Chapter 277: Departure for China
Inside the control room of TBS Television, Kazuo Tsuburaya couldn't sit still in his chair, constantly shifting his weight like a restless child.
Strictly speaking, he had no real reason to be there.
But Magical Illya was no ordinary project—it was one of the rare tokusatsu works under the Tsuburaya name that didn't involve Ultraman. That alone made it a personal matter. Given the situation, Kazuo Tsuburaya decided it was best to be on-site, to be the first to grasp the results.
To put it bluntly, he had zero faith in this project.
He knew full well that showing up in the control room wouldn't magically change the outcome, that the ratings and reception had already been sealed. But still—he came, hoping to find at least a sliver of peace of mind.
The first episode of the live-action show was now nearing its end.
On screen, Rin Tohsaka, with all the composure of a seasoned combat veteran, pulled a fast one on Illya and had her completely pinned.
"I command you!"
From her position of dominance, Rin pointed at Illya and declared, "You will become my Servant!"
"Heh—haha~"
Two of the staff monitoring the feed chuckled softly. Not because it wasn't funny—far from it. They had already laughed so hard during the previous scene that they didn't have the strength left for another full-blown outburst.
Any Fate fan worth their mana could immediately tell what this scene was referencing.
It was a parody of Fate/Stay Night's legendary moment—Saber's confrontation with Shirou. Except this time, the roles were reversed. Saber had once timidly asked Shirou if he was her Master. Now, Rin was high-and-mighty, ordering Illya to become her Servant.
When Shinji had begun production on this live-action Magical Girl Illya, he had done his homework. He went back and rewatched the anime, reread the manga, and came to a rather harsh conclusion:
Part of the reason the original Magical Girl Illya bombed… really was director Shin Oonuma's fault.
This Rin-vs-Illya moment was clearly scriptwriter Hiroyama's tribute to the Fate/Stay Night original. From the posture of one sitting, the other standing, to the moonlit backdrop and Rin's unforgettable line—it was unmistakable. A homage through and through.
But when it came time to animate the scene, Oonuma completely dropped the ball.
Rather than lean into the homage, he had Rin recite lines about retrieving Class Cards and chatting with Ruby the wand. It was a total mismatch.
Now, if the choppy fight scenes could be blamed on budget issues, this kind of tone-deaf storytelling? That was all Oonuma.
Magical Girl Illya was a spinoff. That meant its first and foremost duty was to please Type-Moon fans.
And if you couldn't even deliver on that front… what hope did you have?
Of course, given that Oonuma's mentor was none other than Shinbo—the so-called "Original Wrecker"—perhaps it wasn't a surprise. Like teacher, like student.
Unfortunately, Oonuma had only inherited Shinbo's penny-pinching habits and fondness for visual metaphors. When it came to actual story craft, though? The guy was completely out of his depth.
So, the overall quality of the Magical Girl Illya anime across its seasons… well, let's just say it was lucky to have Type-Moon fans. They were a tolerant bunch. As long as it wasn't a full-on Kodachi-style rewrite, they'd be content just seeing their favorite characters on screen. Excellence was never the expectation.
Now, with the live-action tokusatsu version helmed by Shinji, things were different. The budget was generous. The creative freedom was unmatched. And Shinji—being the most passionate of Type-Moon nerds—didn't hesitate to sneak in reference after reference, pleasing the Fate crowd to no end.
In other words… this was finally the version they deserved.
At the very end of Episode 1, Rin declared her contract with Illya, while the heroine herself looked completely baffled, as if she could already sense she'd just been dragged into something far more troublesome than she ever signed up for. The frame froze on her dumbfounded expression—and with that, the episode came to a close.
The moment the ending theme began to play, Kazuo was the first to leap to his feet. He craned his neck toward the monitors where the staff were gathered, trying to sneak a peek at the viewership data.
The crew, still caught up in the lingering hilarity of Magical Illya, didn't immediately notice. Some were still recovering from laughing so hard during the earlier scenes, clutching their sides and trying to catch their breath.
Meanwhile, Kazuo's palms were slick with sweat.
This was it. The moment of truth. Do or die.
There was still one more episode left to air, but everyone in the industry knew that if the first episode bombed, nothing afterward could save the show.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, one of the staff members started checking the early ratings. He glanced up at Kazuo—and smiled.
A warm, confident smile.
Kazuo exhaled. Long and deep. His tense shoulders sagged with relief. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped down his foggy glasses, which had already collected a fine sheen of nervous sweat.
"Average rating: 23.7%."
The words rang out across the room—and instantly, the control room exploded into cheers.
Staff clapped, congratulated each other, even tossed their hats in the air. Kazuo clenched his fist triumphantly, sharing in the moment of celebration.
Sure, it wasn't quite as high as Unlimited Blade Works had pulled in the previous year. But the two shows were aimed at entirely different audiences, in completely different genres. There was no point in comparing them.
For a tokusatsu series? Breaking the 20% mark was practically unheard of.
Of course, Kazuo knew better than to celebrate too soon. Once the show's time slot shifted to early Saturday mornings, he expected the numbers would be cut in half—possibly dropping below 10%.
'But that's still fine,' he thought to himself, grinning. 'Even Ultraman hasn't cracked 5% in ages.'
All the doubts he had harbored about Magical Illya had now vanished. In fact, he was starting to genuinely enjoy the show.
'We only planned one season, but… maybe we should push Shinji-kun to try for a sequel? Or hey—why not go full Ultraman with it? Make it into a franchise. Next up, Magical Saber?'
As Kazuo let his imagination run wild, a swarm of reporters and staff members began to gather around him.
They offered their congratulations with beaming smiles—but their real goal was obvious: to fish for information.
"Tsuburaya-san, with ratings like these, what kind of average are you expecting once the full broadcast kicks off?"
"Well, the more the better, obviously. I trust Director Matou."
Kazuo had been through this kind of media ambush plenty of times before. His reply was smooth, water-tight.
The reporter wasn't done yet. "Tsuburaya-san, do you think Magical Illya could win this year's viewership crown?"
"How could it? It's a tokusatsu show. It's already got genre restrictions."
"Then what about just the tokusatsu crown for the year?"
Kazuo narrowed his eyes in irritation. "What are you, some kind of entertainment tabloid reporter? You're just here to dig for gossip, aren't you?"
"Correct. I'm from a variety show segment."
"..."
The contempt in Kazuo's eyes said everything that needed to be said.
The crowd awkwardly changed the subject.
"Tsuburaya-san, with Magical Illya doing so well, any chance the cast might appear on a variety show?"
That was always a tricky topic.
Actors from the Type-Moon universe were notoriously difficult to book. The Servants couldn't leave Fuyuki due to lore reasons. Shirou and Rin's live-action counterparts weren't exactly interested in celebrity careers. And behind-the-scenes veterans like Shinji and Aoko Aozaki? They had zero interest in being on television.
As a result, appearances of Type-Moon actors on variety shows were exceedingly rare. So rare, in fact, that some programs would brag for years about the one time they managed to book one.
Of course, that variety show reporter's excitement was… a bit of a misunderstanding.
If the production crew had been willing to film in one of the local studios in Fuyuki City, Shinji would have gladly allowed Servants to appear on their program. He wasn't against the idea in principle—it just needed to happen within the lore-bound constraints.
Kazuo was fully aware of this detail. But if he were to explain it out loud, it would come off as arrogant. It was far better for the actors' agents to "bring it up" during negotiations, using something neutral like "scheduling conflicts."
So, with a neutral expression, Kazuo simply said,
"I'll bring it up with Director Matou and see if he can make arrangements. You can coordinate directly with the actors' agents for more specifics."
When asked for more concrete answers—like whether Magical Illya was getting a second season—Kazuo expertly deflected. He offered no confirmation, no denial. Pure diplomatic fog.
But after he mentioned Shinji Matou twice in the conversation, one of the staffers—clearly looking to stir the pot—spoke up.
"Does Director Matou have any plans to visit Tokyo soon? With Super 8 and Mission: Moonlight doing so well at the box office, our station really wants to invite him on a show."
"Unlikely," Tsuburaya replied with a regretful shake of his head.
"Shinji Matou's schedule is packed. He's heading to China for an event. No time for Tokyo."
"China? You mean… the Shanghai International Film Festival?"
At that, one of the entertainment journalists lit up like a Christmas tree.
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Under the blazing summer sun of June, several airport staff members unloaded luggage from two electric cargo carts. Following the chief steward's directions, they carefully transported the bags to the cargo hold of a sleek private jet.
Shinji didn't step onboard until he personally saw all the bags stowed and secured. Only then did he climb into the aircraft.
"Whew~ Okay, it's not as insane as Tokyo, but man, Fuyuki summers are no joke either."
He let out a dramatic sigh as the cabin's cool air embraced him.
"Onii-saa, if you're done enjoying the air-con, get in already. You're blocking the aisle."
From behind came a sharp jab—Sakura, ever the voice of reason.
"Alright, alright."
With an awkward smile, Shinji shuffled into his first-class seat. Sakura, with an intentionally exaggerated huff, plopped into the row behind him.
Just then, Udagawa Nao walked over, phone in hand.
"I've made contact with the folks in Shanghai," she reported. "The film festival's committee and our local branch reps will both be meeting us at the airport."
Shinji nodded and grinned. "Perfect. You don't have any official duties this time, so enjoy yourself a bit while we're there, Nao-neesan."
Type-Moon's presence at the Shanghai International Film Festival was fairly low-key this year. Other than Shinji and Sakura, the only attendee was Kariya, who had already arrived in China ahead of them.
Technically, the main reason for this trip was to promote Super 8. Under normal circumstances, someone like Hiroshi Nagano should've been part of the entourage.
But Nagano still had his idol commitments with V6 and couldn't clear his schedule. And thanks to licensing headaches, Johnny & Associates had basically zero presence in China. Sending him for PR would've been pointless.
Add to that the notoriously strict visa screening for "official events," and Shinji decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Instead, he just brought Sakura and Nao along—turning the whole thing into a Matou family vacation under the guise of film promotion.
"Oh, please," Sakura deadpanned from behind. "You didn't even invite Ojii-chan."
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! The old man ditched us for a hot spring trip with his friends in Gunma!"
Though…
Shinji winced at the memory of the "favor" his grandfather had asked of him.
"I mean, seriously—where the hell am I supposed to find crickets in the middle of June?!"
And so, with that half-joking, half-exasperated complaint, Shinji's adventure in China began.
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