Entertainment: You're asked to make a graduation project, but you're asked to film Ultrama

Chapter 22 The Gentle Aftershocks and the Industrial Revolution

The weekend that "Halloween Night" aired, the air in Jinghai City seemed to have changed.

There were no earth-shattering social changes, nor did the education system collapse.

After all, Ultraman Tiga wasn't a phenomenon that swept the entire country.

A single tokusatsu drama cannot change the world, but it is like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples that allow anxious adults in this crazy, competitive era to pause and catch their breath.

This adds some lubricant to the gears of society.

In an ordinary residential community.

A mother, who was preparing to enroll her child in weekend tutoring classes as usual, suddenly stopped filling out the form.

She glanced at the living room.

My seven-year-old son is lying on the floor, playing with the "Kirambo Pumpkin Lantern" toy he just snatched.

Instead of clamoring to watch short videos on the phone as before, the child held up a pumpkin lantern and earnestly said to the air:

"Monster, don't eat my dream! I want to be a painter!"

The mother was stunned for a long time.

"I want to be a painter..."

These words were like a key, unlocking her long-sealed memories.

She recalled that when she was young, she used to carry her drawing board all over the streets and alleys, until life wore down her edges and she replaced her paintbrush with an Excel spreadsheet.

In the end, she quietly crossed out the "Math Olympiad Intensive Class" option and changed it to "Children's Creative Art," which her child had been talking about for a long time.

"never mind."

She recalled that line.

It's like speaking to a child, but also like speaking to oneself.

"If a dream stinks, it won't smell good anymore."

……

Similar scenarios have occurred in countless families.

Today, the rating for "Ultraman Tiga" on Bilibili has stabilized at 9.8, and "Light Chaser Studio" is seeing a steady flow of cash in its account.

The arrival of Halloween, the booming sales of pumpkin lanterns, and the continued popularity of sparklers finally gave Gu Nan the capital to "splurge".

"Industrialization must be accelerated across the board."

The old machinery factory in the western suburbs of Jinghai.

The factory building was no longer the drafty ruin it once was.

With a wave of his hand, Gu Nan directly rented two unused warehouses next door.

One room was transformed into a professional temperature-controlled photography studio, while the other became a prop-making workshop.

Dozens of interns and part-time staff recruited from major art and sports academies operated like a sophisticated assembly line under the leadership of Wang Kai and Zhang Zhao.

"Brother Nan, the post-production rendering for episodes nine and ten is complete."

Friday one week later.

Despite having dark circles under his eyes, Chen Bo presented the sample footage to Gu Nan with great enthusiasm. "As per your requirements, although these two episodes are episodic, the special effects are all of cinematic quality. The lighting and shadow rendering are already at their peak."

"hair."

Gu Nan's words were concise and to the point.

……

Episode 9, Friday at 8 PM: "The Girl Waiting for the Monster".

This episode takes a sudden turn in style.

Gone is the eerie horror of Halloween; in its place is an urban legend style tinged with a touch of melancholy.

The story takes place on a construction site undergoing demolition, where workers unearth a strange metal capsule. Shortly after, a girl dressed in black, who constantly plays a strange flute melody, appears in the city.

The flute music was ethereal and lonely, as if it came from another time and space.

[This actress was perfectly cast! She has such a cool and aloof aura!]

The sound of this flute... leaves me feeling empty inside.

In the live chat, viewers were immersed in that lonely atmosphere.

The monster Machina has appeared.

Unlike the previous destroyers, Machina, covered in thick armor, moved slowly through the city like a giant guardian.

It didn't attack buildings, ignored human tanks and planes, and just stubbornly moved towards the girl.

The Victory Team mistook it for an intruder and launched a fierce attack.

The missile struck the Machina's armor, exploding into a shower of fire.

The monster let out a mournful cry, but it did not retaliate. Instead, it opened its shell, revealing its soft belly—where there were glowing organs, just like the capsule in the girl's hand.

"It's not here to cause destruction."

Unlike the original work.

Here, Daigo, transformed into Ultraman Tiga, blocked the GUTS team's attack.

He spread his arms and shielded the monster with his body.

This scene moved countless viewers.

This is the first time since the start of "Ultraman Tiga" that the protagonist has fought against his teammates and humanity's misunderstandings in order to protect the monsters.

As the sun set, the young girl Saki played her final flute notes.

"Thank you, Daigo."

The girl transformed into a beam of light and flew into the monster's body. Machina closed its shell; after waiting on this planet for hundreds of years, it had finally received its lost child.

It nodded to Tiga, then turned and flew into the deep universe.

There was no explosion, no finishing move, just watching them go.

In the ending, Daigo stands on the beach, watching a shooting star disappear into the distance, as the narration begins:

"In this universe, not all encounters are accompanied by malice. Sometimes, a monster is just a traveler longing for home."

This episode was described as "the gentlest episode" after it aired.

It expands the worldview of Ultraman Tiga—the Giant of Light is not only the guardian of humanity, but also the maintainer of the cosmic order, and he possesses compassion that transcends race.

……

The following week, episode ten: "The Disrupted Amusement Park".

If episode nine is a prose poem for literary youth, then episode ten is an amusement park adventure for children.

This time, the monster appeared in the children's favorite place—the amusement park.

Gadi, a monster with tentacles that can create transparent barriers, has turned the entire amusement park into a giant hunting ground, using children as breeding grounds for baby monsters.

"Wang Kai's skills are getting better and better."

Viewers were amazed by the special effects in this episode.

For the iconic transparent barrier of the monster Gadina, Gu Nan used a combination of live-action filming and CG compositing.

When ordinary people crash into invisible walls and try to leave, and when monsters wield their two long tentacle whips, shattering amusement park rides to pieces, the visual impact is simply explosive.

The plot focuses on a pair of brothers.

To rescue his trapped younger brother, the older brother suppressed his fear and ran frantically through the underground passage.

The core emotion of "being brave for the sake of loved ones despite fear" precisely hits the soft spot for family audiences.

In the climax of the battle, Gu Nan recreated a very exciting scene from the original version.

Tiga was trapped inside the barrier, his energy rapidly depleting. Faced with the monster's relentless barrage of attacks, Tiga switched forms.

Red, powerful type!

"just!"

Zhang Zhao, who plays Ultraman Tiga, catches the monster's whip with a powerful gesture and pulls it away!

Then, it became a pure aesthetic of violence.

Tiga grabbed the monster's horns with both hands, a pure outpouring of power.

"collapse!"

With a sharp crack, the monster's prized horn was snapped off.

This is the true power of the Horn-Breaking Demon!

Immediately afterwards, Tiga gathered all his energy.

Dirashum Light Stream!

A crimson, high-heat sphere, like a miniature sun, slammed into the monster.

The barrier shattered, and the monster exploded.

The Ferris wheel in the amusement park started turning again, and the rescued children rushed into their parents' arms.

This episode broke its own record for 24-hour viewership.

Because it's exhilarating, fast-paced, creates a strong sense of crisis, and culminates in a clean and decisive comeback.

More importantly, it uses the amusement park setting to reiterate the themes of "courage" and "responsibility".

……

The old machinery factory in the western suburbs of Jinghai.

Late at night, Gu Nan sat at his desk, looking at the progress chart on the wall.

With the consecutive airing of episodes nine and ten, the studio has fully gotten back on track.

Each episode on Bilibili consistently garners tens of millions of views, and merchandise sales have repeatedly broken records.

Several television stations even contacted us to purchase the broadcasting rights.

"Brother Nan."

Chen Bo walked in carrying a report, his face beaming with barely suppressed joy. "Do you know how much money we have in our accounts right now?"

He held up two fingers. "Twenty million! After deducting costs and taxes, we're now a real 'big shot'."

"Moreover, because our two episodes were of such high quality, all the negative articles online about him 'losing his talent' were completely debunked."

Chen Bo sighed.

To be honest, he had never seen so much money in his life!

However, seeing Gu Nan's calm and composed demeanor, I couldn't help but think to myself, "He truly lives up to his reputation as Brother Gu."

"Twenty million..."

Gu Nan twirled the pen in his hand, looking at the number.

This is indeed a huge sum of money for a team of college students.

But the ambition in his eyes was not filled by the money at all.

Instead, his gaze passed over the twenty million and landed on the next few lines of text on the whiteboard.

"This amount of money may seem like a lot, but it's really just the cost of a few episodes of special effects."

Gu Nan stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window—he had it newly smashed, so he could see directly outside where the new scene was being built.

"Chen Bo, pass the message down."

"Starting next week, we're going to go big."

"Big?" Chen Bo was taken aback. "Aren't we big enough already? Weekly updates, tens of millions of views, merchandise sold out..."

"This is just a warm-up."

Gu Nan turned around, his eyes burning.

"For the first ten episodes, whether it was fighting monsters or discussing moral lessons, we were still operating within the framework of an episodic drama. Viewers enjoyed it, but they're getting tired of it. It's time to throw out some pieces of the main storyline."

He walked to the whiteboard, picked up a red marker, and circled the title of episode eleven.

That was a title brimming with tragedy and the struggles of humanity.

Episode 11: Requiem

"In the next episode, we'll tell a story about 'jealousy,' 'desire,' and 'power.'"

Gu Nan's voice was low and deep.

"Ebloon cells. This is foreshadowing; this thing will be involved later."

"Furthermore, we want to take this opportunity to introduce one of the most fascinating and also the most heartbreaking types of characters in tokusatsu dramas—"

"A tragic hero."

"We need to find the best actor, someone who is handsome, but whose eyes have... how should I put it, that kind of obsessive feeling of 'wanting to win but being afraid to lose'."

"We must revive Ryosuke Sanada."

"We want to show the audience what terrible price humanity pays when it tries to plunder the power of God."

Just then, a bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky outside the window.

It illuminated Gu Nan's young yet commanding face.

The first phase of Ultraman Tiga, "Showing Its Edge," has ended.

In the next phase, he wanted to show the world's audience what it meant to—

The unfolding of a masterpiece.