Axanael (Japanese: アザナエル, from 糾える azanaeru, literally "that which can twist") is a Visual Novel developed and published by nitro+ in 2010. It's written by Shimokura Vio. The game shares some characters with Soni Comi and Super Sonico, mostly the members of the all-girl band Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo (see also the list of characters from Super Sonico).
The story revolves around a mysterious artifact named Axanael, a revolver which is said to grant the dearest wish of anyone who is shot with it. On the last day of year 2010, during the festivities of New Year's Eve, it disappears from its storage and ends up twisting the fates of many who encounter upon it.
This work makes use of the following tropes:
- Artifact of Doom: Axanael. Once obtained, it will mess with the owner's thinking, leading them to be controlled by their inner desires.
- Bumbling Dad: Downplayed with Fujimi Heiji. His manners sometimes can be pretty ridiculous as well as his looks, but, nevertheless, he is a reliable person and a diligent policeman, respected by his colleagues.
- Catchphrase: Fujimi Ena likes to say "Masaka...kore wa jike-en?!" (Could this be a case?). Her father sometimes can say the same phrase, but his most favorite is "Go-you da, go-you da!", meaning something like "You're under arrest!". They both also have the respective phrases as their ringtones.
- Childhood Friends: Fujimi Ena and Ousu Chiaki.
- Ensemble Cast: This is one of the key features of the novel. The total number of the protagonists is six, and the story repeatedly switches between them.
- God in Human Form: Mizuha, whose real full name is Mizuhanome, an actual Japanese deity
. She was banished from heavenly realm, deprived of most of her divine powers and turned into a little girl. Though, under certain circumstances, she can restore her original appearance. - Hot God: Mizuhanome in her adult form.
- Insult of Endearment: Ena calls her Childhood Friend Chiaki whom she unconsciously has romantic feelings for "baka chibi", which can be translated as "silly midget".
- Lighter and Softer: Despite a notable quantity of darker and dramatic themes, the novel is overall lighter and more comedic for a company well known for its extremely dark and macabre stories like Saya no Uta.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Kamon Sei and Mizuhanome. As well as Sakura and Sugoroku.
- Meaningful Name: Axanael is pronounced in Japanese as "a-za-na-e-ru", which is the potential form of the verb "azanau" (糾う), meaning "to twist", "to be intertwined". It's a reference to an expression from Chinese Classics, which in Japanese translation sounds like "Kafuku wa azanaeru nawa no gotoshi" (禍福は糾える縄の如し) and can be translated as "Good luck and bad luck are intertwined like the strands of a rope".
- NEET: Nitori. Indebted up to his neck, unable to find any significant income, living in a dirty and messy apartment. Surprisingly, has a girlfriend, though, as it turns out, she was created from his own imagination.
- Older Than They Look: Little Mizuha is actually an ancient deity hundreds of years old. On a smaller scale - Sugoroku, who in reality is about 85 years old, but has the appearance of a man in his early thirties at max.
- Russian Roulette: This is how usually Axanael is used. If you survive, you will be granted your dearest wish. This version of "russian roulette" is called in-game "kagome-asobi".
- Tanuki: Ena and Chiaki both wear a strap with a small tanuki figurine on it. Some of the characters are actually tanuki disguised as humans.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Sakura usually is a tomboy to the core, so when she occasionally displays somewhat girly manners, her friends are quite surprised.
- Urban Fantasy: Can be considered as such, given that a lot of magic stuff happens.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Kawaraya Souichi was granted immortality by Axanael, but over time he got tired of living and started to search for a way to get rid of this gift.
