Even before Episode 11 of 'Clannad' aired—the one Cheng Lie had been so worried about—just the hint at Ushio Okazaki's fate in Episode 10 had already stirred up a huge storm among the show's fanbase.
To viewers, the current plot of 'Clannad' was downright outrageous.
They couldn't see the point of it at all.
The first five months had been dedicated to making the audience fall in love with Nagisa Furukawa, only for her to be killed off in a single episode.
Then, the past two weeks had introduced Ushio, and just two episodes in, fans had completely fallen for her too.
And now?
While she hadn't been killed off yet, everyone could smell the incoming heartbreak.
Unlike other screenwriters, veteran fans of Jing Yu knew him well—he didn't play around with fake tension or empty teases.
Many writers love to tease character deaths or fake-out dramatic twists just to boost ratings or stir discussion.
But viewers know those tricks—just like the old "if you don't see the body, they're not really dead" cliché. Nobody takes it seriously anymore.
But Jing Yu?
He's different.
His foreshadowing is real.
This was the man who had killed off the heroine in multiple shows, killed Fujiwara no Sai, the most beloved character in 'Hikaru no Go', and even wrote in a plotline in 'Initial D' where the male lead got cheated on.
Now he was hinting at giving Ushio the "special treatment" too.
"I think Jing Yu-sensei's completely lost it. Is he okay mentally? Does he just love writing depressing stories now?"
"It's not that his writing isn't good—hell, even with all these twists, 'Clannad' is still the best drama of the fall season, bar none. But why does he do this? Why can't we just have a happy ending? Let the audience feel good, make more money, get praised by everyone—what's the point of emotionally torturing your fans?"
"What if this is all just misdirection, and the last two episodes will have an amazing twist?"
"That's what I thought back in 'Your lie in April'. I thought the same during 'Hikaru no Go'. I even held out hope in 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' that Yukishiro was just pretending to die. But the only exception was 'Steins;Gate'—where Kurisu Makise actually did get saved.
But then again, that show's whole plot revolved around bringing her back, so it doesn't count.
My point is: yes, Jing Yu-sensei writes a lot of unexpected twists—but when it comes to emotionally gutting characters, he never pulls punches. Every blow is straight to the fan's soul."
"Maybe he knows we've gotten used to his tricks, and this time he's going to do the opposite?"
"Heh. You believe that? At least Episode 10 only hinted at Ushio possibly suffering the same fate as Nagisa. It wasn't fully confirmed. Let's wait for Episode 11 and see how Jing Yu the Butcher plans to twist the knife."
"I just don't believe he'd be so heartless to his own 'daughter.' He's the creator! He has feelings too! He couldn't have written such a lovable character as Ushio without caring for her deeply himself. So I'm holding out hope."
"Let's stop speculating. We'll know once Episode 11 airs. For now, let's spare the Butcher his sentence. But if Ushio dies in the next episode—I swear, I'll blacklist Jing Yu forever. I'll never watch anything he writes again."
"So... you're not going to watch 'Fate/Zero' when it airs in a few months?"
"..."
"Fine. I'll watch 'Fate/Zero'. But after that—I'm done!"
Despite the foreshadowing, Ushio had only fallen ill and collapsed at the end of Episode 10—she hadn't been outright killed off yet.
So the fandom remained relatively calm, discussing theories and speculations, without fully erupting into rage at the seemingly unfair plot.
Time quickly marched on.
It was now early September, and the airdate for 'Clannad' Episode 11 had arrived.
By this point, Jing Yu had completely wrapped up filming for 'Clannad' and shifted focus to the production of 'Fate/Zero'.
But with Cheng Lie nagging him every day to be careful, Jing Yu had kept a close eye on the airing schedule.
Even though he knew tonight's episode would probably send fans into full-on berserk mode...
He still decided, before the episode dropped, to reply to a relatively polite fan comment on his Qingyun Blog account:
[Don't worry. 'Clannad' is a heartwarming, feel-good story. You can relax—it's definitely not a tragedy.]
Given his current popularity, Jing Yu's reply was immediately spotted by fans, who rushed to upvote it, shooting it straight to the top of the comment section.
Many fans, upon seeing his reassurance, let out a small sigh of relief.
Not a tragedy, huh?
Alright, we'll believe you... one last time.
With that mindset, office worker Zhong Min, who still had to work overtime on the weekend, paid for the new episode and clicked the Episode 11 link right at 8:00 PM.
The episode opened with the classic tearjerker background song—Negai ga Kanau Basho II (The Place Where Wishes Come True II).mp3
Then came the doctor's diagnosis of Ushio:
"Unfortunately, it's the same condition as her mother. The cause is unclear. But the illness is likely to relapse over time, just like it did with little Nagisa."
Right off the bat—boom. Zhong Min took a full-blown emotional critical hit.
All those audience theories from Episode 10—that Jing Yu was just faking out with a flu to stir up drama and discussions?
Shattered.
Of course not.
A screenwriter of his caliber would never stoop to such cheap tricks.
Then the plot transitioned...
Back into the familiar motif of a lonely girl and her robot in a strange, solitary world.
Honestly, this segment showed up every once in a while, and Zhong Min never quite understood it.
But in this scene, the golden glowing orbs dancing in the air...
They were the same as the glowing lights that appeared throughout the series—whenever the main character helped others resolve their inner turmoil, those same lights would float down onto him.
And according to 'Clannad's official site, these lights had one vague description:
[Light Orbs: They seem to possess some kind of mysterious power.]
Well, considering that Fuko's soul once roamed the school giving out wooden starfish, and Misae's cat literally turned into a human and almost had a romance with her...
This kind of fantasy setting was well within reason by now.
The audience had long since accepted that 'Clannad's world included supernatural elements like the light orbs.
But still—this plotline had been building since Season 1.
Now it was nearly the end of Season 2... and the so-called "mysterious power" of the light orbs still hadn't manifested.
So when exactly were they going to matter?
Zhong Min couldn't help but wonder.
Or maybe...
Just maybe...
The light orbs were the key to curing Ushio's mysterious illness?