Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

The Bandai investigator was completely bewildered, unable to figure out what was happening.

According to the company's assigned task, he was supposed to hand out questionnaires to the audience watching FSN today. This data would be crucial for the company's upcoming promotional plans.

What frustrated him was that after the movie ended, the audience remained in the theater, showing no signs of leaving.

He finally managed to get one audience member to come out, but the person completely ignored him and rushed towards the service counter.

"Could it be that the movie was too bad, and they're trying to get refunds?"

However, the investigator quickly dismissed his own guess because the audience member actually picked up several movie tickets from the ticket counter.

Following that, it wasn't just this one audience member; several more began leaving the theater to buy tickets.

From their discussions and the information about the newly purchased tickets, it seemed these audience members were... planning to watch FSN again?!

"This..."

The investigator was shocked by this phenomenon.

It wasn't uncommon for people to rewatch a movie, but watching the same movie twice in a row, especially with so many people doing it together, was something the investigator had never seen before.

"This movie is going to defy heaven!"

The investigator felt a surge of excitement. He quickly took out his phone and reported what was happening in the theater to his superior.

The same situation wasn't limited to just this one cinema; similar incidents were occurring in many theaters that had advance screenings of FSN.

Aside from a small number of fervent fans, most of these audience members who were rewatching the movie were young Mages.

They had been too engrossed in the movie the first time to have time to finish their "homework" at home, which necessitated a second viewing.

Although these people were rewatching FSN twice out of necessity, from the perspective of Bandai's investigators and theater staff across the country, the fact that so many people were passionately enjoying FSN was undoubtedly a sign of the movie's impending success.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

"Alright, I understand. Thank you for your trouble, Miss Udagawa."

Shinji hung up the phone and paced back and forth in the living room. The mixed emotions on his face slowly gave way to calmness.

Because only 25 theaters were holding advance screenings, FSN's opening day box office data from yesterday was relayed to Shinji by Udagawa Nao early this morning.

Looking at the box office results, FSN's single-day box office figures were far from outstanding; it didn't even make it into the top 20 on the daily box office charts.

Compared to the blockbuster hits in Shinji's memory, this performance was truly dismal.

Fortunately, another piece of news that arrived simultaneously could lift Shinji's spirits.

Although not many people watched the movie, the audience feedback was excellent. Nearly a third of the audience chose to immediately watch a second showing after the first.

As for the 1543 questionnaires collected by Bandai, a whopping 1183 people gave an [Excellent] rating, 192 gave [Good], and less than 15 people rated it [Unsatisfactory].

Judging solely by audience reception, FSN could be described as a massive hit.

While not every movie can translate good word-of-mouth into box office success, the extremely high praise from the test screenings and advance showings undoubtedly provided FSN with the capital to secure more promotional resources.

Udagawa Nao had already stated on the phone that as long as FSN could maintain this level of reception, Bandai would definitely increase its promotional investment.

This was good news, but the extent to which Bandai's conservative strategy would increase promotional resources remained an unknown.

"Sigh, as expected, I still don't have enough influence."

Shinji scratched his head in frustration. Not having control of the initiative felt truly awful.

"Shinji."

"Grandfather?"

Hearing his grandfather call him, Shinji turned his head towards the living room entrance.

"Good grandson, you've done very well, much better than I ever expected," Matou Zouken said with a smile, leaning on his cane. "Your movie is brilliant. At least from my perspective as an ordinary viewer, this film is destined for history. When I was watching it, I didn't want to leave the theater for even a second."

"Grandfather..."

Shinji stared at his grandfather for a while before speaking, "Didn't you leave halfway through for about half an hour because the sound was too loud?"

"Heh heh~ You have to be considerate of an old man's heart, you know~"

Matou Zouken showed no embarrassment at being exposed by his grandson, tapping his cane lightly.

Seeing Matou Zouken acting like a child, Shinji shook his head helplessly. "Never mind... Thank you for your support, Grandfather."

If it weren't for Matou Zouken's unconditional support, no matter how talented Shinji was, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to make a movie at his age.

For a grandfather who had sacrificed so much for him, Shinji felt nothing but gratitude.

"Don't put so much pressure on yourself," Matou Zouken added. "You're still young. Even if you fail, you'll have opportunities to try again."

"I understand."

Shinji nodded.

Being young was indeed Shinji's greatest advantage. Even if FSN were to be a complete flop, he could still rely on his special effects team for Mages to slowly hone his skills in the industry, accumulate experience, and then make a comeback as a Director.

Sakamoto Koichi, a Director from the tokusatsu world in Shinji's previous life, had followed a similar path. Moreover, Shinji had a more obvious advantage over Sakamoto: at least his drama scenes were far superior to that guy's.

Although Shinji had already planned his fallback, he still felt anxious. Even though he was a renowned prodigy from the Clock Tower, he was still a normal person at heart.

Shinji's biggest problem was his inability to vent his anxiety and find an outlet for his stress.

"If only I were still at the Clock Tower..."

Shinji muttered to himself with a hint of envy.

If he were still at the Clock Tower, he could easily charm a pretty Mage girl, spend three days and three nights with her to release all his stress, and then wait for the opening weekend box office results.

But Master Shinji was in Fuyuki City now, with elders watching from above, his sister supervising from below, and Artoria and Red A keeping an eye on him in between.

Facing pressure from all sides, Master Shinji, who still cared about his reputation, couldn't possibly indulge in the decadent lifestyle he had in England.

"Then there's only one answer, I need to find..."

Before Shinji could finish speaking, Matou Zouken threw a newspaper at him.

It was an academic newspaper specifically for Mages.

"Seeing how anxious you are, this should help you relax a bit."

"What?"

Shinji opened the newspaper and immediately saw the bold headline on the front page: "On the Feasibility of Implementing Jewel Magecraft Formulas in the Movie FSN."

"Pfft—!"

Master Shinji's eyes were about to pop out.

"W... What?!!"

Chapter 29: Rejection from Toho

"...Through the movie, we can fully see Director Matou Shinji's mastery of the mystical. The various developmental models of Jewel Magecraft are expressed vividly in the film."

"Just looking at the scene where Tohsaka Rin freezes Berserker, we can see the formulas for combining the properties of three different jewels through the magic circle, as well as..."

Shinji put down the newspaper, reached out, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

When he was filming, he truly never expected that Mages would analyze the magecraft in his movie from a traditional Mage's perspective.

It was like a scientist writing a paper titled "The Role of Palladium in Nuclear Fusion" after watching Iron Man.

"It feels... surreal."

Shinji shook his head helplessly. For scientists to find theoretical basis for scientific research in fantasy movies, could there be anything more absurd in the world?

Yes!

Based on Master Shinji's "shallow" Mage knowledge, this paper was actually valuable. Mages who studied Jewel Magecraft like the Tohsaka family could genuinely learn from it.

Yet, he, the director and producer who led the film project, was completely unaware of this. Now that was the most absurd part!

"Who wrote this article... Oh, it's an acquaintance."

Seeing the name "Kuonji Azu" in the author's column, Shinji's mind immediately conjured the image of a certain short-haired girl.

Although the Matou Family and the Kuonji Family had no connection, Shinji was a Moon Cell veteran before his transmigration. How could he not know this important character from the Mahou Tsukai no Yoru story?

"Shinji, you know the Kuonji girl?" Matou Zouken asked with a smile.

Shinji shrugged and replied, "Well, I heard Miss Aozaki Touko mention her. She and her sister are good friends."

"Is that so."

Hearing that his grandson hadn't had any romantic entanglements with the young lady, Matou Zouken's attention immediately shifted away from the author herself.

"Although the circulation of this Magecraft Journal isn't high, it has considerable influence in the Japanese Mage community," Zouken said, pointing at the newspaper. "Once this article is published, most Mages in Japan will watch this movie."

"That's not bad."

Hearing his grandfather's words, Master Shinji couldn't help but fantasize.

Even if Mages are few in number in Japan, there are still tens of thousands of them.

Normally, even if all of them watched the movie, the increase in box office revenue would be at most tens of millions of yen.

But the problem was that FSN was still in its preview stage, with very few screenings. In such a situation, the collective viewing by Mages might become a decisive force that would make Bandai change its conservative distribution strategy.

Coupled with the influence these moviegoers would have on those around them, it could lead to a ripple effect, as even the most reclusive Mages have their own social circles.

Having experienced movie development in his previous life, Shinji knew very well how terrifying the power of word-of-mouth was for a good movie.

"It seems those old fuddy-duddies who are always thinking about Mages aren't entirely useless after all."

With that thought, Master Shinji immediately found the article in his hand much more pleasing to the eye. He also developed a much better impression of the young lady named "Kuonji Azu."

She had essentially promoted FSN for him for free!

In fact, the movie's word-of-mouth spread was far better than Shinji had imagined.

Far from Matou Shinji, in Tokyo, Shibamatsu walked into the university listlessly.

Yesterday, he not only watched the same movie twice in a row, but he also had to face his old man's endless questioning after watching it, which resulted in him not sleeping well at night. His mind was filled with magecraft, Servants, and the Holy Grail.

Shibamatsu even dreamed that he had become a Master, and at the beginning of the war, he was sent to meet the Counter Force by Father Mapi with a "Black Tiger Heart Punch"...

"It's all that damn movie's fault!"

Shibamatsu complained, rubbing his hair as he walked carelessly across the campus.

"This is driving me crazy! My mind is full of it right now!"

That's what he said, but if Shibamatsu had another chance, he'd still choose to watch FSN.

How could he not, when the movie was so amazing?

Of course, it would have been even better if his annoying old man at home hadn't assigned him homework.

"Hey, Chihira."

Suddenly, a few classmates caught up from behind.

One of them jumped up and threw an arm around Shibamatsu's shoulders.

"You're back from your hometown? Wanna go play soccer? Sakata's already saving us a spot."

"I think I'll pass," Shibamatsu said, pointing to the faint 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?" the other asked curiously. "That's strange, aren't you the type who falls asleep the moment your head hits the pillow?"

"Because I went to see a movie, and watched it twice in a row... It was so intense..."

Because he had to keep the Magecraft a secret, Shibamatsu only explained the part about watching the movie.

His friend teased him directly, "What movie has you so engrossed? Could it be some popular idol appearing Naked?"

"That would just make my eyes go blind!"

Shibamatsu rolled his eyes and then explained FSN in detail.

Since it was a movie made by a Mage, Shibamatsu felt a sense of belonging towards FSN, finding a connection. He used all sorts of praise to describe the movie.

"Listen to me, this is absolutely the best movie I've ever seen in my life. You guys should go watch it too."

"Oh? Is it really that good?"

Hearing the usually steady Shibamatsu say this, the college students clearly became interested.