Shocking! An ordinary person did *that* to King Arthur!
Azu calmly replied, "That... that's just because I'm the leader of the fan club."
"I saw that you set his information to 'special attention'," Aoko, still unwilling to give up on this gossip.
"Since Mr. Matou needs to contact our fan club, he'll contact me. Of course I have to set him as a special follower."
Azu's tone remained unchanged, but her ears turned slightly red.
Fortunately, the lighting was dim at night, and Aoko didn't notice this detail.
Not seeing it doesn't mean Aoko will let her friend off the hook, but unfortunately, Azu predicted Aoko's actions.
"The TV series has started, let's watch TV."
Aoko, however, refused to give up. She put her arm around Azu's shoulder and pressed her cheek against hers.
"No way, I'm more interested in your story with that Matou Family kid. Anyway, I've already seen the plot of the anime. Today they're definitely going to talk about Saber and Rider's school battle. Let's wait until they start fighting before we talk about it."
Based on the comparison between the movie and the previous episode of the TV series, most fans guessed what would happen in today's episode.
But this didn't decrease the number of viewers; in fact, it increased them.
After all, women fighting is both exciting and entertaining, so it's worth paying attention to.
Many viewers even planned to turn off the TV after watching Rider get wiped out by Saber's beam cannon.
However, the plot of the fourth episode exceeded everyone's expectations.
The plot development in the first half of the film is not much different from the movie.
Aside from Rin apologizing to Shirou at the beginning for Archer stabbing Shirou, there wasn't much new plot development.
It was Shinji Matou activated the barrier at the school, and it was still the entire student body that was in danger. It was still Shirou who used Command Spell to summon Saber.
Although the process of summoning Saber is slightly different, and strange skull-shaped monsters appear during the battle at school, the overall plot is no different from the movie version.
Until--
The highly anticipated Saber vs. Rider battle did not take place, because Rider had already died before the two even clashed.
Bang!
One punch.
Just that one punch.
Rider's head spun 720 degrees like an airplane propeller.
"Holy crap! What's going on?!"
"Wait a minute, why did Rider die?!"
"The great battle we were looking forward to? It's just gone like that? That's it? That's it?"
All the viewers sitting in front of their television sets watching the drama were taken aback by this sudden turn of events.
They didn't see who did it, but they were deeply shocked.
This is a Rider!
Rider, who fought Saber for three hundred rounds in the movie!
So he was instantly killed in one move by an unknown character?!
Some viewers didn't even realize what was happening and thought it was an illusion after Rider disappeared.
It wasn't until the True Magic circle was dispelled and the entire school disappeared from the red glow that the audience truly realized Rider had left the stage.
Moreover, the viewers became aware of something else—the plot of the TV series started to differ completely from that of the movie.
Is this the start of a new storyline?
"Is Caster really this strong? He was so weak in the movie."
"That's because Gilgamesh killed Caster in the movie, right? That monster could defeat most Heroic Spirit in one hit."
"I wonder how things will develop next?"
"Quickly, go online and post spoilers to tell those who dropped the show that they can come back! The plot is completely different from the movie version!"
All Fate fans are cheering. Although the action scenes they were looking forward to are gone, the new story direction makes them even happier.
Even many core Fate fans have expressed reservations about the TV drama's plot.
Ultimately, Shinji's rehash of this old dish was indeed rushed. If it had been released a few years later, even if it were a remake of the Fate Route, fans would still have enjoyed it.
Of course, not all viewers were happy about Rider's departure; Rider himself was not.
Smack
In the hotel, Rider turned off the television with a heartbroken expression.
Although Sakura arrogantly claimed that she wouldn't watch the drama because her role was too small, she actually couldn't resist the temptation of her brother's drama.
So every time a TV series aired, she would leave home under the pretext of going shopping and go to a hotel room to watch it with Medusa.
This thieving mentality of secretly watching TV outside behind her brother's back gave Sakura a unique sense of pleasure, making her enjoy this behavior immensely.
However, today's episode was an exception.
Even though the episode wasn't finished, neither she Medusa planned to watch any further.
Medusa is dead, what's the point of Matou Sakura even looking at her?
Even if I appear again in later episodes, it's only for a few seconds, so it's practically the same as not having any screen time at all.
"My scenes... are over."
Medusa sighed heavily.
Although she already knew the script, her frustrating exit still saddened her.
"I'm sorry, Sister Rider."
Sakura quickly comforted Rider.
"It's all my brother's fault. Let's go home and throw him in the non-combustible trash."
Sakura, her entire body emanating black mist, said, "That idiot brother not only threw our scenes into the OV version, but also created so many vicious plot points. I will absolutely not let him get away with this!"
Achoo!
Shinji, inside the Matou Residence, sneezed loudly.
"What? A female fan is praising how well the plot is developing?"
The Second Master, nestled on the sofa, let out a smug laugh.
Chapter 105 Shocking! King Arthur was actually treated like this by ordinary people!
Rider and Sakura gave up watching the drama, but the other viewers who didn't know how the plot would unfold had no intention of giving up.
On the contrary, more and more viewers, after hearing that the plot was going completely different, began to switch to TBS to see exactly how the plot was different.
The previously declining viewership ratings have surprisingly shown signs of bottoming out and rebounding.
"OK. I've already notified everyone in the group."
During the intermission commercial break, Azu informed the fan group about the plot twist in UBW, asking other fans to spread the word while watching the drama.
"Looks like Caster will get more screen time this time."
Aoko, who didn't usually pay much attention to TV dramas, started discussing the plot.
"This TV series is clearly going to supplement the characters that were omitted in the movie version." Azu also agreed with Aoko's statement, "It seems that Caster and Archer's roles will be increased in this TV series."
"Following this pattern, the OV version's plot will revolve around the character Matou Sakura, right?"
Aoko was still very curious about the little girl with the melancholy look at the end of Fate/Zero; she always felt that there was a lot of potential for her story to develop.
Unfortunately, whether in movies or TV series, Sakura is only depicted in a few strokes, even worse than the Doggy in the blue Bodysuit.
Although the TV series hasn't finished airing yet, judging from the plot that has unfolded so far, there isn't enough time to develop Matou Sakura.
"It's a pity the OV version is still a long way off," Azu said regretfully, glancing at the information about the HF route on her phone.
Type-Moon's current announcements only mention that the Japan OV version will be released this year, but no specific release date has been given.
Following Type-Moon's usual practice, the OV trailer will most likely be included in the DVD version of the TV series.
In other words, the release date of the OV will be at least several months later than that of the TV series DVD.
"I really like Matou-san's works, but aren't he just digging deeper and deeper into uncharted territories?"
Azu tilted her head in confusion.
"As long as there's something new to watch, that's fine."
Aoko's attitude represents the thoughts of most viewers; they don't care how many plot holes Shinji Matou has dug, as long as they can enjoy watching.
When the commercials ended and the TV series resumed, the discussion forums on 2ch were filled with speculation about Caster Master.
In the movie version, Caster's Master never appeared in the end, and her real name was never revealed.
Now the TV series is finally about to reveal the answer about this character, and the audience is both expectant and excited.
Coincidentally, the next part of the drama involves guessing who Caster's Master is.
Rin, who has the mindset of a strategist, deduces that Caster's Master is in the school, and Issei Ryuudou becomes her first suspect.
After all, the first three Masters were students who knew each other, so the probability that the fourth Master would also be a student they knew is, if not certain, but definitely very high.
Left with no other choice, Shirou, who had been assigned a mission by Rin, had to use special methods to check Issei Kazunari had any Command Spell.
Shinji's version of the "love-hate" storyline between Shirou and Issei is far more serious than the original story.
The classic line, "Issei... Don't ask anything, just take off your clothes," is nowhere to be found.
People in 2005 weren't as open-minded as they are now; if such lines were broadcast on public television, they would definitely be the subject of complaints.
Despite Shinji modifying a lot of content in the anime version, he actually copied quite a few plot points directly from the anime.
For example, Rider's execution site, according to the original game, Rider died at the base of the barrier, where a group of unconscious students were piled up.
To avoid controversy, the anime adaptation changed the scene so that the Second Master and Rider were alone in a classroom.
This is just one example. When an anime series adapts an R18-rated game for a wider audience, it naturally involves adjusting many aspects that are restricted by the rating.
While Shinji followed the original game more closely in terms of plot, he didn't try to compete with the anime in these aspects. The anime had already helped him avoid the pitfalls, so there was no need for him to stubbornly go headfirst into them.
On the screen, the story continues.
Issei it's impossible for Issei to be the Master, Shirou didn't come away empty-handed.
Based on Issei's words, Rin deduced that Kuzuki was Caster's Master, and thus planned to ambush Kuzuki and Shirou on his way home.
The sneak attack failed, of course; Kuzuki easily dodged Rin's ranged attack.
Shirou's thought process was unclear; seeing that Kuzuki offered no resistance to Rin's sudden attack, he felt that the two could communicate.
Shirou then appeared and confronted Kuzuki, at which point Caster suddenly appeared.
Shirou originally wanted to tell Kuzuki about Caster's cruelty and hoped that Kuzuki, as the Master, could stop Caster.
Unfortunately, this was all Shirou's wishful thinking; Kuzuki didn't care at all what Caster had done.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that whatever Caster does Kuzuki will support him.
Just as Caster gained the will to live because of Kuzuki also found his own meaning in Caster, a reason for this walking corpse to fight.
After realizing that they couldn't persuade each other with words, both sides chose to use physical means to convince each other.
To compensate for the lack of a fight between Rider and Saber, Shinji deliberately scheduled the first battle with Caster in the fourth episode, in order to ensure that there would be a decent action scene in each episode.
Only...
"This action scene is just Master's twisted sense of humor!"
Artoria, who was watching TV with Shinji, stood up angrily.
"Aren't you going to watch it?"
"Want to see me get humiliated? I might as well go get some late-night snacks." Artoria said without turning her head.
Thus, following Medusa, Artoria became the second Heroic Spirit to abandon watching the fourth episode halfway through.