"'White Album 2'?" Chu You blinked in confusion.
"'White Album'? What does that even mean? Is it like 'Your Lie in April', where the title is a huge foreshadowing? And why is it 'White Album 2'? Where's 'White Album 1'?"
"It's just a title. There isn't actually a part one, so you can watch it without any issues," Jing Yu explained.
As for 'White Album 1', Jing Yu didn't like it, so he had no interest in bringing it into this world. His fan points weren't unlimited, and neither were the opportunities and time to shoot new shows. He hadn't even adapted all the works he loved yet—why would he waste time on stories he didn't care for?
"Then why not just call it 'White Album'?" Chu You asked.
"Because it is 'White Album 2'. I did toy with the idea of doing part one as well, but it's not suitable for a drama adaptation at the moment. It's a personal hang-up of mine—I hope Uncle Chu can understand."
Jing Yu was already making considerable compromises, tweaking character names and story settings to fit the Da Zhou setting. If he even had to change the title, it would feel like a betrayal of the work.
Otherwise, what if he ever got the chance to adapt Initial D in the future? Imagine the producer questioning the title—"Why is it Initial D? Why not call it Initial A, Initial W, or Mountain Racer 86?" Or worse, demanding it be renamed to Fast and Furious. What would Jing Yu even say to that?
"…Alright then," Chu You eventually relented, sensing Jing Yu's unwavering resolve.
'White Album 2' it is. As long as the ratings are good, you could call it 'White Album 10086' for all he cares.
After a short pause, Chu You decided not to press further. He jotted down the key points from his conversation with Jing Yu and prepared to head back to the TV station.
Once Chu You had left, Jing Yu leaned back alone in his desk chair.
'White Album 2'…
Scenes from the show started playing in his mind. Truth be told, he had been interested in bringing this series to the spring schedule even before 'Your Lie in April', but at the time, he didn't have enough fan points, so he had gone with 'Your Lie in April' instead.
Still, it wasn't too late.
After 'Your Lie in April' concluded, Jing Yu had accumulated over five million fan points—more than enough to exchange for 'White Album 2', maybe even something better. Plus, the exchange panel had started showing skills related to the style of work he selected.
During the production of 'Your Lie in April', he had already considered switching up his style for the next project. Both 'Your Lie in April' and 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' were romance dramas, and continuing in the same genre was starting to burn him out.
He'd been tempted by shows like Death Note, Hikaru no Go, and Initial D, but again, the problem was cost. Those adaptations would be too expensive with only five million points.
He had also considered something cheaper like Kaiji, a high-stakes psychological drama, which he really liked, but...
The ratings success of 'Your Lie in April' had made him reconsider. On a platform like Jinhui TV, shows like Kaiji might only peak at a 3% average viewership—even that would be considered "amazing." It felt like a waste.
So, his focus returned to 'White Album 2'. Its point cost wasn't outrageous, and in his past life, it had stirred up massive online buzz—even inspiring the term "Bai Xue Jia" (White Albumologists) for its fanbase.
"You're awfully good at this."
"I was here first."
"A double helping of happiness."
—Those iconic lines from the show spread like wildfire across otaku circles.
It wasn't a classic per se, but it was unforgettable. Gut-wrenching for days.
No wonder it was dubbed the "the anti-otaku cure". If Da Zhou viewers had liked 'Your Lie in April', they'd probably love this even more intense version.
After all, 'Your Lie in April' was heartbreaking, but only briefly—just in the final episode. 'White Album 2', once it moves past its initial school setting, keeps the emotional gut punches coming non-stop until the very end.
As a long-time 'White Album' fan, Jing Yu wasn't going to pass up the chance to bring this one to life.
Time flew by.
Two weeks later, the summer lineup at Jinhui TV launched with four new shows. But just as everyone predicted, the ratings plummeted.
The new Friday drama that replaced 'Your Lie in April' got the worst backlash. The first episode had decent numbers, thanks to viewer inertia, but by the second episode, it had dropped to a pitiful 0.5%—barely a fifth of 'Your Lie in April's peak.
Even after the summer dramas began airing, the station's main focus remained on 'Your Lie in April'.
By late 'Your Lie in April', the DVD sales for the drama had hit a final total of 1.03 million units.
For a self-produced drama, DVD sales generally peak in the first month after preorders open. After that, a few people keep buying. So, the Da Zhou entertainment industry only counted sales within the first 30 days.
Despite this, 'Your Lie in April' managed to rank #18 in average viewership for the spring season, #8 in DVD sales, and #1 in user ratings across all spring dramas.
As a debut work by a first-time screenwriter, those numbers were downright stunning.
Jing Yu's name spread like wildfire through the Da Zhou screenwriting world.
Although it was still just summer, once the end-of-year awards came around, he was already a top contender for Best New Screenwriter.
The DVD sales alone had Jinhui TV rolling in profits. Production costs for 'Your Lie in April', even with added promotions and reshoots, barely exceeded 20 million yuan. Yet, the DVDs alone brought in over 100 million in sales.
After deducting marketing costs, the station made 80–90 million yuan in profit. That was triple the initial investment—just from DVD sales.
That had never happened in Jinhui TV's history.
Previously, a successful drama would be lucky to recoup 50% of its production cost through merchandise and DVD sales within the first month. The rest would rely on ads, domestic and overseas licensing, and reruns.
Tripling the cost just from domestic DVD sales? Not even the station director could have dreamed of that.
Naturally, Jing Yu received 3% of the revenue share—more than what he made from his writing and acting fees combined.
And he wasn't the only one. Gao Wencang, Liu Neng, Chu You, and Yu Youqing each received between 0.5% to 1.5% in residuals.
Everyone involved in 'Your Lie in April''s production walked away with over a million yuan apiece.
Still, the buzz around 'Your Lie in April' slowly faded a month after the summer lineup started.
Da Zhou saw over a hundred new dramas every quarter. Viewers moved on, and the chatter around 'Your Lie in April' began to die down.
But one thing had changed—Jing Yu and Yu Youqing's faces were now widely recognized by audiences across Da Zhou.
Especially Jing Yu.
Sure, many fans still cursed him for killing off Miyazono Kaori. Some swore they'd never watch another one of his shows.
But every day, Jinhui TV's official site was flooded with posts from 'Your Lie in April' fans asking:
"When is Teacher Jing Yu's new drama airing?"
In Da Zhou, fans didn't just follow actors—they followed screenwriters too. And Jing Yu had proven that.
If that wasn't the norm, Jinhui TV wouldn't have approved a 20+ million yuan new drama project led by Jing Yu—without even seeing the script.
By late May, all funding was in place. Thanks to 'Your Lie in April's stellar DVD sales and fast revenue return, the station's finances were solid.
With money in hand, production on 'White Album 2' officially began.
On May 20th, 8:00 PM, Jinhui TV released their fall season preview.
Among the 800 words of fluff, one sentence made the entire Lan Province entertainment industry explode:
"New Drama by Screenwriter Jing Yu: 'White Album 2', scheduled to air July 3rd, Sunday at 8 PM."
And not just Lan Province.
Even people in other provinces of Da Zhou started paying attention.
The month before any new seasonal lineup was prime time for production crews to form and begin shooting.
Big stations and famous directors or writers always attracted scrutiny.
While 'Your Lie in April's ratings weren't the absolute highest, its influence far outshone its rank. And with that, Jing Yu had become one of the hottest new writers around.
Actors in Lan Province with open schedules started desperately trying to contact him.
Most failed. Those shut out tried approaching Liu Neng or Gao Wencang, hoping to land a supporting role.
Everyone saw what happened with Yu Youqing. Thanks to her role as Miyazono Kaori, she went from total unknown to #1 in popularity among Lan Province actresses in just a few months.
Even Liu Yushi, who played Tsubaki, broke into the top ten.
And Jing Yu? Among male actors, he ranked in the top three.
The only reason he wasn't first was because 'Your Lie in April' fans were mad he killed off Kaori, turning into anti-fans who relentlessly flamed him.
If there were a blacklist popularity chart, Jing Yu would top that, no contest.
Because of that, actors who wouldn't have given him the time of day during 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday's production were now humbly offering themselves up—"Not even for a lead role, just a side character will do!" But even their agents couldn't reach him.
Meanwhile, in one of 'Your Lie in April's fan groups—dormant since the show ended—chat activity exploded.
'White Album 2'
The title sounded weird, but whatever. According to "insider leaks" from Jinhui TV (which Jing Yu himself had planted), the new show…
It was a love triangle with two female leads.
The male lead? Still played by Jing Yu. One of the female leads? Played again by Yu Youqing.
From 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' to 'Your Lie in April', now to 'White Album 2'—
Once, twice, now thrice.
Fans were ecstatic. They loved the Jing Yu + Yu Youqing duo.
But there was one problem—they never ended up together in the finale!
In 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', they drifted apart into unreachable pasts.
In 'Your Lie in April', Kaori died.
So now, with 'White Album 2'…
"Please, let them have a happy ending just once!"
Some fans were borderline delusional—saying their only wish was to see Jing Yu and Yu Youqing finally end up together on screen.
"If this one has a happy ending, I'll buy ten copies of the DVD. No joke."
Jing Yu glanced away from the excited fan messages and kept a calm expression.
'White Album 2' hadn't even started filming, but everyone already loved Yu Youqing's new character, Setsuna, huh? Fine.
If they still loved her after watching the whole thing…
Then they were true fans.
As for Jing Yu himself, he was a loyal member of the Chiaki faction.
Too bad live-action adaptations couldn't handle Chiaki's "final boss" storyline. Otherwise, Setsuna and Touma's arcs would be doomed to an anticlimactic ending.
But one thing was clear—
If he wanted 'White Album 2' to succeed, he needed to stir up fandom wars before it even aired.