G Senjō no Maō

G Senjō no Maō
G Senjō no Maō original visual novel cover.
Developer(s)	Akabeisoft2
Publisher(s)	Akabeisoft2
Platform(s)	PC
Release date(s)	JP May 29, 2008
Genre(s)	Eroge, Visual novel
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	18+
Media/distribution	DVD × 1
System requirements Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

G Senjō no Maō (G線上の魔王^?, officially translated into English as The Devil on G-string) is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Akabeisoft2 and first released for the PC as a DVD on May 29, 2008 in limited and regular editions after many delays.^{[citation needed]} The gameplay in G Senjō no Maō follows a plotline which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the four female main characters. The title G Senjō no Maō comes from August Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String", an adaptation of J.S. Bach's original "Air", and Franz Schubert's "Der Erlkönig" known as Maō in Japan.

Gameplay

A scene in G Senjō no Maō depicting Kyōsuke talking to Yuki (left) and Mizuha (right).

Much of the gameplay in G Senjō no Maō requires little interaction from the player as the majority of the time is spent reading the text that appears on the game's screen. The text being displayed represents the thoughts of the characters or the dialogue between them. The player is occasionally presented with choices to determine the direction of the game. Depending on what is chosen, the plot may progress in a specific direction. There are four different routes in total.

Plot

Main characters

The player assumes the role of Kyōsuke Azai (浅井京介, Azai Kyōsuke^?), the protagonist of G Senjō no Maō. Kyōsuke is the adopted son of a yakuza leader. Though he puts up a kind, sociable air around him, he is in fact a highly intelligent and ruthless businessman. Kyōsuke is the president of one of his father's, Gonzō Azai's, corporations, where he works in order to pay off a massive debt he owes to his adoptive father. Due to his "education" under Gonzō, Kyōsuke views money as the only important thing in the world and does anything he can to gather more and more of it in order to pay off his debt. Kyōsuke is a big fan of classical music. Haru^[1] Usami (宇佐美ハル, Usami Haru^?, voiced by: Rino Kawashima) is the main heroine of G Senjō no Maō. She has long black hair and is extremely intelligent. Haru has a long history with Maō but is hesitant to tell anyone about it. Maō (魔王^?, voiced by: Hōdenirappa) is the primary antagonist of the game. Maō's background is shrouded in secrecy and little is known about him. Eiichi Aiazawa (相沢栄一, Aizawa Eiichi^?, voiced by: Mahiru Kaneda) is a close friend Kyōsuke's. Eiichi harbors a (comedic) dark side beneath his cute facade and is into older women.

Tsubaki Miwa (三輪椿姫, Miwa Tsubaki^?, voiced by: Sumire Murasakibana) is a classmate of Kyōsuke's. She likes writing in her diary. Kanon Azai (浅井花音, Azai Kanon^?, voiced by: Haruka Kawai) is the daughter of Kyōsuke's adopted father. She is a professional figure skater. Mizuha Shiratori (白鳥水羽, Shiratori Mizuha^?, voiced by: Erena Kaibara) is another classmate of Kyōsuke's and is the daughter of the director of the school. She is very cold towards Kyōsuke. Yuki Tokita (時田ユキ, Tokita Yuki^?, voiced by: Hokuto Minami) is a close friend of Haru's. Yuki has studied criminals for a long time and is skilled in negotiations.

Story

G Senjō no Maō's story revolves around Kyōsuke Azai, the adopted son of Gonzō Azai (浅井権三, Azai Gonzō^?), a yakuza leader. Kyōsuke works under Gonzō in the hopes of raising and returning the debt that his father owes the yakuza and for the sake of his sick mother. One day, a girl named Haru Usami transfers into Kyōsuke's school who declares herself to be a "hero" and asks if Kyōsuke knows someone named Maō. Kyōsuke says that he does not, but later that evening, receives a letter from "Maō". Gonzō instructs him to find and capture Maō.

Throughout the story, Maō engages Haru in a variety of ways by threatening those around her. The first incident involves Tsubaki where her brother is kidnapped with Maō asking for an exorbitant sum that can only be paid if Tsubaki's family sells their land and moves. Kyōsuke helps Tsubaki obtain the necessary funds as he himself is interested in getting Tsubaki to move due to him having an investment in the company that wants to get the Miwa family off their land.

In the second incident, a threat is sent to Gonzō that asks Kanon to purposely throw away her chance at the Olympics so that another skater can represent Japan instead. The threat turns out to be a diversion as Maō's actual target was Gonzō. Gonzō had considered this possibility and he evades being killed by the bomb that Maō placed under his vehicle.

The third incident involves Hashimoto (A classmate introduced in this chapter) takes control of the school ground depending on the player's choices to either call the police or deal with it personally, the player would either end up on Mizuha's path (by calling the police) or stay on Haru's route (by not calling the police). If the protagonist did not call the police, he'll get his yakuza mates and surrounds the whole school ground and Yuki Tokita would negotiate with Hashimoto with his intensive knowledge of dealing with the criminal mind and psychology. However the hostage scene ends with the escape of Hashimoto and it is revealed that Yuki Tokita was trying to extort money out of Mizuha Shiratori's father. Her motive behind the incident was because Yuki always bore hatred for her father (Mizuha's father) since he threw out Yuki and her mum out into the cold with nothing while her mum had an mortal disease. She later gets cornered and has to play as a ruthless captor using her sister Mizuha as an hostage. Later on Kyōsuke and Haru manages to outwit Yuki and due to Kyōsuke's decision on asking for help from the yakuza using his position of power he gets into a lot of trouble with Gonzō for ordering his men around.

While throughout the game there are many hints on Maō's real identity being the protagonist, he is instead revealed to be Kyōsuke's older brother, Kyōhei. Kyōhei bores a grudge to Haru and Gonzō because Haru's father is a con artist whom tricked Kyōsuke and Kyōhei's father with a scheme in order to pay for his gambling debts and forced the Samejima household to chaos (By taking advantage of Kiyomi's death (Kyōsuke & Kyōhei's little sister whom died shortly after birth) and tricking them to pay an extremely high debt, ultimately this incident leads to a tragedy ending with Kyōsuke & Kyōhei's father murdering Usami when he showed no signs of guilt.

On the last chapter, Kyōhei initiates a elaborate scheme that drove the whole central district into chaos. He demands the release of several criminals including his father and most of the criminals he listed weren't his real goal. At the end of the event and as Kyōsuke manages to get out of the barricaded area by convincing the mob that they were merely being used, Kyōsuke receives a call from his brother and he confesses and apologises for what he has done and detonates the bomb in the motel in which the police was storming in. However as Kyōsuke becomes sadden with what has happened, Haru discovers that this is all a plot and Kyōhei was found among the crowd and was quickly surrounded by the police. As he attempts to escape from the scene (which was futile) he barricades himself in a bus and which left the police hesitate to fire as it might possibly hit the nearby crowd however shortly after the bus was set ablaze when a bullet pierces one of the windows (The protagonist assumes that Kyōhei was carrying explosives on himself as a last resort).

However in the epilogue it is discovered that Kyōhei was still alive and had faked his death (yet again) and pays Kyōsuke and Haru a visit later. After a struggle between him and Haru, he escapes from the apartment with Haru giving chase but was gunned down by Kyōsuke (who realized that this was another plot to get either Haru or Kyōsuke into jail) in the end.. The two brothers talk for one last time before Kyōhei succumb to his wounds with Kyōhei truly apologising with what he has done and praises Kyōsuke for challenging his plot in which he knows he won't be able to win. Because of Kyōsuke intention of taking all the blame during the police interrogation, Kyōsuke confesses and force the cops into believing that he was manipulating Haru in order to spare her from criminal conviction so that she could have a bright future as a violin extraordinaire, Haruna Mishima. Before the trial, all the heroines except Haru visits him and thanks him for all his actions and disbelieves what he has done and confesses their feelings towards him, right after all the interviews he sends a letter and entrusts Haru to Iwai Yuuya (A character that knew Haru and Kyōsuke from observing them meeting on the rooftop when they were kids) he tells him to marry her. Eight years later, after getting out of jail, Kyōsuke sees a figure of a women and a child and reminisce the past and how he felt the warmth of love. As he was expecting the figure to move further away, they were actually moving closer and it was revealed that the figure was Haru and her child. As they talked Kyōsuke finally thought Haru got along with Iwai Yuuya and the child was the result but it is revealed that she was actually their child and the story ends with the hope that Kyōsuke can restart his life with Haru and their daughter who is hinted to be named after his dead sister Kiyomi.

Development

G Senjō no Maō is Akabeisoft2's ninth game in three years, and the second of four games released in 2008 alone. The project is notable as having very few people credited for having taken a part in the creation of the game. Planning for the project and the scenario were headed by Loose Boy. Art direction and character design were done by Alpha.^[2] The music in the game was composed by Tiko-μ, and entirely features arrangements of classical music.

Release history

Before G Senjō no Maō's initial release, two free game demos became available for download at Akabeisoft2's official website.^[3] In the demos, the player is introduced to the main characters in the game that is typical of the gameplay found in a visual novel which includes times during gameplay where the player is given several choices to make in order to further the plot in a specific direction. The full game was first released on May 29, 2008 in limited and regular editions playable as a DVD on a Microsoft Windows PC. The limited edition contained an art collection from Akabeisoft2's previous titles Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shōjo, that game's fan disc Sharin no Kuni, Yūkyū no Shōnenshōjo, and Sono Yokogao o Mitsumeteshimau: A Profile Kanzenban, a desk calendar, and a demo of Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity from Akabeisoft2's sister brand Lump of Sugar released two months after G Senjō no Maō.

Related media

Two drama CDs set in the G Senjō no Maō universe were released in 2009, the first on January 9 and the second on June 26.^[4] Fourteen episodes of an Internet radio show to promote the drama CDs titled G Senjō no Maō Presents Haru to Eiichi no Hal Ichi Bang×2 (G線上の魔王PRESENTS　ハルと栄一のハル★イチBANG×2^?) was distributed on the visual novel's official website between November 7, 2008 and May 8, 2009. The show was hosted by Rino Kawashima and Mahiru Kaneda, the voices of Haru and Eiichi in the visual novel, respectively. The show also featured four other voice actors from the game and drama CDs as guests: Sumire Murasakibana (voice of Tsubaki), Hokuto Minami (voice of Yuki), Satoshi Tsuruoka (voice of Ryūhei Oda (drama CD-only character)), and Jun Fukuyama (voice of Maō, Kyōsuke in the drama CDs).

Ichijinsha released a manga anthology titled G Senjō no Maō Comic Anthology on September 25, 2008 under their DNA Media Comics imprint. Ichijinsha also released a fan book titled G Senjō no Maō Visual Fan Book on July 14, 2009.

Music

Most of the game's soundtrack is made up of remixed classical music. The visual novel has three main theme songs, one opening theme, one insert song played near the end of the game, and one ending theme. The opening theme, "Answer", is sung by Rekka Katakiri, written by Kanoko, and composed by Junpei Fujita. The insert song, "Close Your Eyes", is sung by Ayane, and is written and composed by Chiyomaru Shikura. The ending song, "Yuki no Hane, Toki no Kaze" (雪の羽 時の風^?), is performed by Barbarian On The Grove featuring Chata and is written and arranged by Bassy. The two theme songs were included on the compilation album The Best Game Vocals of Akabeisoft2 released on February 23, 2007 featuring theme songs from several games by Akabeisoft2.^[5] The game's original soundtrack was released by 5pb. on April 24, 2009 in a three-disc set.^[6]

Reception

From mid-March to mid-April 2008, about two months before G Senjō no Maō's release, the game ranked second in national PC game pre-orders in Japan.^[7] The limited edition of G Senjō no Maō ranked second in terms of national sales of PC games in Japan in May 2008, and the regular edition ranked twenty-sixth for the same month.^[8] The limited edition ranked again for June 2008 at twenty-third highest selling in Japan.^[8] G Senjō no Maō ranked first for the month of May 2008 in terms of sales at Getchu.com.^[9] The game ranked again at sixteen the following month in the same ranking.^[10] For the first half of 2008, G Senjō no Maō ranked third best in sales at Getchu.com.^[11] The game received first prize at the Bishōjo Game Awards for 2008.^[12]

References

1. ^ "Scene 004 Haru Usami Preview Cut". oreno.imouto.org. http://yusa.imouto.org/image/e4e2f26a582ef8d2b0383b11054d15ea/moe%209407%20akabeisoft2%20alpha%20g_senjou_no_maou%20usami_haru.jpg. Retrieved August 16, 2011. 
2. ^ "G Senjō no Maō's official website" (in Japanese). Akabeisoft2. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080624070255/http://www.akabeesoft2.sakura.ne.jp/g_sen/main.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
3. ^ "Download section at G Senjō no Maō's official website" (in Japanese). Akabeisoft2. http://www.akabeesoft2.sakura.ne.jp/g_sen/download.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
4. ^ "Akabeimedia website "Goods" section" (in Japanese). Akabeimedia. http://www.akabeimedia.com/goods.html. Retrieved April 6, 2010. 
5. ^ "THE BEST GAME VOCALS OF あかべぇそふとつぅ＜初回限定盤＞ [The Best Game Vocals of Akabeisoft2 (limited edition)]" (in Japanese). 5pb.. http://5pb.jp/records/release/detail/detail.php?records_product_code=VGCD-50002. Retrieved July 26, 2009. 
6. ^ "G線上の魔王　オリジナルサウンドコレクション [G Senjō no Maō Original Sound Collection]" (in Japanese). 5pb.. http://5pb.jp/records/release/detail/detail.php?records_product_code=FPBD-0077. Retrieved July 26, 2009. 
7. ^ "PCpress March 2008 issue reservation ranking log" (in Japanese). PCpress. http://www.pc-press.net/reservationrog.html#PC080310. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "PCpress June 2008 issue sales ranking log" (in Japanese). PCpress. http://www.pc-press.net/salesrog.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
9. ^ "May 2008 sales ranking" (in Japanese). Getchu.com. http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking200805.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
10. ^ "June 2008 sales ranking" (in Japanese). Getchu.com. http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking200806.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
11. ^ "2008 first half sales ranking" (in Japanese). Getchu.com. http://www.getchu.com/pc/2008-1salesranking.html. Retrieved July 17, 2008. 
12. ^ "Bishoujo Game Awards 2008 results page" (in Japanese). Bishōjo Game Award Committee. http://www.bishojyogameaward.org/2008/result.html. Retrieved January 13, 2010. 

External links

• Akabeisoft2's official G Senjō no Maō website (Japanese)