Moon.

Moon.
Demographic	Seinen
Genre	Drama, Horror, Thriller
Game
Developer	Tactics
Publisher	Nexton
Genre	Eroge, Visual novel
Rating	18+
Platform	PC, DVD TV game
Released	November 21 1997 (Original PC) August 21 1998 (Moon.Renewal) September 14 2000 (Re-release) July 122002 (Full-voice DVD) September 20 2002 (lim. ed. CD) January 30 2003 (DVDPG)
Novel
Author	Midori Tateyama
Publisher	Movic
Published	July 31 1998
Volumes	1

Moon. is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Tactics, a brand of the joint company Nexton, and first released on November 21 1997 playable on a Windows 95 PC as a CD-ROM; the game was re-released five more times between 1998 and 2003. The game was described by the development team as a "Reaching the Heart AVG" (心に届くAVG, Kokoro ni Todoku AVG^?).^[1] The gameplay in Moon. follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the three female main characters. Unlike most adult games where the protagonist is male, the protagonist of Moon. is a girl. She is named Ikumi Amasawa who joins an organization called FARGO in the hopes of discovering why and how her mother died, who was a member of the same group. After the original game was completed at least once, a bonus role-playing game became available on the title screen, though this was later removed from the full-voice DVD edition of the game. Much of the staff that created the game later became the founding members of the visual novel company Key, so this game is often considered roughly equal to one of Key's works. Moon. was the starting point for Key's origins, and was the first time the principal Key team was formed. A novel based on the game written by Midori Tateyama was released on July 31 1998 by Movic. The game's original soundtrack was released bundled with Dōsei's soundtrack in August 2000 at Comiket 58; Dōsei was Tactics' first game. Moon. has been referenced in other media not directly related to the game, such as in Tactics' third game One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, and in the second anime adaptation of Key's first game Kanon. According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the Moon.DVD PC release made the ranking of the top fifty games once at number forty-four during the first two weeks of July 2002.^[2] Moon. has been referenced in other media not directly related to the game, such as in Tactics' third game One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, and in the second anime adaptation of Key's first game Kanon.^[3][4]

Gameplay

Example of what average conversation looks like in Moon.. Here, Ikumi is talking with Haruka.

The gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen; this text represents either dialogue between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point" where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. During these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction, depending on which choice the player makes. There are three main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. In order to view the three plot lines to their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points in order to further the plot in an alternate direction. The game is split into twenty sub-parts each given a title in English written mostly in black where a portion of the title was displayed in red.^[5] There are seven ends to the game: a single true end, two normal ends, and four bad ends.^[6] In the original game, a bonus role-playing game became available on the title screen after the game was completed at least once. This was later removed from the full-voice DVD edition of the game.

Plot and characters

Ikumi Amasawa.

Moon.'s story revolves around a mysterious organization known as FARGO. The protagonist of the story is a young girl named Ikumi Amasawa (天沢郁未, Amasawa Ikumi^?, Voiced by: Ruru) who discovers that FARGO was involved with the death of her mother Miyoko Amasawa (天沢未夜子, Amasawa Miyoko^?) six years before the story begins.^[1] Miyoko, who would often make special cream stew for her daughter, was a member of FARGO. Following this revalation, Ikumi joins FARGO to discover how and why her mother died while also slowly uncovering the group's disturbing nature of harnessing psychic abilities through torture.^[7] Ikumi ultimately wants to take out her revenge against FARGO for killing her mother.^[1] Ikumi had been one of ten girls her age that gathered at a seminar for people who wanted to join FARGO; she had been ordered to get on a truck which would take the small group to FARGO, and on the ride, Ikumi meets two other girls with similar goals in mind as her.^[1] One of the girls is named Haruka Mima (巳間晴香, Mima Haruka^?, Voiced by: Aya) who joined FARGO in order to save her older brother. She starts to work with Ikumi for the sake of their mutual goals.^[7] The second girl is named Yui Nakura (名倉由依, Nakura Yui^?, Voiced by: Miya Serizono) who is searching for her older sister Yuri Nakura (名倉友里, Nakura Yuri^?, Voiced by: Komugi Nishida) who joined FARGO in order to obtain the power of invisibility. Yui has an optimistic personality which hides a gloomy past of which she has no memory of. Each of the girls have a strong will to complete their respective purposes, and they help each other along the way.^[7] At FARGO, Ikumi meets others who are affiliated with the group. One such person is Yōko Kanume (鹿沼葉子, Kanume Yōko^?, Voiced by: Satomi Kodama), a modest believer in FARGO's cause; something happened in her past related to her mother. She is one of the main antagonists. At FARGO, Ikumi lives with a boy known as "Shōnen" (少年, "Shōnen"^? lit. Boy or Young man, Voiced by: Arashi Tsunami).^[7] He helps Ikumi in her search for the answers regarding her mother; it is never revealed what his true name is. Others include Takatsuki (高槻, Takatsuki^? Voiced by: Matsuri Yūatono), a man in FARGO with an arrogant attitude, and Tsuki (月, Tsuki^? lit. Moon), the symbol of FARGO and the mastermind behind the entire operation; he is the main antagonist.^[7]

Development

Original Moon. cover.

Moon.'s production was headed by YET11, who also contributed to the music in the game.^[8] Planning for Moon. was headed by Jun Maeda, who also worked on the game's scenario with fellow writer Naoki Hisaya; Maeda also composed a single piece of music for the game.^[8] Art direction was led by Itaru Hinoue, while the computer graphics in the game was supplemented by Miracle ☆ Mikipon, and Shinory. Other than the involvement of both YET11 and Maeda, the music was primarily composed by Shinji Orito, with help by Ishisan.^[8] The computer graphics from the CD versions was improved upon when Moon. was released as a DVD.^[9] Excluding YET11 and Ishisan, the staff that created the game later became the founding members of the visual novel company Key.

Release history

Moon. was first released on November 21 1997 playable on the PC as a CD-ROM, and retailed for 7,800 yen (about US$71).^[10] The next release on August 21 1998, entitled Moon.Renewal, was essentially the original game, but with added support for new operating systems; Moon.Renewal retailed for 6,800 yen (about US$62).^[10] On September 14 2000, Memorial Selection Moon. went on sale, known later as the popular edition, which sold for 3,800 yen (about US$35).^[10] On July 12 2002 a full-voice DVD edition entiled Moon.DVD: Final Version was released, selling for 6,800 yen.^[10] The Final Version contained an animated sequence at the beginning of the game.^[11] Another CD-ROM version of the game entitled Moon.Limited was released on September 20 2002, also selling for 6,800 yen.^[10] The final release entitled Moon.DVDPG Edition went on sale in Japan on January 30 2003 and retailed for 5,300 yen (about US$48); DVDPG stands for DVD PlayersGame.^[10] All prices are before tax.^[10]

Related media

Moon. novel.

A 256-page novel based on the game written by Midori Tateyama was released on July 31 1998 by Movic (ISBN 4-89601-387-5). The novel retailed for 857 yen (about US$7), before tax.^[12] On October 31 1999, an original art book was released (ISBN 4-87763-014-7). The game's soundtrack was released bundled with the soundtrack for Dōsei, the game Tactics made before Moon., and was called Dōsei and Moon. Original Soundtracks. The album contained a single CD and was released on August 10 2000 at Comiket 58 by Exobitant Records. The disc contained thirty-one tracks; the first fifteen pertained to Dōsei and the later sixteen were for Moon..^[13]

Reception

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the Moon.DVD PC release made the ranking of the top fifty games once at number forty-four during the first two weeks of July 2002.^[2] Moon.Limited also made it on the list only once, achieving the ranking of forty-eight in late September 2002.^[14] Four characters from Moon. can be seen as background characters during an early scene in the cafeteria from One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e; the characters are: Ikumi Amasawa, Yōko Kanume, Haruka Mima, and Yui Nakura.^[3] There is a reference to Moon. in the sixth episode of the Kyoto Animation version of Kanon which can be seen as the movie poster of a horror film that Ayu and Yuichi go to see.^[4]

References

External links

• Nextons' official Moon. website (Japanese)
• Tactics' official Moon. website (Japanese)
• Tactics' official Moon.Renewal website (Japanese)