Corpse Party

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
You will surely die here
English trailer for the game.

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:

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


Tropes used in Corpse Party include:


  • 100% 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 Suzumoto and Morishige'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 A Certain Magical Index.
  • 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. Though, it turns out to be both a case of Or Was It a Dream? and Groundhog Day Loop
  • 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, There were originally five characters in the PC-98 version. Everyone has the possibility of dying. However, anyone else added to the later adaptations that are trapped will die no matter what.
  • Apocalyptic Log
  • Big Damn Heroes: In the manga, Satoshi, Yoshiki, Naomi and Ayumi show up just in time to save Yuka from Kizami. Especially impressive in that we're initially led to think they'd walked by the Science Room without realizing Yuka was in there. Earlier, Kurosaki (who we initially think is dead when Yuka finds him) prevents Kizami from killing Yuka by revealing himself to be alive and punching him. Unfortunately, this leads to Kurosaki's real death.
  • Bury Your Gays: Poor Seiko...
    • And in Corpse Party: Musume, there's Miyu.
  • But Thou Must!: In Blood Covered, seemingly averted when you're prompted to either continue moving forward or go back at the warning of Sachiko. 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 Ayumi and Naomi attempting to bring back Mayu with a ritual.
  • 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 not to attempt the ritual.
  • 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. This is how Naho and her friend Sayaka died. Kokuhaku Akaboshi died similarly. It's also what makes Naomi Brainwashed and Crazy enough to murder Seiko.
  • 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.
  • Downer Ending: Even in the True Ending only Satoshi, Naomi, Ayumi, Yoshiki and Yuka survive. Yep, about half of the main cast consists of Doomed Protagonists and can't be saved by any means whatsoever. And don't get started with all the secondary characters that die or have died. Oh, and it's still possible for others to fuck up the ritual and get thrown into the Nightmare School Dimension even if Sachiko passes on. Not to mention that the friends they lost will not only relive their deaths in eternal suffering, but they also are completely forgotten by the world at large except their friends who survived. Quite possibly one of the harshest, most horrifying afterlives anyone could exist in, to be sure. And in the sequel... well, the protagonists only manage to mess things even more.
  • 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 who lacks one of her eyes? Have fun watching your characters getting paralyzed and stabbed into their eye sockets with a scissor while listening to their screams. 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...
  • Genius Loci: Heavenly Host Elementary is heavily implied to be this. While it started as a "mere" haunted school with Principal Yanagihori's murder of Yoshie and Sachiko, the decades of slaughter and suffering have given the school a malicious consciousness. This is further confirmed by Yuki, who mentions to the heroes that even if they managed to appease Sachiko, the school would produce another Sachiko to replace the original one so that it may continue its evil, and that all those who already died there STAY there.
  • Genki Girl: Seiko Shinohara.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Ayumi Shinozaki. Seiko has hers in Princess Curls.
  • Groundhog Day Loop: In the final Wrong End of Blood Covered, Satoshi finds himself about to repeat the nightmare all over again, unable to prevent it from starting...
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Sakutarou when he realizes that the corpse picture which fascinates him the most is of Mayu.
  • 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 Naomi runs off to get a platform to keep Seiko from strangling to death.
    • In the manga, Yui is trapped under a shelf, being stabbed with the knives that were in it. A ghost offers to help her if she agrees to sacrifice her students. Instead, Yui asks him to save them rather than her. The ghost seems moved and lifts the shelf off of her. Just as Yui is breathing a sigh of relief, he drops it back on her, refusing to believe she's a good teacher. He does eventually lift it up for real, though.
  • 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.
  • It's 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 Sachiko, bragging about how she'll 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: Seiko, nooo...
    • Also Mayu, not to mention every other character in the games' various Wrong Ends.
  • 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 Ayumi burns Naomi's paper scrap and renders her unable to escape Tenjin, planning to escape with Satoshi.
  • Names to Know in Anime: The PSP version features quite an All-Star Cast:
  • Never Got to Say Goodbye: The last words exchanged between Naomi and Seiko were a huge argument.
    • Subverted if you count Naomi's dream and the mails she receives near the end of the game.
  • 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.
  • Never Suicide: This is played straight by Seiko, who really didn't kill herself. Averted by Sakutarou, who did.
  • 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. This doesn't end well.
    • According to Naho, the reason they got trapped within Heavenly Host in the first place is due to this: someone messed up during the paper doll ritual. Later, it's discovered that wasn't the case; she posted the wrong instructions on her blog.
  • 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. Sakutarou plays it straight, though.
  • No Canon for the Wicked: Averted; several of Book of Shadows‍'‍s chapters follow a Bad Ending where Satoshi finds himself in a Groundhog Day Loop and can't prevent the others from performing the ritual and returning to Tenjin. Another chapter expands upon a path where Kizami caught Yuka. The only chapter that follows Blood Covered‍'‍s True Ending must be unlocked, and basically sets up the next game, Blood Drive.
  • 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. Sadly, Seiko's cell gets destroyed in the process, leading to a Wrong End.
  • 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.
  • Ret-Gone: In Blood Covered and Book of Shadows, this is the fate of the classmates killed in Tenjin. Only the survivors remember them; for everyone else, it's like they never existed in the first place.
  • Retirony: If Mayu had only transferred out sooner...
  • Schoolgirl Lesbian: Seiko Shinohara. Too bad Naomi doesn't reciprocate her feelings.
    • Invoked as Easter Egg: In Chapter 4, when regaining control of Satoshi and Naomi, you find Seiko's mobile phone in front of the janitor's room. Instead of picking it up right away, return to the toilet where Seiko died to see a small event. After that, pick it up and go to the school infirmary to trigger a dream sequence where Naomi will rest on the bed. Seiko appears in her dream and tells her that she's sorry about their fight and wants to make up for it before she finally leaves this world. You then have the option to let Naomi grant Seiko her final wish: A kiss. The whole doubles as Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Tear Jerker.
  • Schmuck Bait: So damn many. Hm, let's rest in the infirmary-OH DEAR GOD *consumed by ghost*; Hmm, the fifth and final Victim's Memoir-*SPLAT*; Hey, that anatomy model is kinda creepy-OHSHI- *Mauled to death*
  • Sequel Hook: The final chapter of Book of Shadows provides a big set-up for a sequel, including a 'Continue to the next game' note right before the credits.
  • Slasher Smile: Several. Most notable ones being the shadowy creature faced at the end of chapter one, possessed Ayumi, and Sachiko. Oh sweet lord, Sachiko.
  • Spirit Advisor: Seiko becomes this for Naomi after her death.
  • 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: The students of 2-9 aren't the only ones currently wandering through Tenjin...
  • This Is Reality:

Naomi: How is this possible...? We're not in a video game or a manga...

  • Title Drop: In the Book of Shadows chapter "Shangri-La", Morishige gleefully describes Tenjin as a "Corpse Party" as well as calling it "Shangri-La".[1]
  • 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. Satoshi does have a Love Epiphany with regards to her, though. It's not in one of the good endings, though.
  • 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: Naomi finds Seiko hanging in a bathroom stall and is unable to save her. Seiko's death is the first to establish that no one is safe
    • Chapter 2: Ayumi and Yoshiki are unable to save Mayu from Yuki and Tokiko, as she gets splattered on a wall like a tomato. Ayumi then runs off traumatized. While Yoshiki shouts for Ayumi to stop, he is hit from behind by Yoshikazu with a large mallet. He gets better though.
    • Chapter 3: Satoshi is separated from Yuka and Naho appears to tell him that they were brought to Heavenly Host because they did the charm wrong.
    • Chapter 4: Ayumi and Yoshiki get Yuki's tongue back, and are teleported back to the classroom. Yuki then appears and Ayumi asks Yuki to show her what really happened on the day of her murder. Through an Exposition Beam, we learn through Yuki's eyes that she was actually murdered by Sachiko(the fourth supposed surviving child), and not Yoshikazu (the supposed killer. All while Sachiko stabs out Yuki's eye.
    • Chapter 5: Satoshi, Naomi, Yoshiki, Yuka, and Naomi escape, but they later learn the next day that those who died had their existences erased and that the five are the only ones who remember them.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: When Ayumi and Yoshiki are returned to the classroom by Yuki Kanno, Ayumi asks to return to save the others. In a certain Wrong End, Yoshiki protests this. Ayumi calls him out, saying that he doesn't care whether their friends die. Yoshiki in turn calls her out, accusing her of only caring about Satoshi. It ends with a love confession on Yoshiki's part.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Yoshiki.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Miyu Shinohara in Corpse Party: Musume.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: In Book of Shadows, Naomi tries to Screw Destiny, but learns that not only is Seiko marked for death, but each new demise will be worse than the last.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: In Book of Shadows, it's claimed that anyone who previously died in Tenjin cannot be saved, no matter what. Not only that, but their new deaths will be worse than the first...
  1. "Shangri-La" is also the title of Blood Covered: Repeated Fear's opening theme, making it another reference.