If Ming Xiao were asked to rank all the summer season dramas so far, 'Another' would, without a doubt, be his top pick.
As for 'Hikaru no Go', he hadn't watched Season 1, so he wasn't planning to start Season 2 either. With everyone around him hyping it up, he figured he'd wait until both seasons were finished, then just buy the official DVD and binge it all in one go—no need to suffer through weekly episodes.
But 'Another' was different.
From the very first minute of episode one to the very end, he was completely absorbed. The brutal and unexpected death of Yukari left a deep impression.
Because of that, he now had high expectations for another show from the same screenwriter, Jing Yu.
If 'Hikaru no Go' was already considered top-tier, and 'Another' had him hooked in just one episode, then surely Steins;Gate would be another masterpiece, right?
"So, based on the name Steins;Gate, what do you think the show's really about? Fate? Stones? A gateway? Some kind of fortune-telling?"
"Must be a supernatural drama."
"No, didn't Jing Yu say before that it's a mystery thriller?"
"A supernatural mystery, then?"
"Well, I actually caught the teaser. It only aired once—at 5:30 PM on YunTeng TV. Looks like Jing Yu plays a scientist in this one!"
"A scientist? Can't imagine Sai as a scientist."
"Sai's still playing a high schooler in 'Another'! Why not a scientist?"
"Am I the only one who's a 'White Album 2' fan here? I'm watching Steins;Gate mainly because Jing Yu and Yu Youqing are sharing the screen again. I thought after Jing Yu left Lan Province, we'd never see them together again—this is emotional!"
"Same! I'm a Setsuna fan."
"I'm hardcore Team Kazusa. Let's be honest here—Setsuna was the worst. In Steins;Gate, Xia Yining's character Shiina is definitely going to win!"
"Kazusa stans, get out!"
"Setsuna stans are worse—!"
Ming Xiao frowned and clicked away from the fan chat.
Just how chaotic were Jing Yu's past dramas?
How long has it been, and these fans are still fighting over them? Ridiculous!
Still, thanks to the massive success of 'Another's first episode, anticipation for Steins;Gate was sky-high—even without any major promotion. The pre-broadcast rating on YunTeng TV was already sitting at 2.3%, an impressive figure.
To be honest, before Jing Yu joined YunTeng TV, this kind of opening number was something only their flagship dramas could achieve.
In Great Zhou's entertainment industry, screenwriter-driven fanbases were becoming more and more common.
As long as a writer consistently delivered quality content, their fanbase would grow steadily and loyally follow them to new projects.
That same night, at 8 PM, Steins;Gate went head-to-head with Huanshi TV's high-investment series 'You, Under the Cliff', which boasted a staggering 110 million yuan budget and featured three top stars.
Unsurprisingly, Huanshi TV opened strong, with a 6.5% rating at launch.
And across the board, ratings painted a clear picture:
YunTeng TV and the other five of the "Big Six" had somewhat stable audiences, each maintaining at least 1% viewership.
Smaller networks weren't so lucky. Former heavyweights like Jing Yu's old employer, JinHui TV, had ratings below 0.3%.
Some even dropped under 0.1%—a natural consequence when mega-dramas air in the same time slot.
And this wasn't even the worst-case scenario. If a show ever broke 10%, all other networks in the same slot might as well not even air anything—they'd be lucky to scrape 0.2%.
In summary:
The other Big Six networks gave Huanshi TV face—airing filler content to avoid competition.
Only YunTeng TV chose to go head-to-head, and while they were at a disadvantage, they weren't completely crushed. Opening viewership held strong at over 2%.
8 PM.
The screen flickered.
The two dramas officially began.
"The universe has a beginning, but it has no end. It is infinite."
The opening was a voiceover monologue from the male lead, Okabe.
The scene cut abruptly to a bustling city street.
"Now then—let's infiltrate the venue."
The moment Okabe, played by Jing Yu, appeared on screen, viewership ticked up slightly—from 2.3% to 2.5%.
Jing Yu's face was highly recognizable, instantly pulling in viewers.
The scene: Okabe and one of the heroines, Mayuri Shiina, sneak into a lecture about time machines.
And with that, the story kicked off.
Ming Xiao blinked.
Then a loud crash came from the rooftop.
Zhou Gang followed the sound and discovered a strange machine and someone mysterious.
Elsewhere, Mayuri struggled with a gacha machine trying to get her favorite toy. Zhou Gang casually inserted a coin and pulled out a rare Metal Upa.
"Can I have it, Okabe?"
"The name is Hououin Kyouma."
"Thank you, Zhou Gang."
Then—another jump cut.
They were suddenly inside the lecture hall again.
Okabe stood up and challenged the professor's theory on time travel.
Then appeared the other heroine, Makise, who dragged Okabe outside.
"You were about to tell me something earlier, weren't you?" Makise asked.
"Earlier?" Zhou Gang looked confused.
"Fifteen minutes ago."
"What are you even talking about?"
Okabe stormed off.
Then—
A scream.
He rushed back, only to find Makise lying in a pool of blood.
Dead.
And then, another abrupt transition—
He was back in the middle of the street.
The same spot.
Ming Xiao was stunned.
So were all the other viewers—fans of Jing Yu, 'Hikaru no Go', 'White Album 2', 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', even 'Another'… everyone was utterly confused.
What just happened in the first ten minutes?
Not boring—just incredibly disorienting.
And that was Steins;Gate.
In the first ten minutes, not a second was wasted. Not a single line of dialogue was filler. Everything was a setup.
Every character, every scene, every seemingly random moment…
All of it was foreshadowing.
Even the scene with the Metal Upa toy?
Yeah—that toy ends up being one of the sparks for World War III.
Of course, the viewers had no way of knowing that yet.
And that was exactly how it was meant to be.
The entire show started with one critical action:
Zhou Gang sends a message:
"Makise… was stabbed."
For reasons unexplained, that one text altered the world line, jumping from the β world line where Makise died to the α world line where she survived.
But none of that made sense now.
Viewers were getting all of this out of order, with zero explanation.
They were lucky, though.
In just two weeks, the story's structure would start to reveal itself.
In Jing Yu's past life, Steins;Gate was released as an anime, and audiences had to suffer through three whole months before the plot became clear.
It wasn't until half a year later that viewers truly appreciated the brilliance of its layered narrative.
That's the beauty of a high-concept mystery thriller—
The frustration at the beginning only makes the reveal all the more satisfying.
This kind of intellectual storytelling delivers a thrill no other genre can replicate.
Still, for viewers right now?
Some were already feeling the pain.
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