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:
- Is Tsukihara also based on a real living person like Kitaike and Shibaguchi?
- Is the novelization from Zero~Akai chou so weird too? (゚ω゚)
Sorry it's not in a spoiler tag!