Entertainment to the death, make a tokusatsu film that will crush the entire internet.

The judging panel was in an unprecedented dilemma regarding the award selection for "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit: The Seven Swordsmen".

"The quality is beyond doubt; these three episodes are top-notch among domestic animations of the past decade! It would be unreasonable not to give them an award!"

"I was so excited when I said that I really liked Rainbow Cat."

"But it only has three episodes!"

"If the plot falls apart later on, the picture quality declines, or it ends abruptly, giving out the award now would be a slap in the face for us!"

The judge with a conservative view expressed his concerns.

"There's another problem: the Land of Light is too young. Ultraman Tiga has already won several major awards and is riding high."

Now, if we immediately award the animation prize to them as well, won't people think our judging panel is biased and unfair? It could easily trigger unnecessary public controversy.

An older judge raised a more practical question.

They can't exactly announce to the public that their judging panel was won over by just three episodes of animation.

Do you find all other works boring now?

That would make them seem so unskilled.

Just as the debate reached a stalemate, a relatively young judge made a bold suggestion.

"Dear teachers, since we are struggling to make a decision internally, and are concerned about the subsequent quality and public opinion, how about we temporarily revise the final judging rules for this competition?"

"Change the rules?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Yes! All participants who make it to the final round will have their works serialized on a designated video platform until they are completed or reach a certain number of episodes."

"Our judging panel will no longer conduct closed-door reviews."

Instead, the final evaluation and awards are based on a comprehensive assessment of multiple factors, including online viewership, paid conversion rate, audience ratings, engagement with comments and bullet screens, and social media buzz after the work's completion.

He paused, then continued to explain.

"In this way, we can see the complete quality and subsequent stability of the work, avoiding the risk of peaking at the beginning;

This also allows us to partially delegate judging authority to the market and the audience, demonstrating our competition organizers' commitment to staying current and upholding fairness and impartiality.

"Who will ultimately win depends entirely on the inherent strength of the work itself and the audience's approval; no one can find fault with it."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Immediately, the main judges exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

"This method is feasible."

"Yes, it not only solved our problem, but also made things more open and transparent."

"Occasionally, the competition organizers also need to keep up with the times."

This suggestion was quickly and unanimously approved by the judging panel.

A notice of temporary rule changes for the final selection process was quickly sent to all shortlisted studios.

……

Land of Light Animation Studio.

Yang Qian raised an eyebrow as she looked at the WeChat message sent by her editor, Dami.

"You mean, the competition organizers changed the rules at the last minute, and instead of awarding prizes directly, they're having all the shortlisted works serialized on a video website for a data-driven competition?"

Yang Qian was somewhat surprised.

Changing the rules at the last minute is just too much...

Well, it's an official body after all, so they must have their reasons.

The voice on the other end of the phone, filled with helplessness, was filled with emotion.

"Yes, Everbright Bank, we were also quite surprised."

"This is the first time in history that a nationally recognized official animation competition has featured an open online competition! The rules changed so suddenly!"

The advantages and disadvantages of holding open competitions are both obvious.

The advantage is absolute fairness; the data speaks for itself.

The downside is that participants backed by large companies will definitely leverage their traffic and channel advantages to launch massive promotional campaigns.

Buying trending topics, hiring online trolls, and even getting their own celebrities to endorse them and drive traffic...

They are all entertainment and film companies, and they have too many resources in this area.

This might put studios like Yang Qian's, which rely mainly on word-of-mouth for their work, at a disadvantage in the early stages.

Da Mi was afraid that Yang Qian wouldn't know, so he specially explained the pros and cons to her.

Yang Qian listened quietly, without much surprise on her face.

Having spent his previous life working in the short drama industry, he was already quite used to this kind of capital game and the flexibility of its rules.

"I see."

Yang Qian spoke calmly.

"In that case, let's face it head-on."

However, he was also aware that this time the difficulty was indeed higher than that of the Ultraman Tiga and Kuuga eras.

Ultraman Tiga opened up a new track, with no competitors.

Kuuga solidifies the advantages of tokusatsu, and its competitors are no match for it.

However, the 2D animation field is rife with murky waters and treacherous individuals.

This is the Land of Light's first battle in the field of animation, and it's also an official competition stage, so we must come up with a foolproof plan.

"Dami, the serialization of 'Rainbow Cat' will still be on Starlight Video. You'll need to put more effort into coordinating the promotional resources."

Yang Qian said.

Da Mi immediately patted his chest and assured him, "I've got it covered, Guangda! Don't worry!"

"I'll go report to the operations department and senior management right away, and I'll definitely get you the highest level of promotional resources, including a featured post on the homepage, a splash screen ad, and a site-wide banner."

He is now very confident.

Miriam Yeung is a cash cow and a living advertisement for Starlight Video.

Despite the low price per episode, the sheer number of paying subscribers is enormous.

The direct profits and indirect stock price increases brought by "Ultraman Tiga" and "Kuuga" made the platform's executives grin from ear to ear.

Supporting Yang Qian is supporting the future of the platform.

"By the way, Everbright, would you like to stick with the usual broadcast schedule and pricing this time? The first three episodes are free, and two episodes per day at 0.25 yuan per episode?"

Da Mi asked tentatively, making a guess based on Yang Qian's consistent style.

After a moment's thought, Yang Qian made an adjustment: "The first three episodes will be free, but the update speed will be increased to three episodes per day."

"Three episodes a day? Great, Guangda!"

Da Mi felt a chill run down his spine; it seemed that Guangda was also feeling the pressure.

They want to grab the audience's attention more quickly and maintain their popularity.

"As for the price, let's set it at 0.2 yuan per episode."

"How much...how much? 0.2 yuan per episode?!"

Even the sound of rice has changed.

"Everbright, are you kidding me? 0.25 yuan is already low enough, why would you lower it to 0.2 yuan? That makes no sense!"

"Pre-ordering the entire series is already a steal at under ten yuan, so lowering it by another five cents won't create a price advantage!"

He simply couldn't understand why this mere five-cent price reduction would only decrease Yang Qian's own per-episode revenue.

What other use could it have?

Yang Qian, however, had her own considerations: "I think 0.25 yuan is quite expensive."

He patiently calculated the cost of the rice.

The series "Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit: The Seven Swordsmen" has a total of 108 episodes.

If each episode costs 0.25 yuan, even with a 20% discount for pre-orders, the total price would still be 21.6 yuan.

This price has already exceeded the 20 yuan range.

For many ordinary working-class families, or students with limited budgets, this might be a cause for hesitation.

However, if the price is set at 0.2 yuan per episode, with the same 20% discount for pre-orders, the entire series would only cost 16.8 yuan.

It instantly dropped to below 20 yuan, less than 17 yuan.

At this price range, the psychological threshold is much lower.

This will make more people feel it's an incredibly good deal, greatly increasing the likelihood of impulsive purchases.

Dami was stunned on the other end of the phone. She subconsciously pressed the calculator, and sure enough, it was just as Yang Qian had said.

16.8 yuan vs 21.6 yuan, it seems like there's only a difference of less than 5 yuan.

However, in consumer psychology, these are almost two different price perception ranges!

"But for Everbright Securities, the revenue per episode is..."

The rice still wanted to struggle a bit.

"Small profits but quick turnover, benefiting all viewers—this has always been the philosophy of our Land of Light, hasn't it?"

Yang Qian's tone was unquestionable.

"Moreover, I believe that the quality of 'Rainbow Cat' will make the audience feel that the 16.8 yuan is well worth the money."

Rice: "..."

What else could he say? This man's decision had never been shaken by anyone.

"Okay... 0.2 yuan it is."

The rice resigned itself to its fate.

He then suddenly realized another piece of information in Yang Qian's words.

"Wait! Guangda, you just said... how many episodes are there in total for 'Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Swordsmen'?!"

"108 episodes???"

Rice felt like its brain was a little oxygen-deprived.

A 108-episode 2D animated series featuring traditional Chinese martial arts.

What does this mean?

In the current industry environment where seasonal anime typically have around 12 episodes and yearly anime around 52 episodes, 108 episodes is simply an epic production!

What an enormous amount of script, production volume, and financial investment this would require.

The Land of Light is keeping quiet until it makes a sound, and when it does, it's sure to shock everyone!

"Yes, 108 episodes."

Yang Qian confirmed, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

Da Mi held the phone, speechless for a long time.

He could almost see it all unfold when the number of episodes and the unit price of 0.2 yuan were announced together.

What kind of reaction will this elicit from the industry and the audience?

……

Meanwhile, other participants who made it to the final round of the animation competition also received notifications from the competition organizers regarding rule changes.

This change is undoubtedly good news for them.

Although the Land of Light's name was also seen on the list of participants.

But so what?

"Public serialization, data comparison? Haha! Heaven is on my side!"

"When it comes to traffic, promotion, and celebrity resources, this is our home turf!"

"The Land of Light? Hmph, their tokusatsu is impressive, but 2D animation? They're just a newcomer!"

"And what are they even doing? Traditional Chinese martial arts? Or anthropomorphic animals? These are such outdated themes, how many people can watch them?"

"Ultraman and Kamen Rider can't make guest appearances, so how can they fight us?"

In an instant, these companies were eager to launch their campaigns, mobilizing resources from all sides to deliver a fatal blow to their competitors in terms of publicity and marketing.

In particular, we must take strong measures against the Land of Light.