, formerly and previously spelled in English as VisualArt's, is a Japanese

publishing company Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

which specializes in publishing and distributing

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 for a large list of game developers. Visual Arts has developed game engines their brands currently use, including the current engine, called Siglus, and older engines RealLive and AVG32. Visual Arts also handles the distribution of these games. The games published are mostly for a male audience, though they also publish games targeted towards women as well. They are well known for publishing games developed by

Key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

, such as '' Kanon'', ''

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

'', and ''

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

''. The company has coined a new type of visual novel called the kinetic novel where unlike in visual novels where the player is periodically given choices to make, there are no choices whatsoever and the player watches the game progress as if it were a movie. One of Key's games entitled '' Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet'' was the first game produced under the kinetic novel name. In addition to games, Visual Arts also releases music CDs for video game music. Of special note among the artists sold under this label is

I've Sound I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different vocalists, known as to their fa ...

, a

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

music production group who was the first in the adult game industry to perform at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

in October 2005. Visual Arts is also involved with transplanting games they have previously published to be playable on

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

manages this portion of Visual Arts known as . Visual Arts launched a web magazine called ''Visualstyle'' on October 26, 2007. Visual Arts launched a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel called Visual Channel in July 2008 where videos are posted which are related to the games and companies under Visual Arts. In October 2008, Visual Arts launched their VA Bunko

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 ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

, which includes light novels based on games produced by brands under Visual Arts.

Partner companies

Game brands

*13 cm *Amedeo *Anfini *B_Works *Bonbee! *Catwalk *Concept *Dress *E.G.O. *Elysion *Flady *Frill *Garden *G-clef *Ham Ham Soft *Hadashi Shōjo *Hayashigumi *Image Craft *Issue *Jidaiya *

KineticNovel is a brand of the Japanese software publishing company Visual Arts. The productions of the KineticNovel label are unlike other visual novels in that no choices are given to the player. They have only one possible outcome. The player can choose w ...

*Kur-Mar-Ter *KuroCo *Lapis Lazuli *LimeLight *Mana *Miss Chifu *Moe. *Ningyou Yuugisya *Ocelot *OPTiM *Pass Guard *Pekoe *Playm *Radi *Realdeal *Rex *Rio *

Saga Planets (often stylized as SAGA PLANETS), is a Japanese adult visual novel brand and a formerly subsidiary of Visual Art's. Their debut title, '' Mukuro ~Mesu o Nerau Agito~'', was released in 1998 and their most recent work, '' AMBITIOUS MISSION'', was ...

*Sirius *Spray *

Studio Mebius A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support") ...

*Tone Work's *Zero *Zion

Music related

*Cure Records *

fripSide fripSide is a Japanese pop and trance duo originally formed by composer Satoshi Yaginuma (Sat) and singer Nao in February 2002. History In a 2008 interview, Satoshi said that he was a fan of TM Network and its member Tetsuya Komuro in his elem ...

Key Sounds Label Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company VisualArt's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visu ...

*OTSU *Queens Label

Defunct

*Akiko *Akumi *Craftwork *Culotte *D-XX *Giant Panda *Harvest *Kamen Shōkai *Manbō Soft *Miyabi *Otherwise *

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

*Tamachadō *Words

References

External links

*
Visual Arts product website

Visual Arts Motto official website

Visual Channel
at

VA Bunko official website
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1991 Video game companies established in 1991 Amusement companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game companies of Japan Key (company) Book publishing companies of Japan