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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, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Switch. 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.
An eroge is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first eroge were created in the 1980s, and many well-known companies in the Japanese gaming industry originally produced and distributed them. Some eroge are primarily focused on erotic content, while others, such as Key's Kanon, only contain occasional scenes in an otherwise non-erotic work. Games in the latter category are often re-released with sexual content removed for general audiences. Throughout its history, the genre has faced controversy for its use of explicit sexual content, and as a result has been banned from several console platforms.
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.
KSS Inc. was a Japanese company that provided anime studio services including production, music, subtitles and translation. From 1993 to 2001, it also developed and published video games. KSS also created the adult brand Pink Pineapple.
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Arts. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visual Arts, known for developing titles such as Kanon and Air. Excluding two albums and one single that were released by Key and Visual Arts' 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.
KID was a Japan-based company specializing in porting and developing bishōjo games.
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.
One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e is a Japanese adult visual novel, developed by Tactics, a brand of Nexton, released on May 29, 1998 playable on Windows PCs. The erotic content was later removed when the game was ported to the PlayStation. The story follows the life of Kōhei Orihara, a high school student who has fun spending time with several girls about his age, while at the same time he is gradually being drawn into a mystical alternate space known as the Eternal World.
Visual Arts, formerly Visual Artist Office and previously spelled in English as VisualArt's, is a Japanese publishing company which specializes in publishing and distributing visual novels for a large list of game developers. Visual Arts has developed game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and AVG32. Visual Arts also handles the distribution of these games. The games published are mostly for a male audience, though they also publish games targeted towards women as well. They are well known for publishing games developed by Key, such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad.
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.
Naru Nanao is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Okinawa, Japan. Nanao's choice of her pseudonym stems from Circus' game Aries, in which one of the characters was named Runa Nanao. She is a free illustrator and thus is not affiliated with one single company; she is primarily a character designer. She began working with video game developers in 2000, but she is most well known for providing original character design for three heroines in the original D.C.: Da Capo visual novel by Circus released in 2002. Other works include Canvas 2: Niji Iro no Sketch, Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two, and Sola. At one point, she only went by her given name Naru. She is the supervisor of her dōjinshi circle known as "Ice and Chocolate". She often collaborates with another circle named "Poteneko" (ぽてねこ). She even provided the front-cover illustration for the Comiket 70 catalog for August 2006.
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.
Moon is a Japanese adult horror visual novel developed by Tactics, a brand of Nexton, released on November 21, 1997, playable on Windows PCs. The game was described by the development team as a "Reaching the Heart AVG". The story follows the protagonist Ikumi Amasawa, a teenage girl who joins a mysterious organization called Fargo in the hopes of discovering why and how her mother died, who was a member of the same group. The gameplay in Moon follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the three female main characters. The game ranked twice in the national top 50 for best-selling PC games sold in Japan.
Nexton Co., Ltd. is a Japanese software publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of adult visual novels for 23 game development brands that Nexton is partners with. The company is located in Osaka, Japan. The current president, Akihiko Suzuki has served as the chief director of the Ethics Organization of Computer Software.
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.
Iro ni Ide ni Keri Waga Koi wa, abbreviated as Denikeri (でにけり), is a Japanese adult visual novel developed and published by Windmill for Windows. It was released on April 29, 2010. Denikeri is Windmill's eleventh game, along with other titles like Happiness! and Shukufuku no Campanella. The game bears the tagline of "my deep love shows in the blush of my face".
References
- 1 2 "OdiakeS' profile on his personal website" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "OdiakeS' visual novel contributions" (in Japanese). Erogamescape. Archived from the original on April 16, 2005. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
- ↑ "SJV-SC's official website" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- 1 2 "OdiakeS' discography on his personal website" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- ↑ "Information on the Twinkle Crusaders limited and premium edition releases" (in Japanese). Lillian. Retrieved October 1, 2008.
- ↑ "Spec/Staff｜Strawberry Nauts" (in Japanese). Hooksoft . Retrieved January 17, 2012.
