Chapter 273: Magical Illya Premieres!
Fate/Kaleid Liner Magical Illya, a tokusatsu series produced by Tsuburaya and scripted, supervised, and directed (at least for the first two episodes) by Shinji Matou, is a rather... peculiar existence.
On the surface, it's undeniably a "Shinji production." But after completing the first two episodes, Shinji basically just let the show run wild on its own.
Yet if you were to call it a "Tsuburaya show"... the story style is unmistakably steeped in Shinji Matou's distinct flavor.
And that's not an exaggeration.
Though the show technically follows the plot of Hiroshi Hiroyama's manga, Shinji couldn't resist injecting his signature writing flair into the scripts.
In the end, Shinji believed his adaptation was more than decent—downright successful, even.
After all, adapting a 2D manga into a 3D live-action series naturally involves changes. He figured the fans would understand.
And if they didn't? Well, too bad. This was his version of the Fate universe in this parallel world.
If they didn't get it, they'd just have to learn to get it!
Today marked the long-awaited premiere of Magical Illya.
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"Say, Shinji…"
As he sipped his drink, EMIYA tilted his head and asked lazily, "Wasn't Ultraman usually aired on Saturday mornings? Why is this one airing during Friday's prime time?"
"That, my dear Archer, is the power of your Master. Take notes!"
Shinji puffed up his chest, nose in the air, brimming with pride.
"To promote this tokusatsu masterpiece, the network gave me a Friday night prime time slot to air episodes one and two back-to-back as a special. Pretty impressive, right?"
"To snag the second most coveted golden slot of the week—that is what it means to be a pro."
With a theatrical snap of his fingers, Shinji took a slow sip of grape juice from his tall-stemmed glass.
His entire face practically screamed, 'Bow before my greatness.'
"…But I heard the timeslot just happened to open up, and you begged them to sneak in your vanity project?"
From behind, Shirou leaned in and whispered to Enkidu, trying not to draw attention.
Enkidu responded with a polite but clearly strained smile.
"Shirou, given our Master's level of shamelessness... do you really think he believes he begged for anything?"
"…Ah. Right. That's on me."
Shirou finally realized, but he still had to fight hard not to burst out laughing.
Laughing in front of Shinji would be a death sentence.
Shinji could only sigh at Shirou's eternal role as a buzzkill.
Sure, he could make a fuss about it, but that'd just make him look petty.
Then again, letting it slide meant always getting his thunder stolen. That was annoying too.
Thankfully, Amakusa chose that moment to cut in and steer the conversation away, sparing Shinji from the dilemma.
"Master, I know you have a habit of gathering everyone to watch your works... but is it really necessary to make us all watch a magical girl show? I mean…"
He scanned the room.
Aside from Astolfo and Enkidu, the place was packed wall-to-wall with dudes. Not a single trace of femininity anywhere.
A bunch of grown men watching a magical girl show together?
As someone still clinging to the last shreds of innocence, Amakusa was not mentally prepared for this.
SLAM
Shinji slapped the table with righteous conviction.
"Amakusa! Don't you dare assume a story with a female lead is only for little girls! If girls can love Spy Among Spies and Diarmuid, then what's wrong with us guys enjoying a loli-filled magical girl show?!"
"That's so wrong I should call the cops!"
"You're missing the point. Amakusa, if you want to save humanity, you can't afford to be prejudiced."
"What's wrong with little girls? Little girls are people too! If you don't understand them, how can you ever hope to save them?!"
Shinji wagged his finger like a high priest preaching salvation, his expression full of divine sincerity.
"…"
Amakusa was at a total loss for words.
But Shinji wasn't about to stop there. Oh no—his sermon had just begun.
"Come on, what era do you think we're living in? Magical girls, transformation scenes, cute costume changes—these aren't just for girls anymore! Guys love them just as much, if not more!"
Shinji gestured animatedly, eyes gleaming with conviction.
"Take a look at all those character customization games. Mods are everywhere, and you think the guys aren't spending half an hour sculpting the perfect anime waifu face?!"
"That's why you shouldn't look down on this genre, Amakusa. This... this is the future trend!"
Shinji's sheer presence was so overwhelming that Amakusa instinctively took a step back.
From the side, Shirou couldn't help curling his lips into a smile. The scene before him was far too entertaining.
'Wait— is this priest actually getting indoctrinated? Is Shinji really converting him into a magical girl support group cultist?'
As Amakusa, seemingly defeated, sat back down in his seat, Shirou suddenly found the thought oddly plausible.
'Well, it's not like I have to worry. Amakusa's way too righteous to do anything criminal. There's no way he'd end up getting charged with... you know, extra crimes.'
Shrugging off his concerns, Shirou turned his attention to the TV in the center of the room, waiting for Magical Illya to start.
After all, this was his little sister's very first drama role.
No matter how absurd the premise, he owed it to her to watch attentively.
'It's not like I'm here to watch Illya's costume changes or anything.'
Shirou patted his chest as if to reassure himself.
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The story of Magical Illya opens in a way that's almost textbook for the genre.
A "normal" elementary school girl in Fuyuki City—Illyasviel von Einzbern—suddenly encounters a mysterious magical wand and is chosen to become a magical girl.
In truth, the first season of the Illya manga could only be described as standard fare.
A classic magical girl setup, sure, but its true skeleton was pure Fate—with magical girl frills slapped on top of that meaty lore.
At its core, it followed a tried-and-true narrative structure repeated endlessly across media yet beloved nonetheless:
The protagonist is torn from their comfortable, mundane life and thrust into an unfamiliar world where they must rise to the occasion.
Whether the ending is a happy one or a tragic downfall, the majority of such stories follow this same outline.
The real magic, then, lies not in the structure—but in how the story is told.
And when it came to storytelling, Shinji—being a world-class director—had no intention of serving it up plain or spoon-feeding the audience walls of exposition.
Magical Illya is, after all, a spin-off of Fate/stay night.
Most of its target audience had likely seen at least one Fate title already.
So rather than laying out a boring info-dump, Shinji chose to open with... an interview.
Amidst a grainy, static-filled background, the screen faded in on several young people. Their faces were censored with mosaic blurs, and their bodies were wrapped in bandages like they'd just walked out of a disaster zone.
At first, the audience assumed these were just civilians caught in the crossfire of magical girl battles.
Collateral damage, perhaps.
But as the "victims" began to recount their stories, that assumption was quickly shattered.
They had been involved in a magical girl battle—technically speaking—but the "magical girls" in question were none other than Rin Tohsaka and Luvia Edelfelt.
And the battlefield?
A classroom in the Clock Tower.
No natural disasters.
No monster attacks.
No accidental injuries caused by magic gone awry.
Nope. Just a good ol' fashioned catfight.
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