'Neon Genesis Evangelion' had been an extremely influential work in Jing Yu's previous life. Compared to most anime, its plot and character writing were exceptional, and the themes it attempted to explore were remarkably deep.
However, judging from the first episode alone, there wasn't much the audience could pick up yet. The premiere mostly focused on introducing the main cast, their personalities, and the worldview.
In the original animation, there were barely any proper battle scenes against the first Angel that appeared. Whether this was due to budget limitations or episode constraints was unclear.
Jing Yu, however, recreated many of those fights in detailed, cinematic form.
So after the first episode finished airing—
Even though the protagonist's personality wasn't likable, many supporting characters were positively received. Most importantly—
"These effects are top-tier."
"You can't see much of the plot yet, but with visuals like these? I'm definitely watching."
"After waiting so long, 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' is finally here. This is even more spectacular than the fights in 'Fate/Zero'!"
"Is Unit-01 a robot or a biological creature?! It even moved on its own to protect Ikari Shinji, and after he fainted, it took over and kept fighting. So what do we even need the protagonist for?"
"I don't really like this Shinji Jing Yu, the old troll is playing, but honestly? I'd rather have Unit-01 be the protagonist. If it can move by itself, maybe it's some kind of AI. I could accept that."
"So cool. If you want to watch monster battles, Unit-01 is the real star. Protagonist? What's that?"
"Brothers, let's all go to the official website and upvote the suggestions—tell Jing Yu to cut down his screentime. Just give us more scenes of Unit-01 fighting on its own. I don't think the male lead is wrong—if I were him, I'd react the same way. But his indecisiveness wastes Unit-01's awesomeness. Better to let Unit-01 act freely."
The audience was simple. Although Episode 1 of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' didn't have anything outrageous plot-wise, the special effects and adrenaline-pumping battle scenes were more than enough.
Just like in Jing Yu's previous life, the protagonist once again hovered on the edge of public dislike.
After all, long before the protagonist Eren Yeager from 'Attack on Titan' became known for "IQ-drop moments," Ikari Shinji had already been scolded by anime fans for decades. No one could deny Shinji was a brilliantly constructed character, and his emotional growth and transformation were moving—but the frustration he caused viewers was also very real.
Still, even if the protagonist wasn't likable, Unit-01 certainly was. In a world without 'Ultraman', without 'King Kong', without 'Godzilla', the sudden appearance of a massive humanoid weapon battling a monstrous enemy on television created a tremendous impact. And the exhilaration that came with that spectacle far outweighed any irritation caused by the protagonist.
In the end, Episode 1 of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' achieved an astonishing 10.9% viewership. Breaking 10% on premiere was already incredible. By the end of the broadcast, the final rating reached 11.23%, with an average of 10.9%. At that level, nearly every viewer in the timeslot was watching Yunteng TV. There wasn't much more room to climb—this was essentially the ceiling for Great Zhou's television ratings.
That night, when Yunteng TV received the ratings report, the entire station erupted into thunderous cheers.
According to the agreement between Yunteng TV and the advertisers, as long as the show's average viewership surpassed 10%—a phenomenon-level achievement—the advertising revenue Yunteng TV received would double. In this scenario, every employee's quarterly bonus would increase by at least 50%. Even though Jing Yu had left Yunteng TV, nearly everyone at the station felt deeply grateful to him.
As for the other six major TV stations, they had nothing to say. With nearly all viewers switching to Yunteng TV during that timeslot, even these major stations saw their ratings drop below 1%. They knew it would be bad, but they hadn't expected it to be this devastating.
Great Zhou's entertainment media went into full kneeling-bootlicking mode the next morning.
Ratings didn't necessarily reflect quality, but when both ratings and reviews were high, there was nothing left to criticize.
After the premiere, major review sites and forums gave the show a staggering 9.5 average score, which said everything.
Movie-level production quality, overwhelming visual spectacle, and the groundbreaking combination of "giant robot vs giant monster" storytelling—
No critic dared contradict the audience at a time like this. Any so-called "expert" who tried to ramble about highbrow distinctions or stir controversy simply to draw attention would be drowned by fans.
From Monday onward, articles about 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' flooded the internet.
[Giant Robot vs Giant Monster—Jing Yu's Storm of Imagination!]
[Though giant-monster concepts have been proposed by Great Zhou screenwriters in the past, no company dared invest due to immature CGI and enormous costs. Does the birth of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' signal the rise of a new genre?]
[The four VFX companies behind the show exploded in popularity overnight, becoming hot topics in the entertainment industry.]
[Proven fact: burning money creates quality—'Neon Genesis Evangelion' makes all those low-budget special-effects dramas of the past look like jokes!]
[A new industry benchmark. Jing Yu, the King of Television, returns with a premiere breaking 10%. But Episode 1's acclaim largely comes from its visuals—whether later episodes hold up remains to be seen.]
[Ikari Shinji, Ikari Gendo, Katsuragi Misato, Ayanami Rei, and the Human Instrumentality Project—Episode 1 has already buried deep foreshadowing. Looking forward to Episode 2!]
[An unlikable protagonist—why did the seasoned screenwriter Jing Yu choose such a lead? Is there a deeper meaning, or is he simply out of sync with the audience?]
The media fought to report on the show, and employees at BlueStar Media & Film Company—where Jing Yu now worked—were equally excited.
Everyone had been energized these last few days, though the excitement was soon overpowered by the growing mountain of work.
The explosive premiere of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' brought countless companies knocking on Jing Yu's door.
If Episode 1 was already this phenomenal, what would the rest of the series look like?
Advertisers swarmed in, hoping Jing Yu would allow product placements in future episodes. Even preliminary discussions translated into potential profits worth over a hundred million.
Many companies were gambling—gambling that the later episodes of the show would explode even further. Advertising in a drama with a high chance of becoming a cultural phenomenon was a risk they were eager to take.
The same discussions took place in the development of the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' video game.
By the fifth day after the broadcast, the volume of discussions, trending topics, and posts related to 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' had reached an utterly absurd level.