When you looked at it carefully, Jing Yu had already outlined everything—from the upcoming quarters to the next one or two years—his company's entire roadmap was in place.
At first, his fans reacted with:
"What? Another new project from Old Thief?"
But now it had turned into:
"He's got another new thing coming out? Again?!"
In mid-to-late March, Jing Yu hosted a small livestream where he casually revealed some future plans, planting several concepts into fans' minds. However, by the end of March and the arrival of April, those teasers were drowned out by the flood of new summer releases.
Both 'Gundam SEED' and 'Attack on Titan' were long-running shows. 'Gundam SEED' was set to air across two consecutive seasons, and 'Attack on Titan' had now entered its third straight season of broadcast. Fans had already gotten used to the rhythm: Saturday nights at 11 p.m. and Sunday nights at 8 p.m. were now basically reserved slots on Yunteng TV.
Ever since last year's 'Ultraman Tiga' crushed the competition, the six major networks had struggled to mount any serious counterattack.
This summer, Imperial Capital TV saw a brief resurgence with a fantasy drama premiere that scored a 9.23% rating — the highest opening for a drama on that network in the past seven years.
In the past, that kind of debut would've been enough to declare it the undisputed seasonal hit.
But with 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED' still airing, that number just wasn't impressive enough. It could only rank third at best.
As the weather warmed up, Jing Yu quietly disappeared from the public eye again after announcing some new moves last month. He focused entirely on filming 'Spirited Away'.
Two weeks later, in mid-April, filming for 'Spirited Away' wrapped up.
At the same time, the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' theatrical movie was also nearly finished, and 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED' had completed all filming.
Actually, 'Gundam SEED's shoot went smoothly — the more challenging one was 'Attack on Titan's finale.
To be fair, even with some changes, Jing Yu couldn't create a much "better" ending for 'Attack on Titan' than the original. The quality of the early arcs had raised expectations so high that even the most hardcore fans, after the manga ended, couldn't imagine a finale that would fully match the story's core themes and depth.
This wasn't unique to 'Attack on Titan'. It was a common curse in long-form storytelling. Whether it's novels, anime, or manga, the stronger the start, the more criticism the ending faces.
Just look at:
'Naruto'
'One Piece'🤔
'Dragon Ball'
'Bleach'
'Fairy Tail'
'Yu Yu Hakusho'
'Reborn!'
Once a story crosses a certain length, it usually hits a narrative collapse at some point.
Why only long-running, serialized stories? Because short episodic works like 'Detective Conan', 'Crayon Shin-chan', or 'Doraemon' don't have this problem. Their structure allows the same formula to be repeated for thousands of episodes without fatigue.
Of course, there are exceptions. Take the legendary 'Slam Dunk' — its full manga arc, when adapted, would amount to a little over a hundred episodes, yet it never collapsed narratively. Top-tier mangaka from Japan's golden age were able to control stories of that length beautifully. Even 'Naruto', 'One Piece', and 'Dragon Ball' were at their peak around the 100-episode mark.
But beyond that… things began to slip. That's why 'Slam Dunk' earned its legendary status — not just for its quality, but because its author ended it at the right time. He didn't cave to editors demanding arcs like the "first national tournament," "second national tournament," or an "adult basketball league." If he had, 'Slam Dunk' would probably have ended up like 'Prince of Tennis'😭.
Jing Yu felt that 'Attack on Titan''s original ending suffered from the same fate — too much buildup, too many expectations, and the author misjudging the market. The manga's finale caused the series' reputation to nosedive.
What could Jing Yu do? If even the original creator — the one who understood the story best — couldn't deliver the perfect ending, then Jing Yu certainly couldn't either.
But what he could do was draw from other classics.
In his past life, during the final chapters of 'Attack on Titan', many fans speculated it might go down the 'Lelouch-style ending' route.
'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' had been a smash hit in its era. In the finale, Lelouch becomes Emperor of the oppressive Britannian Empire, casts himself as the villain, and orchestrates his own assassination to bring peace to the world — even if temporarily.
In 'Attack on Titan', Eren's actions in the latter arcs weren't that different:
He became the most feared person alive, caused massive bloodshed, wielded overwhelming power, and was hated even by his closest allies.
So adopting a similar arc wasn't a stretch. Jing Yu's approach was:
Reduce the scale of Eren's massacres.
Add foreshadowing to explain his motivations.
Frame the final battle as a joint effort between Paradis' military and the outside world to defeat the "Dark Lord Eren."
Let Paradis be recognized as a savior and absorbed into the new global order.
Also, he fixed a ton of problematic plot points:
The time-travel shenanigans where Eren manipulated the past and caused the Titan that killed his own mom? Removed.
All those confusing lines and edgy monologues? Gone.
The overly vague conditions for using the Founding Titan's power? Clarified and limited.
This ending, while not perfect, was at least a passing grade and aligned well with the anti-war themes of the early story.
That's exactly how Jing Yu filmed the ending for the 'Attack on Titan' drama.
While it hadn't aired yet, everyone on set thought the finale worked and even felt fresh.
Jing Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Whether fans would accept it was still unknown. But he had done his best. If they still weren't happy, then maybe 'Attack on Titan''s issues weren't just in its ending.
"From winter last year to spring this year, and now all the way to summer and fall... this has been one long project," Jing Yu muttered.
Although 'Attack on Titan' started airing a season earlier than 'Gundam SEED', its runtime was longer. It was expected to conclude in the fall, a full year of broadcast.
Fans waiting for the Lelouch-style ending would have to hold out for four or five more months.
Meanwhile, 'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected' would start filming and airing in the fall.
'Hyouka' and 'Ef: A Tale of Memories' were scheduled for the winter season.
—
Jing Yu set aside the planning documents for 'Attack on Titan' and turned to the theatrical release schedule for 'Spirited Away'.
He wasn't expecting much from the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' movie — it was mostly for fans and wouldn't make a blockbuster profit.
But 'Spirited Away' was different.
In his past life, it had topped the Japanese box office for over a decade. Jing Yu had high hopes.
He slotted it into the Spring Festival slot right after Lunar New Year — the most competitive release window of the year.
As he outlined release strategies and production plans, he finalized the decisions during a company-wide meeting.
A few days later, the official Bluestar Media website posted the announcements.
The news spread like wildfire.
"Did you check the Bluestar website?! The stuff Old Thief teased during the stream wasn't even the half of it! Today's update is insane!"
"The 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' movie is confirmed for a July 12th release?!"
"'Gundam SEED' season one ends this season, but season two is already filming?! Spring next year, we'll probably see it return!"
"Forget 'Gundam SEED', there's a new 'Ultraman' series coming? Jing Yu's going with a new protagonist named Gaia?! This is a full series now?!"
"My kid lost his mind today. After seeing the Gaia announcement, he didn't even nap. Just stared at his Tiga Ultraman figure all day."
"Summer: 'Gundam SEED' finale.
Fall: 'Attack on Titan' final season.
Fall: 'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected' airs.
Winter: 'Hyouka' and 'Ef: A Tale of Memories'.
Old Thief is giving the competition zero breathing room."
"Why should he? It's only two shows per quarter. The Big Six all do four or five per season. Why can they, but not him?"
"Yeah, but let's be real. With his popularity, the Big Six can only hope to compete for third place now. A few years ago, they were untouchable. Now? Jing Yu's crushed them — and they have no way to fight back."
"I'm just hyped for 'Spirited Away' during Spring Festival. Think it can beat his own top hit, 'Castle in the Sky'?"
"Hard to say. 'Castle in the Sky' made nearly 4 billion and is in the top 5 in Great Zhou's film history. Hits like that don't come easy. I'm excited for 'Spirited Away', but 'Castle in the Sky' might be his peak."
"Still, you never know. That Spring Festival release... You just know every studio with a movie planned for that slot is now panicking."
"It's not hype. His movies—no matter the slot—always top the box office. Competing against him is terrifying."
Bluestar Media's official announcements were far more authoritative than Jing Yu's livestreams. Once posted, they were rarely changed. Not just fans, but the entire industry paid close attention.
His competitors could only grumble and accept reality.
Some were already calling this the "Year of Jing Yu".
At the current rate, it was entirely possible that he would dominate the top two viewership slots in every quarter this year.
And 'Attack on Titan'? Almost guaranteed to take the all-time #1 rating slot on Great Zhou TV history.
By late April, after more than two months of broadcast, something major finally happened:
The Royal Government Arc of 'Attack on Titan' came to an end.
The truth behind Eren's Titan powers was revealed:
His father had ventured beyond the inner wall years ago, not for a business trip, but to steal the power of the Founding Titan from the royal family.
To gain Titan abilities, a person had to be injected with serum, become a mindless Titan, and then consume another Titan shifter to gain their powers.
In other words:
Eren only got his powers because he ate his father.
When this twist dropped, no one cared anymore about the lackluster fight scenes. Everyone was too busy reeling from the shock.
"When did this turn into a cooking show?"
"Eren, our little angel, ate his dad four years ago?!"
The truth about the royal family, the Founding Titan's powers (memory alteration and Titan control), Historia's real name and backstory, and the infamous "dad-slam moment" scene (T/N: when Historia killed her father) — it was all too much.
The Vow of Renouncing War, the hidden powers, and layers of deception... viewers were absolutely floored.
What began as a battle-heavy shounen series had, in just two months, morphed into a cerebral mystery drama.