Class Quartz From left to right
The girl played as a boy
— Jack Jeanne's tagline
I wanted to get into Univeil too, Tsuki...
— Kisa Tachibana
Jack Jeanne is an Otome game Visual Novel developed by Broccoli, with Sui Ishida (Of Tokyo Ghoul fame) at the helm for the game's visual design and story.
Jack Jeanne is about Kisa Tachibana, who dreams of being an actor; specifically, following in the footsteps of her brother, Tsuki Tachibana, by enrolling in Univeil Theater Academy. However, her hopes were dashed as Univeil Theater Academy is an all-boys school and was about to give up on her dream.
That is, until she was found by the school director of Univeil Theater Academy, who recognized her as the talented Tachibana Tsuki's sister, and soon enlisted her to be enrolled into the school to change the age old tradition of the theater academy, and accomplish her dream.
Under the conditions that she has to aim to be the lead role in all the plays throughout the year, and to never let anyone in the school learn that she is a girl, which includes not telling others that she is related to the famed Tsuki Tachibana.
The game is released for the Nintendo Switch at March 18, 2021, with a demo version available to be downloaded at the Nintendo eShop.
In the first year anniversary at March 18, 2022, Jack Jeanne is announced to be having an English localization by Aksys Games. It was released on June 15, 2023.
On March 15, 2024, during the game's third anniversary event, it was announced that a sequel is in the works.
Its official website can be found here
Jack Jeanne contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Mitsuki's mother only appears once in his first event and never again, but she's very quickly established as one, demanding that Mitsuki come to a friend's party to sing, and getting angry to the point of attempting to slap him when he repeatedly turns her down. When Kisa steps in and winds up on the receiving end of said slap, Mitsuki's mother tries to dodge responsibility.
- The Ace:
- In-game, the lead and top Jack and Jeanne actors are referred to as a "Jack Ace" and "Al Jeanne" respectively, with each class having at least one of the two actors. To note:
Quartz: Sarafumi Takashina (Al Jeanne), Kai Mutsumi (Jack Ace)
Onyx: Dakeshin Kaidou (Jack Ace), Kiyoharu Sugachi (Al Jeanne)
Rhodonite: Tsukasa Oshinari (Al Jeanne), Kiito Minorikawa (Jack Ace)
Amber: Chui Tanakamigi (Jack Ace)- In general, Chui Tanakamigi is The Ace that overtook Tsuki Tachibana due to his raw talent after the latter's graduation and some of the other students find Tanakamigi intimidating for it.
- Adaptation Expansion: A novelization called Univeil Drama School and the Call of the Moon was published a year after the game, covering everything up until the Newcomer's Performance. It adds a lot of details on certain characters that weren't present in the game, such as Kisa going into acting because it was her way of coping with her mother's death and Tsuki taking over as a parent for Kisa because of their mother's passing.
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- How well you do in the Rhythm game segments of the game will affect what ending you will get, however, what difficulty you choose for the song has no effect on gameplay, so players who are new to Rhythm games can simply play the easiest mode possible to cruise the game.
- The Color Motif of the love interests correspond with the color of the stats to raise Kisa's skills. (E.g. Fumi's Color Motif is red, and the dancing stat is coded red) So players can choose which stat to focus on if they want to pursue a specific love interest.
- Ax-Crazy: In "Mary Jane", when Charles—played by Kisa—is killed by the ghosts, Soshiro playing Figaro goes absolutely apeshit, attempting to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. This CG used for the moment speaks for itself.
- Bait-and-Switch: At one point before the summer play, Kisa is confronted by Mare and his friends, and at first, the scene plays out like they're about to subject Kisa to Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics, as they tell Kisa not to half-ass transferring into Rhodonitenote , complete with ominous music in the background. When Kisa asks them if they hate the idea of her transferring into Rhodonite...Mare immediately clarifies that he just wants Kisa to come prepared if she makes a serious decision about it, with him and his friends mentioning shortly after that they'd be delighted if Kisa did actually transfer to Rhodonite, with the mood and music turning back into being light-hearted.
- But Thou Must!: On 11/1, should you decide to go see Mare, then later that day, he and his friends decide to have a sleepover at Kisa's room. The player has no other option but to say "Sure, okay".
- Cast of Snowflakes: Many character have their own unique features and appearances that make them standout from each other, with no two characters looking alike.
- Cross-Cast Role: In-Universe; Jeanne actors are men who often have to crossdress for their female roles.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each of the love interests have an associated stat and color:
- Suzu is Orange (Sprint)
- Soshiro is Dark Blue (Intelligence)
- Mistuki is Light Blue (Voice)
- Sarafumi is Red (Agility)
- Kai is Gold (Charm)
- Kokuto is Purple (Drama)
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: In this case, prequel character. In the main game, Kisa is a nice girl who goes out of her way to help others whenever possible, earning their respect and working hard to become the top performer in her class. In contrast, the manga one-shot Puppet, which is a prequel, stars an unnamed Amber student who is a condescending jerk who looks down on others and dreams of becoming the Jack Ace of his grade, is vehemently jealous of Chui, who manages to outperform him in every way, and is later reduced to just doing background performances for Amber.
- Dating Sim: As Otome Game, it has this element with the main love interests being six of the students who are part of the class Kisa is in, Quartz. However, in contrast to most games, the romance takes a long while to build up in-story.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The game's opening theme and ending themes are sung by the voice actors of the game's love interests and voice actress of Kisa.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: A common trait among the Jeanne casted actors are that they have a more effeminate appearance compared to most boys. The Rhodonite class in particular, is a class filled with students who specialized in the Jeanne roles.
- Face–Heel Turn: In the "Kisa Tachibana" route, Kisa can pull this by agreeing to join Tanakamigi's offer of transferring out of Quartz to Amber and become his Al Jeanne mid-way.
- Famed In-Story: Tsuki Tachibana, Kisa's brother, is noted to be rather famous among Univeil's students, with a good portion of them finding him an inspiration, such as Kai and Fumi.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: As revealed in his first affection event, Fumi’s father disapproves of Fumi joining Univeil. Fumi left his family as he felt the ways of the Takashina’s traditional dance are becoming too archaic and joins Univeil in the hopes of evolving to something more modern, something his father initially disapproves of.
- Friendly Rivalry: Quartz are in good terms with both Rhodonite and Onyx despite them being rivals in the various performances they act in. Kasai and Mare in particular are seen getting along with Kisa and the others outside of performances.
- Gameplay and Story Integration:
- Depending on which of the dateable boys you spent the most time with (or if you choose to play Kisa as a Celibate Heroine), the final play's ending and casting role of the casts for the play will change slightly. The final months will also run differently depending on who you choose to pursue as love interest (Or not pursue), each with a distinct story of their own.
- Depending on which of the love interests you have done the most events with throughout the game, certain events, performances and character dynamics will be affected based on it. For an example, Quartz's Winter Performance, "Oh Rama Havenna", will have a more profound and meaningful impact on Kisa's relationship with Mitsuki should you choose to pursue him throughout the game, as Mitsuki and Kisa are the lead Al Jeanne's of the performance and they are both still dealing with the awkwardness between each other over the secrets Kisa kept and Mitsuki believing that he seemed unreliable to her over it that she couldn't trust her secret to him. The play itself centers around the friendship of the characters they play as and how the secret Kisa's character kept could affect their friendship,.
- The ending songs vocal change depending on which route you are on. For example, if you reach a route with one of the boys, the ending song has both Kisa and that love interest' voice actors singing the theme.
- The Ghost: Tsuki Tachibana, Kisa's brother. After the prologue, he physically vanished with his whereabouts being unknown and the only physical clues that can be found of him are of Kisa and Soushiro's flashbacks and photo's of his performances.
- Guide Dang It!: To actually get to the romance route with one of the love interests, you have to reach level 20 and above, or at least max out the stat that resonates with their own specialty by the time of the Fourth play outside of spending time with them and do all the events with them. Otherwise, you would get locked out of the last event required to complete their route and get brought to the "Kisa Tachibana" route.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The Player Character's default name is Kisa, but you can change her name however you please. However, this only applies to her first name; her surname, Tachibana, cannot be changed whatsoever.
- Hotter and Sexier: Compared to the Sleepless King that's reminiscent of a classic fairy tale or the gothic horror of Mary Jane, Oh Rama Havenna takes place in a more gritty setting that references more mature topics like prostitution and drugs. Although the "drugs" are mugwort and the "prostitution" is strangling men until they pass out.
- In-Series Nickname:
- Sarafumi Takashina simply prefers to be called Fumi.
- Mitsuki is sometimes nicknamed Mikki.
- Mare insists that everyone refer to him as Mare, as he hates his real name.
- In the Blood: Should you play your cards right, Kisa can prove herself to be just as talented, or even be more amazing than her brother.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: The Rhodonite class students are filled with students who specialized as a Jeanne (With only two named Jack students in the class), many of the known students in that class (That are seen introduced on screen) are shown to be more than happy to wear feminine clothing because it's cute.
- Jack of All Trades: What makes Tsuki Tachibana famous is his ability of being able to play as both Jack and a Jeanne. And Kisa can follow suit should you play your cards right. This makes Kisa a potential prospect by other seniors to get her to transfer out of class Quartz. Class Onyx wanted her as their Jeanne, while Rhodonite wanted Kisa to join as a new Jack. Class Amber, specifically, Chui Tanakamigi, wanted Kisa to join Amber for the sheer potential of her talent and believed that she could be the one that could become the Al Jeanne that could match him.
- Jerkass: The Amber first year students, Kakuto Momonashi and Utsuri Kamiya aren't pleasant towards the other first year students, especially Kisa, since she had caught the interest of Tanakamigi. This is in contrast to Rhodonite and Onyx's own 1st year student ensemble who were all a Friendly Rival to Kisa, Suzu and Soshiro.
- Missing Mom: The tie-in novel reveals that Kisa and Tsuki's mother died when they were young, which became the impetus for Kisa to get into acting.
- Multiple Endings: As is the norm for a Dating Sim. Whether or not you get the good ending, however, depends on how well you scored in the Rhythm game section of the plays, as to get the Golden Ending of each route, you need to score up to SS in the rhythm game section for all of the plays you participate in.
- The Musical: Due to being set in a Theater Academy, musical plays occur annually and there are five plays that students must participate throughout the year. The Newbie Performance, which is used for new first year students to show off what they can do and takes place in Spring, the Summer Performance, Autumn Performance, Winter Performance, and finally, the Univeil Performance, the last play of the year. The Performances' Quartz did throughout the game are:Newbie Performance: The Sleepless King
Summer Performance: Weekend Lesson
Autumn Performance: Mary Jane
Winter Performance: Oh Rama Havenna
Univeil Performance: Sissia of the Central Nation - No Antagonist: There are no major villains in the story no matter the route chosen, though Amber's Kakuto and Utsuri occasionally act as minor antagonists for being complete jerks towards Quartz, with Kisa being their primary target of ridicule and vitriol for most of the routes thanks to Tanakamigi favoring her over them. While the closest contender in all the routes available seem to be Tanakamigi due to his interest in making Kisa his Al Jeanne, he is more an Anti-Villain as he otherwise actually helped Kisa in some instances despite his ulterior motive behind it.
- No Name Given: The one-shot prequel manga Puppet stars an Amber student who goes unnamed throughout the entirety of the manga, likely to empathize the fact that Chui destroyed his dreams of becoming a Jack Ace and his resignation to being relegated to background roles in Amber's performances.
- One-Gender School: Univeil Theater Academy is an all boys theater academy.
- Raising Sim: The game has a stat raising system to improve Kisa's abilities as an actor and for the success of the play. Maxing at least one of the stats is required to get to the romance route with one of the love interests.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The school's principal, Shuri Chuza, and Enishi, Kisa's homeroom teacher are this as they help to make Kisa's academy life in Univeil to transition as well as they possibly could.
- Rock Theme Naming: The classes in Univeil Theater Academy are named after gems. Quartz, Onyx, Rhodonite, and Amber.
- Secret-Keeper: Early in the game, only the Quartz homeroom teacher, Enishi, the school’s principal and Childhood Friend love interest Soushiro knows of Kisa's true gender. If you chose to date the other boys outside of Soushiro, then they too can become this to Kisa.
- Shout-Out: The Tamasaka Troupe itself is a reference to the Takarazuka Revue as both are single-sex theatre troupes with designated male and female roles and both have rich and long historiesnote . Likewise, Tamasaka has a school dedicated to training aspiring actors named Univeil, much like the Takarazuka’s own music school.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Tsuki Tachibana, Kisa's brother, while not directly involved in the plot when Kisa comes to Univeil, his impact is felt all over with Kai and Fumi being heavily inspired by him, his fame and achievements being well known and he is why Kisa and Soushirou wanted to join Univeil.
- Strong Family Resemblance: The Nagayama brothers (Onyx student Toichi and dance teacher Yamato) look incredibly alike, with them having the same build, hair color and perpetually closed eyes.
- Title Drop: Midway through Kisa's solo route, Neji reveals that he wants Kisa to be the lead actor of the Univeil performance, with her character Sissia being someone who "transcends gender". She is then given a designation for this type of role: a Jack Jeanne.
- Tragic Dropout: At the start of the prologue, Kisa nearly becomes one due to the Tachibana's facing some financial and familial troubles some time after Tsuki went without a word after his graduation. It's a good thing that the Academy director managed to find her to avert this.
- Typecasting: In-Universe, the students are classified into two groups of actors. Jack, actors who are casted to a masculine role, and Jeanne, actors who are casted to a feminine role. One of the reason Kisa's brother is famous is because he was able to pull and play as both a Jack and Jeanne, something that most students are incapable of doing.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Jeanne actors in general would crossdress for their roles. The Rhodonite class students introduced (Except for Minorikawa and Ichinomae), however, played this more straight in contrast to the other Jeanne's, with the Rhodonite Jeanne's happily crossdressing and wearing typically girly clothes and enjoy fashion in general.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Various characters have hair colors ranging from bright red, purple, pink, green, blue and everything in between and it is never commented on as unusual.
