School Days (video game) — BrandWiki

School Days (video game)

type	tv series
director	Keitaro Motonaga
producer	Katsumi Koike Makoto Ito Masanori Goto
writer	Makoto Uezu
music	Kaoru Okubo
studio	TNK
network	TV Kanagawa, Chiba TV, TV Aichi, TV Osaka, TV Saitama, AT-X
first	July 3, 2007
last	September 27, 2007
episodes	12
episode list	List of School Days episodes

School Days is a Japanese slice-of-life eroge visual novel game developed by 0verflow, released in April 2005, for Windows. It was later remade as a DVD game and ported to PlayStation 2 (PS2) and PlayStation Portable (PSP). The story follows Makoto Ito, a high school student who becomes the love interest of several girls during his second term. School Days has multiple endings depending on the player's choices. Some of these endings later became notorious for their graphic violence.

0verflow announced work on School Days in October 2004 and marketed it by showing off the game's innovative use of animated cutscenes and voice-acting. Following its success, 0verflow produced multiple sequels, including a spin-off of the original story called Summer Days, a parallel story called Cross Days. Klon developed the spin-off Island Days for the Nintendo 3DS. A School Days remaster, School Days HQ, was released in October 2010, and localized in North America in June 2012. The original game became unavailable for purchase after April 2011.

Following the game's release, School Days was adapted into different media. A manga adaptation was serialized in the Kadokawa Shoten magazine Comp Ace and it was later published into two volumes.

Release

School Days was ported to three other platforms. It was first released by interactive movie developer AICherry on September 28, 2007, as a four disc DVD game.[24] That same year, on August 31,[25] Interchannel posted a link on their blog to the official website of School Days L×H, a PlayStation 2 (PS2) port in development by Guyzware,[26] that would be edited of explicit sexual content and fanservice. The game was released on January 17, 2008,[27] and assessed by the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), Japan's primary video game content rating system, receiving a 15-years-or-older "C" rating for sexual themes and profanity.[28] The third and final port was developed by PalaceGame for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). After postponing the game on May 11, it was released as four UMDs on June 30, 2010.[29]

0verflow opened what would become the homepage for the remaster School Days HQ on May 21, 2010.[30] The site was finished June 3, and on July 16, the game was postponed to September 24. A trial was publicly released for download on August 7, and from August 20 to September 28, 0verflow promoted the game.[31] Customers who had purchased the original School Days would be given the opportunity to upgrade to HQ for a fee until October 11, by either mailing in their game disc or visiting stores in Akihabara, Osaka or Nagoya.[32] Distributors offered collectable phonecards for reservations,[33] and after a second date change on September 10, the game was released October 8.[31]

On March 3, 2011, 0verflow acknowledged Sekai Project, an unofficial fan translation group, who had reportedly begun localizing School Days in April 2006.[34] Partnering with American distributor JAST USA, School Days HQ, uncensored in English, was announced for a North American release on March 11, 2011.[35] Development instead continued into 2012, and on May 18, JAST announced that the company had begun taking pre-orders for the Collector's Edition, a bundled release of the game packaged with a keychain and mousepad.[36] The company announced weeks later on June 1 that School Days HQ had gone gold.[37] Following news on June 26 that the company would exhibit the game at Anime Expo 2012,[38] JAST made an update to the June 1 announcement that School Days HQ had begun shipping.[37] The downloadable version of the game was later released on August 6.

On May 31, 2025, 0verflow announced School Days Remaster is in development to commemorate the original game's 20th anniversary. On July 4, 2025, JAST USA announced that it will release the English and Mandarin Chinese versions of School Days Remaster.[40]

Sales

In a national sales ranking of bishōjo games in PC News – a now-defunct Japanese online magazine – School Days premiered as the number one game sold for the second half of April 2005,[41] the second and 17th for the first and second halves of May,[42][43] the fifth and 26th for the first and second halves of June,[44][45] and 27th for the first half of July.[46] The School Days renewal edition, released a week after the previous ranking, continued to chart on behalf of the game; it ranked as the thirty-third most sold game for the second half of July,[47]

Media

0verflow developed several visual novels related to School Days, sharing the same universe. Prior to the development of School Days, 0verflow developed the Radish Vacation visual novel series. The first was Snow Radish Vacation released on December 28, 2001, followed by Summer Radish Vacation on April 1, 2003, and finally Summer Radish Vacation 2 on August 13, 2004.[60]

A prequel titled Summer Days, was released on June 23, 2006, retelling the original game during summer vacation and from the perspective of Setsuna Kiyoura.[61] However, unlike its predecessor, Summer Days was almost universally panned for its heavily bugged state,[62] loads of patches,[63] and recall.[64] Another spin-off titled Cross Days was released on March 19, 2010. Set in the same continuity as School Days, Cross Days follows the life of another protagonist, Yuuki Ashikaga, a high school freshman who also finds himself caught between the affection of two girls, Roka Kitsuregawa and Kotonoha Katsura, during his second term at Sakakino Academy. The game also features yaoi scenarios, during which Yuuki cross-dresses as a maid.[65][66] 0verflow released Shiny Days on February 2, 2012, which is a remastered version of Summer Days with a new heroine and higher quality animations. A spin-off, Island Days, was developed for the Nintendo 3DS and was released in Japan on July 3, 2014. The game, developed by Klon, focuses on Makoto and the girls becoming trapped on a remote island and includes tower defense elements.[67]

Manga

Based on the story of the original game, School Days was reimagined as a manga, illustrated by Homare Sakazuki and serialized in the Kadokawa Shoten magazine Comp Ace from May 26, 2006[68] to September 26, 2007.[69] On July 12, 2007,[70] 0verflow announced that the manga had been collected into its first volume, comprising five chapters set to be released on July 24.[71] Later that year, the second and final volume, comprising the remaining seven chapters, was released on November 21.[72]

Various artists also produced short manga of School Days that were compiled into two comic anthologies. The "School Days Comic Anthology" was released by Ohzora Publishing

Books and publications

In addition to the manga, School Days was adapted into other print media. The first of these was the "School Days Visual Guide Book" published by Jive on September 16, 2005,[76] an artbook of character illustrations, model sheets, screenplay, storyboards, and a visual hierarchy of the choices and corresponding scenes in the game.[77] Separate editions for the anime television series and Playstation 2 game were also published, on December 1, 2007[78] and March 21, 2008, respectively.[79] Collections of production work from the Windows game such as character and environment art, screenplay, artist commentaries and all manufactured promotional items were collected in the "School Days Official Visual Artworks" (School Days 公式ビジュアル・アートワークス) on December 16, 2005[80]

Anime

School Days was adapted into a twelve-episode anime television series by TNK.[86] Concrete news of this first appeared on June 1, 2007,[87] when 0verflow announced via its blog that the show's official website had gone live.[88] Stations participating in the broadcast included TV Kanagawa, Chiba TV, TV Aichi, TV Osaka, TV Saitama and AT-X, the premiere of which would air on TV Kanagawa on July 3.[89] The anime was aired until September 27 and finished its broadcast on AT-X.[90] From September 26, 2007, to February 27, 2008, the series was compiled into six limited and regular edition DVDs

Delay of the finale

On September 17, 2007, the day before the twelfth and final episode of the televised anime was to air on TV Kanagawa, a sixteen-year-old girl murdered her forty-five-year-old father in their Kyoto home with an axe. TV Kanagawa promptly cancelled the Tuesday airing of the finale for its similarly violent content, replacing it instead with a thirty-minute video compilation of scenery footage from Europe including Norway, played to August Wilhelmj's "Air on the G String". Newspapers such as The Japan Times and Mainichi Shimbun reported on the killing and episode preempt on September 19.[95][96] According to Mainichi Shimbun, Chiba TV and TV Aichi had also cancelled their airings, with AT-X the only station remaining indecisive.[95] 0verflow issued an apology through their blog the same day,[87] asking viewers to stay tuned for updates.[97] In the following week, 0verflow announced that it had arranged for two screenings of the edited finale at the

Concert film

Besides the video releases of the School Days anime, a concert film, the School Days Secret Live DVD, was also produced by HOBiRECORDS.[108] Released on June 26, 2006, in conjunction with Summer Days,[109] the film contains footage of a concert held on June 15, 2005[110] featuring the performances of Miyuki Hashimoto, YURIA, rino, yozuca* and Minami Kuribayashi.[108]

Audio CDs

From 2005 to 2010, Lantis published six albums of School Days music. The "School Days Vocal Album", a compilation featuring all nine of the game's closing themes, as performed by artists Kiriko, Yozuca*, Miyuki Hashimoto, Yuria, Halko Momoi, Minami Kuribayashi, Rino, and Kanako Ito[111] was the first to be distributed, sharing its April 28, 2005, date with the release of the game itself. The remaining twenty-eight background scores, composed by KIRIKO/HIKO Sound, were released on July 21, officially completing the game's soundtrack.[112] Another compilation, the "School Days Vocal Complete Album [sic]" featuring songs from Summer Days and Cross Days, was released on October 8, 2010.[113]

Three weeks after the premiere of the televised anime on July 25, 2007, Lantis published the single "Innocent Blue" by DeviceHigh, a four-track disc featuring the anime opening of the same name, a disco-inspired song called Dancin' Joker, and their instrumentals.[114]

Merchandise

Considerable effort was made to market and promote School Days before and after its release, including the sale of brand merchandise and use of incentives. Through public venues and through the company's online store, 0verflow sold brand keystraps, mousepads, phonecards, book covers, mugs, t-shirts,[124] dakimakura cases, PVC figures,[125] lanyards, business card holders and cosplay material such as the girls' school uniforms and plastic dōzuki.[126]

Reception

The anime series won the Hisashi Maeda Award in the 2007 Japanese Otaku Awards.[127]

Anime News Network's Theron Martin enjoyed the anime series and gave it a B+, saying "Despite its efforts to analyze and reinterpret harem series, School Days probably would have sunk into anime obscurity if not for the nature of its final episode and the circumstances surrounding it not airing. However, those analytical efforts give it a value beyond its sensationalism. If viewers find Makoto unlikable, it is because he was meant to be an object lesson, not someone that they should want to relate to. That the actions of him and the others progressively push the series away from what's expected of harem series holds a fascination akin to watching a train wreck play out in very slow motion".[128] UK Anime Network, a British online anime and manga magazine, gave the television series a 7 out of 10, summarizing it as "An utter subversion of the high school romance genre, which is disturbing and unsettling... yet oddly compelling in its own way."[129] Takato of the French website Manga News gave the anime series 17 out of 20, and describes the series as "School Days is not a joyful romance but rather oppressive, destabilizing and unhealthy because of the behavior of the characters. We are certainly shocked, but this is precisely what makes the strength of this unique series. School Days is certainly a series to watch to be amazed, or to be amused by all these humiliations if you are sadistic."[130] THEM Anime Reviews, a website devoted to the review of anime, gave the series a less favorable 1 out of 5 stars, citing "overblown, shallow, and flat" characters and that although "School Days looks fascinating when you see screenshots of it and read episode guides", the reviewer found it to be "annoying, stupid, mean-spirited, and full of some of the biggest idiots [he had] seen in an anime in a long time."[131]

On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed School Days among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China.[132]