Yūichi Suzumoto

Last updated
Yūichi Suzumoto
Born (1969-01-13) January 13, 1969 (age 53)
Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
OccupationAuthor
Nationality Japanese
Genre Fantasy, fiction, sci-fi
Notable works Air , Clannad , Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet
Notable awards Japan Fantasy Novel Award

Yūichi Suzumoto (涼元 悠一, Suzumoto Yūichi, born January 13, 1969) is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, though he now lives in Osaka, Japan. [1] As of 2006, he works for Aquaplus, known for being the publishing company of Leaf. Before going to Leaf, Suzumoto worked at the publishing company VisualArt's as a scenario writer for brands under the company. He is notable for having had a hand in the production of three Key visual novels: Air , Clannad , and Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet . [1]

Contents

Career

After graduating from high school Shizuoka Prefecture Shitsu Shimizu East High School, Suzumoto entered a novel he wrote called Waga Seishun no Hokusei Kabe (我が青春の北西壁) into Shueisha's sixteenth Cobalt Novel Prize in 1991 and won first prize. [1] The following year in March 1992, Shueisha published Suzumoto's novel Aitsu wa Dandelion (あいつはダンディー・ライオン) under their Cobalt Bunko label. [1] In 1998, Suzumoto's novel Aoneko no Machi (青猫の街) tied in second in the tenth Japan Fantasy Novel Award competition. [1] [2] In 1999, Key released their first visual novel Kanon ; the game had such an impact on Suzumoto that he joined VisualArt's, the publishing company Key is under, in February 2000 to work as a scenario writer for brands under the company. [1]

Suzumoto first worked on the scenario for Air , Key's second game released in 2000, [3] and that same year worked as a scenario assistant for Mamahaha Chōkyō by Giant Panda. [1] In 2001, Suzumoto again worked as a scenario assistant for Giant Panda for their game Shoyakenjō, and started work on Key's next game Clannad which was not released until 2004. [1] [3] Also in 2001, Suzumoto was employed as the scenario assistant for the game Sakura no Ki Shita de for the brand Words which was released in 2002, and that year he began work as the scenario assistant for Studio Mebius' Snow released in 2003. [1] Also in 2003, Suzumoto worked as the scenario assistant again for Giant Panda for their game Oshikake Princess released in 2004. [1] After completing his work on Clannad, Suzumoto's last contribution to Key was as the scenario writer for Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet released in 2004. [3] Suzumoto continued to work with brands under VisualArt's until September 2005 when he resigned from the company. [1] Suzumoto wrote a style guide entitled Novel Game no Scenario Sakusei Gihō (ノベルゲームのシナリオ作成技法) published on July 24, 2006 by Shuwa System which describes how to write scenarios for visual novels. In September 2006, Suzumoto entered the publishing company Aquaplus, known for being the parent company to Leaf. [4] In December 2006, Suzumoto's first light novel Die Nachtjäger was published by SoftBank under their GA Bunko imprint. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Kanon</i> (video game) 1999 Japanese adult visual novel

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<i>To Heart</i> 1999 Japanese adult visual novel, manga, and anime television series

To Heart is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled To Heart PSE was released containing the PlayStation version as well as bonus games. To Heart PSE and the PlayStation version had the adult scenes removed. To Heart is Leaf's fifth game, and the third and final title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series along with Shizuku and Kizuato. The gameplay in To Heart follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the eight female main characters. A sequel of To Heart, To Heart 2, was released on December 28, 2004 directly to the PlayStation 2. A special bundle of To Heart 2 and a PS2 version of To Heart was released on the same day. The original PC release of the visual novel was titled To Heart, however the anime and the PSE versions later changed to ToHeart without any space between the words. The English release of the anime uses the former format.

Key (company) Japanese visual novel studio

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Leaf (Japanese company)

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<i>Clannad</i> (video game) 2004 Japanese visual novel

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<i>Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet</i> 2004 video game

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.

Aquaplus, formally U-Office and Aqua, is a Japanese company which specializes primarily in the publishing and distribution of visual novels, including both adult games under their brand Leaf and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of anime based on Leaf's games. The company is also involved with music, franchised restaurants, and at one point was involved with automobiles.

Visual Arts (company)

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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.

Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet is a visual novel developed by Key and published by VisualArt's and KineticNovel in 2004. The story centers around a middle-aged 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. It was adapted by David Production into an original net animation (OVA) series and an animated film titled Planetarian: Storyteller of the Stars in 2016. An OVA titled Planetarian: Snow Globe animated by Okuruto Noboru was produced in 2021, and Key also released a visual novel version of Snow Globe in 2021. The core of the discography is the original soundtrack album produced by Key Sounds Label in 2006 for the visual novel. The music on the soundtrack was mainly composed and arranged by Magome Togoshi. A second soundtrack and two singles for the anime adaptations by David Production were released in 2016. An EP for Planetarian was released in 2017 featuring music from the visual novel and anime adaptations by David Production. A soundtrack for the Snow Globe OVA and visual novel was released in 2021.

Jun Maeda

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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.

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KineticNovel is a brand of the Japanese software publishing company Visual Arts. The productions of the KineticNovel label are unlike other visual novels in that no choices are given to the player. They have only one possible outcome. The player can choose when to go to the next dialogue screen or else put the game on autoplay and just sit back and enjoy, analogous to listening to a CD or watching a DVD movie. The majority of KineticNovel's products contain adult material of a sexual nature, though all-ages products are produced as well, such as Key's Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet.

<i>Ma-Na</i> 2005 remix album by Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito, and Magome Togoshi

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Yūichi Suzumoto's official blog entries for January 2006" (in Japanese). Retrieved November 29, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Official results of the tenth Japan Fantasy Novel Award" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 15, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 "Yūichi Suzumoto's visual novel contributions" (in Japanese). Retrieved November 29, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Yūichi Suzumoto's official blog entries for September 2006" (in Japanese). Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Die Nachtjäger's official website" (in Japanese). SoftBank . Retrieved November 29, 2007.
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