Chapter 366: On the Eve of Fate/Apocrypha's Release
Three preview screenings in such a short span of time was already a bit excessive for a movie that hadn't even officially premiered yet.
After all, a single test screening meant several hundred hardcore fans, along with dozens of media reporters and professional reviewers, would be watching a film that was still supposed to be under wraps. No matter how airtight the studio's nondisclosure agreements were, information would inevitably leak out.
In fact, many of those vague, half-true "spoilers" that circulate online before a blockbuster's release are born in situations exactly like this. Fully spoiling a movie would get you in serious trouble with the studio, so people would deliberately twist or misstate parts of the plot—misdirection, all to ensure their "spoilers" could slip out safely.
But none of that happened with Fate/Apocrypha.
Even though the outside world was desperate for shocking revelations from those who attended the screenings, all they found online were rumors so flimsy they had zero credibility.
It wasn't that the audience members didn't want to talk.
It was that they couldn't.
Those people would probably never realize that the confidentiality agreement they signed before entering the theater wasn't just a legal document—it was a magecraft contract.
Under the influence of that contract, they were simply incapable of revealing the movie's plot before its official release.
As Shinji continued to spend more time in the entertainment industry, his skill at using magecraft to achieve practical goals only grew more refined.
Although spoilers were impossible, the preview audiences were still free to share their impressions of the film itself.
As a work whose style differed drastically from Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, Fate/Apocrypha received generally positive reactions—but it also sparked a fair amount of controversy.
The reason was simple.
Under Shinji's heavy "reinterpretation," Fate/Apocrypha leaned far closer to a Hollywood-style popcorn blockbuster than the carefully structured, intricately written stories of its predecessors.
But that couldn't really be helped. If Higashide had been just a bit more reliable, Shinji wouldn't have needed to take the risk of rewriting the story himself. Playing it safe would've been much nicer, wouldn't it?
Because of its overwhelming emphasis on entertainment, professional critics regarded the film as merely "decent." It didn't quite satisfy those self-proclaimed highbrow cinephiles.
Still, with the Times Group's public relations department—and their financial superpowers—working behind the scenes, most mainstream media outlets gave Fate/Apocrypha fair, balanced reviews.
"A commercial film directed by an outstanding commercial director. An indisputable big-budget production, and absolutely worth the price of admission."
— The New York Times
"Most of the changes Shinji Matou made to Fate/Apocrypha were extremely wise. The introduction of many new characters breathes fresh life into the Fate story. With distinct personalities, intense action, and a colorful plot, the film more than lives up to fans' two years of anticipation."
— Rolling Stone
"Fate/Apocrypha, produced by Shinji Matou, maintains the consistently high quality seen in his previous works. The final portion of the film in particular delivers an extraordinarily sincere emotional impact."
— The Washington Post
Compared to the story itself, entertainment media across North America—and even the rest of the world—were far more astonished by Shinji's use of new technology.
Last year's Super 8 had already shown them what true 3D cinema looked like. This time, the emotional projection at the climax of Fate/Apocrypha pushed cinematic realism to an entirely new level.
No matter how hard these professionals tried, they simply couldn't figure out how Shinji pulled it off.
If 3D technology could still be explained away with enough hand-waving, then what in the world was this so-called "emotional resonance"?
What kind of black magic was that?!
In the end, all of their speculation and discussion could be summed up by a single sentence from Ang Lee:
"I don't understand it—but I am deeply shaken."
Unlike the steady, restrained evaluations from critics, ordinary moviegoers were far more divided on Fate/Apocrypha.
Although the film's overall reception was positive, boasting an approval rating of over 90%, that didn't mean dissenting voices didn't exist.
In fact, quite a few viewers wrote comments like these in their post-screening surveys—
"When I watched Fate/Apocrypha, I was genuinely surprised. Shinji's stylistic shift was huge—this was absolutely not a typical 'Shinji Matou–style' film."
"The movie leans heavily into comedy and entertainment. Because of that, it lacks the weight that Fate/Zero had, and instead feels closer to a superhero comic story."
"The pacing in the first half is far too upbeat, making it hard to feel the same awe toward the cruelty of the Holy Grail War that Fate/Zero inspired. The climactic battle in the second half is undeniably thrilling, but once the excitement fades, it doesn't leave behind a scene as thought-provoking as Saber weeping in the sword field at the end of Fate/Zero."
"All in all, compared to Shinji's previous films, Fate/Apocrypha has more than enough entertainment—but not enough seriousness."
Clearly, Fate/Apocrypha, with its drastic departure from the tone of Shinji's earlier works, sparked divided opinions among his fans.
At the very least, fans who loved the bleak, oppressive atmosphere of Gen Urobuchi's Fate/Zero were not showering Apocrypha with unconditional praise.
To those fans, Shinji could only offer a quiet apology.
The Fate series was a massive IP written by multiple authors, each with vastly different levels of skill and wildly different creative styles.
For outstanding works like Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, Shinji would naturally do everything he could to preserve their original essence.
But for a controversial title like Fate/Apocrypha, there was no choice but to steer it toward a popcorn-movie direction.
Experience from his previous life had taught Shinji a simple truth: popcorn movies might never become masterpieces, but they were safe bets. As long as the story wasn't painfully mediocre, profitability was practically guaranteed.
And audiences in this world were nowhere near tired of popcorn films yet. From a purely commercial standpoint, Shinji's decision made perfect sense.
Unfortunately, while Shinji saw no issue, the theater chains reviewing the audience feedback did.
"This isn't a typical Shinji-style film."
Inside the president's office at AMG Theaters' headquarters, several executives were deep in discussion.
"Audience responses say the plot isn't as intricate as FSN or FZ. Instead, it feels closer to last year's Super 8."
The head of distribution frowned slightly upon hearing this.
"What about the actual numbers?"
A document was quickly placed in front of him.
"We received survey feedback from a total of 1,200 viewers," said someone from the statistics department, skipping the tedious details and going straight to the conclusion.
"The approval rating is 92.3%. Lower than FSN and FZ, but higher than last year's Super 8."
The distribution chief's brow remained furrowed.
"That's worse than we expected."
His fingers lightly tapped against the desk. After a moment, he made his decision.
"Let's take a more conservative screening strategy…"
If the first week of May had only Shinji Matou film, there would've been nothing to discuss—just give it as many screens as possible.
But unfortunately, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was releasing that same week.
No matter what, AMG Theaters had to allocate part of its resources to Paramount.
In theory, antitrust laws and industry policy allowed theater chains to ignore all outside pressure and make purely market-driven decisions.
In practice, however, social obligations were impossible to escape. Humans were, at their core, social creatures—and corporate partnerships depended even more on maintaining relationships.
This didn't change just because AMG operated in North America.
Fate/Apocrypha was, after all, a transformative entry in an established franchise. No one could guarantee that its changes would be fully embraced by the market.
A conservative release strategy was undoubtedly the safest choice for the theaters. At the same time, it conveniently freed up resources to do Paramount a favor.
Why wouldn't they take that option?
From there on out, whichever movie performed better at the box office would naturally receive more screenings.
With that approach, neither the Times Group nor Paramount would have any grounds to complain.
Therefore, when Shinji saw that Fate/Apocrypha was opening in only 3,025 theaters across North America in its first week, he didn't find it strange at all.
Going head-to-head in the same release window with a legendary IP like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was perfectly reasonable for theater chains to reserve ample resources for that film.
To be honest, if it weren't for Shinji's impressive track record, most filmmakers wouldn't have secured even that many screens.
Seriously—just seeing the live-action designs of those four turtles, which stayed fairly faithful to their animated versions, made even Shinji feel tempted to go watch the movie the moment it came out.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might not have been a "religion" like Ultraman, but it was still part of his childhood.
If Paramount had delayed the premiere by even a single day, Shinji would've attended the premiere in a purely personal capacity.
Disliking Paramount was one thing. Loving movies was another.
Shinji's love for film was genuinely pure. Otherwise, why would he bother becoming a director at all? Being a wealthy countryside magi, living an easy life, wouldn't have been a bad option either.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
With less than half a month left before Fate/Apocrypha's worldwide release, Shinji finally emerged from his studio.
Having finished all post-production work on Garden of Sinners, he immediately sent the completed film to censorship and review boards in various countries, ensuring it wouldn't miss its planned June release window.
Once the film was submitted for review, Shinji's job shifted from sitting in an office to leading Jeanne, Astolfo, Amakusa, and the rest of the main cast as they appeared frequently at public events.
They attended one promotional activity after another, doing their best to increase both their own visibility and the movie's exposure.
Thanks to Shinji's presence as their Master, the Servants didn't cause any trouble during promotions.
Compared to the previous two productions, the Servants of Fate/Apocrypha were much easier to manage. All of the main cast behaved themselves.
Back when Gilgamesh had been part of the crew, Shinji had even deliberately reduced his screen time—purely to prevent that guy from doing something inappropriate in public.
On the other hand, the promotional workload for the Fate/Apocrypha cast was far heavier than that of their predecessors.
This wasn't because the Servants were more obedient and Shinji felt free to overwork them.
It was because the neighboring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles production team was also going all out with their marketing. If Shinji's side didn't push hard, they'd lose the headlines.
After watching Shinji tirelessly grind exposure and buzz over the past few years, even a pig would understand just how important visibility was for film promotion.
And Hollywood executives weren't idiots. If a tactic worked, why wouldn't they use it?
This wasn't a video game, after all. Hollywood studios were more than capable of learning and adapting.
"As expected, PvP is always way harder than PvE…"
Shinji muttered in a complaining tone during a cast dinner.
The Servants around him exchanged glances but said nothing.
They'd seen this behavior far too often lately—Shinji talking as if he were muttering to himself, yet also half-addressing them.
Responding every single time would've been exhausting.
So they'd privately agreed: unless Shinji explicitly called them out by name, they wouldn't engage.
Shinji didn't mind. He was just venting his frustration.
To be honest, the other Hollywood studios ganging up on his movie like this was a poor decision.
From a purely commercial standpoint, spacing out the release of multiple big-budget films would've led to a win–win situation for everyone involved.
Cases where decision-makers suddenly lose their minds and tear down their own walls are far too common. Shinji didn't deny it either—those idiotic decisions were often made by a handful of executives slapping the table on a whim.
Don't imagine corporate decision-makers as overly rational beings. Sure, they're highly educated, high-IQ elites of human society—but that doesn't mean that people who are good at calculations never do stupid things.
Or rather, it's precisely because they're too good at calculating personal gains and losses that they end up making decisions ordinary people find unbelievably dumb.
Take Kadokawa, for example. After the Kemono Friends IP was practically brought back from the dead by Moose, they still went out of their way to erase his influence. They were willing to turn the sequel anime into something universally reviled, completely destroying the IP if it meant wiping Moose's existence from its history.
This kind of filthy office politics isn't exclusive to Japan. You don't have to look far—just see how Warner Bros. and DC treated Zack Snyder's cinematic universe.
Shinji personally thought Zack Snyder was somewhat over-mythologized by his fans, but as a filmmaker and creator himself, he couldn't help but sympathize with what Snyder and his works went through.
Leaking the director's cut in advance, deliberately sabotaging a promotional plan the company had already set—just to spite the creator. Was there anything more brain-dead than that?
There was.
In the web series Peacemaker, James Gunn had added a cameo featuring members of the Justice League. Even though half of them were played by stand-ins, the intent was there. Fans were satisfied.
And then, after Gunn had already finished filming everything, a few Warner executives (Class-A war criminals) decided that before leaving, they had to disgust everyone one last time. They directly ordered Gunn to delete every scene involving Batman.
As for the reason…
Ben Affleck's Batman had already been killed by the Batmobile in the movie universe. Dead people shouldn't appear on screen.
Heh.
As far as Shinji was concerned, if these people had even a shred of intelligence, they wouldn't have been this completely brainless.
With all the experiences from his previous life, Shinji was genuinely surprised that these Hollywood natives would go so far as to try to erase him—even willingly lowering their own profits. Still, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
"Whatever. I'll just deal with it as it comes."
Shinji muttered to himself. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up, and headed for the restroom.
"Who managed to piss Master off?"
Taking advantage of Shinji's absence, Astolfo asked the others in a low voice.
Mordred replied with undisguised schadenfreude, "No idea. But I'll pray for that person."
After being tricked out of her allowance so many times, Mordred knew Shinji's cunning better than anyone.
No matter how many times she swore not to be fooled again, Shinji Matou always managed to make her hand over her spending money willingly.
So Mordred firmly believed that as long as Master wanted to, there was no one in this world he couldn't deal with.
"That's true. No one who offends Master ever ends well."
Jeanne added mysteriously, lowering her voice. "I heard that Cu Chulainn keeps dying in different film crews because he offended Master."
"Ahem. Strictly speaking, it doesn't really have much to do with Shinji."
As someone who had known Shinji for a long time, Shiki had a better grasp of the situation.
"Cu Chulainn ended up like that largely because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. If he could restrain his self-destructive urges, his life would actually be pretty comfortable. Just like a certain King of Knights."
As she said this, Shiki deliberately glanced at Mordred.
"Anyway, Master is definitely not a good person."
Having suffered personally at Shinji's hands, Mordred clearly disagreed with Shiki's defense. "Just look at Archer. He almost died from overwork on set."
"Uh… probably not?"
Shiki tried to refute it out of habit, but when she thought about the classic trio of Shinji Matou's crew—Archer, Emiya Shirou, and Yan Qing—her confidence wavered.
"It's definitely true."
Mordred said firmly, "Master was never a good person to begin with."
Everyone sitting at the table showed looks of agreement. Even Amakusa, who greatly admired Shinji, felt that when it came to personal matters, Shinji Matou really was quite petty.
That said, no one planned to continue the topic—because Shinji had already returned from the restroom.
Since all the Servants present believed Shinji was small-minded, none of them were stupid enough to badmouth him to his face.
Even though everyone suddenly fell silent, Shinji still picked up on something strange from the way their eyes exchanged glances.
However, he didn't realize that the awkward atmosphere was caused by him. He instead assumed there was some internal conflict among the Servants that they didn't want him to know about.
In order to mediate relationships within the cast, Shinji decisively went to look for Shiki after dinner to ask about the situation.
Arriving at Shiki's door, Shinji didn't knock. He directly used a small magical trick to enter the room.
The lights were still on—clearly, she wasn't planning to sleep early.
As soon as Shinji stepped inside, Shiki, who had been reading, raised her head and glanced at him.
Her gaze gradually turned a little resentful as she asked, "Shinji, do you know what happened tonight?"
Being looked at like that made Shinji feel a bit guilty.
What happened? Did those Servants gang up on you?"
Shiki pressed her lips together and replied, "They think you're petty. I tried to speak up for you, and I ended up being targeted instead."
"Hahaha—those little brats…"Shinji laughed awkwardly.
"Are you planning to punish them?" Shiki asked. "Or just let it go?"
"Why not?" Shinji replied reflexively.
Shiki looked straight at him and countered, "If you do that, wouldn't it just be admitting that you really are petty?"
"Uh…"
That single sentence left Shinji completely unable to argue.
Shiki had helped defend him, after all. If he really retaliated, it would only make things worse for her reputation.
Still, Shinji muttered a small defense of himself.
"If I do nothing at all, they'll just think I'm easy to bully. Forget it—there'll be chances later."
Then he asked Shiki, "Since you helped me out, I should give you a gift to thank you. What do you want?"
Shiki glanced at him sideways.
"What do you think?"
"Big sister treats me so well, I have no way to repay you—so I can only offer myself in marriage—"
Before Shinji could finish, Shiki raised her hand and threw a cushion at him.
"Just keep talking nonsense…"
She looked a little unhappy.
"Ever since Flora left, you've gotten more and more shameless."
Lately, it was like Shinji had figured something out.
Before, whenever she teased him, he would dodge and retreat, afraid she might misunderstand.
Now it was the opposite. As soon as she flirted with him, he would immediately flirt back—completely unafraid that she might take it seriously.
Though honestly, there wasn't much to be afraid of.
As this so-called "little brother" himself had put it—all he really wanted was for her to become a wife who cooked for him.
And if she happened to be interested, that would be even better.
"Don't be ridiculous—get lost! You really do love your wishful thinking."
Shiki made a visibly disgusted gesture at Shinji.
Shinji didn't mind in the slightest. He sat down beside her, picked up the snacks she had left on the table, and started eating with gusto.
"Mmm… this taste… I knew it. You made these yourself, Shiki."
He nodded repeatedly as he ate.
Shiki shook her head helplessly.
"Didn't you eat dinner? You're wolfing them down like that."
After pouring even the crumbs from the plate into his mouth, Shinji sighed contentedly.
"No snacks anywhere compare to the ones you make."
Shinji's praise clearly hit the mark. Shiki propped her cheek up with one hand, blinked at him, and smiled.
"If you keep this up, I might start charging you."
Shinji didn't take it seriously at all. After all, money never stayed in his hands anyway.
If paying could make Shiki cook, that would be an absolute bargain.
Despite her world-class cooking skills, Shiki rarely felt like cooking in the first place.
Shinji asked casually, "Alright then—if you really charged me, how much would it be?"
Shiki raised an eyebrow.
"That depends on what kind of good projects you've got in your hands~"
Shinji put on an exaggerated look of shock.
"No way, Shiki. Are you trying to pull some kind of casting-couch deal?"
Shiki glanced at him coolly and mocked, "Don't make it sound like some sleazy backroom trade. In the entire entertainment industry, which female lead ever got her role by cooking? If that rumor got out, wouldn't you be embarrassed? Want me to help spread it?"
Shinji waved his hands frantically.
"No, no, that won't be necessary…"
If such a rumor really spread through the industry, Shinji would be mortified.
No other reason—he'd lose face.
Thinking of something, Shinji said to her, "By the way, there's something I need to tell you. It's about the Fate/Apocrypha premiere in a couple of days."
Shiki frowned in confusion.
"What does the Fate/Apocrypha premiere have to do with me, the female lead of Garden of Sinners?"
The corner of Shinji's mouth curled up into a crooked, smug grin.
"Of course it has something to do with you. Haven't you always complained that I don't take you and Garden of Sinners seriously? Well, your chance for publicity has arrived."
"Oh? Really?"
Shiki's expression instantly changed.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest posted chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Current Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 404: An Opening That Goes from Seductive to Straight-Up Uncanny[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152412556?collection=31097
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded