That night was devastating for 'Clannad' fans.
Sure, Jing Yu's works had often taken strange turns toward tragedy, but at least in recent years, no one had actually died in his stories. The last time a character died was in 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' with Yukishiro's death — but that was a period drama, so everyone understood.
But 'Clannad'?
Everyone had happily followed the journey from dating, to marriage, to pregnancy — and now Jing Yu pulled this stunt in a single episode?
Was that really necessary?
What purpose did Nagisa Furukawa's death even serve?
Did she have to die?
This was a modern romance drama, not some war-torn tragedy meant to highlight the cruelty of the times. Killing off the female lead like this?
No one could accept it.
"What the hell is going on with Jing Yu-sensei? Has he gone insane?"
"Ugh... I knew he was going to do this. The build-up in 'Clannad' was giving me the same dread as when I watched 'Your Lie in April'. I trusted him! I thought he'd changed over the years... I was wrong, brothers."
"I was having a chill night—BBQ, soda, great vibes—and then this?! This is how I spend my precious post-work hours?! Watching the heroine die?!"
"Terrible. This time, we can't let it slide. Old Scumbag Jing hasn't changed. If we stay silent now, he'll just keep doing this in future shows."
"But as an audience, shouldn't we focus on experiencing the story, not just complain?"
"Of course, we should experience the story... as long as he doesn't poison us with it!"
"I can't accept Nagisa Furukawa dying just like that."
"Me neither. I watched this show to see You Youqing and Jing Yu being lovey-dovey — and now this? What the hell is this?!"
"Nope. One-star. Absolute one-star. This can't be tolerated. If we let Jing Yu off the hook now, what do you wanna bet he'll kill someone off in 'Fate/Zero' too? If we don't resist now, he'll just keep stabbing us in the back."
"That's a bit much. Isn't 'Fate/Zero' supposed to be a fantasy special-effects series? What's there to 'knife' us with? It's just fights and cool visuals."
"Doesn't matter! What matters is — we have to show Jing Yu the power of pure romance fans. Force him to change the script!"
"Good luck with that. With Jing Yu-sensei's dead-fish personality? How do you pressure someone like that? He's got money, talent — if he quits screenwriting, he could just become a singer, a race car driver, a pro Go player, or even a musician. Sure, he lives off TV, but he's not reliant on it. If I were him, I'd just laugh at all this outrage."
"Even so, we can't stay silent anymore. As the audience, we have to show our rage."
That night, Jing Yu's long-suffering fanbase finally snapped.
Once again, in 'Clannad', the female lead was dead — and this time, from a damn childbirth death, no less.
Yes, the portrayal of Nagisa and Tomoya in that final scene was beautifully done. The music, visuals, and emotional manipulation — all masterfully executed.
But after the tears dried, all that remained was overwhelming anger.
Thanks to glowing reviews from critics, 'Clannad' had recently brought in a flood of new viewers, and its Yindou Net rating had climbed as high as 9.1.
Then came episode eight of season two — and everything changed.
Enraged fans went back and revised their ratings overnight. The score dropped from 9.1 to 8.9, then 8.7, then 8.3... then 7.9...
By the evening after episode eight aired, the final score was locked in at 7.7.
That score? In the world of Great Zhou television, it's slightly above average.
But in the context of Jing Yu's body of work, it was his lowest-rated drama. Ever.
Even 'Another', which had been considered his weakest show to date, held a rating of 8.7.
'Clannad' had just dropped a full point below that.
Audiences simply couldn't accept that after five months of investing in this romance, starting from the moment the male lead spoke to Nagisa out of curiosity in episode one, they ended on a note where he wished he'd never met her.
You wish you'd never met Nagisa?
What about us?!
If we had known the heroine would die in episode eight of season two, we never would've started this show five months ago! You made us fall in love with her over the course of five months, then killed her off. Who can accept that?
Online, criticism of the latest episode of 'Clannad' was everywhere.
It was like a trigger — unleashing all the bottled-up resentment fans had toward Jing Yu's addiction to gut-wrenching tragedy.
The backlash spread fast.
Within just a few days, drama forums across the internet were overrun — over 60% of the posts were dedicated to criticizing Jing Yu.
For the first time since his debut, Jing Yu faced full-scale backlash and criticism from his own fanbase.
Seeing this, all the click-driven critics and content creators instantly flipped their stances and joined the chorus of angry 'Clannad' fans.
['Clannad' S2E8 Bloodbath — Viewer Backlash Surging — Screenwriter Jing Yu Facing First and Greatest Career Crisis]
[Tragedy is a double-edged sword. Relying on it for buzz and engagement is a self-destructive path. Audiences will not accept suffering for suffering's sake.]
[No matter how much of a genius a writer is, one truth remains: it's the audience who chooses you, not the other way around. Ignore their voices in favor of your pretentious "literary" impulses, and you will be abandoned.]
['Clannad' Season Two dropped from 9.1 to 7.7. This proves no one — not even genius Jing Yu — can ignore the audience's feelings.]
[With only a month and 3-4 episodes left, we await to see whether Jing Yu can salvage the reputation of 'Clannad' amidst this PR disaster.]
[A romance drama where the female lead dies... what's left to film now? Can't even imagine.]
[The most miserable fanbase of the year goes to 'Clannad' viewers. They paid premium fees to watch this show, only to be stabbed in the back by Jing Yu. All they wanted was a lighthearted, heartwarming story — is that really so hard?!]
Critics, fans — everyone was now turning on Jing Yu.
In the past, when someone criticized him, his loyal fans would always jump in to defend him.
Now? Even the die-hards had given up.
This massive wave of outrage caused panic within the production crew behind 'Clannad'.
"This is way too much hate!"
Even though the score drop seemed manageable on paper, the sheer volume of people angrily posting was staggering.
In all their years working in the industry, they had never seen a single drama stir up this level of mass fury.