dognovel Chapter 220 Interview: The Demise and Light of Being Undefined
Chapter 220 Interview: The Demise and Light of Being Undefined
Dust billowed across the screen like a volcanic eruption.
Amidst the swirling red dust, a colossal figure, adorned with red and silver stripes, slowly rose to its feet.
An overwhelming sense of solidity arises, as if one is one with the earth beneath one's feet.
"boom--"
The giant took only one step forward, and the ground trembled again.
Ah! This is Xin'ao!
[I must say, this design is pretty cool!]
【Kids! I've made my appearance!】
[That entrance was truly spectacular! The entire ground must have been lifted up!]
[Isn't Ultraman supposed to protect the Earth?! This landing would cause an 8-magnitude earthquake!]
[Fine, fine, you didn't even have time to protect the Earth, and now you've pulled off a lightning strike!]
All viewers were glued to their screens by the terrifying physical effects and the oppressive atmosphere.
At this moment, the camera cuts sharply to the XIG air base at an altitude of 50,000 meters.
In the command room, the usually calm and collected Commander Shi Shi now had his eyes slightly open, staring intently at the giant bathed in sand and dust on the large screen.
"What...what is that?"
The staff officer Ye Qian beside him was equally shocked, muttering to himself, "Yes... a stone chamber, what exactly is that?"
No one could answer their questions.
The scene then cuts back to the ground battlefield.
The monster Gob let out a deafening roar, wielding its massive scythe-like arms, and charged towards the giant of light before it.
The giant was stunned for a moment, then looked at his hands.
Then, the fighting spirit emanating from this rich land instantly synchronized with my dream!
The giant slightly lowered his center of gravity, assuming a powerful fighting stance, and then, with a deep battle roar, charged straight at Gob!
The red glow of the earth and the afterimage of the monster are about to collide violently in the center of the city!
Just as all the spectators held their breath, bracing themselves for this earth-shattering battle—
"Whoosh!"
The screen went black.
A soothing yet hopeful prelude to the end credits song suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
On the black screen, rows of white credits began to scroll, along with the end credits song, "Lovin' You Lovin' Me"...
Old Tang stared blankly at the scrolling subtitles on the screen, mouth agape, forgetting to put down the thermos he was holding.
After a full ten seconds of silence, the live stream chat exploded like a bursting dam!
[Holy crap?! It's gone?! It's gone just like that?!]
[Gu, you old scoundrel, have some decency! We've already taken our pants off and you're showing me the end credits?!]
【Wait, it's already interrupted? I was just getting into the swing of things! What happened to my monster battle?!】
[This skill at creating disjointed chapters is amazing; it's a real shame Gu Nan isn't writing web novels. It's just too damn torturous!]
Immediately afterwards, the end credits rolled, and footage from the next episode's preview flashed by.
In the scene, Koga Yume shouts urgently at Commander Ishimuro, "Please! I want to join XIG! I want to fight alongside you!"
Then the ground suddenly cracked open, and a brand new monster roared as it emerged from the surface.
Finally, there was the breathtaking view of the enormous aerial base slowly emerging from the clouds.
[Next episode preview: Ultraman Gaia Episode 2 - The Hero Stands!]
"call--"
Old Tang let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his numb scalp. "Brothers, although the abrupt endings are awful, the pacing of this first episode was really captivating! I didn't even realize the episode was already over!"
Old Tang opened the recording in the background and quickly reviewed it by dragging the progress bar: "You see, this episode is actually divided into two very distinct parts. The first half is told from the first-person perspective of Gao Ga Meng, a college student, showing the extremely ordinary daily life of a science student in 2030. Then a crisis suddenly descends, from panic, the defense force's setback, the Lightning Team's defeat, the sense of despair builds up layer by layer, and finally Gaia lands, releasing emotions in an instant!"
Indeed, in the first half of the episode, we didn't even see a trace of that defense force called XIG; we just saw my dream wandering around the school aimlessly.
[I was wondering why the first half was so bland; turns out it was all build-up to the despair felt when the monster appeared later.]
I think the entire budget for this show went into special effects. The flooded city, the miniature models, and the final explosion effect when Gaia lands—that alone couldn't have cost less than tens of millions.
……
The first episode of "Ultraman Gaia" unsurprisingly topped the trending searches on major platforms.
three days later.
The recording site of a top-tier domestic live-streamed in-depth interview program about film and television.
Famous host Lin Chen sat on the sofa, smiling as he looked at the young director sitting opposite him.
"Dear viewers, tonight we are very honored to have invited Mr. Gu Nan, one of the most sought-after directors in China and the founder of Light Chaser Animation."
The number of viewers in the live stream instantly exceeded 100,000, with countless viewers who were eagerly anticipating the first episode flooding into the live stream.
Gu Nan, wearing a simple casual shirt, nodded slightly at the camera:
"Hello everyone, I'm Gu Nan."
After a few polite exchanges, the host, Lin Chen, opened the script and got straight to the point.
"Director Gu, after the first episode of Gaia aired, the entire internet was discussing the stunning landing and the extremely detailed miniature model."
Then, he looked at Gu Nan.
"Some industry insiders have analyzed that the filming schedule for the special effects parts in your first episode was five to ten times longer than usual. Is this true?"
"Not by as much as twice, it's about 1.5 times the shooting schedule."
Gu Nan smiled and answered decisively, "In order to show the power of the monster's charge and the weight of Gaia as the 'Will of the Earth,' we have made a super-large scale miniature architectural model this time."
"For example, in the scene where the underground parking lot was destroyed, we actually used a large amount of water to physically wash it away. This sense of realism is something that current CG effects can hardly completely replicate."
[So that's why it was made with an extra schedule! No wonder it has such a high-quality feel!]
[Gu Laozei, the master craftsman, truly lives up to his name.]
Lin Chen nodded and continued, "We noticed that the world of this series is set in 2030. Furthermore, the first half of the first episode doesn't feature any scenes with the GUTS team. Previous Tiga Dyna series usually started by introducing the GUTS and Super GUTS teams, but this time they've taken a different approach. What kind of narrative consideration is behind this?"
"This is to convey a sense of 'everyday life'."
Gu Nan explained.
"If we start by introducing a high-class defense force, the audience will feel distant. So I asked the writers and directors to make the first part of the first episode from my dream's perspective. Greetings, meals, experiments... the more ordinary and refined the daily life is, the stronger the impact on the audience when disaster tears the sky apart."
The live stream chat was flooded with comments.
That's why the defense force was initially hit so badly; the crisis came too suddenly, and that's the price of disrupting daily life.
Indeed, the logic is flawless and the story is full of interesting points, making it very eye-catching.
[Excellent pacing, clearly explaining the world-building and the lineup of multiple groups in just 24 minutes!]
"Speaking of disasters..."
Lin Chen raised a question that was being hotly debated online: "This time, although the enemy hasn't appeared in the main story yet, we've noticed something in the recently updated setting materials called the 'Root Destruction Summoning Entity.' The name sounds very...unique, even a bit awkward. How is it different from the Scia we've seen before?"
Gu Nan leaned back slightly on the sofa and gave an answer that surprised everyone.
"Actually, I don't want to give any specific explanation for this. He is not a specific individual or an alien organization."
"If I were to think about it from my perspective, I could only tell you that it's a concept."
Lin Chen was stunned: "Concept?"
"right."
Gu Nan calmly said, "You can understand it as the collection of all the 'misfortunes' in the development of human civilization. It is a sudden and unpredictable disaster."
Gu Nan looked at the camera, as if speaking to all the viewers: "In this setting, a sudden global virus, a devastating Black Death, or even extreme climate change can all be called 'catastrophic events.' As human civilization progresses, these sudden 'misfortunes' will inevitably accompany it."
In the live stream, the previously cheerful chatter instantly dwindled by more than half.
Is this setting on a philosophical level?
[Is it not simply an alien invasion? Or is it an inevitable catastrophe facing the development of civilization?]
The Final Trial for Humanity (not really)
[Are abstract concepts visualized in tokusatsu dramas?]
[Damn, this setting and its sheer scale... it feels like it's going to create an enemy even more powerful than Specia!]
[How could this Destruction-Attracting Entity be so evil!]
[Born in response to the times, arriving in response to the calamity.]
"I see."
Lin Chen took a deep breath, suppressing his inner shock, "You want to convey through this drama that although humanity will always face such self-destruction or sudden misfortune, as long as we make the right choices, we can still bravely cope with it."
"Yes."
Gu Nan nodded, "Just like the core theme of this series. Tiga is about overcoming the barriers of humanity and moving into a new era; Dyna is about facing the fear of the unknown and daring to explore. But Gaia, the theme has changed."
Gu Nan held up two fingers: "Unlike the anti-war and environmental protection themes that were always discussed in previous episodes, we want to showcase a new keyword—coexistence. Coexistence between humans and nature, coexistence between humans and the Earth."
"Thank you for the explanation, Director Gu."
The back-and-forth question and answer lasted for quite some time, and the topic eventually returned to the Ultraman Gaia series itself.
Lin Chen turned a page of the script. "Regarding the Ultraman Gaia setting book recently released by Light Chaser Animation Studios, many observant viewers have noticed that it seems there's no mention of the time limit for Ultraman's activities on Earth. Is this an oversight in the setting, or was it intentional?"
"It was done intentionally."
Gu Nan smiled. "The protagonists of the first two works possessed powers that essentially originated from the light of the universe. Because it was extraterrestrial power, their movement within Earth's atmosphere was limited. But Gaia is different."
"Gaia, as its name suggests, is the native will of this planet."
Gu Nan dropped a bombshell: "Since they're locals from Earth, fighting on their home turf, why is there a time limit?"
[Holy crap! A local?! So Gaia is Earth's favorite child?!]
No wonder the earth seemed to respond when it landed, blasting up a huge mound of earth – that's some serious support from its own mother!
[It's reasonable not to be restricted in your own home!]
[Earth: Kids, I can build Ultraman myself now!]
"But don't worry, you won't see the red light flashing."
Gu Nan added, "Although there are no strict rules about the activity time, the color timer on the chest will still flash if the energy consumption is too high or if it suffers a severe injury. After all, even the light of the Earth has its limits."
Lin Chen nodded repeatedly, and finally posed the question that countless fans were most concerned about: "Director Gu, the poster emphasizes 'earth and ocean.' Today we saw Gaia, representing the earth, but what form will Fujimiya, the other light representing the ocean, take? Will the dual Ultraman setting cause a shift in the plot's focus?"
Upon hearing this question, Gu Nan's lips curled into a mysterious smile.
"Fujimiya will appear soon. As for the focus of the plot..."
Looking at the camera, Gu Nan's tone exuded absolute confidence: "Although both of these beams of light originated from Earth, their understanding of 'salvation' will have subtle differences."
"All I can say is that in the upcoming storyline, the red light of the earth and the blue light of the ocean represent not only comrades fighting side by side, but also a clash of ideologies!"
"Everyone, please look forward to it."
As the interview ended, the live stream chat went completely wild.
[My best friend! It's your favorite male lead couple!]
Wow, this is starting to get interesting!
[You've got the triple combo!]
[Update immediately!]
The online buzz was like a fire doused with hot oil, burning ever brighter.
Meanwhile, Gu Nan had already left the studio and boarded a car to return to the headquarters of Chasing Light Pictures.
For him, the journey of Gaia has just begun.