Hiroyuki Kanno (菅野ひろゆき, 8 May 1968 – 19 December 2011) was a Japanese video game designer who wrote and directed

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 and

eroge An ''eroge'' (, ''eroge'', or , ''erogē'', ), also called an H-game, 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 crea ...

adventure games starting in the 1990s. Some of his most well-known games include ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

'', '' EVE Burst Error'' (at ) and '' YU-NO'' (at

ELF Corporation , stylized as élf, was a Japanese eroge studio. One of its most popular games is ''Dōkyūsei (video game), Dōkyūsei'', a pioneering dating sim, which has had a sequel and been turned into adult OVA series. The character design of the main ...

), which had a major influence on the visual novel genre. His games often feature multiple narrative layers, such as different character viewpoints or overlapping mystery

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

s. He was friends with Ryu Umemoto, who often worked closely with him and composed music for the games. In December 1997, he founded Abel corporation and became its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. In 2011, Kanno died due to

cerebral infarction Cerebral infarction, also known as an ischemic stroke, is the pathologic process that results in an area of necrotic tissue in the brain (cerebral infarct). In mid to high income countries, a stroke is the main reason for disability among peo ...

and

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

Games

*''

'' (1994) * (1994) *'' EVE Burst Error'' (1995) *'' YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World'' (1996) *''

Exodus Guilty ''Exodus Guilty'' is a 1998 visual novel video game designed by Hiroyuki Kanno. It was released first as a CD game for consoles in Japan, later ported to Windows, and then converted into a DVD game in three parts. The DVD version was release ...

'' (1998) * (2000) * (2004)

Legacy

According to

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

, ''YU-NO'' is "considered one of the most beloved narrative games in Japan, and its system of parallel storylines had a profound influence on storytelling in visual novels in the years since its original release." According to ITmedia, the influence of Kanno, and ''YU-NO'' in particular, goes beyond visual novels and extends to modern

Otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

works in general. The

mangaka A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pr ...

Tamiki Wakaki, for example, has cited ''YU-NO'' as an influence on the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

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 ...

series, ''

The World God Only Knows , abbreviated as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 2008 to April 2014, with its chapters collected in 26 ''tankōbon'' vo ...

''. Other visual novel and manga authors who cited ''YU-NO'' as an influence include Romeo Tanaka, Poyoyon Rock,

Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and composer. He is a 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 ...

Type-Moon Type-Moon (stylized as TYPE-MOON) is a Japanese video game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operation ...

's Hikaru Sakurai, '' White Album 2'' and '' Saekano'' author Fumiaki Maruto, and '' To Heart'' author Toru Minazuki. According to ''RPG Site'', Hiroyuki Kanno's work influenced later visual novels such as ''

Fate/stay night ''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Type-Moon. It was first released for Microsoft Windows, Windows on January 30, 2004. The story takes place over three distinct routes: ''Fate'', ''Unlimited Blade Works'' ...

'' and ''

Steins;Gate ''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 ...

''.

References

External links

Article at Giantbomb
1968 births 2011 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Japanese video game designers Japanese video game directors Japanese video game producers Japanese video game writers {{japan-writer-stub