Angelique (video game series)

Angelique is a Japanese otome game series and media franchise. There are various OVAs, Drama CDs, Music CDs and Anime series, developed along with the base game, or broadcast on TV channels, etc. The series began in 1994 and has continued since. The latest entry in the series is Angelique Luminarise, released in 2021.
The first game was released in 1994 on Super Famicom. This is the first otome game known in the world. The Angelique series is also the first otome game series of the Neo Romance series by Ruby Party. Currently, the games in this series are only published in Japanese.

Plot

The basic lore of the series is built around a Queen who fairly and wisely rules a Universe. By balancing elemental forces with the help of nine Guardians, she keeps the various planets in her domain stable and her people content. However, the powers of the Queen and the Guardians fade over time, and successors must be appointed. In the first game Angelique, the protagonist is a 17-year-old girl named Angelique Limoges who has been chosen by the current Queen and her aide Dia as one of two candidates from the Royal Smallney Girls' Academy to become the next Queen. She is transported to the Flying City to begin her final examination.
Each of the candidates is given a land to populate. Whoever finishes populating their land first wins and becomes the next Queen. It is done with the help of nine Guardians who use their powers to make the people of the candidate's land happy, or to devastate their rival's lands. Along the way, the candidates become friends with the Guardians and can fall in love. If they choose love, they forfeit their chance to become Queen, but will live happily ever after.
The story expands in later titles, but most entries in the series feature a girl named Angelique or a variant thereof as the protagonist, with ever larger casts of characters. The roster of potential love interests swells to 19 characters in later titles.

Gameplay

Through the Angelique series games, the story begins with some crisis of the Universe, or some troubles in the Universe. To resolve a crisis or troubles, one girl is selected to become a savior of these crisis or troubles.
The player takes on the role of this girl. In the first game, Angelique, the player becomes a candidate for the new queen who will be the savior of the universal crisis. The player is asked to complete her mission or task during the course of the game. If the player completes her mission in the scheduled period, before her rival candidate completes the mission, the player will win and become the new queen.
But while trying to complete the given mission or task, the player necessarily needs some help from the nine guardians, who know and control the spiritual powers of the universe. The player needs to win their favor. If they do not favor a player, they will not provide assistance to that player. To win favor from the guardians, the player should properly work in her mission. Thus, the guardians may favor her.
And when the player wins favor of the guardians and the male characters, she will be able to better perform her task, and at the same time, she is capable of establishing romantic relations with some of the male characters. At this point, there are two options for her. Working best in her mission with the help of the guardians, she can defeat her rival, and become the new queen. The other option is for her to fall in love with one of her favourite male characters. If her love is fulfilled, her rival will become the new queen instead, but she may win the love.
These are two main types of endings to this game.

Queen ending
Love ending

In the other games of this series, there is no rival, and the player should perform her mission alone. While trying to complete her mission or task, the same situations take place. To perform her task, the player needs the help of the guardians and other male characters, and she should win their favor. In this case, there are typically two endings, as in the first game:

Mission complete ending
Love fulfilled ending
Other ending

There are many candidates for romance. Typically, the nine guardians are all possible targets of the player's love. There are at least ten main endings, but there are other endings as well, where the mission and/or the romance may be broken. The number of endings ranges between 10 and 30.
The most interesting and difficult points of this game series are that there are many combinations of how to win favor from the guardians and how to complete the task. Sometimes the former and the latter are contradictory, yet the player needs them both to achieve good endings.

Characters

The major characters appeared in the otome games: Angelique 1994, 1995, Angelique Special 2 1995, Angelique Trois 2000, Angelique Etoile 2003, and Angelique Luminarise 2021.
Legend:

"Etoile+" indicates: Both in game Angelique Etoile and anime Koisuru tenshi Angelique.
"Etoile anim" indicates: In anime Koisuru tenshi Angelique.
"Etoile" indicates: In game Angelique Etoile.

Name	Version	Position	Role	Universe	Age	Voiced by
Angelique Limoges	Angelique	Protagonist	Candidate for 256th queen	Original	17
Angelique Limoges	Special 2	-	256th Queen of the universe	Original	17	Yuri Shiratori
Angelique Limoges	3rd Trois	-	256th Queen of the universe	Original	17	Yuri Shiratori
Angelique Limoges	4th Etoile+	-	256th Queen of the Shinchō	Shinchō	17	Yuri Shiratori
Rosalia de Catargena	Angelique	Rival	Candidate for 256th queen	Original	17	Kotono Mitsuishi
Rosalia de Catargena	Special 2	-	Aide of the queen Limoges	Original	17	Kotono Mitsuishi
Rosalia de Catargena	3rd Trois	-	Aide of the queen Limoges	Original	17	Kotono Mitsuishi
Rosalia de Catargena	4th Etoile+	-	Aide of the queen Limoges	Shinchō	17	Kotono Mitsuishi
Julious	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the light	Original	25	Shō Hayami
Julious	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the light	Original	25	Shō Hayami
Julious	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the light	Original	25	Shō Hayami
Julious	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the light	Shinchō	25	Shō Hayami
Clavis	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Original	25	Kaneto Shiozawa
Clavis	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Original	25	Kaneto Shiozawa
Clavis	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Original	25	Kaneto Shiozawa
Clavis	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Shinchō	25	Kaneto Shiozawa
Luva	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the earth	Original	26	Toshihiko Seki
Luva	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the earth	Original	26	Toshihiko Seki
Luva	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the earth	Original	26	Toshihiko Seki
Luva	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the earth	Shinchō	26	Toshihiko Seki
Oscar	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the fire	Original	22	Kenyū Horiuchi
Oscar	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the fire	Original	22	Kenyū Horiuchi
Oscar	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the fire	Original	22	Kenyū Horiuchi
Oscar	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the fire	Shinchō	22	Kenyū Horiuchi
Lumiale	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the water	Original	21	Nobuo Tobita
Lumiale	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the water	Original	21	Nobuo Tobita
Lumiale	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the water	Original	21	Nobuo Tobita
Lumiale	4th Etoile	Target	Guardian of the water	Shinchō	21	Nobuo Tobita
Olivie	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the dream	Original	22	Takehito Koyasu
Olivie	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the dream	Original	22	Takehito Koyasu
Olivie	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the dream	Original	22	Takehito Koyasu
Olivie	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the dream	Shinchō	22	Takehito Koyasu
Randy	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the wind	Original	18	Nobutoshi Canna
Randy	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the wind	Original	18	Nobutoshi Canna
Randy	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the wind	Original	18	Nobutoshi Canna
Randy	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the wind	Shinchō	18	Nobutoshi Canna
Zephel	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the steel	Original	17	Mitsuo Iwata
Zephel	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the steel	Original	17	Mitsuo Iwata
Zephel	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the steel	Original	17	Mitsuo Iwata
Zephel	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the steel	Shinchō	17	Mitsuo Iwata
Marcel	Angelique	Target	Guardian of the green	Original	14	Hiro Yūki
Marcel	Special 2	Target	Guardian of the green	Original	14	Hiro Yūki
Marcel	3rd Trois	Target	Guardian of the green	Original	14	Hiro Yūki
Marcel	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the green	Shinchō	14	Hiro Yūki
Angelique	Angelique	-	255th Queen of the universe	Original	21	Masako Katsuki
Dia	Angelique	-	Aide of the queen Angelique	Original	21	Atsuko Tanaka
Name	Version	Position	Role	Universe	Age	Voiced by
Angelique Collet	Special 2	Protagonist	Candidate for new universe queen	Original	17
Angelique Collet	3rd Trois	Protagonist	1st Queen of new universe	Original	17
Angelique Collet	4th Etoile+	-	1st Queen of the Seijū	Seijū	17	Yoko Asada
Rachel Hart	Special 2	Rival	Candidate for new universe queen	Original	16	Miki Nagasawa
Rachel Hart	3rd Trois	-	Aide of the queen Collet	Original	16	Miki Nagasawa
Rachel Hart	4th Etoile+	-	Aide of the queen Collet	Seijū	16	Miki Nagasawa
Alphonsia	Special 2	-	The will of new universe	New universe	-	-
Alphonsia	3rd Trois	-		New universe	-	-
Alphonsia	Etoile	-		Seijū	16	Mitsuru Miyamoto
Elda	3rd Trois	-	The missed one	New universe	-	-
Leonard	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the light	Seijū	27	Rikiya Koyama
Francis	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Seijū	23	Tomokazu Sugita
Victor	Special 2	Target	Tutor of the spirit	Original	31	Fumihiko Tachiki
Victor	3rd Trois	Target	Tutor of the spirit	Original	34	Fumihiko Tachiki
Victor	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the earth	Seijū	34	Fumihiko Tachiki
Charlie Won	Special 2	Target	Collaborator	Original	23	Mitsuaki Madono
Charlie Won	3rd Trois	Target	Collaborator	Original	26	Mitsuaki Madono
Charlie Won	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the fire	Seijū	26	Mitsuaki Madono
Timka	Special 2	Target	Tutor of the dignity	Original	13	Atsushi Kisaichi
Timka	3rd Trois	Target	Tutor of the dignity	Original	16	Atsushi Kisaichi
Timka	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the water	Seijū	16	Atsushi Kisaichi
Mel	Special 2	Target	Collaborator	Original	15	Yumi Tōma
Mel	3rd Trois	Target	Collaborator	Original	18	Yumi Tōma
Mel	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the dream	Seijū	18	Yumi Tōma
Heuye	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the wind	Seijū	17	Daisuke Namikawa
Ernst	Special 2	Target	Collaborator	Original	27	Toshiyuki Morikawa
Ernst	3rd Trois	Target	Collaborator	Original	30	Toshiyuki Morikawa
Ernst	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the steel	Seijū	30	Toshiyuki Morikawa
Sei-lan	Special 2	Target	Tutor of the sensibility	Original	19	Tetsuya Iwanaga
Sei-lan	3rd Trois	Target	Tutor of the sensibility	Original	22	Tetsuya Iwanaga
Sei-lan	4th Etoile+	Target	Guardian of the green	Seijū	22	Tetsuya Iwanaga
Arios	3rd Trois	Target	Mysterious man	Original	28	Ken Narita
Arios	4th Etoile+	Target	Shadow of the queen	Unknown	28	Ken Narita
Name	Version	Position	Role	Universe	Age	Voiced by
Ange Sakaki	4th Etoile	Protagonist	Legendary Etoile	Both universes	17
Ange Sakaki	Etoile_anim	Protagonist	Legendary Etoile	Both universes	17	Yōko Honna
Constantan	4th Etoile+	-	Spirit of the monolith	Both universes	?	-
Conrad	4th Etoile	-	Captain of space-ship	Seijū	46	-
Sacrea no seirei	Etoile_anim	-	Spirit of the sacrea	Seijū	?	Akimitsu Takase / Eri Ōno
Moira	Etoile_anim	-	Cosmic mind of Ange	Seijū	?	Yōko Honna
Name	Version	Position	Role	Universe	Age	Voiced by
Ange	Anmina	Protagonist	Candidate for new queen	Reikyō	25
Reina	Anmina	Rival	Candidate for new queen	Reikyō	25	Ryōko Shiraishi
Yue	Anmina	Target	Guaridian of the light	Reikyō	25	Shimba Tsuchiya
Noah	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the darkness	Reikyō	22	Hiroki Nanami
Lorenzo	Anmina	Target	Guaridian of the earth	Reikyō	30	Ryōta Takeuchi
Shuri	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the fire	Reikyō	27	Takuya Satō
Kanata	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the water	Reikyō	18	Takeo Ōtsuka
Felix	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the dream	Reikyō	25	Yūto Uemura
Vergil	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the wind	Reikyō	27	Yu Miyazaki
Xeno	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the steel	Reikyō	19	Nobunaga Shimazaki
Milan	Anmina	Target	Guardian of the green	Reikyō	26	Shōhei Komatsu
Cyrus	Anmina	-	Butler	Reikyō -	28	Yūki Ono
Taira	Anmina	-	Chief of Royal Institute	Reikyō	25	Fumiya Imai

In Angelique Etoile, Original universe is called "the universe of Shinchō " and New universe is called "the universe of Seijū ". Alphonsia is the spirit of New universe. Alphonsia appears in the form of a small animal, thus it is called "seijū".
In Angelique Luminarise, the stage of the game is the third universe. "The universe of Reikyō ".

Titles

Main series

First installment in the series developed by Ruby Party. The game follows Angelique Limoges, an ordinary high school girl, is chosen as a queen candidate. With help from the power of the nine Guardians, she aims to be the next Queen. Angelique is generally considered to have popularized the otome game market. Angelique Voice Fantasy, Angelique Special, and Angelique Duet are all different versions of this game. The game was released on September 23, 1994, for Super Famicom. A Game Boy Advance version was released on March 21, 2003. A full remake titled Angelique Retour was released for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita.

Angelique Special 2

Second installment in the series. Angelique Collet, a girl who lives in the universe that the heroine of the first game now rules, is chosen as a queen candidate for a new universe. The count of male characters increases to include the nine Guardians, as well as three Tutors and three Collaborators.

Angelique Trois

Third installment in the series. Angelique Collet, now queen of a new universe, is drawn into a pocket universe, Arcadia, with the rest of the Angelique Special 2 cast. She develops the wilderness of Arcadia in order to free Elda, a strange being she finds there.

Angelique Etoile

Fourth installment in the series. The main character is a girl from the universe ruled by Angelique Limoges named Ange, who must save the new universe as the "Legendary Etoile". Includes all of the major characters from previous Angelique titles, plus three new "Seijū Universe" Guardians.

Angelique Luminarise'

The first Nintendo Switch installment of the series, scheduled for release on May 20, 2021. The main character is a 25-year-old single office worker. It is the first new entry in the main Angelique series in 18 years.

Spin-offs

Angelique Tenkū no Requiem
Fushigi no Kuni no Angelique

Angelique Limoges is the main character. The goal is to explore the Flying City to find the Guardian's tea party. Though a board game, it has dating sim events and multiple endings.

Sweet Ange

Features the first two heroines, their rivals, the nine Guardians and the tutors and collaborators as students attending the same high school. The goal is to make dessert dishes and get rewards for them. Though a board game, it has dating sim events and multiple endings.

Angelique Maren no Roku Kishi for PlayStation Portable

Games in non-Japanese language

As of May 2022, the game series has been released exclusively in Japanese, except for a Chinese PC version of the first game in 1994. Although KOEI is not opposed to releasing the games in other language than Japanese, in order for such translations to be produced, the existence of enough demand must be shown.

Related media

Software

The first game series

*Angelique Bijutsukan : Released on July 21, 1995. Desktop accessories for Windows and Macintosh.
*Letter Kōbō Angelique Post Clip : Released in 1996. Multi-letter printing software for Windows 95.
*Angelique Screen Cocktail : Released on January 31, 1997. Desktop accessories for Windows 95.
*Angelique Love Love Mail : Released on October 27, 2000. Email software for Windows95/98/Me and MacOS8.1/9.

OVA

''Angelique''

Manga

Angelique Serialized in Monthly Asuka by Kadokawa Shoten in 1996. This manga series was published as ten tankobon books series. Artist is Kairi Yura who is the character designer of the game series Angelique.
Guruguru Angelique
Angelique Retour. two volumes tankobon.
Sengoku Angelique, a 2010 spinoff published in B's LOG Comic Kyun

Anime, OVA series

There are 4 OVA series:

OVA 1 - Angelique: Shiroi Tsubasa no Memoire - sequel to game events
OVA 2 - Angelique: Seichi yori Ai o Komete
OVA 3 - Angelique Twin Collection
OVA 4 - Angelique - based on video game; first series chronologically, prequel to Shiroi Tsubasa no Memoire

Angelique Limoges and Rosalia de Catargena have been chosen as candidates in a Queen Examination - a test to see who is better qualified to be the next Queen of the universe. For this special examination, both girls are given their own continent on a planet. The girls must raise the continents into thriving civilizations and environments. Nine Guardians have been chosen to help the girls raise their continents during the Queen Examination.

Anime, Television series spin-offs

There was a Koi Suru Tenshi Angelique series from 2006 to 2007.

Koi suru Tenshi Angelique: Kokoro no Mezameru Toki 2006 spinoff of the OVAs
Koi suru Tenshi Angelique ~ Kagayaki no Ashita ~ 2007 sequel to 2006 series

CDs

Vocal and soundtrack CDs

Angelique, Yasashī ai no melody Angelique, Fallin' love Angelique, Soiree Angelique, Sing & Talk - Harmonia Vocal collection, Angelique Luminarise Sparkle! 10 March 2022

Drama CDs

Angelique, Hikari to yami no sacrea Angelique, Tokimeki no hōseki-bako Angelique, Koi wa Push & Push! Angelique, Anata no hitomi ni yume-tenshi Angelique, Madowase naide sei-shōjo Angelique duet, Hikōtoshi monogatari Angelique Luminarise, 1st step, 14 October 2020 Angelique Luminarise, 2nd step, 11 November 2020

''Angelique Luminarise, 3rd step, 2 December 2020''

''Gaiden Drama'' series

Angelique Gaiden: Infinite Scale
Angelique Gaiden 2: Outline in Crimson
Angelique Gaiden 3: Mirrors of the Forbidden Land'
''Angelique Gaiden 4: Rainbow Memories''

Reception

Keiko Erikawa established the woman-based game developing team in the mid-1980s. This resulted in the birth of team Ruby Party and the first otome game Angelique in 1994.
The Angelique series greatly promoted and produced the development of otome games and their franchise markets.
The Angelique games sold over 850,000 copies in 2020. Koei-Tecmo has reported sales of the 2021 game Angelique Luminarise in the 30,000s in Japan and Asia in the first quarter of 2021. According to Teitengame.com, the sales ranking of Angelique Luminarise is 132nd, and its total sales in 2021 were 14,506.

Related game series

''Neo Romance'' series

Neo Romance series is the otome game series developed by the women-based group Ruby Party in KOEI.

Angelique series .
Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Second game series of the Neo Romance.
Kin'iro no Corda - Third game series of the Neo Romance.
Neo Angelique - Fourth game series. This is totally different game from the series Angelique. Neither sequel nor spin-off. According to Ruby Party, the world of the series Angelique is the distant past of the Neo Angelique. Therefore, similar gadgets appear, such that the stage of Neo Angelique is888888888888888888 the continent Arcadia, which was the stage of Angelique Trois.