"This is a good thing!"
Inside the studio, Cheng Lie's massive frame was practically overflowing from the wooden chair beneath him. Jing Yu half expected it to crack under the strain. But Cheng Lie wasn't the least bit bothered. In fact, he was excitedly pointing to an online article showing the 'Manual' production team subtly throwing shade at 'Another', accusing it of using blood and violence to grab ratings.
Instead of being annoyed, Cheng Lie was delighted.
"In the past, Imperial Capital TV's production teams would never lower themselves to diss a drama from our network. They had too much pride!"
"You sound really happy about that," Jing Yu said with a raised brow.
"Of course I am!" Cheng Lie puffed out his chest. "It proves they actually see us as a threat now! 'Another' only just started airing, and its ratings aren't even sky-high—but they're already panicking? That says a lot!"
To be honest, 'Another's performance had exceeded even Cheng Lie's expectations. He would've been more than satisfied with a 1.7% rating.
Given how little budget it had to work with, even 1.3% or 1.4% would've been acceptable. Any lower, and it would've been hard to explain to upper management. But with a mere 9 million yuan in production costs, they were already making it back through ad revenue alone. The biggest "cost" was really just occupying a prime time slot on YunTeng TV's schedule.
Yet, the actual results of 'Another's premiere completely blindsided Cheng Lie. Sure, he personally thought the script was compelling, but what a production team considers "exciting" doesn't always match what the audience wants.
There's always a gap between what a drama team creates and what the market embraces.
No matter how many years of experience someone has, predicting viewer tastes is always a gamble.
You guess what they'll like, and then build a show around that guess. That's why even veteran writers and producers sometimes fail catastrophically.
But Jing Yu seemed different.
Every script he handed in felt like it was tailor-made for the audience—almost like it had already been test-marketed and approved before airing.
Take 'Hikaru no Go' for example. What screenwriter in their right mind would bet on a Go-themed drama becoming a hit?
That's such a niche topic. Even if you're passionate about it, it might just end up as a self-indulgent flop. Most viewers might not care at all.
But Jing Yu had been confident from day one that 'Hikaru no Go' would succeed.
Same with 'Another'. He'd told Cheng Lie more than once: the bloody elements wouldn't scare viewers away. They'd be hooked instead—like he knew the future.
Of course, what Cheng Lie didn't know was that every script Jing Yu brought to the table wasn't created out of thin air. They were tested hits from his previous life, already proven popular with audiences. These weren't untested ideas—they were certified successes.
"But Steins;Gate..."
The mention of that show finally brought a shadow of concern to Cheng Lie's face.
Of the three summer releases, 'Hikaru no Go' was a sure bet—it had a solid budget of over 50 million, plus additional promo funding. While not quite as massive as the Big Three's main titles, it wasn't far off.
But Steins;Gate?
Its production budget was more than double that of 'Another'—and yet now 'Another' was pulling 2.64% viewership. If Steins;Gate couldn't at least match that, it would be embarrassing.
"Don't worry, Producer Cheng," Jing Yu said, patting his shoulder. "Good work takes time to shine. I knew from the start that 'Another' wouldn't show its full hand until episode five. I'm fully prepared for that."
In the original Steins;Gate, the slow buildup was famously painful. Jing Yu had condensed that buildup into the first four extended episodes.
Each episode ran over an hour, and for the first two weeks, they were aired two episodes at a time. This way, viewers would get to the meat of the story faster—unlike in his previous life, where anime fans had to slog through nearly three months to grasp the true depth of the plot.
Now, Jing Yu had compressed the setup to two weeks. After that, it would return to a normal weekly schedule.
"Anyway, I trust your judgment, Jing Yu," Cheng Lie said. "You promised me this show would be a big deal—maybe even on par with 'Hikaru no Go' in your mind. I believe you. Sure, I don't know the full plot yet, but I wish I could've convinced the higher-ups to believe in it too. If I had, Steins;Gate would've gotten a lot more funding…"
Jing Yu smiled.
"Most viewers can recognize a good show when they see one. A bigger budget and stronger promotions would've helped spread its name faster—but even without them, I'm confident this show won't fade into obscurity."
"YunTeng TV isn't JinHui TV. And I'm not the nobody I was a year ago," he added with a grin.
"The fans I've built up over the past few series—I believe they have enough patience to endure two slow weeks for a truly great show."
10 PM, same time as the first season.
'Hikaru no Go' Season 2 officially premiered to the delight of fans who had been eagerly waiting for the past three weeks.
But of course, XingTong TV, Imperial Capital TV, and Huanshi TV, the three giants, each scheduled their own original dramas to air in the same slot.
And the other three members of the Big Six? They all conveniently started rerunning classic dramas from their archives.
Think Journey to the West—no matter how many times it's replayed, there's always an audience willing to watch it again, and again, and again.
Replays don't always pull high numbers, but they rarely flop either.
The Big Six had been competing for decades. They didn't like each other much—but letting YunTeng TV rise easily?
Absolutely not.
Even if it meant taking a hit themselves, they weren't going to let Jing Yu have an easy win.
All these moves did, inevitably, affect the premiere ratings of 'Hikaru no Go' Season 2.
Before the episode aired, YunTeng TV's channel rating was sitting at 5.31%.
That wasn't quite as high as the Season 1 peak of 6.3%, but it was still on par with the launch ratings of flagship shows from the Big Three.
The first episode of Season 2 picked up right where the previous season left off—Hikaru's debut in the professional tournament.
Since Hikaru was prone to nerves, he and a few close friends from the dojo—Waya, Isumi, and others—went to a noisy go parlor to toughen him up against high-pressure environments.
During this process, he ends up facing off against a genius young player from the neighboring peninsula country known for its love of pickled cabbage.
The go club teacher from Kaio Middle School praises Hikaru in front of everyone, saying his gameplay is so refined, he must be the very player that Akira has been chasing all this time.
This moment subtly hints at the eventual fate of Hikaru and Sai.
Hikaru's current skill level is so advanced that others start to believe that the moves once played by Sai were actually Hikaru's all along.
A large part of this episode wrestles with a central question:
What is the meaning of Sai's existence?
In the past, Sai had to possess Hikaru's body to play Go. People didn't believe Hikaru could pull off those moves.
But now, even the games once attributed to Sai were being credited to Hikaru.
So… does Sai really exist?
No one can see him. No one can hear him. And even the one thing that proved his presence—his skill in Go—was now being overshadowed by Hikaru.
It was a somber, bittersweet episode.
But of course, the more easygoing audience members still enjoyed it thoroughly.
After all, Hikaru's growth was undeniable. From a total novice in episode one of season one, he had now become a player who could give even professionals a headache.
And things only escalated from there—Hikaru kept winning match after match in the pro circuit.
The tone for Season 2 was set: a heavy focus on professional Go tournaments.
The episode's viewership, initially modest, skyrocketed in the latter half—many viewers switched over to YunTeng TV midway, disappointed by the other dramas airing at the same time.
In the end, despite a slow start, the average viewership for 'Hikaru no Go' Season 2, episode one, reached an impressive 5.81%.