Just saying, Fate/Zero isn't generally considered by the Japanese audience to be a light novel series, just a fantasy novel series. Having anime-style art and an anime adaptation and being based off of a visual novel does not make it a light novel, actually, although it may overwhelmingly seem so. The main difference between light novels and novels is usually in the vocabulary, and Urobuchi is no slouch when it comes to that. (Don't let the Baka-Tsuki translations fool you, Fate/Zero is full of archaic/obscure words that would not usually be encountered in light novels.)
Hide / Show RepliesAgreed on the language, as a Japanese reader. Urobuchi uses vocabulary and style that is not everyday language one finds in light novels. I've also had and read a few conversations with native Japanese to similar sentiment. However, the opinion is not universal. It might go beyond a light novel in vocabulary and style, but the fantasy genre, target audience and tone is atypical of what is considered 'proper literature' in Japanese. The reality is that perception does matter and even Japanese people tend to label these books that often get anime and manga adaptations as "light novels".
Anyway, the series is described as a light novel multiple times in the Japanese Wikipedia page so I don't know if it warrants a reclassification. If it were up to me I'd put it in Literature.
Why is the Fate/Zero High Octane Nightmare Fuel shoehorned into Fate/Stay's page? Now that Fate/Zero has a page of its own it seems that the Nightmare Fuel should go there instead, but I'm not sure if there was a conscious decision/consensus to leave it as-is or I'd change it myself.
Edited by DesignatedNPC
Re: Who is responsible for the Great Fuyuki Fire
Recently, Doldrum27831 has questioned the accuracy of the statement that Kirei Kotomine was responsible for the Great Fuyuki Fire, saying that the light novel indicates that Kiritsugu Emiya was responsible.
The Nasuverse wiki, on both Kirei Kotomine's and Angra Mainyu's pages, states that Kirei was responsible for the Great Fuyuki Fire, with the Grail having granted his dying wish and then resurrected him. The Nasuverse wiki further states that the anime omits a few important scenes from the Light Novel where a dying Kirei has a vision of the Grail and reaches out to touch it while wishing for the world to burn, and where Gilgamesh confronts Angra Mainyu and withstands its attempts to blacken him. Having not read the light novel myself, I cannot attest to the accuracy of the Nasuverse wiki's contents.
While the wiki for the most part lacks citations, the interpretation that Kirei is responsible for the Great Fuyuki Fire is supported by a conversation between Gilgamesh and Kirei in the last episode of the anime adaptation, where Gilgamesh tells Kirei that they won the Grail War and that the Great Fuyuki Fire was the result of the Grail realizing Kirei's truest desires:
It is also supported by a conversation between Kirei Kotomine and Shirou Emiya in Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] where Kirei tells Shirou that the Great Fuyuki Fire was the result of an unworthy and evil Master (himself) obtaining the Grail and wishing for destruction.
It was based on these conversations, and on the wiki's notes regarding the content (supposedly) omitted by the anime, that I put down that Kirei was responsible for the Great Fuyuki Fire, though Kiritsugu blamed himself for it and was in all likelihood partially responsible.
If anyone who's read the Fate/Zero light novel and/or supplementary interviews with Nasu and Urobuchi can provide any input into clarifying things, it would be helpful.
Edited by Arawn999