Last Modified: April 2nd, 2006
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Tsukihime is an eroge (referred to by the creators and fans as a 'visual novel') which was released in December 2000 by the company TYPE-MOON (which was originally a dojin group who created their own eroge for other fans, the company was created by writer Kinoko Nasu and artist Takashi Takeuchi). The game sold very successfully and is unique due to it not being produced by a professional studio but still recieving widespread success. The game was adapted into an anime in 2003 with the title Shingetsutan Tsukihime and was also turned into a manga series, both of which have been licensed for American release by seperate companies. The title when translated into English means 'Moon Princess' and the title of the anime when translated means 'Tsukihime, Lunar Legend'. The game has been so successful that many of it's characters have been re-used in the follow up games 'Melty Blood' and 'Melty Blood - reACT' which are fighting games rather than eroge.
The game follows the story of Shiki Tohno. When he was much younger he sustained a very serious injury which has had an adverse effect on him and it has enabled him to see 'lines' on objects which, when sliced or cut, will completely destroy that object, including human beings. When he first realised this, he was given a pair of glasses by a female stranger underneath a tree that makes it impossible to see the lines when he is wearing them. The game then cuts back to the present day, when Shiki is a teenager and attends high school. He has spent many years not living at the Tohno home due to his injury, but he has now returned due to the death of his father (who has also the head of the household). His sister, Akiha, has now become the head and she maintains control of the house.
As Shiki is on the way home from his school one day, he notices a very beautiful woman and gets an overwhelming urge to kill her using the 'lines' that he sees. He later thinks that him murdering her was just a nightmare, until she appears once more and informs him on how he has murdered her. The woman, Arcueid Brunestud, tells him that she needs his help to fight the dangerous vampire Roa who has recently been killing many people. He wonders if this is real or all just a dream, and what he should do next...
Shiki Tohno - The main character of the game, he has been given the power to see the 'lines' of which objects are made up which gives him the knowledge of how to destroy anything (including humans) in seconds. To make use of this ability, he always carries his pocket-knife which he has named Nanatasuya. He meets Arcueid after murdering her in a local park on the way back to his home and his sister, Akiha.
Arcueid Brunestud - Also known by short as 'Arc', she is the female lead in the story, she is a beautiful blonde woman with the unusual trait of having red eye pupils. She is very old fashioned and well knowledged, although she is not able to grasp the notion of some modern concepts. Shiki murders her when they first meet, although she is not killed thanks to her being a vampire, in return for killing her, she recruits Shiki on her quest to defeat Roa.
Akiha Tohno - She is the younger sister of Shiki, although she is very mature and responsible and is currently the head of the Tohno household. She is very noble and she carries an air of grace at all times, as the story of the game progresses it is revealed that she has had magical powers since she was a young child. Humourously, she is also very agitated over the issue of her breast size.
Ciel - A blue haired girl who attends the same school as Shiki, although she is in a higher year than him. She is the sole member of the school's Japanese tea ceremony society and does not seem to have many friends as she is very isolated. As the plot progresses, it is revealed that she is a vampire hunter who works for the Catholic Church and that she hates Arcueid (this causes conflict due to the fact that she likes Shiki). Her body was used by Roa in one of his incarnations which means that until he dies, she is immortal. She created her own clothing as a hobby.
Hisui - The twin of Kohaku and a maid in the Tohno mansion. She is cold-hearted and hardly ever shows any emotion which is the complete opposite of her sister. She wears a maids uniform of western style and her names means 'jade' which refers to the colour of her eye pupils. As the story progresses, a revelation is that she actually has emotion and her sister is the one who has no emotion, it turns out that she has actually been burying her emotions.
Kohaku - The twin sister of Hisui and the other maid in the Tohno household. On the surface she appears to be eternally cheerful and happy. She is constantly dressed in a traditional Japanese Kimono which contrasts her sister's western uniform. Her name means 'amber' which refers to her eye colour and as the story develops it turns out that she is actually emotionless and very cold-hearted and her constantly cheerful attitude has just been a facade.
Nero Kaos - The first name of this vampire is actually spelt 'Nrvnqsr' and it is the tenth of the 27 ancestors of the dead apostles, which are the vampires that hold the highest rank in the universe that Tsukihime is set in. He has six-hundred and sixty-six beasts over his body and the name itself is a play on words relating to the hebrew numbering system which means that his name adds up to 666. Arc and Shiki take on this vampire towards the end of the story.
Roa - The feared vampire that is currently on a killing spree when the story begins, not much information is ever given to the user regarding this character, and the small amount that is, is only made available towards the end of the game.
Aoko Aozaki - The strange woman who gave Shiki the glasses which stop him from seeing the 'lines' that destroy things when he was younger. He met the woman under a tree and she is the only person who he will ever refer to as 'teacher'. The glasses she gave him were stolen from her sister and were named the magangoroshi.
Arihiko Inui - Shiki's best friend who is in the same class as him at school, he is an orphan due to his parents being killed when he was at a young age. He now lives which his sister, Ichiko.
Makihasa Tohno - Shiki's father, his death prompts Shiki to return to the household which leads on to the events that happen within the game.
Satsuki Yumizuka - A female in the same class as Shiki, she has always had a crush on him but has never told him this.
Ren - A 'lolicon' character who can take the form of both a small girl or a black cat that often follows Arcued around. She serves no other purpose in the game than to be featured in a sex scene with Shiki (although it is only a fantasy of Shiki's).
Hanei Misawa - Notable only for having the biggest breasts in the game, she is a roomate of Akiha Tohno's at the private school which she attends.
The soundtrack to the game was never released as a seperate CD, although the adaption anime 'Shingetsutan Tsukihime' did have a soundtrack released on the 10th of December 2003 which still has widespread availability online and retails for around 2913yen (approximately $25USD). The tracklist of this album is listed below:
This game was undoubtedly the break-out game for the developers of TYPE-MOON, before this was released they were unknowns and only had fans that knew of their work first hand. Thanks to the mix of excellent storytelling by Kinoko Nasu and original artwork by Takashi Takeuchi they created a game that stood out from many of it's competitors as it has just the right mix of sexual content while retaining a strong storyline and unmatched character depth as the story progresses. As you are playing you begin to feel emotionally involved in what is happening and you find yourself having pathos for the quest of Arcueid and all the people that she recruits to help her tackle the evil empire that is Roa and Nero Kaos and as you become drawn into what is going on in the plot, you begin to realise that it is going to be a long time before you will be able to stop and have a rest as the plot moves at quite a quick pace and it is hard to keep up with what is happening at times, although not too fast to enjoy the complex plot and understand the background and reasoning of each character that is featured.
The game as a whole has a very gothic feel and it often has plot twists put in to confuse you as you play through it, just as things start making sense they are all turned on their heads once again and you are left trying to figure out what just happened and why it did. When you first find out about the 'lines' that Shiki can see and his split-personality you wonder just how strange he will become throughout the course of the game, but as the plot progresses and many of the other characters begin to show their true attitudes and mindsets you realise that he is probably one of the more sensible characters and you can begin to relate to him. The game is an essential if you have only ever watched the anime series as you will have missed out on extra characters and more plot depth, not to mention the much better view you will have of each characters as due to the relationships between them (some of which are very sour) you can get many different opinions on a character that you only see through one view in the anime. If you are a fan of this game then you probably will not appreciate it's follow up 'Melty Blood' for anything other than novelty purpose as it includes many of the original characters including the infamous 'neko arc'.
The game itself has never been licensed, although a fan-translation has been completed by the group 'Mirror Moon' (who are a sub-group of the anime fansubbing organisation 'Revolve'), the translated game is currently in beta testing as they work out bugs and other errors to make sure that English fans who download it will not be dissapointed with the job they have done. The group intends to translate and release every game that is produced by TYPE-MOON, although due to the immense amount of work this task would take, it is unlikely to be completed in the foreseeable future.
The game was built on the NScripter engine, created by Naoki Takahashi, which was also use to produce the critically and commercially successful game 'Tsuki wa Higashi ni, Hi wa Nishi ni -Operation Sanctuary-' (which also has been adapted into an anime, in 2004).
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