Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume

Planetarian is a post-apocalyptic visual novel where the player acts as a scavenger. Unlike traditional visual novels, here the player is not offered any choice of options, and in the end he will see the only possible ending; for this reason, Key designated the subgenre of the game as a “kinetic novel” ^[1] . The player can read the text that appears in normal mode or set the mode to "auto-read." During the game, the player is given the opportunity to hide the text from the output on the screen and return to the already read dialogs ^[2] . The game can be saved anywhere in one of the five available cells. Also, right during the game, the player can load any moment that was either saved automatically in certain plot moments, or manually by the player ^[2] .

If we talk about the duration of the gameplay, then Planetarian is the shortest of all Key games. In addition to the opening and closing themes, the game consists of 16 parts; the first half of the game takes place in a planetarium, and the second - in the ruined city where the planetarium is located. As soon as the user finishes the game, two new options in the main menu will become available to him, the first of which gives access to view all 20 drawings from the game, and the second allows you to listen to 8 of 9 melodies played in the game ^[2] .

Background

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world ^[2] . In accordance with the plot of the game, the disaster was associated with the depletion of terrestrial resources, overpopulation and failure in a space exploration project. Humanity was destroyed as a result of a nuclear war, turning from a once prosperous civilization into ruined remnants living in darkness and poisoned by radioactive rain ^[3] . Then hostilities began on the Sea of ​​Nectar . This bloodshed in the anti-utopian world lasted 30 years, automated war machines destroyed anyone who invaded their territory. Among the surviving people, those who called themselves “scavengers” remained. They explored the territory and searched for useful things among the garbage in order to survive. The main character is one of these people ^[2] .

The main place where the game takes place is the fictional Flowercrest department store with a rooftop planetarium located in an abandoned city. The actual Japanese Matsubishi department store located in the city of Hamamatsu in Japan ^{[4] is} taken as the basis, although in reality there is no planetarium in it. The story begins at the planetarium, where the main character first meets Yumemi. One of the features of the game is the large black planetarium projector called Miss Jena, which is located directly in front of the seats. When the main character came to the planetarium, at first there was electricity, but then it was gone. The hero finds out that the projector is broken. All other floors of the department store are in a ruined state, they are covered with mold, rats run everywhere ^[2] .

Characters

• Kuzuya ( Jap. 屑 уд Kuzuya , “Scavenger / Carpenters”)

The main character of the game, whose name is not disclosed. A former soldier living in the extraction of useful items among the ruins of cities. He comes to an abandoned city and discovers a planetarium on the roof of one of the buildings. At first, he thinks it is a military factory. Upon entering, he meets Yumemi Hoshino, a ginoid created in the image of a young girl who immediately begins to annoy him with her excessive talkativeness ^[2] . He has a rather heavy character, which is a consequence of the fact that he fought for a long time for life in a destroyed world. He is wearing a waterproof coat that protects his skin from toxic rain, and always carries a grenade launcher . To drink water safely, he uses a water purifier. He is constantly looking for rare items such as cigarettes and alcohol, which can be sold at a high price ^[2] .

Seiyu - Daisuke Ono

• Yumemi Hoshino ( Japanese ほ し の ゆ め み Hoshino Yumemi )

A kind-hearted but terribly talkative gynoid girl serving a person in a planetarium; she was created in the image of a young girl. Yumemi is a little damaged and is unaware of the changes that have occurred here over the past 30 years ^{[3] [5]} , so she sees the main character as an ordinary visitor and addresses him as a “respected client” ( お 客 様 okyaku-sama ) . She talks about the world in the form in which it existed before the war, and does not perceive information from the main character, if it is not connected with her work in the planetarium. Her name is a play on words - Hoshi means a star or a cosmic body; but - the possessive particle; yume means dream or dream; mi means to see. Yumemi is the only character that appears on the monitor screen ^[2] .

Yumemi is very worried about all the people and is happy to help visitors. When she is unable to help something, she is very worried about this and tries to tell the visitor who will be able to answer his question. Protecting people is her priority, she can even ignore previous orders to make sure that no one is at risk ^[2] .

Seiyu - Keiko Suzuki

Game History

Hiding from military vehicles in the ruined city, the protagonist enters the building with a dome on the roof, hoping to find something useful there. Entering the dome, he meets Yumemi, who offers him to watch a special solemn show, which is specially reserved for the 2,500,000th visitor, although in fact the main character is the 2,497,290th visitor. Despite the initial annoyance, he still agrees to see what she wants to show him. However, the projector is malfunctioning and in need of repair. As soon as the protagonist manages to fix the projector ^[3] , Yumemi begins to show him the starry sky, which is impossible to see with the naked eye due to polluted clouds. In the midst of the show, electricity disappears, but Yumemi, at the request of the protagonist, continues his story without clarity.

Then they both leave the planetarium. Yumemi urges permission to escort him to a car outside the city walls. As soon as Yumami’s energy supply is depleted, the main character is going to take her outside the city and find a way to bring it back into action. However, the entrance to the city is guarded by a crab robot, which the main character intends to destroy with his grenade launcher. His attempt is unsuccessful, and he will catch the eye of the robot. Yumemi tries to protect him, but falls under the machine-gun fire of the robot and is torn into two.

Yumemi uses her emergency life-support battery and tiny holographic device on her ear to replay and show her pre-war memories to the protagonist. When the image disappears, despite optimism that still seems endless, she says that there have not been a single visitor to the planetarium for the past 30 years, and she was completely alone. Before completely disconnecting, she takes out a memory card from an artificial brain and gives it to him for preservation. Touched and shocked by the loss of that beautiful world that she then showed him in the planetarium, the scavenger throws out his weapons, puts a memory card in his coat and leaves with a broken leg, seeing that the backup power supply of the fighting crab robot is not working, and it is no longer functioning.

Planetarian is the fourth work of Key , a small number of employees in the amount of three people worked on the creation of the game ^[1] . Unlike previous works, Eiji Komatsu was appointed to the post of art director, and not Itaru Hinoe, who was engaged in creating graphics for previous games ^[6] . Komatsu was also appointed because he specialized in the depiction of robots and mechanics, and could present subtle scenes relating to the theme of the existence of a robot for the realization of human ideals. In addition, Key at that time did not have a shortage of employees, and the company did not need to hire outside parties to create graphics ^[7] . Jun Maeda , the main scriptwriter of the company, did not participate in this project, and Yuiti Suzumoto ^[1] was involved in creating the script for the game. The music was created mainly by Magome Togoshi , but included a small composition created by Shinji Orito ^[1] . Planetarian became the first game of Key , designated by the term "kinetic novel" ^[7] .

In the original version of the game, which was released for the Microsoft Windows platform , Yumemi is the only voiced character ^[8] . The version of the game for the PlayStation 2 contains scoring for all characters ^[9] , and in addition to this, support for high screen resolution and an expanded soundtrack ^[10] . Subsequent versions of the game also have full scoring.

Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume was released on November 29, 2004, it could be downloaded via the Internet, but initially it was available only to users of Yahoo! ^[8] . The game began to be sold on December 6, 2004 ^{[1] [7]} . On April 28, 2006, Key released the game in CD-ROM format for Windows in regular and limited editions ^{[11] [12]} . An updated version of the game, compatible with the Windows Vista operating system, was released by Key July 31, 2009 and was delivered in a compilation containing also five other visual novels from the company ^[13] . A version of the game compatible with Windows 7 was released on April 30, 2010 under the name Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume Memorial Edition ^[14] , and was bundled with three previously released Drama CDs ^[1] .

A version of the game for PlayStation2 was released on August 24, 2006 by Prototype ^[9] . The same company released game ports for FOMA and SoftBank Mobile systems on November 28, 2006 ^{[15] [16]} . A limited edition of the game for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) was launched between February 28 and March 1, 2009, when Key celebrated its 10th anniversary ^{[17] [18]} . A downloadable version of the PSP game was released on August 24, 2009 by Prototype ^[19] , and on May 30, 2010 it was put up for sale again during the Prototype Fan Appreciation 2010 event ^{[20] [21]} . On May 12, 2011, based on fundraising, the PSP version was reissued ^[22] . Versions of the game for the Android and Apple iOS operating systems were released on November 30, 2011 ^{[23] [24] [25]} .

Light Novel

Based on the original game, a novel of light novel , consisting of 4 small stories and also including a prologue and epilogue , was written by Yuichi Suzumoto and illustrated by Eiji Komatsu. The 243-page novel was originally shipped with a limited edition of the game for the PlayStation 2 ^[9] . The book was republished by Visual Art's for commercial distribution on October 31, 2008 ^{[26] [27]} . Available for download and intended for the Android operating system, the electronic edition of the novel called Hoshi no Hito: Planetarian Side Story was released on November 30, 2010, and on December 14, 2011 for iOS ^{[28] [29] [30]} . The first two stories of the novel cover events that happened before the original game, and the last two tell what happened after the game ended. The preface to the book reads: “Starry sky, words, God, robots. A collection of short stories will reveal these four topics. ” ^[31] Summary of the book is available on the Internet ^[32] .

Snow Globe ( Japanese 雪 圏 球 Yuuki ken Kyu:)

This story takes place before the war that led the world to destruction. Yumemi has been working in the department store planetarium for about 10 years. Once she begins to behave strangely; goes into the city and begins to roam it for no reason. Employees of the planetarium do not know what to do, and then Satomi Kurahashi, one of the employees, orders to find Yumemi and bring her back. And soon, Yumemi runs out of energy.

Jerusalem ( エ ル サ レ ム Erusaremu )

The United Army of South America receives a message about an unknown sniper operating in the jungle of Patagonia , and sends a platoon there under the command of Master Sergeant Murdoch to neutralize the threat. However, a sniper kills a soldier one by one until Murdoch alone remains alive. The sergeant manages to catch a glimpse of the mysterious sniper through binoculars - he is amazed to see the figure of a beautiful nun .

Hoshi no Hito ( 星 の 人 Hoshi no Hito , literally. "Man of the Stars")

This story covers events that occurred after the events of the visual novel. Human civilization is embroiled in a hopeless battle with deadly rain. Three young residents of the bomb shelter , Levy, Ruth and Job, find a strange old man lying unconscious in the snow near the bunker. When they bring him to the bunker, they are surprised that adults call him "the man of the stars." Children are interested in where the interesting nickname came from, besides they never saw a person from the outside world. The old man comes to his senses and asks the children to help him create a portable planetarium projector. This story is the end of the original game.

Tircis and Aminte ( チ ル シ ス と ア マ ン ト Tirusisu to Amanto )

The twins Tirkis and Amynt learn alone in their own world. Tirkis wonders what he is studying for and how long it will last. And the twins themselves find the answer to this question.

The main musical theme of the visual novel was the song Hoshi Meguri no Uta ( Japanese 星 め ぐ り の 歌 Song of spinning stars ) , performed by Japanese singer Mell from the group I've Sound . On August 11, 2006, the original Soundtrack from the Planetarian game was presented on Komiket , which was subsequently reissued on December 28, 2006 ^[33] . In addition to the main songs from the game, the soundtrack also contained new music, for example, the vocal version of the song Hoshi Meguri no Uta . The main musical content was created or improved by Magome Togoshi ^[33] , who also worked with music for previous Key : Air and Clannad games. Some of the music tracks are a remake of the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus , created by a composer named Charles Crozat Converse. This is indirectly indicated by their names; The opening theme of the game, Hoshi no Sekai, means the Japanese version of this anthem, called Hoshinoyo ^[34] , and Itsukushimi Fukaki is the Japanese translation of the original name of the anthem ^[35] .

The first audio play titled Snow Globe was released on December 29, 2006. She first appeared on Komiket 71 ^[33] , and on May 25, 2007 was reissued ^[33] . As the name suggests, the CD covers the first story from the light novel. In this case, the end of this audio piece is the actual beginning of the original game. The second audio play, entitled Jerusalem, was released on July 27, 2007 and covered the story of the same name ^[33] . Последняя аудиопьеса Hoshi no Hito была выпущена в тот же день, что и вторая. Она покрывала истории Hoshi no Hito и Tircis and Aminte . При этом Hoshi no Hito являлась обычной аудиопьесой, а в Tircis and Aminte сэйю Кейко Судзуки , озвучившая Юмэми Хосино, просто пересказала оригинальную историю из лайт-новел ^[33] .

Юмэми появляется в коллекционной карточной игре Lycèe Trading Card Game , а также во втором наборе карт от Visual Art’s ^[36] . В 2007 году в февральском номере журнала Gemaga издательства SoftBank Creative версия игры для приставки PlayStation 2 заняла первое место ^[9] , хотя в предыдущем номере она же находилась на четвёртом ^[37] . В японском игровом журнале Famitsu было замечено, что в период с 21 августа по 27 августа 2006 года (то есть за неделю) было продано 8 170 копий игры ^[38] . Переизданная версия игры для PlayStation Portable на момент своего выхода 12 мая 2011 года имела 16 663 предварительных заказа. Общий доход компаний Prototype и Visual Art’s от реализации игры составил 22 415 069 иен ^[39] .

Хотя официально Planetarian никогда не выходил на языках, отличных от японского, существует несколько фанатских переводов. Некоторые из них вплотную приближены или превосходят по качеству «официальные» издания.

Англоязычный перевод

Англоязычный перевод был выпущен для демонстрационной («Trial»), а также для скачиваемой за предоплату («Download») редакций визуального романа в 2005 году, совместными усилиями команды Insani и Peter «Haeleth» Jolly ^[40] .

Поскольку переводились редакции, в которых отсутствует озвучивание для реплик персонажей, переводчики пошли на заведомое искажение имён и названий с целью адаптировать роман для англоязычной аудитории, а также дописали несколько уточняющих абзацев текста в сцене проекции. Главную героиню — Хосино Юмэми — переименовали в «Reverie Planetarian» (буквально — «Мечта Планетария»), основное место действия — универмаг «Hanabishi» — переименовали во «Flowercrest». Полностью переведена документация, титры, диалоговые окна движка и программы запуска, а также спрайты Юмэми и фоновые рисунки.

Русскоязычные переводы

Существует два фанатских перевода Planetarian на русский язык.

Первый перевод был выполнен командой Honyaku Subs в 2011 году для редакции с подзаголовком «Memorial Edition», включающей озвучивание, перенесённое из редакции для игровой консоли PlayStation 2 ^[41] . К сожалению, перевод не отличается качеством и полнотой — встречаются множественные орфографические, смысловые и пунктуационные ошибки. Документация и титры не переведены, а вместо бесплатного японского шрифта Mikachan для графических элементов использовался проприетарный Comic Sans MS. Протагонист в данной локализации назван «старьёвщиком».

Второй перевод был выполнен студией WinKiller в 2012 году для редакции с подзаголовком «Package Edition», в которой озвучена лишь Юмэми ^[42] . Полностью переведена документация, титры, фоновые рисунки и органы управления, диалоговые окна движка, программа установки, а также тесты подсистемы DirectX, прилагающиеся на установочном диске с визуальным романом. Переводчики сохранили именные суффиксы для прямой речи персонажей с целью подчеркнуть комические моменты романа. В качестве консультанта по астрономии переводчики привлекли одного из разработчиков программы Stellarium . Сам же перевод изобилует отсылками к другим фантастическим работам схожей тематики, включая работы Айзека Азимова и серию игр Fallout — во второй главе присутствует прямая цитата из оного — «Война… Война никогда не меняется». Протагонист в данной локализации назван « сталкером ».

• Official website of the game (Japanese)
• Игра на сайте KineticNovel (яп.)
• Игра на сайте Prototype (яп.)