Cat Girl Alliance


Koneko Doumei is a Japanese erotic visual novel developed by Sekilala and published by CD Bros., released on February 20, 2004 for Windows. It was localized in North America as Cat Girl Alliance by G-Collections on February 20, 2010.

Gameplay

Cat Girl Alliance, in traditional fashion, is played by watching and listening to episodic sequences of the game and then selecting or ignoring actions when they are presented to the player. Choices are effectively plot twists, and are intricately linked so that the direction of the developing story changes moderately as each is made; ultimately leading to erotic scenes between characters and one of eight endings. In order for the player to watch all these possible endings, in this regard, he or she will have to replay through the game several times, making different selections than done before.

Plot

Eiji Tachibana is a young Japanese transfer student beginning his first semester at an unmentioned, fictional junior college. Distant and unacquainted from the rest of the school, Eiji is, for the most part, a friendless and withdrawn boy. In fact the only person who seems to even acknowledge his presence is Shizuko Azumi, the girl who sits behind him.
One morning after class, Shizuko invites Eiji to lunch; Rumi Takahata, the bubbly class representative, excitedly joins as well. As the three sit and eat, Eiji discusses his social predicament, to which both girls suggest he join an extracurricular club. Eiji accepts their advice, and dissatisfied with the athletics and cultural departments, finds comfort in the health committee; by assumption, he visits the infirmary to meet with the group. When he arrives however, he is shocked to find Rumi and another girl, Natsuki Misawa, having sex. Even more surprising is that Rumi is not entirely female; she is in fact, a hermaphrodite. Glued to the scene before him, Eiji furtively watches and leaves.
The following day, things seem to have gone unnoticed. After class, as he reluctantly decides whether or not to visit the infirmary again, a fellow student name Masayoshi informs Eiji that his sister would like to see him there. Besides learning that the boy is her brother, Rumi is quite aware of yesterdays events and offers Eiji the chance to snag Shizuko in the same manner. Though plagued with a mixed conscience, he agrees.

Characters

Eiji Tachibana
Rumi Takahata
Natsuki Misawa
Shizuko Azumi
Masayoshi Takahata

Development

G-Collections reportedly began work on Cat Girl Alliance, retitled from Koneko Doumei, as early as January 2008. The following year, license and distributor JAST USA announced via its website that it would be promoting the project at Anime Expo 2009. On July 10, JAST reported that it had begun work on Cat Girl Alliance, its next confirmed title, and had made plans to release it sometime that September.
The project failed to meet its September release date but over a monthly course was continually covered. On September 16, JAST published a sneak peek of the game, adding that it was at work with Sekilala to put the finishing touches on the project, such as integrating the newly translated script; the game demonstrated full compatibility with Microsoft Windows Vista and 7. Cat Girl Alliance entered post-production and subsequent beta testing the following November, rescheduled for release in winter. That December, reporting that post-production was nearing an end and that Cat Girl Alliance would be going gold soon, JAST published an outline of the game's cumulative development, noting work on the graphics, scenes, and text. On December 31, New Year's Eve, the company reported that G-Collections had finished work on the game and that it was currently undergoing replication; Cat Girl Alliance was affirmed gold. Additionally, the official website for the game had also gone live.
The following February, JAST announced that Cat Girl Alliance had finished replication and was stocked for shipping. Shortly after, on February 17, the company published that the download edition of the game had become available. Several websites reported on the game around this time.

Reception

Considered by JAST USA and J-LIST.com, respectively, to be G-Collections most "ecchi" and "kinkiest" title to-date, Cat Girl Alliance was met with mixed reception. Industry aggregator Mania.com gave the game a B+, calling it a "solid release" that, while containing a friendly interface and decent soundtrack, suffered from mediocre visuals and translation. Shogungamer.com published a favorable review as well, praising the soundtrack and visuals.
Following up to a pre-release review of the game, Japanator.com intern Jon Synder wrote "this game was little more than a string of pornographic images and accompanying text, barely held together by poor voice acting and something that could be called a 'plot'"