"Jing Yu, the old bastard, I'm done with his shows for life."
"Same here. This guy is disgusting. First, Nagisa Furukawa dies, then Ushio Okazaki. If they were all going to die anyway, why even create those characters in the first place?"
"I honestly can't understand what he's thinking. I'm out, I'm done."
"I stayed up late just to change the 10/10 I gave 'Clannad' Season 2 back to a 1. A score? For this trash? Yeah, right."
"Exactly. Total trash. I was depressed for a whole week over Ushio Okazaki's death—still haven't recovered today."
"Same. I haven't even dared to rewatch Episode 11. I've rewatched every single episode of this drama at least twice. I really love this series. But that one episode? I just can't."
"But the little actress who played Ushio Okazaki? She's gone viral! Tons of people are following her Qingyun Blog account. I heard some advertisers are offering her $3 million per commercial. For someone who just debuted, only six years old, and only appeared in two episodes before her character died—that's insane."
"To be honest, Jing Yu's work on this drama was genius. If he had even a sliver of conscience and gave it a happy ending, I'd dare say this would be the best drama of the last ten, maybe even twenty years for me. The depth and meaning from Episode 8 onward blew every other show out of the water. But Jing Yu's artsy pretentiousness is like a rat turd in a pot of soup—it ruined the whole thing. I'm not against tragedies. But this one—what was the point?"
"I felt the same way with 'Your Lie in April'. You could at least argue that Kaori Miyazono's death gave purpose—it helped the emotionally damaged male lead come to terms with the past. And her death was planned from the start: she was sick, and just wanted to spend her final days with him. That's a story we can accept. Same with 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal'—Yukishiro Tomoe's death awakened Kenshin, made him realize the cruelty of this chaotic world, and pushed him to change it. But Nagisa Furukawa and Ushio Okazaki's deaths—what did they bring to Tomoya Okazaki? He's just an ordinary guy. Other than screaming at the sky in impotent rage, what else could he do? Life is already bitter enough. I don't need to watch someone suffer even more meaninglessly on TV."
"Exactly! The moment 'Clannad' turned tragic, everyone immediately started cursing Jing Yu. His plotlines are just pain for pain's sake. If he'd just kept it grounded, let Ushio grow up healthy, then the core message of the story would've been a beautiful one—a boy learning to become a father. But now? Ha. Feels like the entire 24-episode run is screaming one thing: effort in life is pointless. Tomoya helped Fuuko's soul hold her sister's wedding, helped Kotomi, helped Tomoyo, helped Misae resolve her pain, faced life head-on with Nagisa Furukawa—and what does he get in the end? The heavens, or rather, Jing Yu, arbitrarily decide he ends up utterly alone. That's the final message? Who can accept that?"
"Yeah. Just pointless suffering. Only explanation? Jing Yu wants to make us miserable."
"So... anyone actually planning to watch the final episode of 'Clannad' Season 2 tonight?"
"Not me. This drama? Not even a dog would watch it. I'd rather give that 1.50 yuan to a beggar on the street. Why waste it on this garbage?"
"Exactly. I've already paid the annual subscription fee for my TV—why bother with this trash when I can just channel surf?"
"If it weren't for Jing Yu's name, who would bother chasing this show online? Watching 24 episodes cost me over thirty bucks. Meanwhile, a monthly package from the six major Great Zhou TV stations only costs twenty. I could watch all six channels on rotation. And now I've spent money just to suffer? What am I insane? Streaming should at least bring me some joy. If it only brings pain, screw that—I'd have to be nuts."
"Anyway, I've already got plans to play CS with my friends tonight. My aim's gotten rusty. Used to play every Sunday night, but had to stop for this show. Thanks to Jing Yu's self-sabotaging, I've finally got my game time back."
As 8:00 p.m. drew near, the backlash against 'Clannad' and Jing Yu on every major drama forum across Great Zhou only intensified.
Probably the only ones who still had any faith in the final episode were Qingyun's drama review department and the production crew behind 'Clannad'.
The six major stations, critics, actors, and writers alike were all waiting for Episode 12 of 'Clannad' Season 2 to air—
not with hope, but with mocking anticipation.
Because once this episode aired, 'Clannad' would be finished. Finalized.
No more room for saving face.
It would be remembered as the worst drama Jing Yu ever made.
And the beginning of the end for the myth of Jing Yu, the hitmaker.
That saying—"after the peak, only decline remains"—was made for people like Jing Yu.
Once someone passes their prime, many never recover. And if Jing Yu fell from grace, the vultures circling him—jealous of his success for years—would join forces into a powerful wave that would crush any chance of him rising again.
So…
Exactly 8:00 p.m.
The moment the link for Episode 12 of 'Clannad' Season 2 went live—
Yu Zhihong clicked on it instantly.
He had been trashing this drama online for an entire week.
If not for his obsessive need to finish what he starts, he would never have paid for this episode.
One, the show had genuinely moved him at times.
Two, he'd already watched 24 of the 25 episodes. Dropping it now just didn't sit right.
Sigh.
Yu Zhihong sighed and turned to look at the computer screen.
After how bad the penultimate episode had been, he had zero expectations for the finale.
Still, the stream was surprisingly smooth tonight.
Previously, when he'd tuned in at release time, he could feel Qingyun's Website bandwidth choke—videos lagging, buffering constantly. But not tonight.
Clearly, tons of people had rage-quit the show after last week.
Which was why the stream was so stable now.
That thought flashed through Yu Zhihong's mind—
And the next second, he froze.
Because as the opening theme ended,
The screen revealed… someone who shouldn't be there.