The plot of 'Ultraman Tiga' episode three was basically the same as the previous two episodes: a monster suddenly appears and wreaks havoc on human cities, the Victory Squad is dispatched but gets overwhelmed, and the protagonist Daigu sneaks off to transform.
"Tiga!!!"
With a dramatic shout, the cool and stylish Tiga makes his entrance, engages in a fierce battle with the monster, the warning light starts flashing to show his energy is running low—but of course, he clutches it out, somehow still in berserk mode even on 1 HP. And finally, with a single Ultra Beam, he defeats the monster and saves the world.
You could say this was the basic Ultraman story loop from beginning to end. Sure, now and then there'd be a kind monster or a tragic character thrown in for some emotional flavor, but overall, the formula stayed the same.
Since the Great Zhou didn't have any adults who grew up watching Ultraman, most grown-up viewers only had one question in their minds:
"Why do my kids like watching this stuff?"
But kids? Kids were mesmerized by those seemingly pointless, yet deeply soul-stirring poses and special effects.
They were moved when Tiga fought to save the world, and saddened when sympathetic characters met tragic ends.
Ask them why they liked it, and they couldn't tell you. They just knew—they were hooked.
The feelings of adults and children couldn't be more different.
But by the time episode three aired, 'Tiga' had fully exploded in popularity among elementary and middle school students.
Episode three's viewership hit 10.98%. Though many adults were already losing interest after three weeks, finding the novelty fading fast, at that very moment, children's enthusiasm was skyrocketing.
On Jing Yu's end, he had already arranged with merchandise partners to develop monster-related merch timed to each episode's release.
And the volume of fan orders pouring into his company far exceeded everyone's expectations.
Among the three simultaneous projects—' Attack on Titan', 'Gundam SEED', and 'Ultraman Tiga'—Tiga had the smallest budget. And yet, it was outperforming the others.
That didn't feel right.
If Tiga, the cheapest of the three, was doing this well, what kind of numbers would 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED' need to pull to be considered a "success"?
A lot of staff in the company started feeling the pressure.
Naturally, Jing Yu began shifting his focus that month toward the currently airing 'Tiga'.
Though he was the chairman and the writer, he rarely took part in publicity anymore. Usually, he just stayed behind the scenes.
But with 'Tiga' going viral among kids after just three episodes, numerous businesses and toy manufacturers began approaching them for collaboration deals. So sometimes, Jing Yu had no choice but to make public appearances.
After several days of nonstop activity, he was utterly exhausted.
Meanwhile, episode four of 'Ultraman Tiga' aired smoothly.
"Jing Yu, I gotta say—this show has more commercial potential than most of what we've done before," said Cheng Lie, after reviewing the data reports from 'Ultraman Tiga's first month.
Honestly, he didn't get 'Tiga's appeal either.
From his perspective, it just wasn't his kind of show. He watched it every week because of work, but it honestly made him want to fall asleep.
But the numbers didn't lie.
Within just a month, ratings aside, even online reviews were trending upward, thanks to the younger fans boosting the score.
And when it came to merch sales, 'Tiga' was outperforming many of Jing Yu's past hits by more than two orders of magnitude.
On top of that, advertisers were lining up. The price for product placements in 'Tiga' had already reached nearly 10 million yuan per slot, and stationery and toy companies were constantly contacting them, asking for licensing deals to launch 'Tiga'-themed products.
"It's just the nature of this kind of series," Jing Yu replied. "'Tiga' was built from the ground up to profit off merchandise."
"Then why didn't you make something like this earlier?" Cheng Lie asked, a bit stunned.
"Filming's not hard, plot is simple, commercial value is high. Compared to your past projects, this is basically zero-risk, high-reward."
Like, I didn't want to make it sooner? If I'd had enough fan points back then to redeem 'UltramanTiga', I would've done it in a heartbeat.
Jing Yu grumbled inwardly, but kept his answer vague:
"It's just something I came up with recently. My fanbase has always been mostly adults, but there's a massive untapped underage audience in Great Zhou. Would've been a waste not to try targeting them."
"I don't get it," Cheng Lie said, eyes full of confusion.
"You're not a kid. How do you even know what kids like? Same with your past shows—they always nailed what fans wanted. Never missed."
But halfway through, Cheng Lie sighed.
"Maybe this is the difference between genius and ordinary people. Every time one of your works is about to air, I get nervous—worried the audience won't buy into your wild ideas. But every single time, you're right, and I'm just overthinking it."
"It's a shame this show's only 26 episodes. The merch is selling way too well. There's a new monster every week, and now collectors are obsessed. Over 60% of those who bought the season 1 monster figures have already preordered the latest one."
"Who said it's only 26 episodes?" Jing Yu responded.
"Huh?" Cheng Lie turned to him.
"Why do you think it's called 'Ultraman Tiga' and not just 'Ultraman'?"
"Wait—you mean...?"
"The Ultraman series is massive. There's Tiga, sure—but there's also Seven, Leo, Gaia…"
Since he already brought Tiga to this world, there was no reason to leave the rest locked away.
This was just the beginning—once Tiga pushed the franchise into the spotlight…
"This could easily become a series that lasts for years—maybe even decades."
"Like the Fate series?" Cheng Lie asked.
"Longer than Fate," Jing Yu said plainly.
He didn't elaborate further. Once Tiga ended, Cheng Lie would see exactly how Jing Yu planned to manage the Ultraman franchise.
Their conversation ended, and they returned to their respective work.
As time passed, the number of episodes airing in the fall season continued to grow.
The drop in 'Tiga's ratings that some people had predicted? Never happened.
Episode 5: 11.0%
Episode 6: 11.3%
Episode 7: 11.25%
It stabilized around the 11% mark—not climbing any higher, but not dropping either. After all, there were only so many students in Great Zhou.
But that number was still unquestionably the highest in the industry.
Jing Yu had been out of the TV drama game for a long time, mostly focused on films.
Now, with one return, he delivered yet another hard lesson to the industry:
You don't need to chase adult viewers for high ratings—kids are a massive audience too.
And in many cases, kids had stronger purchasing power than adults.
Lots of adults hesitated to buy things for themselves, but the moment their kid begged them for a toy or figure, they gave in without thinking.
You could see it clearly in 'Tiga's merch sales.
By the time episode 8 aired, Jing Yu's team also began releasing monster encyclopedias, 'Ultraman' trading cards, and similar items.
These were cheap, collectible, and even kids could afford them with pocket money. Unsurprisingly, they caught on fast.
Of course, just like in Jing Yu's previous world, some critics began throwing around the same accusations:
"This 'Tiga' thing is just a money grab targeting kids!"
"All these toys are distracting children from their studies!"
Jing Yu didn't agree—well, not entirely.
Whether in Great Zhou or his past life's China, parents loved to blame anime and games for their kids' poor performance in school.
But if you looked back at history—even in ancient times, when there was no high-tech entertainment—people still said chasing grasshoppers would ruin kids' futures.
The problem wasn't what they played with. It was about who they were.
A kid who doesn't want to study can waste a whole day just staring at the ceiling.
Sure, tech and media had made entertainment more accessible, but that was just the reality of the modern world.
That's why Jing Yu's Tiga merchandise was only sold online, with no physical retail channels, and all purchases required real-name authentication.
If parents didn't help, kids couldn't buy anything on their own.
That was the most he could do.
As more time passed, 'Tiga's popularity hit its peak about two months after the first episode aired.
With shows like 'Ultraman Tiga', the impact comes from explosive early hype. After that, it's all about longevity.
No matter how talented Jing Yu was, he couldn't magically make 'Tiga's impact in just two months match what it took twenty years to build in his previous world.
In his past life, 'Ultraman Tiga' had two decades of legacy—multiple generations watching it, growing up with it, leaving and returning to it. That depth of nostalgic fermentation wasn't something you could replicate overnight.
So Jing Yu wasn't in a rush.
The 'Ultraman' series had dozens of installments. Even releasing one per year would keep him busy for decades.
By late August, Jing Yu rapidly began production on some 'Tiga' side stories and theatrical releases.
These wouldn't air on Yunteng TV, but would be premium content released via Qingyun Video.
With 'Tiga' now running smoothly, Jing Yu didn't need to worry anymore. His team could handle it from here.
As September rolled around, the focus at BlueStar Media & Film started shifting from Tiga to another project—
'Attack on Titan'.
Jing Yu's three major series had already been planned out last year:
'Ultraman Tiga' would run through fall and winter.
'Attack on Titan' would launch in the winter season and run for at least three quarters.
'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED' would follow in spring, with another long-format schedule.
Post-production wasn't fully done for any of them, but the long prep time had given the VFX teams plenty of runway.
Now they could work on effects while episodes aired—it was manageable.
The only real issue was that all three shows were long-format and would overlap in the schedule, potentially splitting fan attention.
But Jing Yu had no real solution to that. He couldn't afford to wait until one series ended before starting the next—he'd become Great Zhou's version of Eiichiro Oda.
If he went that route, one drama would take over his whole career.
So he made a simple decision: just stagger the broadcast times.
'Tiga' aired on Sundays.
'Attack on Titan' would take Friday.
'Gundam SEED' would air on Saturday.
But unlike 'Tiga', which aired in the 8 PM prime slot, 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED' would air later—10 PM and 11 PM, respectively.
This was partly because… Jing Yu felt a little guilty.
He had a good idea what kind of impact 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED' would have once they aired.
'Tiga' was already dominating Sunday night ratings, suffocating the competition.
If he also took over Friday and Saturday prime time slots with equally popular shows?
The industry would hate him.
Sure, Jing Yu was winning—but he'd be leaving no scraps for anyone else.
Having his shows monopolize all of prime time from Friday through Sunday?
He'd basically be forcing the rest of the industry to starve.
Even Jing Yu couldn't afford to be blacklisted by everyone.
So while he was confident, he wasn't arrogant. Ratings boost or not, he chose later time slots, giving the big-name broadcasters some breathing room.
Let them finish airing their own main dramas, then he'd roll out 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED'.
And so—
Just after early September, with 'Tiga' still going strong and elementary school kids still playing 'Tiga' cosplay at school…
Blue Star Media & Film released an announcement on its official site:
'Attack on Titan' would premiere in the winter season, airing on both Yunteng TV and Qingyun Video.
Just like 'Tiga'.
The announcement spread like wildfire across every film and TV forum in Great Zhou within two hours.
And all of Jing Yu's fan groups? Exploded.
They'd been waiting forever.
And finally—this was it.
Sure, Tiga wasn't their thing…
But 'Attack on Titan' and 'Gundam SEED'?
Totally different story.
Because Jing Yu never said those were kids' shows.