Witch on the Holy Night

Witch on the Holy Night
Cover art of the original release
Developer(s)Type-Moon
Publisher(s)
  • Type-Moon (Windows)
  • Aniplex (NS, PS4, Steam)
Director(s)Monoji Tsukuri
Artist(s)Hirokazu Koyama
Writer(s)Kinoko Nasu
Composer(s)Hideyuki Fukasawa
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows
  • JP: April 12, 2012
  • WW: December 14, 2023
Nintendo Switch, PS4
  • WW: December 8, 2022
Genre(s)Visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

Witch on the Holy Night (known in Japan as Mahōtsukai no Yoru (Japanese: 魔法使いの夜, lit. A Magician's Night) and sometimes shortened as Mahoyo) is a Japanese visual novel developed and published by Type-Moon. It was first released for Windows on April 12, 2012 in Japan. An enhanced remastered version with voice acting and updated graphics was released by Aniplex worldwide for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 8, 2022, and was released for Windows via Steam on December 14, 2023. It is largely a kinetic novel: the user experiences a linear plotline with little variation or player choices. The game is a prequel to Tsukihime and explores the backstory of Shiki Tohno's master Aoko Aozaki.

An anime film adaptation by Ufotable has been announced.

Plot

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Near the end of the Shōwa era, in Misaki town, an old mansion is rumored to be the home of a witch. After moving there, Aoko Aozaki begins to learn sorcery from a young mage, Alice Kuonji, the rumored witch of the mansion. The Aozaki family oversees the land on which Misaki is built and the heir (Aoko) is tasked with protecting it. Mysterious intruders have been disrupting the bounded field in Misaki, leading Alice and Aoko to investigate. A mannequin or puppet attacks them and is incinerated. As this happens, both of them spot someone running away, a civilian who must not get away having seen magic alive. Unexpectedly, a young boy named Sōjūrō Shizuki is drawn to the mansion and comes to reside with them as well. Eventually, it is revealed that the intruder who had been disrupting the bounded field is Touko Aozaki, Aoko's older sister. She, having killed their grandfather, now seeks to unveil the Aozaki's path to the root.

Witch on the Holy Night takes place in the shared "Nasuverse" a colloquial term referring to a shared universe within the works created by Type-Moon and takes place many years before the events of the original 2000 release of Tsukihime. The remake versions of Tsukihime serve as direct sequels to the 2022 release of Witch on the Holy Night.

Characters

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Main characters

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Aoko Aozaki (蒼崎青子, Aozaki Aoko)
Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu[1]
The first protagonist of the story and a high school student who has just begun to learn sorcery after moving into an old mansion where a witch was rumored to live. At school, she is the student council president. Aoko first appeared as a minor character in Tsukihime and its sequels Kagetsu Tohya and Melty Blood,[2][3] and has appeared in several other non-Tsukihime-related Type-Moon games and media such as Fate/Extra.[4]
Alice Kuonji (久遠寺有珠, Kuonji Arisu)
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa[1]
A natural-born witch, the daughter of the elder son of the wealthy Kuonji family and a witch he fell in love with, who lives alone in a mansion. She is emotionally detached and self-abusive, thus she does not form relationships easily but gradually comes to accept Aoko as a friend. She has been acquainted with the Aozaki family for over ten years and serves as Aoko's partner and teacher.
Sōjūrō Shizuki (静希草十郎, Shizuki Sōjūrō, romanized as Soujyuro Sizuki in the English version)
Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi[1]
The second protagonist of the story and a young man from a rural location who is still adjusting to living in the city and as a normal high school student. He is quiet and reserved, but warm-hearted and stable in contrast to Aoko and Alice. He winds up living at the Kuonji mansion as well, despite Alice's attempts to drive him away by ignoring him, and Alice develops uncertain feelings toward him.

Supporting characters

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Tobimaru Tsukiji (槻司鳶丸, Tsukiji Tobimaru)
Voiced by: Toshinari Fukamachi[1]
The popular vice-president of the Student Council, a classmate of Aoko who becomes Sojuro's best friend. He and Aoko were close friends as children, though they both deny having any feelings for one another. His family life is apparently complicated and he is known to casually smoke and spend nights out. Tobimaru happens to have unrequited feelings for Kojika Kumari.
Kojika Kumari (久万梨金鹿, Kumari Kojika)
Voiced by: Chika Anzai[1]
The treasurer of the Student Council, a friend and classmate of Aoko who possesses a cool-mannered and realistic personality. She is very responsible as a result of being in charge of a household of brothers, but she dislikes how the men in her life look down on her. Though her father disapproves of her desire to attend college, Kojika still works hard to save money to attend anyway.
Hōsuke Kinomi (木乃美芳助, Kinomi Hōsuke)
Voiced by: Shohei Kajikawa[1]
A classmate of Sojuro, Hosuke is a cheerful young man whose primary interests are the attractive girls in class and becoming rich someday. He often tries to organize the male students in class, though his cunning often fails and the girls wind up pitying him instead. He is also Sojuro's co-worker at their part-time job.
Touko Aozaki (蒼崎橙子, Aozaki Tōko)
Voiced by: Ruriko Aoki[5]
Aoko's older sister, regarded as a genius magus in the Aozaki family, who believed that their magical lineage was dying out. She and Aoko never get along particularly well. Alice enjoys Touko's company because she is a person who can truly understand Alice, though Alice does little to stop Aoko and Touko from fighting. Touko has appeared in Kara no Kyōkai as a supporting character.
Lugh Beowulf (ルゥ ベオウルフ, Ruu Beoworufu)
Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki[5]
The antagonist of the story, an ageless nature spirit whose true form is a golden werewolf, though he appears as a fair-haired young boy. His existence is similar to the True Ancestors that appeared in Tsukihime. Other werewolves once revered him as the werewolf who would revive their race, but was ostracized and later sold to Touko Aozaki when it became apparent he was not a true werewolf. He is badly injured in mortal combat with Sōjūrō, who destroys his heart with two concentrated blows. As Lugh is immortal, he easily regenerates, but the horrific nature of the wound, the pain he suffered from the injury and subsequent regeneration, and Sōjurō's bizarre nature cause Lugh to become catatonic with fear and be emotionally reduced to the child he appears to be.
May Riddell Archelot (メイ・リデル・アーシェロット, Mei Rideru Āsherotto)
An idol singer who has travelled around the world, May is also a mage with an eccentric personality. She is acquainted with Sojuro by unknown means and is known by the church. As a mage, her ability is considerable enough to cause trouble for Lugh.
Ritsuka Suse (周瀬律架, Suse Ritsuka)
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō[5]
A member of the Mage's Association, though she has only been part of the organization for a year after leaving the Church. It is believed that Ritsuka is apprenticed to the Aozaki family to act as a watchdog, which is why Aoko is suspicious of Ritsuka's intentions.
Yuika Suse (周瀬唯架, Suse Yuika)
Voiced by: Akiha Matsui[5]
Ritsuka's twin sister, a member of the church well-known in town as a pious nun. She possesses a genetic condition that results in heightened senses and is skilled in rougher acts as well.
Eiri Fumizuka (文柄詠梨, Fumizuka Eiri)
Voiced by: Hiromichi Tezuka[5]
A member of the Church. Despite his gentle personality, his advice is often critical and harsh. He was once apprenticed to the Aozaki family and happens to be Touko's old lover. Because he was strong enough to kill a witch, Touko remains vigilant around him.

Development and release

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Kinoko Nasu was inspired in late 1995 by the first episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion to write a novel, something he had been thinking of doing since he was in high school. Nasu originally wrote Mahōtsukai no Yoru on the spur of the moment as a roughly 400-page novel in winter 1996. He tried to enter it into several writing competitions, but was ultimately unsuccessful, leaving the work merely being passed around by his friends. Later, Nasu planned to submit it to Fujimi Shobo, but had difficulty keeping the page count under 350 pages, and left the novel unreleased. After forming Type-Moon with Takashi Takeuchi and releasing several projects under it, Takeuchi suggested remaking Mahōtsukai no Yoru so it could be released before their next planned project Girls' Work.[6]

In April 2008, a game version of Mahōtsukai no Yoru was announced.[7] Unlike Type-Moon's previous games, Mahōtsukai no Yoru is not an adult game, and features Hirokazu Koyama as the lead artist in place of Takeuchi. The game was set to be released sometime in 2009, but after several delays, the game received a September 2010 release date.[8] In September, however, Type-Moon announced that the release date had been pushed back to winter 2011, and later to sometime in 2011.[9] A free game demo was made available on December 15, 2011, and the full game was released on April 12, 2012 for Windows PCs.

An enhanced version for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was announced in April 2022,[10] and published by Aniplex on December 8, 2022 in Japan.[11] A demo version was released on November 3, 2022.[5] In June 2022, it was confirmed that the game would also launch worldwide under the title Witch on the Holy Night on the same date.[12] It features a higher resolution than the original PC release and full voice acting along with English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese language options.[13][1] A Windows port of this version was announced in September 2023, and was released via Steam on December 14, 2023.[14]

Two visual novel sequels are planned by Type-Moon, though no updates have been made since 2012.[15]

Reception

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Jean-Karlo Lemus of Anime News Network said that "Witch on the Holy Night has lots to offer. While Nasu's stiff, wordy narration might be a turn-off, the characters and their interactions more than redeem it, and the primary conflict is engrossing and moving."[16] Siliconera said "Witch on the Holy Night tells a fun and engaging story with tons of well-written and fleshed-out characters" but noted "some issues with the English localisation in particular set it on the edge of accessibility" and that "extra commas and misspelled words do little to dampen one's enjoyment".[17] Nintendo World Report said "it's a 12 chapter novel with high resolution graphics, full voice acting, and no discernible gameplay beyond changing how text is displayed" and called it "a well-written story that sets up a lot of things for the future" while noting that "most of the text is well translated; although a few typos were present ... they weren't occurring frequently enough to be a concern."[18] Hardcore Gamer called the novel "fun, but flawed" and criticized the pacing, saying "there are periods that just drag on", but also felt that "Witch on the Holy Night does earn its reading time." They also criticized the localization, noting that "there are errant keystrokes or obvious grammatical errors."[19]

Music

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The game's three disc original soundtrack was released on May 9, 2012, composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa and Keita Haga.[20] A two disc arrangement album featuring tracks from the game titled WITCH ON THE HOLY NIGHT ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK REPETITION was released on December 29, 2013.[21]

Witch on the Holy Night's ending theme song is "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" (星が瞬くこんな夜に) by Supercell, and was released with the game's soundtrack.[22]

Film adaptation

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In December 2021, it was announced that the game will be adapted into an anime film produced by Ufotable.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Romano, Sal (April 11, 2022). "Witch on the Holy Night for PS4 and Switch launches in December in Japan, includes English subtitles". Gematsu. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  2. ^ "Type-Moon Ace Volume 5 Coming This June". Siliconera. May 30, 2010. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "In Anticipation Of Type-Moon's Mahou Tsukai no Yoru". Siliconera. August 1, 2010. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  4. ^ "Look Who's In Fate/Extra". Siliconera. September 3, 2010. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Romano, Sal (October 15, 2022). "Witch on the Holy Night for PS4, Switch – second trailer, demo launches in November". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "The Secret of Mahou Tsukai no Yoru's Birth". Type-Moon Ace 2. January 21, 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  7. ^ "Type-moon announces Mahou tsukai no yoru". Canned Dog. April 4, 2008. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  8. ^ "Mahou tsukai no yoru release date finally". Canned Dog. June 18, 2010. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  9. ^ "Despair: Type-Moon's Mahou Tsukai no Yoru delayed again". Japanator. March 7, 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  10. ^ Pineda Antonio, Rafael (April 11, 2022). "Type-Moon Launches Mahōtsukai no Yoru Game on PS4, Switch in December With English Text". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Witch on the Holy Night for PS4, Switch launches December 8 in Japan". Gematsu. May 27, 2022. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "Witch on the Holy Night for PS4, Switch coming west on December 8". Gematsu. July 4, 2022. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  13. ^ "Witch on the Holy Night coming to PS4, Switch in 2022 in Japan". Gematsu. December 31, 2021. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  14. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (September 10, 2023). "Witch on the Holy Night Game Gets Release on Steam on December 14". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Ransom, Ko (May 18, 2012). "Type-Moon Outlines Future Plans". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  16. ^ Lemus, Jean-Karlo (December 27, 2022). "Game Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  17. ^ Liu, Stephanie (December 14, 2022). "Review: Witch on the Holy Night is Enchanting". Siliconera. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  18. ^ Theriault, Donald (January 8, 2023). "Witch on the Holy Night (Switch) Review Mini". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  19. ^ Bohn, Jason (December 14, 2022). "Review: Witch on the Holy Night". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  20. ^ "Mahotsukai no Yoru Original Soundtrack Game Music CD Album". CDJapan. Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  21. ^ "Witch On The Holy Night Original Soundtrack Repetition Game Music CD Album". CDJapan. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  22. ^ "supercell ：新曲「うたかた花火」がナルトのエンディング曲に" [Supercell: New Song "Utakata Hanabi" Used as Naruto Ending Theme] (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. June 21, 2010. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  23. ^ Loo, Egan; Pineda Antonio, Rafael (December 26, 2021). "Type-Moon's Mahōtsukai no Yoru: Witch on the Holy Night Game Gets Anime Film by ufotable". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
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