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is a series of
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ese
dōjin In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as "clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in "sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced b ...
2D
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s, developed by the
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SUBTLE STYLE for
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and arcades. It takes place in an alternate 21 century in the year 200X - 20XX, where most of its characters wears outfits from
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era.


Games


''Akatsuki''


''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō''

is the first installment of the series, which was released in November 2003 for Microsoft Windows. As the game itself has no storyline, it is a prototype version of ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'', below.


''Akatsuki Blitzkampf''

is a full version of ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō'', developed by the
dōjin circle In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced ...
SUBTLE STYLE for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and arcades.


''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse''

is a final standalone revision of the first game for arcade and Microsoft Windows. After finding success on the Dōjin soft scene, on September 27, 2007, ''
Monthly Arcadia was a Japanese arcade game magazine, published by Enterbrain. History ''Monthly Arcadia'' launched on December 8, 1999. It was the successor to the then popular magazine ''Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering ...
'' magazine confirmed that the game would be launched as an arcade title, with the provisional name "Akatsuki Blitzkampf AC", published by SUBTLE STYLE itself. The first location test was held on November 23, 2007, at High Tech Land Sega AViON in Japan. It features improved graphical enhancements and re-introduces a new character known as Perfecti (Kanzensha in Japan), who was originally a mere alternate version/palette swap of Mycale in the original ''Blitzkampf''. The final release of ''Ausf. Achse'' was in Japanese arcades on February 20, 2008, for the Sega NAOMI system and published with the help of PIC company. Although ''Ausf. Achse'' being announced on March 29, 2019, to have a Microsoft Windows port soon, the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
cause the released date and development to be delayed. It is a common misconception that the subtitle is a misspelling of the German phrase "Ausf. Achse," meaning "on tour/on the road/on the move". In fact, the term "Ausf." is short for "Ausführung" and has been very common in historic German military nomenclature, meaning "option model" or "version". Therefore, "Ausf. Achse" literally means "option model with axle(s)" or "moveable/mobile/non-stationary version". "Achse" also translates to "axis", and given the game's militaristic style, a very probable translation is "Akatsuki Flash Fight Axis Edition".


''EN-Eins Perfektewelt''

is a sequel to ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse'', co-developed between Subtle Style and Rutubo Game Works and released on in arcades. It was released on the System Board Y2 arcade system on June 25, 2010. The game was later ported to the Taito Type X² arcade board and released digitally via
NESiCAxLive is a digital distribution system for arcade video games made by Taito. It is similar to the SEGA ALL.Net game distribution system. Taito uses NESiCAxLive to distribute not only its own games, but also allows other companies to use it as a public ...
on February 22, 2012. It is a common misconception that the subtitle is a misspelling of the German phrase "Perfektewelt," meaning "perfect world", referring to the new titular protagonist EN-Eins, the last surviving clone of his cloning batch who aims to defeat one of Gesellschaft's leader, such as Valkyria (a boss version of her playable clone, Tempelritter) for the sake of creating a perfect world. It also introduces Mycale's replacement and former host, Kati, as well Anonym-Guard as a replacement of Anonym Merel Lambuth.


''EN-Eins Perfektewelt Anastasis''

is an updated version of the sequel game, developed and published by Subtle Style. It will be first released on
NESiCAxLive is a digital distribution system for arcade video games made by Taito. It is similar to the SEGA ALL.Net game distribution system. Taito uses NESiCAxLive to distribute not only its own games, but also allows other companies to use it as a public ...
arcade digital around for the game's NESiCAxLive port's 10th-anniversary debut and to celebrate NESiCAxLive's 12th anniversary, and will likely be the one to be ported in Microsoft Windows, should Subtle Style announce the latter port sometimes later. It is a common misconception that the subtitle is a misspelling of the Greek phrase "Anastasis," meaning "rebirth", which also represents Subtle Style's return to game development since the series appeared in certain games crossed over. As the series' creator Subtle confirm that the original release was in fact in the beta stage, this update, being an actual finalized version of the original release, not only adds a complete re-worked artwork, UI, and arcade storyline, it re-introduces Mycale in a body of Anonym Merel Lambuth she stole at the end of the previous game and the playable version of Valkyria, as well as introduces a new character who is a motorcyclist Blitzsoldier known by the name Inazuma. Apart from the new version of Mycale and playable Valkyria, 2 unknown brand new characters (a second new playable character and the true final boss (planned to be initially non-playable) were part of the crowdfunding however, the two latter's inclusions did not meet the funding's stretch goal by the time the funding ends. The crowdfunding held by Subtle Style and its sponsored arcade center KO-HATSU for the new contents within ''Anastasis'' first started on April 26, 2022, until June 5, 2022. Game Center Will opened a tournament charity event of original ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt'' on May 29, 2022, to support the crowdfunding before the end of the funding date.https://twitter.com/gamecenter_will/status/1525755933833342976 At the same time the official website opened on November 11, 2022, the location test was only for November 25 until 27, 2022 at the arcade centers Ko-Hatsu (Osaka), Game Center Will (Tokyo), Maxim Hero (Hokkaido), and Fantasista (Okayama) prefecture, before its initial launch. Originally, the game’s initial release was meant to be released at the end of 2022. However, on December 5, 2022, Ko-Hatsu and Subtle Style confirms that release date delays to around 2023, in order to fix various gameplay issues based on the location test’s data.


Gameplay

The game's playstyle is regarded as relatively " old school" in comparison to many other dōjin fighter releases such as
Melty Blood , sometimes shortened as , is a series of 2D visual novel fighting games, co-developed by dōjin circles Type-Moon and French-Bread as the meta-sequel of the Type-Moon's first visual novel ''Tsukihime''. The first game was originall ...
,
Eternal Fighter Zero , known as Tasofro for short, is a Japanese ''dojin'' game developer. They are best known for their collaborations with Team Shanghai Alice ( ZUN), which include seven official games in the '' Touhou Project'' series. Productions Games Musi ...
, or
Big Bang Beat ''Big Bang Beat - 1st Impression -'' is a dōjin fighting game made by NRF based on the eroge ' by AliceSoft (sometimes Alice Soft) was established in 1989, as an eroge developer and publisher for the computer market, first for the PC-88 and ...
, as many of the systems and conventions in the game are rather similar to several late 1990s fighting games made by companies such as
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
. The game is slower-paced and focuses more on careful footwork and space control than the aforementioned games. The extra modes the game provides and the ways in which they are unlocked also resemble console releases of old fighting games, further reinforcing the retro feel. A signature feature of the series is the Reflector, a move that allows players to guard against incoming attacks without taking chip damages or cost guard gauge, and can only counterattack at close range, whether on the ground (both standing or crouching) or in the air. In ''EN-Eins'', the Reflector button (B+C) can also be done in the D button for beginner-friendly use. When activating a burst-like move known as ''Perfektewelt'' via A+B+D, will grant the player increased boosts, such as health regeneration, but no longer be able to use EX or regular Super moves when entering this state. Once the gauge limit of ''Perfektewelt'' depletes, players cannot use EX or regular Supers, until the regular gauge return to be usable in the next rounds. While in the ''Perfektewelt'' state before reaching the gauge limit, players can press A+B+D again to perform an Instant Kill-like attack while in close proximity, the ''"Perfekte Finish"''. ''EN-Eins'' also introduces a double jump-like air dash, auto combos, and dash attacks.


Synopsis

''Akatsuki EN-Eins'' is set in an alternate
Japanese Imperial year The , colloquially known as the or "national calendar year" is a unique calendar system in Japan. It is based on the legendary foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. ''Kōki'' emphasizes the long history of Japan and the Imperial dyna ...
, Koki 266X A.D. (200X AD in a Gregorian year) up to 20XX AD, involving several characters that resemble the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s and soldiers of the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era and a bit from both
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and Scandinavian myths, among others. In-game visuals supplement this sort of specific militaristic theme and environment, portrayed by the flat and somewhat
cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
character portraits and story sequence images. ''Blitzkampf (Ausf. Achse)'' is also a finalized version of its 2003 beta title called ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō'', involving many characters of the game. A submarine suddenly emerged in the Arctic Ocean while transporting a new weapon "Blitz Motor" from Germany to Japan. Former Imperial Army high-class technical engineer Akatsuki, who has survived to the present age by hibernating in the frozen submarine, begins to carry out his final orders received during the war, which were to take the Blitz Motor and destroy it should it fall into enemy hands. On the other hand, due to Akatsuki's re-emergence, various organizations who want his Blitz Motor begin to search for him in order to gain the power of the Blitz Motor for themselves. ''EN-Eins'' storyline took place around ten years after Murakumo's defeat at the hands of Akatsuki in 20XX AD. In the said year, there was a small report of a collapse accident in the undeveloped Tibetan Tsampo Canyon. With Murakumo's fall from leadership, this allows the ancient witch Mycale an opportunity to take over "
Gesellschaft ''Gemeinschaft'' () and ''Gesellschaft'' (), generally translated as "community and society", are categories which were used by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in order to categorize social relationships into two types. The Gesellschaft ...
" (German for "society") assets. A few months later, the world's chaos started due to the simultaneous global terrorist attack by an organization claiming to be the "New Orders of
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
", the one of secretly leading and revealing themselves as the organization's true leader. Taking on this chaos, a dark fight for the hegemony of the new world begins.


Characters


Introduced in ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō''

* : : High-class technical officer of the Imperial army and one of the former
Gesellschaft ''Gemeinschaft'' () and ''Gesellschaft'' (), generally translated as "community and society", are categories which were used by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in order to categorize social relationships into two types. The Gesellschaft ...
members. Believed to have died in the Arctic oceans at a critical time after the war came to an end, during the transportation of a new military unit from an allied country. Fifty years later, he returns alive and unchanged in appearance. Now wielding superhuman abilities powered by the original prototype Blitz Motor, he resumes his mission. He soon learns that his last mission during an imperial day was set up by his superior, Murakumo to have himself supposedly killed, but the plan fails as Akatsuki survives and awakens fifty years later. As Murakumo is the original Akatsuki before him and Akatsuki was the first successful Blitz Motor super-soldier, Akatsuki is referred to by his former superior and the rest Fritz, even Kanae as Experiment 1, with Akatsuki's real name is unknown. After supposedly killing Murakumo (only killed his original body, but not his soul), Akatsuki is likely the one who found and rescue a young soldier named EN-Eins before they split to a different path for a similar reason, destruction of Gesellschaft and its originator, Mycale's Knights Templar. Few years later, while being targeted by the Knights Templar, who now has Gesellschaft's remaining assets, Akatsuki set to return to Antarctica, believed to be the main source of Blitz technologies. He also appeared in ''
Under Night In-Birth is a 2D fighting game co-developed by Ecole Software and French-Bread. It received many updates for adjustments and characters. Gameplay The game has similar mechanics to ''Melty Blood'', ''Guilty Gear'' and ''BlazBlue''. It uses three attac ...
'' (starting from ''Exe:Late'') and '' BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'' patch 2.0. * : : A French witch from an ancient time that belongs to a secret religious society called "New Orders of
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
" (originally known as an unnamed "Perfecti Cult"); in 1253, they have been manipulating history from behind the scenes and she was planning to wipe out old humanity since Middle Age until the Holy Club interfered and had her original body was burned alive in public for her villainy. Thankfully, she managed to use black magic to link her soul to her staff wand, Gríðarvölr, and be able to possess a host's body when one of them touches it. She was part of the Gesellschaft alliance during World War II before her host's body from that time was killed by Adler, sometimes after Akatsuki Zero (now Murakumo) sabotaged Akatsuki's ship in the 1950s. Upon possessing the young Kati in the present, she manipulates her host's parents and is able to avoid Sai's suspicion, in order to further her plans to recover the missing weapons. However, she has to deal with disposing Murakumo over their leadership on leading Gesellschaft, using anyone else's desires, such as Marilyn's ambitions to overthrow Black Hand's leadership from Yin Hu to quickly succeed her plan, then disposing of them as well. Although Mycale is separated from Kati by a Holy Club member Anonym Merel Lambuth, the nun ends up possessed by the witch's soul when she holds the Gríðarvölr containing the former's soul. While her first "form" is replaced by her spiritual replacement and former host, Kati in the sequel game, ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt'', her second "form", which possessed Merel's body is playable in the updated ''Anastasis''. There were multiple choices between wearing her glasses or not while possessing Merel's body based on the crowdfunding supporters' choice via comments on Ko-Hatsu's Ci-En account in the first fifteen days of September 2022 for her "new form"'s inclusion in ''Anastasis''. Despite the final poll result on September 21, 2022 where Mycale A. would fight with her glasses on in the final release, the first day of October 2022 reveals a version without wearing her glasses will be included as well, and one of the two versions will act as alternative EX color row. * (real name: ) : : An information broker for the Xinhua computer company of Hong Kong, who is, in reality, an English secret agent for
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
. He through clandestine means gathers information throughout the world. Rumors say that behind his sunglasses lurks mystical
evil eye The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...
s that can kill a man instantly and somehow made Sai younger and immortal for decades. Sai had a rivalry with Murakumo fifty years ago and their connection is related to Sai's evil eye abilities. Sai happens to be associated with the family of Kati, a young girl who was possessed by Mycale and concerned about her safety for her parents' sake. Once Kati freed from Mycale's possession, Sai secures her safety and conjures a curse on a Morgenstern he found at Gesellschaft Base before it is destroyed, then later gave it to her. * : : A military surgeon who practiced in the Imperial army and was among those who founded Gesellschaft during the war prior to defection fifty years later. During his time with Gesellschaft, he was involved with artificial being projects such as cloning (namely Elektrosoldat) and cybernization (Blitztank). Albeit becoming unaccounted for afterward, he sets off on eliminating all those who have appeared concurrently with Akatsuki's revival, then investigates the connection between Gesellschaft and its actual originator, Knights Templar. He uses
Mugai ryu or "Outer Nothingness School" is a Japanese '' koryū'' martial art school founded by on 23 June 1680. Its formal name is Mugai Shinden Kenpō (無外真伝剣法). History The founder of Mugai-ryū, Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi (辻月丹資茂) ...
swordsmanship to fight. Added in version 1.02. * : : An intelligence operative, who initially started out as a second lieutenant for the second office of the Ground Staff Overseeing Department in ''Akatsuki'' title. With the news of Akatsuki's revival, she is ordered to recover a secret "Blitz Motor", lost at the end of the war, but was ordered to retreat afterward. Unaware to Kanae, her boss, Major Senke is one of Murakumo's clones and somehow disappeared by the time Kanae was discharged from G.S.O.D and recruited by Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office at the same time as Mycale's Knights Templar has all Gesellschaft's assets and declares war on humanity, causing Kanae to find his current whereabout and who Senke truly is. Thanks to CIRO's intelligence, Kanae is able to discover all official governments which are compromised by Murakumo and Mycale, then backed by eradication troops to find and eradicate them all. Added in version 1.03.


Introduced in ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf''

* : : An assassin for the continent's largest international mafia "Black Hand" and a master of assassination techniques with a basis in, presumably,
Piguaquan Piguaquan (), also known as Piguazhang () due to its emphasis on palm techniques, is often practiced along with Bajiquan () and is a style of wushu (Chinese martial arts) that features explosive, long-range power. It originated in Cangzhou, ...
. She was a
Heihaizi Heihaizi () or "black child" is a term applied in China. The term denotes children born outside the One child policy, or generally children who are not registered in the Hukou system, national household registration system. Background and histor ...
conceived outside from
One-child policy The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much bro ...
, she was found and captured by Black Hand members. She was welcomed by Yin Hu, the leader of the Black Hand. before becoming a triad assassin, she appears to be a
prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
. She was one of top rank assassins and future candidates for leaders to lead Black Hand along with her fellow member, Wei. By plundering the Blitz Motor from Akatsuki, she aims to rise in influence and power. She was actually being told by Mycale to murder her boss, Yin Hu and she succeed taking over the mafia, when she learned Mycale and Gesellschaft deceived her. By the time Mycale got the Gesellschaft's assets to her Knights Templar and declares war on humanity a few years later, Marilyn enters the war and aid the allied resistance, just to purposely attempt to become the savior of the world in her conquest. * : : A master of
Xingyi Quan Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...
, who as a cold-blooded assassin, rose up to the ranks of Black Hand's leaders. After his patron, Yin Hu was assassinated, Wei searches for the criminal. After finding out that his boss, Yin Hu was one of the clones of Murakumo, he has the list of the clones that infiltrated the organization and the political world, then fake his death for a time being to train himself at a mountain in preparing to kill all Murakumo clones. By the time the Knights Templar has Gesellschaft's assets and declares war on humanity, Wei completed his training at the same time he suspects Murakumo will be there as well. * : : An Armed Inquisitor of Heresy, within a religious society - The
Holy Club The "Holy Club" was an organization at Christ Church, Oxford, formed in 1729 by brothers John and Charles Wesley, who later contributed to the formation of the Methodist Church. The brothers and associates, including George Whitefield, met for pr ...
. She is sent to destroy the headquarters of an organization charged with the heresy of aiding Gesellschaft, the Templar Knights. Anonym is a master of the Lambuth-style gun technique, a combination of Chinese self-defense and pistols. She is replaced by her superior, Anonym-Guard in the sequel game ''EN-Eins''. It is likely that she is the one who saved Kati from Mycale's possession, but is confirmed to have ended up being the current host of the witch. * : : Private army of Gesellschaft, and later Knights Templar, cloned from Ernst von Adler. Although equipped with the same Blitz Motor as Akatsuki, albeit the latest version, the connection between them lies shrouded in mystery. However, one soldier begins to oppose Gesellschaft, while at the same time of ended up dying of an unknown disease caused by the side-effect of Blitz Motor. The second clone who defects the Knights Templar befriends another defector, EN-Eins, realizing he might be a cure for the Elektrosoldat cloning batch's short lifespan. * : : Formerly, as an officer within the organization "Ahnenerbe", he did research on German ancestry, organization. He participated in the excavation of Tibet's ancient heritage and founded Gesellschaft together but upon the discovery of the ancient city of
Agartha Agartha (sometimes Agartta, Agharti, Agarath, Agarta, Agharta, or Agarttha) is a legendary kingdom that is said to be located in the Earth's core. It is related to the belief in a hollow Earth and is a popular subject in esotericism. History T ...
, he uses the science for his own ambitions. He is the originator of the Elektrosoldat clone army. It might be possible that he was involved in helping Murakumo murder Mycale's body prior to her possession of young Kati. At some point, before ''EN-Eins'' begin, Adler died and was reincarnated by possessing a powerful Elektrosoldat's body, proclaiming himself as "Super Adler" and resuming his work with the Knights Templar. * ( in Japan) : An electrical tank, powered by a modified Blitz Motor, known as "Perfecti Motor" as its source of power. According to a copy of the document on new engine research labeled "Gesellschaft", a test piece was developed. However, it was revoked along with the plan itself before the full-scale production could take place. Based on the arcade ending, there are mysterious rumors behind the creation of Blitztanks that the tanks were once humans before being cyberized into living tanks as they are now. Playable Blitztank begins to remember something upon encountering Akatsuki and progressively attempts to rebel against Gesellschaft, while another which used by the Knights Templar for warfare against humanity is mind-controlled by EN-Eins to help him save it. It also appeared in ''BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'', in which it unusually uses the localized name "Blitztank" even in Japanese. * (formerly known as ) : : The final boss of the first game. At the time of the previous war, he was a military officer stationed in Germany who planned actions for an inspection group on military affairs through leading his Akatsuki unit, being both former superior of Akatsuki and ally of Fritz on the unit he led. In this position, he got in touch with Mycale and her Knights Templar, including Ernst von Adler from Ahnenerbe, and established the Military Technique Research facility, nicknamed "Gesellschaft", then discover Agartha and created Blitz Motor. Towards the end of the war news from Berlin is interrupted. True by his rank, he was the original Akatsuki before the main protagonist himself and the one who was responsible for trapping Akatsuki on ice for fifty years but fail, as Akatsuki survive and awaken fifty years later. The same goes that he did betray Mycale to rule over Gesellschaft under his leadership, but Mycale survive by possessing Kati. Despite his original body was killed by Akatsuki, he revealed to have some of his clones to be used as his vessel to keep him alive, namely Senke (his current host, and Kanae's superior), and Yin Hu (Black Hand's late-leader who was killed by Marilyn sent by Mycale). While in Senke's body at the time Mycale has all Gesellschaft's assets back to Knights Templar, and declare a war on humanity, Murakumo remains to manipulate the government systems while trying to get Gesellschaft back.


Introduced in ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse''

* Perfecti ( in Japan) : : The current sub-boss of the series. The current form of the witch Mycale after leaving Kati's body, and possessing Anonym Merel as her current host. She can transform her Gríðarvölr staff wand into a
bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
known as Cursed Blade: Dainsleif. She was originally a mere palette swap of Mycale in ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'' prior to being re-introduced in ''Ausf. Achse'' update as her own character and the second round's sub-boss of the said update after defeating Mycale.


Introduced in ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt''

* (full name: ) : : The sole survivor of Gesellschaft's Energaia cloning batch cloned from an unnamed God. He is presumably saved by Akatsuki. He received the powers of Energaia due to being used for experiments by the Gesellschaft to achieve godhood and destroy the old humanity. EN-Eins aims to stop the evil military organization to avenge his clone "siblings" and save humanity. * : : The former host of Mycale in ''Akatsuki''-title games after the latter possessed the body of the Holy Church member, Anonym Merel Lambuth. As Kati is now freed from Mycale, she becomes her own as a playable character. Kati was born in Germany and raised in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, China, where her parents are associated with Sai, her first and only known friend. Unknown to her during her time after being freed from Mycale's possession, it was likely that Anonym Merel saved her life at cost of being possessed by Mycale. Once Kati unexpectedly awaken at Tsampo Valley, Tibet, she found a morningstar wand called "Eye of Wand: Morgenstern", and learns that Sai was the one who gave it to her for her own protection. The morningstar she wields holds a dangerous power that may curse its user with its eye. However, thanks to her time being possessed by Mycale, Kati is taught by Sai to be immune to the staff's curse with both index and pinky fingers holding up. Despite Mycale using Kati's body to commit unforgivable crimes, Kati still views her as a friend, due to being lonely like her. * : : The Anonym Merel's replacement, after her disappearance and being possessed by Mycale. She is an elite palace guard of the Holy Club who begin to search for her and freed her from Mycale's possession. * : : The female clones of Valkyria, who resemble Nazi
Valkyries In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
serving as Knights Templar's foot soldiers like Elektrosoldat. * : : A self-proclaimed destroyer of the world. Like Adler, also have let themselves be cloned to mass-produce Tempelritter and Elektrosoldat army. She briefly appeared as part of Perfecti's Reflector moves in ''Akatsuki''-titles, until properly she made her debut in the sequel ''EN-Eins''. In the original version of the second game, she was simply a power-up palette swap final boss version of Tempelritter, such as can use EX/Super gauge moves infinitely, even after “Perfektewelt” state being used and was highly recommended for the players to prepare a Reflector against her. Later being re-introduced as a fully playable balanced character in a tentative update title of the second game, ''Anastasis'', to differentiate herself from her clone's moveset.


Introduced in ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt Anastasis''

* : Tentatively known as in Japan. The unidentified First-Type variant of the male Blitz Motor soldiers who rides the weaponized Blitz Cycles, and are thought to be the robotic counterparts of Akatsuki. He was originally found unused in the original version of ''EN-Eins'' as an incomplete character. Based on his designs and move sets, Inazuma is a homage to
Kamen Riders The Kamen Riders are a group of fictional masked riding heroes in the Kamen Rider Series. Members Early Riders The first 12 (or arguably, 11 since 11 and 12 are the same person) riders are of the Showa era spanning from the 70s-80s. Riders 13-15 ...
. * 2 unnamed characters were originally planned through the crowdfunding stretch goal for their inclusion in this game, with the second fighter originally set to be a non-playable true final boss of the updated game. However, in the end, the crowdfunding did not meet its goals for their inclusions in the updated game, by the time the crowdfunding ends, leaving their fates unknown.


Development

It all started in 1995 at the time when Subtle Style founder, Subtle used to work for a certain video game company helping develop numerous fighting games to personally posting multiple illustrations in the past. Sometimes later on April 1, 2000, Subtle left the company he used to work for, and found Subtle Style as a group of dōjin soft developers and begin developing the first entry of ''Akatsuki EN-Eins'' series, ''Akatsuki'' and released it under a prototype name ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigo'' in November 2003 for Microsoft Windows. ''Shisei Ichigo'' would later receive a finalized version under the title ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'' on April 30, 2007. Following the success of ''Blitzkampf'', Subtle shifted to the Arcade scenario and updated the game into an Arcade-only title, ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse'', powered by
Sega NAOMI Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin-o ...
and published by PIC on February 28, 2008. Subtle later shifted to produce a sequel to ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse'' known as ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt'', features a new protagonist and both updated and newer gameplay systems. The Initial release was published by Rutubo Games Work exclusively in the Japanese arcade, first on SYSTEM BOARD Y 2 on June 25, 2010, before being released digitally via
NESiCAxLive is a digital distribution system for arcade video games made by Taito. It is similar to the SEGA ALL.Net game distribution system. Taito uses NESiCAxLive to distribute not only its own games, but also allows other companies to use it as a public ...
on February 22, 2012. The series was put on hiatus when Subtle becomes a recurring freelance sprite artist for
French Bread This is a list of notable French breads, consisting of breads that originated in France. * Baguette – a long, thin type of bread of French origin. The "baguette de tradition française" is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common sal ...
in the said video game developer's later games, starting from allowing the titular ''Akatsuki'' protagonist to guest appear in ''
Under Night In-Birth is a 2D fighting game co-developed by Ecole Software and French-Bread. It received many updates for adjustments and characters. Gameplay The game has similar mechanics to ''Melty Blood'', ''Guilty Gear'' and ''BlazBlue''. It uses three attac ...
'', before ''Akatsuki EN-Eins'' series receives proper full worldwide recognition in its crossover appearance in
Arc System Works , commonly referred to as ArcSys, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher located in Yokohama. Founded by Minoru Kidooka in 1988, the company is known for arcade 2D fighting game franchises, including ''Guilty Gear'' and ''BlazBlue'', a ...
' '' BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'' since Arc System Works helped publishing ''Under Night In-Birth'' outside Japan. On March 26, 2019, it was revealed on Subtle Style's blog that ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse'' will be ported to Microsoft Windows, but got delayed due to the emergence of
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, leaving the announcement of the release date is remain unknown. Following the announcement of ''Akatsuki EN-Eins''' Kaiden from ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf''
Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...
e-mailed Subtle in regard for the possibility of ''Ausf. Achse'' being released on
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
, due to the current modern worldwide gaming scenario in the PC community. Ten years after the release of NESICAxLive arcade port, just as the COVID-19 pandemic progressively decrease, ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt'' receives true finalized version under the tentative update title ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt Anastasis''. The crowdfunding for the development of ''Anastasis'' started on April 26, 2022, until June 5, 2022. Additionally, the crowdfunding is backed by a charity tournament of original ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt'' at Gamecenter Will on May 29, 2022. At the end of June 5, 2022, two unknown brand new characters will not be included in ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt Anastasis'', due to their inclusion does not meet the funding's stretch goal by the time the funding ends. On July 18, 2022, Subtle Style and Ko-Hatsu revealed through the latter's Ci-En e-mail account that they chose NESICAxLive as the primary arcade port for ''EN-Eins Perfektewelt Anastasis'' in response to the decrease of arcades and the arcade cabinets' manufacturers, would affect the arcade centers and industries' current finances. At the same date, Ko-Hatsu confirms that the current development on July is at 70%, indicating the release date will around a month of December 2022 before the end of the year.


Reception

The first game in the series, ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō,'' received mixed reviews from reviewers, who praised the gameplay and art of the game but criticized the small amount characters (3 characters at launch, 5 after being patched) and various gameplay issues. Its finalized version titled ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'' added new characters, backgrounds, and game modes, as well as added online play and further deepened the combat system. ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'' has a strong community in Japan with tournaments and ranking battles in
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
centers like Ko-Hatsu. Outside of Japan communities have formed on websites such as Shoryuken.com (the official host of the
Evolution Championship Series The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, is an annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. The tournaments are completely open and use the double elimination format. As with Super Battle Opera, contestants ...
fighting game tournaments in the US).


See also

*
List of fighting games Fighting games are characterized by close combat between two fighters or groups of fighters of comparable strength, often broken into rounds or stocks. If multiple players are involved, players generally fight against each other. Note: Games ar ...
* '' BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'' * ''
Under Night In-Birth is a 2D fighting game co-developed by Ecole Software and French-Bread. It received many updates for adjustments and characters. Gameplay The game has similar mechanics to ''Melty Blood'', ''Guilty Gear'' and ''BlazBlue''. It uses three attac ...
''


References


External links

*
Official ''Akatsuki Shisei Ichigo'' website


*
Official ''Ausf. Achse'' website


*
Official ''Anastasis'' website
{{BlazBlue series Alternate history video games Arcade video games Doujin video games Japan-exclusive video games Video games set in the 2000s Rutubo Games games Fighting games 2D fighting games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in Japan Video games set in China Windows games Arcade games Multiplayer and single-player video games