Displaying items by tag: KEY

"What was the last memorable summer you had?” Key’s latest visual novel Summer Pockets was originally released in 2018 and is their newest entry in the company’s long history of producing nakige-style (moving players to tears) games. Having been officially released on Steam earlier this year, Summer Pockets revolves around the main character Hairi Takahara and his summer visit to the island of Torishirojima to escape his painful past. On his first day there, he meets a young girl who will shape his destiny for the better. If that sounds similar to some of their previous games, that’s because it is.

For fans of Japanese visual novel-style games, the name Key evokes a lot of fond memories, magical storylines and endearing characters that often culminate into an cathartic bliss that I personally like to describe as "tear nirvana." Known as the company behind the scripts for tearjerker anime such as Kanon, Air and most recently Little Busters!, VisualArt's, Key's parent company, has finally begun to localize these timeless visual novels into English as part of a collaboration with the localization company Sekai Project.

With the recent release of the kinetic novel Planetarian already under their belt, the next big project for the two companies will be the upcoming Kickstarter campaign for Clannad; the title that is often arguably seen as the company's magnum opus. Take a trip with us as we interview Genki Tenkumo, one of the scenario writers for Clannad, and Yoshikuni Toyoizumi, one of VisualArt's PR representatives, at Japan Expo USA 2014 to discuss the company's plans and their hopes for the English market.

Following up with my last post in regards to the upcoming Angel Beats! visual novel from KEY, Dengeki Online has unveiled a brand-new set of previously never-before-seen CGs for the game. Of particular note is the extra fan service they've added SSS brigade leader, Yuri Nakamura, in a rather compromising pose.

Perhaps the Mayans were on to something with this entire 2013 "enlightenment" period after all. In what was a stealthy, but nonetheless awesome, bit of news over the weekend VisualArts Co. Ltd., a major visual novel distributor in Japan, released an officially translated English version of their 2004 kinetic novel Planeterian - Dream of Little Star - for the iOS system.

What's your biggest regret? That's the central theme to Key's 2008 visual novel Little Busters! where a group of friends tries to overcome their dark past by wondering about the infinite possibilities of the future. The series centers around a group of high school students, as with the rest of the company's endeavors, who form a circle of friends known as Little Busters, and they experience the joys, pains, and surprises of everyday life. From playing baseball to all of the awkward social interactions that come with growing up in an imperfect society, Little Busters! perfectly articulates what it means to be human and retaining your precious memories.