In early June, while the TV industry was still under the lingering influence of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', the broadcast teaser for 'Fate/stay night: Artoria Route' dropped first.
That classic scene from the game — Artoria and Shirou Emiya's first meeting — was naturally featured in the trailer.
Overall, the production quality looked on par with 'Fate/Zero'.
Tang Rui, one of the only three signed artists under Jing Yu's company, returned after a year to portray Artoria again, slipping back into the role with ease. Her appearance and figure remained as stunning as ever.
Even during the 30-second premiere of the teaser on Yunteng TV, ratings spiked above 4%, a clear sign of just how powerful Jing Yu's name still was with television audiences.
That said, for those who had played the game and seen the CG scenes, the teaser didn't bring any huge surprises.
The real surprise for Jing Yu's fans came from the teaser for 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'.
Jing Yu didn't appear in this film at all. None of the main trio — Jing Yu himself, Yu Youqing, or Xia Yining — took any roles. The entire cast was made up of veteran actors from other Great Zhou companies and a few up-and-coming newcomers.
Of course, the casting process likely involved backroom deals from some partner companies, but Jing Yu didn't care. As long as the work's quality met expectations, he wasn't concerned about favoritism — having connections didn't mean someone lacked talent. Sometimes people just needed an opportunity.
To Jing Yu's fans, though, a work without even a cameo from him or his inner circle was rare.
Yet the teaser...
Once again, it stirred a deep nostalgia in viewers' hearts.
What kind of work had Jing Yu started with?
That's right — youth romance.
From his humble beginnings at a small-town station like Jinhui TV, to climbing to Yunteng TV, and now standing at the top of the industry as chairman of Bluestar Media & Film Company, Jing Yu has built his career on romantic youth dramas.
Romance films weren't the most profitable genre — they didn't earn like effects-heavy action titles — which is why Jing Yu had stepped away from them in recent years.
But with 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'—
The teaser, featuring vibrant high school scenes, a cheerful female lead, her classmates, and teachers, exuded the spirit of youthful energy.
Truth be told, many of Jing Yu's fans loved this kind of story.
"Case closed: youth romance + time-travel abilities."
"Support. Absolute support. Not supporting this makes you inhuman. Old Troll didn't forget us purists after all!"
"If 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' is youth romance, then what about 'Your Name' and 'Castle in the Sky'?"
"Might be the same."
"Youth romance with time travel? Sounds a lot like Old Troll's debut — 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'."
"Well, duh. It's the same creator. It's not strange if there are thematic similarities. Honestly, if this new one is anywhere near as good as 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', I'd be thrilled. Not many Great Zhou romance films can match that level. The only reason that one isn't more well-known is that it aired too early, back on Jinhui TV — its reach just wasn't there."
"But 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' ended in tragedy!"
"Seems like Old Troll's supernatural romance stories always end tragically."
"Even without supernatural stuff, most of his dramas still end in tragedy. 'Your Lie in April', 'Rurouni Kenshin' — whether those count as tragic endings still depends on Old Troll's mood. No point guessing."
"Damn... Still a month to July. Pain."
"I've played the 'Fate/stay night' game, so I kind of know what to expect. My hype isn't as high. That story starts slow and serious. But 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'? Totally my kind of thing."
Yunteng TV aired the teasers for 'Fate/stay night' and 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' together. With Yunteng's aggressive promotion, it marked the official beginning of the first promotional wave for both titles.
By mid-June, the entire entertainment industry's atmosphere had turned tense.
The Big Six networks collectively gave up — they ignored 'Fate/stay night' entirely. Their fall-season original dramas were mid-budget projects, in completely different genres, clearly not trying to compete directly with Jing Yu.
But the film world? That was getting rowdy.
Every year during the Qixi Festival, four to five romance films with sizable budgets — ranging from tens of millions to around 100 million — would premiere.
The overall box office market for Qixi typically hovered around one to two billion yuan.
Ideally, with four or five films, everyone could split the pie and earn back their costs.
But in practice, only a few of those films were actual contenders for the top spot. There'd also be six or seven smaller productions with budgets in the low millions, all competing for scraps. Usually, the top Qixi film made six to seven hundred million; second place hit around four to five hundred million; third place maybe got 100–200 million; beyond that, it was just money-losing noise — though sometimes low-budget films saw great returns.
Now that Jing Yu had joined the Qixi competition with 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time', all the other players suddenly found themselves facing a new — and extremely dangerous — rival.
One more person at the table meant smaller shares for everyone else.
And Jing Yu? He'd likely take a huge bite out of the box office.
If he took too much, the rest would be left with scraps. Competition was fierce, and in this industry, peers were often rivals. Rather than waiting to be steamrolled by his massive fanbase, it's better to strike first.
Jing Yu wasn't even part of any major film consortium. But his work? Always at the top of the charts.
Naturally, this made him a juicy target for jealousy and gossip.
So over the next few days, negative press about 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' started circulating.
For example, the actress playing the female lead, Liu Huiqing, was rumored to have dated during high school. The male lead, Bai Hao, reportedly had a strained relationship with his father and was almost estranged.
Were these major issues? Not really. Jing Yu's company had done background checks before casting — they wouldn't hire anyone with glaring red flags.
But if people wanted to nitpick, they'd find something. No one's a saint.
And these little jabs gradually influenced public opinion, subtly shaping audience expectations.
In his office, Jing Yu scrolled through the coverage.
Even though he didn't appear in 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time', that didn't mean he took it lightly.
"Same old tricks, even after all these years." He sighed.
"They did it before 'Rurouni Kenshin' too. Now it's happening again. These companies really can't stop pulling this crap."
"That's because you're not in this one," Yu Youqing chuckled, covering her mouth. "Without a big name on-screen, all the pressure falls on the new actors. If you or I were starring, our fans would tear those haters apart without us saying a word."
"It's just part of growing the company," Jing Yu said with a sigh. "Cheng Lie mentioned — we owe a lot of people favors in this industry. We could've cast some big names in this film, but once the partner companies found out I wasn't acting in it, they saw a chance to use our platform to promote their rookies."
Sometimes, favors and networking weren't something you could opt out of just because you didn't like them. You avoid the downsides — sure — but you miss the benefits too.
"Still, those tactics only go so far," Yu Youqing said. "In the end, it always comes down to quality."
She got up, walked over, and handed Jing Yu something.
"What's this?" he asked.
"The master copy of 'Voices of a Distant Star'. Post-production is complete. Your assistant was going to bring it, but I figured I'd do it myself."
"That fast?" Jing Yu raised a brow.
"You last asked about it last month. Cheng Lie already told the team to speed things up. So yeah, fast is expected."
Yu Youqing looked curiously at the copy in her hands.
"Better check it now. If there's anything you don't like in the edit, send it back for changes."
After all, this was a short film she and Jing Yu had worked on together — a long-awaited tragic ending piece. Most of it took place in space. She was curious to see how it had turned out visually.
Besides, Jing Yu clearly placed high importance on 'Voices of a Distant Star'.
Otherwise, why spend 50 million on a 20-minute film?
Jing Yu stared at the master copy, eyes lighting up.
Some works he produced purely for business. But 'Voices of a Distant Star' was different.
Among Makoto Shinkai's many works, his favorites have always been 'Voices of a Distant Star' and '5 Centimeters per Second'. He'd watched both over twenty times in his past life.
'Your Name' and 'The Garden of Words' were next, and everything else from Shinkai never really clicked with him.
For most of his projects, Jing Yu treated them like jobs.
But 'Voices of a Distant Star'?
This one came purely from passion.
Which is why he couldn't help but feel excited inside.