There are naturally some Prehistoric Islands where movies can’t be screened, but this is the Four Seas, not the Grand Line. Bizarre islands with ever-changing climates are mostly present within the Grand Line and Calm Belt.
The islands of the Four Seas, although varying in development, are generally at the same level. Disparities like those between the Stone Age and the Electric Age don’t exist here. As long as the countries and islands are somewhat prosperous, their entertainment facilities are quite adequate.
Queen stopped to rest in order to have some enjoyment, so he naturally chose a well-developed island where movie theaters are not uncommon.
“Tesoro? It’s really him. Has that movie been released?”
Similar news had come from Tesoro before he and Yamato left Onigashima. This was the movie filmed back on Fishman Island. While the shooting time wasn’t long, post-production editing and smoothing the way via bribing took much more time.
In the end, World Government is still the World Government. Although movies can be distributed without their approval, to openly screen them in all affiliated nations, one must obtain the World Government’s approval.
Even then, some countries still prohibit the screening of certain movies because they violate local customs. Those protagonists might be seen as dissenters in their place.
As for Yamato’s address of him, he gave up resisting, but he consoled himself. Yamato addressed others as big brother or big sister, but only referred to himself as uncle, which somewhat positioned him as older than them.
He didn’t refuse Yamato’s proposal to watch the movie, as it would only take 2 hours at most. However, he felt a sense of discrimination from the movie theater.
“What? I can’t sit in the front row? Oh! Is this about money? You look down on me, don’t you?!”
“No, no, it’s not like that, sir. But if you sit in the front row…”
Seeing Queen’s physique, the ticket seller showed a troubled expression. If Queen sat in the front row, others wouldn’t be able to see. His size would probably block even the projector’s beam.
If it weren’t for Yamato’s liking for a lively atmosphere, Queen would have chosen to rent the whole theater. But in the end, he could only opt for the VIP box on the second floor because he couldn’t fit into regular seats.
The start of the movie was simple: Tesoro, heir to the throne, encountered a storm at sea and unfortunately fell overboard. He was subsequently rescued by a Mermaid named Stella.
At first, he was also very fearful of Merfolk and Fish-Men because, according to rumors in his country, both Merfolk and Fish-Men were man-eating demons who carried deadly viruses. Just by touching them, one could contract the deadly fish plague.
This wasn’t just his imagination; many places indeed have such misconceptions about Fish-Men.
But as they spent time together, he realized these were just prejudices of the people, and they fell in love smoothly.
However, being a prince, his father, the king, did not approve of this relationship. He even bribed a group of pirates to kidnap the Mermaid.
The king believed his son should marry a princess from another kingdom and survive alongside a powerful nation.
But the ambitions of those pirates went beyond that. They also kidnapped the king and demanded a huge ransom. In the end, it was that Mermaid who, regardless of past grievances, rescued the king and fled from their clutches.
During this process, the queen secretly sought out Tesoro and informed him of what had happened.
Then, at the crucial moment, the male protagonist appeared, defeated those people, and everyone lived happily ever after.
This story contained a lot of personal additions, such as the king and queen doting on their son and hiring the best vocal teacher in the country for him.
That was Tesoro’s discontent with his life. He had longed for supportive parents, but reality shattered his dreams. So, he could only fictionalize such a scenario in the movie.
The main theme of the movie was to promote equality between Merfolk, Fish-Men and humans. It also emphasized the need for more communication between parents and children. The movie does not pursue any artistic quality that ordinary people cannot understand. Tesoro didn’t make this movie for awards; the most important thing was to make it appealing to the common folk.
While the plot wasn’t overly excellent, it was above average. Coupled with the grand special effects that don’t cost anything and incredibly realistic fight scenes, the movie received quite a good reception.
However, Yamato couldn’t immerse herself in it because most of the actors were people she knew, which made it feel somewhat out of place.
During scenes that were supposed to be touching for others, she would always replace them with some silly scenes; it was similar to when watching The Shining and realizing that everyone has Zhang Wei’s average face, which made it impossible to feel moved. [*Someone in China made parody clips of The Shining movie turning horror scenes into comedic scenes. https://k.sina.cn/article_3502299493_md0c0d96503300nbps.html ]
The filming locations on Fishman Island, however, fascinated her. They felt much more real than the postcards brought back by Jack.
So Fishman Island was added as one of her future sailing destinations.
Queen planned to ask Tesoro for the contact information of a few supporting characters later. He had developed a liking for two more actresses.
For ordinary people, this movie has a certain educational quality. At Otohime’s request, Tesoro provided Fishman Island with a two-minute narration to educate the people about their legitimacy. The ending also mentioned the law stating that Merfolk and Fish-Men are people, not fish.
But elsewhere, the reception to this movie was completely different, especially on Fishman Island, where Otohime was moved to tears watching it.
The plot was just a part of it; the most important thing is that she sensed some long-lost positive emotions from among the audience.
Some of it came from the Fish-Men and Merfolk, and some from the humans who were staying on Fishman Island. To her, it was a very promising start.
Fishman Island didn’t have a dedicated movie theater, but for this movie, she specifically asked the Beasts Fruits’ Mining Department to bring in a projector and screened it for free in Gyoncorde Plaza.
Encouraged by Otohime, many people chose to come and watch the movie. Some came with the intention of freeloading, as movies were a rarity on Fishman Island, and for many, it was the first time they had heard of such a thing.
So during the screening, Gyoncorde Plaza was packed to the brim, and Neptune even deployed the Royal Army here to maintain order.
Tesoro didn’t ignore reality; in the movie, he repeatedly used Rusalka’s words to bring up a certain issue: that the land is very dangerous for Merfolk, and young Merfolk should not go near it. He didn’t want the number of accidents involving Merfolk to increase because of the movie.
He detested the identity of a slave. In the original timeline, he had lost all hope due to Stella’s death and his life as a slave, so he chose to enslave many people with money.
But things are different now. He was a senior member of the Anti-Slavery Association on the Red Line, whose goal was to have the World Government ban slavery. However, it was practically useless; at most, they could only secretly help some people who have encountered danger.
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