At first, many people didn't have high hopes for 'Natsume's Book of Friends'.
Actually, similar situations had occurred before, like when Jing Yu aired three shows at once: 'Hikaru no Go', 'Steins;Gate', and 'Another'.
Back then, it was obvious which of the three had higher priority.
As it turned out, 'Another' ultimately underperformed compared to 'Steins;Gate' and 'Hikaru no Go'.
This season, a lot of people expected 'Natsume's Book of Friends' to be the underdog, falling far short of 'Legal High'.
But in reality—
The outcome was completely different.
Natsume's Book of Friends actually surged in popularity. By episode 3, it was already on the verge of overtaking 'Legal High'.
"One emotional hit every week!"
"'Natsume's Book of Friends' is the best! I'm obsessed!"
"My little Friday healing ritual. After a week of stress at work, watching the latest episode makes me feel at peace again."
"Jing Yu should've made a show like this earlier! Why get bogged down with all those depressing dramas? A series like 'Natsume's Book of Friends', which makes you tear up and then smile warmly, is much more meaningful!"
"I love this drama so much. Its only flaw is that it's too short—only 20 minutes per episode. It's painful."
"But on the flip side, that's exactly what makes it special. If it dragged on like a regular drama, it'd lose its charm."
"My bestie used to hate watching shows on streaming sites, but I convinced her to try 'Natsume's Book of Friends'. Now, every Friday night after watching the episode, she calls me to discuss it for half an hour."
"Honestly, I think it's better than 'Legal High' and even 'Fate/Zero' from last season. The only downside is the special effects, but the story? Flawless."
"Same here. Besides the 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal', it's my favorite Jing Yu drama/film. If it aired on TV, I bet it'd beat 'Legal High' in ratings."
"Support 'Natsume's Book of Friends'! Everyone, help spread the word so this gem doesn't go unnoticed!"
Starting in late April, fans began pushing back against the idea that 'Natsume's Book of Friends' was less impactful than 'Legal High', launching aggressive promotional efforts on major TV station websites and forums.
Their actions paid off. The show's average paid views surpassed 9 million and were rapidly approaching 10 million.
Executives at Qingyun Video were thrilled.
Initially, they'd worried that Jing Yu had produced the drama simply to fulfill a contract, given its short 20-minute runtime per episode.
But those internal doubts disappeared.
At the end of April, Jing Yu was even invited to a corporate banquet by Qingyun Video.
After all, Jing Yu wasn't just a strategic partner—he was also the company's second-largest shareholder.
Although he usually went along with whatever Chai Kaijun decided in shareholder meetings, never objecting unless it clearly hurt his interests, employees at Qingyun still treated him with great respect.
After all, he owned over 10% of the company's stock—a stake that had more than tripled in value with Qingyun's rising valuation. And while Jing Yu appeared passive, who knew when he might suddenly decide to take a more active role? With Chai Kaijun as CEO and Jing Yu as co-owner, could anyone afford to slack?
That night, Jing Yu spent a few hours at the staff banquet. Many employees were visibly nervous in his presence.
He didn't mind, and during the event, discussed various topics with Qingyun Video's staff—including their proposal for an exclusive streaming partnership between Qingyun and Bluestar Media & Film Company.
They had their eyes on 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.
But that was a bit too optimistic.
Jing Yu politely declined. Although he was Qingyun's second-largest shareholder, his core business lay with Bluestar Media & Film Company.
From a profit perspective, distributing his works across all platforms made far more financial sense.
Qingyun Video, with just over 70 million registered users, simply didn't have the market size to support an exclusive deal. If they ever reached 200 million users, then maybe they'd talk.
By early May, the casting process for 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' had begun.
Jing Yu personally handled auditions for roles like Ikari Gendo, Misato Katsuragi, and Kaworu Nagisa. Other roles were left to Cheng Lie.
He was also deeply involved in production design. Even though much of the show would involve CGI, the cockpit scenes of Unit-01 and Unit-02 required real actors.
Everything—from the custom-made cockpits to the characters' battle suits—had to be crafted to spec.
And these things weren't cheap.
The production hadn't even started filming yet, but the pre-production work was already burning through money.
Fortunately, Jing Yu had earned enough from his past shows to afford it. Any other production company might have run out of money before filming even began.
"Yo, how do I look? A 28-year-old man trying to pass as a high schooler."
Jing Yu had just cut his long hair (which his stylist insisted was ruining his image) and now wore a crisp white school shirt and uniform pants. He turned to his girlfriend, Yu Youqing.
"Nah, age doesn't matter. It's all about whether you look the part."
Yu Youqing, dressed in a fiery red skirt with her hair styled per Jing Yu's character designs, lit up when she saw him.
Since Jing Yu usually wore suits to maintain his authoritative image at work, it was refreshing to see him in schoolboy attire—it reminded her of when they used to film school romance dramas together.
Though a few years had passed and their relationship had evolved, their looks still seemed frozen in their Lancheng era.
Whether it was her playing Asuka or him playing Shinji, there was no sense of mismatch.
Jing Yu looked at the two of them in the mirror and nodded in approval.
Though he loved acting, it had to make sense for the role. If he or Yu Youqing no longer fit the part, he'd immediately recast—no hesitation.
"Hey, could you two at least consider the setting?"
Xia Yining stepped out of another dressing room in a pale blue school uniform, black socks, and white shoes.
She had once played Yukishiro in 'Rurouni Kenshin', a character inspired by Ayanami Rei, so she found this role easy to slip into.
The biggest challenge was the look.
Jing Yu, apart from making anime adaptations for profit, did it mostly out of passion.
That meant sticking as closely as possible to the original character designs.
Which brought up the most ridiculous thing in anime—hair color.
In anime, no one has normal hair colors. Red, yellow, blue, green—you name it.
Usually, it's all about the redheads and blondes.
In the original animation, Rei's hair looked silver, but her official color was sky blue.
Asuka had brown hair.
In anime, no one bats an eye. But in live-action? Whether viewers find it odd depends on the actor's face.
It's like cosplay—if an average-looking person dresses up as an anime character, people say it looks weird.
But if the cosplayer is stunning? Suddenly, that wig looks "authentic" instead of tacky.
So Jing Yu looked at Yu Youqing in her brown wig and Xia Yining in her sky-blue wig and breathed a sigh of relief.
Even he, someone intimately familiar with the original, thought they looked great. Chances were, the audience wouldn't find it jarring either.
"So, Jing Yu, why the sudden desire to shoot another school drama? Feeling sentimental from all that romance?" Xia Yining squinted playfully at the couple.
At first, they'd kept their relationship secret, but it only took her a couple of months to figure it out.
She'd been crushed when she did.
They were supposed to compete fairly for Jing Yu's affection. How had Yu Youqing managed to "invade the castle" and win?
She couldn't help but feel a little bitter. She liked Jing Yu, but she had limits. Since he had already chosen Yu Youqing, she would step back.
Still, that didn't mean her emotions were always in check.
"So, is this another love triangle? How many have we done together? 'White Album 2', 'Steins;Gate', and 'Your Lie in April'. Now 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' too? At least let my character win for once, okay? Can't keep playing the losing girl every time!" Xia Yining joked.
"Ah, hahaha… We'll see." Jing Yu laughed awkwardly.
But really—how should 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' end?
There was some romance, yes, but it was such a small part of the bigger picture.
The three shared a glance, each lost in their own thoughts.
A moment later, the photographer called them over.
Promotions needed to begin early. The audience might not yet understand what 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' was, but Jing Yu didn't need to explain much.
Just eight words were enough to spark hype:
"Written by Jing Yu. Starring Jing Yu."
Some roles still weren't cast, but they couldn't wait forever.
Jing Yu didn't want production dragging on for two or three years. He didn't have that kind of patience, even if the audience did.
His goal was to finish production in time to air next spring or summer.
That meant shooting ASAP, then sending it to the VFX team to start on post-production.
That afternoon, Jing Yu, Yu Youqing, and Xia Yining spent hours on a photoshoot.
That night, Bluestar Media & Film Company officially launched a subpage on their website for 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.
And on that page…
They dropped 47 promotional photos of Ikari Shinji, Asuka Langley Soryu, and Ayanami Rei.
In the middle of a quiet Thursday night—when no major drama was airing—this was huge news for Great Zhou's drama fans.
Within half a minute, Jing Yu's fans had discovered the new page and were excitedly commenting on the photos:
Asuka has brown hair, an energetic expression, and fair skin.
Ayanami with sky-blue hair, serene beauty, icy elegance—so striking, fans thought Yukishiro from 'Rurouni Kenshin' had been reborn in the modern era.
And then there was Jing Yu's Shinji:
A simple school uniform, but with a profound effect.
His ever-present melancholy expression spoke volumes—no dialogue needed. Just his appearance captured Shinji's indecision and fragility.
Had it been any other actor, fans would've cried, "Get this gloomy guy off my screen!"
But because it was Jing Yu… everything changed.
The comment section overflowed with praise for how handsome he looked.
His female fans had been waiting nearly two years for him to star in another drama—especially one with romance or a love triangle.
Originally, Shinji was supposed to be an ordinary, depressed teen.
But in their eyes?
He had already become a melancholy prince.
Besides the photos, the webpage included short bios for the three main characters.
Within an hour, news of the update had spread across forums and fan groups throughout Great Zhou.