is a Japanese

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

series by Cocktail Soft (a part of F&C, later F&C FC02).

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

have been based on the games. The games are all set around

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s in the fictional "Pia Carrot" chain, and most of the female characters are waitresses at these restaurants. The individual restaurants in the chain are called "1st", "2nd", etc. A

maid café are a subcategory of cosplay restaurants found predominantly in Japan and Taiwan. In these cafés, waitresses, dressed in maid costumes, act as servants, and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) as if they were in a private home, rather ...

named "Pia Carrot" also opened in real life as a cosplay restaurant in

Akihabara is a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan, generally considered to be the area surrounding Akihabara Station (nicknamed ''Akihabara Electric Town''). This area is part of the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda. There is an ...

, Japan.

List of titles

;Game titles ;Animation titles # ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!!'' (1997–1998; 3 episode

hentai Hentai () is a style of Pornography in Japan, Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games (commonly known as ''eroge''). The developme ...

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

) # ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 2'' (1998–1999; 3 episode hentai OVA) # ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 2 DX'' (1999–2000; 6 episode OVA) # ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! -Sayaka no Koi-monogatari-'' (Sayaka's Love Story) (2002; movie)

''Welcome to Pia Carrot''

The first game in the series is called ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!!'' and was initially released in 1996 for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

on the

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

PC-9800 Series The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it incompatible with I ...

and for

Windows 3.1 Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0. Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series run as a shell on top of MS-DOS; it was the last Windows 1 ...

. The game was later released for the

PC-FX The is a 32-bit home video game console co-developed by NEC and Hudson Soft. Released in December 1994, it is based on the NEC V810 CPU and CD-ROM, and was intended as the successor to the PC Engine (known overseas as the TurboGrafx-16). Unlik ...

in 1997, and for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

in 1998 by KID. There is also a

with 3 episodes based on this title.

Characters

Yusuke Kinoshita : (''Welcome to the Pia Carrot!!!''),

Masami Kikuchi is a Japanese voice actor and narrator. He was affiliated with Troubador Music Office until March 2010. He then worked as freelance until April 2011, when he was employed by Kenyu Office. Filmography Television animation *''Mobile Suit Gundam ...

(''Welcome to the Pia Carrot 2'') : Yusuke Kinoshita is the protagonist of the ''Welcome to Pia Carrot''. In ''Welcome to the Pia Carrot 2'', he is 2nd's chief, and 3rd's temporary chief in 2.2 Satomi Morihara : Shouko Inaba : : Shouko Inaba is the childhood friend of Yusuke. Reika Kokubo : Yukiko Kawai : Shiho Kannaduki : : 1st's manager in this title Yukari Tachibana : Saori Imai : Kiyomi Kitagawa : : Yusuke's cousin Rumi Kinoshita : : Yusuke's younger sister Yasuo Kinoshita : Yusuke's father and owner of the Pia Carrot restaurant chain Kaori Tachibana : Yukari's mother Saeko Imai : Saori's stepmother Airi Kashikura : Additional character on Saturn version

Staff (Game)

* Scenario: Jane Inamura (Ryuichi Inamura) * Original Picture: Tatsuki Amaduyu, CHARM, Nak-Mura (Takeshi Nakamura), Yukihiro Matsuo (additional character on Saturn version) * Music: Tomohiro Takatsuka (except Saturn), Juri Goto (Saturn only) ** Opening for PC-FX Version: Ko Ku Ha Ku ** :Lyrics: Yukie Sugawara ** :Music: Yukie Sugawara ** Insert on Saturn Version: Miracle Sunshine ** :Lyrics: Juri Goto ** :Music: Juri Goto ** :Vocal: Megumi Miduki ** :Voice Actors:Izumi Mito as Satomi Morihara, Minami Nagasaki as Shoko Inaba, Hina Hatono as Reika Kokubo/Yukari Tachibana, Hotaru Natsuno as Yukiko Kawai, Kaori as Shiho Kannazuki, Satomi Kodama as Saori Imai, Mebu as Kiyomi Kitagawa, Akane Yoshino as Airi Kashikura

''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 2/2.2/2.5''

''Welcome to Pia Carrot 2'' is the first true sequel to "Pia Carrot", set four years later than the first game. The original version (released in 1997) was for

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

and was later released for

(1998 by NEC Interchannel),

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

(2001 by F&C FC02; this version also runs on Windows 95, 98, 98SE and Me) and the

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

(2003 by NEC Interchannel). The Dreamcast release is the same as the first disc of the previously released "Pia Carrot 2.5". It is well known for its theme song "Go! Go! Waitress". Two OVAs based on this title were released, the first being an adult title with 3 episodes, and the second ("Welcome to Pia Carrot 2 DX") was an all-age series with 6 episodes. "Welcome to Pia Carrot 2 DX" was licensed by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...

. ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 2.2'' is a branch of "Pia Carrot 2" and is set 4 months after that game. It was released for the

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

by NEC Interchannel in 2000. ''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 2.5'' is a combination set of "Pia Carrot 2" and "Pia Carrot 2.2" for the

. This pack title contains 2

GD-ROM The GD-ROM (gigabyte disc read-only memory) is a proprietary optical disc format developed as a collaboration between Sega and Yamaha for the Dreamcast and other Sega systems. Specification A double-density format based on the CD-ROM that cou ...

Characters

Kouji Maeda : (''Welcome to the Pia Carrot 2''),

Akira Ishida is a Japanese actor who specializes in voice acting. For his portrayal of Saki Abdusha in '' Sakura Wars'', and Athrun Zala in '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'', '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny'' and '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom'' and M ...

(''Welcome to the Pia Carrot 3'') : Protagonist of "Pia Carrot 2" and "Pia Carrot 2.2" Azusa Hinomori : Mina Hinomori : : Azusa's younger sister Tsukasa Enomoto : Completely transferred to 2nd in ''2.2'' Ryoko Futaba : : 2nd's manager. Substitute chief because Yuusuke has gone to 3rd in ''2.2'' Aoi Minase : : Ryoko's friend. 3rd's chief waitress in ''2.2'' Sanae Enishi : Mikiko Shinohara : Harue Yamana : Jun Kagurazaka : Kaoru Yamana : Harue's daughter Shinji Yano : Kouji's friend and Ryoko's cousin Tomomi Aizawa : Additional character on the "consumer version" in ''2'' (Saturn and Dreamcast) Yuki Kamizuka : Additional character on the "consumer version" in ''2'' Noriko Shima : Additional character on the "consumer version" in ''2''

Staff

;2 * Scenario: Ryuichi Inamura * Original Picture: Tatsuki Amaduyu, Misato Mitsumi, CHARM, Takashi Hashimoto (additional characters on consumer version) * Music: DOORS MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT ** Opening: Go! Go! Waitress ** Ending (consumer version): Iced Tea ** :Lyrics: Hajime Kanasugi & Bun Yoshida ** :Music: Bun Yoshida ** :Vocal: Miyuki Kunitake ;2.2 * Scenario: Hideki Shirane * Character Design: Tatsuki Amaduyu, Misato Mitsumi, CHARM, Takashi Hashimoto * Original Picture: Junji Goto * Music: DOORS MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

''Welcome to Pia Carrot 3/3.3''

''Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3'' is the second true sequel to "Pia Carrot", set one year later than "Pia Carrot 2", and was released for the PC by F&C FC02 in 2001.

and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

versions were released by NEC Interchannel in 2003. In 2002, the anime

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

"Welcome to Pia Carrot -Sayaka no Koi-monogatari-" ''("Welcome to Pia Carrot - Sayaka's Love Story")'' was released, being the first movie based on an

eroge An ''eroge'' (, ''eroge'', or , ''erogē'', ), also called an H-game, is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first ''eroge'' were crea ...

. ''Welcome to Pia Carrot 3.3'' is a branch of "Pia Carrot 3" that is set one year after "Pia Carrot 3". It was released for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

by NEC Interchannel in 2004.

Characters

;3 Akihiko Kannazuki : : Protagonist of "Pia Carrot 3" and "Pia Carrot 3.3", and Shiho's younger brother Sayaka Takai : Tomomi Aizawa : Akemi Hasegawa : : 4th's temporary chief. 4th's chief in ''3.3'' (formally inaugurated after "Pia Carrot 3") Natsuki Iwakura : : Akemi's friend and 4th's Manager Miharu Fuyuki : Nana Kimishima : Takako Kinoshita : Orie Amano : Noboru Kinoshita : Takako's nephew Seiji Motoki : Haruhiko Fuyuki : Miharu's younger brother Shiho Kannazuki : Akihiko's sister, and now 3rd's chief Satomi Kinoshita : 1st's Manager. She is already married to Yusuke Yuki Kamizuka : Noriko Shima : Kouji Maeda : Azusa Hinomori : ;3.3 Mina Hinomori : Tsukasa Enomoto : Chizuru Kinoshita : Shiori Kisaragi :

Staff

;3 * Scenario: Ryuichi Inamura * Original Picture: Takashi Hashimoto, Hiroya Fujimiya, Elan Hasumi, Hiro Suzuhira * Music: Kennichi Okuma (TWO-FIVE) ** Opening: Eien no story (The eternal story) ** :Lyrics: Don Mccow ** :Music: Kennichi Okuma ** :Vocal: Miu ** Ending: Koibito tachi no densetsu (The legend of lovers) ** :Lyrics: Don Mccow ** :Music: Kennichi Okuma ** :Vocal: Miu ** Ending (additional on consumer version): Happy-End kara hajimeyou ** :Lyrics: Don Mccow ** :Music: Kennichi Okuma ** :Vocal: Miu ;3.3 * Scenario: Ryo Masaki * Character Design: Takashi Hashimoto, Elan Hasumi, Hiro Suzuhira, Kanata Minamino * Original Picture: Kanata Minamino, Elan Hasumi * Music: Kennichi Okuma (TWO-FIVE), DOORS MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

''Welcome to Pia Carrot 4''

''Welcome to Pia Carrot 4'' is the third true sequel to "Pia Carrot", and was released for the PC by Cocktail Soft in 2009. An

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

port was released on February 24, 2011 and a

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

version was released in 2012.

Characters

* Alice Sakuraba * Ayaka Kamine * Misa Hasegawa * Sayuri Mashiba * Sora Kitagawa * Yoshimi Sakuraba * Yuna Takigawa

Reception

In a 2007 survey of ''

Dengeki G's Magazine was a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seri ...

'' readers, ''Welcome to Pia Carrot G.O.'' ranked 38th in a list of "the most interesting

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 c ...

s"; a five-way tie with '' YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world'', '' Tsukihime'', ''

Tokimeki Memorial 2 is a dating sim developed and published by Konami and the second game in the ''Tokimeki Memorial'' series. ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'' was released for the PlayStation in 1999. It came on 5 CDs, featuring unmatched graphics and voice acting and a g ...

'', and '' Happiness!''

References

External links

Games

Official F&C website
* * * * * *

Anime

Official Sentai website
* * * * {{Arms Corporation 1997 anime OVAs 1998 anime OVAs 1999 anime OVAs 2002 anime films 2002 films Bishōjo games DOS games Dreamcast games Japan-exclusive video games Eroge Game Boy Advance games Game Boy Color games Hentai anime and manga NEC video games OVAs based on video games PC-FX games Pink Pineapple PlayStation 2 games Sega Saturn games Sentai Filmworks Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1996 Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games