Matou Shinji Thinks He's Back in the Game

Anyway, given his usual filming style, the post-production of FA won't take more than a few months. As long as there are no mistakes in the early stages, it will be released in the summer next year without any problem.

Of course, since this is the first FA movie with a major overhaul, a stable release date is essential, so Shinji wouldn't tell Chloe these things in detail.

The Second Master was merely expressing his confidence to boost the morale of the Jidai Group, and incidentally, to get them to shoulder a little more of the costs.

Chloe, of course, was unaware of Shinji motives and quickly finalized the cooperation plan with FA.

The explosive success of his previous two films and two TV series has given Shinji a 100% success rate on his current resume, and the Jidai Group. also has great trust in Shinji.

They quickly signed a formal agreement with Shinji's Type-Moon studio.

Then, the preparations for financial advisory services began.

The movie naturally follows the original Fate/Apocrypha, which is basically in line with the setting of the Fate/Apocrypha side story.

Anyway, Shinji himself couldn't think of any other names.

Next, Shinji began to refine the film script.

Although it's a major departure from Higashide's original storyline, Shinji doesn't intend to create something entirely original.

With so many successful Hollywood examples from the past, why not learn from them and insist on creating something original? Do they really think they're some kind of genius who can make a piece of crap and still get audiences?

Hollywood movie scripts are very formulaic, but the fact that these formulas can still be successful shows that these formulas are based on sound principles.

Not to mention that commercial films in this world are far from being considered formulaic by audiences.

Given the large number of characters in the FA story, Shinji decided to use the script outlines of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad as references.

Both of these films tell the story of a group of people teaming up to fight monsters, which is similar to the direction Shinji planned for the FA script.

Moreover, both films feature a number of characters that audiences need to get to know, but James Gunn does a great job of introducing these characters to the audience.

These all perfectly align with Shinji's requirements for his version of Ace Combat.

Having finalized the script outline, Shinji quickly identified the film's central protagonist— Joan of Arc!

The reason why this Artoria with the outstanding looks and figure (emphasis on this) was chosen as the absolute protagonist is not because this country girl is easy to handle...

Although, in terms of ease of use, her younger sister is definitely a bit easier to learn.

The Second Master chose Bai Zhen was not only because she was an important character in the original FA game project, but also because of her role as a referee.

Because he is a third party acting as an intermediary, he can see the problem from the perspective of both teams. It is also because of his role as referee that he can recruit the Masters and Servants of both teams to stand on his side.

As for the controversial refereeing issue that Joan of Arc has been criticized for in FA, it simply doesn't exist in Shinji's version.

In his Fate/ Tifas, the movie opens with a chaotic battle that forces many Servants and Masters to retreat, resulting in the destruction of most of the city of Tulifas, Romania.

In this way, Joan of Arc would have a reason to intervene in the war—to prevent the Holy Grail War from causing even greater damage.

"There's only one problem left." Shinji tapped his pen. "What should we do with Sieg?"

Chapter 188 Shinji Matou Feels He's Done Again

From an outsider's perspective, Sieg is quite pitiful too.

This character can't be said to be the least popular male protagonist in the Type-Moon series, at least he's definitely not on any of the most popular character lists.

Many people's biggest criticism of Sieg is the inexplicable romantic subplot between him and Joan of Arc.

Throughout the entire Ace vs. Fate series, Astolfo was the adorable little Afu, so how did he end up eloping with the Saintess?

In fact, the original design of the romantic relationship between Sieg and Joan of Arc was not problematic.

The original concept for FA was a game, Sieg's design prototype was the character the player would play—which is why Sieg is a [nameless android], to give players a sense of immersion.

If it's still a game project, then it's perfectly fine for Sieg (the player) to end up with Joan of Arc after a series of adventures.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that Japanese RPGs where you can't woo the female lead are more likely to be met with player complaints like, "What the hell?! Give me my money back!"

However, the situation changed completely when the FA project was changed from games to light novels and anime.

The fans went from being empathetic to being bystanders, and naturally they were unhappy that a pretty boy could so easily win the heart of a beauty.

Furthermore, Higashide's writing of the romance between Sieg and Joan of Arc was particularly casual, almost as if he were completing a tedious daily task without any care.

In particular, Higashide deliberately pulled a disgusting move at the end, creating a scene where Joan of Arc d'Arc stands as a waiting-for-her-husband rock on the inner side of the planet, attempting to replicate the Last Episode of Shirou and Saber from FSN, which only further fueled the fans' dissatisfaction.

Joan of Arc fans were naturally unhappy, as their goddess had inexplicably run off with a pretty boy.

Afu's fans also agreed but were dissatisfied, saying that their darling had sacrificed so much for the gigolo, only for him to run off with that slutty, cheap woman.

Sieg fans... Hmm, does such a group exist?

The only one who's really pitiful is Nasu. Not only did Higashide take a bite out of his character's setting, but he also had to take the blame and try to make it work.

Fortunately, this isn't the first time Nasu have been blamed.

Back when the game <Fate/EXTRA CCC> was being made, the game development team had already created game assets Projection Red A (Nameless) as Excalibur.

If they were forced to use inferior products to barely produce Nasu, they could use that as an excuse to get away with it.

Anyway, from that time on, Nasu's path of being blamed and exploited for his own purposes became unstoppable.

Dongchu probably only saw this point, which is why he made Nasu take the blame.

Anyway, we're all good buddies. It's perfectly normal for me, Higashide, to retcon and change the established lore, and for you, Ms. Kinoko, to help me out, isn't that a bit normal?

Why is it that Ms. Kinoko is too lazy to write it herself?

To say that Type-Moon didn't realize there were problems with Sieg's character development would be a lie. Wasn't Sieg quite normal in the Fate/Apocrypha collaboration event later on?

Shinji didn't care whether Sieg was normal or not; he was more concerned about whether his film script would satisfy the audience.

Since it's a group dungeon, team composition is essential.

Shinji has already decided on the main characters, including the protagonist Joan of Arc d'Arc, and the villains have also been confirmed.

The final boss is undoubtedly the combination of Amakusa and the Empress, with the Grand Duke playing a key role in the early game.

Besides Joan of Arc, another main fighter in the main group is Mordred, while her Master, Kairi Shishigou, assists the team.

Of course, there's another member of the main group who needs to liven things up with cuteness, Shinji naturally chose the adorable Afu for that role.

"Let's leave aside the others, but what's with this Afu?"

Artoria was somewhat taken aback when she saw the list of actors Shinji had proposed.

Based on her understanding of Shinji, there must be something wrong with this casting choice, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it at the moment.

"I remember he was a France knight, right? Not particularly famous, I think. Is it okay to make him a main character? And what's with this weird mascot...?"

"Artoria asked."

"Although he's not very famous, this role is a perfect fit for him; he could play a complete idiot without any problems... I guess."

At the end, Shinji hesitated slightly.

"So why is it a mascot?"

"That is, a role in the movie to liven up the atmosphere, crack jokes, and act cute or silly."

Shinji explained with a smile, "Originally, I was going to have the ugly-cute Spartacus take on this role."

Shinji was deeply impressed by Groot in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy and King Shark in Suicide Squad.

If this kind of ugly-cute mascot is well-developed, it will definitely be very popular, and may even surpass the main character.

Unfortunately, if Spartacus were to be used, Shinji could only imagine that the fate of this Heroic Spirit would be to sacrifice himself to pave the way for the protagonist.

That would have created a conflict with the future FGO plot, so Shinji decided to change it to the adorable Afu.

Who can resist a cute boy? And no one can resist a cute boy whose Reason Evaporation!

"Actually, I initially considered having you appear in the movie, but that would mean I'd also have to deal with your father-son conflict with Mordred. The movie's runtime is already tight enough; let's not add any strange subplots."

Of course.

Artoria nodded vigorously; she didn't want to go head-to-head with Mordred either.

Well... it feels a bit strange.

Despite experiencing so much in the real world, Artoria has come to realize that there were some problems with her upbringing.

But all parents in the world have an innate tendency to be stubborn and refuse to back down in front of their children, no matter what.

Therefore, Artoria decided to ignore Mordred.

[Anyway, that kid hates me to death. If I ignore her, she'll probably ignore me too, right? Anyway, I should just take it easy.]

Artoria thought to herself, trying to deceive herself.

Shinji was unaware of his father, the King of Knights's, ostrich mentality; otherwise, he would have immediately summoned Mordred to watch the drama unfold.

Shinji originally wanted to use Shirou instead of Shishigou, since Shirou and Mordred are considered to have high compatibility in the official lore.

But after thinking about it, I decided against it. Since I've decided to expand the Fate universe, I shouldn't follow my own perverse tastes and just choose all new characters.

They used two versions of Artoria to gain popularity and buzz, and then told a completely new story.

It should give fans a refreshing experience.

"However, why is there a blank spot on the list of the main characters' team?"

Looking at the cast list compiled by Shinji, Artoria was still confused. "According to your usual style, since you've prepared a female character as the protagonist, you'll definitely pair her with a male lead with similar screen time, right?"

"Well..."

Shinji was at a loss for words. He couldn't very well say that the original male lead Sieg, in his current script was somewhat superfluous, could he?

Artoria, however, "understood" Shinji's thoughts on her own.

"Master, you must want to make a breakthrough in the script, and you don't want to just rely on old tricks and make the audience feel uninterested, right?"

"As expected of Master, always seeking to break through one's own limits."

That's it...

Shinji nodded quickly, grateful for Artoria's legitimate reason.

"So Artoria, what are your thoughts?"

Shinji hadn't expected Artoria to provide an answer; he just hoped she could offer some advice.

"Amakusa as the male lead? Amakusa as the male lead...?"

The first sentence expresses surprise, the second sentence expresses contemplation.

At Artoria's prompting, Shinji realized that this might actually be a viable option.

It's not simply about making Amakusa Joan of Arc's love interest and having the two fall in love and fight.

There's no doubt that Amakusa's romantic partner is the Empress.

However, Shinji could have easily designed Amakusa to hide his identity as the big boss and join the group in the early stages, temporarily placing him on the protagonist's side.

Amakusa's reason for doing this is easy to set up: the Empress needs time to build the aerial fortress, and Amakusa's association with Joan of Arc' Arc and others is to constantly mislead and manipulate them, thus buying time for the Empress.

After the main characters, with Amakusa's "assistance," defeat the Grand Duke, Amakusa directly turns against them as the final boss.

The advantage of designing the script this way is that it saves the time that would have been spent developing the character of Amakusa, allowing more room for the action scenes to be developed.

Amakusa isn't a purely villainous character in the traditional sense; to make this character believable, it takes time to develop him.

By having Amakusa join the main cast early on, the character would have room to develop in the early stages, allowing the audience to understand Amakusa's ideals and dreams.

"However, this means that sufficient groundwork must be laid in the early stages, otherwise the 'male protagonist' suddenly turning against his lover would be very abrupt, and the interaction between Amakusa and Joan of Arc must also be handled with care..."

If the two characters interact too much and are mistaken by the audience as a couple, then Amakusa's later "switching sides" will be considered a terrible production by the audience.

Bad men (Amakusa) should be with bad women, and good girls (Joan of Arc) should just be best friends with cute girls.

"We could deliberately create a conflict between Amakusa and Joan of Arc's ideologies, making them more confrontational... Joan of Arc d'Arc is clearly more serious."

Thinking of this, the Director simply started writing in his notebook, from the conflict between Joan of Arc of Arc and Amakusa 'Human Order to the differences in their behavior.

In short, to highlight the differences between the two Rulers, they need to be mirrored in all aspects.

"Yes, that works! Thank you so much, Artoria."

With a strange sense of accomplishment, Shinji put down his pen after finishing the notes.

"Thank you, Joan of Arc." Shinji nodded with satisfaction, then teased Artoria, "You've given me plenty of inspiration."

"Master! I am Artoria."