SONATA~ A Beat Of The Heart (Romance/Drama) (BxG) (18+)

[Sol-Can!]

Game Title: "SONATA~ A Beat Of The Heart"

Related Genres: Slice Of Life, School Life, Romance, Drama, comedy, Bishoujo

Rating: 18+, All Ages

Platform: PC- Digital Release (18+, All Ages)

Current development Stage: Planning/ conceptual

Themes*: "Sonata" is a story about moving forward, making mistakes, fulfilling promises, little acts of kindness, art, and the bonding of friends at a school setting in Modern-day Japan.

*Details are pending to change.


THE STORY!

Takamura Kazuki was a passionate, talented, and well respected member of his school's Art Club.

However, after the tragic passing of his inspiration, his artistic father, in a terrible car accident a year ago, an accident that he alone survived-- depression took over him, and he gradually became demotivated in his passions, and neglected his studies. His attendance and participation in club activities began to decline as a result, only now coming by the club room on and off ever since.

With his busy workaholic mother unable to take care of him, Kazuki moved into the Arakawa household to be left under the care of his childhood friend, Setsuna.

From then on, Kazuki's days continued on as they always have since last year-- mundane, boring, and unexciting. A colorless, monotone lifestyle.

However, he finally decides to return to the club hoping it will help him move on from his depression-- and just when when he thinks his life is destined to be forever full of grey skies, he soon finds his life becoming more colorful than ever before, as he interacts and forms bonds with his fellow club mates-- among them being three unique girls who's lives are tied to his own past; the timid, and naive Yukie, the hot-headed, pushy childhood friend Setsuna, and the mysterious, soft-spoken beauty Yuri-- Each with their own story to tell.

What kind of painting is your life? What is the melody that plays in your heart? Will you accept the past, and move on towards the future?
Only you can find the answers... its up to you to carve the path to your renewed happiness.

THE CHARACTERS!:

PROTAGONIST:

KAZUKI TAKAMURA:

Class: 3-B

A 3rd year student who is passionate about art, and a well respected member of his school's art club.

Growing up, he wanted to be a famous painter like his father.

However, after his famous artist father died in a wreck a year ago, which Kazuki himself survived-- Kazuki lost all interest in his hobbies and in life, and developed depression, becoming somewhat cynical. His attendance in club activities became very off and on, neglecting his studies as well, earning him a mild "delinquent" status.

He finally decides to continue going to club in an effort to fix his depression.

Despite his lazy, cynical, and wisecracking attitude, he is actually quite selfless, willing to help others in any way he can.

With his mother being far too busy with work to take care of him due to her business job, Kazuki moved into the home of his longtime childhood friend, Setsuna.

HEROINE PATHS:


YUKIE YOSHIDA:

Hair: Blue, Short

Eyes: Brown

Class: 3-D

A timid and introverted girl having a hard time fitting in.
She has a kind and caring heart. When Kazuki shows an unusual act of kindness when she is being bullied, she goes out of her way to help Kazuki by any means, although She usually more often needs help much more than she can offer it.

SETSUNA ARAKAWA:

Hair: Light-orange/ Strawberry, Long (tied in a ponytail)

Eyes: Blue

Class: 3-B

A longtime friend of Kazuki's since childhood.
A girl who is outgoing, hot-headed, and a bit pushy, but in truth has a softer interior. She is a bit tough on Kazuki, but cares for him very much.

Despite her tough personality, she has a caring heart and a good head on her shoulders, and made a promise to Kazuki's mother to take good care of him.


YURI FUJIWARA:

Hair: Black, Long

Eyes: Red

Class: 3-A

A calm, yet also odd and mysterious girl.
She is a recent transfer student, and had joined the Art Club not too long ago, before the beginning of the story.
Her grandmother runs a bakery, which has come on hard times. She uses her talents to create and sell paintings and other pieces of art to help support her grandmother's shop, and attract customers.

Unlockable Routes: Aoki, Rie, Shizuru, Kawashima-Sensei, Haruna

SIDE CHARACTERS:

AIKO KOIZUMI:

Hair: Mint Green, Short

Eyes: Violet

Class: 3-B

A good friend to both Setsuna and Kazuki since their first year.
She is on good terms with them as they were both in the school's art club. In truth she loves swimming, and left the art club for it. She is really energetic and straightforward.

RIE KOJIMA:

Hair: Pink, Short

Eyes: Green

Class: 2-A

A small underclassman girl who idolizes and looks up to Kazuki, and looks to Setsuna as a big sister. She is a member of the art club.
She is somewhat naiive, and childish. Despite these flaws, she oddly has the best grades in her class.
She also runs a family restaurant with her father called "Kojima Paradise".

SHIZURU KAWASHIMA:

Hair: Blonde, Long

Eyes: Blue

Class: 3-C

A gentle, elegant girl. She is the President of the Art club and a good friend to Kazuki and Setsuna.
She carries a motherly personality and an air of maturity, but with a few odd quirks of her own that foil them; such as an obssession for dressing up Yuri, Setsuna, Yukie, and Rie in outfits, and occasional daydreaming. She also seems to love romance, and gets excited about the idea of indecent relationships, saying "Oh, my, my!" whenever imagining indecent romantic things.

KAWASHIMA-SENSEI:

Hair: Black, Shoulder length

Eyes: Green

The cast's homeroom teacher and Shizuru's older sister.
She initially appears very professional when at work. However, outside of her job as a teacher, she's actually quite carefree, and laidback. Perhaps even more of an airhead than her younger sister.

However, despite her true nature, she is a reliable adult-- being capable of providing decently proper advice on personal, moral, and social matters.

HARUNA TACHIBANA:

Hair: Violet-Pink (Short w/ Side-tail)

Eyes: Blue

Class: 3-B

Kazuki's cousin. She's carefree, peppy, and just about always upbeat. As children, Kazuki, Setsuna, and herself used to play together. She arrives in Tokyo in order to transfer to Kazuki's school, as well as move into the Arakawa residence (much to Kazuki and Setsuna's displeasure).

KYOKO TAKAMURA:

Kazuki's mother. She is very laidback and calm. However, her bussiness job takes her away from home for long periods of time, making it impossible to take care of her son.
As a result, she asked Setsuna's parents to take him in, and left Kazuki's well-being under Setsuna's supervision.

HIDEAKI TAKAHASHI:

Hair: Red

Eyes: Green

Class: 3-B

Kazuki's oddball male best friend. He's heavily classified by the student body as a narcissistic idiot and a total pervert with no shame-- and is the story's resident butt-monkey. Generally, the girls just find him harmless... and extremely annoying. Even Kazuki himself can't stand him, and has completely no clue on why he became friends with him in the first place.

SATSUKI TAKAHASHI:

Hair: Blonde (w/pigtails)

Eyes: Green

Class: 1-A

Hideaki's bossy, and incredibly strict younger sister. She's a 1st year student, and is often rather harsh when it comes to keeping her elder brother in check. Despite the terrible ways she treats him, and the frightening extremes she goes to ensure his success in school, it's highly suggested that she cares very much for her brother-- maybe a bit too much.

HARUKO YOSHIDA:

Hair: Violet, Shoulder length

Eyes: Brown

Yukie's mother. She is a heavy drinker, often acting coldly and harshly towards Yukie. What happened in the past to make her so bitter and mean?

MOMO:

Yuri's mischievous pet cat. According to Yuri, she gave him the name "Momo" because he looks like "A big, fluffy ball of mochi running around".

Yuri's Grandmother:

Hair: White (in a bun)

Eyes: green

Yuri's grandmother. She owns and runs the Fujiwara Bakery with the help of her granddaughter, Yuri. She is a kindhearted old woman, but has a liking for teasing and messing with younger people, reminding them to enjoy their youth.


* With more details to possibly come in future updates!

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS!:

Q: "What is "SONATA~ A Beat Of The Heart"?

A: "SONATA~ A Beat Of The Heart" is a commercial slice-of-life themed romance/drama visual novel indie project being developed by the VN division of indie game studio "Polygone!". The game is planned for an 18+ version, and an All Ages release.
The game is to be heavily inspired by many classic works by Japanese VN/Eroge developers "KEY" and "Leaf", such as "Kanon", "Clannad", and "To Heart".


Q: "Will there be 18+ content?"

A: Yes, possibly so. but only in the planned 18+ release. The All Ages version will have any and all 18+ material removed. (Disclaimer: All fictional characters in this work engaged in any sexually explicit activity are portrayed to be at least 18 years or older.)

Q: "What kind of character art style?"

A: "SONATA" is planned to have a "moe"/modern anime appeal in its character designs.

Thank you for checking out this project! And continue being awesome, fellow creative people!

[Ran08]

Well. Reading the game info, it does seem pretty obvious that it's heavily inspired by some famous JVNs. It reminds me of a few, too. Not that it's a bad thing! I'm actually pretty fond of slice-of-life VNs set in Japan. To me, they never get old. Hahaha.

I'm curious, though. Why did he have to stay with his childhood friend and be put under her care? I mean, who entrusted him to her? Wouldn't it be logical to put him under the care of somebody older than he is?

As for the character descriptions, perhaps you may be revealing a too much about the characters? Some of them actually seem like spoilers for the game, haha. I know I'd like to find out Yuri's backstory for myself in the game rather than just read about it in a description. Also, you might want to format the opening post a little better? It's sort of hard to read because of the (lack of) structure. Just a suggestion, haha.

And, ja, this is pretty shallow, but I'm sort of excited for the art. Haha. After all, since this is a planned-to-be-commercial game, I suppose the art would be high-quality too.

Frankly, I'm a little bit worried since it sounds like a really big visual novel for a first game, but... if you're determined enough, then I'm sure you can do it. Good luck on this project!

[Sol-Can!]

Well. Reading the game info, it does seem pretty obvious that it's heavily inspired by some famous JVNs. It reminds me of a few, too. Not that it's a bad thing! I'm actually pretty fond of slice-of-life VNs set in Japan. To me, they never get old. Hahaha.

I'm curious, though. Why did he have to stay with his childhood friend and be put under her care? I mean, who entrusted him to her? Wouldn't it be logical to put him under the care of somebody older than he is?

As for the character descriptions, perhaps you may be revealing a too much about the characters? Some of them actually seem like spoilers for the game, haha. I know I'd like to find out Yuri's backstory for myself in the game rather than just read about it in a description. Also, you might want to format the opening post a little better? It's sort of hard to read because of the (lack of) structure. Just a suggestion, haha.

And, ja, this is pretty shallow, but I'm sort of excited for the art. Haha. After all, since this is a planned-to-be-commercial game, I suppose the art would be high-quality too.

Frankly, I'm a little bit worried since it sounds like a really big visual novel for a first game, but... if you're determined enough, then I'm sure you can do it. Good luck on this project!

Hello, and thanks for the feedback!

Hmm... you've brought up a few good questions and points here.

For the matter of Kazuki being under his childhood friend's care, its explained that his mother is far too busy to take care of him, and placed his care under Setsuna's family, who in turn entrusted his care to Setsuna when they are away. Obviously, the explanation needs work, but you could say its a similar setup as Shuffle!'s Kaede and Rin.

As for the character descriptions, you've made a good point. They do seem somewhat on the verge of "spoiler" material. Perhaps I will edit them down to keep things from being spoiled for the character routes.

Since the post is looking a bit poorly structured, I'll certainly fix it up to make it easier to read.

Yeah, this does seem big in scale for a first Visual Novel title... but I am very much determined to see it through. Thanks for your feedback, and for wishing me good luck! Its very much appreciated.

[Jerana]

Hi there! I'm a female newbie voice actor, and if you were interested you could send me some dialogue to sample for (possibly) Setsuna or Yuri. I know it's a little early to think about, but when you get started I'd like to give it a go! Thanks.