Female viewers were doing fine, but over the past two days, male viewers had collectively exploded.
["So awesome! 'Mobile Suit'—this is insane!"]
["I knew Su Yan's mecha concept had huge potential. Turns out, besides 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion', he's also preparing another project of the same type~"]
["From what I saw on the official site, 'Mobile Suit Gundam' isn't a sequel to 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'. It's set in a future space-age setting. That means these giant robots aren't limited to Blue Star anymore—they can soar through space."]
["Has Su Yan already started planning works like this?"]
["Other screenwriters are still stuck writing cheesy workplace dramas, and this guy's already heading for the stars?"]
["Then why didn't he make shows like this before?"]
["Are you dumb? Did Su Yan have the money back then? Something like 'Mobile Suit Gundam'—unless you're funding it yourself as the boss, how could you possibly raise 400–500 million from investors? The Xia Nation TV market isn't that big. To make a profit on that kind of investment, it'd have to blow up not just domestically, but overseas too!"]
["Being your own boss really is powerful! In the entire Xia Nation, only Su Yan can create something like this."]
["There are plenty of people who can take out a few hundred million, but someone who can spend that much on a show and still guarantee profit? Only Su Yan. This market can only be opened by him—and that money can only be earned by him!"]
["I'm already hyped beyond belief. Space-version robot warfare—let's go!"]
["Casting for this show is happening in Tokyo these days. If you're on Sakura Island, go try your luck at Su Yan's company. Tons of domestic and international celebrities are gathering there—I've already gotten over twenty autographs outside the building!"]
["Su Yan's Dimensional Pictures branch on Sakura Island right now feels like an awards ceremony—so many stars showing up!"]
["So jealous. I can't afford a flight to Tokyo, otherwise I'd go get an autograph too!"]
Online, discussions about Su Yan's two new drama casting events and 'Mobile Suit Gundam' flooded every corner.
Meanwhile, Su Yan himself was overwhelmed with casting work for 'Mobile Suit Gundam'.
Minor roles could be handled by his team, but for the core main cast, he had to personally oversee everything.
And at his current stage, even if he didn't like it, certain social and industry obligations were unavoidable.
If he wanted to expand into overseas markets, he needed support from local industry capital. Otherwise, on someone else's turf, there were countless ways for them to block him from making money.
Since Su Yan refused to accept external investment in 'Mobile Suit Gundam' or share its rights, he had to accept another condition—allowing partners to recommend their artists for roles.
There had to be something in it for them. Only then would they cooperate and help push his work across global markets.
But now that Su Yan's projects had clearly shown global breakout potential, there were simply too many partners trying to insert their own artists into the production, hoping for overnight fame.
Balancing all these interests gave Su Yan a serious headache.
"...Sigh."
At the audition venue, Su Yan spun a pen between his fingers and let out a soft sigh.
The beautiful foreign actress standing in front of him, holding the audition script, immediately had her eyes turn red.
"Don't misunderstand—I'm not criticizing you. Your performance was very good," Su Yan quickly said. The interpreter beside him relayed his words.
After the actress left, Shinozaki Ikumi leaned over and asked softly,
"What's wrong? Bad mood today?"
"Not really. Just… feeling a bit reflective."
"You're thinking about how your projects now are mixed with too many competing interests, right?" Shinozaki Ikumi quickly understood.
"There's no helping it. At least the audition candidates brought in by these overseas partners meet the standards—clean personal lives, no scandals, and solid acting skills."
"Of course. I made it very clear to them—if they send over some clueless pretty face, I don't care who they are, I'll personally send them home. I won't let them contaminate my crew," Su Yan said with a smile.
"Once casting for these two dramas wraps up in the next couple of weeks, you've still got casting for 'Suzume', plus filming for the third 'Rurouni Kenshin' movie. Just thinking about it gives me a headache," Su Yan added.
"All your own choices," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"If you don't act in these projects, their popularity and ratings will drop. But if you do, you'll be juggling multiple crews nonstop without a single day of rest. Honestly, you're exactly what foreign fans call you—a workaholic."
"? Foreign fans say that about me?" Su Yan asked curiously.
"Of course. In seven or eight years, you've produced dozens of films and television works, mostly in a lead or a key role. You also wrote all of them and handled music and art direction for most. When 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' and 'Fate/stay night' became hits, foreign fans dug into your career history—you have no idea how shocked they were," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a smile.
"A lot of them even think you're an alien. They don't believe a Blue Star human could have this level of stamina, energy, and endless creativity."
"Heh…" Su Yan laughed awkwardly.
Honestly, their guess wasn't entirely wrong.
"I wonder what things will look like ten years from now," Shinozaki Ikumi said softly, glancing at a college acting student from the Imperial Capital who had just been called in to audition.
Su Yan thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Dimensional Pictures will become a household-name production company across Blue Star."
After all, if the 'Mobile Suit Gundam' IP could build enough popularity through the TV series, then transitioning into films and achieving global success was highly likely in his view.
Some IPs simply had that kind of potential—it just depended on whether anyone was willing to invest.
In his previous life, even Marvel had nearly gone bankrupt. It was only after 'Iron Man' became a massive hit that the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was born. If that movie had flopped, Marvel would have collapsed.
A strong beginning was everything. As long as the TV series started well, Su Yan was confident that within ten years, this IP could become a global phenomenon.
"Let's hope so," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a smile.
Both of them turned their attention back to the girl performing in front of them. After she finished and left, Su Yan frowned slightly, and Shinozaki Ikumi drew a cross next to her name.
"She's the daughter of a deputy station director from Hudu TV. He called me personally and talked for quite a while to secure her this opportunity. Her performance… was barely acceptable. In a normal audition, I might have passed her. But here… forget it," Shinozaki Ikumi said, stating her opinion.
For both her and Su Yan, their baseline for accommodating such requests was simple—professional competence. If the acting wasn't up to par, no amount of connections would help.
"Agreed," Su Yan said.
At this point, a mere deputy station director of Hudu TV wasn't worth much in his eyes. Maybe a station director or board chairman would warrant some courtesy.
Otherwise, if he had to cater to everyone, with hundreds of influential figures in the industry, he'd end up becoming a walking "central air conditioner."
With just a few sentences between them, this top student from one of Xia Nation's leading film academies—someone with a powerful father and a bright future in the eyes of her peers—was completely rejected at the audition.
And while the auditions were ongoing, elsewhere, Episode 10 of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' had just finished airing.
The final arc of Season 1—the most critical and explosive storyline—was beginning to unfold.