Kara no Shōjo
Kara no Shōjo is an adult visual novel/adventure game video game by Innocent Grey for Windows. It was released in Japan on July 4, 2008, and by MangaGamer for English-speaking markets on June 29, 2011. An HD remastered version of the game was announced by Shiravune on May 21, 2023, set to feature new English and Chinese translations handled by a completely new team. It was released under the title The Shell Part I: Inferno the same year.
Two sequels were later released. For the Shiravune releases, they were re-titled as The Shell Part II: Purgatorio and The Shell Part III: Paradiso.
Gameplay
Kara no Shōjos gameplay primarily revolves around reading dialogue with other characters and making choices that affect the outcome of the game.At certain points in the game the player character, Reiji, is tasked with investigating crime scenes. During these investigation sequences, the player must examine these scenes to uncover evidence and depending on the evidence found, the course of the game can change. After collecting evidence, the player must put it together during inference sequences, in which Reiji must find the best answer from the clues obtained before and answer questions about the case. It is possible, however, to fail an inference sequence by missing a given piece of evidence during a prior investigation; this in turn affects the game's ending.
The game also features a travel system, through which the player can traverse between different locations in Tokyo. The player can only use this a limited number of times per day, and only on certain days.
Plot
Set in a post-World War II Japan during 1956, Kara no Shōjos story revolves around Reiji Tokisaka, a private investigator who is investigating a series of grotesque murders on the request of his former colleague/best friend, Kyozo Uozumi of the Tokyo metropolitan police force. The murders are reminiscent of another string of serial murders that occurred six years ago prior to the game where Reiji lost his fiancée, which drives him with a strong desire to solve this case. Later at a park, Reiji also meets a high school girl from Ouba Girls Academy named Touko Kuchiki, who asks him to find her real self. Reiji is initially unsure of what she means, but later finds out that Toko has an unusually complicated past that may have more to do with the current string of serial killings than Reiji initially expects. While working to solve the growing number of murder cases in Tokyo, Reiji takes some time out to get to know Toko and her friends as well as other students from her school while working behind-the-scenes to unravel the mysteries of her dark past.Characters
;Reiji Tokisaka;Yukari Tokisaka
;Toko Kuchiki
;Toko Mizuhara
;Tsuzuriko "Tojiko" Yosomiya
;Orihime Tsukishima
;Kyozo Uozumi
;Kyoko Hazuki
;Hatsune Amemiya
;Shinji Mamiya
;Nene Akazaki
;Chizuru Kuchiki
;Fumiya Kuchiki
;Yasutada Kuchiki
;Tatsuhiko Kusaka
;Maris Stella
;Mio Mizuhara
;Yorutsuki Mori
;Naoki Murase
;Tokio Saeki
;Tamaki Saito
;Ayumu Sato
;Natsume Takashiro
;Shugo Takashiro
;Ryoichi Yaginuma
;Koharu Yamanouchi
;Yui Nishizono
;Kazuna Takashiro
;Yukiko Miyama
Development
Kara no Shōjo is developed by Innocent Grey. The original concept was by Miki Sugina.An audition for the voice roles of five of the main female characters of Kara no Shojo was held in January 2008. 254 applicants attended the audition.
A sequel to Kara no Shōjo by Innocent Grey was released on February 8, 2013. The final installment Kara no Shōjo: The Last Episode was released in Japan on 25 December 2020.
Release history
Kara no Shōjo released its first demo on May 4, 2008 and later a full version on July 4. Pre-orders of the game came with a unique special packaging and an illustration book spanning 82 pages.An English-language version of Kara no Shōjo was released on June 29, 2011, in a collaboration between MangaGamer and tlwiki. The game can be purchased and downloaded from the MangaGamer website and Steam. MangaGamer released Kara no Shoujo: The Second Episode in English on October 30, 2015.
A HD remaster of the first game was released in Japan on December 20, 2019. It was later released in English and Chinese by Shiravune under the title The Shell Part I: Inferno on July 28, 2023, with the other titles in the trilogy at a later date. These include a new translation directed by John Hooper, unique from the MangaGamer one.
Music
The music for the game is composed Manyo. The opening theme to Kara no Shōjo, named "Ruri no Tori", was performed by Haruka Shimotsuki. The soundtrack for the game, named Azure, was released on the same day as the game on July 4, 2008.Reception
During the month of June 2008, one month before Kara no Shōjo's release on July 4, 2008, Kara no Shōjo ranked sixth in national PC game pre-orders in Japan.Adaptations
A two episode hentai OVA based on the game was made by MS pictures and released in 2010.An American, independent international media distributor Media Blasters released an English dubbed production of the OVA on February 28, 2023 on Blu-ray and DVD in their uncut, uncensored format.