This was a road Jing Yu had never explored before—different from the underdog or genius male leads he had used in past stories.
The male lead in 'My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected' was just an ordinary person. Neither a loser nor a genius, he had no desire to be either.
From the start, he accepted his own flaws, accepted others' misunderstandings of him, and refused to change even a little just to meet others' expectations.
He was used to loneliness, even enjoyed it. He avoided interacting with others and rejected kindness—not to hurt anyone, but to make sure he wouldn't be hurt either.
"I didn't get this main character's style until I watched Episode 3."
"Maybe older viewers would think he's immature—he refuses to let anyone into his world. But honestly, I teared up. In some ways… I feel like I'm a bit like him."
"Exactly. Not everyone is a social butterfly in real life. Most people are ordinary, like Hikigaya. They dream about the world and then get crushed. At first, I thought he was just pessimistic. Now I realize… he sees things more clearly than I do."
"But isn't what he did to Yui kind of wrong? She was clearly trying to be friends, and he just shut the door in her face. I got so frustrated watching that."
"He's scared of being hurt. Being alone doesn't hurt. But once you have friends and they leave—that's what really hurts."
"He knows he's not someone others would like. He doesn't even like himself, so he can't believe anyone else would genuinely want to be his friend. Maybe he thinks Yui's kindness is just temporary."
"Honestly, this show is slow-paced, but this episode hit me. It wasn't that the story was overly dramatic—it just brought back memories from my own teenage years. I used to be like that—ignored, unwanted."
"He's someone who got rejected multiple times, isolated by classmates, labeled a weirdo. No wonder he's so cynical. But I respect that he doesn't wallow in self-pity."
"Exactly. He seems like just an average guy—not the kind you'd expect to be a protagonist. But at key moments, he says something profound or does something totally unexpected, and suddenly you see him in a whole new light."
After Episode 3 aired, ratings for 'My Youth Romantic Comedy' didn't increase much—only 9.01%. It even showed signs of dipping below the 9% mark.
But its reputation? Instantly improved.
A great work doesn't need to be perfect every minute. It just needs one scene, one moment, to deeply move the audience.
Still, the romance genre has a limited audience.
Otherwise, why were all the top-tier anime in Jing Yu's previous life battle-themed?
The same trend exists in the Great Zhou. Most viewers prefer action-packed, effects-heavy shows. Market preferences are out of Jing Yu's control.
But overall—
As a return to urban school romance after years away, 'My Youth Romantic Comedy' did not tarnish Jing Yu's name.
And that's enough.
If it had matched 'Gundam SEED's ratings—with its stellar visuals and story—then Jing Yu would've started questioning the country's tastes.
Mid-July passed.
By late July, 'Attack on Titan' had entered a controversial story arc.
It had started as a show about survival and uncovering the secrets of the world. But by now, it had shifted into geopolitics, ethnic wars, and power struggles between nations.
The noble Titan shifters of earlier arcs had become walking weapons. Eren, once a passionate teen, was now leading a coup from inside the walls, willing to shed blood to achieve his goals.
No one knew how much the Founding Titan and Attack Titan memories had changed him.
But this shift—this complete transformation—left many viewers uncomfortable.
"There's been a spike in forum posts questioning 'Attack on Titan' lately," said Cheng Lie in Jing Yu's office. "A lot of people are saying the main character's personality and the pacing of the story changed too suddenly."
"It couldn't be helped," Jing Yu replied after a pause.
"True. This show has been your longest project to date. Honestly, the Marley arc isn't bad at all. But the previous arc—the one with the ocean—was too good. Expectations went sky-high after that," Cheng Lie nodded.
He had seen the final episode himself.
By now, all production work on 'Attack on Titan' was complete.
In the Great Zhou version, Jing Yu had cut out many controversial moments from the original that had drawn criticism in his past life.
For instance, before Eren's death, the cringeworthy line he told Armin:
"Don't let Mikasa love another man. I want her to think about me for the rest of her life—ten years at least, even after I'm dead."
Any self-respecting viewer who saw Eren reduced to this jealous wreck would probably want to jump into the screen and slap him.🤣🤣🤣
Also, in Episode 1, the subtle implication that future Eren used Titan powers to let the Smiling Titan eat his mother—just to ensure the future timeline unfolded—was deleted too.
Would removing those scenes hurt the story?
Jing Yu assessed the impact: not at all.
If the story doesn't explicitly show Eren manipulating events, would viewers suspect a controlled Titan ate his mom? Unlikely. They'd just assume it was a tragic accident.
Then there were Eren's bizarre final speeches before his death—completely undermining the hot-blooded boy from the ocean arc and the composed strategist of the Marley arc.
So Jing Yu added more foreshadowing early on. He essentially borrowed the plot device from 'Code Geass', where Lelouch manipulated everyone into thinking he was a tyrant, only to be killed to bring world peace.
Cheng Lie was satisfied with this ending.
From a professional point of view, if the whole series scored an 85, then pre-ocean arc 'Attack on Titan' deserved a 95, while post-ocean arc hovered around 80.
The ending was a bit forced.
Eren had the power to destroy the world, the motivation, and the hatred to do it—but instead, he played the villain so his friends could kill him and make peace with the world.
It was a bit too saintly.
But realistically, you couldn't portray a world-ending main character. Censorship wouldn't allow it.
Cheng Lie believed audiences would understand.
"We should start preparing for 'Attack on Titan's finale promotion. It's the highest-rated drama in Great Zhou's history. The past giants have been overtaken, and with the TV industry in decline, no one will ever catch up again," Cheng Lie said.
"True enough," Jing Yu nodded.
"You take charge. I'll make time and fully support the events."
Cheng Lie's eyes lit up.
"Got it. If fans know you'll appear, the buzz will be off the charts."
He moved quickly, organizing the team to plan events.
By late July, the 'Gundam SEED' game launched globally.
'Attack on Titan' remained dominant with ratings over 15%.
'My Youth Romantic Comedy' hovered between 8% and 9%.
These numbers were stable. Jing Yu wasn't particularly focused on them.
But the 'Gundam SEED' game caught him off guard.
Most of his adaptations were RPGs.
The game followed the Gundam SEED world, with a new protagonist offering a different perspective on the war between the two factions in the show.
The timeline paralleled the anime, culminating in the final battle at Kira's location.
Many key characters appeared in-game, and the story even incorporated side plots from the SEED universe. It was essentially a spin-off told through gameplay.
Thanks to the anime's huge success, the game—produced over a year with over 100 million in investment—had quality above average. Not industry-leading, but solid.
In Great Zhou, it was priced at 165 Zhou Yuan, and within two weeks, it sold 1.9 million copies.
But what shocked Jing Yu was the international performance.
Abroad, sales exceeded domestic numbers: 2.26 million copies sold in two weeks.
Quietly, 'Gundam SEED' had become a bombshell in the industry.
Total sales surpassed 4 million in just half a month—an insane figure.
And not just in Great Zhou—fans in regions beyond his company's usual reach were buying in?
This was unprecedented.
Great Zhou games rarely sell well abroad. Explosive overseas success usually required massive marketing by major studios.
Yet Gundam…
"We spent 40 million on domestic promotion, only 10 million abroad—and international sales were higher?" Jing Yu was stunned.
He hadn't paid much attention to Gundam's overseas buzz. He didn't speak foreign languages well, and since the company's international distribution partnerships wouldn't fully activate until next year (with 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'), he hadn't expected strong overseas performance.
But then…
He read the internal research report.
It revealed that most of Jing Yu's romance dramas hadn't made waves abroad.
Countries like the Great Zhou—much like Southeast Asia—tended to embrace Confucian-style reserved romances. That didn't translate well overseas.
However, four of his action franchises had exploded globally: the 'Fate' series, 'Gundam', 'Ultraman', and 'Attack on Titan'.
Action series transcend culture and age.
Foreign fans also loved giant robot battles and wanted to pilot flashy mechs in galactic wars.
Jing Yu blinked. Just two weeks ago, he had been worrying about how to break into foreign markets.
He had feared his upcoming games might flop overseas due to a cultural mismatch.
What he didn't expect…
Was that he already had legions of loyal overseas fans, waiting for 'Gundam', 'Attack on Titan', and 'Fate' games to launch?
Many were even eyeing 'Pokémon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' for next year, counting down the days.
"This is… kind of surreal," Jing Yu smiled bitterly. It felt strange even to him.
But when he thought about it—funding, teams, tech—he had already solved those problems.
His games might not receive special treatment, but they could compete fairly.
And if the game was genuinely fun, word-of-mouth alone would make it sell.
Selling 4 million copies in two weeks might not be a historical gaming miracle, but in this year's global market, it was:
The #4 best-selling game in the first two weeks
The #1 game released this month worldwide
You couldn't ignore numbers like that.
With sales easily poised to break 10 million, the industry took notice.
Looking into Bluestar's game division, they found that aside from some quick cash-grab titles—like the rushed 'Evangelion' game or the casual 'Ultraman' Match-3 app—there were only three serious, globally released titles:
'Fate/stay night'
Its sequel, 'Fate/Grand Order'
And now, 'Gundam SEED'
The first two had already sold over 10 million copies, though over 70% came from Great Zhou.
But 'Gundam'?
It was performing well everywhere.
How crazy was that?
Even foreign devs were stunned.
"A drama-based game... sold this much?"