New Game! is a Japanese four-panel manga series by Shōtarō Tokunō, which was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat from January 2013 to August 2021 and is licensed in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.
The series is set in Tokyo's Suginami Ward and it follows a 19-year-old Japanese female game developer along with her acquaintances on their adventure through the ups and downs of game development, from making the perfect character design to fixing all the errors that inevitably accumulate in the process.
An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo aired in Japan between July and September 2016, with a second season airing between July and September 2017. A video game developed by 5pb. was released in January 2017.
Contents
Plot
Having been inspired by the character designs of a particular video game when she was younger, Aoba Suzukaze, a high school graduate, begins working as a character designer for Eagle Jump, the video game's developer. As she works on modelling and designing characters for video games in development, she becomes acquainted with her female colleagues in the character design department, as well as those from within the company.
Characters
Aoba Suzukaze (涼風 青葉, Suzukaze Aoba)
Voiced by: Yūki Takada (Japanese); Megan Shipman (English)
A twintailed high school graduate who joins the Eagle Jump video game company as a character designer, as they made her favorite game. Due to her small stature, she is often mistaken for a middle school student.
Ko Yagami (八神 コウ, Yagami Kō)
Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa (Japanese); Michelle Rojas (English)
The lead character designer of Eagle Jump. She spends a lot of time at the office, often sleeping there overnight in her panties, and has a laid-back but stern attitude. She was the character designer for the game that inspired Aoba to become one herself. After two years pass in the story, she goes to work at the Blue Rose video game company in France alongside Christina's sister Catarine. In the final chapter of the series it is revealed that she married Rin after Japan legalized same-sex marriage.
Rin Toyama (遠山 りん, Tōyama Rin)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese); Kristen McGuire (English)
An art director and head of the background department. She is close friends with Ko and is implied to have feelings for her; thus, she tends to get jealous when others get close to her. Unlike Ko, she is organized, well maintained and also a bit shy. In the final chapter she is seen with a ring and it's confirmed she married Ko.
Hifumi Takimoto (滝本 ひふみ, Takimoto Hifumi)
Voiced by: Megumi Yamaguchi (Japanese); Jill Harris (English)
A character designer. She is shy about talking to others and prefers to speak via e-mail. She has a pet hedgehog named Sojiro and secretly enjoys cosplay.
Media
Manga
The original manga by Shōtarō Tokunō began serialization in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine from January 28, 2013. Houbunsha has published thirteen tankōbon volumes since February 27, 2014. The fifth volume, subtitled The Spinoff!, takes place prior to the main series and features content not included in the magazine serialization. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the series in North America. Three comic anthologies were released from August 2016 to August 2017. The series ended in Manga Time Kirara Carat's October 2021 issue on August 27, 2021.
Anime
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation aired in Japan between July 4 and September 19, 2016, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The anime is produced by Doga Kobo, with Yoshiyuki Fujiwara as the director and Fumihiko Shimo as the series' script supervisor, featuring character designs by Ai Kikuchi. An original video animation (OVA) episode was made available for those who purchased all six Blu-ray/DVD volumes of the series, released between September 28, 2016, and February 24, 2017. The opening and ending themes respectively are "Sakura Skip" (SAKURAスキップ, Sakura Sukippu) and "Now Loading!!!", both performed by Fourfolium (Yūki Takada, Megumi Yamaguchi, Ayumi Takeo, and Megumi Toda). A second season titled New Game!! (stylized as NEW GAME!!) was announced in February 2017, and aired in Japan between July 11 and September 26, 2017, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The second season's opening theme is "Step by Step Up ↑↑↑↑" while the ending themes are "Jumpin' Jump Up!!!!" for the first six episodes and "Yumeiro Compass" (ユメイロコンパス, Dream-colored Compass) for episode seven onwards, all performed by Fourfolium. Funimation dubbed and released it on home video. Muse Communication licensed the series in Asia-Pacific and started streaming it on Muse Asia YouTube channel.
Video games
A visual novel developed by 5pb., titled New Game!: The Challenge Stage, was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan on January 26, 2017. Characters from the series also appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2017 mobile role-playing game Kirara Fantasia.