Majotachi no Nemuri (魔女たちの眠り, The Sleepless Witches), sometimes known as Jiro Akagawa: Majotachi no Nemuri (赤川 次郎: 魔女たちの眠り, Jiro Akagawa: The Sleepless Witches), is a Survival Horror Visual Novel originally published by Pack-In-Video in 1995 on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It later got ported to the PlayStation in 1999 as Majotachi no Nemuri: Fukkatsusai (魔女たちの眠り ー復活祭ー, The Sleepless Witches: Easter)note and to Windows as Majotachi no Nemuri: Kanzenban (赤川次郎 魔女たちの眠り 完全版, The Sleepless Witches: Perfect Edition) in 2001. The game's story was supervised by novel Jiro Akagawa, who's known for writing novels centering on mysterious events, especially on those related to occult matters. CERO has given the game a D rating due to violence in some parts of the game. The plot was based on Akagawa's previous novels, Majotachi no Tasogare (Twilight of the Witches) and Majotachi no Nagai Nemuri (Long Sleep of the Witches).
As of 2021, there seem to be a hiatus in plans for a fan-based translation into English. See here for how it went
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The game starts when Toshio Tsuda (The protagonist's default name if you don't choose to change it) receives a phone call in his office while working late at night. He hears a woman calling for his help, because she's being hunted down and about to be killed. Toshio later reads the morning papers, which reported an immolation incident in a village and the lone fatality was identified as Yoriko Nakagome (The woman's default name if you don't choose to change it), his childhood friend back from his younger days before he got a job in the city. Feeling depressed that he didn't realize Yoriko sought help and didn't realize it, Toshio went to the village where she worked as a local teacher to mourn her death and move on in her funeral.
On the way to the town in his car, Toshio sees a vision of Yoriko on the road. He swerves and the sedan crashes into the nearest tree trunk. Toshio is assisted by a young woman named Tae Kurihara, who spotted the car crash. With her help, Toshio is able to get to town. He later learns that a mysterious group known as the Valley People has been secretly harrasing the town and its residents. They also happen to be vampires for many years and they may have something to do with Yoriko being killed...
The game contains examples of:
- Driving Question: What happened to Yoriko and what did she find out that caused her to call Toshio for help instead of law enforcement?
- Earn Your Bad Ending: If you're a completionist, you need to do something stupid to earn some of the endings that can get you killed.
- Fake Faint: After a car crash, Toshio is in the unnamed town. Officer Kawamura tells him that he needs to head to the next town, since this town has no inn. Toshio pretends to almost faint, and says that it's from the shock of surviving the crash. He's really hiding the fact that he's in town to investigate the death of his friend, Yoriko.
- Guide Dang It!: If you're not fluent in Japanese, are not good in visual novel gaming or are having trouble getting all the endings, you will need a guide to help you out.
- Jump Scare: Used as a mechanic to narrate story. Like when a vision of Yoriko appeared out of nowhere and forced Toshio off the road. Or when Tae reveals herself to be a vampire and says that she wants his blood.
- Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: One ending shows Toshio seemingly killed by the town's residents. Which is because Tae revealed herself to be one of the Valley People and bit him, turning him into a vampire. Which makes it justified for the residents to kill him or risk another threat.
- Multiple Endings: There are endings that don't involve your character getting killed, some good and some bad.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The game's atmosphere changes once the villagers tell Toshio about the Valley People (aka vampires) who are trying to turn the villagers.
- Police Are Useless: Seemingly the officers in the town couldn't get a lead on Yoriko's death besides the fact that she was found immolated. Probably because the Valley People are likely responsible for it.
- Secret War: The town's residents have been fighting the Valley People for a long time, even before Yoriko and Toshio were around to prevent the supernatural from taking over the town.
- Survival Horror: The game later takes on a supernatural plotline when Toshio investigates the town where Yoriko was last seen working as a teacher. Especially when the Valley People are revealed to be vampires trying to take over the town. Surviving requires making choices, even when they seem odd at first glance.
