The release date of 'Weathering With You' was set for the very last day of July. On that day, among all the films with investments exceeding 100 million, aside from the 250 million production 'Weathering With You', there were two other major productions.
But by now, whether it was Su Yan, Dimensional Pictures, or the Xia Nation film market as a whole, no one believed those two films could pose any real threat to him.
Ironically, in his previous life, Su Yan had disliked "traffic stars" the most.
Yet in the Xia Nation now, he himself was the biggest traffic star—without question.
The difference, however, was that not only did Su Yan possess overwhelming popularity, but his reputation, creative ability, and consistency in producing high-quality works were also unmatched in the market.
Strictly speaking, in Su Yan's own view, 'Weathering With You' was a fairly standard work.
If 'Your Name' were rated as 100 points, then by his personal taste, he would give this film at most a 70 to 75.
But after all, his rise in the film industry had begun with Makoto Shinkai's works. Su Yan always saw things through to the end—the so-called "disaster trilogy" would all eventually be adapted and released in the Xia Nation.
Still—
His fans were simply too passionate.
Even though there had been a few advance screenings before July 31, the viewers who attended still praised the film endlessly.
Many even claimed online that it was no less impressive than 'Your Name'.
By the afternoon of release day, 'Weathering With You' held 46% of theater screenings, with presale box office surpassing 150 million.
In any second-tier city or above across the Xia Nation, cinemas were filled early in the morning with students on summer break lining up.
At 7 PM, the premiere screening officially began.
The story itself was relatively simple, once again set in Tokyo.
A teenage boy runs away from home and arrives in the city, where he meets a girl of similar age—Hina. Through their interactions, he discovers her ability:
She can stop the rain and bring out clear skies.
The first half of the story follows the two teenagers enduring hardships together, eventually establishing themselves in Tokyo by relying on Hina's power as a "sunshine girl." She helps many people and earns enough to survive in the city.
But as the story progresses, a familiar trope from an island nation works emerges—
Convenient powers always come with a price.
Changing the weather angers nature, and the result is even more extreme disasters.
In the end, to calm these catastrophic conditions, Hina—who possesses the power to bring sunshine—must sacrifice herself as a shrine maiden.
The core of the story is this:
After discovering the cost of her power, the male protagonist ultimately chooses to save Hina—even if it means Tokyo will be submerged under relentless rain for years to come.
In Su Yan's previous world, this ending had been highly controversial.
From a rational perspective, was it worth letting a city of tens of millions suffer—possibly even lose lives—just to save one teenage girl?
But Su Yan had already explored a similar dilemma in 'Fate/Zero':
If saving 300 people requires sacrificing 200, is that the right choice?
The answer had already been given—when Kiritsugu Emiya used a Command Seal to force Saber to destroy the Holy Grail.
So in theaters, when audiences saw the male protagonist make his choice—passing through the torii gate and ascending into the sky to save Hina—
And then the two of them fell from the clouds, holding hands in freefall—
For Xia Nation audiences who hadn't experienced similar iconic scenes like those in 'Spirited Away', this final sequence was nothing short of breathtaking.
On its first day of release, 'Weathering With You' earned 380 million at the box office across the Xia Nation—setting a new record for Su Yan's films and ranking as the third-highest single-day box office in the nation's history.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Su Yan remained clear-headed despite the dazzling numbers.
The film's opening rating of 9.5—and the widespread debates online—already said a lot.
Just as he had expected, the fanbase had begun to split, much like in his previous world.
["So the male lead is just selfish, right? He saves the girl he loves and lets Tokyo flood."]
["Heh, I like this kind of protagonist. I'm tired of those self-sacrificing saints. Why should Hina have to die for Tokyo? When she struggled to survive, did Tokyo treat her well?"]
["Exactly. Just because she can stop the disaster doesn't mean she's obligated to sacrifice herself."]
["But seriously, choosing to flood an entire city just to save one person? That's ridiculous."]
["The rain falls gradually over years—people would have time to evacuate. It's not like everyone would die, it's mostly economic loss."]
["'Just' economic loss? Compared to human lives, which matters more?"]
["You're all just ordinary people, yet you talk like moral judges. If I were him, I wouldn't let the person I love die for strangers either. And even if Hina saved Tokyo, no one would ever know."]
["Why are you all arguing so much? For once, that old sadist didn't go full tragedy and let the heroine live—and now you're unhappy? Tough crowd."]
["Why argue at all? It's just a movie. Tokyo in real life is fine—and Su Yan even owns two villas there. You're taking it too seriously."]
["Exactly. Just appreciate the film. Wasn't that rooftop scene—Hina stepping into the rain, praying as the sky clears and fireworks bloom—beautiful enough? Why fight over the ending?"]
["Stop being brainwashed into thinking everything needs a grand sacrifice. They're just ordinary people who want to live and be together. Maybe they're not great—but they're not insignificant either."]
["Exactly. I support this film—I'm watching it at least three times!"]
Late at night, reading through these online reactions, Su Yan finally let out a sigh of relief.
Disagreements among fans were expected.
But his reputation in the Xia Nation was simply too strong. Even though parts of the story were controversial, most fans weren't overly critical, especially considering his past works.
Of course, this was also helped by the fact that he had modified some awkward elements from the original script.
Compared to other works, 'Weathering With You' only had minor issues that were easy to fix. Unlike something like 'Suzume', which had certain lines that might not translate well—those would definitely be cut if adapted.
After scrolling through comments until late into the night, Su Yan finally went to sleep.
He had no problem accepting criticism—after all, he himself had criticized this film in his previous life.
And as things stood, the reception was far better than he had expected.
The next day—
Although 'Weathering With You' didn't surpass 'Your Name' in reputation, and its ending remained controversial—
Both sides agreed on one thing:
It was undeniably an excellent film.
Those who loved it called it a masterpiece, resonating with the protagonist's final choice.
Those who didn't simply feel it fell short of 'Your Name'—but still acknowledged its quality.
With such a high floor and potentially very high ceiling, the film sparked just as much enthusiasm on Saturday as it had on Friday.
That day, the box office reached 384 million—slightly higher than the first day.
In just two days, the total box office surpassed 700 million, accounting for over 65% of the market share during the same release window.
Once again, 'Weathering With You' left the Xia Nation film industry in silence.
Just—
When would Su Yan finally have a flop?
When would someone manage to defeat him head-on?