is a Japanese

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed by Moonstone which was released on August 24, 2007 playable on

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 ...

as a DVD. An all ages version of ''Clear'', published by Sweets, was released on February 19, 2009 for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

. ''Clear'' is Moonstone's sixth game; Moonstone has also developed ''

Gift A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...

''. The

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 pla ...

in ''Clear'' follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters. Moonstone later released a

fan disc A fan disc (sometimes called fandisk or simply abbreviated as FD) is a package of additional content, usually released by a game company after the successful launch of one of its titles. The contents of fan discs varies, but often includes new i ...

titled ''Clear: Crystal Stories'' in May 2008. Before the game's release, a

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

based on the story, drawn by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Yukiwo is a Japanese male illustrator and adult game artist from Tokyo. He illustrated the manga adaptations to two visual novels developed by Moonstone: ''Gift'', and '' Clear''. His seinen manga '' Musashino-sen no Shimai'' has been made into a live ...

, was serialized in the

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazine ''

Comp Ace is a Japanese PC game, computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Comp Ace'' began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, ''Comptiq''. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and ...

''. An illustrated story of ''Clear'' serialized in the

Dengeki Hime was a Japanese magazine published monthly by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) publishing information mainly on adult visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often a ...

magazine. Other media such as an

image song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, a vocal mini album,

drama CDs 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 t ...

, and a short story collection called ''Clear Short Stories'' were produced.

Gameplay

''Clear'' is a

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

in which the player assumes the role of Kōichi Yukino. Its gameplay mainly consists of reading and progressing through the story's narrative and dialogue. The game's text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Kōichi is talking to, appearing on top of background artwork. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the regular background art and character sprites. ''Clear'' follows a branching plot line with nonlinear sequences and multiple endings, where the plot's direction is affected by the player's decisions. The gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen; this text represents either

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point" where they are given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. During these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction, depending on which choice the player makes. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the five heroines in the story. In order to view the five plot lines to their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points in order to further the plot in an alternate direction. Throughout gameplay, there are scenes depicting Kōichi and a given heroine having sexual intercourse.

Plot and characters

''Clears story is set on the island Harukajima. , the protagonist, used to live on the island, but moved to Tokyo as a child. Kōichi comes back from Tokyo to this very ordinary and small island off the coast from mainland Japan and lives with his grandfather. When he returns, a part of his childhood memory on the island is missing. Kōichi is not a normal human; he is a type of blood-sucking

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

, though he cannot attack people, due to a certain rule. He came to attend his current school because this secret was exposed in his old town on an island offshore Japan. Kōichi has a younger female cousin called . After her parents died, she was adopted into his family as his sister. After her brother transfers schools, she does as well so she can still go to the same school as him. Another living at the Yukino household is . Nonoka, otherwise known as Nono, works as a maid at Kōichi's house, though she often makes many mistakes. She has

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

so has become a live-in maid until she can remember anything about her old life. Kōichi has a childhood friend named . She has a graceful personality, and is thought to be very beautiful. She belongs to the Volunteer Club which makes her popular around town. She is also skilled at

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...

. ''Clear'' features two other main female characters, one being . Haruno is an apprentice

miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform ...

at a shrine, though this is only something that is part-time. She is haunted by a ghost, and became an apprentice miko so she could figure out how to get rid of it. Despite this, she usually has a cheerful personality. Lastly, there is . Due to Sayu's youthful personality and appearance, she is often mistaken for a child. She always carries around a small doll named Sayurin designed to look similar to her.

Development and release

Planning and scenario was headed by Kure, whilst Mitha and Endori worked on character designs.

CG artwork Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...

was handled by four people, Kayaka, Udonko, Yamakaze, and Hinata Nao, background artwork was provided by Sazanka. The creation of

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

(BGM) in ''Clear'' was undertook by a music production company called Angel Note, and Itsuya Mizunoto worked as ''Clears animator. The game was produced by Hotaru Koizumi. ''Clear'' was first introduced in Japan, in limited and regular editions, on August 24, 2007 as a DVD playable on a

PC. The limited edition came bundled with three additional gifts: a rectangular clock with an image of Miki looking out on a beach, a hardcover illustration book with images from the game, a

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 ...

which came with the book, and a two-disc original soundtrack. An all ages version of ''Clear'', titled , was released on February 19, 2009 for the

by Sweets. On May 3, 2008, Moonstone released a fan disc titled for Windows PCs as a DVD. In the fan disc, all six heroines receive their own new story.

Related media

Printed media

, under the title , was serialized in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

's Japanese

magazine ''

'' between June 26, 2007 and May 26, 2008. Despite the manga being released before the visual novel, the story is based on the game and is illustrated by

. The first bound volume was released on March 26, 2008, and the second followed on June 26, 2008. An illustrated story, with the general title , serialized in

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

' ''

'' magazine between the May and July issues in 2007. A single

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

collection entitled ''Clear Short Stories'' is written by Nikaidō Kageyama and was first published in Japan by Harvest in February 2008 with Miki and Sayu on the cover drawn by the staff of Moonstone. An

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

entitled ''Clear Visual Fan Book'' was published by

Ichijinsha is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga. ...

on April 26, 2008 with Miki and Natsuki on the cover.

Music and audio CDs

The game's opening theme is , sung by Riryka. The game has two ending themes: "Crystal Love" sung by Kazko, and "Brilliant Days" by Riryka. There are also three insert songs: "Bitter sweet pain" 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 ...

, by

Rekka Katakiri is a female Japanese singer under the self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, ...

, and "One-way Shining" by

Chata is a Japanese singer who has performed theme songs for video games and anime series. She has also participated in various dōjin music circles. Her own private circle is called ''Usagi Kinoko''. History Chata began dabbling in music in 1998. S ...

. The first music single for the visual novel, entitled "Perfect Tears", was released on May 23, 2007 in Japan as an

single by Lantis; this single contained an image song, and a remix of the game's opening theme. The game's original soundtrack was released with the limited edition version of the game; the soundtrack contained two discs, along with two bonus drama tracks. A vocal mini album was released on September 26, 2007 by Lantis containing the opening theme, both ending themes, and the three insert songs featured in the visual novel. A free

entitled was distributed at ''Clear'' promotional events in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan in May and June 2007. Another drama CD was released by Lantis on May 9, 2008, containing fourteen drama tracks.

Reception

On Getchu.com, a major redistributor of visual novel and domestic anime products, ''Clear'' ranked at No. 3 in the PC sales ranking of August 2007. The game charted further at No. 23 in the PC sales ranking of 2007.

References

External links

''Clear'' official website

''Clear'' PS2 official website
*{{vndb, 467 2007 video games 2008 Japanese novels Bishōjo games Drama anime and manga Eroge Fantasy anime and manga Fantasy video games Harem anime and manga Japan-exclusive video games Manga based on video games 2007 manga PlayStation 2 games Romance anime and manga Romance video games School life in anime and manga Seinen manga Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games Moonstone (company) games