That morning, the visual effects team brought their completed models to sync up with Jing Yu.
Several of Jing Yu's projects, like 'Voices of a Distant Star' and 'Castle in the Sky', relied heavily on VFX, so outside of filming, he still needed to coordinate with them on technical work.
Once the team left, Yu Youqing curiously picked up one of the treatment visuals left on Jing Yu's desk.
It was the floating ancient city from 'Castle in the Sky', and the alien creatures and massive humanoid mech piloted by the heroine in 'Voices of a Distant Star'.
"You came up with all of these?"
Her eyes sparkled with interest, especially at the giant robot from 'Voices of a Distant Star'.
Since she and Jing Yu were currently co-starring in both 'Voices of a Distant Star' and 'Your Name', she naturally cared about the visual effects for 'Voices'.
"This one looks even cooler than Unit-01!"
"Really?" Jing Yu examined the mech designs more closely.
The mechs in 'Voices of a Distant Star' were similar in design to Gundams—giant armored suits wielding firearms. Personally, Jing Yu found Unit-01 from 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' more badass with its raw and terrifying design.
"You've got no taste. Your aesthetic needs some serious work."
"Well, of course you think that—your character pilots Unit-01. But I get to pilot this one. Honestly, the metallic sheen is awesome, but imagine if we gave it pink armor!"
Yu Youqing clung to Jing Yu, clearly trying to sneak in some weird ideas for 'Voices of a Distant Star'.
"Don't even think about it. You can mess around with other stuff, but keep that nonsense out of the actual film. Pink armor? What is this, 'Star Wars: Barbie Edition'?" Jing Yu rolled his eyes.
"It's just… 'Voices of a Distant Star' is already so depressing. I just want the visuals to be a little lighter," Yu Youqing said.
The runtime of 'Voices of a Distant Star' was short—barely over twenty minutes. The live-action portions were already done. What remained was post-production VFX work.
But even with such a short project, the effects wouldn't take that long either.
"That's why we need to keep the atmosphere right! Otherwise, why shoot this in the first place?"
"You ever consider doing something normal for once?" she sighed. "'Neon Genesis Evangelion', 'Voices of a Distant Star'—every ending is just heart-wrenching."
She had played the heroine in both series—surviving to the very end in each. She was also Asuka in 'Evangelion'. She still vividly remembers filming the final scene of 'Evangelion' last year, where Jing Yu's Shinji strangles her, and she—playing Asuka—says that now-infamous line: "Disgusting."
As an actor, she might not grasp the full depth of the characters like the writer, but those kinds of scenes left a mark on her.
Filming that scene hurt. And just yesterday, they wrapped the final shot of 'Voices of a Distant Star'—her character Mikako in a sealed cockpit, piloting the mech deeper into space, her fate unknown. It left her emotionally drained again.
"Your fans are going to curse you, you know."
"Let them. These stories are what they are. There's no changing them now," Jing Yu said, ruffling her hair and smiling.
"Besides, all the hate's aimed at me. Your character's actually super popular—you've got nothing to worry about."
Yu Youqing gave him a helpless look, her pupils filled with resignation.
Is this what they call creator's disease?
As Jing Yu's girlfriend, of course, she wanted him to be better received. He used to be so beloved—fans respectfully called him "Teacher Jing."
Now it was all "Old Bastard Jing" this, "Jing the Madman" that.
Recently, 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' fans had been having a hard time with how dark the show got near the end. They had upgraded his nickname yet again—now calling him 'Jing the Demon Lord'. Some had even flooded her socials, begging her to convince him to go easy and stop being so cruel to his characters.
It was too late for 'Evangelion'—they'd sunk millions into the final episode's VFX. No way they'd scrap that.
But 'Voices of a Distant Star'... that could still be changed.
If only Jing Yu weren't so stubborn.
"You're gonna regret it one day. When people hear your name and immediately think 'tragedy,' maybe then you'll understand," she said in a final sigh.
Jing Yu just laughed and didn't argue the point.
So I'll be known as the Warrior of Love on Blue Star? I've made my peace with that.
Just then, the office door opened, and Cheng Lie walked in carrying a tall stack of documents.
"Uh, am I interrupting something?"
"No, no. You're good. I'll go study the script—got 'Your Name' to shoot this afternoon," Yu Youqing said quickly, grabbing her things and slipping out.
Cheng Lie wasted no time. After handing over the paperwork, he launched straight into a new topic.
"Right. So... there's something we need to talk about. 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' is ending in two or three weeks. You've seen the numbers. Yunteng TV wants you to appear for a post-finale interview at the station the night the last episode airs."
"An interview?"
"Yeah. You know how it is. That ending? Forget the viewers—even I, a seasoned producer, can't fully wrap my head around what it means. It looks cool as hell, but no one's quite sure what it's actually saying. Yunteng TV's worried people will think the show crashed and burned, so they want you to give some creator insight."
"Oh, so they're getting the scapegoat ready in advance?" Jing Yu chuckled.
"I mean… not entirely wrong. Personally, I think your ending is brilliant—very open-ended. Gives fans lots of room for imagination. But who knows how the public will react? If the finale tanks, you'll take the biggest hit, I'm second in line, and the two of us are getting roasted no matter what. Yunteng TV's just trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. If viewers get mad, they might bombard the network. Better to toss you onto a program first and 'offer you up.'"
"Got it. I'll go. Just don't drag it out. If we're doing a talk show, 30 minutes max," Jing Yu said after thinking it through.
Once they got his confirmation, Yunteng TV breathed a massive sigh of relief.
After reviewing the finale of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', their internal conclusion was unanimous: if this episode just airs as-is, and nothing happens afterward, both the Yunteng TV official site and the Blue Star Media website would be obliterated by furious fans that night.
The more net-savvy viewers would target Jing Yu's company. Older, less internet-fluent fans? They'd be calling Yunteng TV's customer support to rant, or flooding the site with complaints like "I don't get the ending!"
But now that Jing Yu had agreed, everything was back under control.
Yunteng TV immediately started running ads during commercial breaks, announcing the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' finale would be followed by a special creator interview with Jing Yu.
A psychological buffer for the audience, planted early.
By mid-March, the twelfth episode of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' aired.