This is a page by page translation. Parts of this translation will look better with the 
MGS2 Menu font installed. (It doesn't play nice
with css, so we are doing this the old-fashioned way.)
Pages are noted in brackets. 
Location of text on the page is noted in parentheses. 
Descriptions of the  illustrations in the text [that image on the right, etc.] are in 
Japanese hook brackets 「」. Most items are listed date first except for magazines, 
which are listed in the (magazine name) + (month/year) format. 

This annotated translation is meant to be used with a copy of the TYPE-MOON 
10th Anniversary Phantasm artbook. 
I encourage you to support TYPE-MOON by buying a copy of
it for yourself. You can find a copy of it from 
amazon.co.jp here. If you want to order it from someone else,
you can use this image (see ISBN in the image) 
to help you track down a copy. 

This book assumes you are very familiar with TYPE-MOON's stories. If you aren't, some of what's here
will definitely be spoilers, so be aware and tread carefully. 

This translation is copyright 2013 Heavens-Feel.com - feel free to link to it on your blog or
site, but please don't host it there. 
============================================
		INDEX
============================================
[p.3]

004 	10th anniversary TYPE-MOON museum 
079 	Pieces of TYPE-MOON
138	All Characters - Announcing the Results of the Popular Vote 
145	Nasu Kinokuo x Takeuchi's Fate/Prototype Interior Commentary 

VOICE ACTOR INTERVIEW COLLECTION 

149 	Nakata Jouji 
153	Yuzuri Ryouka
156	Takano Naoko 
159	Kawasumi Ayako 
162	Ueda Kana
165	Shitaya Noriko 
168	Suzumura Kenichi  ---->  Sakamoto Maaya x Takeuchi Takashi x Nasu Kinoko
174	Koyama Rikiya x Ohara Sayaka

178	TYPE-MOON ALL STAFF PROFILE 

Staff  	 Discussion 
182	Tsukihime 
187	Fate/Stay Night 
192	Fate/hollow ataraxia and more 
196	Mahoutsukai no Yoru 

200	TYPE-MOON CHRONICLE 
206	Nasu Kinoko x Takeuchi Takashi  x  Urobuchi Gen  10 Years' Three-Cornered Talk 

216	SPECIAL VOICE  	TYPE-MOON Talking about 10 Years 

220	TYPE-MOON Event Goods Catalog 

225	Saber Gallery	

236	GR Collection 

248 	10th Anniversary Illust. Collection by Special Creators 

260 	TYPE-MOON  MOVIE ACE Appendix Material 

268	Comic 10 Years Memory 4koma 

274	No. 1 past Premium Illust. Art Gallery 

286	April Fool's Day    2005-2012

337	Comic - Tank Man 

365	Comic - Looking back on 10 Years 

369	Comic - Business Trip Koha-Ace

372	TYPE-MOON Dictionary 

385	Comic - AATMM

389	Comic - Let's Be Nice to Akiha-chan Meeting 

393	To the next 10 Years 

398	From TYPE-MOON 
============================================

[p.4] (top) 			Memories of the 10 years that have touched you. A look back 
				on the road and the illustrations introduced by these products. 

[p.5] (top)  		TYPE-MOON's brand new visual novel, Mahoutsukai no Yoru. 
       (bottom) 		2012 - Mahoutsukai no Yoru's New Package Art. 
				2011 - Mahoutsukai no Yoru's Key Visuals. 

[p.6] (bottom) 		Comptic 09/2010 cover illus. 「right 」
				Comptic 10/2010 cover illus. 「up 」	
				2009 TYPE-MOON Ace Vol.2 cover illus 「bottom 」

[p.9] (bottom) 		2009 Mahoutsukai no Yoru - key visual no. 2 「right 」
				2010 Mahoutsukai no Yoru - key visual no. 3 「up 」

[p.10] (bottom) 		Comic Market 79 - Mahoutsukai no Yoru Sports Towel 「up 」
				2012 Fate Zero Blu Ray Disc Box 1 Jacket 「left 」

[p.11] (top) 		A TV anime that became a big hit, which told the story of the 4th Grail War. 
				The world of Fate Zero. 

[p.13] (bottom) 		NewType 11/2011  cover illus  「right 」
				YoungAce 05/2012 cover illus 「up 」

[p. 15] (bottom)  	2006 Fate/Zero vol. 1 "Secret of the 4th Holy Grail War" cover 「top right p14」
				2007 Fate/Zero vol. 4 "Blazing Flames of Purgatory" cover 「top left p14」
				2010 Sound Drama Fate/Zero vol. 4 jacket 「bottom p14 」
				2008 Sound Drama Fate/Zero jacket revised edition 「top p15 」
				Young Ace 11/2011 cover illus. 「bottom right p15 」

[p. 17](bottom) 		NewType 02/2011 cover illus.  「right 」
				2011  cover for Fate Zero "Blazing Flames of Purgatory" 
				pub. by Seikaishabunko 「top 」

[p.18] (bottom) 		2003 Shingetsutan Tsukihime TV Anime  DVD-Box 

[p.19] (top)			A dynamic, powerful battle. Brave, expressive, splendid characters. 

[p.20] (bottom)		2006 Fate/Stay Night TV anime DVD Box

[p.22] (bottom)		2010 Fate/Stay Night ~Unlimited Blade Works~ Theatrical Release Package

[p.24] (bottom)		2011 Kara no Kyoukai Theatrical Release Blu-Ray Disc Box「up 」
				2006 Fate/Stay Night TV anime key visual 「left 」

[p.27] (bottom)		2008 Melty Blood Actress Again main visual 「right 」
				2005 Melty Blood Act Cadenza main visual 「top right p.27」
				2009 Melty Blood Acress Again PS2 ltd. edition package 「top left p.27」
				2002 Melty Blood package 「bottom right p. 27 」
				2010 Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code main visual 「bottom left p.27 」

[p.28] (bottom)		2004 Fate/Stay Night initial release 「top p.28 」	
				2004 Fate/Stay Night conventional release 「bottom right p.28 」
				2006 Fate/Stay Night DVD release 「bottom left p. 28 」
				2007 Fate/Stay Night Realta Nua page 「top p. 29 」
				2007 Fate/Stay Night Denshi Playstation magazine front cover 「bottom p. 29 」

[p. 30] (bottom)		2008 Fate/Unlimited Codes main visual 01 「up 」
				2008 Fate/Unlimited Codes main visual 02 「p.31 」

[p.32] (top)			2008 Kara no Kyoukai theatrical release 5th film 「p.32 」
				2011 TYPE-MOON 10th Anniversary Art Book (catalogue) front cover 「p.33 」

[p.35] (top)			While looking up at the lovely moon in the sky, 
				I am reminded of the phrase from the story. 

       (bottom)		2009 TYPE-MOON Ace vol. 4 「p.34 」
				2004 Ever After ~ Music from "Tsukihime" Reproduction ~ CD Jacket 「p.35 」

[p. 36] (bottom)		2006 Fate/another score -super remix tracks- CD Jacket

[p.39] (bottom)		2004 Fate/Stay Night ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK CD Jacket 「p.38 top 」
				2005 Fate/hollow ataraxia ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK cd Jacket 「p.38 bottom 」
				2009 Fate/Recapture -original songs collection- CD Jacket 「p.39 top 」
				2010 SoundDrama Fate/Zero Soundtrack -update edition - sparkling water CD Jacket 「p.39 bottom 」

[p.40] (bottom)		2011 The Garden of Sinners - Kara no Kyoukai theatrical release music collection CD Jacket 「p.40 」

[p.42] (bottom) 		2007 Fate/Stay Night Realta Nua ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK CD Jacket 「p.42」
				2002 TV Anime Shingetsutan Tsukihime Image Illust 「p.43」

[p.43] (top)			The princesses are so noble.

[p.45] (bottom)		2004 Kodansha Novel Kara no Kyoukai cover illust. 「p.44」
				2009 Kodakawashoten TM Fair Special 「p.45 top」
		 		CompAce 02/2009 front cover 「p.45 bottom」	

[p.47] (top)			At times they are splendid, and at times they are innocent. 
				The charming figures of the women you can't see in the battle. 
      (bottom)		2009 Kara no Kyoukai theatrical release No. 5 key visual 「p.46」
				2007 CompAce Vol. 12  front cover  	 

[p.48] (bottom)		CompAce 08/2012 front cover 「p.48」 
				NewType 09/2011 pinup 「p.49」

[p.51] (bottom)		2008 ComicMarket 75 Ryougi Shiki Bathtowel 「p.50」
				2011 Kindan Manjuu/TYPE-MOON collaboration - creamy gold time special package 「p.51」

[p. 53] (top)		Attractive and smartly dressed heroines. 

      (bottom)		2004 Kodansha novels, Kara no Kyoukai cover illus. 「p.51」
				2003 Tsukihime (Tsukibako) package 「p.52 up」
				2011 Machanbi Guide Book4 for Machi Asobi vol. 7 「p.52 bottom」	

[p. 54] (top)		2009 Dengeki Daioh 08/2009 front cover 「p.54」	
				2010 Claire De Lune front cover 「p.55」

[p. 57] (top)		TYPE-MOON heroines are cute, beautiful, and bright. 
           (bottom)		2008 Fate/Tiger Colloseum Upper Megamori Box Tarot Card 「p.56」
				NewType 01/2011, included calendar 「p.57」    

[p. 58] (bottom)		 2010 Fate/Extra TYPE-MOON Box Package      	

[p.61] (bottom)		NewType	06/2012 Pin-Up 「p.60」
				YoungAce 08/2012 illustration 「p.61」	

[p.63] (bottom)		2011 ComicMarket 81 Saber Alter SuperBig Tapestry (Wallscroll) 「p.62」	
				Tech Gian 12/2003 TYPE-MOON brochure 「p.63 top right」
				2005 Fate/hollow ataraxia first package 「p.63 top left」
				2005 Fate/hollow ataraxia ordinary package 「p.63 lower right」
				2009 Fate/stay night Realta Nua PS2 the Best package 「p.63 lower left」

[p.65] (bottom) 		2009 MELTY BLOOD Actress Again Ps2 first pressing ltd. edition OST Jacket 「p.64」
				2003 Tsukibako Tsukihime Fandisk: Kagetsu Tohya package 「p.65」

[p.67] (top)			We have gathered here illustrations rich with variety from collaborations and ComicMarket. 
         (bottom)		2010 TYPE-MOON Ace vol. 6 「p.66 top」
				2008 TYPE-MOON Ace vol. 1 「p.66 bottom」
				2012 Cheerful Japan 8th bullet Nendoroid Saber and Tohsaka Rin Cheerleader ver. 

[p.69 ] (bottom)		NewType 04/2011 front cover FSS 25th Anniversary Special Issue 

[p.70 ] (bottom)		CompAce 05/2010 front cover 「p.70 up」
				CompAce 04/2012 front cover 「p.70 bottom」
				2009 ComicMarket 76 Concept Visuals 「p.71 top」
				2006 ComicMarket 70 Concept Illust. 「p.71 bottom」

[p.73] (bottom)		2003 ComicMarket 65 Trading Card 「p.72 top right」
				2005 ComicMarket 69 Concept Illust. 「p.72 top left」
				2004 ComicMarket 66 Concept Illust. 「p.72 bottom」
				2007 ComicMarket 72 Concept Illust 「p.73 top」 
				2010 ComicMarket 79 Concept Illust 「p.73 bottom right」
				2008 ComicMarket 75 Concept Illust 「p.73 middle illust - many characters」
				2008 ComicMarket 75 Concept Illust 「p.73 bottom left」

[p.74] (middle)		2006 Kodansha  Box DDD Cover Illust. 「p.74 top」	
				2007 Kodansha Box DDD Cover Illust. 「p.74 bottom」	
				2009 Canaan Key Visual 「p.75 bottom」

[p.75] (top)			Cutting the way to a new stage. A vivid new story. 

[p. 76] (top)		2009 Mahoutsukai no Hako main visual 「p.76 top」
				CompAce 12/2010 cover illust. 「p.76 down」
				2010 Seikaisha 『月の珊瑚』 (Coral of the Moon) 「p.77」

[p.78] (bottom)		2010 Girl's Work key visual 「p.78」

[p.79] (middle)		TYPE-MOON has arrived. Here are 10 years of our history. 
				All the work made for our products will be covered. 
				The items that populate TYPE-MOON's peculiar worlds
				Could these be sold in a vendor's stand for antiques?

=================================================================================================
Translator's Notes: The next section is a recap of stuff you've already read, played,  and seen. Let's get to  the voice actor/actress
and staff interviews. I'll replace this section with a full translation of the missing stuff later.  
=================================================================================================
[p.149] 			Voice Actor Long Interview Collection 
				Let's hear from voice actors who've participated in TYPE-MOON projects about 
				their memories of the process. 

					          Nakata Jouji
				 
				- The first story we'll touch on, the original TYPE-MOON story, Kara no Kyoukai.
				Q: Nakata-san, when did you first read the Kara no Kyoukai novels?
				A: In 2002 a Kara no Kyoukai drama CD came out. I played the role of Araya Souren
				in it. Around that time I got someone to let me read a doujin copy of the story. I guess 
				it's been between 6 and 7 years since then. Recently, the particulars have been 
				changed around a bit. and I've been able to read a copy of this new corrected version. 
				However, even after reading the new version, I still want to sit back down and read 
				the original doujin one again. But it feels like Nasu has looked through a past album
				of mine, so maybe I dislike that a little (laughs). 
				
				Q: What did you think of KnoK when you first read it? 
				A: Well, the first episode is the second chapter, and the next one is the fourth. I got
				a sense of time being a loop or a ring. I felt it had a complicated structure. There was
				also the times I came across something rather shocking. Normally I go for romance or 
				fantasy, but I came to gradually know the architecture and structure of the world and
				I really liked it. I became a little angry at at the peculiar way it was written, or some of the
				repetitious text, or the overly sentimental descriptions, but I just burned through the 
				book. I got swept up in it it, held onto each volume with both hands, and read them 
				all. When I was a student, I read A Season in Hell. It was deep,and I really developed
				an affection for it. It strongly affected me. Kara no Kyoukai has a similar atmosphere.
				Things like (the root of humanity), (the surface of the body), the (soul), and (death).
				These are the kinds of elements that people in adolescence reflect on a great 
				deal. Once I had finished reading, the feelings from those days rose up within me. 
				 
				[The Most Alien Character - Araya Souren's Charm]
				Q: You played the part of Araya Souren in the theatrical version of Kara no Kyoukai. 
				What kind of impression did you have of the character? 
				A: When I acted in the film, it was like being absorbed in a new volume of the work.
				I had a pretty clear image of of him, and afterward they showed me character and 
				other setting illustrations. He looked  more slim than I had imagined, and he also
				appeared rather manly. Rather than just having a sense of existence about his body,
				I felt the power of his spirit. For hundreds of years, this man walked the world. Even
				though that was overwhelming, he was able to withstand it. He had that kind of strength. 
				He had an insane amount of spiritual power. He had the charm of an evil version of 
				Jesus. Within his bitter creation, this mage was asked what he wanted. He answered
				that he wished for nothing. In that moment, I sensed his charm as a fallen saint and 
				the sorrow he felt. I can't approach this state myself, but if this type of person really existed,
				he'd be a pure existence above good and evil. Although he only appears in the 5th work, 
				it's not an exaggeration to say he gives off the feel of a 'last boss' for the series. 
				He made a powerful impression on me and I liked his style, so he was a very charming
				character for me. 
				
[cont on p.150]		Q: Yes, Araya did have a powerful personality. But was playing this character difficult? 				
				A: He means what he says and is totally serious. For that reason it was easy to do 
				the role. In any case, he's rather taciturn. When I spoke as the character, I imagined the
				character bringing up his words from the bottom of his soul. He was surprisingly verbose.
				 There were scenes in which he'd say a lot and would express his ideas with great emotion.
				I worried that it might drag on too long (laughs). I  always spoke with the same intensity, so
				perhaps guests visiting the studio would be bored. With that in mind, I considered subtly 
				altering my tone, or using the feeling in my chest naturally change the delivery. I made these
				kinds of plans and thought about how to implement them. Yes, it was difficult to play the 
				character well. In this world, no one has the same, unchanging ideals, but Araya keeps 
				moving forward towards them with his own words and his own pace. And yet, I wanted to 
				make sure that anyone viewing the show did not feel this character's heavy way of 
				speaking was monotonous. So I wanted to give off that kind of atmosphere. 

				Q: As an example, would he speak like a Buddhist priest reading a sutra?
				A: That may have been the case. For example, if he were reciting the nembutsu ( 念仏), 
				it wouldn't be for anyone else's to hear it, instead he'd do it to heal his own heart. The
				words would leave his mouth like it was the most natural thing in the world. 
				Generally speaking, at the end of many stories the villain says "Aaaugh, you got me!"
				That's the pattern followed by many dramatic stories. When Souren was finally defeated, 
				he didn't do that. Instead, he quietly died and was at peace, as if he was leaving this world. 
				That was his will as an individual. 

				Q: In the last scene of the second episode of Kara no Kyoukai, your character had a 
				short monologue, didn't he?
				A: "As rivals whose fates are entertwined, we'll meet again in the spiral." You must mean
				the monologue that went something like that. When I read the original work some time ago, 
				I imagined that line was said by an angel, and wondered if the author's voice sounded
				like that. In fact, I never thought I'd be the one to read the line in a theatrical release for it, 
				so I was really excited when it happened (laughs). When we found out it was Araya who
				said the line, we got some heavy foreshadowing for things to come in future episodes. 
				That's when I discovered Nasu-san's power as a writer. 				

				Q: In the fifth film in the series, Araya becomes directly involved in the story. Did that cause
				you to become more eager voicing the character?
				A: I had really been looking forward to that, but it made me feel a lot of pressure. The
				characters who appear in Kara no Kyoukai, including Araya, Touko, and the protagonist
				Shiki, aren't really fazed by things that are out of the ordinary. They have special powers 
				and harken back to their origins. If I saw one of them on the road, I'd try to hide. When I 
				think about how these people will speak, blades are the first thing I imagine. None of 
				them would sound like ordinary people. That image came to me when I was reading 
				the book, and it has stayed with me since that time. At the moment my lines left my 
				mouth, I was thinking about what was inside my character's heart, as well as what
				sense he'd be experiencing. In the novel, Nasu-san wrote that Araya had a very
				"heavy voice". The readers who came across this expression had an image of 
				his voice harden in their minds, I think. It was difficult to create a voice for the character
				that would overwhelm the audience. I wasn't seeking a cheap trick to use to create
				it, and on top of acting the part I also needed to understand Araya Souren. If I didn't,
				my performance would be third-rate. For all of those reasons, it's a big responsibility
				to voice a Nasu Kinoko character. It was a little scary for me!  

				[The Shock of Seeing Kara no Kyoukai with Your Own Eyes]
				Q: How was the experience of watching Kara no Kyoukai?
				A: I was surprised to hear it was going to become a series of movies. Earlier, when the
				drama cd was published, I separated myself from the work and took the time to 
				read the story as a reader and had fun doing that. I never thought it could be turned
				into films. The content of the story was extremely complicated, and the characters in 
				the story had long monologues. The characters were also quite brutal. I thought these
				aspects would be considerable hurdles that would get in the way of any film adaptations. 
				But instead of a tv series, it became a series of movies! I was very interested in seeing 
				what shape they'd take, and  I was very uncertain of how they'd turn out. For example, in the 
				third story Shiki and Fujino's fight on the bridge left a huge impression on me. Seeing the film version of 
				it blew me away. It was as good as anything Hollywood could have come up with. 
				As a fan of the original, and as a fan of Nasu-san, I have confidence that anyone who 
				sees the film version will be very satisfied. Using myself as an example, my heart was 
				very moved by the production. 

				Q: Nakata-san, for you, what is the appeal of Kara no Kyoukai?
				A:  The world Nasu-san created and its characters have such a sense of showing
				off that I love their dialogues. With the unusual group fo personalities gathered there, 
				I felt my thoughts returning to the way they were when I was a younger man. I've had	
				the pleasure of acting in many roles, and it was always his characters who carried my
				soul away to unusual places, and it was with the feeling of something strange and
				weird. 

[cont. on p. 151]		Q: What aspect of the story is your absolute favorite thing?
				A: Groups of people with strange powers heroically meeting up to kill each other 
				in battle is a trope I can't throw away. But more than that, I like the description of 
				the psychology of the characters in the story, especially in episode 2.  There are
				two very quiet female characters, Shiki and her alternate personality who loved killing, 
				SHIKI (ç¹”). Within the mind of this one young women, two powerful and opposed 
				personalities co-existed, vying for control.  When she met Kokuto, she gradually
				changed into someone else. In addition, during the first part of the grisly serial 
				murder cases, I really wondered who the culprit was. There was also the time SHIKI (ç¹”)
				tried to kill Kokuto. All these kinds of aspects drew me in and kept my attention. 

				[Playing Characters from TYPE-MOON's Works]
				Q: You've played a lot of characters in TYPE-MOON products, including Nero Chaos and 
				Kotomine Kirei. The delegate of the Dead Apostles, Nero Chaos, was particularly memorable. 
				What are your impressions of the character?
				A: Underneath Nero's long black coat magical beasts constantly
				change and evolve in a chaotic state. He is a character with a strong visual image. 
				He's the empitome of a villain, and he also has a strong feeling of a dark hero. 
				I remember him being easy to play. Some parts of his design were reminsicent of 
				Araya Souren's, but Arya's is a transient existence. Nero, on the other hand, is both
				cynical and aggressive. Furthermore, his body contains hundreds and hundreds of 
				beasts. His ego is being affected by this, and his emotional state causes beasts to 
				manifest. He made dramatic poses like a villain and faced conflict head-on. In short, he
				was a fun character. 

				Q: It's thought that playing Kotomine Kirei would be very difficult. What do you think about 
				it?
				A: That character from Fate/Stay Night  is the evil man hidden behind the 
				curtain. Until you reach the endgame, he tends to sit back and watch what happens. During
				the 5th Holy Grail War, Emiya Shirou had no idea what Kirei was really doing.  Players controlling
				Emiya thought he was a support character designed to explain game world details. He certainly 
				has a dark enough personality to fit the man behind the curtain role. He looks young for his age, 
				and is overly serious. I tried to sustain a serious mood when playing him.  Honestly, I didn't play
				him as a villain. He wasn't deliberately trying to hurt anyone person, instead he participated in 
				Holy Grail War to learn the whole of human  suffering and understand his own nature. He
				certainly has no opportunties to follow his own interests or experience pleasure. In fact, I view him
				as a rather pitiful truth seeker. This priest and Araya the monk, while walking down different roads, 
				had some things in common, namely their dedication to their goals. Araya suppressed all of 
				his own emotions and focused all of his energy on reaching the Root of Existence.
				He thought of nothing else. In contrast, Kotomine Kirei pursued his own pleasure and strove to 
				achieve it no matter the cost. For Kirei, this is something like a pearl that has been shut away,
				and his being senses the absence of it. 
				
				Q: It looks like you'll be playing Kotomine Kirei again for the Drama CDs. Are you excited
				about playing the character again?
				A: Ah, Fate/Zero. The prequel that takes place 10 years before Fate/Stay Night. 
				I play a younger, less experienced Kirei in that work. 	Even so, as you might expect, 
				As the events unfold, he grows more experienced and darker. Will I be able to 
				convincingly play a troubled younger man? I don't think they can subsitute in 
				a younger cast member at this point (laughs). That was a joke just then, but I bet 
				if a younger voice actor who loved the work heard that, he'd want to fight me for
				the part. 			

				[Nakata-san, to you, what is a "path of evil"?]
				Q: You've played villains in many works. What is interesting about playing 
				evil people?
				A: They do have a certain appeal. If it's all right for me to use Fate as an example,
				I'd choose to play Kirei over any other part, including Gilgamesh. And to bring up 
				Kara no Kyoukai again, I'd choose to play Araya Souren out of all the parts. If I had
				to give a reason, it would be because these parts match my ideals, and I also want
				to show my thanks to Nasu-san and the production staff. 

				Q: What is the charm of a villain?
				A: To put it simply, even though villains get to do a lot of harm to 
				other people around them, that's not interesting in and of itself. Instead, it's
				because the criminal always looks cool to the audience.  If they didn't, why
				would so many villain characters degenerate, carry these heavy burdens, or clash
				with the other characters in the stories? In fact, villains are some of the most evocative
				characters. They're the ones opposing the system and the nature of the world. 
				The other people get to take it easy and follow the rules. Everyone out there has at
				some point wanted to go against the grain, clash against society's rules, 
				and bend them into a better shape. I myself have plenty of those memories, and I have
				been covering up my feelings of this. [cont on p. 152]

[p.151] (bottom)		Characters Played by Nakata Jouji
				Kara no Kyoukai's Araya Souren  ,   Fate/Stay Night's Kotomine Kirei,  Fate/Zero's Kotomine Kirei
				Translator's note: the summaries are things you already know. We'll go on to the rest of the 
				interview. 

[p. 152]			[cont from 151] If you reflect on the  reverberating feelings of a villain's way of life, you can surely
				sympathize with him. If I were to live my life the way Kotomine or Araya lived theirs, I bet 
				I'd experience an amazing catharsis. What I'm trying to say is that I can feel more of a sense of 
				reality when I play someone evil than when I play a hero of justice, and that influences my acting. 
				 A hero of justice who fights for the happiness of everyone has a particular effect. If you locked eyes
				on one, even one near death, it'd give you the courage to keep moving forward. But unfortunately
				people like that just don't exist. Because of that, heroes have a fantastical existence and people 
				admire them.
				
				[The Impression Nakata-san has of TYPE-MOON Works Close to his Heart]
				Q: You've played many parts in TYPE-MOON productions. What's your impression of 
				TYPE-MOON itself?		
				A: I haven't had the opportunity to meet many members of TYPE-MOON other than 
				 Nasu-san. But one thing that can be felt throughout their works is a sense of 
				amateurism. The circle originally consisted of only Takeuchi  Takashi and Kinoko Nasu, 
				who were participating in doujin activities. However, they came to attract many fans, and with their
				 support TYPE-MOON hit the scene with an explosive success. 
				Now they are recognized as one of the best game-making companies. Even so, the impression
				 I get from them now isn't different from the one I got from experiencing their 
				 Kara no Kyoukai doujin novel or its Drama CD. During the recording sessions, I never got
				 the feeling of being looked down on. Instead, I felt that we were being treated as equals
				 while we mutually cooperated together making a product. Nasu-san was very shy,
				 and he was very flexible with me when he saw how hard I was working. He was earnestly
				 absorbed in the process. I liked him and I liked working with him. One thing about
				 him I can reveal is that I could feel the intense affection and passion he has for his stories. 
				 His attitude hasn't changed from the time he was an amateur author,
				 and he hasn't become arrogant, brusque, and rude. That's a very great thing. You can feel 
				Nasu's personality through his works. Within them you'll find his experiences, his pain,
				and his memories of adolescence. I don't mention this to criticize or affirm him. Even now,
				 I feel some emotions of that time. This attitude of Nasu-san's informs the
				existence of the characters in his stories and can be glimpsed in them. It hasn't faded 
				with time, and that atmosphere and good feeling is in the work. I feel the
				charm of the stories. Even though TYPE-MOON will only get bigger with time, 
				 they'll continue to make products without letting their enthusiasm diminish. 
				In fact, I hope that TYPE-MOON will remember the time it had as a group of  amateur 
				creators. I hope they can release a lot and that they'll work very hard.  
				
				
				[Works You Found That Have a Screaming Soul]
				Q: Nakata-san, of the various novels you've read, which has had the most impact on 
				your life?
				A: I may have mentioned this before, but a Season in Hell really affected me. 
				I like TYPE-MOON's stuff as well, but saying that makes me sound like a suck-up. 
				The titles I've read and played through have given me a lot of happiness. And like all
				of you, I have a lot of affection for Nero Chaos, Kotomine Kirei, and Araya Souren. 
				I hope the fans who've been touched by the stories will make many doujin spinoff goods
				and give Nasu-san a lot of feedback. I want to check those out too. I don't know how 
				TYPE-MOON will change in the future, but you as fans are going to play a part in 
				that. Even now they're hammering away at something, and I'm happy to say I'm going
				to be a part of that. 

[p152]  (bottom) 			Nakata Jouji. Born on 04/22.  Affiliated with the Office Osawa agency. Famous for his    
				work in Keroro Gunso, Nurarihyon no Mago, Sket Dance, et al. 

[p153] 				      Yuzuki Ryouka 
				

				[The History of Walking Together with MELTY BLOOD]
				Q: When did you first start working on a TYPE-MOON project, and what was it
				like?
				A: I got my first experience by participating in a MELTY BLOOD audition. 
				
				Q: Was that where you met the TYPE-MOON staff?
				A: Yes, but it was a very brief encounter. I didn't really meet them until we
				started the recording sessions. 
				
				Q: Do you remember your initial impressions from that time?
				A: Sorry, I was so nervous back then I can't remember it now (lol).
				When I heard that I'd passed the audition, I wondered if I really was all that
				great. After that we were so busy at the recording sessions I didn't have 
				chances to talk freely with the staff. I was really nervous during those sessions.
				[What if they criticize me? What will I do?]  I thought things like that. 

				Q: But you kept on acting despite this level of tension. How was that?
				A: By looking at the drawings, I got the sense that Arcueid was a very 
				mature girl. During the recording sessions, I was told she was a 
				very eager, friendly, and open-hearted character. So instead of thinking of 
				her as your usual conflicted, dark vampire, I used the image of an 
				ordinary young woman as her basis. When I was at a loss as to how
				to play her, the staff gave me a lot of encouragement, and asked me 
				to keep acting as Arcueid. After that, I was able to get the confidence
				I needed to act naturally and play the part. 

				Q: Do you have any special memories from playing Arcueid?
				A: The world of MELTY BLOOD had some dark spots with the 
				stink of blood, but  Arcueid had a carefree and light heart. I think 
				she was going at her own pace. There were plenty of other characters
				that were cooler or darker, but Arc was Arc. And I'm me, I suppose. 

				Q: Ryouka-san, what do you think is charming about Arcueid?				
				A: All of the faces she makes. There's the cute face of an ordinary girl, 
				the devil-like face she makes when she goes out of control, and the face
				of a princess he makes as a True Ancestor. Having all these other
				faces waiting behind the cute appearance of an ordinary girl makes 
				her very interesting. There was another thing I really liked about her. 
				She had a very simple outfit. These simple clothes added a lot to the 
				character. The simple design of  the long dress and the long-sleeved white 
				sweater meant nothing was exposed. It's been several years since her 
				appearance in Tsukihime. During those years, many kinds of fashion have 
				come and gone. Arcueid keeps going forward with her own distinctive look. 
				This was a fresh way of making a character's appearance and I liked it 
				a lot. It was a distinctive look that in my opinion is more charming than 
				Hisui or Kohaku's. 

				Q: Among the many faces that Arcueid has, which one is your absolute
				favorite?
				A: I like her everyday, innocent, friendly face. Shiki-kun is the same way. 
				Even when she's fighting she has an innocent quality about her which is 
				very cute. [What? How weak! Booring!] She would say something like that
				as a throwaway line, but she'd be having fun the whole time. But from Shiki-kun's
				point of view, having such a whimsical girl as his love interest is probably
				exasperating (lol). She's probably really clingy. With all of that out of the way, 
				I always really looked forward to playing her. 

				Q: Do you have any aspects that are similar to Arcueid's?
				A: We both have a relaxed lifestyle because we want to take it easy. 

				Q: What parts of you differ from Arcueid?
				A: Arcueid is incredibly courageous. I'm not. In fact, I'm rather timid. I'd probably
				have more fun if I were as spontaneous and unrestrained as Arcueid. 

				Q: You also played a totally different character from Arcueid that was called 
				Neco-Arc. What was that like?
				A: Well, she's a cat and is very pesky. She also doesn't think things through carefully. 
				I checked over the original manuscript for a little bit and tried to act after
				imagining what the air would be like where she was. She's not a dramatic character,
				so you don't have to think about how to play her (lol). 
				
				Q: Did you throw out a lot of ad-libbed lines when you were playing her?
				A: To give you an idea, if you use Neco-Arc to defeat someone in a VS match, 
				she'll say 「ウイーン」 (win!)  but for some reason, my voice undulated as
				I read the line. It came out as  「ウイ~~ン」 (wuEEnnN) instead. However, that
				was the kind of bizarre thing the character would do, so we ended up using that
				take (laughs). The character was so completely innocent that it was a lot of fun 
				to play Neco-Arc. Sometimes I got a little carried away and the director would 
				ask me to more closely follow the script (laughs). 

				Q: It seems there are a lot of fans of this Neco-Arc character, aren't there?
				A: She's a loveable character! I have a figure of her in the kitchen at my house. 
				It has big, wide eyes. Sometimes the light will hit the face of the character and our
				eyes will end up meeting. It always cheers me up. I also have a huge stuffed toy 
				(plushie) of the character in my pet room. Playing with it has something like a 
				healing effect on me. 

				Q: To change the topic away from MELTY BLOOD, in the game Fate/Tiger Colloseum
				you voiced a different character named Phantas-Moon. Would you tell us about 
				your experience playing her?
				 A: That one was what Arcueid would have been like if she were turned into a 
				magical girl. As it turns out, when I was first starting out as a voice actress, 
				I really wanted to play a magical girl because I looked up to them. Unfortunately, 
				I was still inexperienced when it came time to play one . . . So Phantas-Moon really
				did make my dream come true. I think it's been really great for me to get the part
				acting in MELTY BLOOD because it expanded into all of this! 

				A: Do you have any anecdotes concerning the time you spent recording your lines?
				Q: Neco-Arc had to say "We are aliens" scene but I ended up saying 
				"All right! Are we aliens?" and then I awkwardly added "We are". The staff burst out
				laughing. They told me they had to concentrate on recording the material and asked
				me not to go too far off-script. 

				Q: Are there any characters you worry about voicing?
				A: Not really. I'd like to try on many different roles. But if I were doing a live-action 
				production, I might have trouble playing a really cool or a really cute character. 

				Q: You've been involved in the process of recording lines for MELTY BLOOD: Actress
				Again for about a year. Looking back, what springs to mind?
				A: We have been recording for a while now. We've been at it so long I don't really 
				think that deeply about it. First we'd try to get all the main recording out of the way, 
				and then we'd record additional material. I got to speak as Arcueid a lot during that 
				time. It was how we spent every day. So I don't have a great many memorable 
				moments to tell you about. 

				Q: MELTY BLOOD seems to have quieted down a little bit. 
				What are your thoughts?
				A: MELTY BLOOD  coincided with me starting out as a voice actress. I have a lot
				of memories and emotion invested in it. 
			
				Q: One could say you have a lot of history with it as well, right?
				A: Indeed! First TYPE-MOON's work, Tsukihime, came first. And that was followed by 
				MELTY BLOOD. After that came the Fate series. They've been making extremely 
				popular works one right after another. 

				[For the Fans Who Want a Drama CD]
				Q: In the TYPE-MOON vol. 3 supplemental, a MELTY BLOOD Drama CD was included.
				You participated in this also, didn't you?
				A: Of course, and I had a lot of fun doing it! While we were recording the game, we 
				recorded all our lines separately. For the Drama CD we were able to record in the 
				same area together. Although MELTY BLOOD has continued for a long time, this is 
				the first time we've all gathered together to make something. Everyone was really 
				excited! You guys should listen to them! There's one in TYPE-MOON Ace and one
				in Comptic! Get them both! After you listen to them, you'll be able to enjoy the 
				story of MELTY BLOOD even more! 

				Q: So you're saying there's fun to be had in Drama CDs?
				A: In both games and anime, there are certain restrictions one must deal with. 
				Those just don't exist for Drama CDs. You have more opportunities  to ad-lib and 
				play off of the responses of your fellow cast members. You'll probably end up laughing
				even when (laugh) isn't written in the script. As a result, the recording process is 
				really quite lively.  This time around my character wasn't the main focus, as a result I got
				to relax a bit and watch everyone else have fun during the process. 
								
				Q: Do you have any special memories?
				A: In the CD that came with Comptiq there was a scene in which Arcueid and Neco-Arc
				were speaking alternately. We did not record those parts separately, so I had to fluidly 
				switch between the two characters. It was hard not to make mistakes while I did that. 
				There was also Satsuki's slapstick, which I had a lot of fun watching. 

				Q: Oh? What did you hear?
				A: Everything.  But what I mean to say is that it's the recording process itself that's
				interesting. I think we all have fun doing this. So all of it. And as I said earlier, since the Drama CD
				is a special project the characters can act a little differently from how they normally would.  
				Riesbyfe Stridberg and Sion both had were very funny. It's a precious CD that gives you the feeling of 
				a live performance. It has some great stuff. 
				
				Q: It seems your co-stars are looking for more chances to work on this. Do you 
				have any thoughts?
				A: When we meet up in separate locations, we talk about how fun working on this was. 
				Last time I was only with the girls when when we were recording, so next time I want to
				talk to the male actors. As we discussed, when we were making the game's expansion, 
				I never was able to talk to Shiki-kun. MELTY BLOOD is a game that may have come to 
				an end, but new material is coming to keep expanding the world. There's been some 
				talk of an anime adaptation. That's it! Let's have a theatrical release! I just thought of 
				Neco-Arc in the lead role. Well, maybe that won't happen. But it'd be great if they made
				goods featuring her for the film. Wow, my ambition is getting bigger and bigger. (lol)

				[The True Face of Yuzuki Ryouka-san, Who Spends Her Days at Her Own Pace like Arc]
				Q: What do you like to do on your days off?
				A: Cleaning, doing the laundry, or going for a drive. Wait, I don't go for a drive until
				the housework is done. I don't want to come back from a drive and find a dirty house. 
				I head on out after the work is done. 

				Q: Do you like driving?
				A: I love it! I don't have much time for it, but one time I went all the way to Hakone. 
				I loved their onsen.

				Q: What's your next goal for work?
				A: We don't have enough time for me to tell you all of my goals. (lol)
				One thing I can say is I hope I can meet the rest of the team and make a product
				that our audience will love. 			

				Q: How about a message for the TYPE-MOON staff?
				A: They always met us warmly greeted us at the recording sessions, so all of us
				were able to focus on getting the work done. We still haven't had much time to 
				hang out and talk together, so I think it'd be good for us to meet up and have
				a relaxed dinner together.  Let's get pumped and make a special edition!				

				Q: Last question. Do you have a message for the readers and your fans?
				A: MELTY BLOOD  was a great product that I had a fun time playing a part in. 
				Thank you very much for your continuing support. And maybe we'll see a
				a special version if we wait long enough. (lol) Okay, maybe I'll stop the 
				jokes for now. (laughs)

[p156]				       Takano Naoko 
				

				Due to the huge volume of requests from fans, we will have an 
				interview with Takano Naoko, who has voiced Kohaku, Magical Amber, 
				and Ruby-chan the Magical Stick in Fate/Tiger Colloseum Upper. 
				Takano: Wait, you really want to talk to me? (lol)
				
				Interviewer: Both your supporters and fans among the staff asked. 
				It seems they want to hear your voice and even have some ways to 
				trigger some responses. 
				Takano: Oh, is that so!? I didn't know that.  I'm happy to hear it  ~♪				
				
				Q: By the way, what's the whole story behind your coming to act
				in TYPE-MOON works?
				A: I was at the MELTY BLOOD audition. That was my first time to 
				experience one of their projects. At the time, I was trying out for the 
				parts of Tohno Akiha and Arcueid, but  when I saw the character 
				design for Kohaku and read some of her lines I knew I absolutely 
				wanted to play her. And then I chose her as the character for me 
				to play. 
			
				Q: What was the impression you had of the TYPE-MOON staff 
				when you met them?
				A: They were very kind. I was able to meet Nasu-san
				and Takeuchi-san during the recording sessions. Even now 
				they don't seem to have changed that much. They started out as 
				a doujin company, they're so big now that they have their own 
				magazine, TYPE-MOON Ace. It's amazing to see that they've become
				a huge game-making company. Under ordinary circumstances, their
				attitudes might have changed, such as calling me Takano-kun. But
				they have stayed the same. When we meet up with everyone in 
				the group, we are reminded of the proverb, "don't forget 
				your original intention", and TYPE-MOON hasn't. Every time we 
				go to work, it feels like we're stepping into our art studio and that 
				we're meeting up with old friends.  
			
				[ Countdown to Activation!? The Character of Kohaku]
				Q: You've played the character of Kohaku in MELTY BLOOD. What
				are your impressions of Kohaku?
				A: She's aware of everyone and what's going on. My image of her
				changed over time. At first I acted with the idea that she was 
				like a cute little bird, but we had so many recording sessions that 
				the idea became a little fuzzy. During the recording, I was often asked
				to act a little nutty, so I got into high spirits by playing as this
				character. More and more of Kohaku's lines in the script came to be 
				ended with special marks. [ Pleasse do (omitted)! ~♪] [Gonna do this!! ♥]  
				We had a lot of fun with that. She became a character who would do
				anything. (laughs)

				Q: What aspect of Kohaku is the most charming? 
				A: It's not that she's cuter or kinder than the other heroines. She's plotting
				things deep inside her heart, she loves playing pranks and gags. 
				Maybe I have something like that deep within my personality. People with
				AB blood are supposed to have two natures, but I have four. No, that
				was a lie. It's not like that. But I do love playing pranks, and we definitely
				have that in common. 

				Interviewer: It looks like you have some things in common. 
				Takano: Of course, it was known even then that Kohaku was a troublesome
				girl. Neco-Arc calls her 腹黒割烹 (HaguroKapou, or Evil Scheming Japanese-style Apron).
				That was when it started. And things got weirder after that. She became quite
				devious from that point forward. She's not a character that you hate, though. 
				Even so, TYPE-MOON's characters really stand out. It's no surprise they're
				so popular. 
				
				Q: Speaking of popularity, Kohaku's not one of the main heroines. Despite
				this, she's still very popular. Any thoughts?
				Takano: I'm happy with how things worked out. When I go to different job sites 
				and am handed a script with a totally different character, I still get asked to use 
				the Kohaku voice for them. I was surprised when that happened at so many job sites, 
				but  it's proof that she's still loved by many people. 

				Q: Do you have anything that troubles you when you act?
				A: I try to analyze the situation to figure out how to approach the material. 
				I don't just use the personality of the character to create the tone for
				the voice, but I instead use sensation and the emotion of the character
				to create a type of performance. In Kohaku's case, when I read the "PA"
				sound she made in the text, I visualized pouring rain. I was in agreement
				with the TYPE-MOON staff, so  we didn't have any trouble working together
				and the recording sessions went well. When the other actors and actresses
				were acting sometimes things would have to be fixed,  but I got through 
				Kohaku's part with no problem.
			
				Q: In Fate Tiger Colloseum Upper, you played a character that looked a lot like
				Kohaku named Magical Amber. Did you feel a great difference between them?
				A:  I had a look at the character designs and thought she looked a lot like Kohaku. 
				I felt a little suprised and lost. During recording, I was told to record her lines by 
				speaking as Kohaku, and I read her lines that way. (laughs) Still, because she's
				a magical girl I altered the consciousness I had while voicing the lines. This meant
				that Magical Amber's voice was more comical. I was going to try something 
				similar for Ruby-chan the Magic Stick, but I was told to keep using the Kohaku voice
				for her.  "Really!? Kohaku's voice even for this character!?" The amount of intensity
				varied for each character even though each one of them had Kohaku's voice. 

				Q: Do you have any favorite lines or scenes for these characters?
				A: Yes. For example, in MELTY BLOOD  she said "That's power!" when she won. 
				I liked that one. Another one I liked was "Te-ya-ya-♪"  
				In Fate/Tiger Colloseum Upper there was one time that both Magical Amber and 
				Ruby-Chan the Magic Stick were debating over who would eat a chocolate pound
				cake. I had to play both roles while they went back and forth on the issue, 
				so that was pretty interesting. Oh, here's another one: 
				"My smile's like a  sunflower, and I have the heat of a schemer! 
				Magical Amber, exactly! I have arrived!"
				I put a lot of heart into that line. 

				[Recording with Kohaku's sister Hisui on the Scene]
				Q: What was it like recording your lines at the studio?
				A: I can tell you about some mistakes I made. At one point we were done, and 
				about to pack up, butI was asked to remain behind. I wondered what was going on. 
				"Oh, I bet they will ask me to go back to the usual Kohaku voice for this scene", I thought. 
				It turns out that the version of Kohaku I'd been playing recently was too wacky and silly.
				It wasn't matching up with Akiha-sama's. I then began recording the lines again 
				in repeated takes using a more restrained image of the situation. Afterward I put out
				some feelers to see if my recent acting had been like that (laughs). 
			
								
				Q: Your character Kohaku is the older twin sister of Hisui. Have you had any
				chances at the studio to work together with Matsuki Miyu, the voice actress for 
				Hisui? 
				A: Unfortunately due to scheduling problems we weren't able to work together
				at the same time to record our lines. Typically I'd be recording my voice first, 
				and while it's true that in a MELTY BLOOD battle the two characters might be  
				playing off of each other and responding to each other, I'd record my line 	
				first and then Matsuki-san would add her voice and match my delivery.
				I'm sure it was a lot of work to make the tension in our voices match up well, 
				so I am glad I got to record my lines first. (lol) The script with Hisui-chan's lines
				got a lot of special marks, and I wondered how much I was affecting the 
				situation. 

				Q: You both have worked on recording your lines for other projects, 
				such as the Drama CD, "A Holiday at Ahnenerbe". Would you
				 tell us about that?
				A: No, that's unfortunately not correct. However, we've been able to meet up 
				at different places and get along like real sisters. We say things like 
				"It'd be good to be in another of these together" and "We should appear in the next game".
				
				Q: You mentioned the next game. By any chance, are you talking about the remake of 
				Tsukihime?
				A: It seems that way. MELTY BLOOD does share a connection to the world of Tsukihime.
				If we have the opportunity to be involved, we both absolutely want to reprise our roles in
				Tsukihime. We'll be appearing in the middle of the story! We're really excited!
		
				[Works made by Takano Naoko that Should be Loved]
				Q: Are there any works that had an influence on you?
				A: Yes! I really liked some novels written by Ekuni Kaori. It was easy to get into them
				and the language was pretty. When work was over and I wanted a change of pace,
				I'd read one of them. I really liked "Boku no Kotori-chan".  After reading it, I began to 
				keep a parakeet as a pet. I guess I'm easily influenced. 

				Q: I see. Any others?
				A: This one's work-related. When I was making my debut, my big sempai, Masamune
				Kazunari-san, and Ikeda Masako-san listened to my voice. I recited Takamura 
				Kotaro-san's work, the Portrait of Cheiko, on the stage for them. I learned so much 
				from this and became better at expressing emotion. "You ought to  freely express
				Takano's sensibilities" is what I was told. After that, whenever I used my voice to work, I 
				thought back to this lesson and what I had learned. 

				Q: Would you make  younger seiyuu do this? 
				A: I don't think I'm in a position to say that. I'd rather encourage them. 
				"Let's work together! ♪" I'd say something like that. 

				Q: In Fate/Tiger Colloseum Upper you sang a song. Do you like 
				to sing?
				A: I was able to sing! I was able to sing a spare version of one of 
				the songs. Of course it was the "high spirits" version of the song. 
				The lyrics were nice, and reflected a dark and scheming feeling
				turned up to full throttle. I can get into character as Amber now. 
				Do you want to hear it? I'm not just going to say the words. I'd 
				enjoy being able to sing it. I'm so glad I was able to sing the song for
				the game. It was fun to do. 

				Q: Are you interested in music?
				A: I love to sing. I often sing karaoke. Nakajima Mika and Otsuka Ai
				are some of my favorite singers. I like to sing 
				Amagigoe.
					
				Q: Are you going to approach singing in these projects more?	
				A: When I was working on Tokimeki Memorial 2 I was part of a five-person
				group called Quintet. The unit did band stuff even though no one in 
				the group played any musical instruments! (laughs) I was put in charge of
				the keyboard but I didn't even know which key I'd press for "do". We all worked
				together to create the lyrics. During the live event we threw in some sketches. 
				This was when we were still recording stuff separately as voice actors in addition.
				We were nervous! Even so, we got a lot of warm reactions from the crowd. 
				When it comes to working to make anime and games, there's a bit of 
				a time lag between what you are creating and the response you get back 
				from your audience. That's why it's good to directly engage your fans. 

				Q: This is the last one. Do you have a message to the readers and to the 
				TYPE-MOON staff?
				A: I'm so happy I've been able to work on TYPE-MOON works for this long. 
				The members of the staff worked with a hard schedule every day, so I would
				like to tell them to take careful care of their bodies and to continue making 
				wonderful products. Please regard me favorably for your next project. 
				To my readers, thank you so much for your love of Kohaku and 
				Magical Amber. I think my work as a seiyuu will continue to expand. If
				I'm objectively asked "How would you act in this role?", I'll be happy to respond to that
				in a letter. If I get a note like that from TYPE-MOON, I'll be sure to 
				write back. (lol)
				
[p158]  (bottom) 			Takano Naoko. Born on 06/16.  Affiliated with Sigma Seven. Famous for her    
				work in Kidou Senkan Nadesico (in which she played the part of Megumi Reinard), 
				Tokimeki Memorial 2 (in which she played the part of Kotobuki Miyuki), and 
				Shukufuku no Campanella (in which she played the part of Shelley Maycraft). 

[p159]				  Kawasumi Ayako 
				

				[The Part of Saber, In Which The Original Author, Nasu Kinoko, Had Full Confidence]
				Q: What was the TYPE-MOON work that you first knew of?
				A: That would be the one I first appeared in, the anime version of Fate/stay night. 
				When I passed the audition for the part of Saber, I was very impressed by the worlds
				of TYPE-MOON. "Nasu Kinoko-san is awesome, TYPE-MOON is awesome." 
				I heard people saying things like that all the time, so I was really looking forrward to 
				recording my lines.  

				Q: Did you first meet TYPE-MOON staff during your audition?
				A: I met Nasu-san and Takeuchi-san along with a great many people. I met even 
				more when we met up to record the first episode of the show. Before I met 
				Nasu-san I had wondered whether Nasu-san was in fact a man or a woman. 
				After our meeting, I found out that Nasu-san was a man. I remember that. (lol)

				Q: I see (lol). The Fate/stay night anime is an adaptation of an extremely popular
				eroge that is fiercely loved by many. Did you feel any tension working on such
				a high-profile project?
				A: Part of me felt that it was a great honor for me to be able to work on this project,
				but I didn't worry about what it was before being adapted. I didn't feel the pressure
				of love for it. In fact, if I had played the game before, I might have felt that the Saber
				within me isn't the Saber of the game. I think it is good that it worked out that way. 
				Afterward Nasu-san was said it was good for me to play Saber. That made me feel
				very happy. Even if some people don't like my work, it's okay if the original author 
				likes it - in fact that one person gave me a lot of confidence. 

				Q:   Did you speak with Nasu-san very often?
				A: We didn't have much time to talk during the recording sessions for the anime, 
				but that changed later on. After doing the anime, we started work recording the 
				lines for the Realta Nua edition of the game. Yet again I was providing the voice
				of Saber. I asked Nasu-san to share his thoughts. He gave me advice, saying 
				I should make her voice for Realta Nua sound more boyish than she 
				did in the anime. 

				Q: What was your impression of Nasu-san?
				A: When I first met him, I wondered what was going on inside his head. 
				(lol) I also wondered how he thought of this story as it was quite strange. 
				As it turns out, he was a gentleman who had the usual common sense. 
				I am definitely interested in how he gets his ideas. 

				[The Depth of Charm Felt for Saber in Fate/Zero]

				Q:  How do you feel about the outlook of the world in the Fate series?
				A: I think it's great we have someone who can think of something so 
				amazing. King Arthur and Hercules are legendary figures that most
				people have heard of, but I think it's very interesting that he thought of this 
				complex way for them to be brought out and appear in the same work. 
				It's very exciting to have epic heroes of history come together in the 
				current age. 

				Q: Saber is a king of legend, Arturia (King Arthur). Did knowing this
				make you feel excited?
				A: I learned that when I read over the information about the character
				at the audition, but then I looked at the illustration for her. The image I 
				got of her from that showed someone facing a serious struggle; I 
				sensed the pressure she must have been feeling. It turns out that I've
				played many roles in which I was a member of the royal family or 
				nobility (laughs). I've thought about the existence and position of 
				the king for a long time; maybe this helped me give Saber life. 

				Q: How did you feel about Saber?
				A: The people around her forced her into the position of king, and 
				made her pretend to be a man. She was trapped. It was a terrible
				spot. Even though she's tough she's still feminine, and even though 
				she's small she's extremely strong. These gaps work to create a 
				charming character. I created an image: she's a person who liked to drink 
				sweet juice, but has been drinking natural mineral water instead. 
				I thought that image was very lovely. So when I played her, I was careful
				not to let sweetness out of the character. 

				Q: Was it hard to act like that?
				A: No, there were no problems. (lol) Of course there were complex parts
				where things needed to be fixed, but overall I don't think Saber is a character
				that's extremely hard to play. I had a lot of fun playing her. I had to play a 
				lady with a mentality and backbone unlike others from her time. 
	
				Q: Do you have any memories from recording at the studio?
				A: I was wondering when she was going to come to love Shirou in the 
				story. I was thinking about that a lot. The reason for that is 
				that there'd be a lot of  happy and embarrassing moments. As an example,
				there's a moment when Shiro sees her naked in the bathtub. Even in that
				situation Saber is totally calm. I remember wondering why they hadn't
				begun their romantic relationship yet (laughs). 

				Q:  Fate/Zero got Drama CDs. Was there a big gap between acting in these
				and its eventual adaptation as a TV anime?
				A: We were talking about adapting the book as far back as when we were
				recording Realta Nua. 
		
				Q: Not only limited to these original stories, but in the Fate unlimited codes and 
				Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper games, you played Saber and a character
				derived from Saber, Saber Lion. 
				Do you have any comments about this?
				A: Saber Lion is a gag character who is only interested in eating. I had fun
				playing the character though. Her vocabulary is limited to "growl". (laughs)
	
				Q: You've been playing Saber for a long time. It started when you acted in the 
				Fate/stay night anime and then continued on in Realta Nua, Fate/Zero, and
				Fate/unlimited codes. Has your frame of mind for the character changed?
				A: I found out a lot of things about her from what happened in Fate/Zero. 
				My performance of the character changed to reflect what I know now. 
				When recording lines for the character, I am careful to keep this in mind. 

				[Recommended Action Scenes Featuring the Character in the Theatrical Release]

				Q: Wasn't there a display for the theatrical release?
				A: I heard about the story three years in advance. When it finally arrived, 
				I felt a sense of "finally!" I heard they were going to show a commanding 
				event from the game. However, the work focused the spotlight on Shirou 
				and Archer. Shirou, Archer, and Lancer all had moments in the film when 
				they looked really cool. It was a guys' movie (laughs). 

				Q: What part of the film was an "must see"?
				A: The action scenes were amazing. People will have fun watching the 
				battles. I'd also recommend it to the girls because I think they'll enjoy the 
				powerful bodies of the men in the story. 

				Q: What's the highlight of Saber?			
				A: She's so devoted to her land. The TV anime story happens in a parallel
				reality and her relationship with Shirou in this one is totally different. I think she's
				a step closer to being a pure heroine in this adaptation. 

				Q: But won't your fans and Saber's fans be saddened  by hearing you say that?
				A: She still has her appeal. I can't explain how, but this time she is summoned
				in a special rite that makes her much more powerful. There are some frantic 
				magic battles and Saber has some decisive attacks - I think you should see 
				the film. 

				Q: When you were recording your part for the film, did you have a reunion 
				with the other voice actors and actresses?
				A: Not so much there, but when I was recording Fate/Zero  and acting 
				the part of Saber there, no one had forgotten the character. The Fate property
				is so popular that there have been several related games. In fact, meeting up 
				with the other cast members isn't a reunion. It's the usual thing! Thanks to 
				that, recording for them goes smoothly. 

				Q:In the web radio program, Fate/stay tune,  will there be a lot of messages from
				the fans?
				A: I strongly sensed the expectations of the fans. Of the Fate characters, it 
				seems that Archer is the most popular among the male characters, so his
				voice actor supplied a lot of macho-sounding lines. I think a lot of fans are
				anticipating cool Archer saying things, so it'll be something for them to 
				look forward to. 

				[The Disposition of a King!? Kawasumi-san's True Nature]

				Q:  Have you, Kawasumi-san, found yourself acting or thinking like Saber?
				A:  I don't think I have Saber's regal disposition, but it has gotten easier to 
				act like a king. Sometimes it's hard to use the special language, but it 
				feels good to be a lord. I don't want to be thought of as a person that 
				has the disposition of a king, so whether or not I'm like her will become
				a seperate topic (lol). 

				Q: Well then, among the Fate series' many female characters, which 
				one is closest to you?
				A: Well, the answer isn't Sakura. Maybe Saber then? I'm like her in that
				I enjoy eating a lot. My co-stars tell me that often. 
			
				Q: Which of the male characters do you like?
				A: (answering quickly) Gilgamesh! He's so overwhelming! Sorry that it's 
				not Shirou. Shirou is so gentle that I think he'd hurt people with his kindness. 
				Gill's good points aren't only that he's different from that, he's also 
				overpowered and rich. With all of those qualities, 
				it's no wonder he shoots past the others. 

				Q: I suppose so. Well then, if it's all right for us to ask about your life outside of work, 
				how do you like to spend your free time?
				A: If I have enough time, I like to go on trips. I enjoy onsen. If I have many days off
				like the New Year holiday break, I will travel overseas.  
				I also like to go diving in the ocean. 

				Q: Scuba diving? Are you just starting out or have you been diving for a long time?
				A: I've been scuba diving for about four years. I've been to Guam, Saipan, and
				Fiji. I have tomorrow off, so I'm going diving . . . is an excuse I can't really use. 
				I can't take a relaxing vacation with just one day off. There are days on breaks 
				when I feel sluggish and don't want to go outside. I also like cooking. Sometimes
				I cook a lot ahead of time for the times I'm going to be very busy. 

				Q: Okay, here's our last question. Do you have a message for your fans and
				the readers?
				A: Just one product went on to get re-releases, spinoff novels, sequel games,
				a movie, a prequel tv show . . . it's because of the popularity and love people
				feel for it. To everyone who's supported us, I want to express my sincere gratitude
				and appreciation. There's a certain episode that I think you will enjoy watching. 
				I don't know if it'll be in another Fate
				work, but when the chance comes, it'd be good for us to end up touching
				another wonderful world.  
				
				Kawasumi Ayako. Born on 3/30. Affiliated with Office Osawa. Notable roles include 
				Nodame Cantabile (Noda Megumi), Shakugan no Shana (Yoshida Kazumi), and 
				AKB0048 (Sayaka Akimoto the 10th/Igarashi Akira).   
				

[p162] 				            Ueda Kana 
				
				[Ueda-san has lined up next to Takeuchi-san and they look like a 
				friendly couple]
				
				Q: When did you first learn the name of the TYPE-MOON company?
				A: It was back when I was still in Kansai. I was a member of a circle 
				that specialized in dubbing.
				 I knew that TYPE-MOON was involved in making doujinshi and doujin software.   
				They had just published [Tsukihime]. That's when I learned their name. 
			
				Q: You came to know about them in a timely way, didn't you?
				A: This happened back in my days as a student. "To be able to create a
				fascinating story like this, the people in doujin circles must be awesome!"
				would be things I'd say among my friends. 

				Q: Did you ever dream you'd be able to work together with those awesome
				people in real life?
				Q: When I went to Tokyo on a pleasure trip, I saw a poster showing the 
				anime adaptation of Tsukihime. I was impressed that it had been adapted
				into a tv anime. That was my pure thought as a user. Later on I auditioned
				for the anime and was chosen for the part of Kohaku in the show. When I 
				heard that I was selected, I was very surprised, and I was so excited I 
				remember sweating. 

				Q: What was your initial impression of the TYPE-MOON staff?
				A: I remember them being there during the audition, but we then went 
				straight onto the second round of dubbing. I sensed someone who was part 
				adult but still had some part of him that remembered his dreams from boyhood. 
				I felt I was in the company of a professional creator group. At first I didn't know
				how to talk to them or what to say. 

				Q: Were you really nervous?
				A: In the end, my images of Takeuchi-san and Nasu-san were affected. 
				I remember my impression of Takeuchi-san being the "Father" and 
				Nasu-san the "Mother". Nasu-san had a kind feeling, and during recording
				he answered our questions with explanations that were easy to understand.  
				There were many scripts in their booth, and I buried myself under some
				and had a light nap. (laugh) The entire thing had a very feminine feeling. 
				IThere was such an aura of reassurance that I felt like I was in a house, 
				not a recording studio. Though Takeuchi-san had a reticent and strict 
				feel to him, when we were recording the radio show for Fate /stay night,
				he made illustrations of Rin on colored paper for me. That was very 
				kind of him, and I knew he was dependable. That's probably why 
				we gave off that impression earlier. 

				Q: What do you feel is the charm of TYPE-MOON?				
				Neither Tsukihime or Fate/stay night are extremely dark or light. The
				worldview and atmosphere of them are difficult to explain . . . 	
				Neither red or blue would be the primary colors used. I guess that
				sounds rather ambiguous. But I like the powerful color of TYPE-MOON
				that pulls you along. 

				Q: What was your impression of Fate/stay night when you first came in 
				contact with it?
				A: There were mages and heroes built on myths. As a fantasy fan, I was
				very excited about it. The Master and Servant arrangement  led to some 
				interesting personality clashes. I felt that it was interesting to watch each
				Master and Servant pair. 

				Q: From the very beginning, which Master and Servant pair did you like?
				A: Saber and Emiya Shirou. Even though Shirou isn't very empathetic. (lol)
				When I played the game, I figured out how to play Rin in the anime. She 
				had to put away her feelings a long time ago. I've played Rin for such a long time
				that I really like Rin and Archer now!
			
				Q: Do you remember your first impression of Rin?
				A: I thought of her as a commanding and imperious young girl, like her name implies. 
				Although hidden within that image of a girl who always tries hard is someone who 
				is also childish and playful. Rin has both of these aspects, and she's charming 
				because of it. 
	
				Q: How was voicing the character for real?
				A: When it came to the real thing, even though I had been selected for the part I 
				couldn't imagine Rin coming out of my voice.  For a long time I had this sense of 
				incompatibility. I normally don't feel that sense of incompatibility when I play characters
				from other works. I ended up asking  Nasu-san if it was really okay for me to play 
				Tohsaka Rin. He said it was fine, but I wondered if it was all right. I also thought maybe
				I shouldn't say that in front of the scenario writer. I was half in doubt. 

				Q: Do you still feel that way?
				A: Eventually I came to came into accord with the idea. But recently when we were
				recording Fate/Extra Nasu-san said that I understood her the best of anyone. I'm 
				really glad that he believed in me. Thanks to that, I didn't have any worries this time
				around. I don't feel any sense of being lost now. 

				Q: When you were playing Rin, were there things you had to keep in mind?
				A: In addition to Fate/stay night, there are several spinoff and related products. I try
				to make her match the pace of the story she is in. There are a lot of very 
				delicate, minor changes. In the tv series, she decided to watch over Shirou and Saber.
				When we recorded the voices for the PS2 game Realta Nua, she was a lot more emotional
				than she was in the show. I have to adjust my acting carefully within that kind of field. 

				Q: Speaking of which, in the theatrical film of Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, Rin was the 
				main heroine. Did you have a lot of range for the character in the film?	
				A: Yes. When we were recording for the game, the voice actors and actresses recorded
				their lines one at a time. For the movie we had a lot of negotiation and talking amongst
				ourselves, so I feel the movie burst through that. 
				
				Q: Looking back on the movie, how do you feel?
				A: Now that the film is over I feel a sense of relief. There were exciting times, and 
				there were times when Rin was the link to everything. I'm happy with it. 

				Q: How did fans react to it?
				A: As you know, Fate/stay night has a very long and complicated story. For the purposes
				of taking the Unlimited Blade Works route and compressing it into a movie, explanations
				were omitted or contracted. I thought that fans who knew the game's story well would understand
				what was happening, but people who were unfamiliar with Fate/stay night would have some
				difficulty understanding what was going on. Fortunately, it turns out that I was worrying too much.
				Most people said that it was very good. I'd like to thank them for the compliments. I want to 
				tell them how glad we are for their thanks. 

				Q:  Do you remember any memorable experiences you've had with fans?
				A:  I heard that one fan, even after hearing Berserker's screams of rage
				in scene after scene, though that he'd finally start to talk. Another tried
				to count how many times Gilgamesh used a particular word. 	(laughs)

				Q: What are the fans requesting a lot these days?
				A: The Sakura scenario from Fate/stay night, which is called "Heavens Feel". 
				Unfortunately, that's quite difficult to do. There are a lot of hurdles in the way
				of adapting that. (laughs) But in all seriousness, I haven't been asked to do 
				that, so don't read too much into my comments here. 

				[Doing good things with Rin, Saber, and Archer!?]
				Q: The next thing fans can see with Rin in it is Fate/Extra, isn't it?
				A: That's right. This version of Rin is more innocent and cherubic than 
				how she appeared in Fate/stay night. I played her as such. 

				Q: I was surprised that her partner in Fate/Extra turned out to be Lancer. 
				Were you?
				A: In the original story, I loved how Lancer acted and I wanted to fight with him. 
				In Fate/Extra, that dream came true. It was a big deal when  I was separated 
				from Archer in the original story. The bonds between them had already 
				weakened. I guess I could say I was satisfied, so it wasn't lonely. But when I 
				played Fate/Extra, I saw Archer calling another girl 'Master'. Maybe I was 
				jealous (lol). 

				Q: There were several new characters and designs in Extra. Do you 
				strongly remember any of the illustrations?
				A: The red servants were particularly eye-catching. I have a strong memory of 
				them. I think of red as the 'image color' for Rin and Archer, so seeing three
				others with that look should have been good - but it wasn't for me. (lol) 
				It seemed as if he was trying to break Fate, and I thought it was very 
				interesting for him to think of doing that. 

				Q: If there were any memorable episodes during recording, would you tell
				us of them?
				A: I didn't have many chances to chat with the cast, so this time around I ended
				up meeting with Nasu-san a lot. He really loves mahjongg. The editor was happy
				to learn that I also like mahjongg, and so he became very enthusiastic, inviting 
				us to all play together. It's hard for us to meet up to play it, though. 

				Q: What do you want us to notice the most about Fate/Extra?
				A: I want players to realize that the feeling of the world is different. They can 
				choose which Servant they want to fight the enemies with, and the new 
				setting is interesting. Rin's background is a little different, but the base 
				character is the same. Rin's fans can rest assured and have a good time
				playing it. 

				[If One of them Would Be Your Husband, Rather Than Archer Would it Be ----]
	
				Q: If you were to compare yourself to Rin, what part of you is like her?
				A: I think I'm a little more excitable than Rin, and I make more mistakes. 
				I try not to let it show, but I don't mind if you see them. I'm a clumsy girl. 
				I think I'm closer to Fuji-nee (Fujimura Taiga) than Rin because I'm really not
				calm at home. (lol)

				Q: Which of the male characters from Fate do you fancy?
				A: As a woman, I kind of wish an arrogant  guy like Gilgamesh would take me away. 
				But if it were my husband, I'd choose Lancer. He's reticent, but he'll become
				very talkative when he feels like it. He's also a little flexible. A big, bulky 
				guy that makes you feel safe is nice. He'd point out and cover for my mistakes
				by saying "Hey, what are you doing?" in a nonchalant way. (lol)

				Q: What are you expecting from TYPE-MOON next?
				A: Personally speaking, I want them to continue with another story set in the Fate 
				main timeline. I think it'd be great if I get to play Rin again. Sakura's story has been 
				partially explored in Fate/hollow ataraxia, Fate/Zero, and the drama CD, but I think it'd
				be good for us to see an explanation of what really happened in an adaptation. As a player,
				I wonder what world the next TYPE-MOON product will create. I have that kind of expectation,
				and I think I'll always and forever be playing Rin. It's good that it's gone on for so long. 

				Q: For our last question, do you have a message for the readers and everyone else?		
				A: So that Extra and the world of Fate will continue to be developed further, please give
				us your continued support. TYPE-MOON has yet another world in store for you after
				Fate, so join me in looking forward to it. 

			 	Ueda Kana. Born on 06/09. Affiliated with I'm Enterprise. Notable roles include 
				Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (Yagami Hayate), Maria-sama Ga Miteiru (Fukuzawa Yumi), 
				and Saki (Miyanaga Saki). 							


[p165]				      Shitaya Noriko 
				
			
				[Rather than Happy, Very Surprised: The Results of the Audition]
				Q: When did you first learn the name of TYPE-MOON?
				A: That'd be when they were adapting the Fate/stay night eroge into
				an anime. It was when I was accepted during an audition for a part
				on the show. 

				Q: Were you accepted for the part of Sakura during the audition?
				A: That's right. I auditioned for the role of Sakura and 
				also tried out for Saber during the audition. During the dubbing I heard
				Kawasumi-san acting as Saber and thought she was perfect for it. 
	
				Q: After you were chosen to play the part of Sakura, how did you feel?
				A: I was very glad, however, I had never played a character like 
				Sakura before. I played lots of cute, energetic little girls, not someone 
				withdrawn.  In fact, during the audition I didn't think I'd be chosen for
				the part of Sakura. So I remember going home, a little disappointed. 
				When I heard that I had been picked to play Sakura, I was happy and 
				really surprised. 

				Q: It seems that a lot of TYPE-MOON staff were at the auditions. What
				was your initial impression of the circle?
				A: There were a lot of people at the building, so I didn't have a chance to 
				talk with them. At the recording session I was able to talk directly with
				some people. The TYPE-MOON staff seem to really love their products. 
				The worldview that they create in the stories is dark, and I think they 
				must be really clever to be able to create these kinds of tales. It wasn't
				hard for me to talk to them. They were very open-hearted. 

				Q:  Does that mean you could ask them questions without any 
				reservations?
				A: Yes, but after I'd ask them one question the answer would prompt
				me to ask about a hundred more! (lol) In any case, I have a very 
				warm and kind impression of Takeuchi-san and Nasu-san. 

				Q: You talked about the sense of TYPE-MOON's world being immense
				and dark earlier. What was it like for you to experience that world?
				A: It was so strange and complicated I had a hard time understanding 
				it at first. It seemed very deep and that it'd become easy to get lost in it. 
				As an example Fate/Zero, which was released _after_ Fate/stay night, 
				greatly expanded the lore of the universe, and the world of Fate got
				even bigger . . .  It's amazing how they can keep building upon and 
				adding things to this structure without it crumbling under the weight. 

				Q: What did you think of Sakura?
				A: She was in both the eroge and the anime series, but certain aspects
				of her are different in each work. I thought 'Oh, she's actually quite kind'
				and that she was dependable. The more I knew about her, the more
				my impression of her began to change. That was very interesting. 
				Each character had his or her own individual personality, a reason to 
				fight, a unique past, etc. The more I read it, the more I wanted to keep 
				on reading it. You get into this stuff. 

				Q: Which charcater did you like the most? I'm not just talking about the 
				world of Fate. I'm including all the worlds of TYPE-MOON. Anyone is
				okay. 
				A: Outside of Fate, hmm . . . I'm going to pick Neco-Arc because she's
				very cute. That's enough of a reason! I will preach it! 
				
				[How One Feels about Sakura After Accepting Sakura's Past]
			
				Q: We've had both the original eroge and the TV anime. Did the TV anime
				change the impression you had of her?
				A:   There were many times when she looked sad. When she was with her
				niisan, or when she was remembering a happy memory, her face revealed
				some hidden sadness. I got some explanations for what happened in her 
				past when we were recording the voices for the tv anime, but I don't think 
				I fully represented what she was going through in my acting. Now that
				Fate/Zero has come out, we have all of the pieces and can solve the puzzle. 

				Q: Was it difficult for you to play Sakura at first?
				A: It was trial and error. My first problem was playing her too "big". She's a 
				very reserved girl who is also very tender - that was the impression I was told
				to give off, and the bottleneck I had to work with. During the recording of the second
				half of the first episode,  without any prompting, the weight fell off of my shoulders
				and all the mental stress I had about playing the part immediately disappeared. 
				 And after that it was easy for me to play the part. I don't even have to think about how
				to do it anymore. I don't play her as someone broken and full of despair. I play her as
				someone who is, at her core, an extremely strong girl. 

				Q: Shitaya-san, what to you is the most attractive feature of Sakura?
				A: When she's reliving a happy memory or having a meal with Emiya and 
				Fujimura-sensei, they're talking about trivial stuff while she's thinking about very 
				important things. You sense that for her, an ordinary happiness is a remarkable
				thing. That's her charming point. Sorry, I teared up there for a moment (wipes eyes).
				I like her a lot. 

				Q: Sakura's dark history is one of her highlights, to be certain. What did you think when
				it was finally explained to you?
				A: It was probably about the same for people who played through the original game. 
				I hadn't even begun to imagine it. I said "Eh!?" and my mouth gaped open. After that, 
				I realized what a strong girl she really was. She kept going and endured, and that 
				she had to maintain that. It was deeply moving to imagine that. That's why when she
				went dark I had no hesitation performing the role. (laughs) I absolutely sympathized
				with her, that's why it wasn't difficult to switch over to her dark side. I really enjoyed
				playing the part. (laughs)

				Q: What was your impression of Rider (Sakura's Servant)?
				A: When we first started recording, I thought she was cold-blooded. I also thought
				she was scary. In reality she turned out to be Sakura's most stalwart and dedicated
				supporter. Now I think of her as an elder sister. Rider didn't have anyone to rely on;
				instead she desperately tried to protect her own world. Rider has a big presence. 
				I'm not jealous that I didn't have an awesome Servant of the opposite sex the way 
				that Emiya and Rin did (lol).

				Q: If it were up to you, which Servant would you choose?
				A: I'd choose Archer. I really liked his back in the original story. There were lots of 
				fanservicey cuts of him from behind. I knew from his appearance that  I wanted
				to follow and be protected by him. 

				Q: In the original work, there's something called the 'Manly Route' (UBW).  That's 
				already been covered. The fans are waiting for the 'Sakura Route' to be turned into
				an anime. What do you think about that?
				A: I want to do it! I really want to. Saber's route was turned into the TV anime, and 
				the manly route became the Unlimited Blade Works movie. Perhaps the Sakura Route
				can be OVAs? I mean, if you don't play the Sakura Route in the original game, you won't
				understand certain parts of the setting. I want them to make an anime of it. I do. I 
				want it! (laughs)
				
				Q: There have been several Fate anime adaptations (F/sn, UBW, F/Z) but there
				have also been game derivations, haven't there?
				A: What's strange to me is that even though Fate is a very serious story, we have 
				spinoff works like Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper, which has lots of gag elements. 
				When I look at the comical characters in it, affection for them starts to well up from
				within. I did have some worries about whether or not it's good to create gag
				characters from this. Is it okay to turn Dark Sakura into a gag character? Now
				I've accepted it and can perform naturally even in these odd settings. 

				Q: In summary, how was it to play the part of Sakura?
				A: I was able to make something really huge and special because I met her. She wasn't
				the type of character I played before, so it's a big divergence from what I'm used to. 
				I'd like to keep playing the part. 

				[Archer is Like That, So There's No Love Affair (lol) ]

				Q: When you compare yourself to Sakura, are there any things you share in common 
				with her?
				A: I don't have anything overlapping with her. I am not strong like she is, and I'm not 
				strong period. It's odd that I can identify with her and sympathize. Even with that, there
				were never times when I wondered why she took a particular course of action. 
				She's completely different from me, but I undersand her. 

				Q: I get the picture. Are there characters other than Sakura that you can sympathize
				with more?
				A: Fujimura-sensei (laughs). If it's okay for me to say this, it's not Saber, nor Rin. It's
				Fujimura-sensei. She's active and I like how when she first wakes up, she goes
				and asks a girl like Sakura to make food for her. 

				Q: You're saying that instead of making your own food, you'd rather have someone 
				else make food for you?
				A: I like it, but making it . . . I went to cooking classrooms, but now my goal is 
				Woman Polishing! When a friend of mine was teaching me how to cook, at first
				I was really quiet, but then I said I wanted to become a polished woman! 	That's why
				I want the food I eat to not look sloppy! 

				Q: By the way, what food are you proud of?
				A: Oh! Homemade udon. If you marry me, you'll get to eat homemade udon. 

				Q: If you could treat a male character from Fate to your homemade udon, 
				would it be Archer?
				A: My favorite is Emiya. When I am asked this question, my answer is always Emiya,
				and it often prompts a startled response. I don't get why he isn't more popular with 
				the ladies. Some of the other characters are more manly and they have that working
				for them, but when I play Sakura I can't be separated from Emiya.  He's amazingly kind to both
				men and women. I think people like that are wonderful. Earlier I said Archer, but you
				know he's really that (lol). There can't be a love affair with him. Didn't Emiya become 
				pretty manly in the original game?  That's how it looked to my eyes. (lol)

				Q: What are you hoping for next from TYPE-MOON or the Fate series?
				A: Fate has become an incredibly rich world, so I hope it will be continued. There may
				be a Fate story when Sakura doesn't appear, but I'd like it if both I and Sakura can 
				appear in TYPE-MOON stories. And someday, somehow, make an anime of the 
				'Sakura Route!' (lol)

				Q: We know you like Sakura, but if you had the chance, would you like to 
				play a TYPE-MOON character from a different work?
				A: Wow, that's a totally different matter (laughs). TYPE-MOON's stories are
				deep, playing Sakura was the turning point of my career and I've been rewarded
				for it, but maybe I'd have the same kind of luck playing someone else. Please
				regard me favorably~!

				Q: To wrap things up, could you give the readers and your fans a message?
				A: I think your readers will know of Sakura and Dark Sakura, but there's something
				that's been worrying me for a while. I wonder if you think that Sakura herself is scary. 
				It's absolutely not the case. I'd be happy if you loved her just as much as you love
				Saber and Rin! 

				Shitaya Noriko. Born on 4/22. Affiliated with 81 Produce. Notable roles include 
				Gosick (Avril Bradley), Kurokami The Animation (Kuro),  and Kore Wa Zombie
				Desu Ka? (Kyouko), among many others.  

[p168]		               Suzumura Kenichi           Sakamoto Maaya                Nasu Kinoko 
				 
				[The Story Has Concluded, But It Can Exist Forever]
				The other day you ended recording for the seventh part of Kara no Kyoukai. It
				seems you met up with Nasu Kinoko there. How did you feel? Let us hear
				your thoughts. 
				Nasu: After the recording was finished, the staff gave Sakamoto-san and Suzumura-san
				bouquets of flowers and a round of applause. That sight of that heartwarming development  
				The staff who had assembled there all said, "But this still doesn't feel like it's over!"
				That was the general impression everyone had (laughs). On that note, the recording may have
				ended, but a mountain of clean-up, touch up, and editing was left. Still, the feeling of 
				"We did it!" was in the air . . . except for all the work we had left to do.  

				Suzumura: Oh, is Nasu-san here with us? One hour past the final recording session for the 
				dialogue, it still didn't feel like my task was finally complete. 

				Sakamoto: Yep, I know how you feel. I finished what was a very challenging part, but the 
				idea that I was able to complete the work intact hadn't yet been processed by my brain. 
				It was like I was watching what was going on in a movie instead of experiencing it in 
				real life. 

				Q: In the case of Nasu-san, since you penned the original KnoK novels 10 years ago you've
				been busy writing. Did anything special happen that filled you with powerful emotions?
				Nasu: In my case, I didn't feel anything like "We're finally finished!"  I just had a strange 
				feeling. For me, Kara no Kyoukai as a work is something that may have died already
				three different times! 

				Q: Can you explain what you mean by 'died'?
				Nasu: It met its first death after I finished the original manuscripts. The second death 
				occured when I had the doujinshi version printed, bound, and sold at a convention.
				At that stage I thought about the novels and said to them, 'You did well going this
				far.' I thought the swell of emotion I felt was now fading. When we published and sold
				the Kodansha novels edition of the work, I felt that it had died for the third time. I felt as if
				it was an existence that was taken far away from my hands, and I accepted it. It was 
				as if I were someone else. Something had gone from my protection and then gone on
				to make me a grandfather. That's how it felt. We've gone through that stage to arrive
				here, at the theatrical release of Kara no Kyoukai. I feel wrapped in gratitude 
				that I can't express in words. I can say this without fear of making a mistake. Nothing
				can exceed this feeling. Of course each part has been great, but this new feeling
				might be likened to  the cry of a newborn baby. Sakamoto-san, Suzumura-san, what
				do you have something you'd like to say in response?

				Suzumura: Our job adding the voices is done, but it's not ready to be released as 
				a product. Until it's ready, we can't show it to the customers. 

				Nasu: What do you think, Sakamoto-san?

				Sakamoto: Rather than think of this as a personal battle, I have a strong image of 
				it being a game we played together as a group. My part is over, so I feel like standing
				at the side and yelling "Good luck! Keep at it!" to the people still working. With that
				said, I don't feel any sense if it being over either. I wonder why that is. Maybe it's because
				Kara no Kyoukai has been such a positive and rewarding project. On the opening
				day of the theatrical release, I hope to join the cast and key staff up on the stage. 
				We'll get a chance to see the reactions of the audience to the film, and leave as the 
				sound fades away. After the next episode sequence, we'll be able to hear their 
				reactions to the experience. I feel a little nervous now thinking about it. How odd. 
	
				Nasu: Even you, Sakamoto-san, feel some tension? (smiles)
			
				Sakamoto: Yes. I hope we get some applause. For a year and a half, we've 
				happily continued to work on this, so the idea that we're done is hard for us to grasp. 

				Nasu: I think I get it. As for me, the creator, I'm so happy with this that using words like
				'finished' and 'die' isn't enough. It has transcended them. Now it is 'a feeling of immortality'.
				Maybe it's like that. 

				Sakamoto: Yes, it's like that. Because it's like that, even thought 
				the seventh chapter of Kara no Kyoukai has concluded, it's lonely without being lonely!
			
				Nasu: I think you really understand (laughs). What a strange feeling. 'It hasn't died'. 
				'It has become an eternal existence.' Up until now I've put together many different projects, 
				but it's the first time for me to experience this feeling. 

				[The Feeling You Had When You Held the Original Novels in Your Hands]

				Q: This question is for Suzumura-san and Sakamoto-san. What did you feel
				when you first read the Kara no Kyoukai novels?
				Suzumura: You do know that Nasu-san is right here in the same room with us, 
				right? I'll need a lot of courage to do that. 

				Nasu: No, it's much scarier for me. I intentionally wrote with the idea of enveloping
				it in an oblate style. Maybe that was too much . . . 
			
				Sakamoto: Fine, I'll step up to the plate. As I came to know more and more about 
				Kara no Kyoukai, I became better able to appreciate the character of Shiki. It was like
				I was finally ready to play the part. When I read the first part, a a strong feeling of 'oldness'
				came over me. I honestly think it was hard to read. Maybe I was reading it from a prejudiced
				stance. The feeling of 'oldness' endured, and I was really shocked that I came across
				a work like this one. 

				Nasu: Was it really like that!?

				Sakamoto: Everyone has different themes they'd like to say to the original creators. 
				To further in depth, the work was suffused with that feeling and felt as if it was 
				crafted to evoke that feeling in readers. Going from that nucleus to form entertainment
				was Nasu-san's unique thought. It's a miracle that you were able to do that with such
				harmony. I'm shocked that someone was able to accomplish something this big 
				in this day and age. 	Not only that, but a lot of fans have shown up to support you. 
				Ordinarily that wouldn't happen. 

				Q: Not only that, but Nasu-san's writing is unusual for someone born in the latter
				half of the 20th century, isn't it?
				Nasu: My work is a manifestation of my younger days. This kind of thing just rolls
				together in these circumstances. I didn't think it would be a movie, let alone get
				these two people as actors in it. 

				Samakoto: The presence I felt when reading the novel  did come back when we were
				acting in the theatrical version. I felt a lot of pressure as an actress working to realize the
				same feeling. I'm glad I was entrusted with the responsibility. Maybe we were destined
				to meet up and work together. 

				Q: Sakamoto-san, do you think the Kara no Kyoukai stories have a huge presence?
				A: I'd made a habit of using Post-It notes in the book to mark the parts I liked. 
				By the time I reached the end, the first chapter was stuck full of them. When I went on 
				to the second chapter, the number of Post-it notes increased. The book was full of 
				them and looked like an overstuffed bookbag. I had to stop doing that about halfway
				through the book (lol). For us, Kara no Kyoukai is a beloved book full of notes in the 
				margins! 
				
				Q: I see. How about you, Suzumura-san?	How was it for you?
				A: It turns out that I had the same impression. I read it angrily, thinking that something 
				amazing was happening. Instead of trying to gather a big audience, the work seemed
				like it was going to weed out readers through natural selection. 	It had a strong feeling
				of 'oldness' and odd expressions. In any case, it felt like there was a screening process
				for chapter one's readers. However, chapters two and three completely pulled me in. 
				This was entertainment full of magic and an alien quality. It had fantasy elements, 
				but these took on special features as they became part of Nasu-san's world, and miraculously
				these all came together in a harmonious blend. Other people have commented on how
				unusual it is for someone born in the latter half of the 20th century to write something like
				this, and I agree with them. Recently I've been working as a lyricist, but I feel I've been
				strongly influenced by Nasu-san. If a person like that is here, I have to try that much harder
				than I did before. Kara no Kyoukai is that sort of work. 

				Nasu: What an honor. Thank you. I'm sorry that it was so hard to read. Be tough! Be strong!
				(laughs) As you two have said, the first part had a strong feeling of oldness. When I was 
				writing it,  I focused on staying true to that style, which I really liked. Since I'm going to continue
				writing this way, the attitude of [If you can't follow this wavelength, read a different book.] That
				was my direct message as an author. The first thing I did was make sure the 'channel' was 
				right. If I can do that right, then I've surpassed the common battle and think I can make 
				something interesting that can hook and keep the readers' attention, and focus on little, deep
				details. That's about right, or so I think. 

				Sakamoto: It's a good thing it didn't fall apart because of its old feeling. 
				
				Suzumura: Indeed! Because I cleared that hurdle at the beginning, I got to enjoy the story
				from that point onward. 

				Nasu: When I was first imagining the story, I had imagined a much smaller ring. 
				I'd take the manuscript down to a copy machine at a convenience store.
				That happened every morning.  I was also agonizing for an hour twice a week over how to shorten it. 
				I had to reduce the character count _and_ smoosh the work down to fit onto 
				B5 sized paper. Kara no Kyoukai, when compressed into that format, 
				came out to around 200 pages. Printing 10 copies of that meant I needed 2000 pages. 

				Suzumura: 2000 pages!  
				
				Nasu: But wait, there's more. Each page was double-sided, so sometimes there'd
				be misprinted pages that needed to be replaced. The modern copy machines the convenience
				stores are using these days all have a "double sided print" button ready for you, but 
				back in those days I had to print one page, open the tray, turn the page over, put the
				page in, close it up, and then print the other side of the page. What a pain that was! (lol)
				But that was okay. I thought it would be okay if 500 people in all of Japan appreciated it 
				it. 500 would be enough. 

				Suzumura. Wow. 

				[The Feeling You Had When You Wrote Kara No Kyoukai]
				
				Q: It's been more than ten years since it was finished, but how did you  feel when you 
				were writing Kara no Kyoukai, Nasu-san?
				Nasu: There was a feeling of engaging in a hobby, but as a writer I felt as if I 	
				had eaten a big meal. I had a friend who I was working with, Takeuchi-san, 
				who had supported me and encouraged my work for a long time. He was
				obstinate and believed in my writing. Thanks to that, I didn't wonder if I was making a 
				mistake by working on this. Is that a line from a show? "I believed in myself because 
				he believed in me." And then I kept on writing. I didn't think I'd get this far when I was
				25, but I ended up making the thing that settled my accounts! Before I knew it, 
				I had finished Kara no Kyoukai, this story full of firm elements. It was a hit, but 
				it was like a prank pulled upon customers to trouble them. Then I decided to write
				stories that people would love. The compact framework I wrote upon from then on 
				was Kara no Kyoukai. 

				Sakamoto: We could feel that background in it. Still, it was amazing that you wrote that
				in your twenties. 

				Nasu: I'm not fast. There are many successful authors who started before I did. Compared to
				them, I was late to the table. 

				Sakamoto: When I read Kara no Kyoukai, things such as the structure were extremely 
				elaborate and precise. I thought it'd be a story with collected tales of a triumphing hero. 
				But then I got to Shiki and realized that it was the exact opposite. Did you say the writing 
				style 'hardened' for the seven chapters? 	Or was it that you wrote each chapter after 
				carefully thinking them through?

				Nasu: I started off by thinking about the theme and the basis of the story. After that I tried
				to find useful ways of expressing those ideas and elements. 'Comparing subjects', 
				'cause', and 'aftermath'. These were the cores I had in mind. I also added in a number of 
				gimmicks, such as the arrangement of the chapters. 

				Sakamoto: Those kinds of structural elements are there in the very beginning. 

				Nasu: Until I think of the end for the themes and characters I introduce, I
				can't start writing. That's what I value when writing, and I can't feel
				satisfied if I can't do that. It's okay to try to write something, but 
				if it doesn't have a worthwhile ending I think the entire thing is 
				a waste of resources. Wow, I guess that sounds really strict. 
				I've had times when I had to accept that what I was working on was bad
				because of this flaw, so it's something I want to avoid. 

				Sakamoto: I see. 

				Nasu: well with that out of the way, let's change the topic. The fifth chapter had 
				a really strange sense of existence. That was the first time I put that
				element on a stage. I'd planned for it to be shorter than how it turned out. 
				I threw in quite a bit of fanservice, and Shiki was equipped with the best gear
				in order to take out her strongest enemy, Araya Souren. This was entertainment 
				in full force! I made many memos to myself to keep things brief while I was 
				writing the story. 

				Suzumura: Is that how it was!? You intended to put a limit on your great work?

				Nasu: When I was writing the fifth chapter, I'd planned to have a doujin-like
				shocking development. I knew I had to maintain this feeling, but ultimately I 
				reconsidered. In the end, it was jam-packed full of text, contrary to my expectations. 
				Looking back over these 10 years, no project other than that one went on to 
				grow into two projects. The two of you have something like that, called 'God Timing',
				do you not? The day when you suddenly awaken, and something you never imagined
				happens, and it's a struggle to include it in your schedules. 

				Sakamoto: In my case, I don't put together projects. To reprhase that, I don't
				write manuscripts or books. 

				Suzumura: That's neat. You said that you used these elements as a kind of design
				drafts for your stories, right? Without establishing the setting, you've created
				a design draft that you can use to bust out a book!

				Nasu: When I feel inspired, the words just pour out of me. 

				Sakamoto: I can't explain that feeling either. When I'm performing, sometimes I
				have a notion that 'I should act in this way'. I think if you asked 100 actors,
				all 100 would describe the same feeling. I'm not saying that my way is the standard,
				and it might be interesting to ask others how they see it. Hey, maybe we can ask
				Suzumura-san here what method he uses to act. In the same way, asking the author 
				how he turned the images in his mind into text is something I would like to do. 
				I think all of Kara no Kyoukai is told well, but the explanation for the characters
				accumulates in huge piles of text. 

				Suzumura: When I read it, I didn't get a feel for the characters that were introduced
				so much as I developed a feeling for what kind of person Nasu-san is. Now that I've
				had the chance to talk to the same person, I can say that I'm a winner! (lol)

				Nasu: I think you're right on target. People with the sensibility of a writer
				have that nucleus framed within them, ready to spill. It's not just the characters
				but even the work itself that I leave behind. However, inside me is the sense 
				that it'd be good to live this way. This figure is like something out of a dream,
				and nobody knows if he's a friend or not (laughs). 

				Suzumura: I strongly agree. I admire you because no matter the condition or situation
				you're in, you find a way to create like someone walking the Middle Path. 

				Interviewer: Suzumura-san, if you have questions to ask Nasu-san, you can jump in now. 

				Suzumura: Okay, I will take you up on that. When I read Kara no Kyoukai, my impression
				of the book was it was like a textbook combining science, philosophy, 
				and quantum mechanics. 

				Nasu: Do you like to read books about philosophy?

				Suzumura: No, it's not that I really like to read about philosophy. Inside I had
				wondered about myself and my thoughts, and that was like hitting a brick wall. I read many 
				books to get some kind of hint, occasionally including philosophy books. Kara no
				Kyoukai was rich with philosophical themes, so reading it gave me a powerful sense
				of comprehension. Why was that? Sorry for asking such a strange question. 

				Nasu: Hmm.  I was born close to the same year as you, so I think during my earlier
				days I had the feeling of 'being lost'. I believed that I was and I had those values. 
				It caused a spiritual collapse as I lost all faith in society. In my vanity, I thought
				I could find some kind of answer within my own heart. The wisdom of our predecessors
				was indeed great. I thought of taking that wisdom and applying it to my work. That 
				must have been how we were tuned to the same mental channel. When  writing, 
				some people use reality to form the enamel around their feelings. My own emotions 
				rush out. Those are the two types of writers. It's not easy for the emotional 
				writer to stretch out and touch everyone, but it's not hard to pierce the heart of 
				someone operating on the same channel. 

				Suzumura: I think you stabbed me right in the heart. 

				Nasu: Yes! I stabbed you! (lol)

				[The Feelings from the Past That Never Changed]


				Nasu: Would you two mind if I asked you some questions? Let's turn back the clock. 
				Would it be okay for us to go back about twelve years? 

				Sakamoto: Twelve years ago I got my first start in acting playing the part of Kanzaki
				Hitomi in Tenkuu no Escaflowne. After that was over, I still had high school to finish up. 
				Oddly enough, that'd mean I have a link to Ryougi Shiki by our years. We're about the same age. 

				Nasu: (doing the math) I see! Yes, you'd be about the same age as Shiki!
				Wow! My heart's beating fast!

				Suzumura: You wrote Kara no Kyoukai ten years ago. Now you don't have to work on it as hard,
				right?

				Nasu: Well, I don't have to do as much footwork as I did back then. "I have to charge up
				my batteries so I'm going to Europe!" is something I'd say before leaving to wander around
				the continent. I'd write about how I felt during that time. 

				Sakamoto: When I was a child I loved acting and singing, so I joined a children's acting 
				group. I was working as a child actor from around the age of eight. By the time I was a high
				school student, acting was an everyday thing for me but I was still commuting to high school
				and back. School still came first, and while everyone else was either doing bukatsu or 
				working part-time I was acting. 

				Nasu: That's very impressive. You were a girl between the ages of 16 and 17, and you were 
				already a prominent seiyuu working alongside pros. What an powerful experience that must 
				have been. I'm still feeling the tension from the acting studio, but I bet Sakamoto-san
				is really used to it by now. 


				Interviewer: Among your classmates, Sakamoto-san, were there any watching the shows with
				characters that you voiced?

				Sakamoto: Yes, there were! (TL Note: you can see her talk about this in one of the 
				'Club Escaflowne' skits on the Escaflowne DVD set.) That was a strange feeling. However, 
				none of my close friends at school were watching the show, so it was kind of quiet after
				all. Amidst all the acting, studying, and exercising, I was reaching for the real me and 
				my dreams. I'd have fun, relax, and would go somewhere I could be myself. That place
				saved me. That's the kind of feeling it had. 

				Suzumura: Sakamoto-san is cool! I don't have any cool elements like that in my background. 
				Around that time I was kneading flour. 
			
				Nasu: Hey, that's cool in its own way!

				Suzumura: I was very poor back then, so I was using flour when cooking and baking my 
				own meals. Only one of the jobs I was working was related to voice acting. Nine out of ten
				assignments were for part-time jobs. Only the voice-acting work was stable. I was about
				twenty-four years old then.  Around that time I scored the lead for Jikuu Tenshou Nasuka, 
				and then after that more and more acting opportunities came my way. 
				As that occurred, I started to look for fewer and fewer part-time jobs. I wasn't intentionally
				trying to jump over hurdles. I was just extremely poor. 

				Nasu: That is also like me. You were living an ascetic life as I was. Well, maybe that's
				putting it too kindly. After going through many solemn periods in my youth, he began
				to give me some encouragement. Even though I've been successful since then, the memories
				of that time still conjure up a lot of powerful emotions.

				Suzumura: In my case,  rather than saying I'm strong against adversity, maybe I can say
				that I want to be wrapped up in it! I love trying out new things and ideas. Perhaps
				that acts as an attractor for hard times. 

				[Facing the 'You' Who Changed After 10 Years]
				
				Nasu: Ten years is a very long amount of time, but let's take a moment to
				look back. Between the 'me' that exists now and the 'me' that existed back then, 
				how do you think we are different? 

				Sakamoto: I think you've matured, but your essential nature hasn't changed much.  
				
				
				Suzumura: If you don't mind me saying so, I don't think you changed much from back 
				then either. 

				  
	   			Nasu: If we accept that hypothesis, then when you two stepped up on the stage ten
				years ago, were you able to communicate ideas to yourselves ten years in the future? It seems
				plausible if we accept this concept as a basis. 

				Sakamoto: I was really young when I started to act. I didn't think of things in the 
				sense of 'as an actor' or 'as a professional' until much, much later. When I was
				a child actor, I was having fun. Eventually that stopped when I hit a wall. When that
				happened, I realized that what I was doing was work. 

				Suzumura: Unlike Sakamoto-san, I was terribly conscious of what I was doing was work. 				
				Work exists to fit society's 'need'. Coming across with that, we get catering to or
				playing up to someone, don't we? 'Work' and 'something true for me' selfishly oppose
				each other. To speak plainly, that evokes a sense of unease. 
				
				Nasu: You are absoutely right. Ten years ago I learned how important it was to craft
				a work with the reader in mind. The other part was to go wild and exceed my own thoughts
				which were acting as shackles.  Two to three years back I became very angry with Takeuchi-san. 

				Sakamoto: Why did that happen?
	
				Nasu: (as Takeuchi) "Recently Nasu Kinoko needs to please users or take responsibility. 
				It's been far too long since he had done either. A long time ago he felt free and 
				was doing things with a sense of liberty. Where did the old Nasu Kinoko go?" 
				Hearing those words felt like being stabbed. It's true that I had been putting 
				all my heart into making entertainment. 

				Suzumura: Sounds like things were heating up in there. 


				Nasu: People loved Tsukihime and Fate/stay night so much. So many people liked them that 
				I wanted to go on pleasing as many users as possible. I was thinking of it as something
				that would come naturally. However, one can't continue for long as a creator by thinking
				that way. If you only focus on pleasing others, you won't be able to please yourself. 
				There's a painful aspect of 'work' too. If that was all there was to it, I'd have gone
				bankrupt a long time ago. To last as a creator, I think you have to unchain your ego
  				a little bit. Of course, you'll need to balance the need between doing whatever you want
				and making something that will please your customers (lol). 


				Suzumura: To get the balance between "what I have to do" and "what I want to do" in work
				is a difficult thing indeed, isn't it? A while ago I was working on a project, and I  
				had to satisfy the client's needs perfectly. That fits the pattern we were talking about. 


				Nasu: I think I know which project you are talking about. (lol)

				Suzumura: At that time, I felt as it I was being trapped by a sense that I didn't belong. 
				It was difficult to find a balance between what I had to do and my feelings. However, 
				recently I've become much more tolerant. My heart has become a container that can
 				contain bad events or unpleasant thoughts. That may be the model it's become. When I 
				think of the conflict from back then becoming part of my own blood and flesh, I 
				feel these ten years have been time well-spent. 

				[As Actors, Your Final Words of Gratitude for Nasu Kinoko]
				 		
				Interviewer: We will wrap up soon. Nasu-san, do you have any messages for 
				Sakamoto-san and Suzumura-san? 

				Nasu: Sorry for the presumption. Thank you so much for all of your hard work. 
				Kara no Kyoukai had some feeling of romance to it, but your acting made
				the theatrical version's romance seem very real. There were also parts in the
				story that had fantastic elements beyond the imagination of ordinary people. 
				Adjusting your performances to realistically react to those must have been
				very difficult. The sense of reality floats upon your voices, and you delicately
				changed things to match the story. Under difficult conditions, you took responsibility
				for the characters you were playing, which were hard roles to play. Thank you 
				so much for a job well done. The original text had a great many long monologues. 
				I thought it would be difficult to include these long things in the theatrical
				releases. You did them perfectly every single time. Your manly and empty version
				of Shiki felt simple but had a strong core in her soul. Suzumura-san played a 
				Mikiya. Kara no Kyoukai was built by many members of the staff, but among these,
				the ones breathing life into the work were the actors playing Mikiya and Shiki. 
				You have many fans among the members of the staff, so as their delegate, allow me
				to thank you for them. 

				Sakamoto: Thank you so much!

				Suzumura: Wow, that makes me happy. Thank you very much. 

				Nasu: Originally one of them had nothing, but the two of you have given 
				Shiki and Mikiya great warmth and life. If Kara no Kyoukai will last
				forever, it will be because of that. Even now, those two characters still
				exist within me. 

				Interviewer: I think we've exhausted him. 

				Nasu: It seems that way. As it seems this is now my dying hour, I think
				I can say this and then die. "It's not fair how cute Shiki was in the 
				last scene of Kara no Kyoukai!" (gasps, fakes dying, laughs)

				Kinoko Nasu. Born 11/28. Affiliated with TYPE-MOON as  a scenario 
				writer. Famous works include Tsukihime, Fate/stay night, and 
				Mahoutsukai no Yoru. 

				Sakamoto Maaya. Born 3/31. Affiliated with Fortune Rest. Most famous
				for playing the role of Kanzaki Hitomi in Tenkuu no Escaflowne,				
				Fujioka Haruhi in Ouran High School Host Club, and Mari Makinami
				Illustrious in Evangelion. 

				Suzumura Kenichi. Born 9/12. Affiliated with Intention. Famous for his
				work as Shinn Asuka in Gundam Seed Destiny, Masato Hijirikawa
				in Uta no Prince-Sama, Ushiromiya George in Umineko, and
				Kamen Rider Den-O's Ryutaros. 

[p174]		                      Koyama Rikiya               Ohara Sayaka 
								

				[Meeting Each Other in Fate/Zero]
				
				Q: Can we hear your opinions in regard to the recent work known as Fate/Zero?	 		
				
				Ohara: First there was the Drama CD for Fate/Zero. I participated in a tape audition 
				for that. And then I found out Koyama-san was going to play my husband in the story
				around the same time I heard I got a part. This is no doubt an act of karma.  
				I was very happy to co-star along an actor I really liked. 

				Koyama: Back when Fate/stay night got an anime adaptation, I was playing the part
				of Emiya Kiritsugu. Kiritsugu looked at the night sky and said 'the moon is beautiful 
				tonight' and then died with a sad laugh. That was my only part, but the staff were so
				touched that they made me do take after take of the line. I was glad to do it, but I 
				wondered why they were so concerned about one line in a huge production. 
				Later on I found out the line was a key point that started the entire story of Fate. I was
				very surprised when I heard that. Because I had been in that, I was able to play 
				the part of Kiritsugu again in Fate/Zero. I had never thought that tiny part would
				lead to a development like this! 

				Q: As someone who has participated in making Fate/Zero, what impressions of it 
				do you hold? 
				
				Koyama: First off, let me say how grateful I am to have been a part of this project. With
				that said, I had to do a lot of studying to understand the world of Fate and how my 
				character fit into it. Happiness and a sense of difficulty are what I feel when I think about
				Fate/Zero. 

				Ohara: I looked over the original novels when I got the part. There were very thick, and 
				I thought  'Oh dear, something immense, difficult, and serious has come this way' at 
				first. I opened one up and started reading, but I couldn't put the thing down. It was a 
				real page-turner. It's been a while since I found something this engrossing, and to 
				be able to play a major character from the book (Irisviel von Einzbern) made me
				feel very excited. 

				Q: What did you feel about the world of Fate/Zero?
				
				Koyama: Standing there and putting together the first one felt like having an obsession. 
				Everyone was still very young, and there was a kind of explosive energy in the air. 
				Yes, when you are young, that energy is like a flower blooming. 
				
				Ohara: You are right about how much energy was there. A Fate work usually is something
				you start and find difficult to put down, but stopping anywhere before the end of these
				would be especially troublesome. It was an extremely grim story, but I felt very relieved
				when I finally finished it. The extreme circumstances of each character had been clearly
				explained, and even though every one of them has a huge level of detail, it didn't feel
				unnatural. That's where all the drama came from, as well as our connections to the 
				characters. It was a cruel story full of things to regret, but it was really interesting (laughs).

				Q: Was it easy to slip into character?

				Koyama: We had a lot of material to cover, but I didn't get lost in all of it. I read the original 
				books, thought about the situation, studied each character in it, and tried to imagine how
				the whole thing would be like. That took both time and careful preparation. Because this was
				a tale with a ton of backstory, we knew we'd be okay if we did the homework.  

				Ohara: As Rikya-san said, the original material was so rich with detail. However, I worried that 
				I wouldn't be able to digest all of it. In the very first scene of the first episode, Illya is born and 
				for her parents, it should be the happiest day of their whole lives. At that point, Irisviel's husband
				tells her that he will be the cause of her death. That's something very different from the usual 
				happy 'congratulations' and I wondered what kind of heavy responsibility these two people 
				had to shoulder. Instead of being content with a woman's happiness, she accepted her
				husband's determination to strive for his ideal. I remember playing her as being fully 	
				committed to them. It was a role that swallowed me up. 

				[The Appealing Qualities of Kiritsugu and Irisviel]
				
				Q: What, in your opinion, are the appealing qualities of the characters you've played?

				Koyama: Until recently he (Kiritsugu) has been cold-hearted and aloof, but there is something 
				admirable about him that I look up to. While he can be cold-hearted, he also is obedient and 
				can show weakness. He calmly plans and figures out how to cope with a situation, and 
				won't hestitate when faced with his objective. He has the strengths and weaknesses of 
				humanity, love for his family, and has great appeal because of it. 

				Ohara: Irisviel is snow-white, and it's not a costume. Her own self has a purity and innocence
				to it, but I think we can say part of that is due to her not really being human. Perhaps its because
				she is a homonculus that she is able to accept someone 
				like Kiritsugu so completely. Kiritsugu loved Irisviel so much because of who she was. She accepted
				her fate and showed her strong side by doing it. At the same time, she has lived a very sheltered life. 
				Until she arrived in Fuyuki city, she had never ventured outside Einzbern Castle. She never saw the
				world, and hasn't had the chance to mature by meeting various people in society. These aspects 
				make me feel a lot of emotion for her. She's an innocent, pure girl in an adult woman's body. Still,
				she has the awareness of a mother, and has known a deep love. These elements seem unbalanced,
				but it is that lack of balance that makes her so appealing. That's how I came to think of the character. 

				Q: How do you feel about each others' characters?
				
				Ohara: Kiritsugu is mad like a heretic. He's really cruel. (laughs)

				Koyama: Wow, you said that right in front of me! 
				
				Ohara: Even if I try to look at him from Irisviel's eyes, his methodology is brutal. But the kind of character
				he is requires that. At the same time, he can be strong or weak, unwavering when he has to be . . . 
				I think he can be quite pitiable. (laughs)

				Q: How about you, Koyama-san?

				Koyama: I was caught off-guard by it, but he had some good lines.  Kiritsugu was a character
				who was ready for battle and had a merciless way of fighting. In that way, he's a heretic 
				who is far removed from us. 
		
				Ohara: What did you think of Irisviel?

				Koyama: She's perfect. She's beautiful and very loving, and her love for him is very deep. 
				She's very thoughtful, stays calm in a crisis, and draws in power with each fresh breath. 
				Everything about her has a very warm feeling. She's too wonderful for this world, so I 
				feel that I want to tease her (laughs). 

				Ohara: Oh, is that right? (laughs)

				Q: What do you think of Kiritsugu and Irisviel as a couple, knowing they will be separated
				by death?

				Koyama: I feel very bad for Irisviel. She had to sacrifice everything, was happy for only 
				a few moments in her life, and then lost it all. It's terrible. 

				Ohara: I understand what you mean, but looking at her position objectively from a woman's
				perspective, in some ways Kiritsugu is more like Irisviel's father than her husband. Keeping
				that in mind, please use your words to show more affection for Irisviel. 

				Koyama: Ah, that's right. She hasn't had much affection from other people. 

				Ohara: Right now we're working on spinoff projects such as the Drama CD set, but he doesn't
				show much love for her in those either. Why couldn't he? Women want to be told
				 these things (laughs). I want to tell Kiritsugu to do this stuff.
			
				Koyama: He's a guy from the world of the story. He wants to be kind and gentle, but the world
				he lives in won't allow that. 

				[The Favorite Scenes of the Two Seiyuu] 

				Q: Do you have some favorite scenes that you think are very impressive? If so, tell us about them.				
				
				Ohara: This is more funny than it is impressive, but I really liked when Rider (Iskandar) hit 
				poor Waver-kun so hard with a finger flick that the boy went flying. I thought it was cute (laughs). 
				There were lots of cool, tough, calm characters. Among them, the Iskandar/Waver pair was great
				because of the contrast between violence and emotion. Watching them carry on was a lot of fun. 
				I was very moved when Iskandar's forces were overwhelmed. Before Saber used Excalibur, there
				was a long time when she charged it up and lots of CGI elements moved around on the screen. 
				It's clear that a lot of care went into making those scenes. That inspired us to work even harder. 
				Fate/Zero is an excellent work because so many people threw in extra effort. 

				Koyama: I loved the image of the castle in the opening scenes of the show. I was really surprised 
				when I saw the picture of it displayed on the preview screen. 

				Ohara: I really want to project this onto a movie screen. It seems like such a waste to watch it on 
				the tiny screen of a television. 

				Interviewer: Maybe they could release a theatrical version. 

				Koyama: If we talk about that, maybe it'll actually happen. 

				Ohara: Not a bad idea! When we were doing the radio version, I remember thinking I wanted this
				to be made into an anime. 

				Q: How about suggesting some scenes with Kiritsugu and Irisviel that you think we should watch?

				Koyama: Kiritsugu can be cruel, but he always acted according to his beliefs. I'm hesitant to criticize
				him. He can be very manly, so he has that working for him. The mixture of his strength and cruelty
				make him a multifaceted character. His way of living is so distorted because of his belief. A pure
				heretic. I don't think he was happy or a winner for doing what he did. 
		
				Ohara: The scene when Kiritsugu thought about abandoning his quest and the War was very moving. 
				He asked his wife 'Can't we run away from here?' You really sensed how they'd be hunted if they
				tried. It was full of feeling. 

				Koyama: And in the moment after that, he was back to his composed, cold self. He had his head
				back in the game. 

				Ohara: He put his mask back on, but for a second or two I could still see the emotion behind
				it. 

				Q: Thinking about it from an audience's perspective, one's understanding of the character greatly
				changes depending on whether or not we see that scene. 
		
				Ohara: It does, absolutely. The scene lets you know how Kiritsugu hates what he is doing and how 
				he lives. I liked it a lot. As for me, the scene where Irisviel is battling Kirei with her magic and her 
				alchemical wires fold into a flying bird, I wondered what kind of shape this anime story would take 
				and really enjoyed it. That scene let you see how dignified and strong Irisviel really was, so please 
				take a look at it on hi-def on the Blu-Ray disc set. Although it doesn't happen often, you'll get a chance
				to see Irisviel's smiling face. It's very precious, so burn it into your vision. 

				[How you feel about the Work and the Creator]

				Q: What do you think the appeal of TYPE-MOON's stories is?  

				Ohara: They take familiar things like magic and vampires and then tell a really original story with them,
				and you have a strong sense of how powerful the evil of their world is, so they're quite dark.  The
				density, if you will, of that wouldn't suit other stories. And I doubt you'd find other stories like
				TYPE-MOON's.

				Koyama: Indeed! Takeuchi and Nasu-san have both been able to work together since middle school.
				 They haven't always been able to meet their own expectations or make a big hit with every work, but 
				thanks to that work of destiny, their obsessions were hardened and reinforced, allowing them to 
				release an intensely bright energy. We have no choice but to love their stuff. Their works are stuffed
				with this, and at the risk of sounding silly, they're jam packed in there like textbooks inside a bookbag
				right before a test. It takes persistence and a gentle heart to make these things. 

				Q: Do you have any memories of working with Urobuchi-san?
			
				Ohara: Urobuchi Gen-san always greeted us when we came in to record our lines for the Drama CD
				at the studio. We weren't able to talk while working, but afterward we'd talk for a bit. He came many
				times as a guest. He'd talk for a while and would then return home. He seemed quite awkward,
				but behind that facade was a powerful burning intensity. Rikiya-san told Urobuchi-san that he wanted
				to open his head and peek around inside it. 

				Koyama: I was afraid we wouldn't be able to translate the original work into sound, as the original
				text is quite dark. In fact, I was afraid of meeting Gen-san because of it. After meeting with him and 
				talking, I found out how openhearted and frank he was. I wondered if he was really the man who wrote
				such grim and dark tales. The gap between my expectations and reality was very large, so I was really
				surprised. I don't know if his writing induces a kind of birth pains as it comes into being, but apparently 
				Fate/Zero went far beyond that. He was very stoic, but when I saw his true character, I realized how gentle
				and kind he really was. That's what I thought. 
				
				Ohara: Fate/Zero was an extremely dark tale, and I asked Gen-san why he wrote these things. He said
				'I can't write happy endings' (laughs). I remember telling him to try hard to write a happy end someday.  

				Interviewer: How about a message for our readers, including hopes and expectations for TYPE-MOON 
				from this point onward?

				Koyama: Let's get Urobuchi Gen-san to make something else! These stories are like nothing else, and 
				it seems so wasteful to watch them on a tiny television instead of projected onto a movie screen.  I hope
				we can work together with Gen to make a new production and bring it to our viewers. 

				Ohara: I concur. 

				Koyama: Please wait for that. TYPE-MOON won't betray you (smiles).

				Interviewer: You were able to realize something as an anime. 
				
				Ohara: Wow, that's probably right. We got a lot of positive energy from the staff that really charged 
				us up, and I hope you will have a chance to see the anime, which has even more destructive power
				than the sound drama. Finally, one charm of TYPE-MOON is all the spinoff material, which shows how
				many possible derivations there can be for a story. I'd like to read the everyday lives of Servants and
				Masters, or how Kiritsugu and Irisviel first met. A doujin style work would be fine. Urobuchi-san, please
				write it! 

				Koyama: That'd be like Fate/Minus or Fate/0.1. 

				Ohara: The world of Fate/Zero isn't over yet. Please regard us favorably! 

				Koyama: What was I going to say? Oh, definitely have Gen on board for that. Confirmed by Urobuchi-san,
				or something. 

				Ohara: He will. Probably (laughs). 	

				Ohara Sayaka. Born on 12/06. Affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society.		
				Famous roles include Ichihara Yuuko in XXXHolic, Takanashi Yuri in Papa no Iu Koto wo 
				Kikinasai! and Ezra Scarlet in Fairy Tail. 
				
				Koyama Rikiya. Born on 12/18. A member of Haiyuza Theatre Company. Famous for providing
				the Japanese dub voice  for Jack Bauer,
				Hakuro in Utawarerumono, Kogoro Mori in Meitantei Konan, and many others. 	
				

[p182]				TYPE-MOON Staff Conversation
				Many things have happened since TYPE-MOON first started their business 10 years ago. 
				First there was Tsukihime, which they created while operating as a doujin circle. 
				It was followed by Fate/stay night, their first work as a group of professionals. Cutting
				a path for new possibilities is their newest visual novel, Mahoutsukai no Yoru. Let's 
				have a word with these creators who have given rise to many famous masterpieces. 
				
				Staff: Takeuchi Takashi (founder, artist, delegate), Nasu Kinoko (scenario writer), Kate (sound) , 
				Kiyobee (programmer), OKSG (mobile)
				
				Tsukihime
				
				Tsukihime was manufactured when TYPE-MOON was still a doujin company. In it was a 
				young man with the Eyes of Death Perception, Tohno Shiki, who became involved
				with a vampire, Arcueid, who is at the center of this tale. It received tremendous support
				from fans. What kind of thoughts were behind it? Under what kind of conditions was
				it created? Let's ask the staff and look back at Tsukihime.  
				
				[The Passion you put into Tsukihime]
				Interviewer: Tsukhime started with Nasu, Takeuchi, KATE, and Kiyobee. Later OKSG joined the 
				project. The finished version went on sale in December of 2000.  As of now, it's been
				twelve years since then. We want to hear your stories of passion and suffering. 

				Takeuchi: It feels very nostalgic to think back to when we were making Tsukihime. 
				
				Nasu: Back then Takeuchi-kun said, 'I know a programmer and a music composer!
				Let's make a game!' And from that seed, our project was born. 

				Takeuchi: Before Tsukihime went into production, I was working for a game company
				in Hiroshima. I broke away and moved to Tokyo, and shortly after that, Kiyobee and 
				KATE also did the same. That was when we began to make the game in earnest. 	

				Q: From when did the project really get off the ground?
				
				Takeuchi: Whoops, I don't remember now. (laughs) We set up a trial disc and 
				notification service back in 1999. I'm certain it was before then. 

				Nasu: The movie 'Armageddon' opened in Japan. I first remember seeing KATE's
				face shortly before we went to see that stupid, stupid film. 'What a dumb movie!  This is great!'
				I can remember those intense feelings. I think the project really got moving around
				that time.  
				
				KATE: When we first met, Nasu-san's hair went to hsi shoulders. 

				Nasu: That's true, it was like that - but that story is too painful, so let's drop it. 
				I was so poor back then I couldn't pay anyone to cut it. 
	
				Q: Takeuchi-san and Nasu-san, in the beginning how did you handle the give and take,
				and what model were you starting from? The general impression I have is that the 
				plot of Tsukihime was provided by Nasu-san. Can you comment on this?

				Takeuchi: Set in the distant past, with a serial killer and vampires is the kind of idea
				behind it. Maybe a cello would be good to listen to for the mood. We thought the 
				story we had been working on was rather good while we were making it. 

				Nasu: During that time, I thought that Galge and Eroge were normally fun. With that in 
				mind, I decided to make one. It was from Takeuchi, after bringing KATE and Kiyobee on board,
				that we reached the next stage - when we'd be working together to make an interesting story
				upon which the structure of a game would be placed. We'd be cooperating to make this 
				happen. I remember the uncertainty of that. However, they were kind enough to read 
				my Mahoutsukai no Yoru novel and compliment me on it, so that helped me relax on 
				focus on the task of hammering this out. Back then I was nobody, but they patiently 
				and carefully read that book.  I'm very thankful for their strong support. 

				KATE: I think it might have been in 1997. Back in Hiroshima Takeuchi and I were
				working together. He said that 'I have a friend named Nasu. He is amazing' I kept 
				hearing that over and over again. After that, at some point I got Nasu's novel and read it. 
				Once I read the book, I lost any opposition I had. 

				Q: Let's hear about KATE-san and Kiyobee-san. After hearing what the plot of 
				Tsukihime was going to be, what did they feel?
				
				Nasu: I'll try to approximate 'This is so awesome! Let's get started!' Is that about right? (laughs)
		
				KATE: Well, we didn't think it was no good. But even though the story itself was very deep,
				we didn't think deeply about it. Simply put, we though it'd be fun to work on, and with that
				impression, we participated in the project. 

				Takeuchi: There's an element of that even now, but we wanted to work together to make 
				Nasu Kinoko a known figure, and making a good story together seemed like the best 
				way to do that. 

				KATE: No mistake about that. I was extremely shocked when I read his unpublished story, 
				'Eternal Flower'. 

				Kiyobee: I used a ton of paper to print out the story to Tsukihime. (lol) I got so absorbed reading
				it that it felt like my energy was being sucked away. It's strange to remember that now (laughs). 
			
				Takeuchi: Right now we're still working on Fate, but it doesn't feel like the volume of what we
				deal with has decreased. It's still a lot! If you print this (Tsukihime) out in text form, 
				it's 5000 pages. It's nostalgic for me to think about our meetings in that one-room sized
				office we had in Kiyobee's apartment. 
			
				Nasu: Checking that the flowchart was accurate, confirming the status of the music, 
				and the four of us playing together, in that mansion apartment.  I am very thankful to 
				him for lending us that space. It was a mysterious apartment, and the various conversations
				we had were very important. 

				Q: Kiyobee-san, was your mansion apartment located in an area that was 
				easy to get to?
				
				Kiyobee: It was in Asakusa. (lol).  Asakusa still has the lingering vestiges left behind
				of TYPE-MOON's activities. I left my old game company to go to Tokyo, and in 
				Kanagawa Prefecture there was a place called Hashimoto. I became a social 
				recluse there, but after that I was commuting to a company in the eastern ward. 
				I couldn't stand the time for the commute, as it was close to two hours. That's 
				why I think I moved to Asakusa. 

				Takeuchi: The room was very suitable for Kiyobee, and reflected his tastes. 
				
				Nasu: I have powerful, pleasant memories of Asakusa, and I'd like to tell 
				the Kiyobee of the past, ''Good job!'' (laughs). 

				[Rushing to make Tsukihime]

				Interviewer: After the team had assembled, there was the task of making 
				the game itself. About how long did that take? 

				Takeuchi: One. solid. year. 

				Interviewer: The original plan was for it to take six months, wasn't it?
			
				Takeuchi: We were naive and optomistic in figuring the original amount of time. 
				 'The child is father to the man.'  That old proverb was correct. 
				
				Nasu: That projects take twice as long as we expect them to is one thing that
				hasn't changed! 

				Takeuchi: But we were able to get Kagetsu Tohya out on schedule. 

				Nasu: True, but I fell ill and couldn't see the work come to fruition. 
			
				Takeuchi: Yes, that happened just as you said. Kagetsu Tohya came out in 
				half the time that Tsukihime did. He loaded up Tsukihime on another computer
				and played it while writing Kagetsu Tohya. He also wrote the Yumizuka Satsuki 
				route. 

				Nasu: That's right. At the time I was extremely ill, so I couldn't keep up with some
				parts of the schedule. One day I was so sick I suddenly couldn't move - I was inside the 
				train, so I waited for a while until I could find the strength to get off of the train at the next
				station. OKSG-kun carried me to his house. It took a week before I could move normally
				again. I was showing signs of dehydration, and together with that I was also experiencing
				nausea and, I'm sorry to say, diarrhea. It was like I was being attacked. As a result, I 	
				had to decide between finishing Kagetsu Tohya or Satsuki's route. What was I to do?
				One heroine's route, or an entire Fan Disc? I chose to give the Fan Disc the prority. 

				Takeuchi: Everyone at the time was working very hard on getting Kagetsu Tohya done. 

				Nasu: We were getting feedback from our users and noting their reactions to Tsukihime. 
				We were at that strange mansion apartment, wondering 'Are we going to surf this big wave?'
				[TL note: the wave of user replies] At the time, KATE said something dramatic: "Are
				you prepared to accept something bad?" I steeled my stomach in preparation for bad news. 

				Takeuchi: After distribution, the doujin shops didn't order many copies of the game. 
				We felt the palpable and worrisome quiet.   
				
				Nasu: At the time, I thought that this situation would be perfect for a manga of my
				life. It'd appear on a page. Then we got a call from Toranoana-san and after corresponding
				with them, we were about to get some sleep. Then yet another phone call came. 
				The phone calls became a daily occurrence. Don't misunderstand me - we were very 
				happy that our business was going to be a success. That was great. One thing 
				was clear, though - two people by themselves couldn't handle that much business.
				It was just too much. I remember that feeling. 

  				Takeuchi: As a doujin software company, we were working on consignment. 
				I was happy for the lucky break, and all of this was very interesting for
				us. At least at first. (laughs) 
				
				Q: Do you think the feel of the doujin business world has greatly changed
				between then and now?
				
				Nasu: It's a completely different beast now. You still need a lot of luck, 
				but I get the feeling that anything you produce is going to be strictly judged. 
				We straightforwardly pursued our dreams and ideals. In my case, I had 
				friend-to-friend referrals from users, but not much in the way of marketing. 
				That worked out well for us. We were favorably received as amateur creators. 
										
				[Questions Concerning Work]

				Interviewer: Takeuchi-san did the drawings and graphics, Nasu-san wrote the story, 
				KATE handled the music, and Kiyobee was in charge of programming. Can you tell us
				how you handled dividing up the work?
				
				Nasu: I was suddenly able to access the Kohaku route and was shocked by the bug in the game. 
				You probably could have used my face for a surprised character in one of  DENGEKI HIME's 
				manga panels. Though perhaps it wasn't on that scale. (laughs)

				Takeuchi: Yes, that was a problem in the game's logic. 'Whaaaa~!' After fixing that bug, 
				we created a patch and published the PLUS-DISC at Sunshine Creation. 
						
				Nasu: Yes, I remember that. We put together the scenarios for PLUS-DISC's script in 
				three months. How terrible! 
		
				Interviewer: PLUS-DISC had some characters that made a strong impression, such as
				Fake Shiki and Seo Akira. 

				Nasu: We had received such a favorable response to Tsukihime that we decided to 
				work that much harder on the PLUS-DISC - by modifying the story and rushing to get
				everything ready. During Tsukihime, you never get a chance to see Shiki's face. We took
				the idea of that and used it to create Fake Shiki. There were times when we did impulsive
				stuff like that. 

				Takeuchi: Speaking of difficult and painful memories, I have one concerning the launch 
				day for Kagetsu Tohya. When I activated the master app for a light runthrough of the game, 
				the game wouldn't run! Naturally I called Kiyobee on the phone in a hurry. 

				Nasu: Kiyobee is guilty of these kinds of slip-ups. It reminds me of Tohsaka Rin. (laughs)					
				Q: Can you think back to the script for the game and tell us some things about it? 
				
				Nasu: At the time we were using NScripter. 
				It's a high-performance engine. 

				Kiyobee: True. It's been used in other commercial projects, so having access to the engine 
				was very helpful for us. I think that if it hadn't been around, Tsukihime would never have
				existed. 

				Q: Kiyobee-san, originally you worked as a programmer. Isn't that right? 

				Kiyobee: That is correct. I did in fact work as a programmer. 

				Nasu: Kiyobee epitomizes the spirit of a typical programmer. When I met him, I 
				thought that since he was a programmer, he would not do unnecessary things. 
				As such, I might say he is a person without enamel. That is how I knew him. 

				Takeuchi: At first, I wasn't intuitively sure he'd work really hard, but recently I've
				come to know him better. He sets the stage before he begins by covering it in
				post-it notes, each of which has ideas and things to remember
				on it. As he finished each task, he'd remove the relevant post-it note. I have an 
				image in my head of him making all the post-it notes by pushing one button and then 							
				working furiously to get all of it done. 
				
				Interviewer: I think I understand. Well, we haven't had many interviews about the music
				in Tsukihime. Let's talk about how you felt when you were arranging them. 

				Nasu: First I explained the general idea of Tsukihime to KATE and let KATE put 
				together a tune. The arrangement worked for the story I wanted to tell, so I told 
				KATE to keep at it. 
				
				Takeuchi: I suggested KATE keep the image of a classical Chinese opera in mind.

				KATE: It's a little embarrassing to talk about this now. (laughs) I remember being asked
				to write music for a very messy scene, but it turned out to be rather simple. 

				Nasu:  Tsukihime is the result of all of our know-how.  We wanted the music to get
				bigger and swell. As one would expect,  the instructions for Kagetsu Tohya 
				were things such as 'we want the daytime music to have this kind of feel' or 
				'the festival should have this type of feeling'. That's how we dashed 
				out the music work assignments. Kagetsu Tohya really had the sense of 
				a summer festival - we requested that a lot. 'It's bright, but
				lonely, and even give it the feel of a eulogy.' I am sure that was very difficult. 
		
				Takeuchi: We distributed the copies of Kagetsu Tohya at the convention in 
				yutaka to fit the idea of the summer festival. 

				KATE: I don't like them so I didn't wear one. 

				Takeuchi: I liked the one I wore, and I still have it. 

				Nasu: Me too! I could not bear to throw it away! 
			
				Takeuchi: We tried to make Kagetsu Tohya have a fun image, but troubleshooting
				and playtesting it was a terrifying ordeal. The flowchart for the game 
				is extremely complex. Why did it have to be that complicated!?

				Nasu: I wanted to make a miniature garden! 'If you go 
				to the park during these unreal summer days, what on Earth might happen?'
			 	I wanted to exceed our users' expectations.

				Takeuchi: It was extremely difficult to check. 

				Nasu: I realize that now. I'm sorry. 
				
				[The Arrival of OKSG]				

				Interviewer: Ah, someone has just now entered the room. I see that it is 
				the very important member of the group, OKSG. 

				OKSG: I am sorry for being late. But I was dragged here in this condition . . . 

				Takuechi: OKSG was also a member of the Tsukihime staff. 

				OKSG: I really got started helping out with Kagetsu Tohya though - 
				is that all right to say?

				Takeuchi: Now that I think about it, we mostly playtested Kagetsu Tohya
				at OKSG's house. 

				KATE: For a while, Nasu-san was caged up in OKSG's house. 

				OKSG: That was the second time you did all of the mail-order work out
				of my house. I'd prepare shipping labels and affix them to cardboard boxes,
				and then I'd have to do it over and over again.  

				Takeuchi: Those things were as heavy as boxes of fruit. I'll never forget the first
				time we carried them. At Yuzawaya I bought a mountain of envelopes,
				but those cardboard boxes were heavy. Now I think of getting the envelopes as a sweet deal
				by comparison. I thought my fingers were going to be torn off. 

				Nasu: Do you remember when you were got a  bunch of home delivery
				slips, but you got the wrong kind?

				Takeuchi: Umm . . . now I remember. 

				Nasu: A huge pile of labels that were filled out became totally useless because of that. 
				I yelled 'aaaa' and turned bright red. 

				Takeuchi: Because we were filling out data by hand for those, it became a huge tragedy. 
				I told that story to Kiyobee and he said, 'Why not buy and use a printer?'  It was as he
				said, truly. 
				
				Nasu: The real reason I didn't get one is that even though a printer was only 10,000 yen 
				(TL note: in 2013 dollars that's $97.61), they're big, heavy, and loud. 

				Takeuchi: By any chance is that still at your house, Nasu-san? 

				Nasu: It is, it is. It's a pain though! What a nuisance. 

				Takeuchi: When Nasu's museum is finished, we'll decorate it with that. 

				Q: How did OKSG-san become acquainted with Nasu-san and Takeuchi-san?
				
				Nasu: When the first volume of Kara no Kyoukai was published, he wrote a very
				favorable response on the homepage. Honestly, it was because of him that I feel				
				I could keep writing. Because there is a person like him who is enjoying the work, 
				I wanted to keep working hard. Up until that time I thought the homepage was a 
				waste of time - I guess I was prejudiced against it. Needless to say, my opinion changed.

				OKSG: It was amazing. I said it now. 

				Nasu: But I wouldn't think of putting my thoughts and writing up for public exhibition normally.
				Maybe it'd be too easy to imitate them. I thought if I shwoed Kara no Kyoukai to other people,
				nobody would get it, or that even if they did get it, they wouldn't think much of it. The person
				who showed me that there were people willing to read it all and share their thoughts on it
				was none other than OKSG-kun here. 

				OKSG: That was a nice story. 
				
				Takeuchi: Don't say that as if you're a different person, hearing the story for the first time. 

				OKSG: That is true. At the time, I hadn't gotten into Tsukihime. I was still very naive back
				then. 
				
				Takeuchi: I was selfish - I wanted someone who would treat Tsukihime as a player would. 
				We needed to hear the player's side. When he became a member of the staff, we were
				afraid he wouldn't be able to give his honest opinion of the work. However, because OKSG-san
				is the type of man he is, he would always tell his feelings concerning the work and give us his
				unadulterated opinion. Eventually it came time for Kagetsu Tohya, and we wondered if we could
				use that stick [Kagetsu Tohya] to swing at humanity. 

				Takeuchi: We were approaching it as a work project, but OKSG was using every fiber of 
				his being to lend support. He was also very helpful when we were working on 
				Tsukihime Plus Period. 

				OKSG: It's okay if I say this now: I'm the one who thought of the title for the book! 
		
				Takeuchi: The worst thing in that was that flowchart. The one who wrote all of that down
				for the book is none other than OKSG-san. I'm really, really thankful for that. Thank you. 

				Interviewer: OKSG-san, would you look back to the time of Tsukihime for us?
		
				OKSG: I liked Kara no Kyoukai and the half-moon release for Tsukihime a lot. I thought
				people should be encouraged to try them. The popularity for both increased due to 
				face-to-face communication. We worked hard so  we could hold events, and watching
				them finally happen . . . what can I say about that? It must be like how a parent feels, 
				watching his child grow up. I like obscure and unknown music, but recently I want more
				people to listen to it. 	I might demand they do so in a fierce voice so the creators won't feel
				lonely. (laughs) 
			
				[The Future Path for Tsukihime]
		
				Interviewer: Up till now you've told us about the joy of creating and the difficult 
				things that went into making Tsukihime. We've been able to see the work from many different
				angles.  Have there been times when you've pulled all-nighters?

				Nasu: That's what we have to do right before the Master App. 
					
				Takeuchi: There are times that I don't remember so well now, but yes, there have been 
				some real emergencies. 

				Nasu: Everyone is used to normally doing work where things are cleanly divided into 
				time categories on the schedule. With this, you work on your regular job, go home, 
				and realize ' I can't go to sleep. My next work project is waiting for me.' Hearing yourself
				say that is really daunting! 

				KATE: In my case, my work mostly involves all-night vigils. 

				Interviewer: I see. Can you tell us anything else about the conditions under which 
				the score for Tsukihime was written?

				KATE: All right. First I'd get home, and for one hour I'd write the score, and then I have
				the impression of going in to the office. 

				Nasu: Takeuchi-kun was amazing. For a while I was living as a freeloader at his place. 
				I'd see him off to work in the morning, he'd work late, come home, and then would work
				on Tsukihime for about five hours before going back to work the next morning. We really
				were an 'All-Nighter Company'. 

				Takeuchi: I really didn't think of my TYPE-MOON project as 'work'. It was fun, so I had a 
				ridiculous amount of energy for it. I lived close to where I worked, so sometimes I'd come
				home on my lunch break and work on our stuff then too! 

				Nasu: Seeing Takeuchi pour that much blood and sweat into the project, I really felt
				I had to pull through and make Tsukihime happen. I wouldn't be able to to complain
				or make excuses after all that. I had to push myself! 

				Kiyobee: Hearing you guys tell those stories makes me feel bad for working at my own
				pace. 

				Takeuchi: If you said you worked at your own pace in the biography, the line
				'I've been up for 24 hours and now my brain cells are dying so I will sleep.' would
				appear. Remember the Eve of the Master App?

				Nasu: I thought 'he'd be saved from this [heck] if he'd just die;. 	

				KATE: All of you had a ton of endurance. You'd go three or four nights in a row with 
				no sleep to get everything done. Just one all-nighter would seem merciful in comparison. 

				Nasu: We were young then. We were burning with passion. 

				Takeuchi: Thanks to that, today, when we look back on that, we realize how lucky 
				we were to have been blessed with Tsukihime. The timing for it was good, and 
				a lot of people  needed it and lined up to get it in an instant. However, there's something
				in Tsukihime that's left for us to do. (laughs)

				Interviewer: Now that you mention that, I have a question. Does Sacchin (Yumizuka Satsuki)
				have a future?

				Nasu: Yes, she super really does. And that's all I will say now. 

				Interviewer: Really? I'm really excited about that. And since it's time for us to wrap up, let's
				get a few more comments from Kiyobee-san, KATE-san, and OKSG-san. 

				KATE: Although the people in Tsukihime are strange, they feel don't feel grandiose or 
				exaggerated.  Seeing the text of the story appear in front of my eyes feels great. 
				This deep flame of emotion burns even brighter when I see how TYPE-MOON has become this
				huge brand. 

				Kiyobee: It was fun working with all of you on the project. I still feel it's full, but now I really
				understand how joining a circle means you have to do a lot of work and spend a lot of time
				on the projects. It's not something to do on a whim. 
			
				Nasu: OKSG-san, take us away! I'll even grade your response! 

				OKSG: The atmosphere we had when we worked on Tsukihime was 'think about what will
				be fun for the users'. It was fun. However, recently I think it is harder to find people who
				have that atmosphere or remember those feelings. When I think back to that excitement, 
				I want to find the users today and make them feel pumped and excited again. On that note,
				I've got great expectations for the Tsukihime remake,   and am waiting for it with bated breath.
				I can't wait! 

				Nasu: 100 points!  


[p187]				Fate/stay night
				
						
				
				Fate/stay night is the first title TYPE-MOON produced as a professional company. 
				Let's hear the whole story behind it. 
			
				Staff: Takeuchi Takashi (founder, artist), Nasu Kinoko (scenario writer),  
				OKSG (mobile), Aotsuki Takao (graphic designer), BLACK (graphic designer),
				Koyama Hirokazu (graphic design chief), Nori (business manager) 

				Takeuchi: We started working on Fate without knowing if we were going to 
				release it as a doujin product or a professionally-produced goods. We wrapped up
				the Saber route and then Nasu said that he wanted us to release this as
				a professionally-produced product. After that we went into hardcore mode. 

				Nasu: We were also not sure where we going to use photographs or prepare
				backgrounds for this. 

				Koyama: I remember us asking around for advice on that point. For Tsukihime 
				we mostly used the surrounding area (TL Note: Shibuya, among other places),
				but Takeuchi-san suggested that we use backgrounds for this. Of course I was
				fine with the idea, but it'd mean we would have to outsource - in which case, 
				releasing it as a professional product would work to our advantage. 

				Q: Given that Takeuchi-san currently seems to be the delegate, let's ask him 
				some questions. Did producing Fate as a professional product put any 
				pressure on top of your team? 
		
				Takeuchi: From the time Tsukihime became a hit, people told use that we should
				release a professional produc right away. At the time we didn't think much of that 
				because those were other people's opinions. We thought it was natural for us
				to release something when the time was right. So when Nasu said he wanted to 
				make a professional product, we knew that the it was time to get to work. 
				We were all excited about the production stage back then, so we were all too
				pumped to feel pressure. 

				Q: All of the people from before worked on Fate, but at a certain point you 
				had to hire additional members of the staff to work on the project. Can you tell us
				about when that was?

				Koyama: I joined sometime in  April of 2002. Before that, I had been helping out 
				with various things. I still had my old job back then. I formally joined the company
				after about six months' of development had happened on Fate. 							
				Takeuchi: We first came to know him as a painter on the net, and after that 
				we kept meeting him at different events. 

				Koyama: Thanks to that, I was able to get an advance playthrough of Tsukihime, 
				which I highly praised. After that, I was asked in my e-mail if I'd be willing to help out
				with Kagetsu Tohya - and of course, I said I'd do it. 

				Takeuchi: We met BLACK for the first time at a douji event. I think it was one of
				the Comitias.
			
				BLACK: That's right. I hadn't participated in doujin events much back then. I was very
				surprised when TYPE-MOON asked me to join. 

				Nasu: We looked at BLACK-san's online fanart and saw that he had made so many
				cute designs. That's how we was able to start working at a famous company without
				meeting any of us, although I think helping out in the doujin world is a difficult thing on 
				its own. When we were talking to him, we sensed that we'd be able to work together.
				There was that kind of atmosphere. 

				BLACK: I joined the company in June of 2002. Nori-san came onboard later on, I think. 

				Nori: That's right. I was a little late - I joined in April of 2003. We'd started going full
				steam on the project at the time, and they needed a person to handle the business
				and publicity sides to operations. Nasu-san and his team had formed a wonderful
				group, and by chance I happened to encounter it. Someone popped a head out of
				the group and that's how I came to be a member. It was my job to make sure people
				were aware of Nasu's voice as a storyteller. I had no knowledge of the business world
				and next to no experience with PC games, so I was extremely nervous. However,
				Takeuchi-san tried to encourage me by saying, [You won't be overwhelmed by a 
				flood of business. You're someone who can also handle office work.] That made me 
				feel more confident, and I joined the company.

				Aotsuki: That's right. I was lucky enough to come onboard just when I was beginning
				to look for work. They contacted me and asked me to help out. That's the kind of shape 
				recruitment took. From that point onward I've tried to be a proper employee (laughs).

				Nasu: I'm really glad you stayed with us! Ah yes. The memory is starting to fade now, but
				when Koyama-san came on board in April of 2004, he helped out with the plot. 

				Koyama: The plot came together afer I went on a trip in April. We'd just finished up the 
				punchline, so to speak, when someone suggested that we go on a trip. 

				Nasu: Grrrr! My blood is starting to boil just from thinking about it! When we went on
				the trip, I said that we worked hard on the plot to get a day like this, and then everyone 
				yelled for me to shut up and have some wine! As I drank more and more, I came to 
				feel like I was absorbed by the story. (TL Note: Nasu makes a joke with 
				飲み込む	【のみこむ】, for it can mean  'to gulp down', 'to swallow deeply', and  
				'to understand', 'to take in', using it to both mean the story he was writing and all the wine
				he was drinking.)

				Takeuchi: Instead of a trip, maybe we should have called it a training camp (laughs). 

				[The Episode Before Fate Went Up For Sale]

				Interviewer: I imagine many changes occured in order to become a professional company,
				including how the staff operated compared to the time spent working on Tsukihime. Could
				you tell us about the episode that happened before Fate went on sale?

				Nasu: Aotsuki-kun has a heartwarming episode to share. Before it went up for sale, we were
				playing through an Alpha version. Atotsuki-kun suddenly turned to us and spoke to us
				very formally. We wondered why, and then Aotsuki-san said 'Fate is really interesting!'
				It must have been very difficult to move the feelings of the staff who had been there the
				entire time working on the project. In any case, there was this nice burst of embarrassing
				emotion. But setting that aside for a moment, we were very thankful to have honest, heartfelt
				feedback like that. When we heard that, we knew that the product was ready to 
				put up for sale. 

				Aotsuki: You told someone about that embarrassing story again . . . (laughs) 

				Interviewer: This one goes out to Koyama-san, BLACK-san, and Aotsuki-san. 
				Can you tell us about working on the graphics? In terms of both art and direction,
				Fate stands out as a superior product, so I think getting to that caused all of you 
				quite a bit of trouble. Would you tell us about that? 

				Aotsuki: From the beginning I was made to play through the Saber route up
				until the fight with Berserker.  After that, for about four months I did nothing but 
				make effects to be used in the battles of the game. I had some experience making
				games, but that was teh first time for me to make effects. I remember asking 
				Koyama-san to look at what I was doing and let me know if it was okay. 

				Koyama: Even though I hadn't had any experience working on something 
				like Fate before! (laughs)  All in all, we didn't know in what way the director was 
				going to use our art. We weren't sure how the director would react. We got
				feedback such 'If this part moves, try to change that part a bit.' Our way of working
				was formed out of that. As more and more of these experiences piled on top of 
				each other, it finally came to a point when after we made a lot of samples, we'd
				be told to finish all the remaining ones. It was like being thrown a curveball.  
				
				Aotsuki: I get chills thinking about it even now. (laughs)

				Q: How about you, BLACK-san? What part were you in charge of? 
				
				BLACK: As you know, Fate had many drawings of the characters standing up, so 
				I worked together with Takeuchi-san to produce them and make sure the art matched
				up. The number of those may have been in the thousands! (sweatdrop)

				Koyama: BLACK-san also worked on retouching the backgrounds. First the backgrounds
				would arrive in the mail from the outsourcing company, and he'd get to work on altering them.
				That might last from that evening, to the next morning, and then end the following evening. 

				BLACK: Getting them just right and deciding which ones to keep was a lot of work. 
				If you looked at our building at night, you'd see my office window shining from
				within and my silhouette moving as I worked on the project. (laughs)

				Interviewer: I'd like to hear some memories of the business side of the project from 
				Nori-san. 
			
				Nori: Everyday was full of interesting emergencies. For instance, there was a huge
				rush of users trying to reserve a copy on the day we announced it would go on sale. 
				That was amazing. Because of that, store owners and people in the distribution 
				industry became very interested in us and Fate. Honestly, I thought it was interesting
				myself, so I was able to introduce it and recommend it with heartfelt zeal. That helped
				me sell it, and I was happy. 
				
				Interviewer: One gets the feeling that design work and publicity largely fell upon 
				the shoulders of OKSG-san. 

				OKSG: I was managing the homepage. I was also responsible for the design of the package
				art. At the time I thought about making it with the image of an anthology in mind. Oh yes,
				I was also in charge of copyright management. At the time, Tsukihime, Kagetsu Tohya,
				and Melty Blood were very popular and still selling well,  so about eight anthologies
				came out for those. And I had to do name checks. So I don't have any great memories
				of working on the game. 

				[A story after selling Fate]

				Q: In the first month of 2004 Fate went on sale. What was the reaction to it like?

				Takeuchi: They seemed to really like it, which made us very happy. 

				Nasu: It was a title we believed in, so seeing it sell well gave us a lot of confidence. 
				The reactions to it were both good and, in some cases, a little hollow. It was a victory
				that was both satisfying and hollow. 

				Takeuchi: He's speaking of the Sakura route. A lot of people were disatisfied with it. 
				Hence, the hollow feeling. 

				Nasu: Yes, although recently more people are warming up to it.   When it first came out,
				people were so excited and pleased by the Saber and Rin routes that they expected 
				to keep proceeding down the royal road. The Sakura route is not like that at all, and they
				had trouble accepting that when it first appeared. 	We learned a lot from that experience. 

				Q: How was the reaction in terms of business?
	
				Nori: It sold like hotcakes. It was a tremendous success. 

				BLACK: Nowadays this is a standard thing, but we were giving promotional items away to 
				people who reserved their copies of the game in advance. Now many groups use this
				tactic. Wait, was Fate the first product where this strategy was used?

				Nori: In the PC game industry market, yes. We were pretty well known at that point, 
				and the users reserving their copies made quite a fuss. But up until that time, no one
				else was doing that. The one downside was that stores would ask how long they should
				expect to keep passing out the exclusives. I'm thankful to both the people that made the
				game and the stores that sold it. When I heard that other makers and shops were copying
				what we had done, I was very surprised. 									

                         	Interviewer: You also got quite a response from merchants that wanted you to hurry up 
				and release another one, didn't you?

				Nori: Indeed! 'When will the next one come out? What are you going to release next?'
				There were lots of people asking for another release. Eventually we told them we 
				would release Fate/hollow ataraxia, a fandisk. However, they seemed disappointed. 
				To them, a fandisk wasn't a full game but instead was a bunch of desktop accessories
				and widgets. That's the mistaken impression they had. We worked extra hard on the 
				content of hollow to correct that, and change the impression other people had of 
				what fandisks are supposed to be. Happily, it was a big hit and the sellers were 
				greatly surprised by the work. 

				 Interviewer: One definitely does not think of TYPE-MOON's fandisks as mere 'omake'. 
				I think other people need to understand that. What were the reactions to its graphics?
			
				Koyama: The users were mostly focused on the stage direction and the story. I didn't
				hear many references to the graphics. Still, that's okay. If they had been bad, we'd
				have received many complaints about them, online and off! (laughs)

				Nasu: That is true. For example, not many people are saying that the Nolan movie
				'The Dark Knight' is pretty to look at. Even so, the camerawork and layout are
				wonderful, and I would like to have seen more things like that. 

				Nori: Even so, I'm still relieved that we didn't get complaints. 'How could they release
				a disk with this craptastic level of quality!'  I didn't want to hear anything like that. 

				Koyama: As someone who made a lot of the drawings, I'm happy if they were 
				satisfied with the results. 

				Interviewer: Takeuchi-san, as someone who is responsible for a lot of the art,
				can you tell us about your memories of the process?

				Takeuchi: I don't remember the exact amount of drawings I made. I did draw
				a lot of pictures of Sakura, though. (laughs) I had to do many variations of 
				her wearing different clothes. 

				Nasu: Casual clothes, an apron, school uniform, her kyuudo armor and uniform . . .
				
				Koyama: Don't forget Dark Sakura. There was the version of her that was soaked
				in the rain. 

				Takeuchi: Not even Rin and Saber had that many color variations. Saber did
				have casual clothes and her armored getup. Rin had her casual clothes and her 
				school uniform. 
			
				Nasu: For a lot of reasons, these were girls that took up a lot of your time (laughs). 
				And because of that, they're very cute. 

				Takeuchi: Oh yes. In regard to the graphics, in the TV anime for Fate/Zero, 
				Gilgamesh uses his Gate of Babylon special knack and summons many
				weapons out of the air. It's been a while, but I still think it's really cool every time
				I think about it. 
			
				Koyama: Back in the Fate game, we had to hand draw the swords 
				appearing out of the air by hand. 

				Nasu: We had a good sense of design. 

				Takeuchi: The results were good. As a result of that, many of the new staff joining
				the company thought that TYPE-MOON was high tech, even though we're 
				really low-tech! (laughs)

				Koyama: I got a lot of experience drawing ripples in space from that time. When we
				started working on Mahoutsukai no Yoru, I had no problems touching up the art
				of Aoko blocking Gandr shots. 	

				[Memories of Characters and Scenes]

				Interviewer: Do you have any memories or strong impressions of certain scenes or
				characters?

				Nasu: This is a little different from a strong memory, but I was shocked when I saw
				Lancer and Archer's second battle, in which Rho Aias was used. I won't ever 
				forget it. I liked the moment so much I paused the script to take it all in. While I wrote
				all of this myself, it was so amazing to see it in action. There's a big difference between
				just writing the directions and watching it for real. You can't even visualize how different
				the realization will be from the script. With that in mind, just as you'll find mochi in a mochi
				shop, you'll find Nasu Kinoko poking around inside Scripter. 

				OKSG: I helped out with the script a little bit. While I was working on the game, there
				came a glitch when the program's images turned black and white. This happened 
				in the dojo scene when Saber's stomach growled. And I liked it so much that I kept
				it in the game! (laughs) 

				Nori: In another small way, I helped out too.  I worked on the Rin route, so I have a strong
				memory of that time. I had gotten to the start of the fight with Berserker, and I was adding
				in sound effects. I kept working on it for so long that it started to feel as if I had created
				it myself. It was a strong feeling. We all added to the creation of the game, but I still really
				like the intensity of the battle scene. 	

				Nasu: Speaking of fixing things up, I trusted Nori-kun with the sound effects. Later on, 
				I asked Nori-kun if he wanted to do the sound effects for Mahoutsukai no Yoru as 
				well. I got an enthusiastic 'yes!' in response. 

				Nori: Yes! Honestly, I was very pleased. 		
				
				Interviewer: Koyama-san, d you have any lingering impressions from all the art you drew?

				Koyama: This is a continuation of what I talked about earlier. Once you understand how
				awesome the direction of the game is, you develop a sense for what kind of art is needed.
				That's the standard we had to aim for. One time I felt a lot of intense motivation to make
				the art work was when Saber was chasing Rider up the side of a building. There were a lot
				of fine details in the drawing - it was a lot of work to get right. We ended up with some
				drawings of Rider rising up into the air and falling and Saber descending. However, 
				recently my image of it has changed. I drew the image of the building as if it was crashing
				to bits, and in front of it I drew Saber using her Yakusoku Sareta Shouri no Ken 
				(Excalibur) Noble Phantasm as it rose from the building. Saber used a beam to intercept
				the charging attack by Pegasus, but it was a close shave. If Saber had tried to use 
				a melee attack, she would have been struck down. That's why I wanted to focus attention
				on the beam as it blasted off of the rooftop. 

				Nasu: That's the first I heard of it! The hidden truth, finally revealed at last! 

				Koyama: I knew you'd make a fuss, so I kept it a secret. (laughs) 				

				Q: How about Aotsuki-san and BLACK-san?

				Aotsuki: I've been at this so long that I can't think of a particularly 
				memorable scene (laughs). Now that I think about it, I do have one: the time
				that Archer says goodbye to Rin and vanishes left a very strong impression
				on me. Koyama-san didn't need to make any changes to scenes like
				those - they've soaked deep into my memory. 

				BLACK: I remember the Tiger Dojo sessions. 

				Nasu: Originally I had planned for the Tiger Dojo sessions to be used in a different
				way, but I couldn't get them to fit, and they became deformed. I decided to steer
				them into a new part of the work, creating the kendo uniform and the loli bloomer
				outfits. They provided a good analysis of the deep mysteries of the work, and I thought
				the result was acceptable. 
				
				BLACK: Although those were so different from the main story that we added 
				a section where the user approves whether or not to enter the Tiger Dojo. 
				
				Takeuchi: Yes, that was BLACK-san's suggestion. 

				BLACK: Indeed it was. The section was so different that I worried that Fujimura
				Taiga would come to be known as a loud and annoying character that would blast apart
				the atmosphere and mood carefully created in the rest of the game. That's why 
				there's a prompt asking for approval to go to the Tiger Dojo. It lets the user switch 
				gears from being directly involved in the story and steels his resolve to enter the Dojo. 

				Nasu: Thank you for showing consideration and love to Fujimura nee-san. I'm glad
				we had the Tiger Dojo. I think if it had not been there, she would not have had much
				impact as a character and would have only been able to make a weak impression. 
				However, in compensation for her big role in those, she's been destined to shoulder
				a big responsibility, and she first gets that job in a certain spinoff work.  
				(TL Note: she was Student No. 0 in Irisviel's Einzbern Consultation Room. After
				escaping, she decided to carry out Irisviel's will.)  
			
				[Aiming Toward the Creation of a Work that Will Be Loved Forever]

				Interviewer: We're almost done. Let's hear about some of your warm memories
				concerning Fate. 

				OKSG: It's the best. 

				Nasu: Trying to use the same comment from Tsukihime? Zero points! 

				Aotsuki: At the time we were making it, I never dreamed that it would be loved this
				much for this long. To put it simply, I'm very pleased. 								
				Nasu: Well done. You get an A. You're an honor student. 

				Nori: For me, Fate was my chance to enter the novel game business world. 
				Humanity has become a gala, and the title is appropriate. We were fated to do this.
				It was our destiny. What an appropriate name for the product. I don't think the 
				color of it will ever fade from my memory. I'm happy that people still love it so much. 

				BLACK: They've loved it for a long time. There are more male characters than 
				female characters, and Fate had a big impact. When I saw that for the first time,
				I wondered if it wasn't dangerous to release something so different from a business
				persepective. In the end, it was received extremely well and was a breakthrough 
				product. 

				Koyama: It's something I was engaged in not just as a maker, but as a user. 
				The memory of playing through it will stay with me. I don't think I'll ever be able to 
				forget it. 

				Nasu: Really?
			
				Koyama: Yes, really! When I layed it I didn't know I'd still be absorbed in it even now. 
				The process of hammering it together was extremely challenging but was very 
				precious to me. I can't say how lucky and thankful I am to be involved in it. 

				Takeuchi: We worked hard to build an involving product that others would enjoy. I 
				also think that we had good timing - we put the product together in our idealized 
				form, which we thought users would enjoy. Even though it's simple to say,  
				for me this was everything. Now let's get some comments from Nasu-san to wrap
				everything up. 

				Nasu: You're throwing a big hurdle in front of me! Well, I can say some things. In the 
				process of writing this, I've manufactured a stage that I did not think would disappear in 
				about half a year but I didn't think I'd still be talking about it this many years later. I guess
				that means you never know how your stories will fare once they're released into the wild.
				How often does one get to say that about anything, let alone his own work! To the 
				people who still love it ten years since we released it, I am intensely appreciative and
				grateful for their support. I want to say 'thanks from my heart!' I've created several 
				derivative works from it, but before I was very embarrassed and resistant to release
				the idea. Now that it won't ever die, I feel like I've received a very positive affirmation. 
				As an example, the original Yamato series is getting remade as Yamato 2199, 
				but you can only do something like that if you have watched the original first and taken
				its spirit into yourself. I think it is good for works to continue to live. 20 years from now,
				the fans of the original Fate will bring it back in some way because they love it. And with
				that beautiful statement concluded, that wraps up my closing comment. 

				Takeuchi: 100 points!

[p192]			Fate/hollow ataraxia and more
				

				At the same time the story of  Fate/stay night was concluding, many creators 
				were fanning the coals, ready to work on the next part of the story. Fate is, after all, a
				game full of energy. 

				The world of Fate has expanded and continued, brought about by diverse hands. 
				Now let's hear the tale of how these people brought their love and a map for the future of
				Fate from the TYPE-MOON staff. 

				Staff: Takeuchi Takashi (delegate, artist), KATE (sound), BLACK (graphic designer),
				Nokitsu (copyright, events), Hoshizora Meteo (scenario), Shimokoshi (graphic designer)
				
				[Fate/hollow ataraxia]

				According to what I heard from Nasu-san, after Fate became a massive hit in the realm
				of visual novels, people realized how much appealing content was in it, which would 
				make Fate a tempting source for derviations. We'll take a look at those now, starting
				with Fate/hollow ataraxia. Much like Kagetsu Tohya, it is a fandisk, but unlike most
				fandisks it is full of rich, heavy content. Let's talk about fundamentals. What kind of
				emotions did you have when you were busy creating Fate/hollow ataraxia? 

				Takeuchi: As far as hollow ataraxia goes, we had Kagetsu Tohya firmly in mind, and
				we started off with the same kind of burning passion to make an exciting fandisk. 
				However, the procedure became complicated very quicklly, and there were some parts
				that were difficult. We had to establish how the stage direction would go, and we had
				to make a lot of storyboards showing what designs or framing should be in the work. 
				 I think that the people who played it understand why, but making the scenario was 
				extraordinarily difficult. (lol)

				Q: While Fate/hollow ataraxia has many characters from Fate/stay night and focuses
				on what an ordinary afternoon might be like for them, there are also new characters 
				such as Avenger, Bazette Fraga McRemitz, and Karen Hortensia. The evening portion
				of the story was also dark and full of action. As a result, the game has a strong
				feeling of fragmentation between the lazy day and the action-filled night. I wonder if
				it was difficult to work on each section and keep them separate. That's the kind of 
				impression I had from Kagetsu Tohya. Would you tell us how you felt about the 
				process?

				Takeuchi: When we were getting started on the project, Nasu-san was kind enough
				to send me a great many notes. These notes detailed how to construct each of the 
				two sides of the structure in a balanced way. It was still very difficult. In terms of story,
				we tried to make something even taller than Nasu's, but unfortunately we weren't
				able to. I do think the end result is pretty to look at, but there were so many twists and
				turns I was very grateful to have unconditional support and cooperation from our
				staff. Meteo-san really came through in a big way and helped us out. 
				
				Q: Meteo-san, you're famous as the scenario writer for such works as Kusarihime
				and Forest. Can you tell us how you came to work for TYPE-MOON on this project?

				Meteo: I've been a fan of TYPE-MOON's projects for a long time. Finally by chance
				I attended a meeting with TYPE-MOON and discussed the prospect of working with 
				them on a project. At the time, something called 'hollow' was discussed. They were
				trying to recruit someone to be the scenario writer for this 'hollow' project, and I saw
				a chance to come on board. Perhaps that was the movement of karma. The names
				had not yet risen on the staff roll. Now it was time for me to get on board and help 
				get the fine details right on this great work. For example, the event where Saber played
				soccer and the training camp event were both things that I was put in charge of. 			
				In addition, getting the Tohsaka jinjya and the Marumaru assembled were both my 
				responsibilities. That included writing all the o-mikuji	
				that players could pick up. It's a nice memory. 
		
				Takeuchi: There were other things on top of that. The joke conversation of Caster as a 
				bride, or the sisters' conversation at night. All things like that were this guy's responsibility. 
				I remember you being surprised at how much writing went into this project. 

				Meteo: In addition to that, I had to fix up the endgame section of the game when things
				come to a finale. I thought I could do it if I tried, but I couldn't. I thought I was prepared 
				for anything, but when I got to the company I found myself changing some things from the 
				scenario script. I wondered just what these guys expected from me and became very timid before
				working on the project. 
				
				Takeuchi: Hollow was something that Nasu and I felt we had to make, even if we didn't know
				other people would find it interesting. There have been many cases when a continuation project
				like this crashes and burns. 

				Interviewer: Since we're still on the subject of Hollow, the minigames included on the fandisk were
				of very high quality, especially the hanafuda
				game (Hanafuda Bon Voyage Record). That got a supplemental patch afterward. It seemed like 
				something all of you put a lot of effort into. 
				
				Takeuchi: That part of the project was BLACK-san's responsibility. 

				BLACK: Quite so, but mostly I, along with Kiyobee-san, were busy working on Fuun! Illya's Castle.
				 We took care of that while getting help from the other staff. I remember playing that, going through
				events, and being told to follow all kinds of ridiculous orders. It's a funny memory (sweatdrops). 

				Q: Was the strategic use of Noble Phantasms in the minigame also your idea, BLACK-san?
			
				BLACK: It was. Many types of Noble Phantasms were used in [Fate], and are a necessary part
				of the Master/Servant paradigm. That said, I was worried about how they could be utilized in 
				games such as hanafuda. I worried that they might be unfair or unbalance the game. I suffered
				making adjustments to the product because of that (sweatdrops).

				Interviewer: Indeed! The destructive output of Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon attack is something
				to be feared! 
			
				BLACK: Of course that one is troublesome, but then again, most of the others are as well. 
				Don't forget about Lancer's Gae Bolg strike. Even though it's a random event, it is very damaging,
				clearly showing murderous intent. I added a restriction to its use ('have some prudence')
				for purposes of game balance (smiles bitterly). Afterward, in the PSP game 
				'Fly! Troubled Hanafuda Bon Voyage Record', which became a separate product, the number of 
				characters and teams increased, and game balance weighed even more heavily on my 
				mind. 

				Interviewer: Fate is mostly broken up into sections of the afternoon and evening, but in Hollow's
				case, it seems things are marked more by pieces of music. Can you let us hear about 
				that in detail? 

				Takeuchi: We were making this game according to the pile of notes given to us. We followed 
				the instructions, which included stage directions, types of music, and music cues. That's how
				we thought we should have done it. 

				Q: For Nasu-san, was Hollow a way of challenging what a fan disk was supposed to be? Or
				If so, what kind of response did you get to it? 
		
				Takeuchi: At first we thought there were 'antigalge' elements in it. There was an element of the 
				false four days where all the characters got together for a last battle - which turned out 
				not to be true. The situation also swells up and sucks you in, and the conversations between 
				the characters seem to be building towards a resolution. That was important to us. In the 
				day portion, the friendly, low-key developments someone expects from a fandisk were the rule,
				but when night falls, unexpected and surprising elements come out to play. Those were the 
				strong kinds of feelings the game inspired. 

				Otome: There were parts that concerned me about my role in the project, but Hollow is
				a very good product. Nasu-san's scenario and setting for stories are uniformly excellent,
				but working on Hollow allowed me to have some of the most choice cuts of meat. Among
				the new characters, Karen, Bazette, and Avenger were the most unique. I am glad I was
				able to send them out into the world.  
				
				[Fate/Realta Nua]

				Realta Nua was a revision version of Fate designed for the PS2. Voices for the characters
				and special event scenes were added. Would you tell us about the making of this 
				excellent work?
		
				Takeuchi: When I think back to that time, I remember trying to make something that
				would exceed our PC release for Fate. We were very excited, and it took a lot of time to
				make it.  				

				Q: Meteo-san and BLACK-san, what kind of work did you do on Realta Nua?

				Meteo: I didn't do any writing on the main scenario. I checked on the transplanted text
				and made sure everything survived the port process. This included checking to make
				sure the game would be approved by CERO, that it followed specs for a PS2 game, 
				and making sure it was easy to tell which character said what line. 

				BLACK: My role was to check script flow and make sure the outsourcing was going
				well. Afterward, I had to deal with the hanafuda aspect. Gradually I kept moving away
				from the graphics (laughs). 

				Q: Nori-san and Nokitsu-san, was Realta Nua when you came on board with the company?
		
				Nori: Yes, it was. I passed the qualifying exam, and got to work on the additional CG
				and incorporating it into the work. 

				Nokitsu: I was in charge of copyright. I remember how excited and energized everyone
				was about the project when I got to the recording booth. 

				Takeuchi: I do have some regrets concerning the recording. During the recording of voices,
				Nasu-san was very concerned about the quality so he supervised. Nasu-san went to 
				the recording studio everyday for three months. That means he was dealing with the aspect
				of commuting here and there and back again. We try hard to make other people interested
				in our projects, so keeping the balance was difficult. 
				
				Interviewer: Realta Nua required you to add in voices, and adding that to everything else
				was a huge bit of work. Let's talk to KATE-san, who was in charge of voices and sound. 

				KATE: I was in charge of music for the Fate project. Back at that time there were no voices
				in it, I really worried about dumping voices into it. As it turns out, I did not have anything 
				to worry about. The casting was good, and the actors all fit, so adding the lines was fine.

				Meteo: The seiyuu added their voices, and I was able to appreciate a new side of the 
				characters. I was happy to be able to experience that. The staff benefited too - they were
				able to experience a new kind of charm from the characters that they had not originally
				conceived of, which made them very excited. I'll mention something personal here:
				Itou Miki-san, who voices Fujimura Taiga, turned in such a wonderful performance that
				I think our users will receive a deep impression of the character. 

				Interviewer: In Realta Nua, there was an important episode called 'Robot Man'. 				
				Takeuchi: The decision to add that happened when you decided to try to save Saber.
				If you tried to help her at the end, you received the title of 'Robot Man'. We even 
				created a special tune to go with it. [TL Note: Emiya lives his life following an ideal like
				a robot follows its programming - if he fails to break from this model, he receives the 
				label 'Robot Man'.]

				Kate: That piece of music that plays is 'The End of the Dream'. 
				It was composed with the image of an illusion in mind. We got Kawai Eri to sing it for us. 

				KATE: Kawai-san did a good job, so we asked her to help us again if the opportunity again 
				presented itself. We talked about her singing the title song for one of our works. Sadly
				that's impossible now.  I can still hear her singing. 
				[TL Note: Unfortunately Eri-san passed away in 2008.]  

				[Fate/Zero]
				
				Interviewer: TYPE-MOON is well known for taking care of their users by supplying 
				them with doujinshi and anthologies. One symbol of that is the prequel work known as Fate/Zero. 
			 	I got the impression that this Fate spinoff was lovingly prepared by Urobuchi Gen, who 
				has a strong affection for Fate. Would you tell us about that? 
			
				Takeuchi: It was released as a series of novels that went on sale. We didn't think it was 
				ever going to be popular enough to be adapted into an anime, and we never knew that 
				Kariya's popularity was going to explode. I did think that Rider (Iskandar) was going to be
				a big hit, though. 	

				Q: In terms of TYPE-MOON projects, including Fate, there was a push from the beginning to bring
				him on board as a writer, wasn't there?
		
				Takeuchi: There was. For Hollow we wanted him to pen a guest scenario. It would have been
				the final battle between Kiritsugu Emiya and Kotomine Kirei. We told him about that and
				he said, 'If I'm going to do that, why don't you let me write the entire Fourth Holy Grail War
				for you?' We said, 'Let's go with that!' 

				Interviewer: Nitroplus (Urobuchi's company) is famous for Kyuuketsu Senki Vjedogonia
				and Kikokugai. Urobuchi wrote both of these stories.  Were you and the rest of the TYPE-MOON
				staff excited about the idea of him tackling the world of Fate? And how was the experience
				of reading the books once they finally came out?

				Meteo: 'How very much like Urobuchi-san!' is what I felt. The books are all page-turners. Once you
				open one and start reading, you'll be stuck reading them until the end. Good luck doing anything
				else. I know this from experience. During the scenes where one character was fighting another
				character while flying through the air, I remembered expereincing the same pure feeling of excitement
				and joy I used to feel as a child. Everyone is well aware of how talented Gen-san is as a writer, 
				but in terms of TYPE-MOON's feeling of the world and setting, it feels like he has given us another
				stratum of amazing history. Sometimes spinoffs can feel a little empty or run down compared to the
				original work. For that reason and many others, I think TYPE-MOON is pretty special. 
			
				Interviewer: I think so as well. The users and creators in other companies are working on things
				to continue to define and expand your world. The TYPE-MOON of the present and past must
				have a huge appeal. On that topic, there is something recent that added more to your line, and
				that is something called Carnival Phantasm, which recently was made into an anime. 
				The characters from Tsukihime and Fate get their marching orders and rush into a crossover
				production. The feeling and charm it had was very much like the other TYPE-MOON products. 

				Takeuchi: Yes, that's right. One challenging thing I enjoyed reading was  'Seto no Hanayome'. 
				We thought it would have been difficult to put it together, but in the end many people ended up loving it. 
				And in the case of TYPE-MOON, we'll use the example of Fate. That has the Servant system, the 
				Holy Grail War, and Noble Phantasms - all things with long histories and tons of detail. People
				enjoy thinking about them and discussing them. I think it's good. 

				Shimokoshi: I strongly agree with what Meteo-san said earlier. I like dark stories, so I was very interested
				in the last part where you decide whether or not to help. 
		
				Takeuchi: Nasu-san often writes dark endings where no one is saved, but because of this 
				Fate has a different feeling. There are genuine heroes, exciting fighting, and lots of bright 
				characters. I am glad the world of Fate has been such a big hit. 
				
				Interviewer: However, with the amount of Fate spinoffs, copyright management
				for all of it has become increasingly complex. Nokitsu-san, could you tell us about that?

				Nokitsu: There are many, many things contained within the 'Fate' brand. 	There's the manga,
				various goods, figures, anthologies, etc. I couldn't count them all if I wanted to. Although adding
				more manga would make my work harder, the mangaka who have worked on this have always
				added their own touches and made unique works. For that reason, I can keep enjoying them even
				if it means more work for me. With each new figurine, we get to see the showy talent and sense
				of the sculptor, which means the figurines give off a strong impression. The mangaka artists
				faithfully follow the designs and recreate the world we can get lost in. 

				Interviewer: I get the picture. Saber sure has many different versions. There's Saber Alter, Saber Lily,	
				and so on. But for the most part, she's the image associated with the world of Fate and illustrates
				how interesting it is. Let's have some more thoughts on all of that. 

				Meteo: More than seven years have passed since Fate first came out, but they've been exciting, 
				fun-filled years. We've made several April Fool's pranks with Fate as a motif. One of them was 
				a Fate Amusement Park. The idea was neat, and I for one think we should have really
				built the thing. We'd have Illya's Castle stuck in the middle of it, and Saber would be the mascot
				who'd show visitors lots of affection. That's a great idea, if I do say so myself. 

				Interviewer: It seems as if Meteo-san is ready to write a Fate story. 

				Meteo: I wouldn't be able to do that. If I tried to work on that suddenly, I don't think I'd be 
				able to put Servants into the world. 		

				Takeuchi: That's not good. We need to have them. Some of them will have to be minor characters,
				and we need to have several true heroes in the mix. 

				Meteo: When you see all of that, you feel kind of touched. 

				Takeuchi: You do, don't you? (lol) 

				BLACK: As I mentioned, I was in charge of the hanafuda section. I had to suddenly become a director
				for that. That happened just around the time the info for hanafuda 2 was getting revealed - which was to
				appear on Realta Nua for the PS Vita. Now that Zero is a hit, we have more material to enjoy. 

				Takeuchi: A hanafuda for Zero is something I've wanted for a few years now. Now that we have the 
				chance, we should make it. We've been calling it hanafuda, but I think it needs a better name. 
				'Trouble Hanafuda Big Plot!' Doesn't that sound super cool? 

				BLACK: I don't really see how that would have any connection to Fate/Zero. Maybe I don't
				get your meaning. 

				Takeuchi: You don't? Things could rush forward in a hurry! But anyway, since Fate is something 
				whose creation we've shared among the staff. Image Epoch put together Fate/EXTRA, and
				ufotable made a magnificient anime for Fate/Zero. We've done well through a combination of
				love for the story and a great deal of luck. I'm well aware of both of these facts, and we are
				very fortunate to have had this much support from our staff. 

				Nokitsu: It's all right! Shacho-san, we will follow you for the rest of our lives! 

				Takeuchi: You had to throw in a corny line like that when I was getting sentimental. (laughs)
					
				(Everyone laughs.)

[p196]			   Mahoutsukai No Yoru
				

				Up until now, most have thought of Mahoutsukai no Yoru as just another visual novel. 
				Let's hear the wonderful details of the scenario, graphics, and music, along with how
				direction of it was handled. Perhaps you will feel as if you watched an excellent movie.
				The idealism, the challenge, the suffering . . . and the views of the staff who worked on 
				this project. We'll hear all of these now. 

				Staff: Kinoku Nasu (scenario), Kiyobee (programmer), 
				Koyama Hirokazu (graphic design chief), Shimokoshi (graphic designer), 
				Aotsuki (graphic designer), Sunadori (3D designer) 

				[A New Type of Magic From TYPE-MOON]

				Interviewer: Mahoutsukai no Yoru came out eight years after Fate, but I think its
				scenario, graphics, music, and direction were able to answer the expectations of your 
				users. It's now two months since it first went on sale. I'd like to have your feelings and 
				thoughts concerning it. 
			
				Koyama: I can frankly say that I loved this a lot more than I thought I would. A great many
				people have told us how much they enjoyed it and found it very interesting. We've gotten
				some flack over how short the scenario is, but there were some positive aspects to that 
				criticism. They were saying things like 'I wanted to play more of it' or 'hurry up and write
				the sequel already!' There are some things I wish we could have done differently, but overall
				I'm very happy with how things turned out. 

				Takeuchi: I feel the same way. I can only say 'we're working on it!' to the people asking for a 
				sequel. I checked the response to it one week after it went on sale, and I'm still not done 
				reading the responses two months after that! I can't believe it! 

				Interviewer: Nokitsu-san and Sunadori-san, what were your impressions of Aotsuki-san's
				art? 

				Nokitsu: Well, I mostly did minor stuff as far as art goes. I worked on backgrounds and made
				small elements. That's the kind of design work I did. 

				Interviewer: I was really surprised when some of the backgrounds moved this time. Were you
				aiming to create a bigger effect than just a regular autoscrolling scene?
		
				Nokitsu: That's right. I was receiving direction to work in that kind of moving element, so I labored
				to create something bigger than before. 

				Sanadori: My role was to supervise the creation of 3D elements and backgrounds. I wanted the
				result to look good, so I used real-world items as models. Normally I'd do that and then let the 
				rest of the people on the project team take it from there. The results came out looking very nice,
				so I was very happy. 

				Interviewer: Would you tell us more about the modeling work? Let us hear some specifics. 

				Sunadori: I worked on various objects such as the cat bell and the power line. 

				Koyama: 3D modeling takes a lot of time, but it can be used to condense the schedule. 
				As an example, at one part Aoko takes out an umbrella. In most cases that would be a 
				pain to draw by hand. Replacing that with a computer model makes it a lot easier to depict
				in the game. 
				
				Interviewer: You did a lot! I didn't know you went so far as to use CGI for an umbrella! This has a different
				feel from the other products. As the person in charge of this section, maybe Aotsuki-san can shed
				some light on this. 

				Aotsuki: This time around I had to deal with standing illustrations, event art, images - the whole
				shebang. 
				
				Koyama: I got to work on the food. Oden, udon, and sushi were my products. 

				Q: Up till now, we've talked about how the program itself is different. How was it for you, 
				Kiyobee-san? 

				Kiyobee: I had some tools leftover from building Fate that I had intended to reuse on this project, 
				but there were some aspects that could not be fixed with those. When we first got started, 
				I felt like an old fool going down the wrong road, and I couldn't do the work well. 
				'Maybe I can't use these like I wanted to' was how I felt at the time. Then I had an idea about
				how different the two projects were. After that I started refining and improving the tools I was
				using and how I was thinking about it. Until I was able to do that I suffered a bit. 
				
				Nasu: I mentioned before how complicated and difficult Kiyobee-san's job is. He
				charge towards a huge amount of work and would find a way to do what had to be done, 
				so I don't see the suffering or the toil, I see the signs of a skilled worker doing his job. 

				Kiyobee: Maybe to the creator, this kind of stuff can be described as vaguely programmer-like. 
				Sometimes I'd say something in response to his suggestions, and it'd be a way on how to 
				produce the result he wanted. We'd end up having a meeting where we'd bounce ideas off
				of each other this way. 
								
				Interviewer: There was an impressive battle scene at the playground that left quite an impression. 
				The person who had to program all of that was Kiyobee-san. That was hard to do, wasn't it?

				Nasu: Some of the things he wanted to do were problematic because they demanded too much
				in terms of computing power. We have to program for particular specs, so what he had in mind
				was too much. He had to scale it down a lot. When you're making a PC game, you have to 
				program for the average specs of your users' computers. Because of that, Kiyobee-san was
				especially important for this project. Because the scene at the amusement park was 
				especially dramatic and needed to have a particular look, he was able to judge the
				average specs of our users and produce the scene while barely staying within the range
				of what their computers could handle. It saved us the trouble of having to rewrite the 
				game code to make it playable after finishing the work. 

				Interviewer: I heard that Kiyobee-san made a script-linking tool for working on your games. 
				Wasn't making the tool for linking up the script paths very difficult?

				Kiyobee: Indeed it was. I was fumbling in the dark for a while. There are some free tools
				for kirikiri, but they weren't able to handle the ADV and other tasks (KAG) as well as I wanted. 
				I wasn't sure what to do. 

				Koyama: Back when we were working on Fate, making a single finished image on the computer screen
				meant working with five different elements. For Mahoutsukai no Yoru, we needed to make considerably
				more. 				

				Kiyobee: After hearing about how the stage direction was lacking, I created tools for kirikiri and
	  			KAG to enable us to display more characters on screen. 

				Interviewer: This time around you had Fukusawa-san and Supercell-san working on the music. I'd like to hear
				about how that turned out. 

				Nasu: Before we get too into that, I wanted to point out that we had the score for this one played on 
				an orchestra. After consulting with Aniplex, I heard Fukusawa-san's name mentioned. I wanted to meet up with
				Fukusawa-san, so I put together some materials and scenes to explain to Fukusawa-san what this was about 
				and what we wanted to accomplish. I explained to Supercell that Mahoutsukai no Yoru is set in the 1980s but that its
				last part would take place in 2010, and told him that we waned an artist who was knowledgable in that frontier.

				Interviewer: Supercell-san's words have a kind of juvenile quality to them. One would think he'd 
				be compatible with Mahoutsukai no Yoru's overall feel. 

				 Nasu: That was a little rough, though. I hired Supercell-san thinking that he'd understand what was
				required after reading through the scenario. When I heard the lyrics that had been written to accompany
				the work, I knew he had thoroughly understood what he had read. The end result was better than what I
				had imagined. 

				Interviewer: Since you talked about juvenile ideas, I wanted to mention that the feel of Mahoutsukai no Yoru
				is very different from some of the other Type-Moon stories. 

				Nasu: When writing Mahoutsukai I remembered I had written a story set in the past, so I decided to release
				something I'd been holding back - namely the story itself, which I'd written down in book form. When I read
				it, I realized that it was out of date. I used the text and the mental images found in it as the basis and foundation 
				for this work. The most basic idea you'll find in it is boy-meets-girl in the 1980s. 

				Koyama: Takeuchi-san is heavily emphasizing the word 'juvenile' (laughs). 
			
				Takeuchi: Quite right. It is my special superpowerful beam attack (laugh). 
					
				Koyama: After Nasu-san stopped by for a visit and gave me the general idea of what we were aiming for,
				I got to work making graphics for the spells, magic, and other things that weren't part of everyday life. 
				I then had to take extra care to add a juvenile quality to the objects and things from everyday life. It would
				be bad not to do that to contrast the two, or so I thought. I could create magic and spell effects based on
				my own imagination, but I had to put in extra effort to do a proper job with the scenes and backgrounds from
				everyday life. 
				
				Interviewer: How about you, Nokitsu-san? Do you have any lasting impressions of the work or words
				of complaint? 
				
				Nokitsu: Hmm. Well, I have some memories of making backgrounds for the game. We got back materials
				from one of our outsourcing companies. I then had to do some work on them to make them uniform
				with our materials. Mostly it was Koyama-san and myself who were working on that then.  Mahoutsukai
				has a lot of backgrounds so we had our work cut out for us. The confusion of keeping all of those seperate
				resulted in us developing intense and burning wisdom (laughs). 

				Nasu: I thought it was just a matter of using your sensibilities, but you really do need to use your head 
				when you're dealing with all these CG layers. It's like wrapping your minds around scientific problems. 

				Aotsuki: After that came all the work on adjusting the pictures of people standing. That was hard. 
				Koyama-san gave me some strict instructions to follow (laughs). 

				Koyama: Making the default standing pictures was a complicated process. We hadn't made standing pictures
				first, as the script hadn't been readied for them. When it came time to make them, I was very nervous
				because I was inexperienced. In addition, when we started layering the illustrations, there were times
				when the drawings wouldn't look good after all of the other elements were composited into the image - which
				necessitated going back and fixing them up. That was the case for a lot of the drawings. If you look 
				at the game carefully, you'll see all those times when we took the time to fix up those details. 'Hmm, that
				road looks thin.' 'That ribbon's position changed a little.' These are the minor adjustments that we made.
				We suffered trying to get everything right. 
				
				Q: How was it for you, Sunadori-san?
				
				Koyama: I had Sunadori-san make the ferris wheel in the scene with the amusement park. 
				
				Sunadori: I joined TYPE-MOON in 2008. Before that, I was working as a contractor on work for the group. Once
				I joined as a full-timer, I got hit with many jobs concerning background and 3D work. 
				
				Koyama: I remember that. You were taking 2D images of Kuonji and
				turning them into 3D images. As I recall, the images were of the lounge. 
				
				Sunadori: I did that to make Aoko-chan's classroom, her room, and the lounge of that temple. In order to represent
				an object in three dimensions, you must first change your way of thinking - get to the origin of it, and figure out
				what makes that place or thing unique. It's challenging, but it's interesting work. I did the layouts in 2D also.
				but I wasn't able to convert those to 3D as I was originally ordered! Oh dear, that was troublesome. In those 
				cases, I had to work on the models to make them match the layouts. 
				
				[In Terms of the Characters]

				Interviewer: Mahoutsukai no Yoru is a work with very memorable characters that leave lasting impressions. As 
				the person responsible for the original art, we are certain that Koyama-san has some strong affection for
				the characters in the work. Let's ask him to tell us who his favorites are. 
				
				Koyama: If I had to choose one, it'd be Aozaki Touko. 
				I had to spend a lot of time on pictures of her, but the more I worked on her and the patterns of her clothes,
				the more fun it became. I especially liked the olive-colored clothes she always wore. To make it multipurpose,
				I worked on her ensemble to ensure that it wouldn't seem out of place both inside and outside. I used the image
				of a lovely outfit that a lady might wear to a ball. I think our users would get excited to see her and her outfit. 
				
				Nasu: Well done, my minion. 
				
				Koyama: Yes, it's like that (lol). 
				
				Nasu: Seriously though, this guy always comes through. It gives me a lot of help as a writer because no matter
				how odd the lines are, he gets it done. There are some characters I write with bizarre dialogue (such as Neco-Arc)
				and he never has any troubel with them. 
				
				Nokitsu: Hopefully I am also a useful servant. I would jot off a quick drawing and show it off on twitter, but soon
				the followers said they were reading the text in my voice. After that they didn't think of a character as just an
				idea. (lol)
				
				Nasu. Ah yes. Not only did you write in Neco-Arc's style, you were able to create a writing style for all of those
				derived characters. I even did some work on an episode where you'd help out with that. I was a little nervous
				at first when it came to making our stuff, but as our work continued it became easier - kind of like 
				Darker than Black. Kato Emiri-san's voice acting of Pink in that was very good - enough to make us think 
				she'd work well with us. Around that time she also voiced the part of Kyuubey in Mahou Shoujo Madoka. 
				[Ah! It's all useless! Oh no!] is how we felt. No one can win against a small, cute animal like that. (lol)
				
				Sunadori: I was the same way. I was sympathizing with it, and knew we'd found the person to play 
				Shizuki Soujirou or Kuonji Arisu. Even the scenes of everyday life were infused with great feeling. 
				
				Interviewer: It'll be good to see her play the part. As for other roles to be filled, how about 
				Aotsuki-san and Kiyobee-san? 
				
				Aotsuki: I'm very eager about Arisu, as she'll be played by Sawashiro Miyuki-san. They're not throwing
				away the otaku brains. 
				
				Kiyobe: This may come a little unexpected, but I really liked Kinomi Housuke. Maybe I ended up liking
				the characters more than the story. Mahoutsukai no Yoru is a game with a big cast of characters with 
				many different personalities, and because of that, Housuke, a very ordinary person with ordinary dreams
				became a kind of window for us to look through and experience that world. 
				
				[Looking Back over Ten Years of TYPE-MOON]
				
				Interviewer: How about we have your thoughts about the past ten years at TYPE-MOON and what you
				are aiming for in the future?
				
				KATE: I think we've grown over these past 10 years, although I haven't reached a point where I can 
				feel satisfied with the tunes I create. I'm also trying to make something for FES (a concert-like event),
				so it's with both of those things in mind that I intend to keep working. 
				
				Kiyobee: It's my job to make tools that can be freely used to make evironments. That's what role I play
				at TYPE-MOON. We'll work hard to become an even better maker. We'll produce products that form a 
				strong connection with users. 
				
				Koyama: TYPE-MOON has only a few big title products, but I don't want you to take that in a negative way.
				Quality is extremely important. Only after working on something for a long time and then polishing it is
				the group ready to release the product. That means fewer things come out, but it's made us feel very
				lucky as creators. I think we've used our precious time well. I don't know how we'll change in the future, but
				I think we'll keep conveying this same feeling to everyone. 
				
				Shimokoshi: We've heard from both of them. One thing I wanted to say is how important it is to maintain one's
				health. In fact, I want everyone on the staff to take better care of thmeselves! (laughs) You have to stay
				healthy so you can keep working to bring good things to our customers! And while keeping up the same
				standards of quality, work on getting your backgrounds drawn faster, at least two times the speed you currently
				manage. Keep training until you can keep cool while doing demanding work the boss hands you the day
				before the deadline! 
				
				Sunadori: It's been half a year since I joined the company, but my position in the company remains a little
				vague. I asked [why not leave the 3D work to me?] in a proper way, but things didn't settle down, and 
				gradually I had to try a lot of other new things. There's no limit to the new things we have to absorb to 
				do the jobs, so I think I've grown a lot. 
				
				Aotsuki: Speaking of work, I've been thinking a lot about multiplayer aspects to incorporate, but recently 
				I've been tasked with the coating on cels. The quality has to remain high. I have to work on that. And my
				health. I got back the results of my health checkup recently, and they weren't good. 
				
				Nokitsu: I've been with the company for six years now, but it wasn't my main job when I started. I think 
				many of the people in the company are both makers as well as players - there's a really strong feeling of
				enthusiasm. 
				
				BLACK: In my case, I still have fun playing the games we make sometimes. I think by keeping that spirit
				alive, I'm able to contribute. I let the feeling of interest and fun swell up in me and reach out to our work.
				
				Meteo: I'm hard at work on the Fire Girl novel as well as the anime adaptation of Girls Work. I want them
				to be as good as they can be. I've learned so much since I started, and I want to keep learning in 
				order to do a better job while working on projects. Creating developed and strong characters gives me 
				a lot of fun as a fan. 
				
				Nori: Working on the things in front of me is fine, but I've wanted to do more things like this, so I'm
				going to be more active - while comfortably making backgrounds. I'll keep working hard. That's
				what I said in a hurry. And my health isn't so great either. (lol) 
				
				OKSG: I've been asked to do so many things that I think I've diversified a lot. I have to keep learning
				and growing. After all, I want to put out 'Mahoutsukai no Hako' (Box of the Magicians). I'm not sure
				how long it'll take to develop that, though. 
				
				Interviewer: Let's hear some words from Nasu-san and Takeuchi-san to wrap things up. 
				
				Takeuchi: Ten years may be a long time, but they just flew by. We worked hard and overcame a 
				lot of different challenges. With a shout of [Let's finish Tsukihime!] we hit the ground running, and after
				that TYPE-MOON became a major brand. Still, our desire to make interesting things hasn't changed. 
				That desire is very handy when we have to repair or patch something or maintain our health. In 
				fact, I think all of us should see a human doctor! (TL note: it's a pun - an animal doctor specializes
				in treating animals, and now you know the rest of the joke.)
				
				Nasu: Yes, a human doctor would be good. As I look back over these ten years, I don't have any 
				regrets - I believe that what we chose to do was right. In fact, I think there's no way it could be wrong. 
				Instead of regrets, I tend to dwell on ways to impress and captivate our users. That doesn't involve
				coming up with a cheap and/or radical approach, rather it means setting up a good, sturdy framework 
				with an entertaining story. It's like raising a good crop for a harvest. I used to regret that the only 
				two huge titles I made were Tsukihime and Fate, but recently Koyama-san remarked that Fate has become
				a huge franchise with a lot of tie-in products. That was a big affirmation, and I feel better about turning
				my attention back towards Tsukihime. In the far future, you'll probably know of TYPE-MOON for five big
				titles, but then I'll beat my chest and say that those five titles were spoken of for decades! We'll continue
				creating products that users will find interesting, and we won't lose sight of that goal. 
				
				KirKiri. A free application developed by W.Dee for Windows. It has a high degree of functionality and was 
				used as a scripting engine to make Fate/Stay Night. 

				KAG. An abbreviation for KiriKiri Adventure Game. It is in conjunction with KiriKiri to make scripts for
				adventure games and novel games. 
				
				Fukusawa Hideyuki. Composer for Super Street Fighter IV, Chaos Legion, Devil May Cry, and Onimusha 2. 
				He has composed many songs for Mahoutsukai no Yoru, and one choice example is the song "Five".
				
				Supercell (romanized in lowercase as supercell) is a music group formed by Ryo in 2007. Works of theirs 
				include Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, Sayonara Memories, etc. The group performed 
				Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru Ni for Mahoutsukai no Yoru.

[p206]			   Nasu Kinoko x Takeuchi Takashi  x  Urobuchi Gen  10 Years' Three-Cornered Talk
					
				
				[A Shared Interview with Three Masters Known in the Industry as Top Creators!]
				
				[The Big Guys Talk about Changes Over the Past Ten Years]
				
				Interviewer: As it's been ten years, I think it would be good for us to take a look back at TYPE-MOON's works. 
				As the years passed, all of you have created various products for TYPE-MOON. How have you changed as
				you bore the work of creating these stories?
				
				Nasu: I'm not really conscious of my writing style, but I have been moved by the words of my sempai in the 
				literary world, Kasai Kiyoshi. He said the 
				enemy the protagonist must face in stories before the 1980s and the enemy the protagonist must confront 
				in stories after the 1990s are different. Up until the 1980s, the protagonists were fighting against enemies 
				that symbolized something wrong and distorted about society. From the 1990s onward, the fight was against
				something very personal to the protagonist, including his own psyche. Let's take a look at some of my own stories. 
				In Kara no Kyoukai, the protagonist Ryougi Shiki as well as Fate/stay night's own Emiya Shirou both have a toxic sense of 
				values that causes both of them to suffer. Their respective enemies, Araya Souren and Kotomine Kirei, are 
				so potent that they are like fighting the world or society. As torn and wounded main characters, Emiya and Ryougi are
				like heroes from the 1980s. 
			
				Urobuchi: One point to make is that Araya and Kotomine both have completely mature senses of value. It's 
				hard for the troubled protagonists to go up against them - like running head on into a wall. The protagonists
				from the previous eras had no choice but to go over those kinds of walls. Fate/stay night and Kara no Kyoukai
				had that kind of structure. The second half of the first decade of the 2000s have protagonists with a slightly
				different taste. 
				
				Takeuchi: This is just my opinion, but the protagonists now seem a little different. They aren't as conflicted
				and don't struggle against themselves - they rush forward towards their goals and challenge their enemies directly.
				
				Nasu: [I don't want to fight, but I have to throw sand on the raging fires.] is that kind of stance. Recently it's 
				been rarer to see protagonists with strong ideals and goals clashing against their enemies in fierce battles. 
				
				Urobuchi: Because things are like that now, I want young people to play stories like Fate/stay night. It's not full
				of old men the way that Fate/Zero was, and there are lots of cute heroines in it! 
				
				Nasu: But Emiya Shirou is a little raw and naive. 
				
				Interviewer: Compared to that, Fate/Zero is more about a straight-up battle royale and a rush to find the root, 
				isn't it? It seems more like an 80s story. 
				
				Nasu: There are lots of old men, and they had strong convictions. That's why they were able to fight. 
				Among these characters is Kariya, who is trying to free Sakura from the captivity of the Matous. He is the 
				odd one. He's fighting only to save her, so compared to someone like Kiritsugu who fights for ideals of
				justice, it might be easier to empathize with Kariya. When the anime version of the novels came out, 
				Kariya's popularity went through the roof. He's childlike in some ways, especially with how he dreams of
				getting together with Aoi, who he has no chance with. 
				
				Takeuchi: I follow you. It sounds like he has chuunibyou. 
				
				Urobuchi: But that in itself was enough to cause his demise. He allowed his body to be invaded by Crest Worms
				and accepted a one-month time limit for his life. 
				
				Nasu: To see someone with chuunibyou reduced to this . . . maybe it is my fate as well, as someone who also
				suffers from chuunibyou. (laughs) 
				
				Takeuchi: To someone who watched the TV anime, it'd be easy to mistake Kariya as the main character. He's 
				drawn to look like one. He wants to save Sakura and avenge himself upon Tokiomi - sounds like a gloomy and
				conflicted dark hero. He's certain to develop popularity among the viewers. 
				
				Nasu: Normally after a character like that goes through hell, some sort of reward is given to him at the end. Still,
				because it's Urobuchi-san, a character like Kariya-san can't even die with a good look in his eyes. 
				
				Urobuchi: That is untrue. At the end I allowed him to see a beautiful dream as he died. (laughs)
				In fact, I planned to do a lot with Kariya at the beginning. Still, because of his health condition, 
				he fought badly and died a sad death. 
				
				Nasu: Even with those limitations, he had Berserker on his side. That was a powerful Servant, and he was 
				strong enough to beat up the other Servants quite handily. 
				
				[Reactions and Memories Concerning the Fate/Zero Anime]
				
				Interviewer: As someone who wrote the original novels for Fate/Zero, what did you think of the anime?
				
				Urobuchi: There are lots of anime now with spinoff dramas. The protagonist and his allies all get illustrations
				for those. Fate/Zero has characters that have no common connection or bond, and the work focused on 
				each of them. As it's a story with a lot of exciting characters trying their best to win, maybe it'll sparkle in
				the eyes of young anime fans. Later on, they'll realize how bad the situation really is. 
				
				Nasu: Mixed in with the other protagonists is a teenaged boy named Waver Velvet.
				There wasn't much time for a lot of beautiful young ladies. 
				
				Urobuchi: Well, the essence of some of your future heroines was there in the form of 
				Chibi-Rin, Chibi-Sakura, and Illya. They're all still little girls in that story though. 
				While they're cute, they only appear in a few places in the story. The animators were
				told to animate them as cutely as possible. Unfortunately, as they were still so young, 
				they had to get off the field before things got really rough. 
				
				Nasu: Recently, I've been watching Tiger and Bunny. It's possible to make an interesting story
				even if there are no cute girl characters in it. There are no problems. 
				
				Interviewer: To go back to the topic of Zero, what lept out at your eyes when you saw the story
				you wrote turned into an anime?
				
				Urobuchi: To put it into words, it feels unreal. I followed production of the series for a year, but
				I don't have an awareness of it being broadcast on television. The production quality was very high.
				Another great work by ufotable. I really liked the stage direction and execution of the scene where 
				Assassin infiltrates the Tohsaka estate. That was excellent. 
				
				Nasu: Assassin is a great Servant! I am getting pumped thinking about him sneaking into an enemy
				camp, especially if it's the Tohsaka headquarters!
				
				Urobuchi: I like the Assassin Servant. I was surprised by how well the staff drew all the different Assassins
				that were all part of him (Hassan). 
				
				Nasu: They made many original character designs, one for each Assassin. 
				
				Urobuchi: It was impressive to see them make 100 varied designs for the scene where a swarm of them
				attack Rider. 
				
				Takeuchi: You have a keen eye to be able to discern all those details. (laughs)
				
				Nasu: And we have the Special Skill that lets us eat soba noodles while wearing haori. That was a
				joke. But going back to the subject, I remembered what a good job they did with the theatrical release
				of Kara no Kyoukai. They had the determination necessary for this work, and graciously bowed their
				heads and took on the project. It was hard taking this huge scenes and structuring them for the confines
				of a tv screen, and it was a story with a lot of suffering in it. The scene where Caster (Gilles De Rais) first
				shows up is horrific enough in the book, but it was animated in a way that made it even more memorable.
				
				Urobuchi: Although it only is voiced, the Drama CD production of that was also trauma-inducing. 
				
				Nasu: Normally something like that would be cut or otherwise skirted around because of the sensibilities
				of the TV viewership, the ufotable kept it right in. I really got a sense of how seriously they were taking
				the project. 
				
				Urobuchi: I honestly thought it would be terrible to animate that part and broadcast it, but they powered
				on through and kept it in the production. Since they are so experienced, there's no problem. 
				
				Nasu: I told Aniplex's producer that I wanted the novels turned into an anime. It was a good suggestion. 
				
				Interviewer: Tell me about the discussions that went into turning this into an anime. 
				
				Nasu: Many anime fans want there to be a lot of cute bishoujo characters in the work, and while they work
				hard to meet those needs, Iwakami, an important producer at Aniplex, wasn't satisfied just by doing that. 
				I suggested that he tackle Fate/Zero, a dark and serious story full of raw emotion. He had the resolve, 
				and that's how they ended up adapting Fate/Zero. 
				
				Takeuchi: Many anime studios wanted to make Fate/Zero into an anime, but as far as actually doing that, 
				I couldn't feel very excited about the idea. It was a story that came into being out of the love and respect 
				that Urobuchi-san had for Fate/stay night, and was designed to deepen the enjoyment a reader could get
				out of Fate. Adapting it into an anime might mean stepping on that love, and I didn't want to make something
				that didn't capture the feeling of the original novels. 
				
				Interviewer: But it was adapted, and your fears weren't realized. 
				
				Takeuchi: Koyama had already handled some work on the radio dramas. He also asked for us
				to turn it into an anime. He kept asking it over and over. As that happened, I realized that he
				might be the one who could realize Urobuchi-san's intentions for the story in anime form. 
				Various studios applied for the rights, but I wanted ufotable, who had done such wonderful work
				with the theatrical versions of Kara no Kyoukai, to handle the work. I knew they'd understand
				what Urobuchi was saying with the work and that would be the most difficult hurdle to overcome.
				
				Nasu: When Iwakami-san was talking about what he wanted to do, I thought it'd make for an 
				interesting TV anime. I knew the viewers would be sitting on the edge of their seats, impatiently
				waiting for the next episode to air. That was when I gave him permission. I asked him if I could
				rely on  him to adapt the project into an anime. 
			
				Takeuchi: We first talked about having it adapted as a series of films. We'd had good luck with 
				Kara no Kyoukai and were thinking about handling Zero with the same approach. When I heard back
				they wanted to turn it into a TV adaptation, I thought there would be too many hurdles for them to 
				clear. I was totally wrong, and I was absolutely engaged in watching, impatiently waiting for the time
				to tick down to the start of a new episode. 
				
				Urobuchi: Even now, I still feel some concerns about turning my work into TV anime. 
				
				Nasu: Like when Caster (Gilles De Rais) is about to show up, but suddenly the feed cuts to a 
				boat sailing down the river - a very "Nice Boat!"
				That was a real possibility. 
				
				Urobuchi: Back in my childhood, If I had seen some of what I write about now in film form , I'm sure I would have been
				instantly traumatized. 
				
				Interviewer: This was a story with flashy action scenes and remarkable cruelty. 
				
				Urobuchi: True, but I had absolute faith in the ufotable staff. It's not a shock they could pull this off
				after their success with Kara no Kyoukai. The end result turned out to be even better than I imagined. 
				I especially loved the scene where Kirei and Tokiomi have a knife conversation. The staff was't able
				to use every scrap of dialogue from the original, but they were able to deduce what was absolutely
				necessary. I view it as a distillation - they figured out what was excess and carefully cut that away. 
				I was very impressed by their good work, and I got to see something new every week as a result of
				it. 
				
				Interviewer: What are your thoughts as you look back on the project now? 
				
				Takeuchi: Waver is now oddly cute. He was originally designed to be just another loser character, 
				but the anime reimagined him as a character that the viewers can come to like normally. 
				
				Urobuchi: Now it's more than odd. "Why are you sticking your butt up in the air?" is a question 
				I wanted to ask. He often went flying when Rider (Iskandar) hit him, but only then did that happen. 
				
				Nasu: I think they really succeeded in capturing his character. He's drawn differently from most
				bishounen characters, and I think they did a good job at showing a youth who is slowly growing
				into a man. 
				
				Takeuchi: Indeed! Because he looks like a big loser, watching him develop and grow is very moving. 
				
				Urobuchi: I tried my hand at drawing the characters, and had intended to draw a very handsome
				Matou Shinji - but everyone ended up being a moe character. I hadn't expected that. 
				
				Takeuchi: Among the Fate/stay night characters, Matou Shinji and Gilgamesh are the strongest 
				moe characters. 
				
				[Chicken or the Egg?]
				
				Interviewer: Have you noticed how you have very different feelings when you encounter 
				Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero? 
				
				Urobuchi: Reading the novels makes me get into the character of people in the Fate universe,
				which is understandable since the book was designed to appeal to Fate/stay night fans. I loaded
				up the novel with lots of references to things in the Fate 'verse, and unexpectedly it ended up
				serving some hints as to what will happen in Fate/stay night. 
				
				Nasu: We were very happy to see how many links there were, but primarily we enjoyed having
				another way to appreciate the story. Urobuchi provided a different viewpoint to what happened. 
				As an example, in Fate/stay night Illya is a fearsome enemy, but in Zero she's still a harmless,
				cute little girl. Seeing that innocent child turn into Berserker's Master ten years down the road
				will surprise a lot of new fans. Thus do the two viewpoints and stories complement each other -
				and the fans will be surprised by the drastic changes in some of the characters.
				
				Urobuchi: If you think of it that way, the opening part of Zero is one of the 'peak' moments of
				the series - and the first time we meet Kotomine Kirei.(lol) 
				
				Nasu: In an RPG, you'd get to the castle and meet the King. He'd tell you that you did well by coming
				here, leave, and the last boss fight would begin. That's a recurring pattern. 
			
				Urobuchi: After you heard Kotomine speak, you'd understand how regal, manly and 
				refined his speech was, and you'd want to warn the main characters not to trust him. 
				
				Nasu: Shirou was suspicious of him the moment they met at the church, so it makes
				sense for the readers of Fate/Zero to figure things out when they take the book in
				their hands. But prior to this, we had seen Kiritsugu calmly relaxing with his adopted
				family. It was done to let us see another side to the Magus Killer. And when Kotomine
				Kirei said [So you're Emiya Shirou . . . ] , a weird switch flipped in my brain. 
				
				Takeuchi: It's fun to look at what happened from a different perspective. I wonder what
				it would be like to go straight from Fate/Zero to Fate/stay night. I haven't given it
				any thought. Maybe it'd be like the passing of the torch to the next generation of
				heroes - that kind of thing happens in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. 
				
				Interviewer: Knowing that certain things are going to happen before they do provides
				a special kind of enjoyment. Both Urobuchi and Nasu treated one of the main heroines,
				Saber, a little differently. Let's hear about that. 
				
				Urobuchi: Back in Zero, Saber was just a maiden who'd had the role of King of Knights 
				forced on her - and she was presented to the world as that King. Once she meets 
				Shirou, she begins to open her heart to him and acts more like a young lady. In Zero
				she's still playing the role that others crafted for her to play - a veteran King of Knights. 
				
				Nasu: Right after Saber encounters Shirou for the first time, she's pretty tough, and 
				ignores a lot of the things he says. As we find out more about her, she opens up more
				as a woman - and shows a cute, tough, obstinate face at times. When he was writing
				Zero, Urobuchi-san asked us if he could tell the story of how Saber became so hardened
				and tough. He came up with the idea that Emiya Kiritsugu betrayed her in the Fourth 
				Heavens' Feel, which is why she was so reserved and guarded around Shirou in the
				beginning. 
				
				Urobuchi: When I was writing Zero to carefully link up with Fate/stay night, the voice
				of Saber from the game and anime were a big influence. Kawasumi Ayako found 
				voicing her interesting, and thought Saber had a strong sense of strength that was eroded -
				making Saber like a puppy that was abused and then returned to the pet store. 
				Once she thought of the situation like that, it was easy to use that as a model 
				for her acting. But of course I'm half-joking. (lol) When I first heard Kawasumi-san's
				voice acting for Saber, I wondered why she  lost her faith in people and became so
				guarded. That's when I realized that I had the chance to explain the reason behind
				all of that. 
				
				[The original model, the stay night that Was Created in Nasu's High School Days]
				
				Interviewer: We'll change the subject over from Zero to something else. Can you tell
				us about the progress of stay night, one of your original projects?
				
				Nasu: Some of the TYPE-MOON fans might not know about this, but during my high
				school days I wrote a book to amuse myself called stay night. It was about the length
				of a novel. I'd been writing fanfiction for the games I liked all the way back in middle school
				and showing them to my friends, but in high school I wanted to tell my own original story. 
				I used Yamada Futaro's Makai Tensei as a motif. His story featured tons of heroic 
				characters gathering in Japan, so I decided to have epic heroes from history and myth
				summoned to Japan as heroic spirits! Also around this time, I'd gotten hooked on 
				World Heroes, a fighting game that was available at arcades.
				I became really excited when I saw all the references that were in that work. I guess
				I was too excited about it, but it's still a fun memory. 
				
				Takeuchi: Now that you mention it, stay night does have the concept of a group of
				heroes assembled from East and West, forced to duke it out to decide who'll be the 
				winner. Everything else about it is different, though - enough to make me think that
				no one had ever seen anything like it before. 
				
				Nasu: I was still in my chuunibyou phase, but I was having a great time throwing
				in references in the work. It started off with a fight between Saber and Assassin in
				front of a temple gate, but I soon got tired of it and gave up midway. 
				
				Interviewer: The text of stay night was then used to create something called
				Fate prototype. In that, Saber is a boy and his master is a girl. 
				
				Nasu: That's right. The girl was Sajou Ayaka, a magus who wore glasses. Her Servant
				was King Arthur, summoned into the Saber class. Rider was a male, and Gilgamesh was
				still a member of the Archer class. There are many ways in which it's different from
				Fate/stay night. It was the first time for me to create my own story, and the work
				exists because I had that desire. 
				
				Takeuchi: Fate prototype existed on looseleaf, handwritten pages.  We made photocopies
				of the original and then carefully stored the original manuscript for safekeeping. A lot has
				changed since then, but some special lines and other things from it still remain. As an example,
				in the original the Assassin Servant took on the identity of Sasaki Kojirou. 
				
				Interviewer: If we can find the time, I'd love to see the original. 
				
				Nasu: If that text became known to others, I would have to take my own life. I don't like the 
				prose I wrote back when I was in middle school. You wouldn't even need to use a katana to 
				cut me down if that got out.  
				
				Urobuchi: No, I'm sure you've forgotten the content as the years went by. If you looked over it
				now and released it, you'd be absolutely fine. From a critical and objective viewpoint, you 
				can say "Wow, this greenhorn punk is really trying hard." 
				
				Nasu: Now that you've seen through me like a pane of glass, I wonder things are really that
				different even after all these years. It's embarrassing and weak - a double blend that will surely
				do me in. 
				
				Takeuchi: When Fate prototype was coming together, Nasu Kinoko was coming together as a
				writer. It's not surprising. 
				
				Interviewer: But for it to stop at the Assassin battle? Your audience of today wouldn't be willing
				to wait. 
				
				Takuechi: Just to clarify something here - the ending was rattling around inside Nasu-san's brain
				for a long time, but he couldn't clearly set it down. Nasu still had strong feelings and images of 
				the work inside, and that began to form the idea of making it into a game. 
				
				Nasu: Although at first I didn't feel like turning stay night into a game. It was 2000. We'd just
				gotten back from Winter Comiket, where we'd sold Tsukihime. We went to Kamata and dined
				on curry. In between mouthfuls of food, Takeuchi told me, [Well Nasu-san, the next thing for
				us to make into a game and sell will be stay night.]  That was something he'd been telling me
				for a while. At the time, I had no desire to go back and restructure something I'd already given
				up on, and Takeuchi's suggestion [You should turn Saber into a girl] made me wonder what the
				heck he was thinking. Shortly after that, I was headed back towards Chiba on an airplane from
				Narita airport, and I got to thinking about a new version of the story. I called Takeuchi on the 
				phone and said [This might work. Let's give it a shot.] After that, I began to work on producing
				a different version of stay night. 
				
				Urobuchi: It had a different design orginally. The main character was a girl, and most of the Servants
				were male. The setup of the story was interesting, and I think it might have been received well. 
				
				Nasu: At the time, I wasn't thinking of making it into a game that'd be welcomed be female fans. 
				
				Takeuchi: If it's going to be a bishoujo game, it'll be difficult to release if the protagonist is a woman.
				So we started to discuss the idea of replacing the protagonist with a male. 
				
				[When Nasu Kinoko and Urobuchi Gen Met]
				
				Q: Both of you have sustained a long and deep friendship, but how did you first meet?
				
				Nasu: Back in 2002 we were making a radio drama for Kara no Kyoukai. I was hoping that Urobuchi
				would write something for the CD booklet. At the time, he'd released Phantom - PHANTOM OF INFERNO-
				and Kyuuketsu Senki Vjedogoni. As he'd made some great works, I thought and still think highly of him. 
				
				Urobuchi: At the time, I was hearing amazing things about a doujin game called Tsukihime, and apparently
				it had some great-looking jacket art. It was a bishoujo game, and the demand for it was unheard of. 
				As someone who works in the same field, I became interested in knowing Nasu-san. When he
				wanted to interview me, I graciously accepted. 
				
				Nasu: That was in one of Akihabara's maid cafes. Urobuchi-san writes hard, intense sentences, so we
				imagined that he'd be wearing big shoulder pads and carrying a loaded shotgun. We worried that
				he'd be covered in huge muscles and demand a huge sum of money. (lol)
				
				Urobuchi: I imagined you'd be an eccentric dressed in traditional kimono, with long, grasping fingers
				that stuck out from fingerless gloves. The sound of your clacking geta would precede your arrival. (laughs)
				
				Nasu: So long as we're on the subject of prejudice, I through your first words would be "There are
				many imouto characters in the world, but I've not yet met a vivid, passionate imouto that can 
				put me on the defensive." I'd hear you say that, and then I'd say "But Urobuchi-san, you write
				hardboiled stories but have that type of taste!?" I'd act really surprised. While we bantered, I'd 
				notice that we were about the same age while we talked about our senses of value and what works
				we enjoyed. We'd determine that you were attracted to a work through intellection while the passion
				of a work was what interested me. We'd spontaneously compose poems to express these concepts,
				and the differences in our composition would brilliantly shine through. While chatting, we'd confirm
				our mutual positions as writers in the same industry, and it would not be necessary for us to think
				of each other as powerful rivals. 
				
				Urobuchi: Looking back then, I didn't realize how long our friendship was going to last. It's kind
				of interesting seeing how out of that meeting, I would end up destined to write Fate/Zero, a prequel
				novel to Fate/stay night. 
				
				Nasu: I was thinking of asking you to write an additional story for Fate/hollow ataraxia. The text
				you turned in that became Fate/Zero was amazing. 
				
				Urobuchi: I went in thinking I'd just be writing a short story. I didn't have any confidence in myself
				to write that many volumes. But Nasu-san, you made a big sandbox. It's hard to avoid playing in it. 
				"It'd be good to addt his episode!" "I want to have this epic hero make an appearance!" I ended
				up having a lot of fun. I ended up writing for the joy of writing itself. I didn't worry about when
				the end was coming. At the time I was lamenting my inability to make a happy end for my stories, 
				but the activity of creating Zero helped me to address that. I never thought it was going to have
				that effect on me. After writing the first volume, I immediately started on the second. I wanted to 
				share the feeling of Fate/Zero with the world. Even if it's just a plain piece of music, sometimes
				the performance itself is enough to let the audience have fun. I was aiming to have fun writing
				the story. In fact, I think Fate/stay night is a work that inspires its audience to make these kinds
				of works. 
				
				Nasu: I read your Equilibrium fanfic, "Jouka no Monshou" (Purification Crest). That was a story about
				men blazing until they burned out. Men who gave their all to defeat the most powerful enemy. 
				Two men who will never return, fighting a wave of battles that end in victory or defeat. Afterward
				there was one who survived, but was a broken shell - There's no doubt at all that it was your
				work when I read it, or so I thought. That was an Urobuchi-style tale. I remember reading it and 
				wanting to challenge myself to read another of your works. The cruelty of it was very interesting. 
				
				Urobuchi: At the time, I wasn't sure about the meaning of 'Creation' in terms of my work, but I 
				remember reasoning that so long as I had fun writing something, it would still be okay. Because
				of that, it turned out to be okay that I worked on Zero. Whatever deeper meaning that exists in
				a work - well, the readers can determine that for themselves. That's helped me find some peace. 
				It's as if I've become enlightened (laughs). 
				
				[What Do the Three of You Think About Each Other's Works?]
				
				Interviewer: Next on my list is this question - what do you think about each others' works? 
				And which words do you think of immediately?
				
				Nasu: For Urobuchi-san, the phrases that come into my mind are "hard boiled" and "rebelling against
				the natural order".  I think of him as a craftsman that makes high-level work in those areas. His
				work is expressive and interesting to read through. That's why when the commander said he was going
				to write a mahou shoujo story, I knew that even if he had never written one before, it would turn
				out well. So I was very interested to see what the result would be. The end result was a triumph. 
				
				Urobuchi: I think so long as it's interesting or fun, anything's all right. But as usual, I let my bad
				habit of taking things that are meaningful to me and thrusting them forward into the work itself,
				and I did the work the way I wanted. By the time I get to the end, I've made another tragedy. 
				Whether you're writing an anime or a novel, you've got to think of it in terms of pleasing and 
				exciting your audience. But for Zero, I was interested in exploring the possibilities of the world
				that hadn't been described in Fate/stay night. The world in Fate/stay night conjures certain 
				images, possibilities, and desires from my consciousness, and I wanted to write them all down.
				
				Interviewer: Thanks. Well then, Takeuchi-san. What do you think about Urobuchi-san's body of
				work?
				
				Takeuchi: I have the same impression as Nasu-san. He's interested in exploring the meaning of 
				combat and fighting. There's a certain resignation of people who have accepted an order to 
				fight who then move forward. To put it a different way, other writers don't seem to explore
				the reasons for fighting or the meaning of it very much. But for the mercenaries who have 
				yet to explore that side of life, there's Mahou Shoujo Madoka, which will reach the children's
				smiling faces and give them a taste of the adult world. That's the feeling I got. 
				
				Nasu: Yes, I see it. Urobuchi-san is like a mercenary who has fought on many battlefields and has
				brilliant military results. He's the person in the command post calling the shots, guiding things
				so we can get a delicious taste of the battle. Seeing his name pop up is like seeing the name of
				a famous combatant - you know you're in for something good, or so the rumor says. Recently
				he's become famous for Mahou Shoujo Madoka. He is an epic hero who reached the top of
				the mountain with that work, yet he doesn't seem to change himself. He treats all his characters
				like heroes. As a mercenary, he kills both enemies and people on his own side with little resistance.
				That's the impression I got. 
				
				Urobuchi: Oh, is that so? Takeuchi-san and Nasu-san, is that the impression you have? 
				
				Nasu: Look at the endings of your stories! You've spilled so much blood! We even got that 
				feeling from Madoka! 
				
				Takeuchi: It's true. But maybe your sobriquet shouldn't be "Merciless Mercenary King Urobuchi",
				now it should be "The Hero of Salvation". 
				
				Urobuchi: If it's all right for me to speak from my own position, please make allowances for
				all the horrible things that I did to the characters that Aoki Ume-san drew for us. 
				
				Nasu: Urobuchi-san worked with Shaft and Ume-sensei and made adjustments to the scenario 
				accordingly. You worked together as a quartet and all of you worked at the top of your game.
				That's why I think Mahou Shoujo Madoka was such a big hit. Maybe you made it as an expert
				craftsman with the idea of amazing all of us. I daresay you succeeded. 
				
				Urobuchi: That's probably right. I was a little worried about Zero, which I had dashed off as it
				came to me. I was also worried that having my name associated with Madoka would scare off 
				new fans from the work. 
				
				Nasu: I don't think you needed to worry about that. People who've had a taste of Madoka might
				think of you as 'Seriously Spicy Ramen' flavored Urobuchi, and that the show allowed you to set
				up your restaurant's sign. Humans are, after all, fundamentally greedy creatures. This show whetted
				their appetite. People who read Zero were shocked, but it was nutritive soil for Madoka to grow
				in. 
				
				Takeuchi: Mami-san wasn't in Zero, so I'm sure it was all right. 
				
				Nasu: What the heck are you saying!? Mami-san still had something terrible happen to her in Madoka!
				
				Takeuchi: There were a lot of fans that were Mamirareta under the storm of emotional storm of bullets
				from that (lol). 
				
				Nasu: One of the coolest and manliest characters in Zero went down fighting, so there's nothing that
				we can do about it. It's only natural for terrible things to happen in Madoka. Magical girl fans who watched
				the show were as shocked and full of despair as I was when reading Zero. 
				
				Interviewer: Let's go on to our next question. Urobuchi-san, how do you feel about Nasu-san and Takeuchi-san?
				
				Urobuchi: They're very talented, and they have an association tracing back through high and middle school. 
				They've understood the nature of their origin and 
				work together as a wonderful combination. As creators, we must bring carry our memories with us while we
				labor. It's lonely work. However, the two of you have, by working together, formed a joint partnership 
				of shared memories that continues to this day. It's not merely a professional relationship between scenario
				writer and illustrator. It's a complementary partnership that has continued for close to 20 years. This is 
				rare. In fact, I think this partnership could even be called genius. 
				
				Nasu: It's true that I've known Takeuchi-san for a long time, but our partnership is a little unusual. Were
				this a normal arrangement, other than creation there'd be management issues, negotiation with other
				makers, and countless other problems that would slow us down and tie our hands. Because I can leave
				all of that to Takeuchi-san, who is trustworthy and dependable, I can concentrate on getting my work 
				done. 
				
				Urobuchi: Rather than just a work relationship, it's one where you can trust the other person and leave it
				to him to do things. But in this case, I think the setup is a little different. Because he knows Nasu's core
				thoughts, he's able to use good judgment, which gives TYPE-MOON a lot of good luck. 
				
				Nasu: We've mentioned this before, but we've talked about what would happen if 'the person you trusted
				betrayed you'. But if it's Takeuchi-san, I don't think he'd ever betray me. 
				
				Urobuchi: But if that were to happen, it would mean the end of humanity - an end that would begin like
				a painful stomach ulcer and then turn into something else. Maybe. 
				
				Interviewer: What's it like for you to hear that you are trusted to that degree?
				
				Takeuchi: It's strange that things have turned out this way. I think the luckiest thing in my life was meeting
				Nasu-san in our middle school days. We've worked together for a long time and have cooperated. There
				was mutual respect without fawning over each other's talent too much. 

				[The Connections Between Nasu, Takeuchi, and Urobuchi]
				
				Interviewer: How do the three of you meet up and what do you do while exchanging ideas?
				
				Urobuchi: Lately we have been chatting while getting something to eat. 
				
				Nasu: Urobuchi-san is a night owl. Usually we'll call him between 03:00 to 04:00 [TL Note: in the morning] and 
				ask if he's awake and wants to go get something to eat. The answer is yes, let's go. On the nights that
				Madoka was being broadcast, we'd go to a family restaurant and then ask him to tell us why those terrible
				things were happening in the story. 
				
				Urobuchi: I'd smile broadly while defending myself (laughs). 
				
				Nasu: After watching the first episode, I said [Wow, no one died. This a bright and happy story.] I remember
				feeling relieved. 
				
				Urobuchi: [Did it look like someone died? No, it's not like that. The happy lives of those young girls 
				ends when they become magical girls.] That's the narrative trick I used to deceive Nasu-san (laughs).
				
				Nasu: How cruel! (laughs) But when we hang out, we don't only talk as fellow writers. We casually talk
				like friends who went to the same school dorm. 
				
				Urobuchi: Nasu's irresponsible chatting is very useful to me. As an example, when his antenna detects an
				interesting game, I can find out what about it is worthwhile from him. Recently, I've been playing 
				Danga Ronpa. I would never have found out about
				it without his recommendation. 
				
				Nasu: Urobuchi-san's antenna for movies is very accurate. For the most part I don't really care for 
				extremely violent movies, but sometimes Urobuchi-san will say [This movie is great!] After hearing that,
				I'll check it out. I might just enjoy it passively, or I might use it as a reference for something else. 
				I really appreciate it when he recommends movies that I can use in that way. 
				
				Urobuchi: We are good at finding movies that we can recommend to each other. So far there've been
				no times in which our tastes and senses didn't match. 
				
				Nasu: When we were working on adaptation scripts for Fate/Zero's adaptation into an anime, there
				were many times when Urobuchi-san would drop in. Madoka was still being broadcast, so we had
				a chance to talk about a lot of things during those meetings (laughs). 
				
				Interviewer: I thought that since Nasu-san, Takeuchi-san, and Urobuchi-san are all creators that there'd
				be some kind of intense rivalry between you. Instead it seems like you are good friends. 
				
				Urobuchi: Indeed. I think of them as my nice neighbors in Tokiwaso.
				We're good friends that can greet each other loudly or go on about silly things. 
				
				Nasu: I really do overthink or worry too much about things. Urobuchi-san's silly conversation is a big source
				of relief. 
				
				Takeuchi: It's a special relationship. They're part of the business world of writers, but up till now 
				this kind of deep connection hasn't existed. TYPE-MOON and Nitroplus. They're very different, but 
				oddly very compatible. Because we have different senses of value, we can test out our products on 
				each other. I think I've got a real talent for human relationships. 
				
				Nasu: I've been lucky by coming into an environment that allowed me to be a creator. I've found a dependable
				partner in Takeuchi-san and a friend I can compete against in Urobuchi-san. 
				
				Interviewer: It does sound like a miracle. Speaking of strong relationships, how about some words for the 
				people looking forward to the broadcast of Fate/Zero? 
				
				Takeuchi: I think you should wait to read Zero until after you've played through Fate/stay night. 
				However, the anime broadcast of Zero has brought in so many new fans, which I am very happy about. 
				Purchasing and playing through Fate/stay night may take so many hours that your bones break, but it's
				necessary to explore how deep the world of Fate is. 
				
				Urobuchi: Uh oh. You're getting me pumped. Now I want to go back to the world of Fate again. 
				
				Nasu: In addition to the original game, there's a fan disk and many other items. Maybe that's intimidating
				to a beginner. Setting that aside for a moment, I want people to see the anime version of Zero. Even
				without knowing the story of Fate/stay night, you'll get pulled into the story of Fate/Zero. 
				While Zero is a part of the Fate universe, I think the anime version of Zero is good enough to stand on
				its own as a superlative work. Please check out Zero. 
				
				[TYPE-MOON works That Have Continued with Many Developments]
				
				Interviewer: In addition to your games and the Fate/Zero novel, there have been many manga and other
				media that have expanded the world of TYPE-MOON. What do you think of this development?
				
				Nasu: People have loved our work, and it is with those feelings in mind that they have kindly made spinoff
				products. They people who made them were happy, and we were glad to receive them. But even so, 
				I have old feelings as a creator, and I think the best thing is to make one's own original works. Build your
				own world, populate it with people, and have fun moving them about in your own story. So while 
				I am grateful that people hae swelled TYPE-MOON's world with their spinoff projects, I feel bad for 
				using up their precious time. But even so, Sasaki Shounen's work on
				work on the manga version of Tsukihime was so good. When he finished the last volume, he said [I wish
				it was possible for me to keep drawing Tsukihime forever.] When I heard that, I realized that I was wrong for
				me to think of the situation as I had earlier. For him, it was pleasurable to work on that project. So he didn't
				waste his time, instead he used it for working on something that truly gave im joy. 
				
				Urobuchi: It doesn't matter what the original thing being drawn from is. If the person has fun making a spinoff
				item, that's all that matters. The idea that every writer needs his own castle is an illusion that vanished in the 
				past. 
				
				Nasu: True. The person who drew Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Hiroyama Hiroshi-san, is investing all of his
				talent and skill into the work. He's in high spirits (laughs). 

				Takeuchi: When I read Prisma Illya, I remember thinking that this is so good, he ought to save it for his own 
				work! He's moving forward at full speed, all engines racing. 
				
				Urobuchi: That strong zeal they feel and the desire to create stuff for TYPE-MOON is one of TYPE-MOON's 
				assets. In a sense, TYPE-MOON is like X-Men and Marvel comics in that they've attracted many followers
				ready to keep the train moving down the tracks. And when I first made Fate/Zero, I had no idea it was 
				going to create this many spinoff products such as the comics or anthologies. So maybe TYPE-MOON is
				like Japan's own version of Marvel Comics. 
				
				Nasu: It's impossible for me to try to count how many spinoff projects came out of that publishing house. 
				As new authors add to the work, the company decides that it will officially incorporate their ideas into 
				the canon. With so many spinoff comics, fans can decide which stories by which authors they want to follow.
				There's no limit! For me, I'm happy if people want to use TYPE-MOON characters to tell an original story. 
				There are so many new tales that can be told. 
				
				[The Many Faces of Saber, the Poster Girl For TYPE-MOON]
				
				Interviewer: In these ten years, Saber has made various appearances in TYPE-MOON products. 
				She's like the poster girl of your company. What kind of impression do you have of Saber, 
				Urobuchi-san?
				
				Urobuchi: Frankly speaking, she doesn't feel much like a heroine to me. For some reason, when I see
				her I think back to the original male Saber from Fate/prototype. For that reason, Shirou's relationship
				with her is like a friendship with another man that was turned into a woman. It's a complex feeling.
				
				Nasu: That's just like you, Urobuchi-san. How like a genius. Nothing gets past him. I was hoping to
				keep that to myself, though. Now that ten years have passed I guess I can talk about it, especially 
				since the cat's out of the bag. Urobuchi-san is correct. It's a bizarre development for the King of 
				Britain to fight for all those years and then suddenly regain her sense of being  a woman and
				fall in love with Shirou. Still, that's the kind of boy meets girl story I wanted to tell. As a last resort,
				I had Shirou directly tell Saber that she was a girl and that she shouldn't fight. That was an intentional
				step to plant the idea of Saber as a girl in the subconscious of our users. It was also a very direct
				message from me, the writer of the story. Were I to write that now, I'd use a more subtle way of 
				going about it, but at the time, I was at my limit. 
				
				Urobuchi: Rather than the love of a man and woman, it felt more like the kind of ideal love that forms
				between two people who complement and need each other. That kind of ideal love could be seen in 
				ancient Greece between members of the nobility. That's the kind of love we see in the Saber route. 
				It's something rare and unique. That was refreshing for your users to experience, and that's 
				why Saber is still popular after all these years. The heroine from the game that immediately springs to
				my mind is Tohsaka Rin. She's stronger than most men, but there was a sense of fairness and equality
				to the love she had with Emiya. There's a lot of tenderness, and their strengths complement each other. 
				It's a good relationship. 
				
				Nasu: You're right in that Rin is different from Saber. That one was more like a typical romance. Rin
				was aware of her own beauty and took pride in it. That side of her personality made ol' stubborn
				and obstinate Shirou very flustered. 
				
				Urobuchi: If I may, the Sakura route focuses on the shape of love itself. She has a strong feeling of 
				plainness that is pressed on the reader at the start of the story, but as the story unfolds you find out
				how much of that was a fake front. Protecting her in the story allows the reader to experience the
				pride of a man. 
				
				Nasu: Love itself is an ideal that two people chase after. True love, on the other hand, comes from
				accepting the reality of the person. It's not ideal. And eventually you have to compromise and make
				accomodations. No time for looking at happy dreams . . . Wait, I guess I'm stamping on the happy
				and hopeful aspriations of all the young people. That's no good! Gotta tell happy and fun stories!
				
				Interviewer: We're going to change the subject here. Saber has several other manifestations - 
				which includes Saber Alter and Saber Lily. How do you see them, Urobuchi-san?
				
				Urobuchi: My personal dream for her Lily form was for her to be Saber after she was totally defeated
				by Caster and became her devoted follower. Then she can say say that Caster-oneesama is so much better than 
				Shirou. (laughs) 
				
				Nasu: I wasn't thinking of that when we created the design for Saber Lily. Hmm. She was made
				to wear that white dress and then her body and heart were trained by Caster. After that she
				became Saber Lily. The Lily in her name references the 百合	(lilies, or female homosexuality) 
				in their relationship. I'm getting some good ideas about this even now. 
				
				Takeuchi: My design for Saber Lily came out of my brainstorming while looking at the white
				dress that Caster made her wear. It's a symbol of femininity which was incorporated into 
				Saber - Saber Lily is the end result of that combination. So Urobuchi-san's vision wasn't
				too far off the mark. 
				
				Urobuchi: Really? When I first looked at her, I thought she was a villain. She'd be waiting
				in the wings behind Caster, waiting for her turn to come. Caster would click her heels and then
				Lily Saber would appear, ready to fight. That image is burned into my memory. 

				Nasu: We already have an evil Saber. That'd be Saber Alter. Remember?
				
				Urobuchi: I didn't think of her as evil. She was a dark hero. 
				
				Nasu: Saber Alter still has high ideals. Even though she was corrupted by darkness, she
				hasn't lost her goals or ideals. Is that what you meant when you said she wasn't strictly
				evil in a traditional sense?
				
				Urobuchi: Okay, to give an example, let me compare Saber Alter to Hakaider.
				And Saber Lily would be playing the part of the enemy. As she turns to look up at you out
				of the corner or her eyes, you couldn't help but see her playing a villain. 
				
				Nasu: After a climactic battle, Saber Alter would ride away on a roaring motorcycle. 
				Some dramatic narration would say that she was a modern day knight 
				living in a land of darkness.  
				
				Takeuchi: Another mention of Saber Alter racing on a motorbike (laughs). In those kinds
				of images, Saber Lily does seem pretty awesome. 
				
				Interviewer: In that example the dark Saber would be playing the lead and the white one
				would be pl
				one would be the villain. You've already thought of some new ideas and ways to use
				the characters. How about Fate/Extra's Red Saber? 
				
				Urobuchi: That's a different character (Nero) who is not the same as Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero's
				Saber (Arturia). Upon first glance, Red Saber reminds me of a genderswapped Gilgamesh. 
				
				Nasu: When Fate/Zero was being writen, Iskandar reminded me of what Fate/Extra's Red Saber 
				was like. Iskandar also seemed to be one of the few Servants whose power could rival 
				Gilgamesh's. Urobuchi-san gave Iskandar such a strong sense of freedom that he exceeded my
				expectations. Such a wonderful Fate character was created by someone else. Iskandar left
				such a strong impression on me that I decided to explore a different type of tyrant in Fate/Extra. 
				Red Saber definitely has a strong link to Iskandar. 
				
				[A Discussion with Two Creators! The Various Forms of Romantic Love]

				Interviewer: We've been able to see a lot of Emiya Shirou's viewpoints. Fate/Zero has a great deal of 
				characters with many different perspectives and goals. That was a unique quality of the work. 
				
				Urobuchi: Indeed. Keep in mind that Fate/stay night is a bishoujo game. There are lots of ideas in
				it related to love. We also were told plainly what the main character, Emiya Shirou, thinks and how
				he feels. However, for me the backbone and framing device of the story - namely summoning a group
				of epic heroes who must do battle to the death - was extremely interesting. I began to envision a 
				story of battling enemy camps. Fate/Zero isn't only about Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei, so 
				there are many different people fighting in different factions, and the story is about all of them. 
				
				Nasu: While Fate/stay night has some conventions from the bishoujo game format, I changed a lot
				of things around to the shape I wanted it to have. I remember when Urobuchi-san said 'I  might
				not make bishoujo games anymore'. That was one of the reasons why for Fate/stay night, I included
				elements that would please my audience and interest me. There was a huge separation from expectations.
				That was the mercy I gave to myself. Putting it all together resulted in this bizarre, irregular form. 
				In the meantime, Urobuchi-san was struggling with the idea of giving up writing bishoujo games. 
				With wordplay as in Makarobicchi, the bounty hunter of hell - came forth. Taa-daah!
				
				Urobuchi: Hey, hey. Calm down a bit. Are you talking about that?
				
				Takeuchi: He wrote down his sense of the grotesque and horror taste, making the infamous Saya no Uta!
				It's a bishoujo game with a kind of truth-seeking element to it. 
				
				Urobuchi: When I try to write love, it only turns into horror. It's scary to have these strong feelings
				for someone else. Being in love is like going mad. Keeping all of that in mind, I ended up writing Saya no Uta. 
				
				Nasu: There was a big difference between how Fuminori perceived Saya and her true, monstrous shape. 
				Most people would have been repelled. However, the fans ended up becoming moe for Saya-chan. 
				I, however, was terrified, and played the game while covering my face with my eyes (laughs).
				
				Urobuchi: Thank you very much for being that frightened (laughs). That was the reaction I wanted the users
				to have. However, many of them seemed to think that this [romance] could work and that Saya-tan was cute. 
				I admire their skill and devotion. I had intended to shoot down their illusion of love with a bazooka, 
				but it was like Matsuda from the Black Angels intercepted the missile and destroyed it barehanded! 
				
				Nasu: Yes, but that guy's superhuman. If you shot him in the head, he'd just rub it and say, 
				[Hmph, that was dangerous.] To return to the original subject, while I did have a battle royale, I tried
				to make heroines that the users would enjoy. They wanted to be friends with Rin and Saber, and wanted to
				be lovey dovey with Sakura. Saber and Rin were sweet and sour love, and Sakura was a syrupy kind
				of love. 
				
				Urobuchi: That's how the story told the difference between different types of love. I was most 
				interested in Dark Sakura. Maybe I shouldn't be making love stories after all . . . (laughs)
				
				[The Next Path for TYPE-MOON]
				
				Interviewer: Ten years have passed. What's on the horizon for TYPE-MOON?
				
				Urobuchi: On the contrary, only ten years have passed. While this has been going on, Nitroplus
				has also been laying down a strong foundation. It is time for us to decide what we want to do 
				and how we'll go about doing it. We might also feel the same way once another ten years have passed.
				
				Nasu: Over the next decade, will we be able to do well in the market for PC games? There are so
				many other competing devices, but we at TYPE-MOON want to continue doing business making
				PC games. It's fun to make them. 
				
				Takeuchi: Over these ten years, many other forms of entertainment have appeared, and there's
				been a market shift as well. The demand for PC novel games
				is shrinking. It's a sign of the times.
				We got our start making bishoujo games, and that was the most enjoyable time for us. We're always
				trying to find the most interesting thing to do. That's the essential nature of TYPE-MOON. And
				it is with that essential nature that TYPE-MOON will continue making games that carry that essence. 
				
				Notes on page 206
				
				This interview was part of the Fate World Guide published in TYPE-MOON Ace vol. 7. The interview took
				place in September, 2011. 
				
				Urobuchi Gen is famous for his work at Nitropus. His PC games include Saya no Uta, Phantom - Phantom of 
				Inferno. He is also well known for his dark take on the magical girl genre, Mahou Shoujo Madoka. 
				
				Nasu Kinoko is one of the TYPE-MOON founders. He is famous for his scenarios. 
				
				Takeuchi Takashi is one of the TYPE-MOON founders. He works for them as a character designer. 
			
				Notes on page 207
				
				Kasai Kiyoshi
				A novelist famous for detective stories and SF works, romance novels, literary criticism, etc. 
				He is very famous for Vampire Wars and Strongest Kick Wars. Takeuchi supplied the insert
				art for Vampire Wars. 
				
				Kariya Ojiisan 
				In Fate/Zero, one character named Kariya Matou devoted himself to to saving one small girl,
				Sakura. She called him ojiisan as a term of endearment. He became popular as a dark hero and
				2chan had many threads dedicated to the big popularity of Kariya Ojiisan. 

				Tiger & Bunny 
				Set in the near future, a group called Next is full of special ability users. Basically it's an anime
				about heroes. They are full of idiosyncracies and other eccentric qualities, and are very popular. 
				This show is made by Sunrise. 
				
				Notes on page 209 				
				
				Nice Boat 
				The broadcast of the finale of School Days was so shocking that it was pre-empted. Instead
				relaxing footage of yachts and boats were broadcast in its place. Some of the foreigners watching
				this footage said "Nice Boat", which has since become a slang term to describe footage blocked
				from being televised.

				Yamada Futaro and Makai Tensei 
				Yamada-sensei is a famous novelists who writes in many different genres, including detective
				reasoning, grotesque horror, and historical period pieces. Famous examples of his work include
				Makai Tensei, The Viel of Ninpo, etc. In Makai Tensei, there is a powerful swordsman who is 
				famous among a secret group. In one of the tales within it, this swordsman had to battle 
				Yagyuu Juubei. 
				
				World Heroes 
				In 1992 Alpha Denko (thereafter ADK) developed a fighting game named World Heroes. One of
				the champions in the game was a girl in plate armor with a short-sleeved shirt underneath
				it, and her name was Janne D'arc (TL note: not a typo). In that game, a group of heroes is 
				summoned from different times and places. They are  then made to gather 
				and do battle with each other. 
				
				Notes on page 211
				Kara no Kyoukai Drama CD 
				This went on sale in 2002. Ito Kentaro played the part of Mikiya Kokutou. Kawakami Tomoko
				played the part of Ryougi Shiki. A large group of people participated in helping the work come
				together, including Urobuchi. 
				
				Phantom - PHANTOM OF INFERNO - 
				A 2000 visual novel game developed and sold by Nitroplus. Phantom, a skilled killer, is encountered
				by the protagonist. A strange and tangled destiny awaits. This was Urobuchi Gen's debut into
				the world of bishoujo games. 
				
				Kyuuketsu Senki Vjedogoni
				A 2001 visual novel game from Nitroplus written by Urobuchi Gen. One day the protagonist happens
				to be bitten by a vampire. To regain his lost humanity, he becomes a vampire-hunting, motorcycle-riding
				vigilante who is an enemy to all who lurk in the night. 
				
				"Jouka no Monshou" (Purification Crest)
				Urobuchi Gen's doujin product that ties into the film Equilibrium 
				
				Mahou Shoujo Madoka
				An original anime broadcast on television in 2011. Urobuchi Gen wrote the script. 
				An ordinary middle school student named Kaname Madoka comes across a mysterious white animal
				called Kyuubey and is then thrown into the strange world of battle fought by magical girls. 
				The cute visuals and charming design of the show greatly contrasts with the dark plot and 
				the grim developments in the story. It has become a gigantic hit. 
				
				Notes on page 213
				
				Mami-san
				One of the characters from Mahou Shoujo Madoka. Tomoe Mami appears in the early part of the
				story and acts like a dependable older sister-type character. She is also a magical girl. 
				A few episodes after her appearance, something unexpected happened and it became a big
				topic for discussion online. 
				
				Mamirareta
				This refers to victims of the Madoka show's emotional attacks. Without crossing into spoiler areas,
				we can say that it was a huge topic of discussion online and that it leaves little to nothing of the 
				body left. 
				
				Danga Ronpa
				A game that went on sale for the PSP in 2010. It's about an amazing school with special students. 
				The player builds relationships before the game switches to an investigation stage. Unfortunately a 
				murder will take place, and the other characters must determine the guilty party in a classroom trial. 
				
				Tokiwa Apartments 
				A wooden apartment building in Toshima ward. In their younger days, many famous mangaka gathered
				at this spot,  including Ishinomori Shotaro, Akatsuka Fujio, and Fujiko Fujio. It is an important place
				in the history of manga. 
				
				X-Men
				A series of American comics published by Marvel Comics. People with special powers classified as 
				mutants begin to appear, and their battles are illustrated in these comics.  They are very popular
				because of their tie-in movies, which have attracted fans all over the world. 
				
				Marvel Comics
				One of the two big publishers of comic books in America. They make X-Men, Spider-Man, Captain 
				America, and many other superhero comic books which they publish and sell around the world. 
				
				Notes on page 215
				
				Mechanical Violator Hakaider
				A Japanese tokusatsu film starring Hakaider, who is Kikaider's rival. Hakaider is a dark hero. 
				Hakaider is a spinoff story. The troubled and conflicted protagonist rushes toward conflict
				to protect justice and order. The film was released in 1995. 
				
				She Was a Modern Day Knight Living in a Land of Darkness
				One of the catch phrases for Batman (in his Japanese advertising campaign) is 
				[闇の世界を生きる現代の騎士], which means a modern day knight surviving in a world of darkness. 
				Urobuchi-san reappropriated that phrase to talk about Saber Alter. 
				
				Zoku Satsuri no Jango - Bounty Hunter of Hell 
				An adult game made by Nitroplus that went on sale in 2007. The scenario was written by 
				Urobuchi Gen. The art was handled by Ni 0.  Set in outer space, three women don't retreat
				in the face of violence. With guns blazing and powerful karate, it's a 
				macaroni western. 
				
				Saya No Uta
				An adult game published in 2003 by Nitroplus. Urobuchi Gen wrote the scenario. Chuou Higashiguchi
				handled the art. [TL Note: that wasn't a mistranslation - that really is his name.]
				After a terrible accident, a young man sees everything as bizarre and horrible. One day he suddenly 
				encounters a beautiful girl named Saya. In his world of horror, the only normal thing is Saya, whose
				true identity is a mystery. This is a Lovecraftian horror love story.

				Matsuda from Black Angels 
				Black Angels was in a weekly magazine known as Shounen Jump from 1981 to 1985. Matsuda
				was a character in it. There was an illegal group in the underworld known as the Black Angels. 
				The group dealt out punishment. After it ended, there was a spinoff work that appeared 10  years
				later. Matsuda Kyouji, a character in it, gets into a lot of fights. His opponents are armed, but 
				he just uses his karate. Matsuda once stopped a missile from a bazooka with his bare hands
				and also stopped a passenger jet by himself. As you can see, he's a person with superhuman
				abilities. 
				
				
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			looking at/reading a page.  
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COMIC: CONGRATS FROM KIRISHIMA TAKERU
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COMIC: CONGRATS FROM NISHIWAKI DATO
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COMIC: CONGRATS FROM MEDORI
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COMIC: NECO-ARC, NANAKO, CIEL  
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COMIC: NECO-ARC, NANAKO, CIEL  
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COMIC: CONGRATS AND WELL-WISHING FROM OOMORI HAYASHI
[p273]			
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TYPE-MOON APRIL FOOL'S
					

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[p294]			Is it finally over? A life-threatening ring! 
						FWF's King Selection Battle! 
						Great Luvia vs Dynamite Rin
						
					Comment for illustration: Connecting with a powerful and remorseless counter, the Queen. 
					Is this how friends behave?
					
					A powerful storm raged through Fuyuki Dome on 3/20. As expected, the King selection
					battle was full of controversy, and the internal conflicts and rivalry within the FWF 
					played a big part. When asked, Great Luvia said [Well, it's time for me to show what I 
					can do to a new organization.] Dynamite Rin was sharp-tongued, speaking of how things
					would always be: [The mat of the FWF is where you'll always go. It was true before, and it's
					still true now. If you can't handle it, maybe you could be a mongol sumo or something.
					Archer would probably lend you his coat if you asked.] This was part of her mike performance,
					but the red knight she spoke of seemed dejected. When asked about the match, MWE's
					Lunatic Akiha and Mighty Sacchin opined that it stunk ( a little). 
					
					Luvia rose to her feet, and saw someone in the darkness beyond the mat - it was the infamous 
					fixer, Kohaku-SAN! And she was carrying out some kind of secret maneuver, or so the current rumor
					maintains. FWF's powerful champions, Knight the Saber and the pugilist, Thunder Bazette, might
					challenge the Moon World Empire's fighters in the ring. This was an amazing development,
					and a thrill for women's wrestling fans! The card of challenge raised into the air, its white surface 
					gleaming like a star! This entertainment business filling the fans with excitement! 
					
					As the two got ready for their one on one battle, the tension in the air was so tangible you
					could practically touch it! The confrontation began when a red explosion ripped across the mat.
					Against Luvia's display of her practical skill, flower arrangement, Dynamite Rin showed her all 
					around talent, making this a bitter and offensive development. Luvia continued to refused to 
					recognize Rin's great ability and soon began to hound Rin. Suddenly, in the middle of the stage, 
					Luvia found a way to recover - hitting an arm to unexpectedly get out of the ten count. 
					Adding insult to injury, a Jammin' Suplex  and a Gemstone  Piledriver demonstrated a royal road
					forged by superior skill! The Queen of the FWF was being driven into a corner. But in those 
					twenty five minutes, the fans' expectations for what was to happen were not realized! There was
					a huge upset! The two fighters took to the air and bet it all on a pair of powerful drop kicks!
					But the target of their fury was none other than Referee Matou Shinji! The referee had always
					been an unreasonable judge, and karma may take a while to manifest but it always 
					does in the end. Surely that would be the conclusion of the fight, right? No it wouldn't, and 
					your name probably isn't Shirley. The two quarreled over what to do next, but soon realized
					this was the best place to settle their feud, which has continued for years. Everyone stared with
					held breath to see what happened next. The after effect still hangs in the air. 
					
					
					Luvia's Counterattack! This happened just as Rakastava by Sibelius came over the arena loudspeakers.
					The musical selection was naturally the part where the chorus brought everything home. 
					This made a huge impression on the fans. 
					
					        
					Continuing to show us the effects of irresponsible violence as seen in the previous match starring
					Black Sakura, we have Referee Shinji, who never betrays our expectations. While being carried away
					to a hospital, he stated that he had a feeling this might happen. 
					
					   Abnormal Excitement! Digest of the Famous Matches!
					  
					  _____________________________________________________________
					  
											  
					   A battle between famous heels in the FWF. After Luvia established the new Federation, Casko
					   quickly transferred in. The Gorgon spoke of Evil Practical Science and angrily declared she would
					   bring the pain. Casko fled the arena, taking to the skies, releasing a rain of powerful energy that 
					   demolished the ring - and Gorgon along with it. This unsportsmanlike conduct ended the match
					   and the fans were furiously booing her. There was no spirit of professional wrestling here. 
					   
					  
					   30 Minute Match: Casko vs Gorgon 
					           Winner: Casko, 22 minutes, 28 seconds
					       Technique: High Speed Divine Words (Niagra)
					  _____________________________________________________________						   
					
  					    
					 Inner conflict brewing within her, Saber's nerves were steel. From the time the match begin, FWF's
					 glorious ace in the hole came out swinging, decimating Mighty Sacchin in seconds. In tears, Sacchin
					 asked [Is that how the Main Heroine is supposed to act? This world is so hard and cold. I was hoping
					 that people in the world of puroresu might act a little better to each other.]
					 
					 30 Minute Match: Knight the Saber vs Mighty Sacchin 
								Winner: Knight the Saber, 37 seconds
							Technique: Weapon Attack (Hard Avalon)
					  _____________________________________________________________	
					  
					 
					 A phantom that dispersed after cheering for Rin. Soon the poison gas created
					 by Doctrine Amber spread across the field, causing great panic and confusion in the hall. Joyously
					 mixing it up and spreading glorious slaughter inside the fog, Doctrine Amber soon realized that 
					 this was a mere exhibition and left. Her latest victim, Phantom Kirie, said, [Today I couldn't fly]
					 before passing out. 
					 
					 30 Minute Match: Doctrine Amber Vs Phantom Kirie 
								Winner: Doctrine Amber, 9 minutes, 13 seconds
							Techniques: Bird Featherball Needle followed by a Sunflower Suplex 
					  _____________________________________________________________	
					  
					
					Right after the bell rang to start the match, rough play ensued, causing terrible bloodshed. 
					While Lunatic Akiha is no stranger to difficult opponents, she soon fell into the trap of her
					opponent's carefully measured punch attacks. Soon Akiha's rival played her trump card - 
					the dreaded Firaga Hellspace. Bazette had carefully calculated what the effect was going to
					be and won the match. Lunatic Akiha, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, said that Bazette
					looked good as a cross-dresser. 
					
					30 Minute Match: Iron Fist Thunder Bazett vs Lunatic Akiha
									Winner: Iron Fist Thunder Bazett, 15 minutes, 42 seconds 
							Techniques: Answerer Firaga Thrust
					
[p.296]			A Thorough Study of Two Giant Evils
					[Hell Promoter Karen's Representative: Don Ciel  and the Dark Blossom Judge: Black Sakura]
					
					-~ Heel Biographies ~-
					
					Melty Arc and Dynamite Rin have both commanded their own respective organizations, and 
					fireworks have exploded around them as they worked. Still, two major heels have worked to
					thwart their work and sow disharmony. These are the Hell Promoter's Representative, Don Ciel,
					and the Dark Blossom Judge, Black Sakura. Though their popularity has stopped rising, we're
					going to talk to the famous villains who've stained the mat red with blood. We'll earnestly do 
					our best to find out the hidden truths and secrets of these legendary heels. 
					
					Text: Lord El Melloi II
					
					A Shocking, Captured Route! Sudden Stroms that Turn Violent! 
					
					
					As the golden age passed, Ciel became more and more likely to forget to hold back in matches. 
					
					In August of 2000, Ciel was asked to join the MWE. That was back when they were in the 
					Bamboo Broom period.While at first she was a relative unkonwn, people soon recognized
					how powerful and speedy she was. After a series of fights, she was ready to challenge Melty Arc
					for the throne of their league. The first round was won through underhanded tractics. During the 
					second round, Ciel employed the Seven Scripture Scraps, and in the third round, a brutal back and
					forth began with the clattering sound of curry pan hitting curry pan. 
					     Black Sakura's dark journey began in January of 2004. One year after joining, she invaded the
					FWF business ring in Akihabara - and began to fight as two different people, Sakura, who used the 
					famous Flying Cherry Bomb, and Black Sakura. Before the match begins, the referee has to make sure
					which persona will be competing. During the last series of tournaments, the so-called 'Heavens Feel', 
					Sakura  entered the ring with Dynamite Rin. After a furious three rounds of battle, Sakura lost through
					disqualification (cheating). 
					
					
					When it's time to lay out the pain, Sakura doesn't hesitate, and now the blood flows out
					like a blossoming flower! This was mentioned in the Hidden Diary Reference Case. It's pretty famous.
					
					[The Flawless Dark Stars who Splash Sacred Blood on the Mat]
					
					For a long time now, Ciel and Sakura have been known as the top heels of MWE and the FWF,
					respectively. They are both known as the ones who make the blood rain down. These Suns of Darkness
					knock down the pure-hearted and help realize the drama of good vs evil, bunch in the way of a visual
					novel, such as Ryuketsu or Chiwagenka. These eccentric fighters have also become famous
					for throwing out references to other things in their battles. However, for profit-minded promoters, these two 
					are known as fighters that you keep in doll boxes which are never opened. 
					    It goes without saying that upon comparison the two are different, but if you trace back the source of 
					the blood spilled on the mat, naturally these distinguishing characteristics begin to appear. For reference,
					look at the time someone used a representative for curry in a match against the Dark Blossom Judge. Yes, 
					this is a thorough and exhaustive study. 
					
					
					Combo Attacks with Nanako are not considered Weapon Attacks. 
					
					[Best Couples: Ciel x Arc and Black Sakura x Rin]
					
					Continuing onward, when we examine their respective track records and other distinguishing marks, we 
					can see that their uniforms and dress are different. They've been made into countless figures. This is 
					common for many FWF fighters, but for the most part, more figures have been made of regular Sakura
					than Black Sakura. Ciel, on the other hand, was made into unusual items - Sega prizes, Sol. International,
					and trading figurines. The type of stuff you see focused on by those with a hobby bent. These might not 
					do well against Rin's, and Sakura's character is undeveloped. I suppose with those folks in the background, 
					FWF and MWE both have iron pan moe quality characters  with circumstances. These facts can not be denied.
					FWF has Karen and Black Sakura for attracting people who like yandere, and Sakura has the quality of infusion.
					The way she does it is kind of dangerous so she can't do it dependably. However, Sakura targets the 
					Rin, giving rise to the story of Sakura the Hunting Sister. This is very helpful for Sakura's image. Rin and Sakura
					have a long-standing rivalry. When asked about this, Rin stated 'If I set my alarm clock correctly, I should be 
					able to sleep for thirty more minutes. I can sleep for another half hour with no problem.' Then later on, she remarked
					I overslept. There's no excuse. I'll have to reflect on my actions.' This resulted in loss by disqualification 
					(not showing up). As the leader of FWF, she is supposed to be responsible, and some folks began to call her
					'Careless Sister'. As they traded jibes, it was confirmed that Rin has a great affection for Sakura. 
					     Ciel and Arc have not lost against Rin or Black Sakura. In the beginning Hisui and Kohaku were establishing
					themselves as powerful maids on the mat of MWE. Ciel stated her shared desire to be part of the 'moe puroresu'. 
					Hisui and Kohaku told her to first focus on becoming a champion-level maid if she wanted to do that. This may have 
					unchained the top heel. Ciel threw this problem aside and cleared the match. Atlas Shion, Lunatic Akiha, and 
					Mighty Sacchin were all seeking grudge matches in the meantime, and the crowds were full of people holding up
					signs that demanded it. 
					
					[I've Seen Something Like That Before - That Filth is an Eyesore]
					
					In any case, around this time massive sales of doujinshi were occurring at a con in Ariake known as Big Bazongas Heaven.
					People would bring crates of books, sell them, and leave carrying large sums of money. Ciel and Sakura both have the 
					largest bazongas, and so they featured in many doujins. However, this does not affect their ranking in the world of 
					puroresu. They are well aware of their rivals in the MWE and FWF. As they are different leagues, they asked not to 
					be compared to each other. Perhaps they know each other all too well. 
					     So while they both have large bazongas, both of them don't follow the "main street" policy line. It follows that they 
					won't win greatly in popularity polls. They might not be very popular, but they're not hard on the eyes and their presence
					is still appreciated by the fans. Those two finally had a chance to meet in the 2007 crossover event, All Around TYPE-MOON. 
					When that happened (some three years back), the pair formed what was called the Worst Combo.  "Obstacle Obliteration" 
					commenced and spread. On the night before Aug 17, one of them was paying for dinner, which was trivial and not significant. 
					That was when it happened. Sakura said, 'Ciel-san, you finished my curry rice.' The other opined that Sakura was leaving food
					behind. Both of them have strong feelings for food and powerful senses of pride. That was when things changed. 
					
					
					 Careful Comparison: The Capricious Curry Contender vs The Dark Blossom Judge! 
													Ring Name
						Don Ciel										Black Sakura
													Place of Origin
						France (claims to be		 						Japan 
									from India)
									
													Three Sizes
						B85, W56,										B85, W56, 
						H88												H87
													Foundation
						Undying Body									Matou Worms
						
													Spell Chanting
						You have kind									Heh, heh, heh. 
						words but no									I'm hungry. 
						curry
					
													Special Skill
						Black Nails, 									Vengeful Curse Hanging, 
						Seventh Testament,								Accursed Suplex, 
						Seventh Heaven, 								Darkness Ant Hell, 
						Ciel Saury, Conquering							Assassination Veil,
						Ocean of Curry									Japunika Assassination 
																	Picture Book 
																			
													Rival 
						Melty Arc										Dynamite Rin 
							
													Best Partner
						Nanako										The Dark Helm 
							
													Easy Mark
						Mighty Sacchin									Masked Gorgon 
						
													Entrance Theme
						Basement Melody								Fight!				
						(BUCK TICK)									Nakajima Miyuki
						
													Scary Episodes
						A huge fight with 								An attack from Rin and Emiya while 
						Melty Arc in Misaki								she was out shopping. 
						City Hall. Riddled with								Emiya lived as a homeless mugger
						wounds, it was a 								outside the building. 
						baptism in blood. 
						
						---------
						
						
						Exclusive Interview! The Giant Who Shakes the Mat! 
						What is the True Meaning behind the Masked Gorgon?
						Her Fighting Style Which Breaks Through Taboos! 
						
						A Shocking Series of Statements! 
						The Surprising Truth Behind the Mask! 

						"All of Fate's Heroines are Second-Rate!"
						In our previous issue (vol. 3), MWE's Kohaku-SAN told us a lot about the 
						different quarrels and arguments wrestlers have had. That sinister promoter of 
						dastardly deeds said that it was dangerous for Gorgon to fight. Kohaku-SAN
						said that up close, they smelled really bad. When asked for clarification, 
						Kohaku-SAN chose not to give more information, saying she was busy 
						corrupting those who are part of the lunar world. It seems she has an 
						excessively big mouth! 
						
						Masked Gorgon is quite strange. When did that rumor begin? Two years ago?
						Earnest and taciturn, after a series of matches she'd defeat opponents with killer
						moves, but never spoke ill of them. That was the image of the Gorgon we had
						back then. Fans who were drunk on the image of that cool, quiet fighter have all
						but disappeared now. These days, nothing of that former spirit of fairness remains. 
						Instead, we have someone who thoroughly obliterates her opponents through 
						vicious mike performances. She even set up punishment games for the losers and
						deathmatches featuring powerful electric currents like some twisted version of the 
						circus. What happened to change her so much? Let's ask the Gorgons  
						and finally get the answers to the questions for the fans of puroresu. 
						
						Interviewer: Thank you for your cooperation. Folks, up until today the Masked 
						Gorgon has refused interviews. This is the first one she's ever consented to. 
						I guess that makes me feel a little nervous. Few are the wrestlers in the FWF
						who won't recognize a Gorgon's voice when they hear it. 
						
						Euryale: It's not as if she was 
						mute. It's just that the other wrestlers are such a tiresome, boring lot. It's not worth
						speaking to them. I only choose my friends through compromise. 
						
						Interviewer: Ah, I- I see. So um, would the people the Gorgons recognize as friends
						include people in the same class as, say, Dynamite Rin? 
						
						Euryale: Huh? Are you dumb or something? There's nobody among the Japanese 
						wrestlers who comes close to being a good match for us. The wrestlers in this country
						are on the same level as little kindergarten diaper babies. We were just fooling around 
						during the match that went by decision to Rin. Look, that lady is supposed to be 
						the leader of this little brigade. 'Wrestle according to the rules, supply fanservice!'
						Does that sound like something that suits us Gorgons?
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . 
						
						Stheno: Of course! 
						That one wanted a pole with cement, but even with that she couldn't use any real 
						power. She was using that thing as a crutch after hurting her vertebrae! It makes sense
						that most wrestlers would be like that when fighting us, but can't the boss of the league
						show some more fighting spirit insead of staggering like she's gonna die? 
						Give me a break already! (quiet, evil lol) 
						
						M. Gorgon: . . .

						Interviewer: I see. Would you consider not killing your opponents in the ring?
						
						Euryale: No way! Blood is justice! That's a famous saying of we Gorgons. (quiet, evil lol)
						
						M. Gorgon: Tsk!  . . . 
						
						Interviewer: Ah, I, I see. Well, if it's a personal motto of the Gorgons, there's nothing to be done. 
						I guess that means that many wrestlers will sink in a sea of blood. The previous Gorgon 
						apparently admired Saber a lot in the ring. 
						
						Euryale: Previous Gorgon? Really? When was that? 
						
						Interviewer: It was two years ago. A manager from the Gorgon's hometown made it all the way out
						here. 
						
						Euryale: Whaaaat? That was before we arrived on the scene. I don't know anything about that. 
						Stheno, do you remember this?
						
						Stheno: Oh yeah. The Gorgon was in a tag team pair with Saber. It was the Big/Small Combo, or 
						something. They kept taking photos of the two of them, but that didn't work well. Saber was so short 
						she only came up to the Gorgon's waist. 
						
						Euryale: That's frickin' hilarious! That's why we didn't remember! That dumb Gorgon was so stupid tall that
						they couldn't fit her in the shot! 
						
						
						Fans remember Masked Gorgon's 2 meter jump during the 8/21 battle at Ariake Dome.  
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . 						
						(M. Gorgon is moving her face a bit. Maybe she's trying to get our attention.)
						
						Interviewer: In any case, what change of heart occured to make every fight into a 
						vicious battle?
						
						Stheno: Change? We had been hiding our true nature. 
						
						Interviewer: What about the costumes? They're so gaudy and ostentatious. 
						Some fans want you to go back to being the Riders. 
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . 						
						(M. Gorgon is moving her face a bit. Maybe she's trying to get our attention.)
						
						Stheno: You think this is a game? We're still holding back. If we wanted to go all out,
						we'd be nude. We want to wear shocking, violent costumes. Alas, FWF regulations won't
						let us do that. (quiet, evil laugh)
						
						Interviewer: Going back to fighting styles, do you think you're hiding your fangs while
						working for the FWF?
						
						Stheno: Hiding fangs? No, it's something else. The other fighters are a bunch of wimpy,
						weak children that we have to accomodate. We even have to pretend to be friends and
						get along with them. I get tired of the pointless games. I'm a monster - I want to strangle
						the losers and squeeze the blood right out of them. Without doing that, I can't feel the 
						meaning of my existence. 
						
						Interviewer: What about the other one, Masked Gorgon?
						
						Stheno: We're communicating her thoughts with this interpretive translation. 
						Are you using the captions at the bottom of the screen?
						
						Interviewer: We're broadcasting the subject of the interview on the monitor, but the content
						of this is going into a magazine article, so . . . 
						
						Euryale: She's scary. She's so mad she wants to get rid of you, maybe by 
						destroying the magazine publisher's building by picking it up and throwing it! 
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . !  . . . ! 
						(M. Gorgon is moving her face a bit. Maybe she's trying to get our attention.)
						
						Interviewer: We'll have to stay on guard for that! A while back clashes between the FWF and
						the MWE happened often, but recently the focus has been on internal battles. What about
						for the Gorgons? Do you fight amongst yourselves?
						
						Euryale: It's the best. We have no reason to complain about things. 
						
						Interviewer: Yes, it's true (laughs). Have you enjoyed watching the new unit formed
						by Luvia and are there any fighters in that group you favor?
						
						Euryale: Nobody in particular. It's always fun watching internal strife erupt into violence, but
						there's nobody that captures my interest. They're just a bunch of children. How could we be
						interested in them? 
						
						Interviewer: Isn't there anyone you could support? There's been a lot of talk of you 
						transferring to Luvia's unit. 
						
						Stheno: I do what I want. I follow my own rules. That's my principle of fighting. I'll go anywhere 
						I have to to fight somebody. Of course, if that person's an eyesore I'll crush her.  (laughs) 
						
						Interviewer: So that means you'll fight people even within your own group? Even the ruler of it?
						
						Stheno: Gorgons don't decide a victor by talking. We settle these things in battle. 
						We even use those stupid, boring regulations. It's not as if we want to bathe the ring in blood 
						by using hidden landmines. We just want to see the blood, and lots of it! (laughs)
						
						Interviewer: You really love blood. 
						
						Stheno: I'm like Euryale in that respect. (laughs) Professional wrestling is violence itself given 
						shape, an affirmation of humanity's destructive impulses presented as a full course meal. Where am I going 
						with this? Whoever climbs into the ring to fight me is my prey. Not even the leader of our league 
						gets any quarter from me. 
						
						Interviewer: That's a troubling statement (laughs). I get that you're not that interested in Luvia as a fighter, 
						but what about the performance of the FWF?
						
						Euryale: It's not the best. But if they've got coin, we'll fight them. 
						
						Interviewer: Ah so. I understand that Hell Promoter Karen is working on something special for your group, 
						such as CDs and the like. Will the Gorgons be making their debut soon?
						
						Stheno: Indeed! We always exceed the expectations of our fans. That's the work of a professional wrestler. 
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . 
						
												
						Notes: The interview occured with two of the Gorgons talking while the third stood still silently. 
						Many shocking comments came from this interview. M. Gorgon seems extremely tired and listless. 
						Her head is slumped forward.  She seems saddened by something. Perhaps she is upset because it
						took this long for Gorgon-themed goods to be released. 
						
						As excited fans who are getting pumped even now know quite well, the elegant, graceful, and great
						fighter chief of the FWF is none other than Tohsaka Rin (aka Dynamite Rin), the second person to hold
						that position. She demands goood performances from her staff. From the olden days, puroresu has 
						cultivated layers of devoted fans. This is a reality fo the sport. In addition, the retired boss 
						Mr. Goldman has secretly guided the course of events from the darkness, or so the rumor maintains. 
						
						Interviewer: This is sudden, but who is the wrestler that the Gorgons are weak against? Who do they 
						fear? I'd also like to hear if there is any wrestler that your group respects. 
						
						M. Gorgon:  . . . ! 
						(The Masked Gorgon raised her head in a hurry.)
						
						Euryale: Whaaaat? A wrestler we respect? Impossible! There's no one like that. 
						How much respect do humans have for ants? When we Gorgons look at other wrestlers standing in 
						front of us, we feel like Godzilla, peering down at rows of houses waiting to be stomped into dust. 
						And that's giving those losers more respect than they deserve. The wrestlers of this puny country are so
						weak as to not merit any discussion. We'd blow about a meter of their height awa! 
						And then they'd come up to my waist. 
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . 
						
						Interviewer: You've become big figures through the FWF. Speaking of which, since the two of you 
						have made more dramatic statements since becoming managers. It's as if you are giants. 

						Euryale: It's the best! Right before a match, we go out in front of the audience and address them like 
						the cool giants we are! I bet they even develop a neurosis or two! Ow!
						
						Stheno: My apologies, Euryale. You're becoming careless and revealing too much. 
						Next question, please. 
						
						Interviewer: Oh! Oh, yes. Um, as Gorgons you have special deathmatches with unique rules. 
						Some of these are illegal matches using high-voltage electricity or doubtful affairs that required
						firefighters to show up. These shocking things make the gorges rise in fans' throats. Are these
						terrible works all things that you planned yourselves?
						
						Notes: At the mention of the deathmatches, M. Gorgon acted as if they were simple, and climbed
						up the huge bolt near the ring like a lumberjack and lowered a rope onto the ring, setting things
						up for a shocking delivery. It was like fighting a caged lion. The mass media was also very busy 
						discussing how the American government had refused their request for a floating ring suspended
						in the air over the Grand Canyon. I guess that means that those of us in Japan won't get to see
						that setup. What a shame. 
						
						Stheno: We could never come up with something that cruel. That sounds like something the Masked
						Gorgon herself would think of. She still doesn't have enough exciting ideas, the kind that would send 
						the Marines rushing to us. 
						
						Interviewer: Is that what you call "not enough"?
						
						Euryale: It's a complete disappointment. Totally unsatisfying. Thinking about it doesn't bring me close to
						ecstasy. In fact, we're in negotiations with the American government. I want them to make a ring for us
						to use at Mount St. Helen's. A ringout means the wrestler falls straight down - into a lovely magma 
						sea. That's the best possible stage for professional wrestlers! (laughter)
						
						M. Gorgon:  . . . 
						
						Interviewer: Wow. I hope you can find some opponents willing to fight you there. 
						
						Stheno: You can rest assured. If things get bad, we can always substitute in a lowland gorilla. 
						We won't let our fans down. (evil laughter)
						
						Interviewer: I look forward to that. Your instincts for battle and survival are admirable, and you choose
						good arenas to show them off. You fight in tough conditions where anything goes. 
						
						Euryale: You have grasped the idea. If you want to live, don't fight us. And if I may speak my
						mind, I must confess: all the wrestlers in the FWF are second-rate. Their ideas for showing a good
						fight are all pathetic - the scale is way too small! So let me change things for you: all you fans 
						who want to see a great fight! Come to us! What you've thought of as big before was just someone
						with metabolic syndrome! 
						
						Interviewer: Ouch, that's painful to hear. Even though you're calling for all these painful deathmatches,
						Masked Gorgon is comporting herself like a stoic philosopher. Who will the Gorgons face next in battle?
						Could it be none other than the chair of the FWF?
						
						Euryale: Plans for the future? Hmm. Stheno, what's up next? Got any ideas? 
						
						Stheno: We're going to fight a dinosaur next.
						
						M. Gorgon: . . . !!!
						
						Interviewer: That sounds like what a Gorgon would do. Thank you for your time. 
						That concludes this interview. 
					
						
						The ones who love to hold all the fight money. They are opposed to hard fights
						and lead modest lives. 

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COMIC: TANK MAN 
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COMIC: LOOKING BACK OVER TEN YEARS 
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COMIC: ALL AROUND TYPE-MOON MOBILE
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COMIC: LET'S BE NICE TO AKIHA-CHAN 
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