, known also by the

blend word In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

''Housamo'' (放サモ, derived from ''Tōkyō Hōkago Samonāzu''), is an F2P

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

for

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

. It is developed by , a

mobile gaming A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

company operated by the

dōjin circle In Japan, a is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works pro ...

. It is noted as one of the first commercially produced

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

video games created in Japan, and one of the first commercially produced LGBT games to extensively utilize

gay manga is a colloquialism for a genre of Japanese art and media known within Japan as or . The genre focuses on male same-sex love, as created primarily by gay men for a gay male audience. ''Bara'' can vary in visual style and plot, but typically ...

artwork.

Gameplay

''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' is a

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

card-based

with

turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

battles. Each character card has a weapon type, as well as an elemental attribute that determines its strengths and weaknesses against other cards in

rock–paper–scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by several other names and word orders) is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes ar ...

-style match-ups. Cards gain levels and abilities by accruing experience through battles; once a card reaches its level cap, special items must be used to uncap the card so it can gain more experience. The game utilizes an affinity system wherein buffs are applied when the cards of characters who have a relationship ("love", "like", "dislike", and "rival") are used in battle together. Cards are obtained through quests, or through the game's gacha system.

Development

The game was released on the

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

for

on December 2, 2016, and on

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

for

on December 15, 2016. Partial support for the game in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

, and

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

was added in March 2018. Several prominent

artists, including RybiOK, GomTang, and naop, have designed characters for the game, making ''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' one of the first ever commercially produced video games to feature gay manga artwork.

Plot

The protagonist awakens in a version of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

where "transients" – supernatural beings from fantasy and mythology – live among humans. In this world, both humans and transients utilize mysterious artifacts to fight in duels; duelists organize into

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s, which fight for control of the 23

special wards of Tokyo The of Tokyo are a special form of Municipalities of Japan, municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Act, Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparabl ...

. The player controls the protagonist as they form a guild of their own, gather companions, and attempt to uncover how they have arrived in this world.

Characters

Main characters

; Protagonist : Voiced by:

Kappei Yamaguchi , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and '' rakugoka'' affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.Doi, Hitoshi"Yamaguchi Kappei" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. After making his ...

Naoko Matsui is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Hakodate, Hokkaido. Matsui was a member of Production Baobab for 20 years before becoming a freelancer. Matsui is most notable for the roles of Uru Chie in '' High School! Kimengumi'', Rem Ayano ...

Toshiyuki Hosaka Toshiyuki is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Toshiyuki can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *敏幸, "agile, happiness" *敏行, "agile, go" *敏之, "agile, of" *敏志, "agi ...

Fuji Aki Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefe ...

Toshimitsu Oda Toshimitsu is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Toshimitsu can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *敏光, "agile, light" *敏満, "agile, full" *敏三, "agile, three" *俊光, "talented, ...

: The protagonist of the game. Their name, appearance, voice, and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

are chosen by the player and can be changed at any time. ; : : A

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...

who serves as the hero's

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (strictly familiar spirits, as "familiar" also meant just "close friend" or companion, and may be seen in the scientific name for dog, ''Canis familiaris'') were believed ...

. Explains the mechanics of the game. ; : : The protagonist's class representative. Childhood friends with Kengo. ; : : The protagonist and Shiro's classmate. Has a laid-back and jovial personality. ; : : A childhood friend to Shiro, though their friendship has fractured due to Kengo's

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medic ...

. ; : : An apprentice ''

kannushi , also called , is the common term for a member of the clergy at a responsible for maintaining the shrine and leading worship of the there.* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The chara ...

'' and demon hunter.

Secondary characters

''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' features an extensive supporting cast of over one hundred unlockable characters. A partial list of supporting characters who figure heavily into the game's plot, or who are voiced by notable

seiyu Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and ac ...

, are listed below. ; : : A

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

transient and treasure hunter. ; : : An anthropomorphic water buffalo transient and

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

. ; : : An anthropomorphic lion transient and oil wrestler who is the guardian of the Aoyama guild. ; : : An anthropomorphic goat transient and member of the Aoyma guild. ; : : A transient high school girl and

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...

player. ; : : A member of the cooking club at the protagonist's school who wields the

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...

as his artifact. ; : : A

kitsune The , in popular Japanese tradition, are foxes or fox spirits that possess supernatural abilities such as shapeshifting, and capable of bewitching people. General overview , though literally a 'fox', becomes in folklore a ' fox spirit', o ...

transient who owns a casino in Tokyo. ; : : An anthropomorphic

Hokkaido wolf The Hokkaido wolf (''Canis lupus hattai''), also known as the and in Russia as the Sakhalin wolf,Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N., P. (1998''Mammals of the Soviet Union'' Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears) Science Pub ...

transient and member of the Ikebukuro Berserkers. ; : : A

boy genius A boy genius is a male child prodigy. Boy Genius may refer to: * ''Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', a 2001 American animated film * boygenius, an American music group ** boygenius (EP), the group's 2018 debut EP * ''Boy Genius'', a novel by Yongsoo Pa ...

and

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

who is a classmate to the hero. ; : : A transient and executive of the Roppongi Tycoons crime syndicate. ; : : A

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

who serves as the acting master of the Aoyama guild. ; : : An anthropomorphic dog transient and classmate to the hero. ; : : An anthropomorphic hyena transient and DJ. ; : : A transient

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

and executive of the Roppongi Tycoons. ; : : A giant demon transient and member of the

Ōtemachi is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of Tokyo Station and Marunouchi, east of the Imperial Palace, west of Nihonbashi and south of Kanda. It is the location of the former site of the village of Shibazaki, the most an ...

Genociders. ; : : An anthropomorphic shark transient and surfer. ; : : A transient and member of the Aoyma guild who specializes in torture.

References

External links

Official website
{{Gay manga 2016 video games Digital collectible card games Fantasy video games Role-playing video games Japanese role-playing video games Gacha games IOS games Android (operating system) games Video games developed in Japan LGBTQ-related video games Video games with gender-selectable protagonists Furry role-playing games Free-to-play video games