"How many servants do you think will die in this episode?"
Despite the intense start of HF leaving everyone feeling parched, a few of the boys thought it wouldn't be right to just keep gulping water in silence.
After all, if they just sat there quietly staring, the girls around them would surely label them as perverts or creeps.
To avoid social death and to cover up their awkwardness after the steamy scenes, the boys eagerly started a discussion.
"In the last episode, Kojirou and Medea died, but Hassan joined the cast, so the total number should be just one less."
Shibamatsu counted on his fingers and said, "There are six episodes in the HF version, and considering the tradition of only leaving Saber alive to destroy the Holy Grail at the end, with the addition of Hassan, a total of eight servants should die."
"Eight?"
Shibamatsu objected, "Originally, there were seven. Add Hassan and Gilgamesh, and then there are nine, my math wasn't taught by my literature teacher, thank you very much."
"Rider and the two from Ryudou Temple have already died, so there are five left. If we average it out, there should be one dying per episode from now on."
"Then who do you think will be the next one?"
"Who else? It's definitely going to start with a minor character who isn't important to the plot. I'd say it's about 80% going to be Cu Chulainn."
Shibamatsu curiously asked, "Hey, isn't he pretty hard to kill? Whether it's UBW or the movie version, he survives until quite late... although his screen time isn't much."
"Think about it. The main cast of this movie isn't going to lose members so soon, and the Matou family and the Ryudou Temple crew are already out. So, that only leaves Illya and Cu Chulainn."
"Unless that golden jerk comes back to stir things up, it's definitely going to start with something easy. So, if Cu Chulainn doesn't die, who will?"
Shibamatsu pondered for a moment before nodding thoughtfully, "So, the next one to die should be Lancer?"
"Eighty percent sure," his opponent laughed smugly. "After that, it should be Heracles, then Servant EMIYA, and this time's Hassan. Gilgamesh, of course, will once again be the final boss. I've got Shinji's pattern all figured out."
"Really?"
Shibamatsu was deeply skeptical. The last time they followed UBW, every time they thought they had predicted the plot, Matou Shinji's twists always exceeded their expectations.
But to say that Matou Shinji intentionally used plot twists just to stump everyone—well, this director always buried the narrative threads into the story beforehand.
"I don't think it'll be that simple..."
Shibamatsu's hesitation didn't sway his friend's confidence. "Just watch, I'll definitely guess it right."
Unfortunately, the plot didn't unfold as quickly as everyone expected.
The first half-hour of the second episode was all about setup and character interactions, especially between Shirou and Sakura.
The setup basically let the audience know that the main cast was aware of the events at Ryudou Temple and had devised their next plan of action.
But this serious progression only lasted about ten minutes, and the rest of the scenes focused on Shirou and Sakura's budding romance.
It was clear that Shinji intentionally gave them so much screen time.
Most of the audience had already watched UBW before HF, so they were well aware of how the ideal of "becoming a hero of justice" held a central place in Shirou Emiya's heart, almost serving as his spiritual pillar.
The most crucial aspect of Shirou Emiya's character in the HF route, however, is that he gives up this ideal and chooses the person he loves instead.
Whether or not the audience likes this change, from a narrative standpoint, Shirou's transformation is essential to the overall story.
Because of its importance, this transformation needs to feel justified, or the whole story would collapse due to its lack of plausibility.
For the audience to believe Shirou's decision to "give up his ideal and choose Sakura," they need to understand just how much weight Sakura holds in his heart.
Shirou and Sakura's repeated conversations, their constant declarations of affection for each other, all serve as the motivation for Shirou's internal shift.
Of course, Shinji knew there would definitely be some impatient viewers who would fast-forward through this dialogue and jump straight to the action scenes.
Those people would likely go online and complain about the characters being out of character, accuse Shinji of butchering the story, and some might even go as far as to shout, "Matou Shinji's just a filmmaker, what does he know about Fate?"
But Shinji wasn't going to bother with these people. He believed it would be beneath him to personally argue with them.
He didn't think such a small matter required his intervention either, as his core fanbase would list out reasons to counter these haters' claims.
Shinji had always taken good care of Alice's team, and now it was time for them to shine in defense of his choices.
However, these core fans, who should have been cheering for Shinji, were still not able to understand his "well-intentioned" plans.
Faced with one romantic scene after another, many began to grow a bit impatient.
"I strongly suspect Matou Shinji's love life has been through something rough. Otherwise, why is he feeding us so much romance?" Shibamatsu grumbled as he ate his snacks.
He knew eating late at night was bad, but if he didn't snack, he'd feel like he was being stuffed full of romantic clichés.
"Just wait a bit. If the structure follows the first episode, the action should start in half an hour."
Alice's guess was much more accurate than the other guy's wild theories.
Well… maybe not, because Lancer actually did show up.
Half an hour into the story, night fell once again over Fuyuki City, and Cu Chulainn, under orders from his Master (Kotomine Kirei), went to Ryudou Temple to investigate what had happened.
In the movie, this part of the plot was changed so that Cu Chulainn encounters Cursed Arm Hassan near the murder scene and engages him in battle to gather information.
Shinji figured this alteration was made to justify the upcoming city chase scene.
As for why the battle between Cu Chulainn and Cursed Arm Hassan was turned into a city chase, Shinji couldn't guess, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the increasingly over-the-top Conan movies.
You can't say the strategy of using big action sequences and explosions to attract audiences is wrong—after all, the ever-increasing box office returns of the Conan movies prove its effectiveness.
What puzzled Shinji was this: if Ufotable decided to copy Conan's action sequences, why didn't they copy the romantic pairings too?
Including romance could definitely pull in more female viewers, and fangirls are no small consumer force.
"Well, I for one totally agree with Ufotable's decision not to sell pairings."
Shinji muttered to himself.
"Onii-sama?"
Shinji immediately switched to a flattering tone, "I'm here! Sakura, what can I do for you?"
Seeing how even more obsequious Shinji was than himself, Shirou shook his head in resignation.
Although Shinji had changed the place where Lancer and Cursed Arm met back to Ryudou Temple, it didn't mean that their epic chase scene was gone.
After all, in his previous life, that battle was the most well-received action scene in the first HF movie. There was no way Shinji, who followed the doctrine of "if it works, use it," would abandon it.
Setting the beginning of the battle at Ryudou Temple was just a way to let the audience learn about the concepts of "shadow" and "water and insects" through Cu Chulainn's investigation.
The real fight was still that chase scene through the city.
"Heh heh, this is the true might of Cu Chulainn's mad dog persona," Cu Chulainn said smugly as he watched his energetic self on screen.
Yan Qing nodded in agreement, "Indeed, Master rarely gives you such a cool scene to show off."
EMIYA let out a small, disdainful snort. "That guy Matou Shinji isn't doing this out of kindness. The reason he put so much effort into this action sequence is to milk it for all it's worth."
Hearing this only made Cu Chulainn even more pleased. Laughing heartily, he said, "That's understandable! After all, I'm about to go solo and star in my own movie. It's only natural that I get this kind of special treatment! Hahaha!"
"As expected of Sir Cu Chulainn, you're truly amazing," Diarmuid praised while clapping his hands.
"Hahaha!" Cu Chulainn laughed even more arrogantly, "With such a badass fight, I'm sure I'll soon be the talk of the town."
"Even if it's only for this brief episode, I've got to thank Master for it."
"Oh, I actually know something about that," Enkidu chimed in with a cheerful smile, raising his hand. "Master mentioned before that he's planning to extract one very important scene from this battle to use as a talking point."
Cu Chulainn's interest was immediately piqued. "Master's being this generous? Which scene?"
"This one."
Enkidu paused the TV on a frame of Lancer running with his arm bent at a 90-degree angle.
"That's just a standard running pose!" Cu Chulainn complained loudly. "Why would he use this as the focus? Aren't there way cooler shots?"
Enkidu tilted his head, his expression innocent as he explained, "Because Master said this pose is particularly funny and leaves a lasting impression. It's easy to market..."
"Huh?!"
"I even heard Master is planning to make a mini-game based on your running pose, called Run, Doggie, Run!"
"Why though?!"
That night, the sound of the mad dog's anguished wails echoed through the halls of Type-Moon's offices.
<+>
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