Katahane
Long ago there were three kingdoms: the Red Kingdom, the Blue Kingdom, and the White Kingdom. These three kingdoms were bound by their involvement in the creation of highly advanced dolls, some of which seem to be near identical to humans. A great tragedy befell the White Kingdom when Princess Christina Dorn was betrayed and murdered by a man named Ein Ronberg, a name that would become one of the most hated in the land for many years to come.
However, an aspiring screenwriter by the name of Wakaba is convinced that Ein did not truly betray the princess, a view that she wishes to incorporate into a play. Her chance to realize her dream comes when her childhood friend Cero needs to take Coco, a Doll that lives with him, for maintenance; she and her younger brother Light travel with him in hopes of finding people to star in her play. Along the way, the three run into an aspiring actress named Angelina, a very human-like Doll with one wing named Belle, and a pair of travelers by the names of Tonino and Silvia.
Katahane is an Eroge made by Tarte and split into two sections: the Shirohane (White Wing) Chapter deals with Wakaba and her friends forming their play while the Kurohane (Black Wing) Chapter deals with the events leading up to Ein's betrayal.
The game has been fully translated into English; the patch can be found here.
- All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game": Katahane has received so much publicity for being a good Girls' Love game that some fans were baffled by the prominently featured heterosexual couples.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: In-Universe: Wakaba's play is written around the idea that Ein, one of the most hated traitors in history, was actually nothing of the sort and a hero.
- Awesome but Impractical: In-Universe it is noted that Dolls have amazing military potential, but that even greater than their potential is their cost. They're simply too expensive to justify their use on a battlefield.
- Blond Guys Are Evil: Valery.
- Bokukko: Coco and Lulu.
- Butt Monkey: Hans.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Memory of Dorn in the true ending.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Coco
- Cool Big Sis: Silvia eventually becomes this to the main group.
- Does Not Like Men: Angelina.
- Ensemble Cast
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Valery sees in Ein a man as talented and capable as himself, so he assumes he must be plotting for power. But Ein is entirely loyal. It's also inverted in that Ein cannot understand Valery even after the man's death.
- Everyone Can See It: Cero and Wakaba. By the end of the game, Angelina and Belle join their ranks.
- Fantastic Racism
- Foregone Conclusion: Kurohane chapter proceeds inevitably towards the conclusion of the vilification of Ein, the end of the White Country's dynasty and the disappearance of the Sister close to Christina.
- Fun Size: Belle's miniature doll friends, who live in a wicker basket.
- Genre Shift: Kurohane is a political drama with a side helping of lesbian angst; the Shirohane segments are a much more typical themed romance.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: Valery to Hans.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Angelina and Christina are both voiced by Mai Goto and Dua is voiced by Shizuka Ito. Belle and Efa are voiced by Ryouko Ono (better known for playing Kaede in Sonohana).
- Horrible Judge of Character: It's actually noted outright that Valery always has a smug, condescending and villainous attitude, meaning the audience are not the only ones to see it. Yet he has no difficulty manipulating Jussi or the supposedly clever Hans.
- Immortal Immaturity: Coco.
- Incompatible Orientation: Early on, when Light has a crush on Angelina, she lets him down by explaining this.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: The end of the opening movie features the a line about the story beginning here, with "here" (koko) emphasized in katakana. Doubles as Incredibly Hamfisted Foreshadowing.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Dua tricks Hans into revealing a real dagger was supposed to replace a stage prop by making it seem like she was pressing him about receiving a gift of wine.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia
- Love You and Everybody: Pulled on Dua at least twice, both as 'you' and as 'everyone.'
- Manipulative Bastard: Blue Kingdom Ambassador Valery
- Mayfly-December Romance: Angelina and Belle
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: The role of Lord Jussi ends up being played by a very nice banker.
- Naked People Are Funny: Cero accidentally walks in on Wakaba in the shower, and good times are had by all.
- The Nicknamer: Coco. For example, Wakaba becomes Kaba by simply using the last part of the name and Light becomes Lie by using the first part.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Coco, who was made using a new technique and whose creator died not long after she reached the White Kingdom.
- Older Than They Look: Of course, the older Dolls such as Coco or Belle.
- One Steve Limit: Subverted with the name "Ein Ronberg"
- Play Within a Play
- Plot With Porn: The H-scenes are actually quite few for an Eroge and a greater emphasis is placed on the story and Character Development.
- Rapunzel Hair: Angelina, Christina and Ein.
- Ridiculously-Human Robots: Some of the Dolls (such as Belle) qualify.
- Robot Girl: Belle
- Shipper on Deck: Light seems to be rooting for his sister and Cero to hook up. Christina ships Ein and Dua.
- Shrinking Violet: Belle
- Smug Snake: Lord's Jussi and Valery. Valery can at least back it up somewhat.
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Angelina and Christina
- Tall, Dark and Handsome: Ein
- Too Dumb to Live: Hans, Hans, Hans, you should know better than accepting a drink from Valery.
- Tsundere: Dua as a type B cool behavior tsundere. She's always pretty stoic, but is always slightly combative towards Ein, towards whom she nurses an obvious attraction. She softens up considerably around Coco.
- Uncanny Valley: In-Universe, Jussi and some other characters think the dolls fall into this category.
- Unwitting Pawn: Hans and Jussi
- Vasquez Always Dies: Poor Dua.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Jussi dies in an accident, Valery more or less just shrugs and thinks to himself that he would have had him killed off soon anyway. Also pulled soon after on the Red assassin and then on Hans.