Robotics;Notes is a science fictionvisual novel in which the player follows the perspective of multiple characters, mainly Kaito Yashio. Itsgameplay requires little player interaction as much of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen,[1] which represents the story'snarrative anddialogue. The text is accompanied by3D animatedcharacter models, which represent whom Kaito or Akiho is talking to, and background art. Throughout the game, the player encountersCG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character models. Unlike the previous entries in theScience Adventure series,Robotics;Notes follows an almost entirely linear narrative, consisting of twelve chapters referred to as 'phases'. Depending on the decisions made at certain points during the game, the player can choose to skip some phases entirely.
Throughout the narrative sequences in which the player follows Kaito, the player may activate the PokeCom Trigger (ポケコントリガー,Pokekon Torigā), which replacesSteins;Gate's Phone Trigger system and allows the player to use theapplications installed on Kaito'stablet computer.[1][2] These applications include Deluoode Map, a map application; Twipo (ツイぽ,Tsuipo), a Twitter-likesocial networking application, which the player may use to reply to other characters' tweets with predetermined responses;[1][2] and Iru-o (居る夫。,Iruo.), anaugmented realityimage recognition application which the player may use to examine the environment and information tagged on characters or objects.[1][2]
Robotics;Notes is set in 2019 onTanegashima,[3] an island to the south ofKyūshū in southern Japan.[4] The game's theme isrobots[5][6][4][7] and the question "What would happen if you really tried to make a giant robot?"[8]
InRobotics;Notes, the player assumes the role of Kaito Yashio, someone who enjoysfighting games.[3] He is in his school's robot club along with his childhood friend Akiho Senomiya.[6] The story begins when Akiho decides to build a robot based on the Gunvarrel animated series she is a fan of, and she recruits Kaito to aid her. With the robot club short on members and on the verge of closure, Kaito heads out to try and recruit more members, eventually securing the support of professional robot battler Subaru Hidaka, karate practitioner Junna Daitoku, and the world renowned programmer Frau Kojiro. Together, they begin the process of building their replica of the titular Gunvarrel, the Gunbuild-1. However, reality quickly sets in when they realize the physical impossibility of completely replicating Gunvarrel, and are forced to make many design compromises. In addition to the relatively primitive Gunbuild-1, they also manage to build the more advanced Gunbuild-2. They also take advantage of the Iru-O system to change both Gunbuilds' appearances via augmented reality.
As Gunbuild-1 is being developed, Kaito also comes across the "Kimijima Reports", authored by the deceased scientist Kō Kimijima who claims an impending solar flare will wipe out all life on Earth. Kaito also encounters two AI personalities that inhabit Iru-O, Airi and Sister Centipede, who help him track down the other reports. Kaito follows the instructions in the reports in an effort to avert the solar flare, and in the process wakes up Airi Yukifune, the girl the AI Airi is based on, who was put into suspended animation due to a then incurable illness. However, Kaito discovers too late that the reports were a lie, and that it is Kimijima himself, now an AI living within the Iru-O system, attempting to trigger a solar flare on the behalf of the Committee of 300 in plan dubbed "Project Atum".
Moving on to the next stage of his plans, Kimijima deletes Airi and seizes control of Akiho's older sister Misaki, stealing an experimental battle robot called SUMERAGI and destroying the Gunbuild-2. Meanwhile, the Committee of 300 orchestrates mass robot rebellions all over Japan, plunging the country into chaos while a commando team seizes theTanegashima Space Center with the help of SUMERAGI. The robotics club is then approached by Nae Tennouji and Toshiyuki Sawada, who reveal they are part of a secret group that resists against the Committee of 300, and that the Committee plans to use Tanegashima to launch a rocket containing bombs that will create a apocalyptic solar flare that will wipe out the majority of humanity, allowing the Committee to rule over the survivors and rebuild the world according to their will. Sawara provides the robotics club with a special code that can completely delete Kimijima, but requires them to be in close range to send it. Working together with the other Tanegashima residents, the robotics club upgrades Gunbuild-1 into the Super Gunbuild-1 and Kaito pilots it against SUMERAGI while Nae neutralizes the commandos. Kaito is able to force Misaki to exit her cockpit, leaving Kimijima vulnerable and allowing Kaito to delete him, though Kimijima boasts that another copy of himself will surely surface.
With Kimijima gone, Nae is able to abort the rocket launch and thwart the Committee's plan. The robotics club is then greeted by the Tanegashima residents who celebrate them as heroes.
Kaito is the male protagonist who constantly plays the fighting game Kill-Ballad and is a member of his school's robotics club. After the MF Anemone Incident he suffers from spasms in which time seems to be moving extremely slow for him. He is not interested in robots, and is only a member of the club to be by Akiho's side, as Misaki left her to him before she left the island.
Akiho is the main heroine and the only other member and chairman of the robotics club at the beginning. She is Kaito's childhood best friend. After the MF Anemone Incident she suffers from spasms in which time seems to be moving extremely fast for her. Her dream is to complete the giant robot Gunbuild-1 started by her older sister Misaki.
Subaru Hidaka (日高 昴,Hidaka Subaru) / Mr. Pleiades (ミスター・プレアデス,Misutā Pureadesu)
A second-year student in the same school as Kaito and Akiho. He won the Robo-One championship several years ago and as a result Akiho tries to get him to join the robotics club, but he refuses because his father got him to promise he'd stop playing with robots in high school and become a fisherman after graduating. Kaito blackmails him into joining the club with Mr. Pleiades' identity.
Frau Koujiro (神代 フラウ,Kōjiro Furau) / Kona Furugōri (古郡 こな,Furugōri Kona)[9]
Creator of Kill-Ballad and daughter of director of Gunvarrel. It is revealed that Gunvarrel was a propaganda tool being used to brainwash the masses, and when the staff of Gunvarrel discovered this they were killed by the Committee of 300. All that Frau knows is that her mother went missing and was last seen in Tanegashima, and comes to the island in search of clues.
An AI existing within Iru-O created by Kimijima, with another personality (Sister Centipede) that is used by him to collect information. She subconsciously spies on Kaito for Kimijima. She was originally a girl with an incurable illness whose body was put into deep sleep in hopes that she could be cured with future medical technology. When the Iru-O servers are rebooted on Christmas Airi's personality is erased and Sister Centipede returns to Kimijima's side.
Akiho's sister. During the MF Anemone Incident she discovered what Kimijima was doing and killed him, but ever since has been brainwashed by his cyber-ghost.
Misaki's best friend. After Kimijima was killed she discovered the body and hid it, which resulted in Misaki not being blamed for the murder. She dies when her HUG is driven berserk by the Committee of 300 and she falls off a cliff.
Childhood friend of Misaki and Mizuka, and the teacher in charge of the robotics club.
Kaoruko Usui (臼井 薫子,Usui Kaoruko)
Voiced by:Toshiko Sawada (Japanese); Linda Leonard (English)
The head teacher of Kaito's school.
Tetsuharu Fujita (藤田 鉄治,Fujita Tetsuharu)
Voiced by: Nobuaki Fukuda (Japanese);R Bruce Elliott (English)
Also known by the name "Doc". Owner of the shop "Robo Clinic" which deals in robot parts. Junna's grandfather. He creates most of the important components used in the Robot Club's creations.
The author of the Kimijima Reports, who died several years ago. It turns out that he works for the Committee of 300 and caused the MF Anemone incident which was in fact an experiment that would have killed all the test subjects; This was stopped by Misaki who killed him. However before his death he uploaded his consciousness to the internet and lives on through Iru-o, and now plans to execute the Committee's plans by inducing a massive solar flare that will kill the majority of the population of Earth. He uses the Kimijima Reports to manipulate people, and he has Sister Centipede and Misaki (who was brainwashed by him) do his bidding in the virtual and real worlds respectively. In the end he is defeated by Kai using a virus created to destroy him by Daru.
Mitsuhiko's uncle and president of Space Candy company. He funds the Gunbuild projects in exchange for publicity (the company name displayed on the robots).
A son of a member of the Committee of 300, who actually works against them and has founded a secret organization which includes the characters of Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head to resist them.
A returning character fromSteins;Gate who is now 20 and works for JAXA.
DaSH
Itaru Hashida, a returning character fromSteins;Gate. Like Nae as well as the other Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head characters, he now works for Sawada's secret organization. When it is revealed that Iru-o cannot be trusted as it was created by Kimijima, he creates a replacement, "DG297 3rd Edition ver.4.11". He also creates the virus which defeats Kimijima. He does not have any speaking roles, however, and is only mentioned in passing. As of 2019, he has already married Yuki Amane and had their daughter, Suzuha. "DaSH" is read "Daru the Super Hacker", but he temporarily calls himself "DaSP" ("Daru the Super Programmer") in the final chapter.
The planning and original concept and basic story ofRobotics;Notes was headed byShikura.[8][10] Naotaka Hayashi is the scenario writer for the game and Tatsuya Matsubara the producer.[5] The character designs are done by Tomonori Fukuda and the mechanical designs are done by Makoto Ishiwata.[3] The composer of the game isTakeshi Abo.[3] Shikura had been working on the game as early as July 2010.[11][12] The team received development support from theJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency,[6][4][7][8] and according to Shikura, this allowed the game's sciences and themes to better reflect reality.[6]Nitroplus also provided assistance with the game.[3]Robotics;Notes features 3D visuals,[7] and the development team were aiming for high quality 3D models likeCatherine andIdolmaster 2.[13] The game is described by the developers as an "Augmented Science Adventure" (拡張科学アドベンチャー,Kakuchō Kagaku Adobenchā).[5]
Robotics;Notes was announced through 5pb.'s official website on December 22, 2010, noting that details about the game would appear in the interview with Chiyomaru Shikura, the CEO of 5pb., featured in the issue ofFamitsu magazine that was being sold on the same day.[10]Robotics;Notes is the third entry in theScience Adventure series[6][8] following the release ofChaos;Head in 2008 andSteins;Gate in 2009.[7] When the target platform for the game had not yet been announced, Shikura had said that they were not going to let down the fans who have supported their past works in theScience Adventure series.[6][4][8] He also stated that said they were aiming for a release some time in 2011.[6][7][8] The game was released for both thePlayStation 3 andXbox 360 on June 28, 2012.[14] The PlayStation 3 version allows support forRemote Play with thePlayStation Vita. A PlayStation Vita port was released on June 26, 2014 under the titleRobotics;Notes Elite, adding new features and animated scenes.[15][16] Characters in the enhanced version were remodeled, and new animated video scenes were added.[17] ANintendo Switch version ofRobotics;Notes Elite was announced by Shikura through alive stream in 2018;[18] both it and aPlayStation 4 version were released on January 31, 2019, asRobotics;Notes Elite HD in a double pack with the sequelRobotics;Notes DaSH.[19][20]
In 2018, Shikura said that a Western release of the game was under consideration;[21] English versions ofElite andDaSH were announced bySpike Chunsoft atAnime Expo 2019,[22] and were released worldwide forMicrosoft Windows on October 13, 2020. The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions were released in a bundle, on the same day in North America and on October 16 in Europe.[23]
Famitsu gave the PlayStation Vita portRobotics;Notes Elite a review score of 30/40.[25] Japanese pre-orders for the original release of the game were over 80,000, a large increase over the preorders forSteins;Gate, the previous game in the series.[26] NeitherFamitsu norMedia Create revealed sales numbers for theDaSH andElite HD bundles for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as part of their weekly sales charts, althoughMedia Create listed both as ranking higher than the Nintendo Switch stand-alone version ofDaSH, which sold 2,834 physical copies.[27][28] Martin from the EnglishScience Adventure news siteKiri Kiri Basara ratedRobotics;Notes Elite an 8/10 for its "nearly flawless" story, but noted poor structure and various localization and technical issues in the English release, recommending a fan patch to improve the experience on the Windows release.[29]
Amanga adaptation, titledRobotics;Notes and illustrated by Keiji Asakawa, was serializedMag Garden'sMonthly Comic Blade magazine between the March 2012 and September 2014 issues.[30][31] The series was collected in sixtankōbon volumes, released between July 10, 2012[32] and September 10, 2014.[33] A second manga, titledRobotics;Notes Phantom Snow and illustrated by Gō, began serialization inEnterbrain'sFamitsu Comic Clear online magazine on July 26, 2012. As of September 14, 2013, there have been twotankōbon volumes of it released.[34] A third manga, titledRobotics;Notes Revival Legacy and illustrated by Tatsuya Shihara, began serialization in the September 2012 issue ofShueisha'sUltra Jump magazine.[35][36] The series has also been compiled into threetankōbon volumes released between December 19, 2012, and January 17, 2014.[37][38]
A fourth manga, titledRobotics;Notes Dream Seeker[a] and illustrated by Tsuzuri Yuno, began serialization in the October 2012 issue ofSquare Enix'sMonthly Shōnen Gangan magazine.[39] Its first volume was released on September 21, 2013.[40] A fifth manga, titledRobotics;Notes Side Junna: Chiisana Natsu no Monogatari[b] and illustrated by artist NB, began serialization in the November 2012 issue ofKadokawa Shoten'sShōnen Ace magazine. The first volume ofSide Junna was released on November 26, 2012,[41] and a second one, on April 25, 2013.[42] A sixth manga, titledRobotics; Notes Pleiades Ambition and illustrated by Tokumo Sora, began serialization in the November 2012 issue ofMedia Factory'sMonthly Comic Alive magazine.[43] As of July 27, 2013, there have been threetankōbon volumes of it released.[44]
Ananime television series, produced byProduction I.G, aired inFuji TV'sNoitamina slot between October 11, 2012 and March 21, 2013.[45][46] The opening theme for episodes 1 to 11 is "Junjō Spectra"[c] byZwei and the ending theme is "Umikaze no Brave"[d] by Fumika. For episode 12 onwards the opening theme is "Hōkyō no Messiah"[e] by Haruki and the ending theme is "Topology"[f] byKanako Itō.Funimation has licensed the anime for streaming on their website starting October 12, 2012.[47]
A sequel to the game,Robotics;Notes DaSH, was developed by 5pb. andChiyomaru Studio,[48] and was released in Japan on January 31, 2019 for thePlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.[49] It was written by Chiyomaru Shikura and produced by Tatsuya Matsubara, with character designs by Tomonori Fukuda.[48]
^abcdRobotics;Notes Instruction Manual.5pb. June 28, 2012.
^abc『ロボティクス・ノーツ』遊びの幅を広げる新システム【4日連続第3弾】 [Robotics;Notes New System That Expands the Gameplay's Scale] (in Japanese).Famitsu. August 11, 2011.Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. RetrievedJune 26, 2012.
^"科学ADV第3弾「ROBOTICS;NOTES」浅川圭司がマンガ化" [Third Science Adventure "Robotics;Notes" Gets a Manga by Keiji Asakawa] (in Japanese). Comic Natalie. January 30, 2012.Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. RetrievedMarch 31, 2012.
^"「ROBOTICS;NOTES」天才腐女子・神代フラウの物語始動" [ARobotics;Notes Story of Genius Fujoshi Frau Kojiro Begins] (in Japanese).Natalie. August 18, 2012.Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 17, 2012.
^ROBOTICS;NOTES Revival Legacy 1 (ヤングジャンプコミックス・ウルトラ) (in Japanese).ASIN4088794842.
^ROBOTICS;NOTES REVIBAL LEGACY 3 (ジャンプコミックス) (in Japanese).ASIN4088796721.
^"「ROBOTICS;NOTES」瀬乃宮あき穂の物語がガンガンで" [ARobotics;Notes Akiho Senomiya Story in Gangan] (in Japanese).Natalie. September 12, 2012.Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 17, 2012.
^ROBOTICS;NOTES ドリームシーカー(2) (ガンガンコミックス) (in Japanese).ASIN4757538952.
^Robotics;Notes Side Junna:小さな夏のものがたり (1) [Robotics;Notes Side Junna: Chiisana Natsu no Monogatari] (in Japanese).ASIN4041205409.
^ROBOTICS;NOTES Side Junna:小さな夏のものがたり -2 (カドカワコミックス・エース).ASIN4041206839.
^『ロボティクス・ノーツ』2012年10月にノイタミナ枠でアニメ化決定 [Robotics;Notes Gets an Anime on Noitamina in October 2012] (in Japanese).Famitsu. March 30, 2012.Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. RetrievedMarch 30, 2012.
