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Reiko says she's never afraid of living people. Every night, however, she's scared, believing she is hearing unnatural voices and noises inside her house, and that she's seeing shadowy forms moving inside her room.

Isamu says he is a skeptic, and that he doesn't believe in supernatural things. Every day, however, after a peaceful night, he will be frightened by people with whom he has to deal daily. He says that living people can scare him to death.

This is a story about fear, about love, and about the incompatibilities between love and fear.

Caution: this is not a horror story. You've been warned!

Playing time: 4 hours +

merdeamour wrote:First-- I absolutely loved this. The story was so engrossing that I read it for a little less than two hours straight. The art was beautiful, of course, and further enhanced the writing you got going on there. There were a few flaws in writing (like I thought you sometimes used exclamation marks excessively), but they didn't distract me from the VN itself. I have to say that this was a masterpiece... the art was gorgeous, and the characters well-developed.

philip wrote:The first post in this thread says that it takes four hours to go through it; well despite that, and the fact that it was quite late already, I just could not resist going through it. I have just finished - it is now 5 am. It was well worth it, the art is wonderful, the characters are believable, the story is captivating - I greatly enjoyed the experience. After a good night's . . . um, make that morning's sleep, I will be visiting it again. A very impressive effort!

Endings: only one, but you can understand it the way you prefer.

FellowKahjiit wrote:I think you could have done better... ALOT BETTER! This story was boring. im sorry, but if I were to rate it i would give it a 4/10. I like thrills, i thought this would thrill to me, not be boring.

ViRiX Dreamcore wrote:I had to force myself to stop because I have things to get done today. I also DO wish there was some sort of minor horror element. Maybe not a full blown ghost, but maybe a hint that there ARE some supernatural things going on. That would add a bit of a twist to it.
Other than that though, I really enjoyed it. Great work.

Rating: 16+. No nudity or sex scenes, but this is not a story for kids.

Ran08 wrote:Oh, that cinema scene! Eeeeeeeek! :") The one in the girl's restroom... :") Awwwwieeee. makes me feel so giddy! I have to admit that their relationship seems to have progressed a bit too quickly but... I'm not complaining! Teehee.

FellowKahjiit wrote:You also said there was NO sexual content but she puts his hand up her shirt?!?!? waaay over the line.

CGs: 310 (!)
Sprites: None (why would I need sprites with so many CGs?)

Ran08 wrote:Did you draw all the CGs? If you did, then that's so amazing! They look so good! I love the colors, the way they're drawn... everything! It's like a whole new experience with visual novels for me

WeAreMuesli wrote:Downloading right now, "mixed-media" visual style looks pretty peculiar so we'll go for it, thanx!

Concept, story, graphics and direction by Donmai
English editing and proofreading by philip
Music by Kevin MacLeod and the Farina brothers


Download from Mediafire (120 MB)

This VN looks very good! I will play it later and say what I think about it, thank you for doing it!

I remember playing the beta version a while ago (sorry I never left any comments) and I really liked your art style. Congrats on releasing the finished version! Will have to check it out again later.

I have just finished going through the latest version. The artwork is fantastic, and the story is very well crafted. I can truthfully say that this is a story that I will be revisiting from time to time, just for the enjoyment it has given me. Masterfully done!

I have been disinterested in 3D polygon graphics - even if the characters weren't moving, their appearances would often remind me of the Uncanny Valley problem. That said... I'm not sure what you did to give the graphics in Toire no Hanako a distinct appearance, but I like it. It's different enough from other 3D visuals that I don't mind looking at the characters' faces. And I think the theme/tone helps.

gekiganwing wrote:I'm not sure what you did to give the graphics in Toire no Hanako a distinct appearance, but I like it.

Thank you. When I started participating in this community I was surprised by the way people here disliked the use of 3D software, all the time talking about "plastic look", "uncanny valley", "creepy mannekins" and so on. I tried to explain my ideas in one of those discussions, but soon I realized that the best I could do was shut my mouth and simply continue doing my work.

Although I can draw, I'm not crazy enough to try do draw 310 CGs by hand, for a VN! I believe Toire No Hanako can demonstrate some benefits of 3D when used for storytelling: showing a scene from several angles and exploring the angles to add to the narration (like when Yoko is cornering Isamu in the boy's restroom), give the backgrounds and locations a realistic atmosphere (like the interior of Reiko's house) and so on (not speaking about how 3D speeds up the general work). One of the sources of inspiration for my story was the old Edo Period parlour game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, where mirrors had an important role. Again, 3D helped me to render scenes including mirrors with accurate reflections.

TNH graphics were all created using an old version of DAZ|Studio (version 3.1.2.32 to be exact. Yes, it's a free application).
What I couldn't render I simply draw over the renders (like the girl's skirts and the hair of some of the characters).

I really enjoyed this visual novel! I thought the story was really interesting and the art style was rather unique (in a good way). I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good storytelling. And although this is not an horror story, it has the sort of tension that a lot of horror stories lack. I wasn't expecting this at all.

And I was really surprised to see portuguese as an option in the menu!

WOW! What a great story.

Very well done.

Best Regards
Jim

Thank you, guys.

Mini_Moshi wrote:And I was really surprised to see portuguese as an option in the menu!

Foi um pedido dos meus filhos.

Very well! But I expected to see here more yuri (can even hard yuri), but I liked it so.

I've started this story and I'm really enjoying the match of the artwork with the words (it's a nice touch). It's well written and has a nice pace to it. Originally thought it was two girls from the art supplied but was pleasantly surprised to find it was male by female and I like the personalities of the characters.

wooo I haven't played this yet! I'll be sure to comment my thoughts after

Thank you for your comments, guys.

Gipacratus wrote:Very well! But I expected to see here more yuri (can even hard yuri), but I liked it so.

Well, this is a story that shows little "action", but that is always inviting you to let your imagination run wild .

Lesleigh63 wrote:Originally thought it was two girls from the art supplied.

Ha! Fooled you ! That was intentional.

silverpikachu99 wrote:wooo I haven't played this yet! I'll be sure to comment my thoughts after

Hightly interested in your thoughts.

I've finished now and I really enjoyed it. I liked that I could immerse myself in it, looking around at the backgrounds and noticing the character poses and 'camera' angles. I like the thought of visual novels being a medium that pushes beyond the written word, opening up a whole new possibilities, and this VN did that for me.

I'm honestly surprised to see not many people have commented on this game. I think this is such a nice VN. I really like it.

The characters, wow. They felt so real and human-like, maybe it's because of their fears. Anyway, nice cast of characters. Isamu was favorite. He was easy to sympathize with and I liked his brave and kind personality. I also liked Tomie, even though she didn't get much screen time. I liked the relationship of Reiko and Isamu. It was a little rushed, but it was so touching and sweet. The yuri was a nice touch. Yoko and Karoi make a cute couple. Kind of wished there was more scenes with them though. xD

The art was cool. I very much enjoyed the art style. It gives the VN a nice feel.

The writing was amazing. I was entertained, I was enlightened, I was surprised. It made me think about fear and life. It made me wonder how beautiful love can be.

Excellent work Donmai. I'll be sure to check out The One in LOVE when I get a chance.