Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea

Feb 1, 2020 (reboot)
 ENGINE:

**Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea** (大海原と大海原, *Oōnabara to Wadanohara*) is a 2013 Japanese adventure game developed by Kaitei Shujin, under the pseudonym "Deep-Sea Prisoner", using the RPG Maker 2000 program.

Similar to *Mogeko Castle* and *The Grey Garden*, *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea* features "straightforward narrative-driven" and describes as a "pseudo-RPG", contains in mostly open-world and a series of several endings optionally depending on player's choice, in which the player can be view most of them until to reach the "true ending".

## Gameplay

* The player uses the keyboard to control the characters.
* The game world is kept largely linear gameplay, but occasionally changes into an open world.
* The combat system is turn based and the characters can become stronger through winning battles.
* It is possible to equip characters with armor and weapons to increase combat power.
* As in many RPG Maker games, the playable characters are able to use magic.

## Developments

After the completion of her second game *The Grey Garden*, Deep-Sea Prisoner has said that she was working on a game with a fairytale-like atmosphere, entering the same universe in the first two games. She came up with the title of the game, *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea,* after having decided on the main story beats instead of primarily a role-playing game. Originally, she wanted to add more violent elements to the game but refuse to do so; proceeds to add such elements to the second half.

## Adaptations

### Manga

The game was adapted into a manga in 2015; the developer of the game, Kaitei Shujin, released an adaptation as a manga online via Gene Pixiv before being later published as a paperback by Kadokawa Shoten.

In 2017, it was announced that *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea* was licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment for the English-speaking market. The complete manga was released in a single volume in July 2017.

#### Age rating

In Germany, there is no official age rating for *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea* by the self-service entertainment software (USK). The programmer of the game has said that due to various representations in the possible endings of the game, a recommended age is 15 years or older, though they have stated that this may vary depending on jurisdiction. Kadokawa, however, put an ending exclusive to the manga adaptation that is suitable for readers of all ages.

### Reboot

The game was re-released in 2020 as *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea -Reboot-* only in Japanese version. It features extra content not found in the original game as well as adjustments to gameplay; the plot of the game remains unchanged for the original game.

## Trivia

* Although the game was programmed using RPG Maker 2000 for only Windows systems, it can be playable using emulators on Android, macOS and Linux.
* The game's difficulty is easier to play for everyone due to lack of battle gameplay.

## References

1. ↑ Genepixiv Interview with Shuujin Kaitei, author of the free videogame Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (en).
2. ↑ Genepixiv Interview with Shuujin Kaitei, author of the free videogame Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (en).
3. ↑ Genepixiv Interview with Shuujin Kaitei, author of the free videogame Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (en).
4. ↑ Miller, Austin. From Tool to Subgenre to Anime: The Mysterious Journey of RPG Maker (en-us).
5. ↑ Seven Seas Licenses Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea Manga (Updated) (en).
6. ↑ Green, Scott. Seven Seas Licenses "Absolute Duo," "Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea" And "Hatsune Miku Presents" Manga (en-us).
7. ↑ North American Anime, Manga Releases, July 2–8 (en).
8. ↑ Seven Seas Licenses Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea Manga (Updated) (en).
9. ↑ Seven Seas Licenses Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea Manga (Updated) (en).
10. ↑ 大海原と大海原 -Reboot-.
11. ↑ Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea - vgperson's Translations.
12. ↑ Genepixiv Interview with Shuujin Kaitei, author of the free videogame Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (en).

## External links

* Wadanohara and the Deep Blue Sea by Anime News Network
* *Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea -Reboot-*