Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, also known in short as Akasaka, is a Japanese adultvisual novel developed by Feng and first released for Windows as a DVD on July 27, 2007. A version without adult content was released under the title Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka: Parallel on July 31, 2008, by GN Software for the PlayStation 2. A port of this version of the game was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 17, 2009, under the title Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka: Portable. The gameplay in Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters. Two light novels were produced in December 2007 and February 2008 written by different authors, and an Internet radio show began in April 2008. A manga adaptation began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen magazine Comp Ace on June 26, 2008, illustrated by Homare Sakazuki. An anime adaptation produced by TNK and directed by Keitaro Motonaga aired in Japan between October and December 2008.
Gameplay
Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent simply reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a point where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. In the original version, there are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. This number increases to seven with the PlayStation 2 version. To view all the plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction. One of the goals of the gameplay from the PC version is for the player to enable the viewing of sex scenes depicting the protagonist, Jun'ichi, and one of the six heroines having sex.
Plot
Jun'ichi Nagase attends a prestigious high school. He has the nickname Geno Killer since he was rebellious in middle school. This is used, inadvertently, to help a girl named Yuuhi Katagiri from trouble. She later transfers to his school. Jun'ichi then kisses her due to a misunderstanding. Outraged, because he stole her first kiss and embarrassed her, she screams at him. Subsequently, it turns out that Yuuhi is his fiancée as arranged by their parents. Their parents discuss the matter and order them to go out together for a month to restore their relationship. If their relationship does not get better, the engagement will then be cancelled.
Characters
Development
Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka is the fifth project developed by the visual novel studio Feng, and is similar to their fourth title Aozora no Mieru Oka. The producer for the game is Uezama. The project uses four different artists in character design: Tsubasu Izumi, Ryohka, Naturalton, and Akira Sawano. The scenario was entirely written by Kenji Saitō. For the PlayStation 2 version, an additional heroine named Karen Ayanokōji was included and is designed by Manabu Aoi.
Release history
On July 23, 2007, a free game demo of Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka became available for download at Feng's official website. In the demo, the player was introduced to the main characters in the game through a sequence that is typical of the gameplay found in a visual novel which includes times during gameplay where the player is given several choices to make in order to further the plot in a specific direction. The full game was first released on July 27, 2007, as a DVD playable only on a Microsoft Windows PC, containing full voice acting with the exception of Jun'ichi. A PlayStation 2 version without adult content was released on July 31, 2008, by GN Software under the title Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka: Parallel.
Adaptations
Books
Two light novels have been produced. The first, published on December 15, 2007, by Harvest, is written by Mutsuki Mizusaki and illustrated by Akira Sawano. The second, published on February 29, 2008, by Kill Time Communication, is written by Mao Shinji, the front cover is illustrated by Ryohka, and the inside has illustrations by Piēru Yoshio. An art book for the visual novel called Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka Official Fan Book was published on February 29, 2008, by Broccoli.
An Internet radio show to promote the Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka: Parallel called Koyama Rikiya×Hirohashi Ryō no Akaneiro ni Somaru Radio began broadcasting on April 2, 2008, and is distributed on Nico Radio. The show is streamed online every Thursday, and is hosted by Rikiya Koyama and Ryō Hirohashi who voice Seijirō Sugishita and Nagomi Shiraishi from the visual novel. There are seven corners, or parts, to the show that each episode is divided into. Several voice actors from the visual novel have appeared on the show as guests who include Erino Hazuki, Marina Inoue, Miyuki Hashimoto, Emiri Katō, and Kaori Fukuhara.
Manga
A manga adaptation began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen magazine Comp Ace on June 26, 2008. The story is based on the visual novel that preceded it, and is illustrated by Homare Sakazuki.
Anime
An anime adaptation produced by animation studio TNK, directed by Keitaro Motonaga, and written by Makoto Uezu aired in Japan on Chiba TV between October 2 and December 18, 2008. The anime's opening theme, "Hatsukoi Parachute", is performed by Miyuki Hashimoto and the ending theme, "Sweet Gift," is performed by Rie Kugimiya. A second ending theme performed by Ryō Hirohashi, "Confusion...", is used for episode three. TNK made a mistake in the credits for "Hatsukoi Parachute" and named it "Ren'ai Parachute" instead. An additional original video animation episode was released on June 26, 2009, with the seventh and final DVD compilation volume. Anime licensor Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series along with the OVA and release the complete collection on March 8, 2011.
Music
The PC version of the visual novel has two main theme songs, one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme, "Setsunasa no Gradation", is sung by Miyuki Hashimoto, written by Aki Hata, composed by Akiko Tomita, and arranged by Junpei Fujita. The ending theme, "Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka", is sung by Chiki-chan, written by Hata, and is composed and arranged by Yūichi Nakano. The PS2 version's opening theme is "Akane no Saka", which is sung and composed by Hashimoto, written by Noboru Yamaguchi, and arranged by Masaki Suzuki. The PC game's original soundtrack called Gradation! was released by Lantis on October 31, 2008, containing two discs.
