Artoria: So I'm Just the Backup Option?

Later, Shirou encounters Maronpo at a restaurant and learns about the strange events at Ryuudou Temple, which prompts Shirou to decide to take Saber to Ryuudou Temple.

However, in the game's script, the plot unfolds far less tightly.

After the Big Dog died, Shirou and Rin first talked about Caster's continued activities with their school friends. Rin told Shirou to go find Kirei first, which led to their conversation at the Chinese restaurant.

Therefore, the focus of their discussion differs between the theatrical version and the game version. The game version focuses on Caster's situation, while the theatrical version focuses on Ryuudou Temple.

In terms of story coherence, the plot of the theatrical version is clearly more logically connected.

It's worth noting that Shirou's suggestion to search Ryuudou Temple in the game is quite abrupt, as if a detective story has stalled and has to resort to a flash of inspiration to advance the plot.

Of course, since the Nasu has added several options in the game, it looks more like Shirou's deduction after collecting all the collectible information.

Therefore, players will not feel any sense of incongruity when Shirou inspects Ryuudou Temple.

However, such a choice would definitely not work in a movie; the character's behavior and thoughts would feel quite incongruous, making the viewing experience very strange for the audience.

However, this doesn't mean that everything will be fine just by following the movie's plot. As mentioned before, the movie is too fan-oriented, and if you don't know the original game's plot, you'll be confused in many places.

Putting aside other things, the plot of the movie about Illya was handled somewhat hastily.

That alone wouldn't be so bad, but the problem is that the movie chose to end with Spring Return instead of Sakura Dream...

Of course, Shinji has an advantage that Ufotable doesn't have when producing theatrical versions—ample episode length and a virtually unlimited budget.

Therefore, when Shinji was creating HF, he referenced both the game's storyline and the theatrical version, and made some modifications based on his own understanding.

In terms of the overall plot flow, Shinji chose the theatrical version, which has a more logical and coherent storyline. However, he also added the daily life scenes that were omitted in the theatrical version to ensure the integrity of the plot.

That being said, Shinji has quite a few things to complain about regarding the Heaven's Feel route—for example, Zouken's control of Caster Medea.

"It's definitely because Takeuchi was too lazy to reduce his workload that he let Nasu choose Caster Medea."

Shinji quietly muttered to himself as he watched Zouken confronting Shirou and Rin on the screen.

Unlike the events in the movie, which occurred close together, in the game, a long time had passed since Shirou and Rin encountered Zouken. Given the Shadow's abilities, dragging out a Lancer, who is even more powerful than Caster, to fight Saber would not be a problem at all.

Shinji probably chose Caster mainly for its convenience and ease of use.

Since Medea's dark transformation can be achieved using a dual-purpose card, her original hooded, mysterious look was already quite dark.

Cú Chulainn is different; his entire character design features his face, so if we were to include a storyline about him turning to the dark side, we would need to draw several more character illustrations.

Therefore, there is only one answer.

"Blue Lancer are always the most miserable beings, no matter where they go."

Shinji muttered under his breath.

No one agreed with him, because none of the people present knew the joke.

But no one paid attention to his personal musings, because everyone's attention was on the television.

At this point, the second episode of Heaven's Feel has entered its final stage— Shirou and Saber revisit Ryuudou Temple.

Unfortunately, neither Shirou nor Saber had much luck this time.

Not long after entering Ryuudou Temple, the two of them encountered Cursed Arm Hassan.

Saber initiated the fight, but was unable to defeat her opponent.

Several times, Saber's invisible sword should have severed Hassan's head, but he dodged the attacks and distanced himself from her.

Hassan was incredibly lucky this time. Of the two Upper Three Knights- Heroic Spirit he encountered, one needed information to stall and didn't go all out, while the other's main attack method was wind, which was perfectly countered by Hassan's [Protection from Wind].

Of course, more importantly, both knights were overconfident in their own strength, even to the point of complacency, which gave the weak Assassin, Cursed Arm, an opportunity to take advantage.

By the time Saber realized this was a trick to separate Master and Servant, it was too late.

At this moment, she had already stepped onto the "shadow" and was being mercilessly devoured.

Although Saber severed Assassin's arm at the last moment, preventing him from attacking her heart, it was too late. Entangled by the shadow, she was powerless to escape and could only watch helplessly as she was consumed by the darkness.

"I'm sorry... Shiro..."

At the last moment, Saber could only apologize to the night sky to express her regret for failing her Master's expectations.

"Your expression is so realistic! Did your brother really bury you in the Black Mud?" Sakura asked Artoria, who was sitting next to her, as she saw this.

She was in class and didn't go to the set when this scene was filmed, so I really don't know how it was filmed.

"It's not that exaggerated."

Artoria pouted. This scene had to be filmed several times before Shinji was satisfied with the result, and she had suffered quite a bit for it.

To make her expression of remorse more convincing, Shinji repeatedly played his own history of destroying Britain on a tape recorder. (86"9.06?2.95,2)

Compared to the crew members who already knew how the script would play out, the audience members who hadn't seen the plot were collectively Sparta.

"What the heck?! What happened?! Saber lost just like that?!"

Everyone initially thought that Saber would escape danger like in the previous two versions, managing to break free at the last moment before being swallowed by the "shadow".

For example, using Command Spell or something.

But the plot development left everyone speechless.

Seeing Saber disappear into the darkness, the audience was utterly shocked and astonished.

However, before everyone could recover from the shock of the scene, the television screen switched back to Shirou Ryuudou Temple.

After losing his Servant, Shirou naturally sensed it. In fact, he didn't need to sense it; upon seeing Hassan, he had already guessed that Saber had met with misfortune.

Fortunately, Rider came to the rescue in time, allowing Shirou to leave Ryuudou Temple alive.

But who cares about Shirou Emiya at this point?!

At this moment, everyone just wants to know what exactly happened to Saber!!

Finally, at the very end of the series, the camera returned to Saber, whom everyone had been longing to see.

Is that the Holy Grail?

It was as if Saber, who was in the water, saw a hole floating above and wanted to reach out and grab it, but someone grabbed her shoulder at that moment.

"Who are you?!"

Sensing that someone was in her way, Saber turned her head away rudely.

However, the person in front of her momentarily rendered her speechless.

--That was my black self!

"You ask who I am?"

Black Saber revealed a mocking smile.

"Can't you just find out by looking?"

"Aaaaaah----! What's with this black Saber?!" *N

The audience screamed at the sight, clearly unable to comprehend what this dark object was.

"But that disdainful look and cool demeanor... it's really something else."

Shibamatsu represented the vast majority of men's opinions on Saber's new look.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

"Mmm... I knew it."

Shinji quickly scrolled through the messages on his phone.

"The Black Saber design generated a huge buzz as soon as it was announced. It seems everyone is powerless against black."

"Master, I don't think this is something to be proud of!" Artoria retorted loudly, slapping her shoulder. "He's not that kind of tyrant! How could such a cruel guy be more popular than me!"

"To the average person, you are indeed more recognizable in blue, but I believe that within the Fate fandom, your Alter form will have just as much popularity as you!"

Shinji gave Artoria a thumbs-up and grinned at her.

"Master... this is just your own personal fetish, isn't it?"

Artoria rubbed her temples, her face full of helplessness.

"Well, personally, I prefer you in black; after all, an evening gown looks much better than a blanket. But..."

Shinji rubbed his chin smugly. "If possible, I'd prefer you to be a bit older. Big breasts, a slim waist, and a perky butt are essential Cute Point."

Artoria concluded, "So... Master, you like women with great figures and dark skin?"

Smack

Shinji snapped his fingers and continued his reckless and absurd pronouncements.

"Yes, that's it... Hmm? Why do I feel a chill?"

Shinji, triggered by his sixth sense, quickly turned his head, only to find his beloved younger sister filling his vision.

"I see... Brother." Sakura smiled brightly, "You like women with good figures and dark skin, huh? That's why you made me walk around in front of the camera wearing clothes that look like a black rag, isn't it?"

Shinji, while giving a France military salute, stepped back. "Sakura... I think I can explain."

"Further words are useless!!"

Click.

The others present seemed to hear the sound of someone's bones breaking.

Afterwards...

"Na, na, na na..."

Artoria poked Shinji was completely upside down and buried in the pile of books, with one finger.

"What?"

Shinji gave a cold snort, glaring at the gloating King of Knights.

Artoria curled the corners of her mouth into a perfectly standard, comical smile, and teased in fluent English.

"Master, die job death car?"

"Roll!"

Xuanzang (New 4-star in Japanese server. jpg)

Chapter 155 Artoria: Was I just a backup plan all along?

The release of HF Volume 2 immediately caused a huge sensation.

In the words of those fans, in the days without Shinji Matou movies, everyone relied on this TV series to get by.

So even though everyone knows that a compilation of Heaven's Feel volumes will definitely be released in the future, and there might even be an extended version, they still eagerly await the release of a new volume of Heaven's Feel every month.

If everyone could truly control their desires, then that meme of "[Why can't I control myself. jpg]" wouldn't have become a classic online.

Of course, no matter how enthusiastic the audience is, only a minority will choose to queue overnight like Azu others. Most audience members will wait until the official release the next day before going to buy.

During this period, most viewers will subconsciously avoid exposure to spoilers.

Therefore, it wasn't until the second day after its release that HF became the focus of discussion in film and television again, a month later.

Compared to Japan, the situation in North America is undoubtedly much better. This is not only because North American viewers don't have to buy DVDs to watch HF, but more importantly, as HBO's flagship series for this fall and winter, HF's premiere was aired during prime time.

Since it's a pay channel anyway, and HBO doesn't have to worry about ratings, the popularity of HF Season 2 naturally spread faster in North America than in Japan.

Currently, the internet has become an important platform for Jidai Group. and Type-Moon Company., with news and posts discussing HF appearing everywhere on various websites and forums.

Nowadays, audiences don't have a strong understanding of online trolls, and they naturally perceive such large-scale advertising as proof that HF is very popular.

While this is indeed the case, HF would not have achieved such a level of buzz without the tireless promotion from online public relations departments (internet trolls).

In particular, the important online video platform IMDb is currently controlled by the Type-Moon group.

Under Shinji's leadership, while IMDb maintains a fair and impartial attitude towards other films, it's only natural that it would "slightly" favor its own works, right?

For the past two days, the rating for the second episode of HF has remained around 9.7, and the audience comments section is filled with praise.

Although HF's Restricted rating meant that this work could not become a phenomenon like the previous two versions, this did not affect the booming sales of HF merchandise.

This can be considered a unique advantage of HF, because most of the merchandise is interconnected with the movie versions of FSN and UBW, so the popularity of HF merchandise is essentially the same as the popularity of FSN merchandise.

From the perspective of Bandai and other peripheral manufacturers, it's less about the booming sales of HF peripherals and more about HF maintaining the popularity of FSN peripherals.