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White Album Visual Novel Gets 1st English Release This Year

Visual novel localization and publishing company Shiravune announced on Thursday that it has licensed Leaf's White Album visual novel, and will release it this year under the title White Album: Memories like Falling Snow with English and Chinese localization. (The game's Steam page indicates a Q3 2023 release date.) The release will specifically be of the game's 2010 remake White Album: Tsuzurareru Fuyu no Omoide.

In the game, players take the role of Toya Fujii, a college student who is in a relationship with Yuki Morikawa, a demure girl who is also an idol quickly gaining popularity. While they try to make the relationship work, Yuki's work schedule means she has less and less time to go to school and see Toya, causing them to slowly drift apart. Players can either attempt to maintain their relationship with Yuki, or pursue a relationship with other heroines: Rina Ogata, Yuki's close friend and rival idol; Misaki Sawakura, a writer and high school friend of Toya and Yuki; Haruka Kawashima, an athletic girl who turned inward after her brother died; Mana Mizuki, a rebellious high school girl that Toya tutors; or Sayoko Kisaragi, a newly-debuted solo idol.

Leaf released the original White Album game in 1998, and it remains one of the company's most famous and iconic games, praised at the time for its somber tone, vocal tracks, older and well-realized characters, and themes of infidelity. The 2010 remake added new art, voice acting (notably with Aya Hirano as Yuki and Nana Mizuki as Rina), new songs, and the addition of Sayoko as a heroine. The game inspired a television anime adaptation in 2009.

Leaf and its parent company AQUAPLUS would later release White Album 2 as a two-part visual novel in 2010 and 2011. Though not directly related to the first title, it retains the original's theme of music and infidelity, with new characters and a new staff (notably, with Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend writer Fumiaki Maruto as lead writer). The first White Album 2 visual novel also inspired its own television anime adaptation in 2013.

Sources: Shiravune's Twitter account, White Album game's Steam page