Enzai | |
冤罪 | |
---|---|
Game | |
Developer | Langmaor |
Publisher | |
Genre | Visual novel |
Platform | Windows |
Released | |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Toshiyuki Sakurai Kinomi Noguchi |
Produced by | Koichi Murakami Okabo Doji |
Written by | Hikaru Takeuchi |
Studio | Adonis Japan Home Video |
Released | April 23, 2004 – October 22, 2004 |
Runtime | 30 minutes per episode |
Episodes | 2 |
Enzai (冤罪, lit. "False charge") is a yaoi game made by the Japanese software house Langmaor, which was later translated to English under the title Enzai – Falsely Accused. It was the first yaoi game released commercially in the United States. [1] The game is also the first that Langmaor developed.
The story is set in post-revolutionary France in early 19th-century. Although the specific date is never given, Napoleon Bonaparte is still in power. One character remarks that it is several years before the 20th anniversary of the French Revolution, placing the game's events in the years before 1809.
The protagonist is Guys, a young boy from a poor family, who gets caught stealing candy from a Paris store. However, after being railroaded by a city detective named Guildias, Guys finds himself accused, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a man he never met.
From that point on, most of Enzai takes place inside a dark, claustrophobic, dirty prison. In there, Guys experiences humiliation and torture of various kinds, much of it involving nonconsensual sexual acts.
The primary goal of the game is for the player (as Guys) to locate evidence and witnesses that can exonerate him of the murder, unveil the true killer, and get him released from prison. Secondary goals include learning the killer's true motives, finding out the backstory of the murder, keeping Guys both physically and psychologically healthy, and forming a romantic bond with other male NPCs in the prison.
Game interaction is extremely limited, as Enzai is a visual novel. Most of Enzai's gameplay consists of reading text and seeing stationary artwork. Player input is limited to, at a few junctions in the story, the ability to choose one of two paths. The choices selected affect which ending the player gets. The nature of the gameplay, and the incomplete revelation of the aspects of the main conspiracy, means the player doesn't find out the entire conspiracy until they have completed all endings and unlocked all the scenes.
While there are eleven endings, only seven of these are "official" endings that can be unlocked and re-experienced in the option menu.[ citation needed]
There are, in fact, two unrelated conspiracies—one with Durer, Bollanet, and most of the prisoners, and another involving Guys, Guildias, and his imprisonment. In the game, it appears that Durer is aware that Guys is innocent, and that Guildias is corrupt, and vice versa. Durer and Guildias thus are partners in the evil prison system.
The game has a number of possible endings, some where Guys dies in unsuccessful attempts to escape from prison, some where he succeeds in proving his innocence, as well as endings where he remains in prison for life.
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(February 2013) |
The characters of Enzai are mostly Guys' fellow prisoners, guards, or other law enforcement officials. Nearly all the characters have personality disorders or paraphilias.
If successful (or lucky), the player uncovers the fact that almost all the prisoners are somehow connected to a larger conspiracy, and have apparently been arrested and thrown into prison to be permanently silenced.
Guys (ガイズ, Gaizu) – Voiced by: Tatsuki Amano
Guildias (ギルディアス, Girudiasu) – Voiced by: Katsuaki Arima
Durer (デューラ, Dyūra) – Voiced by: Kazuya Sugisaki
Bollanet (ボルアネ, Boruane) – Voiced by: Hiroomi Sugino
Evan (エバ, Eba) – Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijō
Jose (ジョゼ, Joze) – Voiced by: Bakuhatsu Fuji
Lusca (ルスカ, Rusuka) – Voiced by: Kōichi Sera
Vallewida (ヴァルイーダ, Varuīda) – Voiced by: Risato Habuki
Io (イオ, Io) – Voiced by: Ran Hazuki
Shion (シオン, Shion) – Voiced by: Kōichi Yamaga
Belbet (ベルベット, Berubetto) – Voiced by: Pal Hazuki
Muca (ミュカ, Myuka) – Voiced by: Misumi
Enzai has become a successful franchise in Japan, birthing a two-episode OVA, several drama CD Collections, a novelization, an official fanbook, and a variety of fan collectibles (pin badges, phone cards, satchels, etc.).
Enzai has also become famous outside Japan, mostly due to its unusually dark and twisted atmosphere, deep and compelling plot, and surprisingly graphic scenes. [2] Enzai is the first girls-oriented video game depicting blood, rape, insanity, and abuse rather than the more standard romantic "shōjo" scenes. [3]
This is NOT a game for the faint-hearted or easily squicked... this game is designed for the fangirls of the dirtiest sorts of minds. I can't stress enough that you won't enjoy this game unless you're into some serious BDSM, sadism/masochism, etc.
It's an oppressive, immersive, and convincing setting. The typical yaoi (man-love) story is about gay detectives who have gay clients, or gay students at schools full of gay teachers, or various other scenarios that occur in perfectly normal settings except that everyone happens to be gay... In most yaoi games, the hero can take solace in the fact that everyone else is openly gay. Guys doesn't have that luxury. He still has to wrestle with the fact that he's different from his friends... [He] will [also] suffer many humiliating, painful, and cringe-inducing moments, often involving foreign objects and blood.
Enzai | |
冤罪 | |
---|---|
Game | |
Developer | Langmaor |
Publisher | |
Genre | Visual novel |
Platform | Windows |
Released | |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Toshiyuki Sakurai Kinomi Noguchi |
Produced by | Koichi Murakami Okabo Doji |
Written by | Hikaru Takeuchi |
Studio | Adonis Japan Home Video |
Released | April 23, 2004 – October 22, 2004 |
Runtime | 30 minutes per episode |
Episodes | 2 |
Enzai (冤罪, lit. "False charge") is a yaoi game made by the Japanese software house Langmaor, which was later translated to English under the title Enzai – Falsely Accused. It was the first yaoi game released commercially in the United States. [1] The game is also the first that Langmaor developed.
The story is set in post-revolutionary France in early 19th-century. Although the specific date is never given, Napoleon Bonaparte is still in power. One character remarks that it is several years before the 20th anniversary of the French Revolution, placing the game's events in the years before 1809.
The protagonist is Guys, a young boy from a poor family, who gets caught stealing candy from a Paris store. However, after being railroaded by a city detective named Guildias, Guys finds himself accused, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a man he never met.
From that point on, most of Enzai takes place inside a dark, claustrophobic, dirty prison. In there, Guys experiences humiliation and torture of various kinds, much of it involving nonconsensual sexual acts.
The primary goal of the game is for the player (as Guys) to locate evidence and witnesses that can exonerate him of the murder, unveil the true killer, and get him released from prison. Secondary goals include learning the killer's true motives, finding out the backstory of the murder, keeping Guys both physically and psychologically healthy, and forming a romantic bond with other male NPCs in the prison.
Game interaction is extremely limited, as Enzai is a visual novel. Most of Enzai's gameplay consists of reading text and seeing stationary artwork. Player input is limited to, at a few junctions in the story, the ability to choose one of two paths. The choices selected affect which ending the player gets. The nature of the gameplay, and the incomplete revelation of the aspects of the main conspiracy, means the player doesn't find out the entire conspiracy until they have completed all endings and unlocked all the scenes.
While there are eleven endings, only seven of these are "official" endings that can be unlocked and re-experienced in the option menu.[ citation needed]
There are, in fact, two unrelated conspiracies—one with Durer, Bollanet, and most of the prisoners, and another involving Guys, Guildias, and his imprisonment. In the game, it appears that Durer is aware that Guys is innocent, and that Guildias is corrupt, and vice versa. Durer and Guildias thus are partners in the evil prison system.
The game has a number of possible endings, some where Guys dies in unsuccessful attempts to escape from prison, some where he succeeds in proving his innocence, as well as endings where he remains in prison for life.
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(February 2013) |
The characters of Enzai are mostly Guys' fellow prisoners, guards, or other law enforcement officials. Nearly all the characters have personality disorders or paraphilias.
If successful (or lucky), the player uncovers the fact that almost all the prisoners are somehow connected to a larger conspiracy, and have apparently been arrested and thrown into prison to be permanently silenced.
Guys (ガイズ, Gaizu) – Voiced by: Tatsuki Amano
Guildias (ギルディアス, Girudiasu) – Voiced by: Katsuaki Arima
Durer (デューラ, Dyūra) – Voiced by: Kazuya Sugisaki
Bollanet (ボルアネ, Boruane) – Voiced by: Hiroomi Sugino
Evan (エバ, Eba) – Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijō
Jose (ジョゼ, Joze) – Voiced by: Bakuhatsu Fuji
Lusca (ルスカ, Rusuka) – Voiced by: Kōichi Sera
Vallewida (ヴァルイーダ, Varuīda) – Voiced by: Risato Habuki
Io (イオ, Io) – Voiced by: Ran Hazuki
Shion (シオン, Shion) – Voiced by: Kōichi Yamaga
Belbet (ベルベット, Berubetto) – Voiced by: Pal Hazuki
Muca (ミュカ, Myuka) – Voiced by: Misumi
Enzai has become a successful franchise in Japan, birthing a two-episode OVA, several drama CD Collections, a novelization, an official fanbook, and a variety of fan collectibles (pin badges, phone cards, satchels, etc.).
Enzai has also become famous outside Japan, mostly due to its unusually dark and twisted atmosphere, deep and compelling plot, and surprisingly graphic scenes. [2] Enzai is the first girls-oriented video game depicting blood, rape, insanity, and abuse rather than the more standard romantic "shōjo" scenes. [3]
This is NOT a game for the faint-hearted or easily squicked... this game is designed for the fangirls of the dirtiest sorts of minds. I can't stress enough that you won't enjoy this game unless you're into some serious BDSM, sadism/masochism, etc.
It's an oppressive, immersive, and convincing setting. The typical yaoi (man-love) story is about gay detectives who have gay clients, or gay students at schools full of gay teachers, or various other scenarios that occur in perfectly normal settings except that everyone happens to be gay... In most yaoi games, the hero can take solace in the fact that everyone else is openly gay. Guys doesn't have that luxury. He still has to wrestle with the fact that he's different from his friends... [He] will [also] suffer many humiliating, painful, and cringe-inducing moments, often involving foreign objects and blood.