Amakusa: Master, Do You Have a Grudge Against Me or Something? / 273. "Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya" Premieres

Clatter.

Clatter.

Clatter.

The metallic boots clicked crisply on the stone floor, Joan of Arc had already walked up to him as instructed in the script.

"Oh, Saintess of France, you have finally arrived."

Amakusa slowly recited her lines, then slowly opened her eyes.

Then he saw a man standing in front of him with his face painted red and two rows of "chest muscles" hanging on his body.

"Savior, I'm the adorable bunny Beast~ Meow~"

"What kind of monster is this?!"

Completely unprepared, Amakusa jumped up with a "whoosh," his voice becoming somewhat shrill and excited.

However, the Master standing opposite him gave him a thumbs up.

"Very good, Amakusa! Your anxiety is gone!"

This seemingly complimentary but actually sarcastic remark effectively shut down Amakusa's complaints.

"Master! I'll fucking swear at you!"

In the end, a curse word mixed with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean still came out of Amakusa's mouth.

Chapter 272 Amakusa: Master, do you have a grudge against me?

"Master, this technique is indeed very effective."

Amakusa Shinji, "But this move is just too much!"

Even without Shinji's explanation, Amakusa knew that Shinji was doing this for his own good, but the thing in front of him was just too terrifying.

"If I am guilty, punish me directly, instead of making me see this monstrous thing!"

While complaining, Amakusa lightly kicked the enormous "white rabbit" with his foot.

"What's this?"

"This is a spoiler for the future."

Shinji snapped his fingers, and the "rabbit" transformed back into Enkidu's appearance.

"What?"

Amakusa had no idea what had gotten into his Master this time.

"Hmm, that's something I just thought of," Shinji said, stroking his chin. "It can add a little bit of legitimacy to your actions."

"That thing that was neither human nor ghost just now?"

"Amakusa, when you activated the Holy Grail, you saw a possibility for the future—the greatest catastrophe humanity would face: the Beaster. This strengthened your resolve to save humanity. It can be seen as laying the groundwork for the upcoming plot."

Amakusa shuddered when she heard Shinji use that word: "Master, are you serious?"

Shinji nodded. "Of course, isn't it great to make humanity's natural enemy the main storyline of the entire Fate series?"

"Be careful, you might accidentally... boohoo!"

Before Amakusa finish speaking, Shinji rudely covered his mouth.

"Don't say things like that! What if it comes true?! Will you take responsibility?!"

Shinji warned him very seriously.

If those seven ghostly things (the actual number is far more than seven) were to appear in this Parallel world, given the current state of mystic decline, they probably wouldn't even be able to survive in Chaldea.

So while filming is filming, making careless remarks is absolutely unacceptable.

"Master, you really are..."

Amakusa wanted to say something, but after watching Enkidu constantly switching between several Beaster appearances, he finally let out a helpless sigh.

What should I ask him?

Why are you courting death? Or how do you know what those old monsters look like? Or perhaps, the Beaster has truly descended, and Master, do you have a solution?

Amakusa knew that Shinji would just dodge the questions with a laugh, so he simply gave up asking.

Shinji, remained remarkably calm and began explaining the scene to Amakusa: "Amakusa, you are a priest dedicated to saving humanity, yet you are also the biggest villain in the entire film. Therefore, you possess a dual nature."

"On the one hand, he is extremely obsessed with saving humanity, even to the point of dogmatism. So when Joan of Arc rejects you, you will react with a stronger force than most people would."

"On the other hand, you are secretly wondering whether your approach is feasible. Joan of Arc of Arc's rebuttal is not without merit, so you will be in a state of temporary confusion."

"What truly had a decisive impact was that you saw humanity's [lost future], and knowing that humanity was doomed, you solidified your determination to save humanity using the Third Magic."

As he spoke, Shinji glanced at Joan of Arc on the other side.

"Joan of Arc, you too, it's true that you rejected Amakusa's methods, but you also wouldn't allow humanity to perish. In fact, you could say that Amakusa's wrong path strengthened your resolve to save humanity."

This part, in truth, has nothing to do with Fate/Apocrypha; it's purely setting the stage for Fate/Grand Order.

Anyway, the original concepts for FA and FGO were the same, so it's not a big deal if they have some overlap.

However, such preparation must be done with care and tact.

It can't be too little or too vague; otherwise, the anticipation won't be high, and the audience will just find it cumbersome.

But it shouldn't be too excessive, or it will overshadow the main point.

As mentioned before, one thing that audiences really hate is when the movie they're watching is setting up the next one.

Of course, Shinji himself is responsible for finding the right balance; it's not Amakusa or Joan of Arc's place to worry about it.

"Amakusa, get back into character. Semiramis believes you can definitely do a good job."

"... OK."

Although Amakusa was Amakusa countless times in his heart when Shinji mentioned Semiramis.

But after Shinji's explanation and that scare, Amakusa did feel less agitated.

"Joan of Arc, let's try again!"

Amakusa straightened his hair and gave a confident smile.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Amakusa performed very well this time.

Whether it was his deathly pale face when he first saw the Beaster vision, his confident demeanor when Joan of Arc arrived at the battlefield, or his hysterical banter with Joan of Arc and his boundless love for humanity, he portrayed the image of a priest with boundless love in a very appropriate manner.

The way he fought Joan of Arc while constantly repeating his ideals and legitimizing his actions evoked a sense of martyrdom.

[Actually, what I liked most was Amakusa's startled reaction when he saw the "white rabbit." Seeing that frightened expression on Amakusa's usually composed face was so funny.]

Shinji sighed inwardly.

During post-production, the scene where Beater appears does indeed have a bit of a Jump Scare feel.

However, the scene where Amakusa is frightened will not be included in the final cut—it doesn't match Amakusa's state of mind in the story.

[Looks like it'll just have to be used as bonus footage for a future DVD.]

"What mischievous idea is he hatching now?"

Amakusa felt a chill run down her spine when she sensed Shinji staring at her.

Once he found his rhythm, Amakusa's performance, if not a complete transformation, was at least a successful breakthrough.

Many shots were filmed in one take; he was practically a drama queen.

Even recording "emotions" became much easier, because with Shinji's guidance, the two Rulers were at least able to put their emotions into their performances.

In short, the filming of the next few scenes went smoothly until --

"Sigh, I think I'll be developing a phobia of sugar for a while."

Amakusa smiled wryly as she carefully avoided showing the half of her face that was stained red.

Although Shinji has brilliantly incorporated 3D without glasses, vibration, and even emotion into the film, making the audience's audiovisual experience exceptionally realistic, the senses of smell and taste still failed to resonate with the audience.

So the red on Amakusa's face, nominally "blood," was actually just syrup with added red pigment.

Normally, when the Heroic Spirit Actor are injured, the Second Master will have them actually "create" an injury.

Since the Heroic Spirit don't actually die, and this kind of filming achieves the greatest possible realism, Shinji naturally likes to do it this way.

However, the head wound is an exception.

Unlike wounds on the body, head wounds cannot be covered by clothing.

When it comes to physical injuries, viewers will only see the splattered blood, not the gruesome wounds themselves.

However, if it's a head wound, the movie screen would likely show the wound's appearance directly, which would complicate the rating process.

Especially if the wound is enlarged to ensure minimal bleeding--

Shinji strongly suspected that the rating staff would end the screening early and then throw the film reel in his face.

Ultimately, Magecraft is just another technical tool for making movies; it's not a panacea.

Therefore, when dealing with scenes involving head wounds and bleeding, Shinji usually uses the "old method" common in film crews—using syrup instead of blood.

This kind of trickery is all too common in most storylines, and it's a common practice among prop masters who don't know Magecraft: blood is made from syrup with red dye, black "sludge" in the sewers is chocolate, and beer bottles that break easily with a tap are actually made of hard candy...

It's not that the prop masters like to eat candy, it's just that using food as props is safer. Even if an actor accidentally licks it, there won't be any problems.

The only downside is that it might leave a slight psychological shadow on the actor.

"Looking at it this way, maybe those female celebrities don't like to eat sugar entirely because they want to maintain their figure."

Listening to Amakusa's constant complaints about the syrup, Shinji suddenly felt as if he had discovered another truth.

At least, Amakusa, after being tormented by the syrup, directly expressed his "desire to smile".

"I'm never drinking syrup again! Not even cough syrup!"

It's no wonder that Amakusa is terrified of syrup.

To prevent the "bloodstains" on his face from drying out, he had to brush a layer of sugar onto his face every now and then.

Because of the need to recite lines and engage in intense fights, some of the syrup on his face would inevitably drip into Amakusa's mouth.

Eating the candy wasn't a problem, but the blood was so realistically rendered that Amakusa felt uncomfortable whenever she ate it.

Not to mention, because the fight scenes in the middle were too intense, Amakusa got tired of them after a few scenes.

"I feel like my Spirit Origin has been completely soaked in sugar; I'm probably going to get diabetes."

After finally completing the filming, Amakusa looked utterly dejected.

Meanwhile, "Devil" Shinji quietly instructed the cinematographer, Red A: "Record Amakusa's disheveled state and include it in the final cut along with the previous NG shots."

"Master..."

Amakusa expressed his feelings of being bullied.

"Don't be so serious, Amakusa," Shinji said with a laugh, putting his arm around the priest's shoulder. "Brocade footage is only considered 'brocade footage' if it's funny. Who wants to watch something so serious?"

Amakusa looked at Joan of Arc, as if to say: Don't just keep taking advantage of me! As the saying goes, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Master, can't you find another tree to fleece?

"Don't dwell on it, Amakusa."

Shinji pretended not to understand Amakusa's hint and handed him a newspaper.

"Come on, Master, tonight I'll take you guys to see something really good. I guarantee you'll be in a good mood, Amakusa."

"<Magical Girl Prisma Illya>... Master, are you treating me like a little girl?!"

Amakusa couldn't help but complain when he saw the program schedule.

Chapter 273 of <Magical Girl Illya> begins airing

<Magical Girl Prisma Illya>, a Tokusatsu produced by Shinji Productions with Shinji as writer, supervisor, and Director of the first two episodes, is a very special case.

Despite being called a work by Shinji Matou, after filming the first two episodes, Shinji's attitude towards "Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya" was basically laissez-faire.

However, if we're talking about a Tsuburaya Productions work... <Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya>'s story style also carries a strong flavor of Shinji Matou.