Emit

Emit (エミット) is an adventure game that is the first entry of Shibusawa Kou's "English Dream" series -followed by the two-part entry, Dark Hunter. The purpose behind both projects is to teach Japanese people the English language with the help of a thrilling narrative. Each game has English consultants with a dual language and subtitle option for players. While the English Dream series has been largely forgotten, both titles appeared on Koei's 2003 Winter Thanks Rare Campaign with cheaper prices.

This game was released as three separate parts. The first part is Lost Child of Time (時の迷子), the second is Life-Risking Journey (命がけの旅), and the final is Farewell to Me (私にさよならを). For consumers who wanted to hear the game's spoken dialogue in the SNES version, Koei developed a secondary hardware named Voicer-kun. Emit and Voicer-kun were released on the same day, and an option to buy both products as a companion pack was made available. Voicer-kun was likely planned to be applied for other products, but the only other title made compatible with it was Angelique Voice Fantasy.

The scenario was composed by Jirō Akagawa and the character designs were made by Mutsumi Inomata. Koei also released a CD compilation of her original illustrations soon after Emit was released. Emit won the 1994 Yomiuri Shimbun Prize in the 1995 Japan Software Grand Prix.

As a side note, the game's namesake is the backwards spelling of "time" and not the actual word "emit".

Volume 1
On October 5, 1994, a seventeen year old high school student named Yuri meets a polite yet mysterious elderly gentleman at the crosswalk. Although puzzled by his questions, she answers them honestly to the best of her ability. As Yuri walks across the street, she hears the man mummer the word "Emit" to her. Yuri thinks nothing of the conversation until an oddly familiar yet attractive young man approaches her a month later on the street.

While chatting at a restaurant, the mysterious man explains that he is the same elderly gentleman from before. He is a traveler from another world and his body lives on a different time than Yuri. A single day in Yuri's world is a year to the people of his world; what looks to be an elderly person in her world is actually the form of a child in his world. In other words, when he first came to Yuri's world he was actually younger than Yuri in spite of his appearance. Should he continue living in Yuri's world, he will eventually age to be "too young" and die. Learning that the tunnel back to his world has been broken, he asks for her help to locate another entrance. The man unintentionally insults Yuri regarding her age in his world so she leaves in an angry fit.

At the end of November, Yuri and her friend spot a sad and frail looking twelve year old boy during their lunch break. Yuri has never seen the boy before, but she recognizes his eyes. Realizing that the man was telling the truth, she skips classes to help him back to his world.

Volume 2
While browsing her favorite bookstore, Yuri runs into one of her friends from middle school named Ichiro. She hasn't seen him in a year, but he claims that he saw her the night before at a friend's birthday party. Yuri thinks it's an odd misunderstanding until he states the other Yuri said the word, "Emit".

Remembering that the boy she saved said she looked like his mother, she curiously heads back to the hidden doorway for the other world. As she opens the doorway, Yuri is surprised to see a woman who mirrors her exact appearance staring back at her. The other Yuri forces her through the other side and closes her side of the doorway. As she lands in the other world, Yuri is mistaken for the woman who looks like her and is arrested for carelessly traveling between worlds. She is saved by the same elderly looking child she rescued in the previous title. From him, Yuri learns more about the other her trying to replace her.

Realizing that the same aging properties affects her as well, Yuri races back to the doorway to rectify what has transpired. Heavily armed guards, alerted by Yuri and the other hers actions, now guard the path and are ordered to shoot trespassers. Even so, Yuri and the boy are determined to make their way through before too many days pass.

Volume 3
Back in Yuri's world, Yuri's mother and Ichiro notice the girl is acting strangely. Her habits are much neater and she is acting more mature. To test if the girl is actually real, Ichiro offers the second Yuri a book regarding Egyptian history and claims he knew she would enjoy it. Witnessing her acceptance of the book -a subject matter that actually baffles Yuri, Ichiro learns that the Yuri staying in their world is a fake. The Yuri lookalike notices their concern and leaves a final note saying her farewells; she also admits her love for this world and doesn't want to leave it.

Meanwhile, the real Yuri returns with a wounded arm to her home. Exhausted, she rests on her family couch and barely dodges a knife blow from the second Yuri. Hoping to calm the other her, the girls converse about returning to their respective worlds. The other Yuri is too frustrated at the time to accept the truth and leaves. Days later, Yuri sees the boy from the other world looking for his mother who hasn't returned. To help the search, Yuri and Ichiro pose as a couple in the streets to attract the other Yuri's attention. The plan works and the other Yuri, who now looks like a child, has a tearful parting with Ichiro.

After her adventures with the other world, Yuri learns the building with the doorway is scheduled to be torn down for another. Content with her memories of the other world, she is content to watch the construction workers do their job the following day.

Gameplay
There are two main modes in each title: the story and educational section. In story mode, the player watches the animated scenes of each volume with the option to enjoy it in either language. As they view each scene, the player may pause at anytime to look up an underlined term they don't understand or to change their languages settings. Once a chapter section is completed, the player can revisit whatever section they desire to review it again.

The educational part of the program is available in the title's main menu section. Players may choose to review the English terms spoken during random segments of the game through an interactive quiz. These quizzes come with multi-choice questions, fill-in-the blanks options, and original practice scenarios for testing the player's comprehension. Phrases and words that are featured are terms found in everyday language (i.e.: times of day, formal greetings, etc.), so it's a beneficial guide for those trying to learn English. Quizzes do not punish the player in any way and are there to be tried at the player's leisure.

Each title also has a secondary mini-game section for those who want to escape the classroom setting of the quiz mode. These games change with each title and employ English as the means for playing through each one successfully.

Characters

 * Yuri Tanaka (田中 百合)
 * Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Danni Wheeler (English)
 * The game's protagonist, Yuri is a mild-mannered and caring teenager who loves to read books. She lives at her home with her parents and her younger brother. Although she didn't want to believe her odd encounter, she is excited of her knowledge of a secret parallel world. However, her actual visit in the other world has her appreciate her home in spite of her early interest. She wants to restore everyone to their proper places and bring happiness to the other her.


 * Ken (ケン)
 * Voiced by: Yoshito Yasuhara (Japanese; older and young adult), Takeyuki (Japanese; younger); James A Taylor (English; older and young adult), Robin Bufanda (English; younger)
 * Unnamed in the first volume, Ken introduces himself by the second. Thankful to Yuri for helping him, Ken tries to support his friend in anyway he can. Yuri eventually thinks fondly of him and her ties to his mother, at one pointing calling him "my boy".


 * Yoko Ozawa (小沢 洋子)
 * Voiced by: Etsuko Ishikawa (Japanese), Thyra Metz (English)
 * One of Yuri's friends from school. She is a smart student and likes to chat with Yuri on the phone. Yoko thinks the other world is nonsensical but is fascinated by her friend's story of it.


 * Ichiro Ota (太田 一郎)
 * Voiced by: Shō Hayami (Japanese)
 * Yuri's friend from junior high school. He is well aware of Yuri's personality and is surprised to see her act completely different from before. Clueless of the other Yuri's feelings for him, Ichiro helps his friend catch her.


 * Julia (ジュリア)
 * Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese)
 * In spite of her being a mirror image of Yuri, Julia is Ken's mother. She heard the wonders of the other world from her son and wanted to visit it personally. Falling instantly in love with Ichiro, she wants to replace Yuri with herself. Tired of being old in her own world, she likes Yuri's world more than her own.

Image Song

 * Aozora ga Furu Shounen
 * Performed by: Ryoko Shinohara