, also known as simply ''Polyphonica'', is a Japanese all-age

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

created by

Ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southw ...

and first released for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

on April 28, 2006. Aside from the game, multiple series of

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language ...

s have been created, and a

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

adaptation started in March 2007. An

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

adaptation that aired in Japan between April to June 2007. Another anime adaption aired from April to June 2009, and was a prequel of the events in the first anime. The original game, the Crimson series, will start its second installment, covering the third and fourth story. The Black and White ''Polyphonica'' series were adapted from a printed novel to visual novel media in spring 2007, respectively titled ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica THE BLACK'' and ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Memories White''.

Plot

In the continent of Polyphonica, spirits materialize in the world, surviving on the music that is played by humans, and live together with them. While the spirits do not appear often, some spirits have enough power to materialize in human or animal forms. Musicians called play using special instruments called which enable the spirits they have partnered with to manifest their true powers. The ''Crimson'' series follows the adventures of a Dantist named Tatara Phoron and his contract spirit Coathicarte Apa Lagranges (Coatie). In the video game, the player plays Phoron as a student at . In the first ''Polyphonica'' anime television series, he and his friends work together at . The second television series, ''Polyphonica Crimson S'', takes place when they are still in school.

Release history

There have been five ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica''

s released, with three different series. ; ''Polyphonica Crimson'' series * ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica ~Episode 1&2 Box Edition~'' – April 28, 2006 * ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica ~Episode 3&4 Box Edition~'' – May 25, 2007 ; ''Polyphonica Black'' series * ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica THE BLACK ~Episode 1&2 Box Edition~'' – August 10, 2007 ; ''Polyphonica White'' series * ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Memories White ~First Emotion~'' – June 29, 2007 * ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Memories White ~Endless Aria~'' – July 13, 2007

Adaptations

Light novels

After the game, the ''Polyphonica'' series expanded into a

series. The stories are loosely connected in a

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, char ...

setting. The novels are published by ''

GA Bunko is a publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company SB Creative, a subsidiary of Softbank. It was established in January 2006 and is a light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult no ...

'', a division of '' Softbank Creative''. Some of the series are identified with colors. The ''Black'' series happens in the same timeline as the ''Crimson'' series, which follows the main characters of the game. The ''White'' series appears to take place in the distant past. ;Polyphonica Crimson series :Story:

Ichirō Sakaki is a Japanese writer. He writes light novels and manga. Works *'' Scrapped Princess'' (light novel, 1999 – 2005; manga, 2002–2004) *'' Strait Jacket'' (light novel, 2000 – 2010) *''Magician's Academy'' (light novel, 2003 – 2007; manga, ...

/ Illustrations: Noboru Kannatsuki :# ''Wayward Crimson'' - January 15, 2006 :# ''Romantic Crimson'' - May 15, 2006 :# ''Spurting Crimson'' - September 15, 2006 :# ''Struggle Crimson'' - October 15, 2006 :# ''Beginning Crimson'' - May 15, 2007 :# ''Jealous Crimson'' - July 15, 2008 :# ''Aiding Crimson'' - September 15, 2008 :# ''Chasing Crimson'' - April 15, 2009 :# ''Nostalgic Crimson'' - October 16, 2010 :# ''Lookback Crimson'' - July 16, 2011 :# ''Deciding Crimson'' - November 15, 2012 :# ''Final Rising Crimson'' - June 15, 2013 ; Polyphonica Crimson S series : Story:

/ Illustrations: Noboru Kannatsuki :# ''Crimson S'' ''(1)'' - November 15, 2008 :# ''Crimson S'' ''(2)'' - January 15, 2009 :# ''Crimson S (3)'' - March 15, 2009 :# ''Crimson S (4)'' - June 15, 2009 :# ''Crimson S (5)'' - September 15, 2009 :# ''Crimson S (6)'' - March 16, 2010 ; Polyphonica After School series : Story:

/ Illustrations: Noboru Kannatsuki :# ''After School 1 - July 17, 2012'' :# ''After School 2'' - October 17, 2012 :# ''After School 3'' - March 16, 2013 ;Polyphonica Black series :Story: Junichi Ōsako / Illustrations: BUNBUN :# ''Inspector Black'' - June 15, 2006 :# ''Silent Black'' - August 15, 2006 :# ''Player Black'' - December 15, 2006 :# ''Triangle Black'' - March 15, 2007 :# ''Resolution Black'' - July 15, 2007 :# ''Patient Black'' - October 12, 2007 :# ''Memo Wars Black'' - February 15, 2008 :# ''Reliance Black'' - July 15, 2008 :# ''Isolation Black'' - October 15, 2008 :# ''Liberation Black'' - January 15, 2009 :# ''Addration Black - May 15, 2009'' :# ''Promist Black'' - August 15, 2009 :# ''Advent Black'' - November 15, 2009 :# ''InterLude Black'' - October 16, 2010 ;Polyphonica Leon series :Story: Junichi Ōsako / Illustrations: Shinobu Shoryu :# ''Leon the Resurrector 1'' - November 30, 2007 :# ''Leon the Resurrector 2'' - May 15, 2008 :# ''Leon the Resurrector 3'' - November 15, 2008 :# ''Leon the Resurrector 4'' - April 15, 2009 ; Polyphonica Gold series :Story: Junichi Ōsako / Illustrations: Shinobu Shoryu :# Leon the Gold - October 15, 2009 ;Polyphonica White series :Story:

Madoka Takadono Madoka is both a feminine Japanese given name and a Japanese surname. Possible writings Madoka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: ;as a given name *円, "circle" *円花, "circle, flower" *窓香, "window, incense/arom ...

/ Illustrations:

Kinako Hiro ''Kinako'' ( or ) is roasted soybean flour, a product commonly used in Japanese cuisine. In English, it is usually called "roasted soy flour". More precisely it is "roasted whole soy flour". Usage of the word ''kinako'' appeared in cookbooks f ...

:#''Eternal White'' - July 15, 2006 :#''Infinity White'' - November 15, 2006 :#''Missing White'' - April 15, 2007 :# A''nniversary White ''-'' ''September 15, 2007 :# A''ncient White ''- September 11, 2008 :# ''Spiral White'' - December 15, 2008 :# ''Marginal White'' - March 15, 2009 :# ''Memories White'' - June 15, 2009 :# ''Purely White'' - February 15, 2010 :# ''Reunion White'' - July 15, 2010 :# Regret White - November 15, 2010 :# Wizout White - May 15, 2011 :# Never Ending White - November 15, 2011 ;Polyphonica Blue series :Story: Toshihiko Tsukiji / Illustrations: Eiji Usatsuka :# ''Excite Blue'' - February 15, 2007 :# ''Fugitive Blue'' - June 15, 2007 :# ''Confusion Blue -'' August 15, 2009 ;Polyphonica Dan Sariel series :Story: Toshihiko Tsukiji / Illustrations: Kazuaki :# ''Dan Sariel and the White Silver Tiger'' - September 15, 2008 :# ''Dan Sariel and the Magician of Hydra'' - April 15, 2009 :# ''The Quartet of Midnight with Dan Sariel'' - July 15, 2010 ;Polyphonica Eiphonic Songbird series :Story:

/ Illustrations: Cantok :# May 15, 2012 :# August 11, 2012 :# March 15, 2014 :# April 15, 2014 ;Short stories and anthology :# ''Marble'' - January 15, 2007 :# ''Marble 2'' - January 15, 2008 :# ''Palette'' - August 10, 2007

Manga

Written by Ichiro Sakaki and illustrated by Tomo Hirokawa, a

series adaptation entitled began serialization as a web comic on March 2007 in FlexComix Blood and ended in 2012. It was collected in nine volumes. The series was picked up for an English release by

CMX Manga CMX was an imprint of DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It was DC's line of manga translations. CMX was known for its censored release of '' Tenjho Tenge'' and the print version of Fred Gallagher's ''Megatokyo'' web manga se ...

, with the first volume released on June 29, 2010. They did not release others. Tomo Hirokawa designed a

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

's nengajō for 2008. The ''Black'' series was adapted into a manga series illustrated by Yonemura Koichiro as a web comic and was serialized from December 2008 to 2011 in ''Flex Comix Next''. It was compiled into three volumes. The ''White'' series was adapted into a manga series illustrated by Yoko Fujioka and was serialized from April 2008 to 2011 in '' Monthly Princess''. It was compiled into five volumes.

Anime

T.O Entertainment adapted ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica'' into a twelve episode

series directed by Junichi Watanabe and Masami Shimoda and written by Ichiro Sakaki. On February 6, 2007, one month after the first manga adaptation was announced, the anime adaptation was announced. Broadcast on TBS, the series premiered on April 3, 2007 and aired weekly until its conclusion on June 19, 2007. The music was composed by

Hikaru Nanase is a Japanese unisex given name meaning "light" or "radiance". Possible writings Hikaru can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 光, "light" * 輝, "radiance" The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana. It i ...

. Two pieces of theme music were used for the anime. "Apocrypha" is performed by eufonius as the opening theme. is performed by kukui as the ending theme.

Diomedéa , previously known as , is a Japanese animation studio located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded on October 5, 2005 after a split from Group TAC. Productions Television series Original video animations Films See also * Grou ...

adapted the series into another season entitled ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Crimson S'', directed by

Toshimasa Suzuki is a Japanese director, animator, and storyboard artist. He joined Shaft (company), Shaft in 1995 as an episode director and storyboard artist, and although he continues to work for Shaft, Suzuki commonly directs series with other studios, most ...

and written by

Ken'ichi Kanemaki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Ken'ichi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢一, "wise, one" *健一, "healthy, one" *憲一, "constitution, one" *謙一, "humble, one" *建一, "build, one" * ...

, that is not a continuation of the first and will tie into Ichiro Sakaki and Noboru Kannatsuki's light novel adaptation of the same name. The official website was launched on November 11, 2008 and began streaming a promotional video on March 23, 2009 featuring the anime's opening theme but contained no actual anime footage. The series premiered on TVK and

TV Saitama abbreviated TVS, doing business as is a Japanese fee-free terrestrial commercial television broadcasting company headquartered in Urawa-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its intended coverage is Saitama Prefecture but with some sp ...

on March 4, 2009 and is currently broadcasting weekly. The series was also broadcast on AT-X, Gifu Broadcasting, MBS, and Mie TV. The music is directed by

Jin Aketagawa Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean. It may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), ...

and composed by Magic Capsule. Two pieces of theme music were used for the anime. "Phosphorous" is performed by eufonius as the opening theme. is performed by

Haruka Tomatsu is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n. She received the Rookie of the Year award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and the Synergy Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. Tomatsu voiced Asuna Yuuki in ''Sword Art Online'', Zero Two in '' ...

as ending theme.

North American releases

The ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica'' anime series was licensed for distribution in North America by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is ...

. A DVD collection of all 12 episodes, in Japanese language with English subtitles, titled ''Polyphonica: Complete Collection'', was released on November 17, 2009. The second season prequel series ''Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Crimson S'' was licensed for distribution in North America by

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album ''Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

. A complete DVD collection titled ''Polyphonica Crimson S'', containing all 12 episodes, in Japanese language with English subtitles, was released on April 3, 2012. Both seasons of the anime series have been posted on the

Anime Network Anime Network is an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscript ...

website for online streaming.

Role-playing game

A Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica RPG, published by GA Bunko, went on sale in Japan in August 2008. The game is designed by Takashi Osada and FarEast Amusement Research, and uses the Standard RPG System. The

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and c ...

is based mainly on Polyphonica Crimson series.

Music

;Crimson Series Theme song: "Crimson Calling" by Rita (Ep 1 & 2) :"Crimson Calling (Ending Ver.)" by Rita (Ep 3 & 4) Insert song: "Song of Wave" by

Yuiko Yuiko (written: 結子, 悠衣子 or ゆい子) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese women's footballer *, Japanese singer *, Japanese voice actress {{given name Japanese feminine given names ...

(Ep 3&4) Ending theme: "Crimson Reason" by Rita (Ep 3 & 4) ;Black Series Theme song: "Hurting Heart" by

fripSide fripSide is a Japanese pop and trance duo originally formed by composer Satoshi Yaginuma (Sat) and singer Nao in February 2002. History In a 2008 interview, Satoshi said that he was a fan of TM Network and its member Tetsuya Komuro in his ele ...

;White Series Theme song: by

Eri Kitamura is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She was previously affiliated with Early Wing, but is now a freelancer. She is known for voicing prominent roles in anime such as and Sayaka Miki in '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', Saya Otonashi in ''Bloo ...

CDs

:Opening Single: "Apocrypha" by eufonius - April 25, 2007 :Ending Single: by kukui - May 23, 2007 :Game Original Soundtrack: May 25, 2007 :Anime Original Soundtrack - Atmosphere: June 27, 2007, composed by

Notes

References

External links

; Games
Ocelot official website
– has links to ''Polyphonica'' games *

*

*
Official Polyphonica Black Series game website
*

*

; Novels and Manga

; Anime * *
Polyphonica @ TBS

Official Polyphonica Crimson S TV website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinkyoku Sokai Polyphonica 2006 Japanese novels 2006 video games 2007 video games Anime television series based on video games Diomedéa Fantasy anime and manga GA Bunko Ichirō Sakaki Japan-exclusive video games Light novels Maiden Japan Mainichi Broadcasting System original programming Manga based on video games Music in anime and manga PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Romance anime and manga Romance video games Shōnen manga Sentai Filmworks TBS Television (Japan) original programming Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games Prototype (company) games