Producer: Ishino Mika
Script: Ishino Mika
Music: Atsushi Shirakawa
…
After completing to the moon, Elf Society's President Hiruta Masato was so surprised by the production staff list that his jaw nearly dropped.
"Ishino Mika is so strong!"
He had known that Ishino Mika was an amazing girl for a long Time, as she had produced Quilt Man, becoming the future successor to Pokeni, who inherited Furuhara Tsubaki's legacy at the Time, and was considered a standout in the Galgame field.
Later, after Furuhara Tsubaki returned, her roles as chief planner for CLANNAD and LIFE-LINE further demonstrated her strength.
However, in Hiruta Masato's impression, a situation where someone single-handedly took on both Producer and script roles had never occurred.
Now, this girl was practically defying the heavens!
Besides Hiruta Masato, many industry insiders also praised Ishino Mika, saying she was a truly remarkable Producer and could even write her own scripts, making her a comprehensive, multi-talented genius.
In this Time, it was truly rare to be able to handle so many things simultaneously.
…
Meanwhile, at Pokeni.
"Ishino, you're amazing!" Ayase Akane exclaimed.
"Huh?" Ishino Mika was working when she heard Ayase Akane's voice and looked up blankly.
Complimenting me for no reason?
Could it be that to the moon achieved quite good results and reputation?!
Ayase Akane just smiled and said:
"Previously, razor blades were sent separately. The Producer would receive most of them, and the script Author would receive about 30% of the blades. The rest… others would share some.
This Time, congratulations, all the blades are for you alone."
Ayase Akane gave her a thumbs-up.
Ishino Mika's head was full of black lines.
"Huh? Is this also an honor?"
She glanced at Ayase Akane's feet, where several large boxes were piled up at the company entrance.
No need to ask, they were definitely full of heavy razor blades.
Seeing these boxes, Ishino Mika felt completely unwell.
"Of course," Ayase Akane said seriously, while directing the security guard to help her move the blade boxes into the warehouse, "The number of razor blades determines how unpopular this person is with players, hahahaha."
As Ayase Akane let out a series of wild laughs, Ishino Mika squinted, feeling like she wanted to kill her.
The desire to kill someone cannot be hidden in one's eyes.
Seeing this, Ayase Akane quickly pulled the security guards away from the scene.
Leaving Ishino Mika alone, disheveled in the wind.
Wuwuwu.
Damn it!
I'm the only one receiving razor blades.
I… I was forced!
The script couldn't possibly have the big characters Furuhara Tsubaki written on it, could it?
If it were to be credited to Furuhara Tsubaki, it would basically be for the Producer or Director. It would look very strange to have an old senior, who is also the company's iconic figure, assist and act as the script Author, wouldn't it?!
Moreover, the President only provided an outline, and many of the details were completed by Ishino Mika, so saying she was the script Author was not wrong.
The President himself did not want to be credited.
Now that I think about it, it's very possible that Aoki Haruhi had already foreseen this day.
Damn it!!!
That idiot President gave all the razor blades to me!
…
Famitsu quickly released its review of the new game, to the moon:
to the moon is definitely the most touching Galgame of this year.
It's fortunate to see such an excellent work in the latter half of the year.
The game itself has beautiful, dreamlike art, as if telling a beautiful fairy tale.
And the background music is moving enough.
A fairy tale. A work of art.
The plot also has a strong impact.
The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion.
So in the first half, one problem after another keeps emerging, and as you continue to explore and the game progresses, the mystery grows larger and larger.
This game narration style is quite novel. The non-linear technique shrouds the entire game in a mysterious color, and all the groundwork makes you want to keep exploring.
However, because of this narration style, this game can only be experienced twice.
Just like a detective comic, the most exciting and flavorful part is the moment when the mystery is solved, the truth is revealed, and the culprit is found.
But this is a one-Time experience.
Once you know the culprit, looking back at the novel will lack some of the initial shock.
But why say it can be experienced twice?
Because in the second experience, you are no longer playing the role of a detective, but rather the participant who, having known the answer, re-experiences the story's details.
Many elements in the first playthrough were mysteries, incomprehensions, confusions, a tangled mess that left one bewildered and at a loss.
You might not even know what it was saying or why it was doing what it did.
But in your second experience, you will understand that their actions had reasons.
And these reasons will become the character's greatest driving force.
This playthrough is a true experience of life.
Experiencing the psychological differences of each individual.
But after that, you will have thoroughly consumed to the moon, inside and out, with nothing left to experience.
There will be no courage or motivation to support you in experiencing it a third Time.
This is the greatest charm of the game to the moon.
If Pokeni's onmyoji is a game that must and can only be played once in a lifetime.
Then to the moon is a game that can only be played twice in a lifetime.
Dreamlike game art style, beautiful music, deeply moving game plot…
This work brought by Ishino Mika is truly the most touching Galgame of this year.
It can be considered the players' good fortune.
Galgame lovers should definitely not miss it.
to the moon
A story about promises, about love, about wishes, and about staying together for a lifetime.
to the moon, whether in its art style, music, or script, has reached the pinnacle of the Galgame field.
Pokeni's performance in Galgame remains consistently stable as always.
The game is very good.
Worth buying.
The unique puzzle-solving mode, where you find the truth by going into the old man's past memories, has a very interesting creation in its setting.
Although the entire game has no combat or gameplay, its storytelling technique is superb.
to the moon allows you to participate while also experiencing the charm of the characters in the game up close.
Rather than calling it a game, it's more like a stage play.
When playing this game, you will have a very strong feeling of sitting in the audience watching a play.
This is not a criticism, but a compliment.
Because its entire storytelling technique and the characters' performances will give you a tremendous spiritual shock.
This is something that typical Galgame narration methods cannot achieve.
…
Famitsu's editors truly loved this game, giving it many very positive reviews, and many of the contents were genuine feelings derived from the editors' own personal experiences.
However, the overall score was not high, only 27 points.
This was also an old tradition of Pokeni; because the gameplay was not high enough, Galgame basically had to take a hit on the score.
And strong storytelling with strong appeal was also an old tradition of Pokeni.
After Famitsu and Famitsu both gave to the moon endless praise, many players began to purchase this game.
Mainly, they wanted to experience the novel non-linear narrative and stage-play-like plot execution that the editors mentioned.
They were very curious about what this kind of performance would be like.
…
However, the sales performance of to the moon was not particularly ideal for Aoki Haruhi.
It's not that it was bad, but compared to the previous CL and LL, or even the earlier Quilt Man, the sales increase was indeed a bit too ordinary.
In the first week, only over 40,000 copies were sold.
If it continues to grow at this rate, the final sales figure for this game is estimated to only settle around 500,000 copies.
For most companies making Galgame on the market, this sales volume is explosive.
But for Pokeni, it was slightly average.
Aoki Haruhi analyzed it himself and found several reasons.
The first is that the current Galgame market, after 7 or 8 years of development, has almost peaked.
In actual history, the most glorious Time was precisely this era, from the mid-to-late 90s to a few years after the millennium, with a total life cycle of only about a dozen years.
Once it reaches saturation, if new markets cannot be opened, then the total volume is limited.
This is actually an inevitable development of the Time.
Therefore, everything must constantly break through and innovate to maintain its development.
In other words, future Galgame will not be easy to present in the traditional visual novel format. Even if this format is used, new things and tricks must be found.
Another reason is Pokeni's own fault.
Who told you to make such good Galgame?
Players' perception thresholds are constantly being raised. To describe it in a simple sentence—
It's easy to go from simple to luxurious, but difficult to go from luxurious to simple.
When players have already enjoyed various delicacies before, if the next game fails to surpass the previous one, it will have some impact.
The most typical example is the legend of sword and fairy.
the legend of sword and fairy 1 was so classic that the subsequent 2 seemed dim in comparison.
However, compared to the newly released 4, 6, and 7, the 2nd generation wasn't that bad either.
So, everything is a comparison.
When you raise players' expectations too high, subsequent works become difficult to manage.
This Time, to the moon, in a sense, was a blessing in disguise, because its exhibition effect at the Tokyo Game Show was not particularly ideal, leading to lowered player expectations.
Then, after it went on sale and the actual product was released, players discovered that the actual experience of to the moon was much, much better than the few minutes at the Tokyo Game Show.
The reversal of public opinion instantly broke through players' [low expectations].
Under such circumstances, to the moon still achieved good results.
Otherwise, the actual sales volume would probably be even lower than what is seen now.
Finally, and most importantly, the plot of to the moon was indeed touching, but it also caused great controversy. While there were many positive reviews, there were also many criticisms.
It was slightly better when there was no internet before, but now that Pokeni has set up corresponding forum sections, it has instead shot itself in the foot.
Because many people in an intermediate state, upon seeing everyone's discussions, have already lost their enthusiasm for the game.
to the moon is truly a game that absolutely cannot be spoiled.
Once you know the outcome, playing the game again will lack that head-tingling sensation of being shocked by the truth after peeling back the layers.
So Aoki Haruhi reiterated the rules in the forum again:
Please maintain civilized forum conduct.
Discussion is fine, but absolutely no spoilers.
Respect newcomers.
Even if there are spoilers, please clearly state "spoiler content" at the beginning of the post and watch with caution.
…
"I'm home."
Aoki Haruhi opened his front door and returned home after a day's work.
The house was dark, with no lights on.
It felt especially quiet.
Aoki Haruhi chuckled self-deprecatingly, it seemed Nao Tsuda wasn't at his place today.
Both of them had been too busy recently.
So hungry, and no one to cook.
It was truly miserable.
Aoki Haruhi wondered if he should go eat something first before coming back.
Or should he check the refrigerator to see if there was anything to eat, even instant noodles would do.
However, as he changed into slippers and walked up from the entrance, he faintly heard sounds coming from the room.
"Who?"
Could it be a thief?
Aoki Haruhi picked up a baseball bat from the corner and walked towards the room.
To his surprise, when he opened the door, he found Nao Tsuda sitting in front of the TV playing a game.
He glanced over; the screen showed to the moon, with John and River sitting on a fallen log, looking at the starry sky.
"So you were home."
Aoki Haruhi sighed in relief, put the bat aside, and began to take off his clothes.
"Why aren't the lights on at home? It's pitch black."
This scene was too eerie.
Especially with Nao Tsuda wearing a white nightgown and short, shoulder-length black hair, it was truly frightening.
…
Since she was playing a game, Aoki Haruhi didn't want to disturb her.
He just thought playing in the dark was too hard on the eyes, so he turned on the lights and returned to the living room.
In the kitchen, there was hot, ready-made food in the pot.
It turned out Tsuda had prepared it earlier.
After a while, Tsuda came out of the room.
Today's meal was ginger pork, where pork belly is cooked in a pot with ginger and soy sauce, and it's especially delicious with rice.
…
The two sat at the table eating. When Aoki Haruhi looked up, he saw Tsuda smiling at him.
"What are you doing, looking at me like that?"
Nao Tsuda's lips curved into a smile, gently holding her chopsticks.
"Zhiyuan Jun?"
"Hmm?"
Aoki Haruhi was startled for a moment, seeing Nao Tsuda walk towards him.
"Thank you."
Nao Tsuda said with a smile.
"Eh?" Aoki Haruhi frowned, blushing slightly in embarrassment, "Why are you suddenly saying something like that?"
Wait.
Could she be breaking up with me?
"Thank you for making the game to the moon. I'm really touched," Nao Tsuda said.
"Hmm?"
Aoki Haruhi was surprised that Tsuda was the first to say this.
"When I played this game, I knew right away that you made it for me, didn't you?" Tsuda laughed, looking at him with deep affection.
"The promise to go to the moon, that should be Miss Moon, right?
But, isn't River's English just River?
She can also be called Mr. River, right?
Mr. Moon and Miss River?"
Nao Tsuda laughed happily, giving him a wink, "I've already understood all the messages inside. Thank you, Mr. River. We'll meet on the Moon, you silly boy."
Aoki Haruhi was a bit dumbfounded for a moment.
Eh?!
Was that what I was thinking?!
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