If you want Dark Stories, you got it.
Nitroplus Co., Ltd. (Nitro Plus before the 2008 rebranding), stylized as nitro+, is a Japanese game company specializing in Eroge and Visual Novels. Their works are almost invariably dark in tone, with an abundance of Eldritch Abominations, horror, rape, gore and violence.
Their first release was 2000's Phantom of Inferno, also was main writer Gen Urobuchi's first work with the company. Subsequent games such as 2003's Saya no Uta and 2008's Chaos;Head garnered enough acclaim for the studio's popularity to reach levels comparable to that of Key/Visual Arts, TYPE-MOON and 07th Expansion.
One of Nitro's most prolific creators is Gen Urobuchi, who has gone on to write Fate/Zero, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Psycho-Pass independent of the company. Vocalist Kanako Itou is another frequent collaborator, having performed the musical themes for many of their VNs and anime adaptations. On a sad note, their music producer Shingo Minamino was murdered tragically and brutally in the middle of a busy street.
They have their own record label, GEORIDE
, which represents a repertoire of music artists that often performs vocal themes on their titles.
For some reason, the company responsible for so many dark and disturbing stories has a mascot in the pink-haired, baby-faced, be-headphoned Moe character Super Sonico. And for the branch that focused on producing Boys' Love Visual Novel called Nitro+CHiRAL have a mascot with long white-haired, always seen with his trusty bass, be-headphoned Bishōnen character called Naitou-kun
◊.
Releases of Nitro+ (in chronological order):
- Phantom of Inferno (2000)
- Phantom INTEGRATION (2004)
- Phantom -Phantom of Inferno- (2012) - All-ages remake of the original game for the Xbox 360, with updated art and voice actors from the anime adaptation. A PC port was released in 2013.
- Vampirdzhija Vjedogonia (2001)
- Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer (2002)
- "Hello, World." (2002)
- Demonbane (2003)
- Saya no Uta (2003) - one of Urobuchi's most famous— or infamous— works
- Angelos Armas (2005)
- Jingai Makyou (2005)
- Hanachirasu (2005)
- Sabbat Nabe - Nitro+ Amusement Disc (2006), a compilation disc which includes Dra+Koi, Nitrowars, and Kaigen Seito (a Role-Playing Game spin-off of Hanachirasu)
- Gekkou no Carnevale - Carnevale de la Luce de la Luna (2007)
- Zoku Satsuriku no Django (2007) - also known as Tre Donne Crudeli
- Nitro+Royale - Heroines Duel (Comiket 2007) - a fighting game
- Chaos;Head (2008) - First entry of the Science Adventure Series, their collaboration with 5pb.
- Sumaga -STAR MINE GIRL- (2008)
- Sumaga Special (2010) - a Sumaga fandisc
- Full Metal Daemon Muramasa (2009)
- Full Metal Daemon Muramasa Stories of Evil Thoughts (2010) - a fandisc
- Steins;Gate (2010) - Second entry of the Science Adventure Series, their collaboration with 5pb.
- Steins;Gate Linear Bounded Phenogram (2013)
- Steins;Gate 0 (2015)
- Axanael (2010)
- Soni Comi - Communication with Sonico (2011)
- Motto! SoniComi - More Communication with Sonico (2013) - PS3 port of SoniComi, featuring reworked graphics and more content.
- Guilty Crown Lost Christmas (2012) - Prequel to Guilty Crown
- Phenomeno - Chapter 1 (2012) - Adaptation of the novel of the same name
- You and Me and Her or Totono (2013) - A romance game.
- Tokyo Necro (2016) (official tumblr account)
- Tokyo Necro Suicide Mission (2018) - Licensed online game, developed and hosted by DMM.
- Minikui Mojika no Ko (2018) - Features artwork by Hamashima Shigeo.
- Warau Ars Notoria (2020) - An iOS and Android game made as part of the company's 20th-anniversary commemoration project.
Nitroplus also has a branch focused on producing Boys' Love Visual Novels: Nitro+ CHiRAL. Its works are listed below:
- Togainu no Chi (2005)
- Togainu no Chi True Blood (2008) - A PS2 port of Togainu no Chi with updated art and toned down sexual content. A PSP port was released in 2010.
- Lamento - beyond the void (2006)
- Chiral Mori - Chiral Amusement Disc (2008)
- sweet pool (2008)
- False Alkanet (2010) - a Mobile Visual Novel
- World's end Nightmare (2010) - a Mobile Visual Novel that have 30 episodes.
- DRAMAtical Murder (2012)
- DRAMAtical Murder re:connect (2013) - a DRAMAtical Murder fandisc.
- DRAMAtical Murder re:code (2014) - a Bleached Underpants PS Vita port of DRAMAtical Murder with a new route.
- Osu-Boys!! ~Ikemen Ryoujoku ☆ Paradise~ (2014) - A comedic crossover visual novel featuring the protagonists of the studio's games. Released on April Fools' Day.
- THE CHiRAL NIGHT rhythm carnival (2017) - a Rhythm Game based on the 10th anniversary THE CHiRAL NIGHT concert. Released in Comiket 92 in August 2017. This game can be bought at their online store.
- Slow Damage (2021)
- Slow Damage Clean dishes (2021) - Spin-off online game featuring a new pair of protagonists and the side characters of Slow Damage.
In addition, people from the company have worked on, or are credited in, other works:
- Attack on Titan (their internal staff worked on the Blu-Ray visual novels. Additionally Nitro+ writer Gun Snark wrote the No Regrets spin-off manga)
- Aldnoah.Zero (TV series reuniting Urobuchi with Fate/zero director Ei Aoki, and co-produced between Nitro+, A-1 Pictures and TROYCAnote )
- Azur Lane (TV adaptation, with Jin Haganeya handling series composition)
- Black Lagoon: Shaitane Badi (Light Novel, with Urobuchi as author)
- Blassreiter (TV series, with Urobuchi as scriptwriter for several episodes)
- Fate/Zero (Prequel of Fate/stay night; a series of four Light Novels produced in collaboration with Type Moon, with Gen Urobuchi as author)
- Coffin Princess Chaika (NamanikuATK designed the characters and did the novel's illustrations)
- Fuuun Ishin Dai Shogun (Makoto Ishiwata designed some of the mecha)
- Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (another Anime First by Production I.G. this time, with thus-far the first episode script and series composition done by Urobuchi, and the second episode script by fellow Nitro+ writer Gun Snark; a second season is in the works)
- Guilty Crown (has a PC game Spinoff written by Jin Haganeya, who is also part of the show's writing team)
- Kamen Rider Gaim (Toku series produced by Toei Company since October 2013, with Urobuchi as head writer and nitro+’s Niθ designing some of the People in Rubber Suits monsters; Jin Haganeya and Gun Snark serve as secondary writers helping co-write some episodes.)
- Real Riders: Kaito Kumon Gaiden (Side story included in supplementary book Kamen Rider Gaim: The Guide, written by Mitsunori Enami supervised by Gen Urobuchi)
- Kamen Rider Gaim: The Great Soccer Match! The Golden Fruit Cup! (Toku movie released by Toei Company in July 2014, with Haganeya writing the movie’s scenario and its
tie-in episode though in collaboration with Toei’s Nobuhiro Mōri.) - Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle (Toku crossover movie released by Toei Company in December 2014, with Haganeya writing the movie's first, Gaim-centric act, in collaboration with Kamen Rider Drive head writer Toei’s Riku Sanjō writing the other two acts, and Niθ designing the film's overall Big Bad.)
- Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden (Toku V-Cinema productions released in April 2015, November 2015, and October-November 2020 by Toei Company focusing on side characters. The Zangetsu story of Vol. 1 and the Duke story of Vol. 2 are written by Haganeya, with Nobuhiro Mōri writing the Baron story of Vol. 1, the Knuckle story of Vol. 2, and Vol. 3.)
- Kamen Rider Gaim Novel (Tie-In Novel published March 2016, taking place after the second Gaim Gaiden, co-written by Jin Haganeya and Gun Snark with Gen Urobuchi supervising.)
- Kamen Rider Zangetsu Stage -Gaim Gaiden- (Theatrical stage play performed on March 2019, directed and written by Mōri with Haganeya cowriting.)
- Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden: ~Kamen Rider Zangetsu~ (Novelization of the stage play)
- Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid and Ghost with Legend Riders (Toku crossover movie between Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Kamen Rider Ghost, released by Toei Company in December 2017, with Kamen Rider Gaim returning as a Legend Rider and Dr. Pac-Man’s monster form Genomes being designed by nitro+’s Niθ.)
- HaruChika: Haruta & Chika (NamanikuATK provided the character design for the 2016 Anime adaptation by P. A. Works)
- Muv-Luv Extra and Muv-Luv Alternative (Niθ, for some of the mecha designs)
- Neppu Kairiku Bushi Road (TV special between Nitro+, Bushiroad, Bandai Visual and Kinema Citrus aired on December 31st, 2013)
- Nitroplus Blasterz Heroines Infinite Duel (A fighting game made in collaboration with Examu featuring the various heroines from their work as well as Saber as a Guest Fighter. Released in Japanese arcades on 30 April 2015. A console port on the PS3 and PS4 with cross-gen multiplayer support in Japan by MarvelousAQL and North America by XSEED Games was released in winter 2015, exclusively featuring Homura from Marvelous/XSEED's Senran Kagura and Heart Aino from Examu's Arcana Heart as more true-to-the-definition Guest Fighters relative to Sabernote )
- Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (based on the story from the visual novel Phantom of Inferno. Also had a few episodes penned by Gen Urobuchi)
- Psycho-Pass (TV Series by Production I.G airing in Fall 2012, with Urobuchi as lead scriptwriter; a movie and two subsequent seasons have been released)
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime First series by Studio Shaft airing in Winter 2011, with Urobuchi as scriptwriter, a Light Novel adaptation, a PlayStation Portable game released in 2012, and three theatrical films)
- Queen's Gate novels (a trilogy of side-stories from the Queen's Blade universe that take place in our modern world, rather than the QB's fantasy medieval one. Niθ designed the characters from those novels)
- Rakuen Tsuihou -Expelled From Paradise- (Anime film co-produced by Nitro+ and Toei Animation with a screenplay by Urobuchi)
- School-Live! (the manga is written by one of Nitroplus's staff members, Kaihou Norimitsu. In addition the script of the anime is written by them)
- SoniPro -Super Sonico in Production- (Collaboration with Imageepoch, an Idol simulation game featuring Super Sonico)
- Touken Ranbu (a free-to-play browser game about personifications of famous Japanese swords as good-looking young men, made in collaboration with Kadokawa Games)
- Thunderbolt Fantasy (a puppet show collaboration with Pili International Multimedia and Good Smile Company, written by Gen Urobuchi. Niθ is credited with character designs)
Tropes pertaining to them, and their works in general:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Most of the Background/Object images in their games are CG, made by CG Studio Polygon Bangcho/Nitroplus Arts. The artbooks usually show the wireframes/rough models of said backgrounds.
- Age-Gap Romance: Most of the Chiral titles usually includes one romanceable hero who is significantly older than the Protagonist (Motomi in Togainu no Chi, Bardo in Lamento, Mink in DRAMAtical Murder, and Taku in Slow Damage)
- Animal Motifs: Cats and Dogs in the CHiRAL titles.
- all lowercase letters: The company name is stylized as 'nitro+'. Averted in their early days, where the logo had uppercase 'N' and is referred to as 'Nitro Plus' (two words), instead of 'Nitroplus' (one word).
- sweet pool
- Averted for Nitro+CHiRAL
- April Fools' Day: They usually celebrate this every year. Highlights include them quitting the whole industry altogether to become farmers in 2008.
- Associated Composer: ZIZZ Studio is the default composing group for their games. Kanako Itou is this for their vocal tracks, up until the late-2010s.
- Awesome McCoolname: Some of their staff uses these kinds of names as their pseudonym. Highlights includes Digitarou (their CEO), NamanikuATK (spelled 'At-ta-kai' by the way, not 'Attack'), and the above-mentioned Gun Snark. One of their staff also has 'UNKNOWN GAMES' written as part of his pseudonym.
- Cyberpunk : To date, they have made many works in this genre. Highlights includes "Hello, World", Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer, Psycho-Pass, and DRAMAtical Murder. Their 2016 title Tokyo Necro continues this tradition, which is basically Blade Runner WITH ZOMBIES!
- Deconstruction: The bread and butter of their body of work. For lighter shades, they tend to go for plain Darker and Edgier.
- Demoted to Extra: Super Sonico enjoyed breakout success, earning herself figures, games, comics, and even an extended cast compared to her solo days as a concert mascot. Naitou-kun on the other hand? Quietly receded to the background, with his main appearances being limited to concert duty. As a company mascot, he's been reduced to one of five, the other four being Series Mascots from CHiRAL's library (Akira, Konoe, Youji, and Aoba) that have much more promotion and merchandise.
- DVD Commentary: Completing an 100% Completion on their titles grants you to read the "Liner Notes" —- commentaries and production notes from people who worked on the titles.
- Goroawase Number: 2106, which is spelled 'Nitro', appeared in SoniAni and DRAMAtical Murder (as 2106 CR-L, with CR-L as 'CHiRAL'). Played for Laughs in Chiral's 2014 April Fools' Day game where the year 2106 is the slated release year for the full version of the game.
- The company even regards February 16 (2.16) as "Nitro Day".
- Magical Girl: Sumaga and Puella Magi Madoka Magica have main heroines that are these.
- Mascot: Nitro-kun◊ serves as this for the company as a whole. There are two others for their concerts: Super Sonico for the main branch concerts, and Naitou-kun for those of CHiRAL. Sometimes they also add Mikazuki Munechika into their mascot roster in trade shows.
- Mascot Fighter: Nitro+Royale and Nitroplus Blasterz are these
- One of their April Fools jokes is a Crossover fighting game with TYPE-MOON, aptly-named TYPE-MOON vs. Nitroplus.
- Meaningful Name: The current engine used for their games is called N2System. N2 is the chemical symbol of Nitrogen.
- Super Sonico is written as 'すーぱーそに子', which could meant 'Super Sound Girl' or 'Supersonic' (as in supersonic sound). Naitou-kun, on the other hand, is derived from 'Night', although could be a derivation of 'Nitro' ('Nai' is spelled as 'Ni' in English pronunciation). The main draw from their names can be found in the fact that they were both mascots for their respective branch's concerts, NITRO SUPER SONIC (Sonico) and THE CHiRAL NIGHT (Naitou).
- Lighter and Softer : Sumaga, DRAMAtical Murder, and Totono has visual designs and atmosphere that are this trope, but still.....
- SoniComi is a straight example of this trope. Touken Ranbu has shades of this trope, outside of the dark backstories of the characters and the tone of later campaigns, but Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru plays this trope to SoniComi levels of lightness.
- Something Completely Different : SoniComi which is 100% Lighter and Softer than their other titles. It's also their first completely-3D title.
- Vanity Plate: They used one in Saya no Uta (CG Sequence of a weapon-like thing opening to reveal their logo) and Lamento - beyond the void (a shot of characters' tail followed by N+C logo)
