In the film market before Shinji's transmigration, purely original movie projects were in serious decline. Big-budget original productions were rare, while adaptations and sequels continued to dominate.
The key difference between the two was fanbases.
Movies are like gambling; to ensure that the maximum number of people show up in theaters on opening day, attracting a strong fanbase was the safest strategy.
After all, word-of-mouth takes time to spread, and even good reviews don't always translate into box office success.
Fans, however, are different. They're the ones who will buy tickets and head to theaters as soon as the film is released—regardless of its quality.
This is why some production companies greenlight films they know will be bad. As long as there's an established fanbase, even a terrible movie will still sell tickets.
Most viewers will only pay for one ticket per movie, with repeat viewers being a minority. For studios, the entire business is about drawing people into theaters just once.
From a studio's perspective, a film's value isn't judged by its reviews but by whether it makes money.
If it's profitable, even a bad movie is a good movie.
Some companies specialize in producing these low-effort films with an existing fanbase. As long as costs are controlled, they can quickly cash in.
But the real victims are the fans of the original works. When a beloved story finally gets a film adaptation, it often becomes a sacrificial lamb for corporate greed.
And since companies want to preserve an intellectual property's value, a flop can lead to the franchise being shelved indefinitely—a "see-you-in-your-lifetime" scenario for another adaptation.
Shinji, however, wasn't the type to ruin an IP for quick cash. TYPE-MOON wasn't so arrogant that it could afford to burn through its franchises. Every project had to be treated seriously.
He didn't mind people calling UBW and HF reheated leftovers because, at their core, that's what they were.
But as long as the "leftovers" were deliciously reheated, they could be even more valuable than something entirely new.
And now, with the release of HF Episode 3, its debut viewership had exceeded 10 million, and its total viewership, including on-demand streams, had surpassed 15 million.
"It's a smash hit!"
Seifer Flora clenched his fists in excitement as he reviewed the report.
For HBO, a subscription-based channel, every viewer represented a direct source of revenue.
Although Seifer had already sensed during UBW's run that HF had the potential to be just as big, he couldn't fully believe it until now, when the data was staring him in the face.
"Shinji Matou's decision to lean into HBO's mature content advantage—emphasizing gore and violence—was a brilliant move," his secretary reported. "The group is considering developing more series like this and is currently looking for scripts."
"Hah! They want to keep all the profits for themselves, huh?" Seifer sneered. "If they were serious, they'd just go straight to Shinji. But no, they're too greedy to share the spoils."
It didn't take much for Seifer to figure out what the higher-ups at Time Group were debating.
The success of HF proved that partnering with Shinji Matou to develop the Fate series had been the right choice.
But on the other hand, the series' overwhelming success had them kicking themselves for not securing the Fate copyright outright.
Despite Shinji being the director and creator of the story, many original works ended up with Time Group holding all the rights, not their creators.
That's just how domineering distributors could be—claiming full control over IPs they didn't even originate.
The reason this hadn't happened with Fate was that Shinji's ambitious marketing plans were so expensive that Time Group had to compromise on copyright ownership to minimize their risk.
What had seemed like a brilliant decision at the time—one that significantly reduced Time Group's investment and risk—now looked embarrassingly short-sighted.
"Those fools at headquarters are probably banging their heads against the wall right now, crying over their mistake," Seifer thought gleefully.
As a shareholder, it didn't bother him. As long as the company made money, his dividends would stay healthy.
Now, Seifer's focus was on further boosting HF's viewership.
And also...
"Is Lissy still in Japan?"
"Yes. She said she wants to make up for earlier mistakes and improve her relationship while her work schedule is light."
"That girl!"
Thinking about his daughter, Seifer felt a headache coming on.
Cloris was excellent in every way—except for her obsession with a certain man.
Sure, that man had made him a lot of money, but as a father, seeing his precious princess actively pursuing a man at her age was hard to swallow.
If it weren't for the long-standing ties between the Matou and Flora families, any other "random boy" would've found Seifer showing up at their door with a chainsaw.
Seifer let out a long sigh. "I just hope Shinji doesn't break Lissy's heart."
Compared to Time Group's internal conflicts over HF, Shinji himself seemed completely unfazed.
Although HF's ratings have skyrocketed and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, since the series is already fully produced, it's no longer Shinji's main focus.
As the show's producer and director, he still has promotional responsibilities, but his primary focus has shifted to other projects.
The pre-production work for Fate/Apocrypha (FA) is ongoing. Shinji compiled a list of holy relics and tasked various magus families with helping locate them. However, these highly specific artifacts aren't easy to find, so results are unlikely to appear in the short term.
In contrast, the later-approved project, Magical Girl ☆ Illya, has already progressed to the completion of its story outline.
Compared to FA, which could afford to proceed at a slower pace, Magical Girl Illya had to be submitted to the network promptly, necessitating rapid completion of the series composition. Fortunately, most of the cast were familiar faces, and the script was mostly ready. This made it much less demanding to prepare compared to the heavily reworked FA.
Even so, Shinji had to lock himself in his office over the New Year holiday to work on the script, only emerging when the holiday was almost over.
Aside from beating the looming deadline, another reason Shinji hid away was—
Thud!
With a dull crash, Rin Tohsaka was thrown heavily to the ground by Luviagelita Edelfelt's "Diamond Cutter" move.
"Okay!"
Rin's defeat was declared by Medusa, who stepped in to separate the two fiery combatants.
"Round 346: Winner, Luviagelita Edelfelt! Current score: Rin Tohsaka, 148 wins; Luviagelita Edelfelt, 149 wins; Draws: 49."
"Pfft!"
Rin spat out the hair that had gotten in her mouth and glared at Luvia with frustration.
Luvia, meanwhile, crossed her arms under her chest—which Rin could never hope to match in ten lifetimes—and smiled meaningfully.
"Oh, Rin, you're really quite useless."
"Wow! Luvia-san is amazing!" Sakura clapped her hands enthusiastically from the sidelines, her face full of admiration.
"It's nothing, really."
Luvia casually tossed her golden hair back and offered, "Sakura, if you're interested, I could teach you."
"Really? That would be wonderful!"
Sakura's face lit up with a demure, ladylike smile.
"Hey, Sakura," Rin interjected with a dark expression, "why are you learning martial arts from someone you've only known for a week?"
Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully and replied, "Because Tohsaka-senpai's fighting techniques are too focused on skill, while Luvia-san's style emphasizes strength."
"Shinji, is this how you teach your sister? She runs off with a stranger after just a few days?" Rin turned and accused Shinji.
"Sorry, I've never had any authority over my sister; you know that." Shinji blinked innocently.
In just a few days, Rin and Luvia had fought over 300 matches, a rivalry only slightly less intense than Saber's infamous 1,000 sparring matches within a single month.
The sheer intensity of their clashes made Shinji want nothing to do with this vortex of chaos.
Despite dragging it out for nearly a week, the quarrel between the two showed no signs of ending.
"Besides, Luvia's methods might actually suit Sakura better."
Seeing how close Sakura had become to Luvia, Shinji couldn't help but think of the Tohsaka family's background in Fate/Apocrypha: Rin, nearly becoming the founder of a new martial art combining magecraft and Chinese boxing, and Sakura, adopted by distant relatives, becoming an unparalleled grappler...
"Perhaps it's fate. I just hope Sakura won't use me as a training dummy once she learns those moves," Shinji prayed from the depths of his soul.
"Isn't this a good thing? Girls, especially female magus, should learn some martial arts for self-defense," he commented.
"What nonsense are you spouting? In Fuyuki City, shouldn't all female magus learn Bajiquan? Isn't that tradition?" Rin retorted.
"Hah? Since when was that a tradition?" Shinji shot back. "That was just Grandpa Risei being strict when he raised us. Learning Bajiquan was never mandatory!"
"Hmph!"
Rin crossed her arms with a cold snort, her gaze still locked on Luvia.
"Ha! Blaming others for your lack of charm? That's all you've got, Tohsaka," Luvia said with a sideways glance.
"Luviagelita Edelfelt!"
"Rin Tohsaka!"
The piercing stares of the two proud girls clashed, creating a scene so intense that even Shinji had to admit defeat.
Unlike Cloris or Shiki, these two paid no heed to moderation when they argued. Not even selling his dignity could cool their tempers.
Faced with no choice, Shinji began to make his escape.
But before he could, Rin grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait, Shinji. I think it's time for you to learn the difference between Bajiquan and that Nordic monkey wrestling!"
"What?!" Shinji looked genuinely shocked.
Rin smirked. "I believe this is the only way to help you guide your cute imouto properly."
"What does Sakura's choice have to do with me? Don't take it out on me, Rin!"
"This sounds like a great idea. An outsider's judgment would be more objective," Luvia chimed in, grabbing Shinji's other arm.
"Wait—"
Shinji tried to retreat, only to find his head resting against something soft.
"How interesting. Why not let Shinji see the martial arts I've learned as well?" Cloris said with a sly smile, though her eyes carried no warmth.
"I just finished the script! Let me rest!"
"Master, isn't this great? Regular exercise is good for your health!" Medusa said as she wrapped Shinji in chains.
"Goodbye, Onii-sama~~"
With Sakura's cheerful farewell, Shinji was dragged into the training room by a group of ravenous wolves.
"Nooo! This is harassment—Agh—!"
Shinji's despairing cries echoed before fading into silence.
<+>
Tn: Some people died of thirst, while other died due to drowning
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