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GAME: Witch On The Holy Night


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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 423
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 1:43 pm Reply with quote
I'll say that for those of us indoctrinated into the Nasuverse, this is an excellent time. I'm not entirely sure how well it would appeal to everyone else, as it does throw you into the very technical end of the magic society, and a gaggle of very odd relationships.

That last part was why I loved it though- these are very strange people interacting with each other in rather odd manners. They are consistent with their oddness though- they don't act out of character, just "out of normal". It makes them kind of alien, absolutely understandable and altogether fascinating.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2155
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 1:46 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
+ Aoko is a great character; the animation effects are cool; there is great incidental writing between the characters.
− The narration feels more like an Excel macro; being a kinetic novel might turn some folks away; Nasu's writing.
The writing is a plus, but also a minus? Did you mean prose for the negative there, or were there narrative decisions you disliked?

At any rate, I'm waiting for the physical release. It should be a great read.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2374
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:51 pm Reply with quote
FilthyCasual wrote:
Quote:
+ Aoko is a great character; the animation effects are cool; there is great incidental writing between the characters.
− The narration feels more like an Excel macro; being a kinetic novel might turn some folks away; Nasu's writing.
The writing is a plus, but also a minus? Did you mean prose for the negative there, or were there narrative decisions you disliked?

At any rate, I'm waiting for the physical release. It should be a great read.


Those are summaries of what they wrote in the review. They said the dialog writing was great, but the exposition/narrative writing drags on. In other words, it's par for the course for anyone already familiar with Nasu's writing. As someone who read all of Fate/Stay Night in college, I don't know if I'm willing to plow through another visual novel of his, but I definitely would like to know the story, so it's tempting.
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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 1410
Location: End of the World
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:
FilthyCasual wrote:
Quote:
+ Aoko is a great character; the animation effects are cool; there is great incidental writing between the characters.
− The narration feels more like an Excel macro; being a kinetic novel might turn some folks away; Nasu's writing.
The writing is a plus, but also a minus? Did you mean prose for the negative there, or were there narrative decisions you disliked?

At any rate, I'm waiting for the physical release. It should be a great read.


Those are summaries of what they wrote in the review. They said the dialog writing was great, but the exposition/narrative writing drags on. In other words, it's par for the course for anyone already familiar with Nasu's writing. As someone who read all of Fate/Stay Night in college, I don't know if I'm willing to plow through another visual novel of his, but I definitely would like to know the story, so it's tempting.


If we go by visuals alone, it's by far their best work. Even Nasu said the recent Tsukihime Remake doesn't reach it's heights. So if that's a plus for you... go ahead.


Side note, it's funny that the Reviwer complained about the overexplanation of magic (and fare enough to anyone who doesn't enjoy it. not gonna say otherwise) when Petrikow just finished this behemoth the other day
https://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/9380-Grand-Unified-Theory-CHALDEA

All possible because there was enough meat and "over explanations" to go by. Wish my college thesis was this well sourced. oof
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encrypted12345



Joined: 25 Jan 2012
Posts: 715
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:
FilthyCasual wrote:
Quote:
+ Aoko is a great character; the animation effects are cool; there is great incidental writing between the characters.
− The narration feels more like an Excel macro; being a kinetic novel might turn some folks away; Nasu's writing.
The writing is a plus, but also a minus? Did you mean prose for the negative there, or were there narrative decisions you disliked?

At any rate, I'm waiting for the physical release. It should be a great read.


Those are summaries of what they wrote in the review. They said the dialog writing was great, but the exposition/narrative writing drags on. In other words, it's par for the course for anyone already familiar with Nasu's writing. As someone who read all of Fate/Stay Night in college, I don't know if I'm willing to plow through another visual novel of his, but I definitely would like to know the story, so it's tempting.

I would say that the writing doesn't drag nearly as hard as F/SN or Tsukihime can at points. I would say that it's to the point that it's probably the easiest Nasu VN to recommend to a newbie, though the fact that it ends inconclusively means that it doesn't quite reach the highs Tsukihime or Fate does. Still, I'd be more than happy to buy and read a sequel.
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AQuin1904



Joined: 13 Nov 2021
Posts: 258
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:13 pm Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:
As someone who read all of Fate/Stay Night in college, I don't know if I'm willing to plow through another visual novel of his, but I definitely would like to know the story, so it's tempting.

I'd probably recommend it over FSN. It's much shorter, for one thing. And while some of the exposition could be more concise, you don't have to sit through anything like five back-to-back full explanations of the Grail War rules (I'm shocked I made it through the first five hours of FSN). The worst would be more on par with the some of the expository scenes in Kara no Kyoukai.

On an unrelated note, does anyone know if the English release included a translation of the artbook (including the short story at the back) that the Japanese one came with? Haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but it would be cool if they put in the extra effort. (And if they did, would that make it the first official English release of Nasu's prose in print?)
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Dark Mac



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 309
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:16 pm Reply with quote
I quite enjoyed the VN overall. The Sojuro slice of life parts after the amusement park went on a little much, but other than that it was all around great. Aoko is an awesome character.

encrypted12345 wrote:
I would say that the writing doesn't drag nearly as hard as F/SN or Tsukihime can at points. I would say that it's to the point that it's probably the easiest Nasu VN to recommend to a newbie, though the fact that it ends inconclusively means that it doesn't quite reach the highs Tsukihime or Fate does. Still, I'd be more than happy to buy and read a sequel.


How does it end inconclusively? Obviously there's more story that could be written, but this story is complete in itself.
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encrypted12345



Joined: 25 Jan 2012
Posts: 715
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 4:24 pm Reply with quote
Dark Mac wrote:

How does it end inconclusively? Obviously there's more story that could be written, but this story is complete in itself.

Witch on the Holy Knight feels like the first story arc of a larger story rather than a complete story. This is mostly because while the characters are solidly developed, their character arcs don't feel resolved.
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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 423
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 4:37 pm Reply with quote
encrypted12345 wrote:
Dark Mac wrote:

How does it end inconclusively? Obviously there's more story that could be written, but this story is complete in itself.

Witch on the Holy Knight feels like the first story arc of a larger story rather than a complete story. This is mostly because while the characters are solidly developed, their character arcs don't feel resolved.



Some of the characters go on to play significant if not large roles in other stories- Tsukihime, Garden of Sinners, etc. So this is only ever intended as their own story, before they go on to other people's, and as such it does well.

That said, I suppose I could see being left waiting for an "act 3", given we had a satisfying acts one & two, especially if viewing this work in isolation.
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bahamutzero89



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 18
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 5:52 pm Reply with quote
b-dragon wrote:
encrypted12345 wrote:
Dark Mac wrote:

How does it end inconclusively? Obviously there's more story that could be written, but this story is complete in itself.

Witch on the Holy Knight feels like the first story arc of a larger story rather than a complete story. This is mostly because while the characters are solidly developed, their character arcs don't feel resolved.



Some of the characters go on to play significant if not large roles in other stories- Tsukihime, Garden of Sinners, etc. So this is only ever intended as their own story, before they go on to other people's, and as such it does well.


This is not true, Mahoyo( this new adaption, not the old light novel) was always intended as a 3-parter.
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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 423
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 6:01 pm Reply with quote
bahamutzero89 wrote:


This is not true, Mahoyo( this new adaption, not the old light novel) was always intended as a 3-parter.


That's interesting. I'd not heard that, so thank you for the correction. That said, I still wouldn't hold my breath. This particular novel was supposed to be released way back in 09, after all. And a cursory glance around seems to indicate that they what to do the rest of Tsukihime first, so who knows how long that will take.
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MagicPolly



Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1566
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 6:55 pm Reply with quote
Is the translation good? I'm wary of how it is after what happened with Chaos;Head, even if it's from a different company.
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09jcg



Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 522
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:20 pm Reply with quote
b-dragon wrote:
bahamutzero89 wrote:


This is not true, Mahoyo( this new adaption, not the old light novel) was always intended as a 3-parter.


That's interesting. I'd not heard that, so thank you for the correction. That said, I still wouldn't hold my breath. This particular novel was supposed to be released way back in 09, after all. And a cursory glance around seems to indicate that they what to do the rest of Tsukihime first, so who knows how long that will take.
So I do think we will see more Mahoyo. It is getting a movie afterall and this remake. My guess is something is in the works. I agree it will be a long wait though. As you said, Tsukihime needs to be finished. Tsukihime however also serves as a perfect example of how they announced something years ago, and only just got to releasing the remake
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 28 Oct 2018
Posts: 482
PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:42 pm Reply with quote
MagicPolly wrote:
Is the translation good? I'm wary of how it is after what happened with Chaos;Head, even if it's from a different company.


The translation is good! It speaks to Nasu's writing that the character dialogue is so good but the actual narration reads like a friggin' stereo manual.
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encrypted12345



Joined: 25 Jan 2012
Posts: 715
PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:09 am Reply with quote
MagicPolly wrote:
Is the translation good? I'm wary of how it is after what happened with Chaos;Head, even if it's from a different company.

It's definitely good.
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