I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director (Creating Fate Movie In Nasuverse)

If in Arturia's eyes, Kiritsugu Emiya was just a bad man who made girls cry, then in the eyes of an old-school magus like Tohko Aozaki, Kiritsugu Emiya was like a shirtless man performing a flamenco dance on the edge of their bottom line.

For this "magus killer," who equated "magus combat = just shoot them dead," Tohko Aozaki's disdain for Kiritsugu was beyond words.

"How can this guy even be called a magus?! Associating with such scum, now I know why the Matou family fell from grace."

Watching Kiritsugu's serious face on screen, Tohko Aozaki felt deeply uncomfortable.

In other Nasuverse worlds, firearms weren't that effective against magus. Even if a battle-hardened soldier were to face off against a magus with a gun, they'd likely just get themselves killed.

The only reason Kiritsugu Emiya was so successful using firearms was because he was a magus himself. He knew the exact moment to shoot the most critical bullet at his opponent.

Just look at Fate/Zero when Kiritsugu used his submachine gun against Kayneth, only to find it couldn't break through the protection of the Volumen Hydrargyrum. Firearms clearly aren't very effective against mystical defenses.

Though magus with bulletproof spells like the director were rare, their mysterious methods still gave them a huge advantage over ordinary people.

However, in this world, the level of magecraft had decreased so much that the odds of a gun defeating a magus had gone from 90-10 to 80-20 in favor of ordinary people. In fact, the average person now had an 80% chance of victory, while magus only had a 20% chance.

In other words, magus might have dismissed Kiritsugu with scorn, but here, the magus were outright furious.

It was like how movie critics couldn't stand Shinji Matou. They found him deeply detestable.

"That shameless, despicable scoundrel!" Tohko Aozaki muttered through clenched teeth. "To be called a magus alongside someone like him is the greatest disgrace of my life!"

Aoko resisted the urge to roll her eyes and tried to focus on the TV.

But this was no easy task, as the following scenes were a series of dialogue-heavy sequences.

Perhaps the filmmakers thought the audience needed a breather after the fast-paced earlier scenes, so the plot slowed down, mainly taking place during the day.

As everyone knows, the Holy Grail War happens at night, hidden in the shadows. During the day, there's usually no fighting or important events. (Except for certain characters who would beg to differ.)

So the audience was treated to a "harmonious" breakfast at the Emiya household—Saber and Taiga fighting over food, Shirou and Rin discussing tactics leisurely, and Caster enjoying a married life with Souichirou Kuzuki.

In the original world's HF movie, the treatment of Caster's group was incredibly brief and felt incomplete. Even in the HF line of the game, their story was treated similarly, but by the time players reached that route, they would have already completed the Fate and UBW routes.

Players were already familiar with the relationship dynamics between Caster, Souichirou Kuzuki, and Sasaki Kojiro, as well as their interactions. The game didn't need to reintroduce the characters and could jump straight into the plot.

But the movie version didn't take into account that not all viewers were die-hard fans, instead assuming everyone watching HF knew the lore.

Shinji, of course, couldn't make a film that catered only to fans, so he had to introduce Caster's group to the audience. But having actors explain everything through dialogue would've felt too dry. So Shinji took inspiration from Carnival Phantasm's Caster episode and filmed a scene of Caster sending the teacher off to work.

On one hand, this showed Caster's affection for Kuzuki through her devoted housewife persona. On the other, Sasaki Kojirou's snide remarks about her being a "vixen" provided insight into their master-servant relationships.

Shinji's sole purpose in doing this was to emotionally gut the audience later on.

After all, tragedy is about destroying something beautiful. The sweeter Caster's group was now, the harsher the knife would feel when their downfall came.

However, the unsuspecting lambs (viewers) who hadn't fast-forwarded to the later part of the film had no idea they were already inside the slaughterhouse.

All they felt at this point was that they were stuffed with HF's saccharine sweetness.

"Geez, what's gotten into Shinji this time?" Shibamatsu yawned and complained. "First, we got pure, innocent love between students, and now we're watching the happy, married life of a couple? Is he in partnership with the civil affairs bureau or just trying to mess with us single folks?"

The magus sitting next to Shibamatsu grinned mischievously, "Hey, maybe this is a good thing. This is a restricted animation, so maybe later on there'll be some mana transfer scenes, huh? Heh heh heh~"

Every magus knew what "mana transfer" meant. Hearing this, Shibamatsu couldn't help but start imagining it too.

Yeah, maybe there'll be some mana transfer scenes. I wonder who it'll be with...

But before Shibamatsu could finish his fantasy, the girls in the group gave the boys looks of utter disdain.

"Is that all boys ever think about?"

"Seriously, do they think Shinji Matou is some sleazy director who just uses actresses taking their clothes off to grab attention?"

"People like to judge others based on their own level, using their own mindset to evaluate others, which is the worst way to think."

...

Seeing the person who made the previous remark being called a traitor to women, Shibamatsu was glad he hadn't chimed in. Still, he couldn't help but sneak a glance of discontent at the girls.

If Matou Shinji had said something like that, I bet you wouldn't be collectively looking down on him. In fact, you'd probably flock to him, right?

After all, Shinji Matou was incredibly popular among female magi. 

Wealth didn't matter much; just his magical potential alone was enough to drive them wild. 

Even without marriage, many magi would be satisfied with having a child with Shinji, hoping their offspring might be a genius like him.

I wonder how Matou Shinji's love life really is. Could these romantic storylines be based on his personal experiences?

When Kuzuki returned to Ryudou Temple, and Medea shyly took his briefcase, saying, "Master, do you want to eat first, take a bath first, or... take me first?" Shibamatsu couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

'Ah, I want a gentle, caring wife like Medea, one who loves me and also happens to be a powerful magus!'

Smack

Shibamatsu felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see the so-called "enemy of women."

"Wake up, Shibamatsu," the person said, giving him a thumbs-up. "Your old man is calling you to study magecraft."

It seemed like his daydream had been exposed.

"Thanks a lot..." Shibamatsu sighed deeply.

"I get it. I'd love to have a wife like that too." His friend forced a wry smile. "But it's hard to believe a clueless guy like Kuzuki got someone as amazing as Medea. The world just doesn't make sense anymore!"

When Kuzuki merely responded with, "I'll finish grading these papers first," before heading to the main hall of the temple, leaving Medea behind, the magus couldn't help but feel a bit resentful.

Shibamatsu agreed, "Yeah, it does feel like a bit of a waste... but something about this whole situation seems... off."

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Shibamatsu started to feel uneasy, like the background music had taken a strange turn. 

Even though the scene was a peaceful one of a husband working while the wife prepared dinner, the eerie score made it seem like something terrible was about to happen.

"This feeling... damn, is this a horror movie?"

Shibamatsu blurted out loudly.

Although Shibamatsu wasn't a hardcore movie fan before getting into Fate, he had seen enough films to know that most horror movies followed this exact pattern: a group of people happily living in a seemingly safe environment, only for the background music to suddenly take a creepy turn, and soon after, people start dying.

Wait, people start dying?!

Shibamatsu's eyes widened, as if he'd just realized what was coming next.

And then, just as he expected, it happened—

The moment Medea used her knife to decapitate a fish, the camera abruptly cut to Sasaki Kojirou standing at the entrance of Ryudou Temple.

Splurt—

In a scene reminiscent of something bursting out of an alien host, a hole suddenly appeared in Kojirou's chest, and a shadowy figure emerged from within.

"Holy shit!!"

The shift in tone was so sudden that nobody had anticipated Matou Shinji pulling this kind of stunt. 

Even Aoko, typically composed, let out a curse in shock.

"—My, I did not think you were of the serpent's kind."

On the screen, Sasaki Kojirou fell to his knees on the stone steps, staring helplessly as his long sword dropped to the ground.

Both of his arms had been severed, and his once-sleeveless robe was now soaked in blood, creating a tragic scarlet bloom against the elegance of his attire.

In stark contrast to the bloody scene, the swordsman's lips were pale and his face ashen. The man once known as Sasaki Kojirou had lost all biological function.

Even as blood threatened to gush from his mouth, he swallowed it down, a serene smile still lingering on his face.

"...Very well, do as you wish. After all, this is coming out of me. I'm sure it's nothing noble—"

The swordsman, unable even to end his own life, could only watch helplessly, smiling as his tragic fate unfolded.

In terms of sheer tragedy, Kojirou's fate at that moment seemed even more devastating than that of a host in an alien horror movie.

"Ki—Kiki, kikikiki—"

The shadow that had emerged from his body let out a mocking laugh, though it was unclear whether it was mocking the swordsman or celebrating its own birth.

Without any hesitation, the grotesque creature sought the blood and flesh of a Heroic Spirit to sustain itself, and the now-harmless swordsman was the perfect meal.

"Ahh—"

The shadow opened its mouth wide, lunging at the fallen swordsman...

"Ugh... disgusting."

Shibamatsu knew this kind of sudden death scene was a staple of horror films, but it was shocking how effective the same trope could be when handled by different directors.

Especially since this particular director had never made a horror film before!

"Damn, the whiplash from this romantic, peaceful scene to an adrenaline-pumping horror moment is awful!"

Shibamatsu grumbled in frustration.

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