G Senjo no Mao
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese adult
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...

 visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

 developed by Akabeisoft2
Akabeisoft2
is a Japanese adult visual novel producing company. Some of Akabeisoft2's games have had consumer port releases. For example, 5pb. will be bringing W.L.O...

 and first released for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 as a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 on May 29, 2008 in limited and regular editions after many delays. The gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...

 in G Senjō no Maō follows a plotline which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the four female main characters. The title G Senjō no Maō comes from August Wilhelmj
August Wilhelmj
August Wilhelmj was a German violinist and teacher.Wilhelmj was a child prodigy. When Henriette Sontag heard him in 1852, when he was seven, she said "You will be the German Paganini"...

's "Air on the G String
Air on the G String
The "Air on the G String" is an adaptation by August Wilhelmj of the Air, the second movement from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No...

", an adaptation of J.S. Bach's original "Air
Air on the G String
The "Air on the G String" is an adaptation by August Wilhelmj of the Air, the second movement from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No...

", and Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

's "Der Erlkönig
Der Erlkönig
Der Erlkönig is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking or "Erlkönig"...

" known as Maō in Japan.

Gameplay

Much of the gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...

 in G Senjō no Maō requires little interaction from the player as the majority of the time is spent reading the text that appears on the game's screen. The text being displayed represents the thoughts of the characters or the dialogue between them. The player is occasionally presented with choices to determine the direction of the game. Depending on what is chosen, the plot may progress in a specific direction. There are four different routes in total.

Main characters

The player assumes the role of , the protagonist of G Senjō no Maō. Kyōsuke is the adopted son of a yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

 leader. Though he puts up a kind, sociable air around him, he is in fact a highly intelligent and ruthless businessman. Kyōsuke is the president of one of his father's, Gonzō Azai's, corporations, where he works in order to pay off a massive debt he owes to his adoptive father. Due to his "education" under Gonzō, Kyōsuke views money as the only important thing in the world and does anything he can to gather more and more of it in order to pay off his debt. Kyōsuke is a big fan of classical music. is the main heroine of G Senjō no Maō. She has long black hair and is extremely intelligent. Haru has a long history with Maō but is hesitant to tell anyone about it. is the primary antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 of the game. Maō's background is shrouded in secrecy and little is known about him. is a close friend Kyōsuke's. Eiichi harbors a (comedic) dark side beneath his cute facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 and is into older women.

is a classmate of Kyōsuke's. She likes writing in her diary. is the daughter of Kyōsuke's adopted father. She is a professional figure skater. is another classmate of Kyōsuke's and is the daughter of the director of the school. She is very cold towards Kyōsuke. is a close friend of Haru's. Yuki has studied criminals for a long time and is skilled in negotiations.

Story

G Senjō no Maōs story revolves around Kyōsuke Azai, the adopted son of , a yakuza leader. Kyōsuke works under Gonzō in the hopes of raising and returning the debt that his father owes the yakuza and for the sake of his sick mother. One day, a girl named Haru Usami transfers into Kyōsuke's school who declares herself to be a "hero" and asks if Kyōsuke knows someone named Maō. Kyōsuke says that he does not, but later that evening, receives a letter from "Maō". Gonzō instructs him to find and capture Maō.

Throughout the story, Maō engages Haru in a variety of ways by threatening those around her. The first incident involves Tsubaki where her brother is kidnapped with Maō asking for an exorbitant sum that can only be paid if Tsubaki's family sells their land and moves. Kyōsuke helps Tsubaki obtain the necessary funds as he himself is interested in getting Tsubaki to move due to him having an investment in the company that wants to get the Miwa family off their land.

In the second incident, a threat is sent to Gonzō that asks Kanon to purposely throw away her chance at the Olympics so that another skater can represent Japan instead. The threat turns out to be a diversion as Maō's actual target was Gonzō. Gonzō had considered this possibility and he evades being killed by the bomb that Maō placed under his vehicle.

The third incident involves Hashimoto (A classmate introduced in this chapter) takes control of the school ground depending on the player's choices to either call the police or deal with it personally, the player would either end up on Mizuha's path (by calling the police) or stay on Haru's route (by not calling the police). If the protagonist did not call the police, he'll get his yakuza mates and surrounds the whole school ground and Yuki Tokita would negotiate with Hashimoto with his intensive knowledge of dealing with the criminal mind and psychology. However the hostage scene ends with the escape of Hashimoto and it is revealed that Yuki Tokita was trying to extort money out of Mizuha Shiratori's father. Her motive behind the incident was because Yuki always bore hatred for her father (Mizuha's father) since he threw out Yuki and her mum out into the cold with nothing while her mum had an mortal disease. She later gets cornered and has to play as a ruthless captor using her sister Mizuha as an hostage. Later on Kyōsuke and Haru manages to outwit Yuki and due to Kyōsuke's decision on asking for help from the yakuza using his position of power he gets into a lot of trouble with Gonzō for ordering his men around.

While throughout the game there are many hints on Maō's real identity being the protagonist, he is instead revealed to be Kyōsuke's older brother, Kyōhei. Kyōhei bores a grudge to Haru and Gonzō because Haru's father is a con artist whom tricked Kyōsuke and Kyōhei's father with a scheme in order to pay for his gambling debts and forced the Samejima household to chaos (By taking advantage of Kiyomi's death (Kyōsuke & Kyōhei's little sister whom died shortly after birth) and tricking them to pay an extremely high debt, ultimately this incident leads to a tragedy ending with Kyōsuke & Kyōhei's father murdering Usami when he showed no signs of guilt.

On the last chapter, Kyōhei initiates a elaborate scheme that drove the whole central district into chaos. He demands the release of several criminals including his father and most of the criminals he listed weren't his real goal. At the end of the event and as Kyōsuke manages to get out of the barricaded area by convincing the mob that they were merely being used, Kyōsuke receives a call from his brother and he confesses and apologises for what he has done and detonates the bomb in the motel in which the police was storming in. However as Kyōsuke becomes sadden with what has happened, Haru discovers that this is all a plot and Kyōhei was found among the crowd and was quickly surrounded by the police. As he attempts to escape from the scene (which was futile) he barricades himself in a bus and which left the police hesitate to fire as it might possibly hit the nearby crowd however shortly after the bus was set ablaze when a bullet pierces one of the windows (The protagonist assumes that Kyōhei was carrying explosives on himself as a last resort).

However in the epilogue it is discovered that Kyōhei was still alive and had faked his death (yet again) and pays Kyōsuke and Haru a visit later. After a struggle between him and Haru, he escapes from the apartment with Haru giving chase but was gunned down by Kyōsuke (who realized that this was another plot to get either Haru or Kyōsuke into jail) in the end.. The two brothers talk for one last time before Kyōhei succumb to his wounds with Kyōhei truly apologising with what he has done and praises Kyōsuke for challenging his plot in which he knows he won't be able to win. Because of Kyōsuke intention of taking all the blame during the police interrogation, Kyōsuke confesses and force the cops into believing that he was manipulating Haru in order to spare her from criminal conviction so that she could have a bright future as a violin extraordinaire, Haruna Mishima. Before the trial, all the heroines except Haru visits him and thanks him for all his actions and disbelieves what he has done and confesses their feelings towards him, right after all the interviews he sends a letter and entrusts Haru to Iwai Yuuya (A character that knew Haru and Kyōsuke from observing them meeting on the rooftop when they were kids) he tells him to marry her. Eight years later, after getting out of jail, Kyōsuke sees a figure of a women and a child and reminisce the past and how he felt the warmth of love. As he was expecting the figure to move further away, they were actually moving closer and it was revealed that the figure was Haru and her child. As they talked Kyōsuke finally thought Haru got along with Iwai Yuuya and the child was the result but it is revealed that she was actually their child and the story ends with the hope that Kyōsuke can restart his life with Haru and their daughter who is hinted to be named after his dead sister Kiyomi.

Development

G Senjō no Maō is Akabeisoft2's ninth game in three years, and the second of four games released in 2008 alone. The project is notable as having very few people credited for having taken a part in the creation of the game. Planning for the project and the scenario were headed by Loose Boy. Art direction and character design were done by Alpha. The music in the game was composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 by Tiko-μ
Mu (letter)
Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...

, and entirely features arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

s of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

.

Release history

Before G Senjō no Maōs initial release, two free game demo
Game demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....

s became available for download at Akabeisoft2's official website. In the demos, the player is introduced to the main characters in the game that is typical of the gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...

 found in a visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

 which includes times during gameplay where the player is given several choices to make in order to further the plot in a specific direction. The full game was first released on May 29, 2008 in limited and regular editions playable as a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 on a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

. The limited edition contained an art collection from Akabeisoft2's previous titles Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shōjo
Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shōjo
is a Japanese visual novel and eroge developed by Akabeisoft2 and published by Palace Game. On November 4, 2009, the translation group on the Visual Novel Translations Wiki released an English Localization patch for it....

, that game's fan disc Sharin no Kuni, Yūkyū no Shōnenshōjo, and Sono Yokogao o Mitsumeteshimau: A Profile Kanzenban, a desk calendar, and a demo of Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity
Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Lump of Sugar. It was first released as an adult game for the PC on July 11, 2008 in both limited and regular editions, and is followed by an all-ages release for the Xbox 360. Tayutama is Lump of Sugar's third title along with their previous titles Nursery...

from Akabeisoft2's sister brand Lump of Sugar released two months after G Senjō no Maō.

Related media

Two drama CDs
Radio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...

 set in the
G Senjō no Maō universe were released in 2009, the first on January 9 and the second on June 26. Fourteen episodes of an Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...

 show to promote the drama CDs titled was distributed on the visual novel's official website between November 7, 2008 and May 8, 2009. The show was hosted by Rino Kawashima and Mahiru Kaneda, the voices of Haru and Eiichi in the visual novel, respectively. The show also featured four other voice actors from the game and drama CDs as guests: Sumire Murasakibana (voice of Tsubaki), Hokuto Minami (voice of Yuki), Satoshi Tsuruoka (voice of Ryūhei Oda (drama CD-only character)), and Jun Fukuyama
Jun Fukuyama
is a voice actor. He was previously represented by Aoni Production and Production Baobab, and is now represented by . In 2007, he won the first Seiyu Awards for the best actor in leading role as Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass...

 (voice of Maō, Kyōsuke in the drama CDs).

Ichijinsha
Ichijinsha
is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA which main purpose was to edit shōnen manga. In January 1998, Studio DNA became a public company and...

 released a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

 titled G Senjō no Maō Comic Anthology on September 25, 2008 under their DNA Media Comics imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

. Ichijinsha also released a fan book titled
G Senjō no Maō Visual Fan Book on July 14, 2009.

Music

Most of the game's soundtrack is made up of remixed classical music. The visual novel has three main theme songs, one opening theme, one insert song played near the end of the game, and one ending theme. The opening theme, "Answer", is sung by Rekka Katakiri
Rekka Katakiri
, born December 18, is a female Japanese singer. Her doujin circle is called CLOSED/UNDERGROUND.- About :* Influenced by anime, she started working in the fields as a vocal, net seiyuu, composer and lyricist when she first started high school. In 2004, she released the album "Min no Uta." as her...

, written by Kanoko, and composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 by Junpei Fujita
Junpei Fujita
is a Japanese arranger and composer, and a founding member of Elements Garden. His work includes composition and arrangement of some tracks of singles and abums of Nana Mizuki including albums Hybrid Universe, Ultimate Diamond and Impact Exciter and singles Wild Eyes, Super Generation, Junketsu...

. The insert song, "Close Your Eyes", is sung by Ayane
Ayane (singer)
is a female Japanese singer who has performed theme songs for games and anime. She made her major singing debut in 2004 with the single KIZUNA~絆. Her first album ARCHIVE LOVERS was released in 2007. She is attached to 5pb...

, and is written and composed by Chiyomaru Shikura. The ending song, , is performed by Barbarian On The Grove featuring Chata
Chata
is a Japanese singer who has performed theme songs for games and anime.She has also participated in various dōjin music circles. Her own private circle is called Usagi Kinoko.-History:...

 and is written and arranged by Bassy. The two theme songs were included on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 The Best Game Vocals of Akabeisoft2 released on February 23, 2007 featuring theme songs from several games by Akabeisoft2. The game's original soundtrack was released by 5pb.
5pb.
is a Japanese video game manufacturer and record label for video game and anime music. 5pb. formed on April 6, 2005 after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, the position he still holds. The company name is derived from the phrase "The Five powered &...

on April 24, 2009 in a three-disc set.

Reception

From mid-March to mid-April 2008, about two months before
G Senjō no Maōs release, the game ranked second in national PC game pre-orders in Japan. The limited edition of G Senjō no Maō ranked second in terms of national sales of PC games in Japan in May 2008, and the regular edition ranked twenty-sixth for the same month. The limited edition ranked again for June 2008 at twenty-third highest selling in Japan. G Senjō no Maō ranked first for the month of May 2008 in terms of sales at Getchu.com. The game ranked again at sixteen the following month in the same ranking. For the first half of 2008, G Senjō no Maō ranked third best in sales at Getchu.com. The game received first prize at the Bishōjo Game Awards for 2008.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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