In the Xia Nation region, the broadcast of 'Tokyo Love Story' had come to an end.
However, overseas, because many television stations and streaming platforms had imported the series, a wave of 'Tokyo Love Story' fever had also swept through various regions.
Although due to the varying strength of the distributors, its popularity abroad might not have reached the same heights as in the Xia Nation.
Still, no matter what, it counted as a successful wave of cultural export.
After all, when 'Tokyo Love Story' aired across East Asia in Su Yan's previous life, it had swept through multiple countries with overwhelming popularity.
Now in the Xia Nation, it was merely recreating the trajectory of his previous life.
Inside Su Yan's system space, emotional value points were soaring rapidly.
On ZhongxiaNet, the average paid views per episode of 'Tokyo Love Story' had already surpassed the 20 million mark and were steadily advancing toward 25 million.
If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was the phenomenon-level drama of this year in the Xia Nation's television industry—
Then 'Tokyo Love Story' was absolutely the kind of ultra-popular masterpiece that appeared only once every ten or even twenty years.
In the television industry, it was usually difficult for a show's popularity to radiate into the film sector.
But when popularity reached this level, that was another matter entirely.
Within just a few days, the discussion heat in the Xia Nation film circle for Su Yan's two films currently being shot in Tokyo—'5 Centimeters per Second' and 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'—had nearly doubled.
Meanwhile, the oddly famous and thematically peculiar television series 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' had also become a focal point of discussion among Xia Nation drama fans, both online and in daily conversation.
The style of the work was indeed strange.
But at this point, did anyone—media outlets, industry peers, or critics—still have the standing to question Su Yan?
Setting aside the classic Xia Nation "divine dramas" of the distant past, just within the last decade, Su Yan was already the screenwriter with the best track record of results. Who could point fingers at him now and claim that 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was bound to flop? That the genre had no precedent, and therefore Su Yan's attempt would surely fail?
Su Yan didn't even need to refute such claims. Ever since the 'What IF' line of 'Tokyo Love Story' had reshaped public opinion of him, fans were more than willing to handle those arguments on his behalf.
Some people in the industry might secretly hope for his fall from grace with 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'.
But at a time like this…
No one dared to openly sing a different tune.
As time passed, temperatures across the Xia Nation dropped rapidly.
Whether in Tokyo or Hudu, heavy snow began to fall. Though the heat surrounding 'Tokyo Love Story' had not diminished much, Su Yan had already shifted his focus entirely to filming the two movies and overseeing the post-production of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'.
December passed in a flash. January arrived.
Thanks to the surge in popularity of the Xia Nation television industry over the past year—largely driven by several S-tier dramas and the competition between Su Yan and Sakura TV—the market had been thoroughly stirred up.
As a result, a number of dramas airing during this January winter season achieved fairly good results.
Although Su Yan had no drama entering the battlefield this time, the three major television stations were unwilling to be criticized by the media, fans, and viewers. The overall production quality of their new shows was leagues above the perfunctory works of previous years.
The flagship new dramas launched by the three major stations all achieved ratings above 4.4%.
But of course, viewer complaints never ceased.
Last quarter, while watching 'Tokyo Love Story', audiences had complained about the characters being frustrating, the plot being overly dramatic, and the repetitive indecision between Rika and Nagao testing their patience.
Yet after watching the dramas this quarter, they began to feel nostalgic.
Once you've eaten refined grain, it's hard to go back to bran.
So barely a week or two into January, Su Yan's fans across the internet had already started:
[When will April get here?! I don't want to stay in the winter season anymore!]
[I'm already getting restless. When watching Su Yan's dramas before, I still felt like nitpicking. Now, watching these winter season shows, I don't even feel like complaining—tasteless if I watch, but if I drop them… I'll have nothing to watch at all!]
[I've already started rewatching Su Yan's classics. 'Rurouni Kenshin', 'Your Lie in April'—aren't they amazing? Why torture myself?]
[I don't want to be emotionally destroyed a second time!]
[April brings 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'. July brings the '5 Centimeters per Second' movie. August brings 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'! That's all the sadist Su Yan has planned this year. Sigh… it feels like so little!]
[That's little? Are you giving the rest of the industry a chance to live?!]
[I actually hope the sadist slows down a bit. Quality over quantity. Don't ruin your reputation. At this pace, I'm honestly scared. His name is huge now, but if he slips up even once with a bad project, the backlash would be massive!]
[I can't even imagine a bad project from the sadist. It might not be scientific, but I just feel like with his talent, he could keep creating until he's a hundred years old and pass away peacefully.]
[Back when he filmed in Hudu, you could still try your luck at film bases nearby to catch a glimpse of him. Now he's in Tokyo—hasn't been back for half a year.]
[He'll definitely return to Hudu temporarily at the end of January. And not just him—probably a bunch of mid-to-senior staff from Dimensional Pictures too. This year's Xia Flame Awards? 'Tokyo Love Story' and 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' are probably going to sweep.]
[…]
[That's very likely. At this year's Xia Flame Awards ceremony, we might see something outrageous—Su Yan's two dramas sweeping most of the major awards, while the two S-tier dramas that Sakura TV and Hudu TV spent massive budgets on last year only pick up consolation prizes!]
[The awards committee won't even be able to "balance things out." 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' broke the five-year ratings record in the Xia Nation. Then 'Tokyo Love Story' broke the record that 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' had held for only half a year. It's almost funny when you think about it. Other works aren't even in the same league!]
[I'm suddenly interested. I never cared about the Xia Flame Awards before—every year, they just hand them to the three major stations. But this year…]
[It's the same this year! Both 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' and 'Tokyo Love Story' were broadcast on Zhongxia TV!]
[Not the same. Zhongxia TV didn't produce them—they just bought the rights. What does that mean? It means the sadistSu Yan, through these two successes, has told the entire Xia Nation—and even the world—that purely in terms of television production quality, Dimensional Pictures is far ahead of the industry! And if the Xia Flame Awards really give most of the major awards to Su Yan, that's basically official industry recognition.]
[What's the use? Just a bunch of random awards. I don't care.]
[You don't care, but plenty of others do. If the sadist truly breaks the monopoly of the three major stations, then from now on, dramas produced by him and his company will be unique in the Xia Nation television circle. Among fans, expectations will shift—Su Yan's dramas > the three major stations > other large stations > in-house productions from various companies!]
[That's a bit exaggerated. Sure, his results in the past two years have been great—but only the past two years. The three major stations have dominated the market for decades. Their strength is still there. In terms of attention, future Su Yan dramas and the three major stations' productions will probably stand on equal footing.]
[Su Yan is still so young. I think the three major stations have a lot to endure in the future. Even if he's cooperating with Zhongxia TV now, in the long run, an independent studio boss with results like his will both cooperate and compete with them.]
[The more chaotic, the better. I never want to see the days again when the three major stations took turns lying flat, tacitly rotating the annual champion title, and pumping out trash dramas. Ever since sadist Su Yan rose to prominence, the quality of the three major stations' productions has clearly improved. Without pressure, even if they can produce excellent works, they won't bother—because the stakes are higher! That's capitalism…]
[Go, sadist! One day, crush the big three outright! I've never watched the Xia Flame Awards ceremony before, but at the end of this month, I'll definitely be in front of the TV supporting him!]
[Me too!]
[Just for the emotion 'Tokyo Love Story' brought to me—a forty-year-old housewife—I'll support this young man!]
[I'm a fifty-year-old "young lad," and same here. Rika's personality was just like my first love. We separated back then for all sorts of reasons. I cried through the entire 'What IF' line of 'Tokyo Love Story'. A few years ago, I felt Su Yan's style wasn't for me—but from now on, I'm his number one die-hard fan!]
In January, many drama fans in the Xia Nation paid little attention to the current season's shows, instead focusing on the Xia Flame Awards at the end of the month.
Because 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' and 'Tokyo Love Story' had both received multiple nominations, the heated discussion surrounding this year's Xia Flame Awards had reached the highest level in recent years.
Surging market sentiment pressed heavily upon the awards committee.
Across the entire Xia Nation—including Su Yan's industry peers—there was already a default assumption that most of the major awards this year would go to 'Tokyo Love Story' and 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
Of course, there remained an extremely slim possibility—like last April—of losing out on Best Screenwriter or Best Drama.
But if that happened again this year—
That would truly become the biggest spectacle in the entire industry!
Whether it was the committee or whichever work managed to snatch those two awards from these god-tier dramas, they would all be roasted over an open fire.
Time passed, and soon it was late January.
Temperatures in Tokyo dropped even further.
Although progress had been slow in the early stages of filming for '5 Centimeters per Second' and 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet', things had accelerated now that the actors had settled into their roles.
On Su Yan's company website, official character stills from the productions had begun to be released.
Su Yan himself did not play any major roles in either film. However, for the sake of leveraging his popularity, he made brief cameo appearances in both—minor roles lasting only about half a minute each.
That would make future promotional campaigns easier, riding on his name recognition.
And now that the time had come, Su Yan and many key members of the production teams were preparing to head to Hudu.
Among them, Shinozaki Ikumi was the most visibly excited.
She had always been someone who never forgot a grudge.
Back at Sakura TV, she had been suppressed by Akasaka Yoshitoki.
Now—
Two years. Two full years.
No one knew how many times during those two years she had fantasized about standing on a stage like the Xia Flame Awards… and giving Akasaka Yoshitoki a proper lesson.