Bandai's investigator was completely baffled. He had no idea what was going on.
As part of the work assigned by the company, he was supposed to hand out questionnaires to the audience watching FSN today. The data would be an important basis for the company's upcoming promotional plans.
But to his frustration, after the movie ended, the audience stayed in the theater and showed no sign of leaving.
At long last, one audience member came out, but he didn't pay the investigator any attention. Instead, he rushed to the service counter.
"Could the movie have been so bad that they're demanding refunds?"
But the investigator quickly dismissed that guess, because the audience member had actually picked up several movie tickets at the box office.
Soon, it wasn't just that one person. Several more people left the theater and bought tickets.
Judging by their conversations and the new tickets they'd bought, these people seemed to be... getting ready to watch FSN again?!
"This..."
The investigator was stunned by what he was seeing.
It wasn't unusual for people to watch a movie twice, but watching the same movie twice in a row—and seeing so many people do it together—was something the investigator had never seen before.
"This movie's going to defy the heavens!"
The investigator was thrilled. He quickly pulled out his phone and told his supervisor what was happening in the theater.
This wasn't happening only at this one cinema. Similar things were taking place at many theaters holding advance screenings of FSN.
Apart from a small number of die-hard fans, most of the people watching twice in a row were young magi.
They'd been so engrossed in the movie the first time around that they had to watch it again to finish the "homework" assigned by their families.
Although these people were watching FSN twice out of necessity, Bandai's investigators and theater staff across the country saw the number of people passionately enjoying the film as an unmistakable sign that it was going to be a hit.
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"Okay, I understand. Sorry for the trouble, Miss Udagawa."
Shinji hung up and paced around the living room twice. The mixed look of worry and hope on his face slowly gave way to calm.
Since FSN had opened in only twenty-five theaters, Udagawa Nao had informed Shinji of its opening-day box-office figures early the next morning.
But the numbers were nothing to write home about. FSN hadn't even made the day's top twenty.
Compared to the blockbusters Master Shinji remembered, the results were downright pitiful.
Fortunately, the other news he'd heard at the same time had lifted his spirits.
There hadn't been many people watching the film, but the audience response had been excellent. Nearly a third of the viewers had chosen to watch it a second time immediately after the first screening.
As for the 1,543 questionnaires Bandai had collected, 1,183 respondents had rated it "Excellent," another 192 had rated it "Good," and fewer than fifteen had considered it "Unsatisfactory."
Judging by audience word of mouth alone, FSN was a runaway success.
Not every movie could turn good reviews into box-office returns, but FSN's outstanding reception at preview and advance screenings gave it a strong case for more promotional resources.
Udagawa Nao had made it clear over the phone: as long as FSN maintained its current reception, Bandai would increase its promotional support.
That was good news, but how much Bandai's cautious strategy would actually allow them to increase their support remained an open question.
"Ugh, I really don't have enough say in this."
Master Shinji scratched his head in frustration. It was awful not having control over what happened next.
"Shinji."
"Grandpa?"
Hearing his grandfather call, Shinji turned toward the living room entrance.
"My good grandson, you've done very well. Much better than I expected." Matou Zouken smiled as he leaned on his cane. "You made a wonderful movie. From the perspective of an ordinary person like me, it's good enough to go down in history. When I watched it, I didn't want to leave the theater for even a second."
"Grandpa..."
Shinji stared at his grandfather for a while before speaking. "Didn't you leave halfway through because the sound system was too loud and spend half an hour outside?"
"Heh heh. You should be a little more understanding of an old man's heart."
Matou Zouken wasn't at all embarrassed at being called out by his grandson. He tapped his cane lightly.
Looking at Matou Zouken, who was acting like a little kid, Shinji shook his head helplessly. "Forget it... Thanks for supporting me, Grandpa."
Without Matou Zouken's unconditional support, Shinji would never have had the chance to make a movie at his age, no matter how talented he was.
Shinji felt nothing but gratitude toward a grandfather who had done so much for him.
"Don't put so much pressure on yourself," Matou Zouken added. "You're still young. Even if you fail, you'll have another chance to start over."
"I understand."
Shinji nodded.
His youth really was his greatest advantage. Even if FSN became a complete flop, he could keep working in the industry with his mage special-effects team, build up his experience, and then make his way back into directing.
Director Sakamoto Koichi, who had worked in the tokusatsu industry in Shinji's previous life, had followed that very path. And Shinji had an advantage over Sakamoto: at least he was far better at writing dramatic scenes.
Although Shinji had planned his fallback long ago, he was still anxious. Even though he was a celebrated prodigy at the Clock Tower, he was, at heart, an ordinary person.
His biggest problem was that he had nowhere to vent his anxiety or let off steam.
"If only I were still at the Clock Tower..."
Shinji muttered to himself, sounding a little envious.
If he were still at the Clock Tower, he could easily pick up a pretty young mage and spend three days and nights fooling around with her to blow off all his stress. Then he could wait for the film's opening-weekend box-office numbers.
But Master Shinji was in Fuyuki City now, with elders watching over him, his younger sister keeping an eye on him, and Artoria and Red A among others keeping tabs on him too.
Under pressure from every direction, Master Shinji was too concerned about his dignity to live the life of indulgence he'd enjoyed in Britain.
"So there's only one answer. I need to go find..."
Before Shinji could finish, Matou Zouken tossed him a newspaper.
It was an academic paper published specifically for magi.
"Since you're this anxious, this should help you relax a little."
"What?"
Shinji unfolded the paper and immediately spotted the bold headline on the front page—
<On the Feasibility of Implementing Jewel Magecraft Spells in the Movie FSN>.
"Pfft—!"
Master Shinji's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"W... What?!"
"...Through the movie, we can clearly see Director Matou Shinji's mastery of the Mysteries. The various ways Jewel Magecraft can develop are vividly portrayed in the film."
"Take the scene where Tohsaka Rin freezes Berserker. From the magic circle alone, we can identify three different combinations of gemstone properties, as well as..."
Shinji set the newspaper down and pinched the bridge of his nose.
When he made the movie, it had never occurred to him that a mage might analyze its magecraft from the perspective of traditional magecraft.
It was like a scientist watching Iron Man and then writing an academic paper titled The Role of Palladium in Cold Nuclear Fusion.
"This feels... unreal."
Shinji shook his head helplessly. A scientist finding a basis for scientific research in a work of fantasy—could there be anything more absurd?
There could!
Based on Shinji's "shallow" knowledge of magecraft, this paper actually had merit. Magi who studied Jewel Magecraft, like those of the Tohsaka family, could genuinely learn something from it.
And yet the director and producer who'd led the film project had no idea. That was what made this whole thing truly ridiculous!
"Who wrote this article... Oh, I know her."
When Shinji saw "Kuonji Azu" listed as the author, an image of a short-haired girl immediately came to mind.
Though the Matou family had no particular connection with the Kuonji family, Shinji had been a Type-Moon fan before he transmigrated. There was no way he wouldn't know this important character from Mahoyo.
"Shinji, do you know the Kuonji girl?" Matou Zouken asked with a knowing smile.
Shinji shrugged. "Well, Miss Aozaki Touko mentioned her. She's friends with her younger sister."
"I see."
Hearing that his grandson hadn't gotten involved in any sort of romance with the young girl, Matou Zouken quickly lost interest in the author herself.
"Although this Magecraft Journal doesn't have a large circulation, it's quite influential among magi in Japan." Zouken pointed to the newspaper. "Now that this article's come out, most magi in Japan will go see the movie."
"That would be nice."
Hearing his grandfather's words, Master Shinji couldn't help imagining the possibilities.
Even if there were only a few tens of thousands of magi in Japan, if all of them went to see the movie, that could still add tens of millions of yen to the box office.
But FSN was still in its advance-screening phase, with hardly any screenings available. Under those circumstances, a mass turnout by magi might be enough to convince Bandai to change its cautious distribution strategy.
And with the people who'd seen the film spreading the word to those around them, there could well be a ripple effect. After all, even the most reclusive magi had their own social circles.
Having lived through the film industry's development in his previous life, Shinji knew better than anyone how powerful word of mouth could be for a good movie.
"Looks like those old fogies who obsess over magecraft aren't completely useless after all."
At that thought, the article in Master Shinji's hands looked much more appealing to him. He even felt a good deal more fond of Miss Kuonji Azu.
She'd given FSN some free publicity!
In fact, word of mouth about the movie spread far better than Shinji had imagined.
Far away in Tokyo, Shibamatsu walked into the university looking utterly listless.
Yesterday, he'd watched the same movie twice in a row. Then he'd had to endure all sorts of questions from the old man at home, so he hadn't gotten much sleep. His head was full of magecraft, Servants, and the Holy Grail.
Shibamatsu had even dreamed that he became a Master, only to be sent to meet the Counter Force by some Father Mapi who gave him a Black Tiger Steals the Heart as soon as the war began...
"It's all that damn movie's fault!"
Shibamatsu complained as he trudged across campus, rubbing his hair.
"It's driving me crazy! It's all I can think about!"
He said that, but if Shibamatsu had the chance to choose again, he would still go watch FSN.
The movie had been that good.
Of course, it would've been even better without the annoying homework assigned by the old man at home.
"Hey, Chihira."
A few classmates suddenly caught up from behind.
One of them jumped up and slung an arm around Shibamatsu's shoulders.
"Back from your hometown? Want to play soccer together? Sakata saved us a spot."
"Not today." Shibamatsu pointed to the dark circles under his eyes. "I need to go back to the dorm and catch up on sleep."
"You didn't sleep well last night?" his classmate asked curiously. "That's unusual. You're normally the type who falls asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow."
"I went to see a movie, and I watched it twice in a row... It was intense..."
Since he had to keep magecraft secret, Shibamatsu only told them about the movie.
His friend teased him. "What kind of movie could get you so hooked? Did some popular idol appear naked?"
"That'd only give me nightmares!"
Shibamatsu rolled his eyes, then told them all about FSN.
Since it was a movie made by magi, Shibamatsu felt a certain sense of belonging to FSN now that he'd found a point of connection. He used every bit of praise he could think of to describe the film.
"Listen, this is definitely the best movie I've ever seen. You guys should go watch it too."
"Oh? Is it really that good?"
Hearing the usually levelheaded Shibamatsu say that, the other students were clearly interested.
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