This is a translation of the 4Gamer interview with Kinoko Nasu and Yosuke Shiokawa released on 2017 March 11 regarding Fate/Grand Order. The original article can be found here. This is a very long interview, so I split it into two posts to make them easier to read. It goes without saying that there are HUGE spoilers in this. You have been warned.
Parenthetical notes are 4Gamer’s; other translation notes can be found at the bottom of the post. Enjoy reading!
The Various Events that Color FGO
4Gamer: Alright then, now let’s talk about the scenario. First off, is there any event from the past year and a half that really stuck with the two of you?
Shiokawa: It has to be Kara no Kyoukai/The Garden of Order.
Nasu: I’d also put Kara no Kyoukai in my top 3. Kara no Kyoukai is something like sacred ground for me, and it’s not at all simple to write a spinoff for something that’s already ended. As a writer, I had to find some sort of meaning to writing it.
Still, we had the Ogawa Apartments prepared as the event map, even got permission to use the music, and got the OK to make Shiki Ryougi as the giveaway character. I just had to do it. Normally you wouldn’t even consider having Shiki as the giveaway character, right?
4Gamer: I was honestly surprised that the main heroine was given away for free. (laughs)
Nasu: Other than that, the Ghosts n’ Goblins parody, Halloween Comeback! Super Ultra☆Huge Pumpkin Village ~ and the Adventure Continues… also left a pretty huge impression. [12] Everything about Elizabeth Brave, from her design, animation, voices… just everything was so cute. But I didn’t expect such a silly idea to go through. (laughs)
Shiokawa: I really feel that we had a lot of brilliant ideas during the meeting for that. Like when you clear a quest for the first time, you get told “Sorry for being so sudden…” and sent back to the map – it feels that we gave that event our all.
Nasu: We just had to bring out Mr. I’m So Sorry there. (laughs) Actually, I wanted to make that part an 8-bit drawing.
(Note: Mr. I’m So Sorry (Sumanai-san) refers to Siegfried. He got the nickname after saying sumanai/I’m so sorry in the main story too many times.)
4Gamer: The event scenario, the BGM, and the little quirks like Mr. I’m So Sorry really made for a fun event. (laughs) So is there any event that was extremely popular with the players?
Shiokawa: Well, more players join with each new event, so it’s hard to judge their popularity…
Nasu: If anything, Fate/Accel Zero Order was popular in the sense that it was one of those events which brought in a lot of people into the game, as mentioned earlier. It was worth catching Gen Urobuchi as he was walking in front of me and asking him to write a scenario. It was quite the lucky break too, since he didn’t have anything scheduled at the time.
(Note: Gen Urobuchi is a scenario writer who wrote the Fate/stay night spinoff, Fate/zero.)
Shiokawa: Looking back, we were always thinking of how to exceed expectations with each event. The summer swimsuit event was one of those times. I don’t think anyone expected the second half where you had to “develop civilization.” But I believe that exceeding expectations is what FGO is all about.
Nasu: I always look forward to our meetings, since Shiokawa would always say things like: “Let’s not do the same thing this time” “We should always aim to exceed our past records.” In FGO’s case, we never have to worry about our budget, so it’s always worth working on. Well, we end up close to dying right after though. (laughs)
4Gamer: Speaking of unexpected things, I was quite surprised by the Rashomon event’s difficulty. The power level of Ibaraki Douji’s Yakuza Kick, in particular…
Nasu: Everyone was just shouting profanities while trying to take down Ibaraki. In my mind, I already had her as the Demon World’s only sane person – she’s the sane one, so she always stands out. I already knew her charms, so I would have told everyone, “Hey, wait! You guys will know how just how great she is soon!” (laughs)
4Gamer: We did get to see her cute side in the Onigashima event later on. By the way, do you two have any favorite Servants?
Nasu: I like Jaguarman because it turns out that she’s fun to play once you use her, and Edmond Dantes because his pose is just so cool. There’s also Ishtar, who did a lot of work during Chapter 7. About her, Shizuki Morii’s illustrations were so lively that I wanted to give her more moments for her design to shine, even if her actions stray a tiny bit out of character.
(Note: Ishtar is a virtual Servant who possessed Fate/’s Rin Tohsaka.)
4Gamer: Ereshkigal was really cute too.
Nasu: Oh, I include Ereshkigal when talking about Rin’s cuteness. “It’s been ten years, so I’ll make sure that you all remember how cute Rin Tohsaka is!”
Shiokawa: As for me, I’ve recently taken a liking to Caster Gilgamesh. I’ve seen Gilgamesh in action so many times so I thought I knew him well, but after reading Chapter 7, I was surprised that he could be this reliable kingly figure.
4Gamer: He actually had a knack for public service and politics, huh.
Shiokawa: He wasn’t just all talk. (laughs) I really liked being able to see a new side of him in Chapter 7. Also, I heard that Erik (Bloodaxe) was really useful for farming EXP so I tried him out, and he really was quite useful. I’m surprised that there are people who figured this out.
Nasu: Oh, and Swimsuit Kiyohime was a lot cuter than I thought. I really want to reply to her “hot summer romance” line with “That’s not what a hot summer romance means!”
Shiokawa: I actually have her as my support. (laughs) I really like the way she breathes fire.
4Gamer: I do too! (laughs) Changing the topic for a bit, the event scenarios feel a bit more like fanfiction, or something that came from a fandisc. [13] The swimsuit event is a good example of one of those events – was this intentional on your part?
Nasu: Yes, it is. The main story is quite serious, so we use the event scenarios to put in some comedy. If we make those serious too, it’ll be too heavy to play. There’s also this unspoken rule where we give the Servants which didn’t have much time to shine in the main story the spotlight in the events. We want to show a different side of the characters, or perhaps their daily lives, so players can dig deeper into them.
Shiokawa: Takeuchi told us that it was “like we were doing an April Fools’ prank,” and it really does feel like that.
4Gamer: Speaking of which, aren’t the official manga like Riyo’s Learn with Manga! Fate/Grand Order and Keikenchi’s Fate/Gudaguda Order also like events, in a sense?
Shiokawa: Wait, those were official? (laughs)
Nasu: Huh? I don’t even remember hearing those names… (laughs)
Seriously though, Keikenchi’s manga is under the discretion of TYPE-MOON, but Riyo’s is completely under Delight Works. When Riyo’s name came up, I thought, “You asked Riyo? I’m sure that’ll be amusing, but will everything be under control?” but Delight Works said they’ll do something about that. (laughs)
4Gamer: Everything’s under control…? Speaking of which, has there ever been a point where the content was deemed too much?
Shiokawa: There have been times where we stopped it from being published because the jokes were too graphic, or when sensitive current events were brought up. Other than those, we’ve let everything get published.
The Journey through Mankind’s History – The Meaning of the Grand Order
4Gamer: So from here on I’d like to ask about the first part of FGO. From a previous interview, Nasu said, “This time, I’ll be saving the world!” So how exactly did FGO’s plot get conceived?
Nasu: Back when this was still planned to be a PC online game, it was supposed to be a story where all of the players would be fighting against each other. I imagined it to be a game where the evils of mankind would be made clear from the players locked in combat versus one another. But that lost meaning once it became a smartphone game. It’s a device that’s closely tied to one’s daily activities, so I wanted it to be lighter and more optimistic. Not light-hearted, but lighter.
4Gamer: I see. It does feel rather burdensome to be facing humanity’s evils every single day.
Nasu: Right? That’s why I thought to make something that I always wanted to try out – a story about the history of mankind. I had to make something grand – especially since it was right after Fate/Extra, a story about a virtual spiritron world – or else there was no point. So first, I set “seven grails, seven eras” as the motif.
4Gamer: So that’s how the Grand Order started.
Nasu: Exactly. At this stage, I decided to make the title Grand Order, and brought out the once-rejected scenarios for the Beasts. Once that got decided, everything else flowed from that – if I’m going to bring out the Beasts then I should also tell the story of the end of the Age of Gods. If I bring up the Age of Gods then I should also bring up Solomon. So let’s make the core of the story about Solomon and Roman. And with that, the basic outline of the story got decided.
4Gamer: Did you also decide on hiring the other writers at that point?
Nasu: I haven’t decided on that yet. Still, it’s a huge job to trace back mankind’s history, so I knew that it would be tough doing all of that on my own. I called on Yuuichirou Higashide and Hikaru Sakurai and asked them if they wanted to do something new with me. Both of them got fooled by my sweet talk and came to me! (laughs)
4Gamer: How did you split Higashide’s and Sakurai’s workload?
Nasu: I made the outline of the story first, and then I told them that I’ll be in charge of the start and end of the story, so for everything else in between, they can just proceed like they’re making a brand new RPG. Make the stories for these Servants and the Foundation of Humanity from these eras. And once they’re finished, I supervised and edited their work so that they would all tie in to FGO’s overall themes – Mashu’s growth and Roman’s way of life – and added in some final touches so that they would all converge to a clear end.
4Gamer: Did the writers get to pick which Servants they’d be in charge of?
Nasu: We decided on who would get certain Servants at a meeting. Servants were given out based on the convenience of managing them rather than the writer’s choices. But there were also traits that weren’t decided on by the writers, like Takeuchi saying, “I want Ushiwakamaru to be a girl!” I asked him, “Why?” and he replied with a complicated expression, “The male-to-female ratio is too stilted. It’s not appealing enough if it’s all guys.” “Oh, like usual, huh?” (laughs) But that really did turn out to be an important factor for FGO.
4Gamer: Well… That’s just like Takeuchi to say that. (laughs)
Nasu: After that, the three of us would discuss and come up with the backgrounds for each Servant, like coming up with a plausible excuse based on their legends for turning some of the Servants into women.
4Gamer: Even though there are so many Servants coming out, their backgrounds still faithfully reflect many aspects from their respective legends. How long does it take to produce a single Servant?
Nasu: Once we decide on a Heroic Spirit we want to bring out, it takes around 4 months to look up reference materials. That’s why Sakurai and Higashide bought so many books, especially back in 2015. When we want to bring out a Servant, we also want to show a part of their story that we want readers to be intimately familiar with. We hold pride in being careful not to simply borrow their names.
4Gamer: Aren’t there more than 150 Servants by now? That must have been a lot of work.
Nasu: We had enough time before launch to prepare 100 of those. From then on, the three of us started making 1 Servant a month, somehow managing to finish them in time for deadlines. (laughs)
4Gamer: There are a lot of foreign languages like Latin and German not just in FGO, but also in other TYPE-MOON works. Who does the checking for those?
Nasu: I ask for help from writers like Ryou Morise, Kiyomune Miwa, and Norimitsu Kaihou, since they know more about those languages. [14][15][16] This is a large-scale project, so that happens a lot.
4Gamer: If I may change the subject for a bit, how do you decide on the parameters for Servants?
Nasu: About that, there are actually clear rules for deciding on their parameters. The statuses range from A to E, and they’re distributed such that there are no duplicate letters. That’s a remnant of an old TRPG system I made.
4Gamer: But there are Servants who get duplicate letters on their parameters.
Nasu: Those are exceptions, such as “this Servant doesn’t have an A, so they get two B’s,” or “this Servant has 2 A’s, but also has 3 C’s.” I make them so they don’t break the balance. Noble Phantasms are different since there are no hard rules on setting their parameters.
4Gamer: I see, so that’s how it works.
Nasu: But in the case of Fate/, there’s a separate parameter for me to decide on the overall power level of the series’ Servants. So it’s not like their individual statuses alone decide how strong they are.
4Gamer: Back to the topic of the scenario, you mentioned that the story was made with Solomon and the Beasts as the core. Even though this is only revealed to the players in Chapter 7, there has been foreshadowing scattered throughout earlier chapters. This is especially apparent when rereading Chapter 1, where you can pick up various bits from Dr. Roman’s lines.
Nasu: It’s a story about Roman, after all, at least in my head. Oh yes, I remembered something amusing about the final chapter’s production. There was a battle scene between Goetia and Roman, right? I was approached by the Delight Works team and they said, “Oh, are we making that scene an animated movie? We have to record the voices then.” So I said, “We already recorded those 3 years ago. It should be at the very bottom of the files.”
4Gamer: Even the Delight Works staff forgot about that? So that scene has been decided on from the very start.
Nasu: Back when we recorded those voices, everyone else thought that I was recording those for a drama CD. I set up the scenario such that it would build up Goetia’s and Roman’s characters. Earlier I said something about adding some final touches – that meant saying things like “Roman’s lines here are too light,” or “Roman already knows this, so he wouldn’t make that expression” – little fixes like those.
Although I told all the writers how the story would end, I was the only one who knew what Roman was thinking, and how he would’ve reacted to everything up to that point. I thought that it would be faster if I wrote those portions myself instead of having to explain.
4Gamer: Seeing Roman again during the dango event rerun was very emotional. It felt that each of his lines had a completely different meaning behind them.
Nasu: I think that what makes TYPE-MOON’s scenarios so special is how you get to discover new things when rereading them, so hearing that makes me very happy. Ideally I’d have everyone reread it a hundred times, but first and foremost, I want to write something that’s still entertaining even after the second read.
4Gamer: I also found other curious things while rereading. Back in Chapter 6, the Lion King said that she “wants to preserve mankind for the future, even if it’s as biological specimens,” while in the final chapter, Goetia said that he “wishes to destroy mankind and recreate the planet from scratch.” In the end, the protagonist rejected both of their ideas, but what do you think about the paths they took?
Nasu: The differences in their thinking lay in the choices they made. “When mankind hits a dead end, do you pick the happiness of the whole, the individual, or someone else entirely?” They differ in how they answered that.
4Gamer: And the Lion King chose the happiness of the whole?
Nasu: No, what the Lion King chose was the “happiness of the next life-form to visit this planet.” Once everything was over, she wanted to entrust the planet’s future to whatever existence ends up on it. And if they do arrive, she wanted them to know that there were once these brilliant creatures who lived here before. Put it simply, her definition of “eternity” was to “keep on existing.”
4Gamer: Ah, I see it now.
Nasu: On the other hand, even though Goetia is one of Humanity’s Evils, he actually loves humanity, and he wanted the ideal method for them to overcome all of their suffering. His conclusion was to “recreate them from scratch into beings that do not possess the concept of death.”
4Gamer: And that’s Retroflow/Genesis Light Year?
(Note: A term that came from Chapter 1.5’s teaser movie. In the narration, it was mentioned that the one who called himself the “King of Magi” called his plan “Retroflow/Genesis Light Year” – a name shared with Aoko Aozaki’s Last Arc in Melty Blood.)
Nasu: Yes. Goetia’s choice to “recreate everything with a better foundation” is an act close to being True Magic. That PV was perhaps some sort of reverse foreshadowing where knowing what Goetia is lets you see Aoko’s tracks, as well as a glimpse of the Fifth Magic’s identity. Think of it as fanservice from me. (laughs)
4Gamer: Was Four’s identity – something that surprised all of the veteran TYPE-MOON fans – a gimmick that was prepared from the very start?
Nasu: That was a surprise I prepared for the very end. Four’s very design is Primate Murder turned cute, after all. [17] Oh yes, if you try to interpret his lines in the prologue, he’s actually dropping some huge spoilers. So if you reread those, it might be interesting to try and imagine what he’s saying.
4Gamer: No way.
Nasu: I was really afraid that someone would figure out his identity in between Chapter 7 and the final chapter. I was sweating, thinking that when Tiamat showed up someone would blurt out, “Wait, doesn’t IV mean Four?!”
4Gamer: I knew something was up when he started being called “Cath Palug,” but I didn’t think that his name was a pun… [18]
Nasu: There wasn’t much time between Chapter 7 and the final chapter after all. In any case, that was my greatest fear with regards to FGO.
4Gamer: Personally, I felt that the heart of the story was in showing the records of mankind throughout history, as well as Chapter 6’s core theme of eternity. Was that what you were going for during the first part of FGO?
Nasu: I just wanted the youth to learn more about the past, that we’re only here because these things happened in our history. Once you know how we got here, you can go on looking forward to the future.
4Gamer: So it’s about the foundations upon where we stand. We in the modern age sometimes forget about that.
Nasu: In order to show that in the form of the game, what we prepared was this journey where the player traces the records of mankind’s history – the Grand Order. Change comes to all – though some may become forgotten, an eternal brilliance shall remain. Thus, there is meaning to be found in the present, here in the modern age. That’s what I wanted to express.
4Gamer: That’s quite a grand story you prepared.
Nasu: And it was really fun! It’s almost like Super Robot Wars where the scale goes from “the world! No, outer space! No, the galaxy!” The stage was huge, and I got to go wild with the final boss.
4Gamer: Since this is a game made for smartphones, were there times where you had to change your writing style to suit the medium?
Nasu: Not at all. Just because it’s a smartphone game doesn’t mean I have to simplify the style I use. All I had to do was to edit my scripts such that they fit in the two lines for the text boxes. The only thing I was worried about was having the protagonist make the final decision. No matter what the medium, that was something I could never concede.
4Gamer: What about Mashu, the game’s heroine? Unlike in a visual novel, she’s almost like the story’s second protagonist.
Nasu: Mashu’s role is something like the protagonist’s doppelganger – a camera whose job is to view the world in place of the protagonist. That’s why she has a flat personality when you first meet her, and as she travels with the protagonist, she slowly becomes more and more human. I wanted the players to grow to love FGO just as Mashu grew throughout her journey. I gave attention to achieving that feeling of synchronicity.
4Gamer: Nasu, you mentioned before that “for [you], Fate/ is a series that [you] would probably stay with for the rest of [your] life.” Now that a year and a half has passed since FGO began its service, can I ask you: what exactly does the Fate/ series mean to you?
Nasu: First of all, as of the moment, half of the content originally planned for FGO has come to an end. Now that the scale of the series has reached this huge, my current objective is to give it a proper ending.
Still, the Fate/ series as a whole is something that feels like it could still go on for ten more years. Not as something that I’m doing on my own, but perhaps as something that someone else would continue even if I die. (laughs)
From Part 1.5 to Part 2 – In Search of FGO’s Future
4Gamer: Alright then, since earlier our topics have been looking back on FGO’s journey up until now. So now, I’d like to ask about what I’m sure all the fans are curious about – what’s waiting in the future of FGO, as well as its related series and goods?
First of all, please tell us more about Part 1.5, the release of which is right at the horizon. Players have high expectations of it as a four-part story that will connect to Part 2.
Nasu: In a sense, Part 1.5 is something made as preparation for Part 2. I had the each of the writers write freely for their scenarios, making it more like an anthology. I didn’t supervise them like I did in Part 1, so I believe that the writers’ individual quirks will show quite well. The first and second stories have already been finished, and they really went wild with each of them!
4Gamer: So you’re more like an editor rather than a supervisor this time.
Nasu: Yes. On the other hand, since I didn’t put make it so that it will seem “Fate/-like”, I’m sure there will be people who would prefer some of the scenarios over the others. Still, I think that’s alright. I wanted to have everyone’s feelings return to normal before facing Part 2, and expose of them to diversity that they wouldn’t experience if it were just me writing the story.
4Gamer: By the way, are the chapters each writer is in charge of a secret?
Nasu: Yes it is. But I think it’ll be easy to tell once you read them. I didn’t give them any limits on either the Servants or the scenario, so they’ll be writing whatever they want. One of the writers wrote a scenario that would make you say, “How is this even going to sell?!” since they didn’t write a single female character, and there’s another one where there’s nothing but female characters.
4Gamer: I see. (laughs) So if Part 1 was a story that followed a single, concrete path, this time it would be like looking for a story you like out of the four.
Nasu: Just as Shiokawa said back in the FGO Winter Festival event, it’s fine to start wherever you want for Part 1.5. It’s like we lined up 4 different items in a shop, and you’re free to pick up whichever you like.
4Gamer: What meaning lies behind the subtitle, Epic of Remnant? Is it an epic about remnants, as the name suggests?
Nasu: The title was actually Remnant Blues at first. [19] (laughs) As for what it means, I wanted it to relate to legends about the resurrected dead or various taboos. It’s something shared in common by the four stories… Well, I won’t say anything more than that. I hope that everyone figures out that they’re not stories that can be experienced during the main story. And once that’s over, Part 2 will begin.
4Gamer: You mentioned earlier that Part 2 is the second half of the content originally planned for FGO. I’m sure there isn’t a lot you can say about it at the moment, but could we get a hint as to what it’ll be like?
Nasu: Well… I’ll just say that a lot of things will be completely flipped over. Maybe even enough to make you think, “Part 1 sure was peaceful…”
4Gamer: W-What…?
Nasu: There are a few premises that haven’t changed between Parts 1 and 2, but there are also aspects which are completely different. Right now, I’m writing it such that everyone will enjoy it in a different way from Part 1.
Shiokawa: We can’t say anything concrete about the release date yet, but we’ll work hard so that we can release it within 2017. As such, I hope the players can wait patiently for it.
Nasu: It might feel like there’s a long gap until then, but Part 1.5 is actually quite huge. I’m sure 2017 will be a busy year for both us and all of the players.
Shiokawa: Yes, I’m sure we’ll be quite busy…
Nasu: Even though I said we’ll take it easy from Part 2 onwards… (laughs)
4Gamer: I’m looking forward to it then. (laughs) For other things, Fate/Grand Order VR feat. Mashu Kyrielite was recently announced, and on the anime side, the Heaven’s Feel movie, Fate/Apocrypha, and Fate/EXTRA Last Encore are all waiting on the horizon. It seems like a lot will be happening during this year. Is there anything you would like to say about TYPE-MOON’s plans for 2017?
Nasu: The VR was Shiokawa’s idea. When the idea was brought up, Takeuchi wasn’t really thinking about VR at the time, but I had bought an Oculus Rift, so I thought, “Well of course a VR would be a great idea!”
Shiokawa: Aniplex and SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Inc.) are both part of the Sony Group, so we’ve already been meeting up with them before. I’ve been toying with the idea in my mind for a while now, so one day I just went, “Hey, this could work!” – And thus the idea for feat. Mashu Kyrielite was born. From there I made the planning documents, listed down the reasons why FGO should go into VR, and then I presented my ideas.
Nasu: VR technology is still in its infancy, but there’s no mistake that it will be the standard for gaming in the future. That’s why I believe there’s meaning to be found in being involved with it. Having the game characters right in front of you feels like mankind has finally reached as far as it can go – it’s quite amazing, really. So I want everyone to experience this during AnimeJapan 2017.
4Gamer: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Nasu: I can’t reveal anything concrete yet at the moment, but rest assured that we’ve been making progress on various titles within TYPE-MOON. I’d like to apologize about not having anything to say right now. But all I can say is that as long as FGO is in service, I just have to make the Tsukihime R collaboration a dream come true.
4Gamer: !
Nasu: That’s why I feel that producing good content for FGO and releasing Tsukihime R are the duties entrusted to me and all of TYPE-MOON. After all, I also want to see SSR Arcueid Brunestud happen!
4Gamer: I’m sure that’s the greatest wish of TYPE-MOON’s fans right now. Finally, please give a message to all of FGO’s players looking forward to both Parts 1.5 and 2.
Shiokawa: I believe that FGO is only made possible now because of all the fans who stuck with us up until now. We want to work hard in order to answer the expectations of all the fans by delivering them a new brand of enjoyment, and raise all kinds of hell – in a good way.
To be honest, from the analysis I made of FGO a year and a half ago, I think that it’s only brought out half of its true potential. That’s why I believe that it’s my duty to bring out the rest of that potential. I am confident that we will make FGO an even better game than it is now, so I wish that all of you will keep on sticking with us.
Nasu: For me, my priority is to give back all the passion and encouragement we’ve received up until now. I feel the love of all the players whenever I read all of the derivative works from fans during breaks.
Actually, back in 2013, I was writing the scenarios for the Unlimited Blade Works anime, Tsukihime R, and FGO in sync. If everything went as scheduled, Gilgamesh bringing Humanity’s Evils during the anime…
4Gamer: Ah.
Nasu: …with FGO’s climax, and a certain plotline within Tsukihime R would ideally have happened all at the same time. Alas, reality is a harsh mistress… (awkward laugh)
Regardless, I’ve managed to accomplish the huge task of “making 2016 an unforgettable year,” so 2017 will be about finding the perfect landing point for Part 2 while also delivering all of Part 1.5. In any case, I will be running full speed towards the goal in front of me, and work hard in order to meet everyone’s expectations.
4Gamer: Thank you very much for your time today!
The writer believes that FGO is a game that overturned the common sense of smartphone games up until now. Of course, it’s also partly because of the power behind being a part of the Fate/ series. Even so, it has unmistakably opened new doors to the world of smartphone games by touching on heavy themes, having a large volume of text, and characters with heavy backgrounds – all the while maintaining an image of being lighthearted and easy to play.
Though the first part of FGO has met the expectations of players and reached a beautiful conclusion, the journey of all the Masters continues. The first story of Part 1.5 – Sub-Singularity I: Isolated Realm of Evil, Shinjuku – Shinjuku Phantom Incident – has now begun, and the VR event described in the interview is currently in the works. Along with its technical aspects, FGO will definitely keep on evolving and getting players to enjoy the game. The writer also has high expectations of the game, as one of its Masters.
Notes:
[12] Ghosts n’ Goblins – known as 魔界村 in Japan. A series of platformers developed by Capcom; since then it has been ported into many different consoles. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_’n_Goblins
[13] Fandisc – It’s not an uncommon practice in visual novels to have fandiscs for extra content that didn’t make it to the main game. In TYPE-MOON’s case, there’s Kagetsu Tohya for Tsukihime, and Fate/hollow ataraxia for Fate/stay night.
[14] Ryou Morise – Author of various mythology guidebooks in Japanese, ranging from Norse mythology, to guidebooks in angels, to the Cthulhu mythos. He is also the author of the Dies Irae – Wolfstrudel novel, as well as the translator for the Japanese edition of Zombie Survival Guide. Amazon catalog: https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%9C%AC-%E6%A3%AE%E7%80%AC%E7%B9%9A/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A465392%2Cp_27%3A%E6%A3%AE%E7%80%AC%E7%B9%9A
[15] Kiyomune Miwa – TRPG designer and language consultant for various anime, such as Rental Magica, Attack on Titan, and Valvrave the Liberator. He was in charge of checking the Gaelic for Fate/stay night, author of the Steins;Gate and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress novelizations, and the scriptwriter for Gakkou Gurashi!/School-Live! (episodes 6 and 8). JP Wikipedia page: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E8%BC%AA%E6%B8%85%E5%AE%97
[16] Norimitsu Kaihou – An author who works under the Nitroplus brand. Most well-known for his work on writing the Gakkou Gurashi!/School-Live! manga, as well as overseeing the script for the anime. JP Wikipedia page: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%B7%E6%B3%95%E7%B4%80%E5%85%89
[17] Primate Murder – the Beast of Gaia and seat II of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors in the Tsukihime part of TYPE-MOON. In FGO, it is mentioned that Four would have become Primate Murder in a different timeline.
[18] Cath Palug – A Welsh beast said to haunt the Isle of Anglesey. It is tied to certain legends of the Knights of the Round Table, where it is said to have battled with Sir Kay or King Arthur. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath_Palug
[19] 余りものブルーズ (amarimono blues) – Literally, Remnant Blues.
one of episodes 