Aokana - Four Rhythms Across The Blue

''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue'', known in Japan as , officially abbreviated as and translated as ''Four Rhythms Across the Blue'', is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Sprite and released for Windows on November 28, 2014. The game was ported to the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. The plot follows high school student Masaya Hinata as he coaches fellow students Asuka Kurashina, Misaki Tobisawa, Mashiro Arisaka, and Shion Aoyagi in the sport of "flying circus", wherein competitors travel through the sky via shoes with anti-gravity properties. Depending on the route taken, Masaya can enter a romantic relationship with either Asuka, Misaki, Mashiro, or Rika Ichinose, a student from a rival school and his neighbor.

A manga adaptation began publication in ''Comp Ace'' magazine in October 2015. A spin-off mobile game was released in October 2016, followed by two fandiscs in 2017 and 2022 respectively. A sequel was announced for production but has since been put on hold. An anime television series adaptation, produced by Gonzo, directed by Fumitoshi Oizaki, and written by Reiko Yoshida aired between January and March 2016. Crunchyroll and Funimation co-released the anime television series on Blu-ray in North America in 2018.

Gameplay

''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue'' is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Masaya Hinata. Much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. The text in the game is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Masaya is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. The game follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.

There are four main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each heroine. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. Some decisions can lead the game to end prematurely, which offer an alternative ending to the plot. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. Throughout gameplay, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Masaya and a given heroine having sex.

Plot

In an alternate universe, shoes with anti-gravity properties are invented called Grav-Shoes, which allow people to fly freely. This leads to the development of a sport known as Flying Circus, where participants either race from one buoy to another or touch the opponent's back to score points. Masaya Hinata is a student at Kunahama Institute, which is located in a four-island archipelago south of Japan. In the past, he was active in the sport, but quit due to an overwhelming defeat. His life changes when a cheerful girl named Asuka Kurashina transfers to his school. There, Asuka becomes interested in Flying Circus, and despite being unfamiliar with the sport and a newcomer to the use of Grav-Shoes, she manages to score a point during a match with the Vice-Captain of a powerhouse school. This leads Asuka and Masaya, together with their classmate Misaki Tobisawa, first-year student Mashiro Arisaka and siblings Shion and Madoka Aoyagi to form a Flying Circus team.

Characters

Main characters

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: (anime)
:Masaya is player character in the visual novels and the supporting character in the anime. In his childhood, he was the prodigal protege of the world-famous Skywalker, Aoi Kagami; however, after suffering an especially brutal defeat, he retired from the sport and went on with his high school life wanting to have nothing to do with Flying Circus.

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:A transfer student at Kunahama Institute, Asuka had never worn Grav-Shoes prior to moving to the island, but is able to pull off an air kick turn (a very difficult maneuver) her first time flying with them. Despite her ditziness she is also determined at times, training hard while having fun.

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:A second-year student at Kunahama Institute. Out of all the new Kunahama FC club members, she is the only one with previous experience in the sport. She and Mashiro are good friends. Has a fascination with cats and sometimes adds "nya" into her speech. Her favorite food is udon.

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:A first-year student at Kunahama whose family owns a restaurant that serves udon. She is very overprotective of Misaki and joins the FC club to be with her.

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:Masaya's neighbor and a first-year student at Takafuji Academy, a school with one of the top FC teams.

Other characters

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:A second-year student at Takafuji and the Vice-Captain of the Takafuji FC club. She's proud and a bit self-centered, often making "grand entrances". Her family runs the Satou Food Group, a catering company famous for their high-quality seafood.

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:A second-year student at Kairyou Academy. She had previously participated in FC in England and is one of the fastest players in the world. Appears emotionless most of the time. She has been best friends with her mentor, Irina, since they were children.

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:The physical and health education teacher at Kunahama Institute and a former national FC player. She serves as Masaya's mentor and the FC club's advisor.

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:A third-year student at Kunahama Institute and the president of the Kunahama FC club. He is the last remaining member of the club before Masaya and others joined and tends to be overly dramatic in his actions.

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:Manager of the Kunahama FC club and classmate of Asuka, Masaya and Misaki. She is Shion's younger sister.

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:Mashiro's classmate and member of the newspaper club in Kunahama. She's very energetic and always carries around a microphone. She is also the commentator for the FC tournaments.

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:A worker at Sky Sports Shirase, a sporting goods store owned by his family that sells FC equipment.

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:Hayato's younger sister. She helps out at the store and has a shy personality.

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:Mashiro's mother and owner of the family restaurant Mashiro Udon.

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:Captain of the Takafuji FC club. He is a world-class FC player. He was inspired by Masaya to participate in FC hoping to beat him someday.

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:A second-year student at Kairyou Academy and Saki's coach. Originally from England, she is the daughter of a famous Grav-Shoe maker. She is obsessed in creating the "perfect and beautiful" FC based on Aoi's style.

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:Flying style: Speeder
:A first-year student at Shitou Suisan Academy. She is a close friend of Mashiro.

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:A second-year student at Shitou Suisan Academy and Arika's senior and coach.

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:A second-year student at Dougaura High. A childhood friend of Rika, she was the one who introduced Rika to the world of Flying Circus.

Development and release

''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue'' is Sprite's second game after their debut title ''Love, Election and Chocolate''. The game's producer was Akira Sakamoto. The project's planning was headed by Nachi Kio, who also contributed as the main scenario writer alongside Ryōichi Watanabe and Ryūsuke Mutsu. Artist Suzumori served as the art director and co-character designer with Itsuka Yūki. The background music was produced by members of Elements Garden. The game was released on November 28, 2014, as a limited edition version, playable on a Windows PC. A PlayStation Vita version of the game was released on February 25, 2016, and a high-definition version for the PlayStation 4 was released on January 26, 2017. A Nintendo Switch version of the game was released in late 2017.

A smartphone game titled ''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue: Eternal Sky'' was released on October 5, 2016, and a sequel titled ''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue: Zwei'' was announced at the AnimeJapan event in March 2016. Due to Sprite going on hiatus following in 2018, development of ''Zwei'' was indefinitely put on hold.

The game was announced for an English release by NekoNyan in 2019 on Steam. A Nintendo Switch version of the game was released on August 21, 2020 in North America and Europe. However, it has been delayed to an undetermined date for PlayStation 4 after its release was limited to digital-only due to changes related to seven scenes within the game and "significantly less interest" expected in a physical version as a result. Four scenes have been modified and three have been removed completely, while the Nintendo Switch release received no changes to content or choice between physical and digital versions.

Fandiscs

A fandisc titled ''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue: Extra 1'' was released in Japan on June 30, 2017, and worldwide on June 11, 2020. ''Extra 1S,'' a Nintendo Switch port of ''Extra 1'', is confirmed to be in production as of June 2022, containing multiple new event scenes.

''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue: Extra 2,'' the second fandisc, was officially announced on June 16, 2020, and was released in Japan on May 27, 2022. An English release was announced on August 19, 2022.

A new game titled ''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue: If 01 - Minamo Shirase -'' was announced by Sprite in October 2021, and is currently in development by Filmic Novel, a brand of Sprite. It will feature Minamo Shirase as the main heroine.

Adaptations

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Hideyu Tōgarashi began serialization in Kadokawa Corporation's ''Comp Ace'' magazine with the December 2015 issue sold on October 26, 2015. The first ''tankōbon'' volume was released on January 26, 2016.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation, produced by Gonzo, directed by Fumitoshi Oizaki, and written by Reiko Yoshida aired on TV Tokyo streamed the series, which arranged Funimation to release it on home video with an English dub on September 11, 2018. Although there are romantic plot lines with Masaya and each of the four heroines in the visual novel, this is averted in the anime adaptation, and the view-point character is Asuka instead of Masaya.

Music

''Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue'' has seven pieces of theme music: one opening theme, one insert song, and five ending themes. The opening theme is by Mami Kawada. The insert song is "Infinite Sky" by Kotoko. Each heroine has her own ending theme, starting with Asuka's theme by Misato Fukuen. Misaki's theme is "Sense of Life" by Azumi Asakura. Mashiro's theme is "Millions of You" by Nozomi Yamamoto. Rika's theme is "Night Flight" by Madoka Yonezawa. The main ending theme is "Sky is the Limit" by Kawada. In addition, an image song single titled "Rays of the Sun" by Kawada was released on December 28, 2014, at Comiket 87. The main opening theme for the HD versions of the game is "Crossing Way" by Kawada.

The anime's opening theme is by Kawada and the ending theme is "A-gain" by Ray. The single for "Contrail (Kiseki)" was released on January 27, 2016, and the single for "A-gain" was released on February 17, 2016; The opening theme to ''Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm: Eternal Sky'' is "Believe in the Sky" by Kawada. A vocal collection of music for the series, which includes "Believe in the Sky", was released on May 1, 2016.

Reception

Thomas Knight of ''NookGaming'' praised the worldbuilding, and ''Hey Poor Players Kenny McKee said that "If you like VNs, you’re going to like Aokana." However Reuben Mount of ''TheSixthAxis'' and Lyle Carr of ''God is a Geek'' felt the lewd moments and pantyshots were a negative.

In the 2014 Moe Game Awards, ''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue'' placed first.

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References

External links

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''Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue''
at Sprite
Anime official website

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{{Reiko Yoshida

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