In early February, several production teams under Bluestar Media & Film Company were more or less assembled, and the lead casting for multiple projects was nearly finalized.
What came next was company-level funding allocation.
Over the past few years, the combined income from Jing Yu's various productions—including broadcast revenue, merchandise, overseas licensing, and the game adaptation of 'Fate/Zero'—had amassed around 1.7 to 1.8 billion in liquid cash.
And this didn't even include projected revenue from the currently airing 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.
But nearly at the same time, multiple productions were kicking off all at once:
The Artoria route of the 'Fate/stay night' drama, the film adaptation of 'Castle in the Sky', the live-action version of 'Your Name', 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time', and the short films 'Voices of a Distant Star' and 'The Garden of Words'.
That put enormous financial pressure on the company.
To begin with, the investment for 'Fate/stay night' was roughly the same as 'Fate/Zero'—just over 200 million.
Main characters like Artoria, played by Tang Rui, and Gilgamesh, played by Jing Yu himself, accounted for a large portion of that.
Though Jing Yu was both producer and actor, legally, company funds and personal income had to remain separate, so he paid himself a symbolic salary.
As for Tang Rui, her compensation was just over 3 million. After years of being signed with Jing Yu's company, he wasn't about to exploit her, though the number wasn't high; she was also given a share of the drama's net profits, which would boost her final earnings.
So for the Artoria route of 'Fate/stay night', most of the 200 million–plus budget was funneled into VFX.
Likewise, the 250 million investment into 'Castle in the Sky' followed a similar path.
The film's two protagonists, Pazu and Sheeta, are both around 13–14 years old.
Jing Yu specifically invited several former child stars—once popular in Great Zhou but now at awkward transition ages—to audition.
Honestly, Jing Yu planned to tighten the lead actors' pay so that the budget could go toward key production costs.
He aimed to keep Pazu and Sheeta's combined salaries under 18 million—less than 10% of the total investment.
But with the entertainment industry in a state of hyper-competition, and Jing Yu's name carrying serious weight...
Once auditions for 'Castle in the Sky' opened in late February, these transitioning child actors started slashing their rates to fight for roles.
In the end, Jing Yu locked in both leads for under 10 million total.
But this wasn't a case of "you get what you pay for."
These two, while aging out of the child actor category, still had massive public recognition.
Their individual popularity could rival most adult A-list stars.
Since they voluntarily underbid each other, Jing Yu gladly accepted.
He redirected the 10+ million saved in casting fees to the entire production crew as a bonus for employee welfare.
As for 'Your Name'—despite its legendary status in the anime community of his previous life—it honestly wasn't a budget-heavy project even as a live-action film.
The biggest expense would be visual effects for the meteor impact sequence, and the radiant, sky-filled scenes when the comet falls—both crucial for the film's visual aesthetic.
But those combined scenes don't last long.
Even with high-level VFX work, it wouldn't cost much.
The rest of the settings? Schools, countryside, cafés, small inns—locations that were inherently budget-friendly from the scriptwriting stage.
The total investment barely exceeded 120 million.
If Jing Yu had tried to inflate the budget unnecessarily—pushing for extravagant visual aesthetics just for show—he'd be turning 'Your Name' into something like 'Tiny Times', which would be counterproductive.
As for 'The Garden of Words', it was a pure low-budget short—an investment of 20 million or so. No real pressure for Jing Yu at this point.
But then came 'Voices of a Distant Star'.
With a runtime of less than 30 minutes, Jing Yu invested over 50 million into it—something that shocked the entire company.
"Has Boss Jing Yu run out of ways to spend money?"
For a production lasting just 20-some minutes, a 50 million investment made the cost-per-minute higher than even 'Castle in the Sky'.
But Jing Yu had his reasons.
Currently, the company's hit series is 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.
While the anime had become a cultural phenomenon in his past life, its fame wasn't due to the mecha genre per se, but rather to the intense emotional themes explored in its later arcs.
Still, since Jing Yu had successfully brought the mecha genre into this world, he wanted to keep pushing it.
'Voices of a Distant Star' was sci-fi-heavy and featured plenty of gorgeous mecha battles—there was no way to do that cheaply.
Moreover, if this short, melancholic, mecha-centric story could satisfy fans—especially with the momentum of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' behind it—then mecha as a genre might just explode in Great Zhou.
From there, Jing Yu had plenty of cards to play.
For example, the 'Gundam' franchise.
He definitely had ideas about adapting works like 'Gundam SEED' in the future.
And then there was 'Attack on Titan'.
Even though it had nothing to do with high-tech mecha on the surface, thematically, it was the same idea.
"What is Unit-01, a mecha, Ultraman, Titan power, etc.? It's all the same concept."
At their core, they're all stories about human beings—made of flesh and blood—piloting or transforming into massive weapons to fight monsters or enemies.
So, breaking down the current lineup:
'Fate/stay night: Artoria Route' – 230 million
'Castle in the Sky' – 250 million
'Your Name' – 120 million
'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' – 50 million
'Voices of a Distant Star' – 50 million
'The Garden of Words' – 20 million
These six productions, all launching within the next couple of months, would cost more than 700 million in total.
That amounted to nearly half of the company's available funds.
It was, without a doubt, Jing Yu's boldest year since entering the film and television industry.
Inside the company, Jing Yu didn't need to consult anyone about how he spent money.
Yu Youqing, Xia Yining, and Cheng Lie all held shares, but they understood—they were there to ride Jing Yu's coattails.
No one objected.
Once the investment plan was finalized, it only took one morning and a quick boardroom formality—four shareholders rubber-stamping the document—for it to go into effect.
"That was fast," Cheng Lie muttered, still dazed.
It was his first time participating in something this massive.
Just last year, he thought investing a hundred or two hundred million into a single project was already big.
He never imagined that this year, those numbers would become the baseline in Jing Yu's planning.
The very next day...
Bluestar Media & Film Company published the details—each project's investment amount, main cast, genre tags, and even Jing Yu's original character design sketches from the scripting stage—on their official website and Jing Yu's social media accounts.
And within half a day, those announcements lit a fire across the entire Great Zhou film and television industry.