Over the past year, most of Su Yan's works had leaned toward a lighter, more uplifting tone.
Take 'Weathering With You' for example—although many viewers criticized the ending, calling the male protagonist selfish for choosing to save the girl he loved at the cost of Tokyo being submerged under decades of rain—
They still had to admit:
For the protagonist—and for viewers who empathized with him—
It was a good ending.
And before that, 'Kimi ni Todoke' and 'Fate/stay night' didn't even need mentioning.
In 'Fate/stay night', Su Yan had adapted the true ending from the game—Artoria returned to her own era, her soul resting… until, after countless years, her Heroic Spirit reunited with Shirou in Avalon.
Several works in a row had happy endings.
So much so—
That many viewers had forgotten Su Yan's earlier style.
Even though Shirley was just a supporting character in 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'—
The way Su Yan handled her storyline hurt far more than simply killing her off.
Being torn between her father and the boy she loved—
Breaking down emotionally—
And finally, having her memories of Lelouch erased by his own hand—
That pain lingered.
["…This hurts a bit."]
["I cried. I've always been on C.C.'s side, but tonight I really feel for Shirley."]
["Last week I was criticizing her for choosing love over her father… but honestly, if I were her, I wouldn't know what to do either."]
["Did Su Yan really need to go this far? Honestly, it might've been easier if Shirley just made up her mind to kill Lelouch and then got stopped by C.C. This… this hurts more."]
["That last conversation between Lelouch and Shirley—when she doesn't remember him anymore—that broke me."]
["He's really unmatched in writing painful scenes."]
["This show isn't going to turn into full-on tragedy, right? I thought it was a hype action series!"]
["Probably not… right? What else could they even do? Lelouch already killed his half-brother. The only people he truly cares about are Nunnally and Shirley… and Shirley's basically gone now. If it gets worse, the only target left is Nunnally…"]
["That shouldn't happen. If Nunnally dies too, then everything Lelouch is fighting for becomes meaningless. Even if he wins, he loses."]
["Episode 7 hit 6.7% ratings. People can complain all they want, but numbers don't lie—these are the moments that drive the highest viewership."]
For an entire day, discussions about 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' dominated fan communities.
This was the first truly emotionally devastating arc of the series.
But—
It was only the beginning.
Over the next two weeks, the pacing of Season 1 accelerated significantly.
Episode 8 focused on Lelouch's revenge against Mao.
Mao exploited Shirley's emotional vulnerability, pushing her to the brink—causing Lelouch to lose a precious friend.
At the same time, Mao's mind-reading ability rendered Lelouch's strategic genius ineffective.
After all—
Whatever Lelouch thought, Mao already knew.
And since Mao's Geass was out of control, Lelouch's own power did not affect him.
In the end, Lelouch devised a desperate plan—
He used Geass on himself.
He created a strategy—
Then erased his own memory of it.
Only then was he able to defeat Mao.
Mao, in the grand scheme of the story, felt like a side-arc character—
But through him, the narrative revealed key elements:
C.C.'s past.
And the concept of Geass going out of control.
A power like mind-reading should have been controllable—
But Mao overused it to the point where he could no longer turn it off.
Constantly hearing others' thoughts drove him insane.
At this point, most viewers didn't think too deeply about it—
They simply saw Mao as a tragic figure.
But no one realized—
This setup was actually foreshadowing something much bigger.
Soon, Episode 9 aired.
This episode centered on Lelouch (as Zero), Suzaku, Kallen, and Euphemia crash-landing on a remote island during battle.
There—
Lelouch and Euphemia recognized each other.
And argued.
Lelouch believed Britannia's tyranny had caused the tragedy of his and Nunnally's lives.
Euphemia believed that Zero's rebellion was only bringing more suffering to innocent people.
Neither was entirely wrong.
But—
From this moment on—
Lelouch's identity as Zero was no longer known only to C.C.
Euphemia now knew as well.
And that—
Made many viewers uneasy.
Even Nunnally didn't know the truth—
Yet this half-sister did?
Wasn't that… risky?
What if Euphemia exposed him?
After all—
Clovis, the governor Lelouch killed in Episode 1—
Was Euphemia's full brother.
Over these two weeks, the show's ratings climbed steadily toward 6.8%.
At this level—
Every increase was a historic achievement.
In the internet age, more and more viewers choose streaming platforms over live TV.
Yet despite declining traditional viewership—
This drama continued breaking records.
To industry peers—
There was only one word for it:
Terrifying.
Meanwhile—
During these same two weeks, 'Weathering With You' approached 2.5 billion at the box office.
Its opening was explosive—
But its staying power was weaker than 'Your Name'.
At this rate, surpassing 3 billion would be difficult—
But reaching around 2.8 to 2.9 billion was very likely.
Even if it didn't break records—
A top-two box office ranking for the year was guaranteed.
No media outlet would dare call that a failure.
And yet—
The biggest shock to the Xia Nation's film and television industry during these two weeks—
Wasn't 'Weathering With You'.
Nor was it 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
It was—
The casting announcements for:
'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'
and
'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'
One of the biggest advantages of being your own investor—
Was decisive.
For most productions, from project approval to scriptwriting to casting—
It could take one to two years.
With budgets in the tens or hundreds of millions, caution was necessary.
Market research was essential.
But Su Yan—
Didn't care about that.
Each of these two dramas had a budget exceeding 450 million.
Even higher than 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
And before casting even began, an announcement was made:
Actor salaries would be capped at under 20% of the total budget.
Meaning—
Less than 90 million would go to actors—
While over 300 million would be invested directly into production and visual effects.
Even so—
Actors from across the Xia Nation and overseas flooded in to audition.
At the same time—
People began to notice something:
Both titles shared the same prefix—
"Mobile Suit."
Clearly—
They were part of a series.
But what exactly was a "mobile suit"?
Curious, people visited the official website of Dimensional Pictures.
And there—
They saw it.
Su Yan's hand-drawn designs.
Detailed, striking—
Black-and-white mechanical blueprints of various Gundam units.
Cold.
Powerful.
Mesmerizing.
At first glance—
Unforgettable.
Compared to the mechs in 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion', which were more of a background element—
These designs were on a completely different level.
And in that moment—
The audience finally understood.
Gundam.
Mobile Suit.
So that's what it meant.