Chapter 17. Animation-Level Quality
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"Really? Where is it?" Hirose Furukawa asked excitedly as he began searching for it.
"Over there, bottom shelf closest to the wall, left-hand side in the back. Try looking there," the clerk said, tiptoeing as he patiently guided him.
"Ah, I found it. Thanks!" Furukawa crouched down and pulled out a game box from the corner.
After wiping it off a bit with his hand, his eyes suddenly lit up.
The cover was amazing!
That was his first impression of Onmyoji.
On the cover was a traditionally styled character design—a young, elegant Onmyoji wearing a tall hat and ornate robes stood in the center, backed by a massive, luminous full moon.
Cherry blossoms fluttered down from a cherry blossom tree above.
Behind the Onmyoji were three beautiful girls, each with a unique style: a shrine maiden in red and white with a longbow, a gallant and cool-looking female warrior, and a wide-eyed, adorable l*li in a long dress.
The artwork was exquisitely detailed and the style was different, unlike anything Furukawa had seen before. In fact, even the best current anime might not reach this level of visual polish.
From the shape of the characters' faces to the lines and colors used, everything was clearly a cut above the usual art found in games.
With just a glance, Furukawa was hooked.
Their artists must be insanely talented.
…Wait a minute.
Is this real?
This was clearly a premium title, yet it was placed in such a dusty, out-of-the-way spot.
Honestly, if the clerk hadn't recommended it, Furukawa would never have noticed such a beautifully designed game buried in such a remote corner.
Huh?
But then he noticed another detail.
"16+?!" A big age restriction label on the cover made him yelp softly in surprise.
Don't underestimate the difference between 16+ and 18+. It's massive. A 16+ galgame usually only includes romance elements, and certainly nothing too risqué.
"Yes. It's apparently a galgame," the clerk chuckled. "But you definitely meet the age, Furukawa."
Of course.
I've been working for years.
Looking at the cover and thinking of a galgame, Furukawa couldn't help but smile meaningfully.
But still...
Furukawa tilted his head, suddenly feeling both amused and confused.
A rare RPG set in an Onmyoji world, and it's a 16+ galgame?
How are those even supposed to go together?
Most galgames nowadays are short and fast-paced—simple and direct. Galgame players and RPG players feel like two completely different demographics.
Pokeni?
He had never heard of that company.
But the game cover really was well done.
Then he looked down at the price tag.
No way?!
"8,000 yen?!"
That's crazy expensive!
"Yes, that's right," the clerk nodded with a smile. "It is said that in order to pursue top-tier quality, the company specially added a special chip inside the cartridge, so the production cost is high. The salesperson said it's one of a kind. Just play it once and you'll see it's worth every yen."
"Emmmm…"
Now Furukawa was starting to understand why this game was stuck in such a forgotten corner.
A game from an unknown company, priced through the roof, with a bizarre RPG + galgame genre combo. Yes, it didn't exactly inspire confidence.
He silently made his initial judgment of the game in his heart.
...
"Actually, I haven't played this game either. I just thought the cover looked pretty good. If you don't want to buy it, Furukawa, there's no need to force yourself," the store clerk said honestly.
"No. I want to buy it."
Furukawa picked up the cartridge and walked toward the cashier.
What could he say? The moment he saw the cover of the cartridge, he had a strong gut feeling—
This might actually be a really great game.
However...
If he ended up getting scammed after going home, Furukawa swore he'd never buy anything from this company, Pokeni, ever again.
…
At 8 p.m., Hirose Furukawa carried his newly bought game cartridge back home.
Familiar with the routine, he turned on the TV, hooked up the console, and plugged in the power.
Furukawa opened the game box, took out the cartridge, blew lightly on the connector pins, and inserted it into the console.
Click.
The console started up. The snowy static on the screen disappeared and turned pitch black.
A quaint BGM began to play.
On the black screen, a warning image appeared:
[Notice]
[This work has been reviewed and approved for sale by an ethics committee.]
[It is illegal for individuals under 16 to purchase or use this product.]
[All characters, groups, place names, settings, etc., in this game are entirely fictional.]
[This work is purely fictional and does not reflect any real-world content.]
[This game is the intellectual property of Pokeni. Please, do not copy, modify, record, repost, or sell it.]
[All actions not covered under copyright exceptions are strictly prohibited.]
In red text: [All characters appearing in this work are 18 years of age or older.]
This was more or less the standard notice for all 16+ games.
After Furukawa pressed the A button as instructed, the image disappeared.
Then a block of text appeared on screen:
[Onmyoji.]
[They were spiritual practitioners who could read stars and faces, measure directions, predict disasters, find feng shui, and perform rituals.]
[They could foresee fortune and misfortune and summon shikigami.]
[And also…]
[Exorcise monsters.]
With the appearance of the final character, the entire screen suddenly lit up.
The BGM changed abruptly, becoming intense.
On screen appeared a woman with silver hair, horns on her head, and revealing clothing. Her lips were bright and luscious, and her eyes sparkled with a mysterious glow.
Calling her a "woman" might not be entirely accurate.
Because her dialogue box displayed the name: [Onihime]
The two horns on her head marked her identity. One could tell at a glance that she was clearly a girl from the Oni Clan.
Whoa.
It's incredible that such visuals could be created on the Famicom.
Furukawa couldn't help but let out an admiring sigh in his heart.
Tsk tsk, this character design, this visual style, this level of polish—it completely shattered Furukawa's previous concept of what a game could look like.
Up until now, most games on the Famicom were pixelated, covered in what felt like heavy mosaic filters.
While the graphics here weren't quite at the level of seamless animation, they were still stunning by comparison.
Just the first glimpse had an enormous impact on Furukawa's senses.
Especially when—
His gaze drifted toward Onihime's neck, and he was completely stunned. Just imagining that this was actually a galgame made his blood feel like it was boiling.
This is almost at the level of an animation already!