Memories of Summer Winds [BxG] [Romance][Tragedy][Dem Feels]

[Kato]

Kenta Nagata is your average junior high school student: lazy, unmotivated and longing for more free time. Akemi Tomoya, his constant companion, strives to make sure he makes it in time for school (despite his grievances), eats dinner and survives to fight another day. Despite an age gap of four years separating them, the two themselves are inseparable – not that Akemi would have it any other way.

For a man of such little care, Kenta finds himself surrounded by a surprisingly diverse group of friends. Kazuhiro Hayashi, the self-declared bachelor who has stuck by Kenta through thick and thin. Miyu Takahara, the class president with a disgust for tardiness, who somehow manages not to tear Kenta to pieces every time he’s late. Takara Ito, the next big Japanese sports star… or so she thinks.

Surrounded by his friends, life simply coasts by for young Kenta until a life changing accident occurs that threatens to turn his world upside down. Kenta awakens from a four-year coma to find that the world has moved on without him. Four years is a very long time in the modern world, and Kenta soon yearns for the days of old, for the days of summer winds and carefree lives.

As Kenta adjusts to his new found adult life, he soon discovers that a healthy mix of old and new is the one thing that keeps him going, and yet, it’s not always the familiar faces that are the most friendly…









Kenta is your average junior high school student. Lazy, unmotivated and longing for more free time. What he would do with that free time is still up for question. Kenta is content floating by in life, looking for purpose yet finding none.




Akemi lived through a troubled childhood, and has always relied on Kenta for guidance and support. She is an absolute sweetheart who puts the happiness of others before her own, but watch out if you get on her bad side! Her infectiously sweet personality has made her the subject of many unreciprocated romances.




Seemingly stuck to Kenta's side since junior school, Kazuhiro has never failed to entertain, whether the crowd is laughing with him or, more often than not, at him. Kazuhiro firmly believes that worrying is for chumps, and strives to live as carefree a life as possible. A self-proclaimed player, the closest woman in Kazuhiro's life is more than likely his mother.




Hitomi is loud and boisterous, and seemingly a little empty-headed. Although she doesn't realize it, she's unknowingly become the school idol and most of the class would kill to be her boyfriend. Hitomi has a bubbly personality and loves to sing. She will do anything to make it big, even if it means disregarding her studies.




Takara's early years of fighting with her brothers shine through in her personality; she's a no-nonsense girl who always strives for success. At an early age, she was pinned by teachers as potentially the 'next big thing' in the young athletics scene, and her daily training regime, enough to make a grown man weep, propels her ever closer to her dream.




The class president with a disgust for tardiness. Miyu has always wanted to be a singer for as long as she can remember, but her family feels that such a career would be dishonourable, and instead encourages her to focus on her schoolwork. Living her life by rules and deadlines, she is intrigued by Kenta, who floats from day to day, seemingly without a care in the world.




Shinji has had a rough upbringing, losing his father at the age of four in a freak accident. Since then, he has always had trouble fitting into social circles, but not for lack of trying. A look beneath the surface reveals a kind-hearted individual who would give away everything if it would make someone happy.




With a charming smile and a dashing gaze, it's hard to miss Daisuke, the class president of the class of 2014. Determined to make up for a childhood of bullying, Daisuke seized the opportunity to jump straight to the top of the social ladder in his freshman year and has been perched on top, watching everyone below, ever since.




The envy of every girl at Midorioka High, Satoko transferred in her junior year and quickly found an intellectual match in Daisuke. As Midorioka's power couple, the two watch over all student proceedings with a careful eye. Captain of the track team and a member of the student council, Satoko leads a busy, stressful life, which takes its toll on her personality.




No-one's quite sure how she managed it, but a mere week after arriving at Midorioka High, Fumiko's grades quickly climbed to the top of the class. What's even more confusing is that she's only at school half the time to start with - nobody knows what she's up to during her mysterious disappearances, but a few ardent students are eager to find out...

Christophoodle - Writing.
Kanin - Character Design.
Nobutsuna - Sprites.
Kato - Programming.
Badriel - GUI Art, Background Art.
Michael Chait - Feature Track Composer.
Ant-San - Chibis.
Tina Kim - Voice Talent, Vocals.
Platoza - Graphic Design.
Shouji Amasawa - Logo Design.

Blue Sphere Group

[gekiganwing]

'Memories of Summer Winds' is set in an unnamed modern day Japanese town and follows the story of Kenta, your average junior at high school, and how he handles himself and deals with adulthood, after awakening from a four-year long coma.

It sounds like Kenta enters a comatose state around age 12, and recovers around age 16. Is that correct?

I took a few minutes to read a Wikipedia article on comas. It didn't clearly state how a person who's comatose for years would age. But this topic has been documented, so I'm sure that quite a bit of information exists. That said, you will probably benefit from doing some research, but I don't think your VN needs to be 100% accurate. It's a story, not a document for medical professionals.

For a man of such little care, Kenta finds himself surrounded by a surprisingly diverse group of friends. Kazuhiro Hayashi, the self-declared bachelor who has stuck by Kenta through thick and thin. Miyu Takanawa, the class president with a disgust for tardiness, who somehow manages not to tear Kenta to pieces every time he’s late. Takara Ito, the next big Japanese sports star… or so she thinks.

I'm interested in seeing what you do with your characters. They can be summed up with quick phrases (lazy protagonist, nice younger girl, foolish friend, strict girl, athletic girl). Perhaps they won't change much through the story, but you'll focus on gameplay. Maybe you're planning to focus on plot, relationships, or character depth/growth. All of these seem like viable options.

Two more things...

1. It sounds like you're planning to write a worksafe story in which the main character has three potential love interests. Do you plan to create any unusual paths, or a variety of endings? What sort of Australian Classification Board rating would be appropriate for your content?

2. Is the setting important? Could the story just as easily take place in your home city of Perth? Would it be believable in Mexico City, or Glasgow, or Bangkok? Does it take place in a general "present day" time period? Should it occur during a specific span of four years?

[Kato]

Reserved Post :3

[Christophoodle]

G'day folks, I'm the writer on this project and can hopefully answer any questions you have.

'Memories of Summer Winds' is set in an unnamed modern day Japanese town and follows the story of Kenta, your average junior at high school, and how he handles himself and deals with adulthood, after awakening from a four-year long coma.

It sounds like Kenta enters a comatose state around age 12, and recovers around age 16. Is that correct?

I took a few minutes to read a Wikipedia article on comas. It didn't clearly state how a person who's comatose for years would age. But this topic has been documented, so I'm sure that quite a bit of information exists. That said, you will probably benefit from doing some research, but I don't think your VN needs to be 100% accurate. It's a story, not a document for medical professionals.

Almost. Enters at 16, recovers at 20. I've certainly considered the medical likelihood of such a thing happening - we'd be dealing with muscle deterioration, loss of long term cognitive ability and all that jazz, but who wants to deal with that in a VN? I'm certainly planning on addressing a few of the issues, but keeping it completely realistic would kind of just kill the premise before it's even gone anywhere. Thanks for the concern though - certainly something to consider.

For a man of such little care, Kenta finds himself surrounded by a surprisingly diverse group of friends. Kazuhiro Hayashi, the self-declared bachelor who has stuck by Kenta through thick and thin. Miyu Takanawa, the class president with a disgust for tardiness, who somehow manages not to tear Kenta to pieces every time he’s late. Takara Ito, the next big Japanese sports star… or so she thinks.

I'm interested in seeing what you do with your characters. They can be summed up with quick phrases (lazy protagonist, nice younger girl, foolish friend, strict girl, athletic girl). Perhaps they won't change much through the story, but you'll focus on gameplay. Maybe you're planning to focus on plot, relationships, or character depth/growth. All of these seem like viable options.

Part of the fun with 'adult' Kenta is that he develops new relationships as well as his existing ones. For the sake of not confusing people more than we probably already have, the only characters we've listed are ones that appear pre-coma. I've decided to make a very character-focused effort with Memories of a Summer Wind; that is, the characters drive the plot, instead of the other way around. I've found that this makes for more personalised stories, and allows you to more easily connect with characters, which is what we're aiming for in a VN, right? Rest assured, the characters all have a huge amount of development; part of what I want to explore with this VN is the idea of falling from grace, so to speak. Fatal flaws! The indomitable characters that are so stubborn that they... hmm. I think I'm too tired to be writing this response. I'll come back to this, I promise. The characters' descriptions may be 2D, but the characters themselves are anything but - I'm just absolutely awful at blurbs/'sum-ups'.

Two more things...

1. It sounds like you're planning to write a worksafe story in which the main character has three potential love interests. Do you plan to create any unusual paths, or a variety of endings? What sort of Australian Classification Board rating would be appropriate for your content?

2. Is the setting important? Could the story just as easily take place in your home city of Perth? Would it be believable in Mexico City, or Glasgow, or Bangkok? Does it take place in a general "present day" time period? Should it occur during a specific span of four years?

First question: we're not really aiming for anything risque; that's not really the point of our story. We have a number of endings planned out, depending on the decisions you make through the game. It's not going to have a million branches, for sure, but there are definitely consequences (good and bad) for your actions. I would hazard the game would hover somewhere around the M or MA rating.

Second question: it's not really important, no. I'm trying to fuse a number of western narrative themes with an eastern medium (visual novel) - this visual novel is me attempting to fuse East and West, and it's actually working far better than I would have expected. In order to 'fit in', it would be best to place it in a general modern Japanese setting. I mean sure, you could throw it in Mexico or something, but we'd be breaking new territory where we don't need to. If it ain't broke, why fix it, ya know? It takes place in a general modern time period, and the span is not important. Thanks for the questions though - I hadn't considered the specific time span part.

Thanks for your input thus far! Gives me stuff to think about.

EDIT: As of tomorrow, I'm on holiday for 10 days or so, so if you have anything to ask me specifically, I'll get back to you after I'm back! Kato can handle most questions.

[Sapphi]

I've decided to make a very character-focused effort with Memories of a Summer Wind; that is, the characters drive the plot, instead of the other way around. I've found that this makes for more personalised stories, and allows you to more easily connect with characters, which is what we're aiming for in a VN, right? Rest assured, the characters all have a huge amount of development; part of what I want to explore with this VN is the idea of falling from grace, so to speak.

This sounds like a story I would really like to read. The idea of waking up and realizing you've been "left behind" is something very quietly painful and I love quietly painful stories. You're totally gonna have some melancholy piano tracks in here, right?

The girls are really cute, btw. I really like their simple designs. I'm interested to see what they'll look like in their 20s!

Second question: it's not really important, no. I'm trying to fuse a number of western narrative themes with an eastern medium (visual novel) - this visual novel is me attempting to fuse East and West, and it's actually working far better than I would have expected. In order to 'fit in', it would be best to place it in a general modern Japanese setting. I mean sure, you could throw it in Mexico or something, but we'd be breaking new territory where we don't need to. If it ain't broke, why fix it, ya know?

You know, at first I was like "Bleh, just another modern-day Japanese setting for no reason" but the theme of your story... it has that whole Japanese "quiet transience of life" thing going on, and it seems that setting this story in the loud, gratuitous West would be almost out-of-character.

I hope to see this finished, so please fulfill my hope

[Kato]

Kato can handle most questions.

Oh dear, I suppose it's time to buckle down and put on my big boy socks. I don't have a way with words like Christo but I SHOULD be able clarify things and write stuff on my whiteboard to pass on to Christo when he is back in town XD.

You know, at first I was like "Bleh, just another modern-day Japanese setting for no reason" but the theme of your story... it has that whole Japanese "quiet transience of life" thing going on, and it seems that setting this story in the loud, gratuitous West would be almost out-of-character.

Haha thanks. Drawing up plans for the story, we've spent a lot of time trying to differentiate it from the majority of 'Japanese High School, Boy goes to school, every girl there wants a piece of him suddenly' VNs. Rather It's heavily focused on the mind set of each character and how they effect the plot of the story (Investing a lot of time in one character could lead another character down a bad path) and so on.

[Christophoodle]

I've decided to make a very character-focused effort with Memories of a Summer Wind; that is, the characters drive the plot, instead of the other way around. I've found that this makes for more personalised stories, and allows you to more easily connect with characters, which is what we're aiming for in a VN, right? Rest assured, the characters all have a huge amount of development; part of what I want to explore with this VN is the idea of falling from grace, so to speak.

This sounds like a story I would really like to read. The idea of waking up and realizing you've been "left behind" is something very quietly painful and I love quietly painful stories. You're totally gonna have some melancholy piano tracks in here, right?

The girls are really cute, btw. I really like their simple designs. I'm interested to see what they'll look like in their 20s!

Thanks! I'm a writer first and musician second, so I will definitely be throwing in some delightful piano tracks - cello too! Nothing says melancholy like a cello. Thanks for the compliments on the design, by the way - our artist is freaking phenomenal, and it's an absolute privilege to be working with them.

Second question: it's not really important, no. I'm trying to fuse a number of western narrative themes with an eastern medium (visual novel) - this visual novel is me attempting to fuse East and West, and it's actually working far better than I would have expected. In order to 'fit in', it would be best to place it in a general modern Japanese setting. I mean sure, you could throw it in Mexico or something, but we'd be breaking new territory where we don't need to. If it ain't broke, why fix it, ya know?

You know, at first I was like "Bleh, just another modern-day Japanese setting for no reason" but the theme of your story... it has that whole Japanese "quiet transience of life" thing going on, and it seems that setting this story in the loud, gratuitous West would be almost out-of-character.

I hope to see this finished, so please fulfill my hope

Thank you! That's what I was trying to get at but failed because of my miserable sleep schedule. I'm not one to let projects go, so don't you worry - this will definitely make its way out one way or the other!

[Kato]

Updating with 20yr old Miyu's concept :p There was a lot of worry about how she was going to turn out but I think Kanin hit the nail on the head

[desulishor]

Woah, there actually is a BxG project, with a character development focus even! I almost thought, I was the only one here with a passion for writing this sort of stuff. It'll definitely be interesting to see where this goes.

[thekobester11]

Wow, I totally look forward in this vn!!!
If you need any help in the BGs, I'd be glad to help!

[Kato]

Wow, I totally look forward in this vn!!!
If you need any help in the BGs, I'd be glad to help!

Woah, there actually is a BxG project, with a character development focus even! I almost thought, I was the only one here with a passion for writing this sort of stuff. It'll definitely be interesting to see where this goes.

Haha, thanks for the interest! :p Our writer is back from holidays now and the rest of us are busy at it so hopefully we will have some more updates coming in!

[WickedRaccoon]

This sounds promising. I like the character sprites,they look so professional and the plot is something you rarely see around here,so it triggers my curiousity :3
Will be checking this out,wish you guys good luck!

[latte]

Hi, the artist here. Though I can't answer plot or character-related questions as well as Kato or Chris, figured it'd still be nice to introduce myself in this thread. I'm a sucker for both melancholic atmospheres and good galge, so figure what happens when there is both.

I've joined the forum recently but had lurked for some time, and there's a distinct lack of BxG stories, at least seeing how there are far more Japanese bishoujo games than otome. And that's not to mention character-driven BxG games, like desulishor said. As such, I'm more than happy to be working with the team to (hopefully) bring people a solid, enjoyable game. And cute girls.

[Kato]

I was wondering when you were gonna pop in and say hi, Kanin!

This sounds promising. I like the character sprites,they look so professional and the plot is something you rarely see around here,so it triggers my curiousity :3
Will be checking this out,wish you guys good luck!

Haha, thank you! The plot actually gets far deeper than one might expect in some cases. Hopefully we can eventually convey this without giving any spoilers away! :p

But for now, updating with Kanin's new concept of Takara at age 20:

[Christophoodle]

This sounds promising. I like the character sprites,they look so professional and the plot is something you rarely see around here,so it triggers my curiousity :3
Will be checking this out,wish you guys good luck!

Thanks mate. We're working with an amazing team, and we're all very much on the same page - it's nice to not have to explain concepts to Kato or Kanin because they both just get it. Thanks for the kind words so far!