Anime Play is a trademark used to refer to the

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 ...

games distributed by Hirameki International and a (discontinued) magazine profiling these games.

Anime Play DVD

Anime Play DVDs are the only English-language visual novels that are playable on standard

DVD player A DVD player is a device that plays DVDs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. Some DVD players will also play audio CDs. DVD players are connected to a television to ...

s; they can also be played on PCs with

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 kind ...

drives or

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

s that can play

DVD 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 kind ...

s like the PlayStation 2 or

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

. The restrictions of the DVD format mean that these games are missing many features present in most visual novels such as separate volume controls for music and voices; controlling the speed at which text is played; and ability to save the game at any point. The following games have been released in Anime Play format: * ''

Phantom of Inferno ''Phantom of Inferno'' (known in Japan as ''Phantom -PHANTOM OF INFERNO-'') is an adult visual novel game created by Nitroplus, directed and written by Gen Urobuchi, distributed in North America by Hirameki International (a subsidiary of t ...

'', a crime/romance drama * '' Amusement Park'', a romantic drama * ''

Day of Love A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two sola ...

'', a high school romance * ''

Tea Society of a Witch ''Tea Society of a Witch'' is an interactive AnimePlay DVD version of the Japanese bishōjo game by Front Wing. The English-language version is an all-ages DVD game based on the Japanese Dreamcast version. There is also a Japanese version with ...

'', a magical fantasy * ''

Hourglass of Summer is a Japanese visual novel that was released by Princess Soft. It was brought to the U.S. by the Hirameki, Hirameki International Group. It was one of the first interactive dating games to be translated into English (although there was never an E ...

'', a time travel romance * '' Ishika and Honori'', a spiritual detective drama * '' Dragonia'', a fantasy adventure game * '' Exodus Guilty: Vol. 1 - Present'', part one of a three-part adventure taking place over three time periods Hirameki International announced in 2003 that having released ''Phantom of Inferno'' earlier that year, they would be releasing fifteen more titles in AnimePlay format in the fourth quarter of 2003, and described all sixteen on their website; however, in summer of 2003 most of these titles were removed from the website. ''Phantom of Inferno'', ''Amusement Park'' and ''Day of Love'' were the only games released in 2003. The full list of visual novels to which they apparently acquired the rights is: * ''Phantom of Inferno'': released in 2003 * ''Day of Love'': released in 2003 * '' The Sixteenth Night Love Song'', a love adventure game: status unknown * '' The Bride of Ergeners'', a marriage adventure game: status unknown * '' Lying on Yoshia Heights'', a fantasy adventure game: status unknown * '' Koimusubi (Lovers' Knot)'', a romance story: status unknown * ''Amusement Park'': released in 2003 * ''

Snow Talk Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

'', a fantasy simulation game: status unknown * '' Separate Blue'', a school love story: status unknown * ''Azrael'', a ghost story: status unknown * '' Sweet Legacy'', a cooking love story: status unknown * '' Five O One'', an action story: status unknown * ''

Canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera ''Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' i ...

'', a school love story: status unknown * ''Hooligan'', an action love comedy: status unknown * ''Tea Society of a Witch'': released in summer 2004 * ''Hourglass of Summer'': released in summer 2004 In late 2005, Hirameki announced on their blog that after releasing the remaining two volumes of ''Exodus Guilty'', the Anime Play DVD series will be discontinued, and all of their visual novel titles will be released on PC.

Anime Play PC

AnimePlay PC games are the visual novels released in the United States by Hirameki International. Currently, they include: * ''

Ai Yori Aoshi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Fumizuki. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha's '' Young Animal'' magazine from 1998 to 2005 and the chapters collected into 17 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It is a love story betwee ...

'', a port of the PlayStation 2 game. * '' Animamundi'', a gothic horror game. * '' Ever17'', a mystery/suspense/romance game. * ''

Piece of Wonder ''Piece of Wonder'' is a hybrid tactical RPG and visual novel originally published in Japan in February 2002 by Studio Crossfire and released on January 21, 2007 in the United States by Hirameki International. The storyline incorporates science ...

'', a strategy game/romance. * ''

Yo-Jin-Bo is a Japanese visual novel produced by Two-Five. In October 2006, Hirameki International released an English edition of the Windows version in the United States. It is part of their AnimePlay PC line, and as such is a Windows game (as opposed to ...

'' an action/romance game. Hirameki has announced that all of their future releases (after finishing releasing the ''Exodus Guilty'' trilogy on Interactive DVD) will be on this product line. It is unknown whether any of the 15 titles announced for DVD release in 2003 are currently slated for a PC release. As of January 2, 2008, Hirameki "has decided to bow out of publishing Interactive Visual Novels". The only retail store selling Anime Play products has also gone out of business. Because of this, no mor
Anime Play
DVDs or PC games will be sold.

Anime Play Magazine

''Anime Play'' was also a quarterly magazine published by Hirameki International. It featured a thin print edition, with the majority of its material on an interactive DVD. The magazine mostly reviewed the Anime Play DVD releases, but

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

and manga as well. The magazine published its first issue in July 2003. It was announced shortly after the opening of the Hirameki Community Site that Hirameki will no longer publish ''Anime Play Magazine'', choosing instead to focus on releasing PC titles.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20061004044019/http://hirameki-int.com/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20060422103928/http://community.hirameki-int.com/
4animeAnimePlay
{{Dating sims and visual novels Anime companies Visual novels