Kanon is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 4, 1999 for Windows as an adult game. Key later released versions of Kanon without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The story follows the life of Yuichi Aizawa, a high school student who returns to a city he last visited seven years prior, and he has little recollection of the events from back then. He meets several girls and slowly regains his lost memories. The gameplay in Kanon follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters by the player character. The game once ranked as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms.
Yui Sakakibara is a Japanese voice actress, choreographer, dancer and singer from Hyōgo Prefecture. She appeared on Kōhaku Uta Gassen as background dancer behind Ami Suzuki in 1999 and 2000. She used the name Mayo Hinano and others in her previous roles. She is also credited as FES from the band "Phantasm" (ファンタズム) in the Science Adventure visual novel series, which is a stage name of her character Ayase Kishimoto from Chaos;Head.
Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o is a Japanese adult visual novel produced by Giga, originally released on March 31, 2006. The game was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2007, the PlayStation Portable in 2009, and the PlayStation Vita in 2015 came with additional content although the adult content was removed. An anime television series was made in 2007 under the title Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o: Yōkoso Tsugumi Ryō e.
Takeshi Abo is a Japanese video game composer. He joined the industry through developer StarCraft, Inc. in the early 1990s, mainly working on conversions of western video games. In the mid-1990s, he joined KID, and later 5pb. in December 2006 after KID declared bankruptcy.
Mutsumi Sasaki is a Japanese freelance anime/manga artist from Hokkaidō, Japan. He mainly provides character designs for bishōjo characters.
Kanako Itō is a female Japanese singer from Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan. She has sung a large number of songs that have been used in a variety of video games, visual novels, and anime.
Chaos;Head is a 2008 science fiction visual novel video game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the first game in the Science Adventure series. Following the original Windows release, the enhanced version Chaos;Head Noah was released for Xbox 360 in 2009, and has since been ported to multiple platforms. An English localization is planned to be released by Spike Chunsoft for Nintendo Switch and Windows in 2022. The game follows Nishijou Takumi, who gets involved in the "New Gen" serial murder case. He frequently experiences delusions and hallucinations, some of which the player can influence, which affects the progression of the story.
Memories Off is a Japanese visual novel developed by KID originally released in Japan on September 30, 1999 for the PlayStation, and was later released for the PC, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable. Subsequent versions incorporated new content not found in the original version, such as a second part of the story, Memories Off: Pure, originally released as a separate game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color on April 27, 2000. The gameplay in Memories Off follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters.
Koihime Musō: Doki Otome Darake no Sangokushi Engi is a series of Japanese adult visual novels and strategy video games primarily developed and published by BaseSon for the Windows and is based on the classic 14th century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. The first game was developed by BaseSon, and was first released on January 26, 2007, for Windows as two DVD-ROMs, followed by a re-release on April 11, 2008, containing an extra CD-ROM.
Steins;Gate is a 2009 science fiction visual novel game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the Science Adventure series, following Chaos;Head. The story follows a group of students as they discover and develop technology that gives them the means to change the past. The gameplay in Steins;Gate includes branching scenarios with courses of interaction.
Mages Inc., formerly 5pb. Inc., is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music. It was formed on April 6, 2005 after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he still holds. The company is divided into two parts, 5pb. Games for the manufacturing of video games, and 5pb. Records for the record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the TYO Group until Shikura purchased the remaining rights from the TYO Group on April 15, 2009. Shikura co-owns 5pb. with AGOne, an affiliate of Dwango Japan. Staff members include scenario writer Naotaka Hayashi, artist Yukihiro Matsuo, and producer Tatsuya Matsuhara.
"Phantom Minds" is the 21st single by Japanese singer and voice actress Nana Mizuki, released on January 13, 2010, by King Records. The single debuted at number one on Oricon weekly charts, becoming the first voice actress single to top the charts. It is also her current highest selling single.
Love, Election and Chocolate, abbreviated as Koichoco (恋チョコ), is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Sprite, which was released in Japan on October 29, 2010 for Windows PCs and later ported to the PlayStation Portable on September 27, 2012. The gameplay in Love, Election and Chocolate follows a branching plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters by the player character. There have been two manga adaptations serialized in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine and Dengeki Daioh. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by AIC Build and directed by Tōru Kitahata aired between July and September 2012, with an additional episode released on the series' final Blu-ray Disc and DVD volume in March 2013.
Science Adventure is a series of interconnected science fiction visual novel video games developed by 5pb., Nitroplus, and Chiyomaru Studio. It currently consists of six mainline games: the first entry in the series, Chaos;Head, was released in 2008, and is followed by Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, Chaos;Child, Occultic;Nine, Anonymous;Code as well as the upcoming Steins;???. The series also includes eight spin-off games based on Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, and Chaos;Child, as well as spinoffs in other mediums including anime, manga, light novels, audio dramas, and stage plays.
Infinity is a series of visual novel video games mainly developed by KID. The first game in the series, Never 7: The End of Infinity, was originally released as Infinity for PlayStation in 2000, and was later ported to other platforms. Since then, four more games have been developed, as well as a remake of the second game. The first three games were directed by Takumi Nakazawa, and the first four were planned and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi and composed for by Takeshi Abo. The fifth was written by the otome writing group Run & Gun, and featured sound production by the band Milktub. Alongside Memories Off, Infinity was KID's flagship series.
Anonymous;Code is a visual novel video game in development by Mages and Chiyomaru Studio, and is the sixth mainline entry in the Science Adventure series. Following a series of delays, the game was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on July 28, 2022 in Japan. The PlayStation Vita version was announced but has since been cancelled. A western English release, published by Spike Chunsoft, was announced in July 2022 and adds a Windows version to the list of platforms. It is scheduled for 2023.
Chaos;Child is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It is the fourth main entry in the Science Adventure series, and a thematic sequel to Chaos;Head (2008). It was released in Japan in 2014 for Xbox One, and later for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. An English localization was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita by PQube in 2017, and for Windows by Spike Chunsoft in 2019.
Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!! is a visual novel video game developed and published by 5pb. for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on March 30, 2017 in Japan. It is a fan disc for the 2014 game Chaos;Child, and part of the larger Science Adventure series. The story, which is affected by player choices, is set in Shibuya, Tokyo after the events of Chaos;Child, and follows Takuru Miyashiro, who ignores the "Return of the New Generation Madness" events, instead choosing to spend time with women.
Chaos;Child is a 2017 anime series based on the visual novel of the same name created by Mages and Nitroplus, and is part of the Science Adventure franchise. It was directed by Masato Jinbo at Silver Link, with music by Takeshi Abo and Onoken, and with main cast members from the video game reprising their roles.
Robotics;Notes DaSH, is a visual novel video game developed by Mages. It is part of the Science Adventure series, and is a sequel to the 2012 game Robotics;Notes. It was released in 2019 in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and was released in English in 2020 for the same platforms and Microsoft Windows by Spike Chunsoft. The game was written by Toru Yasumoto and Chiyomaru Shikura and produced by Tatsuya Matsubara, with character designs by Tomonori Fukuda, mechanical designs by Makoto Ishiwata and Yukihiro Matsuo, and music by Takeshi Abo.
