The BAMBOO BROOM DIARY/2020

2020/4/16: Untitled (Kinoko)
It’s been a while since I updated.
It still feels for me like I’m in 2019 but actually half of April has already passed. The spring of 2020 has already had more happy and sad things than the average year, yet I think I want to speak about just the usual, that is, things that I like, without getting into any the gloomy stuff.

　　　◆

“Shadow House”
I’m kinda creepy always acting like a nervous dad in the backlines going:
“Emilicooo! It’s me, please get your happy ending!”
At it’s core... it’s a story of friendship between a young mistress and her servant in an aristocratic setting, a real gothic kinda supernatural story.
I was enthralled by the delicate art-style, the wonderfully modelled mansion, the cuteness of the characters, their cleverness, and their bravery, while I also found the enjoyment of gradually fumbling around and solving the mysteries of its world super interesting...!
Highly recommended for people who like “Dark Souls” and “Made in Abyss”.
The digital version is fine but this is a manga where you’d really want to get the physical book. The book design is incredibly good. I’m sure it’ll turn into a treasured book.
It’s the best kind of book to read under the gray skies of winter. (‘Ey you, I already told you it’s spring…)


“Undead Unluck”
The manga of Jump’s up-and-coming artists are all so innovative yet still so openly shounen manga these last few years. They’re a great reward after a hard day's work each week.
They’re like bitterly feuding rivals with every artist seriously going like “damn, everyone was so interesting this time, but this week it’s my turn to be the headliner!”
You could also call it an exhibition of the fates.
Among all this, the wild Intelligence Beast “Undead Unluck” suddenly appeared.
It’s but 1 page in the story of a man who can’t die (Undead), and a girl who is fatally unlucky (Unluck)... putting it like that makes it sound a bit poetic but its contents are high-speed, violent, SCP and kinda lyrical; stuffed with things that are all like “is this what you boys like?” A boxed lunch of a battle manga.
Volume 1 only came out just recently but the potential is just amazzzing... sooo gooood.. The fundamentals of its world are talked a little bit about in the actual book and that too is so interesting like, man of course it's just that exciting, like are you drawing a manga that’s actually a tonkotsu broth packed to the brim with umami or what... I hope it keeps going for a long time... sooo gooood...



“Shinsekai: Into the Depths”
This is a game just recently being sold for the Switch.
It’s a 2D exploration action game set in the deep seas. A metroidvania.
It lasts for about 8 hours and comes at a low price.
For people with a Switch just take my word on it. Please give it a play.
You are pulled into the world just 1 minute after the start, and then the more you advance, the more you will let out whispers of wonder. It’s that kind of game.
Though it was obviously interesting from the point of view of a single gamer, from the point of view of a creator I felt deep admiration from the bottom of my heart like, “...taking such nerdy, stoic and romantic motifs and creating something with this kinda quality in today’s games industry…”
Without basically any prior information or flashy advertisements, just truly ‘diving into the deep oceans on all your lonesome’. I think that’s a silent provocation, and an achievement.

　　　◆

Well then. Having shilled some of the things I like I feel a bit better. From hereon I’m gonna talk about work.
One week has passed since the release of the latter half of FGO Chapter 5, Olympus.
I think there’s a high amount of players who have beaten it so I think I wanna do some small talk about it, spoilers included.

※Past here are spoilers so people who have yet to beat Olympus, be warned.



I referenced this in an interview but up to Chapter 1~5 I asked each writer to do the lore of their lostbelt.
I had them each freely consider and create a ‘what-if world’ with the theme of ‘a dead end human history different from ours’ in mind.
Still, even within these, Olympus has connections with Extra.

“Within TYPE-MOON’s mythos, the source of the Gods of Olympus are a migratory fleet from outer space (only machines) who built Atlantis.”

So with just those words set in stone, and with it as a model I had their respective writers think of each Machine-God’s background setting.
The background setting of having each respective god’s Authority be their function/role required for interstellar travel was an unorthodox element as one might expect. I think it lent the presence of an unusual enemy, something never before seen in Fate.

Having received these background settings, I-IV did the design drafts of the Machine-Gods, and then DW did the designs and animations.

Machine-God Ares’ design was done by Huke on account of his connection to Altera, with it being the Divine Core that crossed over to Rome and all.
He's got an orthodox approach different from the 12 Machine-Gods of Olympus, rustic and militaristic, on top of being stylish and super cool...!
I’m sure there were many players who didn’t notice that you could use him as a type of Master Skill during the final battle.
That war-god can, because of my own little request, hit Zeus up and down, and remove his dumb annoying defense buffs, you know?

Great Full Armor - Kumano was designed by RAITA, on account of his connections with Kintoki.
Black Barrel - Round was designed by Hirai Yukio, who we are much indebted to for his work on Shadow Border, among others.
They were not able to sortie onto the battle screen but both were wonderful designs. Thanks as always!


Well then. Let's talk about this "Greece arc" then.
As usual, the Chapter writer’s role was everything from the landing and until the defeat of the Lostbelt King, as before.
My role then was taking that and doing general re-writes, adding the introduction and ending - the plot details and stories that bridge the Chapters and so on.
Still, this time around I was also allowed to participate as a writer.
The climax of Part 2’s turning point... As it’s the script where the story of the Crypters briefly comes to an end, that final conclusion is the duty of the script supervisor.

That’s right. Olympus was the end of the Crypter arc.
(The truth of the Crypters has yet to be revealed but what I mean is that they’ve been released from their roles as the current enemy)

What in Part 1 was Chapter 4, around the point when Soloman appears.
Chaldea’s journey still has a ways to go, so I’d like it if you'd think of it as their direction changing a bit.


　The Alien God who has finally revealed itself (?).
　The mischievous Disciples who have started doing whatever they feel like.
　The remaining Crypters. The two remaining Lostbelts.
　The records of Bluebook.
　What exactly lies past the Wiped Blank Earth?

　As always, please look forward to more “Fate/Grand Order”


Right, from hereon I’ll talk behind-the-scenes for some characters I’ve hand-picked.

・Caenis
It’s been two years since their appearance in Part 2’s Opening Animation. Our Mr. Ms. Caenis has finally been added!
...Caenis was actually delivered to us in 2015, so we’re not even talking about before the start of Part 2, in fact this illustration has been here since Part 1. Among the FGO characters, they're actually part of the old-timer gang, rivaling Red Hare.
I’m sorry for making you wait so long, Azusa! Not only did you wait so long with a smile on your face, but also happily undertook some sprite additions in the eleventh hour. My greatest thanks to you...!

I left the background setting of Caenis to the other writers but
They were a servant of a special pattern, as I took charge of them within each script.
As their relationship with Kirschtaria was an element that spans across the various Chapters, it's true that only I, being the general supervisor, could do it.
As for this crude and violent Caenis, I think you can guess at their true feelings now that you know their conclusion and can look back.
This was especially strong when they lost during Atlantis. Who was it they could not afford dying because of?
Caenis’ screams were not a plea for their life, but rather a plea in order to save him.

Also, I had to have some exclusive lines for the last battle and so after testing the waters in asking for a supplementary recording session, it turned out we were blessed by the voice actors schedule being open and got an OK!
In that sense, a super luxurious Servant. Hey, are you really a 4-star?



・Kirschtaria
Everyone's favorite apple-providing bigger brother.
Why did he introduce himself when the earth was Blank Slated in the Prologue with “I am Kirschtaria Wodime”?
I mean usually at that point there’d be no need to do so.
Putting aside that he’d basically already secured victory, it goes without saying that remaining anonymous would be to his advantage with his greatest enemy in Chaldea still remaining.
Yet, Kirschtaria did not do so.
That was a declaration of intent concerning the Editing of Human Order, and also a proclamation for the purpose of making it clear that the responsibility of destroying Pan Human History laid with him.

Also, the reason why Kirschtaria’s 6th and 7th skill are like that is because,
“Beyond there I was always alone” and
“There were no memories sufficient in supporting my body from my journey there.”


・Pino (the boy under the bridge)
Pino is a moniker that I secretly added as I was writing. This name does not appear in the main story.
I asked Takenashi Eri to do the design and sprites. Indeed, I used my connections to the fullest!
Someone who doesn’t give off a presence of more than just a background character, fundamentally creepy and menial, yet that final expression...
A character with a very difficult, yet important role, and so I just had to get Takenashi’s touch.


・U - Olga Marie -
Sorry for keeping you waiting. So we have finally arrived here.
The U is the U of Ultra.

“If - just what if - I turned into a being that rules over the earth, then what title would I give myself…?

Super... Hybrid... No, not that, it’s gotta be Ultra, right!”

Whether she thought this or not is unclear, but I at least think it’s entirely possible.
(Look it up)

So I requested for her design to be ultra monster-ish. No, not that kinda ultra.
Also, that single sword stroke was the end of Muramasa’s job, and so that appearance comes from her own disposition.
“Seems I got some more work to do” as per Muramasa.



・The protagonist’s mind.

During the latter half, from the part where you hear about Kirschtaria from Pepe (about them being equals, both in terms of ability and circumstances) a spark lights up in the protagonist’s feelings, becoming one of fighting, rather than one of restoring.
With the words imparted as the team-up with Caenis ended after the battle with Chaos, this spark has clearly erupted into a flame, going from fighting for the sake of the Human Order, to wanting to beat Kirschtaria as a fellow Master.
In being recognized more so than anyone else by an opponent who they thought they had no chance against, they can give it their all more so than ever.
This loosened the protagonist’s heart who previously fearfully froze up thinking they had to repair the Human Order, to now being returned to the same state as in the finale of Part 1 of just wanting to defeat what's in front of them, with all their might.

They believed in themselves, for the sake of someone who believed in them more than they did.


With that in mind, I requested that the battle with Kirschtaria in Atlantis be balanced not as to be an overwhelming show of power, but one strong enough where it’s winnable if the players pulled out their everything so they’d feel like “damn, he’s strong, but this is it!”.
So when players who really managed to win popped up I smiled in satisfaction, while also thinking “3 turning it is overdoing it, Medb!”


So. At the time, there was a Kirschtaria defeat voice-line just in case of players winning but I decided to scrap it as it would give away Kirschtaria’s true nature if used in Atlantis.
It’s not much but I present this to those of you who have beaten Olympus.
(I've already gotten permission from DW)

Audio


Yes. Humans cannot choose the right answer.
Because what’s actually important is what you do thereafter. ^{[Translator 1]}

2020/5/4: Untitled (Kinoko)
The FGO 5th Anniversary project “under the same sky” has begun!
The first time I heard about this project I was a bit taken aback, like... oh, okay, is it okay for it to be this large scale though?
Through the efforts of everyone on the 5th Anniversary staff (the selection of stunning photographs, choice of famous tourist spots and promotion for each prefecture), it turned into a fantastic event.
Now that I look at them in the newspapers I’m just so moved... that’s really amazing!
(I also had the honor of helping out a little bit with the supervision of all the servant’s comments)

Originally we had planned for it to be a Golden Week trip where you could go meet your favorite servants but we had to really just hold back on that.
I’ll have to ask of you to just follow these Servants’ journeys through Japan from your own homes.


Nevertheless...
Even though I’m an urban fantasy writer living in the middle of the city I haven’t been there even once... to the Outer Underground Discharge Channel, that is...
I suppose that's to be expected from Eresh...


　　　　◆


And now for some business communications.
FGO had an update which slightly fixed some of the text in the main story yesterday.
It concerns Goredolf and Olga-Marie.
In the main story of Chapter 5 (in the both first and second halves) places specified as “new-director” during the writing process it seems was deemed as a mistake by DW’s QA-team and so converted in its entirety to “director”,


I have to uphold the QA team’s reputation here and explain that the cause of this is that during Chapter 4, India, there was a spot where we used both director and new-director interchangeably since the momentum of a line there was important and so we found it fine with just ‘Director Goredolf’.
The QA team do their debugging with the stance of coldly and systematically correcting any writing oversights so this is less a mistake and more because I failed to properly explain things.


Just as I got into the extended holidays and could finally play the game on my actual phone...
“It's finally the holidays, I should go beat Chapter 5 on my phone as well…”
I noticed this and, despite it being the holidays, had to hurriedly contact DW and have them return it back to as it was before.


You might ask why I felt the need to announce something so minor here...
It's not that the protagonist and Mashu keep calling Goredolf “new-director” because they don’t accept him as the “director”... but rather that for the both of them, the position of “director” is something that belongs only to the person they ran through the burning city of Fuyuki together with.
It is exactly because these two unconsciously think in this way that they keep saying “new-director” so obstinately.



By the way, in what tourist spot does the President of Earth want to take their pictures?
Hm? The east coast of Hokkaido? Because you saw it in a movie?
...Unfortunately, there’s no ultra-large radio telescope there...
That’s purely just fiction...^{[Translator 2]}

2020/7/22: It's here! (Kinoko)
We finally did it! Finally!
Fate/EXTRA Record was announced!

Record is a super upgrade on graphics and gameplay. All kept in strict conformance with the original.
The PSP version of /EXTRA was a story structured the way it was because it was a RPG.
That's why I gave Record the role of being a visually improved /EXTRA and composed the anime adaptation as something different, an what-if that could never be same as its source.

A good x years back, /EXTRA's remake was first planned alongside the /EXTRA anime.
Ideally, they'd both be released at the same time, but... well, a lot happened, including it taking a lot of time to talk about it with all the related parties and FGO eating up more of Type-Moon's time than anyone could've imagined, so well, you've seen the results.

But thanks to these circumstances, we managed to announce Record just in time for this joyous /EXTRA 10th anniversary.
Studio BB is completely in charge of creating the gameplay and making any changes to the continuity they find necessary. My only involvement in the remake is supervising the very few new strings of text they're adding to the original script.

I'm constantly getting news about the new gameplay, what's happening in the game, the design sheets of the Master and Servants redesigned into a more 2020 style, etc (although I still hold the designs from 10 years ago very dear to me).

I'm already extremely emotional about this, but the best is yet to come.
I'm looking forward to the the new Fate/EXTRA Record, revived by Kazuya Niinou and the BB Staff, as much as you are!

But damn, I wasn't expecting to see those development screens on the livestream. Felt like watching an YouTube parody!
The crowd of background Namelesses was peak comedy hahahahahahahaha ^{[Translator 3]}

2020/8/10: 5th Anniversary! (Kinoko)
Congratulations FGO on the 5th Anniversary!
I hope you enjoyed the broadcast.
That we could come this far is all thanks to the production staff, the management staff, and of course, all the players who have continued supporting us.
I believe I’ll be able to keep myself alert and responsive as to make sure we can see such an amazing event next year as well.
　
With that out of the way, first of all there’s the swimsuit event.
The event information has already been made public, but yeah, this year’s summer is about camping!
Playing in the water by the lake, enjoying the barbeque and also the excitement of living in a cottage!
Please wait just a little more until the camp-site opens.

In addition, this summer event also has the biggest script so far.
With Writer A who loves the horror genre as the main writer, the rest of the writing team were happily given the chance to write the characters they are respectively in charge of in places where it was needed.

The characters I’m in charge of is everything surrounding Kiara, and EMIYA.
And so, as it's the character I’m in charge of, I’ll share something between only the two of us here.
EMIYA in his summer event costume is just as his appearance suggests, released from the duty of a Guardian. He has more of a ‘dependable young man in college from next door’ vibe to him.
At first he was gonna be styled in a fishing style true to the name of Angler Class but he was such a cool fishter that we changed him into having more of a rough casual outfit.
I really liked that first design, but those in the style of fishermen usually scream ‘first victim’ or maybe more like the old guy who warns you not to go into the mountains...


But yeah,
There was something I had to say about the story team, so let me do a little announcement, or rather, explanation.
The writer in charge of the 2020 Valentine event as well as Sei Shounagon is someone newly added to the writing team but has actually spent as many years being a part of TYPE-MOON’s history as I have.
They had long since withdrawn from writing but I set up a few kind traps asking ‘isn’t it about time?’ and so had them join the team.

On the other hand, Chaldea Boy’s Collection’s Aeaean island was prone to misunderstanding but yeah, it was the writer in charge of Atlantis.
There weren’t much indicated about what kind of Heroic Spirit that Odysseus from Pan-human History in terms of FGO was like so I put them in charge of this as an after story.
Basically, the intention was to have Aeaean be a part of the Atlantis arc.


　　　◆

And also, while the 5th Anniversary is a happy occasion and all, there’s also this.
Fate/stay night Heaven’s Feel theatrical edition is finally going to have its conclusion “Ⅲ.spring song” showing this week.
I’m thinking back to the advance screening in March.
It was an exciting night. “Wow, I saw something great. To think this is going to be shown to everyone in just a few days.”
In just a bit we’ll be able to deliver the continuation to you all.

For those who have already played the game, I’m sure you’re curious about this or that scene, but I’m sure you’ll have your expectations exceeded by the sheer expressiveness of them. It’ll blow your socks off.

For those who haven’t played the game, it's a heavy, bitter and ruthless conclusion to the story, yet I’m sure you’ll be able to see dazzling beauty as well.

One of the final destinations of 90s urban fantasy is here.
I’d be honored to have you see it in theater, without forgetting to take proper corona-measures, of course.



　　　◆

Oh and the final line from Fou in Idol Maker.
According to the special translation:
“You... there ain’t nothing left but to kill each other beyond there…”^{[Translator 4]}

2020/8/24: Untitled (Kinoko)
Power....
Powweerr...
Aaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaa....


　　　◆

Damnit, my mind is in shambles.
It’s at times like these that I listen to Abi’s pancake song...
It melts my brain...
Actually, I did the checks of the text for these current shop voice-lines from Abi, but it's only now that I play it on my phone that I hear them for the first time...

Meteo... now you've gone and done it, Meteo...!
(You see, the writer in charge of the Servant explains how the acting should be when we’re doing the recordings)

You can’t just do that.
You really can’t.
To think the Director of the Gentlemen’s Re-education Center is her...
Isn’t the magnificent Valentine 1 year too early? What do you think?



　　　◆

So, from here on there’ll be spoilers. Feel free to read if you've gone past part 10 of the summer event.
Swimsuit Kiara has a hidden feature.









The truth is, when you ascend swimsuit Kiara to her final ascension while she’s Bond 5, a voice-line different from her usual one plays.
“Normal…”
And “hard...”
We got these two versions for the voice-line, and both were quite good so I saw it fit to implement both of them in this special way.
Ascending someone to their final ascension after raising them to Bond 5 is quite a rare so I think there's a lot of people who didn’t notice it.
And if you ask me why I made it such an annoying requirement, well...
It’s because... obviously that’d be how it turns out if you made her ascend after having glimpsed her true identity from Bond 5.
Both versions are collected in your materials once you get her to Bond 5, so people curious about the other version should check it out there.

You should be able to go to Materials > Servant Records > Sesshouin Kiara, set Kiara to her third ascension and then click “Saint Graph Ascension 4” and they’ll be played in alternation.


In addition, here’s some trivia about her Lily-form that was only minorly touched upon in the story.
After Kiara became Lily, the Author (no relation to Chaldea) was summoned as a stray Servant in the mountains.
So...

Lily:
An innocent child who believes she is Yao Bikuni.

The Author:
A Heroic Spirit that can only be summoned to this place and knows neither of CCC or Chaldea.
He encountered a lost child during his field work. The main story has the rest.

Kiara:
She remembers everything and grasps the situation once she turns into an adult.
However, in this form she no longer has any real reason to visit the Author (or so she says) and so she returns to her helpless Lily-form, leaving the situation in her hands.


Or so it goes.

They will never meet under ideal circumstances, no matter what. ^{[Translator 5]}