One company we love working with is Nitroplus, which recently celebrated 20 years of making hard-hitting games, anime and music for fans to enjoy. J-List and sister company JAST USA have worked closely with Nitroplus to help bring out great localized versions of PC games and BL visual novels by the company, including the smash hit Sonicomi: Communication with Sonico game. Since JAST USA is featuring Sonico’s official English game as their Game of the Week sale game through Monday (at a whopping 55% off!), I thought I’d write about Super Sonico and why I think she’s so awesome.
The History of Super Sonico
Super Sonico appeared on October 14, 2006, created to be the official mascot representing Nitroplus’s live music events. She’s a beautiful 18-year-old university student who wants to become a singing idol, and who also works as a “gravure idol,” meaning a sexy swimsuit model. Sonico was intended to represent the company’s musical events, but she proved so popular that hundreds of figures, sexy mousepads and other products appeared, and Sonico immediately became one of the most recognizable characters of the era.
The Sonicomi: Communication with Sonico game was released in Japan in 2011, with updated 3D models added to the English version JAST USA released in 2016. The game is lots of fun: going beyond the familiar visual novel genre, you become Sonico’s photographer and manager, helping her choose what kind of career path she’s going to take, all while taking the perfect sexy photos of her during the photo sequences. Across various game events, a (fully-animated) Sonico interacts with you, either in the original Japanese voice or optional English dub (naturally voiced by Jessica Nigri), and over the course or 20+ endings you can experience many things with Sonico, including marrying her in some routes.
Wait, Some Fans Hate Sonico?
You might be surprised that a not-insignificant number of hardcore Nitroplus fans actually dislike Sonico. The reason for this is not because of Sonico herself but because her amazing success as a character has often outshined the dark and edgy stories Nitroplus originally became famous for telling. Stories like:
- Song of Saya, the story of a youth who survives a car accident only to find himself trapped in a world of horror and gore. Created by famed Nitroplus writer Urobuchi Gen, it recently received a complete remaster with an updated game engine and high-res art. The package edition is coming soon, too.
- Dues Machina Demonbane, an equally gorgeous visual novel combining ultra-cute characters and giant robots in a dark Cthulhu universe.
- Steins;Gate, one of the most dramatic stories of time travel ever told. When young scientists find a way to send messages into the past, they end up destroying the future.
- Hanachirasu, a dark and compelling story of obsession set in an alternate timeline where Japan never lost WWII, and Tokyo became a walled-off city where corporations solve conflicts with sword-fighting.
- The famous visual novel Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa, a martial arts epic that examines the nature of conflict and justice in a world where the mightiest weapon of war is enchanted flying armor.
Compared with these deliciously dark stories, the happy bounciness of Super Sonico feels somewhat different to fans of these darker titles.
Another Reason to Love Sonico: Cosplay!
When we released the Super Sonico package game at Anime Expo in 2016, we asked fans to come to our booth while cosplaying Sonico to be entered into a contest for free stuff. We figured 5-6 Sonico cosplayers would show up, but were overwhelmed when more than 25 all came by our table. Apparently everyone loves cosplaying Sonico! Perhaps it helps that she’s a character you don’t need to be a size XXS Asian girl to pull off well.
What’s Up with Sonico’s Headphones
One of the biggest mysteries about Sonico is her always-present headphones. Does she take them off in the shower? It’s a mystery to us, too!
If you love Super Sonico, go pick up her official English game during the 55% off JAST USA sale, or visit this blog post for some gorgeous high-res mobile wallpapers of her.
Thanks for reading!
Sonicomi: Communication with Sonico is the ultimate game, in which you get to manage Sonico’s idol career, take action photographs of her (including naughty ones, if you want to risk it), and generally try to get her to fall in love with you. Get the game off from JAST USA for 55% through Monday!
