The Phantom of the Black Rose Revue: Act 1
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
(日本語版はこちら!)
The stage is set, but sinister shadows abound.
1974. Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
The Black Rose Revue, an all-female musical theater troupe steeped in tradition and high esteem, has a new star on the rise. Twenty-two year old Chihiro Sato has quickly become the newest sensation for fans of the Revue. Sweet yet determined, Chihiro is ready to chase her dream: become the most famous musumeyaku in Japan.
But the theater, a sanctuary of glamour and brilliance, cradles shadows within its embrace. The corridors buzz with whispers of ghostly apparitions and ominous shadows, intensifying backstage tensions. As Chihiro steps deeper into the limelight, mysterious, increasingly obsessive letters begin to adorn her vanity, which grow steadily more obsessive with every message sent.
Will you sculpt a destiny steeped in unparalleled fame? Embark on a romance that will be sung through the ages? Or unearth secrets draped in shadows, whispering of forbidden truths? The threads of fate are in your hands, waiting to be woven into the tapestry of the unknown…
"The Phantom of the Black Rose Revue: Act 1" includes 19 animated CGs, 13 original music tracks, and an introduction to the world, mysteries, and love interests of the Revue! (And stick around after the credits for a special surprise!)
Content warnings include: 
Threats/harassment, psychological distress, supernatural elements, mentions of dieting.
Art and Animation: Yamino
Music: Leaf Let
Writing: Mizerable and Leaf Let
Editing: Ash
Programming: Yamino and Feniks
Director: Yamino
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Devlog #1 (JP)37 days ago
- POTBRR Devlog # 139 days ago
- Chihiro's origins...Catgirl Christine?Oct 09, 2023
- Thank you for 2k+ downloads! 🤯Oct 08, 2023
- Bug Fix in About/CreditsSep 30, 2023
Comments
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OMG I am so so so excited to see what comes next!!! I'll be watching out for any updates, crowdfunding, whatever!
Beautiful I love vintage shoujo art, it's lovely to see in a vn game^^
Nice music, unique artstyle and good theme. I hope we get updates on the full release soon
tomiko is so mariko coded
I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!! cant wait for the full game!!!
What a phenomenal experience from start to finish. Not only are the animations incredibly polished and the art style is unfathomably coherent--the writing is so much fun. You can feel the passion that went into this entire project. I'll be eagerly watching and looking forward to the release of the full game!
i love this...
I'm in love with this. Everything looks impressive. I'm mesmerized by it and the ART STYLE! Should I say more? It really takes me back. Again, I love everything about it. Can't wait to see the full game! Thank you for making this!
Unbelievably stylish in every respect, and as someone who adored everything Phantom of the Opera as a child, the story beats felt like catching up with an old friend. Beautiful work!
Today I'm having the worst day of the year... and this amazing and mesmeraizing demo make me feel good and erase all my anxiety at least for the noon.
I want to play the entire game and support the wonderful staff behind of this piece of art and innovation.
absolutely impeccable aesthetic. so excited to see the next parts of the story!!
This was fun and engaging! I especially love how vibrant and animated it is, with a lot of movement and, well, animation. A lot of effort seems to have been put in to make sure that it wasn't dry and monotonous, but sparky and polished.
I've left a more detailed review on the game jam submissions rating page, though! Well done to the team!
Loved the game so far! The artstyle is beautiful and you can see all the care put into the game <3 I'm eager to see what the full version will look like
I really love the artwork of the game as it really sticks with its 70s shoujo inspiration, as well how well some of the characters sprites interact with one another in some of the scenes for the demo and as well the writing, really excited for the full game!
VERY CUTE! I love it! I can't wait
THIS IS SO COOL!!! as a moto hagio AND phantom of the opera enthusiast, this is EVERYTHING!!!
such a great game
the cliffhanger HURT ME I had such a fun time playing this game!! the art and animation is so beautiful and the writing really blew me away too, it's so well crafted and I was enthralled! can't wait for the full game!
This game reminds me of the anime Lady Oscar or Versailles no Bara
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it is! the art was inspired from Bara no Versailles!
It looks and plays absolutely beautifully and the writing is so compelling!
I love how cohesive the art style is, to the point where even the font and dialog box are in the manga style.
I am absolutely in love and I can't wait for the next part!
Confession: I knew I would love this the moment I saw you were working on this. This is all SUCH my aesthetic. Had so much fun going through and reading this during stream. Everything about this fits the style and is put together beautifully. I found myself just staring trying to deconstruct certain effects. Will 100% be streaming the next acts when you put them out. Amazing job!!
am in the middle of playing it and i LOVE how the art all works cohesively together. looks sharp and gorgeous. the writing got eerie quickly, too!
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Oh my oh my! This is like a dream come true! I've been searching for more yuri game with multi route (really, why there hardly multi route in yuri game while it is common thing for otome and bl game?). And this? Even better that what I can hope for! Not only it have multi route, but bonus the classic shoujo manga art style. Not only that, the writing, the GUI design, the font pick, the animation, ... every small detail are well craft and give out that classic shoujo manga vibe! (and I know it damn hard!)
Personally, for the title, I think instead of the moving characters which make it feel... weird? off?, make animation for the spark is better.
I think the love interest is the phantom, Raika and Tomiko? I can't wait to romance Tomiko! She's like... the classic villian in shoujo manga, and now instead of an obstacle that the heroine must overcome to shine, we can kiss her! How wonderful is that?!
Omggggg the animations for this were so mesmerizing! Genuinely felt like I was reading a shoujo manga in motion.
Also can I just say Chihiro is the best MC ever?
Love this so much. Can't wait for the full release!!
I cannot wait for the full game!
The music design is driving me bonkers. I'm so excited to tackle this properly, will def comment again with a review!
It really made me feel like I'm reading a shoujo manga and activated my 'the protagonist is lovely I want nothing but the best for her and I'm cheering her on even though it's been a single day' instincts from my younger years haha.
I deeply enjoyed the style, the music and the personality of the characters. It really does feel like one gigantic love letter to classic shoujo manga.
...Also Raika is so handsome I already love her so much-
As a fan of Takarazuka, Riyoko Ikeda, and Sailor Moon this demo had me really smiling and laughing and enthralled the whole way through.
No big surprises in the plot since it does stick to Phantom of the Opera pretty closely so far but the characters are all interesting.
This game is so polished and pretty! The art direction and retro shojo manga aesthetic are simply top-notch. I adore the animated moments, the CGs, the manga-inspired expressiveness of the sprites, the detailed backgrounds, and the sparkles, roses, and assorted visual effects.
Raika is so good-looking, and I'm not ashamed to say she made my heart go pitter-patter several times. The main character is super likable -- sweet but not a pushover. The other character designs are lovely as well. I have two guesses about the mysterious character's identity. I can't wait to see if I guessed correctly!
I laughed out loud at certain scenes involving chocolate and a kiss (!!!). The moments of terror sprinkled throughout the story are truly thrilling.
I noticed that the menu at the bottom of the screen was sometimes unreadable against certain backgrounds. Apart from that, though, this was a wonderfully well-rounded VN, and I am so excited for the release of the full version!
(Note: Copy-pasting this comment from the Spooktober VN Jam 2023 page.)
(Copied from my Spooktober rating page review to help this game within itch.io's algorithm!)
I loved The Phantom of the Black Rose Opera! Using Ryoko Ikeda-inspired illustrations and setting the Phantom of The Opera storyline in a Takarazuka production is incredibly inspired.
Your witty and sharp writing endeared me to your central cast immediately: Chihiro is adorable, Raika is incredibly charming (I was blushing at her), and Tomiko is entertaining as hell. I'm also deeply intrigued by our mysterious Phantom... but I guess she's for the full game. I will be patient, and eagerly awaiting her debut!
I also want to give a shout out to the visual direction on this game: it's incredibly polished. I think a lot about the opening scene where Chihiro and Raika are introduced: the pseudo-3D effect is gorgeous. Hats off to that: I'm definitely taking inspiration from you in my future works.
The soundtrack is charming too, with the dramatic use of organs for the climactic scenes: I can see hints of Lloyd Webber's Phantom score, which put a smile on my face. (If that wasn't intentional though, I apologize.)
All in all, great work here - and I eagerly await the full release!
OH GOSH!!! i finished playing this game tonight and i had so much fun, im not usually a gamer but i've had brainworms for oniisama e for a few weeks and i saw this and i knew i had to try it out! its genuinely so charming and funny and understands exactly what the tone is. i loved being able to recognise all the references of different animanga, like the chu-chu plush and the princess knight hat in the background of the changing room. not to mention, the main three so far are all so captivating each in their own right. chihiro so earnest, raika seems so genuine (i'd be lying if i said i didn't have a crush on her), and tomiko is such a drama queen... her design reminds me of mariko shinobu a lot. this is exactly what i've been looking for lately, i'm so excited to see more <3
oh i LOVED this!!! the art is stunning and the music is lovely, i cant wait to see more <3
SPEECHLESS. This is SO GOOD!! I love the 70s shoujo style used for the game, even the music sounds retro, it's so cool!!! The amount of sprites and all their poses were so beautiful and expressive; very fitting for a story set in a theater!! Also, the ANIMATIONS???? So much detail and care was put into this game, I'm so excited to know more, the mysteries got me really intrigued!!
Amazing!!! Cannot wait for the rest. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for playing! <3
nice story and happening good job in your style
Thank you! <3
great keep going good job
The artstyle is incredible !! You perfectly captured the essence of 70s shoujo
I have loved classic 70's shoujo art my entire life, and I did a lot of research to try to represent it as faithfully as possible. I'm so glad it carries across!
Hi! Could you please mark the downloads with the OS they're for? (The checkmarks next to "Executable" on the Edit Project page) It's impossible to download the game via the itch app otherwise, and the game won't appear in searches for games compatible with Windows/Mac/Linux :)
Thank you for the reminder! I had done that before and forgot to redo it when I uploaded a small update. 😅
the art style is absolutely stunning, i love everything about this ; w ; the team did an amazing job !! tomiko is so gorgeous
Thank you, she is the real protagonist (don't tell Chihiro)
When I saw the artstyle, very reminiscent of Glass no Kamen but mostly of The Rose of Versailles, in a theatre setting (just like Glass no Kamen) and saw Phantom in the title, linking this game to The Phantom of the Opera... I knew I was in for a treat!
I am very impressed with how well put-together the game was! The animations were simply out of this world, the artstyle is extremely faithful to Ikeda's (I just think you tweaked the way she draws profiles, and in my opinion, for the better, I think Igarashi does a more appealing job when it comes to side profiles!), but honestly, I REALLY dig this artstyle, and seeing it reproduced so perfectly is beyond what my brain can comprehend, I'm just in love!!! The artstyle was also particularly expressive, which I enjoyed a lot!!
The music was also rightfully retro, it felt both Phantom-like and yet 80s shojo-like (although I'm not sure it makes sense to talk about a book's music haha)? The sound design was also excellent!
I would like to underline the implementation: it is often a bit disregarded, but honestly, it was just grandiose, and that's an understatement. The coding was absolutely perfect, and really made the music and the art shine.
The story was very interesting! Of course, very reminiscent of the Phantom, but it felt like more than a copycat. Sure, we see the connections (Raika being Raoul, Chihiro being Christine, Madame Kaede being Madame Giry...) but these characters really feel like their own thing, rather than just remakes. The writers did an excellent job basing the characters on 80s tropes (Tomiko feels VERY classical shojo as a rival; maybe not as dignified as Ayumi in Glass no Kamen, but as refined, rather than goofy) , and to expand on them (the simple CG involving her after... what happens at the end of the act was enough to make her so much more than a Carlotta!).
So, the story really felt like the Phantom of the Opera but in a classical shojo fashion, and yet, you can tell it was made nowadays, as tropes and codes are really taken into consideration and used cleverly and, dare I say, more poetically. The writing style was also absolutely lovely.
I really fell in love with this first act, and I am looking forward to see the tragedy(?) unfold! Even as a theatre enjoyer, I was pleasantly satisfied with what you did! Congrats on the release, it was absolutely brilliant!!
This such a sweet and thoughtful review, thank you so much! I'm going to share it with the team, I know they'll appreciate it as much as I do! We're all really excited to continue working on this game too, we had so much fun with this already, and comments like yours really drive us to keep going with it. <3
Aaah this was so good! I love the art, the presentation, and I really love the music! The title screen music especially has big Phantom of the Opera energy haha ;;
The art is so expressive! I love that the characters have so many poses and expressions; it makes the whole VN feel so lively. Tomiko's 'ohoho' pose is precious, and I think Raika is incredibly handsome!
The Rose of Versailles and Sailor Moon refs are a lot of fun too ;w; Also, are those Utena outfits I spot in the dressing room?
You all did a great job; I'm looking forward to the final release. This was so much fun!
Thank you so much, Ebi! And yes, there's a lot of easter eggs, and I plan to put even more in the full game. <3
-Yamino