A big day for visual novel aficionados is just around the corner. Tsukihime is finally getting an official Western release with its remake, Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, and today publisher Aniplex shared the opening animation to set the tone.
Set to the song “Seimeisen” by ReoNA, the animation sets a pretty familiar tone if you’ve watched, read, or played some Type-Moon work. There’s a main protagonist and some best friends, various characters preparing for a night of battle ahead, and then some flashy, climactic showdowns involving both magic and steel.
It does, admittedly, feel a bit like an anime opening more than a game opening. But considering this is setting the vibe for a visual novel, it makes sense to focus on animating some of the big conflicts and action-heavy moments, with (presumably) a few sly nods towards the more dramatic and memorable scenes in the VN.
A new moon
If you don’t know Tsukihime by name alone, it’s a pretty notable entry in the lineup of visual novels, especially for those who dig the works of Kinoku Nasu. The author wrote Tsukihime and released it in 2000, four years ahead of his next work Fate/stay night, which would go on to spawn the Fate universe and series, with dozens of spin-offs in its wake.
While the Fate series, and even broader Nasu-verse stories that incorporate Tsukihime characters like Melty Blood, have seen U.S. releases, this is the first official port of Tsukihime. This specific entry, -A piece of blue glass moon-, is set to adapt the “Near Side” storyline. A second entry, Tsukihime -The other side of red garden-, will tackle the Far Side storyline somewhere down the line.
Tsukihime follows Shiki Tohno, who starts seeing “lines of death” after a childhood accident. This superpower alone seems like enough to carry a narrative, but soon, he starts unraveling even darker mysteries lurking in his hometown. I’ve not read it yet and stayed fairly spoiler-free, but my understanding is that magic and possibly vampires get involved.
So it’s a pretty big piece of visual novel history, finally getting an official release in the west. Those who want to experience the origin point of the Nasu-verse will probably be excited to dig into Tsukihime, as well as the Fate/stay night remaster also scheduled for release sometime this year. Really, it’s just a good time to be reading some visual novels.
Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- arrives on June 27 for Switch and PlayStation 4.
