The folks over at Sol Press have a launched a Kickstarter to localize a Romantic Comedy Visual Novel called Sakura Sakura. At the time of this post they have raised around $6,200 of their modest $24,000 goal. There are a ton of great reward tiers to choose from that include $30 for digital copy or you can spring a little extra and get a physical and digital copy for $40. They also have reward tiers with other physical goods such as tapestries, art books and Dakis.  The game will release on Steam, but it will have a day one patch to restore the 18+ content for free.

The story follows Tohru Inaba, who had always dreamed of living the co-ed life. When he finally transfers to the well known Rintoku Academy he instantly falls head over heels for two lovely Sakuras there.

The first of these lovely Sakuras being Nanako Sakura. Her classes are very strict, but when at home she becomes very motherly.

The other Sakura in question is Sakura Kirishima, while she may seem cold and unfriendly she is always ready to reach to her fellow students as the class rep.

Here is a ton of information about the staff that has brought this project to life:

The Artists!

Akira Caskabe

Akira Caskabe is an extremely talented freelance illustrator who has been working on-and-off with Hiqosoft since 2006. She has worked with Hiqosoft on Yotsunoha and Sakura Sakura FESTIVAL!.

Yukari Higa

Yukari Higa is a character designer and illustrator who has produced promotional material for both Sakura Sakura and Sakura Sakura FESTIVAL!. She is currently working on the “WHEN GAME ENDS” manga by Dragon Knight 07. Some of her most notable works have been volumes 1-4 of the manga series “The Familiar of Zero Chevalier”.

Shii Kiya

Shii Kiya is a manga artist and illustrator who worked on the character designs and original drawings for Sakura Sakura. Some of his previous works include illustrating the “Sword Art Online – Caliber” and “Shakugan no Shana X” manga.

The Cut-in Director!

Mako Aboshi

Mako Aboshi was the cut-in director for Sakura Sakura. He is an illustrator that is well known for his super-deformed (SD) work, as well as his chibi character designs.

The Scenario Writers!

Tatomu

Tatomu has been the scenario writer for Hiqosoft for more than 13 years. He is best known for his work in Yotsunoha, a visual novel that was later adapted into two OVAs. He is currently working as the scenario writer for Hiqosoft’s newest title: Omokage Railback.

Keikei

Keikei has also been with Hiqosoft for more than 13 years. While she is a scenario writer alongside Tatomu, she also writes lyrics for their different titles. She is best known for the lyrics to “see-saw!!”, as well as the scenario and music in Yotsunoha.

The Translation Team

MuNo – Translator

I am a translator for Sol Press. I am here for cute girls and sweet romances, and quite fortunately, Sakura Sakura has both. I have previously worked on localizing browser games in Japan for global release, and will probably move back there in the future.

Adam Haffen – Editor

Hey there! My name is Adam, I’m the chief editor here at Sol Press and a project lead for Sakura Sakura. I’m a longtime fan of Japanese media and have been doing freelance editing for the better part of two years. I’ve been working to move to the next level as an editor, and I couldn’t be happier to work with Sol Press. I’m equally excited that our first project is Sakura Sakura; a story with cute girls, romance, and drama is more than I could hope for.

Coops – Playtesting / Proofreading

My name is Coops. I’m a proof reader/play tester for Sol Press and very excited to be part of this games localization. I have always enjoyed stories and games with romance, slice of life, and options of choosing your own path. I am very excited to see what this game holds!

Blaud – Playtesting / Proofreading

I’m Blaud, and I’m very excited to be working on Sakura Sakura! I knew as soon as I saw the visuals and the character design that this would be something I would be very interested in. Also, the fact that there’s a love triangle has the potential to have a lot of drama, something I love in almost anything I watch or play.

Veselin Romić – Web Developer

Hi! I’m Veselin, and I’m a software developer. I wear the hat of web developer for this particular project, but I’ve been tinkering with all kinds of software for as long as I can remember. I’m very excited to be on board for Sol’s first title, as well as to actually participate in an industry that’s been a hobby for years, if only in a very minor way.

Kazumi – Systems Engineer

I fell in love with the characters from Sakura Sakura as soon as I played the game, and I want to help other people experience it. I’ve been developing on Windows for several years, and I’m happy to be part of the team.

You can find more information about the reward tiers, character trailers, and other goodies over on the project’s Kickstater page.

Steve Baltimore
Steve started with oprainfall not long after the campaign moved from the IGN forums to Facebook. Ever since, he has been fighting to give all non-mainstream RPGs a fair voice. As the site admin, he will continue to do this and even show there is value in what some would deem "pure ecchi." He loves niche games and anime more than anything... well, except maybe Neptune.