Liminal Border Part I

A visual novel, first game of a four-part series.

CHARACTERS

Rin Akinashi (Voice: Cyclamen Kaori) 

The protagonist’s long-time acquaintance and fellow classmate. 
A paragon of perfection with good looks, exemplary behavior, and excellent grades, she’s popular with boys and girls alike at school. 
However, this is merely a mask, hiding the cunning, scheming vixen she really is. 
Her attitude toward Itsuki, who knows her true nature, is one of cold hostility. 
Seeing the value in his movie, Rin makes a business proposal to Itsuki. 
Despite coming from a prosperous family, her attachment to money is extremely strong, and she runs a lucrative business with the assistance of Hina Yorozuya. 
While she takes charge of the organizational work, she leaves the running of the business to Itsuki and Hina, preferring to stay behind the scenes, where she can’t be traced. 

 

Hina Yorozuya (Voice: Suzu Sazanami) 

Itsuki’s classmate and the heroine of Part I. 
Forced by her home environment to take an unconventional approach to life, she has a number of unsavory friends, but is herself friendly and likable. 
She is currently a partner in Rin’s business to make ends meet. 
She is very cautious of the opposite sex, to the extent that she has never been in a relationship. 
In spite of this, she has an extreme fondness for Itsuki despite having hardly even spoken with him and treats him like a lover. 
A good cook, she has strong opinions on how to make Japanese curry. 

 

Kotoko Teshigawara (Voice: Ion Momoyama) 

A student at the same school as the protagonist, in the grade above. 
Her father is the boss of a crime syndicate. 

Proud of her origins as the daughter of a yakuza family, she places great importance on the concepts of benevolence and justice. 
Upon learning of Itsuki and the gang’s digital hypnotism business, she gives permission for it to go ahead under her supervision. 

 

Meryl Hathaway (Voice: Nene Arisu) 

A mysterious young girl who accompanies Kotoko. 
Due to her slight build and indifferent temperament, she gives off the impression of being fragile.
However, she proves to have extraordinary skills when handling emergencies. 
She likes sweet things. 

 

Tatsuya Yorozuya (Voice: Ii Kinniku) 

Hina’s older brother. 
A student at the delinquent-filled so-called “Badman Academy,” he is also the leader of DREAD. 

Similar to Hina, he isn’t choosy about the methods he uses to earn money for reasons of his own and doesn’t hesitate to resort to violence at times. 
With the yakuza at his back, his money-making activities are a far cry from your average student’s. 

Despite his crude and unapproachable aura, he is fiercely loyal and caring toward those he respects. 

 

Shiori Iida (Voice: Nanoka Osaka) 

A schoolgirl in the same class as Rin. 
She and Rin are close, and she is popular with the boys. 

 

Koji (Voice: nozoru) 

A student at Badman Academy and a member of DREAD. 
He follows Tatsuya’s orders faithfully but isn’t the deepest thinker. 

 

Shoji (Voice: Sho Sakuma) 

A teacher at Badman Academy. 
He has a strong knowledge of computers and their peripherals and is always willing to help Hina out. 

 

Itsuki Ninomae 

A geek, and our protagonist. 
Making fan movies is Itsuki’s hobby, and he has several videos uploaded to streaming sites, but his poor taste and ability, combined with a lack of desire to improve means that no one bothers to watch them. 

Taking inspiration from FPS montages, Itsuki makes a video that cycles frantically through famous anime scenes, and coincidentally creates “digital hypnotism,” which has the ability to mesmerize its watchers. 

Showing this video to Rin leads to him plunging into society’s underworld. 

He possesses as much common sense as the next person and feels guilt and terror regarding his situation... at first.

STORY

No one cares if a geeky loser like me exists or not... 

Itsuki Ninomae spends his time creating tacky fan videos that require no particular skill to make. One day, through a combination of coincidences, he accidentally creates a “digital hypnotism movie,” which has the power to send anyone who watches it into a trance. 

I wonder what’d happen if I showed it to the one who always looked down on me? 

A malicious urge possesses Itsuki. 

Itsuki succeeds in showing his video to Rin Akinashi, a girl he has known since his childhood. However, he also learns the secret hidden behind the straight-A student’s mask. 

Rin puts forward a proposal: “A lucrative business using digital hypnotism.” 

Wading into murky legal waters, Itsuki finds himself being swept away into an underworld that should have had nothing to do with him...