Casual Romance Club
Encyclopedia
Casual Romance Club is a Japanese
adult
bishōjo game
developed by Libido and QT-Software that was originally released in Japanese only as Hōkago Ren'ai Club (放課後恋愛クラブ, "After School Romance Club") on CD-ROM
. The game was later released on DVD-ROM with voice acting
and English language translation added. While the game was never released outside Japan
, it has been made available by local distributors due to its native English translation. The title Casual Romance Club directly describes the club made up by the protagonist's friend, Jordan Price.
The gameplay
in Casual Romance Club follows a predetermined plot line. The basic event scenarios fall into place, however as the game progresses depending upon whom the player talks to and how they respond, the storylines can diverge slightly. The game focuses on the dating among eventually up to twelve girls. The main goal is to make available sexual images
the player can view at any time depicting the protagonist
having sexual intercourse
with or masturbation
of one of the girls.
The player directly chooses which girl he wishes to talk to by pushing a button indicating that character and selecting the option to have a private chat. If the girl is absent or you have already chatted with her that day the option will be greyed out. During chats, you will be instructed at times to chose between various responses which will affect your relation with that particular girl. At the end of a conversation you can chose to walk home together, ask her out on a date during the weekend, if you haven't made previous dating arrangements, or chat with another girl. Choosing the first option will end the day at the restaurant.
During the weekends if you made arrangements for a date, a dating event occurs which you are instructed to give various responses. All of these give special CGs. Depending upon the girl and your relationship with her, you may be able to have sexual intercourse with her. If you did not make arrangements for that day, gameplay follows standard weekday.
OAV
was also produced by Pink Pineapple, featuring the same characters, in Japanese only. In 1997, Libido released the game Hōkago Mania Club (放課後マニア倶楽部) with the same cast of characters but a much darker story.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
adult
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
bishōjo game
Bishojo game
A , or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive anime-style girls". These games are a sub-genre of dating sims targeted towards a male audience....
developed by Libido and QT-Software that was originally released in Japanese only as Hōkago Ren'ai Club (放課後恋愛クラブ, "After School Romance Club") on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
. The game was later released on DVD-ROM with voice acting
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
and English language translation added. While the game was never released outside Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, it has been made available by local distributors due to its native English translation. The title Casual Romance Club directly describes the club made up by the protagonist's friend, Jordan Price.
The gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
in Casual Romance Club follows a predetermined plot line. The basic event scenarios fall into place, however as the game progresses depending upon whom the player talks to and how they respond, the storylines can diverge slightly. The game focuses on the dating among eventually up to twelve girls. The main goal is to make available sexual images
Hentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
the player can view at any time depicting the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
having sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with or masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
of one of the girls.
Gameplay
The player assumes the role of a Japanese high school student. Throughout the game you can attempt to go after one of twelve different girls. The game lasts one month during which time the protagonist meets with eventually up to twelve girls. There is no narrative dialogue and all the text under the character window is spoken. The only descriptive text is put in other windows. These describe the various locations when looking at the notebook, give information on the various girls.The player directly chooses which girl he wishes to talk to by pushing a button indicating that character and selecting the option to have a private chat. If the girl is absent or you have already chatted with her that day the option will be greyed out. During chats, you will be instructed at times to chose between various responses which will affect your relation with that particular girl. At the end of a conversation you can chose to walk home together, ask her out on a date during the weekend, if you haven't made previous dating arrangements, or chat with another girl. Choosing the first option will end the day at the restaurant.
During the weekends if you made arrangements for a date, a dating event occurs which you are instructed to give various responses. All of these give special CGs. Depending upon the girl and your relationship with her, you may be able to have sexual intercourse with her. If you did not make arrangements for that day, gameplay follows standard weekday.
Translation
The game is the first hentai game released with a full English translation included in the original Japanese version. Game text and voices are included in both English and Japanese, with the same voice actor for both forms of dialogue. The voice-overs are usually just the first sentence of each dialogue, except for the erotic scenes and do not always match perfectly with the text, especially the English dialogue, but they tend to be close. In addition, the English dialogues suffered occasionally from the fact that the speakers were not fluent in the language, but not to the point that they weren't understandable. The voice-overs tend to be clipped, especially the English versions, which led many people to wonder if it was an audio problem on their end.Setting
The game takes place in the fictional town of Moriyoh. Most of the game takes place in a local family-owned restaurant the "Starry Sky" after school during the weekdays and weekends. During dates the character goes to various parts of the city, though certain areas are used as primary dating locations more than others.Characters
| Japanese name | Western name | Zodiac sign |
|---|---|---|
| Nanase Horikawa | Amy O'counor | Aries |
| Sanae Orihara | Charlotte Lewis | Pisces |
| Hinako Kawai | Jeannie Hamill | Cancer |
| Kanami Nitoh | Clare Radick | Sagittarius |
| Kazumi Shindoh | Kate Gibson | Libra |
| Mutsumi Horikawa | Sidney O'counor | Taurus |
| Rinko Yusa | Caitlin Prichard | Scorpio |
| Shiina Misaki | Bridget Colins | Virgo |
| Mizuho Yamashina | Sophie Reynolds | Capricorn |
| Anna Wakatsuki | Amanda Duset | Aquarius |
| Ayumu Inaba | Paige McConley | Leo |
| Misao Sonozaki | Valerie Jones | Gemini |
Other media
A two-part hentaiHentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
OAV
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
was also produced by Pink Pineapple, featuring the same characters, in Japanese only. In 1997, Libido released the game Hōkago Mania Club (放課後マニア倶楽部) with the same cast of characters but a much darker story.
External links
- Casual Romance Club—official Libido website for the game