Before 'Attack on Titan' even aired, the trailers had already hinted at its brutal direction, giving most viewers a fair mental preparation.
But after actually watching the first episode…
Let's just say: no one was that prepared.
Cannibalism isn't a particularly rare theme—you could find references to it in historical records from any world.
But reading about famine-era cannibalism in a book isn't the same as visually witnessing giant humanoid monsters devouring people on screen.
The show portrays a setting where humans cannot fight back, forced to wall themselves in just to avoid annihilation. And the episode made it visibly clear that the power gap was devastating.
Monsters over ten meters tall? In groups?
And the tech level of this human society is still medieval—how are they supposed to stand a chance?
What made things worse was the show's focus on Eren's character and family in the first half of the episode—just when viewers were fully invested emotionally, it hit hard with the mother's tragic death right in front of his eyes.
Countless viewers were stunned on the spot.
"I'm bawling. This plot is too much."
"The Old Theft really changes styles every single series, huh?"
"Even the Angels in 'Evangelion' only attacked the main city! 'Attack on Titan' just casually wipes out everything except the protagonist's hometown."
"Actually, technically speaking, that's not even a city—just a small outpost extending from the outer wall. The human population is basically caged in a three-layered wall system. No way civilization or population can develop in such a confined space."
"The Old Theft's imagination is insane. I'm sick to my stomach—but I can't wait for Episode 2."
"But the main character seems useless, doesn't he?"
"Come on, it's only the first episode. He's ten years old. What do you expect him to do—transform into 'Ultraman' and beat the titans? Be serious. This show is clearly a post-apocalyptic survival drama."
"Still, that Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan are crazy cool. If titans like those existed, why are they only attacking now?"
"Who knows? Maybe they just discovered this human settlement recently. From what we know, most titans are brainless monsters who just eat on instinct. Those 'elite' titans probably just stumbled upon the place and attacked."
"So the whole series is going to be one long war with the Titans? A military-style drama?"
"Who knows—it depends on how the Old Theft wants to write it. I still don't get how anyone is supposed to kill these things. They regenerate severed limbs in under a minute!"
"I'm still reeling. The emotional impact was so strong, especially the scene where Eren's mother was pinned under the beam, quietly begging Uncle Hannes to take her kids and run. One moment she's brave and selfless; the next, she's holding her mouth shut so she doesn't scream out of fear and make Hannes hesitate—those whispered words, 'Don't leave me,' crushed me."
"That scene made her feel so alive. The Old Theft's character writing is unreal."
The first episode of 'Attack on Titan' aired that night and hit 10.98% viewership, just shy of the 11% mark—crushing every other show airing at the same time across Great Zhou.
Even the Big Six networks were squeezed down to around 1% viewership in that time slot.
Compared to Jing Yu's past works, the buzz around this one was on another level.
After all, its setting and themes were shockingly bold and original for the current Great Zhou audience.
Fans were overwhelmingly positive.
But media outlets, as always, loved playing devil's advocate:
"Jing Yu's talent has run dry. 'Attack on Titan' relies entirely on violence and gore. The once-brilliant writer who used plot to attract viewers has stooped to shocking brutality."
"Shock value won't sustain a series. Sure, Episode 1 pulled 10%, but I guarantee the show's reputation will nosedive within three episodes."
"'Ultraman' teaches kids justice triumphs over evil. What does 'Attack on Titan' teach? From start to finish—despair. Humanity's helplessness in the face of evil. This premise is fundamentally flawed."
"The only reason people watched Episode 1 was for the gore. It's the same as airing a softcore film on Yunteng TV—you'll get high ratings, sure, but does that make it quality art? If Episode 2 continues to just focus on bloody massacres, this three-hundred-million-dollar epic might become Jing Yu's first major flop."
Every outlet tried to outdo the others with harsh takes.
But in their hearts, they weren't so sure.
Jing Yu had never failed before—how likely was it he'd fumble now?
Still, in today's media world, praise for Jing Yu didn't sell.
People were bored with compliments.
So you had to write the kind of article that Jing Yu fans would hate—that's what got clicks.
So while the fans were raving, the media pretended to mourn.
At Jing Yu's company, the 'Attack on Titan' production team finally relaxed after seeing the ratings.
Over 10% on premiere? What more could you want?
Acting humble at that point would just be fake modesty.
Everyone at the studio was walking around with their heads high.
Even staff from the other two local networks, Xingtong TV and Aurora TV, couldn't say much—they knew in this industry, results speak louder than anything.
Jing Yu himself felt relieved after reading the ratings.
Thankfully, it looked like the Great Zhou audience could handle a bit of gore. There wasn't a mass exodus.
That allowed him to loosen up a bit as he continued inspecting different sets.
The 'Gundam' production didn't need much of his attention.
After all, the key scenes were all mecha battles, handled with full CGI. No acting finesse required.
But 'Attack on Titan' was a different beast.
All the extras had to wear bulky omni-directional mobility gear rigs and fly around on wires. Regular actors couldn't pull that off—so they hired acrobats and gymnasts.
That's part of why the production costs were sky-high.
Jing Yu wasn't directing personally, but he enjoyed watching the scenes being filmed.
Still, with the boss on set, the vibe was tense. No one dared to slack off.
While Episode 1 had just aired on TV, filming had already moved far ahead.
Reiner and Bertolt's betrayal had been shot. The Beast Titan had appeared. Levi's big moment—the scene where he goes wild on the monkey—was also filmed.
This kind of show had to be filmed well in advance.
Airing and filming simultaneously would be too risky.
That also meant the main cast already knew where the story was going.
With other projects, there might be worry about viewership drops in later episodes.
But for 'Attack on Titan'?
If Episode 1 didn't scare people off, everything coming next was guaranteed to blow them away.
Jing Yu came by to check progress and joined the team in filming some behind-the-scenes footage for promotional use.
"Jing Yu, don't you have any merchandising plans for 'Attack on Titan'?" asked Cheng Lie as Jing Yu was about to leave for the evening.
"Didn't I explain before?" Jing Yu replied. "'Attack on Titan' merchandise is limited. It's not on the same level as 'Ultraman' or 'Gundam' in terms of licensing value."
Honestly, 'Attack on Titan' merchandise was just okay.
The show's popularity and ratings were high, yes—but it didn't lend itself well to marketable products.
'Gundam' had awesome-looking mechs.
'Ultraman' had wild monster designs—but they weren't grotesque.
'Attack on Titan'?
Some niche fans might like creepy giants, but normal people—male or female—aren't buying merch of naked muscle monsters.
"I see..." Cheng Lie said, a bit disappointed.
"Even though 'Attack on Titan' has better ratings than 'Ultraman'?"
"Ratings are just one metric. Don't expect big licensing revenue from it." Jing Yu smiled.
If you could judge a project's success based on just ratings or views, life would be easy.
Even in the original world, the 'Attack on Titan' anime was so well-produced and popular, but the studios still lost money on the animation itself—they relied on post-release licensing to recover costs.
Not that 'Attack on Titan' didn't have value—just that it paled in comparison to 'Gundam' or 'Ultraman' in that area.
So while Jing Yu invested a ton into it, from a profit perspective, he focused more on 'Ultraman', 'Gundam', 'Evangelion', and the Fate series.
"Honestly, I've had too much downtime lately," Jing Yu added. "Might start a new project soon. Everything we do now takes at least six months to a year to produce. If we don't plan, we'll be starving."
"It's good you're motivated," Cheng Lie replied. "But don't push yourself too hard. With your reputation, it's better to release one masterpiece every few years than two mediocre ones in a year. People love to tear down idols. Climbing is slow—but falling? Like taking an elevator."
"Don't worry. I know there are plenty of people in the industry waiting for me to slip up," Jing Yu said.
The conversation wrapped up.
The next night at 8 PM, 'Ultraman Tiga' aired its new episode.
It scored 11.32% viewership, beating 'Attack on Titan' Episode 1.
But that was expected—'Ultraman Tiga' had built up its kid audience from the previous season.
And so, Week 1 of the Winter TV season ended.
#1: 'Ultraman' — 11.32%
#2: 'Attack on Titan' — 10.98%
#3: 'Summer Star', a romance drama on Huanshi TV — 7.35%
#10: A mystery series on Squirrel TV — 5.03%
This season was one of the strongest ever in Great Zhou TV history.
The Big Six TV stations brought out their A-teams, determined not to be completely outclassed.
They lost anyway.
And history was made:
For the first time, two separate dramas debuted in the same season with over 10% ratings—and both were written by the same person.
If both 'Attack on Titan' and 'Ultraman Tiga' maintain 10%+ ratings for the rest of the season...
It would become an unmatched milestone in Great Zhou television history.
No one had done it before.
And no one ever would again.
With the rise of the internet, fewer people watch shows on TV.
Soon, even Jing Yu might struggle to produce a 10% hit.
But by then, the real battlefield would be streaming.
Week 2 Begins
All major dramas on the Big Six networks aired their second episodes. Viewership remained mostly stable.
Then came Saturday at 11 PM.
Millions of fans in forums and fan groups eagerly awaited Episode 2 of 'Attack on Titan'.
This episode focused on introducing the other trainee members of the Survey Corps.
During training, various small scenes fleshed out characters like Reiner, Bertolt, Historia, and Ymir.
In the original series, aside from Sasha and Connie, the rest of the cadets were all important—but none more so than Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie—the undercover trio.
Historia's royal background, Ymir's mysterious history—and of course, Eren himself, who appeared to be a straightforward protagonist, was also hiding tons of secrets.
Nearly 80% of the series' key characters—major bosses, minor antagonists, etc.—appear in just the first few episodes.
The rest of the plot revolves around them.
While filming these scenes, Jing Yu purposely added more slice-of-life interactions.
Like a nighttime heart-to-heart between Eren and Reiner.
Or the moment the traitors sadly said to Eren:
"We want to go back... to a home we can never return to."
Or Ymir and Historia's budding connection.
More emotional depth meant that later betrayals and sacrifices wouldn't feel as abrupt as they did in the anime.
Suddenly discovering traitors?
Suddenly dying for love?
All the foreshadowing was there—it just needed more spotlight.
Even so, most viewers didn't catch on.
They were just emotionally moved.
"These cadets have such great camaraderie!"
"Reiner is so pitiful—his hometown was destroyed by titans. He must hate them so much."
And then, at the end of Episode 2—
The trainees graduate and join the Survey Corps.
Eren, casually chatting with friends on the wall, is caught off guard as a blinding red light explodes behind him.
Steam and smoke billow as the Colossal Titan's massive eye glares down on him.
That final shot stunned nearly every viewer.