Type-Moon

Last updated

Notes Co., Ltd.
Type-Moon
Company type Private ( Yūgen gaisha )
Industry
Founded
  • 1999 (Doujin circle)
  • 2001 (Company)
Headquarters4–1–1 Asakusabashi, ,
Japan
Key people
Products
Subsidiaries
  • Type-Moon Books
  • Type-Moon Studio BB
Website typemoon.com

Type-Moon [a] is a Japanese company that produces video games, anime, manga, light novels and affiliated merchandise, co-founded by illustrator Takashi Takeuchi, writer Kinoko Nasu, programmer Nobuyuki Kiyotake and composer Keita Haga. It is known under the name Notes Co., Ltd. [b] for its publishing and corporate operations, as it is the company's official name, while the use of the brand name Type-Moon is a homage to the founder's origins as a doujin circle of the same name. After releasing the visual novel Tsukihime as doujin soft, the group incorporated and commercially released the visual novel Fate/stay night which became the company's most well-known title. Both works have received several adaptations in other mediums that have amassed a global fanbase.

Contents

History

Doujin circle (1999–2003)

Before the founding of Type-Moon, starting in October 1998, illustrator Takashi Takeuchi and writer Kinoko Nasu (friends since their time at junior high school)[ citation needed ] released the first five chapters of the light novel series The Garden of Sinners through the web page of their doujin circle, Takebouki [c] , and sold the last two at Comiket 56 in August 1999. [1] At that same time, the two alongside programmer Nobuyuki Kiyotake and composer Keita Haga (colleagues of Takeuchi when he worked for Compile)[ citation needed ] distributed a free floppy disk announcing the formation of the doujin circle Type-Moon (the name originating from Notes.[ sic ], one of Nasu's previous works) and the start of the development of the visual novel Tsukihime . [2]

Tsukihime was initially released at Comiket 59 in December 2000. [3] Soon after, Sunshine Creation  [ ja ] 10, in January 2001, saw the release of Tsukihime Plus-Disc: an omake disc that mainly served to fix issues the first copies of Tsukihime had and which also featured bonus content. [4] Later, at Comiket 60 in August of the same year, the fan disc Kagetsu Tohya was released. [5] In September, [6] the members of Type-Moon established Notes Co., Ltd. while remaining active as a doujin circle. After the great response it received following the inclusion of its first four chapters in Plus-Disc, Type-Moon printed a complete edition of The Garden of Sinners split in two volumes that were sold at Comiket 61 in December. [7]

On 30 December 2002, in collaboration with French-Bread (known as Watanabe Seisakujo [d] before 2003), Type-Moon released at Comiket 63 the fighting game/visual novel Melty Blood , [8] a doujin game for compatible PCs that serves as the third proper entry in the Tsukihime series. It was followed by the expansion Melty Blood Re-Act , released on 30 May 2004, which received a patch update, Final Tuned, as a free download over the Internet.[ citation needed ] Type-Moon and French-Bread partnered with Ecole Software to develop and publish a commercial version titled Melty Blood Act Cadenza that was released for Sega NAOMI arcade systems on 25 March 2005 [9] and for the PlayStation 2 on 10 August 2006. [10] A Windows port of Melty Blood Act Cadenza Ver. B, an upgraded version of the arcade edition, was released on 27 August 2007. [11]

To mark the end of activities as a doujin circle, Type-Moon released at Comic Revolution  [ ja ] 33 in April 2003 Tsuki-Bako: a specially packaged three-disc set that includes Tsukihime, an expanded version of the omake disc named "Plus+Disc", the fan disc, and a new arrangement for all BGM. [12] Tsukihime's popularity led to a 12-episode TV anime adaptation by J.C.Staff with the title Lunar Legend Tsukihime that aired from October to December 2003 on BS-i, [13] which was later licensed by Geneon Entertainment for release in North America in 2004. [14] A manga adaptation illustrated by Sasakishonen  [ ja ] using the same title as the anime was serialized in the magazine Dengeki Daioh from the October 2003 to September 2010 issues,[ citation needed ] with its chapters collected across ten volumes published by ASCII Media Works. [15] It was initially licensed by ComicsOne for an English release in North America in 2004, [16] but later, in 2005, DrMaster took over the publication of ComicsOne's manga titles, including Lunar Legend Tsukihime. [17] However, DrMaster went bankrupt in 2009, and so only six of the ten volumes went published.[ citation needed ]

Company

2004–2006: Fate/stay night, hollow ataraxia, and Zero

On 30 January 2004, they released the first commercial release, a PC-based visual novel game, Fate/stay night . It was later adapted into an anime series that aired 24 episodes in Japan starting 6 January 2006; a second anime series that premiered on 4 October 2014; and a manga series that ran in publication between 26 December 2005 and 26 October 2012, in Monthly Shōnen Ace. A sequel to Fate/stay night, Fate/hollow ataraxia , was released on 28 October 2005. Fate/stay night was also released on the PS2 platform on 19 April 2007. A prequel, Fate/Zero , was released as a light novel written by Gen Urobuchi (from nitro+) under Kinoko Nasu's supervision, featuring art by Takashi Takeuchi, in 2006–2007, followed by an animated adaptation by ufotable in 2011–2012.[ citation needed ]

2007–present

At Comiket 72 on 27 August 2007, they released the "All Around TYPE-MOON drama CD". [18]

In August 2019, Type-Moon announced that they established a new company called Type-Moon Studio BB, a video game development studio with former Square Enix and Atlus employee Kazuya Nino, the director for the series Trauma Center , Etrian Odyssey , and Dragon Quest Builders , becoming the head of the studio. [19] According to Nino, the company plans to develop medium to large-scale 3D games in cooperation with external developers and small-scale 2D games developed in-house.[ citation needed ]

Releases

Type-Moon has developed and produced the following:

Tsukihime series

Fate series

Other

Notes

  1. Stylized as TYPE-MOON
  2. 有限会社ノーツ ( Yūgen gaisha Nōtsu)
  3. Officially known as "竹箒" in Japanese and "The Bamboo Broom" in English
  4. 渡辺製作所

References

  1. "Kara no Kyōkai | Shoshutsu Ichiran" 空の境界 | 初出一覧 [The Garden of Sinners | List of First Appearances] (in Japanese).
  2. "Tsukihime Tsūshin 3" 月姫通信3 [Tsukihime Communication 3] (in Japanese).
  3. "Tsukihime – Kanzenban" 月姫・完全版 [Tsukihime – Full Version] (in Japanese).
  4. "Tsukihime Plus-Disc" 月姫PLUS-DISC (in Japanese).
  5. "Kagetsu Tōya" 歌月十夜 (in Japanese).
  6. "Yūgen gaisha Nōtsu no Kigyō Jōhō | Bafetto Kōdo" 有限会社ノーツ の企業情報 | バフェット・コード [Notes Co., Ltd. Company Information | Buffett Code] (in Japanese).
  7. "Kara no Kyōkai" 空の境界 [The Garden of Sinners] (in Japanese).
  8. "MELTY BLOOD" (in Japanese).
  9. "Meruti Buraddo Akuto Kadentsa" メルティブラッド アクトカデンツァ [Melty Blood Act Cadenza] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 13 August 2006.
  10. "Meruti Buraddo Akuto Kadentsa [PS2]" メルティブラッド アクトカデンツァ[PS2] [Melty Blood Act Cadenza [PS2]] (in Japanese).
  11. "MELTY BLOOD Act Cadenza Ver.B for Windows" (in Japanese).
  12. ""Tsuki-Bako"" 「月箱」 (in Japanese).
  13. "J.C.Staff Ofisharu Hōmu Pēji" J.C.STAFF オフィシャルホームページ [J.C.Staff Official Home Page] (in Japanese).
  14. "Anime Central: Geneon Entertainment - Anime Central 2004". Anime News Network.
  15. "Shingetsutan Tsukihime | Type-Moon Comikku Ēsu Kōshiki Saito" 真月譚 月姫|TYPE-MOONコミックエース公式サイト [Lunar Legend Tsukihime | Type-Moon Comic Ace Official Site] (in Japanese).
  16. "New ComicsOne Licenses - News". Anime News Network.
  17. "New DR Master Manga Licenses - News". Anime News Network.
  18. "Type-Moon Comiket Exclusives Revealed". Animenewsnetwork. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  19. "Type-Moon Studio BB Lead Kazuya Nino Teases Game Announcement Coming Soon". Dualshockers. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  20. "Gekijōban 「Fate/stay night[Heaven's Feel]|Daiichi Shō Zessan Kōkai chū" 劇場版「Fate/stay night[Heaven's Feel]|第一章 絶賛公開中 [Official Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel] website] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  21. "TYPE-MOON BOOKS" (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  22. "Type-Moon's The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Novels Get Manga". Anime News Network. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  23. "Fate / strange Fake - TYPE-MOON.COM" (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  24. "【TGS2008】「428 the animation」TYPE-MOON監修シナリオ、TVアニメに" (in Japanese). 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  25. "4Gamer Interview with Kinoko Nasu - tsukikan.com" . Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  26. "Gāruzu Wāku -Anime Kōshiki Saito-" ガールズワーク -アニメ公式サイト- [Girls' Work – Anime Official Website] (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 February 2016.