Kiniro no Corda (series)


 * The Japanese romanization is being used for this wiki to avoid confusion with the series's translated comic and animated TV series, which have their own individual twists on the unlocalized games.

Kin'iro no Corda (金色のコルダ, literally: "Golden Corda"; Corda meaning "string" in Italian) is a romantic simulation video game series made by Ruby Party for the female audience. The official name of the series is transcribed in Italian as La corda d'oro. Often abbreviated as "Corda", Kin'iro no Corda is the third Neoromance entry. The series's character designer and illustrator is Yuki Kure.

To contrast itself from the heavy fantasy settings found in the Angelique and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de series, Kin'iro no Corda is set within a modern setting. Based on fans' responses from surveys, Ruby Party decided to make the series a school themed story. The magical story elements found in the previous series are gradually downplayed as well, instead focusing on simulating a regular school day. Players are only able to meet and greet characters during a specific time and day in the week.

Another trait unique to Kin'iro no Corda is the method of story telling. Other Neoromance titles give players the choice of focusing on a particular character, offering a normal ending if conditions for a character's story path aren't met. However, Kin'iro no Corda unites the protagonist's story goal and a character's scenario in a single game. The protagonist may continue their school routine and will automatically receive an ending with the character who likes her the most. To obtain a character's "true" ending, the player will need to coordinate their playthrough to a character's set of events. Events and romantic scenes can be missed entirely if the player is too careless with managing their schedule.

The main protagonists in this series are completely silent high school girls. Special illustrations within the games will avoid showing her face or are drawn in first-person perspective. Any conversation options that appear in the games will not have her speak words, instead offering third-person commands such as "Approve" or "Deny". Ruby Party developer, Ayako Tsukaguchi, explains that this approach lets players say their own personal responses to the situation rather than select a predetermined quote that doesn't necessarily agree with them. Characters will address her by her default name if players use it, even speaking it aloud during voiced events.

Setting
Fairies exist within the world. They can't be seen by most people since they are always hiding themselves with spells and magic. Calling themselves "Fata", they enjoy humans' company and especially like listening to music. Within the Fata is a fellow named Lili, an "Argento" or ancient Fata who can utilize magic at will. Long ago, a man was able to see him with his naked eye and quickly befriended the fairy. The man founded a school and asked Lili to grant it the blessing of music. Lili promised and has since resided by the school as its rumored guardian. Since then, a monument of Lili can be seen at the entrance of the school.

Lili watches over a high school named Seiso Academy. It divides the students by General Education or Musical Education, the musical students hoping to be a part of the school's rich history of talented musicians. The Musical Education department holds a classical music competition with the most dexterous players in the school each spring. The competition is divided into four stage performances in front of the student body and professional music judges.

The Fata view the competition as a festival of music and want anyone who they think is qualified to participate. Lili chooses and magically enters each member into the competition. As long as a competition is taking place, all of the participants can see and talk with Fata. Normally, participants lose the ability to see Fata once the annual competition ends, but there are exceptions to the rule.

Each protagonist in the series is an eager violinist who enters various musical competitions. She interacts with her rivals and friends while practicing any composition that is available to her. As the only female violinist, students are wondering if the school's rumored "Violin Romance" will take place. Supposedly, a pair of violinists fell in love with one another during one of the school's musical competitions. Twenty-five years have gone by without incident. People wonder if the protagonist will make the rumor a reality.

A sense of story continuity is kept throughout the series as returning characters directly recall story events in each title. Kin'iro no Corda 2 Encore, for instance, offers the option to continue from seven endings the player has earned in the second game. Activating this option changes Encore's opening sequence and set of events available for the chosen character. The third installment takes place eight years after the events of the first three titles, an unprecedented act so far in the series.

Games

 * Kin'iro no Corda
 * Kin'iro no Corda 2
 * Kin'iro no Corda 2 Forte
 * Kin'iro no Corda 2 Encore
 * Kin'iro no Corda 2 Forte Encore
 * Kin'iro no Corda 3
 * Hyakuman-nin no Kin'iro no Corda

Related Media
Kin'iro no Corda has several live events, publications, and drama CDs for the franchise. A fan book serialization called Corda Tsushin was made for the series. A comic incarnation of the first two games was created by the series's character designer and was published in LaLa, completing with a total of seventeen volumes. The third title had two special short stories that are included within the comic volumes. It is currently being translated into English by Viz Media as a part of their Shojo Beat lineup.

Lantis hosted a three month web radio show known as Kin'iro no Corda ~The After School Etude~, starting on July 14, 2005 and ending on October 1st. The show's radio personalities were two voice actors from the games, Kisho Taniyama (Len Tsukimori) and Katsuyuki Konishi (Shinobu Osaki).

A musical dedicated to the series was made for theaters in the spring and summer of 2010. It was titled La Corda d'oro Stella Musical. Aside from being a musical version of a video game, the stage version gained additional media for its double casting. Saki Mori and Azusa Okamoto were both cast as the main protagonist, Kahoko Hino. Marina Horiuchi and Ami Yamauchi were cast as the ancient fairy, Lili. A promotional video for the theatrical performance can be seen on Youtube.

Mobile phone dramas were also made for the series. They star characters who appear in the first two games.