Morenatsu

Morenatsu
Morenatsu Logo
Genre	kemono yaoi
Developer	Morenatsu Team
Ratings	18+
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese (with unofficial English translation)
Platforms	Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
Media Type	Digital Download

Morenatsu (漏れなつ。 My Summer Vacation) was a Japanese adult kemono gay visual novel/dating sim.

Plot

During the summer vacation in a city, the protagonist-player Hiroyuki Nishimura gets a letter from a friend in the village in which he spent his childhood but from which he moved away 5 years ago. His grandparents currently live there, so he decides to return.

At the bus stop in the village, he sees an anthropomorphic tiger named Torahiko, who was one of his childhood friends. Torahiko tells Hiroyuki that later there will be a welcome-back party for him at a restaurant. There the player is greeted by all his anthropomorphic childhood friends, in addition to a newcomer lion named Soutarou who moved to the village three years ago. The player must then choose who Hiroyuki will sit with.

The rest of the plot depends entirely on who Hiroyuki sat with, who becomes his love interest based on the players actions throughout the game. Some parts of the storyline are shared between plots, such as the Beach and Camping trips, but otherwise each plot offers a vastly different story. In addition, each story typically has a good and bad ending, however in some　plots joke endings are available as well.

Characters

A screenshot from the English translation of Morenatsu (From Left to Right: Juuichi, Shun, Torahiko, Soutarou, Kyouji).

• Hiroyuki Nishimura - The player
• Torahiko Ooshima (大島虎彦) - Tiger +
• Shin Kuroi (黒井深) - Cat
• Tatsuki Midoriya (翠屋辰樹) - Dragon, the carpenter
• Kouya Aotsuki (蒼月洸哉) - Dog
• Juuichi Mikazuki (三日月柔一) - Bear
• Shun Kodori (古酉峻) -Wolf
• Kounosuke Kuri (九狸孝之助) - Japanese Racoon (Tanuki)
• Kyouji Takahara (高原京慈) Dog (Labrador Retriever) +
• Soutarou Touno (橙野宗太郎) - Lion +

+ Remained unplayable

History

The Original Version

The First Period (2003 - 2005)

In January 2003, on a gay furry thread (Title: "獣人、獣キャラが好きなゲイ集まれ!"), on a gay board (大人の同性愛板), of the Japanese textboard 2ch, a user named "640", who was an amateur musician, posted a plan for a visual novel. It was warmly accepted by the other users and in the first half of the same year, 640 launched the whole project of Morenatsu. By 15 June, developers had been recruited from 2ch. The first member was 640, the director, new, the writer, Kukiwakame (茎わかめ), the programmer, and gamma-g (γ), the designer and illustrator. Their first aim was the release in Summer 2004, however, it seems that the project hit a snag by the end of 2004, possibly due to the lack of management of 640.

In May 2005, after the trouble between the staff, the team was re-organized. However, the team was re-organized again due to the trouble and discussion, beginning with the post by 640 on the Paint BBS in November 2005.

The Second Period (2005 - 2007)

In December 2005, gamma-g, the main and the most influential among the former team became the director, and in August 2006 the new staff weblog was re-opened However, as a result, he was unable to develop the plan.

The Third Period (2007 - 2015)

In May 2007, the project resumed under Penpen (ペンペン), one of the members of the former team, having been writing the scenario of Torahiko. At the same time, gamma-g quit the project.When they released the prototype version in November 2007, they announced they were going to release the complete version in the end of March 2008. However, it was postponed on March 26, 2008. It was then determined that it was to be released at the end of 2008, only for it to be postponed again due to the lack of the quality, for detail, the delay of writing of the script and drawing of some graphics.

Indeed, it was the first half of the 2010s that this game was developed and released, no matter how early the project was started. It was in August 2010, after over two years, that they finally released the route of Tatsuki and Konosuke. In September 2011, the route of Shun and Kouya was released It was in December 2012 that the route of Juuichi and Shin was released, 　but this was actually the final release.

Discontinuance

In 2013, the project was stopped once again, and finally, on July 20, 2015, the development on the game suddenly ceased, leaving the routes of Torahiko, Kyouji and Soutarou to remain undeveloped.

Unofficial English translation

The first unofficial English fan translation was released in March 2012. Labelled unofficial due to the original developers not wishing for translations to be made, under threat of IP bans from the download site, this version is how many in the furry visual novel community came to know about and appreciate Morenatsu.

Fan Revivals

Morenatsu ~Revisited~ (2017)

A fan remake that rewrites the story and expands it. In November 2017, a Tumblr user by the name of DzahnDragon decided to recreate Morenatsu, while making many alterations to the story in an attempt to resolve any plot contrivances of the original game. This iteration, titled Morenatsu ~Revisited~ sought to bring a completion to the undeveloped routes, and flesh out the existing story. Morenatsu ~Revisited~ released its first demo to mostly positive reviews. As development continued, another three members were added, and thus, Stormsinger Studios was created. As time passed, it became clear that new assets would be required, and as such, an artist was brought onboard. Development was eventually cancelled, and the developers moved on to develop Homecoming ~Morenatsu Revisited~.

Homecoming ~Morenatsu Revisited~ (2017 - current)

In developing Morenatsu ~Revisited~, it became obvious to Stormsinger Studios that the different assets clashed too much from the original, and it was decided to start the project anew, using only original assets. This iteration would be titled Homecoming ~Morenatsu Revisited~, and it would be the birth of a completely new Morenatsu.

Homecoming has often been the topic of controversy within the furry VN scene, as many artistic licenses were taken. For example, Hiroyuki has had his species altered, and is now an arctic fox. All references of humans have also been removed, and characters have had their ages adjusted, the latter most likely due to legal reasons. Homecoming has also expanded upon the events that unfold within the story. Whereas in the original Morenatsu, Hiroyuki would have only one interaction per day, in Homecoming, there are multiple interactions per day. This leads to increased play time, and as paths intersect, a much more varied experience.

Homecoming ~Morenatsu Revisited~ changed hands twice. In 2019, while DzahnDragon has shifted his primary focus to his own original project, he handed control of Homecoming to Frostclaw, who became the primary developer in his place. In mid-2021, Frostclaw stepped down as project director, returning control back to DzahnDragon. However, he still maintains an active role in the project, as both a writer and the director of the iOS version. With this shift in leadership came the announcements that all sprites would be receiving a renewal which would see them more closely resemble those found in the original Morenatsu, while also having their own unique elements to them.

The current build can be found on the group's project page or on their official website.

Morenatsu Revival (2018)

A Ren'Py port, and fan continuation of the original paths/story that was eventually discontinued.

Notes

There was no official patch for translating to the foreign languages because the staff thought that they were not able to take care of it.

External links

The official pages

The First Period

• The official website in 2003
• The official website in 2004
• The new official BBS
• The paint BBS - It was maintained until 2008, the early of the third period.
• The weblog - Only updated in Sep 2003
• The BBS for the readers
• The weblog

The Third Period

• Morenatsu Official Site
• Morenatsu Development Blog

Unofficial pages

All those without linguistic explanation was written in Japanese.

• Morenatsu Fan Wikia (English)
• 獣人、獣キャラが好きなゲイ集まれ! - The very first beginning of the development of this game was res. no. 626.

Downloads

• Morenatsu and Morenatsu Revival downloads - A list of Morenatsu and Morenatsu Revival download links.
• Morenatsu Revival - A Ren'Py port of the original Morenatsu, using the unofficial English translation.
• Homecoming ~Morenatsu Revisited~ - The most well-known remake of Morenatsu, currently in active development.