| Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi | |
Box art of the visual novel |
|
| 星空へ架かる橋 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Harem |
| Game | |
| Developer | Feng |
| Publisher | Feng |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Rating | EOCS: 18[1] |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows XP or later[2] |
| Released | October 15, 2010 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Takenori Mihara |
| Produced by | Hajime Kamada Makoto Ito Takemasa Okamura Yuuichiro Takahata |
| Written by | Go Zappa |
| Music by | Atsushi Umebori |
| Studio | Dogakobo |
| Network | AT-X, Chiba TV, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, TV Saitama |
| Original run | April 11, 2011 – June 27, 2011 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Original video animation | |
| Studio | Dogakobo |
| Released | December 21, 2011 |
| Episodes | 1 |
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi (星空へ架かる橋) is a Japanese erotic visual novel developed and published by Feng,[3] released on October 15, 2010 for Windows. It was later adapted into a twelve-episode animated television series by Dogakobo,[4] airing from April 11, 2011 to June 27, 2011.
Contents |
Following the formula of modern visual novels, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi is a text adventure with accompanying imagery and audio. Much like a television show, viewers watch and listen to scenes until presented with an action or choice for them to choose, usually on behalf of a character. Each response alternates the plot, moderately changing the direction of the story; being a mature product, predetermined sections contain pornography. The sheer quantity of decisions that can be made through the game ultimately means that the viewer will have to replay through the game several times to watch all the possible endings.
Kazuma Hoshino is a young Japanese student who, in the company of his younger brother Ayumu, moves from an undisclosed urban location in Japan to the rural city of Yamabiko. On their way to Yorozuyo Inn, where they are prearranged to lodge, the boys get on the wrong bus and are forced to wait out the next ride at a stop. While they are lounging around and passing time, a wild monkey mischievously steals Ayumu's apple cap and, upset, Kazuma gives chase.
Minutes pass, and though scuffed and worn, Kazuma is able to recover the hat, only to realize that he is lost. Ui Nakatsugawa, a schoolgirl, happens upon the lad and happily leads him in the direction of the bus stop. After watching her skip across river rocks with ease, Kazuma attempts to duplicate the feat but trips, knocking Ui to the ground with an accidental kiss. As he is scolded by Ui's friend Ibuki Hinata, Kazuma leaves, disheartened that his time with Ui was momentary.
The following day, having moved into their rooms, Kazuma and Ayumu head off to their new school, Yamabiko South Academy, as transfer students. It is during his introduction to the class that Kazuma meets Ui and Ibuki again.
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi was officially announced by Feng on May 8, 2009.[6] The official website for the project had also gone live around this time, and from May 28 to November 11 character data,[7] six voice clips,[8] and eight sample artworks[9] were added to it.
Feng had planned to release the game on December 11, 2009, but on November 26, the company announced that the date would be pushed to February 26, 2010.[10] Attending Akihabara Denkigai Matsuri 2 on December 21,[11] the date was once again rescheduled on February 8, 2010 to April 23.[12] In identical fashion to the previous delays, on April 15 the date was changed to May 28,[13] then on May 17 it was pushed to June 25.[14] With the absence of a setback, Feng published nine additional work samples from May 31 to June 14,[15][16][17] only for the game to be pushed on June 6 to July 30.[18] After another screenshot was added, the game's opening animation was released for download, in conjunction with another postponement on July 20, pushing the game to August 27.[19]
On August 12,[20] Feng released a downloadable trial of the game.[21] Shortly after on August 20, the game was postponed until September 24.[22] Another trial was released on September 13[23][24] with yet another but final delay on September 24 to October 15.[25] The third installment of the trials was released on October 10.[26][27]
Three days before release, Feng announced that it would having a launch event in Akihabara, selling game merchandise and autographing copies of the game.[28] Having been postponed for well over a year, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi was released on October 15, 2010. A patch had also been released on the website, adding some additional functionality to the game settings while fixing issues with text and speech, bringing the game to a version of 1.01.[29]
On February 14, 2011 Feng released a free, downloadable expansion to the game called the Valentine's Day Patch[30] which brought the game to version 1.01a and subsequently added an additional path for both Ui and Hina.[31]
On December 22, 2010, it was announced that Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi would be redeveloped as an animated series.[32][33] The opening and closing themes were later chosen on March 3, 2011.[33] The opening theme is "Hoshikaze No Horoscope" by Nomico and the ending theme is "Dash Do Cinerella" by Eriko Nakamura and Ai Shimizu. The ending theme for episode 10 is "Water Lily" by Ai Shimizu.
An OVA has also been announced on the official website, due to be released on December 21 2011.[34]
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi was met with mostly positive reception. It premiered as the number one game sold on Getchu.com for the month of its release,[35] subsequently ranking third in the company for the overall year.[36]