novelcrest Chapter 34 Superpower Overlord? Just copy Superpower Overlord!
Chapter 34 Superpower Overlord? Just copy Superpower Overlord!
On the night of the premiere of "Superpower Overlord", the publicity department of Superpower Overlord celebrated with champagne in the office.
The premiere achieved a 3.2% viewership rating, secured a spot in the top five trending topics on Weibo, and quickly garnered over ten million views across major video websites.
Zhao Rui stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, a confident smile playing on his lips. "See that? That's the power of capital. What's the point of sentimentality or creativity? They're all worthless in the face of real money."
However, amidst the laughter and celebration of their victory, they were unaware of the ensuing online attack...
……
The night after "Superpower Overlord" aired, it was available on Bilibili.
Just five minutes after "Poisonous Tongue Old Tang" started his live stream, his popularity had already surged into the top three on the entire site.
As a veteran of the film and television industry with three million fans who single-handedly discovered the masterpiece "Ultraman Tiga", Lao Tang's face was extremely grim at this moment.
However, what Lao Tang said first was not the main point.
At the very beginning of the video, Lao Tang put the fight scenes from "Ultraman Tiga" and "Psycho-Master II" side by side and analyzed them frame by frame.
On the left is Ultraman Tiga.
When Ultraman Tiga is knocked down by a monster on the ground, dirt and stones fly everywhere, the surrounding models are hit, and you can even see the dust on his suit.
When Ultraman Tiga throws a punch, you can clearly feel the force exerted by the suit actor; the heavy impact can be felt even through the screen.
On the right is Libawang.
When the Overlord lands, although the visuals are beautiful, upon closer inspection, the ground appears to be nothing more than a simple texture cracking.
The surrounding buildings fell over like dominoes, breaking into tiny pieces, but the physical feedback was light and breezy, like cutting tofu.
"Brothers, have you noticed?"
In the video, Lao Tang pointed out incisively, "The biggest problem with the movie 'The Great Celestial' is that it lacks 'gravity'... or rather, the physical feedback isn't obvious enough!"
"It's too perfect, as perfect as a mannequin. It doesn't wear out, it doesn't get dirty, it's always made of spotless metal and glass, and every move it makes has special effects, cool sound and light effects."
"And what about Ultraman Tiga?"
Old Tang released a screenshot from a previous behind-the-scenes clip—a scene of Zhang Zhao taking off his leather suit and pouring sweat out of his gloves.
"Tiga is real. Because you know that under that suit is a living, breathing person who fights desperately to protect others. That clumsiness, that sense of weight, that's the soul."
"One is to show you how rich he is, and the other is to show you how hard he works."
"That's the difference."
The video immediately sparked a wave of resonance in the comments section.
The audience has also come to some sense of it.
Why is it that when watching "The Overlord", there is only visual stimulation but little emotional impact?
Because it's fake.
If we only look at it from an "emotional" perspective, it might be a bit far-fetched.
However, when they evaluate it from the perspective of "appearance," they will find many problems.
While watching Ultraman Tiga, I noticed wrinkles in the suit and flaws in the model.
However, even in the highly immersive storyline, everyone will still clench their fists and shout "Tiga" along with Daigo.
[Case solved! I was wondering why something looked off; could this be the 'uncanny valley' effect?]
[It's not that much like the uncanny valley. How can something that looks like a ghost be related to the uncanny valley? At most, the character's movements might be a little unrealistic.]
The combat feel of the game is similar to what I experienced playing browser games – it's all about numbers, lacking any emotional depth.
[Tiga fragrance! That scent, that leather case—that's the romance of a man!]
[Qiao Tianzun really doesn't understand tokusatsu. Tokusatsu, or special effects photography, emphasizes cinematography, not just CG!]
……
But then, Old Tang's tone took a sharp turn for the worse.
"Now, let's not talk about CG production anymore, let's talk about something important."
He adjusted his glasses; two windows were displayed side-by-side on the screen. On the left was the first episode of "Ultraman Tiga," titled "The Successor of Light," and on the right was the premiere of the first episode of "Superpower Overlord," a show that reportedly cost 9000 million to produce.
"Brothers, let's not complain about the graphics or special effects anymore. Let's get straight to the point."
Old Tang took a sip of goji berry tea, his voice echoing in the live stream, "We're playing 'image overlay'."
As he spoke, Old Tang began to operate the machine.
"Let me do some simple post-production work to make some scenes from these two dramas overlap, and you can judge for yourselves..."
As Lao Tang performed his move, tens of thousands of viewers in the live stream instantly held their breath.
There was no other reason than that I could see the clues at a glance.
On the screen, the aperture of the two video screenshots was adjusted to 50% each.
An astonishing scene unfolded: as Daigo on the left looked up at the statue in front of the pyramid, the protagonist of "Psycho-Master" on the right made the same gesture in front of the ruins.
The lighting, the shadows, and even the angle of the camera were perfectly aligned.
"Did you see it clearly?"
Old Tang clicked the mouse rapidly, "There's an even more amazing 'mirror flip'."
"Qiao Batianzun flipped the storyboard of 'Ultraman Tiga' by 180 degrees and changed the color grading style, thinking I wouldn't recognize it? Look at this positioning, this is a typical case of plagiarism!"
The live chat exploded instantly:
Holy crap! Is this some kind of Ghost Reconnaissance Plane reincarnated?!
[Old Tang is really hardcore, analyzing the film frame by frame?]
Wow, that's some serious observational skills!
Wow, if this is true, it's solid evidence!
[I was just thinking the effects were pretty good, turns out the loading was all stolen from someone else?]
[Qiao Tianzun is really something, 9000 million out of 8000 million was spent entirely on legal matters, right?]
Old Tang sneered and continued to scroll through the details.
The screenshot shows the battle scene.
"There are even more amazing ones."
Old Tang pointed to a 30-second close-up of a weapon in "Superpower Overlord," saying, "Look, the protagonist is holding the so-called 'Overlord Sword' and striking five poses in a row."
Does this have anything to do with the plot? Absolutely not! If you ask me, these thirty seconds are pure "GG" time, just a full-on showcase of their crappy plastic toys.
"In contrast, in Ultraman Tiga, every action serves the plot."
Old Tang's tone turned serious. "Superpower Overlord isn't making a movie; it's making a forty-minute toy encyclopedia! This kind of behavior is a disgrace to the industry!"
While Lao Tang was live streaming, another big name in the industry, the well-known toy content creator "YiQu Model Play", also released an urgent video.
In the video, the blogger has a well-made, affordable 59-yuan version of the Spark Lens from Gu Nan Studio, while in his other hand, he is tearing open a kraft paper package, which is a sample of the "Superpower Overlord" transformation device that he obtained through special channels and which has not yet been officially released.
"Brothers, thanks to the brothers, we managed to get a large sample of the Qi Ao Tian Zun overnight. It's that Overlord transformation device. Let's all take a look."
The blogger, abandoning his usual mild tone, spoke with fury: "Look at this thing, everyone. How much is the Qiao Tianzun priced? We don't know yet! But if it's over 20, don't buy it! But look at the workmanship, the plastic feel is ridiculously strong, there are even burrs at the joints. The most outrageous thing is—how far has the 'plastic skimping' gone?!"
He pried open the outer shell, revealing a large hollow cavity inside.
"To save money on plastics, they're even reluctant to add counterweights. And smell this stuff..."
The blogger frowned at the camera, "There's a pungent smell of cheap industrial glue."
"I've already taken samples and sent them for testing. I'll let everyone know the results when they're out. I doubt they'll pass!"
"Do you think this stuff is suitable for selling to children?! It's more like raw material for drug dealers!"
He picked up the 59-yuan Ultraman Tiga Sparkler and said, "Look at the stuff from Chasing Light Studio. 59 yuan, solid material, environmentally friendly paint, and the sound and light effects are crisp and pleasant. Ultraman, you have millions in marketing budget, and you come up with this kind of toxic garbage to swindle money?"
Many casual viewers who were just praising the gorgeous CG of "Superpower Overlord" have started to switch sides.
……
After Lao Tang released his comparison video, his voice wasn't the only one echoing online.
The morning after the premiere.
On a certain forum, a post titled "After watching the first episode of 'Superpower Overlord,' I felt like something was off" quietly appeared.
The original poster, a self-proclaimed "longtime tokusatsu fan," wrote:
"The visuals are indeed gorgeous, and the fight scenes are quite exciting, but I don't know if everyone else feels the same way—the dialogue and pacing of this show have a strange feeling. Especially the monologue when the protagonist transforms, the words are ornate but empty, and it sounds just like some AI-generated text."
The post initially received only a few scattered replies, most of which said the poster was "overthinking" or "jealous of the rise of domestic tokusatsu films."
But by the afternoon, the number of replies began to increase.
User "Archaeologist of Light" posted a comparative analysis: "I did a semantic analysis of the lines from the third fight scene of 'Psycho Overlord' and episode 14 of 'Ultraman Tiga,' and the similarity is very high. This is not just a tribute; I can only say that it is almost a structural copy."
Subsequently, more professional questions began to emerge.
An anonymous user claiming to work at a film and television post-production company posted: "Our company once took on an outsourced test from Qiao Tianzun. They required us to use a specific AI script generation tool to optimize the dialogue. We felt something was wrong at the time, but since it was the client's requirement, we had no choice but to comply."
These doubts are like scattered sparks, not yet gaining momentum, but the parched grassland is already ready to ignite.
……
In the faculty office of Jinghai Drama Academy, Professor Lin, a screenwriting major, closed the playback page of "Superpower Overlord" and sighed softly.
His student, Xiao Chen, who is now a screenwriter's assistant at Qiao Tianzun, secretly approached him last week and asked evasively, "If an AI-generated script is used in a project and then manually modified, what kind of status is that in the industry?"
Professor Lin didn't think much of it at the time and simply answered the question from an academic perspective.
But now, looking at the gorgeous but empty special effects on the screen, and the performances of the characters in the play, he felt a sense of unease.
That evening, Professor Lin logged into his Weibo account, which he hadn't used for many years.
After much deliberation, he finally posted a cryptic message...
"True creation is about heartbeat, not algorithms. When capital starts replacing soul with machines, we lose not only good stories, but also the future of the entire industry."
This Weibo post did not directly name names, but it caused a stir within a small circle of industry insiders.
Several screenwriters who had previously worked at Qiao Tianzun and have since left the company formed a private group chat.
Have you seen Teacher Lin's Weibo post?
"I see, I'm not the only one who feels something's wrong."
"The episodes I worked on before I left were basically AI drafts with a little human polishing..."
These private whispers are like underground currents, searching for cracks to break through the surface.
……
Although Lao Tang's video provides solid evidence, it is only one person's opinion.
Despite the relentless efforts of the Celestial Master Qi Ao in stirring up trouble and hiring online trolls, his solid evidence failed to achieve the desired effect.
The real breakthrough came three days later.
A professional WeChat public account called "Film and Television Industry Chain Observation" published an analysis article.
The title is "Where exactly did the 9000 million yuan production cost go? — Unveiling the cost structure of domestic special effects dramas".
The article uses detailed data and industry norms to analyze the normal cost allocation ratio for special effects dramas.
The article doesn't directly name "Superpower Overlord," but anyone with a discerning eye can see the reference.
In the final paragraph, the author writes: "In recent years, some production companies have devoted huge budgets to marketing and traffic buying, squeezing actual production costs to unbelievable levels. Even more worrying is the abuse of emerging AI scriptwriting tools, resulting in a large number of products that are 'technically fancy but hollow in substance'."
This article has gone viral among film and television professionals.