Kiniro no Corda 3 AnotherSky

Kiniro no Corda 3 AnotherSky (金色のコルダ3 AnotherSky, officially called La Corda d'oro 3 AnotherSky; the feat. for each title's name is read as "featuring") is a series of hypothetical stories set during Kiniro no Corda 3. It is one of the major projects conceived for the series's tenth anniversary, being first announced during the celebratory stage event. Following the trend of recent Neoromance titles, every AnotherSky game is fully voiced and includes an auto play option for the text.

Keiko Nakajo is the producer and the director is Midori Hirose. Mari Yoshida is the sound director and mixing engineer for the opening/ending songs. Tatsuki Tagaya was the music arranger for the tournament compositions and the main violin performer. Koji Takamura is one of the scenario writers.

Treasure Box merchandise for every entry consists of an artbook collection of event images, a character message CD, a soundtrack CD of the game's stage music, fastener charms of the protagonist and romanceable characters, and an illustrated storybook of the miniature versions of the cast. The focal characters change based on the entry and are made to complement the Full Voice Special Treasure Box extras. Various store exclusive preorder extras are planned for Amane Gakuen. The GAMECITY Set for each Another Sky title has stationary and other merchandise. Consumers who purchased every title from GAMECITY can receive a limited edition metal key charm of the two Hakodate Amane Gakuen students.

The PS Vita port's Treasure Box includes an artbook containing stills from the All Memories of Summer ~Full Voice Special~ event, three new illustrations drawn by the Yuki Kure, a booklet detailing the characters' lives 5 years later, and a soundtrack CD. The Ano Natsu no Bokutachi no Subete contains the aforementioned bonuses plus a drama CD set called Summer Graduation SSS, a soundtrack CD featuring Hakodate Amane Gakuen High School, and a script of previous drama CD stories. Pre-order the game before June 25 to obtain the ''Kiniro no Corda 3 AnotherSky feat. St. Cecil Jou Gakuin'' scenario and 10 new still events for existing characters.

Plot
AnotherSky allows players to view the narrative from one of the three main rival schools introduced in the third title. The protagonist's introduction changes with each entry.


 * feat. Jinnan
 * After one of her lessons, the protagonist's violin instructor breaks the hard truth to her: she feels her student will never improve in her current state. The protagonist remembers Ritsu's promise three years prior to meet in the national tournament and feels vexed by the news. Wishing to help foster her student's progress, the instructor hands the protagonist a magazine article regarding one of Tohgane's concerts and helps her student enroll at Jinnan High School in Kobe.


 * feat. Shiseikan
 * The protagonist has finished playing at a concour with a lackluster performance. Her grandfather notices her artistic slump and consoles her to reconsider her love for music. He advises the protagonist to live with her mother for a change of pace. As she broods in Sendai's streets, the protagonist spontaneously overhears Arata's trombone and joins him for a live duo. He leaves after their performance, casually stating his club name and high school before disappearing. Feeling invigorated by the experience, the protagonist decides to enroll at Shiseikan High School.


 * feat. Yokohama Amane Gakuen
 * One day, the protagonist and her childhood friend, Kyoya, receive a mysterious letter with admission papers for Amane Gakuen. The protagonist faintly recalls the boy who gave her the golden violin string seven years prior upon seeing the invitation and has a hunch that she may meet the boy at the school. After transferring to Amane Gakuen with Kyoya in tow, the pair are soon challenged by Myoga to improve themselves as worthy additions to the school.


 * feat. Hakodate Amane Gakuen
 * Without any warning, the protagonist is mysteriously amnesic and finds herself on a bus in Hakodate. She is greeted by a listless female student who escorts her to their destination.

Regardless of the school, her goal is to work with her ensemble members to win the national tournament. She hopes to reclaim her lost artistic talent along the way.

Changes
Every AnotherSky entry plays in a similar manner. The protagonist's outfit changes to whatever school uniform is given to either school. Kyoya's uniform changes to Amane in ''feat. Amane Gakuen''. The base gameplay remains with alterations.

The protagonist regains pieces of her lost art by collecting "Musician Power" (音楽家の力) from the main narrative. Each game has different keywords for her to recover. From an impersonal perspective, the shining pieces serve as visual cues for the player's progress in the main story. It can be checked within the character info section of the main menu.

Stage performances have been shortened from the original game, and there are more keys added into button sequences for the three difficulty levels. Character commentary during the button sequences and intermission story cuts have been omitted. When "Maestro Field" (MF) is activated, the buttons will keep going in this game with colored heart boarders. Hitting these buttons in tune grants a small Intimacy boost with the character represented by each color. The MF animated movies now play at the end of the player's button sequence, this time in full length as opposed to an image montage seen in other Corda 3 PSP ports. Select characters who did not have MF cinematics in the original have them in AnotherSky (protagonist, Serizawa, and Yagisawa).

Nia can be found on the streets. She can investigate a male character upon the protagonist's request and text the results at night. Nia's kitty facts are different than the vanilla title, since song and meal preferences have been changed for every character.

Romance routes are new and specific to each entry:
 * feat. Jinnan - Tohgane, Toki, Serizawa, Ritsu, Daichi
 * feat. Shiseikan - Yagisawa, Hozumi, Arata, Nagamine, Haru
 * feat. Amane - Myoga, Amamiya, Nanami, Hido, Kyoya

Most characters have two routes available to them: "Gem" (珠玉) and "Inverse" (逆注目). Gem is unlocked in the same manner as the vanilla game —build Intimacy and successfully clear character events— yet Inverse is activated by practicing a particular song genre alone when a male character is in the same vicinity approximately 49 times. The player can only unlock one of either route in a single playthrough; it is impossible to do both simultaneously. Shared romance events must be met before the split, so it may be wise to keep Intimacy levels high regardless of the route. Pay close attention to the in-game hints to know when the split for each character occurs. Gem endings occur when his Love Notes are golden while Inverse endings activate with copper tinted Love Notes.

Lunches now require individual ingredients to be collected in advance. The protagonist can make different dishes based on her Cooking Level. The rarest and costly recipes are unlocked on level 5. Ingredients can be purchased at the convenience store using Bravo Points (BP). Daily sales for specific items are held each week. Once the protagonist learns a character's favorite food, his icon will be present beside it in the recipe catalog. Recipes change with each entry. ''feat. Shiseikan'' includes a visual guide of the protagonist's available ingredients.

Feeding a character his favorite dish grants a date sequence as a bonus reward. If the protagonist plays a song for a cat and impresses him/her five times, the reward will be a rare ingredient for a character's favorite level 5 meal. These items can be acquired once the protagonist highlights three of the character's Love Notes. Level 5 meals unlocks a special still image for his gallery.

Save data for Kiniro no Corda 3 or its Full Voice Special iteration grants several bonuses at the start of the player's game. Having save data with the latter game unlocks Nia's route in the last AnotherSky game. If the player has save data for every AnotherSky title, Tono and Sora's romance routes become available in ''feat. Amane Gakuen''.

Continue
Self-explanatory. 35 save slots.

New Game
Self-explanatory. If the player has completed the game once before, they have the choice of restarting the game with a handful of bonus items, BP earned from their last performance, and any items earned during tournament mode. Hard difficulty also becomes available on repeated playthroughs.

Complete the default story in Amane Gakuen at least once and have the appropriate save data to unlock the Hakodate Amane Gakuen side on a secondary playthrough.

Tournament Mode
Replay any stage performances played during the player's main game. Character introductions from the main story are included. Tournament points can be collected to earn items for instant use in a normal save. Players can face one another or the computer in these matches.

Memories
Keeps earned events, images, movies, and music. Music includes songs outside of stage performances, including those played during character exclusive events. Event galleries contains every romantic instance with the selected character in the game. Bonus epilogue endings can be viewed after completing a character's ending. Screenshots can be taken during events and reviewed again here. Downloadable scenarios can be viewed in its appropriate section each game.

Settings
Lets the player adjust the speed of text being displayed on screen and the skipping speed of the game's events. Volume adjustments for sound effects, music, and voices —and a muting option for specific characters— are included. Button guides, tutorials, and text box visibility can be altered as well. Digital installation can be activated here. If these settings are changed before starting a new game, they will automatically be in effect.

Mobile Joy
Cellphone bonuses after inputting passwords given on the Gamecity Fanclub site. Rewards players with images and audio clips for their cellphone.

Characters
Every character returns with varying significance depending on the entry. This section aims to list the major characters who debuted in this series.

Main

 * Sora
 * Tono
 * Masanori Nagamine (feat. Shiseikan)

Sub

 * Honoka Usui (feat. Jinnan)
 * Genichi Tohgane (feat. Jinnan)
 * Shion Enami, Kazutoshi Erube, Bungo Meji, Keita Atou (feat. Shiseikan)

Related Media
Two variety CDs are currently for sale. Guidebooks for for ''[http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/media/book/corda/corda3/jinnan_guide.htm feat. Jinnan] and [http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/media/book/corda/corda3/shiseikan_guide.htm feat. Shiseikan]'' have been published.

AnotherSky has been promoted with two NicoNico Live broadcasts. The first was a dual promotion with Geten no Hana Yumeakari titled Corda & Geten Special Namahousou; Hideo Ishikawa (Housei Toki) and Kenji Nojima (Mitsuhide Akechi) were the MCs. Haru no Corda Matsuri ☆ Special Namahousou was the other which had Kentaro Ito (Yukihiro Yagiasawa), Daisuke Kishio (Arata Mizushima), and Kan as MCs. Mamoru Miyano (Sei Amamiya) and Yuuya Uchida (Daichi Sakaki) host the Kiniro no Corda & Neoromance Event Special Namahousou. Registered Nico Nico users can watch it live on September 5, 20:00 (JST).

Dengeki Girl's Style is offering a Twitter hashtag for ''feat. Amane Gakuen''. Fans could Tweet which romantic lead in the game they would like to see with the protagonist to receive a picture of them together. Fans could take part in its celebratory Twitter campaign September 25 ~ October 13.

Another menu collaboration with TBI Group ended by September. It was revived in November for four new outlets and will last until February 2015.

Voice actors from ''feat. Shiseikan'' are scheduled to go on stage for the school's stage event on May 31, 2014. Its event exclusive CD has Shiseikan's 4 Schools event song with vocals from Makoto Yasumura (Masanori Nagamine) and Hisayoshi Suganuma (Shion Enami). Voice actors from ''feat. Amane Gakuen'' have their stage event December 13 as part of a dual event with Seiso Academy voice actors. Seiso's stage event shall be the first public unveiling for Project ff (fortissimo) and a new theme song for the school, STELLA SOL STELLA.

Kiniro no Corda Dinner Party in 2014 Winter celebrates the completion of the AnotherSky series with fans who make reservations. It will be the last Corda themed event for the year. Profiles and other artwork introduced in AnotherSky can be viewed within the memorial book compilation.

TYO Animations produced a one-cour 12 episode TV animated series called La Corda d'oro Blue♪Sky. The animated production is roughly based on the ongoing comic adaptation, Blue♪Sky, yet includes several references to AnotherSky and cameos of the previous Corda cast which were not present within its base. WINGS TO FLY is the opening song and Andante is the ending song. Yuuya Uchida (Daichi Sakaki) and Hideo Ishikawa (Housei Toki) were MCs for a simultaneous web radio program called La Corda d'oro Blue♪Sky Radio. Original CDs and merchandise for the anime are gradually being made for sale.

A special campaign with the anime's Oshinamono corner was conducted April~May 2014. Attendees of Neoromance ♥ Festa Seiso Gakuin Festival 4 could purchase an exclusive Blue♪Sky fan book. Noritake manufactured tea cups and saucers are in production. A stamp rally for the TV series took place at select Yokohama stores; consumers who filled out their cards could receive a present.

Blue♪Sky is getting a live action theatrical adaptation called Kiniro no Corda Blue♪Sky First Stage. The theatrical adaptation focuses on the first stage of the national competition (Seiso vs Shiseikan). Like the animated version, it includes AnotherSky characters into its narrative. Showings will occur in Japan September 4~13, 2015. Another live action play named Prelude of Shiseikan will begin on September 28, 2016, ending its run on October 2.

Image Songs

 * ROSY ROSA ROSY (feat. Jinnan)
 * Performed by Infini


 * GREEN FOREST GREEN (feat. Shiseikan)
 * Performed by Kentaro Ito (Yukihiro Yagisawa), Masakazu Morita (Shiro Hozumi), Daisuke Kishio (Arata Mizushima), Makoto Yasumura (Masanori Nagamine), and Kaori Mizuhashi (Haruto Mizushima)


 * LILA LAVANDULA LILA (feat. Amane Gakuen)
 * Performed by Satoshi Hino (Leiji Myoga), Mamoru Miyano (Sei Amamiya), Yuki Masuda (Sousuke Nanami), Hiroaki Miura (Takafumi Hido), and Jun Fukuyama (Kyoya Kisaragi); Infini

Opening and ending songs.

Allusions

 * Hana Ichirin (one of the major musical themes of Geten no Hana) is one of the compositions in feat. Jinnan. The ensemble version plays during one of the default story routes in Yumeakari.
 * Overture (recurring introduction song for Nobunaga's Ambition) plays in an event in feat. Shiseikan.
 * Hihara plays The Entertainer during one of Yagisawa's events in feat. Shiseikan. This is one of the songs he can play in the first game's concour and doubles as a prominent song in his character routes.
 * Gustav Holst's The Planets appears in this series as special songs. Neptune, the Mystic (feat. Jinnan) can be heard in Toki's route and Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (feat. Shiseikan) is needed for Nagamine's ending. Amane Gakuen has two star themed songs for both schools. It references the aesthetic concept of naming Corda characters after the planets or celestial bodies.
 * Each school can be represented by a seasonal piece within the tournament.
 * Seiso - Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" mvt 1: Allegro non molto
 * Jinnan - Johann Strauss II's Frühlingsstimmen or Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "L'estate" mvt 3: Presto
 * Shiseikan - Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Les Saisons ~Juin: Barcarolle
 * Amane Gakuen - Irish folksong The Last Rose of Summer

Trivia

 * The second volume of the comic Kuroda-san to Katagiri-san references the Noritake tea cups.