The first versions of the 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' games wouldn't be finished until at least mid–next year, but 'Rurouni Kenshin' was much simpler in comparison.
The original manga had far too much content to be adapted into a single game. At the very least, it would take several installments. Since this was only the first game, the amount of story content wasn't excessive, and development had already entered the mid-to-late stages. A release around the end of the year was expected.
So releasing the promotional trailer around April or May was perfectly timed.
Judging from audience reactions, expectations for the 'Rurouni Kenshin' game were extremely high.
Counting it out, the 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' film had already been out for five or six years. Over that time, it had accumulated a massive fanbase in Great Zhou. Once the game trailer dropped, the most immediate effect was obvious—on every major video platform, the view counts for 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' surged dramatically.
The next day—
The newest episode of 'Attack on Titans' aired once again.
The episode title: "Warrior!"
This episode covered two of the most iconic moments from the original work: Captain Levi slaying the Beast Titan and Armin being burned to charcoal.
Jing Yu still remembered that in his past life, when these episodes aired, the anime—despite being banned from mainstream platforms for various reasons—still relied solely on diehard fans sharing cloud-drive links to push its popularity to the top of search engine trending lists.
That was exactly why 'Attack on Titans' had been such a special phenomenon in the anime industry.
Before it, the anime scene had long been dominated by the so-called "Big Three." Most seasonal hits couldn't even reach one-tenth of their search popularity.
Yet 'Attack on Titans' had once been able to contend head-on with the terrifying fanbase those series had built over twenty years. Even if that peak didn't last long, the achievement itself was absurd.
In Great Zhou, the latest episode once again opened with ratings above 14.5%. Fans who had waited an entire week were already in position.
The previous episode had ended with Captain Levi and Commander Erwin secretly planning their strategy.
In this episode, Erwin's final plan was revealed—and it was actually quite simple.
He, along with every Survey Corps member outside the Walls, would serve as a suicide charge, rushing the Beast Titan without regard for their own lives. Along the way, they would use smoke bombs to block its vision and draw its attention.
Meanwhile, Levi would take advantage of the Titans stationed nearby—using them as footholds for his omni-directional mobility gear—to launch a surprise decapitation strike on the Beast Titan.
The plan itself wasn't complicated, but every viewer could tell how difficult this decision had been for Erwin.
"Erwin isn't afraid of death, but the truth he's chased his whole life is right there—in Eren's basement inside the Walls. And yet… he has to lead the charge to his death."
"He could have run away."
"The choice between one's lifelong dream… and the fate of the Survey Corps."
"Erwin's mind is crystal clear. If he didn't charge first, no one else would follow him across an open plain toward the Beast Titan. Everyone knows they'd be crushed by rocks before getting anywhere close."
"This feels so heavy…"
Before executing the plan, Erwin delivered one final speech.
In truth, as made clear in his earlier conversation with Levi, this speech was nothing more than stirring his subordinates into marching toward death.
But as viewers watched Erwin on screen—
Faced with his soldiers' questions: We're all going to die anyway. Why not disobey orders? Why not just stay here and get crushed by the Beast Titan's rocks? Why charge?
Erwin gave his answer.
"Are the deaths of our comrades… of those fallen soldiers… meaningless? No. Absolutely not."
"What gives their lives meaning… is us. We will die here, and entrust the meaning of our lives to those who live on. This is the only way to fight against this cruel world."
Though it was, in essence, a form of indoctrination, Erwin's resolve—his readiness to face death—came through the screen unmistakably.
And as he roared and charged forward, a rock pierced straight through his abdomen.
In fan groups:
"I'm crying."
"He said it himself—that he was pushing them to die—but those words were also his true beliefs."
"Charging together gives those inside the Walls a slim chance. Scattering across a Titan-filled wilderness with no supply lines? You'd just be eaten hours later. Better to die fighting."
"This character… is written unbelievably well."
"And look closely—when the soldiers charge through the smoke, you can vaguely see Levi moving through the sky."
"I'm furious right now. I just want to see Levi go berserk and kill that ape."
"Same. I want to jump into the screen and do it myself."
Then came the most iconic scene—the single most expensive effects sequence in the entire series.
The charge of hundreds of Survey Corps members resulted in nothing more than bloodstains across the vast plain.
Not a single person made it to the Beast Titan.
But then—
An exception appeared.
Using the smoke to mask his movement, Levi struck in that instant.
A blade tore through the haze, and a small, fragile human body appeared before the Beast Titan.
Steel cables from his omni-directional mobility gear anchored into its flesh.
That figure moved like a phantom through the air.
The Beast Titan reacted instantly, swinging its arm—but in the next moment, that arm was severed into pieces.
Fast.
Too fast.
Under the combined effects of cinematography and speed ramping, Levi's movements were suffocating to watch. The gear at his waist seemed less like gas propulsion and more like a jet engine.
First, the arm is gone.
Then both eyes were slashed blind.
A downward burst of speed as Levi passed beneath the Beast Titan's legs.
In less than a second: eyes destroyed, Achilles tendons cut.
As the massive body collapsed, Levi appeared at its unguarded nape.
A flurry of strikes.
The human body hidden within was ripped out, its limbs severed.
"Insanely strong."
"So cool."
"This action scene—my scalp is tingling."
"The best fight scene I've seen on TV in ten years."
"How is Levi even allowed to be this strong?"
"I'm crying."
But this wasn't the episode's only highlight.
Levi didn't kill the Beast Titan's human form—he hoped that if even one Survey Corps member was still alive, they could consume it and be saved.
At the critical moment, however, the Cart Titan appeared and rescued the Beast Titan.
Meanwhile, inside the Walls, Armin and Eren's battle with Bertholdt reached its climax.
In fact, Armin and Erwin used the same tactic:
Feint east, strike west.
Use oneself as bait, draw the enemy's attention, and at the moment of death—when the enemy relaxes—send in the killing blow.
The tactic was simple.
So why were these scenes so devastating?
Why were they legendary in Jing Yu's past life?
Because tactics weren't the point.
The characters were.
Erwin abandoned the truth he had chased his entire life, choosing to sacrifice himself so Levi could strike.
Armin abandoned his dream of seeing the ocean with Eren, choosing to sacrifice himself—holding on even as Bertholdt's heat burned his body into charcoal—to create an opening.
What truly moved viewers wasn't death itself.
A person without dreams, indifferent to life, can die without moving anyone.
But someone who still longs for the world, for life, who sacrifices themselves just as their dream is within reach—
And just when viewers thought that was the emotional peak—
The cruelest choice appeared.
Both Commander Erwin and Armin were dying—but both still had a breath left.
The Survey Corps had only one injection left—the serum that could turn a human into a Pure Titan.
Yes, it could theoretically be split—but that would only create two weaker Titans.
And to regain intelligence, the transformed Titan would have to devour a Titan-shifter.
They had captured only one: Bertholdt.
One serum.
One intelligent Titan.
Two heroes.
Who lives?
The episode ended there.
Previously, viewers had been patient.
They were used to Jing Yu's style.
They thought they could endure it again.
But less than ten seconds into the ending theme—
The official sites of Yunteng TV, BlueStar Media & Film Company, and Qingyun Video all exploded.
"I can't take this anymore! Old thief, are you even human?!"
"Ending it here again? Waiting another week? Please be a person!"
"I'm sending him razor blades!"
"Erwin or Armin—this choice broke my brain."
"How does someone even come up with something this cruel?"
"I want to save the Commander."
"Same. Erwin's charisma is overwhelming."
"But Armin is so brave! Burned for dozens of seconds, charred black, still didn't let go—how can you not be moved?"
"I'm emotionally exhausted. This episode was insane—Erwin's charge, Armin burned alive, Levi slaying the Beast Titan, Eren shedding his Titan body, and then this final choice."
"This is 'Attack on Titans'."
"I never thought any work deserved to be called a masterpiece. Today, this series changed my mind."
"The sacrifices were powerful—but the choice at the end is what truly elevates the story."
"The next episode won't just have to convince the characters—it has to convince us."
"This is so hard. Save Erwin and the Survey Corps fractures. Save Armin, and you have to justify it."
"Can't we just save both? I don't want anyone to die."
The episode ended with ratings at 16.58%, nearly unchanged from the previous week—but its online discussion far surpassed it.
The next day, fans even gathered in protest outside BlueStar Media & Film Company, Yunteng, and the Modo city filming base.
Online debates over whether to save Erwin or Armin exceeded 100,000 posts, splitting the fandom into two massive camps.
Erwin had less screen time, but his presence was immense.
Armin had grown from the very first episode—viewers couldn't accept his death either.
The pressure spread from the fandom straight into the industry—and into BlueStar Media itself.
Even the operations team felt the strain.
They knew what came next—but still feared fan backlash.
With the show's popularity, Jing Yu was facing a choice that could anger tens of millions.
Cheng Lie, the company's second-in-command, felt pressure he hadn't experienced in years. But there was nothing to be done—the series was already completed, and Jing Yu would never change a story because of audience reaction.
All Cheng Lie could do was attend events in Jing Yu's stead and release calming statements.
As for Jing Yu himself—
"After the next episode airs, Erwin fans will definitely curse me," Jing Yu said calmly. "Ignore it. Once they calm down, they'll understand the brilliance."
This was only the beginning.
Later arcs would cause even more controversy—Marley, civilian deaths, the Rumbling.
If he were afraid of backlash, he would never have brought 'Attack on Titans' into this world.
Still—
"So we've finally reached this point," Jing Yu sighed.
In his eyes, this arc was the absolute peak of the series.
Beyond it, the quality visibly declined.
If this arc were a hundred, earlier arcs were eighty or ninety. The Marley arc hovered around seventy.
As for the original ending—
He gave it a negative score.
"By this calculation, the summer season is almost over… and 'Attack on Titans' doesn't have much left."
A sense of melancholy surfaced.
With its current achievements, 'Attack on Titans' would likely remain Jing Yu's highest-rated work in Great Zhou.
Even if he released new projects, surpassing them would be difficult.
No one climbs forever.
Jing Yu could feel it—he had reached the peak of both his career and the Great Zhou television industry.
"When 'Attack on Titans' ends…"
He exhaled deeply.
It was time to consider gradually stepping back from the front lines.
He wouldn't stop creating entirely—but his focus would shift toward running the company.
"Maybe I'll become someone like Hayao Miyazaki in this world," he mused.
"Always announcing retirement—then releasing a hit every few years—until middle age, old age, and the very end."
The thought made him smile.