Monday afternoon, inside Sakura TV.
"It's over!"
"Episode 2 of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' hit 5.2%!"
"Is Minister Akasaka really going to get dismissed by the board?"
"No idea. Don't talk about things we shouldn't."
"That Su Yan… how is he this good? Did he really spend two years doing grunt work in the screenwriting department?"
"Xia Nation's number one lucky koi in the TV industry—Shinozaki Ikumi. Her track record as a producer now is brilliant, but in her entire life, she only made two truly correct decisions. One, pulling Su Yan out from the pile of rookie screenwriters. Two, leaving Sakura TV together with him."
"At least eight or nine producers here regret it to death. Back then, the script for 'Rurouni Kenshin' was delivered straight to their offices—but none of them were willing to spend even half an hour reading it."
"Not just them. Even Akasaka Yoshitoki regrets it now."
"It's normal for a production minister to suppress a rookie he dislikes. He just had terrible luck—running into a once-in-a-century monster like Su Yan."
"No choice. Once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back. There's no regret medicine in this world. Letting a genius like Su Yan slip away—that first massive blame has to be carried by him."
"You think Minister Akasaka still has a chance to turn things around?"
"Probably not. Ever since Su Yan left the station, they've spent several hundred million producing multiple projects trying to win the annual championship. In the end, they couldn't even secure a seasonal championship. Every single time, they were blocked by Su Yan's works. The board is furious now. The falling stock price needs someone to take responsibility. Anyway, it all depends on these last two months—whether 'Peerless' can pull off a comeback."
"That's tough. Su Yan's works are famous for gaining strength in the later stages. If they can't compete early on, how can they later? They might as well copy Hudu TV—since they knew it was hard to win the seasonal crown, they basically gave up this quarter."
"No helping it. Minister Akasaka was forced into this position. It's not up to him."
Akasaka Yoshitoki sat in his chair, somewhat dazed.
Even though he hadn't personally heard the discussions, he knew roughly what they were saying.
He couldn't even describe his own emotions right now.
Before the spring season in April fully ended, there was still a chance.
And yet, despair had already begun to spread—in his heart, in the production department, throughout Sakura TV.
Some producers under him had already started contacting Ogata Aya, hoping to switch camps.
A storm-like atmosphere loomed over him.
Looking at the 5.2% rating figure for Episode 2 of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', even a man whose life motto was "never regret the past" found it hard to steady himself.
"I struggled for decades to get where I am. What gives you the right?" Akasaka slammed his fist on the desk.
He knew it was useless rage.
But if he didn't vent, he felt like he might lose control—as he might actually vomit from the nausea in his chest.
How could someone like that exist in this world?
Starting Tuesday, while 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was enjoying surging discussion thanks to the "Headless Mami" twist—
Su Yan also began releasing promotional materials for '5 Centimeters per Second' on the official website and major platforms.
Actor makeup photos.
Scenery stills.
Behind-the-scenes clips.
Although the movie was still three months away from release, early promotion could already begin—just at a lower intensity.
At the same time, with his filming workload reduced, Su Yan had more time to handle media interviews.
During those interviews, he also casually promoted '5 Centimeters per Second' and 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'.
But this week, fans learned quite a bit about 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' from his fan meetings and interviews.
Tomoe Mami would appear again later in the story.
Homura Akemi was not a villain.
As the plot progressed, the series would overturn everyone's understanding.
Wishes were indeed omnipotent—but just how omnipotent depended on the aptitude of the person making the wish.
And—
Was the series ultimately tragic?
Su Yan clearly stated that the finale would be very joyful.
His words were ambiguous, but many viewers felt reassured.
As long as it wasn't purely depressing, that was fine.
Technically, he wasn't lying.
Mami would indeed reappear—though in Homura's memories, in other timelines.
And with the addition of the 'Rebellion' storyline into the overall narrative, the final ending would have everyone living in the false world constructed by Homura.
That was a happy ending, wasn't it?
A false happy ending was still a happy ending.
As for the viewing experience along the way—that wasn't important.
Friday arrived.
Episode 3 of 'Peerless' aired, but its ratings growth had slowed significantly.
This episode scored 5.15%, almost unchanged from the previous week.
At this point, Xia Nation's media no longer held back. The feud between Su Yan and Akasaka Yoshitoki was dragged out yet again.
There was no helping it—real-life face-slapping drama like this never lost its appeal.
A rookie was suppressed at his debut, forced out by his superior. Now, after achieving success, he was crushing that superior's performance, nearly forcing him out of office.
Drama fans across Xia Nation naturally felt deeply invested in Su Yan's journey over the years.
As for the rising ratings of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' and the conflict between Su Yan and Akasaka Yoshitoki—
They watched it all for fun.
But ultimately…
Judging by the current situation, this farce seemed likely to conclude this season.
After all, by Episode 3, 'Peerless' had already slowed in growth, while 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was gaining unstoppable momentum. The gap would only widen.
Sunday.
The comment section for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' became lively again.
That evening, Episode 3 aired smoothly.
Unlike Episode 2, there were no shocking twists.
But in this episode, the long-awaited character played by Su Yan—Kamijou Kyousuke—finally appeared.
A boy hospitalized due to illness, unable to play the violin, was forced away from music.
And Sayaka liked him.
The moment he appeared, viewers immediately understood what Sayaka's wish would be.
Sure enough, the story unfolded exactly as expected.
A crisis struck the city.
Sayaka made a wish to cure Kamijou Kyousuke's illness, becoming a magical girl.
She saved the boy she secretly loved.
And in the critical moment, she also saved her best friend Madoka from being caught in a witch's barrier.
"Mami-senpai, my wish has come true."
The episode ended with Sayaka smiling happily as Kamijou Kyousuke—played by Su Yan—played the violin once more, free from illness.
Although the shock from Episode 2's "Headless Mami" hadn't fully faded—
The overall tone seemed to be returning to something more normal. Even cheerful.
Sayaka's blue-themed transformation.
Her handsome magical girl form.
Her brave and dashing combat style.
Her unwavering smile.
Still—
["So Su Yan is recycling his own trope? Kamijou Kyousuke's character setup looks way too much like Kaori Miyazono, doesn't it? It's basically Kaori's background pasted onto him."]
["Even genius screenwriters get lazy. Same prodigy violinist. Same ALS-like illness. But in this show, Kamijou Kyousuke has Sayaka make a wish to restore his health by becoming a magical girl. In 'Your Lie in April', Kaori was pure metaphysics!"]
["Maybe 'Your Lie in April' and 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' share the same universe. Maybe someone secretly in love with Kaori made a similar wish in an 'What IF' timeline so she could stand up again."]
["Kaori is a girl!"]
["Don't be so narrow-minded!"]
["But honestly, seeing Su Yan play this character really hits differently. It's been almost two years since 'Your Lie in April' aired."]
["This role instantly reminded me of chasing that show back then… sigh."]
["But I do have a question. If there really were an opportunity to make an omnipotent wish, would the price really be that simple?"]
["What do you mean?"]
["I mean, usually when wishes are granted, you have to pay a price. But becoming a magical girl—can that really be considered a price? Isn't that more like a reward?"]
["Exactly. Becoming a magical girl and gaining immense power—how is that the cost of a wish? The setting feels strange. Honestly, even without the wish opportunity, I'd still want to become a magical girl."]
["Emmm… but fighting witches is dangerous."]
["I just feel something's off. There has to be something about the magical girl setting we haven't been told. Otherwise, Homura wouldn't keep warning Madoka not to become one."]
["Just keep watching. I'm starting to feel this show isn't simple at all. At first, I thought it was a standard supernatural series. But now, it's completely different from what I imagined."]
["At least Su Yan said in interviews that Mami will appear again later, and that the ending will be a happy one. As long as I know that, I'm not panicking at all!"]
The next day, the ratings for Episode 3 were announced.
5.26%.
Compared to Episode 2, the increase was modest.
After all, the pacing of Episode 3 was slower, focusing mainly on Madoka and Sayaka's confusion following Mami's death.
There were still battle scenes audiences enjoyed—
But most of the spotlight was on Sayaka.
The two most popular characters—Homura Akemi, played by Gu Qingyuan, and Madoka, played by Shen Liqian—had relatively little presence this episode.
Still, for Su Yan, when ratings didn't surge as expected—
The media and antis alike found their new talking points.