Ameagari no Hanaby is a Japanese indie PC game by developer Enigmatic Network that I literally tripped over while browsing content on Steam. I had no real idea what I was getting into. All I knew was that I found a game with adorable little animal characters and signed myself up.
Ameagari no Hanaby is a 2D platformer about a female tribal squirrel (called Retro Squirrels) named Hanaby. She has a passion for fireworks and wants to travel the world and become a fireworks master. She is clearly underage but has been granted "adulthood" by her tribe to allow her to travel. This underage thing becomes an issue later on as the story gets super weird.
Along the way, Hanaby finds out that most of the world is flooded because of a rain that won't stop. And since fireworks are no fun in the rain, she makes it her quest to find out where all the rain is coming from. This is the general premise of the game, and it is accompanied with some of the best platforming and fireworks-based combat I have ever seen in a game before. Bravo.
Ameagari no Hanaby feels like a game absolutely intended for children from the start of it. [If you have come this far in the blog, you must continue to the end or there could be unintended consequences.] The main character is a child, and everyone she meets speaks in a very simple childlike manner. There was a very simple vibe to the dialog that I remember once seeing in games like Animal Crossing. Each area of the game features a different animal that is prevalent in that part of the world. Everything is extremely cute and family friendly.
This family friendly trend comes to a sudden halt on level 7. I did not see it coming. I was pretty much slapped across the head with this weird turn of events. In level 7, Hanaby is still trying to find the source of the unending rain and is told there is an informant stationed in a spa owned and operated by bunnies. The spa's official title is "X-rated Xanadu."
X-rated Xanadu is a place where bunnies can just be bunnies and relax. Almost the entire spa is made out of soap and water, making everything extremely slippery. There are also floors covered in various-shaped sex toys and very large vibrators all over the map. ... Because bunnies, I guess. ... Bunnies.
Hanaby is still very much underage, so she doesn't really belong there. All the sex toys hurt her and she just wants to get to the informant and escape the adult-based stage. And I know this seems wildly inappropriate, but I couldn't help but enjoy the hilarity of a cub running away from a spa filled with bunnies in heat!
The rest of the game post X-rated Xanadu goes right back to feeling like its for children again. It honestly felt like the whole experience was written for children despite it very clearly being intended for adults all along. And I didn't really get any whiffs of pedophilia because the kid you are playing was clearly out of her element. I was sort of left amazed that this game even exists at all and was not even rated as an adult game on Steam.
The playful energy of this game was extremely addicting to me. The music was a major part of it. Apparently the music was composed by someone only known as AAAA. Whoever this is created a masterful soundtrack which set the cute tone of the game from beginning to end. There was not even one track that I did not enjoy. And best of all, it all fit the levels of which it was playing.
I have not enjoyed a 2D platformer like this since my old Super Nintendo days. Everything about it was polished. All the mechanics were solid. The entire presentation was brilliant. And the Japanese translation was perfect. I do recommenced Ameagari no Hanaby for all reasons, especially since it is so much of a curiosity. However, I would keep it away from children... at least until they get to level 7. I still can't believe that level happened. Did I dream it?
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The Japanese being Japanese, Level 7 was obligatory. Still, I'm sure the shock was fun. Cute story about a cute hero, of course.
ReplyDeleteThe shock really was fun. The narrative didn't really suffer for it either. The writing remained at the same level before, during, and after Level 7.
DeleteI like the concept of fireworks based combat, very imaginative. I laughed at the tribal squirrel part, that's cute. Interesting that it has a sudden adult threshold, contrast can be a powerful tool.
ReplyDeleteThe thrilling surprise of an elaborate serialized world of rabbits did put a smile on my face!
DeleteI have seen a few anime which seemed to be intended for children, yet included scenes that were clearly made for adults. Sometimes the references are subtle, and other times they are quite blatant. Anime often delights in making things uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteIn this case it was shocking and even rather confusing to the main character. Even though Hanaby had her adulthood granted in a tribal way, she still was clearly a child.
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