A modern Japanese-style fantasy story involving Yue, a young boy born and raised at a shrine, and his friendship with the “Ayakashi” spirits.
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi Tsuzuri (Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino) is a fantasy visual novel, that was released on PC in Japan in 2011 by doujin group, HaccaWorks*. The game has also been adapted into a novel, a 10 volume manga series (licensed in English by Yen Press) and a Drama CD.
The game was rereleased in 2014 for the PSP with an updated story and additional content. And now, it’s coming to the West on Steam and the Nintendo Switch on February 29, 2024 by Dramatic Create and HuneX.
This new port will feature all the content of the PSP version with multi-language text support (Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese)!
Story
Yue is a young boy, born in a mountain shrine in the town of Utsuwa.
One day, he attends the winter festival together with his childhood friend, a black fox named Kurogitsune.
The lanterns burn bright red, and the people are buzzing. As Yue sees the outside world for the first time in his life, he meets two mysterious boys.
Upon returning to the mountain, the owner of the shrine, Mikoto, told him.
Prepare the “meal”.
Characters
Yue (Protagonist)
VA. Shinnosuke Tachibana
Likes to take things at his own pace. He enjoys being lazy, but also has a curious side to him.
He descends from the mountain for the first time on the day of the winter festival…
Kurogitsune
VA. Kei Shindo
A black fox that has been together with Yue since he was a child. He is a good friend, and a self-proclaimed big brother to Yue. Strong-willed and straightforward, he is an open book to those around him.
Togo Tsubaki
VA. Daichu Mizushima
A second-year student at Utsuwa High School.
He lives together with his father and little sister. He has a rather mature personality for his age, and is a caring eldest son. Both he and Yue seem to remember something about each other…
Akiyoshi Tochika
VA. Takahiro Sakurai
A second-year student at Utsuwa High School, he is the son of the heir of a large land-owning family.
Due to his severe allergies he is always carrying a box of tissues under his arm.
He has a straightforward personality, for better or for worse. After having met Yue at the festival, he is trying to uncover his true identity.
Sagano
VA. Kosuke Toriumi
A mysterious man who appears at twilight. Even though he’s always smiling, there’s something not quite right about him.
He acts as if he knows Yue.
Game Gallery
Updated Content in Switch/Stream Version
- Digital illustration collection.
- Updated game specifications and user interface.
- Multiple languages support (Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese).
Product Details and Specs
| Title | Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi Tsuzuri (あかやあかしやあやかしの 綴） |
| Platform | Steam & Nintendo Switch |
| Genres | Supernatural Mystery |
| Creator | HaccaWorks* |
| Publishers | Dramatic Create & HuneX |
| Languages | Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese) Note: Voices in Japanese only |
| Rating | ESRB T(Teen) – Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | Scheduled for February 29, 2024 |
This is such a susprising (and fantastic) piece of news! I’ve been eyeing Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino from afar and pining about it for years now, as someone who loves everything indie and has been curious/fascinated about doujin games without being able to read most of them. Never thought it’d come to the West one day, but gosh I’m so happy about it!! Thank you *so much* for this! 🙂
There haven’t been that many examples thus far, but to me it seems that more and more indie JP devs are slowly taking chances with market outside of Japan, and I sincerely hope this trend sticks! I want to get to experience more stories, especially those told by people creating outside of big publishing structures… I don’t even care if the translations are less polished, I wanna play more of those games^^
(tangentially related but I hope you’ve been enjoying Dormitory Love, since you mentioned starting the game in your retrospective post! It’s got so much charm -I love Mirin’s art and use of light colors<3-, and I ended up way more taken in than I'd expected to be for what was essentially a slice-of-life romcom – I'd been disappointed by Lover Pretend just before and DL ended up filling precisely the kind of need that this game failed to for me; I basically binged it and finished it in less than a week, whoops. Oo
Dunno how much weight this has… from your reading your posts I know there are things on which we have very differing tastes, but I hope it can be as much of an enjoyable time for you as it was for me, if you do decide to play more of it!)
I had never heard of this game till I saw it on twitter (I thought it was a new BL at first lol). But, I like that it’s just a visual novel and not a romance, I think we need more story driven games that aren’t inherently romantic.
Also you’re right we def need more indie Japanese VNs too. I really liked Suki Da, though I will admit to slacking on Dormitory Love lol You’ve given it such high praise I might have to bump it up my list!
“But, I like that it’s just a visual novel and not a romance, I think we need more story driven games that aren’t inherently romantic.”
Ironic because I’ve been really hankering for more romance and (engaging) smutty content in my games latelyOo But yeah, personal phases aside, you’re 100% right! I’m glad mystery/thriller VNs have had a bit of a boom in recent years, but there may still be a lot of ground to cover outside of these genres. I think it’s also a matter of how those games are percieved and advertised, when they’re being produced. There’s a lot of neat stuff hiding in the cracks that’s bound to remain more niche than romance-heavy games, because they don’t have this as a selling point. We’re lucky now to have more and more media coverage around otome, yaoi, yuri, etc. games, but games that are outside of those umbrellas would be harder to look for and find, I assume!
…. I’m always looking for new discoveries, in any case, and would be happy to trade titles if you feel like it (and assuming your backlog isn’t too huge already!!)
And oh, please don’t feel pressured to bump up Dormitory Love on my account! Besides, I feel like you’ll enjoy it all the more if you’re specifically in the mood for some light slice-of-life shenanigans. By the dev’s own admission the characters are based more on anime clichés than real nationals, and it shows (as a French person, Guillaume is *especially* hilarious to me 😀 He’s such a little brat, too, but I couldn’t stay mad at him^^;) but even so I found it to be super heartwarming. I LOVE ensemble casts in otome, and I was eating up all the field trips and dinners and romantic questioning…
If you do end up playing, though, I hope it’ll be article-worthy, whether positive or negative- I’ll most likely eat up your review, as well ^^