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. It was founded by illustrator Takashi Takeuchi, writer Kinoko Nasu, programmer Nobuyuki Kiyotake, and composer Keita Haga. The company 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.