It's a Miracle Britain Wasn't Eaten Into Ruin

"Team Leader Hata, is something the matter?"

"I'm really sorry. I did my best to make the case to the company, but..."

Although the other person didn't finish, Shinji had already understood what he meant.

"It's all right, Team Leader Hata," Shinji said, sounding completely unbothered. "Maybe we'll have a chance to work together in the future."

Shinji wasn't surprised in the least by Toho's attitude. If anything, he was astonished that they had bothered to respond instead of simply disappearing without a word.

Shinji patiently exchanged a few polite remarks with him, then hung up.

"Shinji," Kariya said with a teasing laugh. His nephew had been "bullying" him all day. "Want your uncle to get in touch with Toei?"

Second Master sighed and blew his bangs out of his face. He didn't feel like talking to this gloating guy.

...◆...

On the other side, Udagawa Nao returned to the company and passed Shinji's request along to Bandai's executives.

Bandai's higher-ups, who had thought little of Fate, an utterly unknown film, immediately changed their tune when they heard about Shinji's connections in Europe and America.

After conducting several investigations and verifying the facts, Bandai finally confirmed that the Matou Family and the Flora Family really were old family friends. At last, the company's executives began taking FSN seriously.

On the higher-ups' instructions, Udagawa Nao immediately borrowed a copy of FSN from Shinji and screened it at the company's conference center in front of all the executives.

Supposedly, once the film ended, Bandai's executives got into a heated argument. Several directors were shouting so loudly that people in the hallway could hear them.

Unfortunately, since it was an internal meeting, nobody knew what kind of conflict had erupted among Bandai's executives.

All Shinji learned was that once the argument was over, Bandai's current president, Makoto Yamashina, and its future president, Kazunori Ueno, gave Udagawa Nao the same instruction.

"Keep negotiating."

It had to be said that Second Master was remarkably lucky. FSN was practically tailor-made for Bandai at this stage.

For one thing, FSN would be released in Europe and America. For Bandai, which had long dreamed of breaking into those markets, that was an irresistible temptation.

For another, the past decade or so had been a time of revival for tokusatsu. The three major tokusatsu franchises had turned out hit after hit, with excellent ratings. This had given Bandai the ambition to expand from the small screen to the big screen.

Then there was the matter of Bandai's internal politics. Kazunori Ueno was set to take over as president in two years, and he was eager to have one or two impressive new projects under his belt to prove himself.

Of course, FSN's own quality was also a key reason Bandai had decided to work with Shinji. Its executives believed that even without any additional benefits, distributing a tokusatsu film of this caliber would at least keep them from losing money.

If releasing FSN wouldn't lose them money, and the film's success would bring all kinds of benefits, why not give it a try?

So, over the following stretch of time, Shinji and Udagawa Nao began a drawn-out series of negotiations.

However, since the two sides had completely different ideas about FSN, it was no surprise that the talks were difficult. At times, they even got stuck over a difference of just one percent.

Fortunately, both Shinji and Udagawa Nao understood that for the deal to go through, each side had to make some compromises.

After nearly fifteen rounds of negotiations over the course of a week, TYPE-MOON Film Company, represented by Shinji, finally reached a distribution agreement with Bandai.

"Looking forward to working with you, Director Matou."

"Likewise, Ms. Udagawa."

In the conference room at Tsuburaya Productions, Shinji and Udagawa Nao smiled as they exchanged the signed contracts, officially sealing the deal.

Bandai had finally become FSN's Japanese distributor, responsible for its release and promotion in Japan.

After deducting the costs of theaters, distributors, and other channels, the production company, TYPE-MOON Film Company, would receive seventy percent of the Japanese box office revenue, along with fifty percent of the revenue from Japanese home video, DVDs, television broadcasts, and other downstream film rights.

At the same time, Bandai would have exclusive rights to handle merchandise related to the FSN film for five years.

Five years of merchandise rights didn't seem like much, but if Shinji hadn't wanted Bandai to give FSN its full attention, he would have preferred to sign for three years.

Shinji knew perfectly well that if FSN became a major success, the value of the IP would climb year after year. Signing away five years of merchandise rights was a bit of a loss.

Fortunately, the agreement only covered this one FSN film. Other Fate films wouldn't be bound by it.

Once the contracts were signed, Udagawa Nao had no intention of staying at Tsuburaya Productions any longer. The difficult negotiations of the past few days had left her with a very poor impression of the place.

Before leaving, however, she reminded Shinji, "Director Matou, please send us the Japanese master copy of the film as soon as possible."

Shinji had no intention of backing out. He readily agreed. "Don't worry. I'll send it along with the edited trailer."

The Japanese release schedule that Bandai and Shinji had agreed on was extremely tight, so Shinji had to get moving.

According to the schedule, Bandai would hold a few advance screenings for select fans over the next two weeks. Based on the response, it would invest an appropriate amount in promotion to build buzz for the film.

Then, during the relatively slow period in early April, FSN would make its way into Japanese theaters through limited screenings at fifty cinema chains.

If the limited screenings did well, Bandai would launch a large-scale nationwide release in mid-April.

"Then I'll leave everything in your company's hands."

At last, Shinji shook hands with Udagawa Nao and said goodbye.

"I'm looking forward to Director Matou's next film. But if possible, I'd rather watch it simply as an audience member."

Udagawa Nao replied with a tired smile. "Negotiating with you, Director Matou, is truly exhausting."

Shinji's lips curved up as he replied politely, "Not at all. I'm very easy to deal with."

"Provided everyone does what you want, right?"

Udagawa Nao said sourly. Over the past week, she'd learned just how sharp this young director's tongue was.

"My requests are always perfectly reasonable." Shinji shrugged with a grin.

In the end, Udagawa Nao hesitated before reminding him, "Director Matou, about Jidai Group..."

"Yes, I'm already talking with the Flora Family. Once we have the first few weeks of FSN's Japanese box office results, I'll follow up with Jidai Group."

Second Master blatantly made it up as he went.

For personal reasons, Shinji hadn't spoken with the Flora Family at all, and he had no intention of working with Jidai Group.

He wasn't going to give up on the North American market, but his partner would most likely be another media group.

As for Jidai Group and the Flora Family, Shinji planned to have his uncle make a few casual calls and get them off his back.

With that in mind, Shinji called out to Kariya. "Uncle, would you walk Ms. Udagawa out?"

"Oh, sure."

Kariya obediently led Udagawa Nao out of the conference room.

After several days of negotiations, Kariya had developed a conditioned response to Shinji's instructions. Still, he couldn't help wondering why Shinji wouldn't see her out himself and had to send him instead.

Shinji certainly wasn't going to tell him that he was creating an opportunity for Kariya to get close to a wealthy woman. It was better to let these things happen naturally.

Playing matchmaker for his uncle was just a bit of fun in everyday life. Right now, Second Master had more important matters to handle—preparing for FSN's Japanese release.

Honestly, Shinji wasn't entirely happy with Bandai's cautious distribution strategy: holding advance screenings for fans, then starting with limited screenings before launching a nationwide release.

Even if the wide release began in mid-April, FSN would only have two weeks to rake in box office revenue before May.

The three major European film festivals would begin one after another in May, and Shinji hoped to find a suitable distributor in Europe or America at one of them. The Japanese box office results would be the best proof of FSN's value.

As mentioned before, Japan had only about four hundred movie theaters in the entire country. No matter how good or popular your film was, the number of seats available was still limited, and that capped its weekly box office.

It wasn't as if theaters could start selling standing-room or hanging tickets to make more money.

This wasn't a comedy show.

Fortunately, although Bandai's distribution strategy was cautious, it was quite efficient.

Less than a week after Shinji sent out the master copy, Bandai sent back invitations, specially inviting him and the FSN Film Crew to attend a screening in Fuyuki City.

Chapter 20: It's a Miracle Britain Wasn't Eaten Into Ruin

Tohsaka Residence.

"Thank you, Shinji."

Tokiomi Tohsaka opened the invitation Shinji had handed him and glanced at its contents.

"The evening after tomorrow?"

Tokiomi looked up to confirm with Shinji.

"That's right. Tomorrow night at eight, at a movie theater in the new district," Shinji said with a nod, sticking to the matter at hand. "It's the FSN preview screening."

The Tohsaka family had given FSN a great deal of help, so it was only natural for Shinji to invite them.

"The film's already about to be released? Just as I'd expect of you, Shinji."

Tokiomi Tohsaka ran a reserved hand over the envelope of the invitation, a glint in his eyes as he murmured softly.

"If the film succeeds, it might be a turning point for the Tohsaka family..."

Shinji, with his sharp ears, caught Tokiomi's mutter and raised an eyebrow slightly.

That wasn't how you talked when I brought you the proposal.

If Shinji's memory was right, Tokiomi Tohsaka had only reluctantly agreed to the plan because of the compensation Shinji had offered. He'd been extremely reluctant about it, too.

If the Tohsaka family hadn't already fallen so far, Tokiomi's pride and old-fashioned ways would have made it difficult for Shinji to get him to agree to the proposal.

But Tokiomi Tohsaka's attitude today was completely different from before, which surprised Shinji.

Did someone change Tokiomi's mind?

Shinji couldn't help wondering.

Still, Tokiomi's attitude didn't make much difference to Shinji. His plan would clearly leave the biggest share of the profits in the hands of his own Matou Family.

If the Tohsaka family wanted to join in and take a share, Shinji wouldn't refuse, given the families' long-standing friendship.

"Uncle Tokiomi, what's your answer...?"

"Rin and I will be there."

Tokiomi replied calmly.

Shinji grinned triumphantly. "Is that so? Then it's settled."

"Mm, that's right."

Shinji's overly casual attitude made Tokiomi Tohsaka frown slightly.

"Shinji, you..."

"Oh, right."

Seeing that Tokiomi Tohsaka looked ready to lecture him, Shinji quickly changed the subject and asked the third person in the room, "Grandpa Risei, what brings you here to see Uncle Tokiomi today?"

"Shinji, it's been a while." Risei Kotomine laughed heartily. "You've really done something big this time. You've made all of Fuyuki City proud."

"Not at all. You're giving me too much credit, Grandpa Risei."

Shinji bashfully scratched his hair.

Compared to Tokiomi, the old man who genuinely treated him like a grandson was even harder for Shinji to handle.

"Has my good-for-nothing son been giving you any trouble?"

Risei Kotomine patted Shinji hard on the shoulder and asked loudly.

"Of course not. Uncle Kirei has a real talent for acting. Just wait until tomorrow and see his performance."

Shinji hesitated, but in the end he didn't mention how Kirei Kotomine had been "promoting" Mapo Tofu to the film crew.

I'm exhausted... Why does this feel like a teacher reporting to a parent about how their kid's doing at school?

Shinji really couldn't find anything in common with the two adults. After giving them their invitations, he exchanged only a few pleasantries before leaving.

"Then I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Uncle Tokiomi and Grandpa Risei."

Smiling as he said goodbye to the two elders, Shinji closed the door to the reception room.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, sitting on the sofa, sighed almost imperceptibly, then looked over at the old man, who was still drinking his tea.

After a long silence, Tokiomi Tohsaka broke it.

"What do you think of that young Shinji?"

Risei Kotomine smiled easily and said, full of affection, "Whenever I see that little Shinji, it feels just like seeing a grandson—especially when he's with Caren."

At that, Risei Kotomine grew a little melancholy. Shinji had gone abroad to study five years ago, and Caren had gone to the Church's headquarters in the Vatican for further study four years ago. His son, Kirei Kotomine, wasn't particularly close to him either.

These past few years had been rather lonely for old man Risei.

Tokiomi Tohsaka was taken aback by Risei Kotomine's words. Then, feeling much the same way, he nodded.