No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system. This edition also gives increased attention to script analysis for. Marowitz, Uta Hagen, and David Mamet. The dictionary says that a pattern is a combination. How good should your translation be before editing? They have to deal with what they’re given. Furthermore, many editors working on fan translations, and well, translations period, are not very good at the job. I’m saying this: for the love of visual novels, try. If you ask me, before you hand your script to the editor, you should.
Saya no Uta | |
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Cover art, featuring the titular heroine Saya's appearance as perceived from the abnormal viewpoint of the protagonist Fuminori Sakisaka | |
Developer(s) | Nitroplus |
Publisher(s) | |
Director(s) | Gen Urobuchi |
Producer(s) | Digitarou |
Artist(s) | Higashiguchi Chuuou |
Writer(s) | Gen Urobuchi |
Composer(s) | Zizz Studio |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Android[1] |
Release | Microsoft Windows
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Genre(s) | Visual novel, Eroge |
Mode(s) | Single player |
Saya no Uta (沙耶の唄, lit. Song of Saya) is a Lovecraftian horrorvisual novel by Nitroplus with erotic content. The original plot was written by Gen Urobuchi. In 2009, an English fan translation patch was released. Later, in 2013, JAST USA released an English localization using an improved version of the fan translation.
A three-issue comic book based on Saya no Uta, called Song of Saya, has been produced by IDW Publishing.[2][3] The issues were released from February though April 2010.[4]
A feature film adaptation is currently being developed by Sav! The World Productions.[5]
Plot[edit]
Fuminori Sakisaka is a young medical student whose life changes when he is involved in a car accident along with his parents, killing them and wounding him. He wakes from an exaggerated form of agnosia that causes him to see the world as covered in gore and people as hideous monsters. As he contemplates suicide in the hospital, he meets Saya, who he sees as a beautiful young girl, but is in reality a horrific monster from another dimension whose appearance drives people mad. Due to their circumstances, the two become close and move in together, becoming lovers and incredibly dependent on one another.
Fuminori's cold attitude toward his friends (whom he also sees as hideous monsters) worries them. After Yoh, who has a crush on Fuminori, attempts to confess her feelings, her friend Omi goes to confront Fuminori—and promptly becomes food for Saya. It is with this incident that Fuminori unknowingly tastes human flesh, finding it delicious due to his warped senses. As Koji investigates Fuminori's strange actions, Saya visits Fuminori's neighbor, Yosuke, and changes his brain into the same as Fuminori's as an experiment. Yosuke, driven insane, kills his family and assaults Saya before being killed by Fuminori.
From here, Saya offers to change Fuminori's brain to before the accident. If Fuminori accepts, his agnosia disappears, but Saya leaves him, as she wishes for him not to see her true form. Fuminori is arrested and confined in a mental hospital. Saya leaves to look for her missing 'father', Professor Ogai, while Fuminori swears to wait forever for her return.
If Fuminori declines Saya's offer, he will learn that he has killed his neighbor and has been eating human flesh. Fuminori decides to take care of the suspicious Koji, driving him to Ogai's mountain cabin and attempting to kill him by pushing him into a well. Saya assaults Yoh before mutating her into the same being as Saya as part of a plan to give Fuminori a 'family'. This act puts Yoh through hours of torturous pain, and she is reduced to a sex slave for Fuminori's and Saya's desires.
Fuminori's psychiatrist, Doctor Ryoko Tanbo, saves Koji from the well, aware of Saya and already investigating Ogai. The two discover a secret chamber in the well and find Ogai's corpse as well as his research of Saya and her species. Koji returns home and discovers Omi's and the Suzumi family's flesh in his refrigerator. From here, Koji can either call Ryoko or Fuminori. If Koji calls Fuminori, the two confront each other at an abandoned sanctuary. Koji attempts to kill Fuminori but instead finds Yoh, who begs for him to kill her and end her pain. Koji, driven insane by her monstrous appearance, shoots her and beats her to death with a steel pipe before engaging in battle with Fuminori. He overpowers Fuminori but is killed by Saya before he can deliver the fatal blow. Saya then collapses and reveals that she is pregnant. She releases her spores as her 'last gift' to Fuminori, who looks on in joy as the spores target humanity, changing all of them into the same beings as Saya. Ryoko, hiding in Ogai's mountain cabin, finishes transcribing his research and learns all she can about Saya and her race before resigning herself to her fate of mutation.
If Koji calls Ryoko, the two confront Fuminori. During the fight, Koji still kills Yoh, but before he can be killed by Saya, Ryoko throws liquid nitrogen on her, freezing her. Despite being mortally wounded by Fuminori, Ryoko manages to shoot Saya and shatter the ice. Fuminori then commits suicide, with Saya dying alongside him. Koji is left as the only survivor of the story, unable to live as he did before now that he knows the 'truth' of the world; he is haunted by nightmares and the thought that more beings like Saya exist. He purchases a single bullet for his revolver in the hopes that, when he is unable to carry on anymore, he can commit suicide and find salvation in death.
Characters[edit]
- Fuminori Sakisaka (匂坂 郁紀Sakisaka Fuminori)
- Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (credited as Hikaru)
- The protagonist of the game. A medical school student, he suffers a near-fatal traffic accident which kills his parents and leaves his perception of life permanently altered. As he wades through a 'world gone berserk' of flesh and blood, he seeks the affection of the only thing he sees as normal — a mysterious girl named Saya, whom he falls madly in love with. Over time due to Saya's influence, Fuminori views normal people with apathetic disdain and becomes willing to kill others without remorse with only Saya and later, Yoh as exceptions. Unless he accepts Saya's offer of removing his agnosia, he gradually becomes a villain over the course of the story: a ruthless killer, rapist, and cannibal, finding human flesh delicious through his twisted senses. In the American comic book release, he is known as Josh.
- Saya (沙耶Saya)
- Voiced by: Naoko Takano (credited as Midori Kawamura)
- Saya is a being from another dimension who materialized in this universe for the sole purpose of reproduction. She has no memories of where she came from and is guided only by her instincts. Due to Fuminori's condition, he perceives her as a little young girl in a white dress, but in actuality she is some sort of amorphous, tentacled, fleshy abomination that emits a putrid stench and produces slime. She preys on creatures of all sizes, from cats to human beings, typically killing them by snapping their necks or disembowelment through some unknown means, and then feasting on their internal organs. She is apparently capable of projecting a strong acid which she uses to partially digest her food before consuming it, and, in one case, to infiltrate a house by melting the glass of a window. Her true form is never fully revealed, as she immediately kills and consumes any third-party observers and notably because her visage is incomprehensible to humans, rendering them insane. The small amount of information regarding her actual form is gleaned entirely from in-game descriptions, which themselves are rather vague and never go into detail.
- Koji Tonoh (戸尾 耕司Tonoo Kōji)
- Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (credited as Dajitoro Kataoka)
- Fuminori's friend. After Fuminori's accident he has been trying to help Fuminori's life get back to normal. However, after Koji is almost killed by Fuminori and learns the truth of Fuminori's new character, Koji directly confronts Fuminori's actions and attempts to kill him, with or without the help of Ryoko, depending on the choices made.
- Omi Takahata (高畠 青海Takahata Ōmi)
- Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Credited as Erena Kaibara)
- Kōji's girlfriend and Yoh's best friend. Since Fuminori's accident she has become worried for Yoh's sake. After Fuminori blatantly rejects Yoh, Omi goes to Fuminori's house to confront him, but is killed by Saya there and her dismembered remains are stashed in the refrigerator as food for Saya and Fuminori.
- Yoh Tsukuba (津久葉 瑤Tsukuba Yō)
- Voiced by: Mio Yasuda (credited as Izumi Yazawa)
- A friend of Fuminori who has a crush on him. Since his accident she has been worried and heartbroken at his sudden change of attitude towards the world. During the story, Yoh is kidnapped and assaulted by Saya before being mutated into the same being she is over hours of tortuous transformation. Fuminori was then able to view Yoh as he originally did afterwards. However, the change caused Yoh unbearable pain and she begged Koji to kill her later in the story. Koji's mind snaps from the sight of her monstrous form and he beats her to death with a steel pipe in his horror and confusion.
- Ryoko Tanbo (丹保 凉子Tanbo Ryōko)
- Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (credited as Makoto Sato)
- The physician in charge of Fuminori's condition. She becomes suspicious that Fuminori has been hiding something during his routine checkups after he recovers from his injuries. She is revealed to be a callous and paranoid woman searching for the truth behind Ogai's heinous actions, and becomes obsessed with killing Saya, the monster of her nightmares. Depending on the ending, Ryoko either lives and figures out the truth of Saya before mutating, or dies in battle but manages to take Saya with her.
- Yosuke Suzumi (鈴見 洋祐Suzumi Yōsuke)
- Voiced by: Masayuki Onizawa
- One of Fuminori's neighbours, a kindly yet somewhat judgemental man who likes to paint. He lives with his wife and daughter in a blissful lifestyle free of want. However, Yosuke's life is turned upside down when Saya changes his brain to the same as Fuminori's in an experiment. Yosuke then turns insane, kills his wife and daughter, who he now perceives as hideous monsters, before raping Saya. He is killed by Fuminori in revenge.
- Masahiko Ogai (奥涯 雅彦Ōgai Masahiko)
- Former professor at the university hospital who disappeared after an incident at the hospital. Both Saya (who calls him 'father') and Ryoko had tried to find him in the past, to no avail.
Soundtrack[edit]
Made by ZIZZ STUDIO.
- 'Schizophrenia'
- 'Sabbath'
- 'Seek'
- 'Spooky Scape'
- 'Song of Saya I'
- 'Song of Saya II'
- 'Sin'
- 'Sunset'
- 'Shapeshift'
- 'Scare Shadow'
- 'Scream'
- 'Savage'
- 'Silent Sorrow'
- 'Song of Saya' (沙耶の唄Saya no Uta), sung by Kanako Itō
- 'Shoes of Glass' (ガラスのくつGarasu no Kutsu), sung by Kanako Itō
Reception[edit]
Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku observed the game as being 'known as one of the most messed-up games ever released',[6] but praises how the game makes the player sympathize with the villains—'But perhaps the most fascinating thing about The Song of Saya is that somehow, in the middle of all the horrors it presents, it manages to make the abominable, beautiful.'[7]
Gen Urobuchi noted that the popularity of his later work Puella Magi Madoka Magica rekindled interest in Saya no Uta in 2011, so much so that Saya no Uta 'made at least as much money as if it's a new game'.[8]
References[edit]
- ^'Android版『沙耶の唄』配信開始!' (in Japanese). Nitroplus. April 17, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^Manning, Shaun (March 4, 2010). 'Liatowitsch & Ocvirk Sing a 'Song of Saya''. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
- ^THEoDEAD (April 22, 2010). 'EXCLUSIVE: Interview With 'Song Of Saya' Team Daniel Liatowitsch And Todd Ocvirk PLUS A 5 Page Look At Issue #1!'. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
- ^'February's Exciting New Books from IDW!'. IDW Publishing. November 24, 2009. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^'Interview avec Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, le créateur d'Oban !' [Interview with Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, the creator of Oban!] (in French). Otacrew. March 1, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^'Song of Saya Has its Own American Comic Book (And It's Not Very Good)'. Kotaku. May 21, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^'Saya no Uta — The Song of Saya: The Kotaku Review'. Kotaku. May 21, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^Kajita, Mafia (June 17, 2011). 「鬼哭街」から「沙耶の唄」「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」までミッチリ質問攻め! [Very hard barrage of questions from Kikoku street, Song of Saya to Magical Girl Madoka ☆ Magika!] (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
External links[edit]
- Official website(in Japanese)
- Saya no Uta at the Visual Novel Database
- Saya no Uta on IMDb
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saya_no_Uta&oldid=911764793'
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saya no Uta | |
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Developer(s) | Nitroplus |
Publisher(s) | Nitroplus |
Platform(s) | Windows98/2000/Me/XP/Vista |
Release date(s) | December 26, 2003 |
Genre(s) | Visual novel |
Mode(s) | Single player |
Rating(s) | 18+ |
Media | CD-ROM |
System requirements | PentiumII 300MHz, 32MB RAM, 800x600 16bit display, DirectX 8.1. |
Saya no Uta(沙耶の唄?, lit. Saya's Song) is a visual novel by Nitroplus with horror elements.
Like Nitroplus' heavily Mythos-inspired Demonbane series, Saya no Uta's plot is somewhat Lovecraftian. Although direct references to the Cthulhu Mythos are minimal, the dark, eerie atmosphere is reminiscent of his works.
Many plotlines of Saya no Uta are similar to the manga Phoenix - Resurrection, specifically the life of Robita. At one point of the dialog, the main character explicitly references these similarities.
On February 24, 2009, the complete English 1.0 translation patch was released. The patch, while requiring a copy of the original game, translates the entire script in the game, allowing the fans who may not understand the Japanese language to enjoy the story as well. As of 7/09, this patch was no longer online, as JAST Usa bought the rights. It is, in fact, using this patch to produce the final version[citation needed].
A comic book based on Saya no Uta, called Song of Saya is in production by IDW Publishing and is slated for February 2010 release[1].
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Plotline
Fuminori Sakisaka is a young medical student, whose life is changed when he gets in a traffic accident which kills his parents and leaves him heavily injured. Fuminori undergoes experimental brain surgery to save his life, but the surgery has an unintended side-effect - it creates a form of agnosia, causing his senses to become 'warped'. Everything he sees looks as if they were made out of flesh and human organs, people resemble monsters of rotten flesh in appearance and voice, and food that normally appeals to him tastes disgusting.
As he contemplates suicide in the hospital, Fuminori meets a beautiful, human looking girl among the flesh-covered walls. She introduces herself as Saya, and is apparently looking for her father. Fuminori does not want to be separated from Saya, and asks her to live with him. She agrees.
However, just as Fuminori sees normal things as flesh and blood, the reverse is also true. Saya is actually an intelligent creature from another universe. Though her actual form is never directly shown, it is described in the text, and an apparently identical being appears onscreen toward the end - and, ironically, is similar to the raw-looking, misshapen monstrosities which haunt Fuminori's world. The ultimate goal of her life is to spread her life-form into this universe through the original life-form with the highest level of intelligence: the human being. She learned everything about humanity from her 'father', an eccentric Bio-medical scientist named Masahiko Ōgai, the first person to interact with Saya. She finds out the motive of human reproduction is 'love', and the process is carried out by females. Consequently, she considers herself as a girl, looking for 'love' to prepare for the final reproduction. However, because of her grotesque appearance, she had no chance to succeed - until she met Fuminori.
After her first contact died, she stayed in the hospital to continue her study and to look for the next relationship with a human being, which unfortunately results in a horror story in that hospital. Fuminori's experience also provides her the chance to learn the skills of modifying brains and bodies of human being.
The truth is revealed when Fuminori comes home to see Saya eating the slime-covered corpse of Ōmi, a girl he knows which appears as a yellow-green jelly-like thing in Fuminori's eyes. The smell and texture was described by Fuminori as 'herb-like scent, looks like a variety of succulent fruits'. When he tries it, he actually finds the human flesh delicious due to his twisted senses.
Endings
There are three endings to the visual novel, depending on the choices that the player makes during the course of the game:
- Ending 1
- Saya helps Fuminori return to normal, but suddenly leaves because she does not want to reveal her true form to Fuminori. Fuminori contacts the police, is charged with murder, and becomes confined in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life. Saya visits Fuminori once and, refusing to let Fuminori see her and hear her real voice, communicates using texts messages in a cell phone passed through an opening in the door. Fuminori confesses his love and promises to comfort her at any time. Saya leaves to search for her father, and Fuminori continues to wait in his cell. It is implied that the two never meet again.
- Ending 2
- Saya and Fuminori kill Kōji together. Afterwards, it turns out that Saya has reached the last stage and ultimate goal of her life: reproduction. Saya dies while releasing a spore-like matter into the atmosphere—a mutating agent aimed at humans, created by researching the human genome obtained during sex with Fuminori. The agent is spread across the globe by updrafts, slowly turning the entire human population into members of Saya's species. The end of the story is seen from Ryōko's perspective, and it is implied that Fuminori, although without Saya, will see beauty in the world once again since it will be filled with her kind. However, though this ending is described as beautiful in Fuminori's eyes, it is very dark to the rest as everyone else will now have to suffer in Fuminori's place.
- Ending 3
- Ryōko froze Saya then Ryōko shoots her. Fuminori, thinking that Saya is dead, kills Ryoko and commits suicide. Saya crawls to Fuminori's body but killed by Kōji. Kōji turns insane. His life becomes almost unbearable, leaving him riddled with delusions of the dismembered corpses talking to him repeatedly and suicidal thoughts. It is implied that eventually he would kill himself.
Characters
- Fuminori Sakisaka (匂坂 郁紀Sakisaka Fuminori?)
- Voiced by:Hikaru
- The protagonist of the game. A medical school student, he suffers a near-fatal traffic accident which kills his parents and leaves his perception of life permanently altered. As he wades through the 'world gone berserk' of flesh and blood, he seeks the affection of the only thing he sees as normal — a mysterious girl named Saya. Over time due to Saya's influence, Fuminori views normal people with apathetic disdain and becomes willing to kill others without remorse with only Saya and later, Yō as exceptions.
- Saya (沙耶Saya?)
- Voiced by: Midori Kawamura
- The only person Fuminori sees as normal. She has become Fuminori's pillar of support in the world he sees. Saya is actually an extraterrestrial being who appears and sounds normally similar to how human beings appear in Fuminori's senses. Due to Fuminori's condition, Saya looks and sounds like a human girl to his perceived senses.
- Kōji Tonoo (戸尾 耕司Tonoo Kōji?)
- Voiced by: Daijiro Kataoka
- Fuminori's friend. After Fuminori's accident he has been trying to help Fuminori's life get back to normal. After Kōji is almost killed by Fuminori and learns the truth of Fuminori's new character, Kōji directly confronts Fuminori's actions and attempts to kill him.
- Ōmi Takahata (高畠 青海Takahata Ōmi?)
- Voiced by:Kaibara Elena
- Kōji's girlfriend and Yō's best friend. After Fuminori's accident she has become worried for Yō's sake. After Fuminori blatantly rejects Yō, Ōmi investigates by going to Fuminori's house. Inside Fuminori's house, Ōmi is killed by Saya.
- Yō Tsukuba (津久葉 瑶Tsukuba Yō?)
- Voiced by:Izumi Yazawa
- A friend of Fuminori's who has a crush on him. Since his accident she has been worried and heartbroken at his sudden change of attitude towards the world. When she goes to investigate the disappearance of Ōmi, Yō is captured by Saya. Yō is subjected to an experiment by Saya and becomes genetically altered into the same type of creature as Saya after twenty hours. Fuminori was then able to view Yō as he originally did afterwards. However, the change caused Yō unbearable pain and she begged Kōji to kill her later in the story, which he obliged.
- Ryōko Tanbo (丹保 凉子Tanbo Ryōko?)
- Voiced by:Makoto Sato
- The physician in charge of Fuminori's condition. She becomes suspicious that Fuminori has been hiding something during his routine checkups after he recovers from his injuries.
Soundtrack
- 'Schizophrenia'
- 'Sabbath'
- 'Seek'
- 'Spooky Scape'
- 'Song of Saya I'
- 'Song of Saya II'
- 'Sin'
- 'Sunset'
- 'Shapeshift'
- 'Scare Shadow'
- 'Scream'
- 'Savage'
- 'Silent Sorrow'
- 'Song of Saya' (沙耶の唄Saya no Uta?), sung by Kanako Itō
- 'Glass Slipper' (ガラスのくつGarasu no Kutsu?), sung by Kanako Itō
References
- ^http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/915/