The Weird Craft Essence Portrait Has Been Recovered

"However--"

[Tsk, this time it's "however".]

Joan of Arc's facial expressions were incredibly varied, almost like a rollercoaster ride.

Faced with Master's repeated twists and turns and his teasing manner of speaking, Joan of Arc wished she could give him a rollercoaster ride first and make him explain himself clearly.

Shinji had no idea that Joan of Arc was mentally beating him up. He continued, "However, the tension between you two in the early scenes was too high. You should know that they were comrades-in-arms in the beginning."

"Furthermore, if the entire film consists of political debates between Joan of Arc and Amakusa, the audience will probably leave within the first ten minutes."

Shinji finally pointed out what he thought was wrong.

"So, that's why I called you all here for a talk—we need to clearly define your acting styles and role roles to avoid overlap between them."

[Is that so?]

Now, Joan of Arc finally understood what Master meant.

The question is, how should their roles be divided?

Fortunately, Joan of Arc glanced at Kairi Shishigou and Amakusa and noticed that they both had the same puzzled expression.

[Great, I didn't lose to them.]

As for Mordred and Afu, Joan of Arc felt it would be an insult to compare herself to these two creatures whose brains were only at an animalistic level.

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Shinji guessed Joan of Arc's little thoughts from her subtle expressions, but he didn't pay any attention to them.

Perhaps Joan of Arc herself didn't realize that she had a strong, competitive personality.

Despite her gentle and tolerant nature, she hates losing to others.

This is why Joan of Arc resented being treated as a substitute for Artoria.

However, Shinji was unaware that there was another reason for Joan of Arc's intense reaction: she feared that he, as her Master, would harm Artoria after his pursuit of her failed.

After all, this "Artoria face" appears far too frequently among the summoned Heroic Spirit.

Shinji only guessed that Joan of Arc's desire to express herself was to distinguish herself from Artoria in ways other than her physique.

Shinji, on the other hand, quite admired this Saintess young lady and was optimistic about her coming to fruition.

Unfortunately, in Shinji's mind, although Joan of Arc is the protagonist of Fate/stay night, the truly outstanding character in the film's plot is probably Amakusa.

Because no matter which angle you look at it from, the character design of Amakusa is more interesting.

Is there anything wrong with the dream of saving humanity?

That's definitely right, but Amakusa chose the wrong approach.

His approach of disregarding others, proclaiming himself a savior, and forcibly using the Holy Grail was undoubtedly wrong.

Shinji personally believes that Amakusa is a Thanos-like villain. His starting point was not wrong, but the means he chose to achieve his ideals were very problematic.

The Holy Grail was used to Soul Materialization of all humanity, thereby achieving immortality.

Since humans lose their physical bodies, they also lose their needs and desires for material things, and thus the conflicts in the world will naturally disappear.

In this way, seven billion people on Earth, where the Ley Lines are depleted, will exist forever as eternal souls.

Logically speaking, Amakusa's thinking doesn't seem to have any major problems, but this act of making choices on behalf of all humanity undoubtedly obliterates the thoughts of others.

It has to be said that Amakusa's philosophy and style of doing things are quite similar to Thanos'.

Their ideals were devoid of selfishness, but they all ignored the thoughts of the masses and only implemented their own ideas.

If the Holy Grail existed in the Marvel Universe, Thanos would most likely have chosen Amakusa's plan.

Villainous characters like Amakusa and Thanos share a very distinct characteristic: they are heroes in their own stories, not villains.

They are different from purely evil characters like Ugly Master and Maronpo, yet they exude their own unique charm.

Originally, a character like Amakusa could have become a classic villain like Kirei Kotomine.

Unfortunately, the main characters of Alicization, the antithesis of Amakusa, were far too childish, which affected his own character development as well.

There could be many reasons why Joan of Arc rebelled against Amakusa, but Higashide chose the worst one—humanity needed to save itself.

At first glance, it seems like there's nothing wrong with it, but anyone can say that, except Joan of Arc!

Joan of Arc of Arc is portrayed as a devout Christian, and a core tenet of Christianity is that humanity is incapable of saving itself.

Even if Joan of Arc said that many people are unwilling to give up their bodies and that you have no right to make choices for them, it would be better than this stupid reason.

Considering that Higashide also wrote a scene where Joan of Arc and the Grand Duke were both Catholics and therefore got along well, he completely ignored the fact that the Grand Duke was forced to convert.

It's fortunate that Shinji's previous FA franchise didn't enter the European and American markets, otherwise our company might have been blown up by religious extremists.

Shinji has reason to believe that Higashide Kondo doesn't understand Christianity at all and is just indulging in self-delusion.

You can't say that because the two main characters in Fate/Apocrypha are illiterate and androids, their brains are limited, right?

Of course, while Amakusa's character has his merits, bringing those merits to life in the film requires Shinji's storytelling skills and Amakusa's individual performance.

In Shinji's original plan, Joan of Arc was the main protagonist, but several outstanding and classic scenes would be given to Amakusa to deepen the audience's impression of the character, thereby achieving a balance between the two main protagonists in Fate/Apocrypha.

However, Joan of Arc is now stealing the spotlight in several scenes that focus on Amakusa, which will undoubtedly diminish the development of Amakusa's character.

According to Shinji's revised design of the script, Joan of Arc's reason for opposing Amakusa was changed to the fact that the world she longed for had no future.

Shinji borrowed a concept from the episode "The Sun's Betrayal" in Tsuburaya Productions' 1998 Seven Memorial Trilogy for the script.

Human evil thoughts stem from desire, but desire is also the root of human development.

Erasing human evil is tantamount to erasing human desires; such a world would be nothing more than stagnant water.

Indeed, when it comes to character design and philosophy, Tsuburaya Productions is truly the best.

Joan of Arc herself was very satisfied with the character design given by Shinji, and she worked very hard to portray that feeling.

Unfortunately, this girl tried too hard, which led to her and Amakusa becoming rivals early in the story, creating a tense atmosphere.

[We can't let them continue to improvise like this, otherwise the balance between the characters will be completely broken, lowering the audience's viewing experience.]

After realizing the problem, Shinji scratched his head in distress. The Acting Skills of the Heroic Spirit Actor in his previous films had always been a weakness, and it was something they desperately wanted to portray in their own style.

This time, the actors' over-the-top efforts actually detracted from the film's overall quality; I really don't know what to say.

[What was that saying again...?]

Oh, right.

[You're such a jerk, so pretentious!]

Yes, the "scoundrel" Second Master was referring to himself.

Chapter 209 The Strange Costume Illustration Has Been Retrieved

Ultimately, it was Shinji's greed that got the better of him.

Having already achieved the highest-grossing film worldwide, he always strives to go even further and make the most perfect movie possible.

To some extent, Shinji truly lives up to his Magecraft's bloodline, possessing a greedy nature.

In the past, as long as the actors didn't cause any conflicts, the Second Master would probably have let it go.

But this time, Shinji tried to communicate with the actors and try to make the film perfect.

Ultimately, everyone has a leopard's head inside them; the eternal pursuit is "I want it all."

Fortunately, Shinji's ability to control the film is far beyond what it used to be.

"First of all, Shishigou. Your character setup doesn't need to be changed."

Shinji first addressed Kairi Shishigou, "Your role is that of a pillar of the main character team, and also the team's spiritual mentor."

As the longest-living member of the Fate/ Kairi Shishigou's greatest contribution is providing everyone with his life experience.

In sports terms, Shishigou is the locker room leader of the team. He may not be the strongest player on the team, but he is the soul of the entire team.

"Because of you, Joan of Arc did not collapse after being betrayed by Amakusa, and became even more determined on her path."

"You did well before, but you were still a bit too reserved. You need to open yourself up more."

After hearing Kairi Shishigou deliberately spread his legs and pointed his prop gun downwards.

"Open up? You mean the thighs? Isn't that something women do?"

This guy truly lives up to his reputation as a hero in the mercenary world; he can spout dirty jokes without hesitation.

Shinji just felt like he'd seen this look somewhere before.

"Hey, Shishigou, there are girls here too," Shinji retorted. "Besides, I don't want to recycle your weird costume CGs. If I had to choose, I'd only want to see cute girls."

"What the hell is that?"

Kairi Shishigou didn't understand what Shinji was talking about, but he still reluctantly pulled his legs back.

"Sorry."

Although Kairi Shishigou realized his mistake, Joan of Arc was even more displeased.

[What's with this person looking at Afu with such an apologetic expression? Aren't I the girl? It's better if they didn't apologize at all.]

Joan of Arc was unaware that her lowered head expression was being observed by Shiki-kai Kiji.

The mercenary pushed up his sunglasses and winked at Shinji.

Shinji returned the look with a wink, then continued, "Shishigou, your carefree, irresponsible personality is better suited for movies."

"Do I really need to act so frivolous?"

Shinji nodded. "Just relax a little. Your character is usually carefree, but in crucial moments, she's the one who remains steadfast."

"Matou Brother, are you treating me like the therapist for these troubled teenagers?"

"Pretty much." Shinji wasn't embarrassed at all and directly responded to the other party's statement, "After all, everyone else is a Servant, and you're the only human, so your combat strength is definitely not as strong as the others."

"Forehead..."

Kairi Shishigou slightly injured, and he looked at Shinji with a hint of temper.

"That's pretty much how Shishigou, and Amakusa..."

Shinji glanced at Amakusa to the side.

"Your role remains the same; you're still the male lead and the main antagonist in the movie. But your mindset has changed; it needs to become more complex."

"What's the meaning?"

Amakusa showed a curious expression.

It's rare to get the chance to play the lead role in a movie, especially playing myself.

Amakusa's original idea was to incorporate his own philosophy into the film characters and then promote it to the world.

Although the Holy Grail in reality cannot reach the level depicted in movie scripts, Amakusa believes that the most important thing is to spread his ideas so that he can at least find a group of like-minded partners.

Now that Shinji says he wants to change his internal settings, Amakusa isn't really willing to follow Shinji's orders.

"When you play Shiro Tokisada Amakusa again, in addition to what I asked before..."

"On a deeper level, it is also necessary to show Shirou Kotomine's ambition, which should be gradually revealed until it is fully exposed when he finally states his position to Joan of Arc."

"We want the audience to experience the gradual transformation from a naive child like Shirou Emiya to the ultimate Demon King."

"Shinji, who are you calling an innocent child?!"

Shirou happened to be passing by, heard Shinji's words and immediately jumped up in anger.

Shinji casually waved his hand. "None of your business. Go cry your tears for another era somewhere else."

Shirou silently went to a corner and muttered to himself, "Tch, when they needed us, we were the Shirou brothers; now that we're useless, we're just relics of the past."

However, no Human Order him any attention.

"What I hope is that when the average viewer watches the first half, they will see Shirou as an ordinary person who has been drawn into the Holy Grail War."

Shinji continued, "And those viewers who enjoy thinking will also see that Shirou is not simple, such as his unique perspective on human malice... Amakusa, can you do that?"

"I'll give it a try."

Amakusa nodded.