From daytime on Monday, the box office performance of 'Your Name' already felt unusual—and by nighttime, as expected, it proved everyone right.
As soon as midnight passed, major institutions across the Xia Nation reported the full-day total:
212 million.
This result instantly silenced those media outlets and haters who had previously posted articles pretending to "regret" the film's poor release timing while secretly gloating.
They only pretended to feel sorry that 'Your Name' didn't have the right release window to surpass 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie'.
It didn't mean they actually wanted it to surpass it.
In fact, many of them didn't even want the film to break 2 billion.
In the film industry, it was normal for producers and investors to lose money on several projects before finally making a profit on one.
But Su Yan, as both screenwriter and investor, had never made a loss on any of his films.
That alone was already outrageous—and he had even taken the Spring Festival box office championship.
There were plenty of people in the Xia Nation who envied and resented him.
They had all been waiting for him to fail just once—so they could mock him mercilessly.
But after half a year of waiting, 'Your Name' finally premiered.
Not only did it not fail—its opening weekend numbers were absurd.
And now, even Monday has crossed 200 million?
That night, many people completely lost their composure.
Especially the investors behind films that had previously competed against Su Yan's projects and suffered crushing defeats over the past three years.
Quite a few posted bitter comments that very night.
Some media outlets, influenced by this sentiment, began publishing strange articles with subtle smears.
Claims like: although 'Your Name' performed well on Monday, it was probably just a short-lived spike; its box office would soon return to normal, and its total wouldn't exceed 2 billion…
But audiences in the Xia Nation weren't foolish.
Compared to opinions from media figures they had never met, they trusted the firsthand experiences of people around them far more.
By Tuesday, 'Your Name' still surpassed 200 million, earning 201 million.
By Wednesday, it still pulled in 158 million.
These numbers left the entire film industry in silence.
Because under normal circumstances, weekday daily box office totals in the Xia Nation were usually below 60 million.
The performance of 'Your Name' during weekdays clearly wasn't just driven by fans doing repeat viewings—
It was the result of word-of-mouth spreading, continuously attracting large numbers of casual viewers into theaters.
And precisely because they were industry insiders, once they realized this, they fell silent.
They didn't want to admit it—but they had to.
Su Yan—this anomaly of a screenwriter and investor—had little in the way of industry connections.
He barely had any personal ties with major figures in the field.
Most of his external collaborations were handled by his company's second-in-command, Shinozaki Ikumi.
And yet, this young man—who, at a glance, seemed to just throw money at everything—
It was reshaping the tastes of audiences across both the television and film industries in the Xia Nation.
Something that most industry professionals could only dream of…
It was happening to him in reality.
At this rate—
In just a few years, Su Yan might become a true benchmark figure in both television and film.
By Thursday, media commentary across the Xia Nation had already shifted to this level of discussion.
Even without spending money on self-promotion, Su Yan was being viewed this way by the press.
At just 26 years old—an age where people in any industry would normally be criticized for lacking experience—
There was no longer a single media outlet, critic, or industry veteran who dared to use that argument against him.
To rely on seniority now would only invite humiliation.
And while the entire nation focused on the box office performance of 'Your Name'—
Su Yan, having just finished the film's initial promotional phase, was not only monitoring its performance and the broadcast data of 'Kimi ni Todoke',
But had also begun pre-production preparations for 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
Su Yan was extremely familiar with this work.
It was one of the masterpieces that had drawn him into anime in his early years.
Back then, Lelouch and C.C. consistently dominated popularity rankings for male and female characters across the anime community.
And its competitors at the time were all legendary works—
'Haruhi Suzumiya', 'Fate/stay night', 'Higurashi', 'NANA', 'Clannad', 'Death Note'…
Some of these might seem niche to later audiences.
For example, 'NANA'—a shoujo anime—was barely known among many of Su Yan's friends.
Yet it had once surpassed even major hits like 'Naruto', 'Bleach', and 'One Piece' to become the top-selling manga of the year.
As for why it only held that title for one year—
Because shoujo manga tended to be shorter and finished quickly.
In that golden era filled with masterpieces, 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' still stood as one of the most popular works.
Though somewhat dated, Su Yan knew one thing clearly:
Classics never fade with time.
He admitted that 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' had a certain level of over-the-top, even "chuunibyou" style storytelling.
But audiences who loved film and anime weren't looking for strict realism.
Unrealistic elements weren't the problem—
The real problem was being both unrealistic and boring.
And 'Code Geass' was anything but boring.
For adapting it into a live-action drama, Su Yan didn't need much thought—
The biggest challenge was obvious:
The large-scale, frequent battle scenes.
And not ordinary battles—but urban warfare involving giant mechas.
To bring those visuals to life, the cost of special effects would surpass anything he had done before.
Even productions like 'Fate/Zero', 'Fate/Stay Night', and 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' wouldn't compare.
But for Su Yan now, that wasn't an issue.
After years in the industry, he had built a solid financial foundation.
Even if 'Code Geass' ended up losing money due to its massive production costs—
It wouldn't matter.
Just the act of bringing mecha—Gundam-style war stories—into the Xia Nation's film and television industry was enough to excite him.
Because beyond being an investor, at his core—
He was still a passionate anime fan.
Someone who naturally wanted to share the works he loved with a wider audience.
And with Dimensional Pictures now running smoothly—
With 'Your Name' dominating theaters and the second 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' in production—
Su Yan's ambitions naturally extended further.
Makoto Shinkai… Satoshi Kon… Isao Takahata… Hayao Miyazaki…
A whole series of ideas began forming in his mind.