Late at night, while Kamiyā Yuu slept soundly, his consciousness sank into the consciousness space. With a slight movement of thought, the scenery abruptly transformed into the office where he worked during the day. Then the computer screen before him lit up and began playing the original version of 'Fate/Zero' from his previous world.
"The mad banquet of kings... Gen Urobuchi had a good starting point when he conceived this plot. After all, Japan loves this kind of story where characters' beliefs clash. But the original 'Fate/Zero' anime didn't handle it satisfactorily, which caused this part to receive mixed reviews."
Kamiyā Yuu watched Episode 11, 'The Holy Grail Dialogue,' from the original 'Fate/Zero' playing on the screen, while also searching for inspiration to reconstruct this plot.
The Banquet of the Three Kings.
A banquet was proposed by the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, inviting the King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon, and the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, to discuss their respective kingship.
The kingship displayed by the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, was that of the Overlord. Just like his classic line:
"A king must be greedier than anyone! More heroic than anyone! More irascible than anyone! He must embody both purity and impurity, and be more real than anyone else. Precisely because of this, his subjects envy him, are overwhelmed by him, and every one of them thinks, 'I want to become king too,' lighting the flame of longing in their hearts."
The kingship displayed by the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, was that of the Tyrant. He believed that everything in the world belonged to him alone and that the entire world naturally ought to revolve around him. Even the so-called Holy Grail was originally his possession. His reason for joining this Holy Grail War was to kill the thieves who had rashly laid hands on his treasure.
Last was the kingship displayed by the King of Knights, Artoria, which was judged by both the King of Conquerors and the King of Heroes as that of a foolish ruler. Saber participated in the Holy Grail War because she wanted to return to the past and change the history of Britain's collapse. Iskandar regarded this as a denial of her own past and called her a blind idealist.
The Banquet of the Three Kings might be one of the most classic plots in 'Fate/Zero.' However, the anime's insufficient presentation had "ruined" this scene.
The problem did not lie in superficial things like visuals, but in the fact that the foundation supporting the scene itself was too weak. It could not truly convince the audience, nor did it make them feel the characters' charm.
On the contrary, with such a weak foundation, it still grandly staged a clash of character philosophies. The Banquet of the Three Kings might be able to impress some viewers who had only just started watching anime, but mature viewers who already possessed their own sense of aesthetics would judge the scene as "too chūnibyō."
The term chūnibyō had originally only been popular in Japan. It broadly referred to various rebellious behaviors typical of second-year middle school students, with imitating the lines and actions of anime or movie characters being only one of its meanings.
The spread of the term chūnibyō in China owed much to the anime 'Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.' Produced by the famous Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation and paired with a lighthearted, comedic plot, the anime became one of the hottest shows in China at the time. From then on, the term chūnibyō began to circulate. However, after it spread, some viewers began using it blindly, which became rather annoying.
The basis for judging whether the Banquet of the Three Kings was "chūnibyō" lay in whether this plot could win the audience's inner approval, and whether the characters' ideals could resonate with them.
The Banquet of the Three Kings clearly failed to do so.
Even Iskandar, who had the strongest presence during the banquet, seemed more like a reckless brute making empty claims. His reasons for criticizing Saber were pale and laughable.
This was what people commonly called a difference in values. When a viewer commented that an anime was chūnibyō or childish, the essence was the same: as a viewer, they could not understand the work.
By contrast, Saber, who was mocked by Iskandar and Gilgamesh, had ideals that were easier for the audience to accept. After all, everyone wished they could return to the past and change the mistakes they had made. Now that the Holy Grail War gave Saber that possibility, what reason was there for others to laugh at her as immature?
Going back to the past to overturn one's own mistakes was, no matter how one looked at it, more domineering than simply admitting them.
As a result, Saber's performance in the Banquet of the Three Kings was like that of an ordinary young girl. When questioned, her rebuttal was even weaker than that of a stubborn child. Naturally, she had none of the resolve belonging to a king, nor the pride she should have possessed as King Arthur.
In the original Banquet of the Three Kings, not a single form of kingship could be truly accepted by the audience. Then what about Kamiyā Yuu's reset version?
Compared with the original, Kamiyā Yuu held a great advantage. Even if he copied the original directly, the support of seven character side-story novels meant that the ideals each character upheld were no longer empty words, but summaries drawn from their own life experiences.
With the side stories completing the characters' personalities, the audience could more or less accept otherwise unqualified verbal sparring.
Kamiyā Yuu did not want his anime to contain such an immature plot. Regarding the Banquet of the Three Kings, he either had to delete this part directly or revise it extensively while preserving the basic idea behind the scene.
"Leaving aside the verbal sparring, there's another problem. In my version of 'Fate/Zero,' Lancer isn't Diarmuid. It's Zhao Yun. After his death, Liu Shan posthumously named him Marquis Shunping. In Chinese terms, no matter how you put it, that counts as royalty. Britain during King Uther's era was still a vassal of a great power. Since King Arthur can be called a king, it's only natural that Zhao Yun can be called one too."
"Historical evaluations of Zhao Yun are practically perfect. His martial prowess rivals that of the Martial Saint Guan Yu, and his benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom are all widely praised. Since Liu Bei was his lord, the kingship he upholds should be that of a Benevolent King. When Liu Bei declared himself king, he also did so under the banner of the orthodox Han imperial line, claiming to save the people from suffering. But that feels a little too simple. Zhao Yun should have a deeper understanding of the chaos of the Three Kingdoms period."
"What is the best real-world understanding of so-called kingship..."
"Add the concept of 'the victor becomes king, the loser becomes a bandit' on top of Zhao Yun's pursuit of the Benevolent King. The winner is king, the defeated is an outlaw. Heh, that way, Zhao Yun's kingship directly slaps the other three kings in the face. It can immediately trigger conflict with each Heroic Spirit. Poor Assassin can serve as the appetizer for 'Ionioi Hetairoi.' Then the Banquet of Kings can end with Zhao Yun standing against an army of millions without showing the slightest weakness, charging freely through a million enemy soldiers, with none able to withstand a single exchange against him. As long as this part is made brilliantly, it can become a major explosive point in the plot."
Kamiyā Yuu pondered for quite a while.
He had always felt some regret that Iskandar's Noble Phantasm, 'Ionioi Hetairoi,' which was ranked EX in concept, had never received a strong showing. In the original work, it only crushed Assassin, stalled Caster's deep-sea monster for a while, and was then blasted to pieces by Goldie Sparkle's Ea, 'Enuma Elish.' Its impact was far too weak.
By arranging a plot where Zhao Yun fought a million soldiers alone, he could enhance the presentation of both Zhao Yun and 'Ionioi Hetairoi.' As for 'Ionioi Hetairoi' being unable to defeat the deep-sea monster created by Caster, that could also be explained as its combat power having been weakened by Zhao Yun.