Impressions from the Venice Film Festival

"Singing and playing instruments all at the same time, isn't that annoying?!"

Old Cui, who had been attacked, was too weak to speak and could only utter sounds of utter helplessness.

At this moment, Saber on the television screen finally moved. She raised her knight's sword high and swung it downwards, uttering her only line in the entire series:

"Ex-calibur!!!"

The black light filled everyone's vision, and the immense magic power surged wildly like a tidal wave, sweeping across the entire mirror space.

The chaotic and dark magic instantly and mercilessly devoured everything, even the barrier of the mirror space was shattered by this attack.

Just when all hope had been shattered and everyone was facing an unprecedented despair—

Click.

A soft unlocking sound rang out, and something was released from Illya's body.

Wings of light burst forth from Illya's back; a new Illya is about to emerge—

[Wings of light appeared behind Illya!]

[One wave subsides only for another to rise!]

What exactly is causing these successive unexpected events?!

[Oh my god!!! Σ(?д?|||)??]

[Is that girl in red— Illya?!]

[Can this familiar yet unfamiliar figure defeat the invincible Saber!]

[How exactly should we seal the cards?]

[Go for it, Illya!]

Don't lose, Magical Girl!

[Next episode! Magical Girl Illya! The End of the Blank Night!]

[Compact Full Open again next week!!]

"Damn it! Don't cut it off at the most exciting part! You damned chapter-cutting dog!!" *N

As viewers listened to the preview for the next episode on television, countless people across Japan simultaneously let out wails and curses.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Shinji, far away in Italy, was unaware that he carried the brunt of the resentment from all the viewers of the anime <Magical Girl Prisma Illya> in Japan.

At this moment, Second Master was thoroughly enjoying attending the Venice Film Festival.

He no longer had a sister who made him mind his image, nor Miss Lizzie who kept a close eye on him, nor Little Secretary pried into his past, present, and future.

Shinji, now living in the water city, has completely entered a state of letting loose.

After all, Shinji's trip to Venice was all about enjoying the fruits of his labor; why wouldn't he have a blast?

Venice at this moment is like a giant fruit buffet. If Shinji didn't take advantage of his status as a world-class Director to enjoy the fruits, he would feel like he was missing out.

Of course, even when it comes to eating fruit, Shinji wouldn't act recklessly and without any restraint or boundaries.

However, this has nothing to do with the size of the fruit. As long as it is ripe, whether it is a papaya or a cherry, it is within Second Master's hunting range.

Shinji's criteria for choosing fruit depended more on the status of the fruit he was approaching.

He's just here for fun; he doesn't want to take a girlfriend or an actress home.

Therefore, Shinji immediately rejected those who had ulterior motives towards his wealth, or those who wanted to get roles by taking off their clothes.

Although with Shinji's Magecraft skills, he could definitely make his opponent completely devour him and still dazedly say "Thank you~".

But this time, Second Master is here to relax, to rest, and to have fun; there's no point in scheming and intrigue.

Fortunately, during this time of year in Venice, there's not much else to see but plenty of young girls chasing after celebrities.

Select a few pure fangirls who won't be responsible for anything in the future and won't even think about entering the entertainment industry, and have a purely physical, non-emotional hormonal exchange with them to calm your restless heart.

Simply put, Shinji is planning to give his son a break.

This is essential for Shinji, who hasn't eaten much meat since returning to Fuyuki City.

People go crazy staying at home for too long, and chickens get suffocated from being cooped up in their pants for too long.

Unfortunately, even this small wish was not something Shinji could properly fulfill.

Because the day after the opening ceremony, Chloe arrived in Venice, carrying her resentment and questions for Old Karuta.

Shinji almost got killed by Miss Lizzie!

Having already learned the truth from Sakura, she no longer doubted the affair between Old Karuta and Shinji; she was just using this as an excuse to make a fuss.

Shinji also saw through Miss Lizzie's methods, and his own unbridled desires and lust were also getting out of control under Miss Lizzie's instigation.

Thus, this farce of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide eventually evolved into an 18+ erotic little story of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.

On the third day of the Venice Film Festival, Chloe became Director Shinji Matou's only female companion at the festival.

Shinji was somewhat annoyed by Chloe, who had turned his fruit buffet into a pineapple set meal.

So even though the two appeared together at film festivals and went to the movies together, they really only went to the movies together.

Let's go to the movie theater together, then each of us can choose a movie we want to watch, and after we're done, we'll meet up again and leave together.

Shinji explanation for this bizarre move.

"There are too many films at the film festival; in order to find good projects, we need to split up!"

Then he got beaten up by Chloe so badly that he almost had to "split up and act separately".

Despite her anger, Chloe knew that Shinji was right. With such a great platform as the film festival, it would be a waste not to use it to distribute good films.

This is similar to Panjiayuan in Beijing; even knowing that 99% of the stuff there is junk, it still can't stop people from going there to find bargains.

In the end, I finally managed to go to the film festival with Shinji Matou, but the movie we actually watched together was our own <Ultraseven X>.

This really annoyed Chloe.

It's not that Ultraseven X is bad, but rather that the story is simply not suitable for dating.

Unlike the scheming Chloe, Venice filmgoers gave <Ultraseven X> very high praise.

Although <Ultraseven X> was not the opening film of the festival, this film, which brought a cyberpunk trend to Venice, was highly anticipated and the first screening was a sell-out.

In the film, Cú Chulainn's melancholic eyes and his ability to rise again and again in the face of setbacks made him just as charismatic on screen as Diarmuid during the previous Mission: Mission Impossible —provided we disregard his minotaur-like beauty mark.

Equally impressive as Cú Chulainn's work is the thought-provoking storytelling of Ultraseven X.

Unlike the commercial nature of previous Type-Moon works, this one has a very heavy theme, and even at the end of the story, none of the characters in the film are able to find redemption.

The dark and brutal plot perfectly suited the tastes of European audiences who have a penchant for art-house films, and within just a few days, <Ultraseven X> became one of the most popular films at the entire film festival.

[To be honest, I didn't like the ending of the movie. The Director and screenwriter could have easily written a happy ending, but instead deliberately plunged the world back into chaos to conclude the film.]

[But I was still shocked by the ending. I could even feel the protagonist's helplessness in the final scene. He freed humanity from the shackles that bound them, but at the same time, he caused humanity to lose stability and peace.]

[If viewers can shift their focus from the dazzling, dreamlike city to explore the essence of this story, they will be left with an impression more shocking than light pollution—the ugliness of human nature.]

This is a film review of <Ultraseven X> published in a local Venice newspaper.

Unlike previous works that were heavily criticized by European media, this time <Ultraseven X> has received quite positive reviews from these arts and culture media professionals.

Even Cú Chulainn benefited from this, becoming one of the most talked-about male stars during the film festival.

This should have been a good sign, but the positive media reviews during the film festival caused Shinji some concern.

It's not that Second Master is a masochist; he used to scold him, but he didn't this time because he felt guilty.

As Dennis previously mentioned, the higher the media rating of a film, the lower its chances of winning an award.

If Shinji hadn't been certain that the European media genuinely liked the film, he would have suspected that these unscrupulous media outlets were deliberately trying to smear <Ultraseven X>.

The saying "one fan is worth ten haters" is no joke.

To avoid overdoing it, Shinji had to change his promotional strategy.

First, he kept the Big Doggy silent, refusing to give any media interviews during the film festival.

Then Cú Chulainn was frequently sent to various cinemas to watch movies, and these were all highly anticipated art films.

This was all to leave the judges with a good impression that Cú Chulainn respected them and the art of cinema.

This meant that Cú Chulainn had to watch at least four to five movies every day, and they were all movies that could put him to sleep.

After several days, Cú Chulainn hadn't grasped the appeal of the art films at all; all he knew was which cinema in Venice had the softest sofas, perfect for catching up on sleep.

"Master, if I am guilty, please punish me with Command Spell. Don't make me go to the movies anymore; I've almost slept through a whole year's worth of afternoon naps!"

In response to Cú Chulainn's complaints, Shinji calmly raised his right hand.

"In the name of the Command Spell, Lancer, let's go see a movie! An art film, one of those!"

"I may no longer be human, but Master, you really are a dog!"

Chapter 302 Experiences at the Venice Film Festival

Under the pressure of the Command Spell, Cú Chulainn was forced to go to the movie theater every day to sleep—oops, to watch movies.

In Shinji's plan, it doesn't matter whether Cú Chulainn sleeps, watches a movie, or scrolls through his phone and fishes online in the theater.

As long as he wasn't caught by reporters molesting female audience members during a movie screening, Cú Chulainn could do whatever he wanted in the theater.

The goal wasn't to send Lancer to the movies; Shinji's aim was to portray Cú Chulainn as a muscular, artistic young man.

Removing Cú Chulainn's previous commercial image and reducing the negative impression he had on the judges would greatly help him win the Best Actor award.

After all, in the eyes of those judges, the awards they evaluate are for art, not money.

Although the Venice Film Festival doesn't have the same strong artistic atmosphere as the Cannes Film Festival in its promotional materials.

But how could the three major film festivals, all of which are just going through the motions, possibly not be "artistic"?

Unfortunately, during his few days in Venice, Shinji didn't experience much of an artistic atmosphere; all he sensed was the overwhelming stench of money beneath the surface of so-called art.

Putting everything else aside, the amount of money tourists have spent in Venice these past few days is enough to make any city envious.

People come to Venice to eat, drink, and use the facilities, and with so many tourists at the film festival, it's perfectly reasonable for businesses to raise prices a bit.

As for whether the quality of service and goods will increase due to the price...

Well, those who know, know.

Of course, while complaining about the current cost of living in Venice, which is comparable to Disney, Shinji will not forget his primary job.

Basically, during his time in Venice, he watched three to four films every day.

Shinji's biggest takeaway from these European films is that if Japan films are prone to melodramatic angst and India films are prone to dancing at the drop of a hat, then European films are definitely prone to taking off their clothes at the drop of a hat.

Although Shinji himself had complained about this before, this was the first time he had actually watched so many European films in such a concentrated manner.

At the same time, Shinji realized that his previous complaints were absolutely right!

Because of the different rating standards in different countries, Shinji really can't convey the details of these movies with specific descriptions.

But one thing is certain: the North American R-rated movies that everyone is familiar with are nothing compared to this chaotic mess.

In European films, it's commonplace to show close-ups of those indescribable organs.

Shinji also discovered a pattern: perhaps due to the relatively small differences between European countries, European films generally have a smaller scope.

So-called cinematic art is inextricably linked to the mundane affairs between men and women.

During his visit to the film festival, Shinji was approached more than once by European film Director or producers who asked him if he could license his 3D without glasses + Vibration technology, as they wanted to make explicit erotic films.

This reminded Shinji of a 3D erotic film, "Love 3D," which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in his previous life.

It's said that the lines to buy tickets on the day of the movie's premiere were comparable to those at train stations during China's Spring Festival travel rush, and the movie was even delayed by half an hour due to the large number of viewers.

Of course, these Europeans weren't the first filmmakers to apply to Shinji 3D technology collaboration, hoping to apply it to erotic films.

Previously, while he was in Shanghai, Director from Hong Kong approached Shinji, hoping to use 3D technology to film a version of the classic Chinese literary work, Jin Ping Mei.

Although it's not the famous "3D Sex and Zen," the content isn't too different.