Tracing the Early History of Kinoko Nasu
Blurring the Empty Boundaries of Genre
“…I believed novels could never rival manga. No prose was capable of matching the blood-pumping excitement an illustrated action scene could provide. When I accepted that, I lost the motivation to write novels. However, some time after that, I was sorting through some newly-stocked novels during a late-night shift in a convenience store. It was then that I came across The Decagon House Murders.”
When asked about his past, Nasu attested to realizing the possibilities of purely text-based media through his reading of Yukito Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders. As with many others of his generation, Nasu quickly found himself inspired by the shinhonkaku movement. In 2020’s Fate/stay night 15 Year Anniversary Exhibit, a recreation of Nasu’s work desk from 1996 was made available for public viewing. To no one’s surprise, many of the novels on his bookshelf were those of prominent mystery writers such as Yukito Ayatsuji, Alice Arisugawa, Souji Shimada, Kiyoshi Kasai, Hiroshi Mori, and Natsuhiko Kyougoku. This revitalized interest was what sparked Nasu into writing his first ‘published’ work, Kara no Kyoukai.
“He (Takashi Takeuchi) told me. ‘Isn’t it about time to stop messing around?’ I figured I’d write something that blended the coolness of the denki novels I loved with shinhonkaku elements. That was what led to Kara no Kyoukai.”
In the late 1980s, with the release of The Decagon House Murders came the revitalized honkaku (orthodox) renaissance that would eventually come to be known as shinhonkaku (neo-orthodox). Though defining shinhonkaku was, and is still a nebulous task, they are generally considered to be much more modern and generational while still embodying classic mystery conventions. In contrast to the general waning of interest in the genre of mystery after the Golden Age in the West, the shinhonkaku writers of Japan sought a continuous dialogue with the tropes and rules of the genre in order to bring its conventions into the modern era.
Denki, on the other hand, is defined by Chinese literature scholar Yumi Okazaki as a genre that exists to convey eccentricities. With its roots in the Chinese genre of chuanqi, which were first-person narratives that incorporated strange, fantastical elements, a fantasy story with stylized prose and many twists and turns is emblematic of a Japanese denki novel. While Nasu aimed for a blend of denki and shinhonkaku elements, upon Kara no Kyoukai’s republishing in Kodansha’s literary magazine Faust in 2004, it was claimed by editor Katsushi Outa to be the forefather of a new sub genre altogether: shindenki. Yes, there is another of these guys, unfortunately.
“The present day we live in, the 2000s, exists as a blend between the ordinary and extraordinary. Nuclear warheads from a neighboring country, terrorists from a distant land, cultists plotting to overthrow Japan, children who can murder their classmates, and earthquakes that can destroy an entire city. That is undoubtedly the world we currently live in. Thus, I believe we ought to be more aggressive in our search for a new form of novel adapted to our modern reality.
A new form of denki, inspired by the manga, games, and anime of the 90s that were themselves inspired by the denki movement of the 80s. That is shindenki.”
Shindenki existed to bring the conventions of the denki genre into the modern age, in the same way as shinhonkaku aimed to do so for honkaku mystery. However, any attempt at that could not find itself immune to the massive influence of otaku culture in the 1990s. Thus, many writers who would later be published in Faust themselves under the shindenki banner such as Otaro Maijo, Kouhei Kadano, Nisio Isin, Ryuukishi07, and Nasu himself took heavy inspiration from pop culture. In other words, shindenki was the denki of a post-Evangelion world.
While Faust and Kodansha predicted the impact and success that Nasu himself would have as a writer, the shindenki movement itself failed to make any significant mark on the market. Also of note is that the Kodansha republishing of Kara no Kyoukai was preceded by the release of Fate/stay night, TYPE-MOON’s first non-doujin work, only several months prior. Thus, Nasu himself grew too large for the shindenki banner, with whatever success he achieved simply attributed to him being ‘uniquely Nasu’.
As one of Nasu’s earliest works, Kara no Kyoukai is perhaps where the influences he received from other writers of the aforementioned literary movements are most visible. On one hand, quintessential denki elements and techniques such as supernatural abilities and introspective narration. In an interview, Nasu once claimed that the main antagonist of the series, Souren Araya, was sculpted based on the impression of a classic denki hero. Kiyoshi Kasai and Nasu described these typical heroes of 80s denki fiction as characters who wished to transcend the boundaries set upon them by the world. In this case, however, the hero of the classic denki novel is depicted as someone who threatens the everyday lives of the protagonists. In fact, when Kara no Kyoukai was first published, it was intended to end in five chapters, and Araya was intended to be the make-shift protagonist of the series. In bringing the genre of denki to the modern age, Nasu came to the conclusion that the classical conventions of heroes and villains themselves had to be reexamined under a more contemporary lens.
On the other hand, mystery elements are employed without spare in the construction of the narrative. Tricks within the narration are used to obscure information from the reader. A locked-room trick used in Kyougoku’s The Summer of the Ubume is used in Paradox Spiral. The disconnected chronology between chapters serves to obscure the order of events from the reader, a technique that Yukito Ayatsuji claimed was similar to the narrative tricks he employs in his own novels such as The Decagon House Murders. By building up a mystery through various intersecting perspectives, Nasu is able to incorporate classic mystery-esque “reveal” scenes into the story. Furthermore, Nasu also incorporates classic tropes of mystery fiction, such as the incorporation of a detective character, Touko Aozaki. As opposed to the characters that narrate the story, she is often somewhat aware of the inner workings of the mysteries of each chapter. In this sense, she serves to provide a continuing sense of intrigue and a resolution for the seemingly incomprehensible events of the novel.
However, while Nasu takes heavy inspiration from the shinhonkaku movement, his works, and Kara no Kyoukai by extension, are not shinhonkaku novels. Much of the association between Kara no Kyoukai and the greater genre of mystery stems from its publisher, and from the fact that it was labeled by TYPE-MOON as a honkaku-denki novel. Kodansha and its literary award for unpublished mystery writers, the Mephisto Prize, played a large part in the development of the shinhonkaku movement. Many writers who played a part in the movement also went on to write for Faust, such as Kiyoshi Kasai and Nisio Isin, only serving to deepen the connection between Nasu and the shinhonkaku sphere. In the end, however, Kara no Kyoukai is not a mystery novel, but rather a denki novel that incorporates the essence of mystery in its structure.
“For players, it’s a kind of desire to uncover the truth. This desire to discover the truth of unclear content and feel satisfied enhances people’s level of interest.
Engaging world-building features and characters are essential, but if that’s all there is, once players fully understand the world and characters, the story ends there. As Mr. David mentioned earlier, if there are no mysteries or questions to be answered in the plot, and if the characters themselves don’t captivate the players, then there won’t be a next step.
Moreover, to spark people’s curiosity and their desire to know what happens next, it is necessary to give each character a personal storyline. This naturally piques people’s interest. This technique stems largely from my love for works in the mystery genre, but since others in the industry also do it, there’s nothing unique about what I do.”
Tsukihime is a strange work. Due to being released after Kara no Kyoukai, it technically qualifies as Nasu’s second contribution to the shindenki sphere, with several similar story elements and concepts employed between them. On the other hand though, Tsukihime boasts much more of a connection to the pop culture of the 90s, largely due to the influence of Takeuchi in force feeding Nasu with the Moe Pill. Tsukihime is, after all, what one would call an eroge. With the advent of the legendary visual novel brand Leaf in the 90s came a more narrative-centric approach to the dating sim, as opposed to the simulation-based one popularized by Konami. This opened up the opportunity for romance routes in eroge to feature heavy storytelling.
While the first two routes (the Near Side of the Moon) of Tsukihime are comparatively sparse in terms of mystery elements, they instead draw on the denki side of things in order to establish the inner workings of the Tsukihime world. Tsukihime as a whole is largely occupied by Shiki’s internal monologue, and Nasu especially highlights the depictions of his state of mind. Despite this though, there are some reveals that utilize classic mystery tricks to set up a reveal. One such example is the Shiki and SHIKI reveal, a classic narrative trick employed to trick both the reader, and in this case, the protagonist himself.
In terms of the later routes though, Tsukihime is perhaps where Nasu wears his mystery influence on his sleeve the most. He has stated that he considers Natsuhiko Kyougoku a “god” of mystery writing, though he claims that he was more influenced by Kyougoku’s narrative building than themes. In the case of Tsukihime, homages to Kyougoku’s The Summer of the Ubume are abound. Though twins as a narrative device in mysteries are too ubiquitous to pinpoint a definite inspiration on Nasu’s part, it’s more than likely that Hisui and Kohaku were modeled after Kyougoku’s Kyouko and Ryouko. There are several reasons for this, but there’s hardly any room for debate. For example, the datura-induced hallucinations, and the elder twin being the mastermind are a one-to-one adaptation of one of the tricks Kyougoku employed. Similarly, the narrative device Nasu employs with a forgotten promise made by the protagonist to one of the twins is similarly present within The Summer of the Ubume.
Outside of this though, Tsukihime incorporates many other elements of a classic whodunit throughout its story. The Tohno manor is served by twin maids, a shindenki reexamination of a classic mystery trope. This crossroads between shinhonkaku and moe is not unique to Nasu though, as other writers such as Nisio Isin made use of identical sibling maids. Before introducing supernatural vampires into the story, Tsukihime begins with a chain of serial murders, with the culprit intentionally left unrevealed for much of the story. Red herrings are constantly employed, in an attempt to lead the protagonist and the reader themselves away from the culprit. In one case, the reveal of a culprit is later superseded unveiling another mastermind lurking in the background. In the same way, gaps in the alibis and recollections of characters serve to draw suspicion to certain characters (in this case, the protagonist).
Despite the several attempts at misdirection though, in the same vein as a shinhonkaku novel, there are several hints scattered throughout the narrative that hint toward the truth. A certain flashback scene, for example, is shown under a monochrome filter in order to obscure a character’s identity. In addition, characters often provide conflicting information when pressed for the truth, the same way a suspect in a mystery novel would. As mentioned in the aforementioned quote by Nasu above, character backstories are framed within a shinhonkaku context in Tsukihime. Each character’s story and past is ultimately handled with care, only revealed at the moment of its greatest perceived impact by Nasu. Much like the behaviors and actions of the cast of a detective novel is recontextualized after all is revealed, Tsukihime employs the same sort of narrative layering and foreshadowing in order to craft a layer of intrigue.
Despite Nasu being granted the opportunity to spearhead it, the shindenki movement and the term itself has died out. In fact, several critics have disputed the existence of shindenki as a genre, due to its inability to ever find a solid definition. In addition, Nasu himself has stated that he’d already written everything he wanted to write with the completion of Kara no Kyoukai. The blend of shinhonkaku and denki that he attempted in Kara no Kyoukai, refined in Tsukihime, and finally made his own with Fate/stay night is undoubtedly distinctly Nasu. As much as I myself would love to just call him a shindenki writer and be done with it, it’s evident that with the advent of works such as Fate/grand order, Nasu’s legacy cannot simply be attributed to the singular movement of shindenki.
