From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Green Green (グリーングリーン, Gurīn
Gurīn
?) is a Japanese H-game for computer,
developed and published by Groover. The game features a story that
is centered on comedy and some suggestive situations. As such, the
game falls under the Adventure Novel genre.
This game has been adapted into an anime television series
and an Original Video
Animation. In addition, two sequels have followed it, along
with two spin-off games released on PlayStation 2.
Green Green was originally released as two CD-ROMs on October 5th, 2001 by Groover. Groover rereleased
the game as a DVD with additional
features on March 22nd, 2002.
The two PlayStation 2 spin-off games carried the subtitles
of ~Kanenone Romantic~ and ~Kanenone Dynamic~.
Both were released by WellMADE on April 24th, 2003.
Story
Green Green takes place in Japan’s countryside, in a non-descript region
with forests and an isolated boarding school known as Kanenone
Gakuen (鐘ノ音学園, literally translated as Sound of Bell Academy). The
academy boasts of an entirely male population, and prides itself of
the tradition of men growing amongst other men without any external
influences to disturb them.
The protagonist is named Yuusuke Takasaki, a second year student
that is indifferent to the lonely, girl-deprived atmosphere that
surrounds the school. His three friends, Tadatomo “Bacchiguu”
Ijuuin, Hikaru Ichibanboshi and Taizou Tenjin, however, feel as if
they are being denied their youth by having no females to interact
with. As the summer session at Kanenone begins, Yuusuke and friends
wonder what the change of season will bring to them, when Bacchiguu
brings news that a bus full of girls has arrived on school
grounds.
As luck would have it, Kanenone’s current administration is
considering making the academy co-ed, and in order to see how the change
would affect the student body, first and second year girls have
been brought to live on school grounds for one month. Though
Yuusuke takes the change in stride, his three hormone-driven
friends see this as the true beginning of their youth.
Characters
- Yuusuke Takasaki (高崎 祐介, Takasaki Yūsuke
?) - The main character. The player
takes the role of Yuusuke, making choices for him throughout the
course of the game. Despite being rather ordinary, Yuusuke seems to
be the one who always takes the blame for the antics of his
friends. In fact, at the beginning of the game, Yuusuke is writing
an essay that was assigned to him as punishment for using fireworks
on school grounds. The actual culprits were Bacchiguu, Tenjin and
Ichibanboshi.
- Midori Chitose (千歳 みどり, Chitose Midori
?) - One of the many girls that arrive
at Kanenone Gakuen. Though Yuusuke knows nothing about her, Midori
hints throughout the game that she knows a lot about him. Unlike
most of the other girls, Midori does her best to try to get boys
and girls to get along, and finds the antics of Bacchiguu, Tenjin
and Ichibanboshi to be amusing. Despite her simple personality and
cheerful disposition, Midori is very intelligent and understands
more than she lets on. Strangely enough, she encourages the young
Ko-Midori to room with Yuusuke.
- Futaba Kutsuki (朽木 双葉, Kutsuki Futaba
?) - The tomboyish man-hater. Futaba is
brought to Kanenone against her will, and does everything she can
to cause trouble. This includes talking back to teachers and giving
all males the cold shoulder. Because of her strong personality,
other girls tend to see Futaba as their leader. She has no
tolerance for perversion, which makes her the natural enemy of
Bacchiguu, Tenjin and Ichibanboshi. Starts out as the love interest
of Ichibanboshi.
- Wakaba Kutsuki (朽木 若葉, Kutsuki Wakaba
?) - Younger sister of Futaba. Unlike
her older sister, Wakaba tries to make the best of her stay at
Kanenone Gakuen. Some think of her as peculiar because of the
cactus she always carries around, but in reality Wakaba is very
simple-minded, and can pass off as gullible at times. She doesn't
have the modesty that is characteristic of girls in anime and
games, and does as she's told without protest. She has a strong
appreciation for plants that can bloom flowers.
- Sanae Minami (美南 早苗, Minami Sanae
?) - A quiet, sick girl. Sanae keeps her
distance from others, and doesn’t make much of an effort to
interact with her fellow students. She originally claims that her
pill case carries only vitamins, but in reality it is medication
for an illness she has. Physically, she is weak and looks younger
than the other girls. This makes her the initial love interest of
Tenjin, who has a younger sister complex.
- Chigusa Iino (飯野 千種, Īno Chigusa
?) - The school nurse and science
teacher. Chigusa arrives with the girls, and is solely responsible
for keeping an eye on them during the one-month trial. Because she
looks young, Yuusuke confuses her for a third year student and
tries to nanpa her. From then
on, she purposely calls Yuusuke “nanpa-kun” in public as a way of getting back at
him. Despite being the adult, Chigusa is very easygoing, and takes
on a rather active role in trying to get the boys and girls to get
along. Her impressive proportions have earned her the admiration of
several boys, most notably Bacchiguu.
- Arisa Haruno (春乃 亜里紗, Haruno Arisa
?) - The ugly girl. Initially dislikes
the perverted ways of the boys, and does what she can to stay away
from them. Arisa is one of the many girls that consider Futaba to
be their leader, though ends up falling in love with Bacchiguu
after he accidentally professes his feelings for her.
- Tadatomo “Bacchiguu” Ijuuin (伊集院 “バッチグー” 忠知, Ijūin
"Bacchigū" Tadatomo
?) - Leader of the quartet that includes
Ichibanboshi, Tenjin and Yuusuke. Though he is a pervert, his
intentions are not bad, so long as sex isn’t involved. Tends to
rush into things without thinking, and is quick to let Yuusuke take
the blame for his antics. Originally infatuated with Chigusa, but
later starts dating Arisa Haruno.
- Hikaru Ichibanboshi (一番星 光, Ichibanboshi Hikaru
?) - The yes man of the group.
Ichibanboshi mostly follows whatever the group does, though has his
own ideas on how to win the girls over. Is a bit more down to earth
than Bacchiguu, but not by much. His weak character lures him to
Futaba Kutsuki. On the side, he’s a rock & roll
guitarist with a band of his own.
- Taizou Tenjin (天神 泰三, Tenjin Taizō
?) - The big, dumb country boy. Despite
his size, Tenjin is rather simple in his way of doing things. He is
Yuusuke’s roommate, and holds him in high regard. Tends to go along
with whatever Bacchiguu plans, and is the muscle of the group. Has
a fetish for really young girls (known as a younger sister
complex), so he is naturally drawn to Sanae.
- Ko-Midori (小みどり, Komidori
?) - A little girl that mysteriously
appears on school grounds, high atop the large tree that overlooks
the school, which the students call Kanenone-sensei. She appears before Midori and Yuusuke,
crying and confused about being away from home. Though Yuusuke is
worried about finding the girl’s parents, Midori pushes the option
of letting her stay in his room until she can find a way home.
Yuusuke in turn allows her to stay, and names her Ko-Midori because
her favorite color is green. The "Ko-" in her name is Yuusuke's way
of differentiating between her and Midori Chitose.
Gameplay
General
The game takes place over the period of one month, from June
23rd to the end of July (the exact date varies depending on which
ending the player aims for). As such, game progression is daily, in
which there are preset interactions in the early morning and late
at night, with a block of time in the middle of the day that grants
Yuusuke the opportunity to directly interact with one of the five
lead heroines.
Some pre-set interactions are influenced by which girl Yuusuke
last talked to and what choices the player made for him
recently.
Should Yuusuke fail to win the heart of one of the five heroines by
the end of July, the player is defaulted to a "common"
ending.
Because Green Green falls into the novel genre of H-games, the
player cannot change the protagonist's name, and instead assumes
the role of Yuusuke.
Game
Engine
The game engine uses common elements found in dating simulation games, and as such is
viewed in first
person. Backgrounds are used to display the current location,
with images of characters in Yuusuke's line of sight appearing on
the screen. Characters that are not speaking will blink their eyes,
and those that are speaking will move their lips accordingly. The
current day is displayed on the upper left-hand corner of the
screen.
A panel at the bottom of the screen is used to display text. At
the sides of the panel are shortcut buttons to Load and Save games, toggle the current day display,
access the game's Configuration menu, skip already-seen dialogue
and have the game run on automatic.
Unlike most visual novel games, Green Green does not have a text
log for dialogue.
Music
Green Green's music was composed by the two-man rock
band known as Milktub, and falls under
the instrumental rock and alternative
rock genres.
Though the "common" ending uses the game's theme song, Green
Green, each heroine has a song that is used during the
closing
credits:
- Midori Chitose: Monochrome (モノクローム, Monokurōmu
?)
- Futaba Kutsuki: Love Letter (ラブレター, Raburetā
?)
- Wakaba Kutsuki: Fleur (フルール, Furūru
?)
- Sanae Minami: Starry Sky (星空, Hoshizora
?)
- Chigusa Iino: Boy (男の子, Otoko no ko
?)
Releases
CD-ROM
The original CD-ROM release
of Green Green contained the game and few bonus
features.
DVD
The DVD rerelease of Green
Green contained features not available in the original CD-ROM release. All of these
features are accessible by browsing the DVD. These included:
Playstation
2
The two PlayStation 2 releases of Green
Green were direct ports
from the original CD-ROM
version of the game. However, both Kanenone Romantic and
Kanenone Dynamic featured two new female characters in
addition to the original five. As such, there were a total of four
new girls exclusive to the PlayStation 2, each with their own closing song
and ending:
- Eri Yamazaki (山咲 枝理, Yamazaki Eri
?)
- Kozue Tsukimori (月森 こずえ, Tsukimori Kozue
?)
- Kaori Kusunoki (楠木 かおり, Kusunoki Kaori
?)
- Mina Ibuki (伊吹 美菜, Ibuki Mina
?)
In addition, new artwork, new closing songs for the original five
girls and a built-in CG gallery were included.
Because these were released on a video game console, all H-scenes
were removed.
Staff
- Character Designs - Shinji Katakura (片倉 真二, Katakura Shinji
?)
- Scenario - Noboru Yamaguchi (ヤマグチ ノボル, Yamaguchi
Noboru
?), Yoshikazu Kuwashima
(桑島 由一, Kuwashima Yoshikazu
?)
- Music - Milktub
- Character Voices:
- Sara Nakayama (中山 さら, Nakayama Sara
?) (Midori Chitose, Ko-Midori)
- Eriko Fujimaki (藤巻 恵理子, Fujimaki Eriko
?) (Futaba Kutsuki)
- Yukiko Mannaka (満仲 由紀子, Mannaka Yukiko
?) (Wakaba Kutsuki)
- Saori Sugimoto (杉本 沙織, Sugimoto Saori
?) (Sanae Minami)
- Mariko Suzuki (鈴木 麻里子, Suzuki Mariko
?) (Chigusa Iino)
- Noriko Yoshitake (吉竹 範子, Yoshitake Noriko
?) (Arisa Haruno)
- Kazunari Tanaka (田中 一成, Tanaka Kazunari
?) (Bacchiguu)
- Jin Domon (土門 仁, Domon Jin
?) (Ichibanboshi)
- Kenji Hamada (浜田 賢二, Hamada Kenji
?) (Taizou Tenjin)
Adaptations
Anime
Green Green was adapted into a 13-episode ecchi anime series.
Light
novel
The game was adapted into four light novels.
Connected
Games
- Green Green 2 ~Special Summer of Love~ (グリーングリーン2 ~恋のスペシャルサマー~, Gurīn
Gurīn 2 ~Koi no supesharu samā~
?)
- Green Green 3 ~Hello, Good-bye~ (グリーングリーン3 ~ハローグッバイ~, Gurīn
Gurīn 3 ~Harō gubbai~
?)
- Kanenone DYNATIC ~GuriGuri~ (鐘ノ音ダイナティック ~グリグリ~
?)
Additional
Notes
Bacchiguu & Ichibanboshi – These names are
derived from the names of the two members of Milktub (Japanese), who composed the music for
Green Green. Bamboo became Bacchiguu, and Ichibanboshi Hikaru
became a character name. Bamboo (real name: Haku Takeuchi
(竹内 博, Takeuchi Haku
?)) is also listed as Green Green’s
producer.
Character Names – The five lead girls are named
after plants or things connected to plants. Midori means “green”,
Kutsuki Futaba means “twin leaves on a decayed tree”, Kutsuki
Wakaba means “new leaves on a decayed tree”, Minami Sanae means
“southern rice seedlings” and Iino Chigusa means “field of a
thousand seeds”.
Kutsuki vs Kuchiki - The pronunciation of
Futaba and Wakaba's last name has been the subject of debate since
the release of the game. The game itself seems to have trouble
deciding how to pronounce 朽木, often shifting between Kutsuki (くつき)
and Kuchiki (くちき). Interestingly enough, most of the voice actors
stick to Kutsuki when talking about Futaba, while they use Kuchiki
when talking about Wakaba.
External
links