Myself ; Yourself

Myself ; Yourself (マイセルフ；ユアセルフ) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Yeti which was released on December 20, 2007 for the PlayStation 2. Myself ; Yourself is the second original game published by Regista, the first being I/O. Takumi Nakazawa, the main scenario writer for the infinity series (Ever17, Remember11), is the principal writer for Myself ; Yourself. Character design for the game is provided by Mutsumi Sasaki, who also did the original character design for Memories Off, Happy Lesson, and Futakoi. Before the game's release, a light novel based on the story, written by Takumi Nakazawa, and illustrated by Wadapen, was serialized in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine between March and November 2007, published by MediaWorks. An anime adaptation began airing in Japan on October 3, 2007 on the TV Kanagawa television network, and contained thirteen episodes. A spin-off sequel to the visual novel was developed by the previous staff entitled Myself ; Yourself: Sorezore no Finale and was released on May 28, 2009 for the PlayStation 2.

Plot
Myself ; Yourself is set in 2007 in the fictional town Sakuranomori (桜乃杜) in W Prefecture which is modeled after Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The town is in a quiet, rural area on the southern tip of the prefecture and borders the Pacific Ocean. Sakuranomori is the birthplace of Sana Hidaka, a sixteen year old high school student, who grew up with his childhood friends Nanaka Yatsushiro, & Aoi Oribe, his best male friend Syusuke Wakatsuki, and his twin sister Syuri Wakatsuki. Sana left Sakuranomori when he was eleven years old, but returns five years later living on his own in the apartment building Aoi's family runs. Sana soon finds out that while some things have stayed the same, there are still just as many things that have changed.

Protagonists

 * Sana Hidaka (日高 佐菜)
 * (regular), Madoka Kimura (childhood)
 * Sana is the main protagonist of the series. He left Sakuranomori during his childhood, and during the beginning of the series he comes back to live by himself in the apartment building owned by Aoi's parents. He apparently had a crush on Nanaka before he left and still holds those feelings for her. He used to play the piano, but he forgot every song except the song Nanaka wrote for him which he says is very important to him. He has a fear of blood, because he tried to commit suicide during his middle-school years due to constantly being bullied.


 * Syusuke Wakatsuki (若月 修輔)
 * (regular), Yūko Sanpei (childhood)
 * Syusuke is one of the four childhood friends Sana left behind when he moved, and is still one of his new friends when he returned. He is the best friend of Sana and the only male besides Sana himself of the five friends. He is the younger twin of Syuri Wakatsuki. Yuzuki refers him as the lucky one of the Wakatsuki twins. When he and Syuri are accused of being lovers, their father decides to send Syuri to London. When Syuri says that she cannot stand to be separated from him, he decides to run away with her.

Heroines

 * Nanaka Yatsushiro (八代 菜々香)


 * Nanaka is one of Sana's friends, and seemed to have feelings for Sana. When Sana returns to town after five years, her personality has completely changed from sweet and caring to a cold demeanor, and moody. When she meets Sana again after he returned she slaps him for apparently not knowing who she was. She still seems to have romantic feeling as she gets jealous whenever Sana is with another girl (especially Asami).


 * Nanaka was a victim of possible arson shortly after Sana left Sakuranomori, and lost both her parents during the fire; she managed to escape the fire with only her violin and the sakura bracelet Sana gave her. Since certain parts of the event were unknown to her, her uncle and aunt has since then taken her into custody and make sure she never remembers that event that has caused her so much pain. Soon afterward, she remembers what had happened in the fire. Her father had started the fire because of Nanaka's mother cheating on him with his best friend, who was also Nanaka's violin teacher and her real father.


 * Aoi Oribe (織部 麻緒衣)
 * Aoi is not Sana's cousin, despite the fact that Sana calls her mother his aunt. Her parents own the apartment building that Sana lives in. She prefers to be called Aoi-chan instead of Aoi-san, despite the fact that she is a year older than Sana. She wears glasses and has a busty physique. She loves to read books and is very energetic and clumsy. She has a very high-pitched voice and child-like character. Despite being childish, Aoi has a very caring personality, and never fails to aid a friend in need.
 * Aoi is not Sana's cousin, despite the fact that Sana calls her mother his aunt. Her parents own the apartment building that Sana lives in. She prefers to be called Aoi-chan instead of Aoi-san, despite the fact that she is a year older than Sana. She wears glasses and has a busty physique. She loves to read books and is very energetic and clumsy. She has a very high-pitched voice and child-like character. Despite being childish, Aoi has a very caring personality, and never fails to aid a friend in need.


 * Syuri Wakatsuki (若月 朱里)
 * Syuri is one of Sana's friends since childhood, and is the older twin of Syusuke Wakatsuki. Yuzuki refers her as unlucky Wakatsuki twin. She can be seen as the most athletic of all the girls, although she is somewhat lacking when it comes to her figure. Despite her sporty physique, Syuri is still a very supportive friend that had no trouble connecting with Sana, even after his prolonged absence. She was also the first to be a volunteer at the old folk's home before inviting Asami. In the anime, she and Syusuke run away together, but come back in the final episode to see Nanaka's violin performance.
 * Syuri is one of Sana's friends since childhood, and is the older twin of Syusuke Wakatsuki. Yuzuki refers her as unlucky Wakatsuki twin. She can be seen as the most athletic of all the girls, although she is somewhat lacking when it comes to her figure. Despite her sporty physique, Syuri is still a very supportive friend that had no trouble connecting with Sana, even after his prolonged absence. She was also the first to be a volunteer at the old folk's home before inviting Asami. In the anime, she and Syusuke run away together, but come back in the final episode to see Nanaka's violin performance.


 * Hinako Mochida (持田 雛子)
 * , Ayano Niina (Sorezore no Finale)
 * Hinako is ten years old at first but becomes eleven in the course of the story. She is in love with Syusuke from when he saved her from three bullies who took her bag and would not give it back. She seems to want to learn how to be the girl he will like and asks Sana and Aoi for help. Hinako has a personality comparable to Aoi's, however being only in the fifth grade, she is childish as a result of her age. In the last anime episode, it is shown that she is the girlfriend of Asami's cousin, who is five years younger than her.


 * Yuzuki Fujimura (藤村 柚希)
 * Yuzuki is the twenty-five-year-old homeroom teacher of Sana's class; Syusuke, Nanaka, and Syuri are also in the same class. Whenever her students do a good job in school, such as cleaning a classroom thoroughly or bringing things to the teacher's lounge, Yuzuki will give them a piece of caramel candy, and even though she says to keep it a secret, everyone already knows that she does this. Many years ago when she was in high school, she met a child at the park and gave him one such caramel candy for trying so hard at attempting to flip over a metal bar (this turned out to be Sana during the course of the anime); this is what helped her decide to give them to others.
 * Yuzuki is the twenty-five-year-old homeroom teacher of Sana's class; Syusuke, Nanaka, and Syuri are also in the same class. Whenever her students do a good job in school, such as cleaning a classroom thoroughly or bringing things to the teacher's lounge, Yuzuki will give them a piece of caramel candy, and even though she says to keep it a secret, everyone already knows that she does this. Many years ago when she was in high school, she met a child at the park and gave him one such caramel candy for trying so hard at attempting to flip over a metal bar (this turned out to be Sana during the course of the anime); this is what helped her decide to give them to others.


 * Asami Hoshino (星野 あさみ)
 * Asami is a friend of Sana's and is in her second year. Asami seems to have a very gentle personality, and even volunteers at an old folk's home; she often asks Sana to come too, who is happy to oblige. However, she actually has a very vindictive personality. She takes revenge on people who hurt her. In the anime, she had a crush on Syuri and when she confesses to her, Syuri says they should just be friends. Angered, Asami writes a letter to the school, accusing that Syuri and Syusuke are lovers. Later on, she invites Syuri and Sana to the hospital to visit a sick lady so she could see how much she hurt Syuri. To her surprise, Syuri seems fine. At the hospital, the sick lady takes a knife and tries to kill Syuri, but Asami runs to protect her and is stabbed instead. She lives to realize that she should not hate Syuri anymore.
 * Asami is a friend of Sana's and is in her second year. Asami seems to have a very gentle personality, and even volunteers at an old folk's home; she often asks Sana to come too, who is happy to oblige. However, she actually has a very vindictive personality. She takes revenge on people who hurt her. In the anime, she had a crush on Syuri and when she confesses to her, Syuri says they should just be friends. Angered, Asami writes a letter to the school, accusing that Syuri and Syusuke are lovers. Later on, she invites Syuri and Sana to the hospital to visit a sick lady so she could see how much she hurt Syuri. To her surprise, Syuri seems fine. At the hospital, the sick lady takes a knife and tries to kill Syuri, but Asami runs to protect her and is stabbed instead. She lives to realize that she should not hate Syuri anymore.

Light novel
A six-chapter light novel under the title Myself ; Yourself Sorezore Overture (Myself ; Yourself それぞれのOverture), based on the visual novel's story, started serialization in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine on March 30, 2007 and ran until November 30, 2007. The novel is written as a prologue to the game by Takumi Nakazawa, who has also written scenarios for Ever17, and Memories Off 2nd, and is illustrated by Wadapen. Each chapter centers on one of the six heroines; chapters one through six are arranged as: Nanaka, Aoi, Syuri, Yuzuki, Hinako, and Asami.


 * Chapters
 * 1) "Seven children: Nanaka's Story" (七つの子), published March 30, 2007
 * 2) "The Lost Child Aoi-san: Aoi's Story" (まいごのあおいさん), published April 30, 2007
 * 3) "Me and Him, My Friend: Syuri's Story" (私とあいつと、私の仲間), published June 30, 2007
 * 4) "Close Encounter: Yuzuki's Story", published August 30, 2007
 * 5) "A Small and Large First Step: Hinako's Story" (小さくて、大きな第一歩), published September 30, 2007
 * 6) "What Thing Did You Lose?: Asami's Story" (なくした もの は、なんですか?), published November 30, 2007Myself ; Yourself limited edition game cover.jpg

Anime
An anime adaptation aired in Japan between October 3, 2007 and December 26, 2007 on the TV Kanagawa television network containing thirteen episodes. The series is directed by Yasuhiro Kuroda, and produced by the animation studio Dogakobo through the Myself ; Yourself Production Committee, which is composed of Happinet Pictures, Marvelous Entertainment, The 5pb, and Pony Canyon Enterprises. Seven DVD compilations, the first six containing two episodes of the anime, and the last containing the final episode have been released; the DVDs are distributed by Happinet Pictures.

Visual novels
The Myself ; Yourself visual novel, developed by Yeti, was released on December 20, 2007 playable on the PlayStation 2. The game is published by Regista which mainly ports all-age versions of adult games developed by other companies, but in 2006 developed and published their first original game called I/O; Myself ; Yourself is the second time Regista has published an original title. Character design for the game is provided by Mutsumi Sasaki, who also did the original character design for Memories Off, Chaos;Head, Happy Lesson, and Futakoi. Unlike most visual novels, Myself ; Yourself has two male protagonists.

A spin-off sequel to the visual novel entitled Myself ; Yourself: Sorezore no Finale (Myself ; Yourself それぞれのfinale) was developed by the previous production staff and was released in spring 2009. The game features four new scenarios with Nanaka and Asami getting separate scenarios, and there are two duel scenarios with Syuri and Aoi in one, and Hinako and Yuzuki in the other. Several new characters are also introduced.

Music
The opening theme for the anime is "Tears Infection" by Kaori, and the ending theme is "Kimi to Yozora to Sakamichi to" (キミと夜空と坂道と) by Kanako Itō; the singles for both songs were released on October 24, 2007. The first opening theme for the visual novel is "Day-break" by Kaori, and the second opening theme is "ivy" by Kanako Itō. "Day-break" was released on the same single album as "Tears Infection", and "ivy" was released on the same single as "Kimi to Yozora to Sakamichi to" as B-side tracks. The visual novel version has seven ending themes: "Another World" and "Myself ; Yourself" by Ami Koshimizu, "Aoitori" (青い鳥) by Tomoko Kaneda, "Never leave me alone" by Yukari Tamura, "Hajimete no Kiss? (#^.^#)" (はじめてのKiss?(#^.^#)) by Ayumi Murata, "Mirai Kansoku" (未来観測) by Megumi Toyoguchi, and "Haru no Kiss" (春のKISS) by Mai Nakahara. Each of the ending themes are sung by the voice actresses of the six heroines from the series. These songs were released as character song albums: volumes one through three were released on November 21, 2007 and consist of the themes "Another World", "Hajimete no Kiss? (#^.^#)", and "Haru no Kiss" respectively. The second batch, volumes four through six, were released on December 7, 2007 and consisted of the themes "Never leave me home", "Aoitori", and "Mirai Kansoku" respectively. The game's original soundtrack was released with the limited edition release of the game on December 20, 2007; the soundtrack was also used for the anime version.

Reception
Stig Høgset from THEM Anime Reviews comments that the anime is similar to Kanon due to both having "a guy who's not a complete loser, who returns to his old town and meets various people, most of them girls or teachers/parents of said girls. Unlike with Kanon, however, these are people he already know [sic]." He criticizes the anime for Aoi's "unchanging voice" throughout the flashback, the present and the epilogue that flash forwards ten years into the future.

Notes and references

 * a: The title is also officially rendered Myself;Yourself, without spaces before or after the semicolon.