On the night the 'Your Lie in April' IF-route finale aired, the passionate April fandom skyrocketed its rating to an astonishing 9.7.
In the Xia Nation, any show with a rating above 9.5 is generally considered a potential masterpiece.
And once it hits 9.7—that label becomes a certified fact.
Some shows pull great viewership but only receive average ratings—they're basically fast-food dramas: easy to consume, quickly forgotten.
Other shows may have high ratings but low viewership—those are usually niche in genre.
But for a show to be called a masterpiece, two metrics matter: broad audience appeal (ratings) and fan acclaim (score).
'Your Lie in April' met both.
Just two weeks ago, the Xia Nation's TV industry was still debating which show deserved the crown this season—' Summer Splendor' or 'Your Lie in April'.
Now, that debate is settled.
'Your Lie in April' is not just the top drama of the season—
It's the most successful, most acclaimed, and most influential production in Xia Nation's 2026 lineup to date.
It premiered on Aozora TV and achieved a final viewership rating of 4.7%.
Had it aired on one of the Big Three stations, its finale might've easily pushed past 5%.
The next day.
The web streaming data for Episode 12 of 'Your Lie in April' dropped.
In just one day, the paid view count had already reached 16.45 million.
"If this trend continues, just this IF-route finale alone might rake in over 28 million paid views. That's over 14 million in revenue sharing from a single episode."
Shinozaki Ikumi spoke, a little dazed, as she met up with Su Yan at a café near their office.
"Why that face? You don't look too happy," Su Yan asked, curious.
"I'm just… a bit dizzy," Shinozaki Ikumi looked at him.
"Before it aired, who could've guessed 'Your Lie in April' would blow up like this? And this genius Episode 12... The show's total profit is now projected to reach 90 million."
"Do you know what 90 million even means?" Her voice was filled with excitement.
"Ninety million is... 0.09 billion?" Su Yan said, stating the obvious just to lighten the mood.
After all, in Su Yan's previous life during the internet boom, it wasn't rare for massively successful dramas to rake in hundreds of millions—even over a billion.
Take 'Empresses in the Palace' for instance. At its peak, it made over a billion from overseas rights, online exclusivity, and TV syndication. Even ten years after its finale, it still pulled in tens of millions annually. Su Yan had crossed over before it stopped earning.
So, to Su Yan, this 90 million profit didn't seem that outrageous.
But to Shinozaki Ikumi, his calm reaction was infuriating.
This result was mind-blowing. This kind of profit? Earth-shattering! Shouldn't he be dazed like her?
His cool attitude made her feel like a total bumpkin.
"Ninety million is enough to fund two A-grade dramas—even one S-grade production. S-grade, Su Yan!" she emphasized.
"There hasn't been an S-grade drama in Xia Nation for over two and a half years!"
Su Yan paused, considering her words.
"So what you're saying is… we can go all-in on our next project and try for an S-grade drama?"
"No, no, no! That kind of thinking is dangerous." Shinozaki Ikumi waved her hands in alarm.
"An S-grade drama isn't just about a star cast, a 60-million budget, or a long production cycle. What matters most is the script. You need a script worthy of an S-grade label. And you have to coordinate with all parties before production, or else the risk of failure is huge."
Shinozaki Ikumi was worried Su Yan would get too full of himself.
In his string of successes, he'd turned low- to mid-budget dramas into cash cows with 2x or higher returns. That's rare.
In contrast, a typical B-grade drama on the Big Three networks might have a 20-million budget, a 3% viewership rating, and a few million in paid second-view streams online.
After production costs, even a 50% profit margin is considered good.
TV networks profit from advertising, thanks to years of operations and infrastructure. They control the online platforms and often co-invest in the dramas. That means they collect the full revenue from digital streaming.
But setting up those channels takes massive operational costs.
The Big Three networks have entire ecosystems to milk every last drop of value from a drama.
Private producers like Su Yan? Much fewer monetization channels. If an S-grade drama flops even a little—ratings, reviews, or licensing—he might not even recoup his costs.
After listening, Su Yan finally understood her point.
"So unless we're sure the next drama can match 'Your Lie in April', we shouldn't gamble on an S-grade production."
"Exactly. Xia Nation has plenty of private studios, but even the boldest among them only aim for A-grade productions. In all these years, fewer than five private producers have ever dared attempt an S-grade drama. And two of those ended in massive losses," she said seriously.
A big budget doesn't guarantee audience approval.
That rule held in Su Yan's past world—whether in TV or film—and in this one, too.
The perfect example? 'Summer Splendor' and 'Your Lie in April'.
The former had the biggest budget of the season… but fell short of April's results.
"By the way, do you have any new project ideas yet?" Shinozaki Ikumi asked curiously.
They'd worked together on several productions, and she'd gotten used to Su Yan always producing a new script right after the last project wrapped.
Now that Dimensional Pictures had 70 to 80 contracted staff members thanks to 'Your Lie in April', they needed something new.
Sure, with the recent profit, Su Yan could afford a few months off—salaries would only cost around a million.
But as a young producer known for careful budgeting, Shinozaki Ikumi wasn't a fan of paying idle wages. For a newly formed studio, that's a red flag.
"Yeah, I've got a few ideas," Su Yan smiled.
In truth, he'd been waiting for 'Your Lie in April' to wrap up before using his emotion points to draw for new IPs.
Now holding over 50 million emotion points, he was understandably feeling a little bold—which was why he'd asked about S-grade productions earlier.
Their coffee meeting wrapped up quickly.
The two of them headed back to the office to handle the final wrap-up work for 'Your Lie in April'.
That night, Su Yan drove home, entered his room, and took a deep breath.
It was time.
Shinozaki Ikumi's words made sense.
Going all-in on a random project with all his emotion points had a higher ceiling…
But if he drew a flop, he'd be back to square one.
Not every IP was suitable for a TV adaptation.
Given his current situation, it was better to be cautious.
He decided to first spend 15 million emotion points.
That left 40 million in the system.
The system interface began to shimmer. Su Yan's nerves tightened.
One minute later, the result popped out—
'Life Is Strange'
"…Huh." Su Yan blinked.
Memories of the title flooded back instantly.
A narrative-driven game from his past life, made by a Japanese studio. A "movie-interactive game."
In gaming, beyond the action, fighting, and RPG genres, there were pure story-based games.
And many of these were perfect for adaptation.
'To the Moon', for example, was story-first. So was 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy'.
'Clannad', 'Steins;Gate'—all classics—were originally games. Galgames, to be exact.
Movie-interactive games go beyond Galgames:
Where Galgames uses still art and dialogue text to convey the story, these games use animated, cinematic visuals—essentially interactive films.
Different delivery, same goal: compelling stories.
And 'Life Is Strange'?
It was one of the best narrative games out there.
Its time-loop mechanic was like 'Steins;Gate'…
It's emotional stakes, like 'The Butterfly Effect'.
A girl with the power to rewind time is forced to choose between saving her best friend and saving her hometown.
No tacky romance. Light yuri vibes.
Su Yan had been emotionally wrecked for days after finishing the game in his past life.
He'd chosen to save the town… and lost Chloe.
"'Life Is Strange'..." Su Yan murmured.
The title had already been greenlit for TV adaptation in his old world before he crossed over.
He knew it was strong—maybe even stronger than 'To the Moon'.
After all, that one took too long to ramp up.
But he still had 40 million emotion points.
"Let's see if we can draw something else."
He decided to spend just 10 million this time.
One minute later—
'The Garden of Words'
Well. Shinkai Makoto's foot-fetish special.
Su Yan actually felt a little better seeing this one.
In his personal ranking of Shinkai works:
'5 Centimeters per Second'
'Your Name'
'The Garden of Words'
'Voices of a Distant Star'
Everything else tied
(Though among the rest, 'The Place Promised in Our Early Days' wins.)
He'd have to make this one a live-action film. Runtime might be an issue...
But the 'The Garden of Words' novel had extra content—they could expand the script.
Xia Nation's film bureau only required movies to exceed an hour to qualify for theatrical release—more lenient than the old world.
Still, he and Shinozaki Ikumi would need to invest time and money into filing the script, securing theaters, and handling distribution.
Su Yan was known on TV, but film? A different battlefield.
Still, he knew he'd enter the movie scene eventually.
Looking at his remaining 30 million points, Su Yan decided to stop hesitating.
Whatever came out, even if it was wild, he already had two solid picks.
Let's roll the dice!
The system shimmered again.
A minute passed.
'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'
Su Yan stared.
"…What?"
"Is this good luck or a curse?"
He had no idea.
In his old world, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was legendary in the anime scene.
A spin-off of 'Cyberpunk 2077', it took over the global anime fandom with its brutal, tragic story.
[It officially joined the Hall of Fame of soul-crushing anime.]
Truthfully, there's little difference between story-driven games, anime, novels, and TV series.
A good story will shine in any format.
'Rurouni Kenshin', 'Clannad', 'Steins;Gate', 'Chinese Paladin', 'Death Note'—all proved this.
As long as the adaptation respects the source material and its tone.
But 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'?
Making it into a TV series would require nothing less than S-grade production specs.
A full-on sci-fi epic.
Night City. The tech. All of it needed advanced VFX.
It'd take months—maybe seasons—just to produce.
Looking at his three picks:
'Life Is Strange': TV drama.
'The Garden of Words': Theatrical film
'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners': Big-budget sci-fi series
Su Yan's head throbbed.
"That 90 million in profit... suddenly doesn't seem like enough."