while the narrative may not have as many earth-shattering hype moments of fate/stay night or the tsukihime remake, mahoyo manages to capture the slow-burn small-feeling atmosphere that the original tsukihime achieved years back. the story is a bit scaled back, but the presentation a decade later still puts most of the visual novel medium to shame.

nasu's prose is incredibly refined and has matured a ton from the days of kara no kyoukai -- there were no points whatsoever when i thought the script read stiff or awkward. all of the trademark nasu-isms, like spastic mental breakdown scenes and heavy use of kanji wordplay are present here.

aoko is a solid lead and i can't wait to see what her story will build up to in the fabled mahoyo sequels.