Tsukihime (Japanese: 月姫, lit. 'Moon Princess') is a Japanese adult visual novel game created by Type-Moon, who first released it at the Winter Comiket in December 2000. In 2003, it was adapted into both an anime television series, Lunar Legend Tsukihime, animated by J.C.Staff, and a manga series, which was serialized between 2003 and 2010 in MediaWorks shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh, with 10 volumes released.
| Tsukihime | |
 Visual novel cover, featuring Arcueid Brunestud | |
| 月姫 | |
|---|---|
| Video game | |
| Developer | Type-Moon |
| Publisher | Type-Moon |
| Genre | Visual novel, eroge |
| Engine | NScripter |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Released |
|
| Video game | |
| Tsukihime Plus-Disc | |
| Developer | Type-Moon |
| Publisher | Type-Moon |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Engine | NScripter / KiriKiri |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Released |
|
| Video game | |
| Kagetsu Tohya | |
| Developer | Type-Moon |
| Publisher | Type-Moon |
| Genre | Visual novel, eroge |
| Engine | NScripter |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Released |
|
| Manga | |
| Lunar Legend Tsukihime | |
| Written by | Sasaki Shōnen |
| Published by | ASCII Media Works |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Dengeki Daioh |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | August 21, 2003 – July 27, 2010 |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Anime television series | |
| Lunar Legend Tsukihime | |
| Directed by | Katsushi Sakurabi |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Hiroko Tokita |
| Music by | Toshiyuki Omori |
| Studio | J.C.Staff |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | BS-i |
| English network | |
| Original run | October 10, 2003 – December 26, 2003 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Video game | |
| Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon | |
| Developer |
|
| Publisher | Aniplex |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Platform | |
| Released | PlayStation 4 & Switch
|
| Video game | |
| Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden | |
| Developer | Type-Moon |
| Publisher | Aniplex |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Related media | |
| |
Several other related media have also been released, including the bonus disc Tsukihime Plus-Disc, a fan disc Kagetsu Tohya, and the fighting game series Melty Blood. Story concepts and characters shared many similarities with other Type-Moon's series The Garden of Sinners, and the two were also subtly connected.[1] A remake with updated art and story was announced in 2008. The first part of the remake, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, featuring a rewritten and expanded version of two of the original routes, first released in Japan in 2021, and was released worldwide in 2024. The second part, Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden, was teased in a secret unlockable trailer in A Piece of Blue Glass Moon. Melty Blood: Type Lumina, a fighting game, was released worldwide on September 30, 2021, as companion to the remake titles.
Gameplay
Tsukihime is a visual novel where the story is presented via text that intermittently presents choices for the player to make. These choices influence the story, some in large ways while others in small ones. Some choices lead to bad endings where the protagonist dies, after which the player can optionally view a comedic section called Teach Me, Ciel-sensei!, where a fourth-wall-breaking version of the character Ciel offers hints on what led to the bad ending. The game is divided into five routes, distributed amongst two scenarios: The Near Side of the Moon (Arcueid and Ciel routes), and the Far Side of the Moon (Akiha, Hisui and Kohaku routes). Every heroine except Kohaku has two possible endings. When the player has achieved all possible endings, a new epilogue part, entitled Eclipse, is unlocked.
Tsukihime remake entries are visual novels like the original, and though it features modern amenities, (such as better skip functions) it plays mostly the same. The Teach Me, Ciel-sensei! section after a bad ending also returns. Unlike the original, both remakes of Near and Far sides titled Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon and Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden are released separately:
- Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon solely focuses on the Near Side storyline. The Arcueid route titled Tsukihime has one ending, while Ciel route titled Midnight Rainbow has two branching endings.
- Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden solely focuses on the Far Side storyline, featuring Akiha, Hisui, and Kohaku as heroines. This also adds an additional route not included in the original game featuring Satsuki Yumizuka, exploring events previously left unexplored in the series' fighting game follow up Melty Blood.
Story
Setting
The game's plot follows the perspective of protagonist Shiki Tohno (遠野 志貴, Tōno Shiki), a second-year high school student in the fictional town of Misaki.[2] He suffers a life-threatening injury at a young age. After regaining consciousness, he gains the ability to see "Death lines"—lines by which things, living or not, will eventually break when they die. Due to his injury, Shiki has immense headaches as his mind cannot cope with the sight of death. Soon after he is given special glasses from Aoko Aozaki that block the sight of these lines. Due to his injury, Shiki is exiled by his father to a branch family of the Tohno household. Eight years later, he returns to accompany his sister after his father died. After moving back, Shiki has trouble adjusting to the old-fashioned lifestyle his sister lives by. As the game progresses, Shiki confronts supernatural beings such as mostly two different types of vampires ("True Ancestor" (真祖, Shinsō), a natural-born vampire race; and Dead Apostles (死徒, Shito), a race of former humans who were mutated into vampires via magecraft or being bitten by a vampire), as well as his family's secret and his actual past.
As with many Type-Moon works, Tsukihime takes place in the shared "Nasuverse" universe and is set many years after the events of Witch on the Holy Night. The original 2000 release takes place in the fictional town of Misaki in 1999, with the events of Witch on the Holy Night being a prequel that explores the backstory of Shiki's teacher Aoko Aozaki. The 2024 remake takes place in the fictional city of Soya in 2014 and serves as a direct sequel to the 2022 remastered version of Witch on the Holy Night instead.[2]
Plot
A Piece of Blue Glass Moon
After a horrible accident that hospitalized him, a young Shiki Tohno awakens to his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and is guided by a now older Aoko Aozaki that his powers were a gift and to be used for good one day, giving him a pair of glasses that would deactivate his Eyes so long he was wearing them. After being discharged, Shiki is banished by the Tohno Family and sent to live with his relatives.
- Arcueid Brunestud Route
Seven years later, Shiki returns to Soya City upon the death of his estranged father, Makihisa Tohno. As a child, he was meant to be heir of the family but was expelled after an accident that left him anemic, resulting in his younger sister Akiha becoming the heir instead. At the same time, the city is also plagued with a series of serial killings by a vampire known as Vlov Archangel, who claims the life of Shiki’s homeroom teacher, creating an opportunity for the vacant spot to be filled by Noel Aizome, a vampire hunting Executor working for the Church.
After an anemic attack that causes him to lose control of himself, Shiki accidentally kills a True Ancestor vampire, Arcueid Brunesud, who later self-revives out of anger and forces Shiki to hunt down Vlov with her. Despite their success in defeating Vlov, Arcueid reveals that the true serial killer was not Vlov, but rather another vampire named Michael Roa Valdamjong, who can reincarnate after death and has seemingly selected Shiki to be his next host.
As Ciel, an upperclassman of Shiki, makes herself known as a member of the Executors, she reluctantly works with Shiki and Arcueid to drive Roa out of his hiding spot underneath their school, who has taken the reincarnation of Shiki’s childhood friend of the same name and also possesses similar Mystic Eyes. However Shiki’s variant of the eyes prove superior, allowing him to secure victory over Roa and negate his reincarnation ability permanently. One month after Roa’s defeat, Shiki returns to a normal life while Arcueid returns to her homeland to sleep.
- Ciel Normal Route
After Shiki forms his first alliance with Arcueid, he intentionally ignores her advice of attacking Vlov at night and instead pursues him during the day, which results in him being thrown into Vlov’s underground catacomb. He finds both Noel and Ciel there on an official Church operation, but he and Noel are temporarily buried under rubble after an attack. While Ciel continues to fight Vlov, Arcueid stubbornly refuses to help the Executors, but her last minute technique to contain Vlov within his area after Ciel’s Bounded Field shatters helps Shiki and Ciel obtain victory and defeat Vlov.
The next day, Arcueid secretly kills Roa, while Shiki believes that Vlov’s death marked the end of the murders. Arcueid tells Shiki about how she killed Roa and requests he help her nightly to clean up his leftover zombies. Their excursions raise concerns for Ciel, who after following Shiki to one of his meetings with Arcueid, results in her fighting the True Ancestor.
Noel also begins frantically trying to prove herself by killing more vampires as a result of having been threatened with reassignment due to her poor recent performance. However Ciel humiliates her in battle, leaving Noel no choice but to willingly undergo vampire transformation herself.
After Arcueid leaves, Ciel is horrified to learn from Shiki that Roa had already been killed, leading her to explain that Shiki is Roa’s next host. Upon learning this, Shiki begins sleepwalking to the point he has killed humans, later realizing that Roa was beginning to surface. Shiki desperately calls Ciel for help, but she responds with full combat, having ascertained that Shiki was too deep into his infection. However Shiki is able to prove his humanity and love for Ciel, convincing Ciel to want to help him fight his infection. This angers Noel, who in her new Dead Apostle form, targets the two with personal vendetta, as Ciel is revealed to have been a former Roa host herself who killed Noel’s family many years ago.
After Noel’s defeat, Shiki’s attempt to recover from the fight as well as him trying to suppress Roa is taken advantage of by Arcueid, who offers to turn him into a vampire, but he refuses and instead takes advantage of the situation and cuts Arcueid’s line. This results in Arcueid losing control and Shiki is rescued by Ciel, who is then overwhelmed by Arcueid’s power. Shiki, accessing Roa’s memories, reaches out to Arcueid and convinces her to go back home.
As Shiki lies dying, he cuts his own line to completely rid Roa and himself, but is unexpectedly revived by Ciel at the cost of her own life force. In a dream, Ciel tells Shiki the reason why she did what she did. A year and a half later, Shiki decides to join the Church in search of a way to reunite with Ciel once again.
- Ciel True Route
The route diverges after Ciel and Shiki escape into the school. Arcueid takes longer to resurrect, allowing Ciel time to prepare her battle gear and meet her in the city. However within three minutes of their fight, Arcueid’s power proves to be overwhelming for Ciel as she ultimately takes on a giant luminous form powered by the planet, which distorts reality.
Ciel is trapped and tortured multiple times in Arcueid’s giant luminous hand. With the amount of lumina energy being extorted by Arcueid, it allows Shiki to directly converse with Roa, who advises him on how to fight Arcueid while helping him stay focused. As Arucied will eventually die the longer she maintains her luminous form, Shiki wants to prevent that from happening. Roa ultimately decides to give up his reincarnating essence to allow Shiki to do just that, as Shiki uses the remaining of Ciel’s celestial arrow energy to finish the job. After the battle, Shiki and Arcueid banter before the latter returns back to her homeland.
After Shiki awakens in a dream where Ciel does not exist, an incarnation of his young seven-year-old self attempts to convince to stay in that dream as his body would either be stuck in a lifelong coma or eventually die. Shiki ultimately chooses to return to his mortal body and he awakens in the arms of Ciel outside the school. The two kiss and forge a new future for their own.
The Other Side of Red Garden
Characters
Main characters
- Shiki Tohno (遠野 志貴, Tōno Shiki)
- Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Ryosuke Kanemoto (remake), Kenichi Suzumura (anime series) (Japanese); Steve Staley (English)
- Shiki possesses mystical eyes which allow him to see the "Lines of Death" which, once traced, destroys whatever object or being they are on but only when he takes his glasses off. An accident eight years prior to the game's events resulted in him being excommunicated from the Tohno clan by his father, leading him to live with one of the branch families, the Arima (有間) clan. At the beginning of the game, he moves back home at the behest of his sister, Akiha after their father's death. He wields a switchblade with his Eyes to kill supernatural enemies.
- Arcueid Brunestud (アルクェイド・ブリュンスタッド, Arukweido Buryunsutaddo)
- Voiced by: Ryōka Yuzuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm, Fate/EXTRA), Ikumi Hasegawa (remake), Hitomi Nabatame (anime series) (Japanese); Michelle Ruff (English)
- Arcueid is a mysterious princess of a born vampire race known as the "True Ancestor". She lacks some vampiric qualities, such as needing to consume blood to survive (although she suppresses the desire) and being nocturnal. She seems to be quite knowledgeable about many things, but is portrayed as very naïve when it comes to modern ideas. She is killed by Shiki in their first encounter, but regenerates, and recruits him to hunt a vampire.
- Her design was loosely based on an image of a model in a fashion magazine that Takashi Takeuchi had read in 1995. Later online research suggested that this person was Amanda Dyer, a Canadian model.[3]
- Ciel (シエル, Shieru)
- Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Kaede Hondo (remake), Fumiko Orikasa (anime series) (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English)
- Ciel is introduced as an upperclassman of Shiki and is the sole member of the Japanese tea ceremony club, but is actually a secret agent of the Church's "Burial Agency" created to exterminate heresy. Her birth name was Elesia (エレイシア, Ereshia). Before joining the agency, when she was sixteen years old, she used to be the seventeenth host of a certain Dead Apostle. However, even after Arcueid freed her from the Dead Apostle’s influence, Ciel was cursed with immortality and will continue to live as long as the Dead Apostle does.
- Akiha Tohno (遠野 秋葉, Tōno Akiha)
- Voiced by: Hitomi (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Shino Shimoji (remake), Shizuka Itō (anime series) (Japanese); Julie Ann Taylor (English)
- Shiki's sister, assumed the responsibility as the family's head and acquired the knowledge, behavior, and etiquette for an appropriate noble family. She has mixed feelings about her brother Shiki, whom she has been estranged with for seven years, and seeks him to live like an upper-class man.
- Once Shiki's revealed to have been adopted into the Tohno family and is merely a human, Akiha and her blood family are revealed to be half-demons who wield the "Crimson Red Vermillion" (紅赤朱, Kurenai Sekishu), a cursed demon's blood which not only grants them pyrokinetic abilities but also changes their hair color and enhances their physical capabilities. However, those who have succumbed to the curse also lose their sanity, excluding those who've inherited willpower such as Akiha, certain members of the Arima, and the last surviving member of Kishima (軋間) clan.
- Hisui (翡翠)
- Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Kana Ichinose (remake), Yumi Kakazu (anime series) (Japanese); Kate Higgins (English)
- The younger of the twin maids in the Tohno mansion and is a childhood friend of Shiki. She attends Shiki when he comes back to the Tohno mansion. She acts cold and unfeeling, but it is only an act to hide her kinder nature.
- Kohaku (琥珀)
- Voiced by: Naoko Takano (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Yūki Kuwahara (remake), Kana Ueda (anime series) (Japanese); Kari Wahlgren (English)
- The older of the twin maids in the Tohno mansion and is always seen to be smiling and cheerful. She is gifted with medicine. Beneath her warm demeanor, Kohaku hides a traumatic past, causing her and Hisui to switch personalities in the present.
Recurring characters
- Aoko Aozaki (蒼崎 青子, Aozaki Aoko)
- Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Haruka Tomatsu (remake), Akiko Kimura (anime series) (Japanese); Karen Strassman (English)
- A mysterious vagabond sorceress, who gives Shiki glasses that allow him to suppress his Mystic Eyes from its ongoing activation. She also appears in Witch on the Holy Night, a prequel to Tsukihime franchise, particularly connected to its remake timeline.
- Arihiko Inui (乾 有彦, Inui Arihiko)
- Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (Remake), Takahiro Sakurai (anime series) (Japanese); Dave Wittenberg (English)
- Shiki's best friend and classmate, who frequently is absent from school.
- Satsuki Yumizuka (弓塚 さつき, Yumizuka Satsuki)
- Voiced by: Omi Minami (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Minami Tanaka (remake), Kaori Tanaka (anime series) (Japanese); Carrie Savage (English)
- Shiki's classmate. In the Far-side routes she becomes a Dead Apostle.
- NRVNQSR Chaos (ネロ・カオス, Nero Kaosu)[a]
- Voiced by: Jōji Nakata (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Kenta Miyake (anime series) (Japanese); Jamieson Price (English)
- A Dead Apostle and the secondary antagonist of the Near-side routes in original game. In the remake of Near-side routes, he is a minor character. His real name was Fabro Rowan (ファブロ・ロワン, Faburo Rowan).
- Michael Roa Valdamjong (ミハイル・ロア・バルダムヨォン, Mihairu Roa Barudamuyon)
- Voiced by: Ken Narita (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm, Fate/Grand Order Drama CD), Yōhei Azakami (remake), Hiroyuki Yoshino (anime series) (Japanese); Kirk Thornton (English)
- An 800-year-old Dead Apostle who uses reincarnation through possessing his current host as a path to immortality. His seventeenth host was Ciel. He is the main antagonist for the Near-side Routes.
- SHIKI Tohno (遠野 四季, Tōno Shiki)[b]
- Voiced by: Yōhei Azakami (remake), Hiroyuki Yoshino (anime series) (Japanese); Kirk Thornton (English)
- Akiha's older brother, and the protagonist’s adoptive brother. He is also Roa’s current eighteenth host. The main antagonist in the Far-side routes.
- Neco-Arc (猫アルク／ネコアルク, Neko Aruku)
- Voiced by: Ryoka Yuzuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm), Ikumi Hasegawa (remake)
- A small anthropomorphic mascot cat version of Arcueid who occasionally appears alongside a Teacher variant of Ciel as guides for the players who fell into the Bad Ending of a certain route they ended up. She is an interdimensional anthropomorphic alien cat known as Neco Spirit originating from the Great Cat's Village where most of her people's appearances are closely just like her and Arcueid, albeit with few differences in resembling one of their Earth counterparts in different Type-Moon timelines. While often making cameo appearances in Tsukihime-related media, Neco-Arc also appears in other non-Tsukihime media.
- Makihisa Tohno (遠野 槙久, Tōno Makihisa)
- Voiced by: Kinryū Arimoto (anime series) (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)
- The late biological father of Akiha and original SHIKI Tohno, and a posthumous antagonist of the series. He was also responsible for orchestrated a massacre on the other Shiki’s home clan by sending one of his henchman to kill them except that Shiki, as well as his brutal treatments towards his own blood children and even Kohaku. His death at the hands of his own son, SHIKI led the latter to become Roa’s current host.
Remake exclusives
- Mio Saiki (斎木 みお, Saiki Mio)
- Voiced by: Rina Hidaka
- A mysterious girl who Shiki meet sometimes in the city.
- Gouto Saiki (斎木 業人, Saiki Gōto)
- Voiced by: Chikahiro Kobayashi
- The head of the Saiki branch family of the Tohno clan, his entire face is wrapped in black bandages due to burns. He looks down on Shiki, who was excommunicated from the Tohno family and hates him. In the original timeline, the Saiki family originally debuted in the sequel Kagetsu Tohya, where the family head (who may be also Gōto) appears as a flashback character related to Shiki’s birth family.
- Arach (阿良句, Araku)
- Voiced by: Mamiko Noto
- A scientist who claims to be an old acquaintance of Makihisa Tohno from university, due to her closeness with the Tohno family through him, she's been working for Akiha as a consultant in both architectural and medical matters. In Ciel's Route, it appears that Arach has a mysterious connection to the Dead Apostles since the French Incident, with one of them being a spider-themed vampire, leaving Arach's true origins a mystery.
- Noel (ノエル, Noeru)
- Voiced by: Ai Kayano
- A foreign teacher at Shiki's school whose actually a subordinate of Ciel and goes by the alias Noel Aizome (愛染 ノエル, Aizome Noeru). Beneath her demeanor, Noel hides a traumatic past she had been endured since her village in France was destroyed by Roa when Ciel was his host thirteen years ago. In Ciel’s Route of the Near-Side storyline, she becomes a Dead Apostle and is executed immediately by Ciel out of misery.
- Mario Gallo Bestino (マ－リオゥ・ジャッロ・ベスティーノ, Mario Jarro Besutino)
- Voiced by: Ayane Sakura
- A young Italian man and the son of Cardinal Laurentis (who's first mentioned in Fate/Extra CCC), Mario is a bishop of the Holy Church despite only being a teenager. He got his nickname “The Puppeteer” due to his gauntlet-like weapon, “Piano Machine”, that allows him to use strings for combat purposes as well as controlling the movements of others (particularly Holy Church nuns, and even Noel in Arcueid's Route) like they were marionettes. He seeks Roa for his knowledge of immortality in order to fix his father’s aging problem, but eventually learns that all Roa's research has long since hit a dead end.
- Yuugo Ando (安藤 裕吾, Ando Yugo)
- Voiced by: Ryota Asari
- One of Mario's two direct subordinates.
- Karius Berlusconi (カリウス・ベルルスコーニ, Carius Berlusconi)
- Voiced by: Shuta Morishima
- One of Mario's two direct subordinates.
- Vlov Arkhangel (ヴローヴ・アルハンゲリ, Vurōvu Aruhangeri)
- Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda
- A Russian Dead Apostle Ancestor who used to be a knight centuries ago, he possesses the ability to manipulate temperature which allows him to generate and project both fire and ice for different purposes. He serves as the secondary antagonist, replacing the role of NRVNQSR Chaos from the original game. He despises Roa, for tricking him into murdering his adopted mother, Zaria Offenbaum (ゼリア・アッヘェンバウム, Zaria Ahheenbaumu). In Ciel’s Route of the Near-Side storyline, he is directly responsible for Noel's downfall, despite his vampire bite not being that deep.
Development
The original story of Tsukihime was based on one of Kinoko Nasu's ideas for a novel. It featured Arcueid as a cold stereotypical vampire that is the complete opposite of her finished incarnation. The basis for Shiki was a middle-aged old, worn-down vampire who says to Arcueid upon her first approach "I have no interest in women I've already killed once." The tone of the story was the complete opposite and only the tagline of "a biting relationship between a murderer who can see death lines and a vampire" remained in the final version.[citation needed] Upon developing the story for Tsukihime, they pictured Arcueid as a cool and princess-like "Noble Vampire", but thought that it overlapped with Akiha's "Lady" character. All of the heroines spoke politely to the main character, so they figured that the only character who could fit the role of someone who didn't speak politely would be Arcueid. They eventually came up with the idea of a "pure white" vampire that developed her character very differently from the original version. [citation needed] There was originally a planned Satsuki route for the original version, but it was later cut.[citation needed]
Several trial versions of Tsukihime were released before its full release. The first preview version of Tsukihime was a free promotional version of which 300 copies (on 3½ floppy disks) were produced and distributed at Comiket 56 in 1999.[4] At the next Comiket 57 in late 1999, a demo was sold for 100 yen, with only 50 being produced and sold, also distributed on 3½ floppy disks.[5] At Comiket 58 in 2000, Tsukihime Half Moon Edition was released. 300 copies were produced and sold for 1,000 yen each. This version contained Arcueid and Ciel's "Near Side of the Moon" storylines. The half moon edition came with bonuses including a coupon that would allow purchasers to claim the complete edition in the future.[6] The complete edition of Tsukihime was first released at Comiket 59 in December 2000.[7]
Type-Moon released Tsukihime Plus-Disc developed with NScripter engine in January 2001, a light-hearted addition to Tsukihime that featured two short stories: Alliance Of Illusionary Eyes and Geccha. The first edition included wallpapers, the first four chapters of The Garden of Sinners, an early demo version of Tsukihime, a contemporary Tsukihime demo, and two omakes featuring Tsukihime characters. The second edition Tsukihime Plus+Disc added two more stories: Geccha 2 and Kinoko's Masterpiece Experimental Theater. This version used the more capable KiriKiri engine. In April 2003, Type-Moon released Tsuki-Bako (月箱, lit. 'Moon Box'), a three-disc set that included Tsukihime, Tsukihime Plus+Disc, Kagetsu Tohya, a remixed soundtrack, a trial version of Melty Blood and other assorted multimedia.[8] The original visual novel was available to play with Game Boy Advance with the conversion software "Rinkai Tsukihime" distributed by the doujin circle "Inside-Cap".[9]
In December 2001, Inside-Cap released an officially licensed[10] program for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP that allowed customers to convert their PC copy of Tsukihime into a Game Boy Advance rom; the program was distributed via CD-ROM through retail and online shops.[11]
Remake
A remake of Tsukihime was announced in 2008, with work commencing in 2012. Work was then suspended in 2013 due to Type Moon's work on Fate/Grand Order, before resuming in 2017.[2] It was later announced that it would be released in two parts, with the first, titled Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, containing the "Near-side" part of the game. The game was released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch consoles on August 26, 2021 in Japan.[12] The theme songs Seimeisen and Juvenile, as well as the ending themes Lost and Believer were written, composed and arranged by Kegani from Live Lab and performed by Reona, and released on CD on September 1, 2021.[13][14] The soundtrack was composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa and Keita Haga, and was released as a set of eight CDs on November 24, 2021.[15][16] Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden, containing the remake's equivalent of the "Far-side" part of the original, was teased in an unlockable secret trailer in Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon.
The remake modernizes the setting of Tsukihime, having it take place in a large city in 2014 (as opposed to the suburban town in 1999 of the original), and also makes changes to the plot. The remake also adds new characters, voice acting, and new character designs.[2] Writer Kinoko Nasu has stated in interviews that he was inspired by Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone to make the changes, and when writing the remake, Arcueid's route was written to be a reproduction of the old Tsukihime, while Ciel's route was written to be new.[17] It also includes the Satsuki route.[18]
At Anime Expo 2023, it was announced that the Tsukihime remake entries would get official localization outside Japan,[19] starting from A Piece of Blue Glass Moon on June 27, 2024.[20] It is also confirmed in Type-Moon Ace Vol. 15 that Windows version of the Tsukihime remake entries will be included as well.[21][unreliable source]
Sequel
Kagetsu Tohya has teasers for a Tsukihime 2, and writer Kinoko Nasu's short stories "talk." and "Prelude" from Tsukihime material book's Plus Period published on October 22, 2004 and the Type-Moon's Character material published on August 20, 2006 are set before it.[citation needed] References to it have been mostly been made into jokes during recent interviews,[citation needed] and they have displayed no current plans to actually create the project.[citation needed] According to Character material, the sequel would have been called Tsukihime: The Dark Six and would have revolved, at least in part, around a ritual gathering of Dead Apostle ancestors. Arcueid's sister Altrouge would have had a possible role.[citation needed]
Related media
Video games
Kagetsu Tohya is a sequel released in August 2001 and set one year after the events in the main Tsukihime storyline.[22] Shiki gets into an accident and has a repeating dream sequence in which he must relive the same day over until he finds Len. As the player repeats each day they are able to make different choices which affect the flow of the narrative and unlock extra content in the game, including ten short stories.
Melty Blood is a PC dojin fighting game series developed by Type-Moon and French-Bread, originally released at Comiket 63 in 2002.[23] The game features characters from the Tsukihime games as well as new characters specific for the games. Multiple updated versions of the game have been created as well as a sequel. It later spawned an arcade version,[24] titled Act Cadenza, that was developed by Ecole Software and was then ported to the PlayStation 2.[25] A decade later, Type-Moon and French-Bread collaborated once again to develop the fifth installment and reboot, Melty Blood: Type Lumina, featuring the characters from the remake titles.
Anime
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation titled Lunar Legend Tsukihime (真月譚 月姫, Shingetsutan Tsukihime) was directed by Katsushi Sakurabi and produced by J.C.Staff. It was written by Hiroko Tokita and features original music by Toshiyuki Ōmori. It first aired between October 10 to December 26, 2003 on BS-i. It also aired on Animax Asia in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Two pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme was titled "The Sacred Moon" by Toshiyuki Omori, and the ending theme was "Rinne no Hate ni" (輪廻の果てに) by Fumiko Orikasa. The reason for choosing "Lunar Legend Tsukihime" instead of the title "Tsukihime" is that the trademark of "Tsukihime" had already been used.[26]
Geneon announced it had licensed the series for distribution in North America in 2004 under the title Tsukihime, Lunar Legend.[27] Upon Geneon's American operations having shut down, the newly instituted licensor Sentai Filmworks acquired the North American rights to the series, with Section23 Films handling its distribution and marketing, along with other titles.[28]
A manga adaptation using the same Lunar Legend Tsukihime title as the anime, illustrated by Sasaki Shōnen, was serialized in ASCII Media Works' shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh between October 2003 and September 2010 issues. The plot largely follows the game's Arcueid route with a mix of the other routes. The chapters were collected in ten volumes published by ASCII Media Works.[29] Tsukihime creator Kinoko Nasu has praised Sasaki's manga, saying that the settings mentioned in Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tohya are integrated without damaging the atmosphere of the original.[30] Nasu also went on to say that Sasaki Shonen's manga was the greatest rival to the remake game project, and that Sasaki's stamp of approval after he playtested it meant there was "nothing to be afraid of".[17] The manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America by ComicsOne in 2004.[31] In 2005, DR Master took over the publication of ComicsOne's manga titles including Tsukihime.[32] Six out of ten volumes were published.
Tsuki no Sango is a short story by Kinoko Nasu for Maaya Sakamoto's Full Moon Recital Hall, a project organized by the Japanese online magazine Saizensen, that consisted of Sakamoto reading short novels in a theater while an accompanying short animation was aired in the background. Tsuki no Sango was the first of the recitals on December 21, 2010, and it was aired live on Ustream. The short movie was animated by Ufotable, which also animated The Garden of Sinners and Fate/Zero, and features drawings by Takashi Takeuchi and Chihiro Aikura. The animation used Frédéric Chopin composed music. The concept is "Tsukihime 3000" and the Princess Kaguya folktale.[33] There is also a 42-page booklet version of the story with illustrations by Takeuchi and Aikura. Tsuki no Sango also got a manga adaptation with story and art by Sasaki Shōnen. It was serialized on the Saizensen web magazine from July 7, 2012 until January 22, 2019. The chapters were compiled into two tankobon volumes published by Seikaisha Comics. The first volume was released on March 10, 2014 and the second volume on May 26, 2019. An omnibus version was also published on May 26, 2019.
Music
A remake of the visual novel's soundtrack was released on February 24, 2004 titled Ever After ~Music from "Tsukihime" Reproduction~.[34] Two soundtrack compilations were released for the anime Lunar Legend Tsukihime, titled Moonlit Archives and Moonlit Memoirs.[35][36] The music was composed by Keita Haga.[37] The Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon theme songs by Reona were released on CD on September 1, 2021[38] while the eight disc soundtrack, which was composed by Keita Haga and Hideyuki Fukasawa, was released on November 24, 2021.[16][15]
| Title | Composition, Arrangement and Lyrics | Performance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Seimeisen" | Kegani (Live Lab) | Reona | Opening theme (A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, Tsukihime route) |
| "Juvenile" | Kegani (Live Lab) | Reona | Opening theme (A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, Rainbow in the Night route) |
| "Lost" | Kegani (Live Lab) | Reona | Ending theme (A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, Tsukihime route) |
| "Believer | Kegani (Live Lab) | Reona | Ending theme (A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, Rainbow in the Night route) |
| Title | Composition and Arrangement | Lyrics | Performance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Sacred Moon" | Toshiyuki Omori | Opening theme | ||
| "The End of the Cycle of Reincarnation..." | Yoko Ueno | Makoto Iriyama | Fumiko Orikasa | Ending theme |
Reception
Following its release, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon sold 72,237 units on the Nintendo Switch and 66,171 units on the PlayStation 4, bringing it to a total of 138,408 copies sold at retail; this does not include download sales.[39]
Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon was very well received by English-language media. The narrative, production quality, and localization were all praised by reviewers.[40][41][42][43] and it was (as of July 26, 2024) the highest-rated 2024 game on OpenCritic.[44]
The manga series has shown high sales figures in its later volumes, with volume seven staying in the Japanese comic ranking for two weeks,[45][46] while volume eight stayed in for three weeks.[47][48][49]
Carlos Santos of Anime News Network's opinion on the anime's third DVD release is that it "is a show that's all about creating a mood, which it does very well with its carefully planned color schemes and evocative music score." He states, "It's an ending that takes its time, however, as this show's deliberate pacing ensures that the story is revealed only to those who are patient enough."[50]
See also
Notes
- The Hebrew form of the Greek form of "Nero Caesar"; per gematria, this has a value of 666, the number of the beast—see SCM Core Text New Testament, Richard Cooke, SCM Press, 2009, p. 310
- In English, SHIKI's name is written in all-caps to distinguish him from the main protagonist, as their names are spelled with different kanji characters in Japanese.
References
Further reading
External links
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