Starting from late November, Hudu TV began an aggressive promotional campaign for 'Fate/stay night'. Across Xia Nation—and even in Sakura Island—major first-tier and coastal cities were flooded with advertisements.
Even in Tokyo, thousands of kilometers away, Su Yan could see 'Fate/stay night' posters everywhere—subway entrances, train stations, bus stops, airport exits, and even near the Tokyo branch headquarters of Dimensional Pictures.
And on those posters, there was only one person—
Zhuang Yuxin as Artoria, clad in blue knight armor.
The same styling. The same presence.
Simple—but explosive.
In an incredibly short time, it ignited the passion of drama fans across Xia Nation.
Posts about 'Fate/stay night' rapidly flooded major websites, quickly climbing to the top of trending charts.
Zhuang Yuxin, who hadn't had any major works for nearly a year and had slipped out of the top five in popularity rankings, suddenly surged back to become the number one female star.
Su Yan's official website also resumed updating the background novel for 'Fate/stay night', this time on a completely different scale.
Every day, millions logged in to follow the updates. Meanwhile, 'Fate/Zero', which had already been airing for nearly a year with an average of over 33 million paid views per episode, saw its numbers climb once again—this new wave of 'Fate/stay night' promotion drew in a huge number of new viewers.
By December, the official trailer for 'Fate/stay night' was finally released.
Unlike 'Fate/Zero', whose story had been tightly constrained—since Kinoko Nasu had already predetermined each character's ending, leaving Gen Urobuchi with limited creative freedom and resulting in an overall tragic tone—
'Fate/stay night' was different.
The actresses playing Tohsaka Rin (Wu Yuning) and Matou Sakura (Yu Weiwei), though newcomers and the same age as Zhuang Yuxin, were absolutely on par with her in terms of appearance.
The Xia Nation had never lacked beautiful actresses.
And while beauty combined with strong acting skills was rare, for Su Yan at this stage, it wasn't a problem at all.
As core actors in the Fate series, they had signed long-term contracts with Su Yan—but under extremely generous terms.
Su Yan had already earned more than enough from his works, so when it came to commercial appearances and salaries, he didn't exploit his actors—everything followed standard market rates.
In the 'Fate/stay night' trailer:
Zhuang Yuxin's blue-armored Artoria,
Wu Yuning's red-uniformed Tohsaka Rin,
Yu Weiwei's purple-clad Matou Sakura,
and Wei Jingchen as Emiya Shirou—
Each character made their appearance in sequence.
Finally, the scene froze on the iconic moment:
Under the moonlight, the knight girl meets the boy for the first time—
And that line:
"I ask of you—are you, my Master?"
---
["So good! I'm already hyped!"]
["Why does 'Fate/stay night' feel more youthful than 'Fate/Zero'?"]
["At least the Masters here are better-looking than in 'Fate/Zero'. There wasn't even a proper female Master there, right?"]
["Tohsaka Rin's visuals are insane."]
["Wait, isn't Artoria the true heroine? Why does the official site list Rin and Sakura as heroines too?"]
["Am I the only one who thinks Illya is the cutest?"]
["From 'Fate/Zero', you can tell Illya is Kiritsugu's daughter, right?"]
["But why do the actors look so different from 'Fate/Zero'?"]
["They were kids in 'Fate/Zero' and are older now in 'Fate/stay night'. Of course, they look different. You can't wait for child actors to grow up before filming, can you?"]
["As long as Artoria is in it, I'm good. Everyone else is just extra—I'm here for her."]
["Long live Su Yan!"]
["I don't want to spend another second in this December!"]
["I'm just worried they'll ruin the perfectly portrayed Artoria from 'Fate/Zero'."]
["Why do people say this every time before a Su Yan drama airs? It's been six years—don't you realize his strongest point is always the later stages, not the beginning?"]
["I'm more interested in the game for 'Fate/stay night'. No trailer yet, but the poster's out. Seeing that Gilgamesh modeled after that old thief Su Yan—I can't wait to beat him up in-game."]
["Same here. Can't beat him in real life, but in the game I'll absolutely wreck that Su Yan-faced Gilgamesh to vent six years of emotional trauma."]
["What if the in-game Gilgamesh is just as overpowered as in the drama—and you still get crushed?"]
["Then I'm leaving a bad review the moment the game launches."]
["Same. If I can't bully Gilgamesh in the game, what's even the point?"]
Tokyo.
While filming 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' Season 2, Su Yan took a short break to browse online discussions about 'Fate/stay night', as well as overseas audience reactions to the trailer.
Overall, 'Fate/stay night's domestic influence was unquestionable.
However, in several foreign countries and on the streaming platform NK, since 'Fate/Zero' hadn't been officially released overseas, most curious viewers remained in a wait-and-see mode.
With multiple projects underway, even though 'Fate/stay night' had massive investment, Su Yan didn't focus all his attention on it.
In fact, he hadn't even set strict expectations for its domestic ratings.
No one could keep surpassing their own limits forever.
If 'Fate/stay night' could exceed 'Fate/Zero', that would be ideal.
If not, maintaining the seasonal championship would be enough.
And—
Although it was still early, the Xia Flame Awards committee had already sent nomination invitations to Dimensional Pictures for Zhuang Yuxin, Gu Qingyuan, Su Yan, and others, thanks to 'Fate/Zero' and 'Kimi ni Todoke'.
The invitations now sat on Su Yan's desk.
"It feels like it's not us going to accept awards—it's the ceremony relying on our popularity to boost their ratings."
Even in the middle of winter, Shinozaki Ikumi wore a red dress with high heels, her hair neatly styled—radiating the aura of a confident, elegant woman.
Success had transformed her completely.
Back when she worked at Sakura TV, she had been cautious, afraid of making mistakes.
Now, her confidence and composure were unmistakable.
After all, in Xia Nation's film and television industry, nothing could "collapse" for her anymore—Dimensional Pictures, founded with Su Yan, had effectively reached the ceiling of the industry.
"That's true," Su Yan said after a moment of thought. "The invitations are usually sent in early January, but this time they came in early December. The committee probably knows that if they don't send them early and give me time to adjust my schedule, I'd skip their ceremony at the end of January to promote the second 'Rurouni Kenshin' movie."
"Well, the top awards are definitely going to you and our company anyway. If you don't show up, it'll be national news—the credibility of the Xia Flame Awards would take a hit," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a smile.
"But are we really just going to let them ride our popularity like that?"
At this point, awards meant very little to her.
The company earned billions annually, and her dividends alone were in the hundreds of millions—what did awards matter?
"Of course not. Do I look like someone who takes a loss?" Su Yan glanced at her. "During my acceptance speech, I'll promote the 'Rurouni Kenshin' movie—and maybe even perform some swordsmanship on stage."
"…"
Shinozaki Ikumi fell silent.
She could already imagine it—a TV awards ceremony where Su Yan casually announced his upcoming movie release.
The judges' faces would probably turn green.
"No need to give them face," she said with a laugh. "There was that year we should've won, but Akasaka Yoshitoki influenced the committee, and they denied us on the grounds of 'insufficient seniority.' This time, we'll get a little payback."
"You really hold grudges," Su Yan said, looking at her. "I'd already forgotten about that."
"Good. Just don't offend me," she replied with a smile. "Even when I'm seventy or eighty, I'll still remember—and wait for my chance to get revenge."
"Seventy or eighty…" Su Yan's gaze turned thoughtful.
"What would I even be doing at that age?"
"What else? Filming, obviously," Shinozaki Ikumi laughed. "Or what—staying home taking care of your grandkids?"
"That makes sense," Su Yan chuckled.
"I was joking. There's no way you'd still be filming at that age. No matter how creative you are, you'd probably overwork your brain into dementia by then," she added, her smile fading.
"I'm serious," Su Yan said calmly.
After all, before his transmigration, Hayao Miyazaki had still been making films at nearly eighty.
Why couldn't he?
"Show-off," she said, though a hint of belief flickered in her eyes.
But she quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, the two newly formed production teams—'Weathering With You' is scheduled for release at the end of July next year, and 'Howl's Moving Castle' is set for the Spring Festival the year after. Do you want to adjust the timeline?"
"No need," Su Yan nodded.
'Weathering With You' didn't require too many complex effects. With Dimensional Pictures' current capabilities, filming and post-production wouldn't take long—just a tight schedule for the two lead actors.
And for two eighteen-year-old newcomers, they couldn't wait for the film to be completed and released.
An actor's golden years lasted only about a decade.
The earlier they became famous, the higher their chances of long-term success.
"Alright, I'll proceed with promotions and planning based on that timeline."