Sakura No Uta
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is a Japanese
adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...
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 ...
developed by Makura and released on October 23, 2015 for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. It is Makura's third game after '' H2O: Footprints in the Sand'' and '' Root After and Another''. The plot explores topics related to art and
aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...
, such as
aestheticism Aestheticism (also known as the aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century that valued the appearance of literature, music, fonts and the arts over their functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to b ...
,
mimesis Mimesis (; , ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act of expression, the act of ...
and the nature of artistic genius, incorporating references to literary figures such as
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
and
Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist, poet, and children's literature writer from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social ...
.


Gameplay

The gameplay requires almost no interaction from the player as nearly the entire duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen; this text represents either
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. There is a single choice that the player gets to make which determines which girl the protagonist chooses. There are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. In order to view the six plot lines to their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose a different choice at the single decision point in order to further the plot in an alternate direction. A true ending will be available after the completion of the stories of all the heroines.


Plot

Naoya Kusanagi lost his mother when he was a child. Naoya's father, who is a famous artist is the only person that can help him cope with the loss of his friend Rin Misakura, who moved away while they were in elementary school. 6 years later, Naoya's father died. After the funeral ends, Naoya is taken into the custody of The Natsume family in exchange for cooking meals at their home, and Rin is transferred back to Naoya's class.


Characters

; :Naoya is the main protagonist of the story. He moved into the Natsume household after his father died. He cooks for the Natsume family since neither Ai, Kei, nor Shizuku can cook decent meals. ; :Rin is Naoya's childhood friend, and is quite clumsy. She moved to the countryside, but then moved back, transferring to Naoya's class. She refers to Naoya as "Kusanagi-kun", but used to call him "Nao-kun" before she moved back. ; :Shizuku is Ai's and Kei's younger sister; she rarely smiles. She is currently working as a model. ; :Yūmi is an underclassman to Naoya. She is a neat freak. ; :Ai is Kei's and Shizuku's older sister, and Naoya's homeroom teacher. She is popular among the students, and is very short despite being twenty-four-years-old. After Naoya's father died, she invited him to live with her family. ; :Makoto is the president of the school's art club; she is a very bossy person. ; :Rina is an underclassman to Naoya. After Rin moved away, Naoya began to play with her. She looks up to Naoya as her big brother. ; :Kei is Ai's and Shizuku's brother, and also Naoya's good friend. ;


Development

Originally titled '': The tear flows because of tenderness.'', it was announced as the debut title for Japanese developer Makura in 2004.TECH GIAN 2004年5月号 p.209.PUSH!! 2004年4月号 p.32. A
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 ...
adaptation illustrated by Hakone Odawara was serialized in
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
's
manga magazine 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 an ...
''
Comp Ace is a Japanese computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Comp Ace'' began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, '' Comptiq''. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and was p ...
'' between March 26, 2005 and March 26, 2006; the chapters were later collected into a single ''
tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' volume released on June 7, 2006. According to brand representative SCA-DI, Makura was originally conceived as a separate entity from KeroQ where they could release titles "that SCA-DI couldn't write", and they planned their first work to depict ordinary schooldays. However, the original script for ''Sakura no Uta'' became depressing in tone, so it was scrapped and they released ''H2O: Footprints in the Sand'' first, which was being developed simultaneously.TECH GIAN 2014年6月号 pp.56-66. Afterward, development of ''Sakura no Uta'' restarted, this time with SCA-DI writing the script. The third chapter, "PicaPica", was written by Ei Asou. A trial version called was released on September 6, 2008 as a pre-order bonus for ''Supreme Candy ~Oudou ni wa Oudoutaru Riyuu ga Arun Desu!~'', containing the first chapter of the title. It was later rereleased as a bonus for the June 2014 issue of Tech Gian and the Official Visual Archive. However, the final product and its respective trial version were highly different from this "prototype," with changes ranging from the characters to the setting, and the graphics being redrawn.TECH GIAN 2014年6月号 p.12. p.62 SCA-DI announced that he is working on a sequel titled , and a teaser website was made public on July 28, 2017. In responding to a Reddit AMA concerning the then to-be released English localization of '' Wonderful Everyday'', SCA-DI stated that he would be "especially happy" if a localization for ''Sakura no Uta'' and ''Sakura to Toki'' were to be released. However, no plans to do so have been announced.


Reception

''Sakura no Uta'' won the grand prize in the overall category of the Moe Game Awards 2015, the gold prize in the Users' Pick category, and the first place in the October monthly award. It also achieved first place in the overall, scenario, and music categories of the 2015 PC game rankings on Getchu.com. Additionally, characters Ai Natsume and Shizuku Natsume were voted second and nineteenth respectively, and the opening movie achieved second place.


References


External links


Visual novel official website
*{{vndb, 562 2015 video games Bishōjo games Eroge Japan-exclusive video games Romance video games Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games Windows-only games