Key is a Japanese visual novel studio known for making dramatic and plot-oriented titles. It was formed on July 21, 1998, as a brand under the publisher Visual Arts, and is located in Kita, Osaka.
Key's debut visual novel Kanon (1999) combined an elaborate storyline, up-to-date anime-style art, and a musical score which helped to set the mood for the game. Key's second game, Air (2000), had a similarly complex storyline to Kanon and a more thorough gameplay. Both Kanon and Air were originally produced as adult games, but this trend was broken with Key's third title Clannad (2004), released for all ages. Key has released 18 visual novels to date, the latest being Stella of The End (2022). Key has worked in the past with Interchannel and Prototype for the consumer port releases of the brand's games. Key has collaborated with P.A. Works and Aniplex to produce three original anime series: Angel Beats! (2010), Charlotte (2015), and The Day I Became a God (2020). The crossover anime series Kaginado premiered in 2021. The multimedia project Prima Doll includes an anime series that aired in 2022, and a four-volume visual novel series.
Co-founderJun Maeda is a prominent figure in the brand, having contributed to the planning, scenario, and music composition in the majority of Key's visual novels. Na-Ga, Key's main artist, mainly worked with background art in earlier games, but with Key's sixth game Little Busters! (2007) was given the position of co-art director with former Key artist Itaru Hinoue. Shinji Orito, Key's main composer and another co-founder, has composed music for the majority of Key's titles.
Key has been an active participant at the Comiket convention since Comiket 57 in 1999, where they sold Kanon-related products; Key's latest appearance at Comiket was at Comiket 99 in 2021. In 2001, Visual Arts created the record labelKey Sounds Label to release music albums and singles with music related to Key's visual novels. Between 2007 and 2010, Key produced an Internet radio show called Key Net Radio in regard to the brand.
Before forming Key, the founding members worked for another visual novel development company called Nexton under the brand Tactics. At the time of Dōsei's production, Tactics' first game, four of Key's original staff worked on the game: Itaru Hinoue as art director, Shinji Orito as musical composer, and Miracle Mikipon and Shinory contributing to the computer graphics. After Dōsei, the rest of Key's founding staff—Naoki Hisaya, Jun Maeda and OdiakeS—joined Tactics and contributed to two more games: Moon released on November 21, 1997, and One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e released on May 29, 1998. Due to differing opinions between Nexton and most of the production staff in Tactics on how to produce the brand's next game, most of Tactics' staff left Nexton to pursue work in another publishing company where they could have the freedom to produce their next game.[1]
Itaru Hinoue, who had previously worked at Visual Arts once before, introduced Key's founding members to the president of Visual Arts, Takahiro Baba.[1] Baba gave the developers the freedom they desired, and they officially transferred to Visual Arts where they formed Key on July 21, 1998. With the production of Key's debut title Kanon still in its early stages, a brand name had still not been decided on by the developers. The tentative brand name was Azurite (アズライト, Azuraito) at first, but Jun Maeda was not pleased with this and wanted a name that would capture the image of the brand. Maeda came upon the name Key when he saw it on a sign for a musical instrument store he would always pass on his way to work and instantly liked the name.[1] The name Key for the studio was ultimately decided by majority rule.[2] Key released Kanon on June 4, 1999, as an adult game,[3] though the scenes containing adult content were kept to a minimum. This gave the player more of a focus on the characters' stories and on the visuals and music, especially for a visual novel at the time of its release. A year later, on September 8, 2000, Key released their second game Air, which was also an adult game and similar in storytelling to Kanon.[4]
Key's third game Clannad is a visual novel similar to Key's previous games, but contains no adult content. Clannad was meant to be released in 2002, but was delayed, leading to the game finally being released on April 28, 2004.[5] Seven months after Clannad's release, Key released their shortest game, Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet, on November 29, 2004 with a rating for all ages.[6]Planetarian, in contrast to Key's past games, is a linear visual novel that does not require the user to make choices during gameplay; this is what is referred to as a kinetic novel. The brand's fifth game is Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life, an adult game and spin-off of Clannad released on November 25, 2005, which expanded on the scenario of the heroine Tomoyo Sakagami from Clannad.[7] Key released their sixth game, Little Busters!, on July 27, 2007 with no adult content,[8] but released another version of the game entitled Little Busters! Ecstasy on July 25, 2008, with added adult content, story, and visuals.[9][10]
In commemoration of Key's ten-year anniversary, Key and Visual Arts held a two-day event between February 28 and March 1, 2009, called "Key 10th Memorial Fes: Ano Hi kara Hajimatta Bokura no Toki o Kizamu Uta" (～あの日から始まった僕らの時を刻む唄～).[11] Key collaborated with P.A. Works and Aniplex[12][13] to produce the anime series Angel Beats! that aired between April and June 2010. Key's eighth game Kud Wafter was released on June 25, 2010, as an adult spin-off of Little Busters!, which expanded on the scenario of the heroine Kudryavka Noumi from Little Busters! and Ecstasy.[14] Key released their ninth game Rewrite on June 24, 2011, with a rating for all ages,[15] and an all ages fan disc to Rewrite titled Rewrite Harvest festa! was released on July 27, 2012.[16] In commemoration of Key's 15-year anniversary, the visual novel adaptation Angel Beats! 1st Beat was released on June 26, 2015.[17][18] Key again collaborated with P.A. Works and Aniplex to produce the anime series Charlotte[19] that aired between July and September 2015. Key released the kinetic novel Harmonia on September 23, 2016, and it was available in English before its Japanese release on December 29, 2016.[20] Key released the visual novel Summer Pockets on June 29, 2018;[21] an expanded version titled Summer Pockets Reflection Blue was released on June 26, 2020.[22] Key collaborated for a third time with P.A. Works and Aniplex to produce the anime series The Day I Became a God[23] that aired between October and December 2020.
Key announced the development of three kinetic novels in October 2020: Loopers, Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild, and Stella of The End.[citation needed]Loopers was released on May 28, 2021.[24]Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild was released on December 24, 2021.[25]Stella of The End was released on September 30, 2022.[26] Key also revealed in October 2020 the multimedia project Prima Doll in collaboration with plastic model and figurine manufacturer Kotobukiya.[27] A 12-episode anime television series for Prima Doll[28] aired between July and September 2022. Key released the Planterian Ultimate Edition on September 3, 2021, which also included Planetarian: Snow Globe, a kinetic novel version of the previously released prequel short story of the same name.[29] Key collaborated with video game developer Wright Flyer Studios to produce the mobile role-playing gameHeaven Burns Red released on February 10, 2022 for iOS and Android devices.[30] A four-volume kinetic novel series for Prima Doll will be released between 2023 and 2024.[31] Key announced a new visual novel named Anemoi on November 15, 2023.[32] A new kinetic novel titled Kōsai Toshi: Augment Protocol (虹彩都市 augment protocol) set for release in 2024 was announced on December 15, 2023.[33]
In 2001, Visual Arts created the record label Key Sounds Label (KSL).[34] The music albums and singles released by Key after this were put under this label, meaning that this does not include the first two albums and one single which were released before it was officially formed. The first album on this label was Humanity..., though the only direct connection to Key's works is that it contains a remixed version of the opening theme to Air. The albums under the label are mainly composed by Key's signature composers: Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito and Magome Togoshi. Three of the singles feature songs sung by Lia and one album, Love Song, features the singer Riya from Eufonius. Three drama CDs have been released as well.[34]
To celebrate Key's ten-year anniversary, Key hosted a concert called KSL Live World 2008: Way to the Little Busters! EX on May 10, 2008, in Tokyo, Japan, and again on May 17, 2008, in Osaka, Japan. Each time, the concert lasted for two and a half hours and featured songs sung by Lia, Rita, Chata, and Tomoe Tamiyasu who have previously sung songs for singles and albums released under Key Sounds Label.[35] Another concert called KSL Live World 2010: Way to the Kud-Wafter was held in Tokyo between May 21–22, 2010.[36] A third content called KSL Live World 2013: Way to the Little Busters! Refrain was held in Koto, Tokyo on September 16, 2013.[37][38] A fourth concert called KSL Live World: Way to the Angel Beats! -1st- was held in Akihabara, Tokyo on April 11 and April 12, 2015.[39][40] A fifth concert called KSL Live World 2016: The Animation Charlotte & Rewrite was held in Toyosu, Tokyo on April 30, 2016.[41]
Key produced 30 episodes of an Internet radio show called Key Net Radio (Keyらじ, Key Raji) in regard to the brand between December 13, 2007[42] and August 30, 2010.[43] It was hosted by Shinji Orito and Itaru Hinoue of Key, and another woman named Chiro who works for Pekoe, another visual novel studio under Visual Arts.[43] Listeners could submit thoughts about the show and any requests they may have for the show, along with submitting questions to the host trio.[44] The broadcasts were available via download on Key's official website and were available for download on the radio show's official blog for the first nine broadcasts.[43][45] The broadcasts could also be listened to on Visual Arts' YouTube channel named Visual Channel.[46]
For the first six episodes, the show had five corners, or parts, which started with opening greetings from the hosts and went on to thoughts and impressions that listeners had about the show. This moved on to an informal talk between the hosts, followed by a section where entries previously submitted by listeners concerning their enthusiasm for Key were read by the hosts. The fourth corner concerned answering questions that had been submitted by listeners, and the final corner had Orito playing the flute; listeners could submit suggestions for songs he was to play.[43] Two more corners were added starting with the seventh broadcast. The first corner added concerns scary stories that the hosts can tell themselves, or read from submissions by listeners, and was added partly because Hinoue enjoys such stories. The second corner added deals with submissions by listeners describing a new fictional character, and Hinoue takes these submissions and forms a new fictional character out of combining elements from multiple submissions together. During the broadcasts, tracks from the soundtracks released under Key Sounds Label play in the background.
Comiket involvement
Comiket, short for Comic Market, is a large comic convention held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan during August and December, which are referred to as the summer and winter Comic Markets, respectively. Key has been an active participant in the convention since Comiket 57 in December 1999, where they sold Kanon-related products (as Kanon was their only release at the time); one such product was a Zippo lighter.[47] The first Air-related products Key sold at the convention were at Comiket 59 in December 2000.[48] Typical products include: postcards, telephone cards, calendars, posters, and albums.[48][49][50][51] The products Key sells at Comiket are all related to the visual novels the brand produces.[48][49][50][51]
Key, through Visual Arts, generally participates at the winter Comiket in conjunction with other brands under Visual Arts, but has been known to appear at the summer Comiket too, such as with Comiket 70 in August 2006 where they sold Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet related products.[52] The combined total of the products Key sells at a given Comiket range in price between 3,000 and 5,000 yen.[49][50][53][54][55] This includes the selling of music albums released under Key's record labelKey Sounds Label which has been releasing albums since Comiket 60 in August 2001 with the release of the label's first two albums, Humanity... and "Natsukage / Nostalgia". If there are any unsold products by the end of a given Comiket, Visual Arts has been known to set up an online mail order to sell the remaining goods from all the brands under Visual Arts that participated at Comiket. After Comiket 73 in December 2007, Visual Arts started taking mail orders on March 4, 2008, and only six days later on March 10, 2008, Key reported that all of Key's goods sold at Comiket 73 were now sold out.[56][57] At the end of the second day of Comiket 75 in December 2008, all of Key's goods at the convention were sold out.[58]
Staff
Main
Key's main staff members are attached to the visual novel studio, and therefore Visual Arts. One of the founding members of Key, Jun Maeda, has worked on the planning for the individual projects and was one of the main scenario writers; he has also composed music for the majority of Key's games.[59][60] Maeda stepped down as the main scenario writer after Little Busters! Ecstasy,[61] but continues to work on the music for Key's games.[62] However, Maeda designed the Angel Beats! 1st Beat visual novel and partially wrote its scenario, in addition to providing the original concept for Summer Pockets.[63]Na-Ga, Key's main artist, mainly worked with background art in earlier games, but was first given the position of co-art director with former Key artist Itaru Hinoue with Little Busters!.[8] Further computer graphics have been provided in the past by Shinory and Mochisuke, two graphic artists in Key.[64][65]Shinji Orito, another founding member and Key's main composer, has composed music for the majority of Key's games.[66][67]
Former and outsourced
Many of Key's staff have left the brand over time, or have been employed as outsourced contributors. Naoki Hisaya had worked as one of the main scenario writers for Kanon,[64] but once the project was complete, he left the brand. Another member of the staff that made Kanon was OdiakeS, an outsourced composer who has since helped Key with two music albums, one each released for Air and Clannad, but has done nothing with Key since 2004.[68] Three staff members only worked with Key on Air: Takashi Ishikawa as one of the scenario writers,[69] Tomotaka Fujii as a scenario assistant,[64] and Din as a background artist. Air and Clannad had Tōya Okano and Kai who contributed as scenario writers. Kai later headed the planning of Kud Wafter, as well as contributing on the scenario of Angel Beats, Harmonia and Summer Pockets. One of the original computer graphics artists, Miracle Mikipon, left after Clannad. Two other outsourced graphic artists, Minimo Tayama and Torino, have often contributed on Key's games. Scenario writer Yūichi Suzumoto worked with Key between Air and Planetarian. Eeji Komatsu worked as the art director for Planetarian,[70] and another artist, Fumio, worked as the art director for Tomoyo After.[71]
Leo Kashida worked as an outsourced writer with Key on Tomoyo After, Little Busters! and Angel Beats.[8][72] Chika Shirokiri, another outsourced writer who worked with Key on Little Busters!,[8][72] also wrote the scenario for Kud Wafter. Manack and members of PMMK composed music in Little Busters!, and members of MintJam helped with arrangement.[8]Magome Togoshi had been with Key since before Kanon's release, working as one of the signature composers, but left the brand in October 2006[73] after contributing to the soundtrack of Little Busters!. Jun'ichi Shimizu composed all the music in Kud Wafter. Two outsourced writers worked on the scenario for Rewrite and its fan disc Rewrite Harvest festa!: Ryukishi07 of 07th Expansion, and Romeo Tanaka.[74]Rewrite and Harvest festa! also featured three outsourced musical composers: Maiko Iuchi of I've Sound, Sōshi Hosoi, and Ryō Mizutsuki.[74] Mizutsuki later returned to compose music for Harmonia and Summer Pockets. At the time Maeda stepped down as the main scenario writer, Yūto Tonokawa joined Key and first worked on the scenario in Little Busters!. Tonokawa later contributed to the scenario in Rewrite and Harvest festa!, but resigned from Key in 2015.[63]Itaru Hinoue, one of Key's founding members, was Key's main artist and was the sole art director and character designer for six of Key's games.[75] Hinoue resigned from Key in September 2016 after working on Harmonia.[76]
According to Satoshi Todome's work, A History of Adult Games, Key's impact on the visual novel (primarily the adult game variant) world stems from before Key was formed and most of the founding members of Key worked for Tactics under Nexton.[77] Due to an influence by Leaf's visual novel To Heart released in 1997, the developers at Tactics created a simple formula for a game: a comedic first half with a heart-warming romantic middle followed by a tragic separation and finally an emotional reunion formed what is known as a "crying game" or "nakige". The main purpose of such a game is to make the player feel for the characters and make them cry due to emotional scenarios which serves to leave a bigger impact on the player after the game is over.[77] Tactics' second title One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e was created based on this formula.
After One was complete, the development team quit Tactics to form Key where they developed their first title Kanon also based upon this formula.[77]Kanon was "heavily hyped [and] had gamers impatient until its release. It was only one game released by Key so far, and yet [it] had already sent major shockwaves around the industry. And yet another game [Air], two years later, sent even more shockwaves. Air was equally hyped and well received."[78] The success of One and Kanon on Key's formula to create a "crying game" was later adopted by other visual novel developing companies which were influenced by this formula. Examples of this include: Kana: Little Sister by Digital Object, the Memories Off series by KID, D.C.: Da Capo by Circus, Snow by Studio Mebius (also under Visual Arts), and Wind: A Breath of Heart by Minori.[77]
Ryukishi07 of 07th Expansion wrote in 2004 how he was influenced by Key's works during the planning of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.[79] Ryukishi07 played Key's games as a reference, among other visual novels, and analyzed them to figure out the reason why they were found to be so popular. He figured that the secret was due to how the stories would start with ordinary, enjoyable days, but then a sudden occurrence would happen leading the player to cry due to the shock value. He used a similar model for the basis of Higurashi but instead of leading the player to cry, Ryukishi07 wanted to scare the player with the addition of horror elements. In this way, Ryukishi07 wished to be in some way associated with Key who he described as a "masterpiece maker".[79]
Key is one of 17 brands under Visual Arts with games included in the Lycèe Trading Card Game published by Broccoli. Characters from Key's first five games through Tomoyo After were included in the first three out of four Visual Arts card sets, and characters from Little Busters! through Rewrite were featured in the fifth through seventh Visual Arts card sets.[80] There are also numerous rare promotional cards with characters from Key titles.[81] Other big-name visual novel companies included in the card game include: AliceSoft, August, Leaf, Navel, and Type-Moon.[82]
Leaf, Key BBS
A bulletin board system (BBS) based on the interface of the large Japanese Internet forum2channel (2ch) was formed on January 26, 2000, named "Leaf, Key BBS" (leaf,key掲示板, leaf,key Keijiban), otherwise nicknamed as "Leaf-Key Board" (葉鍵板, Ha-Kagi Ita).[83][84] The board originated from 2ch's video game discussion board due to a dispute involving the game Kizuato in December 1999;[83]Kizuato was an early game of another visual novel producing brand named Leaf. Ultimately, fans of the game moved to 2ch's adult game board, but there was not much resolution, and at the time Key fans on the board were being shunned for discussions on Kanon and, at the time, Key's upcoming game Air. This resulted finally with the Leaf and Key fans moving away from 2ch and forming again on the PINKchannel Internet forum.[84] The board serves as a discussion board for anything related to Leaf and Key. This includes the games the companies produce, but also the companies themselves and the staff that make up those companies. The BBS gets approximately 900 posts per day as of March 2010. Like 2ch, the board has a default anonymous posting setting, and the default name is "Nanashi-san Dayomon" (名無しさんだよもん, lit. "Mr. Nameless-dayomon"), a reference to the heroine Mizuka Nagamori from One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e who frequently ends her sentences with "dayo" and "mon".[84]
Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet is a Japanese post-apocalyptic visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts whose previous works include Kanon and Air. It was released over the Internet on November 29, 2004, for Windows, and is rated for all ages. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 (PS2), PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Switch, as well as mobile devices. The story centers on a man who comes across a malfunctioning robot in a dead city. The man, known simply as "the junker", stays with this robot for a time and attempts to fix the projector of the planetarium where the story takes place.
Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Key released on November 25, 2005 for Windows PCs. The game is a spin-off of Key's earlier all ages game Clannad. Key later released versions of Tomoyo After without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Switch under the title Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life CS Edition; CS stands for "consumer software". The story follows the lives of Tomoya Okazaki, a young man who recently graduated from high school, and his close friend Tomoyo Sakagami as they start to see more of each other in a romantic relationship.
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company VisualArt's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under VisualArt's, known for developing titles such as Kanon and Air. Excluding two albums and one single that were released by Key and VisualArt's before the label's formation, the majority of releases on the label all have a basis from one of Key's titles. There are other albums and singles on the label not directly related to the visual novels, such as two singles by Lia and one album by Riya. Unlike typical record labels, Key Sounds Label does not license any of the artists featured on albums and singles released on the label.
Air is a visual novel developed by Key and published by VisualArt's in 2000. The story follows Yukito Kunisaki, a traveler who arrives in a quiet seaside town during summer who is on a search for the "girl in the sky" that his now-deceased mother told him about and was searching for too. In town, Yukito meets three strange girls and Yukito begins to suspect that one of them may in fact be the girl he has been searching for. It was adapted by Toei Animation into an animated film in 2005 directed by Osamu Dezaki with music direction by Yoshikazu Suo. Kyoto Animation also adapted it into a 13-episode anime television series broadcast in 2005, along with an additional two episodes also broadcast in 2005, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara with music direction by Shinji Orito. The discography of Air and its anime adaptations consists of one EP, one single, two soundtracks, and three remix albums.
Kanon is a visual novel developed by Key and published by VisualArt's in 1999. The story follows Yuichi Aizawa, who has returned to the town where seven years ago he would spend his school vacations, but has forgotten many of the details regarding his previous visits. Over the course of the series, Yuichi slowly regains these memories as he meets new friends and is reacquainted with others from his past. It was adapted by Toei Animation into a 13-episode anime television series broadcast in 2002 along with an accompanying original video animation episode released in 2003, both directed by Takamichi Itō with music direction by Hiroyuki Kōzu. Kyoto Animation also adapted it into a 24-episode anime television series broadcast between 2006 and 2007 directed by Tatsuya Ishihara with music direction by Shinji Orito. The discography of Kanon and its anime adaptations consists of one compilation album, three singles, three soundtracks, and three remix albums.
Little Busters! is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key. It was released on July 27, 2007 for Windows PCs and is rated for all ages. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, along with other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. An adult version of the game titled Little Busters! Ecstasy was released on July 25, 2008 for Windows, unlike Kanon and Air, which were first released with adult content and then had later versions with such content removed. Ecstasy was later ported to the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Switch with the adult content removed under the title Little Busters! Converted Edition. An English version for Windows was released on Steam in 2017. The story follows a group of childhood friends now attending high school called the Little Busters, as they decide to form a baseball team. Riki, who is diagnosed with narcolepsy, is tasked to recruit more girls in preparation for a baseball game, and he bonds with each of them on account of their internal conflicts. Meanwhile, Rin gets mysterious letters from her cat Lennon to complete various tasks to learn the "secret to this world".
Itaru Hinoue is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Osaka, Japan, who is one of the founding members of the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga C by Shō Kitagawa; the protagonist in the manga was named Itaru Amano. Before forming Key, Hinoue worked for the company Tactics where she had a hand in the creation of the company's three games: Dōsei, Moon, and One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. After forming Key, Hinoue has become known for her work on such titles as Kanon, Air and Clannad. Her dōjinshi circle is known as "Soldier Frog". In September 2016, Hinoue resigned from Key and VisualArt's.
Naoki Hisaya, born Naoki Hayashi, is a Japanese screenwriter who has worked for Tactics, Key and Siesta, but as of 2006, he is a freelance writer. He is well known for being the main writer of the popular visual novel Kanon while working under Key. Additional works include Moon, One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, and Moon Childe. He is also known for being the original concept writer for Sola and Sora no Method. He later wrote the scenario for the action role-playing game Crystar. He also does work in a dōjin circle named Cork Board.
Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the games the company produces. His style was originally inspired by James Herbert Brennan, and is influenced by Haruki Murakami's novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Shinji Orito is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games. After leaving Leaf, Orito transferred to another company named Tactics where he had a hand in the creation of three games for that company: Dōsei, Moon, and One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. After forming Key, Orito has put much work into such famous titles as Kanon, Air and Clannad. Orito has been influenced by the famous Japanese composers Joe Hisaishi and Yuzo Koshiro.
Little Busters! and Little Busters! Ecstasy are visual novels developed by Key and published by VisualArt's in 2007 and 2008. The story follows Riki Naoe, a high school student and member of a close-knit group of friends who call themselves the Little Busters. It was adapted by J.C.Staff into two anime television series broadcast between 2012 and 2013, and an original video animation series to be released in 2014, directed by Yoshiki Yamakawa with music direction by Shinji Orito. The discography of Little Busters!, Ecstasy, and the anime adaptations consists of one compilation album, one EP, eight singles, three soundtracks, and five remix albums.
Ma-Na is a compilation album first released on August 12, 2005 at Comiket 68 in Japan by Key Sounds Label bearing the catalog number KSLA-0018. The album contains one disc with four tracks remixed from background music from four of Key's visual novels: Kanon, Air, Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet, and Clannad. The tracks on the album were composed, arranged, and produced by Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito, and Magome Togoshi.
Keiko Suzuki is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Osaka. She voices characters from visual novels, and has been in the cast of five Key titles. She is also known under the name Chisato Suzumori.
Na-Ga is a male Japanese artist who is employed as a graphic designer and illustrator for the company Key known for such famous visual novels as Kanon, Air, and Clannad among others. Na-Ga has been working for Key since the production of Air as one of the computer graphic artists, but was able to majorly contribute to character design in Key's sixth visual novel Little Busters! with Itaru Hinoue, along with the later released Little Busters! Ecstasy and Kud Wafter. For Key's ninth title Rewrite, Na-Ga contributed to the game's computer graphics. Na-Ga worked in collaboration with Jun Maeda and ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine to produce the mixed media projects Angel Beats! and Charlotte as the original character designer. Na-Ga once worked for the company Pearlsoft R between 1997 and 1999 where he contributed to the visual novels Sweet Days, and Hakanai Omoi: Anemone as the main artist, and on Watashi where he was credited as a graphic designer. He also participates in a dōjinshi circle named "from-D".
Rewrite is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 24, 2011 for Windows PCs and is rated for all ages. Rewrite is Key's ninth game, following other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. Key released a fan disc expanding on the game's story titled Rewrite Harvest festa! on July 27, 2012 for Windows. Rewrite was ported to the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, while Harvest festa! was ported to the PlayStation Vita. An English version of Rewrite for Windows was released by Sekai Project in 2021; they will also release Harvest festa! in English. The story follows the life of Kotarou Tennouji, a high school student with superhuman abilities who investigates supernatural mysteries with five girls from his school in the fictional city of Kazamatsuri. This ultimately leads him into the middle of a conflict between familiar summoners and superhumans with the fate of the world at stake.
Key Net Radio was a Japanese Internet radio program produced by VisualArt's and the visual novel studio Key in regard to Key and the games the brand produces. Thirty broadcasts were released online from December 13, 2007, to August 30, 2010. The show was hosted by Shinji Orito and Itaru Hinoue of Key, and another woman named Chiro who works for Pekoe, another visual novel studio under VisualArt's. Guests have been known to appear on the show including Jun Maeda and Na-Ga of Key. Each broadcast was recorded and were available via download on Key's official website after being edited by Orito, though Hinoue filled in for Orito on some occasions. The episodes were available for download on the radio show's official blog for the first nine broadcasts, and the first 27 episodes are no longer available for download. The more recent broadcasts could be listened to on VisualArt's' YouTube channel named Visual Channel. Listeners could submit thoughts about the show and any requests they may have for the show, along with submitting questions to the host trio. Key Net Radio's mascot is named Kirara and is drawn by Itaru Hinoue.
Kud Wafter is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Key, released on June 25, 2010, for Windows. Kud Wafter is Key's eighth game, along with other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. Key released a version of Kud Wafter without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita. The story follows the lives of high school students Riki Naoe and his close friend Kudryavka Noumi as they start to see more of each other in a romantic relationship. The gameplay in Kud Wafter follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the title character Kudryavka, also known as "Kud" for short.
Rewrite is a visual novel developed by Key and published by VisualArt's in 2011. A fan disc for Rewrite titled Rewrite Harvest festa! was released in 2012. The discography of Rewrite and Harvest festa! consists of one studio album, seven singles, three soundtracks and seven remix albums. The core of the discography consists of two original soundtrack albums for the visual novels, one for Rewrite and the other for Harvest festa!. The soundtracks were produced by Key Sounds Label and released in 2011 and 2012. The music on the soundtracks was composed and arranged by Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito, Maiko Iuchi, Sōshi Hosoi, and Ryō Mizutsuki. An image song album was released in 2016. Seven singles were released between 2011 and 2017: two theme song singles for the visual novel, and five singles for the anime adaptation. A third soundtrack for the anime adaptation was released in 2017. The remix albums contains tracks from the games remixed by various artists and were released between 2011 and 2021.
References
1 2 3 "Jun Maeda Long Interview". Key 10th Anniversary Book (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten: 48–60. 2009.
↑ Tonokawa, Yūto (July 7, 2008). "Answering Questions Journal" (in Japanese). Retrieved July 8, 2008. At the time, the staff decided on majority rule. (当時のスタッフの多数決で決まったようです。)
↑ Untranslated quote: 自分の書いた曲では一番気に入ってます。 Translated quote: "Out of the songs I wrote myself, I like this one ["Zankō"] the most." Kanon Original Soundtrack booklet, page 4.
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