After much fuss, the magical girl design for Illya was finally decided.
The overall design didn't stray too far from the anime version of Prisma Illya from Shinji's previous life, but many details were adjusted for realism.
There was no way to recreate the exaggerated, gravity-defying designs of 2D animation in the real-world 3D space. Even if slime costumes could replicate the look or magecraft could explain it in-universe, the end result on-screen would still feel off and distract TV audiences.
Shinji, of course, had no intention of making it overly realistic, but the magical girl costume still needed to balance aesthetic appeal with a hint of realism.
"This looks pretty good!"
Illya admired her reflection in the mirror, twisting slightly to watch the ribbon at her back flutter.
She had seen the character design draft long before coming to the set, but the gap between her real self and the magical girl image was still significant.
How to put it—Illya believed herself to be clever, lively, and adorable, but she lacked the innocent and pure aura of a magical girl.
In truth, her thinking wasn't wrong. After all, in Prisma Illya, the true core of "Illyasviel von Einzbern" was Chloe.
Because she understood the disparity between herself and the role, Illya willingly played along as Shinji's life-sized Barbie doll, indulging his dress-up games.
Now, except for lacking a staff, her appearance in the mirror was that of a magical girl straight out of a manga.
"This is incredible. I didn't expect makeup alone to create such a completely different aura."
Illya examined herself in the mirror, dumbfounded, waving a hand to confirm it was indeed her reflection.
But where did this silly, innocent vibe come from? Was she really this pure and unblemished child?
"Of course, it's not just makeup."
Shinji shook his head firmly in response to Illya's question.
"In addition to makeup, I used magecraft to further enhance the difference in your aura."
"Using magecraft for makeup?"
Rin, standing nearby, was astonished.
"Yeah, it's a little trick I learned from Yan Qing. It's a magical disguise technique he used for infiltration, but I simplified it for use in makeup." Shinji explained casually.
"So, does that mean actors won't need to hone their acting skills anymore?" Rin speculated.
Shinji gave her a swift karate chop to the head. "What are you thinking? Without good acting, even if I make you up to look like a worn-out old lady, wouldn't it be jarring if you pranced around energetically on camera?"
Ignoring Rin's complaints of "Why use that as an example," Shinji added, "This makeup technique can only enhance what's already there. It can't make up for a lack of skill. So, you'd better keep working on your acting!"
While Arturia is the poster girl of Fate and the entire Type-Moon franchise, her actual appearances as herself are surprisingly few. Instead, various Arturia-faced characters and alternate versions frequently pop up in Type-Moon works.
On the other hand, Rin, despite never being the lead heroine, appears in far more works than Arturia.
At this point, it's clear who the real favorite daughter is, isn't it?
Shinji felt fortunate Rin owed him a massive debt, leaving her no choice but to follow his orders and appear in any work he wanted.
"Truly, I'm a genius! Hahaha!"
The thought of being able to direct Rin into any pose he wanted on camera made Shinji burst into laughter.
"Illya, let's go rehearse over there."
Rin quickly led Illya away.
"What's wrong with Shinji-nii?" Illya tilted her head in confusion.
"A recurring bout of parallel nervous system entanglement. Old issue—it'll pass." Rin didn't even look back as she answered.
"I see..."
A drop of sweat slid down Illya's temple.
"You two really should rehearse," Shinji called out once he had laughed enough.
"Our schedule isn't exactly generous. The first shoot starts tomorrow. Be well-prepared, or it'll be tough."
"Got it." x2
Illya and Rin exchanged a glance and nodded helplessly.
Since Shinji said it would be tough, it certainly would be. When it came to filmmaking, he never joked around.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
"Introducing the new magical girl, Magical Ruby—Illya! The legend begins!"
As the dazzling light show concluded, Illya, now in her magical girl outfit, appeared on camera.
Illya, who had just undergone a sudden transformation, was utterly baffled. She grabbed the red staff tightly and shook it furiously.
"What is this?!"
"A magical girl? Seriously?!"
"This is so embarrassing—I can't show my face in public like this!"
In response to Illya's complaints, the staff let out a hearty, uncle-like laugh.
"Hohoho~ Magical girls are best when they're lolis!"
Ruby, the staff, wriggled its body like a snake and declared smugly, "Lolis are simply superior. So different from a certain overaged magical granny~"
Before Ruby could finish, a hand suddenly reached in through the window and grabbed it.
"Who are you calling overaged, you little punk?!"
The staff barely managed a strangled squawk before it was yanked out the window—dragging Illya along with it.
Illya tumbled to the ground, scrambled to her feet, and saw a twin-tailed girl in tattered clothes glaring at her furiously—well, more at the staff in her hand.
"Oh wow, Rin, you're still alive, huh?" Ruby quipped, digging its own grave.
"Yes, thanks to you. It's honestly a miracle I've survived this long," Rin said with a wry smile, cracking her knuckles as she approached Illya.
"Ruby, get over here! Let me teach you who's the real Master around here!"
Ruby's wing-like attachments fluttered nervously.
"My Master? No way someone like you, an overaged woman, could ever qualify," Ruby retorted, dramatically pointing at Illya while a "dun dun dun" BGM played.
"This girl, Illya, is my new Master!"
"What?!" Rin was clearly in disbelief.
Illya frantically waved her hands. "I was tricked! This thing scammed me!"
"Alright, fine, I get it," Rin sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand. She reached out with the other, trying to snatch Ruby. "Just hand it back already."
No matter how hard they tried, Ruby refused to leave Illya's grip.
"Hahaha!" Ruby laughed wildly. "My Master information has already been updated. No matter the original Master's intent, it can't be changed without my permission!"
Bang!
The next moment, Ruby was embedded in the wall.
"Don't use that obnoxious tone with me!" Rin shouted, squishing Ruby into a ball. "Hurry up and change it back, or you're in big trouble!"
"You're so passionate. Do you secretly love magical girls that much?"
"Like hell I do! If anyone saw me like that, I'd rather die!" Rin flatly denied having any girlish dreams.
"No helping it, I suppose," Ruby grumbled, tossing out a sarcastic sigh. It then turned to Illya, who had been awkwardly watching from the sidelines. "Illya, say 'You little punk!' and swing the staff at Rin."
"Huh? Like this..."
Completely clueless, Illya followed Ruby's instructions and swung the staff toward Rin.
"You little punk!"
The next moment, a red laser shot out from the staff's tip, engulfing Rin in a cloud of smoke and debris.
"Cut! Perfect! That's a wrap!"
Shinji's command finally brought relief to Illya and Rin.
"That was, what, the sixth take?" Illya whispered to Rin.
"Yep!"
"Finally done!"
"You've got some nerve celebrating," Rin grumbled, giving Illya a side-eye. "If it weren't for you breaking character every time, we wouldn't have had to shoot this so many times! Look at me now—my image is in shambles."
"That's why I kept breaking character!" Illya replied, equally exasperated.
After all, the scene involved Rin appearing disheveled and ending up even more so. Shinji, ever the efficient director, didn't bother having Rin touch up her makeup between takes, leaving her looking increasingly ragged with every explosion. If not for the dust being wiped off her face to keep expressions visible, Rin would've looked like someone fresh from the Sahara.
Shinji felt at his wit's end with these two.
He'd anticipated some retakes due to acting hiccups, but not because of constant giggling.
Every time Illya started laughing mid-scene, pointing at Rin, Shinji was completely dumbfounded.
Sure, the scene was meant to be comedic, but he needed the audience to laugh—not the actors on set!
Was Illya trying to become the blooper queen of the tokusatsu world?
Fortunately, this particular scene was noisy enough to mask minor slip-ups. As long as the laughter wasn't too loud, Shinji could let it slide.
"Sigh... it seems Illya still doesn't have the chops to carry an entire series as the lead," Shinji thought.
Luckily, Prisma Illya was still primarily a children's tokusatsu show. The focus was more on the story and the fantastical visuals than on stellar acting.
Within the tokusatsu industry, this was par for the course. It's also why companies like Tsuburaya and Toei loved casting newcomers—they were cost-effective.
Acting skills were secondary. If they happened to find a talented actor, it was like drawing an SSR from a gacha pool.
While pondering his cast, Shinji watched the monitor, supervising the next scene: Illya and Rin were now locked in an intense "magecraft bullet" duel.
"Tsk, tsk. Things are getting pretty heated. I wonder if Illya will keep up this energy once Miyu's actor joins the fray."
Miyu Edelfelt was the series' second protagonist.
In the story, while Illya was the main character with great potential and a secretive background, her performance was consistently underwhelming. Most Class Cards were retrieved by Miyu instead.
Compared to Illya, Miyu was also a newbie magical girl, but her exceptional maturity and skill consistently outshone the protagonist.
It was clear from the character design that Miyu was meant to complement Illya as her foil.
After all, the pairing of a hot-blooded, clumsy lead with a cool, competent sidekick is a classic formula in anime.
From Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede in Slam Dunk to Naruto and Sasuke in Naruto, and even Nanoha and Fate in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha—this dynamic is practically a staple.
Most of these duos also feature a red-and-blue color scheme.
Rin had once teased Shinji about this.
"You've got some kind of fixation on red and blue, don't you?"
Starting with Fate/stay night, Shinji had always favored the red-blue pairing. Saber (Arturia) was blue, while Rin was red. In Fate/Zero, even though Shinji had toned down the colors, Saber's rival Gilgamesh still had red accents to complement his gold.
Now, in Prisma Illya, since Arturia couldn't appear, Shinji deliberately cast Luvia as a foil for Rin, the "Red Witch."
If that wasn't an obsession, what was?
<+>
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