KonoRano 2023 Interview

After Some Congratulatory messages for KonoRano 2023

Editor: You have been a game scenario writer for a long time.

Kinugasa: I have been fond of games since I was in elementary school, and my graduation thesis was about working for a game company. At that time, I was ignorant, although I volunteered to write as a programmer... But what I wanted to do most in my heart was plot weaving, so I thought I might as well become a scenario writer. So from the age of 18 or 19, the resume I submitted was picked up by the game manufacturer for several years, and I have been working to accumulate experience.

Editor: What is your favorite game?

Kinugasa: I played various games when I was young. In the past 10 years, I have played 1 or 2 overseas game works every year. For example, Bethesda softworks games and also Cyberpunk 2077 and the like in recent years. I specialize in playing solo in the open world.

Editor: When you were a scenario writer, you got acquainted with Tomose, and after that, you also collaborated to produce many works.

Kinugasa: He was without a doubt my turning point as a scenario writer, as a writer. At that time, the game manufacturer I belonged to decided to cooperate with Tomose and asked him to choose from several prepared proposals. He chose mine. I would not be where I am today if Tomose had chosen other proposals. I am very grateful. After that, I have been taken care of by him, until now, the achievements of COTE can be regarded as something to repay his kindness. Of course, I still owe Tomose a lot, and I will continue to work hard to repay him.

Editor: What was your opportunity to write a novel?

Kinugasa: I am very aware of my strengths and weaknesses. Unlike novels, game scripts are basically completed in one go. To say one year is to write a complete story in one year. For me, there was a problem that the content I wanted to write did not match the delivery date. In any case, it can't end beautifully. But a novel doesn't need to write the whole story in one go. Write one volume in one due date, and then move on to the next volume when entering the next due date. People around me who knew me said that I was suitable for novels and advised me to enter the industry, so I devoted myself to it.

Editor: Is there anything that needs to be paid attention to when you alternate being a novelist and scenario writer?

Kinugasa: When writing the game script, there are a lot of character dialogues. In contrast, the novel cuts this part and increases the narrative. If you do both at the same time, you need to constantly switch modes in your mind. While spending more time, there will be times when mistakes are made, which is very tiring. But no matter what kind of job it is, making it easy for readers to read is the most basic thing. I often spend my time thinking about it too.

Editor: Do you have favorite writers and are there writers who have influenced you?

Kinugasa: Keigo Higashino, Haruki Murakami, etc. I like works that are completely different from my own style. I have read all those masterpieces in the past, and I really like the Galileo series. As for light novels, since I might be subtly affected, I avoid them all. I don't want to change my style. But I know Japan LN industry has many interesting works, and I plan to read them after I retire.

Editor: Is your writing environment good?

Kinugasa: The environment is nothing special. I usually use a text editor called MIFES to write. I'm a bit demanding on color. The background is blue and the text is white. This is my principle. There is also a split-screen display, so you can write while watching a video. I especially enjoy watching baseball games and writing. The disadvantage is that when the team I support loses, it will hit me mentally and slow down my writing speed.

Editor: This year, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji won the first place for a male role, and Kei Karuizawa won the second place for a female role. They are very popular.

Kinugasa: Thank you everyone, especially the protagonist, Ayanokouji. If you want to ask me what are my strengths as a writer. The only thing that I am confident about is my technique of shaping the protagonist, and the voting also reflects this result. Thank you so much for your support. Karuizawa's ranking is something that Tomose, who is in charge of her character design, is happier about than me.

Editor: I heard that the protagonist, Ayanokouji, was originally written as a romantic comedy character.

Kinugasa: Looking back at the first volume and the second volume, there are some parts that bother me. The reason is that I was afraid that the ideas I instilled would not be accepted by readers, so I desperately added some elements that everyone likes. But this is not the way I am good at describing the protagonist, so I immediately changed direction and showed all the images of the protagonist I like.

Editor: Ayanokoji's actions really send chills up your spine.

Kinugasa: This is the image that was determined from the beginning of the story. What kind of past, what kind of personality and so on. But I can't be sure that readers will accept all this. Create an unprecedented protagonist, let him confront Ryuuen, and introduce the existence of white room. Justice, evil. Not belonging to either of the two. Or maybe both. I wrote it like this on purpose.

Editor: Karuizawa is second on the female list. At first I thought it was a Suzune-Kushida double heroine route.

Kinugasa: At the beginning of the work, there was no concept of a heroine, but I don't know if readers will follow me when I write it like this, which makes me fall into a dilemma. So it became a false traditional double heroines route at the start. In a sense the strategy was a success. The fact that Karuizawa can have such popularity is really unexpected. I wanted to reduce the number of times she appeared, but the unexpectedly cute character design also affected my writing to a certain extent.

Editor: As a Karuizawa fan, I hope she can be happy.

Kinugasa: If you expect too much... it bothers me. But this is not only for Karuizawa, the possibilities are always equal for everyone. Just to name a few examples, Horikita, Kushida, Shiina, Ichinose, etc., all have the possibility to match up with Ayanokouji. Conversely, there is also the possibility of choosing neither. However, I know that there are many people who think that it will stay like this, and I have also considered several solutions that may make everyone happy. Look forward to it.

Editor: Not only the shaping of the main characters but also the fact that there are so many characters on the stage is one of the most important charms of COTE.

Kinugasa: I'm glad you can say that. Sometimes it is questioned that the number is too large to control, and I have considered this myself. But I want to write a story where countless characters are intertwined, and I will be adding new characters as I work hard.

Editor: Do you have a favorite character, and is there any character that you enjoy writing?

Kinugasa: Katsuragi is my favorite male character recently, and Ibuki is probably my favorite female character.

Editor: What about character creation?

Kinugasa: I first decide on a general character introduction template and write it into text, and then I don't finalize it right away. The image is drawn by Tomose, and I see his/her body before continuing the process, which has been the case for many years. Then, the character must retain his own consciousness. It cannot appear that this character will necessarily act in a particular way. There are many things that I can't predict myself, so it's interesting.

Editor: All the students live in the dormitory, and they feel like relatives and brothers to each other. It is very interesting.

Kinugasa: As you said, this has a lot to do with the theme of the story [ability]. Another important factor is that they will not be concerned by family members. The story is already very grand, and if many people other than students are involved in the story, it will be difficult to control.

Editor: While rewarding students, Advanced Nurturing School also come with a huge risk of being punished. It is simply a portrayal of real society.

Kinugasa: Reflecting a part of reality is one of the elements. Then I polarize both the pleasing elements and the distasteful elements in it. For example, the initial bonus of 100,000 points and the unpredictable withdrawal rules. These scary talks are not exaggerated, and there are parts that are connected with the real society.

Editor: Each class has unique policies and principles, which are very interesting. Just like the current international situation.

Kinugasa: It would be boring if the goals are similar. Each of the four classes has its own strong style. There is no problem with either approach, and there are problems with either approach. It may indeed be similar to the international form. Although the policy of the winning class in COTE does not mean that it is absolutely correct, it is also an answer.

Editor: All kinds of strengths can be evaluated, which really can be called the principle of the elite.

Kinugasa: There are OAAs that can quantify the abilities of students. But as in reality, test scores don't tell the whole story about a person. In fact, I also think that there are many, many people in the world who have hidden talents. This part is also emphasized.

Editor: Sure enough, the change of the protagonist, Ayanokouji, will be the highlight in the future.

Kinugasa: How he changes will be a highlight, but so is Ayanokouji's unusual essence, which remains the same no matter what. As for what will happen in the future, please stay tuned.