| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

More Nasu QA (Kertys)

Page history last edited by mewarmo990 9 years, 4 months ago

My info dump; it's everything that food and arai didn't do. Most current version is probably going to be on Google Docs. Will integrate into published page as I complete each section.

 

 

Q&A with Nasu Kinoko

 

(pp. 130-136 of Fate/complete material III - World material)


General Questions about Fate/stay night



Q: In the Prologue, the clocks were an hour early when Rin woke up, but she only remembered them being 30 minutes fast... why is that? She did suspect some trick of her late father’s, though (laugh). Could it be that Rin, being the idiot she is, forgot about the first time and set her clock 30 minutes fast twice?
A: The clocks being one hour fast was a scheme of her late father Tokiomi. A bit of playfulness on his part, seeming to say “if she can’t even notice a slip-up as trivial and close to home as this, it’s too soon for her to fight in the Holy Grail War.” I have to admit, it’s a little different from the perfect gentleman Tokiomi was portrayed as in Fate/Zero (laugh)

Q: Before he summoned Saber, why did Shirou dream about the Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur)? Was the Greater Grail contacting Shirou in order to select him as a Master?
A: During the preparations leading up to the Holy Grail War, when it was decided that Saber (Arturia) would be summoned, “All is a Distant Utopia: Avalon” within Shirou reacted with his mana flow  to cause the image of a “sword” to manifest in his subconscious.

Q: During the Shirou VS. Rider scene in Saber’s route, why didn’t her daggers kill him? Was it because of the holy sheath embedded within his body? Or was it because his body had begun its swordification?
A: At that time, Shirou’s self-healing had already begun, but the nature of his regeneration was really quite indirect, “changing his muscles into blades in order to knit his wounds with swords.” That is actually what happened, regardless of what you saw during the scene in Saber’s route where Gilgamesh dealt him a mortal wound and Shirou appeared to have “masses of blades shaped like muscle fibers” in his body. So, Shirou’s innards are extremely durable. During the fight with Rider, she was able to injure Shirou with her stakes but it would have been more difficult and troublesome to fatally wound him, so she decided to kick him out the window instead.

Q: When Kotomine activated the Grail at Ryuudou Temple, what happened to Issei and the rest of the monks? Were they all sleeping?
A: They were passed out quite cheerfully. [note: Nasu says they all “batan Q’d” together quite cheerfully. It’s an expression that you use when you’ve worked/played until you collapse from exhaustion.]

Q: In Sakura’s route, Shinji’s death was obviously a homicide (though, whether it can be classified as such by modern forensic science is another matter) so I thought the police would have started an investigation, but there’s no sign of that in the ending. Was his death covered up by the Magic Association or the Holy Church?
A: The Church filed it as “a casualty of the Holy Grail War.”

Q: When the Third Magic was activated at the end of Sakura’s route, Shirou’s body was no a human’s, right? Without his human form, how would it have recognized the body as Shirou?
A: It was thanks to a spell Rider placed on Rin’s pendant. I’ll leave Shirou’s condition to your imagination. Because Illya also used part of her body to reconstruct him it wasn’t a matter of how big he was, but rather what degree of ‘humanity’ was desired.

Q: During the last part of Sakura’s route, Shirou was saved by the tiny bit of residual mana in Tohsaka Rin’s pendant. Also, it seems like Rin knew about the difference in residual mana between the thing he got back from Archer and the thing he was holding, so could Sakura’s route be the one in which Shirou becomes a Heroic Spirit after all? Or could you tell us the route(s) in which Shirou doesn’t become a Heroic Spirit?
A: I’ll just say now that he doesn’t become a Heroic Spirit in any of the routes, but the possibility is still present in all of them as well. Basically, the probability of it happening is almost zero.

Regarding the Holy Grail War



Q: Just how well-known is the Fuyuki Holy Grail War among magi around the world? Is it of major significance, or unexpectedly minor importance, like a secret war that isn’t talked about among magi?
A: It’s minor. The stakes were highest up until the Second War, before the Church got involved.

Q: The Holy Grail War is unknown to the general population, but to what extent is it hidden from normal people? Are the Church people (supervisors) manipulating the media and police (or even the governmental level) to cover it up?
A: The Church manipulates information, while the Magic Association handles the media. Also, the Association has the Einzbern cover the cost of any collateral damage.

Q: Why is it that Tohsaka Rin, as the legitimate heir to the legacy of the Three Houses, didn’t know about the original goal of the Holy Grail War to open a “hole” beyond the World? I would have thought that the Tohsaka family would have kept some records regarding the true nature of the Holy Grail War. ...Could it be that Rin just never saw those records?
A: It was because of her Papa’s untimely, careless death.

Q: By what criteria does the Holy Grail choose its Masters?
A: They have to be magi possessing magic circuits, be of sufficient stature to summon a Heroic Spirit, and be heretics, of a sort. Of course, the Three Houses take priority.

Q: Is the will of the Greater Grail, which selects Masters, the same will of Justicia who was offered as a sacrifice for the ritual that created it? Or does the Greater Grail lack any kind of volition?
A: The Greater Grail does not have a will. Justicia’s soul was completely sublimated.

Q: I thought that the Lesser Grail collected “All the World’s Evil (Angra Mainyu)” when it was defeated during the Third Holy Grail War, but then how was the Greater Grail corrupted by “All the World’s Evil (Angra Mainyu)”?  Is it because energy flows from the Lesser Grail to the Greater Grail when the two are linked?
A: It’s because Avenger himself is “a Heroic Spirit born into existence according to people’s wishes”.  Other Heroic Spirits are recognized as true heroes, but Avenger represents the belief that “heroes” are lies and fabrications. The enshrinement of humanity’s selfish desires turned Avenger into a Heroic Spirit, creating a direct connection to the wish-granting function of the Holy Grail. The Greater Grail, “activated 3 times without granting anyone’s wishes”, turned into its present state as there was still a chance to grant somebody’s wish.
As a result, Avenger was born into this world in order to grant everybody’s desire for an existence like “All the World’s Evil (Angra Mainyu)”.

Q: When there are enough Servants in the Holy Grail, do they just remain there in the Grail (Greater or Lesser) without returning to the Throne of Heroes, as long as the pathway has not yet been opened (assuming the Grail isn’t damaged)?
A: When the Holy Grail goes into hibernation, it puts its accumulated mana into storage. When 7 Servants are present, their spiritual cores will be released and the Heroic Spirits’ bodies will disappear from this world. The cores alone will then return to the Throne of Heroes.

Q: Even though it should only happen every 60 years, was the 10 year gap between the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars as short as it was because the Lesser Grail was desrtoyed before the Greater Grail could direct the accumulated mana to establish its pathway trapped some unused mana in the Grail?
A: That’s true. In fact, you could say that the function of the Greater Grail was already muddled when when it was impregnated with Avenger in the Third War.

Q: Kotomine said that he had a replica of the Holy Grail that could communicate with the dead, but was that just a lie?
A: It was a priest’s harmless lie! To gain the approval of outside magi, he kept a Grail look-alike in order to have “a sacred relic that grants bargaining power”!

Q: What is Illya’s capacity as a Grail? Hypothetically, if the Einzbern won the War, Illya absorbed the other 6 Servants besides Berserker, and had some shred of human will left, could she still don the Dress of Heaven and initiate the Grail ritual?
A: That’s what Liz and Sella are for. Ilya can only take up to 4 - I would think that absorbing a fifth Servant wouldn’t allow her to function as a human any longer.

Q: I thought that Servants can materialize in physical form because of the Holy Grail, but how was Berserker summoned 2 months before the Greater Grail was active? Was he summoned without the aid of the Greater Grail, using Illya’s uncommonly high mana capacity?
A: It was due to the ease of requesting material gathered at the Greater Grail, and some cheating, characteristic of the Einzbern. Although, Old Man Acht didn’t expect Ilya to successfully summon a Servant a full 2 months in advance.

Regarding Command Spells



Q: In Saber’s route, there was a scene where Ilya was frightened by Gil’s appearance, and her Command Seal was described as “glowing.” Is this because Ilya’s Command Seals are different than those of other Masters? Are the Seals her Thaumaturgical Crest or something?
A: Ilya’s Command Seals are also her Magic Circuits, so the generation of mana causes it to appear as if she is activating her Seals.

Q: This is a question about contracts with multiple Servants. Can Command Spells be used on any of the Servants? Hypothetically, if someone was bound to two Servants, would the magus be able to use four or more Command Spells?
A: Even when contracted with multiple Servants, a Master only receives three Command Spells (assuming none have been stolen from other Masters, etc.), so you can’t have four Command Spells for a single Servant or anything like that. Also, there’s nothing wrong with concentrating all Command Spells on a single Servant. The problems begin after all Command Spells have been used up.

Q: Can Command Seals be easily transferred between magi? From the conversation between Caren and Bazett in the sequel Fate/hollow ataraxia, it sounded like a simple matter, but was this because their mutual consent would make it easy? In Fate/stay night, when people like Caster and Rin talk about taking Shirou’s Command Seals, they mentioned painful things like amputating his arm and extracting the nerves...
A: Basically, with mutual consent, a precise and time-consuming transplant procedure is possible. Caster didn’t want to take the time to properly transfer the Seals, so she decided to cut off Shirou’s arm and take it with her.

Q: How was the book (Gishin no Sho, Tome of the False Attendant) that Shinji was using as a Command Spell created? Was Sakura’s Command Seal transplanted into a grimoire? Or did Sakura use her Command Spell to order Rider to obey his orders while he held the book? It’s just, since it was Shinji’s mark of authority, I was wondering why the book burst into flames after Rider’s death.
A: As a book originally created for use in magical contracts anyway, the Tome of the False Attendant was adapted to serve as a Command Spell. The authority of Rider’s Master was implanted into the book. Strictly speaking, the power binding Rider lies in the Command Spell written in the book, not the book itself.

Q: After Caster summoned Assassin (Sasaki Kojirou), was she branded with Command Seals? I ask because I don’t think she ever used a Command Spell on Assassin.
A: She had something similar to a Command Spell. Though, as a fake Master with a fake Servant, it wasn’t something as powerful as a true Command Spell. While she may not originally have received any Command Spells, Caster may have skillfully borrowed the power of the Greater Grail to forge herself an imitation.

Q: If there were more than seven classes of Servants, is there a reason the classes of Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker that participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War were chosen?
A: This is the basic line-up. The class distinctions exist so that Heroic Spirits with similar characteristics won’t conflict with each other. [e.g. If two swordsmen are chosen, for example, only one will be summoned as a Saber.]

Regarding Servants



Q: What is the basis for the ranks assigned to Servants’ abilities and skills? Also, who or what assigns the ranks? Is it the will of the Greater Grail? Or the opinion of the Master?
A: The summoning Master and local attributes have some influence, but it’s basically the hero’s known exploits, and the recognition afforded them by the people of the world, that decide these rankings.

Q: Can the spiritual core of a Servant be thought of as a vital area that, if destroyed, would cause instantaneous death, like a human’s heart or brain?
A: The heart and brain are certainly vital organs. Though they are different from the spiritual core, they can be considered organs directly connected to the core.
When the spiritual core is weakened through mana consumption or damage to the physical body, powerful mana, spells, and Noble Phantasms can no longer be materialized, and the Servant will disappear.

Q: As a percentage, how much are the abilities of blackened Servants enhanced? Or, when such Servants have an excess mana supply like Saber (Arturia) did, can they reach a level of power comparable to or greater than what they had in life?
A: They’re like runaway cars that never run out of fuel. Except, since they’re out of control, fine handling is impossible!

Q: If the Holy Grail War were set in Europe, would Cuchulainn (Lancer), King Arthur (Saber), and Heracles (Berserker) be roughly equal in power?
A: ...Well, if we’re talking western Europe in general I’d say the first two would be powered up to an equal degree... though England and Ireland, the odds would be sharply in the respective hero’s favor. Heracles would display excellent power in all of western Europe.

Q: Even though the setting is Japan, why are there so few Japanese Heroic Spirits? Is it because the Holy Grail is a Western (Christian) concept?
A: Exactly.

Q: What was the sport that Saber said she liked, that used swords to play on large stretches of land? Could it be golf? Or maybe polo?
A: It was an ancestor of golf. Please think of it as “something like golf that was around before golf was conceived.”

Q: Even in Rin’s route, Saber voluntarily destroyed the Holy Grail. Did this time also break her contract with the World, and make it impossible for her to exist as a Heroic Spirit?
A: It was a flawed Grail, so you could say it was halfway done. Since Saber reconsidered her life and found her own path... this time, perhaps she could become a Heroic Spirit on her own.

Q: Around what age did Archer (Emiya Shirou) form a contract with the World as a Guardian?
A: From his late twenties to early thirties.

Q: When and where did Archer (Emiya Shirou) acquire his red overcoat (a holy shroud)? Or, was the shroud he used in Sakura’s route an original one?
A: When he began working as a freelance magus in his twenties, he received it from a certain curry-loving member of the clergy... now that would make a nice story, it would.

Q: Who arranged to get Rider’s “Mystic Eye Killer” contact lenses at the end of Sakura’s route? And was the creator of those glasses Aozaki Touko?
A: Touko-san seems to pop up everywhere... “Ah, for inquiries about Mystic Eyes, haunting ghosts, or troubles with ungrateful little sisters, please- please call Garan no Dou~”
Q: When Rider is on a motorcycle, can she go faster than GP Rider? Also, when she’s on a bicycle, about how many kilometers per hour can she go up to? (though I’m worried if she could bear to ride a bike...)
A: She’d be a match for Wayne Gardner. As for a bicycle, she’d accelerate endlessly until the bike itself broke down. “It would be nice if I could Mana Burst like Saber...” were her actual words. Thus, she yearns badly for a racing bike that can go even faster.

Q: Did the man known as Sasaki Kojirou have a real name?
A: There are theories that Kojirou’s real name was Tsuda, etc., but the man known as Assassin has no name.

Q: Could you tell us the rest of the incantation for Protection Against Wind, which was 「----hu A--a-」 in the glossary? Or would that be a problem?
A: No waaay. I could neeever speak a name of such weight. I’d be stabbed in the baaack.

Q: Was Zouken branded with Command Seals after he summoned True Assassin through Kojirou’s body? Or, not being human (and a bunch of worms that infest Sakura), did he not receive them? Also, was this the proper way of summoning the regular Assassin?
A: Even though Assassin’s Command Spells were fake, Caster still had them, so additional ones were not created. True Assassin’s summoning ritual was most certainly outside the norm.

Regarding Noble Phantasms


Q: Though many Servants possess Noble Phantasms that appear in their actual myths and legends, there were some that felt like original creations for the game. What did you have in mind when you created these original Noble Phantasms (“Bounded Field of the Wind King: Invisible Air”, “All-Violating Talisman: Rule Breaker”)?
A: Invisible Air was simply a form of sorcery meant to conceal a Noble Phantasm. I thought that surely Merlin could have managed that somehow! Heroic Spirits that possess overly famous Noble Phantasms have a trick or two to hide their true identities.
[As for Rule Breaker,] I created it from her image as a treacherous archmage. I figured she would be too weak with only her Dragon’s Teeth soldiers.

Q: Does “King’s Treasure: Gate of Babylon” contain things such as rare but weak Noble Phantasms? I noticed he kept wine in there in Fate/Zero, so I was wondering if Gilgamesh’s everyday meals were in there as well.
A: Anything can be found in there. Like a meat that multiplies in proportion to how much is eaten. He’s definitely the “NEET of Babylon.” [Ed.: NEETs are young Japanese people who are “not in education, employment or training.” AKA deadbeats]

Q: Is there any way to defend against “Delusional Heartbeat: Zabaniya”?
A: One can simply stay out of True Assassin’s range, have high enough magical power to dispel the cursed mirror image heart that Zabaniya creates, or have high enough Luck to avoid it without any problem.

Regarding Sorcery and Magi


Q: Exactly what kind of power is sorcery? Is it something that can’t be used by normal people even if they obtained grimoires and studied them? Or is it something that is possible only with knowledge gained from performing magical rituals drawing on the Root?
A: It is an occult art, grounded in and actualized via the Fifth Imaginary Element. Sorcery harnesses mana to interfere with phenomena; a shortcut that creates artificial changes in the world. ...That’s about as clear as fog, so to put it simply, it utilizes energies that don’t exist in reality, like mana, as chemical elements.
More than anything else, sorcery requires the generation of mana, so people without Magic Circuits cannot practice sorcery no matter how hard they study its theories.

Q: What kind of humans are magi? Aside from the “Magic Circuits” that normal people dont have, is there any other difference in their body composition?
A: It basically comes down to whether someone has Magic Circuits or not.

Q: Even though mana powers sorcery, if the practice of sorcery came down not to “technique” but rather “fist motion”, would magi be unable to sense mana?
A: They can’t sense mana if it isn’t flowing. It’s in the same way you can’t ‘feel’ yourself being jinxed, or prayers to a god.

Q: Are there any living owners of exceptional Mystic Eyes such as the “Jewel,” “Rainbow,” or “Gold” colors?
A: They are rare, but they certainly exist. Powerful vampires naturally possess Gold eyes.

Questions Regarding Characters


Q: What’s the best selling product at Copenhagen? Also, how much does Shirou earn per hour working part-time there?
A: Whiskey. 950 yen per hour.

Q: It seemed like Shirou received some spending money for accompanying Fujimura Raiga on his hobbies. What are those hobbies?
A: Sumo wrestling and hunting.

Q: On average, how much is one of Tohsaka Rin’s jewels worth?
A: If we’re only talking about the ones she uses in combat, those go up to about 500,000 yen each. As for the ones made of crystals originally easy to store mana in, those are made of precious metals and fetch a very high price (I decided long ago that the gems would be very valuable). The Tohsaka have exclusive channels through which they obtain the jewels, and Rin racks her brains every day wondering whether she could a better price from the buyer if she made friends with that lady.

Q: How does Tohsaka Rin pay for her living expenses when she is performing sorcery using such valuable jewels? Is she eating up her parents’ inheritance? Has she taken up a part-time job like Shirou? Or has she turned her hand to some other trade?
A: The Tohsaka family seems wealthy, and that’s because it receives royalties from magical patents (theories and rituals used at the Clock Tower. Like real-life patents), so their income is quite high. Even without doing anything, annual income is roughly #0,000,000 yen. ...Although, Rin feels a bit ashamed of this since it’s all thanks to the work of previous generations.

Q: After the Sakura route in which Rin proves herself a splendid disciple of Zelretch, would she be able to continue her training in peace? Or would she draw the attention of a Wizard Marshal and get mixed up in battles with vampires?
A: You’ll have to pay close attention to London for that story! The parallel world version of TYPE-MOON will definitely sell it!

Q: Where did the Einzbern nobles get their narrow view of Japanese culture from? (That Japanese people are a tribe of headhunters, and other terrible and weird prejudices...). Did it come from their resentment of Kiritsugu?
A: All foreigners are like that. (Secret Technique: Kinoko Reverse Discrimination)

Q: Where does the main Einzbern family live? The “von” in the is supposed to be German, right?
A: They live in Germany, in a mountain district close by a certain river.

Q: Was Kuzuki not a Master in Saber’s route?
A: He was a Master.

Q: When Kotomine gave Rin some really cute clothes for her birthday, was that because of his own personal tastes? Or did he just intentionally pick something that she wouldn’t like to troll her?
A: It was out of unnecessary consideration for something he thought a girl her age would wear. ...Though if it were for his real daughter, it might actually suit her.

Q: In your original manuscript, does Shinji become a better person after he survives Rin’s route? And does have the potential to find happiness...?
A: No fundamental changes, but since a great weight was lifted off his back (his obsession with sorcery), he'll probably be able to enjoy life as a fussy, loudmouthed, smarter-than-average, troublesome person.

Q: Since Sakura often eats at the Emiya home, does that mean Shinji is eating all by himself during those times? Or is he taking his meals with Zouken?
A: Eating alone, hmm? He’s at some Italian restaurant flirting with girls!

Q: Can Zouken even eat normal food anymore?
A: He can, but for him it’s more efficient to directly leech life force for nourishment. He’s already a specter, after all.

Q: Where did the Makiri clan originally emigrate from?
A: It’s said that they came from somewhere around Russia.

Q: Will Ayako ever have a boyfriend?
A: It seems like she wants to find one, but it also seems like she wants to stay single as long as possible... Miss Mitsuzuri is still fully interested in maidenhood, so she’ll probably be shot down soon after she enters college. By a young man suited to black-rimmed glassses, harmless to man and beast. ...I think I’ve seen a photo of those two somewhere...

Q: Issei’s favorite dishes are the lunches that Shirou makes... but it’s not like he has any delicate feelings for Shirou that extend beyond friendship, right?
A: I definitely won’t talk about something hopeless like that. But Issei’s feelings are purely as male friends. The bonds between men are STRONGEST!

Miscellaneous Questions


Q: Looking at the parameter rules and various attributes in Fate, I got the feeling that it was something that could be made into a game outside the visual novel genre. Were you hoping to make another type of game as well?
A: Yes, a simulation game. I think a wargame like Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be interesting.

Q: It’s said that there is only one territory in Japan where True Magic can be activated. Where is that place? The lands managed by the Aozaki?
A: Yes, the Aozaki lands. Though, now that the mysteries have been passed on to Aoko, the land itself is irrelevant.

Q: Why did Bazett kill the magus sent from the Magic Association as her observer? If her official duty was to participate in the Holy Grail War on behalf of the Association, couldn’t she have cooperated with the observer to aim for victory?
A: To put it frankly, it’s because the observer was dispatched by an opposing faction within the Association.

Q: Is it safe to assume that the sequel hollow follows none of the three routes’ endings in Fate/stay night? (meaning a parallel universe with different possibilities)
A: It’s best if you don’t think too much about it (laugh).

Q: Why does Caren have Command Spells for Gilgamesh and Lancer? Could she have transplanted (inherited) them from Kotomine?
A: Caren has no Command Spells. It's thanks to her force of personality and the threat that her death would mean their ends as well that she is able to control them. Because she’s the kind of woman who, if threatened with “You’re an annoying Master. I’ll kill you,” would seriously respond with “By all means.” Regarding the events of hollow, it’s fine to think of her as the mouthpiece for Kotomine’s personality.

Q: Are Kotomine, Caren, and Ciel, who are all affiliated with the Church, personally acquainted with each other?
A: Currently, they are not. It’s possible that Ciel and Caren could meet, though.

 

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.