September 20th.
The teaser trailer for 'Initial D' began airing in full on Yunteng TV.
That's right — even the release of the trailer had to be announced with a preview beforehand. This kind of layering tactic… Yunteng TV really understands how to play the game!
Although the 'Initial D' production team hadn't filmed very far into the series yet, at their request, Jing Yu still took the time to think it through and decided to insert some later plot points into the trailer ahead of time.
Spoilers? Not really Jing Yu's style. But giving half the spoilers and holding back the rest? That's exactly his thing.
At 10 p.m., a special one-hour variety segment dedicated to the 'Initial D' trailer aired on Yunteng TV.
"Takashi... I'm Takumi. I want... to join the team!"
The trailer opens with Jing Yu's character, Takumi, looking a little sad while talking on the phone.
Then—
A flash of the signboard for the Taku Tofu Shop.
Takumi's father, Bunta Fujiwara, the strongest squinting uncle in the entire series, makes his debut.
In the next second, a black-and-white panda-colored car turns on its headlights and speeds through a narrow mountain road in the middle of the night.
Inside the car, tea in a teacup spins into a small whirlpool as it drifts through a sharp turn.
A close-up of a young man's eyes locked onto the mountain road ahead.
Although it's just a close-up of the eyes, fans instantly recognized — this is Jing Yu!
"Start blocking the road. We're heading up!"
With a voice from a man over a walkie-talkie, the background music of the trailer kicks in dramatically!
All kinds of cool race cars, shadows flying at high speed along winding mountain roads, crowds of handsome men and beautiful women gathered at every corner to watch, and the screeching sound of tires drifting at every turn.
No one really knew what was going on — there was zero context or plot!
But the visuals alone were enough to make viewers' hearts race!
"Takumi... I bought a super sexy swimsuit!"
Not all scenes were about cars, either. There were one or two more refreshing shots thrown in.
For instance, Xu Jun appeared in a short schoolgirl uniform — fair-skinned, beautiful, with a fresh aura and the perfect smile paired with big, sparkling eyes.
It had to be said, many of Jing Yu's fans felt their hearts skip a beat.
Truthfully... not bad at all!
With their inner LSP awakened, these viewers no longer cared about how much they had previously criticized Xu Jun for being miscast as the female lead.
Although in the trailer, Natsuki's dad sounded a little off...
Who talks about how cute and pretty their daughter is every three sentences?
Then again, maybe it's part of the setup — an overprotective dad who dotes on his daughter. Understandable! No big deal.
The nearly two-minute trailer didn't reveal a single bit of the plot, yet somehow managed to hook the audience anyway.
As the screen went black, the excited voice over the walkie-talkie echoed once again:
"86 — It's the 86 heading up the mountain!"
Of course, most viewers watching the trailer had no idea what that line actually meant.
The 'Initial D' logo appeared on screen.
At that moment, countless Jing Yu fans blinked at their TVs.
In the fan group chats:
"What's this drama even about? Does anyone know? I didn't get anything, but my blood's boiling!"
"Wasn't this supposed to be a racing drama? Why aren't they racing on tracks with laps? Looks like they're racing on public roads!"
"Same! I thought it would be like 10 or 20 laps on a race track. Didn't expect it to be mountain racing."
"But it's weirdly fascinating…"
"What kind of car is an AE86? Does anyone know?"
"And what's an FC? I'm a hardcore car enthusiast, and even I haven't heard of it!"
"Apparently, Teacher Jing Yu created fictional car models in the drama to avoid copyright issues!"
"Damn, that trailer got me fired up! If I knew it was a mountain racing drama earlier… There are a few mountain spots near the Modo Capital where people street race at night. I watch all the time!"
"Is it actually cool? Mountain racing?"
"Hell yeah! You don't know, huh? You know why the Capital police force has an entire division of supercars costing over a million each? It's because the local street racers are so hardcore that regular cop cars can't keep up! I've seen those racers myself on the streets!"
"Damn you, Teacher Jing Yu! Dropping the trailer now, but the actual show won't air for another ten days. I can't take this!"
"Oh, here we go! The trailer's done, now comes the 'Initial D' special interview segment!"
Yunteng TV's viewership began spiking the moment the 'Initial D' trailer aired.
What followed was a guest interview featuring Cheng Lie.
Since Jing Yu was busy filming and didn't have time to appear on promotional shows, most of the 'Initial D' publicity had recently been handled by Cheng Lie alone.
In the hour-long special, Cheng Lie — who knows Jing Yu all too well — answered all questions, but only halfway.
By the end of the interview, Yunteng TV's viewership ratings were approaching 4%.
The next day:
['Initial D' producer Cheng Lie declares: "Winter season's goal is the number one spot."]
[Lin Bin, top screenwriter from Huanshi TV, and biggest victim of Jing Yu's rise in spring and summer, vows revenge this winter.]
[Zhao Ding, screenwriter of Xingtong TV's winter hit 'You in Winter', confidently claims the show will top ratings and win the entire year.]
[Director of 'Passing the Torch', new drama from Imperial Capital TV, says he's not worried about 'Initial D'. Claims Jing Yu's success in spring and summer was pure luck, and that once the Big Three networks take the winter seriously, there's no way he'll beat them again.]
Major media outlets across Great Zhou and film critics published various analyses based on the information Yunteng TV released about 'Initial D'.
On the internet, on TV, in forums — the name 'Initial D' was everywhere, thanks to a mix of organic hype, fans, and Yunteng TV's hired promoters.
Of course, the Big Three TV stations' winter season flagship dramas also had strong marketing campaigns.
With the autumn season nearing its end, the winter TV ratings war had officially begun.
Even though 'Initial D' had a slightly smaller budget compared to the Big Three's main dramas, in terms of recognition among drama fans across Great Zhou, it was just as strong — if not stronger.
The lingering buzz from 'Hikaru no Go' and 'Steins;Gate' was still alive. Even if people didn't buy Yunteng TV's name, Jing Yu's name still carried serious weight — as long as he hadn't made a single flop.
The 'Initial D' production continued steadily and on schedule.
Post-production was progressing in sync with the filming, and Jing Yu even got involved with the soundtrack.
He didn't remake all the original anime's songs, but the classics like 'Déjà Vu' and 'Rage Your Dream' were must-haves.
Unfortunately, the fake Chinese lyrics (called 空耳 "soramimi") of 'Déjà Vu' might go over the heads of Da Zhou audiences. Even subtitles wouldn't help — it's a linguistic joke from a past life that doesn't translate to Great Zhou's language. Jing Yu could only sigh about that.
But that was a minor issue. He turned his attention back to the edited footage.
From his professional perspective, the mountain race between Takumi and Keisuke Takahashi could've shown a bit more finesse in Keisuke's driving.
But that's from Jing Yu's critical eye.
The stunt driver Xiong Yu, who played Keisuke, thought his performance was perfect — and for the general audience, it was more than enough.
"Eh, forget it. Most people in Great Zhou probably won't notice these flaws. They'll just spam '666' in the comments. No need to nitpick!" Jing Yu shrugged it off.
After all, in terms of watchability, this mountain racing scene was absolutely badass.
And in TV dramas, such things are inevitable. You can't expect every actor in a sports drama to perform like world champions. The footage Jing Yu had filmed already had solid professional merit.
Even those mountain racers that Jing Yu looked down on — in their own regions, they were acknowledged as top-tier drivers. Practically living legends.
Jing Yu closed his laptop.
Besides, it was already September 27. Less than a week until 'Initial D''s premiere. Too late to obsess over tiny flaws.