is a Japanese horror

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based ...

Success Corporation is a Japanese video game and online game developer and publisher, based in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and founded on 7 June 1978. They are best known for their '' Cotton'' series of shooter games, ''Zoo Keeper'' and others. Games developed and/or publ ...

, released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on October 21, 2004. A reduced price "popular edition," included in developer and publisher

SUCCESS Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person migh ...

' ''SuperLite 2000 Series'', was released on October 27, 2005. The title refers to the mythical

red string of fate The Red Thread of Fate (), also referred to as the Red Thread of Marriage, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese mythology. It is commonly thought of as an invisible red cord around the finger of those that are de ...

. On September 14, 2022, a Remastered "HD" version of the game was announced for the Nintendo Switch and PC, alongside its younger "sister-game" ''

Aoi Shiro is a Japanese horror adventure game by Japanese developer and publisher Success Corporation, released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on April 5, 2008, and was later ported to Microsoft Windows with extra content. A reduced price "popular editio ...

'', at the , with a release date planned for 2023. In addition, this new version will receive an official English language option for the very first time, and be given a release outside Japan.

Story

To arrange the inheritance because of the loss of her mother, orphaned high school student Kei Hatō heads for her late father's house in Hemizuka. In the train on the way there, Kei has a mysterious dream of a huge tree and a woman who seems to be lost in sadness. In Hemizuka, Kei learns the secret concealed in her own blood through various meeting with an Oni Slayer, a friend of her late mother, a young girl accompanied by a white fox, and even the mysterious girl from her dreams. Throughout the story Kei is antagonized by the twin oni Nozomi and Mikage. Akai Ito's story varies greatly based upon the player's decisions, which not only affect the flow of the story but also the ending the player receives (several of which suggest romantic feelings among the female characters).

Character

* (CV:

Miyu Matsuki Miyu is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Miyu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *美侑, "beauty, assist" *美結, "beauty, bind" *美夢, "beauty, dream" *美夕, "beauty, evening" *美唯, "beauty, ...

) The main character of the story, Kei is a rather careless person, which is quite ironic considering her favorite phrase is "always be prepared". * (CV:

Yūko Minaguchi is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator from Bunkyō, Tokyo. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. In 2012, Minaguchi took a nineteen-month-long hiatus from acting in order to study abroad in the United States. This resulted in Shino ...

) The mysterious girl from Kei's dreams. * (CV:

Akeno Watanabe is a Japanese voice actress and narrator affiliated with Office Osawa. Some of her notable voice roles include Robin Sena in ''Witch Hunter Robin'', Chachamaru Karakuri in ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', Halle Lidner in ''Death Note'', Rito ...

) The Oni Slayer Kei meets at the train station, her sword is the very bane of the oni. * (CV:

Rie Kugimiya is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kiana in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Kagura in ''Gin Tama'', and Happy in ''Fairy Tail ...

) A girl half Kei's age, accompanied by a white fox. Kei meets her in her father's now abandoned house. * (CV:

Asami Sanada is a Japanese actress from Nagano Prefecture. She voiced the role of Vita in the '' Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha'' series, Jun Sakurada in the ''Rozen Maiden'' series, Kurumi Tokisaki in the ''Date A Live'' series, Sawako Yamanaka in the ''K-On! ...

) A friend of Kei's deceased mother. She goes by the nickname "West". * (CV:

Megumi Kobayashi is a female Japanese model, actress, and singer from Kanagawa, Japan and is employed by A-team Production. In 2006, Megumi Kobayashi made her debut as a Jazz singer with new name "meg". Filmography * '' Rebirth of Mothra'' * '' Rebirth of M ...

) Twin oni and the antagonists of the story. * (CV:

Kazutaka Ishii Kazutaka (written: 一貴, 一宇, 一孝, 和隆 or 教隆) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Kazutaka Kogi (born 1933), Japanese academic *, Japanese ultra-nationalist and murderer *, Japanese mechanical ...

) A mysterious male, later known as Kei's brother called Hakuka. * (CV:

Nana Furuhara Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana (c ...

) * (CV:

Mamiko Noto > is a Japanese actress and singer. Some of her prominent anime roles include Kotomi Ichinose in ''Clannad'', Rin in ''Inuyasha'', Kotori Monou in '' X'', Aoi Kannazuki in ''Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel'', Durandal in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Haru ...

) * (CV:

Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in ''Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in ''Di Gi Charat'', Mint in ''Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in '' Sword ...

)

Staff

*Character design / Original picture : HAL *Script : Tomoyuki Fumotogawa *Music : MANYO (Little Wing) *Background :

J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...

Music

*Opening theme song 『 ''Mawaru Sekai de'' (廻る世界で) 』 by

Haruka Shimotsuki is a Japanese singer and dōjin music composer known for her vocal themes in the ''Atelier Iris'' and ''Ar tonelico'' series. She also wrote the lyrics and sang the ending themes to the first two seasons of '' Rozen Maiden'' as well as the OVA ...

Riya Riya is an feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Riya, Japanese singer * Riya Bamniyal, Indian actress * Riya Deepsi, Indian actress and model *Riya Sen (born 1981), Indian actress *Riya Suman Riya Suman is an Indian a ...

*Ending theme song 『 ''Tabiji no Hate'' (旅路の果て) 』 by

Adaptations

Manga

Akai Ito has also received several manga adaptations: a one-shot by Muttri Moony published in the July 2004 issue of Yuri Shimai, by the name "Swear"; and a short manga published in the May and June 2007 issues of Monthly

Comic Rush was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine, published by Jive. The first issue was published on January 26, 2004, and the final issue on January 26, 2011. The magazine was sold monthly on the twenty-sixth. Afterwards it switched to an online-only ...

. A special

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

was created for a limited edition version Akai Ito, the anthology featured various stories from different artists.

Web Novel

A free web novel of Akai Ito was released on Success' official Akai Ito website,Akai Ito web novel
, Akai Ito's web novel. it follows one of the storylines accessible when playing the video game.

Drama CD

One

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

has been released. It was first released as a Limited Edition version in October 2005 and later a regular version was released on December 26, 2006.

Notes and references

External links

Akai Ito official website

SUCCESS official site

ZoharContact's Akai Ito Fan Translation

Aoishiro/Akai Ito HD official website
{{in lang, ja 2004 video games 2007 manga Bishōjo games Fantasy video games 2000s horror video games LGBT-related video games Japan-exclusive video games Manga series PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Network games Romance video games Success (company) games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Visual novels Yuri (genre) anime and manga Yuri (genre) video games Hamster Corporation games Single-player video games