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White Album (game)
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese adult
visual novel
developed by Leaf, and was originally released on May 1, 1998 for the PC
as a CD-ROM
. A PlayStation 3
version published by Aquaplus
with several modification and a sequel
to the original visual novel, titled White Album 2: Introductory Chapter, were announced to be released in Winter 2009. The gameplay in White Album follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.
White Album has received several transitions to other media. A manga
adaptation illustrated by Japanese
illustrator
Chako Abeno
began serialization in the shōnen
magazine Dengeki Daioh
in August 2008. It was followed by an anime
adaptation produced by Seven Arcs
, which began broadcast in Japan on January 3, 2009.
The gameplay
in White Album requires little player interaction as most of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents either dialogue
between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Before the beginning of every week in the game's storyline, the player is given the option to plan a schedule, and is allowed to participate in various activities or to take the day off for rest. Different events associated with different characters occur depending on the activities the player chooses to participate. During several of these events, the player will also be given the chance to engage the character in a conversation, where he or she may also pick a topic as the basis of the conversation. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. The time between these points varies and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Text progression pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. To view all of the plot lines, the player will need to replay the game multiple times and make different schedules and choices during decision points to progress the plot in an alternate direction.
Tōya also meets several other characters throughout the story. , also a heroine, is a gentle and caring third year university student. She holds an affection towards reading and cooking, and like Yuki, she has attended high school with Tōya prior to commuting to university. , another heroine, is Tōya's childhood friend since kindergarten, and is in her second year attending university. Haruka is often very quiet and rarely remarks on her surroundings. She is athletic and generally prefer leisure sports such as taking walks, and has once participated in tennis prior to her brother's death. , White Album fifth heroine, is a high school student tutored by Tōya. Mana has an impudent, and aggressive personality. She is antisocial and dislikes interacting with others, to the extent that she at times skips school or refuses Tōya's tutoring sessions.
. Much of the development team, with the exception of Harada, have previously worked on Leaf's previous title, To Heart.
PC
. The game was later re-released on June 20, 2003, with additional support for later versions of the Microsoft Windows
operating system. An all-ages version for the PlayStation 3
entitled was released on June 24, 2010 by Aquaplus, with full-voice acting and additional scenarios, while eliminating simulation elements found in the original release. Shimokawa stated that the development team decided to produce a PlayStation 3 version as they wanted to recreate the game in high-definition
quality, and because they wanted to provide accessibility for players who have played Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi
.
White Album PS3 version employs the Motion Portrait technology in its graphics rendering to create animated sprites. Shimokawa explained that although several other visual novel titles employed 3D computer graphics
to create animations, the technology was unable to portray the details that artists maintain in their original illustrations, and the decision to use Motion Portrait was made in order to allow fluid animations to be created using static 2D computer graphics
. The technology took the development team a year to perfect, because of complications such as unnatural character movement; Kawata commented that the process took more time than the illustrations to complete. He noted that it was complicated to adapt his character designs for the PS3 version, as he attempted to create an overall design that resembles the graphics found in the original Windows version, but without its dated appearance.
to the original visual novel entitled White Album 2: Introductory Chapter
developed by Leaf was released on March 26, 2010. The second part, White Album 2: Closing Chapter is currently under development.
series illustrated by Japanese
illustrator
Chako Abeno
, known for her previous work on Sola
. The manga adaptation began its serialization in the shōnen
manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
on June 27, 2008, and is published by ASCII Media Works
.
adaptation based on the visual novel. The anime series, produced by Seven Arcs
, directed by Akira Yoshimura and written by Hiroaki Satō, is broadcast in two sets of thirteen episodes. The first thirteen episodes began broadcasting in Japan on January 3, 2009 on the TV Kanagawa
broadcasting network, and was followed by other networks later the same month. A second set of thirteen episodes was broadcast in Fall 2009. In a magazine published interview, producer Akio Mishima and Aquaplus
' president Naoya Shimokawa stated that an anime adaptation was considered by King Records as early as the time the visual novel was released, but was not discussed until three years prior to the interview.
were used in the visual novel. The opening theme, "White Album", also used as an insert song, was performed and written by a ghostwriter
and is credited to Yuki Morikawa, one of the heroines of the game, and was composed by Shinya Ishikawa. The insert song, "Sound of Destiny", was credited to Rina Ogata, another heroine, for performance, and was written by Shōko Sudani and composed by Kazuhide Nakagami. The ending theme, "Powder Snow", was sung by Akko, and was written by Sudani and composed by Naoya Shimokawa. Each song, with the exception of the ending theme which was arranged solely by Shimokawa, was arranged by Junya Matsuoka and the songs' respective composers. A maxi single
titled "White Album" was later released on December 23, 1998, containing the three theme songs.
The opening theme to the first season of the anime adaption, "Shin'ai", was performed by the voice actress portraying Ogata Rina, Mizuki Nana. The ending theme, "Maiochiru Yuki no Yō ni" was sung by Suara
. The opening theme to the second season of the anime adaption, "Mugen
", was also performed by Mizuki Nana, and released on October 28, 2009. Likewise, the ending theme, "Akai Ito", was released on the same date and was performed by Suara. Five insert singles were also released under the names of the main heroines. "White Album" and "Koi iro sora" were performed by Hirano Aya as Morikawa Yuki; "Sound of Destiny" and "Powder Snow" by Mizuki Nana as Ogata Rina. A final single, "Powder Snow (Live Ver.)" was released by both singers as a duet. The soundtrack and character songs were compiled into the album, White Album Character Song Best & Soundtrack.
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
developed by Leaf, and was originally released on May 1, 1998 for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
as a CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
. A PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version published by Aquaplus
Aquaplus
, formally and , is a Japanese company which main specializes in the publishing and distribution of visual novels under their brand Leaf which produces adult games, and games for all-ages are released under Aquaplus' name alone. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of anime based on...
with several modification and a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the original visual novel, titled White Album 2: Introductory Chapter, were announced to be released in Winter 2009. The gameplay in White Album follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.
White Album has received several transitions to other media. A manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation illustrated by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
illustrator
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
Chako Abeno
Chako Abeno
is a female Japanese illustrator and manga artist. She publishes dōjinshi with the circle . She is also involved in the artwork of adult games.-Manga: , Illustrator...
began serialization in the shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
magazine Dengeki Daioh
Dengeki Daioh
is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...
in August 2008. It was followed by an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation produced by Seven Arcs
Seven Arcs
is a Japanese animation studio established on May 31, 2002 and is located in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. The company originally produced adult original video animation series under another animation studio named Arcturus since April 2000 and had the intention of eventually producing television anime...
, which began broadcast in Japan on January 3, 2009.
Gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
in White Album requires little player interaction as most of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents either dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Before the beginning of every week in the game's storyline, the player is given the option to plan a schedule, and is allowed to participate in various activities or to take the day off for rest. Different events associated with different characters occur depending on the activities the player chooses to participate. During several of these events, the player will also be given the chance to engage the character in a conversation, where he or she may also pick a topic as the basis of the conversation. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. The time between these points varies and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Text progression pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. To view all of the plot lines, the player will need to replay the game multiple times and make different schedules and choices during decision points to progress the plot in an alternate direction.
Plot and characters
The player assumes the role of , White Album male protagonist. Tōya is a twenty year-old university student in his second year attending the . He has a timid, yet vulgar personality, and is often unorganized. He often laments the amount of time he has to spend with , whom he is romantically attracted to. Yuki, White Album main heroine, is an idol singer rising in popularity, and is affiliated with the Ogata Productions. She has a warm and kindhearted personality, and is in her second year attending university with Tōya, with whom she attended high school together. , another heroine, is a popular idol singer under the same management agency as Yuki. Rina is elegant and intelligent, and maintains a mutual friendship with Yuki. She is often occupied with work, and becomes attracted to Tōya to compensate her loneliness.Tōya also meets several other characters throughout the story. , also a heroine, is a gentle and caring third year university student. She holds an affection towards reading and cooking, and like Yuki, she has attended high school with Tōya prior to commuting to university. , another heroine, is Tōya's childhood friend since kindergarten, and is in her second year attending university. Haruka is often very quiet and rarely remarks on her surroundings. She is athletic and generally prefer leisure sports such as taking walks, and has once participated in tennis prior to her brother's death. , White Album fifth heroine, is a high school student tutored by Tōya. Mana has an impudent, and aggressive personality. She is antisocial and dislikes interacting with others, to the extent that she at times skips school or refuses Tōya's tutoring sessions.
Development
White Album is the sixth game developed by Leaf, after their previous titles such as To Heart. Scenario for White Album was worked on by Udaru Harada, as his second work on a visual novel; scenario assistance was provided by Akihide Takebayashi. Art direction and character designs for the game was provided by Hisashi Kawata. Work on the music for the game was split between three people, Shinya Ishikawa, Kazuhide Nakagami, and Naoya Shimokawa, the president of AquaplusAquaplus
, formally and , is a Japanese company which main specializes in the publishing and distribution of visual novels under their brand Leaf which produces adult games, and games for all-ages are released under Aquaplus' name alone. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of anime based on...
. Much of the development team, with the exception of Harada, have previously worked on Leaf's previous title, To Heart.
Release history
White Album was first released to the public on May 1, 1998 as a CD-ROM, playable on only a Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. The game was later re-released on June 20, 2003, with additional support for later versions of the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system. An all-ages version for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
entitled was released on June 24, 2010 by Aquaplus, with full-voice acting and additional scenarios, while eliminating simulation elements found in the original release. Shimokawa stated that the development team decided to produce a PlayStation 3 version as they wanted to recreate the game in high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
quality, and because they wanted to provide accessibility for players who have played Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi
Tears to Tiara
Tears to Tiara is a Japanese eroge tactical role-playing game developed by Leaf. It was first released for PC on April 28, 2005 in Japan. Then it was followed by 12 years old and up version released for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in which the...
.
White Album PS3 version employs the Motion Portrait technology in its graphics rendering to create animated sprites. Shimokawa explained that although several other visual novel titles employed 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
to create animations, the technology was unable to portray the details that artists maintain in their original illustrations, and the decision to use Motion Portrait was made in order to allow fluid animations to be created using static 2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
. The technology took the development team a year to perfect, because of complications such as unnatural character movement; Kawata commented that the process took more time than the illustrations to complete. He noted that it was complicated to adapt his character designs for the PS3 version, as he attempted to create an overall design that resembles the graphics found in the original Windows version, but without its dated appearance.
Sequel
A sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the original visual novel entitled White Album 2: Introductory Chapter
White Album 2
is a duology of Japanese adult visual novels developed by the visual novel company Leaf for the Microsoft Windows PC, and is the sequel to Leaf's earlier visual novel, White Album. The first part of the series, named White Album 2: Introductory Chapter, was released on March 26, 2010...
developed by Leaf was released on March 26, 2010. The second part, White Album 2: Closing Chapter is currently under development.
Manga
White Album was first adapted into a mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series illustrated by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
illustrator
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
Chako Abeno
Chako Abeno
is a female Japanese illustrator and manga artist. She publishes dōjinshi with the circle . She is also involved in the artwork of adult games.-Manga: , Illustrator...
, known for her previous work on Sola
Sola (manga)
Sola is a Japanese work originally conceived by Naoki Hisaya with original character design by Naru Nanao . Sola is a mixed media project, first unveiled through the prologue of the manga featured in the Japanese manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on December 21, 2006, published by MediaWorks...
. The manga adaptation began its serialization in the shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
Dengeki Daioh
is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...
on June 27, 2008, and is published by ASCII Media Works
ASCII Media Works
is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...
.
Anime
White Album has also received an animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation based on the visual novel. The anime series, produced by Seven Arcs
Seven Arcs
is a Japanese animation studio established on May 31, 2002 and is located in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. The company originally produced adult original video animation series under another animation studio named Arcturus since April 2000 and had the intention of eventually producing television anime...
, directed by Akira Yoshimura and written by Hiroaki Satō, is broadcast in two sets of thirteen episodes. The first thirteen episodes began broadcasting in Japan on January 3, 2009 on the TV Kanagawa
Television Kanagawa
is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972...
broadcasting network, and was followed by other networks later the same month. A second set of thirteen episodes was broadcast in Fall 2009. In a magazine published interview, producer Akio Mishima and Aquaplus
Aquaplus
, formally and , is a Japanese company which main specializes in the publishing and distribution of visual novels under their brand Leaf which produces adult games, and games for all-ages are released under Aquaplus' name alone. Aquaplus has been involved with the production of anime based on...
' president Naoya Shimokawa stated that an anime adaptation was considered by King Records as early as the time the visual novel was released, but was not discussed until three years prior to the interview.
Music
Three pieces of theme musicTheme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
were used in the visual novel. The opening theme, "White Album", also used as an insert song, was performed and written by a ghostwriter
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
and is credited to Yuki Morikawa, one of the heroines of the game, and was composed by Shinya Ishikawa. The insert song, "Sound of Destiny", was credited to Rina Ogata, another heroine, for performance, and was written by Shōko Sudani and composed by Kazuhide Nakagami. The ending theme, "Powder Snow", was sung by Akko, and was written by Sudani and composed by Naoya Shimokawa. Each song, with the exception of the ending theme which was arranged solely by Shimokawa, was arranged by Junya Matsuoka and the songs' respective composers. A maxi single
Maxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an a-side song and a b-side song.-The first maxi singles:...
titled "White Album" was later released on December 23, 1998, containing the three theme songs.
The opening theme to the first season of the anime adaption, "Shin'ai", was performed by the voice actress portraying Ogata Rina, Mizuki Nana. The ending theme, "Maiochiru Yuki no Yō ni" was sung by Suara
Suara
Suara is a female Japanese singer born on August 3, 1979 who is from Osaka, Japan. She works under the label of FIX Records, distributed by King Records. Her two singles "Musōka" and "Hikari no Kisetsu" were both used as opening themes for the anime Utawarerumono and Asatte no Hōkō respectively...
. The opening theme to the second season of the anime adaption, "Mugen
Mugen (song)
is the 20th single by Japanese singer and seiyū Nana Mizuki, which was released on October 28, 2009 by King Records. The single achieved a ranking at No...
", was also performed by Mizuki Nana, and released on October 28, 2009. Likewise, the ending theme, "Akai Ito", was released on the same date and was performed by Suara. Five insert singles were also released under the names of the main heroines. "White Album" and "Koi iro sora" were performed by Hirano Aya as Morikawa Yuki; "Sound of Destiny" and "Powder Snow" by Mizuki Nana as Ogata Rina. A final single, "Powder Snow (Live Ver.)" was released by both singers as a duet. The soundtrack and character songs were compiled into the album, White Album Character Song Best & Soundtrack.