TYPE MOON Review: Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon

First Ancestor Arcueid, luminescent and mysterious

Kinoko Nasu certainly has a knack for writing terrifying women. From Witch on the Holy Night’s Aoko Aozaki and Alice Kuonji, to Garden of Sinners’ Shiki Ryougi and Touko Aozaki, to Fate/Stay Night’s Sakura Matou, Illyasviel von Einzbern, Medusa, and Medea, such a varied collection of overpowered, murderously competent females leads me to wonder what manner of unspeakable horrors kid Nasu must have suffered at the hands of the so-called “fairer sex”. Who broke you, Nasu? Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon sees Nasu continue to work out his trauma by showcasing yet another cast of beautiful yet disturbing ladies.

It’s been a while since I last reviewed any TYPE MOON things. Last year, I wrote an exhaustive 11-part review of everything Garden of Sinners-related, while also finally finishing the visual novel fan translations of Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. I also reviewed Witch on the Holy Night, the first TYPE MOON visual novel to receive an official English translation. Although the base novel for this was written by Nasu back in the mid-1990s, it went unpublished until its Japanese release in visual novel form in 2012, finally coming to English-speaking audiences via its re-release in 2022.

Promo artwork for the original Tsukihime. You can see how much Takeuchi’s art has matured over two decades.

Witch on the Holy Night functions as a loose prequel to both the Garden of Sinners series, and Tsukihime — which was first released by TYPE MOON as a doujinsoft visual novel in 2000. Tsukihime was TYPE MOON’s first major success, paving the way for a couple of fan-disc sequels, then legendary 2D fighting game series Melty Blood. While Melty Blood eventually came West via a PC port of one of the later games, and latterly to PC and consoles via the Type: Lumina reboot, like the rest of TYPE MOON’s visual novels, the original Tsukihime has never been officially released in English. (Though as I write this, the English translation for Fate/Stay Night has finally just been officially released in remastered form on Switch and Steam, with Fate/Hollow Ataraxia to follow soon. Yorokobe, shounen! Give me physical PS4 releases, Aniplex, please!)

In fact, even in Japan, there are currently no means by which new copies of Tsukihime (2000) can be legally acquired, making it akin to abandonware. There is a fan translation available online via the usual slightly shady means — and I did intend to read this, but haven’t got around to it yet. Instead, I was seduced by the beauty of this new remake. First released in Japan in 2021, closely followed by the directly-associated Melty Blood: Type Lumina, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon is a greatly expanded and rewritten take on the original, in a new continuity that explicitly follows on from 2022’s version of Witch on the Holy Night. (This is not essential to read, by the way, Tsukihime stands alone very nicely.)

This version of Melty Blood appears to be a prequel to the Tsukihime remake, whereas previous iterations were sequels to the original Tsukihime. It’s all a little confusing.

While the original Tsukihime took place in 1999 Misaki (a small suburban town, also the setting for Witch on the Holy Night), the remake shifts time and place to 2014 Souya, a much larger city. The original also had five “routes”, each focusing on a different main female heroine. These were split between Arcueid and Ciel, whose stories comprised the Near Side of the Moon, and Kohaku, Hisui, and Akiha, whose stories comprised the Far Side of the Moon. The remake A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, however, only covers the Near Side of the Moon routes. The remaining three routes, plus another route that was cut out of the original, will instead comprise the upcoming The Other Side of Red Garden, release date as yet unconfirmed.

Do you like edgy girls? You’ve come to the right place.

While it sounds like this remake short-changes readers, nothing could be further from the truth. Both Arcueid and Ciel’s routes are hugely expanded, with new characters, new events, and some completely new storylines, to the point that the combined length of both new routes now eclipses that of the original’s five routes. This does mean that there are multiple plot threads that go unresolved, and many story elements remain unexplained, presumably to be addressed by the sequel when it eventually comes. Note that the Tsukihime remake was first announced back in 2007. It took fourteen years for Japanese readers to get these two routes, and seventeen years for English readers…

Shiki Tohno as a child meets Aoko Aozaki, sporting her red hair look from Witch on the Holy Night’s finale.

So how does this new version of Tsukihime fit into the wider TYPE MOON/Nasuverse? The first immediately obvious link is in the brief but essential appearance of Witch on the Holy Night heroine Aoko Aozaki, younger sister of Touko Aozaki who plays a prominent role in Garden of Sinners. Although Aoko appears only in the prologue, her actions help to set up much of the subsequent action. It’s not essential to know who she is, but Witch on the Holy Night readers will get a nice little warm buzz of recognition that they have inside knowledge and insight regarding her character and the world she inhabits.

Here’s another edgy girl for you.

In terms of the extended Nasuverse, Nasu himself states that there are Tsukihime worlds (this includes Tsukihime, Witch on the Holy Night, and Garden of Sinners), and there are Fate worlds. The differences between these two classifications are fundamental and irreconcilable (until he decides otherwise, as Nasu tends to do with any rules he creates.) There are no Holy Grails in Tsukihime worlds, so therefore no Holy Grail Wars, and servants are not summonable. Magecraft is still very much a thing, however, as is the Church and its antagonistic relationship with the Mage Association.

Uh… Nasu… What are you doing??? (Picture from Fate/Grand Order).

In Tsukihime worlds, there exists a whole hierarchy/ecosystem of vampires that does not exist in Fate worlds, and the Church positions itself as chief vampire exterminator, employing Executors in the “Burial Agency” who use spiritual/holy energy (essentially magecraft by another name) and scripturally-enhanced weapons to battle the undead hordes. While Nasu clearly bases his fictional church on Roman Catholicism, he’s often quite hilariously wrong when it comes to the finer details. Though I can’t say I’m really that bothered about theological or liturgical accuracy in a visual novel about superpowered nuns battling millennia-old vampires.

At one point, Arcueid actually gets out a whiteboard and marker pens and starts discussing detailed vampire lore. This isn’t even all of it — she goes on to explain ranks VII-IX and True Ancestors as well!

Nasu loves his detailed world-building, so there are several scenes in both routes where the action slows down to a snail’s pace for either one of the main female characters to lecture our protagonist on the ten(!) subtypes of vampires, or on the multiple conceptual weapons used to fight them. I found these parts interesting, but I can see others groaning in boredom. Look, you don’t come to TYPE MOON visual novels looking for a breezy, surface-level simple narrative, ok? There’s a reason it takes half a lifetime to read the whole TYPE MOON wiki. Even the lore about the lore has lore of its own. It’s lore all the way down, baby.

Here’s Shiki, rocking that reflective glasses look.

So now we’ve all that preamble out of the way, what is Tsukihime about, exactly? At it’s core, it’s the story of seventeen-year-old Shiki Tohno, disgraced son of the wealthy Tohno family. Following the death of his estranged father Makisa, Shiki is called by his younger sister — and new family head — Akiha to return to the ancestral family home, an intimidatingly massive Western-style mansion on the outskirts of Souya. Reluctantly he moves back to the home he left seven years prior, following a disturbing accident that left him near death and hospitalised for six months. Discarded as “damaged” by his father, Shiki was sent to live with the Arima family, where he struggled to fit in, despite their love and care.

When Shiki cuts things, they stay dead. Usually. Except for pretty blonde immortal vampire girls.

Eagle-eyed readers might notice that Shiki Tohno shares a given name with the protagonist of Garden of Sinners — Shiki Ryougi — and the similarities don’t stop there. Shiki Tohno also awakens to the power of Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, allowing him to see the actual, literal death of everything around him, including inanimate objects, in the form of glowing points and lines coving them that never disappear. If cut by Shiki, these lines trigger the death of the object they are associated with. Unlike Shiki Ryougi, seeing these lines constantly makes him unwell — with dizziness, headaches, exhaustion, blurred vision, that he conveniently blames on his “anaemia”. The constant reminder of death and mortality threatens to drive him insane, until he meets Aoko Aozaki, wielder of the Fifth Magic, who gifts him magical glasses that hide the death lines whenever he wears them. She tells him he was given these Mystic Eyes for a purpose, but he should be careful about using them.

Arcueid and Shiki just prior to meeting.

Each of Tsukihime’s chapters cover a single day of narrative time, morning to night, and invariably begin with Shiki awakening in his bed, making small talk with his intimidating and snarky younger sister, interacting with his two housemaids, then attending school. The first few chapters lull us into Shiki’s mundane routine, but it soon becomes apparent that there are weird things going on in the background. Why is Shiki forbidden from entering multiple parts of the huge creepy mansion? Why are his childhood memories so fuzzy? Was there another child, other than his sister, he played with all those years ago? Who is the unsettling bandage-covered man who lurks around the mansion somewhat threateningly? What kind of business is his sister involved in running? What’s the deal with maid Hisui’s aversion to being touched? Why is the Tohno family doctor so unhinged? Only some of these questions are answered in either of the two routes.

Serious looking Arcueid in her Millennium Castle guise.

The reader is locked to the first route to begin with, for good narrative reason. Much like with Fate/Stay Night, the subsequent route, although taking place during the same time span, builds upon knowledge of concepts gained during the preceding route. Stunning blonde vampire Arcueid is the first route’s heroine, and she is both delightful and terrifying. As an immortal First Ancestor, she does not need human blood to sustain her, and she despises all other vampires. While generally unconcerned with human beings, she doesn’t wish them particular harm. While her innate joyful innocence is adorable, her mood and demeanor change like the wind. We really get to understand how Shiki becomes completely infatuated with her, though his inability to communicate his true feelings does become extremely frustrating.

So, uh… Shiki has some weird ideas about what to do with a pretty girl on a first date. Don’t take relationship advice from Shiki, mmmkay?

Arcueid puts Shiki in difficult positions, which adversely affect his health and causes him conflict with his family, so she’s not exactly the healthiest person for him to hang around with. There’s a reason she’s the poster girl for the franchise however — she’s a magnetic character who lights up every scene she appears in. We’re always aware of how dangerous she is, but she’s portrayed as a fundamentally good person, even if her motivations are often inhuman, immature, or selfish. Arcueid and Shiki have a good team dynamic, though she’s essentially indestructable, while Shiki is never allowed to forget how physically feeble he is in comparison. He’s a main character who gets beaten up and broken relentlessly. Poor guy, even if he does bring it on himself half the time.

Oh, don’t mind Arcueid. She’s just having one of her “moments”. She’ll be back to normal any minute now.

While Tsukihime’s routes are overall very linear, when compared to Witch on the Holy Night, Tsukihime provides a huge number of narrative choices. Thankfully there are plenty of save slots available, and an extremely useful flowchart that shows the presence of scenes you’re not watched yet. Many choices are ephemeral, in that they lead only to slightly changed dialogue, though some provide more detailed exposition, while others lead to immediate bad endings, or even bad endings that are delayed by several chapters. I did not use a guide for my playthrough of the first route, going back and viewing misses scenes using only the flowchart itself, but the second route becomes very complex and I found a guide invaluable. This is because while Arcueid’s route has only one good ending, Ciel’s route has two — the “normal” ending, and the “true” ending, which has multiple criteria that must be fulfilled in order to read it.

She’s here. No-one is safe.

A guide isn’t exactly essential though — every bad ending (of which there are 22), is followed by a “Teach Me, Miss Ciel!” scene, similar to F/SN’s “Tiger Dojo”, where a selection of light-hearted characters point out, in often mocking fashion, where you’ve gone wrong, and how to fix it. Often it’s advice like “you made the wrong choice in this exact scene, now go back and do it properly this time!” Franchise veterans will be delighted to know that La Creatura, Neco Arc makes her long-awaited return.

Awww, they’re sooo sweet.

Despite only being the opening route of what will eventually number six routes in total, Arcueid’s story feels satisfying and complete by its end. Its action sequences are thrilling and kinetic, with great use of dynamic camera movement, sprite manipulation, split screens, cutaways, and special effects. Elevating the visuals and breathless storytelling is the god-tier soundtrack. Pulse-poundingly intense during fights against terrifying vampires, yet pastorally gentle during the many slice-of-life scenes, Hideyuki Fukasawa and Keita Haga’s music helps the story to positively drip (blood) with atmosphere.

Takeuchi’s excellent use of vivid colour evokes Arcueid’s otherwordly ethereality.

While this route has a slow start, once it gets its teeth into you, it imbues a relentless compulsion to reach the end. Nasu’s writing here is polished, evocative, detailed, and sometimes even very funny. His characters are multifaceted and fascinating, the enemies truly evil and worthy of brutal comeuppance. The heartbreakingly bittersweet ending is very reminiscent of F/SN’s Fate Route. They can’t leave it there!, I cried. Thankfully Arcueid’s story is only the beginning.

Ciel is a very serious girl.

The second route shares most of its first four chapters with Arcueid’s route, branching off permanently at chapter 5, as long as the correct dialogue options are chosen, and Arcueid’s route has been completed first. While Arcueid remains a very prominent character, this time we focus on Shiki’s upperclassman Ciel, who is secretly a vampire-hunting executor for the church. Whereas Arcueid is incapable of lying to Shiki, Ciel’s entire existence is built on layers upon layers of obfuscation, which becomes a major point of contention later. Ciel is far more guarded and private, and we don’t learn what truly makes her tick until much, much later in the story. There’s even an element of a love triangle in this route, as Shiki admits he still finds Arcueid entrancing, despite his burgeoning relationship with Ciel. In truly anime-esque fashion, said love triangle escalates to the point of End of Evangelion-esque insanity, with world-ending stakes, a massive naked white glowing kaiju girl, and lashings upon lashings of blood-drenched gore and psychological torture.

These zombie dudes look like warm, happy chaps.

Even more so than Witch on the Holy Night or Fate does Tsukihime earn its 17+ rating. Ciel’s route in particular is full of sickening violence, with squelching viscera spewed everywhere on a semi-regular basis, and truly disturbing torture scenes occuring probably more frequently than they need to. Many of the Bad Ends aren’t just violently distressing, but existentially horrifying too. I definitely exclaimed “Holy Shit!” at the screen a few times in sheer revulsion. So a strong stomach is definitely required.

Ciel and her insanely overpowered scriptural weapon.

Ciel herself isn’t as interesting to me as the radiant Arcueid. She’s fine, I guess, and the narrative seems to almost painfully deconstruct why Shiki finds her attractive. She seems very much like a prototype of Fate/Grand Order’s Mash, especially in terms of her armoured design, hairstyle and general abilities. Perhaps character designer Takashi Takeuchi has only a certain repertoire of badass female designs he can call upon. Although Ciel’s story is tragic and full of pain, I did not warm to her as much as the funny blonde vamp.

Vlov has never lost a staring competition in his long, long life.

This version of Tsukihime introduces several new characters who never appeared in the original. First is Vlov Arkhangel, a several-hundred-year-old vampire from a northern climate whose role in both routes replaces the improbably-named Nrvnqsr Chaos (I’m sure he’ll turn up later in the other routes, though.) He’s a cool antagonist whose main job is to showcase the main two heroines’ fighting abilities early on in their respective routes.

Tohno residence doctor/sex pest.

Dr Arach is a super-creepy (and stupendously bosomy) medical professional who attends to Shiki’s family with dubious remedies, and who also wields some very suspicious-looking syringes. We don’t learn an awful lot about her, she spends most of her time making suggestive comments about Shiki’s body, but her disturbing actions towards the conclusion of Ciel’s route mark her clearly as an antagonist. I expect her role will be significantly expanded in the forthcoming sequel. Even for franchise veterans, there appears to be be so much new material here, arising from the new cast, that I wonder if this should be treated as an almost entirely new story?

How come I never had any teachers like this? Is it because I never went to Catholic school? I feel robbed.

Finally, Executor Noel is Ciel’s colleague who is working undercover at Shiki’s school as a teacher. She’s also prone to disturbingly sexualised comments directed towards Shiki. Although she seems fun and scatty to begin with, she’s really extremely twisted with a penchant for bloody, prolonged torture sessions. Type Lumina players will probably already know her ultimate fate (sadly I was spoiled on this because I’m aware of the character roster), but I won’t overtly spoil what happens to her here.

Defintely getting Elizabeth Bathory/Carmilla vibes from this one…

While Ciel’s “normal” ending is satisfying enough, similarly bittersweet to Arcueid’s, it’s the “true” ending that is transcendentally spectacular, and also extremely long. Ciel’s chapters thirteen and fourteen are multi-hour prolonged sensory assaults that barely let up in intensity, filled with insane spectacle, massive plot twists, earth-shattering status quo changes, and a healthy smattering of truly “WTF?” moments. Fairly standard for a Nasuverse finale, then. I was in no way dissatisfied with this incredible resolution, and it left me craving more. Despite my general disinterest in 2D fighting games, I’ve already purchased Melty Blood: Type Lumina on PS4 as I intend to play it mainly for the story. I’ll also prioritise reading the fan-translated original Tsukihime on PC. Nothing else will ease the pain of waiting for The Other Side of Red Garden.

Here’s my US PS4 copy in its pretty box.

Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon is a superb visual novel that deserves to be read widely by anyone with even a passing interest in the genre, or in Kinoko Nasu’s other work. I’m so glad that Aniplex saw sense and finally released a proper English version. It’s easily available digitally on both PS4 and Switch, presumably with a Steam version due at some point in the future (it took a year for Witch on the Holy Night to get a Steam version). While the physical limited edition box is gorgeous, and comes with an excellent art book filled with character bios and other information, it’s probably quite difficult to find now. In Europe, we never got the option of buying this physically, so I pre-ordered mine from Amazon.com for $100 months ago to ensure I got a copy. Amazon are now sold out, but there’s a multi-language Asian standard edition available on sale at play-asia.com if you’re desperate for a physical copy (presumably sans pretty box and art book). Otherwise, a digital copy on PSN or Switch eShop will be your best bet. You won’t regret it!

Lonely Arcueid in the Inner Sea at The Other Side of the World. (I have no idea what this truly means either, don’t worry.)

Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon
Developer: TYPE-MOON
Publisher: Aniplex
Genre: Visual Novel, Fantasy, Horror
Platform: PS4 (played), Switch
Writer: Kinoko Nasu
Character design: Takashi Takeuchi
Music: Hideyuki Fukasawa and Keita Haga
Original JP release: 26th August 2021
Worldwide release: 27th June 2024
Text Language: English
Audio Language: Japanese
Age rating: 17+ (strong violence, gore)

Yes, I am a proud owner of Arcueid’s servant version in Fate/Grand Order. (And yes, this is Nasu breaking his own rules about Fate and Tsukihime universes mixing.)

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