On May 20, 1996, "proposal daisakusen" was released on Time.
President Aoki Haruhi of Pokeni walked around the company with his hands behind his back.
He paced back and forth.
He walked back and forth behind the "proposal daisakusen" team.
Niitsu looked up at him strangely, "President, do you have something to say?"
"Emmm... not really," Aoki Haruhi smiled, "I'm just afraid you're nervous, so I came to check on you."
"Hmm... we're not that nervous," Niitsu said seriously.
For a first-Time game developer, the release date is always a bit nerve-wracking, but the members of this team are all seasoned veterans now.
Especially Ishino Mika, ever since she single-handedly received a blade last Time, she now has a subtle tendency to surpass Furuhara Tsubaki-sensei in the number of blades, so she appears the most composed.
The release date of "proposal daisakusen"!
What a significant event, yet Ishino Mika was listening to music and writing a manuscript on the side.
It seemed as if today wasn't the release date.
Aoki Haruhi was quite pained to see her indifferent expression.
Alas, the growth process of a veteran is just like this.
"Ishino, why do you think I chose today for the release?"
Aoki Haruhi hinted subtly.
"Hmm?"
Ishino Mika was stunned for a moment.
"Yeah, why?"
"There aren't many days left until the end of May, so the data for this part might not look good in the statistics. Why didn't the President release the game at the beginning of the month?"
The others also had similar puzzled expressions.
"What do you think?" Aoki Haruhi asked with a smile.
"Could it be the day President and President Tsuda first started dating?" Niitsu, with his typical romance-fueled mind.
"Close," Aoki Haruhi smiled awkwardly.
"The day you first met?" Ishino Mika asked.
"Hmm, almost."
"Could it be..."
...
Everyone guessed for a long Time but couldn't hit the mark.
Aoki Haruhi silently walked away with his hands behind his back.
What a pity.
Only Chinese people can get the 520 reference.
I must be out of my mind to expect a bunch of Japanese people to understand this.
...
After getting off work in the evening,
Furukawa Hirozawa rushed to the game store with his briefcase.
He walked quickly forward, frowning.
It was truly strange; the release Time for Pokeni's new game this Time was unusual.
In the past, to accommodate players' Time and allow everyone to enjoy a complete game experience, Pokeni's game would basically choose to be released on Fridays.
Otherwise, it would be a holiday.
This way, players could have a continuous 2 and a half days of immersive experience, including Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. They wouldn't have to stop playing game halfway, which would affect their work.
It would make people restless, always thinking about the plot in the game.
Unless it's a game like Pokémon, where the plot doesn't need to be very engaging, and players are more focused on the immediate joy of playing.
But this Time...
Pokeni chose the strange date of May 20.
You know, that day was a Monday.
The first day of work in the week, and the next few days would be relatively busy.
How could they choose such a day? It's not like POKENI's style at all, not gentle at all.
However, considering that the Director was Aoki Haruhi and not Furuhara Tsubaki, Furukawa Hirozawa felt relieved.
If it were Furuhara Tsubaki, he would definitely understand the players' psychology and know what players needed more.
The reason Furukawa Hirozawa wanted to get "proposal daisakusen" was not to give face to Aoki Haruhi, but because the Producer was Ishino Mika.
...
"Welcome."
As soon as he entered the store, the store manager enthusiastically greeted Furukawa Hirozawa.
"You're really punctual. Today is the release day for Pokeni's new work."
The store manager and Furukawa Hirozawa had known each other for 5 or 6 years, and Furukawa's figure could almost always be seen on the day of Pokeni's new releases.
There was just one thing the store owner hadn't quite figured out—
A man like Furukawa seemed quite excellent, so why had he never had a girlfriend?
Was it because he had no girlfriend that he chose galgame?
Or was it because of galgame that he had no girlfriend?
This was a question that had always puzzled the store manager.
Today, he was even more puzzled.
Seeing Furukawa Hirozawa nod politely and then directly rush to the "proposal daisakusen" shelf, the store manager couldn't help but speak up to remind him:
"That..."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Furukawa Hirozawa turned his head back, somewhat puzzled.
His hand movements didn't stop; he took a box of "proposal daisakusen" discs back to the cashier and handed it to the store manager.
The store manager smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"Well, what I'm about to say might be a bit offensive, but..." The store manager hesitated, saying with difficulty, "Customer, look, the name of this game is 'proposal daisakusen.'"
"So?" Furukawa Hirozawa didn't understand.
"Ah... no, nothing." The store manager quickly apologized, "I was too abrupt, I'm very sorry, I'll check you out now."
He was actually a bit worried whether a single man like Furukawa Hirozawa could accept the sweet wedding plot in the game.
Although the store manager himself hadn't played this game, from the cover and description, it was probably a game related to marriage.
So, would the customer be stimulated and feel sad because he was single?
This was what the store manager was worried about.
However, upon closer thought, his actions were indeed a bit out of line. No matter how familiar they were, the other person was still a customer.
So he checked out, packed the game for Furukawa Hirozawa, and handed it to Furukawa as a precious gift and sentiment.
"Please have a safe journey, and I hope you have a wonderful game experience."
"Okay, thank you."
Furukawa Hirozawa nodded slightly, then walked out of the game store with the game bag.
"Welcome back next Time."
Seeing Furukawa Hirozawa's departing back, the store manager silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Alas, if only one day he could see him bring a girl to the store.
I wish this customer an early departure from singlehood.
...
After returning home, Furukawa Hirozawa hastily made himself a bowl of instant noodles, barely filling his stomach, and then began to play game.
He had to go to work tomorrow, so he definitely couldn't play too late.
However, he truly had no self-control when it came to Pokeni's galgame; it was quite possible he'd pull an all-nighter today.
As soon as he thought of this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
No, no.
He shook his head.
No matter what, work still had to come first. He had a very important meeting tomorrow.
If he dozed off in the meeting room, his path to promotion to section chief would probably be cut off.
Good.
He looked up at the clock on the wall.
It was 8:05 PM.
He'd just play for two hours.
...
After inserting the game disc, the game started.
Furukawa Hirozawa held the controller and glanced at Sony PS, couldn't help but smile wryly.
On the shelf in the room, there were also FC, SFC, and Sega MD.
It's quite interesting to think about; he actually bought so many game consoles by following Pokeni's game all along.
He always felt like a sucker.
Why couldn't Pokeni be a little more consistent and find a stable platform that they could stick with for a long Time?
Should it be said that Pokeni's President has particularly original ideas, or that they develop game to keep up with the Time?
However, looking at it from another perspective, it's also thanks to Pokeni.
He hasn't fallen behind in terms of game consoles at all; he has perfectly kept up with the pace of Time.
He buys whatever game console is newest.
Furukawa Hirozawa gave a bitter smile.
Buying game consoles just to play game, there's probably no one else like him.
He hoped that this Time the PS would last longer, and that Pokeni would stop frequently changing game platforms, otherwise money was one thing, but more importantly, there wouldn't be any extra space in the house to put game consoles anymore.
Furukawa Hirozawa felt like a game console collector.
Not just game consoles, but he now had a whole cabinet full of game cartridges he had purchased.
And many of them were game produced by Pokeni.
...
On the television, the game started.
The initial interface of "proposal daisakusen" was very interesting—
At the top was a starry sky and a full, round moon.
Below, in the distance, was a dark grey sea, with a bright, pure path laid out by the moonlight.
And the male protagonist and female protagonist stood on the beach, gazing at each other.
The girl wore a pure white wedding dress, holding up her small skirt, barefoot on the sand.
And opposite her, the male protagonist, in a black suit, smiled broadly, knees slightly bent, making an inviting gesture.
Moonlight cast dappled light and shadow on their faces, serene and beautiful.
So beautiful.
Counting them, this was probably the third Pokeni game Furukawa Hirozawa had played where the female protagonist wore a wedding dress.
It seemed Pokeni really liked the scene of girls in wedding dresses.
But honestly, Pokeni's artists were more talented than the last.
Girls getting married are truly beautiful.
It truly lives up to being a game produced by Pokeni.
The graphics quality was very, very high.
And Furukawa Hirozawa had already heard that the main artist of this game was Niitsu, and seeing this scene now, he couldn't help but exclaim.
He truly lived up to being the original artist who created "Your Name"; the visuals were truly too beautiful.
The male protagonist and female protagonist were also drawn exceptionally beautifully, far surpassing other galgame Furukawa Hirozawa had played.
It's not to say that "Quilt Man's" dreamy art style, or Hayao Miyazaki's art style in "CL" and "LL" weren't good enough.
It's just that in terms of delicacy and lighting effects, Niitsu's would be even more meticulous.
This was Niitsu's style.
Every frame was beautiful, every frame was enjoyable.
...
At the first glance of the initial interface, Furukawa Hirozawa immediately understood—
This was a tribute to "to the moon."
He couldn't help but think of Old John and River; this was probably them when they were young, right?
It was truly a dream linkage.
Ah ~
Furukawa Hirozawa smacked his lips, thinking, how wonderful it would be if this were truly John and River.
"proposal daisakusen," wouldn't it really be Pokeni's work to make up for the most real regret of "to the moon"?
Although the names of the male protagonist and female protagonist were completely different from those in "to the moon," to some extent, they weren't entirely unrelated.
Just like Furuhara Tsubaki had done before, having "LIFE-LINE" supplement "CLANNAD."
Different characters, different stories, yet they planted a seed in the players' broken hearts and unhealed obsessions.
This seed later took root and sprouted, mending everything.
Though different, it made players feel healed.
Furukawa Hirozawa hoped "proposal daisakusen" would also be such a work.
If the regrets from "to the moon" could be mended here, it would be absolutely perfect.
Pokeni players were just that simple and easily satisfied.
Even if it wasn't the original cast, as long as they were given a happy thought, they would always remember your kindness.
How precious.
...
Under the starry sky, on the right side, a list of menu options appeared.
Furukawa Hirozawa selected [New game].
Press A Key to start game.
The screen immediately went black.
Immediately followed by a beautiful BGM, accompanied by piano and bell sounds in the background.
On the screen, a beautiful door appeared.
Made of wood.
The door was carved with exquisite patterns, as if it were a work of art.
DIDA
The double doors opened outwards, and a gust of wind blew from within.
What came into view was a pure white gauze curtain.
Gently swirling, fluttering with the direction of the wind.
A pair of black leather shoes and suit trousers walked out from inside the door. Since the camera followed the footsteps, the upper body of the person was not visible.
Immediately after, a man's voice sounded:
[Everyone holds the key to open the door of miracles.]
[It's just that very few people are aware of its existence.]
As the voice sounded, the camera gradually rose.
A man in a black suit, wearing a strange round hat, stood outside the door, holding the railing with both hands, smiling towards the sun.
Light poured down from above, illuminating everything around, making it sacred and bright.
[It is precisely because of this that such a remarkable miracle as changing one's destiny rarely occurs.]
[But.]
[But, as long as you have the desire to return to the past, take a small step, and continue to work hard]
[One day]
[The door of miracles will open for you]
The music here reached its climax.
The screen was dyed white by the light.
Immediately after, the camera switched, still white, but this Time it transitioned from the white daylight to a pure white wedding dress.
The music was soothing, melodious, like a flowing river.
A girl in a pure white wedding dress stood in front of a mirror.
From a side view, one could see the girl's slender, fair neck, a slightly chubby chin, and a perky nose.
Her full appearance was not yet known. The girl's chin was slightly raised, her hands clasped in front of her chest, as she quietly looked at herself in the mirror.
From her movements, there was both longing and a sense of waiting.
Waiting for something.
The girl's eyes revealed a hint of anticipation and nervousness. She gently stroked her wedding dress, feeling its soft texture. Her fingers glided lightly over the wedding dress, as if communicating with it.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside the door. The girl's heart quickened, and a slight smile appeared on her face.
...
Wow.
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa was completely amazed.
What a beautiful composition.
The girl stood in the spacious dressing room; anyone who saw it would know that this was the day the girl was about to get married.
And this scene was delicately and beautifully sketched by Niitsu's brushstrokes.
Every small body language contained endless charm.
Furukawa Hirozawa looked at the female protagonist in the picture.
He inexplicably felt a surge of emotion.
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