Shizuku (video game)
{{refimprove|date=October 2023}}
{{Short description|1996 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| image = ShizukuBox.jpg
| developer = Leaf
| publisher = Aqua
| designer =
| engine =
| released = {{vgrelease|JP|January 26, 1996}}{{vgrelease|JP|January 23, 2004}}
| genre = Eroge, visual novel
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = 1996{{vgrelease|JP|DOS}}{{vgrelease|JP|PC}}2004{{vgrelease|JP|Microsoft Windows}} (98/Me/2000/XP)
}}
{{nihongo|Shizuku|雫|Shizuku|lit. "Drip"}} is an adult visual novel by Leaf originally released for DOS on January 26, 1996. It has since received releases for Windows, including an enhanced version featuring voice acting and enhanced graphics called Shizuku Renewal in 2004. It is the first game in Leaf's Visual Novel Series, the origin of the term "visual novel".{{Cite web |title=ビジュアルノベルはいつ成立し、そして現在に至るのか？ ストーリーゲーム研究家・福山幸司氏が解説する歴史 |trans-title=When did visual novels come into being, and do they still exist today? History explained by story game researcher Koji Fukuyama |url=https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2019/07/24/15991.html |access-date=October 26, 2023 |website=GameBusiness.jp |date=July 24, 2019 |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618141623/https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2019/07/24/15991.html |archive-date=June 18, 2022}}{{cite book |last=Therrien |first=Carl |date=2019 |title=The Media Snatcher: PC/CORE/TURBO/ENGINE/GRAFX/16/CDROM2/SUPER/DUO/ARCADE/RX |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jemvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=MIT Press |pages=111 |isbn=9780262042901}}
The game translates the format of Chunsoft's "sound novel" titles such as Otogirisō and Kamaitachi no Yoru, in which players read text and select choices in order to advance the narrative, into an eroge.{{Cite web |title=TINAMIX Vol. 1.30 Leaf |url=https://www.tinami.com/x/interview/04/page2.html |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=www.tinami.com}} The story focuses on psychological horror, exploring themes of mind control, conspiracy theory, sexual assault and social alienation.
Characters
;{{nihongo|Yūsuke Nagase|長瀬 祐介|Nagase Yūsuke}}
:The game's protagonist.
;{{nihongo|Saori Shinjo|新城 沙織|Shinjō Saori}}
:{{Anime voice|Sakura Takatsuki}}
:A cheerful and talkative member of the volleyball team, she is an eyewitness to a certain event and is quickly swept up in the aftermath.
;{{nihongo|Ruriko Tsukishima|月島 瑠璃子|Tsukishima Ruriko}}
:{{Anime voice|Sakura Ichinomiya}}
:A former classmate of Yūsuke's, she can often be found reading books in a secluded area.
;{{nihongo|Kanako Ota|太田 香奈子|Ōta Kanako}}
:{{Anime voice|Kaoru Imai}}
:Yūsuke's classmate and vice-president of the student council.
;{{nihongo|Mizuho Aihara|藍原 瑞穂|Aihara Mizuho}}
:{{Anime voice|Mai Tachibana}}
:The shy student council secretary with a hidden stubborn side, she has been best friends with Kanako since middle school.
;{{nihongo|Genichiro Nagase|長瀬 源一郎|Nagase Gen'ichirō}}
:Yūsuke's uncle and a teacher at the same school, he often provides useful advice in relation to the game's events.
;{{nihongo|Takuya Tsukishima|月島 拓也|Tsukishima Takuya}}
:{{Anime voice|Daisuke Tanaka}}
Legacy
Shizuku was the first game to incorporate "erotic content" into the visual novel genre, using the format used in Otogiriso. It has also been described as similar to the visual novel Kizuato, also produced by Leaf,{{cite book |last=Koyama |first=Yusuke |date=2023 |title=History of the Japanese Video Game Industry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uITCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 |location=Singapore |publisher=Springer Nature |pages=146 |isbn=9789819913428}} with themes of bloodshed, violence, and humiliation, with a "dark narrative".{{cite book |last=Chan |first=Ko On |editor-last1=Scoggin |editor-first1=Lisa |editor-last2=Plank |editor-first2=Dana |date=2023 |chapter=From Fantasy to Trauma: Sound and Sex in School Days |title=The Intersection of Animation, Video Games, and Music: Making Movement Sing |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMixEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire United Kingdom |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=122, 131 |isbn=9781000871067}} The game has also been described as a "landmark" for Leaf, in the company's visual novel genre, and mentioned in the anime adaptation of 16bit Sensation.{{cite web|last=Farris|first=Christopher|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/16bit-sensation-another-layer/episodes-1-3/.203580|title=16bit Sensation: Another Layer Episodes 1-3|website=Anime News Network|date=October 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019164218/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/16bit-sensation-another-layer/episodes-1-3/.203580|archive-date=October 19, 2023|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://leaf.aquaplus.jp/product/other/siz.html}}{{dead link|date=October 2022}} {{in lang|ja}}
- {{vndb|235}}
Category:Japan-exclusive video games
Category:Leaf (Japanese company) games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Video games scored by Shinji Orito
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