In the days that followed, the buzz around 'Steins;Gate' continued to intensify.
Despite requiring two weeks — and four full episodes, amounting to five hours — of slow, often tedious setup, the show's loyal viewer base had stuck it out. Mostly thanks to the face value of Jing Yu playing the lead role, they endured what was arguably the dullest stretch of the series.
Now, those early fans had become its most vocal advocates online.
Given how massive Jing Yu's fanbase already was, and now with people saying that 'Steins;Gate' "gets really good later on," the general public finally began to take a serious look at the show.
Especially with 'Hikaru no Go' and 'Another' both being high-quality hits this season, when Jing Yu's fans claimed that his third series was also worth watching, it no longer sounded like biased hype. Add to that all the heated discussions on drama forums about 'Steins;Gate's time travel mechanics and worldline theories, and suddenly it sounded like a high-concept sci-fi gem. Naturally, that made it easier for casual viewers to get interested.
Even better — Yunteng TV, following Jing Yu's suggestion, released low-res versions of the first few episodes on its official site.
Because 'Steins;Gate' wasn't like a romance drama, where you could tune in around Episode 8 or 9 and still figure out the good guys, bad guys, male lead, and female lead.
This show?
Try jumping in halfway — you won't understand a damn thing.
So having a channel for new viewers to catch up, and for old viewers to revisit earlier complex setups, was essential.
If you build up enough hype, even low-res streams won't stop fans from buying the HD Blu-ray later for collection purposes.
But if a show's popularity never takes off and you withhold the early episodes just to protect future DVD sales — that's just short-sighted.
Fortunately, Yunteng TV's execs understood that much.
Meanwhile, back in the 'Steins;Gate' production crew...
The cast and crew were just now reading the scripts that revealed what happens after Episode 4 — and everyone was stunned by the direction the story was going.
"Wait, seriously? Suzuha is... Itaru's daughter?!"
The actress playing Suzuha blinked in disbelief.
In the new script she received that morning, Suzuha's true identity was finally revealed:
Not only was she a time traveler from the future — she was also the daughter of Okabe's close friend, the hacker otaku Itaru.
"So they actually built a working time machine... Jing Yu's imagination is something else."
Itaru's actor looked equally dazed as he skimmed through the pages, then turned to his co-star:
"Oi, c'mon, call me 'dad' once."
What followed was a round of playful banter between the two actors.
"Hey Jing Yu, how am I dying today?"
Xia Yining had already put on Mayuri's signature dress for filming. She looked gorgeous — but clearly wasn't thrilled.
At this point, she was exhausted by how many different ways her character had died.
"It might only be a still image on screen," she grumbled, "but I've had to get in full makeup every single time, playing Mayuri dying in all sorts of horrific ways."
"You're safe today," Jing Yu said with a grin. "Today's just a light, slice-of-life episode."
"Really?! No blood, no gooey fake guts sticking to my face today?"
"Nope. You're free."
"Finally! Please tell me, Mayuri lives in the end?"
Xia Yining sighed. Viewers had only just witnessed Mayuri's first death last week, but she had already filmed dozens of her deaths in advance.
The amount of emotion she'd poured into this character made the repetitive death scenes all the more painful for her.
Jing Yu, calmly sipping his tea, replied with a smile:
"Remember — the audience isn't just the people watching on TV. It includes you, actors too.
And the golden rule of a good screenwriter?
No spoilers."
Xia Yining leaned in a little:
"But Okabe's so obsessed with Mayuri. Doesn't that mean she's the one he truly loves?"
"Didn't I just say, no spoilers?"
"So I am going to die again in the next few episodes, huh?" She batted her eyes dramatically.
"Hey! How about killing off Makise a few times, too? Why am I the only one dying on repeat?! Those fake blood packs are gross. Takes forever to wash it all off!"
"Jing Yu, tea."
Yu Youqing appeared quietly beside him, pouring him a fresh cup with calm, practiced grace — and shot a cool glance at Xia Yining.
Xia shrank back slightly… but with Jing Yu nearby, her boldness flared again.
"Hey, Sister Yu, we were having a chat here! You only poured tea for him? Favoritism much?"
"Oh, sorry," Yu Youqing replied smoothly, "I didn't see you."
She casually leaned on Jing Yu's other side.
Jing Yu looked between the two actresses — clearly caught in the middle — downed the tea in one gulp, and quickly made his escape toward the freshly set filming area.
"Lunch break's over. Back to work, everyone!"
The two women watched Jing Yu walk off into the sunlit set, clad in Okabe's iconic white lab coat, hair gelled into a dramatic style.
"…"
"…"
"Hey, are we really that scary?"
"There can't be any girls cuter than us around Jing Yu, right?"
"You think… he likes guys? He's so indifferent to everything except filming. It's depressing!"
"Who knows?"
"Maybe he's just… shy?"
"Shy?"
"Hehehe…"
Their conversation trailed off — like a string cut short.
Friday Night.
Lin Bin, the screenwriter of 'You, Beneath the Cliff', was seated at home, getting ready to watch Episode 3 of his show.
His phone was linked directly to Huanshi TV's real-time ratings department.
Fifteen minutes before the episode even began, the ratings were already climbing:
4.67%
5.32%
6.51%
The surge was strong — but once it hit 6.7%, the growth began to slow.
"Huh? That's odd…" Lin Bin frowned.
Last week's average rating had already broken 7%, so tonight's pre-broadcast number should've hit at least 6.9%.
Why had it stalled at 6.7%?
"Hey," he asked his contact at Huanshi TV, "can you check Yunteng TV's real-time ratings?"
Lin Bin had not let his guard down around 'Steins;Gate'.
Sure, in public interviews, he'd talked down Jing Yu's work, dismissing it at every opportunity.
But in private, he took it very seriously.
Jing Yu had managed to push a 'Go' drama over 6% ratings.
How could Lin Bin afford to underestimate a writer-director like that?
If 'Steins;Gate' tanked, its viewers would flock to 'You, Beneath the Cliff'.
But if it started climbing...
"2.97%."
The reply came back fast.
'Steins;Gate's Episode 5 hadn't even started, and it was already sitting at 2.97%.
Lin Bin was stunned.
"2.97%? That's already higher than last week's peak? Are you serious?!"
This was completely abnormal.
Pre-broadcast numbers never exceed the previous episode's peak.
Where did all those extra viewers come from?
For the first time, he started to panic.
In the 'Steins;Gate' fan chat:
"Just finished watching the low-res versions of the first four episodes. Glad I stuck with it."
"Same! Watching them on Yunteng TV's site was kinda painful, but once this show finishes, I'm buying the Blu-ray for sure."
"Never thought I'd be catching up on old episodes in crappy resolution from an official website, lol. I usually just wait for the weekly updates."
"But 'Steins;Gate' really needs it. You can't understand anything if you only watch it once on TV. Too many brain-bending concepts."
"I saw so many people talking about it on forums that I gave it a shot — binged all four episodes in one go. Not bad at all. But if I'd had to wait a month to get to the good part..."
"Yeah, no way. Viewers would've dropped off completely. That slow pacing at the start? Most people wouldn't last."
"I've been watching since Episode 1. Okabe has to go back and save Doodooroo with his Phone Microwave! Been waiting all week for this!"
"Same here. Mayuri's death shocked me so hard I couldn't speak."
"But Mayuri's such a lovable character... if they needed dramatic tension, why not kill off Itaru instead? If the fat otaku died, I don't think the vibe would've been this depressing."
"Hey now — what did the fat guy ever do to you? He eating your food or something?"
"Exactly. Why so much hate toward chubby nerds?"