In August, the second season of 'Legal High' had already aired a significant portion, and its viewership had stabilized around 9.6%, no longer growing.
Of course, just like in Jing Yu's previous life, this season was criticized for similar reasons.
The character Hanyu was once again disliked by many. After all, this kind of idealistic character is annoying to most viewers.
Moreover, the plot repeatedly hinted that he had feelings for the female lead, Machiko Mayuzumi, which greatly irritated the audience.
Although from the current storyline, Mayuzumi and Komikado didn't seem to be developing a romantic relationship, even if she didn't end up with the male lead, fans couldn't accept her being with a supporting character!
Additionally, the unresolved case of the woman, Ando Kiwa, introduced in the very first episode, was making viewers impatient.
However, in the Great Zhou version of 'Legal High', although Jing Yu kept the plot largely unchanged, he made adjustments to some of the original's more criticized aspects.
First, the casting of Ando Kiwa — in the original second season, Komikado was obsessed with her beauty and fell at her feet despite her being a suspected murderer.
But from the perspective of viewers in Jing Yu's previous life, could that actress really compare with Gakki (Yui Aragaki)?
Obviously, Gakki was way more attractive, yet Komikado mocked her bow legs while showing affection for the less attractive Ando Kiwa.
This casting choice was awkward for many fans of 'Legal High' in his previous life, even if their minds tried to rationalize it as "just a show." Casting choices definitely affected season two's reception.
So, Jing Yu specifically chose an actress whom over 95% of male viewers would drool over to play Ando Kiwa.
He also avoided casting a typical sweet, naive-looking actor for Hanyu. Although the lines remained largely unchanged, the actor chosen at least looked smarter.
As a result, while the second season's reputation didn't surpass the first's, its ratings remained steady.
A 9.6% viewership was considered stable for both Yunteng TV and Jing Yu.
As for 'Natsume's Book of Friends', the once-a-week format with ~20-minute episodes gradually gained audience acceptance. Even though the medium was different, viewers developed habits similar to chasing anime episodes in Jing Yu's previous life.
At first, people were worried that the Book of Friends would be exhausted too quickly with Natsume returning each name to its yokai.
But as of the latest episode, viewers realized the book was still thick, understanding that the show's premise was open-ended.
That Book of Friends will only be exhausted when Jing Yu runs out of inspiration. As long as he keeps creating, the show can go on forever.
Audiences now had an interesting attitude toward 'Natsume's Book of Friends' — very much like fans of 'Detective Conan' in Jing Yu's previous life.
Ask them if they're interested in the ending and the truth behind the Black Organization? Of course.
But ask if they want to see the ending? The majority would say: "No!"
The paid viewership per episode of 'Natsume's Book of Friends' also plateaued at around 13 million.
Jing Yu naturally kept a close eye on this.
But this was just the limit of the work. Even though 'Legal High' and 'Natsume's Book of Friends' were rated higher than 'Fate/Zero', their actual performance still fell short — a matter of genre and appeal.
It's like comparing Slam Dunk and Naruto — while the former might be considered more classic and higher quality, in terms of sales and commercial success, five Slam Dunk titles might not match one Naruto.
Leaning back in his office chair, Jing Yu set down the weekly performance report.
September had arrived.
The filming of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' was halfway done, and the game 'Fate/stay night' was expected to be completed by early October.
By this time, the revenue from 'Fate/Zero' and related merchandise had started coming in, totaling nearly 400 million, finally filling up Jing Yu's previously tight company accounts.
The first half of the year had mostly been about spending — producing 'Natsume's Book of Friends' and 'Legal High', developing 'Fate/stay night' and acquiring the game division, plus producing 'Evangelion'.
Though Jing Yu was confident none of these projects would lose money, cash flow took time, and his company was nearly running dry.
Now, with this capital injection, there would be no hesitation in promoting 'Fate/stay night'.
Of course, after setting aside the drama report, Jing Yu picked up another report — a game industry summary.
Starting in September, Great Zhou's game developers began launching their titles one after another.
From August through early September, it was mostly small- and mid-sized developers, but now, one of the Big Three — Mengluo Games — had released their two-year-in-the-making title, 'Wasteland'.
Frankly, most developers wouldn't care much about what a big company was doing.
But Jing Yu had to. While many in the industry secretly hoped 'Fate/stay night' would flop out of jealousy, Jing Yu had no intention of playing it safe.
He'd invested heavily in the game — not to become a laughingstock.
『Wasteland』sold 1.1 million copies globally within just six days of release — the highest-selling title of the second half of the year so far.
Jing Yu laughed at the report — there hadn't been any major titles in July or August, and the previous bestsellers only managed 300-400k in week one.
In reality, game sales — like movies — are front-loaded.
Most of a game's lifetime sales happen in the first month, and around 30-40% of that comes from the first week.
That is, if your promotion and quality are decent.
Sometimes a hyped game sells 800-900k in the first month but ends up with terrible reviews, killing any long-term sales.
On the other hand, a slow starter with amazing word-of-mouth might sell tens of millions over the years.
Globally, only a few dozen games have ever sold more than 20 million copies — about one per year on average. Rare odds.
As for 'Wasteland' — a 65% positive review rate, 1.1 million sold in six days, likely 1.3 million in the first week.
Best-case scenario: 2.5 million in the first month. After that, it may plateau even with discounts, capping around 3 million.
For Great Zhou's current market, 1 million copies sold is considered solid.
Most indie games are priced between 50 and 100 Great Zhou Yuan and cost 10–20 million to produce. A million sales could still net a small profit.
For big-budget titles like 'Wasteland' — which cost over 100 million to develop and is priced at 198 Great Zhou Yuan — 3 million sales would net at least 100 million in profit after costs.
Still, Mengluo Studio likely wouldn't be happy with "just" that.
Jing Yu read through his company's analysis on 'Wasteland''s performance and then called the game division supervisor and a few employees to his office.
"Have you guys played Wasteland?" Jing Yu asked directly.
"We have," said the nervous supervisor.
"I bought it to play on my first day out."
"I wanted to, but didn't have time," Jing Yu sighed.
That offhand comment spooked the supervisor, who thought Jing Yu was criticizing his dedication.
"I only play 30 minutes at night after working until 1 a.m. Haven't even finished the prologue yet. But I need to know what's trending in the industry."
Jing Yu noticed the misunderstanding but didn't explain, instead getting to the point.
"Which is better — 'Wasteland' or our 'Fate/stay night'?"
"'Fate/stay night', hands down," the supervisor replied without hesitation.
The others nodded in agreement.
"I need honest opinions," Jing Yu said. "You won't be punished for being truthful — unless you lie."
The supervisor took a deep breath and replied:
"In terms of battle systems, Wasteland is definitely more refined than what we made."
Jing Yu nodded — their game division was hastily assembled. Expecting their game to outdo a two-year AAA project would be unrealistic.
"But this game clearly isn't about combat. It's about the story," the supervisor added.
"And when it comes to storytelling, 'Fate/stay night' blows Wasteland out of the water. That cliché 'hero saves the princess' plot... any gamer with a year's experience is already sick of it."
"It's that bad?"
"Well, all the good storytellers are in the film/TV industry," the supervisor said, glancing at Jing Yu.
"In Great Zhou, game scriptwriters make far less than screenwriters — so the ones who stay in games... let's just say they can't compare to someone like you."
Jing Yu was stunned — this was just like his past life. Japanese games dominated story-driven titles. Western games focused on graphics, action, and mechanics. Stories? Meh.
"So what's your estimate for 'Fate/stay night' sales?" Jing Yu asked.
The supervisor wiped sweat nervously.
Jing Yu had invested 150+ million in development and marketing. To break even at the 138 Great Zhou Yuan price point, they needed to sell 2.3 million copies.
But Jing Yu wasn't here to break even — he wanted profits.
"Three million copies, at least," the supervisor said.
He didn't know for sure — even if the story was great, would gamers buy it? He picked a "safe" guess that would still be a success.
"So... you're saying 'Fate/stay night' will only match Wasteland?" Jing Yu said, rubbing his chin.
The supervisor was stunned. That sounded like criticism.
"Well, a million copies is already good for most developers. Three million for a big title is decent. Five million is a hit. Ten million? That's legendary — one game can feed a team for life," he explained cautiously.
"If you're dreaming of 7–10 million every time... we're going to be stressed."
"Alright, you're dismissed," Jing Yu waved him off.
The supervisor scurried away, relieved.
Jing Yu sighed deeply.
Given the popularity of 'Fate/Zero' and the effort he poured into this game, 3 million sales was not his goal.
But this was his first game. With November 1st approaching, even he felt nervous.
Even though he replicated the drama's success, it wasn't guaranteed that he'd succeed with the game.
He knew he was gambling.
But if this proved that Great Zhou audiences loved story-driven games, then he could apply the 'Fate/Zero' model to other titles — like Fullmetal Alchemist, or Attack on Titan.
If not, he'd tread more carefully in game development.
And so, early and mid-September passed.
Now it was late September.