Their discussion ended there. Shinozaki Ikumi took the scripts for the two projects home to study carefully.
She needed to consider which actors would suit which roles.
What production standards the two projects should follow—and how much investment they would require.
Over the next week, with both '5 Centimeters per Second' and 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' having wrapped filming, Su Yan distributed bonuses to most of the company staff and gave them a vacation.
As for Su Yan—since he had confirmed he would be filming 'Rurouni Kenshin'—he needed to start training again.
In recent years, most of his projects have been slice-of-life romance dramas. He hadn't trained much physically. If he was returning to action roles, he had to rebuild his stamina.
Meanwhile—
Inside Sakura TV, news of the high-level meeting from the previous day spread like wildfire.
Rumor had it that most executives had reached a consensus to remove Akasaka Yoshitoki from his position as Head of Production.
However, for the decision to take effect, the station chief still needed to sign off.
After all, Akasaka Yoshitoki had served Sakura TV for many years. Even if he lacked recent achievements, he had certainly put in the effort. The station chief, as the largest shareholder, would make the final call. Not only onlookers inside the station but even people from rival networks were curious about what he would decide.
In history, many screenwriters and producers had been suppressed by figures of Akasaka's stature and ultimately forced out of the industry.
But for a department head like Akasaka Yoshitoki to be pushed to this point by an unaffiliated, independent screenwriter with no background—this was a first.
In his office, Akasaka Yoshitoki sat with a vacant expression.
While the outside world speculated about his fate, he already knew the outcome.
Upper management had reached a consensus. Given the current situation, 'Peerless' had virtually no chance of surpassing 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' in ratings. His failure this quarter was a foregone conclusion. Once the spring season ended, he would be replaced.
The station had offered him two choices.
One: remain at Sakura TV in a minor, irrelevant position and stay away from Production Department matters.
Or two: retire after the spring season concluded.
Retiring at fifty was considered early in the Xia Nation. In a major Sakurajima network like Sakura TV, it was considered prime age.
And all of this had been orchestrated behind the scenes by his longtime rival, Minister Ogata Aya.
Initially, the station chief had hesitated out of respect for Akasaka's years of service.
During Akasaka's tenure, Sakura TV had only lost to Zhongxia TV when Su Yan was involved. Otherwise, they had largely suppressed Hudu TV, the other member of the "big three."
His record wasn't terrible. The real damage came from the public relations disaster caused by his conflict with Su Yan.
But during the executive meeting days ago, Ogata Aya's backers made a decisive statement—
If Ogata Aya were promoted to Head of Production, Su Yan might reconcile with Sakura TV and collaborate again.
That statement became the final straw.
Would simply replacing Akasaka Yoshitoki with Ogata Aya guarantee victory over Zhongxia TV?
Of course not.
Sakura TV's executives understood that perfectly.
But if Ogata Aya could bring Su Yan back into alignment with Sakura TV—everything would change.
"Su Yan…" Akasaka Yoshitoki clenched his jaw, recalling Su Yan's departing figure years ago when he left Sakura TV.
His fists tightened—then slowly loosened.
It was too late now.
Even if Su Yan stood before him, and he irrationally charged forward, rumors said he wouldn't even win in a fight.
Twenty years of struggle in the television industry—one wrong move, and the entire board collapsed.
He kept telling himself that a man could fail, but should not regret.
But how could he not regret it?
All of this had begun with something as trivial as helping his nephew. A butterfly effect that spiraled into this ending—who could accept that?
A few days later.
Xia Nation media had largely stopped reporting on episode seven of 'Peerless'.
After all, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was now the hottest topic in the market.
Sunday arrived. Episode seven of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' aired.
This episode revealed one of the most intriguing—and deeply buried—foreshadowing points of the series.
Previously, both Kyubey and Homura had mentioned timelines.
Many Xia Nation viewers assumed it followed the logic of 'An Ancient Love Song'.
But this episode shattered those imaginative theories.
Homura had indeed twisted the timeline—but not through some unreasonable method.
In truth, she had already experienced the events of this story countless times.
At first, she had merely been an ordinary transfer student, cared for by Madoka, joining Mami Tomoe's magical girl team.
But in the very first timeline, they faced Walpurgis Night—and were utterly defeated.
It was then that she made her wish.
"I want to meet Madoka again—not as the one protected by her, but as the one who can protect her!]
A pure wish. A glowing Soul Gem.
Her potential was sufficient to grant it.
Thus, the first magical girl capable of reversing time was born.
Meeting again and again. Fighting side by side again and again.
Through countless loops, Homura discovered the truth of magical girls—what it truly meant to become one.
She wanted to save Madoka. She wanted to save the world.
But time and again, she fell before Walpurgis Night.
And Madoka—across those repeating timelines—kept making wishes for her, for everyone, becoming a magical girl again and again.
The intertwined karma of countless loops deepened Madoka's burden. Each reset amplified her potential.
Until, in this timeline, Madoka became the most gifted magical girl candidate Kyubey had ever seen.
As for Homura—
Repeatedly witnessing Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyoko die, over and over—
Her heart gradually numbed. Despair began to spread.
Yet her determination to save Madoka sustained her.
This time, she would once again act alone.
Challenge Walpurgis Night by herself.
Prevent Madoka from ever making a wish.
End all evil with her own hands.
Episode seven consisted almost entirely of flashbacks.
Past-timeline versions of Sayaka, Madoka, and Mami all appeared.
The same timeframe—different endings.
And an ever-deepening sense of despair.
[So, Homura's power is basically like Max in 'Life is Strange'? Time rewind?]
[No, Homura's even stronger. She can stop time and move freely within it.]
[My brain is twisting itself into knots.]
[This episode made me tear up again.]
[Who said last week that Homura was Madoka's daughter? Step forward.]
[How many times has Homura looped through this week?]
[At least thousands. Every time she fails. She just keeps repeating the attempt to save Madoka, and never succeeds.]
[If falling into despair turns you into a witch, then even with her broken ability, the moment Homura gives up inside, she's done, right?]
[She's failed hundreds or thousands of times. Why would this time be any different?]
[What else can she do? Giving up means death.]
[Su Yan said this show would have a happy ending, right? He wouldn't lie to us?]
[Do you trust Su Yan or do you trust me when I say I'm the last emperor of the Xia Nation?]
[This episode fried my brain.]
[I watched with red eyes while trying to analyze the timeline logic.]
[Su Yan really loves timeline stories.]
[Not just him—I love them too.]
['An Ancient Love Song', 'Life is Strange'—both tragedies. Can 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' get a happy ending for once? Just once!]
[Sadist, if you give this show a decent ending, I'll never curse you again!]
[But seriously, it's only episode seven, and we're already here. What's left? Another failed loop and shift to the next one?]
By this point, the story had essentially reached the climax of the original series from Su Yan's previous life.
However, due to format changes, Su Yan had integrated the storyline from the film 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion' into the series.
This left many viewers confused.
Judging from episode seven's tone, episode eight would most likely feature the battle against Walpurgis Night.
What about the remaining episodes?
They couldn't possibly fight Walpurgis Night for hours on end, could they?
Fans were filled with questions.
The media went into a frenzy reporting on it.
That night, online platform views officially surpassed an average of 20 million per episode.
A true nationwide phenomenon.
The following day, Zhongxia TV released the ratings.
5.68%.
Even at such heights, the ratings were still climbing.
Industry insiders in the Xia Nation had grown numb.
Some even looked at the numbers and thought, This is normal.
But it absolutely wasn't.
The S-tier drama 'Peerless', built with Akasaka Yoshitoki's career on the line, was still struggling around 5.1%.
Yet Su Yan had delivered three consecutive dramas exceeding 5.6%.
Calling him a "genius" felt inadequate.
Across the Xia Nation, everyone in the television industry was scrambling to align themselves with Dimensional Pictures.
Within a week, news of Akasaka Yoshitoki's imminent dismissal from Sakura TV began spreading.
The media seized the opportunity, publishing long exposés.
Though Sakura TV attempted to suppress the news, it spread rapidly nonetheless.
But within this quarter's television landscape, these developments became minor matters.
By Saturday, Su Yan's fans were still fervently discussing them.
By Sunday, they vanished entirely from conversation.
Across the Xia Nation, every Su Yan fan had their attention fixed not on gossip—
But on episode eight of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', airing that night.