'Kimi ni Todoke' can be said to have reached its most thrilling week since it began airing.
At first, everyone thought it was one of those depressing dramas disguised as pure romance. But after watching two episodes, they realized—it was actually genuine, heartfelt love.
Later, people assumed that since the male and female leads had already been shown to secretly like each other from episode one, the pacing would be fast—like 'Tokyo Love Story', where in just a dozen episodes, characters go through breakups and reconciliations over and over again.
But—
By episode six, the leads hadn't even held hands yet. Instead, the second female lead, Kurumizawa, had been doing everything she could to stir up trouble.
No outsider could understand the excitement of 'Kimi ni Todoke' fans at the moment when, at the end of episode seven, Kazehaya Shota grabbed Sawako Kuronuma's hand.
And when the ending theme started playing—
That was when the anger hit.
Late at night, a massive wave of fans flooded into Dimensional Pictures' official website, swarming Su Yan's account and leaving comments:
["Su Yan, you evil mastermind—how are you even able to sleep? Because I definitely can't!"]
["Can't you just film one more minute? Every week it's like this—are you serious? Get up and make the TV station release another episode. Better yet, update daily!
["I declare 'Kimi ni Todoke' the peak of Xia Nation's pure romance dramas—but Su Yan? He's at the peak of frustration. This cliffhanger… It's almost 1 a.m., and I still can't sleep because of the plot!"]
["Wait, hasn't it always been said that Su Yan is basically a workaholic who doesn't date? Then why are his romance dramas so good? Doesn't this kind of thing require real-life experience?"]
["I've been wondering the same! His shows always have romance elements—how does he come up with this stuff without dating? Especially Sanada Ryu in this episode—he's seriously charming. Kazehaya is handsome and refreshing, but almost unreal. Sanada Ryu, though? That's the kind of guy you'd actually want to meet in real life!"]
["Some things just come down to talent. Do martial arts screenwriters actually learn kung fu? Maybe it's precisely because Su Yan doesn't date that he can create a girl like Sawako Kuronuma—someone who doesn't exist in reality."]
["This episode made me so frustrated! Give me more close-ups of Kurumizawa! That scheming woman—she tried to be clever and ended up backfiring!"]
["Please, I'm begging—let there be a confession in the next episode!"]
["It's already episode seven. There really should be a confession by now, or the whole season's going to end."]
["I heard 'Kimi ni Todoke' won't finish in one season. Apparently, in the winter slot next January, they'll air more than half a season's worth of episodes."]
["Seriously? If they confess in episode eight, what's left to carry the story for that long?"]
["So… is it possible they won't confess in episode eight?"]
["?"]
["Don't jinx it."]
["I'm already dying from the slow burn. If they still don't confess in episode eight, it's going to kill me!"]
["Dragging things out just for padding isn't fun. In romance dramas, the confession should come naturally, then wrap things up in one go—that's the right way."]
["But even though the main plot is progressing slowly, it doesn't feel dragged out at all! The biggest problem is that time flies while watching—it ends before you know it."]
["That just means the story has you hooked!"]
["Please, stop torturing us. This show is way too nerve-wracking—the plot is going to give me a heart attack!"]
Late at night, Su Yan lay at home, scrolling through the fans' discussions, quietly watching the emotional value in his system steadily rise.
Although he sympathized with the viewers, there was nothing he could do.
For the sake of more emotional value, the cliffhangers had to stay.
Around 2 a.m., Su Yan finally went to sleep.
The next morning, he woke up early.
After all, today was important.
The driver had already been waiting outside Su Yan's Tokyo villa for twenty minutes in advance.
Although the island region had a dense population, and the villa Su Yan purchased was quite valuable, it still couldn't compare to his residence in Hudu.
At the very least, Hudu's infrastructure, greenery, and overall environment were far superior.
If he had the choice, Su Yan would prefer to stay in Hudu long-term. But most of the works he drew were originally from his past life's island nation. Rather than heavily modifying them, it was better to recreate the setting entirely.
Take 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' for example—if he moved the setting to a futuristic Xia Nation, then how would the "Chinese Federation" from the original be handled?
Some works could have their backgrounds altered.
But others—like this one—simply couldn't.
Sitting in the back seat, Su Yan ate the breakfast prepared in advance.
Although he wasn't dining in a proper restaurant due to time constraints, the food was of the same standard. The extended luxury car was spacious and fully equipped, with a TV, refrigerator, and even a small dining table.
Su Yan wasn't a particularly extravagant person. But in the past two years, he had made money so quickly that if he didn't indulge a little, it almost felt meaningless.
At the very least, he could consider it contributing to the Xia Nation's GDP.
Soon, the car arrived at the location his company had prepared in advance—
The filming set of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
This drama was essentially divided into two main storylines.
One followed Lelouch's everyday school life.
The other followed Lelouch, under the alias Zero, leading revolutionary activities in Area 11—the Sakura Island region under Britannian rule.
At the beginning, they were just a small armed group.
As the story progressed, they grew into a large military force, then a warlord faction—
And eventually, they seized control of the world.
The plot was, admittedly, a bit chuunibyou.
But—
That was the market's choice.
In Su Yan's past life, even fans of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' acknowledged this—yet it never stopped them from loving it.
For this production, Su Yan had rented a massive century-old estate on the outskirts of Tokyo, transforming it into Ashford Academy.
As for the mecha battles and action scenes, the company had already begun customizing filming environments and visual effects according to Su Yan's script.
Su Yan arrived early—there were still twenty minutes before the scheduled time.
Yet the entire crew—actors, filming staff, director, and various departments—over two hundred people in total—had already arrived.
The moment they saw Su Yan step onto the set, everyone stopped what they were doing and greeted him in uneven chorus:
"Good morning, Teacher Su Yan!"
"Thanks for your hard work, Teacher Su Yan!"
"Boss looks handsome today!"
"You all carry on—don't mind me!"
As the largest investment drama Su Yan had undertaken in Xia Nation so far, the difference was evident even from the preparation stage.
Everyone involved in the project was among the top professionals in their respective fields—there wasn't a single unqualified participant.
As he walked toward the meeting room on set, aside from the three most popular actresses under his company—Zhuang Yuxin, Shen Liqian, and Gu Qingyuan—there were also first- and second-tier actresses from other entertainment companies across Xia Nation everywhere.
Any role of significance in this drama was played by at least second- or third-tier stars.
Their salaries were slightly below market rate, as Su Yan wanted to allocate more budget toward large-scale scenes.
Even so, these Xia Nation celebrities flocked eagerly to join the project.
A television drama with an investment of 600 million—
Looking back, it was unprecedented in the Xia Nation.
Looking ahead, it might remain unmatched.
Even top-tier S-class dramas from the three major TV stations weren't guaranteed to recoup such costs.
What capitalist would invest in a project with such high risk and uncertain returns?
If they missed this opportunity, these actors might never again get the chance to be part of a production of this scale in their entire careers.