Chapter 290: Shinji: Since Comedic Fate Is Too Popular, Let's Make a Horror Movie
On the television screen, Saber radiated with a dark magical aura—so intense and overwhelming that even a descending god would pale in comparison.
Tension swelled with the background music. The protagonists faced their greatest crisis yet.
And then—just like that—the episode ended.
There was no helping it. Tokusatsu shows had a limited runtime, and every minute counted like a ticking time bomb.
Sure, the entire programming block might be listed as 40 minutes, but once you cut out the opening, the ending, and all the commercials, what was left for the crew to actually tell a story? Maybe 20 minutes—if they were lucky.
Time was precious. Every second had to fight for its place.
Because of that, rushed and jarring plot twists were practically a hallmark of the genre. Even the most legendary episodes in the Ultraman series couldn't fully escape the shackles of runtime.
This was exactly why the traditional "monster-of-the-week" format had started to fade. The Big Three of tokusatsu were all gradually shifting toward serialized storytelling.
After all, to tell a good story, you first needed enough time to tell it well.
Once freed from the constraint of "wrap it all up in one episode," a serialized format allowed creators far more breathing room.
Still, even though the audience knew how short each tokusatsu episode was, when this week's Magical Illya ended, they were so engrossed that it didn't even register until the credits rolled.
"Wait, it's over already? That was so freakin' fast! Every time! Just when I get into it, boom, it's over!"
"No surprise there—Saber-sama's presence was off the charts! I wanted more action! That wasn't nearly enough!"
"They stopped at the climax again. Why can't they do two episodes in a row?!"
"It really feels like a movie, not a TV show. So why can't we just get the whole thing in one go like a movie!?"
...
Elsewhere, Alice's gaze slid toward Aoko, sensing a certain... ominous pressure rising off her.
"…Aoko, what are you planning to do?" she asked, warily.
"I'm mad!" Aoko declared, swinging her DX toy weapon in the air like a judge's gavel. Her tone was so over-the-top it could've passed for a stage performance.
"That cliffhanger gremlin Matou needs to get his manhood chopped into pieces!"
"…Huh? Is it just me or did it suddenly get cold?"
Far away, across time and space, Shinji shivered.
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Aoko wasn't alone in her outrage.
Plenty of fans were ready to storm the gates over Shinji's legendary cliffhangers.
Maybe it was because he gave everyone a taste of back-to-back episodes once. Ever since then, the viewers had been craving another Magical Illya double feature.
To be honest, when the show was first announced, most people didn't have high hopes.
A new tokusatsu series set during the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City, right after Heaven's Feel had perfectly wrapped up the Fate/Stay Night story? It felt excessive.
If we're being blunt, it sounded like just another lazy cash-grab.
But then the SP (special) episode aired during golden prime time.
And viewers, once reluctant, found themselves muttering:
"Huh… actually, this is kinda good."
From that moment on, they were hooked. Episode after episode. Nonstop.
Of course, some dropped off along the way for various reasons. That was inevitable.
But with an average rating of 10.45%, Magical Illya was hands down the brightest star in this year's tokusatsu sky.
For comparison, even the king of the Big Three—Kamen Rider—only managed a 7.72% average with its latest title Kamen Rider Kabuto.
The industry veterans were baffled.
How could this—a lazy repackaged IP—explode in popularity like that?
What was wrong with Fate? Why did every single installment go viral?
Was it… a religion or something?
A few magi even began whispering dangerous theories—that maybe, just maybe, Shinji had developed some sort of suggestion magecraft—a spell baked into his works that brainwashed viewers into opening their wallets with zero hesitation.
Of course, regular people would never think something so sinister.
But still, even the ordinary folk—stunned by the sheer success of Magical Illya—started digging into it seriously, wondering what kind of black magic was at work here.
They soon discovered that the success of this tokusatsu series wasn't just some bizarre fluke—it had its reasons.
First and foremost was the Fate brand itself. With a name that powerful, tons of viewers tuned in for the prime-time premiere. That alone gave it a massive head start over lesser-known titles.
Then there was the outrageous, over-the-top humor of the story.
Many longtime Fate fans were totally blindsided when Magical Illya kicked things off with absurd, slapstick comedy.
Sure, the original Fate series had a few lighthearted moments scattered here and there—but those were seasoning at best. The franchise was known for its serious, dramatic storytelling.
Yet even the most die-hard fans had to admit one thing:
This was a show that could keep you laughing from start to finish.
By the time they switched off the TV, cheeks sore from grinning, they no longer had the energy to argue about whether the show was "faithful" to Fate's tone.
And for that, they had to thank the first two seasons of Hiroyama's manga adaptation.
Those earlier volumes had already laid the foundation with quality humor.
Sure, some of the content danced a bit close to the edge—with certain questionable loli fanservice—but overall, the tone had been light, cheerful, and fun.
In contrast, Season 3 had taken a noticeable dip in quality.
Some suspected that Hiroyama's personal ambition had started steering the story back toward Fate's traditional heavy drama.
Of course, plenty of Fate fans do love a good serious plot.
But let's be real—when it comes to telling compelling, dramatic stories, there's no shortage of Fate titles out there already.
And frankly, Hiroyama's passionate-but-middling writing just couldn't hold a candle to Nasu's original work.
In the end, Magical Illya lost its unique charm and became a bland, halfway serious, halfway weird entry in the franchise.
Which is exactly why Shinji had no plans to adapt the third season of the manga.
Forcing Magical Illya to turn into a dramatic epic would only ruin what made it special to begin with.
Back to the show itself—
From the beginning, Magical Illya was always a strange beast—somewhere between an entry-level intro for newcomers and a full-blown fanservice piece for veterans.
Normally, that kind of vague target audience is a death sentence.
You try to please both ends of the spectrum and end up satisfying no one.
But Magical Illya broke the rules.
Its plot was simple.
Its premise wasn't all that different from a regular magical girl show.
It was incredibly easy to pick up for anyone who'd never touched Fate before.
Then you had Illya and Akiha—the two adorably moe lolis—plus Rin and Luvia, the picture-perfect bishoujo beauties (if you ignored their personalities).
Together, it became a "must-watch for all real men" kind of fluffy eye-candy show.
As for the Fate fans?
The real treat for them wasn't just the comedy or even the main cast—it was the surprise guest appearances.
From Rider, to Caster, to the recently debuted Saber—Magical Illya's lineup of cameos was stacked.
It could go toe-to-toe with the biggest ensemble dramas on air.
And because the show leaned into comedy, these returning cast members felt fresh and fun in a way you didn't get to see in the mainline works.
It was kind of like the Fate version of Ashes of Time versus Eagle Shooting Heroes—same actors, completely different genre, wildly entertaining in both.
Naturally, as a tokusatsu show, Magical Illya didn't skimp on the action either.
High-quality fight scenes had always been one of Fate's strongest selling points.
But here's the funny part—even the viewers who only tuned in for the battles ended up saying:
"You know what? Even without all the cool fights… Fate would still be a hit."
Maybe that was the magic of Fate itself—the power of its stories, its world, its characters.
Fan bias aside, Magical Illya's red-hot ratings had gotten Shinji thinking:
Maybe it was time to bring back another beloved side project—Carnival Phantasm.
…but not right away.
See, most Fate fans were still in it for the serious, dramatic stories.
Comedies like this were a fun treat every now and then—but serve them too often, and people start getting tired of the taste.
So, Shinji decided to shelve the comedy projects for now.
Instead, he'd take the franchise in a totally different direction—
Horror.
That's right. The long-rumored The Garden of Sinners film series, starring the stoic and terrifyingly competent Miss Ryougi Shiki, Shinji's very own assistant, was finally entering full production.
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