Looking back at the Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II animations, from the first TV to this OVA, how do you feel?
The anime always put more weight than the novels on the chain linking Waver to El-Melloi II, which just so happens to be what this OVA is entirely about, so watching it always gets me thinking about his journey. Like Melvin said in the story, his change and development are not something anyone could imagine from his starting point, and the question of where is he going next is one that keeps even me, his writer, excited.
You are currently writing The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II. Did the Case Files adaptations and their reception effect or alter how you write it?
In multimedia franchises, the professionals of a medium generally trust the professionals of another to know what they're doing, so I don't think much about what others will do when I'm writing. However, the voices in my head when I'm writing lines more major characters like Reines or Gray are now the anime voices (laughs). I also sometimes catch myself thinking "This would look so cool animated".
This OVA was Aozaki Touko's anime debut. Did you give any instructions or requests on she should be adapted?
Touko is a very special character for Type-Moon, so when I talked to the writer, I made a lot of changes to her dialogue. The most memorable part was discussing how we needed a reason for her to get involved in the case but the explanation couldn't take too much screentime, so my best idea was that she should be Camus's photography pal. It caught the fan off-guard but they accepted it as pretty in-character for Touko to be this caring to a friend with a shared hobby.
Were El-Melloi II's classmates Camus and Amleth conceptualized for the novels?
The El-Melloi Classroom already existed in Kayneth's days, and it had a more normal reputation back then, even, so I expected characters like them to exist. That said, I hadn't put any real thought into any of those characters on an individual level. It was the wonderful people of the anime staff that breathed life into all of his classmates, and I learned about how the old class was the same way the audience did. El-Melloi II's young appearance at the reunion induced them into calling him Waver, but at his real age, they all would probably call him either Lord or El-Melloi II, so this must have been a weirdly nostalgic moment for them.
Is there any part of the OVA you want the viewers to pay special attention to?
I loved how they used an advent calendar to show the passage of time! That was in such good taste. Also, Camus's last line, "You were always my hero", is a line I included in the script, as my idea of a good way to close this theme, so I got way more attached to it than I imagined. That's because the inadequate Waver Velvet has always been my hero too.