Chapter 19: Reaching an Agreement

        

Chapter 19: Reaching an Agreement

Even though he felt wronged deep down, Kariya Matou still managed to decipher the subtle cue in Shinji’s gaze.

“Udagawa-san,” he reluctantly stood up to smooth things over.

“Shinji was merely sharing some of his ideas. There’s no need to rush anything—we’re more than happy to take our time discussing all the details. If it’s something you can’t decide immediately, we completely understand.”

“I understand.”

Udagawa Nao gave a small nod, her expression now much more composed.

Indeed, this was a matter that concerned Bandai’s entire strategic direction—there was no way she could sign off on it alone.

“I’ll report everything to my superiors. As for what happens next…”

“I’ll await your good news,” Shinji smiled politely, rising to offer a handshake.

“But allow me to remind you—Bandai isn’t the only potential distributor we’ve considered for Japan.”

Udagawa’s lips curled into a cold smile.

“Toho already rejected you, didn’t they?”

“Oh, but there’s always Toei~”

Shinji laughed it off, unfazed. With skin as thick as his, there was no way he’d show even a hint of embarrassment.

Udagawa could only shake her head. She closed her notebook, stood, and left with the rest of the Bandai delegation.

Shinji, as courteous as ever, personally saw them off—though notably, he never once asked them to stay or reconsider. His confidence was unwavering.

Once he returned to the conference room, Kariya immediately scurried over, face full of concern.

“Shinji, your appetite’s a bit too big here. Have you even considered what happens if the box office underperforms? Even with a revenue split, you might not even break even!”

Industry norms dictated that producers usually took home between 60% to 85% of ticket sales. But for a first-time director like Shinji? Getting even 70% would be a miracle.

Sure, that might sound decent on paper—but the catch was, all sorts of “expenses” would get deducted before that cut hit your pocket. Things like marketing, film prints, taxes… and those deductions were often creative, to say the least.

That’s why film distributors, no matter the country, always sat at the top of the industry food chain.

Given Japan’s current film market, if Shinji wanted to take home more than five billion yen from the box office, Fate/Stay Night would need to gross at least 1.8 billion yen domestically—a number that most tokusatsu films could only dream of.

And yet, Shinji merely shrugged in response to Kariya’s concern.

“Because I believe Fate is worth way more than that.”

“But what you need right now is a distributor!” Kariya stressed, visibly worried. “You’re being way too aggressive for a newcomer!”

“If Bandai’s not interested, we’ll just find someone else.”

Shinji pulled out his phone and waved it nonchalantly in the air.

“Are you… my Master?”

Right on cue, his phone lit up with a call.

Kariya blinked at him suspiciously, but Shinji acted like it was the most normal thing in the world as he answered.

A familiar, formal voice came through the line.

“Director Matou? This is Keigo Hata.”

“Section Chief Hata, what can I do for you?”

“I’m terribly sorry. I tried everything I could to push it through at my company, but…”

The man trailed off, but Shinji didn’t need him to finish. He already understood what he meant.

“It’s alright, Section Chief Hata.”

Shinji replied in a tone so casual it was almost too calm.

“Maybe next time. I’m sure we’ll have other chances to work together.”

Truth be told, he wasn’t surprised at all by Toho’s rejection.

If anything, the fact that they even bothered to respond shocked him more than the actual “no.”

He politely exchanged a few more pleasantries with Hata before hanging up.

“Shinji, oh Shinji...”

Having been ‘bullied’ by his nephew all day, Kariya chuckled teasingly.

“Want your uncle to reach out to Toei for you?”

Shinji simply blew a puff of air at the bangs hanging over his forehead, looking very much like he wanted nothing to do with this gloating man.

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On the other side, once Udagawa Nao returned to the office, she immediately reported Shinji’s offer to the higher-ups at Bandai.

Initially, the executives hadn’t given Fate any serious thought—after all, it was a completely unknown IP with zero market presence.

But the moment they heard about Shinji’s “connections in the West,” their expressions changed dramatically.

After multiple rounds of investigation and confirmation, Bandai finally verified that the Matou family and the Flora family were, in fact, longstanding family friends.

Only then did the Bandai execs begin to view the Fate/Stay Night project with genuine interest.

Acting under instructions from her superiors, Udagawa quickly asked Shinji for a copy of the film. A private screening was held at the company’s headquarters, with all senior executives present.

It was said that after the movie finished, the Bandai boardroom erupted into heated debate—so loud, in fact, that the shouting could be heard all the way down the hall.

Unfortunately, as it was an internal meeting, no one outside knew exactly what kind of drama unfolded that day.

All Shinji managed to learn was the outcome: following the argument, both the current Bandai president, Yamashina Makoto, and the future president, Ueno Kazunori, gave Udagawa the same instruction—

“Resume negotiations.”

No doubt about it—Kariya-ojisan’s luck was holding strong.

Fate/Stay Night was tailor-made for Bandai’s current strategic needs:

First, Fate/Stay Night would be released in Western markets—a tempting offer for a company that had long dreamed of cracking into the overseas scene.

Second, the past decade has been a golden age for tokusatsu. With one hit show after another, TV ratings were on the rise. Bandai was growing ambitious, itching to transition from small-screen heroes to the silver screen.

Then there was internal politics. Ueno Kazunori would take over as president in two years. He needed a breakout project—something impressive and original—to prove he was ready for the top job.

Of course, the movie’s own quality played a key role too. The Bandai execs firmly believed that even without any special bonuses or deals, distributing a film of Fate/Stay Night’s caliber wouldn’t result in a loss.

And if the film succeeded? The potential benefits were too numerous to count.

So negotiations resumed, and over the following days, Shinji and Udagawa entered a long stretch of back-and-forth bargaining.

The biggest challenge? Their drastically different understanding of Fate/Stay Night’s value.

At one point, they were even deadlocked over a mere 1% difference in profit-sharing.

Still, both sides knew that if they wanted the deal to go through, they’d need to compromise.

After nearly a week of intense negotiations, with 15 full rounds of talks, a formal agreement was finally reached.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Director Matou.”

“Likewise, Udagawa-san.”

Inside Tsuburaya Productions’ meeting room, the two exchanged signed contracts with smiles all around.

Bandai was officially appointed as Fate/Stay Night’s Japanese distributor, handling both marketing and theater release.

As the production company, Type-Moon Film, after deducting all distribution-related costs—like theater splits, middlemen cuts, and so on—would receive:

70% of Japan’s net box office revenue

50% of revenue from home media (VHS, DVD), TV broadcast rights, etc.

Bandai would also receive full merchandising rights for Fate/Stay Night in Japan, valid for five years.

To the average person, five years might not seem long, but if Shinji had his way, he would’ve preferred a three-year deal.

He knew very well that if Fate/Stay Night became a massive hit, the value of the IP would skyrocket year after year. Locking it in for five years felt like he was getting shortchanged.

Luckily, the agreement only covered the first Fate/Stay Night film. Future Fate projects wouldn’t be bound by this contract.

Once the signing ceremony was complete, Udagawa showed no intention of staying at Tsuburaya any longer than necessary. The grueling negotiations had left her with a sour impression of the place.

But just before leaving, she gave Shinji a final reminder:

“Director Matou, please deliver the Japanese master copy of the film as soon as possible.”

Shinji had no intention of going back on his word. He readily agreed,

“Of course. I’ll send over the final master—along with the edited trailer.”

The Japanese release schedule jointly set by Bandai and Shinji was tight. Which meant he had to move fast.

According to the plan, Bandai would host a series of private test screenings for dedicated fans over the next two weeks. Based on the audience reactions, they'd determine how much to invest in marketing.

If the buzz was strong, Fate/Stay Night would debut on Japanese screens in early April, during a relatively quiet period, starting with limited screenings at 50 theaters across the country.

If those limited screenings performed well, Bandai would immediately expand to a full nationwide release by mid-April.

“Well then, I’ll be counting on your company from here on out.”

With that, Shinji shook hands with Udagawa Nao to formally conclude their business.

“I look forward to your next film, Director Matou,” she said with a wry, tired smile.

“But if possible... I’d prefer to enjoy it purely as a member of the audience next time.”

“You wound me,” Shinji replied, lips curled in a polite smile.

“I’m very easy to work with.”

“If people give you everything you want,” she retorted, rolling her eyes.

Udagawa had spent the past week learning just how sharp this boy’s tongue was. Dealing with him wasn’t negotiating—it was surviving verbal judo.

“My demands are always reasonable,” Shinji said, grinning as he shrugged.

Then, after a brief pause, Udagawa hesitated before bringing something else up.

“Director Matou... about the Times Group…”

Shinji answered with complete composure,

“I’ve already begun coordinating with the Flora family. Once Fate/Stay Night’s Japanese box office results come in, I’ll proceed with deeper discussions with the Times Group.”

He lied with a straight face.

In truth, he hadn’t contacted the Flora family at all, and he had zero intention of working with the Times Group either.

Sure, he wasn’t about to give up on the North American market—but as far as Shinji was concerned, there were other media giants far more suited to be partners.

As for the Times Group and the Flora family?

‘Let Kariya-ojisan deal with that. Lip service should be enough to keep things quiet.’

With that thought, Shinji casually turned and called out—

“Kariya-san, mind escorting Udagawa-san out?”

Kariya, ever the loyal minion, immediately responded, “Sure.”

He led Udagawa Nao out of the meeting room like a well-trained attendant.

After several days of negotiations, Kariya had developed a near Pavlovian response to Shinji’s orders.

Though deep down, he couldn’t help wondering—

‘Why doesn’t Shinji just see her off himself?’

Shinji, of course, would never admit that he was trying to set his uncle up with a rich woman. Such things were best left to fate.

Pimping out his uncle was just a side quest—the main mission was far more important:

Preparing for Fate/Stay Night’s theatrical release in Japan.

To be perfectly honest, Shinji found Bandai’s strategy—test screening, then limited release, then wide release—a little too conservative.

Even with the national rollout set for mid-April, Fate/Stay Night would only have two weeks max to rake in ticket sales before May rolled around.

And May meant the start of the three major European film festivals.

Shinji needed Fate/Stay Night to have good numbers by then—because box office results would be the best proof of its value when pitching to potential distributors in the West.

Like he’d said before:

Japan only had about 400 movie theaters.

No matter how good your movie was—or how hyped—there was only so much revenue to squeeze out of a limited number of seats.

It’s not like you could have people standing or hanging from the ceiling to increase profits.

“This isn’t a damn rakugo performance.”

Still, if nothing else, Bandai moved quickly.

Less than a week after Shinji shipped off the final master, they sent back formal invitations:

A special preview screening would be held in Fuyuki City, and Shinji, along with the main cast and crew, was invited.