Mashiroiro Symphony


Mashiroiro Symphony: Love is pure white is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Palette, and it was released in Japan on October 30, 2009 for Microsoft Windows PCs. Mashiroiro Symphony is Palette's ninth title. The gameplay in Mashiroiro Symphony follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and differs upon the player's decisions, and its storyline focuses on the appeal of the four female main characters. Futago Minazuki has illustrated three manga adaptations serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace magazine. Four drama CD adaptations titled Mashiroiro Symphony Original Drama CD Series were released by Lantis in 2010. A 12-episode anime adaptation produced by Manglobe aired in Japan between October and December 2011.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Mashiroiro Symphony requires little interaction from the player, as most of the duration of the game is only spent on reading the text that appears on the lower portion of the screen, representing either dialogue between characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points varies and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Text progression pauses at these points and depending on the choices that the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are four main plot lines in the original release that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. This is increased to six plot lines in the PlayStation Portable version with the extended scenario for two female characters. To view all of the plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction.

Plot

The story of Mashiroiro Symphony primarily takes place in the fictional town of Kagamidai, which consists of two distinct districts dubbed the "Old District", which primarily contains traditional housings resided by upper class families, and the "New District", which is generally inhabited by working class families. The town also houses two private academic institutions undergoing a merger: the Yuihime Girls' Private Academy, a notorious upper-class girls' academy nicknamed Yuijo, and the Kagamidai Private Academy, a coeducation school which Shingo, the protagonist whose role the player assumes, attends. As part of the merger, students from both schools are selected to participate in a test class at the Yuihime Girls' Academy campus, an act which is initially opposed by the female student body.

Characters

Main characters

;Shingo Uryū
;Airi Sena
;Sakuno Uryū
;Angelina Nanatsu Sewell
;Miu Amaha
;Sana Inui
;Yutsuki Onomiya

Others

; Hayata Mukunashi
; Ranka Sena
; Machi Yatsuzuka
; Yuiko Amaha
; Eleanor Sewell
; Setsu Onomiya
; Rio Inui
; Pannya

Development

Mashiroiro Symphony is the ninth title developed by the visual novel developer Palette, after their previous titles such as Moshimo Ashita ga Hare Naraba and Sakura Strasse. Mashiroiro Symphony scenario was written by three people: Hozumi K, who wrote Airi and Angelina's storylines; Hare Kitagawa, who has previously worked on Minori's Haru no Ashioto, provided Sakuno's storyline; and Orgel, who provided Miu and Sana's storyline. Character design and art direction for the game was split among three people: Tsubasu Izumi, who worked on Feng's Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, provided character designs for female characters; Tamahiyo provided designs for two male characters, Shingo Uryū and Hayata Mukunashi; and Nagomi Tozakura provided super deformed illustrations. Mashiroiro Symphony music was solely composed by Burton, who provided music for Sakura Strasse. Tsubasu Izumi and Burton also work on Palette's thirteenth title Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura Doki, which was released on June 27, 2014.
Mashiroiro Symphony was first released for Microsoft Windows PCs on October 30, 2009. An all-ages edition developed by HuneX and published by Comfort playable on the PlayStation Portable, titled Mashiroiro Symphony: *mutsu no Hana, was released on June 30, 2011.

Adaptations

Manga

Mashiroiro Symphony received three manga adaptations illustrated by Japanese illustrator Futago Minazuki, which were serialized in the manga magazine Comp Ace. The first manga adaptation, which covers Airi Sena, was serialized between the November 2009 and October 2010 issues, published on September 26, 2009 and August 26, 2010, respectively. The twelve individual chapters were later collected into two tankōbon volumes published by Kadokawa Shoten on April 26, 2010 and September 25, 2010. A second manga adaptation illustrated by Minazuki titled Mashiroiro Symphony: Wind of Silk, which covers Sana Inui, was serialized between the April and September 2011 issues of Comp Ace. Six chapters were collected into a single volume released on August 26, 2011. A third manga illustrated by Minazuki titled Mashiroiro Symphony: Twinkle Moon, which covers Yutsuki Onomiya, was serialized between the October 2011 and January 2012 issues of Comp Ace. Four chapters were collected into a single volume and will released on December 26, 2011. A manga anthology illustrated by various artists titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Mashiroiro Symphony was released by Enterbrain on March 25, 2010.

Drama CDs

released four drama CDs titled collectively as the Mashiroiro Symphony Original Drama CD Series, one for each heroine. Airi's CD, titled Dotera, Mō Icchaku, was released on July 21, 2010. Sakuno's CD, titled Nichiyōbi ni wa Te o Tsunaide, was released on August 25, 2010. Angelina's CD, titled Tenshi ni wa Shukufuku no Mabushisa o, was released on September 22, 2010. Lastly, Miu's CD, titled Haru wa Omochi no Yakegoro, was released on October 27, 2010.

Internet radio show

An Internet radio show to promote the anime series titled Nuko-Radi! Nukumori ga Koishiku Naru Radio began airing on October 4, 2011. The show is produced by Lantis Web Radio and is streamed biweekly. It is hosted by Takahiro Mizushima and Ryōko Ono, the voices of Shingo and Airi in the anime, respectively. The opening theme is "Niji no Asa ni" by Choucho, and the ending theme is "Suisai Candy" by Marble.

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Manglobe and directed by Eiji Suganuma titled Mashiroiro Symphony: The Color of Lovers aired between October 5 and December 21, 2011 on TV Aichi. The story is based on Miu's route of the game, but also includes parts of other routes as well. The screenplay was written by Team Rikka, and the chief animation director Toshie Kawamura based the character design used in the anime on Tsubasu Izumi's and Tamahiyo's original concepts. The music was produced by Nijine, and the sound director is Satoshi Yano. The series was released on six Blu-ray Disc and DVD compilation volumes between January 25 and June 27, 2012. This series was streamed online with English-subtitles by Crunchyroll and the Anime Network. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series in North America and released the series with on DVD with English subtitles on December 4, 2012.
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Music

The visual novel Mashiroiro Symphony has three theme songs: the opening theme "Symphonic Love" sung by Miyuki Hashimoto, the insert song "Sayonara Kimi no Koe" sung by Aki Misato, and the ending theme "Kimi-Iro Mirai" sung by ЯIRE. The PC game's original soundtrack was released by Palette on December 27, 2009. The opening theme for the PSP version is "Yumemiru Mama ni Koi o Shite" by Hashimoto. An image song album titled Mashiroiro Symphony Original Drama Series Sound Portrait was released on November 24, 2010 by Lantis featuring the theme songs from the drama CDs as well as other songs by Hashimoto, Misato, Rino and ЯIRE.
The anime has two theme songs: the opening theme "Authentic Symphony" by Choucho, and the ending theme "Suisai Candy" by Marble. "Sayonara Kimi no Koe" is also included in the anime's final episode. The single for "Authentic Symphony" was released on October 26, 2011, while the single for "Suisai Candy" was released on November 9, 2011. Two character song singles sung by the voice actresses from the anime were released by Lantis. The first, titled "Character Palette Vol. 1", for the characters Airi Sena and Sakuno Uryū, sung by Ryōko Ono and Mai Gotō, respectively, was released on November 23, 2011. The second, titled "Character Palette Vol. 2", for the characters Miu Amaha, Sana Inui and Angelina Nanatsu Sewell, sung by Noriko Rikimaru, Mayumi Yoshida and Oma Ichimura, respectively, was released on December 21, 2011. The anime's original soundtrack titled Mashiroiro no Melody was released on January 25, 2012.

Reception

From July to September 2009, Mashiroiro Symphony ranked three times in the top ten in national PC game pre-orders in Japan. The rankings were at No. 10 in July, No. 7 in August, and No. 1 in September. Mashiroiro Symphony ranked twice in terms of national sales of PC games in Japan: at No. 1 in October 2009 and at No. 49 in January 2010.