After 'Gundam SEED' ended, many of its fans were left with a feeling of emptiness.
That sleek and thrilling mecha combat, that epic journey of humanity through the stars—once you're drawn into that world, it's hard not to get absorbed into fantasizing about its universe after the story ends.
Fortunately, Jing Yu didn't keep fans guessing. From the beginning, he planned to build 'Gundam' into a major IP in Great Zhou. So, information about the production of 'Gundam SEED' Season 2 was released right away. However, the release will likely be sometime next year.
With a show like 'Gundam', filming isn't the hard part—the challenge lies in the visual effects.
Season 1's effects had already received universal praise from audiences. For Season 2, Jing Yu even increased the budget per episode.
Spending a little more here attracts more viewers, and when it comes time to sell merchandise, the profits will multiply.
When the first weekend of July arrived, the final season of 'Attack on Titan' and 'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected' stepped up as the flagbearers of the autumn lineup.
'Attack on Titan' needs no introduction—it's been the most phenomenal drama in Great Zhou in over two decades. Though it's not over yet, just from the episodes that have aired, its average ratings already top the historical charts. As long as the remaining episodes stay above 14%, it'll officially go down as the highest-rated drama in Great Zhou history—an achievement that will likely never be surpassed.
After all, over the past few years, streaming platforms have taken over more than 30% of the viewership market. While traditional TV remains the mainstream mode of watching dramas, its market share is shrinking year by year. Within a few more years, even getting past a 9% rating—no matter how much the six major TV stations spend—will become difficult.
So while the final season of 'Attack on Titan' is dominating the autumn season, TV executives are feeling mixed emotions.
Jing Yu's rise in recent years can be seen as the last moment of glory for the TV industry. Without him, TV dramas might have collapsed two or three years ago. Thanks to him, over 70% of viewers still prioritize television when watching shows.
But even Jing Yu can't hold back the tide forever.
The first episode of 'Attack on Titan's final season aired in the autumn slot and retained a rating above 15%. The story continued to focus on the war between Marley and Paradis Island.
That earlier sense of dread and helplessness around the Titans had mostly faded, now that the full worldview had been revealed.
This season's plot also placed Eren squarely at the center of public debate.
Just like many long-running anime in Jing Yu's previous life, once a story hits a wall and the original author struggles to show character growth, they often turn to the classic "two years later" or "three years later" time skip.
Usually, this is where the series starts losing its charm.
Many Naruto fans agree that the Shippuden arc wasn't as exciting or tight as Naruto's childhood arc. And as for One Piece, after the Marineford War and the two-year training arc, fans who had followed it for ten years often complained about how dull the post-timeskip arcs became—One Piece was even jokingly nicknamed Water Piece for its "dragging."
'Attack on Titan' took a similar approach. Several years later, Eren had undergone an almost total personality shift.
The once passionate boy became a cold, brooding man. Many fans felt like the show had swapped protagonists. Naturally, 'Attack on Titan' fans in Great Zhou weren't too happy.
Still, the strong foundation of the earlier seasons held up. Even if Jing Yu felt the Marley arc wasn't as good as before, people had already built a habit of watching the show. For a long-running series like this, unless it starts dragging badly or completely falls apart, ratings generally remain stable.
So 'Attack on Titan's spot at the top of the autumn charts was unshakable.
Then came Sunday: Episode 1 of 'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected' aired.
Screenwriter: Jing Yu.
Although he didn't act in it, from the moment the opening theme played, the youthful atmosphere poured out from the screen.
Yes—it was the familiar Jing Yu-style teen romance drama.
It had been four or five years since he last released something in this genre. The last one of this kind was 'Kimi ni Todoke'.
'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected' had been extremely popular in the anime community of Jing Yu's past life.
The story isn't complicated: the male lead is a shut-in at school and in life. For various reasons, he joins the school's Service Club—a group dedicated to helping fellow students with their problems.
The plot revolves around the protagonist helping others while confronting his own issues with social interaction, relationships, and emotions.
Despite his negative outlook, his strangely piercing insights struck a chord with many viewers. This made the protagonist, Hachiman Hikigaya, one of the more unique characters in all of Jing Yu's adapted anime works.
Fans even jokingly called him "Sensei Hachiman."
That nickname came from a volume of 'The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat', where some of Hachiman's views were mentioned and referred to as "Sensei's teachings"—and the term spread among fans as an inside joke.
Watching this show feels similar to 'Natsume's Book of Friends' or 'Mushishi'. You may feel like the story is rambling for 30 minutes—but then, out of nowhere, a two-minute emotional gut-punch lands and brings tears to your eyes.
Episode 1 aired on Sunday night, and the reactions were… mixed.
The plot mainly introduced the characters. The emotional conflict developed slowly.
"Ah, yes, classic slow-burn romance from Old Thief."
"Expected. His love stories never get good until Episode 3 or Season 2. The first episode is always just character setup."
"But this one's following 'Gundam SEED!' That's a tough act to follow."
"Jing Yu never said this would outperform 'Gundam SEED'. That's just fans projecting. You can't blame him now."
"You want a romance drama to move fast? Seriously?"
"Personally, I really liked it."
"It's relaxing. 'Gundam SEED' and 'Attack on Titan' are good, sure—but so dark and full of death. Watching school romance? No need to worry about people dying. Worst case, the girl you like ends up with someone else. Totally manageable."
"Bro, did you forget the trauma of 'Your Lie in April'?!"
"...Uh."
"Why'd you bring up 'Your Lie in April' again?!"
"My long-buried memories… please don't remind me."
Though 'My Youth Romantic Comedy' had a soft opening, it followed 'Gundam SEED's prime time slot and was a legitimate Jing Yu production, so its ratings were still strong.
Episode 1 closed with an 8.12% viewership rating.
After two consecutive 10%+ juggernauts in 'Gundam SEED' and 'Attack on Titan', an 8% rating made some think Jing Yu had finally flopped.
But then they realized: flop?! In the past ten years in Great Zhou, only two other premieres—not by Jing Yu—have ever hit this number.
"8%, huh?" Jing Yu looked calmly at the report handed over in his office.
"That's the difference between high-budget action shows and urban romance dramas."
It was slightly higher than he had expected.
'My Youth Romantic Comedy' benefited from Jing Yu's current status. Back when 'Kimi ni Todoke' and 'Initial D' launched, they only hovered around 7%.
After some thought, Jing Yu set the report aside.
Given his position now, he couldn't focus too much on a modestly funded drama like this one.
Even though its viewership was solid, it still couldn't match the profits of 'Ultraman: Tiga', which had wrapped up nearly six months earlier.
Instead, he turned to reports from his overseas branches—specifically, cooperation agreements for 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Game releases are scheduled for mid-next year.
In the Great Zhou film and TV industry, Jing Yu was undisputed at the top. His shows were even creating fan frenzies overseas.
But in gaming, he was only second-tier in Great Zhou, and on a global scale, Bluestar's game division was far from elite.
Though the 'Fate/stay night' games had sold over ten million copies across two titles, many studios worldwide had achieved the same, and those companies had far stronger development teams than Jing Yu's.
His overseas branches had been active for two years now, focusing not only on foreign licensing of TV shows, but also on building relationships with major global gaming companies and platforms.
But this put Bluestar Media at a disadvantage. Game publishers are already weaker than platforms, and Bluestar's global ranking was low—yet they still aimed to launch two major games next year.
And not just quietly on some app store. They were aiming for full-scale global promotion and massive sales.
So what could they do?
Spend more.
They had to pay upfront, secure distribution channels, and buy visibility.
These past few months, overseas departments have racked up significant expenses.
But Jing Yu knew the commercial potential of 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Better than anyone.
If he were still just someone working under others, no investor would ever agree to put billions into a game with a new, untested playstyle.
Sure, 'Pokémon' was the world's #1 IP in its past life—but that success relied on Nintendo.
Give the same IP to a weak, stingy, unreliable studio, and it would flop before it even launched.
"I used to think a hundred billion in assets was impressive. But now that I've spread it all out, I see… money is never enough." Jing Yu sighed as he calculated the total funding needed for the upcoming year's projects.
You only think money is enough… if your ambition is small.
If Jing Yu only wanted to be a famous screenwriter, he could retire now—his record already made him the most successful one in Great Zhou's history.
But he wanted more. He saw the enormous profit potential in building a full cultural-entertainment industry chain. With the startup funds he had, it would be foolish not to dream.
As July wore on, the heat intensified.
'Attack on Titan' and 'My Youth Romantic Comedy' became weekly must-watches for Great Zhou's drama fans.
'Attack on Titan' was still business as usual. Fans criticized Eren's later story arc, but overall, the drop in quality was minor—from a 90 to an 80, still a top-tier series.
As for 'My Youth Romantic Comedy', the first week felt bland.
But by week two, viewers started noticing how well the characters were written.
The socially withdrawn Hachiman, the cold and sharp-tongued Yukino, and the gentle, sensitive Yui.
At first, it felt like there was no main plot. But the more you watched, the more you were drawn in by the characters.
Especially the male lead—can we get more realistic than this?
He was always bracing for the worst, never expecting anything good to happen.
Then came Episode 3—and the quote.
After rescuing Yui's dog, she started being unusually kind to him. But his response was:
"Saving your dog was just a coincidence. It didn't mean anything. I'm always alone. You don't need to feel guilty. If you're only being nice to me out of guilt… I don't want it."
Yui ran off with tears in her eyes.
Then came his internal monologue:
"Yui will probably always be kind. I hate kind girls. Just a word, a wave, a few phone calls—they make your heart race. But I know… It's just because they're kind."
"Anyone who's kind to me… is probably kind to everyone. That's not special."
"If the truth is cruel, then a lie is kindness. Her kindness is just a lie. And I… I'm a veteran of loneliness. I won't make that mistake. I'm a master at giving up. That's why I'll always… hate kind girls."
He didn't believe anyone could truly be drawn to him—especially not for saving a dog.
So, before he could even process whether her kindness was real, he rejected it outright.
That short, one-minute monologue shattered fans who had been watching for three weeks.
In that moment, they finally understood why he was so negative.
"If I don't expect anything from the world, the world can't hurt me."🤣🤣🤣