Created by Ichirō Sogabe, October 1997 Translated by @obskyr, April 2020

Content warning

  • Suicide
  • Child death
  • Depictions of homophobia
  • Implied sexual violence
  • It's sad
  • Seriously, it's, like… really sad.

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What is Azusa 999?

Azusa 999 is an RPG Maker adventure game (à la Corpse Party or To the Moon) developed in 1997 for the classic Japanese PC-98 personal computer. It's a heavy emotional story about suicide and an otherworldly train… among other things. It's quite unlike anything else – a flawed diamond, forgotten by time – which is why I decided to translate it to English over two decades after its original release!

For ease of use, the game comes bundled with a pre-configured PC-98 emulator – just run the program, and you're off! If you're on Mac or Linux, or if you want the full 1997 experience, you can set up a PC-98 emulator (like Neko Project II) and plug in one of the disk images offered.

The game has an immensely interesting backstory – it was created in a particular niche of Japanese indie game history, which has barely if at all been covered in English. To learn about it, read the translation's foreword, written by yours truly!

@obskyr, 2020–04–22
https://twitter.com/obskyr

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

Player's Companion

Accompanying this translation, there's a Player's Companion that provides cultural context and the fascinating background of the game's development! I put a lot of love into it, and it's an invaluable supplement, so please do use it.

Azusa 999 English Translation  ·  Version 1.2  ·  2020–07–31
Current  ·  1.2  ·  1.1  ·  1.0
フレンズ (Friends) is what I listened to non-stop while working!