Amagami


Amagami, is a Japanese dating simulation game for the PlayStation 2 and the spiritual successor to KimiKiss, both of which were developed and published by Enterbrain. Amagami was released on March 19, 2009., six manga adaptations have been produced: two serialized in Enterbrain's Famitsu Comic Clear, two in Hakusensha's Young Animal and Young Animal Island, one in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Maoh and one in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace. An anime adaptation titled Amagami SS aired in Japan from July 1, 2010, to December 23, 2010. An anime sequel titled Amagami SS+ plus, pronounced as "Amagami SS Plus", aired in Japan from January 6, 2012, to March 29, 2012.

Plot

Two years ago, Junichi Tachibana had his heart broken by a girl who stood him up on a date on Christmas Eve. Now a second-year student in high school, Junichi is wary of love because of his past and dislikes celebrating Christmas. However this Christmas, his encounter with one of six girls from his school: Haruka Morishima, Kaoru Tanamachi, Sae Nakata, Ai Nanasaki, Rihoko Sakurai, or Tsukasa Ayatsuji will finally open up his heart to love again.

Characters

Main characters

;Junichi Tachibana
;Haruka Morishima
;Kaoru Tanamachi
;Sae Nakata
;Ai Nanasaki
;Rihoko Sakurai
;Tsukasa Ayatsuji

Supporting characters

;Miya Tachibana
;Maya Takahashi
;Masayoshi Umehara
;Kanae Itō
;Keiko Tanaka
;Hibiki Tsukahara
;Ruriko Yuzuki
;Manaka Hiba
;Yukari Ayatsuji
;Risa Kamizaki
;Jessica "Sexy" Morishima
;Masa & Ken
;Kaoru's Uncle

Adaptations

Game ports

The game saw an updated re-release with a number of bug fixes under the name of EbiKore+ Amagami and a port to the PlayStation Portable with the same title on March 31, 2011, this time with Kadokawa Games as the publisher. This version features a playable Mahjong minigame. The PSP version requires at least PSP Firmware 6.31 to run. A port was also released for the PlayStation Vita on 30 January 2014.
The game only was only released in Japan. However, there are current fan translation for an english version of the game, most notably by Nishishi Translation who are independently translating the psp game

Manga

An anime television series adaptation by AIC titled Amagami SS aired from July 2, 2010, to December 23, 2010, in Japan. The anime adaptation is divided into six four-episode story arcs where each arc focuses on one of the main heroines who will become Junichi's love interest along with two extra episodes that focuses on Risa Kamizaki and Miya Tachibana. Also included are two bonus OVA Short Story DVDs that were delivered to customers who ordered the first six Blu-ray/DVDs for the first OVA and the next six Blu-ray/DVDs for the second OVA. On May 21, 2011, Sentai Filmworks announced at Anime Central 2011 they have licensed the anime series for North America. On August 13, 2011, it was announced that Amagami SS will get a second season.
The anime has ten pieces of theme music: two opening themes and eight ending themes; each ending theme is sung by the voice actresses of the heroines of the series in their respective story arc. The first opening theme is "i Love" by azusa which ran from episode 1 to 13 and was released on July 19, 2010. The second opening theme is "Kimi no Mama de" by azusa which was used from episode 14 to 26 and was released on October 20, 2010. The first ending theme, used for episodes one through four, is "Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru" by Shizuka Itō and was released on July 21, 2010. The second ending theme, used for episodes five through eight, is "Kitto Ashita wa..." by Rina Satō and was released on August 18, 2010. The third ending theme, used for episodes nine through twelve, is "Anata Shika Mienai" by Hiromi Konno and was released on September 15, 2010. The fourth ending theme, used for episodes 13 through 16, is "Koi wa Mizuiro" by Yukana and was released on October 20, 2010. The fifth ending theme, used for episodes 17 through 20, is "Koi wa Aserazu" by Ryōko Shintani and was released on November 17, 2010. The sixth ending theme, used for episodes 21 through 24, is "Nageki no Tenshi" by Kaori Nazuka and was released on December 15, 2010. The seventh ending theme, used for episode 25 is "Koi no Yukue" by Mai Kadowaki. The eighth and final ending theme, used for episode 26 is "Suteki na Aru Hi" by Kana Asumi. Both the seventh and eighth ending themes were released on January 19, 2011.

Reception

The anime adaptation received positive reviews. THEM anime gave Amagami SS 3 out of 5 stars. They sum up the review saying it could have been better but overall an enjoyable series for older teens. Chris Beveridge from The Fandom Post gave the complete collection content a grade of A−. He recommended it for fans wanting different story arcs, and cited that it plays to the series roots as a video game.

Footnotes