The 13 August 2020 issue of Famitsu includes an interview on Fate/Grand Order with Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi to comemmorate FGOs’s fifth anniversary.
This interview includes spoilers for Fate/Grand Order up to the latest chapter of part 2 in the Japanese version
Part 2 of this interview is available here
The interview next discusses Olga Marie. Nasu mentions how Manga de Wakaru! FGO’s Riyo liked Olga Marie and when coming up with a reason to include her in the comic, somehow managed to have something similar to part 2’s story without knowing anything about part 2. This was four years ago, and they could have told Riyo not to include her in the comic at all, but Nasu felt that having her in it would mean that she would remain in players’ memories. Takeuchi recalls how Nasu told everyone to not have Olga in craft essences or flashbacks too much, despite her being in the comic.
When asked about U-Olga Marie’s design, Nasu says that the base concept for it was “space kaiju”. Additionally, the design is supposed to not just be call, but also have part of Olga Marie’s personality showing, such as wanting to look strong.
Kirschtaria is brought up next. Nasu says that they purposely had him look like an elite noble mage, to have Type Moon fans feel that he would definitely be the sort of character who looks tough but goes down easily. Despite his looks, he is actually a very protagonist-like character, having ideologicially reached a high position. His expressions were also made so that he looks initially like an unpleasant person, when he is actually the opposite. Nasu says that he is in a similar type of position as the protagonist, and that if they swapped places, the story would remain mostly the same.
The interviewer mentions how Kirschtaria saved the human order six times, and asks about how Daybit alone had no flashback. Nasu says that this will be discussed more later on, but Dayvit managed to clear things on his own without Kirschtaria’s help. This would result in questioning how Dayvit is able to do things on his own and why he knows so much, but these are questions to be answered later.
How Kirschtaria’s skill says Jerusalem instead of Camelot is mentioned, and Nasu says that in the Cryptors’ worlds, Jerusalem remained Jerusalem without the interference of the Lion King. The Lion King’s involvement was an irregular situation that not even the alien god could foresee.
When asked if the servants appearing in the Cryptor’s journeys were the same as the protagonist’s Nasu says that they were mostly the same, but with some differences.
Next, the interviewer asks the two if they were to live in a lostbelt, what sort would they want to live in. Nasu says he would like to live in one where Tetris was released for the Sega Mega Drive. If selecting one from FGO, he would choose SIN, where while everyone has their lives managed for them, this means that they are happy with no trouble. Takeuchi says that if choosing from an existing one, he would go with Scandinavia, because it has valkyries and looks the best.
The interviewer brings up how Takeuchi said in a previous interview that Nasu thinks of the players too much and tries too hard to be “entertainment”, and asks how it is now. Takeuchi cannot recall saying this, and Nasu says that what Takeuchi meant is that he thinks of players’ opinions. He says that he cares about players’ opinions, however, because he thinks of what they want. Right now, what he thinks is fun and what players want are mostly the same, and so he is even more “entertainment” than before.
Takeuchi on the other hand says that he feels that Nasu remains unwavering while others around care too much about players’ opinions. He says that in part 1, people kept talking about how the game would have to be because it’s also a service, but Nasu remained firm in how because it is a game it should have an ending, and everything should work towards this. Thanks to this he finds Nasu to be reliable, if sometimes stubborn. He also says that the Fate/Extra CCC collaboration event was Nasu being his most unwavering.
The interviewer points out how, though the nuances might be different, the SIN and Olympus chapters had people talking about how important an end is, and asks if this is related to how FGO heads towards an ending. Nasu says that this is not quite right: Everything comes to an end, and how to deal with it is a timeless theme for mankind. The first four chapters of FGO part 2 are basically doing the same thing, looking at things come to an end and telling the player that they should be prepared to come to their own final conclusion. As such, it is not because FGO has an end that the game is made this way, but because the theme of the game is “ending” itself that the player is made to think about endings.
Nasu says that Fate/stay night’s ending is the end of Shirou’s story in Fuyuki, but his life goes on after. On the other hand, he thinks that the end of FGO will strongly say “FGO is over”. He thinks there will be polarising reactions to this, with people not wanting it to end, and people willing to move on to something new, and early on in FGO, he was fine with this. Now, however, he hears from players who say that they spent all of middle school or high school playing FGO, who want to continue playing it, and so he wants to do what he can for them.
Takeuchi says that they had planned a lot of things for the fifth anniversary festival at Tokyo Dome, and the event was a huge motivation for them, and so the cancellation of the event is disappointing for them as much as it is for the players. With the fifth chapter of part 2 over, the story of FGO is heading towards its climax, and while the festival was cancelled, they are working towards a new goal, and he hopes that the fans will support them in this endeavour.
Nasu says that while some might think there are only two chapters left, the end of Olympus signifies that only half of part 2 is over: Part 2 has in-between chapters like 3.5 and 4.5, with the Tokugawa Kaiten Meikyu Ooku event being chapter 3.5. He says that they would like to announce chapter 4.5 in the second half of 2020. Every chapter from 5 and on also has a similar large in-between chapter, and with these included, part 2 is only half done so far. He adds that chapters 6 and 7 alone would not be able to cover all of the foreshadowing and plot hooks they have had up till now, and Takeuchi says that chapter 6 has servants that he can’t wait to announce, the first in some time. Nasu says that chapter 6’s servants will surprise players, and Takeuchi says that they are doing their best to bring it to players as soon as possible, and hopes that they will look forward to it.
Also see: Fate/Grand Order 5th Anniversary Q&A With Nasu and Takeuchi
