Tsukihime

Tsukihime (月姫) is a Japanese eroge doujin visual novel game created by TYPE-MOON, which was originally released in December 2000. It was adapted in 2003 into an anime series, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, produced by J.C. Staff and Geneon, and a manga series, which has been serialized since 2004 in MediaWorks's seinen magazine Dengeki Daioh, completed in ten volumes.

It has only been officially released in Japan, but an English translation patch for Tsukihime was made by mirror moon, a Type-Moon fan translation group, on November 5, 2006. The patch translates the entirety of the original Japanese text to English.

Setting
The events in Tsukihime takes place in Misaki Town (三咲町), chronologically, the end of the story of Tsukihime takes place around the beginning of Fate/stay night. . Notable locations include Asagami Private Girls Academy.

Plot
Tsukihime chronicles the story and life of a teenage boy named Shiki Tohno. As a young boy, Shiki suffered a life-threatening injury. As a result of this injury, Shiki became able to see "death lines" on objects and people; if Shiki traces these lines with a sharp object, the person or object that they belong to will die or be destroyed. Soon after discovering this power, he is given a special pair of glasses by a mysterious woman. While wearing these glasses, Shiki cannot see the lines, and can thus live life as normal. Later, Shiki discovers that he can also see "points" on objects and people; these act as more immediate and powerful versions of the "lines." Eventually, it is revealed that Shiki is not merely killing a person or destroying an object when he cuts its lines or pokes out its points, but is instead removing the meaning of his victim's existence.

The game plot begins during Shiki's high school days. After years away from the Tohno household, which he was banished from after his injury, he moves back home following the death of the head of the Tohno family, Shiki's father. Shiki's sister, Akiha, assumes the responsibility of being the new head, and decides to let Shiki come back. As the story progresses, Shiki gradually discovers his mysterious past, and becomes implicated into strange adventures.

Characters

 * Shiki Tohno (遠野 志貴)
 * The protagonist of the series. He has Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which allow him to see the death of things in the form of "lines" and "dots" on objects and people. He has been living with the Arima family, one of the branching families of Tohno, since an accident 8 years ago. At the beginning of the game, he moves back home with his sister, Akiha.


 * Arcueid Brunestud (アルクェイド・ブリュンスタッド)
 * A beautiful blonde with ruby red eyes, Arcueid is a mysterious vampire princess. But since she is a True Ancestor, she lacks some vampiric qualities, such as that of needing to consume blood to survive, and being nocturnal. She seems to be quite knowledgeable about many things, but is very naive when it comes to modern ideas. She is killed by Shiki, but she doesn't actually die and, in turn, recruits Shiki to help her fight Roa.


 * Ciel (シエル)
 * An upperclassman of Shiki's who is actually an executor for the church organization, where she is part of "The Burial Agency" a group of skilled assassins feared even within the church itself. Her body was used in Roa's last incarnation, and until Roa dies, she cannot.


 * Akiha Tohno (遠野 秋葉)
 * Shiki's younger sister and the current head of the Tohno family. She is very prim and proper and carries a grace and nobility about her. When her Tohno blood awakens, her hair turns a crimson shade and she can literally suck the heat out of her surroundings, which creates a burning effect on the object.


 * Hisui (翡翠)
 * The younger of the two twin maids in the Tohno mansion, Hisui is a childhood friend of Shiki. She wears a western maid uniform and attends to 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 for the sake of her sister. She is a Synchronizer, a person that can give someone life energy through exchange of body fluids.


 * Kohaku (琥珀)
 * The older of the two twin maids in the Tohno mansion, Kohaku, along with Hisui, is a childhood friend of Shiki. She wears a Japanese kimono and is always seen to be smiling and cheerful, being especially gifted with medicine. She hides her tragic past behind a cheerful face and Hisui's cold demeanor. Like Hisui, Kohaku is a Synchronizer.


 * Michael Roa Valdamjong (ミハイル・ロア・バルダムヨォン)
 * Nicknamed "The Serpent" for his reincarnation ability, Roa was a priest of the church that sought immortality and tricked Arcueid into drinking his blood, causing her to go berserk and wipe out almost all the True Ancestors, and also turning Roa into one of the most powerful Dead Apostles. His original body was finally defeated by a coalition comprised of Arcueid and the Burial Agency, and he has been re-incarnating ever since then.


 * Nrvnqsr Chaos (ネロ・カオス)
 * This vampire is known as the tenth of the twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, the highest in rank of the vampires in Tsukihime. Has 666 beasts on his body.


 * Aoko Aozaki (蒼崎 青子)
 * A mysterious red-haired woman who always carries a suitcase. She met with Shiki eight years prior to the start of the series, and to this day, is the only person he will call "Teacher". She gave Shiki a pair of glasses that blocks out the death lines and allow him to live a normal life.


 * Arihiko Inui (乾 有彦)
 * Shiki's classmate and best friend. His parents died when he was young, and he lives with his sister, Ichiko.


 * Makihisa Tohno (遠野 槙久)
 * The patriarch of the Tohno family. Dies just prior to the events of Tsukihime. He severely abused Kohaku when she was young.


 * Satsuki Yumizuka (弓塚 さつき)
 * Shiki's classmate, who has had a crush on him since middle school. In the Far Side of the Moon scenarios she's revealed to have been turned into a vampire. Shiki is forced to kill her.

Gameplay
Tsukihime works as a normal visual novel. The player is presented with choices, some affect the story in large ways, others do not affect the story at all or affect it in small ways. Changes that affect Shiki's opinion on the characters and heroines usually change the direction of the story drastically. There are two scenarios: the Near-Side Route (as in "near-moon") which includes Arcueid and Ciel as selectable heroines, and the Far Side Route (as in far-moon) which includes Akiha, Hisui, and Kohaku as selectable heroines.

Development
The original story of Tsukihime was based off of 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.

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. At the time, they had yet to think up Arihiko or Satsuki as a classmate for the main character, so the original prototype version of Satsuki they developed at the time was a gay male classmate. He was a psycho who thought Shiki was his friend, and they think he overlaps with Fake Shiki's character too much to have actually used him in the story.

Several trial versions of Tsukihime were released before its full release. The first preview version of Tsukihime was released at 56 in 1999, only 300 copies were distributed for free on 3½. The game was so early in the making that the cast had not been finalized yet. At the next Comiket 57 a trial edition was released with only 50 copies being distributed on 3½ floppy disks. The cast was still not finalized at this point. Both preview and trailer verions were later included in Tsukihime Plus-Disc. At Comiket 58 Tsukihime Half Moon Edition was released, 300 copies were sold for 1,000 yen each. This version contained Arcueid and Ciel's "Near Side of the Moon" storylines. The final product of Tsukihime was first released at the 2000 Winter Comiket.

There was originally a planned Satsuki route for the original version, but it was later cut. The names of the scenes of the storyline were to be:
 * 1) Inversion/Reactionary Impulse (反転衝動)
 * 2) Vampiric Impulse I (吸血衝動I)
 * 3) Vampiric Impulse II (吸血衝動 II)
 * 4) Planetarium I (プラネタリウム I)
 * 5) Sand Aquarium I (砂水槽 I)
 * 6) Sand Aquarium II (砂水槽 II)
 * 7) from dust. (1) - 7／ from dust. (2)
 * 8) Planetarium II (プラネタリウム II) - 8／kill dawn.
 * 9) Cold-Blooded Love (人でなしの恋) - 9／Stardust (スターダスト)
 * 10) Depletion Garden (枯渇庭園)
 * 11) Destruction of Dream and Reality (夢現解体)
 * 12) Wishing upon a Star (星に願いを.)

Adaptations and sequels
The first addition to the Tsukihime franchise was the Tsukihime PLUS-DISC released in January 2001. The original version includes one light-hearted side story, and one serious side story that shows Shiki's face for the first time. The updated version includes two more metafiction stories. In its original edition, it included wallpapers, the first four chapters of Kara no Kyoukai, rare early demo versions of Tsukihime, a contemporary Tsukihime demo, and two short side stories. The main story is Alliance of Illusionary Eyes (幻視同盟), following Akira Seo, an underclassman of Akiha Tohno, as she becomes acquainted with someone calling themselves Shiki Tohno, who is in fact a disguised murderer and is later taken care of by Ciel and the real Shiki.

The metafiction stories include Geccha and Geccha 2, which take place in Ahnenerbe. The first follows Arcueid, Ciel and Akiha discussing various questions they have about the storyline and mythos while drinking tea, and the second follows Satsuki Yumizuka and Neko-Arc discussing Satsuki's route in Tsukihime that was planned but never made, including some concept art. Kinoko's Masterpiece Experimental Theater (Kinoko Meisaku Jikkenjyou) is a short experimental story that takes place inside Shiki's head. It was first included with Kagetsu Tohya as a standalone application.

They published a true sequel in the form of Kagetsu Tohya (歌月十夜), a fan-disk released August 2001. Type-Moon released the Tsuki-Bako (月箱) during April 2003 that includes a specially packaged three-disc set featuring Tsukihime, an expanded version of Plus-Disc, Kagetsu Tohya, a remixed soundtrack, a trial version of Melty Blood, and other assorted multimedia. The Melty Blood series is a fighting game spin-off set after the story of Tsukihime.

They announced a remake of the original Tsukihime in the June 2008 issue of Tech Gian. It is set to feature enhanced artwork and sound, changes to the storyline, and the originally discarded route for Satsuki Yumizuka. They are undecided as to whether the new version will be voiced or if the erotic elements of the original game will  remain in the new version.

After the release of Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, Nasu stated in an interview that the production of the remake is proceeding along with several other projects. During TYPE-MOON Fes., several pieces of artwork showing Arcueid, Ciel and Akiha with redesigned appearances were featured.

There have been a number of references to a possible Tsukihime 2. The short stories Prelude and talk. are set before it, and there are a number of notes in Kagetsu Tohya as to what would be included within the game. References to it have been mostly been made into jokes during recent interviews, and they have displayed no current plans to actually create the project.

Anime
Tsukihime was adapted into a twelve-episode TV series. It was directed by and produced by. The anime loosely follows Arcueid's route, and had modified or removed key story elements from the original plotline.

Manga
Tsukihime was adapted into a ten volume manga series illustrated by Sasaki Shonen and serialized in  magazine  between October 2003 and September 2010. The manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America by in 2004. took over the publication of ComicsOne's manga titles including Tsukihime in 2005. It is an adaptation of Arcueid's route which has been expanded with additional story elements from other routes and other canonical material.