is a Japanese

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

visual novel developed by Crossnet, and released for Windows

PCs A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...

on May 30, 2008. ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' was later released for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

, and as a DVD TV game. A sequel visual novel, titled ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo Dokidoki Full Throttle!'', was released as a PC game for Windows on February 27, 2009, and later released as a PSP game and DVD TV game as well. The story follows Shiki Haruomi, who begins living with three beautiful sisters after the volcano on his home island erupts. ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' premiered as the sixth best selling visual novel in the month and year of its release on ''Getchu.com''. The gameplay in ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the three female main characters by the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

. A

hentai Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA) series was produced, containing three episodes. Other media such as

art books 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 ...

, and various

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...

were also released.

Gameplay

''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' is an

visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Shiki Haruomi. Much of its gameplay is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents the story's narrative and

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 ...

. The text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Kyōtarō is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. Some decisions can lead the game to end prematurely and offer an alternative ending to the plot. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. Throughout gameplay, there are scenes depicting Shiki and a given heroine having sex. Scenes of this kind depict a varying combination of

masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...

, oral sex and intercourse.

Plot and characters

The main protagonist is , a handsome boy who is considerably strong, due to his fishing experience on the island. He is generally calm and collected. Shiki moves into a relative's house after a volcanic eruption occurs on his home island, and in the relative's house, there are three beautiful sisters who happen to be his childhood friends, one of them being . Akina is the second eldest of the sisters, and out of the three, is the most loving towards Shiki. She is popular at school, being a perfectionist and honor student. Whilst Akina is usually sweet and kind, she does have a jealous side. Though not being the eldest, Akina excels at studies, sports, and housework. The eldest sister is , who became the manager of Min-Min Ice Creamery after the sisters' parents died. Natsumi has a hard time resisting alcohol, and can become tipsy just with its scent. She is gentle, unfussy, and has a polite-manner way of speaking, however, when she drinks, she becomes aggressive. Natsumi's hobbies include fortune telling, she loves to tell other people's fortune, as well as her own. She likes to call Shiki "Haru-chan", due to her thinking it's more friendly. The youngest sister is , who is two grades below Shiki. Mafuyu has a quiet, and stoic personality, and because of this, her mood can be hard to read. Despite this, Mafuyu is sexually curious, and likes to read erotic novels. Shiki accidentally sees her masturbating a few times. Shiki also becomes enrolled at Akina's school, where he gets acquainted with three other characters, among them being his class president . Midori, for some reason, holds a grudge against Shiki. She is somewhat stern, and very intelligent, often quoting famous sayings, and proverbs. Midori has a best friend called , a shy, bespectacled girl who is also Shiki's classmate. She fell in love with Shiki upon first sight, causing her to stalk him regularly. Suzuran rarely ever talks, but instead communicates by floriography. Shiki befriends boy in his class called , who, despite being good-looking, is unpopular with girls. This is due to his cowardly and immature nature. Tsukasa dislikes this fact about himself, and wishes to be more popular with girls. He feels that Shiki has outclassed him in this respect, but still treasures Shiki as a friend.

Development

''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' is the eighth visual novel Crossnet has developed, after Crossnet's previous visual novel '' Ayakashi'', which spawned a TV anime and

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 ...

series. The characters of ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' are designed by Jin Happoubi, who is known for his character designs in the ''Boin'' series. Neko Kosume and Izumi Banya are the visual novel's scenario writers, whilst music is provided by a Japanese music production company called Angel Note. The opening of the game, , is sung by Mami Nakayama. ''Full Throttle!'', ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo''s sequel, is set a year after the events of the first game, and a yaoi ending with Tsukasa becomes available.

Release history

Omega Star first released ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' for Windows

as a

DVD ROM The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on May 30, 2008. The visual novel was later ported to a

console on June 11, 2010, by PalaceGame, a UMD publisher. ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' was released as a DVD TV game on October 19, 2012, by Mints. A sequel visual novel titled was released for Windows PCs as a DVD ROM on February 27, 2009. On December 17, 2010, PalaceGame released a PSP port for ''Full Throttle!'', it was also released as a DVD TV game by Mints on December 16, 2012. Both games, ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'', and ''Full Throttle!'', were bundled together and released as a pack on December 18, 2012.

Related media

Merchandise

Merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...

has been produced based on the game. PVC character figures that depict the sisters of ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' were produced by Milk Pot. The first of these was of Akina, released on March 31, 2012. A limited edition of the Akina figure was released the same day, sporting the same design, but a different colored uniform. Another figure of Akina was released by Milk Pot on April 22, 2014. PVC figures for Mafuyu and Natsumi were released November 30, 2012 and May 31, 2013. Another version of the Mafuyu figure was released on May 31, 2014. A painted

polystone Artificial stone is a name for various synthetic stone products produced from the 18th century onward. Uses include statuary, architectural details, fencing and rails, building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial applications su ...

figure depicting Natsumi lying down is to be released by Blackberry on March 31, 2015. Dakimakura cases were produced, each featuring a different sister, various tapestry, and masturbation toys were also released.

Books and publications

A 176-page art book, titled , was published by

Core Magazine is a Japanese publishing company focused on adult material, such as adult magazines and ''hentai'' manga. It also publishes ''yaoi'' titles, such as ''Kirepapa''. The company was established in 1985 as . Core Magazine owns a bookstore chain . ...

on June 30, 2010. The book contains illustrations from the game, and interviews from staff. Oaks published a mook on September 25, 2010, titled , which features content from ''Boin'', ''Resort Boin'', and ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'', with the addition of its sequel ''Full Throttle!''.

Anime

A three-episode

(OVA) series directed by Kōsuke Murayama, was produced by Studio Eromatick, and distributed by MS Pictures under its Platinum Milky label. All three episodes were released as both a

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

(BD) and DVD. The first episode was released on December 25, 2009, and the

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

DVD of the first episode comes bundled with character artwork and a CD. ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo''s second episode was released on June 18, 2010. Lastly, the third and final episode was released on May 20, 2011. All three episodes were later compiled into one 90-minute-long OVA titled ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo Full Version'', which was released as a BD and DVD on April 19, 2013. Additional scenes are added into the full version. The three episodes were licensed and released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kitty Media in 2016 with an English dub.

Episode list

Reception

On ''Getchu.com'', a major redistributor of visual novel and domestic anime products, ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' ranked as the sixth best selling visual novel in the month of its release, behind Moonstone's visual novel '' Clear'', which ranked fifth. The game charted further the next month, ranking at No. 20. According to ''Getchu.com'', during the first half of 2008, ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' was the 20th most widely sold PC game. Furthermore, it was the 38th most widely sold PC game in that year. ''Full Throttle!'' ranked as the fourth best selling PC game during the month of its release on ''Getchu.com'', whilst August's visual novel '' Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na'' ranked No. 1 that month. However, the game failed to chart further in March. ''Full Throttle!'' was the 17th most widely sold PC game during the first half of 2009, and the 37th most highly sold visual novel of the year.

Controversy

An eroge called ''Paizuri Cheerleader VS Sakunyuu Ouendan!'' was released by Marine for Windows

on September 24, 2010. It was reported on ''New-akiba.com'', a Chiyoda based online magazine for

Akihabara is a common name for the area around Akihabara Station in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, the area called Akihabara mainly belongs to the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts in Chiyoda. There exists an administrative district ca ...

, that ''Paizuri Cheerleader'' allegedly plagiarized one of the CG ( computer graphics) samples from ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'', which was released about two and a half years before ''Paizuri Cheerleader'', the visual novel in question.

Notes

References

External links

Omega Star's official ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' website

Palace's official ''Kanojo × Kanojo × Kanojo'' website

Palace's official ''Full Throttle!'' website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanojo x Kanojo x Kanojo 2008 video games 2009 video games 2009 anime OVAs Anime OVAs Bishōjo games DVD interactive technology Eroge Harem anime and manga Harem video games Hentai anime and manga Japan-exclusive video games OVAs based on video games PlayStation Portable games Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games