Subarashiki Hibi
Encyclopedia
is an Japan
ese adult
visual novel
developed and published by KeroQ. It was released on March 26, 2010 for Microsoft Windows. Subarashiki Hibi is KeroQ's fourth game after the titles Tsui no Sora, Nijūei and Moekan
; it shares many characters and plot elements with their first game, Tsui no Sora.
between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. A number of choices exist, some of which determine the plot branch on which a story continues. Viewing all the branches is necessary to proceed to the next story. The game generally follows adventure game
conventions, with the text appearing at the bottom of the screen, but segments exist where it is overlaid on the entire screen.
and Through the Looking Glass. Most of the stories take place in the fictional Suginomiya neighborhood of Tokyo
and recount the month of July 2012 from different perspectives.
Down the Rabbit-Hole
Down the Rabbit-Hole II
It's my Own Invention
Looking-glass Insects
Jabberwocky
Which Dreamed It
Jabberwocky II
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...
ese 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:...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
developed and published by KeroQ. It was released on March 26, 2010 for Microsoft Windows. Subarashiki Hibi is KeroQ's fourth game after the titles Tsui no Sora, Nijūei and Moekan
Moekan
is an adventure, visual novel computer game that was released by Kero Q on January 31, 2003. The computer game was adapted by Princess Soft into an adventure Dreamcast game on December 25, 2003 and an adventure PlayStation 2 game on February 5, 2004...
; it shares many characters and plot elements with their first game, Tsui no Sora.
Gameplay
The game requires minimal interaction from the player, as the duration of the game is spent on reading the text that appears onscreen; this text represents either dialogueDialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. A number of choices exist, some of which determine the plot branch on which a story continues. Viewing all the branches is necessary to proceed to the next story. The game generally follows adventure game
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
conventions, with the text appearing at the bottom of the screen, but segments exist where it is overlaid on the entire screen.
Plot
Subarashiki Hibi contains six stories, the titles of which are taken from chapters in Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
and Through the Looking Glass. Most of the stories take place in the fictional Suginomiya neighborhood of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and recount the month of July 2012 from different perspectives.
Down the Rabbit-Hole
- "The story of the sky and the world." The protagonist of this story is Yuki Minakami, who one day encounters a girl named Zakuro Takashima as she is throwing stuffed animals off a rooftop. Zakuro soon begins living in Yuki's house with her, as do her childhood friends, Kagami Wakatsuki and Tsukasa Wakatsuki. Together, they enjoy a peaceful school life and help Zakuro search the stars for a local legend - the 'girl of the sky.' The branches allow Yuki to either enter a yuri relationship with one of the Wakatsuki sisters and live happily ever after with them, or pursue the mystery of Zakuro and continue onward to Down the Rabbit-Hole II.
Down the Rabbit-Hole II
- Though considered part of the Down the Rabbit-Hole story by the game, according to the scriptwriters, this branch is the true beginning of Subarashiki Hibis plot. The protagonist of this story is Yuki Minakami, who one day encounters a girl named Zakuro Takashima whom she does not remember meeting before, but who seems to know her well. The next day, she learns that Zakuro has killed herself. A boy in Yuki's class named Takuji Mamiya makes a speech claiming that Zakuro's death was an omen of the coming apocalypse, to take place in one week - on July 20th. As Yuki investigates the strange circumstances of Zakuro's suicide and Takuji Mamiya's prophecy, events grow ever stranger and people continue to die.
It's my Own Invention
- "The story of the beginning and the end." The protagonist of this story is Takuji Mamiya, who one day encounters a girl named Zakuro Takashima. It reveals the events that led him to make his prophecy and the cult that develops around him, retelling the chronology of Down the Rabbit-Hole II from his perspective, as well as introducing his conflict with Tomosane Yūki. The branch instead focuses on his relationship with Kimika Tachibana, the girl who professes herself his servant.
Looking-glass Insects
- "The story of the literature girl and the chemistry girl." The protagonist of this story is Zakuro Takashima, who one day encounters a boy named Takuji Mamiya. Occurring prior to Down the Rabbit-Hole II, the story focuses on her relationship with Takuji and the events that led to her suicide, while the branch is a "happy ending" in which tragedy is averted when she mends her ties with her estranged friend, Kimika Tachibana - and when she meets a strange boy who looks just like Takuji, but will not tell her his name...
Jabberwocky
- "The story of the savior and the hero." The protagonist of this story is Tomosane Yūki, who one day encounters a girl named Yuki Minakami. It reveals the truth of many of the bizarre events in Down the Rabbit-Hole II and It's my Own Invention, while introducing further mysteries related to Yuki, Takuji and Tomosane's past. Hasaki Mamiya first becomes a major character in this story.
Which Dreamed It
- "The story of the brother and the sister." The protagonist of this story is Hasaki Mamiya, who one day encounters her brother, Takuji Mamiya. Shorter than the other stories, it offers a third perspective- perhaps the first reliable one- on the events of the final week, as well as providing the first concrete details of the Mamiya family's past, foreshadowed in Jabberwocky and fully revealed in Jabberwocky II.
Jabberwocky II
- "The story of the sunflowers and the hill." The first part of this story takes place seven years in the past in the isolated village of Sawaimura, where the Mamiya and Minakami families once lived. From the recollection of their past, the protagonists finally find the strength to change their fate and arrive at one of three endings: Sunflower Road, Wonderful Every Day or Endsky II.
Characters
- Yuki is the protagonist of the Down the Rabbit-Hole story. A habitual truant with a taste for cigarettes who considers herself antisocial, but in fact has an aptitude for getting along with other girls (and for intimidating boys,) she is a fan of classical literature who spends much of the school day reading on the rooftop. As a result of her grandfather's stewardship of a kobudōKobudoor Ko-budō, a Japanese term meaning "old martial way", may refer to:* Koryū: in contrast to budō, which has become more competitive, a type of martial art which has kept its ancient mode of training and has been preserved and handed down from generation to generation .* Okinawan kobudō: the martial...
dojo, she is a skilled martial artist.
- "The one who perceives the pre-established harmonyPre-established harmonyGottfried Leibniz's theory of pre-established harmony is a philosophical theory about causation under which every "substance" only affects itself, but all the substances in the world nevertheless seem to causally interact with each other because they have been programmed by God in advance to...
of the world." Takuji is a boy in Yuki's class and the protagonist of It's my Own Invention. A timid boy who is an otakuOtakuis a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
and stammers when he speaks to others, he rarely attends class and spends most of his time in a secret hideout he has constructed. He undergoes a profound transformation after the death of Zakuro.
- "The girl by whose will the world was split asunder." The protagonist of the Looking-glass Insects story, Zakuro is a girl from the class neighboring that of Yuki and most of the other characters. Timid and soft-spoken with a tendency to space out, she is the frequent target of pranks and bullying by the rest of her class. She considers Kimika her friend, though their relationship is frequently troubled.
- Tomosane is the protagonist of the Jabberwocky and Jabberwocky II stories. Considered the strongest fist-fighter in the school, he rules its most unsavory elements by fear and is also a source of dread for Takuji, whom he brutalizes and extorts money from frequently. He works part-time as a piano player at a transvestite bar, and has a tumultuous friendship with Yuki Minakami. His secret hobby is playing retro video games.
- Hasaki is the protagonist of the Which Dreamed It story and Takuji's younger sister. She is a shy and quiet girl, who carries a stuffed animal with her everywhere she goes. She is very attached to her brother and likes to visit him at his school, though she doesn't attend school herself. She works at the same bar as Tomosane by helping out in the kitchen.
- Kagami is Yuki's childhood friend, and acts as a stereotypical tsundereTsundereis a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms , meaning to turn away in disgust, and meaning to become 'lovey dovey'...
towards her, as well as frequently arguing with Takuji. She is fiercely protective of her twin sister, Tsukasa, of which she is the older of the two.
- Tsukasa is Yuki's childhood friend, a gentle girl who acts as the mediator between Yuki and her sister Kagami and is a member of the school's disciplinary committee. She is a fan of the Romance of the Three KingdomsRomance of the Three KingdomsRomance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
.
- Kimika is a girl in the same class as Zakuro, and her friend, though she considers herself to have betrayed Zakuro and often treats her coldly in an attempt to alienate her. Like Zakuro, she is the frequent target of bullying. After Zakuro's death, she becomes Takuji's devoted follower.
- Ayana is a mysterious girl who is typically encountered by the various protagonists on the school rooftop. She speaks enigmatically, and frequently makes literary references and strange jokes that others find more unsettling than amusing. Her conversations often concern , a concept only she herself seems to truly understand.