Hiroyuki Kanno (菅野ひろゆき, 8 May 1968 – 19 December 2011) was a Japanese video game designer who wrote and directed

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 ...

s and

eroge An ''eroge'' ( or , ''erogē''; ; a portmanteau of ''erotic game'' , ''erochikku gēmu'') is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. In 1982, Japan's Koei, founded by husband-and-wife team Yoichi and Keiko Erikawa (and later known for strate ...

adventure games starting in the 1990s. Some of his most well-known games include ''Xenon'', ''Desire'', '' Eve Burst Error'' (at C's Ware) and '' YU-NO'' (at

ELF Corporation , stylized as élf, was a Japanese eroge studio. One of its most popular games is '' Dōkyūsei'', a pioneering dating sim, which has had a sequel and been turned into adult OVA series. The character design of the main villains from the ''- ...

), which had a major influence on the visual novel genre. He was friends with Ryu Umemoto, who often worked closely with him and composed music for the games. In December 1997, he founded Abel corporation and became its CEO. In 2011, Kanno died due to cerebral infarction and brain hemorrhage.

Legacy

According to Anime News Network, ''YU-NO'' is "considered one of the most beloved narrative games in Japan, and its system of parallel storylines had a profound influence on storytelling in visual novels in the years since its original release." According to ITmedia, the influence of Kanno, and ''YU-NO'' in particular, goes beyond visual novels and extends to modern

Otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...

works in general. The mangaka Tamiki Wakaki, for example, has cited ''YU-NO'' as an influence on the manga and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series, ''

The World God Only Knows , abbreviated as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 2008 to April 2014, with its chapters collected in 26 ''tankōbon'' vo ...

''. Other visual novel and manga authors who cited ''YU-NO'' as an influence include

Romeo Tanaka is a Japanese author and scenario writer for adult and ''bishōjo'' games. At one time, he had attended the University of Tsukuba. In 2007, Tanaka started to write his first light novel series entitled ''Humanity Has Declined'' which is published ...

, Poyoyon Rock,

Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the games the company ...

, Type-Moon's Hikaru Sakurai, ''

White Album 2 is a trilogy of Japanese Eroge, adult visual novels developed by the visual novel company Leaf (Japanese company), Leaf for the Microsoft Windows Personal computer, PC, and is the sequel to Leaf's earlier visual novel, ''White Album (vid ...

'' and ''

Saekano ''Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend'', known in Japan as and the short form is a Japanese romantic comedy light novel series written by Fumiaki Maruto, with illustrations by Kurehito Misaki. Fujimi Shobo published thirteen ...

'' author Fumiaki Maruto, and ''

To Heart ''To Heart'' is a Japanese Eroge, adult visual novel developed by Leaf (company), Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Microsoft Windows, Windows. It was later Porting, ported to the PlayStation (console), PlayStation and given voice act ...

'' author Toru Minazuki. According to RPG Site and DualShockers, Hiroyuki Kanno's work influenced later visual novels such as ''

Fate/stay night ''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel developed by Type-Moon and originally released as an adult game for Windows on January 30, 2004. A version of ''Fate/stay night'' rated for ages 15 and up titled ''Fate/stay night Réalta ...

'' and '' Steins;Gate''.

References

External links

Article at Giantbomb
1968 births 2011 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Japanese video game directors Japanese video game producers Video game writers {{japan-writer-stub