Sweet pool stage play: General info & Review

I’m sure many people saw the announcement a few weeks ago, but I wanted to summarize all the information they published!

The sweet pool stage play will be performed at the Galaxy Theater in Tennozu (Tokyo) in March 2022.  The director is Norihito Nakayashiki who was also part of the DRAMAtical Murder stage play production team. This time he’s teaming up with Nitro+CHiRAL once again.

Cast
Sakiyama Youji: Sakurai Keito
Shironuma Tetsuo: Sunagawa Shuya
Mita Makoto: Sugie Taishi
Okinaga Zenya: Uno Yuya
Kitani Kouhei: Fukuchi Takamitsu
Serizawa Erika: Nagata Sachi
Okinaga Kunihito: Wakasugi Koji
Kamiya Takehiko: Murata Mitsu

Director's comment: Heavy, deep, painful and ephemeral. The fascinating world of "sweet pool" will finally make its theater appearance. It is a great honor to be in charge of the production. As a fan, I am just as excited! Together with the wonderful cast we would like to disturb the audience’s sense of reason and instinct. Therefore, please prepare yourself.

Sakurai Keito: Nice to meet you! My name is Sakurai Keito and this time I will be the playing the role of Sakiyama Youji. I am truly happy to be able to work with the director, the wonderful cast and all the other staff members. I can't help but look forward to how this story will be recreated on the stage. The story we will deliver to you is not just love, but something deeper and heavier.

Sunagawa Shuya: The first time I heard about this project I immediately became very interested in the world of the original game. I met Sakurai Keito for the first time during a photoshoot, but he seems to be very kind and I am looking forward to working on this stage together! I will do my best to make this a project that will be loved by both fans of the original game and people who are new to it.

Review
I watched all 3 routes last weekend and wanted to share some of my thoughts! I absolutely loved this stage play, what an amazing experience. Similar to the DRAMAtical Murder stageplay, it is clear how much effort the production team put into this. The stageplay follows the plot of the game and they were absolutely not afraid to include any of the intimate scenes either. I really appreciated how they did not skip any scenes because many of them are important to understand the plot.

They even included extra scenes from the Everblue drama CD (Makoto and Zenya's routes), which made their endings a little bit longer than they were in the visual novel. This was honestly such a smart decision because you really learn a lot about these characters and their intentions. You learn about Zenya's backstory and how he tries his best to live up to his father's expectations, only to be called a failure. The scenes with Kitani and Zenya were really sweet, which makes the true ending of the game even more painful because we know Zenya will not survive. Makoto's story was also very touching because he cares deeply about Youji. He has no idea why he suddenly develops these obsessive thoughts about Youji and deeply regrets his actions.

The final route I watched was Tetsuo's route which follows the game's true ending, Miracles May. This is the ending in which Youji wants him and Tetsuo to survive. Tetsuo forgets about Youji and it is rumored that Youji transferred schools. A few years later Tetsuo, who is now in college, takes a different route home and suddenly starts remembering Youji. This scene was absolutely beautiful in this stageplay and I personally think it was even better than the game.

I was curious which ending they would pick for the stage play, but I suspected it would be this one. The final scenes looked absolutely stunning and the stage was beautiful. The actors did such a good job portraying this scene.

I think the cast was absolutely amazing too. In some interviews Youji's actor, Sakurai Keito, mentioned that he played the entire game to learn more about Youji's character. He also explained how Youji is similar to him, therefore it was easy to get really interested in the character. You could really tell that all the actors researched their characters well. Because Tetsuo doesn't talk as much as the other characters I imagined this would be a pretty difficult role, but his actor Sunagaya Shuya really made a perfect Tetsuo. I really love the height difference between the actors too, really impressed with the team who casted them!

The streaming platform (DMM) unfortunately doesn't allow individuals to post screenshots on social media, so I used some of the images the official accounts posted on Instagram and Twitter.

Right now, the distribution of the streams ended, but I'm sure the streams will be available again later, similar to the DRAMAtical Murder streams. Be aware that you do need a VPN to access the purchase screen and to watch the video, but something simple like a VPN browser extension gets the job done.

I do not have any recordings, so please support the creators by buying the streams when they're available again!

Update: The archive is available again for a limited time, until 05/21/2022! You can purchase it here.

Photo credit: @digitarou (Twitter/Instagram), Illustration: @yamada_uiro (Twitter)

Nitro+Chiral's lost mobile games, False Alkanet and World's End Nightmare.

Two Nitro+Chiral games many people might not be familiar with were released exclusively for CHiRAL MOBiLE, a subscription based app that could only be accessed by those who owned a Japanese cellphone. The app launched in 2010, but ended its service in 2012. After this all of the content became inaccessible. Members paid a monthly fee of 300 yen to use the app, which gave them access to wallpapers, new illustrations and the two Nitro+Chiral titles many people have not played.

Itsuwari no Alkanet

The first game Nitro+Chiral released on this app is Itsuwari no Alkanet, also known as ''False Alkanet''. The common route was released in June 2010 and every following month a new character's route was added to the game. The original opening movie of this game can still be found on Nico Nico. Itsuwari no Alkanet also got its own drama CD, based on the events which happened in the game.

Synopsis
Kei Takatori stood in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Glittering buildings, paved roads. It was like he was seeing everything in this world for the first time. Life in a strange land, 180 degrees different from before. A father who suddenly re-appeared, an excellent brother, a free-spirited uncle, and a serious butler. In Tokyo, where the scent of Taisho romance drifts, where will Kei go?

The story takes place in the Taisho period, during the political crisis which would become the end of Japan’s oligarchy, causing the rise of democracy. The Takatori family is finally recovering its lost peace. Takatori’s sucessor is the aspiring Pianist Yuto, whose skills keep improving along with his plans to study abroad. Everything looks favorable, but everything is about to get complicated.

Characters (from left to right)

Kei Takatori
The protagonist of this story. Yuto's half brother. Has one-sided romantic feelings for Yuto, which he doesn't know what to do about.

Yuto Takatori
The half-brother of Kei Takatori. He wear glasses and looks very smart. An excellent pianist who wants to be taken seriously.

Sakae Tachibana
The man who tricked the Takatori household chief so he could take over their business. Not a bad guy. Easy-going and elusive. His next target seems to be Kurae.

Kazuki Kurae
Butler of the Takatori family. He takes care of the mansion and the two sons of the Takatori family. He cares a lot about them. Him and Tachibana are on bad terms.

All three characters mentioned above had their own routes. Unfortunately even after looking at several Japanese blogs for a couple of hours, I have not been able to find super many details about the story of every route. The drama CD is still available on multiple Japanese second-hand websites, so I might purchase it one day and listen to it.

World's end Nightmare
In December 2010 Nitro+Chiraladded another title to their CHiRAL MOBiLE library. A visual novel written by Toriko Nanashino and illustrated by Mimori Sinov. Serialization began in December and the series ended with a total of 30 episodes. The genre is noir fantasy and the story focuses on a man called ‘’It’’.

Synopsis
''A poor soul who doesn't know love. I will give you another chance.''
When It woke upIt woke up, guided by an unknown voice, there was a strange "world" in front of his eyes. A square blue sky, a thorny garden and a towering castle in a deep forest. A fairy tale-like "world", clearly different from reality. It knows he died, however, someone brought him to "world" after his death. The purpose is to start a compulsory participation "game".  The content of the game is to prove "true love". If you lose the game, your soul will be turned into "furniture". A beautiful boy, a red shadow, a white shadow, and a masked man. The mysterious "game" with the inhabitants of the mysterious "world". It began the game, regardless of his feelings.

Characters (from left to right)

It
"...I'm not good at that kind of" love, I don't understand the meaning."
The main character of this work. He died and came to the "end". In order to escape this place, he will have to challenge the Faceless. He can't seem to recall why he died. Not very interested in others, calm and composed. He is honest, but he doesn't care much about others. Calm and strong-willed.

Faceless
"I want you to prove" true love "
The "god" who created "the end", the "king" and "judge". He is the greatest one of "the end". Forces It to participate in the game. Although he is a "god," he has no dignity and may be ridiculed by other inhabitants. Cheerful and friendly, but also selfish. He is very unpredictable and very affected by his emotions, making it hard for him to explain things.

Siegfried
"... The more time you spend here, the better you will understand each other."
The oldest inhabitant of "the end". One of the "players" of the game It is participating in. Characterized by a melancholic appearance. His motto is "If you spend time together, it will lead to love." Intelligent, rational and calm. Human emotions have faded, but not cruel.

Kai
"Generally, love doesn't have to be a romance''
Beautiful enough to often be mistaken for a beautiful girl, but he has a sharp tongue. One of the "players" of the game. Not interested in romance. Bored because he has been in this ''world'' for a long time. Outspoken and confident. Naughty. He pays attention to people he likes. He easily speaks his mind.

Baron
"If you do it, you might start feeling emotions right?" (note that ‘’it’’ means means ‘’having sex’’ lol)
A forceful woman-loving older man.. One of the "players" of the game. "Love doesn't need time" is his motto. Although he looks the oldest, he is the newest inhabitant of the "end". Rough, crude and forceful, but he always follows the rules.

You might recognize the art of both of these games if you purchased the third volume of the Nitro+Chiral 10 Years Archive, which was released in 2016. It also features some illustrations of the other Nitro+Chiral games which used to be content only members of the app could see.

I was personally not able to play any of these games because I unfortunately didn't own a Japanese phone in 2010-2012, but luckily there are still some Japanese blogs which talk about these games. You can still find older information about them in BL game magazine Cool-B as well, so luckily not all information about these games has been lost forever.

Some of the Japanese sources I used can be found here: Ｘ　Ｘ　Ｘ

Love it Hunter! Trial version review

One of the new BL visual novel projects I've been following on social media is the game Love it Hunter! (ラビットハンター), a game created by doujin game company Equal Life Laboratory. The writer is Basashi no Wakase, who also worked on other titles such as Kemono Kare. It is a dystopian bio-punk game which focuses on protagonist Asato, who works for a courier service.

Story synopsis
When World War II was already a memory of the past and the population declined sharply due to the war an environmental pollution, Japan started promoting the "Gene Rich Policy". Technology has evolved to the point where human life expectancy, which was thought to be on the verge of extinction, is now estimated to exceed 200 years. Technology can now also be used to create artificial children. But it wasn't just the benefits of medical care that were brought to people. Will they choose between eternity (punishment) or death (blessing)?

Characters

Asato
"Tch. I will succeed, it is determined that I will succeed. Who do you think I am?"
The game’s protagonist. He’s the leader of the carrier service "Ambivalence". Sometimes a bit annoying, but loved by many as he can't leave a person in need alone. In the wake of an accident, he was left in Saeki's care when he was a child.

Kazuki
"I'll follow you too. I'm worried about you, Asato".
Since he met Asato in the slums, both of them have been taken care of by Saeki. Despite the way he looks, he has superhuman strength and is a bouncer at "Alive". He is strongly dependent on Asato and follows him no matter where he goes.

Saeki
"From my point of view, you guys are still like babies"
Master and source of information of the underground bar "Alive" in the outer ward.His face is scary, but he takes good care of others and is trusted by customers and neighbors. Gathers information about the area.

Tsuzuri
"Believe me"
A mysterious foreigner who suddenly appeared at the bar "Alive". Easy-going and often seems suspicious because he appears in unexpected places at unexpected moments. He has a strangely wide network of contacts in both the outer and special zones. An old friend of Saeki.

Taki
"Even someone like me can be useful"
Former member of the gang team "Indigo". Asato helped him when he was targeted by by the team's internal conflict. He is currently being taken care of at Alive.He has a serious personality and is not good at interacting with others. Doesn't want to talk about himself very much.

Naru
"I just came here to play"
A regular customer who was helped by Asato when he was kidnapped and began to appear frequently at Alive.He has a cheerful personality and can easily get along with other members, especially Asato and Kazuki. A genius hacker who is curious and good at playing with machines

Shinya
"Everything in this world should be equal"
A mysterious man who suddenly appeared in front of Asato and offered to cooperate. "Let's save the world together." It seems that he had a close relationship with Asato in the past. He was involved in the explosion that occurred at the research institute in the special zone, but his true purpose is unknown.

Trial version impressions
I quite liked the story of the trial version! The plot of the game is pretty dark and focuses on drugs and mysterious deaths. I feel like the drugs they keep mentioning in the game will be relevant in the full version of the game too. I enjoyed the different kinds of characters, there’s a wide variety of them who will probably all have their own routes too. I’m particularly interested in Shinya because he's very mysterious and seems to know our protagonist Asato, who seems to have no memory of him. Naru was also fun, but I really like the pink haired guys lol! I hope he will have his own route too.

The trial version already has various endings for multiple characters and it took me about 4-5 hours to complete it. I am actually not sure if I got all of them because sometimes I kept getting the same end (which seemed to be a Kazuki bad end? I didn’t expect to see a bad end in the trial version...). 

The trial version is available on Animate Games and you can create a free Animate account to install it if you want to play it yourself! The full version of the game is currently being crowdfunded. The game’s made by a small team of game developers, therefore any support from fans is highly appreciated. I hope they will be able to reach their goal! 

Slow Damage: Clean Dishes, guide and review

Slow Damage: Clean Dishes, also called "Saradame/皿ダメ", is a mobile browser game which takes place in the same world as Nitro+Chiral's newest title, Slow Damage. It is considered a spin-off game.

Shinkoumi is a city of rampant crime, fueled by the country’s crippling recession. Fights, violence and other criminal activities are a daily occurrence. In this city, a certain presence is of high importance. ''Clean dishes'', commonly known as "Sara-ya," is a cleaning service which tidies up rooms in which people have passed away. The story focuses on protagonist Baku, a worker at “Clean dishes,” and his lover Shiro, who seems to have a strong desire to end his life.

One day Baku suspects Shiro might be involved with the mysterious organization "Hare's nest", a group that glorifies death.

The game is available for free and can be played in the browser of your smartphone or tablet. It's also fully voiced and can be played on Animate Games, Fanza Games and DLsite. I personally played the DLsite version. At the moment the game is only available in Japanese, and it is unknown whether or not it will get an English translation in the future.

Although the game is free, it does have in-game purchases like any other mobile game. To progress in the game, you need to use stamina to play through the chapters. Your stamina refills every 2 hours.

Main characters

 

Items
To complete the contact and cleaning sections of the game, you’re going to need various items which you can either get by logging in every day or by purchasing them in the shop. Note that the game can be fully completed without paying, therefore it is recommended to claim the login bonuses every day. The items you need for each chapter increases as you progress. For example, to finish contact scenes in the first chapter you only need 1 lemon candy, but in the later chapters you need 2, 5 and eventually 10. The cleaning sections are similar and require 1 cloth at first, but you’ll eventually need 10 of them. Once again, these can be obtained by claiming the daily login bonuses. Every day you’ll be able to claim 2 lemon candies and 1 cloth.

It is not a super long game, but if you want to play it for free it might take a while to complete. It took me exactly 2 months to fully complete it and I did get impatient and bought a few coins.

Chapters
The game consists of 8 story chapters:
1. Tutorial
2. Prologue
3. SideA (the route which will give you the good endings)
4. SideB (two bad endings)
5. SideC (one bad ending)
6. SideA Ending 1
7. SideA Ending 2
8. Extra optional epilogues (extra content, which is the only paid content of the game)

Note that the game makes you play the endings in a certain order after the tutorial and prologue, which is as follows:

SideC bad end> SideB bad end 1 > SideB bad end 2 > SideA good end1 > SideA good end 2.

It is also important to keep Shiro happy by collecting as many hearts as possible, which you obtain in the contact scenes by picking certain choices. They are displayed on the top right of the screen, next to the Shiro icon. You can replay the contact scenes as many times as you’d like, when the heart counter doesn’t increase after a new contact scene, it is easy to replay and select the other choice. These hearts are important to get the good endings.

My own impressions
As a big fan of Slow Damage, I was excited to play a mobile game which takes place in the same universe. Nitro+Chiral has created mobile games in the past: False Alkanet and World’s end Nightmare, which were both released in 2010. Both of these games could be accessed by opening the CHiRAL MOBILE app, which ended its services in 2012. The app was only available for Japanese phones, which is another reason why I never had the chance to play any of them.

The story of Clean Dishes mostly focuses on Shiro and Baku, who are both very interesting characters. I also really liked the new side characters, Kimika and Ru. I loved reading their interactions with each other. By the way, the only romance in this game is between Baku and Shiro. When the game was announced there were some speculations that Kimika and Ru might have their own routes as well, but Shiro is Baku’s only love interest.

I could sometimes predict the story, but I was still always curious what was going to happen next. I even bought coins a few times because I just couldn’t wait another day to finish some of the endings. Especially the bad endings were really dark and interesting, as expected from Nitro+Chiral! I do wish the game was a little bit longer, because they could have added some backstory and details about each character. But of course this is a mobile game, so I don’t expect the same kind of quality as Nitro+Chiral’s main games. Also be aware that you can only play this game in your phone’s browser. It doesn’t have an app and you also can’t play it on your computer (unless you use an emulator) which can sometimes be a little bit inconvenient.

I suspect some of the content I want to see is shown in the epilogues, which are the only chapters you can’t buy with free items. Overall it was a fun experience to play and I can recommend it! Just be prepared that it might take a few months to finish it. I recommend not spending too much extra money because you can just claim your login bonuses every day. I have not played the epilogues yet, but I might consider it sometime.

According to Nitro+Chiral's official Twitter account, these are the descriptions of each epilogue.

Epilogue 1: A story of how Shiro and Baku met each other. (Summary)
Epilogue 2: Kimika and Ru’s past.
Epilogue 3: Shiro’s backstory and why he wanted to die. (Summary)
Epilogue 4: Shiro struggling how to celebrate Baku’s birthday.
Epilogue 5: Band activities that started with 4 people.
Epilogue 6: 4 people enjoying their vacation.

Each epilogue costs 300 coins, which can be purchased for 330 yen (roughly 3 USD).

Slow Damage: Clean Dishes also recently got its own manga called Clean Dishes -leveret-, illustrated by mangaka Hiromasa Okujima. I’m very curious what kind of new content they’re planning to release in the future.

Update: Summary of the plot + endings can be found here! Becareful because there will be spoilers.