Just when "Fate Stay Night" premiered in North America.
At the same time, audiences here were also walking into the cinema.
However, due to the time difference, it was already daytime on July 2nd in Japan.
"H-Hawn, do we really have to get up so early?"
Kiritani yawned and complained to Shiori Kaede, "Wouldn't it be easier to just watch the afternoon show?"
"How can you be considered a die-hard fan if you don't see the movie as soon as possible!" Shiori Kaede said dissatisfiedly, "I want to finish watching the movie as soon as possible, and then go to 2CH to brag about it!"
Kiritani yawned again as he looked at Shiori Kaede, whose body was burning with the flame of fighting spirit.
Although July 2nd is a weekend, for Japanese office workers, this day without any special holidays is a good time to work overtime.
Originally, Kiritani and Shiori Kaede should have been working hard at their desks like their colleagues.
However, today is the day when "Fate Stay Night" is released in Japan, which is a very important holy war day for the two otakus, Kaede Shiori and Kiritani.
In order to free up this day for rest, the two worked hard for two weeks before they finished today's work ahead of schedule and got leave approved by the evil leader.
Originally, according to Kiritani's plan, today was a rare day off and he should have slept in at home to make up for the sleep he had missed in the past few days.
Then have a luxurious lunch on the commercial street, go to the cinema to watch a movie in the afternoon, and finally brag on the 2CH message board in the evening.
In Kiritani's opinion, this is the so-called day off.
However, Shiori Kaede obviously didn't think so. He first bought the ticket for the first show in the morning, and then ran to the apartment rented by Kiritani at 5 o'clock this morning and dug him out of bed.
[I should have known better than to make an appointment to watch a movie with this guy. ]
Because I have no friends, I can only ask Shiori Kaede to watch the movie with me, but now Kiritani feels a little regretful.
"Why are you so enthusiastic..."
Seeing Shiori Kaede take out the portable table and place it on his knees, Kiritani broke out in a cold sweat.
"I'm going to take notes." Shiori Kaede said as he took out his notebook and pen. "That uncle party member will definitely watch the premiere in North America. I absolutely cannot let him outshine me! I must win this time!"
"…As long as you are happy."
Kiritani sighed. He just hoped that his friend would not be too stingy and only eat at the convenience store during lunch.
"Um, sorry…"
Kiritani's arm was suddenly poked by someone and he shuddered immediately.
"No, I was rude."
Kiritani then realized that his arm was leaning against the seat next to him. He quickly retracted his arm and apologized to the girl sitting next to him.
"It's okay, just be careful."
The girl smiled very gently and sweetly.
[What a beautiful girl. ]
Even though the lights in the movie theater were a little dim, the girl's long brown hair and cute little nose were particularly eye-catching in Kiritani's eyes.
[There are benefits to watching the show in the morning. ]
Kiritani was in a much better mood, and even Shiori Kaede, who was sitting next to him and muttering to herself, could not affect his good mood.
Soon, the movie officially began.
—————————————————————————
The standard IMAX movie opening sequence stunned everyone.
Although he no longer had the excitement he had the first time, the screen effects still surprised William.
But William, who has watched several IMAX movies, knows very well that the best part of IMAX is always the beginning.
"It would be great if feature films could have such an effect." William whispered to himself.
After hearing his companion's speech, Ed replied in a low voice: "It is said that Director Kiryu used an IMAX camera this time and specially shot a lot of action shots."
"I hope so."
William nodded.
After the IMAX opening, the logos of Washimine Entertainment and Erque Studio appeared one after another.
Then the flames began to burn on the big LOGO of [Erque Studio] and quickly spread to the entire screen.
This is a fire.
Against the backdrop of red flames, there were fleeing crowds and collapsed houses everywhere.
In the camera, a boy, about six or seven years old, is running as fast as he can to escape the fire.
However, wherever he passed, there was flames. In the end, he had nowhere to escape and was forced into a corner by the fire.
Looking at the disaster in front of him and listening to the wailing of people around him, the little boy lying on the ground covered his head in pain.
William, who has read the comic version, knows that this is the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, ten years before the story officially begins.
At the end of the war, something unexpected happened, which eventually led to a major disaster that burned down 140 houses and killed 500 people.
"When I came to my senses, I was already in a state of panic."
The voice-over of the protagonist Shirou Emiya begins to sound, and he tells the audience about the fire that happened ten years ago in a painful tone.
"I lost everything in that disaster, my home and my family."
"I was the only one who miraculously survived the attack, saved by a single person from the flames that consumed everything."
In the picture, the flames began to dissipate, and the boy stretched out his hand and was held by a big hand.
A blurry, haggard man's face flashed across the camera.
"I always feel like I've seen the expression on that face somewhere." Shion narrowed her eyes. She recognized who was in front of the camera.
"How on earth did you get Kiritsugu to agree to film this scene?"
"In fact, he didn't agree at all."
Nanaya lowered her voice and said very proudly, "I asked Illya to get a photo of Kiritsugu with a happy expression in the name of taking a photo of her father, and then I photoshopped it on the computer and added it to the movie."
"Um...will he agree?"
Shion doesn't think Kiritsugu is a generous guy. When he was helping [Erque Studio] and Lin Bao to split up, Kiritsugu liked to nitpick on some small details.
Nanaya shrugged and said, "Anyway, there's no clear photo of my face, so he can't do anything to me."
"A-choo!"
Kiritsugu, who was watching a movie with his daughter in Japan, sneezed.
Kiritsugu rubbed his nose and thought: [It must be that brat who said bad things about me. How dare you do this to me? I will never let you go! ]
Looking at his familiar yet blurry old face on the screen, Kiritsugu felt very depressed.
Although he knew that the person in the movie was definitely himself, he couldn't even clearly see his facial features, so he couldn't do anything as long as the other party insisted that it was not him.
After all, apart from this blurry picture, all other shots related to Emiya Kiritsugu did not show the whole body. Either the back or only half of the face was exposed, making it impossible for Kiritsugu to obtain any evidence.
In the picture, Kiritsugu and Shirou, a father and son, are walking on the road, and the camera is focused on the backs of the two people.
"The man who rescued me from the fire adopted me."
Emiya Shirou's monologue continued.
"I vowed in my heart to become the successor of this lifesaver."
The scene gradually began to change. The middle-aged man who was holding the boy's hand disappeared, and the boy turned into a teenager.
"From then on, I vowed to be a [partner of justice] who saves everyone from now on."
The sound of metal striking began to be heard in the background of the picture, as if someone was fighting with cold weapons.
"This is it,"
The knocking sounds became louder, as if the fight was happening right next to us.
"This is the way of life that Shirou Emiya decided on ten years ago."
The boy's face turned to the front, and the surrounding scene changed to a teaching building at night.
Bang!
After a loud bang, the boy was hit hard against the wall.
"Damn it!"
Shirou tried to fight back, but the cold light from the other side came too fast.
Before he could react, the red spear pierced Emiya Shirou's heart.
In the last moment before he fell, the audience and Shirou saw the attacker's face clearly.
He was a man wearing a blue tights and had a beast-like face.
"Hmm..."
While his consciousness was blurring, Shirou opened his mouth and said in a soft voice:
"In the end, I still can't become a [partner of justice], Kiritsugu..."
As Emiya Shirou closed his eyes, the huge screen went dark.
Then a high and tragic music sounded, a huge title "Fate Stay Night" appeared on the screen, and the movie officially began.
In the prelude of the movie, Nanaya did not use the prologue from Rin's perspective, nor did she use Kotomine Kirei's ten-year-long Holy Grail opening speech as the first scene of the movie.
Perhaps many movies like to tell the premise and background of their stories in a solemn tone in the first scene, but Nanaya doesn't like it that way.
Just like the opening of "Goblin Slayer" with the adventure of a team of passers-by, Nanaya did not start by telling the world view setting in Fate.
Instead, it starts with the background story of the protagonist Shirou Emiya, and only mentions the disaster throughout the process, but does not expand any worldview related to the Type-Moon world.
There is a reason why Nanaya did this.
He felt that using that kind of opening might be very convenient for film directors, because these people could directly tell their own stories later. Anyway, I have told you, the audience, the setting.
This is certainly convenient for the director, but not for the audience.
Nanaya has always felt that commercial films are essentially a kind of service, a process in which the production team pleases those being served (the audience) and thereby gains profits.
Since they are server providers and the served, when the server feels convenient, the served will feel inconvenient.
So many background settings are given to the audience at the beginning. Does that mean the audience can accept all of them?
Especially those audiences who lack the background knowledge will be confused at the beginning of the movie, and then they will be left with three philosophical questions about the development of the movie.
When Nanaya watched "The Lord of the Rings" for the first time in his previous life, although Peter Jackson's opening was very organized and easy to understand, Nanaya didn't fully understand it the first time he watched it.
Although I grasped the importance and evil nature of the Lord of the Rings, I was able to get through the rest of the movie.
However, it was several years later when he finally understood the causes and consequences of all the events in the entire story of "The Lord of the Rings".
Nanaya, who was in college at the time, bought all the novels of The Lord of the Rings in order to review the trilogy and read them from beginning to end.
It is precisely because Nanaya has such an experience that he would rather work hard on his narrative skills than let the audience be confused about the story.
So in the nearly 3-minute opening scene, Nanaya only conveyed one key message to the audience - the protagonist Shirou Emiya, who aspires to become a "partner of justice."