NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 100: Chapter 102: Aoko: Isn't this just like the movie version?
The UBW production format Shinji adopted features 45-minute episodes with a 12-episode season, following the standard format of a TV drama series.
However, Shinji did not simply combine two episodes of the anime UBW into one episode of the drama series.
The reason is simple: typically, without counting commercials, openings, and endings, an anime episode lasts 20-25 minutes, whereas a live-action drama episode is about 45 minutes.
But if you summarize the plot volumes of both anime and live-action dramas, you'll find that the difference isn't that big. It doesn't mean that the drama, being twice the duration of the anime, has twice the plot.
This is due to the stylistic differences caused by the two production methods, and neither is superior to the other.
While the pacing of dramas is slower than that of anime, dramas feature real actors' performances, which cannot be replaced by animation.
After all, no matter how detailed 2D animation is, it can't convey the subtle facial expressions of actors, enabling the audience to empathize with the characters.
Of course, if the actors are a bunch of expressionless models who can't even deliver lines properly and need to be dubbed later, that's a different story.
In this aspect, 3D animation can be more realistic than 2D, but unless it's Pixar's 3D animated films from 2010 onwards, it's still inferior to live-action performances.
However, this doesn't mean that animated series don't have their advantages. Animation, which doesn't need to allocate time for actors' performances, benefits from a fast-paced narrative.
This is why, despite both being around 20 minutes long, tokusatsu often feels much faster than anime, sometimes resulting in very abrupt transitions that affect the audience's viewing experience due to time constraints.
As an "experienced" film enthusiast, Shinji is well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of live-action compared to animation. In fact, the reason why he was able to pack so much plot into his previous two live-action films was that he deliberately reduced the amount of dialogue.
This was not only to save time but also to cover up the actors' lack of acting skills.
This time, UBW and HF series marked the first time Shinji seriously focused on the filming of dialogue scenes.
The audience, who haven't studied these professional aspects, might not explicitly notice the changes, but they can indeed feel that the pacing of UBW's story is slower than Shinji's previous two films.
However, this slowness is relative to Shinji's past works; compared to other Japanese dramas, UBW's pacing is still very fast.
More importantly, Japanese audiences haven't seen such a special effects-laden and action-packed drama in a long time. Especially the battle between Lancer and Archer, where Shinji's use of the "Zeta" crotch shot technique was a huge success, leaving countless viewers in awe when they first saw the fight scene.
Not only Japanese audiences, but even Western audiences rarely see dramas that put so much effort into fight scenes. In fact, if we consider this world's standards, we could say there are none!
Even fans who grew up watching martial arts films and older adaptations of the Four Great Classical Novels were amazed by UBW.
While the actors in martial arts films are skilled, the camera work is often poor, making most viewers, except hardcore martial arts fans, find UBW's fight scenes much more impressive.
However, at this point, only a small portion of internet users can watch UBW; most Japanese audiences still remember Fate from the movie version.
Click
In the Kuonji household, after finishing the first episode, Alice turned off the TV, satisfied. "Indeed, with the longer runtime of the drama compared to the movie, the story can be told in much more detail," Alice said, nodding.
"I didn't expect Shirou to use his first Command Spell in the first episode, which will likely change the entire story."
During the drama's promotion, Shinji emphasized that the TV version of FSN was not a rehash of the movie but a completely new story based on the same characters.
To Alice, the differences at the end were a reflection of this.
However, Aoko, who wasn't a hardcore fan, had a different view. "Even with the added plot, it's still just a remake of the movie!" Aoko pouted. "What's the difference?"
"Of course there are many differences!"
Alice grabbed Aoko's face with both hands, bringing it close to hers, just two centimeters apart, and said seriously, "They added conversations between Rin and Archer to enrich their characters. They included Shirou's childhood memories, showing how his ideals were formed. They expanded on the fight between Lancer and Archer, and—"
"Who cares about that?! The plot is still the same!"
Clearly, Aoko, as a casual fan, couldn't understand why her friend Alice was so excited.
While Aoko admitted the TV version of FSN was well-made, it didn't change the fact that its plot was the same as the movie's.
"Alright, Aoko. I understand."
Seeing that Aoko remained stubborn, Alice's mouth curled into a slight smile.
"What are you going to do?" Aoko instinctively shrank back.
"Tonight, I'll show you the differences between the movie and the TV version!"
Alice took out her treasured extended version DVD of FSN and the VHS recording of the first episode of the drama she had just made.
"Come on, Aoko. Let's have a Fate night." Alice smiled joyfully, but in Aoko's eyes, it looked like the smile of a demon.
Knowing the culture of working overtime in Japan, the prime time slot was two hours later than in other places.
Aoko glanced at the clock on the wall, already past 10 PM, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down her temple.
If she let Alice have her way, watching all this Fate stuff would mean not getting to sleep until 2 AM.
Desperately, Aoko shouted from the bottom of her heart, "Alice, no!"
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Aoko wasn't the only one who felt that the TV version of FSN was repetitive.
In fact, aside from hardcore fans like Alice, most viewers who had seen the movie found UBW's first episode strangely familiar.
You couldn't say the drama was bad because that would be a blatant lie.
Even excluding the fight between Lancer and Archer, just judging by the plot, UBW was a well-made drama. Many works have been adapted into both movies and TV shows, and Fate was one of those rare cases where the remake was done with such creativity and quality.
However, giving the first episode a very high rating felt a bit much for most viewers.
The current audience sentiment was similar to Marvel fans after watching the first episode of "What if...".
While they couldn't deny the quality of the series, the sense of retreading old ground was undeniable. This sentiment was clearly reflected in the ratings; the second episode's ratings dropped from 40% to 35%.
The second episode's main plot didn't significantly differ from the movie version either. It still involved Shirou accompanying Rin to the church and encountering Illya on their way back.
The difference again appeared towards the end, where Shirou rejected Rin's offer to cooperate, leading to a fight between the two at school the next day.
Hardcore fans enjoyed this, sensing the plot gradually diverging from the movie's storyline.
However, most fans felt that the TV series was essentially the same as the movie. Thankfully, UBW was free to watch; otherwise, they would undoubtedly demand a refund.
Actually, a 35% rating would be cause for celebration for most other dramas, but it was a significant drop from the first episode's 40%.
After the second episode's ratings came out, TBS executives immediately approached Shinji, hoping he could come up with a solution.
"What can I do?! The drama's already finished, okay?!"
Shinji didn't take the TV station's plea seriously.
He had anticipated that the early episodes of UBW would see a drop in ratings.
The reason was simple: the early episodes of the movie and TV versions were too similar. That's why Shinji insisted on charging for HF—HBO is a pay channel, so you need to pay first to watch.
Only by paying would fans watch HF seriously rather than obsess over why the beginning was the same.
Humans are strange creatures. If HF was freely available, they would be stuck on why they had to watch the FSN opening for the third time, potentially opting to flame Shinji online.
But if they had paid, they wouldn't complain as much, focusing instead on comparing HF with the other two versions and feeling they got their money's worth.
As for the TBS executives, Shinji calmly replied, "Just keep airing it, and the ratings will naturally go up. Perseverance is victory!"
UBW's production and editing were already completed, and Shinji had no intention of making changes.
When producing UBW, Shinji edited it like a standard drama series. Arbitrary changes would disrupt the story's rhythm, affecting the audience's experience. Shinji decided to finish the drama before airing it to avoid audience feedback affecting subsequent episodes' production. Reworking the series after airing would be akin to changing generals mid-battle, a strategic mistake.
Of course, Shinji's statement wasn't entirely baseless. He believed that as UBW's story progressed, viewers would come back to watch it. Fate's IP had enough influence; otherwise, the first episode's ratings wouldn't have been as high as 40%.
As the story deviated from the movie, curious viewers would naturally return to the series.
The biggest plot twist in UBW—Archer's true identity as Shirou—occurred mid-story.
Shinji was confident that once this reveal happened, it would spark numerous discussions among fans.
At that point, with a media-driven hype, those who had abandoned the series would return to watch it.
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