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Shiro Usagi - 白ウサギ

This is the WIP page for my upcoming visual novel 'Shiro Usagi', previously known at 'Maiburaza no Musume'. The current working title will be 'Shiro Usagi' until I can decide before release.

Plot
Kenta Kobayashi is a man who doesn't know what to do with his life. Working a dead-end job and a part time volunteer, he's slowly approaching his 30s with little sense of achievement in his life so far. Having studied Psychology at a local college, he was accepted into a top-ranking university, but due certain circumstances on the day of the entrance exam, he failed to be admitted. Since then he’s been working and hasn’t built up the courage to try and retake the exams. Kenta's only friend is his neighbour Mizuki, an elementary school teacher who does nothing but tease him. They both met when her dog got loose and rampaged around in his apartment. She bought him dinner to apologize and it’s become a routine for them to eat together. After showing concern for him, Kenta’s boss at work makes him take the week off. With nothing to do, he one day goes for a walk around the city, not sure what to do with himself. A rabbit runs across his path and concerned for its safety, he follows it. It disappears into an alleyway. Lying there in the alleyway is a young girl, face-down in the mud...a girl named Alice. Alice suffers from a form of retrograde amnesia, meaning she has little to no memory of her past life. Kenta decides to take her in, with Mizuki's help, until she can remember what it is that happened to her...

Characters
Kenta:
Our protagonist. A man slowly approaching middle-age, he's always aspired to help people and be something noble and admirable. In reality, he works a dead-end job and tries his best to kill time. Deep down he's a good person at heart, and will do anything to help others.

Alice:
A young girl that Kenta discovers abandoned in an alleyway. She suffers from retrograde amnesia due to a head injury, and is taken in by Kenta until she can remember more about her past life...

Mizuki:
Kenta's neighbour and a teacher at a local elementary school. Her goal is to try and raise her pupils to be kind and respectful, and she despises bullying. She gave up painting due to certain circumstances...

Sophie:
Alice's older sister. A little rough around the edges, she takes a dislike towards Kenta although she isn't above living in his apartment or eating his food. She cares about Alice more than anything in the world...

Progress
Script - 20%
Sprites - 60%
Music - 30%
Programming - 10%
CGs - 0%

Ooh! Something by clannadman! Definitely excited by this! The sprites and the outline seem exciting. What's the estimated length for the final project?

redeyesblackpanda wrote:Ooh! Something by clannadman! Definitely excited by this! The sprites and the outline seem exciting. What's the estimated length for the final project?

I'm hoping for a few hours worth of gametime. There will be two main routes, equally weighted and each one should take about an hour if not more to complete

Ah, that's good to hear! I'm looking forward to the finished product.

redeyesblackpanda wrote:Ah, that's good to hear! I'm looking forward to the finished product.

Thank you. I hope you enjoy it I'm trying to make it lighthearted as well as a bit of a crying game (I'm too influenced by Key, especially after playing planetarian recently), so the balance should be good

You said that Sophie is Alice's older sister, and that the two girls care about each other. But where was Sophie when Alice was abandoned in an alley? Is is possible that Sophie was trying to find her sister, and Kenta found her first? Is it possible that Sophie was busy with work or relationships or hobbies, and nearly losing her sister leads to a lot of regret?

Is Alice a normal human? The mention of a rabbit in your synopsis and your title makes me wonder. Or maybe it is just an allusion to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...

clannadman wrote:[There will be two main routes, equally weighted and each one should take about an hour if not more to complete

Are your planned pairings Kenta/Mizuki and Kenta/Sophie? I get the idea that all three people are adults, so they should be able to grow and form relationships without the pain and drama of adolescent romance.

Since I don't know many details about Sophie yet, I want to see how Kenta and Mizuki grow and work together. They kinda remind me of Hiroki and Kiri from Canvas 2... so just do a bit of research so that the characters and relationships don't end up too similar.

It really does look great so far. I look forward to seeing this when it's done.

This game looks pretty good! I like the short summary so far. Are those sprites placeholders, by the way? Because bassnovel sprites aren't allowed to be used anywhere else other than the site itself, according to some regulations and stuff, unless you ask the creater themselves.

It looks pretty interesting so far, I'd like to see what the final result is.

gekiganwing wrote:You said that Sophie is Alice's older sister, and that the two girls care about each other. But where was Sophie when Alice was abandoned in an alley? Is is possible that Sophie was trying to find her sister, and Kenta found her first? Is it possible that Sophie was busy with work or relationships or hobbies, and nearly losing her sister leads to a lot of regret?

Is Alice a normal human? The mention of a rabbit in your synopsis and your title makes me wonder. Or maybe it is just an allusion to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...

clannadman wrote:[There will be two main routes, equally weighted and each one should take about an hour if not more to complete

Are your planned pairings Kenta/Mizuki and Kenta/Sophie? I get the idea that all three people are adults, so they should be able to grow and form relationships without the pain and drama of adolescent romance.

Since I don't know many details about Sophie yet, I want to see how Kenta and Mizuki grow and work together. They kinda remind me of Hiroki and Kiri from Canvas 2... so just do a bit of research so that the characters and relationships don't end up too similar.

Sophie and Alice's relationship is an essential part of the plot, since Alice remembers nothing of her previous life and Sophie is her only link when she emerges. Their history is important so I don't want to give too much away, suffice to say that Sophie and Alice have had their share of troubles.

There are a few allusions in the work - the title for one as well as the girl named Alice. Whether there's hidden meaning will emerge.

The planned pairings are Kenta/Mizuki and Kenta/Sophie, although the romance is one aspect that rivals the parenting story of Alice and Kenta. Kenta and Mizuki are in their mid-twenties, whereas Sophie is around 18/19 years old.

ZaisConsultant wrote:It really does look great so far. I look forward to seeing this when it's done.

Thank you It's only the groundwork but hopefully it'll be a decent game by release date

RunicV wrote:This game looks pretty good! I like the short summary so far. Are those sprites placeholders, by the way? Because bassnovel sprites aren't allowed to be used anywhere else other than the site itself, according to some regulations and stuff, unless you ask the creater themselves.

It looks pretty interesting so far, I'd like to see what the final result is.

I'm attempting to contact the creator, but if I can't use them I'll recruit an artist from here at Lemmasoft.