Kirakira

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Rock and Roll!

"Two conditions for becoming a true Punk rocker:
 1. A Punk rocker doesn't follow any rules (anarchy attitude).
 2. A Punk rocker mustn't think his actions through (no future attitude)."

Ero Visual Novel produced by the group OverDrive in 2007, which was licensed by MangaGamer and put out in English in 2009.

Shikanosuke is a twelfth-grade student at a Christian high school, and right now his life kind of sucks. He had to quit the tennis club due to health problems, and he was just dumped by his girlfriend. Right now all that's really going on is his work at a restaurant and his average school days. At the start of the story, though, his life begins to change when a new girl starts to work with him. Her name is Kirari, and she's from the same school as him. The two of them make friends when Shikanosuke is assigned to teach Kirari the ropes, and one night after Shikanosuke tries to settle a fight between members of a visiting band and a couple of drunk thugs, the two receive tickets to said band's upcoming concert as an apology for the trouble. After some debate, the pair head to the concert. Kirari falls in love with the energy, and Shikanosuke -- who could never understand what was so special about rock or bands -- is entranced by the band's charisma.

At the same time, the club Shikanosuke joined after he quit playing tennis -- the second literary club -- is set to be terminated because it has too few members. Kirari, who also happens to be part of the club, gets him to come to a meeting discussing what they should do at this year's cultural festival, which will be their last. Kirari's suggestion? They should form a punk rock band and perform like the light music club does!

And so, Shikanosuke, Kirari, and two other girls--Shinakosuke's childhood friend Chie and Kirari's best friend Sarina--decide that they may as well, and are slowly drawn into the world of rock as they become more and more serious about their new hobby.

Kirakira is a Slice of Life comedy about school, love, life, and The Power of Rock. It doesn't take itself overly seriously, and is notable for its extremely high-quality art, fun storylines, and use of rock-inspired music for all of its BGMs. Compare and contrast K-On! and Beck. It has absolutely nothing to do with the serial killer, the Macross Frontier meme, the Gundam pilot or the YA novel by Cynthia Kadohata.

The game has a fandisc called KiraKira: Curtain Call which follows a new group of characters. It is also available in English. Clean versions of both the fandisc and the original game were released for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Has an all-ages PS2 version as well.

See also Deardrops, Kirakira's Spiritual Successor.

Definitely not to be confused with the YA novel Kira-Kira,

Tropes used in Kirakira include:
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: Shikanosuke admits that he masturbates almost every day, and actually does it multiple times in the story.
  • Alliteration
  • All Drummers Are Animals: Averted. Chie is one of the most rational and calm members of the band.
  • The Alleged Car: The Murakami van.
  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: Surprisingly, played straight, but without a Double Standard. Shikanosuke states that he did have sex with his ex-girlfriend. Then again...
  • Ambiguously Gay: Keita.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Yuko.
  • Armor-Piercing Slap: Averted. When Chie tries to slap Shikanosuke for getting ice cream all over her, he refuses to stand and take it.
  • Attractive Bent Gender: Shikanosuke actually has more fanboys than the rest of the band. This, understandably, disturbs him immensely.
  • Audience Participation Song: O.H.B.I., in Chie's route.
  • Audio Adaptation: Radio d2b.
  • Beach Episode: A couple, though a certain one in Sarina's route stands out.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: In Chie's route, she fights with, berate and doodles on Shika, but shortly afterward they're back to being friends or saving a Yakuza Princess away from the rest of the group.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Tonoya is happy to help the Second Literatue Club Band learn how to play music.
  • Big Eater: Kirari.
  • Big Fancy House: Sarina's family has multiple, and they all look the same.
    • Midori's house also counts, since it's mentioned to be even bigger that Sarina's.
  • Bishounen Ondo looks extremely feminine, and is considered very attractive, partially due to his wealth. Most of the other male characters count as well, especially Shikanosuke.
  • Big Screwed-Up Family: The Kashiwaras, a rare non-supernatural case, despite most of them being dead. First off, Sarina's grandfather Masatsugu lived through World War II, and then was the only survivor of his entire family, who died from improperly prepared blowfish. He suffered from this, but managed to be successful, and had two sons. Unfortunately one, Sarina's father, fell in love with a woman in Tokyo, and Masatsugu didn't approve of their relationship. Sarina's parents ran away, and were completely estranged from the family. After giving birth to Sarina, her mother died, and her father soon committed suicide, and was found by his brother which led to Masatsugu raising Sarina by himself. When you realize that Sarina is the only close family he has left, his situation becomes a lot more sympathetic.
  • Bland-Name Product: In one of the backgrounds, an upside-down McDonald's logo can be seen.
  • Blatant Lies: Shika tries to avoid speaking by stating that he has a terrible hearing problem.
  • Bleached Underpants: For the Playstation 2, iPhone and iPod Touch releases, all H-scenes were removed.
  • Blind Idiot Translation: Not particularly Egregious, but the translators have a habit of misspelling the characters' names. Kashiwara probably gets the worst of it.
    • There's several references to a band called "The Crash." While such a band does exist, considering the heavy emphasis on early punk bands they probably meant The Clash.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Kirari and Chie accidentally do this to help Sarina deal with the stage fright from their first concert.
  • Breakup Breakout: In a few of the endings, Kirari ends up being a famous singer, touring with STAR GENERATION.
    • Tonoya seems to have become a famous guitarist after he leaves STAR GENERATION, if the Where Are They Now epilogue is anything to go by.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: Implied with Shika. He simply doesn't care about most things enough to try rather than actually lacking the ability. Several other characters such as his mother and sister appear to notice it as well.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Tom looks considerably more western than the rest of the cast, has American parents and can speak fluent English. However he has lived in Japan all his life.
  • Cameo: There's a 8 bit melody of the opening song of another game by Overdrive named "Edelweiss"
  • Caught in the Rain: Happens to Chie and Shikanosuke twice.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: In comparison to the rest of the game and the other girls' routes, Kirari's final scenarios are incredibly dark and depressing, dealing not just with her family's poverty, but with depression, suicide, prostitution, and what kinds of actions are justified when trying to save oneself or one's family members.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Handa.
    • Murakami also counts as one. During the summer festival, he admitted to wanting "all of the girls" and that he would "have sex with them every day". But because it's him saying it, it comes off as this trope.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Mostly Midori, but also Kirari.
  • Cluster F-Bomb
  • Coitus Ensues: Some of the sex scenes are rather random and out of place.
  • Cool Old Guy: Handa, only helped by his lecherousness.
  • Comedic Sociopathy
  • Concert Kiss
  • Contrived Coincidence: The way Shika and Kirari meet Tonoya. Heavily lampshaded.
  • Covered in Gunge: Happens to many innocent bystanders when Midori crashes a truck carrying buckets of mulch.
  • Cult: A particularly peaceful variety, that Shika and Chie are ordered very politely asked to rescue a girl from.
  • Crossover: with "Deardrops" in d2b VS DEARDROPS -Cross the Future.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: It's made clear in related materials that Kirari's good route is the canon route.
  • Darkest Hour: A gig goes bad, their van breaks down, and Kirari starts crying. All within a couple hours.
  • Dead Person Conversation
  • Death by Childbirth:`Sarina's mother succumbs to her illness shortly after giving birth to her, due to her body being too weak to cope with the strains of birth.
  • Deceased Parents Are the Best: Both of Sarina's parents died shortly after she was born. Her mother suffered from a case of Death by Childbirth, which caused her father to be Driven to Suicide.
  • Defictionalization: d2b has it's website.
  • Dirty Old Man: Handa tries to seduce Chie. He's actually a nice guy, but still, a perv is a perv.
  • Double Meaning Title
  • Dragged Into Drag: Shikanosuke, much to his displeasure.
  • Driven to Suicide: Sarina's dad killed himself shortly after her mother died. This also happens in the True End to Kirari's dad.
  • Dropped a Bridget On Him: Shika to Ondo, though Ondo doesn't care.
  • Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: Shika attempts to to this twice to Chie, once not even in her own route!
  • Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The writers probably drew out of a hat filled with performance terms to get the fandisc's title.
  • Epic Fail: The very first time d2b plays, on the rooftop. There's exciting buildup, then... the most hilariously terrible track of the BGM. It's all played for laughs, though.
  • Everythings Better With Zippers: Just look at Yagihara's outfit!
  • Face Doodling: Shika and Chie do this to each other.
  • Fake Band
  • Featureless Protagonist: A common Visual Novel trope, but averted here.
  • Festival Episode: Complete with fireworks and festival games.
  • Foreshadowing: It's stated around the middle of the game that blowfish is very deadly when not prepared properly. guess what happened to Sarina's grandfather's family?
  • First Girl Wins: Kirari is the main heroine.
  • Five-Man Band: various.
  • Five Man Band Concert: They are a band.
  • Flash Back: The game starts at the STAR GENERATION concert, then flashes back to show how Shika and Kirari got there, from Shika's girlfriend breaking up with him. Shika also explains the fallout from certain situations in flashback style, too.
  • Fun with Acronyms: The refrain to Let's Jump!, the first letters of which spell out FUCK.
  • Gay Option: Ondo-kun. And yes, he actually does have his own ending, though it counts as a Bad End.
  • Genki Girl: Kirari is very, very hyperactive.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: In all routes of Kirakira to Kirari. Also, in Curtain Call, to Souta.
  • Genre Shift: Sarina's route in the third chapter.
  • Genius Cripple: Kazuki
  • Gilligan Cut: Shikanosuke swears he will NOT dress as a girl to get into Sarina's mansion. No way. Not happening. Even if he can pull off an extremely effective girl, it will never ever happen again. After that declaration, he gets an entire line before we get a cut to him. You have to hand it to him, he manages to actually look better than any of the real girls.
  • Girl Group: The Second Literature Club Band is presented as this, but of course isn't.
  • Gonk: Okaji in Curtain Call.
  • Gratuitous English: Found in several songs (OHBI, Let's Jump!, go on a trip, among others) as well as the "swearing interlude" where the cast speaks all swear words in English, and the catchphrase "Rock and roll!" in Chie's route.
  • Growing Up Sucks
  • Grumpy Old Man: Sarina's grandpa.
  • Hair Colours: Kirari's hair is visibly orange, but mentioned to be black in-story. What?
  • Here We Go Again: At the end of Curtain Call when both Star Generation and the original d2b return. Also because Shikanosuke is forced back into drag.
  • Heroic BSOD: During their Darkest Hour, Poor Kirari has one onstage in the middle of a gig.
    • Souta starts to have one in Curtain Call, until Kazuki punches him in the face to fix it.
    • Shikanosuke himself gets two really major ones when Kirari dies(in her normal route) and when he used to play tennis. For the former one, it takes the spirit/ghost/hallucination of Kirari to snap him back to normal after 5 years. He also gets a more minor one in the True End, after he lets Kirari's father commit suicide which he only snaps out of after confessing this fact to Kirari, and subsequently getting her forgiveness.
  • Heroic Bastard: Shika, possibly. It's left ambiguous as to whether his parents were married before they split up.
  • H-game: Though the sex is really late in the story.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: Sarina's father's will was hidden in a secret compartment in her guitar.
  • Holding Hands: Chie non-romantically does this to Shika in her route without noticing. He definitely does notice, though.
  • Hot-Blooded: Souta Honda has a BLAZING ROCK SOUL!
  • Huddle Shot: At the end of Chie's route.
  • I Can Explain: Shikanosuke desperately tries to explain his crossdressing whenever he's found out.
  • If It's You It's Okay: Onda genuinely thought Shika was a girl for over two years, but when he finds out the truth he gets over it in approximately three seconds and still proposes.
    • ... or that's why he was attracted to Shika in the first place, consciously or not. Or he's just completely insane. Either seems quite possible.
  • I'm Taking Her Home with Me: A lot of guys want to do this to Kirari. Most are nice, though.
  • Indirect Kiss
  • It's Up to You: Shika usually winds up having to rescue other people from their issues. It's most often played for laughs, but this comes up more seriously in Kirari's true route, where her father tries to force Shika to save her from being forced into prostitution on his own.
  • Japanese Christian: The school is pretty laidback, though.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yashiro and Souta.
    • Shikanosuke is described often as either a heartless, cold guy or a sweet, kind person. Generally, he's a bit of both.
  • Jerkass: The Light Music Club.
  • Large Ham: Onda screams this. From the first time you hear about him, to the first time he shows up, to his gender change for Shika, everything he does screams ham.
  • Law of Inverse Fertility Justified and Inverted.
  • Letting Her Hair Down: Chie in a flashback.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Shika describes his relationship with Chie like this midgame. Whether or not it stays like this is up to you.
  • Lolicon: Ryuhei turns out to be one.
  • Long Title: The Second Literature Club Band is often shorted to d2b for a reason.
  • Love Hotels: Two routes include a trip to one.
  • Meaningful Name: Kirakira is the Japanese onomatopoeia for sparkling. Kirari's name also means "sparkling", tying into her hairpin.
  • Meido: Saiki, a rare older example.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Aki and Miru in Curtain Call. For good reason too.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Tomo, to the point where Shika is very regretful if you turn her down.
  • Multiple Endings
  • No Export for You: Subverted. Kirakira is hardly popular, but got the rare gift of an official translation, including the fandisc, as well as an iPhone/iPod port.
  • No Periods, Period: Averted, for plot specific reasons. In the True End, Kirari starts her period just after her dad agrees to whore her out to loan sharks in order to pay his debts, which buys Shika valuable time to try to save her.
  • The Ojou: Sarina, though she's quite humble. Also Onda in his Bad End, when he gets a sex change.
  • Old Friend: Shika hadn't seen Chie for quite a while until shortly before the events of the game.
  • Old Retainer: Saiki to Sarina.
  • The One Guy: He is the main character, but this is brought up with Shika several times.
  • Only Sane Man: Chie and Shika alternate in this position.
  • Optional Sexual Encounter: Tomo. If the player declines, Shika becomes very disappointed with himself for not having sex with her. The actual choice dialogue says, "No real man could pass up a woman like this."
  • Panty Shot: Each girl has at least one.
  • Parent with New Paramour: Chie's dad with his mistress.
  • Parents as People
  • Passing the Torch: In Curtain Call, Shikanosuke's sister, Yuko, becomes the bassist of d2b after Shikanosuke graduates, even donning a similar stage costume.
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Tom.
  • Picky Eater: Chie doesn't eat meat because she doesn't like it.
  • Pixellation: Only in the Japanese version. The English version has removed, because Japanese law prohibits the direct showing of genitals in media. English countries don't have such a law.
  • Porn Stash
  • Posthumous Character: Sarina's father.
  • The Power of Rock: ROCK N' ROLL!!
  • Precision F-Strike: In the middle of a Cluster F-Bomb scene, there's this, when Sarina is drinking tea with a teacher:

Sarina: "It was a very nice fuckin' tea. Thank you very much, fuck."

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