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

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

and was first released on July 27, 2001 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 ...

as a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

, followed by 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 ...

release on August 31, 2001. It was followed by two all-ages consumer ports for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

, retitled as ''Water Summer'', and the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

on July 18, 2002, which was subsequently followed by an all-ages version for Windows, released on July 25, 2003. An expanded version, entitled , was released in Japan on September 24, 2004 with the adult content found in the original version, followed by a European release on April 25, 2009, and was again ported to 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 ...

, entitled , released on August 30, 2007 with the adult content removed. 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 ''Suika'' follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the main female characters. ''Suika'' has made several transitions to other media. A

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

was published by

Paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

in November 2001 and a set of four

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 ...

were produced between August 2002 and January 2003. A four-episode

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 ...

created by Moon Rock was released between February 25, 2003 and June 25, 2003 as three DVDs containing one episode each, followed by a DVD box-set released on April 25, 2004 containing an extra episode, and was subsequently licensed for sale in North America under the title ''Wet Summer Days'' by Kitty Media.

Gameplay

The ''Suika'' visual novel is divided into four chapters which contain different stories and characters, though all take place in the same rural town known as Tokiwa Village. In a short prologue upon starting a new game, the player assumes the role of Hiroshi Inaba as he arrives back in town for his annual visit of friends and family. It is here that the two heroines for the two upcoming chapters are seen through his eyes. In the first chapter, the player assumes the role of Akira Kazama and centers around his interaction with the first chapter's sole main heroine Itsuki Minase (voiced by Minami Nagasaki). In the second chapter, the protagonist is Souji Kamishiro who interacts with the second chapter's two main heroines Sayaka Shirakawa (voiced by Kanon Torii) and Mie Wakabayashi (voiced by Junko Kusayanagi). In the third chapter, the player plays as Yoshikazu Masaki who interacts with two heroines, Akane Masaki (voiced by Yura Hinata) and Touko Kyouya (voiced by Komugi Nishida). In the fourth and final chapter, the player returns to Hiroshi Inaba. This chapter centers around his interaction with a heroine who remains nameless throughout the story (voiced by Hiyori Haruno in Original and Azumi Nakatani in A.S.). ''Suikas

requires little interaction from the player as most of the game's duration is spent reading the text that appears on the game screen, which 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. After progressing through the text, the player will come to a "decision point" where he or she must choose from multiple options. The time between these decision points varies. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are five main plot lines the player experiences—one for each heroine. The player must replay the game multiple times and make different choices during decision points to view all five plot lines. One of the goals of the original version's gameplay is for the player to enable the viewing of hentai scenes depicting the given protagonist and one of the heroines having

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

Development

''Suika'' is the fourth project developed by the visual novel studio Circus, and the second by their Northern subdivision. The producer for ''Suika'' was Tororo, president of Circus, who was also one of the two music composers, the other being Kometto Nekono. The planning for ''Suika'' was headed by Mikage, and was one of the two scenario writers along with Ichirō Go. Art direction and character design was split between

Naru Nanao is the pseudonym of a female Japanese artist from Okinawa, Japan. Nanao's choice of her pseudonym stems from Circus' game ''Aries'', in which one of the characters was named . She is a free illustrator and thus is not affiliated with one single ...

and Takanon Ikuta. Programming for the game was provided by Takanori. Tororo, Mikage, and Naru Nanao went on to create titles such as ''

Da Capo Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an ...

'', with the latter two later collaborating to help develop Minori's '' Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two''.

Release history

''Suika'' was first available to be public on July 27, 2001, as a

for

, containing adult content. It was followed by a

release, with various technical improvements, on August 31, 2001. Both versions were released as both a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition contained an

arrange Arrange is a mythological figure from the Australian aboriginal creation myth of the Alyawarre people for Karlu Karlu. In the myth, the figure Arrange, who is also referred to as the devil man, comes from Ayleparrarntenhe. Arrange was making a ...

soundtrack album, a calendar, in addition to a T-shirt included in only the DVD-ROM release; the regular editions did not contain the aforementioned extras. The next year, the original releases of ''Suika'' were followed by two consumer console ports for the

, renamed as ''Water Summer'', and the

. Both versions were published by PrincessSoft, and were released on July 18, 2002 as both a limited edition and a regular edition, with the adult content found in the original release removed. The limited edition of both the PS and the DC version were limited in quantity, with fifteen-thousand units manufactured for the PS version, and twenty-thousand for the DC version. It was subsequently followed by an all-ages version published by S.O.F.T., released on July 25, 2003 for Windows. An enhanced re-release based on the all-ages version, entitled , was published by Circus in Japan on September 24, 2004 with extended scenario and the adult content found in the original version. The game was ported to the

in limited and regular editions on August 30, 2007 under the title with adult content once again removed. The game was released downloadable on the Internet in English published by the European-based company MangaGamer on April 25, 2009.

Related media

Books

The was published by

SoftBank Publishing is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs th ...

in October 2001. A

written by Tasuku Saika with illustrations by Takanon Ikuta and cover illustration by

was published by

in November 2001 and covered the story from the fourth chapter in ''Suika''. A guide book entitled was published by SoftBank Publishing in September 2002.

OVA

An adult-oriented

series was produced by the animation studio Moon Rock and directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi. The studio adapted ''Suika'' initially over three episodes which were released on three separate DVDs and VHSs between February 25, 2003 and June 25, 2003 in Japan. A DVD box-set containing the first three volumes and an extra episode was released in Japan on April 25, 2004. The OVA series was licensed and released subtitled in English by Kitty Media as a single DVD containing the four episodes on August 17, 2004.

Music and audio CDs

The original visual novel and the ports to the PlayStation and Dreamcast each have two pieces of

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Fragment: The Heat Haze of Summer" sung by Kamin in the original Windows version, and by Yozuca* in the two ports. A

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

containing the opening theme sung by Kamin was released by Circus on July 15, 2001. The ending theme is "Fragment: Thought to Wish to the Starlit Sky" sung by Miwa Kōzuki in the Windows version, and by

Rino Rino may refer to: * Rino (given name) * Republican In Name Only, a pejorative term for U.S. Republicans considered to be insufficiently conservative * Rino, a singer-songwriter who performs under CooRie * RiNo, the River North Art District north ...

for the ports. Both songs were written and composed by Tororo. The ''Water Summer Original Soundtrack'', the soundtrack for the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions, was released by Circus on August 11, 2001. A

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007 ...

entitled was released by First Smile Entertainment on December 19, 2001. The ''Suika Original Soundtrack'' for the original visual novel was released by PetaBits Records on October 26, 2007. The updated release of ''Suika'' entitled ''Suika A.S+'' has three pieces of theme music, one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Fragment: Luminous Ver" written and composed by Tororo and sung by

Miyuki Hashimoto is a female Japanese singer from Saitama Prefecture. She is signed to Lantis, a label which contribute songs to anime and video games. Discography Singles * ''Koko ni Iru kara...'' (Released August 25, 2004) # Koko ni Iru kara... — anim ...

. The first ending theme is , and the second ending theme is ; both ending themes were written and composed by Chiyomaru Shikura and sung by

Ayane Ayane (/aˈjaˌnɛ/) is the romanization of a feminine Japanese given name. Literally translated it means "colorful sound" (彩音 or 綺音). * or Junko Hirata, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese television personality *, Japanese badminton ...

. The PlayStation 2 version entitled ''Suika A.S+ Eternal Name'' has four pieces of theme music, one opening theme and three ending themes. The opening theme is "Fragment: Shooting Star of the Origin" written and composed by Tororo and sung by

Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...

. The first, and main, ending theme is "Fragment: Eternal Infinity", also written and composed by Tororo, but sung by Jun Mirono. The second ending theme is sung by Yozuca*, and the third ending theme is sung by Kazco. A vocal album for the PlayStation 2 release of ''Suika'' entitled ''Since Fragment'' was released by Lantis on July 25, 2007. The OVA's opening theme is "Fragment: The Heat Haze of Summer" by Kamin and the ending theme is by Naotarou Moriyama. The original soundtrack of the OVA series was released by

Frontier Works is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products. The company was established in August 1990. Projects i ...

on August 23, 2003 containing one disc. ''Suika'' was adapted into four

released between August 30, 2002 and January 27, 2003 by

Movic is a Japanese company which specializes in the publication of trading cards, figures, CDs, and other general media related to the anime industry. Movic is a part of the Animate group. Anime involved in *'' Ah! My Goddess: The Movie'': Producti ...

. Each CD covers each of the four chapters in ''Suika'' starting with Minase Itsuki's story in chapter one, and ending with the story of the nameless girl in chapter four.

Reception and sales

According to a national ranking of

bishōjo game A or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make ...

s based on amounts sold in Japan, the limited edition of ''Suika''s CD-ROM release premiered at the second place out of fifty when it was first listed on the chart, and was then dropped to the fortieth in the next ranking. While it did not appear in the next ranking, it appeared again on the chart one month later, at the forty-eighth place, making its final appearance on the charts. The regular edition of the CD-ROM release premiered on the charts at the seventh place twice since its release, and dropped to the twenty-first in its next and last appearance on the charts. The DVD-ROM release premiered on the charts at the seventh place, before dropping to the forty-eighth place in the next, making its final appearance on the charts. When ''Suika A.S+'' was first released, the limited edition release premiered on the chart at the second place, and did not make any further appearances, while the regular edition release debuted and made its only appearance on the charts at the thirty-seventh place.

References

External links

Circus' official ''Suika'' website

MangaGamer's official ''Suika A.S+'' website

*{{ann, anime, 4502, Wet Summer Days 2001 Japanese novels 2001 video games 2003 anime OVAs Bishōjo games Drama anime and manga Dreamcast games Eroge Japan-exclusive video games Lantis (company) Light novels PlayStation 2 games PlayStation (console) games Romance anime and manga Romance video games Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games PrincessSoft games Circus (company) games