Tears to Tiara

Tears to Tiara is a Japanese eroge tactical role-playing game developed by Leaf. It was first released for PC on April 28, 2005 in Japan. Then it was followed by 12 years old and up version released for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in which the pornographic content was removed. The PlayStation 3 release, entitled Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (ティアーズ トゥ ティアラ 花冠の大地) contained several enhancements and additional scenarios. The gameplay has changed from the original 2D to 3D gameplay as well as a change of character designs, thus becoming a remake.

Plot
The story of Tears to Tiara draws heavily from Welsh mythology, with characters named Arawn, Rhiannon, Arthur, Epona, Pwyll, Llŷr and Taliesin.

Set in a Late Antiquity-inspired fantasy setting, story starts on an island Erin (or Hibernia, as shown on an in-game map) on the west border of the Holy Empire.

Prologue is centered around the precognition-gifted priestess of the Gael tribe, Rhiannon. She is kidnapped by a rogue priest of the Holy Empire, Drwc, to be used as a sacrifice in a ritual meant to resurrect the Demon King Arawn and put Drwc in his favor. As a response the Gael people burn their village and swear to bring Rhiannon back or exact revenge on the Empire.

In the middle of the ritual, as the Gael people attack Drwc's soldiers, Arawn is resurrected and offered Rhiannon. At this point, he kills Drwc, frees Rhiannon, and proclaims no intention in wreaking havoc which the legends attributed to him. Instead, he shows interest in Rhinannon's brother Arthur, the First Warrior of his tribe. Rhiannon, on the other hand, falls in love with Arawn, and by declaring her decision to marry him, makes him the chieftain of the Gael tribe (hers and Arthur's father was the previous chieftain, but Arthur couldn't assume the title due to being the First Warrior).

As the prologue ends, point of view is switched from Rhiannon to Arawn, reveling him to be the protagonist of the game, and the story continues with the exodus of Gael tribe to the neighbouring island Albion (or Insula Britannica, as shown on an in-game map) in hope of eluding the Empire.

Real history
The storyline is similarly based in the Dark Age of Britannia when the Holy Empire, begins it's expansion North-West.

The Romans setup the city of Londinium as a trade center and capital in Britannia that host the empire's expansion up against the Gaels and the Britons in the north, which later the Celts and the Scots joined in the struggle against the Roman empire.

In real history, the Roman Empire is also facing a new change internally - Christianity, a faith which the emperor turned towards. The dramatic change had thrown the empire into a chaos separating people between believers and pagans.

Arawn
Aroun (アロウン) (PC version)

The Great Demon King, he was sealed away for 1000 years after his mortal body dies on the battlefield. Drwc resurrected him using Riannon as living sacrifice, but is instead killed after Arawn saves Riannon from mind control. She takes a liking to him instantly, and makes him chieftain of the Gael tribe.

Arawn's true name is Lucifer

Riannon
Riannon (リアンノン) (PC version)

Riannon is Arthur’s sister and was the one who released Arawn from his slumber. She takes a liking to Arawn instantly after she was saved by him and decided to marry him as well as making him the chieftain of the Gael tribe.

Riannon's true name is Primula.

Arthur
Arusaru (アルサル) (PC version)

Arthur is Riannon's brother. He has the honor as the First Warrior of the Gael tribe.

Arthur's true name is Regius.

Games
Tears to Tiara was first released as an adult game in April 28, 2005 by Aquaplus’ adult game division Leaf for the PC platform. Its opening theme is Tears to Tiara by Arisa Nakayama, insert song (Tears to Tiara -凱歌) by D-Terada while the ending theme is "Until", also by Arisa Nakayama.

The title was later remake and re-released into a CERO: B rating game, titled as Tiāzu tu Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (ティアーズ トゥ ティアラ - 花冠の大地 -) for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 with two different editions, a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition costs 9,240 yen while the regular one costs 7,140 yen. It has additional scenarios, 3D gameplay and the change of character designs if compared to the PC version.

The limited edition of the release contain a booklet titled as Tears to Tiara - Visual Works that features the character designs and storyboards as well as the game’s original soundtrack. There was also a pre-order campaign that also includes special extras for the game such as a sticker poster set and a character voice CD that contains system voice and Tiāzu tu Tiara Rajio Vol.0 (ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラ ラジオ Vol.0) that features Tōru Ōkawa, Yūko Gotō and Makoto Ishii.

The game also has a new character, Lidia, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. The titles of the opening and ending theme are "haunting melody" and "memory", both sung by Suara. An insert titled "Until" sang by Rena Uehara was also used.

Furthermore, it was first announced in the staff blog that there will be also a gaiden or side story game for the PlayStation 3 remake, titled Tiāzu tu Tiara Gaiden - Abaron no Nazo - (ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラ 外伝－アヴァロンの謎－). The side story will also have a new character called Decimus, voiced by Wataru Hatano.

Mystery of Avalon is to be released on September 17, 2009 and like the remake, it is for the PlayStation 3 platform. The release will be in two editions, a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition costs 8,379 yen while the regular edition costs 6,825 yen.

Gameplay
The gameplay between the two versions are very different. The PC game has the combat segments occurring in real-time while the PlayStation 3 version has been altered it to be turn based combat.

In any of its version, the player and enemy AI control multiple characters of different classes such as magic user, archer, and soldier. Outside of battle the story is told through 2-D cutscenes, with gameplay proceeding much like a typical visual novel.

Localization
On December 31, 2008, Dakkodango announced the release of their first translation, the English localization for the PC version of Tears to Tiara. The localization changes the written language to English, while the game still use the their original voiceovers. The localization can be downloaded at their site and be used as a patch. It is available at their website.

Source:

Anime
An anime adaptation has been made based on the PlayStation 3 remake, Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi. The anime is directed by Tomoki Kobayashi and its series composition done by Tōko Machida. The animation is done by White Fox and T3Works is the series' production committee.

The series began airing on April 6, 2009, incorporating the additional scenario and characters in the PlayStation 3 release. In addition to its Japanese premiere, the anime has been simulcast and received its English language premiere on Animax Asia on the same day at 12:35 am across its networks on Southeast Asia, the same time the series will receive its Japanese premiere at 01:35 am Japanese Standard Time. This would be the fastest premiere of an anime outside Japan. On March 20, 2009, it was further confirmed that the series would indeed be simulcast with Japanese audio and English subtitles with Malay subtitles for Malaysia; being the first of its kind.

The anime uses the same seiyū from the game remake, with Tōru Ōkawa, Yūko Gotō and Makoto Ishii voicing Arawn, Riannon and Arthur respectively.

The series' opening and ending theme are "Free and Dream" and "True Sky, Blue Sky" which are sung by Suara and Aira Yūki respectively. Both singles were released on April 22, 2009 by King Records and Bandai Visual respectively. While there was also an insert song titled "Until", used in episode 17. It was sang by Rena Uehara. An original soundtrack for the series done by Takayuki Hattori was released on June 24, 2009. It mainly contains background music along with the TV size ending theme. The CD bears the catalog number LACA-5925.

The first volume of both DVD and Blu-ray went on sale on June 17, 2009 and subsequent volumes will be released every month by Pony Canyon. The first volume's cover features Arawn and Riannon while the second features Arthur and Morgan. Both first and second volumes of the limited edition includes a 20 page full-color booklet as well as having a sticker poster and a one piece type casing. The first volume also feature separate interviews with Tomoki Kobayashi, Tōru Ōkawa and Tōko Machida.

The anime has been picked up for release in North America by Sentai Filmworks, will be distributed by the new company, Section23 Films. Part 1 of the series was released on November 24, 2009. Part 2 was then, released on January 26, 2010. Sentai Filmworks will re-release Tears to Tiara with an English dub in 2010.

Manga
There is a manga adaptation currently serializing in Media Factory's monthly seinen manga magazine, Monthly Comic Alive. This adaptation is done by Shirometsukusa, whom had previously done a part in Fate/stay night's manga anthology. It has started its serialization since the magazine's 2nd issue this year. The first volume has been released on June 23, 2009 under Media Factory's MF Comics Alive Series label as well as bearing the number ISBN 9784840125819.

Internet radio
There was an Internet radio broadcasted before the start of the current radio and the title for the radio changes for every episode. There were a total of 8 episodes before it was renewed to the current title, Shin Tiāzu tu Tiarajio (真・ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラジオ). There were no guests for all the 8 episodes except for a public recording on February 14, 2009 at One Hobby 9.

Before Shin Tears to Tiaradio began, the untitled internet radio started broadcasting on November 29, 2008 at the official site and later started broadcasting with a fixed title on April 13, 2009. New episodes will be broadcasted on every Friday at Nico Nico Anime Channel. It has also started broadcasting in Onsen every Monday.

The personalities for the show are Riannon and Arthur’s seiyū, Yūko Gotō and Makoto Ishii. Guests for Shin Tears to Tiaradio are Tōru Ōkawa for episode 3 and 4, Ami Koshimizu and Ai Shimizu for episode 5 and 6, Kaori Nazuka for episode 7 and 8, Suara for episode 9, Ryōko Ono and Ema Kogure from the ToHeart series for episode 10 while Kiyomi Asai for episode 11 and 12.

Here are the following episode titles for the previous radio broadcast before Shin Tears to Tiaradio.

Merchandises
There were PVC figures of Riannon, Octavia and Ermin made by Kotobukiya for Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi. Furthermore, it was first announced at the official site that there was a Nendoroid figure for Riannon and Arawn being made by Good Smile Company. The Riannon figure is to be released in August 2009, while Arawn is released one month after. It was announced in the staff blog that they are now available for pre-orders. Both are priced at 3,500 yen each. Kazuyoshi Udono sculpted Riannon’s figure. While Arawn’s figure is sculpted by Reiichi Itō, both with sculpting assistance provided by Nendoron.

There is also a trading card game of the anime in the works. The title of the card game has yet to be announced.

Official websites

 * Tears to Tiara @ Leaf
 * Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi Official Site
 * Official Website - Anime
 * Tears to Tiara Gaiden: Mystery of Avalon Official Site

Others

 * Interview with Tears to Tiara PS3 producer

티어즈 투 티아라 Tears to Tiara Tears to Tiara 花冠之淚