"Boss, by 'friendship,' do you mean two women dressed in embarrassing outfits fighting each other?"
Kazuo set down the project proposal, removed his glasses, and massaged his temples.
"Shinji, why not let your sister Sakura try out for the lead role? After all, she's just received some praise from international media, and her popularity is on the rise."
"Lead role?"
Shinji felt a little speechless. There were only so many major characters in Prisma Illya, with each one already filling their niche. Besides Miyu, there wasn't any spare role to offer.
As for Sakura playing Miyu... Ha.
Even though the Fate franchise had a history of "reskinning" characters, and Shinji himself planned to use some "reskins" in the future, there were certain roles he wasn't willing to swap around. Miyu and Sakura were prime examples.
"I've already said, Sakura isn't suited to play Miyu. She's a bit older."
Technically, Sakura's age could be de-aged using Gilgamesh's youth-restoration elixir, but Shinji had no intention of sharing that tidbit with Kazuo.
Unexpectedly, Kazuo countered, "I mean, why not make Sakura the lead outright? Since the official promotions haven't started yet, we could just change it to Magical Girl Matou Sakura!"
"What?!"
Shinji was utterly dumbfounded.
When talking about magical girls in the Fate universe, the obvious leads were Illya and Miyu. Following them were the second-tier "magical aunties" Rin Tohsaka and Luviagelita Edelfelt. Beyond that were Tsukihime characters like Kohaku and the princess.
But Sakura as a magical girl...
Leaving aside whether having Sakura wear a humiliating cosplay outfit would land Shinji in the ICU due to familial violence, the very concept of magical girl clashed entirely with Sakura's character.
"She's more suited to being a witch than a magical girl…"
Shinji shook his head but kept the thought to himself.
"Sorry, but I believe the current cast I've provided is perfect, and I have no intention of making changes."
Shinji's response didn't convince Kazuo. Frowning, he said, "Is that Illya actress really fit to lead? Her performances in several Fate works haven't been particularly outstanding. If not for her young age as an advantage, her acting would only be average."
In truth, Illya's performance as a child actor was already quite commendable.
Kazuo's biggest objection was her age; working with children and animals in a production was notoriously challenging, often causing delays.
However, since Shinji had personally chosen the cast for Prisma Illya, Kazuo didn't think outright rejection was appropriate.
Thus, he'd proposed replacing Illya with Shinji's sister, assuming Shinji would agree to support his sibling. Unexpectedly, Shinji refused so firmly.
"Who's really your sister here? Wait, could it be because that little girl..."
"What nonsense are you thinking?"
Shinji's icy question cut through Kazuo's speculative gaze.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Kazuo quickly denied. He had no intention of getting himself fired over something so trivial.
Joking aside, Kazuo made one last attempt. "For a Japanese tokusatsu show, is it really appropriate to cast a German child as the lead magical girl?"
Shinji didn't know why Kazuo was so persistent, but he had his own counterplan.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't treat this production lightly. I'll prove it with results."
"What results?"
"A character design test. And it won't involve your studio's makeup artists."
Recalling the eccentric makeup artists Kazuo had hired from questionable establishments, Shinji hastily added a clarification.
"..."
Kazuo felt the sting of the jab.
<+>
As a company grows older, some odd quirks inevitably become part of its corporate culture.
For Tsuburaya Productions, besides critiquing Japanese societal norms with a touch of sarcasm—an inheritance from its founder—the other tradition was its ancestral makeup artists from questionable establishments.
From the first Ultraman series in the Showa era, Kazuo's makeup artists had showcased their signature deathly makeup looks.
Fortunately, in the Showa period, lighter makeup was trendy among women, sparing the actresses from excessive "enhancements" and preserving their natural charm.
Occasionally, foreign actors or certain plot-specific roles would be graced with this special makeup treatment.
But as the new millennium rolled in, Tsuburaya's makeup artists stopped limiting their "creativity" to supporting roles and began targeting lead actors as well.
Shinji could never quite figure out what was going on with the company's makeup team, even after taking over Tsuburaya Productions.
They were perfectly fine with male actors, but when it came to actresses, their work took bizarre turns.
If it weren't for Japan's unique workplace culture, Shinji would have fired the entire team or sent them back to school for retraining.
Ultimately, Kazuo left with the project proposal in hand.
He still felt a bit uneasy but knew that this was likely a done deal.
Matou Shinji was always assertive, and Kazuo figured the promise of test shots was just a superficial gesture.
What Kazuo thought didn't matter to Shinji; he was more concerned about the television network's response.
Since the project was aimed at children across Japan, if the network decided to reject Prisma Illya on grounds of "child sexualization," there wasn't much Shinji could do.
Still, such a scenario seemed unlikely. The Revised Laws hadn't made much progress, and with Shinji's track record of hits, the network was unlikely to turn him down.
If they did, Shinji would just toss his Servants in front of the camera to film Carnival Phantasm.
As long as it made the kids laugh, why not? In fact, seeing the Servants act silly on screen might be an excellent idea.
Regardless of the network's decision, the preparations for Prisma Illya were wrapping up.
Shinji's focus shifted to a more significant project: Fate/Apocrypha (FA).
"This movie should be ready to premiere by the end of 2007!"
Facing Cloris, a representative from the Time Group, Shinji exuded confidence.
"If things move quickly, we might even make the summer 2007 slot."
Between the summer and end-of-year releases, Shinji preferred the summer.
FA was a full-fledged 3D blockbuster, and releasing it closer to the impending 3D craze sparked by Super 8 made more sense.
Even if Shinji was confident about adapting FA into a solid popcorn flick, he wanted to play it safe with its release.
It wasn't like Titanic, where the timing didn't matter because of its legendary status. Shinji needed the right momentum and timing to ensure success.
With his usual production efficiency, post-production for FA wouldn't take more than a few months. Barring any major issues, a summer release seemed feasible.
Of course, Shinji wouldn't share these specifics with Cloris. Instead, he expressed confidence to boost the Time Group's faith and secure a larger budget.
Cloris, unaware of Shinji's ulterior motives, quickly finalized the FA partnership.
Thanks to the stellar performance of two previous films and two explosive TV series, Shinji's track record boasted a 100% success rate, earning him significant trust.
Soon after, Type-Moon Film and Television Company signed the official agreement with Time Group, and preparations for FA began in earnest.
The movie retained the original Fate/Apocrypha title, aligning with the spinoff's established lore. Shinji couldn't think of a better name, anyway.
Next, Shinji focused on refining the script.
Though it involved heavily rewriting Higashide's original plot, Shinji wasn't aiming for complete originality.
With so many successful Hollywood templates to draw from, why reinvent the wheel? It wasn't like Shinji believed himself so gifted that even a failure would be celebrated.
Hollywood scripts might be formulaic, but their success proved the value of those formulas.
Besides, commercial cinema in this world hadn't yet reached a point where audiences were jaded by such patterns.
Given FA's ensemble cast, Shinji chose to reference the frameworks of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad.
Both films revolved around a group of characters banding together to fight enemies, aligning perfectly with FA's narrative.
Moreover, these films introduced numerous characters effectively, a quality Shinji wanted for his FA adaptation.
With the script framework settled, Shinji quickly designated the film's central protagonist: Jeanne d'Arc.
Choosing this Arturia-faced beauty as the lead wasn't just because of her looks and figure (though, admittedly, they were a factor).
Of course, if ease of "handling" were the priority, her "sister" might've been the better pick.
But Shinji's choice of Jeanne wasn't arbitrary.
In addition to her pivotal role in the original FA game, Jeanne's position as a mediator made her ideal.
Her role as an impartial referee allowed her to view the conflict from a third-party perspective, making it plausible for her to recruit Masters and Servants from both factions to her cause.
The "biased referee" criticism of Jeanne in the original FA wouldn't exist in Shinji's version.
In this adaptation, the film would open with a massive battle eliminating many Masters and Servants, resulting in the destruction of half of Trifas, Romania.
This catastrophic event gave Jeanne a valid reason to intervene: preventing further devastation from the Holy Grail War.
"Now there's just one question left," Shinji muttered, tapping his pen. "What should I do with Sieg?"
<+>
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