Having gone through the Spring Festival season multiple times, Su Yan no longer felt much emotional fluctuation when his films were released in the new year.
After bringing out the scripts for 'Naruto' and 'One Piece', everyone in Dimensional Pictures involved in creative production—hundreds of people—could clearly sense just how much importance Su Yan placed on these two projects.
In terms of investment per episode, both series were slightly lower than 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
After all, compared to the large-scale war scenes in 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion', the technical difficulty of effects in 'Naruto' and 'One Piece' was relatively lower.
Moreover, Su Yan was clear—
These were TV dramas, not films.
In his previous life, no matter how popular 'Naruto' or 'One Piece' were, their animation was never produced at the level of theatrical films.
Naturally, he wouldn't produce them in the Xia Nation at top-tier movie standards.
That would be a question of return on investment.
And given the sheer length of both series, over-polishing every detail would eventually crush the production teams during serialization.
Still—
The final product had to look good.
No awkwardness.
No immersion-breaking visuals.
Fight scenes had to remain smooth and engaging.
From Su Yan's perspective, this was a balanced approach.
But to the Xia Nation's TV industry—
The per-episode investment for these two projects was already at the absolute ceiling.
And with 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' as precedent—
Joining either production meant a potential shot at global stardom.
In fact, once casting began—
The entire industry was stunned.
Su Yan personally served as screenwriter, working alongside directors and producers in Tokyo to host a casting event lasting over twenty days.
More than a thousand actors from around the world were invited to audition.
Most of them—
Were children aged 11–12, or teenagers aged 14–15.
For 'Naruto', things were relatively manageable.
The early storyline—Naruto at age twelve—spanned just over a hundred chapters.
Adapted into a TV series, it could be completed in about seven seasons, airing over three to four years.
A natural transition from age twelve to fourteen or fifteen wouldn't feel too jarring.
After that, the later arcs could continue smoothly.
But 'One Piece' was a different story.
From the beginning to the Marineford arc alone—
The length was enormous.
If adapted into a TV series, actor aging would become a serious issue—
From childhood to adolescence, even into adulthood.
If makeup couldn't solve it—
Recasting would be inevitable.
But regardless—
Initial casting was critical.
Su Yan didn't trust anyone else with it.
He handled everything personally.
With over ten billion in cash reserves, Dimensional Pictures had no financial concerns.
Unlike heavy industries, which require massive infrastructure investment—
Film and television projects, even at hundreds of millions, were manageable.
As for actor salaries—
With young, mostly new actors, costs were relatively low.
Contracts were carefully structured—
Not exploitative—
But clearly defines character image rights and IP ownership.
Over 80% of the budget—
Went into production and visual effects.
For an entire month—
Su Yan and the team worked nonstop.
With no external investors interfering, projects progressed rapidly.
Once casting was finalized—
It moved straight into assembling production teams, securing equipment, and coordinating partner companies.
Backed by strong funding—
Everything moved faster than the market expected.
By April—
Both productions were largely ready.
Dozens of VFX companies had signed contracts with Dimensional Pictures.
Spring arrived.
Cherry blossoms bloomed.
Only then did Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi finally find a moment to breathe.
Meanwhile—
In April—
After a year of preparation, 'Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works' began airing.
Zhuang Yuxin's portrayal of Artoria once again made her a global TV sensation.
Even though Rin Tohsaka was the female lead of this route—
Artoria remained the audience's focal point.
The premiere achieved a 6.82% rating—
A significant increase over the Saber route.
It also launched simultaneously in seven overseas countries—
Ranking first in five of them.
But for Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi—
Such results were no longer surprising.
They had grown accustomed to being number one.
To breaking records.
To lead the market by a wide margin.
Ratings were no longer the main concern.
What mattered—
It had a global reach.
At the same time, during the broadcast of 'Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works'—
Promotions began for:
'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED' (July release)
'Suzume' (theatrical release)
While the Fate IP was important—
Su Yan prioritized the 'Mobile Suit Gundam' franchise even more.
Over the next two years, he aimed to establish both 'Mobile Suit Gundam' and Fate as major IPs—
Then, within three to five years—
Push 'Naruto' and 'One Piece' onto the global stage.
Of course—
He also had plans for other works with lower commercial potential.
Titles like 'Slam Dunk' and 'Demon Slayer' were already on his list.
But—
Step by step.
There was only so much he could handle at once.
Soon—
May arrived.
Tokyo.
Top floor of Dimensional Pictures' branch office.
Su Yan finally signed the last document of the day and let out a long breath.
Beside him, Shinozaki Ikumi collapsed onto the desk, her hair scattered messily.
"Finally… It's over."
She wasn't referring to the day—
But the entire initial preparation phase for these projects.
"Tomorrow, I'm finally sleeping in. What kind of company executive works like this? Three months straight—5 AM to 11 PM schedules, barely any sleep, only catching rest in cars and planes. At this rate, I'm going to age prematurely."
"I went through the same thing," Su Yan smiled. "And honestly, you look younger than when I first met you at twenty. Maybe even like you're eighteen again."
"Flatterer," she rolled her eyes—though the smile on her lips betrayed her.
"But after all this… our company's roadmap for the next two to three years is basically set."
Two 'Mobile Suit Gundam' series.
'Rurouni Kenshin' films 4 and 5.
The Fate IP expansion.
Production of 'Naruto' and 'One Piece'.
Games and merchandise for all of the above.
It was hard to believe—
That all these core stories—
Came from Su Yan alone.
Each week—
He produced tens of thousands of words of script.
For most writers—
That was a year's workload.
And yet—
His quality never dropped.
Any professional who read his scripts knew—
Aside from minor adjustments during filming—
The core narrative required no revision.
And beyond writing—
He also managed the company.
It was almost inhuman.
What Shinozaki Ikumi didn't know—
Was that in Su Yan's previous life, some writers produced 20,000 words a day.
And Su Yan—
It wasn't even created from scratch.
He was transcribing.
At his current proficiency, writing 10,000–20,000 words took just a few hours.
Three days of work—
Covered a week's output.
He could even produce more—
But chose not to.
Too many simultaneous projects would only lead to internal competition.
Even for him—
There were limits.