Kinoko Nasu
In the making of the character, Kinoko Nasu stated that Kiritsugu used , a first person pronoun most generally used by young boys. It was part of Nasu's character design as Gen Urobuchi felt he could never come up with it. Character designer Takashi Takeuchi felt that the young Kiritsugu looks like the protagonist of a "shonen manga". While he was the protagonist of "Fate/Zero", there was little artwork compared to other characters, as he only appeared on the cover twice. One shot was from the back, while the other was only a silhouette. Urobuchi felt that, because Kiritsugu abstains from the flashiness of Heroic Spirits, the best solution was to make him unnoticeable, as a "character who spreads justice should speak with their back". Nasu believes Kiritsugu avoids facing personal issues in his story in contrast to Shirou Emiya whose characterization and growth is explored more in the visual novel.