"Ahem, Jeanne..."
Shinji spoke with a strained smile, "How could I possibly only want your face? I want all of you. ...That came out weird."
Shinji didn't know how to explain it to Jeanne.
In the end, it was TYPE-MOON trying to ride on Arturia's popularity in the Fate/Apocrypha story. He, Matou Shinji, was at most just a middleman.
But that wasn't something he could outright admit.
"This is such a hassle..."
As Shinji struggled, a now-recovered Mordred wrapped her arm around Jeanne.
"Master, you can't do that!"
Mordred snuggled up to Jeanne like a cat and said, "Jeanne-chan is mine! You can't take her!"
Seeing Mordred acting so possessive, Shinji pressed his fingers to his temples in exasperation.
"Hey, Mordred, you were literally impaled just a moment ago, and now you're clinging to Jeanne? Are you a masochist?"
"At least Jeanne-chan lets me snuggle~"
Mordred contentedly nuzzled Jeanne's soft body, happily adding, "Unlike Father, who won't even let me get close."
"Mordred, you're just desperate at this point, aren't you?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Are you that obsessed with this face?"
Mordred answered without hesitation, "Of course I am! So much so that I don't even mind if she's French!"
"Heh~"
Jeanne let out a cold chuckle, like a demon king, and then proceeded to pummel Mordred.
"I've told you countless times, stop treating me as a substitute!"
〖Warning: The following graphic scene is omitted due to excessive gore.〗
Faced with Jeanne's wrath, Shinji didn't dare intervene. He simply waited quietly for her to finish her "execution."
Meanwhile, Astolfo tilted his head and innocently asked, "Is this what they call shy affection?"
"Maybe. It could be a sign of how close they are," Kairi Sisigou said, laughing as he held his stomach.
Amakusa shrugged and sighed, "You're all idiots, one and all."
Although Mordred's antics had thrown the scene into chaos, Shinji decided to let it slide, seeing as it helped ease the awkwardness.
At this point, Mordred, looking like a ragdoll, was tossed aside. Judging by her faint breaths and twitching body, it seemed she'd need quite some time to recover.
Everyone tacitly ignored her and continued the meeting—except for Astolfo, who kept poking Mordred with his sword sheath, seemingly fascinated by her spasms.
"Jeanne, it's good that you bring your own thoughts into your performance, but you also need to know your limits," Shinji said seriously.
"In a movie, some characters are the flowers, and some are the leaves that support them. Even as the protagonist, you can't always be the center of attention in every scene."
"In scenes designed to highlight other characters, you need to tone down your desire to perform."
Shinji's words dampened Jeanne's mood; she assumed he was about to harshly criticize her.
But what came next wasn't the severe reprimand she had expected.
"However—"
The transition word made Jeanne's eyes light up.
She listened as Shinji continued, "Your instincts aren't wrong. Creating sparks through the ideological clashes between Jeanne and Amakusa, two Rulers with different approaches to saving humanity, is excellent."
As he spoke, the director glanced at Jeanne.
"However—"
'Tsk, now it's another 'however,' huh?'
Jeanne's facial expressions shifted dramatically, almost like a rollercoaster ride.
Faced with Shinji's repeated transitions and teasing speech, Jeanne wanted to put him on a literal rollercoaster until he clarified his point.
Unaware of Jeanne's murderous inner thoughts, Shinji carried on.
"However, the tension in your early confrontational scenes with Amakusa is too strong. Remember, early on, you're supposed to be comrades fighting side by side."
"And if the entire movie consists of political debates between Jeanne and Amakusa, the audience might walk out within ten minutes."
Shinji finally pointed out the main issue.
"That's why I called you all here—to discuss how to refine your acting approaches and clarify your roles. That way, we can avoid overlapping character dynamics."
'Is that it?'
By now, Jeanne understood what Shinji meant.
The problem was, how should their roles be divided?
Fortunately, when Jeanne glanced at Kairi and Amakusa, she noticed they both looked equally puzzled.
'Good, I'm not worse than them.'
As for Mordred and Astolfo, comparing herself to those two airheads felt like an insult to her intelligence.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Shinji could tell from Jeanne's expressions what was going on in her mind but didn't pay it much attention.
Perhaps Jeanne hadn't realized it herself, but she had a stubborn, competitive streak.
Although Jeanne appeared gentle and accommodating on the surface, she hated losing to others.
This was why Jeanne strongly disliked being treated as a substitute for Arturia.
However, what Shinji didn't know was that Jeanne's strong reaction stemmed from another reason: she feared that if her Master, unable to win Arturia's heart, might turn his attention to her instead.
After all, this "Arturia face" showed up far too frequently among summoned Servants.
Shinji speculated that Jeanne's desire to stand out was her attempt to distinguish herself from Arturia beyond just their differing figures.
In this regard, Shinji appreciated her efforts and was happy to support them.
Unfortunately, in Shinji's mind, while Jeanne was the protagonist of Fate/Apocrypha, the most remarkable character in the story was likely Amakusa.
From every perspective, Amakusa's character setup was inherently more intriguing.
Is there anything wrong with his dream of saving humanity?
Of course not. But the method Amakusa chose was deeply flawed.
His actions—self-styling as a savior and forcibly using the Holy Grail without regard for others—were undoubtedly wrong.
Shinji saw Amakusa as a Thanos-style villain. His starting point wasn't inherently evil, but the means he used to achieve his ideal were problematic.
Amakusa's plan involved using the Grail to materialize the souls of all humanity, achieving a state of immortality.
By eliminating the human body, humanity would lose material needs and desires, thereby eradicating conflict.
As a result, on a magic-drained Earth, seven billion souls would exist eternally.
Logically, Amakusa's idea seemed sound. But his behavior of making decisions on behalf of all humanity was tantamount to obliterating individual will.
It must be said that Amakusa's ideology and actions bore a striking resemblance to Thanos.
Both sought ideals devoid of selfish desires, yet both ignored the thoughts of the masses, enforcing their visions unilaterally.
If the Marvel Universe had a Holy Grail, Thanos would likely choose Amakusa's plan.
Characters like Amakusa and Thanos share a distinct trait: they are heroes in their own stories, not pure villains.
They differ from pure evil characters like Zouken Matou or Kotomine Kirei and exude their own unique charm.
Originally, characters like Amakusa had the potential to become classic villains like Kotomine.
However, Amakusa's opposition—the protagonist group of Fate/Apocrypha—was so absurdly written that it dragged him down as well.
Jeanne had many valid reasons to oppose Amakusa, but Higashide (the writer) chose the worst one: "Humanity must save itself."
At first glance, this doesn't seem problematic. But Jeanne, of all people, cannot say this!
Jeanne's character was established as a devout Christian, and one of Christianity's core tenets is that humanity cannot save itself.
Even if Jeanne argued, "Many people don't want to give up their physical forms, and you have no right to make that choice for them," it would've been far better than the ridiculous justification given.
Adding to the absurdity was Higashide writing that Jeanne and Darnic got along because they were both Catholics, completely ignoring the fact that Darnic was forced into the faith.
Fortunately, Shinji's previous life saw Fate/Apocrypha avoid entering Western markets.
Otherwise, their studio might have been bombarded by religious extremists.
Shinji was convinced that Higashide didn't understand Christianity at all and was merely indulging himself.
Regardless, while Amakusa's character had potential, bringing it to life in the film would require Shinji's storytelling skills and Amakusa's personal performance.
In Shinji's initial plan, Jeanne was the primary protagonist, but several iconic moments were meant to go to Amakusa to leave a stronger impression of his character and achieve a balanced dual-protagonist structure for Fate/Apocrypha.
However, Jeanne stealing the spotlight in scenes centered on Amakusa inevitably compressed his character development.
In his revised script, Shinji adjusted Jeanne's opposition to Amakusa, framing it around his envisioned world lacking a future.
Shinji borrowed the concept from Ultraseven's 1998 anniversary trilogy episode The Faithless Sun.
Human malice stems from desire, but desire is also the root of human progress.
Erasing human malice equates to erasing human desire, creating a stagnant and lifeless world.
Indeed, when it comes to thematic depth, Tsuburaya Productions is truly timeless.
Jeanne was pleased with this new setting and worked hard to embody the intended tone.
Unfortunately, her excessive effort led to intense tension with Amakusa even in the early parts of the story, where they were supposed to be allies.
'I can't let them continue to act so freely; otherwise, the balance between characters will completely collapse, diminishing the audience's experience.'
Realizing the problem, Shinji scratched his head in frustration.
Previously, the limited acting skills of the Servant cast had been a weakness, so them striving to create their own styles was a dream come true.
Yet now, the film's quality was being hindered because the actors were too dedicated.
He didn't know what to say.
'What's that saying again...?'
'Ah, right.'
'People like me are just being overly picky!'
Yes, this time, Shinji's criticism was directed at himself.
<+>
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