Rose Guns Days

Rose Guns Days (ローズガンズデイズ) is a Japanese alternate history dōjin soft visual novel series written by Ryukishi07 and produced by 07th Expansion.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Rose Guns Days is primarily spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. The text is accompanied by character sprites over background art made from altered real-world photographs. Throughout gameplay, the player encounters a quick time event minigame of a fist fight battle sequence. The outcome of these minigames does not influence the progression of the story, and the player even has the option to skip them. The minigame has two parts: attack and defense. After the player successfully attacks three times, the player can then perform an overkill attack whose power is determined by the choice of one of six cards. How well the player performs in the minigames determines the total score and emblems awarded, and as the score increases, so does the player's rank, which increases the difficulty of the minigames. Occasionally, the player will be able to choose where a character will go for side stories before progressing the main game.

Story
Rose Guns Days takes place in an alternate history Tokyo following the end of World War II. On April 1, 1944, Japan was largely destroyed by a natural disaster, bringing an abrupt end to the war. American and Chinese forces occupied Japan and contributed humanitarian aid, eventually causing a mass influx of immigration and cultural influence. The Japanese people became a minority within their own country and the Japanese language was rarely spoken in favor of English or Chinese.

By the late 1940s, a nightclub known as Club Primavera had begun to make a name for itself as the foremost Japanese mafia organization. Rose Guns Days follows several years of Primavera's history as it struggles against the Chinese mafia and the American forces occupying Japan. Each of Rose Guns Days' four "seasons" take place across a roughly one-year timespan with Season 1 covering 1947 up to Last Season covering 1950. The story intermittently shifts to a series of interviews taking place from 2012 to 2013 between Julie Hayashibara, an investigative reporter, and Jeanne Amakawa, the elderly leader of Primavera's modern incarnation known as the Harukaze.

Development
Rose Guns Days is 07th Expansion's fourth visual novel series. The scenario is written entirely by Ryukishi07, who also provides some of the character designs, which are divided between three additional artists: Jirō Suzuki, Sōichirō and Yaeko Ninagawa. The music of Rose Guns Days is provided by various music artists including both professionals and dōjin artists including: Dai, Luck Ganriki, Rokugen Alice, M. Zakky and Pre-holder. The first game in the series, titled Season 1, was released on August 11, 2012 at Comiket 82 and is playable on Windows PCs. Season 2 was released on December 31, 2012 at Comiket 83. Season 3 was released on August 10, 2013 at Comiket 84. The fourth and final game in the series, Last Season, was released on December 31, 2013 at Comiket 85. A version of Season 1 playable on iOS devices was released on November 9, 2012, followed by a version playable on Android devices released on December 13, 2012. All four seasons are also distributed by MangaGamer since February 7, 2014 for explicit use of the English translation patch.

Manga
A manga adaptation of Rose Guns Days Season 1, illustrated by Sōichirō, was serialized between the September 2012 and March 2014 issues of Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine. Four tankōbon volumes for Season 1 were released between December 22, 2012 and April 22, 2014. A manga adaptation of Rose Guns Days Season 2, illustrated by Nana Natsunishi, was serialized between the February 2013 and April 2014 issues of Square Enix's GFantasy magazine. Three volumes for Season 2 were released between August 22, 2013 and April 22, 2014. A manga adaptation of Rose Guns Days Season 3, illustrated by Yō Ōmura, began serialization in Square Enix's Gangan Online magazine on September 19, 2013. The first volume for Season 3 was released on April 22, 2014. A manga adaptation of Rose Guns Days Last Season, illustrated by Mitsunori Zaki, began serialization in the May 2014 issue of Square Enix's Big Gangan magazine. Yen Press licensed the manga for release in North America.

Rose Guns Days: Aishū no Cross Knife
A spin-off manga, titled Rose Guns Days Aishū no Cross Knife (Rose Guns Days 哀愁のクロスナイフ) and illustrated by Yūji Takagi, was serialized in Big Gangan between December 25, 2012 and October 25, 2013. Two volumes for Aishū no Cross Knife were released between August 22 and December 21, 2013.

The story takes place in 1946, one year before the events of Rose Guns Days: Season 1. It follows Wayne Uedera as he attempts to save a friend who has been accused of murder.

Rose Guns Days: Fukushū wa Ōgon no Kaori
A prologue manga, titled Rose Guns Days Fukushū wa Ōgon no Kaori (Rose Guns Days 復讐は黄金の香り) and illustrated by Mei Renjōji, was serialized between the June 2013 and June 2014 issues of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine. The first volume of Fukushū wa Ōgon no Kaori was released on November 8, 2013 and the second and last on July 9, 2014.

The story takes place in 1946, one year before the events of Rose Guns Days: Season 1. It follows Rose Haibara in the time leading up to her election as Madam of Primavera.