23 replies to this topic

[Nephthys13]

Ok thanks for the info. Here I go:

 

[First of all: I didn’t hear of the Zero Novel ‘till I read this topic. Therefore the memory is still pretty fresh and I wasn’t spoiled before. First time I heard of it I thought: “Hmm probably just the story of the game only with a few new aspects…” - How wrong I was.

 

 The weirdness begins in the first chapter. First time reading I didn’t realize that it’s Mafuyu talking (I thought it was the original author who explained how he became the writer of this novelization…).  Further on Mafuyu gets the job and Miku stops him. I felt so sad for Miku…Why can’t you just speak with her Mafuyu?! But actually that is an interesting aspect I really like in the novelization. Mafuyu and Mikus relationship got a little more attention. I mean in the game it’s just: Mafuyu is my Brother I have to save him (at least I think so). Here Miku is the housewife (in training), she throws the household but also has friends. But she can’t open up to these friends, just to Mafuyu (I think that’s actually mentioned in the games, isn’t it?). However Mafuyu still can’t talk to her  >.<

 

Then the story goes on and Miku, Mr Takamine and Tomoe are captured within a game and Mafuyu, Mr Ioka/Ogata and Mr Shibaguchi (!) travel to the real-life-Himuro-Mansion. And the weirdness continues… Mafuyu switches with Miku, Shibaguchi switches with Takamine and Ioka switches with Ogata. Mafuyu and Miku fight (wrong word I guess…) their way through the past inhabitants of Himuro Mansion and are confronted with the possibility that they’re not real persons. Still quite interesting and I love it, that the writer included Shibata and Keikuchi as characters in the novel (ﾟωﾟ) It’s nice to see a bit of their personalities peeking out of their novelized counterparts. Like Shibaguchi telling Mafuyu about the strange phenomena at work ^^ But…it’s all sooo weird. Why is Miku not in the same “universe” with Mafuyu? Why do they all switch places? What’s up with Ioka/Ogata? And (my personal favourite) why did Ioka tape over Mafuyus video?! O_O But later when Ioka/Ogata talks with Miku it looks like he understands a bit of what is going on… And Mafuyu is trying to cheat. And there is a cook in the Fishtank room. And little Kirie speaks in full sentences to Miku.

 

My favourite part has to be the quick travel through time, where Munakata mistakes Miku as Yae. Is the writer trying to give hints about the true relationship between Yae, Miyuki (Miyuki is very interesting…I wonder what stories she told Mafuyu and Miku) and Miku? The puzzle was solved in the same chapter, sadly. I think it would have been better to simply let the reader think about this one aspect instead of throwing the answer directly into ones face… And now even Kirie talks. But I think that was necessary because in the game the information she talks about are given in form of notes, cutscenes and diaries. It would be quite difficult to give this information in the same form as in the game (my opinion). But I have to wonder: is the Kirie Miku is talking to the Kirie possessed by the Malice or is it the Kirie freed from the Malice?

 

I think I just jump right to the end…

 

Miku and Mafuyu finally meet in an underground cave and were confronted by  Kitaike and Tsukihara. They reveal that everything was just a trick to lure Miku and Mafuyu in here and that everyone besides them is a game character. The whole game was just a “front to cover up the truth”, to perform a ritual that keeps the real-life-Gate-to-Hell closed. And for that purpose they have to sacrifice Miku and Mafuyu. First time reading: o_O Soo Mr Shibaguchi was a game character all the time, Miku and Mafuyu are real life persons and Kitaike is some kind of real-life-Himuro-Family-Master… huch? A little bit confusing… But it’s not over yet! Kirie (who was a game character all the time) has gained a strange kind of power, like she is transforming (again…bad word to describe it) into a real living person. Kitaike controlled Kirie and commanded her to catch Miku and Mafuyu . But instead of sacrificing them she turned against her two masters and killed them instead of our two heroins. For on small moment I thought Mafuyu is going to stay with Kirie…but luckily not.  I think this ending was… dramatic, decently written and overall a fulfilling conclusion to the Zero Novel. But (in my opinion) instead of clearing all, it added a few more unanswered questions.

 

My final word: I liked reading the Zero Novel. It was weird, not all questions got answers but I appreciate the changes the writer made to the original storyline. He developed Mafuyus character a bit (although he was quite…nervous all the time). But he made me even more curious about Miyuki (ﾟωﾟ) On thing I really liked were the notes included. They made it a bit easier to follow the events of the past (I mean the past of Himuro Mansion).] 

But I have two questions:

1. Is Tsukihara also based on a real living person like Kitaike and Shibaguchi?
2. Is the novelization from Zero~Akai chou so weird too? (ﾟωﾟ)

Sorry it's not in a spoiler tag!

[Hex]

Gave myself a kick up the arse and got some reading done.  

 

2-1

 

"I had spent whole of the ride there solely asking Mr. Shibaguchi about the story and plot of the game."

 

bet that was a short conversation then :>

 

""I'm not the kind of person who believes in ghosts and things like that,"

 

YOU WASH OUT YOUR MOUTH 

 

"My eyes aren't too good,"

 

get a bell then

 

"As I stood in front of the mountain mansion, towering over us, I suddenly felt something cold crawling up my legs."

 

kirie wastes no time does she

 

The description of the aura surrounding Himuro is really cool.  There's something cold about the game mansion, but here it's like a volcano ready to erupt.  

 

"Before I became aware of them, countless airy white hands had reached out from the mansion and were grabbing Mr. Shibaguchi's body tightly."

 

they have you now my pretty 

 

2-2

 

"However, maybe if I wished it hard enough, I could convey my thoughts to Miku."

 

well that confirms it: fuu is miss cleo

 

"Yeah. But I ran out of health and got a game over partway through"

 

it was girl in well wasn't it

 

"Mr. Shibaguchi wrapped the blanket haori he'd brought from home around himself."

 

much better

 

Hmm, creepy.  That a place can influence you just as much as a single spirit can is quite frightening.

 

"With each step he took his figure became more and more hazy in the mist, and changed into the form of Mr. Takamine."

 

okay

 

"As I called he stopped, and turned slowly. But his face was stained with fresh blood"

 

um

 

"Miku! I tried to call out, but couldn't make the words. In its place, I heard murmured, "Mafuyu?""

 

????

 

"Unbelievably, I was becoming Miku."

 

cuz tonight.... is the nuuu-haait.... when 2 become waaa-huun....

 

Miku.  ;___;

 

2-3

 

"My brother disappeared right before my eyes..."

 

jump off a cliff it'll work out 

 

"If a person she loved were drowning, even though she couldn't swim, she would dive in. Even knowing she couldn't help them, she would drown with them."

 

How... helpful?

 

I love this connection between Miku and the oni role in Demon Tag.  Had this been in the game, it might have made the fights with Blinded more tense (if that's even possible!).  God, my heart breaks for this girl.

 

"Somehow, not even once had Miku wanted to die."

 

UNTIL YOU GOT SAT ON BY A ROCK

 

The encounter with Blinded is pretty intense.  D:

 

"But standing there was..."

 

the pink woolen monstrosity 

 

2-4

 

"But the Miku you experienced simply ran away. That doesn't happen in the game, does it?""

 

he's only played the beta shibaguchi give him a break

 

Hmm, Detective Fuu is on the case.  By reading a game faq.

[Hex]

Another update.

 

2-5

 

"Prompted by the child, she turned the corner, where she came face to face with an old screen...However, it created a dead end in the hallway."

 

the stakes have never been higher

 

"Right after her mother had died, her brother seemed to be hiding something, something he didn't want Miku to see."

 

miyuki was into her yaoi wasn't she

 

"As she held the Camera Obscura, she felt a strange sense of relaxation. Inside the mansion, having no idea which way to go, she felt as though the camera was her ally."

 

it will drive you mad - with friendship!

 

I like how some of the descriptions from the game are echoed here, like for the battered suit of armor.

 

Tomoe.  :[

 

2-6

 

oh no he's back

 

"At some point I'd once again taken on Miku's viewpoint and wandered the mansion."

 

well this is total nonsense 

 

"It was Mr. Takamine's notebook. I knew this much just by glancing at his distinctive handwriting. I brought the torch closer, and read the writing in the book like I was devouring it."

 

I bet you he smelled the thing too 

 

I love how the entries go from "I'll ask Ogata to find a book" to "Ogata's dead"

 

"Right. At some point, I became Koji Ogata,"

"What are you talking about, Mr. Ioka?"

"Hey, stop calling me Mr. Ioka. You've got the wrong guy."

 

is he taking the piss

 

"I get it - you're Mr. Shibaguchi, right?" I was sure that Mr. Shibaguchi was dressing up as the Ogata character from the game and toying with me."

 

why, does he usually cosplay to toy with you 

 

so koji turned into a tape recorder and something about a sheep

 

2-7

 

ioka is such an arse

 

"Yeah. We're no more than characters in the game 'Zero ~zero~' released by Tecmo. We only exist in the virtual world; we're not real."

 

don't be so down on yourself; you're just as irritating in real life

  

I like that Miku stands up to him

 

"The dead flesh of his face was horribly decayed, and maggots plopped out of tears in his cheeks and mouth."

 

okay

 

This is probably my favorite part of the novel.  I think the ghosts encounters are written pretty well, but this one has the "what if I'm not real" thing applied to it which makes it a bit more interesting.

 

"But she didn't give in, and kept moving forwards. I'm alive. I'm alive, so I have to get out of this situation using my own strength."

 

you go girl

 

not so smug now are you >:]

 

2-8

 

ugh go away

 

"Miku and I, having real sixth senses, viewed them as unbearable fools. If they truly had a sixth sense, I couldn't see any reason they would want to show it off so publicly, or appear in the media."

 

ahem

 

"Only I had got off that train midway through its route. Since I got off it I returned to the normal world, but they stayed on, and their existence was erased from the world."

 

I'm really glad this was in the game otherwise it would be really awkward

 

"The underground train I got on that day was like the explosion in "What Mad Universe". If you think of it as a mechanism for sending people involved in it to another dimension, to some degree it would explain these events."

 

I'm just quoting now because I seriously have no idea

 

why is everybody so smug in this

 

"There was no crime in looking through the plot summary and using it as a guide."

 

you can explain that down at the station

 

"Inside the room, which had been dark, at some point the candles against the wall had been lit. The candles were lit, the candles were lit..."

 

now.  do we suspect the candles are lit.

[Hex]

One more.

3-1

 

and we're back

 

"Local legend says that "the face can change into that of a demon, or that of a Buddha""

-I wonder if it has a sheep setting 

 

"The voice Miku heard was the voice of a young girl."

-that's a strange way of saying Mafuyu

 

"At some point, the candles along the wall had been lit."

-I KNEW IT

 

this part with Little Kirie is actually really sad; I like how miku empathizes with her 

 

"Miku felt as though a lump of ice had been pressed against her spine."

-weird mental image 

 

"Because I have this, my mother is protecting me, Miku added mentally, gripping the Camera Obscura tightly."

-she's with me I say gripping the thing that killed her 

 

"And then suddenly, even though there was no breeze, the candles went out."

-GAME OVER

 

"It's the first time I've met anyone like you, too. I've never had friends before."

-miku ;-;

 

go away 

 

"I had never been pursued so vigorously by someone before. But still, everything has limits. I drew even closer to Mr. Shibaguchi, his face contorted in pain."

-now we're getting somewhere

 

ioka calling mafuyu ~gentle~ is hilarious 

 

"Since Mr. Ioka appeared, his behaviour towards me had flipped completely."

-do we suspect an affair

 

"It was clear from the way he peered at me, sticking out his tongue slyly"

-no comment

 

"Mr. Ioka suddenly stopped moving midway through the sentence. The colours here and there on his body began to blur, crackle and spark.

"How irritating, he's vanishing again.""

-I hate it when that happens!

 

3-2

 

Miku's risking her life just to put an end to Kirie's suffering, she's officially the best.

 

"Someone far away was singing a song to themself. It was only faint, but she could hear that the voice singing it was unskilled."

-miku I love you but no one heard you singing "Sleep Priestess" and thought "wow what a highly trained and skillful individual"

 

this... bit

 

"The man looked up. He had neither eyes nor a nose."

-D<

 

"The man's head was roughly lopped off, falling onto the chopping board with a thud, then rolling into the fish tank."

-more or less hilarious than female head?

 

3-3

 

yukata party \o\ \o/ /o/

 

"The face she caught a glimpse of was like that children often have, like a ripe pomegranate."

-okay

 

when suddenly zombies

 

"If lots of ghosts caught her, they might tear her apart in cold blood and eat her alive."

-but only if there's lots of them will they want to do that

 

"The dread pursuing her felt like countless needles piercing her back and backside from above"

-these descriptions are so weird!

 

"I am Kirie. But it was not my fault that the disaster occurred."

-this should be interesting 

 

"I wanted to live with him... But they joined forces against me, tying ropes to my arms, legs and neck, and tore me apart."

-yes how dare they perform a ritual you knew about 10 years in advance in a timely and organized manner, you fell in love after two WHOLE days, how could they not smell the potential for a everlasting relationship?

 

"As soon as she stopped talking, the girl's body exploded."

-this put me into hysterics idk

 

they've been dodgey for the most part but the description of Kirie's transformation is awesome and her "real" demon face is actually a cool idea.  it could have been silly but I like it

 

3-4

 

just when I'm starting to enjoy myself 

 

"I didn't know what would happen if I stayed with him any longer."

-PASSION

 

"And would that mean that both Miku and I existed only in the virtual world?"

-ugh I don't caaare

 

hiding in a closet are we 

 

if you read shibaguchi's weird behaviour as a school boy unsure of how to confess his feelings it flows a lot better 

 

"My mind and body were excited."

-this writes itself honestly

 

(turning this into a gay romance is the only way I'll make it through please forgive me)

 

takamine actually giving good advice?  what?

 

so now the plan is to find miku which deviates highly from the original plan which was to find miku