In Jing Yu's previous life, the anime 'Clannad' had also been widely praised—specifically for the storylines that began after Ushio Okazaki's appearance.
The plot before Nagisa Furukawa's death was excellent, sure—but it hadn't reached the point of being universally acclaimed. Yet from the moment Ushio entered the story, the entire tone and depth of the work were elevated dramatically.
So much so that in the years following its release, whenever people talked about romance-themed anime, 'Clannad' was always brought up as a genre-defining masterpiece.
A truly memorable story doesn't have to be flawless in every episode. If it can deliver a particular arc or moment that hits so hard it defines the entire work, that alone is enough to solidify its place in people's hearts.
And after the airing of Episode 9, 'Clannad' did just that for audiences across Great Zhou.
Up to that point, the show had been "good." But that sudden Episode 9 took it to another level—moving the audience to tears and sparking reflection on family and emotional relationships.
And then, almost instantly, viewers' emotional reactions turned into an uncontrollable urge to rave about the episode online.
So the next day…
Many people opened their favorite TV drama forums on their phones—
And all they saw was wall-to-wall discussion about this one show.
The last time a drama stirred up this level of buzz?
That would've been 'Initial D'.
But now?
'Clannad'?
What the hell?
Just yesterday, wasn't everyone bashing this show? Weren't fans swearing to boycott it, vowing to teach Jing Yu a lesson and show him the wrath of the audience?
How is it that overnight, you're all suddenly praising it?
Some film critics opened Yindou Net and checked the current rating for 'Clannad'.
And what did they see?
That rating—which had still been at 7.7 before 8 PM last night—had mysteriously jumped to 9.0 by today.
That clearly couldn't be the result of just new reviews. This meant people who'd previously left bad ratings had gone back to change their scores after last night's episode.
You people… flip-flopping like this?
You spent a whole week flaming Jing Yu, yelling about how you'd teach him the power of the audience.
And now? Playing games?
Even some critics who had joined in on the public bashing were now facing backlash on their own social media pages. Just last week, they'd piggybacked off the hate to say the show was crashing and would definitely end in disaster.
Now?
Now they were being attacked in the comments by furious fans of 'Clannad'.
"We only said that stuff because of you!" the critics cried. "You fans were the ones flaming the show first! How are you now turning on us?"
The fandom's about-face was leaving a lot of people confused.
The whiplash was so fast that even the producer Cheng Lie was baffled.
He had literally just been thinking about reaching out to some online media companies to hire PR teams and spin the show's reputation around. And then today—
He saw wave after wave of glowing comments on the official company website.
"You really called it. The audience's opinion has flipped," Cheng Lie beamed, humming a tune as he walked into Jing Yu's office.
"Don't celebrate too soon," Jing Yu replied, doing some mental calculations. "At this rate, give it two weeks—and they'll flip again."
"Huh?" Cheng Lie looked confused.
"Oh, right," Jing Yu said casually. "That episode two weeks from now ends with Ushio dying. So yeah..."
Cheng Lie hadn't expected Ushio to become so wildly popular. Just one episode, and the viewers were already obsessed.
But really, it wasn't that complicated.
Nagisa Furukawa was already gone. Yet now this new character, Ushio, had completely captured the audience's hearts.
Sure, everyone wants a happy ending. But given that Jing Yu had firmly decided to kill off Nagisa, the creation of Ushio under that premise had been an absolute success.
Cute, considerate, heartbreaking.
Especially her final line in Episode 9:
"The only places I can cry are the bathroom... and Daddy's arms."
It shattered people emotionally. Viewers could forgive all of Jing Yu's past missteps just for that one line.
But if Jing Yu now turned around and killed Ushio?
Cheng Lie's hand trembled slightly.
"Hey, Jing Yu. Maybe... we should air Episodes 11 and 12 together. Don't leave viewers hanging."
"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, they'll curse me out for a week," Jing Yu said with a smile.
"There's no need for that," Cheng Lie frowned. "Ending Episode 11 with Ushio's death is pushing it. Sure, she comes back in Episode 12, but the audience doesn't know that. And in that week when they don't know? Our studio's going to get roasted alive by furious fans."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Jing Yu waved him off, not buying it.
If it weren't necessary, he wouldn't do something so intentionally cruel as ending Episode 11 on Ushio's death.
But the thing was—it was necessary.
Forget the storyline for a second. Just look at the surge in discussion, fan points, and social media traction brought on by that emotional upheaval. All of it was valuable.
That's why Jing Yu loved ending each episode with a cliffhanger.
Yes, it kept viewers hooked.
But more importantly, it raked in fan engagement metrics.
Cheng Lie and Jing Yu just weren't looking at the same scoreboard.
"Anyway, both 'Clannad' and 'Kaiji' will wrap up shooting this week. We should be focusing on landing both shows properly—not worrying about whether the audience will get mad halfway through," Jing Yu deflected.
Cheng Lie saw the look on his face and knew it was pointless.
"Whatever, just be careful," Cheng Lie muttered. "When viewers lash out, it's always the writer who takes the fall. If you're not worried about your image going down the drain, then fine—I've said my piece."
"Yes, yes, thank you, my dear Producer Cheng," Jing Yu chuckled.
"Laugh all you want. Two weeks from now, when angry fans and reporters are camped out in front of the set waiting to crucify you, we'll see how smug you look. A few years back, a couple of writers tried pulling stunts like this—wrote outrageous plot twists just to mess with fans. You know what happened? They got physically assaulted by furious viewers. Sure, those people were too emotionally invested in fiction, and couldn't separate drama from real life—but still. If someone snaps after watching Episode 11 and doesn't stick around for 12..."
It was a final warning.
Jing Yu's fanbase was massive. No one could predict how many unhinged people might be hiding in that crowd.
"Eh, shouldn't be a problem," Jing Yu said dismissively.
For one, the odds of running into that kind of fanatic were low. And two—well, if anyone did try to pick a fight with him, they'd probably regret it.
After all, ever since finishing 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal', Jing Yu had picked up a whole lot of combat training and muscle memory. Anyone trying to sneak-attack him would be asking for trouble.
Their conversation soon ended.
And in the days that followed, 'Clannad' entered another week-long phase of fan adoration.
Just like that, time moved on again.
And now, it was Sunday—the day before Episode 10 of 'Clannad' Season 2 aired.