Yuto Tonokawa
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
scenario writer originally from Saitama
, Japan
working for the visual novel
developing company Key
under Visual Art's
. He began working with Key on their sixth game Little Busters!
and wrote the scenarios for two of the main heroines: Komari Kamikita, and Yuiko Kurugaya. Tonokawa also wrote the scenario for Sasami Sasasegawa in Little Busters! Ecstasy. He provided the lyrics to one of the ending themes from the same game, "Alicemagic", as his first job as a lyricist
. Due to Jun Maeda
stepping down as the main scenario writer for Key, Tonokawa took Maeda's place as the main scenario writer starting with Key's ninth title Rewrite
. Among Key's staff, Tonokawa updates the company's official blog
the most often. Despite his accomplishments, Tonokawa has referred to himself as "only an incompetent writer." In July 2008, Tonokawa was living in the same apartment building in Osaka
that Maeda had once lived in, though he did not know this when he moved into the building.
. He stated himself that while he never read much, he did read light novel
s and modern literature while in junior-high. While in high school, Tonokawa read works by the philosophers Søren Kierkegaard
and Ludwig Wittgenstein
, and Japanese folklorists
Kunio Yanagita
and Shinobu Orikuchi
. Tonokawa at one point wanted to be either a voice actor
or manga author
, and it was not until after he entered high school that he decided to become a scenario writer. Since he wanted to participate in a job that told stories, he feels that either way he has achieved that goal. While still in school, Tonokawa experimented on the KiriKiri
scripting
engine
and made an amateur "novel game", but it did not have visuals or music. He felt it was a good learning experience as a scenario writer since he discovered how different it is to write regular stories compared to writing scenarios for a game.
and applied under a different brand under the publishing company, but coincidentally the timing was just right since Jun Maeda
of Key
was looking for another writer to join the team which ultimately led to Tonokawa joining Key as a scenario writer. Tonokawa was able to initially catch the attention of the application examiners with a 600-page résumé
featuring a story centering around a female protagonist, but since there was no market for this format at the time, he later filled out a regular application. As noted by himself, Tonokawa started working for Key almost immediately after graduating from university, and he sees this as a major turning point in his life. Tonokawa said that Maeda was a major influence on his life, and if not for Maeda, he would not be where he is today. Originally, Tonokawa was supposed to work in the role of an outsourced writer who would help Maeda as a scenario assistant, but was brought in-house on the main scenario staff due to a quick need for a new writer.
At the time Tonokawa joined Key in August 2005, the team was working on debugging Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life. He started working with Key on their sixth game Little Busters!
and wrote the scenarios for two of the main heroines: Komari Kamikita, and Yuiko Kurugaya. Tonokawa also wrote the scenario for Sasami Sasasegawa in Little Busters! Ecstasy
. He provided the lyrics to one of the ending themes from Little Busters!, "Alicemagic", as his first job as a lyricist
, though feels that composing music is difficult. Tonokawa also wrote some of the additional story for Takafumi and Kanako included in the PlayStation 2
version of Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life. Due to Maeda stepping down as the main scenario writer for Key after the production of Little Busters!, Tonokawa took Maeda's place as the main scenario writer starting with Key's ninth title Rewrite
.
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...
scenario writer originally from Saitama
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
working for the 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...
developing company Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
under Visual Art's
Visual Art's
, formally , is a Japanese publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of visual novels for a large list of game developers. Visual Art's has developed the game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and...
. He began working with Key on their sixth game Little Busters!
Little Busters!
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key which was originally released, rated for everyone as a limited edition version, on July 27, 2007 playable on a Windows PC; a regular edition, also rated for everyone, followed on September 28, 2007. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, along with other...
and wrote the scenarios for two of the main heroines: Komari Kamikita, and Yuiko Kurugaya. Tonokawa also wrote the scenario for Sasami Sasasegawa in Little Busters! Ecstasy. He provided the lyrics to one of the ending themes from the same game, "Alicemagic", as his first job as a lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
. Due to Jun Maeda
Jun Maeda
is a Japanese writer working for the software company Key; he has majorly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the visual novels the company produces. His birth name in kanji was written as , though there is no change in pronunciation...
stepping down as the main scenario writer for Key, Tonokawa took Maeda's place as the main scenario writer starting with Key's ninth title Rewrite
Rewrite (visual novel)
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key that was released on June 24, 2011 as a DVD playable on a Microsoft Windows PC and is rated for all ages. Rewrite is Key's ninth game, along with other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad...
. Among Key's staff, Tonokawa updates the company's official blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
the most often. Despite his accomplishments, Tonokawa has referred to himself as "only an incompetent writer." In July 2008, Tonokawa was living in the same apartment building in Osaka
Osaka Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kansai region on Honshū, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.- History :...
that Maeda had once lived in, though he did not know this when he moved into the building.
Early life
Yūto Tonokawa started writing while in junior-high school, though these were only short storiesShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. He stated himself that while he never read much, he did read light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
s and modern literature while in junior-high. While in high school, Tonokawa read works by the philosophers Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
and Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
, and Japanese folklorists
Japanese folklore
The folklore of Japan is heavily influenced by both Shinto and Buddhism, the two primary religions in the country. It often involves humorous or bizarre characters and situations and also includes an assortment of supernatural beings, such as bodhisattva, kami , yōkai , yūrei ,...
Kunio Yanagita
Kunio Yanagita
was a Japanese scholar who is often known as the father of Japanese native folkloristics, or minzokugaku.He was born in Fukusaki, Hyōgo Prefecture. After graduating with a degree in law from Tokyo Imperial University, he became employed as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce...
and Shinobu Orikuchi
Shinobu Orikuchi
, also known as , was a Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet. As a disciple of Kunio Yanagita, he established an original academic field named , which is a mixture of Japanese folklore, Japanese classics, and Shintō...
. Tonokawa at one point wanted to be either a voice actor
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
or manga author
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...
, and it was not until after he entered high school that he decided to become a scenario writer. Since he wanted to participate in a job that told stories, he feels that either way he has achieved that goal. While still in school, Tonokawa experimented on the KiriKiri
KiriKiri
is a scripting engine by Japanese developer "W.Dee". It is almost exclusively used with the KAG framework to produce visual novels. Usually, the package of the two components is regarded as the whole engine, and referenced with major version numbers. Thus, the current version is called...
scripting
Scripting language
A scripting language, script language, or extension language is a programming language that allows control of one or more applications. "Scripts" are distinct from the core code of the application, as they are usually written in a different language and are often created or at least modified by the...
engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
and made an amateur "novel game", but it did not have visuals or music. He felt it was a good learning experience as a scenario writer since he discovered how different it is to write regular stories compared to writing scenarios for a game.
Career
Originally, Tonokawa came to Visual Art'sVisual Art's
, formally , is a Japanese publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of visual novels for a large list of game developers. Visual Art's has developed the game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and...
and applied under a different brand under the publishing company, but coincidentally the timing was just right since Jun Maeda
Jun Maeda
is a Japanese writer working for the software company Key; he has majorly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the visual novels the company produces. His birth name in kanji was written as , though there is no change in pronunciation...
of Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
was looking for another writer to join the team which ultimately led to Tonokawa joining Key as a scenario writer. Tonokawa was able to initially catch the attention of the application examiners with a 600-page résumé
Résumé
A résumé is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education...
featuring a story centering around a female protagonist, but since there was no market for this format at the time, he later filled out a regular application. As noted by himself, Tonokawa started working for Key almost immediately after graduating from university, and he sees this as a major turning point in his life. Tonokawa said that Maeda was a major influence on his life, and if not for Maeda, he would not be where he is today. Originally, Tonokawa was supposed to work in the role of an outsourced writer who would help Maeda as a scenario assistant, but was brought in-house on the main scenario staff due to a quick need for a new writer.
At the time Tonokawa joined Key in August 2005, the team was working on debugging Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life. He started working with Key on their sixth game Little Busters!
Little Busters!
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key which was originally released, rated for everyone as a limited edition version, on July 27, 2007 playable on a Windows PC; a regular edition, also rated for everyone, followed on September 28, 2007. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, along with other...
and wrote the scenarios for two of the main heroines: Komari Kamikita, and Yuiko Kurugaya. Tonokawa also wrote the scenario for Sasami Sasasegawa in Little Busters! Ecstasy
Little Busters!
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key which was originally released, rated for everyone as a limited edition version, on July 27, 2007 playable on a Windows PC; a regular edition, also rated for everyone, followed on September 28, 2007. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, along with other...
. He provided the lyrics to one of the ending themes from Little Busters!, "Alicemagic", as his first job as a lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, though feels that composing music is difficult. Tonokawa also wrote some of the additional story for Takafumi and Kanako included in the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version of Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life. Due to Maeda stepping down as the main scenario writer for Key after the production of Little Busters!, Tonokawa took Maeda's place as the main scenario writer starting with Key's ninth title Rewrite
Rewrite (visual novel)
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key that was released on June 24, 2011 as a DVD playable on a Microsoft Windows PC and is rated for all ages. Rewrite is Key's ninth game, along with other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad...
.