Fading Hearts

Fading Hearts is the first ren'ai Visual Novel release by the Canadian indie V/N group Sakura River Interactive, in 2009.

The story revolves around Ryou, an Ordinary High School Student, and his two best friends Claire and Rina, living in Trident City in Sorayama. It starts out in a classic Love Triangle scenario: Ryou likes Claire while Rina has feelings for Ryou; however they still manage to hang out together as usual friends would.

The story involves Ryou doing anything he can to help his friends. He learns that Claire's new boyfriend is potentially verbally abusing her while Rina's behaviour becomes increasingly evasive, which leads Ryou to wonder what Rina is keeping from them. Through interactions with other characters, Ryou can gain more insight into not only his friends but other happenings in the city as well.

All the while this is going on Ryou has been having dreams/visions of a past life as a prince with magical powers, living in a kingdom where magic exists and is used from everyday tasks to tournaments. The first scenario is a vision of the prince surrounded by his ex-servants, clutching to himself a sword passed down from his family for generations. Ryou eventually gains magical powers of his own and not only wonders what he should do with his newfound skills but how he should regard Mystica, a Magical Girl Warrior who constantly reminds Ryou of his priorities.

Fading Hearts provides examples of:
"Ryou: If I were one of those heroes in those ren'ai games Alex keeps forcing on me, I'd be oblivious to her feelings. But I'm not, and that's the hardest part."
 * Adjusting Your Glasses -- Sophia, who practices the Type 2 method.
 * A Friend in Need -- The whole game revolves around this.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys -- Claire and her Jerkass boyfriend.
 * An Aesop -- At the end of each game arc, Alice and Mimi go over your progress, recommending what you could do next time as well as divulging their own learning experiences from your choices. Often ends in a Broken Aesop depending on how much you put Ryou through.
 * Ancestral Weapon --
 * Apologizes a Lot -- Rina.
 * Betty and Veronica -- Rina and Claire, respectively.
 * Be Yourself -- Advice "The Player" gives Ryou via email.
 * Bromantic Foil -- Averted since Alex gives advice to Ryou about relationships.
 * Chekhov's Gun -- The Manga and.
 * Curtains Match the Window -- Claire.
 * Did Not Get the Girl -- There is an ending if Ryou chooses neither Claire nor Rina. This is lampshaded by Alice and Mimi, wondering if he had another choice in mind. If the players of the game.
 * Domestic Abuser -- Claire's Jerkass boyfriend. As Rina tells Ryou, she witnessed him verbally abusing Claire.
 * Don't Go In The Woods -- Ryou going into the forest by the park has a high chance of running into a shadow monster. This is also advice Mystica continually gives Ryou, complaining that she cannot fight the shadow monsters and protect him at the same time.
 * Everybody's Dead Dave --
 * Hair Decorations -- Rina wears a small ribbon in her equally small braid in her Hair of Gold. Tracy as well, with her Meido hat with hair pins and Girlish Pigtails. The Ill Girl wears several small red ribbons in her pink hair.
 * Final Battle -- One scenario has Ryou and Mystica fight the source of the shadow monsters.
 * First Kiss -- This happens with Rina, and happens with Claire in her Happy Ending.
 * Girlish Pigtails -- Mystica, Alice, and Mimi. Also Tracy, with her twin braids.
 * Guide Dang It -- Some endings and achievements are near-impossible to get without help. And even then, help is scarce.
 * Heartwarming Orphan -- Ryou and Rina are "Y 2 K orphans", whose parents died in the midst of explosions caused by programming errors, now living in a prison-like orphanage.
 * He Who Must Not Be Seen -- Claire's Jerkass boyfriend.
 * I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship -- Ryou is aware that Rina stays quiet about her feelings for Ryou since she knows he likes Claire, thinking it will put a strain on their friendship if she confesses to him. Coincidentally, Ryou won't tell Claire the reason why he won't accept Rina when she presses the issue, since she is going out with someone else..
 * Ill Girl -- The girl Ryou and Alex visit in the hospital, whom.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation -- Rina. Claire and Ryou are her only real friends. Everyone else is either jealous of her or pretends to be nice to her to get help. She has to pretend to study to minimize the bullying.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy -- At the beginning of the game if Ryou chooses not to date Rina, she will be disappointed but tells him she will support his choice..
 * Jerk Justifications --  falls into the Type 1 category word-for-word  . This is also why   is always so strict with Ryou:  was scared that his kindness would always be taken advantage of and leave him broken, and wanted to toughen him up.
 * Leaning On the Fourth Wall -- Ryou's thoughts while having lunch with Rina at the beginning of the game.
 * Jerk Justifications --  falls into the Type 1 category word-for-word  . This is also why   is always so strict with Ryou:  was scared that his kindness would always be taken advantage of and leave him broken, and wanted to toughen him up.
 * Leaning On the Fourth Wall -- Ryou's thoughts while having lunch with Rina at the beginning of the game.


 * Level Grinding -- Should the player choose, Ryou can endlessly fight shadow monsters thus gaining more Experience Points and raising their Character Level in spellcasting. This also applies in cardio, resistance training, and programming.
 * Love Confession -- Rina does this with Ryou near the beginning of the game.
 * Love Triangle -- Between Ryou, Claire, and Rina.
 * Magical Girl Warrior -- Mystica in her Mini Dress of Power with Detached Sleeves, who battles shadow monsters in the forest.
 * Manga Are Real -- The magical spells that Ryou reads about in his Manga can be used thanks to his growing powers. They also divulge more information about the past lives of the prince and other characters that he dreams about.
 * Meganekko -- Sophia. Subverted due to her hardlined School Newspaper Newshound personality.
 * Meido -- Tracy, who works at the Cosplay Cafe Ryou and Alex hang out at. Ryou notes he still cannot get used to her calling him "Master."
 * My Future Self and Me --
 * Never Lend to A Friend -- Claire bluntly asks Ryou if he could lend her one hundred dollars, which he eventually does. This is subverted since the money is never mentioned again but is likely meant to have the player of the game question if Claire's Jerkass boyfriend is involved with this.
 * New Super Power -- Ryou one night gains magical powers, and learns new spells through his manga. Also, Mystica acknowledges to Ryou her recent discovery of her powers.
 * Nonstandard Game Over -- If Ryou is killed by a shadow monster.
 * Oh Crap -- There are quite a few:
 * Ryou literally exclaims this when.
 * If Ryou is imprisoned in the cabin by Mystica, he realizes he will miss the fireworks festival with Rina.
 * When Ryou thinks.
 * Ordinary High School Student -- Ryou, who eventually gains skills in magical combat.
 * Otaku -- Alex, who loves anime, manga, and games. He beats Ryou in a shooter in ten seconds.
 * Our Monsters Are Different -- The shadow monsters.
 * Parental Abandonment -- Ryou's and Rina's parents died during explosions caused by Y 2 K, and Claire's parents are never mentioned.
 * Part Time Hero -- When Ryou isn't at school, training, working, or hanging out, he's fighting monsters in the forest! ... unless that's all you choose for him to do.
 * The Promise -- When Rina has Ryou and Claire all join hands with her and has them repeat a vow of eternal friendship and that they will always look out for each other.
 * Psychic Dreams for Everyone -- Ryou's dreams/visions of himself and others in the magical world.
 * Reincarnation -- Ryou seems to have been a prince with magical powers in a past life, as Ryou keeps having visions of him. . The dreams/visions and Manga also hints that some of the other characters are reincarnations as well. The complete list is as follows:
 * The Prince: Ryou (natch)
 * First Seed:
 * Last Seed:
 * Ai the Magic Researcher:
 * The Reveal -- There are several of these:
 * In one scenario Ryou is magically battling against Mystica. Depending how he uses his spells he can potentially have Mystica temporarily lose her powers, revealing her true identity as.
 * In another scenario, Ryou hears of a car colliding with an unknown entity, killing the driver instantly. He later finds out the source: . It Got Worse.
 * "The Player" emailing Ryou advice on how to win over girls is
 * RPG Elements -- The more Manga Ryou reads the more magical spells he learns. Incidentally, the more shadow monsters he fights in the forest, the higher the skill level he attains in using his spells. In a more roundabout way this also applies to any acquired knowledge he gains from general reading, and how often he works for the companies contracting him for his programming services.
 * School Newspaper Newshound -- Sophia, who tells him she works for Crystal Stream News. She drills Ryou about more information about himself, Claire, and Rina. It was Sophia who informed him that they comprise an exclusive group the student body refers to as the Big Three, due to their high grades. He also finds out more about a myriad of subjects from her, including the Wings of Light.
 * School Uniforms Are the New Black -- Sophia is never seen in street clothes. Subverted since 99% of the scenes with Sophia take place in school; however, the one time she is seen outside of school Sophia is still wearing her Sailor Fuku.
 * Secret Identity --  as Mystica.  . Also,   as "The Player."
 * Set Right What Once Went Wrong --.
 * Sole Survivor --
 * Tournament Arc -- Ryou has visions of the First and Last Seeds in magical tournaments.
 * Tsundere -- Claire is a milder example of this with Ryou.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl -- Mystica. In game her hair is described as silver, but can be considered a mix of silver and white.
 * Wingding Eyes -- Alex, whenever he gets caught up in subjects relating to his hobbies.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair -- Claire has dark purple hair, and The Ill Girl Ryou and Alex visits in the hospital has pink hair.
 * Zettai Ryouiki -- In Claire's Happy Ending, this style is just noticeable on her.
 * White Haired Pretty Girl -- Mystica. In game her hair is described as silver, but can be considered a mix of silver and white.
 * Wingding Eyes -- Alex, whenever he gets caught up in subjects relating to his hobbies.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair -- Claire has dark purple hair, and The Ill Girl Ryou and Alex visits in the hospital has pink hair.
 * Zettai Ryouiki -- In Claire's Happy Ending, this style is just noticeable on her.