This Is Way Too Real...

But Shinji had greater ambitions, couldn't do that. He needed to grab the audience's attention immediately and let them experience the shock of 3D special effects movies.

The most important parts of a web novel are the first one to three chapters, and the most crucial parts of a movie are the first 10 minutes.

Almost all excellent action-packed movies will feature a spectacular action scene within the first 5-10 minutes.

This scene may not be the most exciting or grandest in the entire movie, but it is the most crucial.

Because this scene will determine the audience's impression of the entire film.

In fact, these two opening films represent the core theme of Shinji's filming of "Super Eight" - sentiment and large-scale special effects.

To allow viewers to truly feel the sheer size of the giant creatures in battle, Shinji drew heavily on the films Pacific Rim and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, setting the battle scenes in the dark of night during a rainstorm.

Despite the fact that rainy night scenes are often criticized as the most cost-cutting special effects environment, if the lighting and rain elements are used well, they can bring unprecedented joy to the audience.

"The rain effect is so realistic! It's like the rain is about to hit us!"

The image of rain pouring onto the camera lens, enhanced by 3D effects, became even more realistic, completely stunning Li Ri'ang.

Although he had seen many tokusatsu and special effects movies, including clips from the previous screening of "Super Eight", this was the first time he had ever seen visually realistic scenes.

With the IMAX screen providing far more information than regular picture quality, Li Ri'ang could clearly perceive the depth of field in the image.

He knew that this was the 3D special effects that the producers of "Super Eight" had been repeatedly promoting.

"I originally thought the test screening footage was the limit for this film, but I didn't expect the final cut to have even more refined visual effects!"

"It's like being sucked into the movie screen without even realizing it. Is this what they meant by 'entering a movie' in the opening credits?"

Li Ri'ang found himself becoming more and more interested in the movie. Being able to watch such a wonderful film swept away all the troubles he had been having at work and in his life.

If Li Ri'ang's excitement was only in his mind, then the children's excitement was directly expressed through their actions.

"Wow, that's amazing!! Absolutely awesome!!"

Li Ri'ang's little nephew bit his finger, drooling and making noises.

"This Ultraman and monster seem even more powerful Tiga!"

Kids love to express themselves visually. Seeing how cool Ultraman Mebius's fighting scenes were, this kid immediately went from a staunch Decade fan to an unwavering Mebius fan.

"Uncle, what's the name of that fish-like monster? It looks really strong! How come I've never seen it before?"

"Of course you've never seen it, you brat who doesn't watch Showa-era movies."

Li Ri'ang replied casually, as he was completely absorbed in the movie and had no interest in talking to the children.

For educating and recommending things to kids, nothing beats watching a movie!

Then, Old Li got kicked by the annoyed kid.

"You little brat, are you trying to rebel?!"

Li Ri'ang flicked his nephew's cheek, speechless, then explained impatiently, "That monster is from Ultraman Jack, but the story is a bit hard to understand, so you'd better not watch it."

Thinking about the plot of "The Monster Tamer and the Boy" filled Li Ri'ang with mixed feelings, and even the excitement he usually felt when seeing such scenes diminished a little.

"Is this deliberately designed to make longtime fans depressed?" Li Ri'ang complained, arms crossed. "Could it be some kind of twisted humor from the movie Director?"

This was certainly not Shinji's perverse sense of humor, but it was Second Master intentionally.

Shinji arranged for Muruchi to appear in the story to commemorate Three Problematic Works of Showa that he greatly admired.

The enemies appearing in these three episodes are all replicas of characters from the Heisei era to varying degrees.

Jamila appeared in an American remake of Powerd, Nokogirin appeared in Seven OV, continuing the story from the original.

The only one who didn't get to appear in the Heisei era was Muruchi, since the episode he was supposed to appear in was cut by the Second Master.

To pay for his actions, and also for his own selfish reasons, Shinji simply used Muruchi as the opening monster for the movie "Super Eight".

To pay homage to the full series, Shinji specially filmed a long take of Ultraman Mebius and Muruchi's fight scene to commemorate the classic scene from that Showa era episode.

Of course, this is just a simple commemorative shot of shots and fights; there's no related plot whatsoever.

The movie is only so long; if it were to expand on the story of "The Monster Tamer and the Boy," the audience would be overwhelmed.

So after a few minutes of exciting fighting, allowing the audience to appreciate the charm of 3D special effects, Ultraman Mebius used a precise throwing skill to throw Muruchi away and then killed it with the Mebium Ray.

Just as Xiaomeng was about to follow the standard Ultraman procedure, drawing an arc in the sky and leaving, a little girl in white clothes and red shoes appeared on a rooftop not far away and looked at him.

"Who are you?"

"A certain world has been targeted by invaders."

"What?"

"Hurry, there's no Ultraman in that world." The girl's figure gradually blurred, "... to defeat the invaders along with the other seven heroes."

Then, a time rift suddenly appeared beneath Ultraman Mebius's feet, taking him—no, the entire Ultraman —with it.

After Ultraman Mebius disappeared, the entire screen went black.

Then, the narration and solemn background music began to play.

Do you still remember our heroes who once protected our planet?

The image of the original Brother Man appeared on screen, along with screenshots from his TV series.

This character introduction by Shinji is a reference to the opening sequence of the Ultraman movie, "Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend".

Shinji even incorporated the time-traveling scene after Xiaomeng defeats the monster.

However, since only eight Ultraman appeared in this "Super Eight" series, and the Heisei Ultraman Trilogy were not from the Land of Light, Shinji focused more on the individual character introductions in the character descriptions, unlike the more comprehensive introductions in "Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend".

After the last Ultraman, Gaia, was introduced, the screen gradually brightened.

"Now a brand new story will take place in a world without Ultraman, a world where they did not become heroes."

The movie title appeared on the screen, and the story of <The Great Battle! Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers> officially began.

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"That fight was amazing!"

Is this the limit of modern film special effects technology?

"Sigami! I never imagined that Ultraman, no, I meant the movies, could have such amazing expressive power!"

As the movie transitioned into a brief slice-of-life scene, the audience began discussing the action sequence that had been so thrilling they wished they could watch it again immediately.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts see the details; compared to audiences who only know how to shout "amazing," filmmakers are truly moved.

Even they don't know how this was filmed!

Kouichi Ippei and the other film critic sitting next to him turned to look at each other, quickly exchanging a glance, both thinking the same thing:

Previous so-called special effects movies, such as FSN, were just small-scale operations. This movie, Super Eight, is a real special effects movie!

It's no wonder they think that way. No matter how much they dislike Shinji Matou, they understand the basic elements of a movie: whether the scenes are grand or not, and whether the special effects are good or not.

These film critics always criticize Shinji Matou for his excessive use of special effects and lack of depth in the plot, but they never criticize the special effects themselves.

The reason is simple: Shinji Matou's special effects are truly top-notch in the current film industry, something even these "two-haters" cannot deny.

I thought Shinji Matou would be complacent with the achievements of Fate/Zero and stop updating the special effects technology.

Seeing this film, "Super Eight," Kouichi Ippei realized with a clear sense that Shinji Matou had actually left all other filmmakers far behind.

"This is not a good thing..."

Kouichi Ippei stroked his beard, his face full of worry.

Shinji Matou's relentless pursuit of the ultimate special effects will elevate his status and increase his influence in the field of special effects films.

What's most important for film critics? It's not the so-called right to speak!

"No! We must find a way to stop this brat, otherwise our position will become increasingly precarious."

Kouichi Ippei clenched his fists; his mind was no longer on the movie.

"That young man Shinji Matou, really has some big ambitions!"

Johnny Kitagawa murmured this remark softly.

He suddenly realized he was really getting old. Although Johnny & Associates didn't directly handle movies, countless film projects had passed through their hands over the years.

But he's never actually seen a movie as grand and epic as "Super Eight".

Putting everything else aside, just this Shinji Matou surpasses the entire Japan film industry!

"Investing so much money in a movie and developing so many special effects technologies is indeed a huge undertaking. However..."

The older sister, Fujishima Taiko, didn't finish her sentence, even though the film had also deeply moved her.

But when I think about the filming and technology development cost report I saw (the latter being the bulk of the expense), I realize that it cost hundreds of millions of yen.

Shinji Matou didn't feel sorry for him, but Fujishima Taiko did.

If this money were given to Johnny & Associates to manage, it could be split into several films, and then each film could be given to one of their idols as the lead Lead Actor.

This approach not only carries less risk than concentrating all your money on a single film, but also yields significantly higher returns than making just one movie.

While the movie "Super Eight" is undeniably impressive, it will take at least several more films to recoup the costs of its technological development.

Fujishima Taiko guessed that Shinji planned to use this film to promote his new technology, but if the film flopped at the box office, it would only have the opposite effect.

The old lady was unaware that Shinji Matou had inflated his research funding reports to cover up the existence of Magecraft.

In fact, including the cost of technology research and development, the production cost of Super Eight was only slightly higher than that of Fate/Zero.

The real bulk of the cost comes from the promotion of projection equipment, but if that kind of money is also factored in, the expenses will never end.

All I can say is that Shinji Matou fooled everyone; that guy is incredibly cunning.

Chapter 235 This is too real...

Johnny Kitagawa, sitting next to the old lady, certainly understood what Fujishima Taiko meant.

They've been siblings for decades; even if the older sister only said half a sentence, how could he, as the younger brother, not understand?

"Sigh... my sister still doesn't see far enough."

Johnny Kitagawa shook his head inwardly.

Ultimately, Fujishima Taiko's vision is somewhat limited. She is more than capable of maintaining Johnny & Associates's Entertainment, but it would be too much of a stretch to expect her to lead the company to greater heights or to consider issues from the perspective of the overall industry's development.

For a film like "Super Eight," the revenue should never be judged solely on paper.

Even though Shinji Matou's investment in "Super Eight" resulted in a loss, he at least set a new technological benchmark for the film industry in Japan and even the world.

Even if this film only showcases this much technology, for a long time to come, when people talk about special effects movies, "Super Eight" will be an unavoidable topic.

Subconsciously, people tend to think that the world's best special effects movies are made in Japan, and that the best special effects movies in Japan are made by Shinji Matou's TYPE-MOON Film Company.

Once this idea becomes a fixed mindset for audiences and filmmakers, and a wave of special effects films sweeps the world, Shinji Matou's losses on "Super Eight" can be multiplied by outsourcing special effects production.

This is the advantage brought by technological monopoly: if I have something that you don't, you can only buy it from me.

Moreover, the benefits that <Super Eight> can bring to Shinji Matou go beyond this.

If "Super Eight" becomes a global sensation, Shinji Matou's position in the Japan film and television industry will be further solidified, and he will also have considerable influence in the world film and television industry.

At that time, Shinji Matou will no longer be just a Director, but an industry bigwig.

In the film and television industry, funding and technology are hard power, while reputation and influence are soft power.

If someone possesses both of these abilities, they will soar to great heights.

Johnny Kitagawa knows this so well because he himself rose from a baseball player to the top of the Japan entertainment industry.

Now, Johnny Kitagawa sees a younger generation similar to himself rising rapidly, and the speed and influence of his rise far surpasses that of his own back then.

"Indeed, the younger generation is formidable."

Johnny Kitagawa sighed deeply, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Shinji Matou has great ambitions, as evidenced by the current wrangling between Type-Moon and Johnny & Associates's regarding their collaborative boy group.

The project that was supposed to be a prerequisite for the collaboration between the two parties to film "Super Eight" is still embroiled in disputes even now that the movie has been released.

"Should we take a step back?"

Recalling the shock of the movie scene just now, Johnny Kitagawa suddenly had this thought in his mind.