Note: This Chapter is Re-Translated on 6 / 15 / 2025
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Chapter 35: Rin — This Is Your Fault Again, Shinji!
When Derek Ford mentioned actresses "taking off their clothes," he obviously didn't mean bribing the judges with their bodies.
He was ranting about the increasing number of gratuitous nude scenes in modern European art films.
Because, well...
European "art films."
If you know, you know.
Sure, there were still genuinely pure, moving pieces like Roma, but more often than not, what passed for art nowadays was just a parade of films exploiting the label to showcase so-called "female nude [ahem] aesthetics."
"Ugh, it's like a freakshow."
Miss Rin let out a very unladylike snort.
As a woman herself, this kind of trend just rubbed her the wrong way.
"I don't know if they're winning awards," Shinji said, spinning his coffee stirrer between two fingers, "but at the very least, they're getting the lead roles by taking their clothes off."
"Wow, that's low—even for you."
Rin snapped her book shut and joined the banter.
"So what now? Is our director Matou Shinji planning to clean up the entertainment industry by winning an award with his film instead?"
But instead of denying it, Shinji slammed his hand down on the table and burst out into a laugh that could only be described as villainous.
"An award? My ass!"
From the backlash back in Japan, you could already tell Fate/Stay Night had been skewered by film critics to the point of no return.
Unless Shinji had some kind of masochistic kink, he had zero intention of humiliating himself by submitting the film for competition.
Which is why Fate/stay night was only registered as an out-of-competition screening, not as a contender for any prizes.
To apply for awards at Cannes, you had to pay a hefty fee.
And for a film with a 0.00001% chance of winning, Shinji wasn't about to throw money into a black hole just to help some Frenchmen fleece him with a smile.
Rin stared at Shinji like he'd grown another head, confused by his sudden maniacal energy.
Kariya, however—an old hand in the entertainment industry—immediately saw through him.
"Our Fate/Stay Night is just being screened, not competing. No award eligibility," he explained to Rin with a gentle tone, then turned back to Shinji.
"Still, Shinji, you must've seen the official competition lineup, right? With your eye as a director, who do you think will take the Palme d'Or this year?"
"Palme d'Or?"
Shinji shook his head.
"How would I know?"
And he was being honest—he really didn't know.
If this were last year's 55th Cannes Film Festival, Shinji would've bet the house on The Pianist by Roman Polanski.
That film had been a massive global hit, cleaning up at film festivals like a vacuum on steroids.
Even casual movie fans had heard of it.
But this year's 56th edition?
—Sorry.
Shinji couldn't remember a single stand-out film.
In fact, the only thing he remembered about this year's festival was that The Matrix Reloaded had been screened out of competition.
Although, in this world, it wasn't even clear whether the Matrix series actually existed.
With the red carpet ceremony finally over, the 56th Cannes Film Festival had officially begun.
Thanks to Waver's meticulous preparation, Fate/Stay Night's screening was now in good hands.
Which meant Shinji himself suddenly found he had very little to do.
With all this free time on his hands, the ever-curious director decided to wander around the festival grounds, soaking in the experience of what it meant to attend one of the world's top-tier film festivals.
Unfortunately, not a single film at this year's Cannes lineup rang a bell.
'Man, not even one familiar title?'
Shinji sighed, slightly disappointed.
The longer he wandered around the festival grounds, the more he realized something:
He didn't even need to look at the posters anymore—just by glancing at the length of the lines outside each theater, he could roughly guess what kind of film was being shown.
If there was barely a line? That was either a documentary or some ultra-pure art house film.
If there was a decent line, but nothing crazy? Most likely a film tackling hot-button social issues, like the school shooting drama Elephant.
And if there was a massive crowd wrapping around the building?
Well, then it was either a "female nude [ahem] aesthetic" film, or at least something with some "eye-catching" scenes.
It seemed that Derek had only gotten part of the story right:
Taking your clothes off not only got you roles and awards—it also sold tickets.
No wonder these so-called "art films" were multiplying like rabbits.
After hanging around long enough, Shinji even developed the uncanny ability to estimate the lead actress's looks and screen time spent naked, based purely on the crowd's size and how excited the chatter was in line.
It's no wonder people kept saying that Western audiences had a "strong palate."
Turns out... they weren't wrong.
Still, as he watched these old pervs lining up to gawk at naked women, Shinji couldn't help but hope:
'Wouldn't it be nice if Fate/Stay Night got that much attention too?'
In fact, even if he looked like he had nothing better to do than loaf around at Cannes, Fate/Stay Night's promotion engine had already been running for a while.
The team had gone all out.
They released solo character posters for Arturia early on.
Spent a fortune to rent ad space on street-side LED displays across Cannes, playing action-packed trailers on repeat.
They had even arranged a special interview feature for Rin.
They weren't here to win awards, but if they wanted to land a solid distribution deal, then audience reception at the screening had to be glowing.
A no-name film like Fate/Stay Night—helmed by an unknown director and cast with no stars—had no hope of drawing crowds without serious marketing firepower.
Unfortunately, even with all that effort, the actors had zero name recognition, and the PG-rated nature of the film didn't exactly excite the French entertainment media.
As a result, local buzz before the screening was lukewarm at best.
Ironically, the UK media, just across the channel, showed much more interest than the French.
Not because the film starred Britain's legendary King Arthur—that would've been too poetic.
But thanks to Waver's tireless effort over the past year building connections in Britain, the film had attracted attention from several British outlets.
And those UK media outlets turned out to be a huge help.
Sure, the Cannes Film Festival was held in France, but its attendees came from all over the world:
Film lovers, reporters, and scouts who did care what British journalists had to say.
And once they caught sight of those dazzling trailer clips showing flashy, high-concept battle magic, curiosity about Fate/Stay Night began to grow.
At last, the fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival arrived.
Out of the twelve-day schedule, they had officially hit the halfway point.
And today marked Fate/Stay Night's European premiere.
The screening was held at a decent cinema—not the main venue, but far more luxurious than what Bandai had coughed up for their "event" back in Japan a month ago.
It was ironic, really.
Fate/Stay Night, a Japanese film, didn't even get a proper premiere in its own country—yet here it was, receiving that treatment for the first time in France.
All thanks to the European branch of Type-Moon Studios, headed by Waver, who had pulled off a minor miracle behind the scenes.
And even more than that, it was due to the influence of Shinji's European magus family partners—a web of connections strong enough to move mountains.
That said... compared to the true heavyweights of the film world, Fate/Stay Night's premiere still looked a bit shabby.
They hadn't even arranged for a red carpet walk, the staple of every premiere.
Why?
Because only Rin had shown up from the cast.
With just one person, walking the red carpet was kind of pointless.
Shinji, of course, had no intention of letting random nobodies leech off the opportunity just to gain exposure, so he simply canceled the whole red carpet bit altogether.
There was no red carpet, true—but the press interviews before the screening were absolutely unavoidable.
Thanks to Waver and the others pulling strings behind the scenes, over 100 journalists from nearly 50 different media outlets around the world showed up for the premiere.
In terms of press coverage alone, Fate/Stay Night actually managed to barely break into the top rankings at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
As Shinji entered the theater accompanied by Rin and Kariya, a wave of reporters—carefully vetted by the PR team—swarmed over for interviews.
They split into three groups:
The largest cluster immediately surrounded Rin.
A slightly smaller one went to Shinji.
And a tiny handful drifted toward Kariya, who might as well have been invisible. He was basically there to fill space.
Since the press had been screened ahead of time, the questions were pretty routine—no crazy tabloid drama or scandal bait.
But compared to the content of Fate/Stay Night, the thing the reporters seemed most curious about... was Shinji's age.
After all, a teenager not even legally an adult, still technically of school age, standing here as the director of an officially-selected Cannes feature film—that kind of contrast was just too juicy to ignore.
This was exactly the main promotional angle Waver had pushed in all their campaigns:
"A 16-year-old genius director from Japan!"
Once the press interviews were done, Shinji moved to the theater entrance to casually chat with representatives from various distribution companies.
In truth, this so-called "premiere" was more like a private industry screening—filled with press members and buyers from film distributors all over the world.
Regular moviegoers?
Less than a third of the crowd, just there to provide background noise and atmosphere.
If these distributors liked what they saw, they'd attend the follow-up public screenings and maybe—just maybe—consider acquiring the rights.
Since any of these people could end up becoming a future partner, Shinji put on his best manners during small talk—polite, professional, smooth.
That is, until she showed up.
A silver-haired beauty entered the scene.
"Shinji Matou. We meet again."
Cloris smiled as if it were fate.
"Yeah," Shinji nodded, his tone neutral. "I hope you enjoy the film."
Cloris let out a soft giggle behind her hand.
"Oh, I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm dying to see how your theories translate into actual practice."
Shinji didn't react to the sparkle in her eyes. With perfect composure, he replied:
"I'd like to think I won't disappoint you… as an audience member."
"Aw, don't be so cold, Shinji~ I'm here as a representative of Time Group, you know? Are you really that unwilling to collaborate with me?"
"I just—"
He didn't even get to finish.
A familiar voice barged into the conversation, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Talking to those reporters is draining… Shinji, let me tell you—"
Rin's complaints came to an abrupt halt.
She'd just realized Shinji and Cloris were staring at her.
'Wait a minute... did I just walk into something I shouldn't have?'
Her instincts, as sharp as ever, kicked in.
Rin immediately sensed something was off and shot Shinji a deadly glare.
'This is your fault again, isn't it, Shinji?!'
Shinji: "???"