, known also by the

blend word In linguistics, a blend (sometimes called blend word, lexical blend, portmanteau or portmanteau word) is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. At least one of these parts is not a morph (the realization of a morpheme) but instead ...

''Housamo'' (放サモ, derived from ''Tōkyō Hōkago Samonāzu''), is an

F2P Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. It is developed by , a

mobile gaming A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to h ...

company operated by the

dōjin circle In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as "clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in "sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced b ...

. It is noted as one of the first commercially produced

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

video games created in Japan, and one of the first commercially produced LGBT games to extensively utilize

gay manga is a colloquialism for a genre of Japanese art and media known within Japan as or . The genre focuses on male same-sex love, as created primarily by gay men for a gay male audience. ''Bara'' can vary in visual style and plot, but typically ...

("bara") artwork.

Gameplay

''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' is a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

card-based

with

turn-based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

battles. Each character card has a weapon type, as well as an elemental attribute that determines its strengths and weaknesses against other cards in

rock–paper–scissors Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...

-style match-ups. Cards gain levels and abilities by accruing experience through battles; once a card reaches its level cap, special items must be used to uncap the card so it can gain more experience. The game utilizes an affinity system wherein buffs are applied when the cards of characters who have a relationship ("love", "like", "dislike", and "rival") are used in battle together. Cards are obtained through quests, or through the game's

gacha Gacha may refer to: * Gashapon, a kind of toy that originated in Japan which is sold inside a plastic capsule. Commonly sold in vending machines **Gacha game, video games that are monetized via a concept that is similar to gashapon. Comparable to L ...

system.

Development

The game was released on the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

for

on December 2, 2016, and on

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

for Android on December 15, 2016. Partial support for the game in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

, and

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

was added in March 2018. Several prominent

artists, including RybiOK, GomTang, and naop, have designed characters for the game, making ''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' one of the first ever commercially produced video games to feature gay manga artwork.

Plot

The protagonist awakens in a version of

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 ...

where "transients" – supernatural beings from fantasy and mythology – live among humans. In this world, both humans and transients utilize mysterious artifacts to fight in duels; duelists organize into

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s, which fight for control of the 23

special wards of Tokyo are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Although the autono ...

. The player controls the protagonist as they form a guild of their own, gather companions, and attempt to uncover how they have arrived in this world.

Characters

Main characters

; Hero : Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi /

Naoko Matsui is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Hakodate, Hokkaido. Matsui was a member of Production Baobab for 20 years before becoming a freelancer. Matsui is most notable for the roles of Uru Chie in ''High School! Kimengumi'', Rem Ayanokōji ...

/ Toshiyuki Hosaka /

Fuji Aki Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefectur ...

Toshimitsu Oda Toshimitsu is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshimitsu can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *敏光, "agile, light" *敏満, "agile, full" *敏三, "agile, three" *俊光, "talented ...

: The protagonist of the game. Their name, appearance, voice, and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

are chosen by the player and can be changed at any time. ; : : A

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, :wikt:σάτυρος, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, :wikt:Σειληνός, σειληνός ), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears ...

who serves as the hero's

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to re ...

. Explains the mechanics of the game. ; : : The protagonist's class representative. Childhood friends with Kengo. ; : : The protagonist and Shiro's classmate. Has a laid-back and jovial personality. ; : : A childhood friend to Shiro, though their friendship has fractured due to Kengo's

truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...

. ; : : An apprentice ''

kannushi A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...

'' and demon hunter.

Secondary characters

''Tokyo Afterschool Summoners'' features an extensive supporting cast of over one hundred unlockable characters. A partial list of supporting characters who figure heavily into the game's plot, or who are voiced by notable seiyu, are listed below. ; : : A

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

transient and treasure hunter. ; : : An anthropomorphic water buffalo transient and

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

. ; : : An anthropomorphic lion transient and oil wrestler who is the guardian of the Aoyama guild. ; : : An anthropomorphic goat transient and member of the Aoyma guild. ; : : A transient high school girl and

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...

player. ; : : A member of the cooking club at the protagonist's school who wields the

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer ...

as his artifact. ; : : A

kitsune In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...

transient who owns a casino in Tokyo. ; : : An anthropomorphic

Hokkaido wolf The Hokkaido wolf (''Canis lupus hattai''), also known as the and in Russia as the Sakhalin wolf,Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N., P. (1998''Mammals of the Soviet Union'' Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears) Science Pub ...

transient and member of the Ikebukuro Berserkers. ; : : A

boy genius A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

and

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

who is a classmate to the hero. ; : : A transient and executive of the Roppongi Tycoons crime syndicate. ; : : A

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

who serves as the acting master of the Aoyama guild. ; : : An anthropomorphic dog transient and classmate to the hero. ; : : An anthropomorphic hyena transient and DJ. ; : : A transient

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

and executive of the Roppongi Tycoons. ; : : A giant demon transient and member of the

Ōtemachi is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of Tokyo Station and Marunouchi, east of the Imperial Palace, west of Nihonbashi and south of Kanda. It is the location of the former site of the village of Shibazaki, the most a ...

Genociders. ; : : An anthropomorphic shark transient and surfer. ; : : A transient and member of the Aoyma guild who specializes in torture.

References

External links

Official website
{{Gay manga 2016 video games Digital collectible card games Fantasy video games Role-playing video games Japanese role-playing video games Gacha games IOS games Android (operating system) games Video games developed in Japan LGBT-related video games Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Furry role-playing games