A Fond Farewell to TYPE-Moon

[ylas]

We have a thread about what things keep us invested in Type-Moon & one about how we got into this rabbit-hole.
This post however is one about saying goodbye, at least for now.
---
That's it for the most concise explanation. What follows is just my personal ramblings leading up to this and can be safely ignored.
---
Disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion. Whether or not you agree please keep in mind that this is an opinion not a statement of facts.

At present, everything about TYPE-MOON seems to revolve around the Fate Franchise, especially F/GO, and ufotable adaptations thereof. What started from an eroge published by a doujin company has morphed into an all-consuming entity that can only identify with things related to Fate and motivate Takeuchi to draw yet-another-Saberface. There is almost no creative freespace for fans, as the company releases its merch. Want a parody? Carnival Phantasm! Want heartwarming family action? Emiya Gohan! Want to play a game? Gender-bent Gacha F/GO!
Of course, this confectioning of experiencing and appreciating anime-related media is not only limited to TYPE-MOON, but after following this company for so long, with a heavy heart I want to extricate myself from anything that has to do with it to keep my fond experiences and memories with TYPE-MOON.

Rather than a customer and consumer, I want to stay a fan.

The Beginning

This whole journey started, when the original anime adaptation of Fate/Stay Night aired in 2007:

The whole anime community was still fragmented & fansubs were the only viable way to watch current shows. The battle royale fought by legendary heroes for an omnipotent grail, magnificent soundtrack by Kenji Kawaii, GARcher, weekly preview by Kotomine with Unmei no Yoru in the background. Also, very regal Saber theme.

From there on, I sought out the VN, but since it was still being translated (huge thanks to the community that was then still residing under the proboard.com domain) I arrived at

An older TYPE-MOON work but still, the themes of life, death, and morality were attractive. A bit bummed about the normal ending for Akiha, I kept waiting for an adaptation of this work that would do it justice. Luckily, the translated Fate VN would have to fill the gap.

Countdown to 0

In the meantime, the release of Kara no Kyoukai and Canaan could show, that interesting story-telling was either a long-standing tradition or could be revitalized by new talent.
Carnival Phantasm brought comic relief and reliving memories with all characters introduced up until this point until the watershed moment that was:

For better and worse, Fate/Zero elevated the Fate franchise and fandom to another level. Suddenly, Fate/Zero was recommended by everyone and in the end served as an incentive to watch the ufotable adaptation of Fate/UBW.

Grind to halt.

Fate/Grand Order. Oh how I've played and loved the first story arc, no matter how uneven or wonky the storytelling was. I could finally appreciate and consume as much Fate as I wanted. Until it just became a chore. In 3 years almost nothing has really changed except for some QoL updates. But even more importantly: this massive cashcow did not lead to the release of any new, innovative projects of TYPE-MOON. Just the same Fate adjacent ufotabled merchandise. Polished, beautiful, but on the whole soulless and disjunct. Just like the Heaven's Feel adaptation.
On the other hand, Trifas: Becoming Human aka Fate/Apocrypha was interesting, since at the centre of the story and the core conflict was the question: what is (a) human? A saint? Just a machine? A crystallized soul?
Of course, this kind of media is not forced to mature with its audience. That would have been nice.

But its time to move on.
Perhaps we will meet again under the blue, blue glass moon. But until then, stay well everyone & farewell.

[Comun]

At present, everything about TYPE-MOON seems to revolve around the Fate Franchise, especially F/GO, and ufotable adaptations thereof.

Weird claim to make 10 days before Tsukihime's release, but you do you. I'm glad you cherish the memories you made. See you again later, maybe.

[Kamera]

Why is Heaven's Feel anime considered souless? I thought that was pretty good.

[Rafflesiac]

Why is Heaven's Feel anime considered souless? I thought that was pretty good.

muh die lorelei, usually

[Crown]

Weird claim to make 10 days before Tsukihime's release, but you do you. I'm glad you cherish the memories you made. See you again later, maybe.

this doesn't erase 10+ years of excessive Fate milking and current TM being indeed, centered around FGO. They're just fulfilling a promise they made on 2008. And this is probably only happening because it's a major work. GW was announced at the same time and they just ditched it altogether.

...

Also OP, on there being no space for fans; would the lack of let's say, doujin music albums be an example of that too? Maybe I just haven't looked into it, but I don't see as many as before. Haven't downloaded it yet, but is "Childcare is war" the fic by st. parasu? Man, that takes me back. I agree with you on the last point btw except for HF being soulless. Honestly no one should expect anime adaptations to be good or faithful. You're just setting yourself for disappointment.

[Araya's Dry Cleaner]

Weird claim to make 10 days before Tsukihime's release, but you do you. I'm glad you cherish the memories you made. See you again later, maybe.

I mean... you made it sound like a "gotcha" statement, but it is not really better.

We were teased about Tsukihime story progression like FIFTEEN years ago, but the best we got is a remastered version of the original.
It scratches the nostalgia itch, but damn does it not show Type Moon has been hopelessly derivative for a long time.

[Herod]

OG Tsukhime sucks hard anyway. Just waiting for the remake to be done and forgotten so they can focus on Mahoyo again.

[aldeayeah]

OG Tsukhime sucks hard anyway. Just waiting for the remake to be done and forgotten so they can focus on Mahoyo again.

This thread is so full of Philistines, I'm half expecting David to show up and start kicking ass.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

muh die lorelei, usually

Die Lorelei sucked anyway. It was awkward, narmy, and had no place in the VN.

[Rafflesiac]

Tvtropes, of course.

[TomPen94]

OP Post

This is not too far from my feelings tbh. But instead of just saying goodbye I ignore the part I vehemently dislike. And believe me, I have plenty of ranty thoughts regarding FGO and its absolutely adysmal effect on TM as a whole, but I figure... instead of replaying that anger over and over again in my head, I'll focus on what I like, and what I haven't experienced yet.

The Tsuki remake is right around the corner. Yes, it came about way later than it should have thanks to the gacha. Yes, it's only Near Side. Yes, it's japanese-only. But it's happening. When no one actually thought this thing would see the light of day, it got confirmed along with a trailer and a release date. It's happening. We're not being completely and utterly ignored. They still care about us. We just... take a back seat to the millions of ppl splurging hundreds of dollars for a shiny new jpeg in the gacha. We have to live with that. At least until gachas become illegal, if that ever happens.

I'm currently doing a buncha stuff I hadn't done since joining the fandom back in 2013. Stuff I should've done back then. And it's being mostly great. Plus, the Mahoyo translation is looking like it's gonna be finished in the near future.

I'll only leave if I trully feel this franchise has nothing to offer me. It just proved me it still has. So I'm sticking around for little longer.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

The problems with TM really stem from problems with capitalism as a whole, especially with FGO, given that it's a mobage game, and mobage games are emblematic of the toxic effects of capitalism on gaming. Despite that, I still think it adds some cool stuff to TM, and TM as a whole is still engaging in spite of those awful capitalist pressures. If you really want to fix shit, join the revolution.

[You]

Why is Heaven's Feel anime considered souless? I thought that was pretty good.

.

“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese told Empire. “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

.

True. I love the HF movies, but more as spectacle than anything else. That being said, the small expressive details for each character in each scene as well as the smaller environmental details are nice.

[Comun]

you made it sound like a "gotcha" statement

I'm sorry that it came off like that. It was meant to be honest confusion. OP made a heartfelt post and I intended to respond with equal earnestness.

[Araya's Dry Cleaner]

OG Tsukhime sucks hard anyway. Just waiting for the remake to be done and forgotten so they can focus on Mahoyo again.

We need to cleanse BL like how Jesus cleansed the Temple of Jerusalem.

[Kamera]

OG Tsukhime sucks hard anyway. Just waiting for the remake to be done and forgotten so they can focus on Mahoyo again.

FGO fans really can say anything now huh

[Hermitfold]

.

I have a huge amount of respect for Martin Scorcese as a director, but I can never take comments like that seriously because they always come across like sour grapes.

FGO fans really can say anything now huh

Meh, people are always shitting on FGO fans around here anyway...

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

FGO fans really can say anything now huh

I mean, strictly speaking, OG Tsukihime had a ton of flaws, and an objectively better product could probably be made now. Not that the original wasn't good, or even great (I can't speak to that whatsoever), but it was limited by TM's budget, and they have grown since then.

[Kamera]

.

Comparing HF to MCU is quite reaching it, to say the least. Unless you have boomer mindset or have been desensitized from all forms of joy.