turn the 'Fate' series into a full-fledged IP, then solidifying the casting of its key characters was essential.
Back in May, the selection of Emiya Shirou's actor alone had taken considerable effort.
The reason Sato Yuhiko—a former child actor now 17 years old—was chosen largely had to do with his older brother, Sato Yuji.
In 'Fate/stay night', Archer and Emiya Shirou were the same person. While that might not be obvious in animation, a live-action adaptation needed to hint at it more clearly.
So Sato Yuji—who resembled his younger brother but carried a far more mature presence—was selected by Su Yan.
On top of that, as the older brother, he had a strong martial arts foundation, which meant the close-combat scenes involving Archer would reach an entirely different level of quality.
The two brothers were already quite well-known in the Xia Nation's entertainment industry, but facing a production team filled with top-tier television veterans still made them nervous.
Fortunately, Shi Peihua only gave a few stern remarks.
"Do your best," Su Yan said with a smile from the side. Still dressed in golden armor as Gilgamesh in this drama, he looked at Sato Yuhiko.
"You need to show some backbone in your performance. After all, the Emiya Shirou you're playing is going to fall in love with one of the top female characters in the Xia Nation TV scene right now—Artoria. If your presence feels too weak, Zhuang Yuxin's fans will tear you apart."
As soon as Su Yan said this, Sato Yuhiko froze.
Shi Peihua narrowed his eyes slightly.
This was news to them—after all, Su Yan hadn't finalized the latter parts of the script yet. Based on the early script, it felt quite similar to the previous Holy Grail War involving Emiya Kiritsugu.
Even Shinozaki Ikumi looked completely stunned.
What?
Artoria… was going to fall in love?
In 'Fate/stay night'?
"Is that really part of the setting for this drama?" Shinozaki Ikumi quickly pulled Su Yan aside.
"Of course. It'll appear in the later storyline," Su Yan replied.
"Isn't that too risky? That's Artoria we're talking about! Do you think 'Fate' fans will accept her being in a romance?"
"Why wouldn't they?" Su Yan smiled.
"That's exactly the kind of story they want to see."
After all, in his previous life, Artoria's popularity had surged because of 'Fate/stay night' itself, with 'Fate/Zero' only amplifying it further. Su Yan wasn't worried about the story—his only concern was whether the actors could deliver strong enough performances.
Otherwise, why would he still be personally overseeing the shoot when his own scenes had already wrapped?
"…Fine." Shinozaki Ikumi sighed after looking at his expression and didn't press further.
How could she, as a producer, try to interfere with Su Yan's story decisions?
Even though the idea of Artoria being in a romance felt questionable, if everything had followed her instincts, Dimensional Pictures probably would have gone bankrupt long ago.
After chatting briefly, they moved on to business.
"This afternoon, the head of the newly established game department wants to meet you. I've already spoken with him—he has some interesting ideas. I arranged for him to discuss the development direction of the 'Fate' series games with you. Also, tomorrow morning, Sakura TV will send someone to interview you. It'll be edited into the promotional footage for 'Kimi ni Todoke'. Make sure to dress properly—look sharp."
"Got it." Su Yan paused, then smiled. "Thanks. I'm relying on you, Vice Chairman, to handle all this—otherwise I'd be completely overwhelmed."
"We've known each other for so many years. No need to say that." Shinozaki Ikumi froze for a moment, then smiled more lightly.
Even so, her mood clearly lifted.
The company was now expanding into films, television, and games—and in the future, it might even acquire manufacturing companies to produce merchandise for Su Yan's works.
With such diversified growth, there was simply too much work. Shinozaki Ikumi handled everything she could for Su Yan—but as both chairman and the company's biggest star, there were still many things only he could personally take on.
Su Yan's daily schedule was already packed. In the entire company, there were very few people busier than him—but Shinozaki Ikumi was definitely one of them.
Days passed one by one.
As Su Yan immersed himself in filming 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' and 'Fate/stay night' in the Tokyo area, the premiere of 'Kimi ni Todoke' drew closer.
Three days.
Two days.
One day…
Finally, the date arrived—
Sunday, July 7th.
From early in the day, Su Yan's fans across the Xia Nation had already begun celebrating.
Fan groups and forums saw activity levels several times higher than usual.
Sakura TV went all out with promotion.
From morning to afternoon, almost every commercial break during programming featured the 'Kimi ni Todoke' trailer.
In major cities like Imperial Capital, Hudu, and coastal first-tier cities, posters for the drama were plastered across subways and bus stations.
Su Yan, dressed in a white shirt and high school uniform, stood beside Gu Qingyuan—her long black hair flowing as she shyly glanced at him, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looked at the character Kazehaya Shota he portrayed.
The youthful atmosphere was overwhelming.
The entire Xia Nation television industry had its eyes fixed on one moment—
8 PM that night, the premiere of 'Kimi ni Todoke'.