Bamboo Broom Diary (Lore)

Note: These lore-important diary entries are archived from the respective Beast's Lair thread. More information in thread OP.

2022/12/25: The Time Has Come! (Kinoko)

It’s gone by all too fast, but this year is hitting its climax.
So how is everyone spending their Christmas this year?
Personally, I spent Christmas Eve watching Sadako DX that I rented from Amazon Prime.
I’m sure it’ll stay an unforgettable Christmas Eve.

◆

Thanks for celebrating Arcueid’s birthday!
It makes me very happy to be able to look at so many splendid Arcueids.
“What other vampire would look this good in Santa cosplay?” is what her happy-looking appearance practically screamed to me. Perfect way to heal my painfully writhing heart after having watched a 〇〇 movie.

TsukiR is currently on sale.
If there are any of you who feel like that’s gotten you a bit more interested, please take the opportunity to give it a play and I’d be very happy.

The Tsukihime fighting game MELTY BLOOD TYPE LUMINA has received its fourth free DLC.
Each character’s personal story mode serves as a story set before TsukiR, while the Boss Rush modes are like an after-story for those (me, that is) who demand to see the characters happy after TsukiR…
I’m sure there are many of you out there who think you don’t really get fighting games, and as such, we’ve now implemented a powerful out-of-game tutorial.

Also known as ‘Learn Melty with Manga’.
“The Teach-Me-Melty Dojo! - Miyako’s First Fighting Game -
Details can be found here: https://web-ace.jp/tmca/contents/2000048/

Alright. Now we’ll enter a bit of spoiler territory for MBTL.
The main purpose of MELTY BLOOD TYPE LUMINA was introducing the characters, but in the background there were also these happy post-TsukiR after-stories being played out, as previously mentioned.

Blissful ordinary existence that you hardly get to see in the main story.
Or absurd comedy you’d never be able to pull off there.
The one who made this possible is the mascot character Neco-Arc.
Just what is this “Neco 9-Parter” mentioned by her in Melty?
It’s not particularly important, but I might as well explain it since we have the chance.

1. Neco-Arc/Illuminati (Miyako Story > Boss Rush 1)
2. Neco-Arc/Coming Home (Mash Story 1)
3. Neco-Arc/Cat Wars (Neco-Arc 1 & Mash 2)
4. Neco-Arc/Invade (Dantes & Ushiwakamaru Stories + Boss Rush 3)
5. Neco-Arc/Multiverse (Boss Rush 4)

0. Neco-Spinoff/Christmas Carol (Boss Rush 2)

If you look at things with this order in mind, I think it’s easy to understand what’s happening.
Though, well, Neco-Arc’s appeal is being able to enjoy it ‘no thought, head empty’, so you don’t really have to care about the timeline!
The three remaining parts will arrive when you’ve probably forgotten about all this, so when that time comes, I look forward to seeing you again.

◆

Lastly, I think I have to touch upon this a bit, right?

FGO Part 2 Chapter 7: Nahui Mictlan, The Journey of the Golden Jungle…

Finally, finally, it’s here! It launches on the evening of today (25th of December)!
We announced that there’s gonna be a first and a second part as well.
This time there really are just two parts. There’s not another part hidden like with LB6, so please, you may rest easy on your adventure across this tumultuous place.

2022/8/7: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Congratulations on the victory Jing (Hisui)!

Even I, who only watched from the reset to the final game, was glued to my monitor, almost unable to breathe from excitement.
Masoma (Vlov), the other finalist was also suuuper-duuuper skilled and strong. Nobody watching could predict who was gonna win in this close battle.
I give my unrestrained applause to this display of gaming mastery, player skill and human ingenuity!

And just as I sit here thinking that hopefully this’ll happen again next year…
You know there’s also the domestic MBTL Official Tournament happening this year? Said the smirking viewer-only participant.

◆

Apologies, but I might as well supplement some stuff to the last blog I put up.
I wrote that there are flags for Ciel, etc, in the Melty column, but…
This is not to mean that they’re just involved with another,
But rather means that they’re (generally) in the state of they were in Tsukihime from Day 3 onward.

Arc Route’s done-and-dusted, but through the mysterious power of Melty, these dreamlike days of ordinary life (shenanigans) continue. However, through some mistake, a new incident commences.

Some with Ciel, some with Akiha
/some with an alchemist
I think you can expect to team up with these two and fight some new boss, in all likelihood.

Supposing that perhaps sometime in the future there’ll be a scene in Melty where Shiki, Arcueid, Akiha, Ciel are all gathered at the Tohno mansion, then it’ll probably be as tense as on the 7th Day of the actual Tsukihime.
As said by a cat watching from the windows outside: “Is this hell?”

◆

In MBTL’s story mode each character has their own personal story, but these aren’t all happening in the same continuity.
Rather, they were all built under the premise of occurring in continuities independent from one another.
For example, even though Arcueid and Ciel’s stories start out pretty much in the same situation, their final conclusion differs depending on which of them was that continuity’s main character.
You know, the whole multiverse thing.

In addition, about who’s the character of boss rush mode:
Boss rush mode 1 is a continuity where Miyako is the main character, while boss rush mode 2 is a continuity where Noel is the main character.

That’s all for my supplementary information.
The update which launches in August and comes with updated animations for story mode makes everything really pleasing to the eye, so I hope you’ll take this opportunity to play the game.

2022/8/6: Fes. (Kinoko)

FGO Fes ended without a hitch.
This is overdue, but I want to extend my gratitude to the FGO players who supported us, the staff who ran themselves ragged making the event happen, the cast who brought such excitement to the stage, and everyone who came to visit the venue. Thank you so much.

◇

• Summer Comiket - Bamboo Broom

We underestimated demand, and that caused a lot of anxiety for people. I apologize for that.
I want to get the books into the hands of as many people who want them as we can.

About what's inside, I'll talk about the Chapter 6 plot book that I was in charge of.
This is merely a compilation of documents created when we were making the game. Please enjoy this sample of these blueprints we drew up prior to writing the game scenario.
As for myself, the plot is always about this big, so it's not as if Chapter 6 was particularly special. In fact, this plot draft is actually shorter than the scenario that made it into the game.
In FGO, character backgrounds contain their personal details and stories, so the plot draft omits individual Servants' personal affairs and endings.
If we were to include those, the page count would become truly unmanageable, so those will go into the material book(s) to be released later, instead.

Next, about TYPE-MOON Manuscript...
It contains some text, but these are also documents that were created before they were turned into a game.
Once the game, or rather the title, is made, the contents are adapted from the background setting into what actually occurred in the story.
For El-Melloi II in particular, his materials were made before "The Case Files of El-Melloi II" even began, then they were handed over to Sanda Makoto and woven into the numerous mysteries at his discretion.
Perhaps the most perceptive readers will be able to tell what exactly was adjusted and how, when El-Melloi II was turned into a protagonist.

◇

• Melty Blood

Burning summer! DLC wave 3!

"If Arc's going to guest star in FGO, then Mash can be a guest in MB, too."

I know, the world runs on equivalent exchange.
And that's how Mash's shocking debut in MB came to be!
Neco-Arc's inclusion should make this a very familiar addition.
A cat needs a pure and innocent partner who will trust her 100% unconditionally, after all... sniff

On top of that, there are many additional elements this time.

• Boss Rush Mode 2

That's right. It would be a waste not to use them, so we added a Noel heroine route.
Who's the apple of her eye? You'll have to find out using your own eyes!

• Story Mode animation upgrades

We changed some of the specs for the existing single-player story mode and remade them to be more MB-like and easier to understand.
Thank you, French Bread...!
A lot of work went into Boss Rush Mode 2 in particular.
Maybe they play favorites with Noel because they're French (Bread)?
Keep it up.

• New scenarios for Arc and Ciel

To prevent Tsukihime spoilers in the MBTL story mode, it was designed as a prequel to the main story of Tsukihime, or a what-if prequel.
That's why Arc and Ciel had references to old MB. But now that it's been a full year, we decided those don't really count as spoilers anymore, so we added mini-scenarios that are set after the end of Tsukihime.
Arc stays in the city, and she's together with Shiki.
But there are flags for Ciel, too. And Akiha. And even HisuKoha. The only fate that awaits that four-eyes is death.
Basically, it's a world where Arc and Shiki feel like a couple, but the other heroines still have a chance. Yeah, he really needs to die.
It's an everyday slice of life in this situation.
I mean, yeah, flirt with Arc and Ciel. We made it with that in mind.

That's all for MB, but it's also been nominated for the global fighting game tournament EVO, and the match results will be out tomorrow (Sunday 6AM Japan time).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GaJRjsdQhI

By all means, watch the live stream if you can!
You'll get to enjoy a level of super-play between the final eight (miraculously, Japan and America are mostly evenly matched) that makes you wonder "are we even playing the same game?".

◇

• Avalon le Fae Dramalogue

...And last, I'll talk about this.
This will just be my personal impressions rather than any report on the production, so I'm really sorry if it offends you...
But I'd like to leave this here, for the record.

Once again, it was an utterly pregnant two and half hours.
On the day of, I was briefly stunned by the sheer scale of the stage, and shocked to my core hearing the cast's emotional performances live on stage.
The script had a many long-running lines, rhymes, and otherwise difficult to read parts. It was incredible how they all managed to pull off a 2.5 hour long performance without a single mistake.
They only had a few chances to rehearse... and in a regular theatre it really is all or nothing.
Huh? Melusine? The strongest species will really just leave in the middle of a battle if she feels like it, huh? In fact, in that moment Kouno-san was Melusine in the flesh. The recording might be edited later, but it really was the ultimate treat for those who got to watch it in person.

Also, during rehearsal I explained the reasoning and emotion behind the more difficult lines, but Kawasumi-san and Ishikawa-san had an impressive understanding of their characters already.
Artoria Caster's energetic yet self-abasing personality. Her pessimistic yet unmatched competitive spirit. ...The way she always lifts her head high, no matter what she faces. Kawasumi-san performed all of those aspects of the character flawlessly.
Tonelico's nobility, even though nobody trusted her. The way she couldn't abandon her emotions in spite of her rationality. ...Her intense glare at the future, after she lost everything. It was a side of the Savior that wasn't conveyed in the text, and Ishikawa-san performed it perfectly.

Kawasumi-san and Ishikawa-san had the lion's share of the lines in this dramalogue,
but Waki Azumi's (Baobhan Sith) wails of despair,
Kouno Marika's (Melusine) laments of love,
Sugiyama Noriaki's (Muramasa) last smile to Artoria,
Ishiya Haruki's (Beryl) callous cheer...
It was all heartwrenchingly poignant acting, to the very end.

It was all the very image of the Faerieland that I envisioned.
I'll never forget the tension in the air for those two and a half hours.
Thank you so very much.

...To be completely honest, when we were discussing plans for the dramalogue, my personal opinion was "I appreciate the thought, but I'd prefer not to do it..."
I had such a strong mental image of Artoria Caster during the Collapse Arc, I was sure I'd have a hard time recovering if the dramalogue deviated from my idea of what I wrote.
But, those worries were completely unfounded.
From the monologue where the Holy Sword was forged to the monologue where the nameless king was crowned...
She showed me something perfect, that surpassed what I'd imagined.
Everything about Artoria Caster was imbued into lines that I'd previously cut and used to fill out a last few lines of the script.
That's what I felt, when I witnessed this live reading that resonated deeply in my breast.

I saw something beautiful.
I don't think I could ask for anything greater than that.

2022/2/23: Why prawns?! (Kinoko)

Sorry for the abruptness, but Kinoko will end in about 20 hours. I believe he already disappeared from this dimension and became a Tarnished wandering The Lands Between.
He'll be a vagabond who can't answer e-mails on the weekends. He counts on your forgiveness and understanding.

Thanks for taking part in our Valentine's Day event.
This year I worked on

• Morgan
• Baobhan Sith
• Melusine
• Barghest
• Habetrot
• Koyanskaya of Light
• Koyanskaya of Darkness
• Oberon

I hope you enjoyed them.
I'm really satisfied with how the Valentine mini-episodes turned out, especially with them being fully voiced, but what really makes them special is the Chocolate CE at the end. Everything in each Servant's Chocolate CE, from the design to the coloring, is created by the person in charge of the CE.
Each card carries an artist's passion, so take your time to appreciate all of them.
Thanks to all Craft Essence creators for one more year of wonderful work!

◆

Now for a piece of advertisement.
Comic Dengeki Daiou started running a Fate/stay night -UBW- manga.
The author is Moriyama Daisuke (Osakabehime's dad), who made our Saber Wars II manga before.
"Why make a Rin route manga now?"
"Don't you have anything more relevant to the year of 2022?"

Great questions. I asked the same thing.
But Moriyama made it crystal clear that he wanted to give shape to this classic precisely because it was forgotten.
See the size of his zeal and resolve for yourself on the pages of the comic.

UBW was lucky beyond what I deserve. Though our dear Type-Moon is just blessed with many wonderful manga adaptations all around.

That aside, talking about Dengeki Daiou reminds me of how great Knots-sensei's Suki Suki Daichuki Tsuyo Tsuyo Sword (I love love wuv my super powerful Sword) is right now...
It got me with its curious title... and it's still getting me with how it stays completely true to that title... Just give the manga a chance.
Check the first chapter before reading anything else about it if you can help it! It's really good!

2022/1/5: Happy New Year. (Kinoko)

Happy New Year! I look forward to 2022 as well.
And though this is something that’s already from last year...
There was an important announcement in terms of TYPE-MOON.

It is a magician’s latest tale from an already olden age.

“Mahoutsukai no Yoru” Port confirmed!!!
Also, Theatrical Anime Adaptation confirmed!!!
This project has been in the works for quite some time and now it’s finally been announced.
Both the game and the anime won’t be out for quite some time so I hope you’ll be able to wait for them patiently.

◆

As I was casually watching the Ekiden at New Years,
My imagination ran wild... Morgan would probably quite like this kind of event…
And so a new Event idea began racing through my brain.

Capital of Sin, Camelot.
In the early morning, Barghest arrives having received summons to do as such.
The throne is enclosed by a veil and Morgan cannot be seen.
“You called for me, Your Highness.” Barghest says, and bows.
Baobhan Sith is drunk on New Year’s sake and thus knocked out.
Melusine is not a morning person and so did not come.

Morgan: “A foot-race is quite acceptable as part of a festival.
Not a bad idea considering it is from Pan-Human History.”
Barghest: “Then, at next year’s Morgan-Festival we’ll use Camelot for a marathon?”
Morgan: “Nay. I have discovered an even more thrilling kind of competition.
How about... a car race?
A battle of speed between two mechanical vehicles is quite exhilarating
So exhilarating that I have already put in the order to Spriggan and had it completed.”
The veil opens in both directions.
In front of the throne is Morgan, riding a cute, anthropomorphized convertible.

Morgan: “This is the first automobile of the Fairy Kingdom—the Molcar (smug)”
Barghest: ‘Does Her Highness not intend to save the Fairy Kingdom—?!’

◆

Let’s talk a little bit about FGO.

The reason why Fou was staring at the ceiling during this latest epilogue was because he had noticed that the President had already appeared above the Wandering Sea.
He wasn’t just staring at the ceiling. I’m sure you understand.

Dark Koyan’s My Room voiceline towards Taigong Wang.
The reason why Dark Koyan is so butthurt at Taigong Wang is because her greatest match, the strongest Beast-hunter (even Koyan acknowledges him as such) had arrived to kill her after mistaking her for the wrong woman.
Taigong Wang: “Let’s settle the score once and for all, my destined woman (soul mate)!” →
Taigong Wang: “Oh. Sorry, got the wrong person. Hehe. But hey, might as well do a little God-Sealing☆”

Having something like this happen to her, there’s no way the prideful Koyan wouldn’t be mad.
So her My Room voice-line is not one of an angry Daji, but one of an angry Honosumeragi-no-Himenokami.

◆

Alright,
Finally let’s talk about Melty, a.k.a. “Melty Blood: Type Lumina”.

At last, some DLC characters are being added.
In this year’s early second week, on the 13th, Dead Apostle Noel and Aozaki Aoko are being addeddddd!!!

And oh my, both of them... for free!

I’ll say it again, free DLC! Thank you French Breadddd!!

Dead Apostle Noel’s cute and evil action-style.
Aozaki Aoko’s usual battle-style.
The fight ascends to the next stage!
Melty Lumina’s second act starts here.
And you there... just you wait leisurely until further DLC characters are introduced.

Of course, the single-player story-mode is still a thing.
Lumina’s already existing characters (aside from Warcueid) were positioned as having stories that were prior to Tsukihime R so they couldn’t have any spoilery conversations... however...
The DLC characters have had their stories written with the assumption that you’ve played Tsukihime R.

Think of it as… getting your currently lacking Tsukihime-nutrient supplements.
Outside of the character stories, I feel like I wrote a lot (accounting for all of it, about enough to just not quite fill one light-novel’s worth) for the extra story.

From here on out we’ve scheduled to keep adding stuff on little by little, so look forward to that as well!

TL Notes

Ekiden: Full-title: Hakone Ekiden. A marathon that's shown on Japanese national TV around the start of the year.
Molcar: A reference to the anime "PuiPui Molcar", a show about cars that are also marmots. Should be noted that in Japanese モル is both the start of Morgan's name (モルガン) and the start of the word marmot (モルモット), hence the connection.

2021/12/1: Untitled (Kinoko)

TL Note

The mistake on Ryouma Is In Trouble's title is Nasu's not mine. 133 Detective Missions here.

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 background 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.

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. If 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...
It 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 Tohno 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

# Black screen

//He's represented 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?

#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 Tohno 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 Tohno 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 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.

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 what 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.

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 Simosi-kun to work on Bogard!
Oh yeah, I can ask Simosi-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, Simosi! 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.

2021/8/6 Off Camera. (Kinoko)

Note

Contains LB6 Spoilers - Redra Bit's End

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.

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 Norwich 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?

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-libbing! Woohoo!

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 already 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 be casually playing 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.

For this chapter, 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, for this chapter 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 Fairy Country’s history.
This will keep updating little by little in-game each time you acquire new information so you'd do well to check it out after 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.

Oberon. 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 mean, just please get running to the bookstore right now.
Whichever one of the two is fine. Though if possible I’d like you to start reading from “Honey and Clover”.
Umino Chika's manga contain all the trials and tribulations of (a nerd’s) life. They are simply 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... practically a master at thoughtfulness...
Also... his eyes... are kinda beautiful... (heart racing) not that I can see them…
He really loves games... and can talk about Chrono Trigger all legit... damn dude…”

Before I'd noticed, almost 2 hours of intense conversation had passed. Though we split up as it was around time for the last trains of the day, we did manage to talk about “Honey and Clover” at this point.
For me, “Honey and Clover” is a very important work.
I can’t simply categorize it as an interesting work.
It's one of the mental pillars of support that lets me work hard when I’m struggling with my creativity.
(I get a little choked up at the episodes where Hagu is making things on all 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.
And with that, before I knew what was happening, I'd 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 the 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 see how it continues, I want Shizuku to become happier than ever before! (snip) Perhaps one day we could work together on something... even if it gets 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... Oberon! I’m gonna ask her for Oberon.
I’m gonna have Umino Chika draw me a fairy-tale character.
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 all but 3 seconds. I apologize.

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

“Someone with a different presence from the usual Servant.
A guide to this 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 try and 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.

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, the exact way I wanted to 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!

2021/2/10: Valentine (Kinoko)

Valentine's Day, 2021

This is the first time I've been able to get a good look at it.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's worth it.
I'm not sure what to make of it.
I'm sure you'll agree with me.
I'm sure you'll agree with me.
But this time, I'd like to give you a little more information before the event starts.

This time, the event was announced in advance at the Winter Caravan.
(Only this time, we wanted to be informed 4 days before the event, not 1 day before.
However, we can't disclose all the information.
Instead of showing the servants, we asked them to hide the event title.
This was done in order to hide the name of Karen's "Spiritual First", and it was really for no other reason.
It's a hollow event divided into day and night parts.
I'll tell you more about this dreamy story sometime ......

The scale of the event will be the same as the annual Valentine's Day event.
For the main event, I will be supervising the dialogue and
I had a lot of fun writing the mini-scenarios for the servants I was in charge of.
There's also one thing I'd like to add about Karen in her My Room.

"In Karen's My Room voice.

"Karen's My Room voice doesn't have a line for a character with whom she has a deep relationship.

You'll probably notice this immediately, but of course it's a specification.
Karen is very energetic this time, she talks to many people she knows, but
"I'm not going to touch that character.

The shattered piece of glass is not in Chaldea.
It is a confession that can only be made in the four days of promise.
So, the 2021 Valentine's Day event is almost here.
I have a sweet feeling about this year too.

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.

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, a 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 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

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...

2020/4/16: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

This translated entry is only an excerpt of the full blog post.

Well then. Having shilled some of the things I like, I now 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 are great deal of players who have beaten it already, so I think I'll talk a little bit about it, spoilers included.

※Past here are spoilers. 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 respective Lostbelt.
I had them each freely consider and create a ‘what-if world’ with the theme of ‘dead-end human history different from ours’ in mind.
Still, even within these, Olympus has connections with EXTRA:

These words were the only ones I had decided on:
“Within TYPE-MOON’s mythos, the Gods of Olympus originate as a migratory fleet from outer space (they're machines only) who built Atlantis.”

So that's the foundation we worked on. I had each Machine-God have their background thought up by their respective writer.
That we'd end up with this lore of each of god's Authority being their role/function needed from interstellar flight was something we came up with on the fly, as perhaps you might have expected. I think it lent the presence of an unusual enemy, something never before seen in Fate.

Having received these backgrounds, I-IV did the concept design for the Machine-Gods, and then DW did the actual designs and animations.

Machine-God Ares’ design was done by Huke on account of his connection to Altera, with it being the Divine Case 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.
I specifically requested that this little War-God should be able to hit Zeus up and down, and remove his dumb annoying defense buffs, just so 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 Boarder, among other.
These two weren't able to sortie onto the battle screen, still, wonderful designs. Thanks as always!

Well, let's talk about the Greece Arc then.
As usual, the role of the chapter writer spanned from the landing, up to the defeat of the Lostbelt King, as usual.
So then my role was to take that and do a general rewrite... add the intro and ending... and add any other details that were needed for the overarching storyline.
That's all well and good, but I was also involved as a writer as well!
This is the turning point of Part 2... where, for now, the Crypter storyline comes to an end. As such, it is the duty of the script supervisor to bring it to its final conclusion.

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 freed from their roles as the current enemy)

What in Part 1 was Chapter 4, around the point when Solomon appears.
Chaldea’s journey still has a ways to go, so you could think of it as simply their direction having changed a bit.

The Alien God who has finally revealed itself (?).
The mischievous Disciples who have started doing whatever they like.
The Crypters who still remain. The two Lostbelts which still remain.
The records of Bluebook.
What exactly lies past the Bleached 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 picked out.

• Caenis

It’s been two years since their appearance in Part 2’s Opening Animation. Our Mr. Ms. Caenis has finally been added to the game!
Caenis was actually delivered to us in 2015... So yeah it hasn't just been since the start of Part 2, this illustration has in fact been here since Part 1. In terms of 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 keep waiting for so long, smile on your face, but you also happily undertook some additional sprite in the eleventh hour. My greatest thanks to you...!

I left Caenis' Servant design to the other writers but...
They weren't like other Servants in the sense that I took charge of them within each individual story.
Their relationship with Kirschtaria spans across several chapters, so I suppose its only right that as general supervisor, I would take her of her.
As for this crude and violent Caenis, if you go back and reread now that you know how they end up I think you can guess at their true feelings.
Of special importance is the time they lost in Atlantis. They couldn't afford to die because of... who, exactly?
Caenis’ screams were not a plea for their life, rather, she was calling out to save him.

Also, I had to have some exclusive lines for their final battle, so I tested the waters and asked for an extra recording session and... as it turns out, their voice actress was available, giving me the go-ahead! In that sense, this is really blessed Servant. You sure you're really a 4*?

• Kirschtaria

Everyone's favorite apple-providing brother.
In the prologue... why did he introduce himself when the earth was Bleached with “I am Kirschtaria Wodime”?
I mean, at that point there’d usually 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 since Chaldea, his greatest enemy, still remained.
Yet, Kirschtaria did not do so.
That was a declaration of intent concerning the Compiling 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 well... like that, is because:
Beyond there, he was always alone, and
There were no memories sufficient in supporting his body in his 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 actual 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 more presence than a background character. Generally speaking creepy and menial. Yet, that final expression...
He was 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. Finally we have arrived.
The U stands for Ultra.

“If, but only 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.
(Lev inquired about this)

Because of this, 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, meaning that she looks like that because of her own volition.
“Seems I got some more work to do” - as per Muramasa.

• How the protagonist feels

During the latter half, at 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 heart; not one of restoring, but one of fighting.
After the battle with Chaos, the words bestowed by Caenis as their alliance comes to end causes this spark to erupt into an actual flame; not one of fighting for Human Order, but one of defeating Kirschtaria as a Master.
The opponent they thought they could never beat, recognizes them more so than anyone else, allowing them to give it their all.
The protagonist, who had previously been stuck thinking they had to restore Human Order, is put at ease, returned to the mindset of defeating their opponent straight up, with all they got, that they were in during the finale of Part 1

They believed in themselves, for the sake of someone who believed in them more than they themselves 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!”.
I smiled in satisfaction when I heard there were players who managed to actually pull it off. That said, I also think doing it in just 3 turns is a bit too much, Medb!

So... at the time, there was this one voice-line that would play if you beat him. I decided to scrap it as it would give away Kirschtaria’s true nature if we used it in Atlantis.
It's a meager gift, but for those who've cleared Olympus, please accept.
(I've already gotten permission from DW)

Audio Link

Yes. Humans cannot choose the right answer.
What's actually important is what you chose to do thereafter.

2019/8/15: Vegas! (Kinoko)

With the warm days stretching onwards, how are you all doing? It’s important to keep heatstroke-countermeasures in mind, like avoiding direct sunlight, or staying sufficiently hydrated.
That aside, these eggs and mirrors ain’t dropping...

“FGO” summer event, commencing!
We were once again privileged to happily write this summer event together.
This time around we plainly made each writer wholly responsible for the servants they’re in charge of and their respective casinos.

On the other hand, If you’re asking about Mr. Nasu, given my schedule this year has been quite harsh, the plan was for me to stop at just being responsible for general supervision but...
I couldn’t hold back... I took up responsibility of 1 casino’s worth...
I mean, it’s summer. Like, it’s the resplendent Etoile. Who woulda thought it’d appear in such a form? Of course I’d wanna write about it...

◆

And a bit belatedly, thank you all for coming to “FGO fes.”!
A heartfelt thanks,
to all you who arrived during this heat,
to the cast who took to the stage,
and to the staff who stayed until the last supporting the venue.
Just this one day is something I let myself enjoy as a humble guest, to get a break from work.

Each year as I look upon the venue I’m moved, thinking that this has to be the max for an IRL event, and this year’s ‘Fes.’ was no exception.
We owe the army of people cooperating and doing their best in creating such a gigantic venue, such as the likes of Aniplex’s Mr. K, and the whole event team, scurrying about for half a year for the sake of realizing this event.
All the engineers who spent a whole day behind the stage, tinkering with their equipment and choreographing the stage production.
All the staff who prepared the parts for the guides of each Theme Park, and sent everyone off with a smile even to the very end.
Chaldea Park managed to finish up in an awesome way thanks to these oodles of unsung heroes.

I hope we can be blessed by fortune to once again go through such dreamlike moments next year too.

◆

Speaking of “Fes.”, there was the surprise of episode 0 of Chapter 7’s anime, “Babylonia 0”.
By now I believe you can view it quite easily so if you have the time please give it a watch.

This time, there was a problem that was imperative in solving in terms of the production of the “Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia Anime”.
The problem of how to communicate the buildup from Chapter 1 to 6.
There was a proposal to do a digest of each chapter but then Chapter 7 itself would have its length reduced, and each animated Chapter would also be quite downsized.
That being the case, we’d at least want people who don’t know about the game to at least learn about Chaldea, Mashu and Romani, as a prequel to before Ritsuka arrives... And so I had the honor of writing “Chaldea - Zero”.
The A-Part is Romani Archiman’s journey.
The B-Part is Mashu’s upbringing and her growth up until Chapter 6, as a milestone towards Chapter 7.

And with this, I could hand over the baton to the protagonist, Fujimaru Ritsuka... It turned out to be another manuscript packed with lines, but through the abilities of storyboarder Takao and director Akai it turned out just suuuuuper emotional… and interesting... reborn into a wonderful animated piece.
I think my feelings after seeing the completed episode 0 were the same as everyone else at the venue.
Kind of a gradually emerging warmth like, man... we sure went through a great journey coming all the way here.

Nonetheless, only episode 0 min-maxed into being emotional.
From episode 1, it will start as just purely “greedy entertainment”.
I think it was almost unilaterally conveyed from episode 0 just how much all of the anime staff love the main story of FGO and so from that, please look forward to the broadcast starting in October.

Of course, not just to Chapter 7, but also to “Divine Realm of the Round Table Camelot - Theatrical Edition” as well.
Chapter 6’s production is also proceeding smoothly, with the material I receive meant for supervision being wonderful, with a quality worthy of the movie medium.
This is coming out after Chapter 7, so I cannot provide any information about it but, it’d be great if you could look forward to it all the same.

◆

By the way, about Gawain’s Nightless Charisma.
Please think of it as… the result of him having the Gift given to him by the Lion King and what happened in the holy land inscribed into his Saint Graph.
He did not abandon his sins.

2019/5/16: Untitled. (Kinoko)

The second mystery-festival, “A Meihousou Most Foul”, has started! I hope you’ll enjoy it!

To prevent spoilers I can’t talk much about its contents but I can talk about its outer framework, in terms of the novel versions and the game versions.
“Murder at the Kogetsukan” and “Murder at the Meihousou” that are being published by Star Seas Company are mystery novels penned by writer Madoi Ban using the world of FGO as its motif.
These are not just the game version’s script put into a novel as is but rather stories that take the game version’s script and add in further gimmicks.

This current "mystery-festival" script was originally delivered to us in January.
The "A Meihousou Most Foul" in-game event was built up based on this,
while the "Meihousou Murder Incident" was written as a novel after the completion of the in-game script.
It’s not just a novelization of the in-game event, but something that hides surprises that makes you slap your knees and go “Oh!”, so I think even people who have played the game version in advance would find it enjoyable.

Also, the production method of the mystery-festival this time around is a bit different from last time’s “Kogetsukan”:

Original script: Madoi Ban
In-game text writing: The writing team

Like that. If you’re asking why we’re using this kind of method it’s because we want to further employ the differences between the novel version and the game version.
If I am to give a concrete example as to what part is different then...

• In the novel (original) version, the starting requirements were having arrived at Part 2 Chapter 3 (SIN).
  In order to make the requirements for playing a bit broader, us on the writing team decided to change it to Part 1.
  To go with this change, we had to swap out a certain character with a different one. The swapped in character’s role and text was given as Nasu’s responsibility.
• As there weren’t just scenes from within the play this time around, the other servants that appear were supervised and rewritten by their respective writers.

Something like that.
By changing the starting requirements, the character of the script changed but the atmosphere and logic of the original is still the same.
I hope you’ll wholeheartedly enjoy the 7 days of this thinking game.

“Uh, that’s good and all but isn’t there something out of place? Like the plot details?”
Ho-ho-ho. Enjoying such things is the real charm of mysteries, you whippersnapper.

2019/4/2: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

This translated entry is only an excerpt of the full blog post.

By the way I’d like to use this chance here to do a statement about “FGOQ”, the lost wolf that sprinted across the Day of Fools.
We split up the writing work so that each servant’s writer decided the drop-item and information blurb for their respective Servants.
It’s not a lot of text but we thought carefully about what were in the Servants’ hearts.

2019/3/15: Raging stoooooooorm... (Kinoko)

Note

This translated entry is only an excerpt of the full blog post.

Writer: “Being in charge of the script means that when I play the game myself the surprises are spoiled and that sucks, you know…”
Kinoko: “I understand”

And so, secretly to this writer, I added a little bonus.
Me myself, I wanted a grail, and so I asked of DW if it’d be fine giving one.
Doing both of these are what's tough about being upper management, right?

2019/2/20: Manga adaptation, you say...!? (Kinoko)

Right together with the CCC re-run, the manga adaptation by Mr. Nishide Kengorou is starting.

https://web-ace.jp/youngaceup/contents/1000118/

Go over here and look at it yourself! (from the GAMEST paperback magazine)

Together with the manga adaptations of part 1.5, this special proposal came in like one last missile.
Please check out Nishide's previous work, which depicts the growing pains of the 90s golden age of fighting games: "Umehara Fighting Gamers!"
Of course I like Daigo but man, I really loved Kurahashi's final monologue...

In any event, please check out CCCC's manga adaptation.
The 1.5 parts are all remnants of different varieties, with a strong 'extra story' character to them, yet CCC - though not veering from this pattern - is in itself a very unique work, I'll have you know...

2019/2/19: Untitled. (Kinoko)

This is right before the re-run, so maybe this is something I shouldn't be saying but...

I would appreciate it if when something is written as "love", you read it as "soul".

Basically, the life acquired by a certain AI is kind of like that.

2018/11/24: Untitled. (Kinoko)

My mind can't bear the fact that November is almost over, still, I felt a hint of wonder in the words 'the final week'. It would be best reading the story at your own leisure, without much hurry.

Hello, Kinoko here.

The intro of FGO chapter 3 has been released!
The start and final part of each chapter is my responsibility as I am in charge of the whole, still, this time it turned out longer than usual and so I saw it fit that it be released in advance.
Since It's an intro that establishes what has happened so far, and what will happen from hereon, it's all like "this is the start line of part 2!"
The amount of text turned out 2 times longer than usual so I hope your magnanimous hearts will forgive me the same as you'd yourself when you're worried about your weight but might as well eat some cake in the middle of night☆

And then, there's the hype around lady Sion... within the world of Fate where Heroic Spirits and Servants exist, Zepia did still turn into a bloodsucker, just not one of the 27 Ancestors, and so under that influence Sion has also turned into a bloodsucker (not a vampire/Dead Apostle), just without any the demerits.
(Her mind is stable, and she doesn't hate herself)
As Zepia never went insane he has stayed the director (of Atlasia) this whole time, with Sion as the most talented of his descendants being taken in as his daughter and raised by him.
Sion, who was overly cared for by her father, grew up to be positive, strong-willed and exactly as much of a nuisance to others as her father.
Just like in the world of Tsukihime there are no normies within the Atlas Institute but still, she is a talented woman who buried herself in research while positively thinking that 'well, one day I'll definitely make at least one friend!'.

■■■

Incidentally, perhaps there is a PS VR in your house?
Perhaps you bought it and now it sleeps on your shelf?
Perhaps you're thinking you wanna see a nightmare from the city of Yharnam, if time so permits?
For people such as you, I happen to have just the thing.

"Déraciné"

To tell you the truth, though it baits you with Yharnam as one of its slogans, this has absolutely no relation to the Yharnam of Bloodborne
But why is that series so interesting, and why do the games created by Mr. Miyazaki fascinate and refuse to let go of gamers? This here is a game where the simple answer to that question is contained.

Console games are a way of intervening in another world on your own initiative.
How do you collect the texts contained within it, and how do you build up the story? That kind of elements is a type of enjoyment not present within either movies or novels.
There's something highly enjoyable about the moment when there's a conclusive, yet natural payoff to this build up.

This wonderful game achieves not only that enjoyment of the revelation that, wow everything is connected, but also takes the current limitations of VR - where something is right in front of you but you can't touch it, or not being able to talk despite being right there, basically only being able to just shake your hands - and implements as something core to the story.

I'm not gonna talk about the contents of the game, as that'd be spoilers but either way, it was a beautiful story. If you have VR, then it's a game that's worth it.

So please play it, and set your sights upon the blue skies of the boarding school in which time has stopped.

2018/8/16: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Yay! It's a rainbow roll, it's BB-chan---!! Followed by Mordred came and oh yay my Mo-san reaches NP5, why....Hi, it's me Nasu.
Ok no, gotta delete off this cruel report from my memories, hi'yup!

◆

-----You know, Mashu, I...
I want to try open Comiket at Hawaii, even if it's just once...

And that comes the currently ongoing "FGO Summer Event 2018"!
With a week passed since the start of the event, pretty sure there are many players would have already cleared the main story.
Since the second half of servant pickups already appear, there won't be any spoilers to fear or risk even if it's just a little one.

Once I realized, this year's summer event scenario became by far the largest in volume compared to past events.
Well that is given, considering the summer events are composed of the writers prattling around writing them.
With Higashide-san, Sakurai-san, Minase-san, and me, inserting everything we could about Hawaii.
With the spirit based on "This time, just by materials (memes) alone we'll go with 120% from usual, and contain everything we can think of that is fun", therefore both the writers and DW too pushed out their full power for this event.
As for others, like the Craft Essences, as well as the doujin CEs that are drawn by illustrators who would be so willing to contribute; and to the everlasting summer of Hawaii which actually is true paradise once we visited it, I would take this opportunity and say: Thank you so much.

Regarding the Cocohead episode, since I really wanted to write that part, I ended up making a luxury request on that one 2D background, just for that episode.
I was then asked about "That mysterious old man, who or where did that Heroic Spirit came from". Well about that, though embarrassing to say, it was something written from actual experiences.
With that latest rifle given to me and being told "This is by far the most popular rifle", and once I open a shot with a weird shock, I then saw an actual old man beside me at the range who would just move in fast, with the flint-locked type gun he held at hand, opened fire but never missed any mark, and after that he just casually leaves. I really saw something amazing that day...that old man...no, humans are really amazing.

As for that quote "Fufufu...Svaha Svaha", it was thought up by Syatey-san. When the rough illustration for "Eiten School Juhoyojinshu" was done, even though many Kairaku*** style catch phrases were written and included at that time, that copy actually contained the word "Fufufu... Svaha Svaha". Although many of those magazine style catch phrases were removed from the actual release, that phrase was so wonderful that we decided to keep that in! So with this opportunity I'd like to say "Fufufu...Svaha Svaha" to Syatey-san.

TL Notes

1. The Cocohead episode refers to the episode where Guda/Mashu attended the shooting range practice.
2. Svaha - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svaha
3. Kairaku*** refers to .....that particular porn magazine.
4. Syatey is the illustrator of that Kiara doujin CE.

2018/7/30: Fes & LE (Kinoko)

Fes is done! The two days of fire are over, it feels like I've finally returned to regular everyday life.

Thank you to all visitors that came despite the terrible weather,
the staff that kept the huge event running smoothly,
the companies that cooperated with us,
and the cast that kept us hyped on the stage.

There was an advance screening at the Fes, but it's finally the last episode of "Fate/EXTRA Last Encore"!
I also saw it for the first time at the event,
(I receive the shirobako, but I held onto it to watch it at the event instead)
the last three episodes were fitting for the end of the story, so gorgeous that I got goosebumps.

Thank you to the staff.
Thank you SHAFT.
I got to see what I wanted to.
And I'm sorry the lines are confusing. But I hope you can concentrate and watch.

The thoughts and purpose I put into "Fate/EXTRA Last Encore"
are explained on the official website so there isn't much to say now,
but I did talk about it again in the interview on the NewType (released 9th Aug).
If there's a chance, I hope you can read that too.
The interviewer was an EXTRA player, and I accidentally talked about things I wasn't planning to......

◆

By the way, the mini-game Marvelous secretly made for us, "Iku-stella",
I hear it has a short window of release so hurry to go get it! (TL note: it's already over)
I heard "it's a casual raising game like tamagocchi, you can enjoy it inbetween doing other things"
and just started earlier, but it's so good......
It's full of happiness, the BGM is very peaceful, and because of that it gives a strong feeling of "a temporary happy dream that could have been"......
Like it's so happy that I can't help smiling, but it's a illusion that goes away when I wake up....

Just Usagi Routo's starting screen already makes my heart feel things.... and this is free....

2018/6/6: Fussan is so... (Kinoko)

Note

This translated entry is only an excerpt of the full blog post.

With the livestream over, Kinoko returns to reality.

Finally tomorrow, "Fate/EXTELLA LINK" is to be released.
I've talked about this in an interview quite a while ago, but this one isn't a sequel to "EXTELLA", but a spin-off.
The main dish this time isn't the story, but the system.
The scenario is light, with about the scale of Toei manga matsuri.
"I'm busy everyday, stuff like the peace of Mooncell and protecting human history is a bit to heavy, I just want to have fun with action!"
"Just let me use Drake. And Robin. And who's this new servant that looks like the King of Hearts?"
This is the gist of making "Link".
With the many improvements from the previous work, please enjoy the reborn High-speed Servant Action.

2018/5/17: The culprit's name. (Kinoko)

So "Murder at Kogetsukan" is solved. This started from an order of "there's going to be a collab with an IRL escape game, so please have something happening in FGO too",
and we got a chance to try out some mystery, that I've always wanted to from before.
The writer is the Van Madoy, a mystery novel writer.
Let me repeat that, it's Van Madoy of the "Marutamachi Revoir" series!

◇

Let me talk a bit about the past.
You see, when "Witch on the Holy Night" was close to being finished, the story I was really into was this Revoir.
A new generation born from the neo-traditionalist mystery after 2000.
No superpowers, no eccentric characterization, just pure logic battles between plain humans.
And the world building that made a unique "stage", a personal court, as something realistic.
How it feels so good that the story's catharsis isn't build by the culprit guessing but with "speech".
The good old structure of mystery novels, and the new attempts unique to this writer filled to the brim.
"This is exactly how new-traditionalists should be!"
... was how I was being excited by myself.

A while after that personal joy, in 2016.
At a certain drinking party, the Fate/zero comicalizing artist Shinjirou introduced me to Van Madoy, saying "he's an acquainted novel writer".
Since Nasu Kinoko is a fanboy of neo-traditionalist mystery, I've recognized "mystery novel writers" as beings of outer space, lifeforms never to cross paths with our universe.
Naturally, there's no way I'd meet the writer of the work that gave me strength when I was feeling down, I'd thought.
But reality always comes over suddenly, with a blunt weapon in hand.
(Shinjirou is also a superman swinging around a war-hammer, with super-art skill and super-intellect, but that's another story)

Nasu: "It's an honor to meet you. By the way, why is a sage like Van Madoy here in this meeting of deep otaku? Has someone been taken as hostage?"
Madoy: "Actually, I'm here because I've been enjoying FGO. I like Raikou-san a lot."
Nasu: "Wow really"

Is that all you need to meet a writer you respect, is it true that he likes Raikou, Kyoto people sure are refined, I'm so glad we're doing FGO!!!!

After that meeting, now in 2018.
With a delusion of "I want him to write for a mystery event some day" in mind, Nasu made an offer to Madoy, and asked him to write for FGO.
First, we had him write a few short interludes, and had him get used to the atmosphere and writing rules of FGO.
(There were secretly a few interludes written by Madoy in 2018. I did check over them, but they were all written to fit FGO's format, with each servant shown well.)
Then I was scheming to slowly build the foundation for a mystery event... but with DW's report of "we'll be having an escape game in May", I had to push the schedule forward and ask him to write for this event.
The conditions were:

• Short story updated every day, lasting about 1 week
• FGO has users inexperienced with reading mystery novels, so something simple for beginners
• ... yet, with a gimmick that only works in FGO
• FGO is a game, so please write as a game writer rather than a novel writer
  We couldn't give him much time, and it was a difficult task we gave,
  but Van Madoy met these conditions perfectly.

Nasu: "I see. There's Raikou in the cast. I see."
Madoy: "Yes. I gave a bit of screen time for swimsuit Raikou too"
Nasu: "Uh, you really the same Madoy as the Revoir series?"

You never know what happens in life.
As usual with TYPE-MOON, the results were all right.

◇

This was what happened on the backstage of this event.
Now with Kogetsukan finished, I can finally, finally announce this publicly.
I hope everyone will try reading one mystery novel after this.
This was an experimental event,
but as one mystery fan, I hope you all enjoyed it.

I'll finish this with thanking Madoy again.
Thank you so much for taking my impossible order...!

2018/3/11: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

This is referring to Nursery Rhyme's second episode in Fate/EXTRA Last Encore.

Since this episode was especially unclear, a quick word.

There were words that should have been said then,
and in the end, she finally managed to say it.

That she was not left behind by that future, but saw it off herself.

2018/1/27: EXTRA! (Kinoko)

Today is the day EXTRA anime finally starts.

I am taken aback because it took long to get here, but when I look back, there were only happy things.
I've been blessed with several animations so far, but this is the first time it's not an "anime adaption of a game" but a "book I wrote to be animated".

"You can go wild with your taste. Do what you want"

These words that were said to me in the 2nd meeting are the base of "Last Encore".
(And this is how I got my engine running, but since I have no experience with writing anime scenarios, I wrote the source novel-ish book for "Last Encore", and had Sakurai-san help me adapt and adjust that into anime scenario format.)

Through "Last Encore", I tried to make it something that feels different depending on whether you know the premise.
For the people who will watch this anime as their first "EXTRA" experience, I want this to be the starting point where they become interested in the original game and the comics (5 volumes in total, on sale from Kadokawa!)
For the people familiar with the original game, I want them to go "What...?" at the differences.
So people can have fun playing EXTRA after watching the anime, and people can have fun watching the anime after playing the game.
I hope we made something that can be enjoyed both ways.

No matter how much your form changes, no matter how much time passes.
If the soul in the core is the same, then the conclusion will always---

... enough with blabbering.
This is the first time working on something big with SHAFT, but they were very patient with this troublesome project, sometimes surpassing my imagination with how wonderful they were.
Thank you very much.

So --- I hope you will stay with us for one season.
Please enjoy "an unprecedented Fate" by SHAFT.

2018/1/10: Happy New Year. (Kinoko)

Happy new years. New year greetings after a third of January is already over, 2017 must have finally ended yesterday in this man. By Dumuzid.

Last year, I was blessed by many opportunities such as the game, anime, and movie.

TL Note

I can't tell if these are singular or plural

The staff lent me their strength, and the users gave me their support.
Thank you.

I hope to roll along this year too. Please watch over me warmly.

I have nothing more to add for the Xmas event that finished without any troubles, but I will answer the unexplained question of "Why was there a Xmas boom happening?".
At that time, the Underworld had the gates closed by malice and traveling into it was impossible.
So we should assume there was someone, a specialist of the underworld, who modded the rule of "If you give a sacrifice (or the equivalent), the gates will open", spread the concept of xmas, and invited Santa Claus, right?
Yes. Someone, for example, skilled at conversation and has irritatingly cute eyes -- Dumzid.

This doesn't need to be mentioned but the fancy body-line was derived from huke's sheep design. Yes, brilliant.

◆

Some advertisements for the new year.
The first volumes of the official FGO comicalizations,

『Fate/Grand Order-mortalis:stella-』
by Shiramine, focusing on Mashu

『Fate/Grand Order-turas realta-』
by Kawaguchi Takeshi, focusing on Fujimaru Ritsuka

both released on the same day!
They both start from the same place. The blue sky they will reach is the same too.
But their journey, the answers they find will become different.
Really, these are great. They're full of manga-power and love for the source material. Mashu is very mashumashu.
After they both finish Orleans, the plan is that Shiramine will go on to chapters 2, 4, 6, and Kawaguchi Takeshi will go on to chapters 3, 5, 7, and they will reach the final chapter from each point of view.
This too will be a long journey, but I ask for your support.

... Looking back to early 2017.
When I met the two authors and discussed each story/route, I was touched by their passion.
Shiramine, who made such a detailed plot that I thought "is this a scenario writer's overall structure!?", with a serious analysis for the story.
Kawaguchi Takeshi, with his deep understanding of the Fate series, is burning with his passion to write a shounen manga with Fate themes.
I rarely have a chance to discuss projects with mangaka, but it was very enjoyable.
I reconfirmed how age does not matter for creativity, and those with the same thoughts can become comrades in no time.

And as I watched over the two excitedly discussing the contents of Part 1 with a smile on my face, I was thinking
"But after this year, Chaldea will be destroyed! But I'm going to keep quiet about that for a bit longer!"
and didn't mention what happens in Part 2, I'm terrible like that.

◆

I'll finish with the usual reports.
Other manga recs.

Both from Yanmaga KC Special "Mahou shoujo o matsu" and "Gleipnir"

Personally "Mahou shoujo o matsu" the one manga I really hope they keep going on.
This is a funny laid-back Jidaigeki Edo sightseeing Mahou Shoujo piece, drawn with an intentionally retro art style.
I don't even know what I'm saying myself.
The unique tempo is amusing, and you'll be soothed by O-matsu. Please pretend you've been fooled and read the 1st volume.

"Gleipnir" is a piece from the super power battle genre, but the theme and setting is unique.
When you read it, you feel this good slimy feeling down your back, a very rare piece.
It's not as noticeable in vol.1, but the unique attractiveness starts seeping out from vol.2
I also want to read this to the end, so I hope as many Denki genre fans as possible can read it too.

2017/12/16: Untitled. (Kinoko)

We're in the middle of the Xmas Event, but let me leave a scribble.

To know the reason the second gatekeeper called himself a Santa Claus, please play Hanafuda Douchuuki (Karen).
It took 10 years to make this reference.

And to people who like that gatekeeper, I will rec ELLEGARDEN's "Santa Claus".
I know this is the kind of delusional thoughts common in otaku, but I listen to that song and think,
"I know this is impossible, but like 10 years after Hollow, on a Xmas night, this was what he wanted to on the last day before he disappears"

2017/12/10: Apoc Ep. 22 (Kinoko)

Sudden post, but I'm writing this just after a private showing of Apocrypha ep22, since I wasn't able to record it this week.

----I watched something terrible and wonderful.
I can only call it a masterpiece.
Even if it was just by circumstance, I'm grateful I got to watch it in the private viewing room.
It was animation and a sense of speed worthy of watching on the 200-inch screen.
I might even say this is the zenith of Apocrypha's battle direction, having showed us this showmanship and urgency of motion.

Indeed, radiance is this stroke of the pen. Know that this is excellently stylish direction.

TL Note

eh clumsy translation but it's supposed to resemble Karna's NP line

I witnessed an outpouring of brilliant talent, so much that I couldn't help but laugh during Karna and Sieg's last clash.
Of course, it was because it just felt that great. I wanted to stand up and say "oh, bravo!"

Apparently the staff working on this episode are quite young, and they were given free reign over the entire episode.
I think some ridiculous monster has shown its true power...
I want the mistress of the underworld to fight that flashily, too...

2017/6/29: Agarthan Mushrooms. (Kinoko)

Hey all, thanks for waiting!

Agartha starts later today!
Each chapter of Part 1.5 is peaky, and in Agartha, we will fight "physically violent" beautiful flowers.
There is a lot of journey-ing feelings.
Like, "Wait, was FGO an adventuring fantasy kind of thing? We finally became a good ol' RPG in our 2nd year?!"

My recommendation for this time is Berserker of El Dorado, so full of fetish that you can tell the writer for her right away.
You have to listen her to shouting in her NP.
She's a Berserker this time. Please look forward to the story!

Those who saw the electrifying CM yesterday probably don't need me to tell you, but let me say this.
Guda wearing glasses, dressed in a manager-like MC, accompanied with three beautiful women.
The three behind you, they're all XXX...

I wonder who the boy is... since I don't know, I'll call him Masshiroi for now...

2017/05/12: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

This entry was translated by taiboo on Reddit.

BB/GO? Ah, if it's her then our place's Martha-san came back today and easily punished her with a BBB.

Hello, it's Kinoko.
I was thinking that the number of players completing the CCC event was about to increase.
Thanks for your hard work. Today's update will also update the boss's materials so look forward to that too!

Now then. In a certain interview, I said "in some ways this was the reason I started FGO", but it wasn't just for the CCC event.

"The chance to tell the after-story for sub-heroines whose stories had once ended", that is something that can only be done in a medium like FGO.
Just like 'Ryougi Shiki' and this time's guest heroine, the greatest strength of "FGO" is as a festival game where heroine routes that would never have made it into the original story get to be written.
(For an example of that, the one who received the greatest boon from this would be Elizabeth.
It's... sad for Eli-chan, but there's nothing to do but to wait for a fitting reward because it's the EX main chapter...)

■■■

Well then, from here on it's the spoilers/setting notes corner.
Those who haven't cleared the event, come back after clearing it.

• The nature of Kiara in FGO

Until the age of 14, she had the same nature as in CCC, but things developed differently afterwards.
After being cured by a doctor from outside the mountains, she was no longer imprisoned and was able to leave the mountains and have a happy school life.
After that, her saintly nature saved many people, but was attacked by organizations with vested interests who complained "Why are you outdoing us in our field, and for free at that!?", made out to be a villain, lost her place of belonging, and before she knew it, arrived at the oil rig. But she was not concerned with her own persecution or thought it to be misfortune.
If Zepar did not manifest, Kiara would have been able to heal the turbulent hearts of the Seraphix staff.

• Lost Man

As an aside, Lost Man reactivating at the end was not because he was made a fool of by Kiara, but he stood back up because she mocked the people who had ostracized the nameless hero.
"If you say that, then I cannot remain silent", something like that.

• "Changing fate to never meet~"

The CCC incident caused him/her some trouble.
So, all of the world forgot that incident, and even if BB remembered forever, she would insist that "we never met", and smother her own dream. All for the sake of protecting that future.

■ The story before Deep-Sea Cyber-Nirvana began

There were various complications, and I will now explain the story before the event began.

• January

Zepar appears in Seraphix and begins to take control of it. Digitization of the material world begins.
Seraphix will eventually become a closed-off space. Zepar discovers Kiara, who had come together with the medical team, and chose her as its target for possession, hiding within her. It was to heal its wound from the Time Temple.

• February

Days of violence and chaos. The digitization of the oil rig is progressing bit by bit.
Kiara has become aware of her spiritual corruption but is yet trying her best as a therapist.

• March

Morals within Seraphix have finally collapsed.
Zepar reveals its name to Kiara and establishes a relationship of proper co-existence (domination).
Zepar finds out about the experiences of the Kiara from the Moon from the records of parallel words. Because it would be extremely effective, it synchronizes them and draws out her abilities.
The incident of the Moon Cell's Kiara was an imaginary numbers phenomenon (lost from the observing universe, but remains like a barely existing old book in the recording universe), so Zepar would not have been able to see it normally, but as its observation target was Kiara, a Beast candidate (Authority of the Beast: resistance to parallel world and time regression attacks, in other words resistance to instant death of fate. To deal with the record being handled as an imaginary numbers phenomenon, even if the Kiara incident is no more, the records of Kiara herself will not disappear), it was possible. Zepar, really had no luck.

The digitization of Seraphix now turns to conversion to SE.RA.PH. Even if Seraphix sinks into the ocean, it can endure thanks to digitization. Time within SE.RA.PH begins to change. Kiara (Zepar) begins to form a cult from the surviving members of the staff.
At the end of a lot of trial and error by Kiara, the observatory was opened. The vice-director fell to fear and self-preservation and was unable to start it up. The last lever was pulled by a man specializing in dirty jobs. (This man was the only one amongst the staff that did not have a physical relationship with Kiara)
The Servant summonings begin. The 100x time dilation begins.
The Holy Grail War begins~ Kiara's predation begins. After this, Zepar loses his freedom.

• April

In order to ensure the Holy Grail War goes smoothly, Kiara salvages BB (GO). Melt and Lip are also salvaged successfully to serve as pawns.
As the administrator of SE.RA.PH, BB/GO informs the surviving staff of the current situation. "A fun game is about to begin, if you take advantage of it perhaps you may be able to survive?" "Ah, but as the information density within SE.RA.PH is several dozen times that of the outside, 100 minutes here is equal to 1 minute on the outside. In other words---" The rescue that will come in May is 50 years in the future, she tells them.
The internal strife that ensued amongst the Seraphix staff that took shelter in the control room was such a sad thing. Beckman (being led around the nose by Kiara), takes control of the group. After that, it's Beckman's Mist Theater. Staff opposing him are chased out to be devoured by the attacking programs, and attacks are ordered on Melt and co. who are looking around SE.RA.PH.

BB/GO, pretending to follow Kiara, is treated as an enemy by Melt and Lip who had been turned into Sentinels. But with her salvaged body, she is unable to oppose Kiara and chooses neutrality for now, working hard to grasp the conditions within SE.RA.PH.
In the end, Melt and co. go against Kiara. As a result, Melt is scheduled for disposal and Lip is put in bindings, her free will sealed.

After countless Holy Grail Wars, Kiara gains the immature form of a Beast.
With this she begins the process of creating her "true body". SE.RA.PH itself will be her next body for the sake of transforming into a Beast.
SE.RA.PH begins to turn into Kiara. The human that is Sesshouin Kiara is, at this time, an extension that can be discarded at any time. (The one who clung to this extension was Zepar)

The Moon Cell detects the presence of a Beast and becomes aware of the incident. Since it is a Beast incident that originated from the Moon Cell, it dispatches BB as CCC (Special Disposal).
Although BB was sent to SE.RA.PH, she is aware that she can no longer do anything personally to Kiara, who has become a megastructure. She sets up an Order to defeat Kiara through the cooperation of the local humans.
BB and BB/GO come into contact. For their respective goals, they swap places. After this, the managing AI of SE.RA.PH is the Moon Cell BB. So that the swap is not found out by Kiara, she behaves completely as "the management AI obedient to Kiara".

Oh, by the way, Zepa whoever disappears around here.

The Holy Grail War keeps going.

• May

Kiara has finally become SE.RA.PH, completely. As preparations are complete, it's time to GO! To the Mariana Trench of 2030 AD.
Kiara's greatest mistake, or perhaps oversight. Mdm Trapine (BB's secret helper) reaches the communications room alone, and sends out an SOS to Chaldea even while being decomposed into data. Out of respect for the strength of humanity that Mdm Trapine demonstrated in her last moments, BB buries her with care. BB swears that this incident will be dealt with as an imaginary numbers phenomenon and all of the staff saved, as if "nothing had happened". But not Zepar and Kiara.
Kiara, acknowledging that Chaldea has become aware of the abnormalities in Seraphix, leaves the countermeasures to BB. BB reports to Kiara that she'll bully them , but of course has summoned to SE.RA.PH, Chaldea's Master as her only hope.

Chaldea's Master shifts over to SE.RA.PH but (because of Kiara's suppression) their Servants are scattered all over SE.RA.PH and defeated.
Finding themselves alone at the entrance to SE.RA.PH, the Master escapes the maddened Servants and makes their way to the church somehow. There, they meet Meltlilith, who had been scheduled for disposal and was about to stop functioning from lack of magical energy.
The two, contract. Because she had been reset, Meltlilith was very obedient & Level 1.

Their battle begins. To describe how desperate it was, from Melt's point of view it was like "Challenging the entire Kamen Rider Corps as a Shocker battle grunt (alone)", that level of an impossible game. It was tough, it was scary. But they did their best. Even so, for her, the entire incident is all shining so brightly.
Various things happened and time has run out. SE.RA.PH pierces through the trench. Right now even though they have saved Passionlip, they could not remove the bindings. The three reach the observatory and are destroyed by Kiara. Melt makes a desperate, one-time flight with Lip's assistance.

• 30 minutes, before the main story starts

With a crash of falling lightning, Melt arrives at SE.RA.PH, two hours before in real time.
She contacts BB who had detected the anomaly and shares her own memories, discussing a secret plan for battle. The "Don't let Kiara know, and kill Kiara at the end" plan begins.

BB begins to create the Slots and KP. From Kiara's perspective, they seem to be for the purpose of "bullying Chaldea". Melt hurries to the church and meets the Melt scheduled for disposal --- a lonely farewell.

Chaldea's Master shifts to SE.RA.PH.
BB, hearing from Melt that Kiara would scatter the Servants, forcefully picks and sends along (secretly) three Servants affiliated with Chaldea. In order to keep Kiara from becoming alert to BB's cooperation, the Servants are fed with mistaken information that "we were the ones that came along with Master".
And so, the Emperor, Miko and Red Jacket that were sent flying were captured by Kiara's hand... not really, actually they were retrieved by BB/GO, who heard of it from BB. (It's complicated!)

...and that is how the story went.

2016/11/12: Grateful EXTELLA (II)

Continuing on...

◆

■ Reorganization
※ This is basically meant to be a shorter version of the plot, so it only contains the essentials. Unfortunately, I have to cut the excess fat.
※ That said, in the end this is a reorganization of the Nero route. There are differences from the Tamamo no Mae and Nameless routes. For example, in the Tamamo route, the event that occurs on the path to the core is completely opposite.

• Awakening ~ Preliminary Round ~ Servant Summoning

From the top...
"A girl falls on the water's surface, lying face up. It's the Female Protagonist before she disappears, after losing to Hakuno in the sixth round."
This scene would be interesting to include. The audience would be misled to believe she was someone who died in the preliminaries, but the truth would be revealed in after the sixth round.
※ This is just meant to be a surprise scene, without any bearing on the story. It doesn't have to be included.

The protagonist notices the incongruity in school life, escapes from the Inside of the World (the Inside of the Texture), fights a doll, and summons a Servant.
Unchanged from the introduction to the PSP version.

• Round 1, Beginning

Round 1 begins while the mood is still carefree, while explaining SE.RA.PH., the Moon Cell, the Holy Grail War, and the state of Earth.
The atmosphere of Round 1 is "this is a game," "this is a proxy war," and "this feels like a game."
The opponent in the first round is announced. Hakuno faces Shinji.
→ In the PSP version, the opponent in each round was announced on a bulletin board, but if we have the budget, I'd like to make it more flashy this time.
We could show the audience the tournament brackets and where each character is.
Also, the Masters can casually face off in the halls, and we can also have Casko smugly appear.

• Round 1, Conclusion

Events from the competition against Shinji, to the elevator ride, until the final duel.
Demonstrates that this isn't a game, but rather a ruthless battle for survival.
Drake: "Don't you all realize that you were dead as soon as you got here?"
They were all a great herd of fools lured in by the colorful promise that their wishes would be granted.
Of course, some were staking their lives on the competition, but the majority of them had been deceived.
Even Hakuno is troubled. "What reason and wish do I have for fighting in this war for survival?"

→→ Point
It left a bad taste in his mouth to join this tournament with neither convictions nor goals, and fight his own friend.
It struck him that unmindful murder and innocent fights to the death → Real death.
Shinji: "I thought it just granted wishes! Why do I have to die!?"
Drake: "Look, that's just what it means to live. All people are unaware that they trample on the wishes of others."

• Round 2

The heartbroken protagonist fights Dan, the old soldier.
The old man who fights with regrets about his life, and the Heroic Spirit Robin who died in regret.

• Round 3

Round 3 is unchanged from the PSP version.
After Hakuno wins, his next opponents Atrum and Casko appear to put on haughty airs. "You face us next, oh ho ho."

• Round 4

Atrum is a character related to both Leo and Earth, so he serves the supporting but important role of explaining much of the setting, such as the state of Earth, and how it ended in the 2030s.
Atrum affects goodwill, taking the "you should lose, so that I can live to save the world" approach to sway Hakuno's resolve.
Hakuno, who has no identity, hesitates. However, he overcomes Atrum's intimidation by realizing that although Atrum's words are true, Atrum himself is not. They fight as Masters.
As a result of the duel against Atrum, Casko decides to help Hakuno while avoiding detection by the Moon Cell. She becomes a useful and helpful friend.
Of course, she schemes to defeat Nero and take her place as the main Servant, given an opening.
Nero is aware of this, naturally. Casko and Nero share a friendly, combative relationship.
→Their relationship is changed from "heroines of different worlds" to "heroines in the same world."

• Round 5

Hakuno fights Julius in the fifth round.
Nero is rendered unable to fight by Assassin's Noble Phantasm.
With Casko's assistance, Hakuno challenges Julius and Assassin on his own.
Thanks to Hakuno's efforts, Nero recovers, and the story proceeds as it does in the latter half ot the PSP version.
After Nero recovers, she tells Hakuno her true name. Her Noble Phantasm is finally unsealed.

• Missing Chapter

This is when CCC takes place. Casko remembers all of it. Nero only remembers, "Elizabeth is my lifelong rival. But which round did we fight in?"

• Round 6 ~ early Round 7

Rin and Rani are defeated in round 6, and say their farewells.
Hakuno anticipates a showdown with Leo next... but Leo is reported to have been defeated.

Leo has fallen, but the name of the Master who proceeded to round 7 is hidden by jamming, and the Master is nowhere to be found.
Casko and Saber attempt to investigate, but they are unable to either locate the Master or remove the mosaic obscuring its name.
In a dramatic development, they realize, "what if they aren't hiding? What if their name was always this way to begin with?" They proceed on the assumption that their next opponent is nameless.

They report this irregularity to the priest, but the priest answers, "No. In a sense, your next battle is fair."
Hakuno enters the elevator, not knowing who his next foe will be. No one is next to him.

When he arrives at the arena, it's a wasteland resembling the Grand Canyon.
Hakuno and the Female Protagonist face off, separated by a valley.
The enemy Master was his classmate. "Ah, I knew it," Hakuno says in understanding.
The girl: "Let's begin, Archer. This is my final fight."
Archer appears in response to her order, facing Nero.
The girl dispels the texture concealing her true face.
There she stands, aloof, her hair blowing in the wind.

For a moment, the story switches to the girl's perspective.
It's the story of a girl who suddenly woke up like Hakuno did, and strove to move forward in spite of her lack of self and her impending collapse.
The Female Protagonist's fight against Leo is the same as Round 7 of the PSP version.
→ Even though it was against the Female Protagonist, Leo still lost to "Kishinami Hakuno."

Round 7 concludes. Archer disappears along with the girl.
The Male Protagonist inherits the girl's memories and details of her fight with Leo as his own.

• End of Moratorium ~ On the way to the core

While traveling the path to the core of the Moon Cell, Hakuno is attacked by a debugging program.
Its target is Casko, not Hakuno. The Moon Cell is enraged that a Servant which should have been defeated is still intact.
→ Hakuno parts ways with Casko. The tone is similar to parting with Casko in the CCC Route of CCC. The debugging is powerful enough to actually erase her in CCC, but the debugging is light in this case, so Casko won't disappear.
Casko schemes to capture the Protagonist's heart and affections by risking her life (which is in no actual danger) in a heart-rending farewell, after sharing a tender scene with him. Nero sees right through it.
"Come back out here!"
"I'll beeeeee baaaaaaaack!"
"She'll live," remarks Hakuno, as he dons his sunglasses.
Hakuno and Saber arrive at the Moon Cell's core. There, they face Twice.

• Moon Cell Core ~ Savior

Hakuno confronts Twice. Twice gives a long speech.
※ The events here are described in the final entry of the Material glossary.

His thoughts breaking down, Hakuno has a showdown with Twice.
T: "No Servant can reach me. After all, heroes are little more than flowers that bloom in each age.
He who saves the world. My answer is he who saves humanity."
The Servant Savior appears.

The duel against Twice becomes a reflection on human history in the Common Era.
"All this consumption and bloodshed, and this is the conclusion we reach?" laments Twice solemnly.
"So what!?" roar Nero and Hakuno in defiance.
Twice is correct. Humanity is not.
Yet, the final role and responsibility to decide and enforce what is right belongs to the people living in the current era.
It would be even more unacceptable to have it decreed by a ghost from the past.

After Twice is defeated, the ending of the PSP version proceeds to the Saber Route ending of CCC, and the story feels like it connects to EXTELLA.
It leads to a new beginning that collects all of the previous components.
That said, in the end this reorganization is supposed to be vague, in the sense that "this seems to have happened."
For example, the tense but inseparable relationship between Nameless and Cu Chulainn, Gilgamesh and Artoria's connection, and other factors aren't described in EXTRA and CCC. I hope that the audience will accept that these fuzzy connections similar to the ones from Fate/stay night might have existed in the EX world, too.

◆

That's one portion of the materials from before we began developing EXTELLA.
It's just background for the story which will never appear as a concrete title, so don't worry about the typos.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, even if it was just my thinking "hmm, this is how we might need to redefine multi-route games that continue as a series."

2016/11/12: Grateful EXTELLA (Kinoko)

Fate/EXTELLA is out! I'm truly grateful to the production team and everyone who waited for the new EX title.

I can't fully express my gratitude, but at least allow me to repay it with words.
So, I've decided to upload this EXTELLA/zero outline, which was never meant to see the light of day.

"How does the start of a new series treat EXTRA and CCC?"

This was made to address that problem.
I wanted to put this in a book someday if there was a chance, but I might as well publish it here.
This doesn't contain spoilers for EXTELLA, so those of you who have beaten both EXTRA and CCC can read it freely.

It's long, so I'll divide it into two parts.

◆◆◆

■ Fate/EXTRA/EXTELLA Character Outline

※ There's only one route, so Nero takes the role of saving, guiding, and helping Hakuno grow.
Don't forget that this is a boy-meets-girl story.

• Kishinami Hakuno (Protagonist)

The archetypal protagonist who wakes up in SE.RA.PH to find himself caught up as a participant in the Holy Grail War.
He has memories of life (daily school life), but no other memories.
His abilities are extremely mediocre as a wizard. Fortunately, he has a personality that never gives up, holds no grudges, and always tries to do the right thing. Miraculously, he attains victory. In short, he's someone who can't quit.

→→
First Spoiler (revealed in the middle and later half of the story)
His identity is the same as that of the NPCs on campus, merely "recreated data from past humans."
(It is less expensive for the Moon Cell to model NPCs after past humans, but the Moon Cell fundamentally cannot understand humans (intelligent life forms))
He gained a self and passed the preliminary round as a human, so he was registered as a Master.

→→
Second Spoiler (revealed at the end of the story)
The human he was recreated from is in cold sleep on Earth, neither alive nor dead.
This is why the NPC managed to gain an ego and autonomy.
(This has to do with where souls reside in TYPE-MOON, but that isn't explained in this story.)

• Saber (Nero)

The Servant who was summoned in response to Hakuno's call.
(Summoning details are in Material, under Saber's entry.)
A female knight who acts as she pleases and whole-heartedly glorifies life.
Her speech and attitude are pompous, but at her core, she respects all that is beautiful.
She appears condescending, but actually reacts to most things with a "wow, that's amazing. How impressive! But I won't lose, either!" attitude.

Her physical abilities are below average for a Servant, but her Skill "Imperial Privilege" is powerful. A true genius displays her talents in all areas. Red Saber's strength can be considered her ability to learn anything that is possible through human levels of effort or talent.

Saber is reluctant to reveal her true name.
It is not because she wishes to conceal her identity as the infamous tyrant Nero, but because she is afraid that Hakuno will dislike or be disappointed with her if he knows her name.
During the fifth round, she moves past this hesitation and reveals it herself.

• Girl Classmate (Female Protagonist)

A girl who occasionally crosses paths with Hakuno, leaving him a casual word of advice.
She's always eating a noodle sandwich.
She wasn't in the PSP version, so the audience would misread her as "a new heroine!?"

→→
Spoiler (Round 7)
The same entity as Hakuno. Personnel data: a NPC created by SE.RA.PH, modeled after Kishinami Hakuno. However, she was configured as a female due to overlapping identity.
She gained an ego in connection with the same event for Hakuno, and advanced as a Master.
(※ She didn't gain a soul. Hakuno gained a soul, and the aftermath of this awakened her ego.)
Because her data was modified further after recreation, she quickly becomes aware that she is not a legitimate being.
As a degraded copy, she cannot withstand the installation of an ego (soul), so she is destined to disintegrate.
(※ Even if she wins the seventh round, she will then disappear. Only Archer deduces this.)

• Archer (Nameless)

The Female Protagonist's Servant. He is a Servant summoned to a Master without a soul, so his summoning circumstances are also irregular.
Half of his body is crumbling and burned.
Knowing the Female Protagonist's situation, he helps her fight to the bitter end.
→ Every time Hakuno is alone and in a pinch, Archer saves him. As for why he does this, if Hakuno dies, so does the female protagonist. Archer is trying to give his Master a conclusion where she doesn't lose until the very end, and accepts her end even though she couldn't survive.
→→ Archer is partially destroyed, so Nero and Tamamo don't recognize him in the world of EXTELLA. Also, the Nameless that appears in EXTELLA comes from a world where the Female Protagonist won.

• Rin & Rani

Fewer appearances than in the PSP version, but their position is unchanged.

• Leo

The heir to the Western European Conglomerate. A perfect prince. The strongest foe in the PSP version.
His role is the same in the PSP version, but this time he is defeated in the sixth round.

→→ Foreshadowing
Out of curiosity, Leo talks to Kishinami Hakuno many times, but several of the conversations are inconsistent.
"Oh, didn't we talk about this before?"
"Yes, I'm interested in you, too."
He says things like that, because he's interacted with the Female Protagonist in the same way.
Leo loses to the Female Protagonist in the sixth round, so this time, he realizes that the Female Protagonist has the potential to defeat him.

• Saber (Gawain)

Leo's Servant. Unchanged from the PSP version.

• Julius

Leo's older brother. An assassin who handles the dirty work. On Earth, he doesn't have much time left to live.
He eliminates Leo's enemies without regard for his own survival.
His position is unchanged from the PSP version. He is openly hostile to Hakuno, and is Hakuno's greatest rival.
Julius' special animosity towards Hakuno (and the Female Protagonist) is because Hakuno is the same type of person as Julius.
On a deeply subconscious level, Julius rejects the notion that a normal person, possessing nothing and chosen by nobody, could rise to become Leo's greatest enemy.
It also stems from Julius' irritation that he was unable to do the same.

• Assassin (Li Shuwen)

Julius' Servant. Position is unchanged from the PSP version.

• Matou Shinji
• Rider (Drake)

The opponent in the first round, which has the theme of fighting a friend. Unchanged from the PSP version.

• Atrum

The opponent in the fourth round. His Servant is Caster (Tamamo no Mae).
A new Master for the EXTRA storyline that was reorganized for EXTELLA. A user of sacrificial magic that kills and creates life.
Acquainted with Leo on Earth. In the world of EXTRA where fossil fuel resources have run dry, he lacks the cockiness and carelessness of his Fate/stay night counterpart. However, his basic personality is the same.
A self-proclaimed feminist, but it's obvious in reality that he views women only as tools.
He speaks respectfully to Caster, but also looks down on her.
After the Moratorium of Round 4, he sends Caster to seduce Hakuno (to gain his sympathy).
"You don't need win the boy over. As long as you can ensnare him, it'll be a windfall for us."
"Me? I have things to do. Dirty jobs are a Servant's duty, right?"
Casko wearily follows his order, replying "By your command."
After dispatching Casko, Atrum accesses a proprietary hidden circuit to Earth to find data on Kishinami Hakuno, but fails to turn up anything. This troubles him.

After Atrum loses to Hakuno in their duel, Atrum uses Caster as a scapegoat to avoid the destruction of his own body, and flees.
After he escapes from the firewall, he is dealt with by Julius or the Moon Cell.

• Caster (Tamamo no Mae)

Appears as Atrum's Servant.
From the start, she is aware that she is expendable to Atrum, but she does not resist fulfilling their pact. (Of course, if Atrum were to sever their contract, it would be a different story.)
When she comes to Hakuno on Atrum's orders to seduce him, Hakuno asks,
"...Umm, I don't understand why you're doing this,"
which confuses her.
Fox: "I suppose, in short, that my Master's naive strategy is to have me drown you in my charms and end you in your sleep. Failing that, sympathy might still move you to carelessness during your final duel..."
Having heard Casko's circumstances and taking issue with them, Hakuno becomes serious.
Hakuno: "Have a seat, Caster."
Hakuno kneels across from Caster.
Casko does the same. Hakuno begins to give her a stern lecture out of concern for her well-being.
This is the first event that leads to Caster falling in love.

After their duel, Casko burns away, as Atrum's scapegoat.
The protagonist then uses his Command Spell to try and save her.
Casko is restored, without a scratch. "Ah, I'm finally free!" The way she easily withstands the assault of the firewall is similar to Arcueid's scene.
Afterwards, she cooperates with Hakuno as his (self-declared) true Servant.
Nero: "Damn you -- who let this raccoon- no, this fox into our den!?"
Fox: "That's obvious. As if the curse of a third-rate Master could roast me!"

• Dan
• Archer (Robin)

The opponent in the second round, which has the theme of defeating one's senior and mentor in life.
Position is unchanged from the PSP version.

• Twice Pieceman

The final Master who awaits Hakuno in front of the Moon Cell's core, after the seventh round.
Position is unchanged from the PSP version.
However, to make his appearance less sudden, he would appear frequently throughout the story.
※ He could also interact with the Female Protagonist instead of Hakuno.

2016/10/15: Today's Meeting (Kinoko)

Everybody makes mistakes. Kinoko is prone to jumping to conclusions.
That's the kind of creature I am.

■■

At yesterday's regular meeting.

We'd pretty much gotten through the agenda, and were on our way to the next stop when Shiocchi approached me apologetically.

Shiokawa-san: "Nasu-san, actually, something's been troubling me."
Nasu Kino: "Yes, what is it? I'll listen to anything you have to say, since Chapter 7 is stretching resources. I can write you another 100 kb if you need."
Shiokawa-san: "Please stop, you'll kill me. Sorry. Personal issue, not my point.
So, I hate to be the one to point this out, but...
You see, I'm the creative director, not the producer."
Nasu Kino: "Huh?"
Shiokawa-san: "The creative director."
Nasu Kino: "But aren't you the one who takes all my crazy requests!? You weren't in charge!?"
Shiokawa-san: "No. I'm the creative director, so we can cook up schemes together.
...My priority is to make the game interesting."
Nasu Kino: "I see."

2016/10/9: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Now. Time for some explanations.
First, I need to say something.

I said 300 kb, didn't I. I lied.

But hear me out. I didn't mean anything bad by it!
I just to wanted to relax and crank it all out about two weeks. I didn't even touch P5 that I was so hyped for that I bought both physical and download copies.
But, it just turned out this way for some reason. You understand, don't you? Good Delight!

Okay, now I'll talk about the Picts.
I actually planned for Nitocris to summon them in Chapter 6, along the lines of "if they're fighting Camelot, then the Absolute Camelot Killing-men would answer her summons at a discount."
But we couldn't finish the characters in time, so we cut them all out. The history of the Picts is sealed in darkness, but they popped in for a bit. For one day only. Nice going, Caesar. You won't get shit next time.

A story from Chapter 6:

◆

Pict: "We normally charge 100 Saint Quartz summoning fee per battle, but against Camelot we'll actually pay you 10."
Nitori: "Perfect! I'll take a dozen!"

In the Pharaoh's army, during a skirmish against the Holy City's forces.
Nitocris retreated in tears to the temple, and made an express summoning circle.

Nitori: "Sorry, three more dozen, please!"
Pict: "That's impossible. We had a meeting, and decided that we can't fight any more. Give up, Queen Zaza~n."
Nitori: "Why!?"
Pict: "We ran out of quartz to give you. We only have 7 left."
Nitori: "Are you (all) stupid!?"

◆

Note

This section is in the context of developer commentary and fan reactions at Machi Asobi.

And now, for some behind-the-scenes talk.

When someone says that we suddenly decided to make an event, "sudden" doesn't mean "make it right after finishing the art and story," but rather refers to suggestions made at a scheuling meeting (normally half a year to a year ahead of time).
The contents and required materials are decided at the scheduling stage, and main production begins two to three months before release. In other words,

"As planned" means it was decided a year ago.
"Suddenly" means a conference about four months ago.

Sanzang-chan was indeed a special case, so it began production as a weeklong event.
But, the story ended up longer, so production was adjusted to make it a two week event.

Also, "as planned a year ago" refers to our initial schedule when FGO was being planned.
For example, the Servants that would appear in all seven chapters of the main story, and the event where the titles of all seven chapters were presented were already set back then (2014 UBW).

At the time, we still lacked knowhow, so we made a list of all the Servants, and then afterward came up with the rest of the plans for things like background story, illustrator commissions, or combat ideas.

The plot of the main story started from "Servants to include" and "what we can do with that era."
Servants weren't included to fit the story, but rather, the story was created based on the Servants that would appear.

That's why, except for a portion, most of the Servants that have appeared were created "as planned."
Conversely, you could say that Servants that appeared in events for the first time and didn't show up in the story were the "sudden" Servants.

The kind of production I've described is based on our system when we were first planning the game, so since a certain point, development of both story and Servants has evolved into a more natural process.

That's the behind-the-scenes tidbit this time. I also got permission to explain all this from that amazing guy at DelightWorks (Producer Shiocchi), so don't worry.

2016/7/31: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

This translated entry is only an excerpt of the full blog post.

• Camelot/Zero

1. Midway through the Ninth Crusade, someone who should have died is given a Holy Grail. Using the power of the Holy Grail, the expeditionary force approaches the Holy Land. Dedicating everything to the King of Magic, they set fire to the land and slaughter the people. However, in their greed they summon the Pharaoh. Naturally, the Pharaoh confiscates their grail, creates the Egyptian Territory, and sets about building his own kingdom there.
2. The expeditionary force loses ground. The one chosen by the Holy Grail is cornered by the people of the Holy Land. But then, a mysterious Servant appears and summons the "False Crusaders." Though this Servant identifies themselves as Richard I, their appearance and behavior are far too different from his. The False Crusaders capture the expeditionary force and occupy the Holy Land.
3. The Lion King arrives in the singularity and summons the Knights of the Round Table.
4. The Knights of the Round Table battle the False Crusaders. The expeditionary force is annihilated. The Holy Land falls. The Holy City is completed.
5. Sanzang-chan suddenly appears
6. Chaldea begins the Sixth Grand Order

That's more or less what happened before the beginning of Chapter 6.
When the Lion King appeared in the Sixth Grand Order, she summoned the Heroic Spirits of the Round Table with her own power.
(This is different than the summoning method used by Chaldea)
All but two of the Knights responded to the summons, and were informed of the world's collapse, and how in half a year's time all would be reduced to nothing by the King of Magic. And, the Lion King told them about the "means of salvation by the holy lance," their best hope of counteracting it.
In the solemn morning glow, the Lion King proclaimed:

"I summoned you knights because I require your power. While I can destroy my enemies alone, I cannot perform the Holy Selection. I need knights that will become my hands and feet. However. I understand that this act violates your beliefs. Will you obey me, or will you leave my side? Or, will you band together here to strike me down? I will hear your answers at sundown. I can wait no longer than that."

And so, the Knights of the Round Table each fretted over their choice.
There would surely be those who sided with the Lion King, just as there would surely be those who tried to stop her.
In either case, the enemy would be their fellow Knights.
Nobody was going to leave. If they disagreed with the Lion King, they had no choice but to enact the death penalty.
That, in turn, meant fighting their comrades who had chosen to follow her.

Sir Kay was strangely silent, and vanished till sunset without saying a word.
Sir Percival politely exchanged words with all of the other Knights one by one, and weeped alone.
Sir Gawain understood the significance of King Arthur calling herself the "Lion King."
Sir Tristan blinded himself to the tragedy of the situation.
Sir Lancelot, though he was loathe to admit it, realized that the Lion King's choice was making the best of a bad situation.
Gaheris resolved himself to parting with his older brothers and younger sisters.
Gareth never once doubted that Sir Lancelot, whom she revered, would surely choose to aid King Arthur.

After the longest half a day of their lives, the Knights of the Round Table convened before the Lion King, as those that would stop her, and those that would serve her.
Battle was inevitable.
No matter what they chose, they would be forced to strike down those who were most dear to them with their own hands.
Because, the only way to protect the Lion King was to kill their fellow countrymen.
And, the only way to put the Lion King to death was to eliminate the compatriots standing in their way.
Neither camp bore any hatred for the other.
There was only grim resolution.

Like that, the Knights of the Lion King were born.
They struck down those they loved the most, and became beasts.
Even if they tried to survive, they no longer possessed the qualifications to be chosen by the Holy Lance.
They accepted the fact that no matter what they did, they would not be rewarded. They were sinners, doomed to be burnt away with the era.

Then, the Lion King bestowed "Gifts" upon the Knights stained by their comrades' blood.
Tristan received the Gift of "Inversion," for she saw his fingers were completely frozen from despair.
Gawain received the Gift of "Everlight," for he wanted to maximize his usefulness.
Mordred received the Gift of "Rampage." It wasn't asked for, but it was given.
Gareth received the Gift of "Impurity," for she wished to avoid being defiled any further.
Lancelot received the Gift of "Ferocity," for he vowed to ascertain the situation as a person, without martyring himself for justice.
And, Agravain received the Gift of "Needlessness," for he had declared before all that he had no need for a Gift from the Lion King.

The Lion King and her Knights marched into the Holy Land controlled by the False Crusaders.
Though the False Crusaders were no match for them, the Servant calling himself Richard I was demonically strong.
"Even the Knights of the Round Table can't possibly defeat this devil without loss. A sacrifice of two... no, three of our own will be necessary."
As Gawain made that judgment, a single Knight charged forward, restraining Richard at the cost of skewering her own chest.
It was Gareth.
Gareth's heart had long since shattered to pieces over the course of their many battles.
Killing her beloved comrades.
Killing knights, false though they may be.
Killing the people of the Holy Land, day in and day out.
Mummy-like bags had appeared under her eyes, and her lily-white fingers that had once been more beautiful than anyone's were unrecognizably blackened from the washing she performed after combat.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Even though I chose this."
"I can't bear it any longer. I can't fight any more. Please. Please."
"I'm a fool. Please, punish me."

It was the perfect opportunity to kill the enemy leader.
Lancelot froze. He understood Gareth's feelings, but was hesitant to once more do the deed.
Mordred raged. She had tried to stop her, saying they could win without making such sacrifices.
Agravain quietly placed his hand on the sword hanging at his side. He understood what must be done.
However. The one who swung his sword and dealt the mortal blow was Gawain.
Along with the last remnants of his heart, he bid farewell to his little sister.

Thus, the Holy Land passed into the Lion King's hands, and the Immaculate Holy City manifested itself.

2016/7/22: Report. (Kinoko)

The scorching-hot summer is finally here. No, it was already here. Definitely.

The release date for chapter 6 of FGO is finally confirmed.
Nasu was the main writer this time.
Why, you ask?
Since the topic is Camelot, perhaps I had no choice. Or perhaps I had to explain the TYPE-MOON Round Table given the chance. Or perhaps it's because I couldn't roll Heroine X back in January. Reasons like that.

As a result,
"I wanna do that," "I wanna do this," "how about a brown Ellie-style Egyptian?" "Dynasty Warriors Gawain," "where's Pikachu?" "We'll smash pyramids into pyramids!" "Refrain is such a cool game!" "Wait... is that a Charmander in my hallway!?" "I see... Piety is... Sanzang is... Getter is..."
all converged and I ended up with the longest story yet. If Chapter 5 was 300 kb then Chapter 6 is 500 kb. Forgive me. Chapter 7 won't be that long.
Anyway, it's been 10 years since stay night, and I'm quite happy to revisit this theme and write a story about King Arthur again.
We present to you a strange tale about a certain knight. Please enjoy.

Of course, I had to call on Sakurai-san's aid for the Egypt-related parts since there was no way Nasu could handle it all on my own. Specifically, for the Blue and Silver characters. Arash's regular life, Serenity-chan's hotness, and King Ozymandias impressing upon us his ideas of kingship and how he'd consider this situation.
In other words, the Egyptians, Arash-san, and Serenity-chan were like a collaboration with Sakurai-san.
King Ozymandias of Blue & Silver and King Ozymandias of Chapter 6 both appear as an unassailable troublemaker. Coupled with Koyasu's character voice, that invincible air is no joke.

To put it dramatically,

"The ancient Sun King, 'I'll show you a true Beamer' Ozymandias is here!!!
But I'll pass on a fight with Moses, 'cause that dude's liable to part the sea with his fists!"

Something like that. Yeah, I don't get it.

2016/6/11: Untitled. (Kinoko)

Note

Read the three links below for context for this fever dream of a diary entry.

• Learn More With Manga! FGO ch26
• English translation
• Matsuryu, Helena's artist, then tweeted this (NSFW)

■ Authentic Record ~ This is how I was abducted.

It happened when I was traveling in southern Nevada.
I had a mysterious nighttime experience when those London supremacists tried to humiliate me.
I'd decided to meditate that day in the Eastern cross-legged position.

"Whew! Look, Helena-kun, the stars are out tonight! By the way, Helena-kun, what do you think of the Nazca Lines?"

Olcott-kun was really hig- I mean, he was drunk.
He was frolicking about like a child while he started to draw a crop circle. I let him be because I'd already gotten used to how weird Edison and Bell were.

"Why don't you try shooting a beam for an instant at the lower part here? Look, doesn't it look like a titan of light? Maybe this is the Hierarchy you saw, Helena-kun. By the way, what's this silver disc hovering above my head?"

Lemuria! (definition: I done goofed!)
It was all over when, sensing danger, I reached for my coat.
I lost consciousness to a dazzling light, and when I woke up I was lying on a bed with white sheets.
I couldn't freely move.
But I knew how to take advantage of the situation. It's gotta be my sixth sense.

"Just our luck. I hate it when something obstructs our warp-out...."
"Dude, this planet's a real drag. Wanna destroy it?"

I had no idea what they were talking about.
I just vaguely grasped "oh, the Earth's ending?"

"Before that, what about this native? Should we return it?"
"Yeah, yeah. Then we'll blow up the planet. Oh, but first, try that. C'mon."
"You mean that? The Galactic Big Bang Gacha? Good idea, we might as well celebrate!"
"Alright, let's just push the button with the native's finger. Not like we'll roll- SAY WHAT!?"
"You got something!? You got a SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSR rare character!? The odds are even lower than a Big Bang happening!"
"Damn, this native's luck is insane... that's just terrifying, rolling a Universal Genesis tier...
And it'd be A B S U R D to destroy this planet now!"
"We have to guard it carefully. But other intelligent beings won't let this chance slide. When's the next Big Bang Gacha going to be held?"
"56,600,000,000 years from now, apparently. Until then, we have to protect this planet... And we can't let the other intelligences find out... And we can't let it evolve in a way that's self-destructive..."
"...This adorable native... No, now she's an angel to us... Should we grant some of our wisdom to this angel?"
"Let us teach her. We'll let her contact the Root, but stop just short of letting her touch the Galactic Arts. Even if she'll never understand the theory behind magic and superpowers, she'll be able to practice them. There we go."

They were working on something incredible that didn't concern me... that's the feeling I got.
Their technology sent my consciousness somewhere around Alpha Centauri, and I managed to touch something amazing before I came back.

When I came to, I was in the Nevada desert again.
I told Olcott-kun what I experienced, but he just prattled something about "Rolling that on the first ticket is an urban legend lolololol" and when I fired a Mahatma ray at him (it actually worked when I tried it. Wow.) he passed out.
Then I stripped off his clothes as punishment, and walked 20 km to the next town on my own.

There were lots of falling stars that night.
I stifled my beating chest while I increased the speed of my new flying saucer.
----No matter what, I have to publish my story in a book.
I was wrapped up in that dream, and a sense of duty, you see.

■■■

Helena: "Just kidding! Would you believe gossip like that, Gudao-kun?"
Gudao: "Um, that really happened, didn't it?"

Dedicated to Matsuryu-san.

2016/3/29: Thank you for waiting. (Kinoko)

Once, we said "What's wrong with just this one club?" about the ultimate general-purpose blunt weapon Chicken Wing, but that's ancient history. Of course, the longsword is supreme. An all-purpose weapon that can deal with any situation. That it's plain-looking is but a fly in the ointment.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, just skip this part.

◆◆◆

Now. FGO is finally about to begin its fifth chapter.
Chapters 1 to 4 have been released as we first produced them, but chapter 5 has benefited from seven months of popularity, and has some additional scenarios.
Kinoko topped off the stuff the writers submitted, and some extra spice was added after hearing user feedback. That's what Chapter 5 is.
If you open the lid, you'll find twice the jar's original capacity, and it's mainly become something like a collaboration... but what's done is done.
I hope you enjoy this action-adventure story the two writers worked so hard on, that is the voluminous chapter so far.

And so, the white-robed angel's identity is finally clear. Angelic... I guess she's angelic? Let's talk about the angelic Nightingale. When one mentions Nightingale, you imagine a white-clad angel, like Mentholatum's symbolic Little Nurse on their logo, right?
Me too. Until I researched the esteemed lady's lifetime!

I can say this now -- during the development of Fate/EXTRA CCC, Miss Nightingale was a candidate Heroic Spirit for a new enemy Servant all the way up to the end. Going with CCC's theme, I wanted to make characters almost exclusively female. Smells like a fetish.

In the end we only got enough budget to add Elizabeth, but I always wanted to show Nightingale's steel conviction one day.
And when it was decided that FGO's fifth chapter would take place in America, it felt like destiny and I was really happy.
Immediately I decided that she would be the navigator heroine.
You might protest "but she isn't white-robed at all!" I assure that you'll forget all about it once you start Chapter 5.

"Clothes a priestess wears become priestess' robes. If a priestess can wear it, anything can be priestess' robes."

Like a certain shady fox priestess might say, this is a spiritual matter.
If an angel can wear it, anything can be a white robe! She just happens to be an extremely unhinged angel!

Anyway, Chapter 5, the Mythic North American War, is jostling with new characters. And, it finally starts tomorrow.
Pay attention to Helena, Nighting, and ______'s relationship that I don't really understand.

◆◆◆

That said, let me follow up on the inappropriate remark in the AnimeJapan collab event.
She said 'FGO in its latter half,' but of course that's only the first portion of the stories. There are seven chapters in all so they have to wrap up, right?
As for what comes after that, to put it bluntly we'll continue as long as we can continue, so we'll manage if we can!
Like Hollow after Fate, and CCC after EXTRA,
something definitely awaits you after the first part.

'What do we do after we beat the last boss?'
'Didn't you know?
The next last boss will come.'

◆◆◆

That said, who's my personally recommended character this time? I think I'd have to pick that pink-haired woman.

A naive smile (with lips that can't hide her ill nature)
A white fur coat that embodies innocence (nice, Nrvnqsr Chaos)
And of course her weapon isn't something as barbarous as a sword, but a more compact rod-like implement (a... whip?)

This is the Super Bitch that birthed ___. The explosive introduction of Super ___ Bitch ___-chan.
Did you really think we could leave such a wonderful, perverted character to anyone other than Takayama Masai?

2015/6/27: Final episode! (Kinoko)

"Wow, a new character showed up even though it's the last episode (monotone). I wonder who she is, that beautiful, splendid, blonde drills pro wrestling rich lady!"
"Oh, she's in Prilya too. It's not that surprising."
"D A M N Y O U H I R O Y A M A H I R O S H I !"

Yeah.
Did you enjoy the last episode of Fate/stay night UBW?

Impressive, ufo managed to cram new settings and character designs into the last episode like it was nothing.

I think you'll see why the stage moved for #25 if you watch it.
To our viewers who have followed us for two seasons, it's not because "we're shifting to the Sakura route next," but because we wanted to give you "the continuation of UBW."

I watched it a little ahead of everyone else (SHIROBAKO came out on the morning of the 27th), but I humbly submit that this experiment was quite an achievement.

This past half year has been a wonderful experience.
I feel like I've returned to my younger self from 10 years ago.
Again, thank you and fantastic work on the part of Director Miura and all of the staff at ufo!

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So. While directing my feelings of gratitude to Kouenji,
I will now give you an inside scoop, per Kinoko custom.

I began by thinking that #25's script was "mostly original, so I should write this as a side story to the original [the VN] story."
And so I, Kinoko, was at my wits end trying to write something approximating a screenplay.

That's right. You know what I mean. In other words, I bit off more than I could chew again. Fuck!

Thus we drastically cut the parts that weren't needed for an anime... but the generous people at Aniplex said, "It would be a waste if all of your Nasu-san's work was cut, so let's include it as a special in the second box set."
Those of you interested in what was cut (Luvia's turn to shine and Luvia's turn to shine and Luvia's turn to shine, etc.) should check out the second box set.

I'll take this time to comment on two scenes:

• About Glastonbury

That's but one of the many supposed graves of King Arthur dotting England. There are many more.
Rin: "It's one of King Arthur's graves. There are many others so its authenticity isn't certain, but it at least has a connection to her, right?"
This line was cut down for the anime.

That said, Glastonbury was a really beautiful place.
I can't quite put into words what I felt when I went through the gate and saw that meadow.
To put it in game terms, it was the emotion of leaving Kokiri Village for the first time in Ocarina of Time for the N64 + the world of ICO (PS2) in reality.
If you ever plan on traveling to England, by all means take the time to go there.

• The very final scene

It's a scene that you'll understand if you review it again, but it was easily misunderstood so here's the excerpt from the script.

• Wasteland scene

After the ED. Same scene as the initial wasteland.
Shirou walks alone. Exhausted, his steps slow to a halt.
Shirou, lowering his eyes in the face of a sandstorm, notices someone's footprints (the place where Archer stopped walking).
Shirou takes a breath, and raises his head. His face is one of pretended resolve, but also full of hope.
Shirou resumes walking in that direction, with a firm gait.
The camera stops at Archer's trail, and the scene ends on Shirou's back, shrinking in the distance.
(To make this easier to understand, after Shirou leaves, you can also insert Archer watching Shirou that appeared by the footprints... but I think it'd be best if you didn't)

He's not wandering around aimlessly, but rather heading towards a distant point.

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On that note, the "stay night" aspect of Fate concluded with a splendid final episode.
But, I'm afraid to say that the Fate anime won't end yet. We're almost there, just a bit more, etc etc.

First, the unprecedentedly out-of-control "Prisma Illya Zwei Herz!" starts on July 24, so you should excitedly wait for that.
According to reports from the people at Yomiuri Land, it's rumored Zwei is going to be even more powered up in various, well, you know, that sort of way!

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Please wait just a bit longer for FGO... almost... almost...
We're making the final tweaks...

2015/05/23: Last Stardust (Kinoko)

So, did you enjoy episode 20?

In the Newtype interview, I answered, "they let us detune #20." This is what I meant by that:
To take boxing as an example...
The game version followed a full round to the end with a victory by judgment,
while the anime version was a play that ended with a burning knockout in the first round, or something.

---Proceed ahead not by dwelling heavily on the past, but by comparing each other's states of mind.

Evolving circumstances are nothing other than the selection of functions.
In exchange for discarding many components, we investigate a single one thoroughly, and update the maximum speed.
In the pursuit of making a pleasant visual production, we do away with following the text word-for-word, and lightly run towards our goal.
That is the UBW anime's answer.

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So. Enough about all that story writing stuff.
This time, there’s something even more important to discuss, you know?
That’s right, why don’t we talk about the extraordinarily powerful background song!

When Shirou does xxxxx, the background music is by Aimer, who also did the opening theme “Brave Shine.”
The name of that song is “LAST STARDUST.”
Actually, both of these songs were submitted by Aimer as candidates for the opening theme of UBW’s second season.
They’re both great songs that elevate the themes of UBW, so frankly, we were writhing with indecision over which one to use.
As a result, we strategized that the opening needed a feeling of speed, so we went with “Brave Shine.”
As a theme song, “LAST STARDUST” was outstanding in my mind.

“Unfortunately, it breaks our hearts to have to pick only one… but we’d be happy to see “LAST STARDUST” used in Sakura’s route, so plan for that, please!”

Is what we insisted to Aimer.
Three months later, somehow a recording of “LAST STARDUST” that was more polished than the demo version reached my ears.

Nasu: “How!? No, I’m incredibly happy though! I’m not exaggerating when I say that I can taste UBW just by hearing this! But why did they spend so much time making it!?”
Director Miura: “Ah, about that. I requested it as a background song because I really wanted to attach it to episode 20. But, we didn’t know if it would go well, so we didn’t tell you until it did. Tee-hee.”
Nasu: “Dammit man, you kept quiet about something this important—
Don’t mind me, just keep doing this——!”

And so we got the best possible result.

Who would’ve thought that it would become a scene brilliant as only an anime could be?
It was Director Miura’s idea to play “LAST STARDUST” during the farewell scene in the internal world.
This didn’t come out of the scriptwriting stage.
Making the story of an anime is like a baton relay.
The continuity of the script is handed over the continuity or production, ultimately resulting in many times more good things.

One such miracle is this episode’s background song, which came out of this process.

Both “Brave Shine” and “LAST STARDUST” being in the same production distinguished the power that came out of this series of events.
The full versions of both songs are an even deeper experience, so please buy the single if you like them. They’re really good.

What? There’s no release date yet?
You’ll just have to believe in the courage of Sony Music…!

◆

And now, please enjoy the five remaining episodes of the TV anime UBW.

My gratitude to Aimer for their wonderful compositions and songs, and their cooperation that showed a deep appreciation of our work.