Chapter 133: Shinji: Shirou, you really lost out this time.
Actually, things weren't as bad as Cu Chulainn imagined.
Although Cu Chulainn did have to act as Ultraseven's suit actor in Seven X, he would also be playing the lead character, J.
The only thing Shinji was concerned about was whether Cu Chulainn, this guy with the mind of a three-year-old, could effectively portray J's deep suffering and hatred.
"We'll let Cu Chulainn audition first. If he can't handle it, we'll try Diarmuid or Lancelot instead."
Shinji glanced at the two other Western knights on set and made his decision quietly.
The reason Shinji chose European knights to appear in Seven X was because he had high expectations for the project.
This film was aimed at Europe's three major film festivals.
As mentioned before, Shinji was preparing to set a standard for artistic works in the industry.
Kurosawa Akira was the example for directors, and Seven X would be the example for works.
In Shinji's eyes, Seven X had the potential to become this kind of work, as it had a profound theme and a deeply moving presentation.
Seven X was a very unique entry in the Ultraman series.
Not only was it the only Ultraman work set in a cyberpunk world, but it was also the only one to truly pull Ultraman down from his pedestal.
Although many Ultraman works touched upon the idea that Ultramen aren't gods, it's undeniable that in most of these works, Ultramen function as a deus ex machina.
In these Ultraman works, once Ultraman uses a beam to defeat the monster, the episode's problems and conflicts are mostly resolved, ending in a Happy End.
Even if it's not a perfect happy ending, at the very least, the conclusion is full of hope.
Ultraman may not solve all problems, but he brings a relatively positive conclusion to the story.
But Seven X was completely different.
This work pushed Ultraman's sense of helplessness to the extreme.
In the entire series, there are only a handful of stories that can be considered to have a happy ending.
Most of the stories end in tragedy.
As the main character, J repeatedly transforms into the giant red warrior to fight, but he still can't change anything.
He's nothing more than a cleaner, killing monsters, without any power to truly change the world.
This strong dramatic conflict makes Seven X naturally suited for an award-focused project.
Even more important is that the world has only a very broad sense of cyberpunk settings.
There haven't been many mature cyberpunk films like Blade Runner or The Matrix.
Seven X would become a pioneer and founding work in this genre, providing inspiration for countless future projects.
In fact, while preparing Super 8, Shinji had already written the script for Seven X as well.
And because it was aimed at film festivals, Shinji wrote two different versions of the script: a film version that kept only the main storyline, and an outline for a TV series version that could be expanded upon later.
Shinji had originally planned to refine the script a bit more, trying to make this world's first cyberpunk-themed work even more perfect.
However, given the current circumstances, Shinji decided to accelerate the process and release the project as soon as possible.
For that reason, Shinji sent an email to Cloris, asking her to help find a suitable director in Europe or America.
There was no helping it; Shinji was already blacklisted by the critics.
Making an awards-focused film was like stepping onto their home turf.
Those old guys would definitely find ways to give him a hard time.
Shinji wasn't a masochist, and he wasn't very good at telling slow-paced stories anyway.
So, Seven X would have to be directed by someone else.
He would just participate as the producer.
After sending out the director recruitment notice for Seven X, Shinji temporarily shelved its progress, waiting for the right director to appear before continuing the project.
At the moment, Shinji was fully focused on filming Super 8.
Shirou, who had been "scouting" in Yokohama, finally returned to Fuyuki City.
After transferring his memories of Yokohama's architecture to EMIYA, the two Emiya men began their journey as master builders on set.
Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn, Diarmuid, Enkidu, Yan Qing, Master Li, and others began rehearsing the action sequences for the final battle.
As everyone knows, pre-modern Ultramen, except for exceptions like Jack, generally didn't use weapons.
Even if they did, it was either something odd, like Taro creating a bucket to sober up a drunkard, or something pretentious, like Agul's light sword for show.
Compared to weapons, Ultramen preferred hand-to-hand combat.
Even though their beam abilities were powerful, they were often only used as finishing moves.
Even Ace, who had the nickname "King of Spells," wasn't an exception to this.
This was due to the technical and budgetary limitations of the time, which led to compromises in how the action was depicted.
Tsuburaya Productions always liked to add explanations for these compromises.
For example, to make Ace's hand-to-hand combat look more reasonable, they even gave him a super strength setting.
That's probably why Zoffy's red strength form included Ace...
But Tsuburaya's settings were often inconsistent.
They'd make up a setting, then promptly forget about it.
After all, Tsuburaya was famous for "eating their own script."
Many of the settings were just added to fill gaps.
Take Ace's female human host, Yuko Minami, for example.
To justify the backstory that she grew up on Earth but was actually from the Moon, Tsuburaya added a plot point that she had been sent to Earth after being de-aged and had slept on Earth for 10,000 years.
So, this "older sister" character was actually the same age as Leo...
However, this setting wasn't used for long.
After being introduced once, Tsuburaya promptly dropped it and never picked it up again.
In any case, Tsuburaya's settings are best taken lightly.
Shinji would only pick the ones that were useful to him.
Following all of Tsuburaya's settings to the letter would be a nightmare.
Even though the eight Ultramen had comparable combat abilities, Shinji wanted to emphasize each Ultraman's unique characteristics, so he transformed them from all-around fighters in their TV shows into specialized warriors for the film.
For instance, even though Ultraseven had just as many beam attacks as Ace, in the film, he mostly used his Eye Slugger and Emerium Ray.
Ace, on the other hand, retained his numerous beam abilities, and his signature dismemberment fighting style was kept, though toned down to meet rating requirements.
Shinji wouldn't film it as violently as in the original series.
Cu Chulainn was also required to undergo special training since he would play the role of Ultraman Jack's suit actor in the film.
Shinji obviously saw potential in Cu Chulainn's spear skills, so he planned to showcase Jack's javelin moves often.
In the original timeline, due to budget constraints, Jack didn't use his bracelet or the javelin in Ultraman Mebius TV appearances or the two movies he cameoed in.
To Shinji, this incomplete tribute was unacceptable.
If you're going to go for nostalgia, you've got to go 1,000% all-in to win over the fans!
Designing specialized combat styles for each Ultraman and making heavy use of weapons and beam effects undoubtedly increased the film's budget.
But Shinji knew that to draw audiences in, action scenes were crucial, and realistic action scenes were even more important.
Tsuburaya Productions, back in the day, seemed to have gone overboard with CG.
In Ultraman Mebius's two movies, the final battles were CG-heavy.
Given the CG technology and Tsuburaya's budget at the time, while the results weren't awful, they weren't great either.
If it hadn't been for Tsuburaya's good action choreography, innovative camerawork, and the fact that Toei kept lowering the bar for tokusatsu CG, those two films would have received far more negative criticism for the battle sequences.
Shinji had never understood why, given Tsuburaya's usual style, they didn't switch to practical effects once they realized CG wasn't cutting it.
In Ultraman Tiga, for example, after a few episodes of trying CG for Ultraman's flight and monster explosions, they quickly switched to models when the results were unsatisfactory.
But with Mebius, they just kept using CG over and over again, which was baffling.
"Was it because they had too much budget? Or too little? Or was it because internal corruption was easier when using CG? Who knows… the decline of an empire brings out all kinds of oddities," Shinji thought idly during a break in shooting.
These mysteries had been part of Tsuburaya's internal workings in his previous life, so Shinji never knew the truth.
In this life, because he intervened early, these things never even got a chance to happen.
"Shinji, you sure look relaxed!" Shirou, taking a break from set-building, plopped down beside him and grumbled, "I nearly had a chastity crisis in Yokohama, and you're just lounging around here in Fuyuki City! Why am I the one who always gets the short end of the stick?"
Shirou's voice grew louder and louder until he was practically shouting.
"Shirou, what happened to you?" Shinji sat up straight and leaned in.
Even though he didn't like to gossip about himself, he was very interested in other people's gossip, rivaling even his own sister.
"Well, it happened a few days ago when I was in Yokohama," Shirou said awkwardly, scratching his head, "I was having dinner at an izakaya when a girl approached me... and then…"
Even though he left out many details, Shinji could guess what had happened.
A romantic encounter—no, more like a disaster.
"It was terrifying. She used Mystic Eyes to charm me," Shirou said, still shaken. "You didn't see her clinging to me, calling me 'darling'... It was horrifying."
"Ah, she's trying to get your seed, huh?" Shinji grinned, not too surprised.
He and Waver had encountered this kind of thing many times at the Clock Tower.
Rumor had it that Waver still occasionally found a naked female magus under his covers when he went to bed.
"Shirou, you're the only magus in the world who can use a Reality Marble," Shinji patted his friend on the shoulder. "There are plenty of magus families hoping to use your genes to produce an heir."
"Seriously, that's not something to be proud of," Shirou muttered.
"So, how was her technique?" Shinji asked with a sly grin, giving him a knowing look.
"What are you talking about?! I used my magical circuits to break free and escape. If I'd made a mistake, what would I do if I suddenly ended up with a kid?" Shirou retorted with a snort.
Shinji was surprised, "Huh? You don't know? We can control our bodily fluids by regulating our magical energy. While it's not 100% effective for making someone pregnant, it's completely foolproof when it comes to not getting them pregnant."
This was one of the magical techniques Zouken had taught Shinji after he hit puberty, to prevent any unexpected heirs from popping up in the Matou family.
"What? I had no idea about that."
Shirou looked utterly confused.
His adoptive father, Kiritsugu, wasn't from an old magus family, so this essential knowledge had never been passed down to him.
"Wow." Shinji patted Shirou on the shoulder again. "Shirou, you really missed out."
Shirou, annoyed, pushed Shinji's hand away, "Shinji! Stop looking at me with those pitying eyes!"
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