Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

"It's not some dark horse at all! Older Brother getting the box office champion was completely expected!"

At the Matou Family's dining table, Sakura complained indignantly, tapping a newspaper.

"But Master is still a newcomer, right?" Artoria mumbled around a mouthful of puff pastry. "Isn't it normal for a newcomer with this kind of achievement to be called a dark horse?"

"You should finish eating before you talk."

Sakura shook her head helplessly, then looked up at her Older Brother.

"Older Brother, what do you think?"

Shinji, who was flipping through other newspapers, replied without looking up, "Whether it's a dark horse or not doesn't matter, as long as they say good things about me. Hurry up and look through the other papers."

Due to the highly developed entertainment industry, there were a vast number of entertainment newspapers in Japan, which made it quite troublesome for Shinji to find a specific article.

For this reason, Shinji had to enlist his family to help search, and even the Heroic Spirits in the house were roped in.

Except for Artoria, who was focused on eating, and Berserker, who couldn't turn pages, the other Heroic Spirits were mobilized by Shinji.

In the end, it was Yan Qing who first found the information Shinji was looking for amidst the sea of newspapers.

"Master, this is the negative review you were looking for, right?"

Little Yi Ge handed a newspaper to Shinji.

The column's headline read: White Bone Demon Teases Sima Yi, Wu Dalang Takes Over Lin Daiyu!! Having Movies Like This is the Sorrow of Japanese Cinema!!

"Hmph, they finally couldn't hold back, huh."

Seeing the slightly sensational headline, Shinji's lips curled into a slight smile.

As expected, facing the continuously rising box office of FSN, those film critics couldn't sit still.

"In that case, let the storm come even stronger!"

Master Shinji wore his signature "Just as planned.jpg" expression.

"Notify Ms. Utagawa and begin the flame war."

Chapter 31: Shinji: I Just Love Watching Others Rage Powerlessly

Although he said he would engage in a flame war with the film critics, Second Master never intended to confront them head-on.

Setting aside whether it was polite to verbally "comfort" the female relatives of their families, Shinji also didn't want to be seen as an arrogant junior by people in the industry at such a young age.

Moreover, Shinji was well aware of the Achilles' heel of those high-and-mighty film critics. They weren't afraid of verbal sparring; what they feared most was being ignored.

The best way to strike at these film critics wasn't to point out where they were wrong, but to ignore their comments and directly praise the movies they disliked.

Therefore, on the evening the article was published, a carefully arranged interview by Bandai was broadcast on TV Asahi's evening news.

The television station used a live feed from the cinema, specifically capturing shots of ordinary moviegoers pouring out of the theater and interviewing them.

In front of the reporter's camera, these audiences, who had thoroughly enjoyed the movie, didn't hide their love for FSN.

"FSN is amazing! Saber's story made me cry!"

"I've never seen such exciting fight scenes, the film crew is truly incredible!"

"This movie is more brilliant than all the movies I've seen in my entire life combined!!"

"I love Saber, a young King Arthur is just fantastic!"

Seeing the television crew interviewing them, these young viewers excitedly crowded in front of the camera, shouting their viewing experiences.

"Hmm, looks like the program effect is good."

Master Shinji nodded with satisfaction as he watched the news.

"Master, did you hire extras? Isn't that cinema in Fuyuki City?" Cú Chulainn asked quietly.

Having been following Shinji around to help with promotions recently, the Heroic Spirits had also learned about various publicity methods.

"Master, lying is wrong," Artoria reminded him righteously.

"Hmph." Medusa didn't speak but coldly pushed up her glasses, her gaze towards Shinji filled with disdain.

"This isn't lying, it's just a promotional tactic!" Shinji retorted, feeling the slightly pointed gazes of his Servants. "Besides, how could an interview be rehearsed in advance?"

Shinji would never say that he used Suggestion Magic to make these people speak according to his wishes.

Leaning against the wall and drinking tea, Yan Qing offered a fair assessment: "As the saying goes, all's fair in war. Besides, that organization of film critics started this war, so our counterattack is perfectly reasonable."

"Exactly, exactly! Master, I think the best counterattack is to make a movie that leaves them speechless! For the next movie, let me, the most skilled actor among Heroic Spirits, be the protagonist and shut them up!"

Cú Chulainn confidently pointed a thumb at himself, revealing a brilliant white smile.

"You?"

"Forget it, forget it."

"Lancer, did you also read that comic?"

"You'd be lucky to even play a comedic sidekick,"

"Hmph, I admire your courage, peasant."

"Lancer, have you been eating too much dog food to be spouting nonsense?"

Everyone present showed disdain for Cú Chulainn's self-recommendation.

"Eh?! Why!!"

Cú Chulainn felt deeply hurt by everyone's reaction.

"That's because your skills aren't up to par yet."

Shinji verbally teased the big doggy, but in his heart, he was already calculating the next steps.

[Those film critics should understand my challenge, right? They should take action.]

As expected, on the second day after the news broadcast, the film critic who had written the review calling FSN "Wu Dalang taking over Lin Daiyu" published another article criticizing FSN in the newspaper.

Bandai, unwilling to be outdone, also bought newspaper space to promote FSN with various soft articles. These articles often featured interviews with ordinary audience members praising FSN, and also thoughtfully reported FSN's steadily rising box office numbers daily.

Furthermore, under Second Master's unscrupulous direction, this content was placed on the same page as the articles criticizing FSN, creating a stark contrast.

Naturally, the film critics exploded when they saw it.

We film critics said this movie is garbage, why are so many people still watching it!! This generation of audience is no good!! We must correct this immediately!!

Thus, various articles criticizing FSN quickly filled the entertainment sections of major newspapers. The content of these articles was almost uniformly about how terrible FSN was.

"The movie FSN is simply a terrible disaster, and the director named Matou Shinji is a complete sadist!"

This was the first sentence Sakura saw after opening the newspaper.

The film critic named Kouichi Ippei had specifically written an article criticizing FSN in his review column.

"I saw FSN several weeks ago. To be blunt, the movie's excessively noisy sound and chaotic plot are on the level of abuse, completely exceeding the limits of human endurance!!"

"As I said in the title, this movie is just a messy hot pot of oden!! Never mind that King Arthur couldn't possibly be a girl, just having several characters from vastly different historical periods mixed into one movie is enough to cause confusion and disgust!!

"There's no logic, countless plot holes, and it's all just pretentious nonsense. I really, really, really, really hate this movie!!"

In his lengthy review, Kouichi Ippei not only denigrated FSN to the extreme but also gave it an ultra-low score of 1 point.

Then, Sakura picked up several other newspapers that Shinji had placed separately. Without exception, they were all about negative reviews of FSN.

"This incompetent movie can destroy all your good impressions of cinema. It's a movie without soul or emotion; after watching it, you'll only feel like you've wasted over two hours of your time."

Another film critic, whose review was published in the "Chōhō," also mocked FSN to the fullest, giving it a pitiful score of 2 points.

As for the "Yomiuri Shimbun," it was slightly better, but in an environment where the maximum score was 10 points, this score of 3.5 was still unacceptable.

"Adaptation is not random creation! This movie is not only boring but also full of bad taste. The entire film crew should apologize to the entire British people!"

Hmm, this sounds like a Sixer scholar.

Sakura looked at other newspapers and found that without exception, they were all critiques of FSN by film critics. Words like "noise," "stupid," and "chaotic" almost occupied the newspaper pages.

"I can tell those guys really hate your movie, Older Brother."

Sakura looked at her Older Brother, only to find him smiling.

"Older Brother, you're not really a sadist, are you?" Sakura said with a hint of disgust. "Does it make you happy to be insulted like this?"

"Of course not. I'm just laughing at how brainless these film critics are."

Shinji wagged his finger, his triumphant demeanor like that of a perfectly calculating Zhuge Liang.

"If they really disliked the movie, they should have remained silent instead of jumping to conclusions and shouting nonsense like a cornered dog."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "But, movies that were criticized like this in the past basically all flopped."

Shinji let out two cold chuckles in response.

"Because those movies were so-called art films, completely different from commercial films. Without the praise of film critics, audiences wouldn't watch those obscure films."

Although FSN faced widespread condemnation in terms of professional reputation, Master Shinji wasn't worried at all.

Movies like FSN, with extremely low professional reviews but sky-high box office numbers, were not uncommon in his previous life.

The most classic example was "Star Wars," which had almost become a religious culture in Europe and America. This movie, which was not well-received before its release, slapped the faces of film critics so hard.

After 2010, in that era of extreme internet development, film critics had to昧着良心 (act against their conscience) to praise commercial films they disliked just to make a living.

Otherwise, online trolls alone could drown them.

In this timeline, the internet was not yet highly developed, and the influence of film critics was much greater than before Shinji's transmigration.

But Second Master, knowing these guys were merely paper tigers, didn't care.

"Sakura, you need to understand that criticism from film critics isn't necessarily a bad thing; rather, it's something we can exploit for publicity. Controversy is always better than being ignored."

Shinji patted Sakura's hair, earnestly teaching his sister.

"The main audience for FSN is teenagers. People of this age are very rebellious; they don't believe in any authority and will even question authority's viewpoints... Ouch."

Shinji pulled his hand back after being bitten.

Sakura smiled "kindly," "My dear Older Brother~~ Are you calling me rebellious?"

[Isn't this still rebellious? You've even got bite marks.]

However, even the audacious Master Shinji was unwilling to provoke Sakura when she was angry. It was as dangerous as stealing all of Artoria's food while she was eating.

So, Master Shinji decisively explained, "Ahem, the authority I'm referring to are those bastards, the film critics."

"These people probably don't realize that the fiercer they criticize, the more interested our Audience will become in the movie, especially with the box office continuously climbing."

As he spoke, Shinji glanced at the newspapers on the table. Those articles unanimously mentioned the dissatisfaction of the Audience who praised FSN.

Although they didn't directly insult them, the text revealed a sense that these people had poor taste.

"Hmm, those old guys just don't understand what young people are thinking."

Master Shinji's lips curved slightly upwards.

Young people hated it the most when old folks with a generation gap lectured them about their tastes.

If it were their own elders, they might tolerate it a little, but why should these outsiders, who had nothing to do with them, interfere?

Thanks to the Japanese media environment that valued print, these articles would be seen by many young people.

Master Shinji could even imagine some young Audience members going to see the movie out of spite, simply to defy authority (the film critics).

"Notify Bandai and tell them to increase the movie's promotion. Don't stop."

Thinking of FSN's ever-increasing box office, Master Shinji felt incredibly pleased.

"Just imagine them jumping up and down in frustration, yet still unable to stop FSN's box office. Their impotent rage... tsk tsk."

"You're truly despicable, Matou Shinji."

Red A, who had been watching the show, coldly quipped.

"Thank you for the compliment, Heroic Spirit Guard... Sir."