Kita e

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kita e
北へ
Genre Romance
Game
Developer Red Entertainment
Publisher Hudson Soft
Genre Communication game, Visual novel,Romance
Platform Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
Released March 18, 1999 (Dreamcast)
October 30, 2003 (PS2)
TV anime: Kita e ~Diamond Dust Drops
Director Bob Shirohata
Studio Studio DEEN
Network AT-X (TV Tokyo's satellite station)
Original run 20 January 2004 – 5 April 2004
Episodes 12

Kita e (北へ?) is a Japanese visual novel game series, set in Hokkaidō. It was developed by Red Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft.

Contents

[edit] History

The series began with Kita e: White Illumination (北へ。White Illumination?), which was released in March 18, 1999 for the Dreamcast. A sequel, Kita e: Photo Memories (北へ。Photo Memories?), was later released on August 5, the same year. On October 30, 2003, the series was released on the PlayStation 2 platform, Kita e. ～Diamond Dust～ (北へ。～Diamond Dust～?). It was subsequently adapted in 2004 to an anime series entitled Kita e. ～Diamond Dust Drops～ (北へ。～Diamond Dust Drops～?). the anime was release in the United States by ADV Films in three volumes and in a thinpack collection.

[edit] White Illumination

[edit] Story Overview

The player, a second-year high school student (17 years old), travels from Tokyo to Sapporo in Hokkaidō (hence the basic title of the game Kita E (To The North). There, he encounters eight different girls, including the lead character Kotori Haruno, whose family he stays with during his time up north. In the game, the player explores the island, plays video games, does karaoke, goes shopping -- and most of all, tries to find that special someone to share his heart with. The main period of the game is set during summer vacation (August 1 to August 14), by which, at the end, the player returns to Tokyo. The conclusion of the game falls around December 28, when the player returns to Sapporo to witness the "White Illumination Countdown" on New Year's Eve (similar to the New Year's Eve Times Square celebrations. To win the game, the player must meet his chosen one at the Countdown on New Year's Eve, then kiss her at 12:00 midnight on New Year's Day.

[edit] Characters

Kotori Haruno (春野琴梨 Haruna Kotori?)
Born on September 3, Kotori is a 15 year old high school student. She stands 152 centimeters tall, weighs 42 kilograms and has a blood type of O. Her primary hobby is that she loves to cook. She lives alone with her mother Yoko (her father is deceased). Since Yoko works so much, Kotori maintains the home. The player has feelings for Kotori, but the latter reciprocates (at the start of the game) in a fashion similar to that between siblings.
Tanya Lipinski (ターニャ・リピンスキー Tānya Ripinsukii?)
Born on November 27, Tanya is a 16 year old glass craftsman's assistant. She stands 158 centimeters tall, weighs 45 kilograms and has A type blood. She loves to take strolls around the neighbourhood. Born in Russia, Tanya is working in Japan at a local glass factory and is having much in the way of trouble adjusting to live in another country away from her family. Working at the factory, she tries to duplicate the shade of sunset displayed on a pendant given to her by her father.
Kaoru Shiina (椎名薫 Shiina Kaoru?)
Born on October 25, Kaoru is a 24 year old medical student at a local university. She stands 164 centimeters tall, weighs 49 kilograms and has O type blood. The player meets her first on the airplane from Tokyo to Sapporo. She loves to go driving and read mystery novels. At first meeting, Kaoru seems cold and unapproachable, always with her head inside a book. As the player sees her more and more, she begins to open up.
Yuko Sakuramachi (桜町由子 Sakuramachi Yūko?)
Born on July 5, Yuko is a 20 year old public defence officer. She stands 173 centimeters tall, weighs 55 kilograms and has B type blood. She loves to take pictures with her camera, which she carries with her even while on duty. While performing her duties on a bicycle, Yuko often interacts with the player and willingly takes pictures of him when they tour all the interesting places he wishes to visit.
Megumi Aida (愛田めぐみ Aida Megumi?)
Born on May 19, Megumi is a 15 year old junior high student She stands 143 centimeters tall, weighs 35 kilograms and has O type blood. She loves to collect postcards, gazes at the stars and studies animals. A cute yet very clumsy girl. The player interacts with Megumi when he goes to the Aida family home to assist her and her parents (including a pregnant mother). Megumi is the atypical genki and innocent young girl.
Ayu Kawahara (川原鮎 Kawahara Ayu?)
Born on January 27, Ayu is a 15 year old high school student and Kotori's best friend. She stands 165 centimetres tall, weighs 48 kilograms and has AB type blood. She loves to play tennis (she is a part of the school tennis club with Kotori) and karaoke. It is Ayu's ambition to become a professional singer. The player supports her music and helps her when it comes time for Ayu to get an audition.
Hayaka Sakyo (左京葉野香 Sakyō Hayaka?)
Born on April 4, Hayaka is a 17 year old high school student. She stands 165 centimeters tall, weighs 50 kilograms and has B type blood. She likes to knit. At first meeting, Hayaka is a very unpleasant girl (as witness the fact that she wears an eyepatch). The player learns later that her family restaurant is in trouble with the local thugs, thus he strives to help her with recipes and advertising.
Kozue Satonaka (里中梢 Satonaka Kozue?)
Born on July 29, Kozue is a 17 year old high school student. She stands 154 centimeters tall, weighs 50 kilograms and has AB type blood. She's into cosplay, games and e-mailing on her personal computer. The spoiled rich girl of the cast, she is heavily into anime and other forms of modern entertainment. Like all other spoiled rich kids, she always gets what she wanted -- until she met the player.

[edit] Game Information

The game was released on March 13, 1999 by Hudson Soft, exclusively for the Sega Dreamcast system. Average price for the game at time of release was 5800 yen.

[edit] Diamond Dustdrops

[edit] Story

The story is about six different girls from different lifestyles living on Hokkaidō in Japan. They each live in a different city on the island. Each girl believes in a myth of snow turning into diamond dust, and if one makes a wish on the diamond dust, their wish is 100% guaranteed to come true. Another myth about diamond dust is that if a boy and girl meet under the dust, they're guaranteed happiness and marriage later in life. Each of the six girls have some stubborn moments and awkward stages in their lives, but looking into themselves and others will help them get back on their feet. When these six girls meet, their lives will change dramatically for the better as the snow begins to fall.

[edit] Characters

Atsuko Akanegi
Atsuko is Hakodate-born and Hakodate-bred. She lives inside a food store with her mother. The store and the family are deep in debt and her mother forces Atsuko into an arranged marriage with Minoru Jinguji, a wealthy, yet friendly young boy. Atsuko runs away and finds herself running into a man named Kenji Kurata, a local musician who was once married. Kurata helps Atsuko out with her situation the best that he can.
Karin Shiraishi
Karin is stricken with an illness and lives mostly in the hospital. Her big brother Mitsuru comes by occasionally from college to help cheer her up. She also has her own laptop in which Karin only suppose to go on for only two hours, though she sneaks on at night. Karin has her own homepage were she occasionally updates and writes about her dreams. One young doctor named Amakasu thinks Karin is spoiled rotten and criticizes her causing Karin to lose her temper. In truth, Karin is scared to have an operation because her father died during surgery. Suddenly, she gets an e-mail from someone named "Your Fan" who encourages her to stay strong. Karin speculated that Doctor Amakasu was sending her the e-mails and attached photos of Hokkaidō. Soon after Karin finds herself in love with Dr. Amakasu as well. She later finds out that Nurse Yuki and Dr.Amakasu have been seeing each other since high school. It was revealed that Yuki was sending her the e-mails. Her intentions were trying to open up to Karin and convincing her to go through operation. A few days later afterwards, Karin brother was sent to the hospital when he fell unconscious at work. Her brother was working to help pay the expensive hospitalization fees. He worked to hard, trying to lighten their mothers load. Karin then realized then that she was spoiled and decided to go through operation if only Dr. Amakasu would watch over her during the time.
Kyoko Asahina
Kyoko is a young filmmaker who loves to capture life's given moments on film. Her closest friends and fellow colleagues begin to worry about Kyoko's wild career as it distracts her from other things like finding true romance. They also tend to object to Kyoko's selfish pursuit of perfection in her work, not understanding the consequences. However, Kyoko's willing to sacrifice everything to achieve the perfect picture. That is, until she learned the hard way that friends are more important than winning.
Kyoko tells a story about a girl named Charinka who forsaken Yoshitsune while living on an island, but when Yoshitsune leaves the island, Charinka regretted her cold-heartedness, but it was too late. Charinka got what she deserved.
Suomi Kitano
Suomi loves ice skating and is a natural performer. When Suomi was young, she and her friend Hanna Janinen made a promise to each other. Now that she's grown up, she hopes to fulfill her promise. Suomi was chosen to be part of Finland's figure skating team, but Hanna accidentally bumped into her causing Suomi to injure her leg, causing rumors that Hanna did it on purpose and it earned her the moniker of "The Cold-Hearted Queen of the Ice". Because of that, Hanna blamed Suomi. Suomi almost gave up skating until she met a young boy named Haruto who is also an ice skater and had the same falling out with his best friend, Kuda. Now, Suomi hopes to get back into ice skating and complete her promise with Hanna.
Shoko Saibara
Shoko hosts a radio talk show in Sapporo called "Cappuccino Break" where she discusses romantic issues with her audience. Every love story Shoko hears is fuel for her talk show. Secretly, Shoko is dating her closest friend Takeda whom she loves, but Takeda is already married with a wife and daughter and warns Shoko as a friend not to make unexpected scenes. Elsewhere, Shoko receives gifts from someone called "Radio Boy", which got the production staff worried that Shoko might have a potential stalker after her.
Akari Harada
Akari lives with her father ever since her mother died. Akari is a hard worker at Ryuon Confectioneries trying to help support her father through troubled times. Most of the time, her father drinks a lot of alcohol hoping to ease the pain of losing his wife. He's also unsuccessful in trying to pan for gold dust. Akari does most of the work in her house because her father is too weak and depressed to help. Suddenly, her father becomes very ill with brain cancer. The doctor mentioned to Akari that her father diagnosed brain cancer six months ago and was recommended to go to a university hospital that had the proper equipment. As of now, it would be impossible for the surgeons to operate on his tumor. Akari must find a way to ease his pain. In order to do so, *Kurokawa, her father and herself go to a river in search of gold dust. Akari also runs in with *Kurokawa, a supposed delinquent trying to hit on her, but harbors a secret love to Akari, but can't express it to her while she's working. Kurokawa has troubles putting any effort into working until Akari's father shows him the way.

[edit] External links

Languages