The box office performance of 'Weathering With You' was, frankly, exactly what the market had expected.
After all, for the past three years, Su Yan had basically dominated both the Spring Festival and summer release windows.
The two most important periods of the year—he released two films annually, and the entire industry had grown used to it.
While 'Weathering With You' did fall slightly short of 'Your Name' in terms of reputation and story, that didn't mean its box office would suffer.
When 'Your Name' was released, Su Yan wasn't nearly as famous as he is now, and audiences weren't as forgiving. Although 'Weathering With You' sparked some debate over its plot in the first few days, those discussions never escalated.
The main reason was simple—
Even if it was slightly weaker than 'Your Name', it was still far superior to other films released during the same summer window—or even most films from other companies in recent years.
Setting aside the story, the sheer production quality—backed by hundreds of millions in investment—was obvious.
It was worlds apart from those films that claimed massive budgets but clearly didn't spend them on the screen.
Soon, time moved into August.
Episode 5 of Season 1 of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' aired.
By this point, the story had fully settled into its main structure.
By day, Lelouch was a student at a Britannian noble academy.
By night, he climbed over the walls into the outer districts, becoming Zero—the leader of the resistance against imperial rule.
Not only was this kind of story rare in the Xia Nation's TV market, but it was practically nonexistent across all countries in the world in recent years.
In the Xia Nation, 'Weathering With You' and 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' dominated entertainment discussions that week.
Overseas, 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' topped viewership charts across all six countries where it aired, as well as on streaming platforms.
Although Lelouch—played by Su Yan—had an Eastern appearance, his name and the adjusted mixed-heritage background made it easy for international audiences to accept.
After all, Su Yan had already played Gilgamesh—a clearly Western king—in 'Fate/stay night'. Playing a mixed-blood prince of a Western empire in this series wasn't strange at all.
Besides, Su Yan was the screenwriter, investor, and lead actor—he could do as he pleased.
Interestingly, overseas fans were even more passionate than those in the Xia Nation. The revolutionary theme naturally resonated with them, leading to a flood of international fans leaving comments under Su Yan's creator accounts.
This drama had essentially achieved Su Yan's original goal—
To break into overseas markets.
Of course, the massive promotional budget he invested globally played a role, but the success of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' itself was undeniable. It made Su Yan and Dimensional Pictures instantly famous among international TV audiences.
In Tokyo, after finishing filming for 'Howl's Moving Castle' that afternoon and returning to his villa after dinner, Su Yan checked the box office numbers for 'Weathering With You'.
Although it had surpassed 700 million in just two days, its first-week total was only around 1.4 billion.
Breaking 2 billion was guaranteed—but surpassing 3 billion would be difficult.
Box office longevity depended heavily on word of mouth, and 'Weathering With You' simply didn't match 'Your Name' in that regard.
After a moment of thought, Su Yan didn't dwell on it.
This outcome had already been expected before release.
Besides, he never believed that each of his works had to outperform the last.
Previously, he had been in a phase of rapid fanbase growth, so each new project naturally performed better.
But now, his audience in the Xia Nation had basically reached saturation.
Anyone who followed films or dramas already knew him. With limited room for further growth, the ceiling of his works now depended purely on quality.
Su Yan tapped away at his laptop.
After the release of 'Weathering With You', the company's remaining unreleased projects were only Season 2 of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' and 'Howl's Moving Castle'.
Of course, there were still two to three more films planned for the 'Rurouni Kenshin' series to complete the saga.
Over the next four years, once the film series was finished, he could train new actors to take over a long-form TV adaptation. By then, even though Su Yan would still be under thirty, he likely wouldn't have the time to commit to a multi-season production. At most, he might appear occasionally as a martial arts director—or even cameo as Hiko Seijuro.
As for 'Fate/stay night', the 'Unlimited Blade Works' and 'Heaven's Feel' routes were also on his schedule. With such a massive global fanbase, there was no way he would abandon that IP.
And then—
Su Yan looked at the words he had typed:
Mecha.
'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' was only a test run.
His true goal was to introduce works like 'Evangelion' and 'Gundam' to the Xia Nation.
In his previous world, Hollywood had revived the nearly bankrupt Marvel franchise by building a cinematic universe.
Su Yan had similar ambitions.
Works like Evangelion and Gundam could first be adapted into TV series to build popularity and open up global markets—
Then followed by high-budget theatrical films.
Space, the cosmos, giant mechs—
These elements were inherently suited for blockbuster cinema.
The problem was cost.
In the Xia Nation's world, there wasn't a Hollywood-style global film industry that could dominate both Eastern and Western markets. As a result, such large-scale productions weren't common—because even if they performed well domestically, they might still lose money overall.
Hollywood films often relied on global markets to turn a profit.
The size of the market determined the scale of investment.
But for Su Yan—
He was already beginning to open up the Western market.
Finally, he checked his company's financials.
Even after continuous investments and purchasing assets—including shares in streaming platforms—the company still had over 5 billion in cash reserves.
For the first time, Su Yan felt truly confident.
Evangelion was still out of reach for now—its emotional value cost was too high. Despite being only a couple of dozen episodes with several films, its IP value in its previous world exceeded tens of billions of dollars.
It was nearly half the value of 'One Piece'—a series that had run for decades—and comparable to the entire 'Naruto' franchise.
Even for Su Yan now, acquiring it would be difficult.
But Gundam was different.
While the overall franchise value was similarly massive, it spanned dozens of works over decades. Selecting only a few of the most iconic entries would be well within his reach.
Soon—
Immersed in his system space, Su Yan once again spent all his accumulated emotional value.