Muramasa killed fiction for me


Today while going through some pictures on my tablet I found a picture of Kageaki Minato in my gallery.

My first reaction was a slight smile, as I immediately remembered all the time I had spent with this novel whose main saga is made up of 3 arcs(4 if you count the common route)

My initial impressions of this novel were really positive; I had it on my playlist for quite some time because it made use of certain narrative devices that for me were completely unbelievable or that I considered daring in any work of fiction

Time went by, and in many forums I kept reading great praise for the themes present in the narrative, or that well known joke of "came for the sword porn, stayed for the plot""

I finally gave it a chance, and yes, it was a truly amazing experience. I was a bit confused initially, as I didn't understand the initial relationship between the Tsurugi and alternative Japanese history, as well as all the horrible "feats" that everyone attributed to the Ginseigo; still, I enjoyed it immensely

I would later finish the Prologue, and I must confess that I was a bit caught off guard by immediate signs of narrative quality and talent compared to most VNs I'd read, however, I've always had a strong affinity for thematic depth in literature, so this more deconstructive thematic approach was something I'd experienced quite often before. Again, I enjoyed it immensely

Time passed, and with the announcement of an english translation I finally decided to read the entire thing. To be completely honest, at first I was quite reluctant, because hey, that would be more than a hundred hours I would have to venture through to understand Narahara's vision! However, none of that mattered and I just sat down in front of the computer and started the journey

Prologue was great. It was complex already, and watching Narahara's pen at work was definitely fun

Next would come the opening scenes of chapter I, and I did enjoy them, and it was cool to see Yuuhi's beginnings

Then i'd finish chapter 1, and jesus christ, I never thought I'd enjoy a VN so much because it actually had depth. The ending was also one of the epic things I've read in a long time(Yuuhi completely stole the show in this part)

Then I played chapter 2, and to this day I consider it one of the most ahead of its time chapters


After playing Chapter 2, I would play Chapter 3-5 and I never expected such a huge turn Kageaki would take as a character after the events of chapter 2. From here you can notice certain nuances in his personality, and even, - even I was surprised at the time - certain glimpses of questionable morality


With the Hero and Revenge routes, I was already in ecstasy; I never in my life thought that something in this world could be this amazing, and I must confess that I enjoyed it from start to finish


Then I would finally get to Tyrant, and this would be the beginning of the end of fiction for me. Throughout all the routes we meet a huge number of characters, and to see all of them explored with so much depth and come together in such a way that compliments each one is simply a marvel

Everything about this route is incredible. The art, the soundtrack, the characters, the ending, the true ending....absolutely everything

When the credits rolled, all I could do was stare at the screen for several minutes, and that's when I realized it was all over. My days of waking and sleeping thinking about Muramasa were over, and there came a huge sense of emptiness.

To this day nothing has ever made me feel that level of emotion, satisfaction, or appreciation for a work off art, do I regret it? Not at all; Muramasa killed fiction for me, but at the same time it gave me one of the most enjoyable moments of my life.

I just wanted to share these words with those who already immersed in this work, as well as those who are not yet; there may be a lot of expectation towards this work, but if you give it a chance you will be very pleasantly surprised.

This embodies pretty much everything bad about Kinoko Nasu's style. Boring, meandering, obnoxious characters, worldbuilding unimpressive, etc. Sou is kinda neat but the rest of it is so dry and monotonous that it's not worth even reading to get to his parts.

Aoko prob the worst heroine Nasu has ever written and that's saying something

This thing is largely carried by the production, without it it would be incredibly unremarkable and not worth a glance