The BAMBOO BROOM DIARY/2021

2021/1/1 : Happy New Year.
I would like to wish you all a happy new year. 2020 has been a very difficult year, but we were able to overcome it with everyone's support.
Thank you so very much.
The new year, 2021, will be a new milestone for TYPE-MOON.
I would love for you to watch over us with heartfelt eyes.


I am very happy to finally be able to announce the official release date of...
"Tsukihime"
This was TYPE-MOON's first game, and now it'll be our latest work as well.
There is still some time until summer, but we hope you don't forget this.


Also, to all the players of the original doujin version, thank you for the countdown to the 20th anniversary of Tsukihime.
It made me very happy to see, and I wanted to tell you something as well.
It took all of my power to keep the PV hidden until the end of the year...
I hope this PV is enough in giving back to you.


Tsukihime with revamped visuals, text, and music...
This time around, it will be TYPE-MOON's first ADV "voiced from the start."
You can hear the voices of the cast in the PV,
in which you can hear they have all done a fantastic job with their voice acting.


This is due in part to the enthusiasm and talent of the cast,
and in part due to the fact that this project has been worked on for 20 years.
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the cast members for all of this,
and above all, to all the people who have breathed life into these characters,
and created this imagery for the past 20 years.


I want to deliver a Tsukihime R that lives up to this standard,
and to the feelings of all those who have shown us so much love.


Additionally, there will be more details in the spring issue of TYPE-MOON Ace.
Until then, please wait patiently.^{[Translator 1]}

Untranslated

2021/5/13: Showing gratitude, as a representative of the Round Table (Kinoko)
Long time no see.
I'm back from a private showing of the second Camelot movie.

What a freaking masterpiece.

The first Camelot did as good as it could on its mandated role of providing the bare minimum explanations on what FGO is about, but other hand, it had to keep its momentum and flash on the low side, among other problems, all caused by the larger problem of the swirl of Corona messing the entire production schedule... (Thank you to the entire staff, including the director, for holding on until the very end...) With all that happened, I think the movie managed to shift into the second gear but never get to the third.

The moment the baton is passed to the second Camelot, things get ghastly.
90 minutes of pure "The prequel already all the base exposition. Now it's we just run with a nonstop sequence of all the scenes everyone was wanting to see."
And they did it right. Every single was done with refined taste & super quality...!
Everyone who played the game will go there thinking "I want to see this scene" and watch a scene 100 times better.
Despite my initial shock at their bold decisions on what to cut from the story, but on the first 5 minutes it already hit me that they cut all that because the viewer would be able to imagine what happened off-screen, and because they had a lot better things to show instead.

It's a huge sequence of scenes I wanted see, they exact way I wanted too see them from start to finish, but the real amazing part is the last 60 minutes. The war in the holy city.
They look good. All of them look good.
(Every character was highly reflective of their original designer's artstyle. To an almost uncanny level with Tristan in particular. I couldn't believe they could reproduce the complicated delicated of a Morii character)
On top of that, they're in a constant sequence of high-octane scenes that leave you with no room to breathe.
They go all out with the flashiness, but an earnest devotion to the original tone, without ever forgetting the main focus of the plot.

My honest opinion is that the entire movie is a theme park where you to an exciting new attraction every 5 minutes and pretty much every attraction feels like the main attraction, but if I had to pick just one, it'd be the final battle against the Lion King.
The dialogue confronting the Lion King was scripted so specifically for the game format that I honestly had already given up on the idea of finding a way to make that look good in the movie. And yet, their fantastic direction and cinematography managed to materialize the excitement of playing the game.
They did better than the game, to an extent, even.
As someone who has been following Arthuria since /stay Night, all I can say about the Lion King fight is... "I saw something beautiful."

A spoiler warning here... although people who didn't watch it wouldn't know what I'm talking about.
No line in the Lion King fight's script says "This scene goes with this image."
That means all the beauty of the that fight comes from the raw power of the director and the animation staff (the director personally storyboarded this one!).
All his creativity and the good sense necessary to make it real! This director is insane. I want more!
I get why they co-credited the director on the script.
He took the second movie's script as a guideline rather than hard rules, attentively directed everything from storyboards to editing, and stylishly reconstructed everything into one spectacle.
Again, this is just my personal opinion, but I'm considering what was done here to be the best way to adapt a videogame every player plays differently into a movie.

The image quality is consistently throughout the whole movie, with every Round Table battle being terrific.
The Hassans, Pharaohs, and Sanzang were all beautiful and refined.
You'd be hard pressed find another superhuman knight battle movie as extravagant as this.

Also, fans of battles inside giant crumbling buildings, prepare to see your dreams on the screen.
I can't believe they made that scene 30-minutes long. Are the director and animators Berserkers?

And those were all my heat-of-the-moment impressions...

I know a lot of movie theaters are closed in the current state of emergency, but if you can find the time and theater near you, please come savor this excitement.

It's perfectly fine if you can't remember a lot of what happened in Camelot but remembers having fun with it!
It's been 4 years since Camelot's release, after all!^{[Translator 2]}

2021/6/13: Honey and Oberon (Kinoko)
FGO Part 2 Chapter 6 (First Half) has been released.

I’m sure those who already saw the livestream know this but this time there’s a first and second half, with the second half opening in a month on July the 14th.

“I think you’re misunderstanding but generally speaking, the amount that can be read on a single weekday is about 40~50 kilobytes of prose.
“If people are going to casually play after coming home from work or school then one pocket book’s worth per week is about right.”
“I see. You’re always so profound, Habenyan~”

After receiving such advice I dwelled a bit on it and as a result I made it in this kind of format, as to treat everyone kindly.

This time, the more you advance, the more the quantity of information grows so take a breather after each chapter and enjoy it at your own leisure.

In addition, this time we’ve arranged for a “travel memo”, a feature that you can check in-game.
As you advance a certain amount of chapters, an icon at the top-left of the screen will appear, looking at it you’ll be able to visually understand the Faerie Country’s history.
This will keep updating little by little in-game each time you acquire information so you'd do well to check it out each chapter.

Filling out the annals of an unknown world might turn out to be quite enjoyable.


　　　◆

Well then. Let’s get into the main topic.

It’s Oberon. It’s Umino Chika.
I’m sure everyone is aware of “Honey and Clover” and “March comes like a lion”, right?
For those who are, I'm sure explaining won’t be necessary at this point.
For those fortunate enough to not have encountered them I won’t say anything bad, just please get running to the bookstore right now.
Whichever one is fine. Though if possible I’d like you to start reading from “Honey and Clover”.
Umino Chika manga contain all the trials and tribulations of (a nerd’s) life. They are straightforwardly fun, charming, enviable, heartrending, bitter and sad... but also inspiring.

Thinking back to it, it was 3 years ago, after an FGO livestream (Surprise Birthday).
It was the first time I talked to this scary fellow wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket in the flesh.

“Hm, this scary dude, he’s totally nice... a masterfully considerate person...
Also... his eyes... are kinda beautiful... (heart racing) not that I can see them…
He really loves games... and can talk earnestly about Chrono Trigger... damn dude…”

Before I could notice, almost 2 hours of intense conversation had passed. Though we split up as it turned out it was right before the last trains of the day, we did manage to talk about “Honey and Clover” at this time.
For me, “Honey and Clover” is a very important work.
I can’t simply categorize it as an interesting work.
It's one of my mental pillars of support that lets me word hard when I’m struggling with my creativity.
(I get a little choked up at the episodes where Hagu is making things on her lonesome)

Mafia: “If that’s that case, then how about meeting her? I might be able to set up a meeting.”

What do you mean ‘if that’s the case’, Muramasaaaaa!
He hit me with a direct attack out of the blue, as if he’d be ready to charge in right there and then.
So after that and before I knew what was happening, I managed to meet with Umino Chika, as blessed by fate as I was.

I talked… a lot.
I splurted out 20 years of all my thoughts onto her.
“I've been a fan since CUTiEcomic. I created this game called Tsukihime and then when we have the fandisk for it one of our staff-members called OKSG introduced me to this one manga, saying it would totally be up my alley and so I fell in love at first sight (volume). And with that, I looked around the bookstores for previous magazines and managed to enjoy myself up to volume 2 but then the magazine it was published in was suspended... I mean what the heck…! As I despaired, it restarted serialization in YOUNG YOU and so out of sheer happiness, the three of us - me, OKSG and Takeuchi - went drinking while talking through how beautiful the world was. Humanity was alright after all. Yamada is so beautiful. Seeing as I am a wordsmith, I poured my attention over the line delivery and the monologues, like man Chika’s monologues are just so... keen... and heart-wrenching… yet so sincere and vulnerable, you write it so beautifully I’m afraid my heart as a creator is gonna break, it’s like your words as sharp as a knife powered up into words as sharp as a katana with “March comes like a lion”, I mean really take care of yourself... Still… I wanna read the continuation, I want Shizuku to become happier than ever before! (snip) Perhaps one day we could work together on something... I’d wanna do it even if it got me killed..."
“Okay~ (warm smile). It might be a bit inconvenient as making adjustments to my schedule is quite difficult right now."

That’s no inconvenience at all, Muramasaaaaa!
That was around the time FGO Part 2 was starting.
It was already decided that Chapter 6 would be my responsibility so in my head I was just like,
“Oberon, it’s Oberon. I’m gonna ask her for Oberon.
I’m gonna have Umino Chika draw me the inhabitant of fairy-tale world.
Is it okay to be this happy? It’s not.
Are you telling me this kinda chance happened in my lifetime? It seems so.
Oooooooohhhhhhh, Oberooooooooooooooon!”
It was nothing but that, essentially.
And so Umino said
“Oh Chapter 6 is going to be a fairy world you say? I wanna draw a cute girl☆”
While cackling and giggling to herself… but...
“It’s... a male character...
I want... the kind of this and that... of a Umino character... with that kinda blunt expression…”
And so I destroyed the dreams of an innocent little girl in but 3 seconds. I apologize.


And with that, how Oberon was to be introduced had been decided.
The instant the offer of Oberon went through, the way Oberon was to be decipicted was already decided inside of me.

“A different presence from the usual Servant.
A guide to the fairy-tale world, who embodies the themes of Chapter 6.”

In order to carry out this concept I also requested this from Umino:
“There’s no need to fit in with FGO’s style. In britain, I want Umino Chika’s drawings to be just as they are.”
And with that selfish request, Umino came back to me like a blazing fastball.
Though she was so, so busy, she arduously adjusted her schedule and lent us her help.
So I once again offer my gratitude to you, Umino.
Thank you so much.



　　　◆

It was the work that gave me strength as I was making the original Tsukihime.
That I could work together with its creator, and also
that it could be released in the same year as when Tsukihime R is being sold,
I really makes me feel like my life has become quite good... still...

There’s actually one more person in Chapter 6 who I’ve admired ever since the original Tsukihime’s production.
Or rather, one of the creators who served as the impetus for its creation is joining us now.
“Is this really a doujinshi!? It’s so big, cute and cool…!
To think there is a person who’d put out such a book on all their own...!”
This is already ages ago, I’m talking around the year 2000.
When the latter part of Chapter 6 is released I’ll talk about this once more.^{[Translator 3]}

2021/7/28: Chuckolate & Dragon (Kinoko)
Thank you for your patience. Tsukihime - A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, the one and only Tsukihime Remake, comes on August 26th.

http://typemoon.com/products/tsukihime/

I gave it my current max. The trailers are available on this website, so check them when you have the time. Captions aside, all screenshots in the trailers are from the final version of game. Assume the screen composition will be like that all the time.

◆

Hello again. It's been two weeks since the release of chapter 6 part 2. We still have one week until the ending, but I want you to put that aside for a moment to prepare for the daily festivals.

Yes. The Fate/Grand Order Fes 2021 started.

Even if we can't do a IRL event, we still have the internet...! I think having these intense shows every day can get a bit heavy, but I hope you enjoy these 6 days of 6th anniversary.

I'll participate in the Fes only as a regular FGO player. I know the titles of each project but nothing beyond that. (...because producing chapter 6... took me a lot of time...)

Despite thinking the Grand Exam is an insane idea, I'm taking the challenge. I don't think I can get a 100/100, but a 90/100 sounds doable. That's the creator of this franchise talking.

◆

Grand Temple of Time: Solomon.
I got to watch the movie before everyone else. I just have one brief comment.

Everything I wanted to see was there!

The screenplay had a special format (Nasu writing the full story first and then they adapting that into a proper movie script), so some scenes were obviously omitted due to time constraints, but the final product was a movie good enough to make those cuts not matter in the bigger picture. It successfully adapted the game into a movie through a different approach from the Camelot movies. Not only that, but it also became a 90 minute traditional blockbuster everyone should watch. Anyways! Everyone who beat Part 1 needs to give it a try! Really!

The first 7 Singularities were missions to explore and return alive, but the Final Singularity is a mission to exterminate and win. The need to prioritize the Master's life is no longer applying. The Master uses his body and Magic Circuits to become a Servant-summoning weapon even if it kills him...

This is Fujimaru Ritsuka's role in the Final Singularity and Chaldea's responsibility in preserving Human Order. Chaldea was supposed to be a research facility but had to operate as an army for one year out of necessity. Make sure you don't miss their final mission.

The movie really made me wish you were required to watch it before you played the Garden of Lost Will in chapter 6 part 2.

Oh, by the way, the official English names for the "saccharine dream", "dusky abyss", "despondency", and "those without sin" are New Home, Horizon, Lost Will, and Heavenly, respectively. "Heavenly" being from the scene where Merlin gets trapped.

◆

Since we already got in the subject of chapter 6, time for some inside stories. One of the authors who inspired Nasu to write his doujins was CHOCO, Fairy Knight Lancelot's designer. I can never forget 1999. Takeuchi said "Doujins come in all shapes and forms. Take a look at this one.", and showed me his thickest book, CHOCOLATE GEOMETRY #0002. It was a shining star even for today's standards of quality, and it taught the young Nasu that there were a multitude of wonderful doujin magazines he didn't know about. Still, this volume was my own fateful encounter. The cover forced anyone to admit it had a high level of artistry and composition. Uncompromised design, stunning visuals, and refined book design... Everything about it shattered my views about the differences being pro and amateur. It was an astonishing accomplishment for the Nasu from the ages before internet, before computers, and when the closest convenience store was a 30 minute walk away.

"If people can make books this good and have a place to distribute them, I want to see what I can do."

CHOCO's earnestness encouraged me when was somewhat skeptical about doujin activity. After that, my luck and my bonds blessed me with the opportunity to produce a game, and I spent the whole process dreaming of one day working with CHOCO, my dear father... And as usual, my bonds blessed me. I was having lunch with MahoHako's designer Imaizumi, when he suddenly dropped a "I have CHOCO's number".

"What... No way... (thunk)... But I'm pretty sure he's busy with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 right now... Despite everything, I'm an industry insider, so I know how things go... I want to meet him... I want to hire him... I want to make this long-standing dream come true... But I also don't want to meet him because I'm fangirling too much... I want to watch him from a distance..."

After about 6 seconds of fan anxiety, I took action and asked Imaizumi to introduce me because I wanted to hire him. Yes. That's how life goes. Opportunities never last forever. Throw away your shame and honor and eat the carrot dangling in front of you. That's the story of how I connected myself to CHOCO, my dear father.

"Fate has this dragon named Albion, and she has to look like she's the one thing that doesn't belong to that world. Something like a sci-fi character in a fantasy land, perhaps. Like really out of place, really extraneous."
"Could you be more specific. How extraneous, exactly?"
"Hm, if every other character were Mobile Suits, this one is a Getter."
"Got it. Just to make sure, you're the real Kinoko Nasu and I will design a Fate/ Servant, right?"

Lancelot started from this explanation. A few years later, I was finally set to start producing chapter 6, and I could request the long-waited CHOCO design. I want to take this moment to thank CHOCO for cheerfully accepting my unreasonable requests, and Imaizumi for tying us together. By the way, when I request a FGO Servant design, I take a lot of ideas from the illustrator. This includes ideas for weapons, facial expressions, dialogue, and Noble Phantasms. In Lancelot's case, I took CHOCO's ideas for all the things I just listed, but the finest example of this comes from his NP image boards. Lancelot's 3rd Ascension NP had already achieved perfect beauty since the earlies design stages.

◆

Whew, that was long. Here are some quick chapter 6 bits that had to be kept out of the final script.

- Beryl's Command Spells:
Beryl didn't use his Command Spells on Tristan. They didn't have a proper Servant contract, after all. For special character reasons, Beryl can use Command Spells on himself, and was planned to do so in the Black Wolf fight. But that had to be scrapped... for programming difficulties... We even got the voice lines recorded...

- The cause of Woodwose's death:
The CG didn't make it clear enough, but Woodwose was finished off by Morgan's magecraft dagger. After taking a hit she could dodge from Woodwose, she realized it was too late for him (he was turning into Mohs) and stabbed his abdomen with a point-blank dagger. That's what that stab sound effect was about. Later, figuring out everything Morgan did, he regained his senses but became Mohs. Here he was supposed to aimless attack everything like normal Mohs do, but his love and respect to Morgan... his heartfelt sense of guilt and repentance... freed him from the Mohs curse and allowed him to vanish without violence.

- FGO Radio - Nemo's secret:
Don't tell anyone, but here's what I wrote for the original version of Nemo's Valentine's scene.

Nemo Marine D: "Really?! None of us is getting left out? Waaaaaah, I love you, Master!"

Nemo havers, please check how this line turned out to be in the voiced version. What's my point? That Yumiri Hanamori is a perfect professional of ad-libing! Woohoo!^{[Translator 4]}

2021/8/1: 6th Anniversary SP! (Kinoko)
Koyanskaya/Light... Which Tamamo are you exactly...?


The FGO 6th Anniversary event has its finale today.
To all the players who enjoyed themselves over these 6 days,
and to all the staff who created this lengthy event,
once again, I offer you my gratitude.

Well then. With the coronation ceremony PV being unveiled, let’s talk a bit about that.
About the volume of the coronation ceremony...
It’d be best to think of it as neither short nor long.
In terms of text it's about 2/3rds of the first half.
It’s just that in contrast to the first half, it has a lot of fights so, might test your patience...?
During our tests the average play-time was 4-6 hours but that's with the assumption that you never stop once you’ve started so keep that in mind.



So with that, from here on I’d like to talk a bit about the latter half of Chapter 6.

・The star-system of Muryan
Chapter 6’s greatest source of confusion, or at least one of them. (It seems the other is Redra Bbit)
Did you think she was Kazura Drop?
Too bad, she’s 100% a fairy, born and raised!
Then why is she identical to Kazura you might ask. When I was designing her for CCC, I incorporated the folklore of Muryan as her source.
The part with their body being whittled away as they grant wishes and then finally becoming so small you can no longer see them.
So with Fairies as the theme this time around I decided I’d release Muryan.
With that being the case I felt it just as well to ask Wada if she could design a Fairy-land version of Kazura out of my own selfish desires.

“I’m really interested in this sweet yet wicked and clever Muryan!”
If that’s how you feel, then please try picking up a copy of the CCC side-story manga adaptation “Fate/Extra CCC FoxTail”!
All of the Sakura Five appear there.


・Beryl’s voice
I received some correspondence (from pen-name: ‘Sasaki Shounen’) to the tune of ‘I’m curious about Beryl’s cut voice-line you mentioned in the last entry’.

I’ve received special permission to use it! Here it is.
Hm? You’ve heard that word somewhere else you say?
Right...
I wanted to give him the “Bizarre Reality Marble - Red Hood”

http://www.typemoon.org/bbb/diary/img/999999_0_E200.wav ->
http://www.typemoon.org/bbb/diary/img/999999_0_E210.wav ->


・The mysterious three-parter curse.
The mysterious fairies who appeared in the first half.
Why do beings like them exist? Very good question.
A certain drifter who spent many years in Norridge had his knowledge integrate with Britain and through this influence were the wild Nightcallers born, having evolved as ghost stories (fairy-tales) from a foreign land.


・Fairy-history, timeline tidbits.
The in-game timeline had some excess information cut from the final version so here’s a partial excerpt from the one that I created when writing the script.


AD.1800

　“The Caterpillar War”. Massive outbreak of caterpillar Mors. Morgan in a bit of a conundrum. (She hates bugs)
　At the beginning of the war, she goes out onto the plains once, and then after slamming them with Lordless she simply says “I can’t. I’m going home” with a straight face, and then returns to Camelot.
　Defeated by Foul Weather, Gawain. → Morgan annihilates Cornwall and appoints Barghest as Fae Knight Gawain.
　The position of “Fae Knight”, restored.
　Through Gawain’s actions, the “Land-eating Calamity” is expelled.
　Morgan appoints Gawain as the Lord of Manchester.

AD.1899

　The shocking manner-battle pertaining to the position of Head of the Fang Clan.
　Woodwose proposes the manner-battle. A handicap against Boggart, born from Woodwose’s arrogance.
　Boggart trains his manners like his life depends on it and accepts the match. Contrary to Woodwose’s expectation, Boggart puts up a great fight. In fact he’s in the advantage.
　But Boggart messes up at the final after-dinner fork placement.
　Woodwose, hard-fought victory.
　Woodwose’s comment: “I suppose you’re nothing but a cliff lion. T’was a grasping technique befitting of thee, Muhahahaha!” Is he even humanfurry?^{[Translator 5]}

2021/8/6 Off Camera. (Kinoko)

I run. I run.
I'm shocked at my vigor, even as the world crumbles all around me.

"Take care of the Prophesied Child, ______ ___.
Protect her at all times.
And, if you would, tell me at the end of each day how her journey has been.
I can't join you, given my position...
But if anything happens, I'd like to at least be there with you in spirit."

I was proud to do it, at first.
But over time, I began to vaguely understand the consequence of her request.
Still, I kept sending the reports, and was ordered to avoid joining the battlefield. Then...

One day, while I was far away at Oxford,
I saw flames rising over Londinium.

"Ahhhh..."
There was nothing I could do to atone. I wasn't responsible to begin with.
The queen's army might really have attacked.
That's what I told myself.

"If only we had a chance to teach Londinium its place!"
"The Round Table Liberation Army? Please! As if those defects from the factory could ever stand beside us, the chosen humans!"

Try as I might, I couldn't forget the voices of the humans in Salisbury, nor those of the fairies egging them on.

When I saw the embers of Londinium, my hind legs went numb.
I would never run freely again.
Silently, I accepted that fact.

To begin with, the state of the Fairydom was too difficult for me.
I should have been born in a world where I could exercise my talents, more purely, as I pleased.
A life without words, without prejudice, without conflict.
I wished I had been a creature of the wild, racing through the meadows.
Dashing, like the wind.
Galloping, like a beast.
That was all I ever wanted.
But that humble goal was dashed to cinders, when I saw the fire.

Yet, I gained one last chance.
They told me it was do or die, so I trampled the earth with all my might.
It hurt.
My flesh and spirit screamed at me, "what's the point after all this?"
I had no words to give. I didn't deserve to mourn that brave, gallant girl knight.
All I could do was smile bitterly. There wasn't a point.
If there was no point, then all I had to think about was what to do next.

I ran, and ran.
The pain was fierce.
But so was my joy.
While the world crumbled around me, I was freer then I'd ever been in my life.

A faehorse's life is over if it breaks a leg.
The pain was so intense it tore my soul apart.
For a day and a half, I pulled that carriage like there was no tomorrow. I knew my legs would give out soon, anyway.
I turned my pain into joy, and ran.
I ran, just to deliver them to the coast.
I ran, not to hide hope, but to create it.
No matter how corrupt it was, this world had given birth to me, raised me, and taught me joy. I sprinted across the land of Britain I so loved.

When the carriage collapsed, I cut loose the harness and dashed for the woods, alone.
As I ran, I could hear my body being mangled.
What a blessing this is!
What grace I was given!
To be happy, until my final moment.

To be like the wind, until the very end. ^{[Translator 6]}

2021/8/12: Untitled. (Kinoko)

    It's been a week since the release of the Collapse Arc of Part 2, Chapter 6.
    This has turned out to be the longest main chapter we've published so far.
    Once again, allow me to thank all of the development staff at DelightWorks,
    the creators who designed the Servants and drew the backgrounds,
    and of course, the staff of TYPE-MOON who for the past 3 months were like, "We already knew this would happen, so what do you need us to do?" and still put their heart and soul into making this happen.
    It's been a grand dream, and it couldn't have come true without every single one of you.

    Now, then. Since it seems like many players have completed the story, I'll spill a bunch of details even if it might be a bit early.

    First, I know you're probably asking why I'm calling it the Collapse Arc.
    Chapter 6 was structured into three parts: the First Arc, Second Arc, and Collapse Arc.
    During the stream right before the First Arc was released, it was compared to Kara no Kyoukai:


        First Arc: "Garan no Dou" from Kara no Kyoukai
        Second Arc: "Paradox Spiral" from Kara no Kyoukai
        Collapse Arc: "A Study in Murder (II)" from Kara no Kyoukai



    ...are what was meant by that. The supposed final boss also similarly left the stage in medias res.
    We intended to focus our resources on making the Collapse Arc, but the First and Second Arcs ballooned in volume,
    and we kept making more and more assets and stills for them until all three arcs grew to be impactful on their own.
    Also, I figured it wouldn't hurt to turn to the guy (company president) sitting next to me, whose hands were already full with the main work, and say,

    "I waNT BRidE poSES for Mash.
    In TWO wEEks FRoM Now, IF yOU COuLD.
    FOrGivE ME. foRgiVE mE. FoRgIVe me THE sInS OF kInoKo."

    I sent that message using (physical) telepathy and in reply, he stunned me with entirely new portraits instead of just pose variations, and a huge amount of facial expressions too.

    "Well, that worked...
    Maybe I could ask for the three fairies and Mike, too...
    I'll ask BLACK-san to do the trio, and Simoshi-kun to work on Bogard!
    Oh yeah, I can ask Shimoshi-kun to squeeze in Mike, too! They designed Da Vinci, after all!"

    And that's what we got.
    In the plot, Mike was only to have a faceless mob fairy portrait, but I wanted him to leave more of an impression.
    For Mike's design, I asked for "lines that make him feel like a mob even though he's not. He shouldn't stand out during the First Arc, but it'll be really meaningful during the Collapse."
    Thank you, Shimoshi! I'm really looking forward to swimsuit Da Vinci-chan!

    The musical score this time was nearly three times that of a typical main story chapter,
    and KATE-kun fought until the very end to get that done.
    "I'd like individualized battle themes for each Fairy Knight.
    The ____ in the Collapse Arc should have an arrangement of that... speaking of which, ____ should get the complete version.
    Try to think of the Fairy Knight battles as only the starting skirmishes."

    "Hm, hm. The motifs of Lancelot and Gawain are easy enough to understand, but what about Tristan?"
    "A girl's hysterical thoughts. A blood-drenched stage. A dance musical, a brilliant stage, the girl herself is hell, something like that. In the style of CCC's Alter Ego battles."
    "Should I make ____'s theme orchestral since it's a boss battle?"
    "You don't have to. It's supposed to be a girl's happy (dancing) dream, so it should be a cheerful melody with some tempo. The stage is part of the climax, so it should enrapture the audience and make them wish they were happy to have been born! Or something like that. Think like, the most exciting moment of your life. Even if it was all a dream."
    "Oh, so that's why the stage spins round and round! I get it now! But can I say something? Why are you giving me such an awful job?"

    By the way, speaking of the track "Land of Hope," it's actually the initial map theme that was submitted for Saber Wars 2.
    When KATE-kun gave it to us, I thought it would be too perfect for the end of Chapter 6, so I said,

    "I want to use this in Chapter 6, so please keep this one under wraps for now.
    I think we should arrange it for Castoria's Noble Phantasm; give the players a taste of it so it'll sound familiar to them.
    At the very very end, I want to use an emotional arrangement of it. Thanks."

    And that's how, for the past 2 years, I've listening to "Land of Hope" and thinking about Spring Memories whenever I was moving around.
    To me, that song is about seeking stars.

    Okay, at this point people are going to start accusing me of rambling too much again, so I'll explain a bunch of trivia off the top of my head.

    ____ in the Garden of Lost Will
    Regarding [the name of the imprisoned] in the Garden of Lost Will, the person that appears at the end is generally a person that you unconsciously feel is pointing out "the very hardest thing, the first thing that you yourself avoid confronting."
    The Oberon that shows up at the end isn't the real one.

    Vivian of Orkney
    The leader of the Rain Clan recognized their sins and offered the Fairy of Paradise their love and affection.
    These were Vivian's warm childhood days.
    A dimly lit yet warm castle sunroom, where the rain never stops.
    The girl dreamed of a fairytale-like kingdom where she had no duty to Avalon, where everyone could live in peace.

    Caster of Avalon
    Caster has no Spring Memories because, as the Fairy of Paradise, she had no fun memories to look back on. She wasn't allowed to have any.
    But, Vivian might have experienced the same thing if she had returned to Paradise.
    Still, Morgan had her memories of being lovingly raised in Orkney,
    while Artoria had her memories of meeting her very first... traveling companions (friends), who had nothing to do with her duty as the Fairy of Paradise.

    Oberon's Retrospection
    The person narrating Oberon's origins in Verse 30 is A.A.
    Oberon is the one talking during the parts about day and night, "can you understand how ~~~ feels?"
    but the third-person narration afterward is A.A. after becoming the Guardian of the Holy Swords and learning everything about Britain.

    The Star in the Hole
    There's a scene in verse 30 about the Star in the Storm.
    That was her final sprint, in the moment she vanished from the throne and became a Guardian.
    "I've hit my goal if I just quit thinking and be a ____, right? If I keep trying, then they'll keep me working forever and ever, won't they?"
    It's the choice she made after asking herself that question.
    And the result, as you can see, was space-time jumping shenanigans.

    Merlin
    If this guy ever teaches you magic, it'll only be in your dreams.
    I know this sounds cruel, but to Merlin, the only Artoria is the King of Knights.

    About those red-colored choices
    It isn't the case that either one of the answers is correct.
    I don't think it's good to have a big schism where the reader keeps noticing things that the protagonist doesn't.
    So, all I did was make your choices have a tangible result in the end, if earlier in the story you thought, "wait, that doesn't sound right" or "that's not really it, is it?".
    I colored them red to make that easier to understand, but I picked the color red to make it a bit more ominous, too...

    Oberon's Final Readvent
    I also leveled Oberon up to his final form last night, and I had them stop the ascension fanfare from playing while he says his line. I think the late-night update on the 11th patched that in.
    "More importantly, why does my flavor text suddenly change after bond 6? Why, I wonder? Why do you think? Make sure you read the prince's flavor text before then, okay?☆"

    By the way, regarding his remarks to Nursery Rhyme:
    With a smile, he offers, "After those ____ and readers are gone, why don't we find a nice, quiet world where everyone's perspective is equally important, and have a tea party together?"
    To which she gently smiles and declares, "I'm so sorry, my wonderful prince. But, I love to see all of our readers radiant and happy."
    As he watches her turn to leave, he would reply "yeah, go figure" with a sardonic laugh and narrowed eyes.

    Some final notes on the chronology

    1000 B.C.
    A Returned A-Ray is born among the Fang Clan - Wryneck the Brave, inheritor of organs of the waste heat of the planet.

    800 B.C.
    Tonelico fights and triumphs over Waste Heat Lord Wryneck. They become fast friends.
    Henceforth, Wryneck does not accompany Tonelico on her adventures due to his position as the Chief of the Fang Clan, but does everything he can to help her from behind the scenes.
    He rationalizes it as, "I can never accept the mission of the Fairy of Paradise, but I'm fond of Tonelico's strength." (To Ector, his feelings are as clear as day)


    400 B.C.
    The fabled Arbitration, one day before the coronation at Londinium.
    In attendance are Uther, Tonelico, Ector, Grimm, and the First Fairy Knight.
    Wryneck can't stand Uther (for obvious reasons) and refuses to attend the coronation. Instead, he goes off to hunt Mors on the western coast.

    "But... even if I send a delegate, it would be poor form if the Fang Lord didn't show up, wouldn't it..."

    On the dawn of Coronation Day, Wryneck reluctantly makes up his mind to return to Londinium.
    Everything is over by the time he arrives.
    Politics prevent Wryneck from defending Tonelico as all of the fairies accuse her. Wryneck comes to agonize over his decision for the rest of his life into the Queen's Era.

    "Maybe if I had been there, things would have been different...
    ...No. Nothing would have changed. Nothing at all.
    I, a fairy of Britain, could never have saved Tonelico."

    1000 A.D.
    The Great Calamity, the Mors Campaign, begins.
    Aged Wryneck takes to the battlefield, his resolve grim.
    "Begone, King of the Mors. This is her nation, the land she suffered so much to build. I'll never let you take it from her."

    So falls the greatest of the Fang Clan, clearing the way for the next generation.^{[Translator 7]}

2021/8/31: Time and Moon (Kinoko)
How are you enjoying this series of hot days, people?
While it's still hot, it's still summer. September is summer. Swimsuits are summer. My point is, summer is coming.
It's right around the corner, just a wait bit longer for your ticket to paradise to be issued.
It'll be a wonderful summer where you'll get plentiful materials... No doubts about it... Seriously, I have no Grails. I can't even raise one Servant to 120. Gimme Grails!
(Those are the harmful effects of thoughtlessly raising every Servant he loved to 100)

And I'm very glad to see you're all respecting Tsukihime's no spoilers period.
Thanks a bunch for preserving the joys of facing the unknown for the players who are still reading and the players who want to read but are too busy right now!
I'd appreciate if you preserved this mood for one more week, talking about the game with your like-minded friends in your personal chat spaces, using Fusetter to talk about it in public spaces, etc.
Tsukihime is a visual novel, so the fun of it is not in moving your character, like it is in action games. Its plot is its life.
That's why I had to ask you not to post spoilers on these two weeks.
I must mention that we discussed the matter with Fusetter beforehand and they gladly offered their cooperation.
Thank you very much, Fuseta.

-

Sorry for the abrupt change of topic but let's talk about the Solomon movie.
It's already been a month since the debut, so I'll give some little behind-the-scenes stories and exposition on the parts that were difficult to understand.
(I'll touch the plot without any vagueness, so if you haven't watched the movie yet, please skip this section)

Seventh Heaven Mystic Code

Each of those seven bolts were the exact amount of fuel (magical energy) for one Servant summon.
The wearer can do simple summons without it, but that would put a lot of stress on their body, so the safety breaker on the suit's chest restricts them into being unable to summon without using the bolts.
As long as the breaker is there, the wearer can use all the bolts and that won't interfere with their vital functions (because they'll stop summoning before it can).
In the Lev fight, when Lev pointed out that all systems that try to do the impossible have flaws and shot his magecraft, he was aiming at the breaker.
Fujimaru guarded it perfectly though.
And that's why Lev begrudgingly praised his "competent imitation (of a warrior)".

Now to the Goetia fight.
By the time of the Throne Solomon fight, he had already used 6 bolts and was down to his last one.
Mash's shield protected Fujimaru and Chaldea. (Goetia's Noble Phantasm was, you know, aiming at the actual Chaldea base behind them)
The doctor comes to close the match.
It's a situation where Fujimaru has to look for a way to beat Goetia with the last summon, but thanks to his fond memories of Mash and Romani in the Singularities, the Master faces "the most intense moment of his life".
No matter how ordinary and commonplace he is, as a person who passed Singularities 1 through 7, his boiling determination reflects his gratitude to everyone he met along the way and his pride of having survived that far.
The Master, as the one human standing there, recites the "What is Human Order Security?" speech Goetia got when he joined Chaldea's personnel... The first piece of flavor text the Masters got in FGO.
At the same time, instead of summoning from the bolt, he destroyed his own safety breaker and made the most daring move he could:

A new summoning spell consuming his entire being to safeguard Human Order.

In response to this sacrifice, all Heroic Spirits erased by Nega Summon appear again as a meteor shower covering the entire sky.
Goetia answered to Fujimaru's "It's you and me now, Goetia" with "Then come, Chaldea".
He said "come, Chaldea" instead of "Fujimaru" because he accepted Fujimaru's will.
Fujimaru's will here being "I'm not defeating you. These Heroic Spirits were called by the merits and feelings of the Chaldea personnel that was already safeguarding Human Order long before I was born".

That's was I told Nobunaga during the recording, at least.
I told him that speech was a line Fujimaru always repeated to himself in his room during his daily training, with how unexperienced he considers himself to be.

Adding to that, Fujimaru said "We of Chaldea..." in the movie, but in the original draft, he was going to say "They of Chaldea...".
During the first test recording, I requested Nobunaga to put a special feeling in this line. Quoting myself:
"Fujimaru really wants to say 'we' here. He wants to present himself as a proud member of Chaldea. But knowing how long the staff persevered before he got there, he can't include himself just one year after joining. 'It's not me defeating you. It's the fruit of the labors of everyone in Chaldea. I'm just representing them.'."
Respecting this request, he delivered a most wonderfully heartfelt "They of Chaldea..."

But seeing the whole scene confirmed that this intent is hard to convey in a movie, so we changed that into "We of Chaldea".
And Shimazaki's perfectly delivered "We" convey the same nuance with opposite words. He was not the only one trying his hardest... Everyone in Chaldea was... What a wonderfully passionate performance.
When the studio first sent me this line, I thought to myself "Oh... This Fujimaru can go beyond LB6." It was a heartwarming experience.

As you can tell, the Solomon movie has a lot of dialogue not present in the source material.
Many parts were cut for length, so I hope I can publish the raw script one day.

That's all I have to say about Time.

-

Sorry for the even more abrupt change of topic but I'll advertise Tsukihime now.
It's been one week since launch.
I believe a lot of people must have already beat Arcueid's route by now.
If you did, check this out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iTCUZxi9_c

A disc with all openings and endings in Tsukihime is coming out!
In September 1st! Real soon!
Every time I sent Kegani a request to compose an OP song, he also got the then-current version of the script to use in the songwriting.
These are the results.

Kegani's song and lyrics make me feel like he's now made of Tsukihime, and ReoNa's singing voice has the power and the emotion to reach inside the hollow moon. Combined, their songs are a delight...
Seimeisen in particular can only be described as Arcueid's route in song form.
The track has three verses, and the C hook is really got me thinking... "Kegani, you really love Arc, don't you...? Are you trying to join the 27 Ancestors...?"

The link has the trial version of all songs, so you'll only hear the A hook. If you're really interested, buy the disc and read the lyrics sheet while you listen.
With my creator privileges, I first listened to Seimeisen in early 2020, and listened to it on replay during the entire debug process for Arc's route.
As a result, I figured that a remix of Seimeisen was the only option for that scene in Arcueid's route and made urgent request for Kate to check Kegani's schedule. The extra request went well and that's how that moment got the way it was.

I'd appreciate if you players who still haven't finished Arcueid's route would get your ears used to Seimeisen before the big moment.

That's all I have to say about the Moon.^{[Translator 8]}

2021/10/2: MELTY (Kinoko)
One month after Tsukihime,
MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA is released.

Fighting games are not the easiest genre to approach, but the thrill of the action game, the satisfaction of high level play skills, and most of all, the joy of controlling your favorite character by your own hands are things only the FG genre can provide.
I hope this game will be played not only by the old time fighting game players, but also by the players who liked Tsukihime.

Now a message to you who wants to enjoy the flirting between Shiki and Arc, Shiki and Ciel, and Ciel and Arc.
The stories are what-if prequels, so they won't explain what's happening, but their in-battle voice clips are all lovey-dovey. Enjoy them.
If you're bad at the combat, don't forget it's fun to put two CPUs to fight each other while you snack.
The Hard CPU is very human-like and can put up a great fight!

But man, it's great to have internet...
Back in my days, you need to bring all your friends together to make a tournament, but now you can fight other people any time you want.
Yes. I you have the courage to play online, that is.
That's asking for a lot though...
I chickened out of online matches for a whole day...
I hurts to see my cutest Arc getting wrecked by a Melty veteran (play character: Ciel). I couldn't handle though! I felt myself inverting into an oni (Akiha)...

And when I finally pulled myself together and started a match, who would have thought?
I had a great time... I can't believe how fun it is to fight strangers!
Growing old makes you want to enjoy media more passively, but it's not bad to taste the tension every now and then...
I felt like I was 14 again... Wait, that's how I feel all the time... Anyways...

-

Let's get to the point. This section will contain spoilers for both Tsukihime and MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA.
People who haven't finished the games yet, you have been warned.

MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA shines a greater spotlight on one character.
Arima Miyako, a girl who was only namedropped in Tsukihime.
Melty is her first appearance, so I also made a Boss Rush mode for her.
However,
The Boss Rush actually had a planned story.
See the summary below.
It was shelved for multiple reasons, but why not dumping it here now?

• MeltyR Boss Rush Mode
  

//28 Japanese characters per textbox.
//A tale in Noel's dream world.
//Noel isekai. Noel wakes up in a world where she got to know some boy with sharp eyes in a student uniform, stuff happened, and for whatever reason they became a vampire-hunting duo. Basically Tsukihime if she was the heroine. In the simplest terms possible, this is the Noel route.
//Noel accepts the fact she isekai-reincarnated without thinking twice.
//She encourages her partner, the guy in student uniform, while they beat big name vampires they weren't supposed to be able to defeat, beat the Toono family head who is (speculated to be) Roa's incarnation, beat the actual Roa when he shows up, and in the end, beat the random Red Arc that hadn't showed up in the story until that point. Happy end.
//... Except not really. Partway through the story, Noel starts noticing something was missing.
// In the end, Noel notices Ciel's absence, rejects this world, and returns to the original world where she's just a side character... that's the gist of it

• OP
  

1. Black screen
   

//He's represent by Shiki's sprites and talks like Shiki, but he's somewhat cold. Doesn't wear glasses.
//His name will always be displayed as "Guy in student uniform".
@ ???:
... up!
Wake up, Ms. Noel!
If you don't wake up right now, you'll die!

@ Noel:
... Whawhat?

1. Opening CG_NoelWakesUpAtopTheRubble. Vlov appears as the bad guy in the back of the screen. Shiki is with his knife ready, shielding Noel from Vlov.
   

-> Quick exposition to get to the Vlov fight already.

• 1st fight - Vlov
  

An alternative ending to Noel's Arcade Mode.
The guy in student uniform intervened when Vlov was about to beat her.
But the student can't fight for multiple reasons. (He actually just broke up with Arc before coming here. He can't fight because Arc injured him too much there.)

She defeats Vlov with some help from the understanding young boy and rides the hype of being on her heroine route.

• 2nd fight - Nega-Noel
  

However, Noel's self-demotivation was too deep-rooted, causing her to develop an evil alter-ego who tries to prevent her from putting any real effort to anything... Nega-Noel. Why?
Nega-Noel is a decently capable Noel who can use infinite Black Keys. Noel cries that she has no chances of winning, but the boy supports her saying "With projectiles, you just need one well-timed hit. Besides isn't it cooler to see an expert winning with limited resources?", so Noel beats Nega-Noel.

• 3rd fight - Kohaku
  

Noel infiltrates the Toono residence as a housekeeper. But she fails to deceive the real housekeeper.
She attacks with a Kohaku-ryuu battou while Noel is distracted microwaving her lunch.
Meanwhile, the student who was supposed to be her safety line is chatting with the other maid in the library.

• 4th fight - Akiha
  

"Perhaps your research wasn't thorough enough?",
argued the lady speculated to be Roa's incarnation, in the coldest tone she could muster.
"(Oh. It's not her. This girl is not a vampire. She's something worse.)"
Noel's natural danger sense told her to get away from the mansion fast.
That's when the boy in the uniform appeared.
"Huh, you're leaving already? Then I'm going with you. You don't have the key, do you, Ms. Noel?"
"Is that all you want written in your testament?"
The lady completely dropped her intellectual act and her attack was heated as Hell. Elegantly.

• 5th fight - Roa
  

After some troubles, Noel manages to escape the Toono mansion and comes face to face with a suspicious individual.
"Excuse me. You forgot to button up your shirt."
The suspicious man was insulted by the student's casual comment.
Here's starts the battle with the suspicious moving at lightning speeds.

• 6th fight - ??
  

//Noel discovers the suspicious man was Roa and earns her happy ending. But...

@Noel:
It's all over now?
What? Really?
I feel like something is wrong, something is missing...
Since this is my story, the villain of the last chapter should be...
//This is where she finally remembers Ciel.

@Noel:
I haven't seen her anywhere!
Even if I'm the main character of this word,
we can't have my story without her!
None of this had any point!

@Student:
So, what are you trying to say here?

@Noel:
That this is all fake!
Even if my life here is happier than in the real world,
and I got a great boyfriend in you!

Something is wrong!
This is not my world!
I didn't even put any work into earning my heroine spot, to begin with!

Oh, no, no, I do want to be a heroine!
But that's a different matter!!

@Student:
You're not making much sense.
I can't see what you're getting at.

@Noel:
It's a matter of feeling,
no logic or interest involved!
We're breaking up!!

@Student:
Then I guess we must fight.

-> Battle against the student (if possible, give him different voice clips)

-> When she wins, do the classic "they say goodbye as the world fades to white" trope

@Student:
Bye. Stay well.
I know this is not your not your thing, but work as hard as you feel like you can.
//Down to the last moment, Nanaya is always a cold but very caring younger boyfriend.

//Noel is a bit sad but walks toward the light of awakening.
//In the light, the students fades in the distance. And in the end,

@Noel:
Oh, that's right. Why wasn't this the first thing I said?
HEY! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
TELL ME YOUR NAME BEFORE THIS IS OVER!

//The students gives a discontent response as he walks away. "Saying that would ruin the mood." The screen turns white after he answers.

• Epilogue
  

Ending epilogue.
And that was it.
I really wanted to do this one but couldn't because introducing Miyako was a priority.

Noel has many illuminating character moments in Tsukihime's story, but the most major and poorly conveyed point was the conversation in the underground lair in Ciel's route.

While feigning a half-crazed state, Noel questions Shiki if he was really going to go that far for a girl he didn't even know.
The reason why Shiki's answer put Noel at a momentary loss for words was because this forced her to see difference between him and the boy who was with her at that time.

The 14-year old girl wanted the boy she liked to have given her the same answer.
But since this could never happen, she embraced these ideal words with calm affection and gloomy jealousy.


This is a story that could have happened.^{[Translator 9]}

2021/12/01: Untitled (Kinoko)
This update marks... the start of... something...!

Hm, is it Christmas? The time for it is right!
Ok, that's enough for a boldfaced lie intro.
The Gudaguda Sakamoto Is In Trouble event concluded.
How many Detective Missions did you complete. 80 here.

Today's update is not a status report, just a think I have to talk about as the lore advisor.
It's a really minor thing, but it matters for balancing with other stories.
I'd appreciate if you don't sweat the details.

Keikenchi already explained about the Gudaguda Series in Koha-Ace, but it's been a long time, so it bears repeating here.
The Gudaguda Series has always be a spin-off to Fate/... Actually, more like a parallel series.
Part of its lore is different from Fate/'s world.
The biggest differences being about:
The lore and characterization of Nobunaga and adjacent characters (Tenkai included), Himiko, Counter Guardians, Sakamoto Ryouma, and Oryou.
When he consulted me about Oryou's lore and characterization, I worded my permission as:
"That doesn't mesh with Fate/'s worldbuilding, but their relationship is beautiful, so you got my OK. Do your worst!"
So note that even if Oryou was revealed to be you-know-who, the you-know-who is Fate/'s world is a different character.
The ancient Japanese mythology lore in the Gudaguda Series, much like Servant Universe content, is not exactly like how it goes in the main course of Type-Moon fantasy. ^{[Translator 10]}

2021/12/6: Untitled (Kinoko)
With November being just way too much of a shitty weakling, now December’s hitting hella hard.

Hello. Born-in-November Kinoko here.
I would like to belatedly express my thanks for all the birthday messages.
Each day I’ve been taking to the presents I received as an after-work reward.
Seems like this year there was a lot of tea. Christmas Noel.
This is... a premonition that Noel might have a chance…! Lightbulb moment! (However, this heat activation was baited and then countered by a shield)


　　◆

This is personal business but this month I was honored with the duty of writing for the promotional wrapper of a certain manga. The manga being Jump Comic’s “Undead Unluck”.

For people who these kinds of elements seem appealing:

・Hard-working girls (Protag)
・Battles and art direction with a sense of oddness
・Unraveling the mystery of a world that at first glance seems quite ordinary
・Love Hollywood movies
・And above all, love shounen manga!

Please check it out if you have the time.
Right now it goes up to volume 9 but seeing as each volume has an incredible amount of content, I recommend reading it leisurely, 1 volume a day during the winter break.



And this really isn't something I of all ought to be saying but...
That which is required when you’re writing something on the scale of the Earth is to ask: “What exactly does the big bad of the setting want to do with the Earth?”
You can really intimately feel this when it comes to the underlying parts that support this story.^{[Translator 11]}