, formerly and , is a Japanese company which specializes primarily in the publishing and distribution of

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

s, including both adult games under their brand

Leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...

and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

based on Leaf's games. The company is also involved with

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, franchised restaurants, and at one point was involved with

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

History

Aquaplus was established in October 1994 in

Itami, Hyōgo is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-eastern Hyōgo Prefec ...

, Japan as a

and

publishing company at the time called ; their adult game brand

was also established at this time. In February 1995, Leaf produced their first game, and later that year in November U-Office started releasing all-ages games for the PC under their name. The company changed its name to in May 1996, and became a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

. In 1997, Aqua opened their

specialty shop Aqua in Yachiyo, Hyōgo, Japan. In 1998, the company changed their name to the current Aquaplus. In October of that year, Aquaplus opened a development office in Toshima, Tokyo. In March 1999, Aquaplus published their first visual novel on a home console, '' To Heart'', for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. In May two months later, Fix Records was established as the

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

for

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s released through, and related to, Aquaplus; the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the PS version of ''To Heart'' was the label's first production. In June 2000, the head office moved to its current location in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan. In November 2001, Aquaplus produced their PDA/

handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the con ...

P/ECE. In 2002, Aquaplus became involved in managing franchised restaurants. At the end of 2002, Aquaplus moved their Tokyo development office to Taitō, Tokyo. In August 2007, Aquaplus closed down their automobile specialty shop Aqua. In 2011, Aquaplus developed the 2D arcade fighting game '' Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match'', with all the characters coming from various Leaf visual novels. The company was acquired by Crest (currently: HIKE) in December 2022.

Enterprises

Aquaplus is mainly involved with the publishing and distribution of

s, including both adult games under their brand

and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus manages a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

named Studio Aqua which puts out

s by Indie music artists in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

of Japan where Aquaplus is located. Albums released in connection with the visual novels the company publishes are also recorded at Studio Aqua. Aquaplus's

is Fix Records, and excluding the artists with albums released by Studio Aqua, all albums produced by Aquaplus are on this label, including all albums related to the visual novels by Leaf and Aquaplus as well as some belonging to mainstream artists such as Suara. Aquaplus is involved with the franchised restaurants Toriaizu Gohei and Gyu-Kaku in Hyōgo, Japan. Aquaplus had managed an

specialty shop in Taka, Hyōgo, Japan called Aqua, but closed it down on August 31, 2007. The shop specialized in customizing

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

s, including for street races.

P/ECE

In addition to software publishing, Aquaplus produced P/ECE, a

greyscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a greyscale (more common in Commonwealth English) or grayscale (more common in American English) image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample repres ...

mobile gaming platform that allows user to download games via

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

or infrared port. The specifications of the P/ECE are as follows: * Screen ** Four-level grayscale FSTN

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

** 128 x 88 pixel resolution * Sound:

PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...

* CPU: EPSON S1C33209 24 MHz (32-bit RISC) * Main Memory: 256kb SRAM * Storage: 512kb flash RAM P/ECE unit has preloaded 'Picket' software, which is an electronic organizer. Aquaplus offered downloadable freeware titles such as '' Multi's Going Out'', ''Black Wings'', ''TANK BATTLE'', ''Ojomajomini'', ''Inagawa de Urou!!''.

Animated works

*'' To Heart 2 OVA'' (2007, with

Chaos Project is a Japanese animation studio that specializes in the production of anime. The studio's main jobs are as a sub-contracting company. Establishment After working with Tsuchida Production, Ayumi Enomoto joined Studio Fantasia was a Japanese ...

) *'' To Heart 2 AD'' (2008, with Chaos Project) *'' To Heart 2 AD Plus'' (2009, with Chaos Project) *'' Utawarerumono OVA'' (2009–2010, with Chaos Project) *'' To Heart 2 AD Next'' (2010, with Chaos Project)

References

External links

Aquaplus's official website

Studio Aqua's official website

Fix Records' official website

Aqua's official website
{{Authority control Amusement companies of Japan Video game companies established in 1994 Companies based in Osaka Mass media in Osaka Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Japanese companies established in 1994