Corpse Party



Years ago, a series of terrible incidents occurred at Tenjin Elementary. Mysterious accidents, disappearances, and murders finally resulted in the school being closed and torn down. In its place, the high school Kisaragi Academy was eventually erected, and Tenjin became the stuff of bad memories and ghost stories...

Like the ones Ayumi loves to tell her classmates, much to Satoshi's dismay. No matter how much he tries to be brave, he still spooks easily... and his childhood friend Naomi's not much help, either, giving him even greater grief whenever he gets frightened. Thanks to their teasing, Class 2-9's cleanup after their culture festival takes much longer than anyone else's, and they're all caught in their classroom when a strange earthquake hits, splitting the floor and separating everyone...

Corpse Party follows Satoshi, Naomi, Ayumi and the other students who find themselves impossibly trapped in the long-destroyed Tenjin Elementary. The original Corpse Party was a PC 98 game made with RPG Tsukuru Dante98. It was later adapted into a PC game released in chapters, titled Corpse Party: Blood Covered, with a reworked plot and new characters. Blood Covered was later released on the PSP as Corpse Party: Blood Covered ...Repeated Fear, with new art, event CGs, and a different voice cast. This version was recently localized and released on the Playstation Network by XSEED Games on November 22, 2011. A PSP sequel titled Corpse Party: Book of Shadows was released on September 1st, 2011. There is Carnival Phantasm-esque entry into the series called Corpse Party 2U, set to be released sometime in 2012. A manga adaptation titled Corpse Party: Blood Covered also exists, as well as a manga adaptation of the PC-98 game entitled Corpse Party: Musume. Do not confuse with the half-meme from Homestuck.

Those trapped in Tenjin include:
 * Satoshi Mochida - The protagonist, though each character has their own chapter. A tad cowardly -- he really doesn't like ghost stories -- but gentle and compassionate.
 * Naomi Nakashima - Satoshi's Unlucky Childhood Friend, who loves giving him grief.
 * Seiko Shinohara - Naomi's best friend and irrepressible Genki Girl with a perverted streak.
 * Ayumi Shinozaki - The Class Rep for 2-9, she loves spooky stories and strange rituals.
 * Yoshiki Kishinuma - A decent guy with the Face of a Thug.
 * Mayu Suzumoto - Energetic and popular with the guys. The culture festival was going to be her last day at Kisaragi before transferring out...
 * Sakutarou Morishige - A guy with glasses. He and Mayu share a Like Brother and Sister rapport.
 * Yuka Mochida - A middle schooler, and Satoshi's adorable little sister.
 * Yui Shishido - Class 2-9's Cool Teacher, beloved by all her students.

A full playthrough of the English localization of Corpse Party: Blood Covered can be found here.

This series contains examples of:
"Naomi: How is this possible...? We're not in a video game or a manga..."
 * Hundred Percent Completion: In order to unlock the final chapter of Book of Shadows, not only must you complete all the other chapters, but you have to see all of the Wrong Ends.
 * A Day in The Limelight: Book of Shadows includes chapters from and 's viewpoints, both of whom were Out of Focus in Blood Covered.
 * Actor Allusion: Satomi Arai voices Seiko Shinohara, a cheerful and perverted Schoolgirl Lesbian who has a crush on her best friend Naomi Nakashima who is voiced by Rina Satou, similar to To Aru Majutsu no Index.
 * ONEE-SAMA!!!
 * Adaptation Expansion: Corpse Party: Blood Covered significantly reworked the story from the original version, with more characters and a more complex plot.
 * Arbitrary Headcount Limit: In the PC-98 game, you can only bring three of the five survivors to the Final Boss.
 * Art Style Dissonance: Blood Covered is played with characters looking like sprites, and the entire series is drawn as a cutesy anime. Yet despite this, this does not exempt them from grisly bloody deaths.
 * All Just a Dream: One of the Wrong Ends in Blood Covered.
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Naomi covers up her crush on Satoshi by constantly teasing him, and Seiko hides her own feelings for Naomi behind a Just Joking Justification. And then there's Yoshiki, who has a crush on Ayumi, while Ayumi covers up her crush on Satoshi by scaring him with horror stories.
 * All There in The Script: Certain chapters of the manga are followed by black pages that contain information about the corpses seen in that part, giving their names and describing how they died. In the games, the player can fill a gallery of "name tags" by examining corpses to similar effect.
 * And I Must Scream: People who die in the school get the special privilege of experiencing the pain they felt as they died as a spirit. Forever.
 * And Now for Someone Completely Different: Each chapter of the game focuses on a different lead character, though Satoshi is stated to be the main protagnoist.
 * In the original PC-98 game, the students were divided into just two groups, with Satoshi leading the main party. As you progressed, the game would occasionally switch from one group to the other.
 * Another Dimension: The Tenjin Elementary they find themselves in is described as an alternate dimension created by spirits to ensnare living beings.
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * To put it bluntly,
 * Apocalyptic Log
 * Big Damn Heroes: In the manga,
 * But Thou Must: In Blood Covered, seemingly averted when you're prompted to either continue moving forward or go back  Played straight by the fact that even if you choose to turn back, Yoshiki will decide to go back and continue onward.
 * Came Back Wrong: In Book of Shadows, this is the result of.
 * Canon Foreigner: Shinohara Miyu, a Wholesome Crossdresser who is in love with Satoshi, from the Corpse Party: Musume manga.
 * Cassandra Truth: In one of Blood Covered's Bad Endings, Satoshi can't convince Ayumi or anyone else.
 * Cat Smile: Seiko does this a lot, particularly in the manga.
 * Class Representative: Ayumi has the position, but not so much the stereotypical personality type.
 * Colon Cancer: First there was Corpse Party: Blood Covered, and then Corpse Party: Blood Covered... Repeated Fear.
 * Cool Teacher: Yui Shishido.
 * The Corruption: The 'darkening' which corrupts the souls of those who lose hope in Tenjin.
 * Creepy Child: The giggling ghosts.
 * Despair Event Horizon: In a very literal sense, the entire haunted school is one giant black hole made of despair, sucking in people who, when they die, become a part of the problem (usually by becoming a vengeful and/or pain-filled ghost). Most people caught in the school crack and go completely nuts if they aren't killed either by the ghosts or one another.
 * Dub Name Change: Not for any of the characters, but in the English release, the dreaded school is called "Heavenly Host Elementary."
 * Anyone who's read the New Testament will never take the name so peacefully ever again.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: While the basic plot of the original PC-98 game was the same, there were originally only five students: Satoshi, Yuka, Naomi, Yoshiki, and Ayumi. The whole cast had black hair and eyes, although each had certain traits already in place (like Yoshiki's face and Ayumi's hairstyle). Instead of being separated during the transfer, they ended up all in the same place, and only wound up dividing into two groups accidentally. Satoshi's status as the Main Character made more sense, as he was leader of the main party. There were plenty of spirits, but only one major threat, a single Stringy Haired Ghost Girl.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: One of the reasons the horror and setting in the game are especially effective. There are ghosts everywhere, both core vengeful spirits and hundreds of hapless victims out to get you in hideous ways. The school itself is a Genius Loci re-arranging itself or creating traps to both directly and/or indirectly get you murdered. The Curse is always working on you and can and WILL kill you just for giving in to the despairing nature of the place and situation, or worse, causing darkening. Or making you kill yourself. The other living people there often snap and try to kill you, even before falling to the curse. And even your basic Human nature will kill you terribly without food, water, or any other amenities. And all that's if you don't kill yourself.
 * Eye Scream: Accidentally run into the ghost ? Have fun watching your characters getting paralyzed   Okay, you don't actually see what is going on, but you hear it, which makes the whole incident even worse. The text describing the event doesn't help, either.
 * Face of a Thug: Yoshiki Kishinuma.
 * Fatal Flaw: Poor Naomi. Not only is she unable to confess her feelings, she tends to take out her frustration verbally on everyone around her. Even when she knows it won't help anything, she can't stop herself...
 * Foreshadowing: Before being torn apart, the students perform a ritual ripping a tiny paper doll into pieces; holding onto their pieces of the paper is supposed to bind them together forever. However, Ayumi teases Satoshi by claiming that bad things will happen if the ritual is performed incorrectly...
 * Genki Girl: Seiko Shinohara.
 * Girlish Pigtails: Ayumi Shinozaki. Seiko has hers in Princess Curls.
 * : In the final Wrong End of Blood Covered,
 * Go Mad From the Revelation:
 * Guide Dang It: Getting the True End for later chapters can be difficult at times.
 * Hell, most of the game is this, due to being kind of a Hidden Object Game and screwing with your sense of logic on what to do. Here's a spoiler free guide if you ever get too stuck.
 * Have a Nice Death: The dialogue boxes are very detailed when somebody dies...
 * Hidden Object Game
 * Hope Spot: An especially cruel one when.
 * In the manga,.
 * Hotter and Sexier: Corpse Party: Musume.
 * Infant Immortality: Considering that antagonists are ghosts of children and the brutal manner in which they were all murders, it's definitely safe to say that this was averted
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Seiko encourages Naomi to take advantage of their circumstances to get closer to Satoshi, instead of doing the same herself.
 * Its All My Fault
 * It Was a Dark And Stormy Night
 * I Shall Taunt You: Throughout the game, you'll encounters notes written in red from, bragging about how kill the characters and goading them into giving in to their darker selves.
 * Jump Scare: Used for the Game Over screen announcing a Wrong End, with a Bloody Handprint suddenly slamming into the screen.
 * Kill the Cutie:
 * Also
 * Like Brother and Sister: Sakutarou and Mayu are repeatedly described as this.
 * Malevolent Architecture: Tenjin, especially in the original PC-98 game, where the floor is riddled with holes and keeps rearranging/losing pieces.
 * Multiple Endings: Each chapter of the PC games has a "True End" and a few "Wrong End"s. The use of "True End" rather than "Good End" should give you a hint about the overall tone...
 * Murder the Hypotenuse: Appears in one Wrong End where.
 * Names to Know In Anime: The PSP version features quite an All Star Cast:
 * Hiro Shimono as Satoshi Mochida
 * Eri Kitamura as Yuka Mochida
 * Rina Satou as Naomi Nakashima
 * Satomi Arai as Seiko Shinohara
 * Yuuichi Nakamura as Yoshiki Kishinuma
 * Asami Imai as Ayumi Shinozaki
 * Tetsuya Kakihara as Sakutarou Morishige
 * Miyuki Sawashiro as Yui Shishido
 * Tomokazu Sugita as Yuuya Kizami and Shimoda
 * Yuka Nanri as Mayu Suzumoto
 * Ikue Ohtani as Sachiko Shinozaki. (Yeah, they got Pikachu's voice actor play her. Wrap your head around that.)
 * Tsubasa Yonaga as Kensuke Kurosaki
 * Nobuhiko Okamoto as Tsukasa Mikuni
 * Never Got to Say Goodbye: The last words exchanged between  were a huge argument.
 * Never Split the Party: The victims were deliberately split up and cast into separate 'closed spaces' of the alternate dimension, and must first find out how to reach each other.
 * This is played straight by . Averted by.
 * New Transfer Student: Inverted with Mayu Suzumoto; she was transferring out of Kisaragi, and the Culture Festival was meant to be her last day there...
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero: Naomi and Seiko were lucky enough to end up together when everyone was separated; however, Naomi takes out her frustration on Seiko, accusing her of not taking matters seriously, driving her away..
 * According to, the reason they got trapped within Heavenly Host in the first place is due to this: . Later, it's discovered that.
 * Nightmare Face: Not only do many of the evil spirits sport these, the victims' reaction faces veer into this territory, especially in the manga.
 * Nightmare Fetishist: Subverted with Ayumi. She delights in telling scary stories, but once she finds herself in one, she is very freaked out.
 * No Canon for The Wicked: Averted; several of Book of Shadowss chapters follow a Bad Ending where . Another chapter expands upon a path where . The only chapter that follows Blood Covereds True Ending must be unlocked, and.
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Frequently combined with a form of Gory Discretion Shot: instead of fully illustrating whatever horror the characters are enduring, you instead have to hear it. Book of Shadows uses this even more extensively.
 * One Steve Limit: Ayumi isn't the only Shinozaki in the game...
 * The Pollyanna: Seiko.
 * Princess Curls: Seiko has small curls in her hair just below her ears.
 * Pocket Protector: Can appear in Chapter 4 of Blood Covered, deflecting a pair of scissors..
 * Promotion to Parent: After losing her mother, Seiko has become a sort of surrogate mother to her younger siblings.
 * Red Herring: Double Subversion with the health points in the PSP version. Most deaths are a Nonstandard Game Over, so it doesn't matter how many HP your characters have. There are some instances where the floor reduces your HP if you walk over it, but since you usually find a measure to become resistant against it, so HP doesn't have much meaning here either. And unlike in the Pc-98 version, there is no Final Boss Battle.
 * : In Blood Covered and Book of Shadows, this is the fate of.
 * Schoolgirl Lesbian: Seiko Shinohara.
 * Invoked as Easter Egg:  The whole doubles as Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Tear Jerker.
 * Schmuck Bait: So damn many.
 * Sequel Hook: The final chapter of Book of Shadows provides a big set-up for a sequel, including.
 * Slasher Smile: Several.
 * Spoiler Opening: The opening shows CGs and characters that are HUGE parts of the story.
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Stringy Haired Ghost Girl
 * Stupidity Is the Only Option: You have to ignore several warnings throughout the game in order to get the True Endings.
 * There Is Another:
 * This Is Reality:
 * Spoiler Opening: The opening shows CGs and characters that are HUGE parts of the story.
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Stringy Haired Ghost Girl
 * Stupidity Is the Only Option: You have to ignore several warnings throughout the game in order to get the True Endings.
 * There Is Another:
 * This Is Reality:
 * This Is Reality:


 * Title Drop: In the Book of Shadows chapter "Shangri-La", gleefully describes Tenjin as a "Corpse Party" as well as calling it "Shangri-La".
 * Tongue Trauma
 * Tsundere: Naomi is your typical tsun-tsun. Instead of presenting this as a Charm Point, however, the attitude is Deconstructed as part of her Fatal Flaw.
 * Twisted Ankle: Naomi's ankle gets twisted after a bad landing, making it difficult for her to get around at first.
 * Unexpected Genre Change: At the end of the PC-98 game, the students must face a Final Boss, the only battle in the game. Made more difficult by the fact they haven't gotten any Experience Points, meaning they've got about 30 HP each... Fortunately, before choosing your party, you get a chance to learn what everyone's strengths are via an Info Dump.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Satoshi and Naomi have known each other since seventh grade. He isn't aware that she's interested in him, though, since she constantly teases and provokes him.
 * Utsuge: You will cry, either because of all the Tear Jerker moments or because of the huge amounts of Nightmare Fuel.
 * Wham Episode: Each chapter will end this way, shoving a shocking event in your face that changes how you look at the situation.
 * Blood Covered
 * Chapter 1:
 * Chapter 2:
 * Chapter 3:
 * Chapter 4:
 * Chapter 5:
 * What the Hell Hero: When Ayumi and Yoshiki . Ayumi calls him out, . Yoshiki in turn calls her out, . It ends with a.
 * White Haired Pretty Boy: Yoshiki.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: Miyu Shinohara in Corpse Party: Musume.
 * Yank the Dogs Chain: In Book of Shadows, Naomi tries to Screw Destiny, but.
 * You Can't Fight Fate: In Book of Shadows, it's claimed that.
 * You Can't Fight Fate: In Book of Shadows, it's claimed that.