After '5 Centimeters per Second' ended, a group of die-hard fans took up residence in the comments section under Jing Yu's Qingyun Blog account.
Every day, they would spam him with pleas to release a sequel—saying things like "Bring Akari back to Takaki!" and so on.
But ever since April began, Jing Yu had barely touched his account—no updates, no posts.
So the fans had more or less run out of things to rant about.
Until today.
A new post suddenly appeared in Jing Yu's comment section:
[On the Greatest Hidden Clue in '5 Centimeters per Second': The Hidden Meaning Behind Takaki and Akari's Time Apart]
Of course, the user who posted it—"NumberOneYuYouqingFan!"—was, unsurprisingly, Yu Youqing herself, using a burner account.
But as long as she didn't say anything, no one would suspect the post came from the woman herself.
So when a handful of fans clicked on the post out of curiosity or just to make fun of it…
They froze.
"As we all know, before '5 Centimeters per Second' premiered, Jing Yu mentioned that the film contained a hidden Easter egg involving time and location.
The two protagonists lost contact for thirteen years and seven months. That time…"
Jing Yu's fans read line by line. Many were already poised to mock the post.
Over a million people had been trying to crack the Easter egg—and not one had succeeded.
Dozens of trolls had claimed to solve it, only to reveal nonsense.
They got flamed so hard they vanished from the internet.
People were already emotionally drained from the movie. The last thing they wanted was another "gotcha" post.
But as they kept reading…
More and more mouths dropped open.
Thirteen years and seven months, multiplied by five centimeters per second, and converted…
It matched exactly the distance between the North and South Poles in the world of Great Zhou!
"Is this for real?! That's the Easter egg?!"
"It has to be! Thirteen years, seven months, six days, four hours, thirty-two minutes, nineteen seconds… Multiply that by 5 cm/s and BOOM—it's spot on!"
"Not just close—dead accurate. I checked the encyclopedia. It's the same as Great Zhou's national geographic data! Even matches international standards.
The margin of error is like two centimeters—which makes sense when you're calculating something this long and rounding to the nearest 5 or 0."
"My god… so THAT'S what it was?"
"I feel like I've been emotionally nuked. The movie was already painful enough, but now this?"
"Two people in love… and after thirteen years, their hearts end up at the furthest points on Earth—like one in the North Pole, one in the South Pole."
"I'm crying, bros. Jing Yu, you bastard, you planned this from the script stage just to break us."
"This metaphor just doubled the emotional impact for me. Seriously."
"I can't handle this."
"Why?! Why end it like this? I could've lied to myself—maybe Akari didn't recognize Takaki, maybe she was about to get married and couldn't face her first love.
But now this Easter egg just confirms the one ending I never wanted."
"Well… are we even sure this is the Easter egg? I mean, it makes sense, but maybe it's just a good guess?"
"A good guess?! Go try guessing a calculation this exact—down to the second—and match the pole-to-pole distance. I dare you."
"No more debate, everyone—Jing Yu has officially confirmed it. The post's been pinned!"
Indeed, the post by "NumberOneYuYouqingFan!" had been pinned by Jing Yu himself using his author privileges.
The visibility was impossible to miss.
In no time, this theory exploded through the fanbase—shared across blogs, forums, and chat groups.
Within a single day, it had spread throughout every corner of Jing Yu's fandom.
For many fans, reading this Easter egg explanation reopened a wound they thought had already healed.
Because it essentially confirmed: these two would never be together.
It's one thing for two people to miss each other, still holding on.
But to have their hearts end up as far apart as the Earth allows?
The North and South Poles.
Heh.
Jing Yu, you're a damn metaphor genius.
[Easter Egg Revealed! '5 Centimeters per Second'—A Tragedy from Start to Finish.]
[Even a love that lasts more than a decade will still drift to the furthest ends of the Earth… Is this the worldview Jing Yu wants to leave us with?]
[A simple plot. But breathtaking in its heartbreak.]
[Even moving at a mere five centimeters per second… after thirteen years, the distance becomes insurmountable.]
Film critics and media outlets started reposting the article and analysis.
In the second week of April, '5 Centimeters per Second's popularity exploded again, driven by this Easter egg reveal.
It eclipsed all summer season drama premieres—even those from the six major networks, Yunteng TV, and even Jing Yu's own two new shows.
Even recently released theatrical films couldn't compete with the buzz surrounding this one.
Everywhere online—fan groups, forums, social media—were full of fans expressing grief and heartbreak.
And just like that, '5 Centimeters per Second''s paid viewership on Qingyun Videos started climbing again.
People in the film and TV industry were stunned.
"It's going viral… AGAIN?!"
"This is insane."
Even Jing Yu and Yu Youqing didn't expect this.
They had thought of it as a fun Easter egg—just a little bonus discussion point for fans.
They never expected it would wreck the fandom all over again.
Or maybe… deeply resonate with them.
People who had finally made peace with the ending suddenly found themselves ripped open again.
In Jing Yu's comments section, the flames of fan frustration burned bright once more.
Meanwhile, people close to Jing Yu were also hit hard.
Like Xia Yining.
After reading the post herself, she was full of regret.
"It was that simple? How could I be so stupid?! I already thought about the time multiplied by speed…
But connecting it to the poles—who would think of that?"
She glanced at the username of the poster.
NumberOneYuYouqingFan!
Heh.
"Lame name," she muttered, visibly annoyed.
"Ugh… and now that it's already been solved, there's no point bringing it to Jing Yu."
She rested her chin in her palm, letting out a deep sigh.
The emotional shockwave in the '5 Centimeters' fanbase was still spreading.
But the weekend had already arrived.
Though Jing Yu was still caught in the ripple effects of '5 Centimeters per Second', 'Clannad' was struggling in comparison.
Its reception had clearly fallen short of 5 Centimeters' success.
But 'Kaiji' was still doing well.
Aside from the unlikable male lead, the rest of the first episode kept viewers thoroughly engaged.
So many fans were looking forward to the second episode.
They were already lined up, waiting to click buy the moment it went live at 8 PM.