The Villain Is Too Popular

With the latest episode of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" featuring Tendo's 'new flashback', the popularity of this anime on Station 13 visibly soared.

It's well-known that Tendo, as the undisputed most popular and charismatic character in the Starts anime, single-handedly accounts for the majority of fan affection.

Even viewers who aren't dedicated fans of Tendo generally hold no ill will towards him. Despite his 'naughty' personality and constant desire to show off, Tendo always proves incredibly reliable when things truly matter.

For instance, during the final assessment, he single-handedly bore most of the pressure from the Level 2 Star Beast, Great Earth Dragon Lizard.

Another example is when Chen Kong was attacked in the supermarket; Tendo not only appeared in time but also, with an unbeatable demeanor, helped Chen Kong regain his composure.

These highlight moments, coupled with the production team's repeated emphasis, have led Tendo to evolve in the audience's minds from a 'natural powerhouse' to a symbol of invincibility.

This 'invincibility' doesn't necessarily mean Tendo's strength is exaggerated; rather, it means viewers have come to assume that no matter how difficult or despair-inducing the plot becomes, as long as Tendo appears, everything will be resolved satisfactorily, bringing immense reassurance.

Yet, this character, who is practically the 'Starts tranquilizer' and boasts immense popularity, is now being hinted by the production team to be killed off.

Although some viewers believe Tendo's plot-kill is likely a false one and he'll probably be resurrected by the production team later, they dare not gamble! What if the Starts production team is truly abstract, and seeing Tendo steal the protagonist's thunder, they decide to play a dirty trick? What if the subsequent fake death plot isn't handled well, causing Tendo's character to collapse? Tendo's fans don't want to gamble, and they don't dare.

With these thoughts, soon after the latest episode of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" aired, the official account of the Starts production team on Station 13 was immediately flooded by furious Tendo fans.

Among these fans, there were clearly those who were adept at 'forming alliances'. While protesting the production team's plot-kill of Tendo, their banner read: "If Tendo is maliciously targeted today, then tomorrow any Starts character could be next." Although this clearly had the suspicion of exploiting other character fans, as the saying goes, 'once the seed of doubt is sown, the edifice of trust begins to quietly crumble.' After a large-scale, deliberate campaign by Tendo's fans, the fan communities of other Starts characters couldn't help but feel a sense of self-preservation.

Even Liuli's fans, who usually prefer to 'lie low' and never participate in any 'drama', unusually became serious and joined the battle to besiege the 'Starts official account'.

Here are some of the hottest comments:

Hot Comment 1: "Dare to kill Tendo today, dare to kill Chen Xing tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, even Liuli's pillow will be tossed! - 98,000 likes"Hot Comment 2: "Suggest crowdfunding to buy the rights, we'll film 'Prequel of the Stars: Tendo's Journey' ourselves! - 72,000 likes"Hot Comment 3: "Have reported false advertising to the consumer association. What happened to the promised passionate growth anime? - 65,000 likes"

Although the Starts production team had somewhat anticipated the surging public opinion before this episode aired, they were still somewhat startled when they saw the almost unanimous condemnation under their official account.

They felt that if things continued this way, they might be 'killed' by Tendo's fans before they even 'killed' Tendo himself!

However, despite their fear, the production team had already finished the anime's content a long time ago, and they also knew very well that Tendo wasn't truly 'dead'.

As a result, even facing such a terrifying wave of public opinion, after weighing the pros and cons, the Starts production team chose to bury their heads in the sand, opting for a 'three-no' strategy: no explanation, no defense, no response. While this 'three-no' strategy somewhat reduced the heat of the matter, it also made Starts fans even more convinced of the terrifying speculation that 'Tendo is about to be plot-killed.'

Thus, to alleviate this anxiety and other indescribable emotions, various fan-made videos about Tendo began to appear on Station 13 in large numbers. Among them, the video with the most bullet comments and highest views was a 'memorial' video specifically made for Tendo.

In the video, a fan of Tendo, while attending a comic convention, deliberately brought a black-and-white portrait of Tendo.

After carefully placing it in a corner of the convention hall's aisle, she thoughtfully placed an incense burner in front of the portrait, with a few unlit incense sticks.

Other passing Starts fans, seeing this scene, implicitly understood and followed suit, bowing.

Some fans even voluntarily placed offerings such as 'biscuits', 'mineral water', and 'small candies' next to Tendo's 'black-and-white portrait', as if commemorating someone's soul in heaven.

This amusing behavior naturally attracted many 'leisure-seekers' within the convention. After all, 'leisure-seekers' are a special kind of creature that will always exist in any world.

Wherever there's fun, their presence is guaranteed. This kind of performance art—burning incense for an anime character in real life—undoubtedly greatly satisfied the 'leisure-seekers'' need for amusement.

Therefore, even though many people who 'offered incense' to Tendo hadn't even watched a single episode of Starts, this didn't stop the crowd participating in the memorial ceremony for 'Tendo' at the comic convention from continuously growing.

While this interesting fan-made video became wildly popular, it also earned Tendo a breaking-the-circle meme: "Exclusive Afterlife Scene." This term refers to highly popular characters who have been plot-killed.

However, after the 'leisure-seekers', out of curiosity, finished watching all the episodes of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers," they keenly noticed a blind spot. While the Starts production team had hinted that Tendo might soon face a plot-kill, this was only a possibility and not yet a confirmed fact.

For a popular character who hasn't even been plot-killed yet, to hold a 'cyber memorial' event in advance—are you truly not worried that the bad ending, which might have been reversed, will instead be completely solidified by your outrageous actions? You know, if the atmosphere is built up to this extent, and Tendo doesn't actually die afterward, then everything... will be really hard to conclude!

Meanwhile, in the Starts world, in Tendo's private room:

"Seriously, I'm not even dead yet, and they're already burning incense for me!" Tendo looked at the fan-made video on the dimensional screen titled "May Tendo Rest in Peace (Candle)," feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

He had thought that his deliberate performance would cause quite a stir among his fans, but he never expected it to be so sensational that his own 'funeral' was held in advance while he was still alive.

Although his feelings were complicated, seeing the constantly soaring popularity in his backend, Tendo ultimately couldn't resist his inner 'leisure-seeker' tendencies.

He secretly posted a bullet comment in the video, with the content "May Tendo rest in peace." You know, this act of virtually offering incense to himself was actually quite fun!

After doing all this, Tendo immediately looked at the calendar beside him. Counting the days, it was already Sunday. That meant there was only one day left, Monday, until Caroline's birthday on Wednesday.

Because as soon as Tuesday midnight passed, it would be Caroline's birthday, and thus Tuesday would be the day they planned Caroline's birthday activities.

According to their 'package birthday plan' for Caroline, to ensure she successfully completed the items on her 'wish list' and had a happy Tuesday without raising her suspicions, Tendo would have to use a little cunning and some tricks.

After all, if Caroline knew that they were planning to take a whole day out of such an important mission just for her birthday, given her personality, it's a hundred percent certainty she would refuse without a second thought.

So, the best way to get Caroline to take the bait would undoubtedly be to trick her under the guise of a 'mission.'

As for whether a well-intentioned lie is still a lie, Tendo has always believed it isn't. After all, if it's well-intentioned, can it still be a lie?