"School drama?"
"Wasn't it supposed to be about robots fighting? How did it become a school drama now?"
"I don't get it. A school robot combat drama? Honestly, if it weren't written by Teacher Jing Yu, I'd already have classified it as garbage."
"Whatever. Just trust Teacher Jing Yu. He's always innovating and never stops moving forward. There's nothing else to say. He simply doesn't produce bad dramas — the only question is how good this one will be."
"But seriously, do celebrities' looks never change? I remember back when they did 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' at 24 years old. Jing Yu and Yu Youqing were the leads. Now they're both 28, and they still look the same. Back then, they played college students. Now they're playing middle schoolers, and there's no sense of disconnect at all."
"Maybe the makeup artist is just god-tier!"
"Well, it's not all the makeup artist's work. I saw Jing Yu at the Capital fan meeting three months ago — no makeup, bare-faced, and the guy is just that handsome. He looks that young. What can I say? Heaven not only gave him talent and a great looks, but also a face untouched by time."
"Jealous. Me? One all-nighter and I look ten years older the next morning."
"And then there's Xia Yining. She's amazing at playing these cold and beautiful girls — the vibe is perfect!"
"It's been two or three years since those three were in the same drama. Last time was in 'Initial D', right?"
"True, but in 'Initial D', they weren't even couples. And speaking of 'Initial D', I still can't get over Natsuki. My nightmare. After that show, I completely lost faith in love."
"Hope Teacher Jing Yu speeds things up. This thing — what's it called again? Something like 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'? It's been circulating in the industry for weeks now, and all we've gotten are three character names and costume shots. I can't take it anymore!"
After BlueStar Media & Film Company launched the official page for 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', they kicked off the first wave of promotion.
The VFX budget for 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' alone is estimated to exceed 200 million. Of course, early estimates like these don't mean much — VFX is a bottomless pit.
In Jing Yu's previous life, Avatar had a special effects budget that ran into over a billion. But many Hollywood blockbusters might only use a few hundred million, and even films people praise for their visuals sometimes only spend 100 to 200 million on effects.
It all depends on how obsessive the director is about detail and quality. If you're the kind of creator who wants to tweak things no one but you will notice — well, that gets expensive fast.
Even so, based on experience with producing 'Fate/Zero', it's pretty much guaranteed that the budget will be exceeded.
As for actor fees, Jing Yu, Xia Yining, and Yu Youqing are all shareholders in BlueStar Media. The difference is that the other two only hold one or two percent of shares. To avoid confusion, they went with market rates for salaries. For Jing Yu, of course, that's just moving money from one pocket to another.
Their combined pay came to under 40 million. Jing Yu took a little over 20 million for himself, while Yu Youqing and Xia Yining each took around 8 or 9 million — very low, considering their current level of fame.
Add in all the other production costs…
This drama's total investment exceeds 300 million, and there's a high chance it'll break 400 million.
For a drama that's only a dozen episodes, the production standard is absolutely on par with the top-tier film projects in Great Zhou's movie industry.
Most films that claim to cost 100 million actually spend 30–40% on staff and actors, and only 50–60% on post-production, equipment, location rentals, and so on.
Jing Yu, however, kept the main cast expenses below 20% of the total. While the ratio between total runtime and budget might seem average, in reality, every cent is being spent where it matters most.
Naturally, once these budget figures leaked into the industry, it caused a major stir.
The entire industry has been buzzing about this project for days.
"This is the confidence of a genius screenwriter! Like, 'I never flop, what's a few hundred million to me?' Just throw it in!"
"Honestly, I think it's more that he doesn't care even if it does flop. Look at how he blew up in Lan Province back then, and now in just five years, he's one of the top screenwriters in Great Zhou. Over a dozen works in five years — the money he's made is probably in the billions. Even if he loses everything, he's only 29. He can just take another five years to build it all back up. What's there to worry about?"
"Right? Unlike us, working crappy TV jobs for life, barely making 20 million. He gets to write whatever he wants."
"That's why I'm most bitter about Great Zhou viewers. Always mocking us, TV station writers for lacking creativity. You think the execs let us be creative? Two years ago, I wrote a drama with a dog as the lead, and they shut it down. Told me to go write another mother-in-law soap opera. Sigh."
"In all of Great Zhou's screenwriting industry, I don't think there's anyone more carefree than Jing Yu. Runs his own company and consistently thrashes the six major TV stations. If he were in his seventies or eighties, with enough seniority, nobody would even dare challenge him. He'd be the undisputed No.1."
"Not that he cares about titles. If he did, he'd have aired his shows on the Big Three stations and shattered viewership records. But no — he sticks with Yunteng TV. Sure, the ratings are held back, but he makes bank. Yunteng TV gets the clout and audience numbers, but the actual commercial profits all go straight to his company."
"I've got a feeling this 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' production is going to shake the industry just as hard as 'Fate/Zero' did."
"Honestly, 'Fate/Zero' was already insane. Can't even imagine something surpassing it."
By late April, both the industry and general audience were laser-focused on 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'. Meanwhile, the drama 'Legal High' had stabilized its broadcast.
By early May, 'Legal High' had climbed to a viewership rating of 8.7%, and more or less plateaued there.
Meanwhile, 'Natsume's Book of Friends' saw a second wave of buzz following the release of Episode 6.
At six episodes in, the drama had enough content to draw in casual viewers — the easiest time to hook new fans.
When Episode 6 aired, the show had officially surpassed 10 million paid views per episode on Qingyun Video.
Qingyun even reached out to Jing Yu's team for a special event — a limited-time free viewing promotion.
A lot of people hadn't tried 'Natsume's Book of Friends' simply because it was paywalled, but once it became free for a day, a massive influx of new viewers jumped on board.
By late May…
According to rankings from major Great Zhou entertainment sites, 'Natsume's Book of Friends' officially overtook 'Legal High' and claimed the No.1 spot in popularity for the entire summer season.