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

Lump of Sugar is a Japanese company specializing in adult visual novels. Founded in April 2005, their first game, '' Nursery Rhyme'' was released later that year. Their third work, '' Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity'', was released in 2008, and was later adapted ...

and released on November 25, 2005 for

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 ...

. The story follows the life of Shizuma Hasekura, who visits his childhood friend Makina Tomoe and her twin sister, Yukina Tomoe. ''Nursery Rhyme'' is set in future, and takes place in the same world of '' Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity''. The gameplay in ''Nursery Rhyme'' follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five 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 ...

. The game ranked at No. 2 in the national top 50 for best-selling PC games sold in Japan. ''Nursery Rhyme'' has made transitions into other media, such as a light novel and audio dramas.

Gameplay

''Nursery Rhyme'' is a romance

in which the player assumes the role of Shizuma Hasekura. Much of its gameplay is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents the story's

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

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 Shizuma 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. ''Nursery Rhyme'' 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. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. 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 Shizuma and a given heroine having sex.

Plot

Setting

The game, taking place 500 years after the events of '' Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity'', is set in a fictional Japan where the existence of magic has been recognized by society, and thus has been the subject of much research. Magic is also applied to everyday life; for example, stuffed toys are able to talk. Users of magic must wear a special ring which controls their powers, and are urged to blend in with society. Despite ''Nursery Rhyme'' being set in the future, Japan's culture is depicted as unchanged for the most part. Many of the characters attend , a prestigious all-girls school which provides its students with magic classes, as well as academic courses. Shōsei Gakuen hosts a female-dominated sport event known as .

Main characters

The player assumes the role of , a sensible teenager who, while his parents are working overseas, is visiting his energetic childhood friend . She is talented at sports such as Sophilos, although her grades are suffering. Makina has an older twin sister called , who is more mature than Makina. She enjoys gardening, and is skilled at cooking. Shizuma meets spoiled rich girl . She is a tsundere, and is in constant competition with the twins. The last two heroines are , a genius with dog-like ears and a tail, and , a shy and clumsy elf who is aiming to become a teacher.

Development and release

''Nursery Rhyme'' is the first title developed by Lump of Sugar. The visual novel's scenario was written by Seimei Shibusawa, Daisangen, Eiji Takashima and Fuminori Aki. The character designs and illustrations for the visual novel were drawn by Fumitake Moekibara. The game's music was composed and arranged by a.k.a.dRESS (ave;new). The opening movie was animated by Radiant Impression Prelude. Self-described as a , ''Nursery Rhyme'' was released on November 25, 2005 as a DVD-ROM for

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 ...

. A version playable on

FOMA Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) is the brand name of the W-CDMA-based 3G telecommunications services being offered by the Japanese telecommunications service provider NTT DoCoMo. It is an implementation of the Universal Mobile Tel ...

mobile phones was released by Moepli on September 8, 2006. A

desk accessory A desk accessory (DA) in computing is a small transient or auxiliary application that can be run concurrently in a desktop environment with any other application on the system. Early examples, such as Sidekick and Macintosh desk accessories, used s ...

package called was released on August 17, 2007.

Adaptations

Printed media

A 111-page book titled ''Nursery Rhyme Visual Guide Book'' was published by Jive on April 24, 2006. The book included content such as

computer graphics 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 de ...

, story and character explanations, and rough sketches. A 234-page light novel titled , written by Sasa Miyachiruda and published by

Softgarage is a Japanese company that produces anime, games, character goods, music, and books. Softgarage was the company that produced the '' GR: Giant Robo'' anime. Though Softgarage primarily focuses on the production of original video animation (OVAs), ...

, was released on September 25, 2006 under the Sofgare Novels imprint. The cover art was drawn by Fumitake Moekibara, and the internal illustrations were drawn by Maru-chan.

Music and audio CDs

''Nursery Rhyme'' features music by Saori Sakura, who performs the opening theme, "true my heart", and ending theme, "Dearness". The original soundtrack was released with the visual novel as a reservation bonus, titled ''Nursery Rhyme Memories original sound track''. A maxi single by Saori Sakura was released on September 3, 2007 containing

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of the opening theme and another song called "kiss my lips". A

character 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 was released on December 29, 2007 at Comic Market 73. A drama CD was released with the visual novel as a reservation bonus. The first track focuses on the twins Makina and Yukina; the second track focuses on Tita and Rin; the third and final track focuses on Krile and her pet, Azrael. A second drama CD, titled ''Nursery Rhyme Drama CD "Life is sweet"'', was released by Rio on June 30, 2006.

Reception and legacy

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, ''Nursery Rhyme'' was the No. 2 best-selling bishōjo game at the time of its release. '' Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life'', released on the same day, took the No. 1 spot. ''Nursery Rhyme'' was the 18th most widely sold game of 2005 on Getchu.com. The opening theme, "true my heart", has become an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

. This is due to the misheard lyric , which spawned a series of remix parodies on Nico Nico Douga. "true my heart"'s melody has also appeared in the Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga videos, as has "kiss my lips". Some of the ''Nursery Rhyme'' characters feature in ''Megami Engage!''.

References

External links

Official website
*{{vndb, 310 Eroge Japan-exclusive video games Mobile games Visual novels Video games developed in Japan Windows games Bishōjo games Romance video games 2005 video games 2006 Japanese novels Light novels Lump of Sugar games