In the company office, mid-to-senior management staff with internal clearance were gathered before Jing Yu, eyeing the two thick stacks of scripts and character setting documents in front of him.
They exchanged looks with each other.
Compared to Jing Yu's past works, this time the material seemed... excessive.
"These are the contents of my new project I've recently organized," Jing Yu began as the people were more or less present. "Take them back, study them, then start considering casting and filming plans. Also, prepare a production budget."
The staff weren't too formal with him. They understood Jing Yu's personality well and sat down in his office, beginning to review the materials. If any doubts or questions came up, they'd ask him directly.
'Bleach'
The title immediately reminded everyone of the currently trending hit, 'Death Note'.
But upon closer inspection, this wasn't some spinoff of 'Death Note'.
It was something entirely different.
A hot-blooded battle drama?
Shinigami, Quincy, Hollows...
A boy who can naturally see spirits, and in a moment of crisis, borrows the power of a Shinigami girl named Rukia to temporarily become a substitute Soul Reaper, then embarks on a journey to slay Hollows...
Just the premise got their curiosity going. And once they saw Jing Yu's plans for the show's scope—
They were stunned.
At least ten seasons?
What kind of concept was that? Even if you aired an episode every week without pause, it would take two or three years to finish broadcasting.
And that word "starting from" three years—clever phrasing. It implied that even three years of continuous airing might not be enough to complete the series.
This was Jing Yu's first-ever super-long serialized supernatural battle drama in the Great Zhou market, and it totally exceeded everyone's expectations.
Next was 'Slam Dunk'.
This one was more grounded.
The setting was once again placed in the fictional world of Japan Island.
It even included a made-up national high school basketball league.
To be honest, for the people of Great Zhou, it was hard to imagine a country having something like a national high school basketball tournament.
Why? Because the Great Zhou was vast, no smaller than Jing Yu's previous-life China. Going from the east to the west side of the country by train could take half a month. With so many high schools nationwide, if such a tournament were really held, the students wouldn't have time for anything else—certainly not schoolwork. Just traveling would burn all their energy.
But putting the setting in a small island nation with a decent high-speed rail system made the whole premise a lot more believable.
Fewer schools, less population, small territory, efficient transportation—
No problem with the logic.
The hard part was the casting.
Jing Yu's hand-drawn character sketches were impressively high-quality, realistic portraits that gave a strong directional guide for casting. The actors didn't need to be exact look-alikes, but their vibe and appearance had to match.
Sakuragi Hanamichi: tall, wild-looking, dumb but hilarious.
Rukawa Kaede: quiet, cool, pretty boy.
Akagi Takenori: practically a humanoid gorilla—the rougher the better. Think someone close to a basketball star like LeBron James in Jing Yu's previous life.
And with these character expectations...
"Boss, for this 'Slam Dunk', do you require actors with elite acting school backgrounds?" one of his subordinates asked hesitantly.
"No need," Jing Yu replied. "It doesn't matter if they've acted before or not. The script has my name on it—that alone brings enough traffic. Even without big-name actors, it won't affect the ratings."
Everyone in the room exhaled in relief.
From the detailed character designs for 'Slam Dunk' and 'Bleach', it was clear Jing Yu's quality standards were extremely high.
If they really had to find actors who played basketball well, had great acting, looked good, and had acting degrees, it would be extremely difficult.
"You guys can check the pro basketball league or the second-tier league. See if there are any good fits. Invite them to audition," Jing Yu said.
Truthfully, to recreate the visual tension of the manga and anime in a live-action adaptation of 'Slam Dunk', a lot would rely on editing and post-production. As long as the actors had solid fundamentals and looked the part, they needed to at least make a proper shooting motion.
Their actual shooting percentage, dunk success rate, or rebounds—none of that mattered.
It's a drama, after all.
"Understood, boss."
After a long meeting in his office, the staff finally took their folders and left.
Once they were gone, Jing Yu let out a long breath.
In the past, he would've handled casting personally.
But times had changed—he no longer had the time to waste on these things.
Even if it was his own work, beyond writing the script and supervising key scenes, he had no intention of micromanaging the production process.
As the saying goes: The ducks know when spring water warms first.
BlueStar Media & Film had grown from a startup to one of Great Zhou's top-tier entertainment companies in just ten years. The entire industry was watching its every move.
Though Jing Yu hadn't officially announced the production of 'Bleach' and 'Slam Dunk', whispers were already flying everywhere.
"Have you heard? Jing Yu from BlueStar's going nuts. Next year he's planning several blockbuster-level dramas."
"Blockbuster? You mean he hasn't already been dropping blockbusters every quarter?"
"A friend of mine works at BlueStar. They said Jing Yu is planning to launch a long-form series next year. The guy's done with the one-season-per-drama format. Now he's aiming for multi-year domination."
"I'm numb at this point. This guy never seems to run out of creativity."
"But he's also a problem. A healthy industry should have diversity. But when Jing Yu drops a drama, every single TV station in Great Zhou backs off. No one dares go head-to-head and try to slay the god."
"True, but without him, our industry wouldn't be progressing this fast. Just look at the overall quality of this year's dramas—it's way higher than before. He's more than just a cash machine; his contributions are real."
"Eventually, new talent will rise, and his reign will end."
"Maybe, but not anytime soon. At this rate, he's got at least another ten years of unstoppable output."
With all the buzz about BlueStar's upcoming actions, every idle celebrity in Great Zhou was trying to dig up intel on Jing Yu's new projects.
Soon, the leaks made their way into fan circles.
Jing Yu is preparing a new drama.
That one post exploded across fan groups, with search hits climbing at lightning speed.
But Jing Yu no longer paid much attention to those discussions.
Right now, 'Death Note' was nearing its final episode, and the July release of the live-action drama for 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' was fast approaching.
Jing Yu could afford to slack on other works, but for this one—likely a future pillar of the company's income—he was all in on promotion.
Social media, company website, everywhere was saturated with pre-release hype for the new 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' drama.
As for 'Death Note', though it was critically acclaimed, its genre was always going to be niche.
After hitting a nationwide viewership of 10%, it plateaued.
Stellar reviews, but limited audience—marketing had done their best.
Finally, in the last week of June, the finale aired.
L continued to suspect that Light was Kira, but the notebook had a rule: anyone who killed using it would die within 2–3 weeks.
To L, that rule exonerated Light.
But in reality, it was a fake rule, added by the Shinigami at Light's request.
The final episode followed L as he used his life as bait to provoke Light into acting.
The ending followed the movie version: the obsessive Light was finally cornered by L.
To uncover Light's identity, L sacrificed himself, letting his name be written in the notebook to counter Light's decapitation plan.
A mind-blowing climax. The ultimate battle of wits.
Light died. L, too, would die in a month.
Two geniuses. Who really won?
Many viewers sat silently in front of their screens, processing.
"From theme to execution to characters—this is a masterpiece. It may not have the ratings of 'Attack on Titan', but 'Death Note' is so much better."
"I knew better than to start a Jing Yu series... but here I am, binge-watching the whole thing till 3 AM."
"Another epic ends. Feeling so empty now—L and Light were such incredible rivals."
"Probably the smartest protagonist–antagonist duo in Great Zhou TV history."
"No kidding. Put me in that drama, I'd be dead by Episode 2."
"Even though it's over, I can't stop thinking about their battle of minds."
"Both of them are dead, but the two notebooks remain... think that's a setup for Season 2?"
"How? They're both dead."
"Maybe they'll revive with powers or switch to new leads?"
"No need. Ending it on Light's death was perfect. A sequel would just ruin it."
"Let's focus on the upcoming 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' drama instead."
"Who cares? I don't even like the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Game, why would I watch the show?"
"Wait, people don't like 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'?"
"Hey, different strokes."
"Still, Yu-Gi-Oh! has plenty of female fans. Don't count it out."
"Exactly. It's not just about ratings. Jing Yu wants to build Yu-Gi-Oh!'s global audience."
"Right. The drama is just a springboard for the next Yu-Gi-Oh! game."
"And after 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' this fall, we're getting 'Pokémon' this winter. I don't even like those games, but I'll still watch—hope the boss surprises us."
By the end of June, with 'Death Note' concluded, the entire entertainment landscape shifted.
Fans were sentimental about L and Light, but quickly moved on.
Now, all eyes were on the July release of the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' drama.
Major news outlets were on board too, rolling out coverage.
Jing Yu went full throttle: social media, promo platforms, livestreams, fan meetups—everything to support 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'s success.
From streaming platforms to prime-time TV slots, 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'s flashy, effects-heavy ads dominated.
And this wasn't just a Great Zhou phenomenon—it was global.
All this for a show that cost just one or two hundred million to make.
But profit wasn't the goal.
The real win would come with the launch of the new 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' And 'Pokémon' games follow the dramas.
Even if the show lost money, the games and merchandise would more than make up for it.