The History of Leaf: Pioneer of the Visual Novel Genre

This is a video where I talk about the history of Leaf, an adult PC developer that pioneered the visual novel genre and influenced an entire generation of creators in Japan during the late 90s and early 2000s.

I played and enjoyed the Utawarerumono sequels when they were localized back in 2017 and I began looking into Leaf’s history with the idea of making a video after seeing the announcement for Monochrome Mobius last year in November. I wanted to make this video because visual novel developers like Key and Type-Moon have gotten a lot of attention from English-speaking fans but Leaf seems to often be forgotten despite a few of their titles being fairly popular in the West.

A large majority of Leaf’s catalog is only available in Japanese, especially their older titles, so I did not talk much about the stories of each individual game. Instead I stuck to mainly describing the history behind the studio and its influence on the industry. I do not know Japanese myself so I relied on machine translation tools to get some of my information, so there may be mistakes. I did the best I could but I provided a list of my sources in case someone wants to dig through what I found and double-check my facts. Let me know if I messed anything up.

—Chapters—
00:00 - Introduction
01:49 - Leaf’s Beginnings
13:32 - Leaf’s Salad Days
24:28 - Leaf’s Influence
31:39 - Leaf’s Fall from Grace
42:57 - Leaf’s Experimental Years
51:16 - Leaf’s Comeback and Departure
1:00:33 - Conclusion

—Sources—
I couldn’t fit my full list of sources in the description so I listed them on my blog instead: https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/bow...

—Music—
Azusa - Kizuato by Azusa Kashiwagi (Leaf Visual Novel Series Orange Soundtrack)
未来に向かって - Growing up by Yasumasa Kitagawa (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 2 ALPHA)
Night in Way by Naoya Shimokawa (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 2 ALPHA)
Visions of a Distant Day by Kojiro Nakashima and Kouta Kato (Kamaitachi no Yoru)
During a Lesson by Naoya Shimokawa, Shinji Orito, and Shinya Ishikawa (Shizuku)
True End by Naoya Shimokawa, Shinji Orito, and Shinya Ishikawa (Shizuku)
Sea Breeze by Osamu Ishikawa (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 2 ALPHA)
通常AVG by OdiakeS (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
Brand New Heart by Kazuhide Nakagami (To Heart)
男の子のテーマ くだけふでっちMix by Ishisan (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
Invisible Wings by Suebashi (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 3 Metamorphic)
オープニング by STB (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
Lonely Cinderella by M.S (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 3 Metamorphic)
RADIO KILLER by Rikei Hirashima (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 2 ALPHA)
Monochrome Mind by Junya Matsuoka (Tasogare)
Midnight Rainy Dance by Sepia Iro no Sora (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 3 Metamorphic)
Irregular by Junya Matsuoka (Tasogare)
Kaleidoscope by Shinya Ishikawa (Tasogare)
幻 by Kiyoko Yamada (KIYO) (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 2 ALPHA)
Ptolemaic System by CHEMOOL (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol 1 VOLTAGE)
BADEND Crossover Arrangement by Manack (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
Take Me With You by Yuuichi Sasaki (Ebi) (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 3 Metamorphic)
Heart to Heart by Kazuhide Nakagami (ToHeart2)
Brand New Heart Music Box Version by Kazuhide Nakagami (To Heart)
Utawarerumono Opening Theme by Susumu Mameda (Utawarerumono)
休日のテーマ by Suebashi (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
そして愛する者の名を呼び by Kanna (Unison LABEL Sound Collection Vol. 4 Pop'n 2000)
翔 - Brand New Heart by 八霧 (Fresh Foliage: Leaf & Key Arrange Music Album)
Sunshine Day by Shinya Ishikawa (Heart Session: Cool Weigh, To Heart Arranged Album)