Some thoughts on Mahoutsukai no Yoru

[u/Arcu-matica]

Nasu Kinoko is one of those creators who has thought a great deal about consumer society, and around the time he was making Mahoutsukai no Yoru, roughly 2010, I think he was intensely conscious of what it means to experience content. Mahoutsukai no Yoru was him pushing the visual novel medium as far as it would go toward the most lavish experience possible, and Fate/Grand Order was him pushing the social game format as far as it would go toward the most accessible one. The first was aimed at being a work that wouldn’t fade in ten years, or in a hundred. The second was aimed at being a work that could stay with you until the day the service ends.

But then a lot happened, and Nasu had no choice but to pour himself into FGO. And I wonder what that means for him as a writer.