"Major Announcement! A collaborative project between genius anime director Kamiyā Yuu and prodigy novelist Kirigami Ruri!"
"A one-of-a-kind fantasy feast that defies imagination—step into the world of magi together!"
"'TYPE-MOON World'!? A world setting that anime director Kamiyā Yuu has spent years creating, sharing the same universe as the hit anime 'Fate/Zero'!"
"On August 29th, genius anime director Mr. Kamiyā Yuu and prodigy novelist Miss Kirigami Ruri will jointly hold a novel launch conference. Stay tuned!"
...
The advertising campaign was in full swing across Chiyoda Bookstores throughout Japan.
Kirigami Ruri did not have her own management company and was only participating as Kamiyā Yuu's collaborator, so all promotional matters were handled by Yosuganosora Animation Studio. Since Kamiyā Yuu found such things troublesome, he simply continued his partnership with Chiyoda Bookstores.
Chiyoda Bookstores remained responsible for promoting the 'TYPE-MOON Series' novels. In return, Kamiyā Yuu entrusted them with publishing Kirigami Ruri's new novel.
Ever since the release of Volume 2 of 'Fate/Zero' and the simultaneous announcement of the collaboration, Chiyoda Bookstores' light novel editorial department had barely had a moment's rest. Their bookstores around the country constantly received advance-order calls from readers nationwide.
Some were fans of Kamiyā Yuu.
Some were viewers of 'Fate/Zero'.
Even more readers were drawn by the enormous popularity Kirigami Ruri had accumulated through her previous works.
The novel had yet to be released, yet the number of preorders was already astonishing.
Kirigami Ruri did not write nearly as quickly as Kamiyā Yuu.
The complete 'Gate of Mysteries' was expected to exceed one million Chinese characters and be divided into fourteen volumes. Aside from the prologue, every volume would contain over one hundred thousand characters. The prologue itself would be just over sixty thousand characters, but even that would not be finished until around the middle of September.
This launch conference would merely serve as a preview for 'Gate of Mysteries' and officially announce the collaboration between Yosuganosora Animation Studio and Kirigami Ruri.
Kamiyā Yuu wanted to establish the 'TYPE-MOON World' IP as quickly as possible. Kirigami Ruri's popularity alone was enough to support the brand, even if the novel's slower release schedule limited its immediate impact.
By the time 'Fate/Zero' finished airing, the 'Throne of Heroes' project would also be officially unveiled.
...
Yosuganosora Animation Studio, conference room.
Kamiyā Yuu placed a document he had compiled during his spare time—drawing inspiration from related games from his previous world—in front of Mizuhara Raiko and said seriously,
"Miss Mizuhara, this is the proposal for the new game I want to launch, 'Throne of Heroes'. Before 'Fate/Zero' finishes airing, I hope your game development team can complete a polished version based on this proposal."
Although 'Throne of Heroes' would only be announced after the anime concluded, Kamiyā Yuu needed Mirror Flower, Water Moon—the game company behind 'Warship Girls Collection'—to build the entire framework well in advance according to his specifications.
Mizuhara Raiko sat somewhat stiffly to one side.
Kamiyā Yuu was the largest shareholder of [Mirror Flower Water Moon], possessing an absolute controlling stake.
Thanks to the explosive popularity of 'Warship Girls Collection', the once-insignificant game studio had risen rapidly. After more than half a year of development, it had grown into a proper game company with dedicated development and operations teams.
However, during those six months, following Kamiyā Yuu's instructions, the company had devoted itself entirely to operating 'Warship Girls Collection' and strengthening its internal organization.
Hearing Kamiyā Yuu mention a new game proposal, Mizuhara Raiko looked surprised.
Although 'Warship Girls Collection' was currently at the height of its popularity, no company could rely on a single game forever.
A brand-new project from Kamiyā Yuu might well mark the moment [Mirror Flower Water Moon] truly took off.
"'Throne of Heroes'? A game for both PC and mobile platforms?"
She picked up the proposal and read through it carefully.
Like 'Warship Girls Collection', 'Throne of Heroes' was also fundamentally a card collection game. However, from the contents of the proposal, Mizuhara Raiko could keenly sense that Kamiyā Yuu had far greater ambitions for this project.
Taking a seat, Kamiyā Yuu explained,
"In terms of PvE, it's essentially a variation of 'Warship Girls Collection'. But the PvP side is completely different. It's centered around card battles, and that's the core direction of the game."
Reading through the proposal, Mizuhara Raiko murmured,
"Competitive gameplay..."
"Exactly."
Kamiyā Yuu nodded.
"It's a card game focused primarily on PvP battles."
Before the TYPE-MOON IP had been fully exploited in his previous world, there had already been similar games.
The PvP system of his 'Throne of Heroes' drew inspiration from those mature TYPE-MOON card games while incorporating mechanics he considered superior.
Its PvP modes included:
* Two-Player Duel
* Holy Grail War (a seven-player battle mode)
* Free-for-All Mode (similar to Hearthstone's Arena)
The entire PvP ecosystem was incredibly intricate and deeply interconnected.
The PvE system, meanwhile, existed mainly to teach players the game's mechanics and serve as one of the primary methods for collecting cards used in PvP.
In that regard, it resembled the PvE content in 'Hearthstone'.
That said, compared to his design, 'Hearthstone's' PvE was practically pitiful. Most players only cleared PvE content to obtain reward cards, with few having any real interest in repeatedly challenging those stages.
The poor performance of globally popular competitive games such as 'League of Legends', 'Counter-Strike', and 'DOTA' in Japan might give people the mistaken impression that Japanese players simply dislike competitive games.
In reality, card-based competitive games enjoyed considerable popularity in Japan.
Although the Western-styled 'Hearthstone' never truly took off there, Japan already had the far more mature and successful 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' ecosystem.
In fact, when ACG culture was first introduced to China, 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' became one of the defining childhood memories for many people born in the 1990s.
From what Kamiyā Yuu remembered of around 2016 in his previous world, Japan had several anime centered on card games, including the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' series, 'Selector Infected WIXOSS', and 'Rage of Bahamut'.
If one broadened the definition, even the famous idol franchise 'Love Live!' technically qualified as one as well.
Among those anime adaptations of card games, Kamiyā Yuu had only watched 'Love Live!'—where the anime actually preceded the game, which combined rhythm gameplay with card collection—and 'Rage of Bahamut'.
The latter had left a particularly deep impression on him.
Besides boasting exceptionally high production values for its era, its male protagonist was an absolute oddity within the ACG world. The story itself was decent enough—not breathtaking, but certainly worth watching.
Kamiyā Yuu hoped to turn 'Throne of Heroes' into this world's equivalent of both 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' and 'Hearthstone'.
Japanese anime-style character designs might not appeal much to Western audiences, but if he could dominate the Asian market, he would already be more than satisfied.
According to mobile game spending rankings, Japan ranked first in the world, with China second.
Those two markets alone would be enough to feed Yosuganosora Animation Studio for a lifetime.
Besides, the 'Throne of Heroes' project was, in truth, simply a diversion for Kamiyā Yuu while producing 'Fate/Zero'.
His real goal was to recreate the phenomenon from his previous world, where "TYPE-MOON fans were everywhere."