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Chapter 73. HELLSING!
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One must say, Shinbo Akiyuki is quite remarkable. Compared to Pucci, who relies on a "golden finger" to support his role as a director, Shinbo Akiyuki, who has worked as a director in a large studio and developed his own personal style, possesses professional knowledge and experience that Pucci cannot match.
Their situation here is somewhat unique. Because the actors are essentially chosen by destiny, many of Shinbo Akiyuki's fundamental skills haven't been showcased. Even when they were filming "Phantom Blood", the only character who gave them a headache was Artoria.
After they secretly reduced the physical ability parameters of the Erina template and further enhanced Dio's already powerful subconscious, the resulting effect made Artoria's subconscious level up to something akin to Saber facing Gilgamesh in "Fate/Zero".
In other words, it was only now, facing the unique subconscious of Nobuo Tobita, that Shinbo Akiyuki was truly able to showcase all the techniques he had been keeping under wraps.
As a result, while Pucci was filled with a sense of achievement, he also looked at the somewhat shrinking Nobuo Tobita with some frustration.
"Don't be so nervous. As you know, Major, this role is difficult to portray. How could we possibly replace you?"
"My name isn't actually Major..."
"Alright, Major. No problem, Major."
"..."
This wasn't Pucci playing a prank.
Although he wasn't sure where the theory came from, Pucci felt it made a lot of sense after hearing it.
Simply put, when a person's mind is consumed with thoughts like "Dark Magician ~ World ~ Search for Noble Knights ~ Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon ~ Fusion Summon with Blue-Eyes White Dragon~", they'll just be stuck in an "I want to be number one in the world, women are an annoyance.JPG" Blue-Eyes White Dragon duelist state.
But if Konami restricted the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, that person would recover from the Blue-Eyes White Dragon duelist state and be able to reconsider what they hadn't thought of before.
This is—October banlist, but ah ah ah ah ah ah.
[A/N: "Dark Magician, World, Noble Knights, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon" are all Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
"Search, Fusion, Summon" are the mechanics of the game.
And "October Banlist" is a reference to the periodic list of banned or limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!, often released in October by the company who owns it—Konami.]
Pucci was now applying this theory to Nobuo Tobita. By deliberately misnaming him, he aimed to shift his focus while deepening his recognition of himself as the Major.
"Major, can you tell me about your understanding of the character Stroheim?"
Continuing with the "Major" title, Pucci said, "I'm wondering if there's been a misunderstanding in your understanding of Stroheim, which is why you haven't been able to portray the character well?"
"That's impossible, Director Pucci."
Perhaps this "October banlist, but ah ah ah ah ah ah" theory really has some merit. Or maybe it was the repeated calling of "Major" that gave him a bit of confidence. Or perhaps he was relieved to hear Pucci say he wouldn't be replaced.
Nobuo Tobita finally spoke up in his defense: "Although it may sound arrogant, I've written tens of thousands of words about the character. I believe I've grasped the essence of Stroheim!"
"So in terms of understanding the character, I don't think there's any issue!"
Given such a serious attitude, how was he described in the industry? Could subconscious influence really be that powerful? Listening to Nobuo Tobita's defense, Pucci thought with some suspicion.
After all, if an actor can grow their subconscious through full-dive filming and targeted template enhancement, becoming closer to the character in the template...
Naturally, repeated failures could also cause the actor's subconscious to collapse. Given Nobuo Tobita's record, it was clearly the latter.
With this in mind, Pucci continued, "In that case, Major, describe what kind of image Stroheim is in your mind."
"Alright, Director Pucci."
Taking a deep breath, Nobuo Tobita recited his prepared character statement: "Although Stroheim initially captured the dying Speedwagon, intending to extract information about the Pillar Men and even forcibly awakened a dormant Pillar Man for experimentation..."
"But when Stroheim realized that the Pillar Men were beings stronger than vampires and could be considered enemies of humanity, he was willing to sacrifice his life to help Joseph defeat them."
"So I believe Stroheim is a very conflicted character. His heart is filled with a sense of justice like Joseph's, but due to his different faction, his sense of justice differs from Joseph's, prioritizing loyalty to his country before achieving his own justice..."
"Stop, stop, stop! I think I understand what you're all about now, Major."
Pucci interrupted the still-speaking Nobuo Tobita and said, "In simple terms, you're overthinking things right now!"
"...?!"
"What conflict? What sense of justice? What's this about loyalty to his country being different from Joseph's? Stroheim's actions aren't as complex as you imagine."
Perhaps in the original "Battle Tendency", Nobuo Tobita's character statement was correct. But unfortunately, this isn't the original "Battle Tendency".
To highlight the advantage of the chosen actors, Pucci made slight modifications to the characters without changing the story outline. For example, for Nobuo Tobita's Stroheim...
"Why did Stroheim capture Speedwagon and awaken the Pillar Men? Simple. He was conducting experiments for the German army on the weapon called the Pillar Men!"
"Why destroy and kill the Pillar Men in the end? Also simple. A weapon that backfires on its master isn't a useful weapon, not to mention that the Pillar Men hindered Germany's world conquest!"
"Got it?"
Pucci adjusted the full-dive device, inputting a new script, and said, "Stroheim's actions aren't driven by a sense of justice. He's always been acting for Germany. It just happens that his actions align with the definition of 'justice'."
"And the essence of the Third Reich..."
Throwing the full-dive helmet to Nobuo Tobita, Pucci successfully adjusted the machine and said, "You just need to relax and experience it without thinking too much."
On the full-dive device controlled by Pucci, a single letter was now displayed—
—"HELLSING"!!