The last day of March.
On the official website of Jinhui TV, a sudden announcement appeared, along with a brand-new link:
'Your Lie in April' Is Your Lie DVDs would go on sale nationwide in late April.
Bundled together with the release would be Jing Yu's debut work, 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'. And as an extra, the DVD set would include a brand-new side story episode for 'Your Lie in April' Is Your Lie.
On the homepage, they even uploaded a fresh photo of Jing Yu and Yu Youqing performing together on stage at the concert hall.
That day, fans of both dramas were stunned.
Neither the 'Your Lie in April' fans nor the 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' fans had expected Jinhui TV to move this quickly.
The news spread like wildfire through Jing Yu's fan groups, the 'Your Lie in April' fan groups, and the 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' fan groups.
"An extra episode? 'Your Lie in April' has an extra? Does that mean we get to see Kaori again?"
"It's been half a month, and I still can't forget that girl. Please, please don't tell me the side story is just going to confirm her death. Let her lie to Kousei in another spring… maybe she just went traveling instead."
"Finally! The 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' DVDs are coming out. I've been waiting months."
"I don't even know whether I love Saori more or Kaori more. Bundle sales FTW."
"Teacher Jing Yu is so generous—two dramas on DVD plus new photo books, all for only 148 Da Zhou coins. I'm definitely buying."
"148 isn't exactly cheap. A blank HD disc costs under 10, mass-printing a photo book just a few coins—the total cost isn't even 15. They sell it to you for 148, and you call it cheap?"
"What, you expect them to sell it at cost like a plate of stir-fried peppers and pork? 148 is fair. Look at Xing Tong TV's spring drama—way worse than 'Your Lie in April'—their DVDs are 279, not even free shipping, and pre-sales already broke a million. With April, they're even filming new side content—what more do you want?"
"Of course I'll support it. No more words—12:00 midnight, I'm placing my order first."
"No, I will be first!"
"Don't any of you dare steal my spot."
Jinhui TV's official site, which had gone quiet since 'Your Lie in April' ended, was suddenly buzzing with life again.
Posts and comments skyrocketed.
Chu You, Shi Teng, and the rest of the production team at Jinhui were glued to the numbers.
In Da Zhou's TV industry, DVD sales were generally predictable based on TV ratings.
For example, Xing Tong TV's flagship dramas usually sold over a million discs per season. Even just the DVD sales brought in serious profit.
Some phenomenon-level shows could even push sales past ten million after their TV run, fueled by sheer fan enthusiasm.
After all, with a population in the billions, a developed economy, and moderate pricing, DVD sales had plenty of room.
But as for 'Your Lie in April', how many discs could it sell? Even Shi Teng and the others weren't sure.
Historically, for Jinhui TV, even its #1-rated seasonal drama usually topped out at 200,000 discs—and often sold much less.
DVD sales were, in a way, the ultimate vote of confidence from fans. Critics often judged a show's true success by its post-broadcast merchandise sales as much as by ratings or reviews.
In fact, a drama's profitability wasn't just tied to TV ratings or user scores. Even if reviews were terrible, if DVDs and merchandise sold well, it could justify funding a second season.
Plenty of Da Zhou shows had ridden fan-servicey plots and risqué scenes to massive DVD profits, no matter the reviews.
For reference:
A drama ranking around the top 20 for the season usually sold 700,000–800,000 discs.
A top 10 drama typically broke 1 million.
A #1 seasonal drama often landed between 2 and 3 million.
Rare, bug-level hits with double-digit ratings could soar to 8–9 million, even past 10 million.
That was another world from Jinhui's usual league. Still, 'Your Lie in April's influence clearly stretched far beyond its 18th place in average ratings.
Shi Teng and the others hoped the DVD sales would set a new record. After all, Jinhui might never produce another drama like this again. Better to make the most of it now.
As midnight approached, a flood of fans stormed Jinhui's official site. The site nearly collapsed under the load.
In the fan groups—
"What the hell? Isn't this supposed to be a proper national TV station? Why is the site garbage?"
"Crying. I've been stuck on the deposit page for three minutes."
"I can't even get into the payment screen."
"My screen's frozen like a PowerPoint. How many people are up at midnight just to grab DVDs?"
"Because the site promised, the first 1,000 preorders get a signed photo of Teacher Jing Yu and Yu Youqing, Kaori's actress. Of course, everyone's here."
"Hah, who cares about the writer's autograph? Everyone's here for Kaori. I've been stuck on the payment screen for five minutes, but I know I'm in the first 1,000. No one can beat my hand speed—I've been single for 18 years."
"Just let me in already!"
The site lagged for over two hours before stabilizing. After all, it wasn't built for e-commerce.
Luckily, the tech staff worked overtime to patch things up.
By the middle of the night, Jinhui staff finally had preliminary sales numbers.
271,526 DVDs sold.
In less than one night.
Normally, the first week of pre-sales was the peak period, with the first day being the highest.
This one-night number was equal to Jinhui's usual total sales for a seasonal #1 drama.
Breaking 200,000 on day one meant the final sales could very well pass a million!
The next morning, Jing Yu woke up to an excited call from Chu You.
After hearing the situation, Jing Yu felt a little strange.
After all, the 'Your Lie in April' extra episode hadn't even finished filming, and already tens of thousands of DVDs were sold.
But soon, his mind was busy crunching numbers. With sales like this, how much would his share be?
Money was what mattered most, after all.