A Small Note on Progress

Yes, we've been horrendously busy as of late. But do not fret! We, all of us, are trying our hardest in revising and writing "Ketsueki no Iro wa...", so that we might bring to you the wonderful and myseterious world of Ketsuki, the World of Blood.

Thunderboom

P.S.; As a postscript, enjoy this preview of the game's promotional wallpaper set.

The Short Days of Summer

Shocky here. Due to the fact I was experimenting with the "Blurb" book creation software, the PDF format for the story has watermarks. I'll work on making a PDF format without using Blurb, though! Until then, please enjoy the illustrated version of "The Short Days of Summer":

Legend Lore EX Update

Gah, I'm sorry! I, Shockpulse, finally played through the game only to discover I screwed up! I'm sorry!!

Here is the new version of Legend Lore EX, with a final, completed ending:


On the old versions, if you completed the game, talking to Aramil would send you to his special place, and get rid of your walking sprite! I'm sorry! This place was supposed to be a secret place where, after you completed the game, statues of main characters and villains would appear, and pressing the "A" button near them would tell you facts and trivia about the character. However, I eliminated this from the final design plan, and Aramil would just take you to the credits, but I seem to have forgotten about him! I'm Sorry!! Please forgive me!

I also found that the Password Messenger NPC in Fylan Village used the preliminary prototype name for Legend Lore "Zero", a prequel of sorts that will explain how the land of Asgorath came to be. In future games, we hope to expand upon this mythology and legend, showing more and more of Asgorath each time, until the end of the series.

"Ketseuki no Iro" Wallpapers

Been a while since we talked about "KnIw...?" (shorthand for "Ketsueki no Iro wa..."), so I thought I'd whip up a few wallpapers for you fans to use while you wait for the game to come out. I promise, we'll start working on the final game soon! ^_^;

There's only 5 of them now, but I'll make one for every character that's in the final game, and release them shortly before the game comes out!

I'm sorry, but these are not widescreen wallpapers. When I make one for ever character, I shall make widescreen versions as well, including newer versions of these wallpapers.

Simply click the thumbnail to bring up a full-size version!

Kari^2 [Updated]

UPDATE: Whoops, did I say Summer 2010? I meant AUTUMN 2010. Sorry!

Though some of our members are working on preliminary drafts and whatnot for other works ("Mzunguko", "Shin Mahou-Shoujo K-tan", "Legend Lore 2", etc.), the entire team of KAMINARI is working together once more! This time, we're revising, writing, and illustrating the light novel we've had planned for a very, very, very long time: Kari^2!

This cyberpunk tale of mystery and intrigue is slated for (hopefully) an Autumn 2010 release, but you can never be sure what might happen to screw with the schedules! ^_^;

Legend Lore EX + Ketsueki Stories Update

It appears that we neglected to include the needed RTP engine to play RPG Maker XP games. For this, we are very regretful. Sorry! It shall not happen again (with luck).

Download the updated ZIP file for "Legend Lore EX" here:



Additionally, we have reuploaded several stories, including a brand-new one:

"Pocket Guide to Ketsueki no Sekai"
One of several "Pocket Guidebooks" put out by the fictional "Kaminari Corps", an omnipresent entity in the KAMINARI Verse. This Guidebook features information on Ketsuki, also known as "Ketsueki no Sekai", the setting of "Ketsueki no Iro wa...". Included are details of its denizens and its history (including mythology), among other points of interest.
Download:

"The Legend of Kamiko"
Somewhat spoiler-ish, one might say, but in truth it is a vital piece of backstory, detailing the true history of Kamiko, Tenko, Tanno, and Eki, the four super-powerful supernatural beings in "Ketsueki no Iro wa...". Included in this tale are the origins of how Tanno became a KAMINARI employee, the full story behind "Claire and the Lilies" (see the "Pocket Guidebook to Ketsueki no Sekai", under the Mythology section), and the details of the climactic battle that took place thousands of Ketsuki years previously.
Download:

"Ketsueki no Iro wa... - Prequel"
Another prequel to "Ketsueki no Iro", this one is centered on the Inoue siblings, explaining further on the backstory of the visual novel's Player Character. The events detailed here decribe the origins of Kyashi's delinquent attitude, as well as the animosity Rissa feels towards her brother.
Download:

"Ketsueki Otaku - Satsugai 1: Kogatana Otaku"
Chiyo/Chi, the "Kogatana Otaku", is a girl with a murderous alternate personality. Chiyo is obssessed with knives, and believes firmly that to kill someone you need not just anything, but a weapon that reflects the personality and being of the person being killed with it (so, even if she had dozens to choose from, she wouldn't use a weapon unless it was the perfect match for the murder). Chi, on the other hand, is cruel, ruthless, and enjoys inflicting massive psychological damage on her victims before killing them.
Download:

"The Short Days of Summer"
(NOTE: Not for the squeemish, or those who do not like blood, death, or the idea of 7-year-old murderers)
An original short horror story about a young girl who discovers a fun game to pass the time during one fateful summer.
Download:

Legend Lore EX is now released!

Yes, Legend Lore EX is now released! So now you may all play it!

You may download it here:


Switching over to Windows Live SkyDrive because MediaFire deleted all of our uploaded files. We'll reupload them to SkyDrive and hope that they don't get deleted in a few months...

Currently, the four files mentioned here are unavailable. We shall reupload them soon.
http://kaminaridojin.blogspot.com/2010/01/two-new-stories.html
http://kaminaridojin.blogspot.com/2010/01/projects.html

You may also be interested to know that I, Thunderboom, have come up with an idea for a manga, since Kana said she would start doing them with her fancy new Tablet PC. It is called "Mzunguko" ("Cycle", from Swahili), and takes basis from mythology, ancient African culture (from which all humanity traces its lineage to), and a popular character set I came up with a long time ago involving a family named "Eleme".

I also learned that I tend to get a bit over-zealous with ideas of mine...writing up basic notes for it, which hardly went into any detail at all (mostly still in my head) filled a Word Document file with 1028 words (not that I'm done with notes, though)! Including spaces, that was 5992 characters in all! ^_^" Ahehe...maybe I should calm down before I write up a novel on the subject...


I would also like to take this time to announce a contest!
The first 4 people to level their party in Legend Lore EX to Lv.90 or above will receive special recognition for this feat! They will have their screenshots-of-proof posted on the blog here, and they will be respected by all! Please note that this contest only lasts until the end of July 2010. Also, as an added incentive, all players who submit screenshots of this feat by the deadline will recieve an NPC named after them in a future "Legend Lore" game!
To enter this contest, please email a screenshot of the in-game main menu displaying your party as all being at least Level 90 to kaminaridojin@yahoo.com. Please note that most of us are experts at photo manipulation and can tell if an image has been modified or not.
Rules:
1. All members of your party MUST be at least Level 90. You do not have to have 4 people in your party, though with all honesty, you will have a hard time of it with only one or two.
2. All manipulated screenshots will be disqualified.
3. Any screenshots with offensive character names will be disqualified. Just because you can be "funny" and have an offensive name for your character, doesn't mean that we have to post it publiclly.
4. Screenshots are allowed to be cropped, but they MUST show the edges of the game window. Crop it if you want to, but leave the border around the game, including where it says "Legend Lore EX" at the top.

In case you do not know how to take a screenshot, you press the "Print Screen" ("Prnt Scrn", sometimes) button on your keyboard, then "paste" it into an image-editing program such as Microsoft Paint. Then, save the file to your computer, naming it what you wish (for example, "Screenshot 001").

Memberlist Update

Hanako here. I'm still writing the "Legend Lore EX" manual, but expect the game released by the end of the week!

We've changed some of our members' duties around (not to mention some screename changes), so I thought it would be good to update the list:

Thunderboom (Takumi) - Editor-in-Chief, Head Author, De-Facto Leader
Shockpulse (Aiko) - Lead Programmer, "Special Consultant for Blood, Death, and Horror"
Kana - Lead Artist, Character Designer, Head of Art Department
Hanako - Editor, Spellchecker, Technical Writer
Suiko - Dialogue Writer, Relationship Planner
FieryEmpress (Aya) - Action Sequence Coordinator, RPG Combat Balancer, Banter Writer


Oh, we're also now on Facebook if you want to "become a fan" or whatever (not that we'll ever do anything there...just thought I'd point it out): http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=105478179489030

Legend Lore EX Press Release

LEGEND LORE EX: LIGHT OF DARKNESS

Official Press Release

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KAMINARI Dojin Circle has announced its newest work, a full-length fantasy RPG (role-playing game) titled "Legend Lore EX: Light of Darkness" for Microsoft Windows Operating System. The game is a heavily-updated version of a much, much older game titled "Legend Lore", which was created by a member of KAMINARI. Though not all members of the dojin circle directly participated in its creation, KAMINARI's public relations official, Hanako, had this to say: "Though a few of our members were not directly involved, they certainly influenced many aspects of the game's updated design."

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The game's title is drawn from a spell in the popular tabletop role-playing game, "Dungeons & Dragons". The spell "legend lore" allows casters to discover legends about something particular, be it an item, person, or location (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/legendLore.htm). When asked about the origin of this name, Thunderboom, the game's original designer, said that "[like the spell,] Legend Lore opens players' minds to great and fantastic legends and adventures." Shockpulse, lead designer for the updated "Legend Lore EX", said that the addition to the title was because "it sounded cool".

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KAMINARI expressed great thanks to Enterbrain, Inc., Yoji Ojima, and everyone else involved in the creation of "RPG Maker XP", the program the group used to create the game. The group, mostly comprised of teenagers, has also stated that the game be "free for anyone and everyone to play. We love getting things for free, and we're sure that all of our fans do, too! (laugh)".

The game will be posted online to their official blog (http://kaminaridojin.blogspot.com/) for free download.

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-Kana Miyaki

(2010/3/30)

Progress

Hello, this is Assistant Editor Hanako here to bring you an update. For most of us, things have been quite hectic lately, so we haven't been able to get much done recently. This is especially true for my elder siblings, who are the ones that normally make these blog posts. However, rest assured that we shall be getting things straightened out soon.

Also note that production of "Ketsueki no Iro wa..." has been postponed for a few months until Summer Vacation begins and we are all able to work on it without interrupt. In the meantime, I'm thinkig of making a smll RPG with Shocky to placate you, our ever-so-hungry fans, with a new release. This is not set in stone, however, but with hope, you'll all be playing an RPG before long and you can stop asking us "when's the new release coming out?" for a while...

-Hanako, Assistant Editor, KAMINARI

KAMINARI's Members

If you ever wondered what the members of KAMINARI looked like, since the only introduction they have ever been given was during the first post of this blog (http://kaminaridojin.blogspot.com/2009/01/welcome-to-kaminari-good-traveler.html), then fret no more!

Shockpulse, our resident 2nd-in-Command of Art, has posted to her DeviantArt account (mentioned in the previous post) an illustration of the lot of us, including our mascots. Her Artist's Comments elaborate on who is who, as well as remind you of who does what.

See it here:
http://shockpulse.deviantart.com/art/KAMINARI-Members-CG-152624668

Concepts & Misc. Illustrations

Though Kana is our lead artist, by nature of having the best art skills, Shockpulse has started posting some of her own art of KAMINARI works that have been, will be, are, or never will be, as well as art of our mascots, Kaminari-tan and Kuniyth (they show up from time to time in our work), on her DeviantArt account. She has also taken the time to list details on different projects or the process of making a game, story, or piece of art, so you should read her "Artist's Comments" below each one.

For a great example, check out the 4koma concept for Kari^2 during early drafts:
http://shockpulse.deviantart.com/art/Kari-Squared-4Koma-Concept-152606493
The Artist's Comments go in rather deep with explanations and details about the evolution of the project. A very interesting read, in fact.

Check it all out here: http://shockpulse.deviantart.com/
(Remember, she's still actively posting, so check back every once in a while!)

Projects

If you've been reading this site's news regularly, you'll notice the "Monthly Update" lists projects that are never heard of again. This is an unfortunate thing that happens a lot. We start doing something, then it just kind of falls apart or we go on to other things.

HOWEVER:
Please do not think that everything goes this way. We shall try, as best as we can, to finish "Ketsueki no Iro" and to release it on time. The same goes for a couple of other projects. We won't tell you one of them, but the other is the Light Novel "Kari^2" we've been working on.


Honestly, "Kari^2" is more like a cyberpunk action-oriented RPG video game in style, which, to put in Shocky's words, brings this to mind:
"You know, if we ever got decent 3D game creation software, to go along with our 2D stuff, we could make lots more games. First off, I say we make Kari Squared into a game!! *insert maniacal laughter*"

Well, that's just wishful thinking on her part, but it probably would make a seriously cool game, so, like so many other things, it's been put on the almost-mythical "List of Upcoming(?) Projects":



List of Upcoming(?) Projects (Which may or may not ever come to final fruition, though I for one would like them to, eventually)
Kari^2 - Light Novel
Kari^2 - 3D Action Video Game
Legend Lore 2- Fantasy RPG Trilogy (Actually, this one is about 1/3 done as of...2008, 2007? Been a LONG time since we worked on it...)
Legend Lore 3- Fantasy RPG Trilogy
Blood Infinity (Bl∞d) - Short Story Series (actually revised the story some and wrote out a really cool ending a while back...there's good hope for Kimi Mélana Tepes' story yet!
[Untitled Mecha Novel] - Novel (Started this a while back, and the beginning is really cool, the characters are interesting, and it keeps your interest....until it suddenly and without warning stops. For some REALLY unknown reason, we stopped writing it...)
Ketsueki Otaku (Satsugai Series) - Short Stories from Ketsuki (Wow...these might actually be the original, final-lasting fragments of what became "Ketsueki no Iro"...or did we write these after the idea...Regardless, they formed the basis for most of the plot for "Ketsueki no Iro" and several characters. [Hmm..we should finish these...]



Well, that was interesting.
We seem to have found a new thing to quickly revise and publish.
"Ketsueki Otaku", each story being labeled "Satsugai 1/2/3/etc.", is a smallish series of short stories about victims of Kamiko's lasting evil in Ketsuki, commonly refered to as the "Yan Virus" (from "Yangire", as an in-joke). Each Otaku, as they're refered to as a member of this group, are obsessed with a particular method of, or tool used for, killing. If I remember correctly, Inoue Rissa was actually going to be a member, though that never worked out well (she eventually evolved into a magical girl instead).

So without further ado, KAMINARI presents the first in the series of "Ketsueki Otaku", a sidestory detailing minor events referenced in "Ketsueki no Iro"

"Ketsueki Otaku - Satsugai 1: Kogatana Otaku"
Chiyo/Chi, the "Kogatana Otaku", is a girl with a murderous dissocociative personality. Chiyo is obssessed with knives, and believes firmly that to kill someone you need not just anything, but a weapon that reflects the personality and being of the person being killed with it (so, even if she had dozens to choose from, she wouldn't use a weapon unless it was the perfect match for the murder). Chi, on the other hand, is cruel, ruthless, and enjoys inflicting massive psychological damage on her victims before killing them.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?yiwlmzmiw2j

Ketsueki no Iro wa... Character Profiles Vol.3

Now, to profile the siblings of the main protagonist (you), Inoue Kyashi:

Inoue Rissa

Rissa is Kyashi's younger sister (two years younger) who attends the Public High School as a First Year. Her best friend is a blue-haired girl named Sekisetsu Suiko (a pseudonym), who is virtually obsessed with water. Rissa hates her mother for suddenly leaving one day almost a year before the game starts, and hates her twin brother even more for the same reason. Her dream is to one day become a doctor, so she has a massive collection of medical textbooks.

She is rarely seen without the ankh around her neck, a souvenir of a trip to Egypt when she was little, and the last remaining memory of her father, who died when she was 6. Though she isn't aware of it at the start of the game, Rissa is actually a fairly-powerful magical girl.

Inoue Rai

Rai, Rissa's older twin brother, attends the Private High School, and takes advantage of its boarding option, meaning he lives there. He has a job working at the convenience store near the school complexes, which allows him to sustain himself. The reason he uses this situation is to alleviate financial pressure off of his sisters, since the three were barely managing to survive until Rai and Rissa entered high school. The original plan was for all of them to attend the Private High School, but the severe lack of funds made it so only one of them could attend. Kyashi and Rissa both agreed that Rai (the only academically-focused one of the siblings) deserved it, so Kyashi transferred to the Public High School, the same place that Rissa had enrolled in.
Rai is blind in his left eye. When he was leaving, Rissa got very angry at him, accusing him of being "just like their mother", and punched him (rather hard) in the face, causing permanent damage to his eye, which rapidly lost all sight.

Three new stories!

Hello, KAMINARI fans! Today we have a treat for you! An actual story! But no, not just one, but three! Yes, THREE stories!

"Pocket Guide to Ketsueki no Sekai"
One of several "Pocket Guidebooks" put out by the fictional "Kaminari Corps", an omnipresent entity in the KAMINARI Verse. This Guidebook features information on Ketsuki, also known as "Ketsueki no Sekai", the setting of "Ketsueki no Iro wa...". Included are details of its denizens and its history (including mythology), among other points of interest.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?2jynttn3yxo

"The Legend of Kamiko"
Somewhat spoiler-ish, one might say, but in truth it is a vital piece of backstory, detailing the true history of Kamiko, Tenko, Tanno, and Eki, the four super-powerful supernatural beings in "Ketsueki no Iro wa...". Included in this tale are the origins of how Tanno became a KAMINARI employee, the full story behind "Claire and the Lilies" (see the "Pocket Guidebook to Ketsueki no Sekai", under the Mythology section), and the details of the climactic battle that took place thousands of Ketsuki years previously.
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ybzmeriyi2y

"The Short Days of Summer"
(NOTE: Not for the squeemish, or those who do not like blood, death, or the idea of 7-year-old murderers)
An original short horror story about a young girl who discovers a fun game to pass the time during one fateful summer.
[Note: Revision 2 Version - The orginal "extended ending" of all of a paragraph didn't really fit well with the overall feel of the story, so we eliminated it. Now, the story flows MUCH nicer.]
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?2jdmtyvyodl