Shuffle

'Shuffle! 'is a Japanese visual novel developed by Navel. It was originally released as an adult game for Microsoft Windows on January 30, 2004. It was subsequently followed by an all-ages release for the Playstation 2 and an expanded adult release for Windows. The gameplay in Shuffle! follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters. Shuffle! has been re-made into an expanded version called Shuffle! Essence+. It has expanded routes for the original five main heroines as well as new routes for six other characters. Shuffle! also has two spin-off sequels: 'Tick! Tack! and Really? Really?'!

Shuffle! has made several transitions to other media. There have been two manga series based on the visual novel. The first was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Comptiq between December 2003 and 2006. The second was a comic anthology published by Kadokawa Shoten between July 2004 and December 2005. Two anime adaptations were produced by the animation studio Asread. The first anime was twenty-four episodes in length and was broadcast in Japan between December 2005 and January 2006. The second series was a twelve-episode readaptation and was broadcast between January and March 2007. Seven light novels, two fanbooks, nine drama CDs, and seven radio drama CDs adaptations have also been produced.

The visual novel was well received whereas the first anime adaptation received mixed reviews. Across the national semi-monthly ranking of bishojo in amount sold in Japan, the limited edition of Shuffle! premiered in second place at the time of its release and remained in the top 50 for an additional three half-months. The normal edition premiered in ninth place at the time of its release and remained in the top 50 for an additional three half-months. Critics of the anime series were divided between whether or not the anime series set itself apart from other series in the harem genre and as to the quality of its audio and visual aspects.

Shuffle! characters
Rin Tsuchimi ~Rin Tsuchimi is a seventeen year-old high school student and the male protagonist in the series. In the game, Rin is the role that the player assumes. As noted by Kaede, Rin's main virtue is his kindness. This is both his greatest strength, as the girls love him because of this, and his greatest weakness, as shown later in the series by his indecisiveness and goal to make everyone happy, which usually ends up hurting them instead. Rin tends to show minimal initiative when dealing with the girls around him (mostly because of the abuse he receives by fellow male classmates over his perceived relationship with his childhood friend Kaede). However, he starts to spend more and more time with both Lisianthus (Sia) and Nerine after they arrive and starts to develop feelings for them. With regards to Kaede, he thinks of her as a childhood friend only. When people comment that he and Kaede would make a good couple, Rin either waves it off or says that it is strange to think of it that way. This distance kept between them is caused in part by Kaede and Rin's dark past

Lisianthus/Kikyou ~ Nicknamed Sia (シア, Shia?), Lisianthus is the daughter of the King of Gods and came to the human world as a possible marriage candidate for Rin. She possess a very boastful and energetic personality and holds great optimism. Though poorly skilled at academics, she has excellent cooking skills. Her magical capability is poor, but she makes up for it with brute force by hitting people with objects ranging from chairs to tables. Lisianthus has two personalities because when she was in her mother's womb, her twin sister Kikyou couldn't survive. Sia decided to save Kikyou by allowing Kikyou's soul to reside inside of her own. Kikyou emerges (takes control of Sia's body) when Sia is depressed or when she feels that Sia should be more aggressive to Rin. In ''Shuffle! Essence+'', Kikyou gets an extended ending where she and Sia are able to be separated and thereby co-exist together. In the non-Lisianthus routes, Sia confesses to Rin that, although he might not return her feelings of love, she will keep on loving him because the gods believe in polygamy. She tells this to Itsuki when rejecting his advances. In 2011, Navel will release a sequel for Lisianthus called Princess! Princess! which will explore more of Sia's background.

Nerine/Lycoris ~ Nerine is the daughter of the King of Devils and, like Sia, is also a marriage candidate for Rin. Nerine is a more capable magic user than Sia and occasionally uses it to devastating effects. Similar to Sia, Nerine has absorbed the spirit of Lycoris, her clone. Because Nerine developed an incurable illness, Lycoris gave her life to save Nerine. However, unlike Sia, this has not led her to developing multiple personalities and only caused her to share Lycoris' emotions and singing voice. Nerine is very shy, respectful, and speaks in an extremely formal way. She enjoys getting to know and learn about her peers. Her cooking skills are rather poor, but her magic capabilities are quite impressive, sometimes with enough destructive power to level entire city blocks. Her grades in school are also excellent. Initially, Nerine becomes a bit depressed when seeing Rin with Sia, but after her confession to Rin about Lycoris' identity and her own love for Rin (which had blossomed during her effort to fulfill Lycoris' last wish), she no longer gets depressed when she realizes that she will never win Rin's heart.

Kaede Fuyou ~ Kaede Fuyou is Rin's beautiful childhood friend who grew up with him in the same house after her mother and Rin's parents died in a car accident. Some time after they started junior high school, Kaede started taking care of Rin, everything from housework to making him his meals. She is very down to earth, modest, polite and soft-spoken. However, at times she is seen showing signs of psychosis and even violence when a great shock upsets her. In the original game, this is only visible in the backstory after her Mother dies. However, in the Anime, she also exhibits this behaviour when Rin becomes close with Asa, and Kaede attacks her when she visits. In order to atone for her actions in the past in which she mistreated Rin, Kaede decides to make herself Rin's personal slave by cooking his meals and doing all the work around the house. Rin does not really want this, but he is afraid of making Kaede have a relapse by not allowing her to punish herself in this way. Kaede is shown to have romantic feelings for Rin, but considers herself unworthy to be loved by Rin or to stay by Rin's side. However, though it is not romance, Rin cares deeply about her. Although she has come to terms with her own feelings, she continues to love Rin, and declares this in the last episode, which also shows her kissing Sia.

Asa Shigure ~ Rin's friend and Senpai.

Ama Shigure ~ Asa's mom

Primula/Rimu ~ Nicknamed Rimu (リム, Rimu?), Primula is a strange, stoic and calm girl who is often seen carrying a stuffed cat around — a present from Rin to Lycoris who, in turn, gave it to Primula before she died. She is the third artificial life form created from a result of the gods' and devils' experimentations from which she escaped to visit the human world in order to search for Rin because Lycoris had told her about him. Primula has good relationships with the other clones, because she was Lycoris's sister. Most of the time she shows either very little or no emotions whatsoever. However, during her route in the game (and a couple of other routes in Shuffle! Essence+), she starts to trust Rin enough to start showing her real personality, that of an extremely happy and bubbly girl. Additionally, with her young appearance, Primula serves to fill the lolicon niche of the series.

Kareha ~ A god who is Asa's friend and classmate; consequentially, the two are often seen together. She has a catchphrase of saying "Maa! Maa!! Maa!!!" (translated "oh! la!! la!!!") whenever she sees something romantic or cute, and starts to daydream. She works a part time job as a waitress in the cafe that Rin and the other characters visit frequently. She also has a younger sister named Tsubomi who had a cameo in the series' final episode, is introduced in the On the Stage version of the game, and has her own route in ''Shuffle! Essence+''.

Mayumi Thyme ~ Mayumi Thyme is a heterochromia-eyed girl, half demon and half human, who is in Rin's class, good friends with Kaede and is always looking for news. She has the smallest bust size in the series, a fact often made fun of by Rin and Itsuki. Nonetheless, she takes pride in her small breasts, rationalizing that by being below average they are a rarity sought after by a select group of men. She may show feelings for Itsuki, despite of their frequent quarreling. It is revealed in ''Shuffle! Essence+'' that she and Itsuki are indeed childhood friends.

Itsuki Midoriba ~ Rin's "bad" friend and classmate. He addresses himself as "oresama": a rather arrogant version of "ore" (the masculine word for "I" in Japanese). Being the Don Juan of the class, he is envious of the girls' attraction to Rin and often mentions that he will take care of the girls that he doesn't choose. Itsuki and Mayumi often fight over comments made about Mayumi's bust size.

Nadeshiko Benibara ~ Rin's homeroom teacher. She is single, attractive, and is frequently the victim of pickup lines, including from the Lord of Devils and Itsuki. It appears she has some martial arts training (being able to slice a bottle with her bare hand). She has a habit of dealing out very strong punishments such as writing 100-page reports and dragging a tire around the track for minor offenses

Eustoma/ King of Gods~ Lisianthus' father and the lord f the realm of gods. He is big, musclebound, and enjoys drinking sake. He also often embarasses his daugther, and it is a running gag in the series that she frequenly has to hit him with a chair in order to calm him down.

Forbesii/ King of Devils ~ Nerine's father, and the lord of the realm of the devils. In the game he gets along well with Itsuki. Like the King of God, he too has a habit of embarassing his daughter.

Tsubomi ~ Kaede's younger sister

Shuffle! Tick! Tack!
Sage ~ Forbesii's maid, she marries him and is the mother to the true Nerine

Ai ~ Forbesii's finace, but he marries Sage instead

Cineraria ~ Forbesii's young sister

Bark ~ Forbesii's butler

Shuffle! Really? Really?
Sakura Yae ~ name means "double-flowered cherry blossom"

Mikio Fuyou ~ Kaede's dad

Momiji Fuyou ~ Kaede's mom

Shuffle! Essence+
Daisy ~ A character in Navel's Shuffle! media franchise. Her only appearance in the visual novels is as a main character in ''Shuffle! Essence+''.

Ruri Matsuri ~ Her only appearance in the visual novels is as a secondary character in ''Shuffle! Essence+''.

Erica Suzuran ~Her only appearance in the visual novels is as a secondary character in ''Shuffle! Essence+''.

Links
http://shuffle.wikia.com/wiki/Shuffle_Wiki