I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 474: How to "NTR" France—Turning Queen Mary into a Heroic Spirit
Cloris rarely paid much attention to video streaming platforms. Even when she did use one, it was almost always her own company's service.
As a result, it was difficult for her to appreciate the differences in user experience between various video platforms—or websites in general.
Ordinary users, however, could feel it immediately.
They could clearly tell that Type-Moon's streaming platform was leagues ahead of its competitors in terms of user-friendly design.
That was because many of the platform's features had been designed by Shinji based on the video sites he remembered from before being transported to this world.
As for the other platforms...
In truth, it wasn't just video sites. Many of the world's largest websites and online platforms had user experiences that were surprisingly poor considering their status.
Well, "painful" might be putting it a little too strongly, but many of their interface designs really were outdated. Even the random apps from around 2015 had better user experience design than they did.
Even as late as 2022, the YouTube app still hadn't implemented playback speed controls or long-press fast-forward on mobile, let alone features like chapter markers.
If you wanted to skip ahead in a video, your only option was dragging the progress bar.
If the world's biggest video website looked like that in 2022, then you could imagine how primitive things were back in 2008.
Against competitors like that, Shinji wasn't merely crushing them by using 2022-era UX design.
It was a complete massacre.
Anyone who had used Type-Moon Streaming found every other video platform uncomfortable afterward. Everything felt awkward by comparison.
Some of the features Shinji introduced didn't actually match some users' habits.
But that hardly mattered, because the platform as a whole was simply so well designed.
If users didn't like certain extra features, they could just ignore them.
Besides, so-called "user habits" are cultivated over time.
A feature that initially feels unfamiliar becomes second nature after a few version updates.
Thanks to its outstanding user experience, even after the popularity of Prologue had subsided, the platform's user base continued to grow steadily.
The explosive performance of the Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons trailer was simply the culmination of that sustained growth over a long period.
Of course, Cloris and Shinji weren't only paying attention to the view counts.
They were also closely watching audience reactions to the trailer itself.
After watching the exciting preview, many viewers praised the handsome and beautiful designs of the newly introduced characters, eagerly looking forward to their appearances in the film.
As expected, for visual creatures like humans, first impressions really do matter.
Many fans were also reminded of Prologue, which had premiered earlier that year.
In their eyes, Prologue, with its many returning characters, had served as both a conclusion to and continuation of the previous Fate films.
Meanwhile, Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons, introducing a large cast of new characters, represented a brand-new beginning for the Fate franchise.
"Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons marks a fresh start. Traveling through time to experience major historical events sounds like it'll make for an incredibly fun adventure."
This was a comment left on IMDb by the Chinese Type-Moon fan "Kotomine Takako of the Matou Family"
Of course, in a certain fan group, that same fan acted very differently.
[Kotomine Takako of the Matou Family]:
Jeanne Alter is freaking gorgeous! Those black stockings look way better than the original's dark navy ones! And the short-haired look is way cuter than that country-girl braid! Come on! Starting today, I'm officially Jeanne Alter's dragon! She can ride me however she wants! (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)"
The moment he posted that, it hit the group like a depth charge.
[Li Family's Second Son Is Archer]:
Wake up from your dream already! Want me to splash some piss on you so you come to your senses? Jeanne Alter is obviously mine!"
[Tokiomi, Your Crimes Know No Bounds]:
"My urine's extra yellow today. I'll wake both of you up!"
[Kotomine Takako of the Matou Family]:
"Bring it on! I'll defend my rightful place beneath Lady Jeanne Alter's feet! I'm her loyal guardian dragon!"
[Tokiomi, Your Crimes Know No Bounds]:
"'Guardian'? Don't kid yourself. You're just lusting after her body. You shameless degenerate!"
...
Setting aside whether these people's "fetish operating systems" were updating a little too quickly, at the very least, everyone could tell just how excited they were for the movie.
Whether they were actually looking forward to the movie itself, or just the girls in it, was another matter entirely.
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As time moved into the second week after the trailer's release, the view count for Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons continued to climb.
Anyone with even the slightest interest in movies had already watched the trailer. Regardless of how high—or low—their expectations were, the film had undoubtedly made a name for itself.
With that, Times Group kicked off the second phase of its marketing campaign: selling merchandise.
Well, "selling" wasn't quite the right word.
"Opening pre-orders" would be more accurate.
Manufacturers that had signed licensing agreements with Times Group all unveiled their own Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons merchandise. Everything from mugs and toys to limited-edition home appliances was available.
Only food-related collaborations—such as Coca-Cola and Ferrero chocolates—went on sale immediately, since all they needed was new packaging.
Everything else was available only through pre-orders to coincide with the film's promotion. Some of the hottest items even required lottery drawings just for the chance to pre-order, showing just how fanatical the most devoted moviegoers had become.
Throughout the process, the thing Shinji enjoyed most was watching companies scramble to secure licensing agreements the moment the film entered production.
Special-edition merchandise usually required opening an entirely new production line. Unless manufacturers had tremendous confidence in a film's commercial prospects, they would never invest that early.
The fact that companies were competing so fiercely for the licenses proved how optimistic they were about his movie.
To Shinji, that alone was evidence of success.
Of course, as a lifelong Type-Moon fanatic who had lived through two lifetimes, Shinji had already instructed every manufacturer to send him one prototype sample of every single piece of merchandise they produced.
Compared to the mass-produced retail versions, prototypes were usually crafted with greater care and superior quality, making them the ultimate collector's items for diehard fans.
Shinji felt absolutely no shame about abusing his position for personal benefit.
What Type-Moon fan wouldn't want a complete collection of high-quality Jeanne Alter figures in all her different forms?
And if someone said they didn't...
It was probably because they wanted fully articulated—or even removable-clothing—figures instead.
While Shinji had already fallen hopelessly into the rabbit hole of collecting figures and models, ordinary fans—who could only satisfy themselves by placing pre-orders—were far more concerned about the movie itself and continued speculating about its story.
After repeatedly analyzing the trailer frame by frame, fans whose eyes were sharper than the Sharingan had finally pieced together almost everything Shinji had hidden inside it.
"Let's summarize what we currently know about the Heroic Spirits."
Looking at the trailer's final frame—the FGO title against a glowing halo—Alice addressed Aoko and the others.
"First, we have the Heroic Spirits who already appeared in previous movies."
She scrubbed backward through the trailer.
"Mash, Jeanne, the black one... Gilles de Rais, Siegfried, Vlad III, and Lancelot—though the last two only appeared for a single frame, tucked away in the corner."
After taking a moment to complain about Shinji's unfair treatment of Vlad and Lancelot, Alice paused the video on Marie's face.
"Next are the newly announced Heroic Spirits whose names have already been officially revealed. This one—although she's played by the same actress as the character in Prologue—is portraying an entirely new role this time: Queen Marie, the wife of King Louis XVI of France."
As she spoke, Alice suddenly froze.
Then she stomped her foot in frustration.
"Tch! I want to be in Sir Matou's movies too! Why can't he make a protagonist named Alice?!"
Aoko and the others all quietly looked away, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.
"Besides Queen Marie, there's one more Heroic Spirit whose identity has already been officially revealed..."
"It's him."
Alice paused the video on Mozart.
"Mozart," Aoko said, raising an eyebrow as she identified him. "After writers, now musicians are Caster-class too. It looks like famous artists of all kinds will probably end up as Casters from now on. I can't help feeling that Shinji Matou has some strange misunderstanding about what the Caster class is supposed to be."
"Maybe it's because Casters don't have to fight people up close," Shibamatsu suggested. "So any character without much combat ability can just be shoved into that class. I bet we'll see even weirder Casters in the future—like Princess Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, or maybe that crane from the folktale that wove cloth."
Without realizing it, Shibamatsu had accidentally guessed the truth.
"Maybe," Alice replied. "The Caster class really is a catch-all by design. But I still feel like putting a musician on the battlefield means he'd just be there to set the mood. Even in the trailer, every scene involving him on the battlefield shows him playing the piano."
Fujita answered matter-of-factly,
"What's wrong with that? In games, musicians sing songs to give everyone buffs."
"But those are usually instruments like lyres that you can carry around, so you can stay mobile on the battlefield. How are you supposed to move a piano? Carry it on your back whenever the enemy attacks?"
"Well... Heroic Spirits can probably just make their weapons disappear, right?"
"So we'd end up watching Mozart sitting down playing the piano one second, then jumping to his feet and sprinting away the next? Squatting down to play, standing up to run, then squatting again... he'd look like he was doing frog jumps the whole battle."
"..."
After hearing Alice's description, Aoko could picture the scene perfectly.
She was certain her sister, Touko, would never agree with Alice's theory.
"Has Alice had her brain sucked dry by Vlad or something? There's no way I'd make special effects that ridiculous."
Imagining Touko saying those exact words in her head, Aoko couldn't help chuckling to herself.
She had a feeling her sister really would roast Alice like that.