Blue Archive
Key visual of the series
ブルーアーカイブ
(Burūākaibu)
Created byNexon Games
Game
DeveloperNexon Games
Publisher
Directed byKim Yong-ha[1]
Music by
  • Mitsukiyo
  • Karut
  • Nor
GenreRole-playing
EngineUnity
PlatformAndroid, iOS
Released
  • JP: February 4, 2021
  • WW: November 8, 2021
  • CN: August 3, 2023
Anime television series
Blue Archive The Animation
Directed byDaigo Yamagishi
Written by
StudioYostar Pictures
CANDYBOX
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo), BS11
Original run April 2024 – scheduled
Print media
Manga
icon Anime and manga portal

Blue Archive (Japanese: ブルーアーカイブ; Korean: 블루 아카이브; Chinese: 蔚蓝档案) is a South Korean role-playing game developed by Nexon Games (formerly NAT Games), a subsidiary of Nexon. It was released in 2021 for Android and iOS, first in Japan by Yostar and worldwide later that year by Nexon.[2] The game is free-to-play with gacha game mechanics as a means to obtain new characters. An anime television series adaptation titled Blue Archive The Animation is set to premiere in April 2024.

The player and protagonist is a Sensei who was summoned to the academic city of Kivotos by the president of the General Student Council, an extrajudicial committee governing the schools. Following her sudden disappearance, criminal activity rises around Kivotos and the player is tasked by the remaining members of the council to resolve the issues and help search for the president.[3]

Gameplay

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Blue Archive is a tactical role-playing game[4] that allows the player to form and mobilize units of up to six members (two "Specials" and four "Strikers") to participate in various military campaigns with.[5] Students' strengths can be enhanced in various ways, such as by increasing their levels, weapons, armor and skills. More students can be recruited through the gacha system using in-game currency, which may be purchased through in-app purchases.

The units are mobilized on a turn-based hex map and battle initiates when they interact with an enemy or vice versa. In combat, Strikers march along a straight path and occasionally encounter groups of enemies. Strikers fire automatic attacks and can hide behind objects to decrease their chances of getting hit. Specials do not engage in direct combat but increase the Strikers' stats and support them from the backlines instead. The player has generally no control over battles with the exception of using students' skills that cost a regenerable currency to use. Students and enemies both have rock-paper-scissors-based attacks and defenses, which determine their strengths and weaknesses. Students get rescued by a helicopter and can't participate in later battles if they lose all of their health.

Story

Setting

Blue Archive takes place in the academic city of Kivotos, which was established by the union of thousands of academies. The city is divided into mostly independent districts, with the highest entity being the president of the General Student Council, a federal committee, who governs the city from the Sanctum Tower with access to every students' register. Before the events of the game, the president summons the player character, a teacher referred to as Sensei, to be the advisor of Schale, an extrajudicial organization established by the president herself. She then proceeds to disappear, giving an uprising to criminal activities and military presence in the city.

Plot

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The story begins with Sensei, the player's character, conversing with the student council president. She tells Sensei that he is the only one who can save Kivotos, the academy city, from a currently unknown apocalypse. After the screen fades to black, the student council vice president, Rin, wakes Sensei. Rin notifies Sensei that he has been called by the student council president to assist the students in Kivotos. The general student council president disappeared almost immediately after Sensei was recruited. During this debriefing, Sensei and Rin are interrupted by several students, one of whom is Yuuka from Millennium Science School. After this interaction, the player is given full access to the game, which allows them to explore the story of Kivotos.

Story

The main story is later divided into several arcs (called Volumes) which focus on a specific group in their respective school, in which each volume is also divided into chapters. Until now, there are five story volumes and a "final" volume (although not the final volume of the game's entire story) that ties those volumes together.

VolumesLocationsTitle(s)
Volume 1Abydos High SchoolForeclosure Task Force
Volume 2Millennium Science SchoolClockwork Flower Pavane
Volume 3Trinity General SchoolEden Treaty
Volume 4SRT Special AcademyThe Rabbit of Caerbannog
Volume 5Allied Hyakkiyako AcademyHyakkayouran
Volume FinalSCHALE and General Student CouncilWhere All Miracles Begin

Development and production

The game was first introduced by NAT Games (later known as Nexon Games) and Yostar by its initial name, Project MX. The announcement, alongside the first promotion video and arts was released in February 2020.[6] Yostar announced the mobile game and held closed beta tests for the Android version in July 2020, where it is now known by its current name as Blue Archive.[7] Initially scheduled to be released in 2020, it was later moved to February 4, 2021.[8][9]

A worldwide version of the game was announced in August 2021,[10] surpassing one million pre-registrations ahead of its release.[3] The version, which includes English as well as Korean, Traditional Chinese and Thai language support was released on November 8 of the same year by Nexon.[11][2]

On November 11, 2022, Nexon updated the ratings of the worldwide version of the game to "Mature" from the original "Teen" rating, while released a separate "Teen"-rated version of the game, particularly due to its rating issues in Korea. The "Teen" rating version has some content changes compared to the original release.[12]

A Simplified Chinese version of the game for China release has been revealed in works in March 2023, as the Chinese authority released a statement regarding passing of the games to be played in the country. The game website later went live alongside the first preview on March 31, 2023, with pre-registrations are open on the same day. A closed beta test is done between June and July 2023, and on August 3, 2023, the game finally went live in China as an open beta. The Chinese version is published by Yostar.[13]

In October 2023, Nexon announced that the Global version would be available in the Galaxy Store for Samsung phones. This version was released on October 31.[14]

According to an interview in Taiwan in December 2023, PD Kim Yong Ha explains that they have planned ahead for two years and is expecting a 15-years minimum of development with their approach. He also said that for the time being, they are focusing on remediating crash issues that commonly happened in the game, with reason being their 3D model has becoming more complex as the time goes. He also said that there is no plan for any PC version of the game for now.[15]

Media

Anime

Original net animations

Two short original net animations have been released individually as promotional material of the game. Both titles were produced by Yostar Pictures, and released in their official YouTube channels.

The 1.5th Anniversary Short Animation was released on July 16, 2022 as a special 9-minute animation for its summer events and half-anniversary event, featuring Abydos High, Allied Hyakkiyako, Trinity General, and Gehenna Academy students on their quest of preparing for their summer activities.[16]

Beautiful Day Dreamer is another short animation title, featuring the Game Development Department (GDD) from Millenium Science School. The title was released on November 22, 2022 with a duration of around 9 minutes.

The 2.5th Anniversary Short Animation was released on July 23, 2023.[17][18]

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"1.5th Anniversary Short Animation"July 16, 2022 (2022-07-16)
2"Beautiful Day Dreamer"November 22, 2022 (2022-11-22)
3"2.5th Anniversary Short Animation"July 23, 2023 (2023-07-23)

Blue Archive the Animation

An anime television series adaptation titled Blue Archive The Animation was announced on January 22, 2023.[19][20] The series is produced by Yostar Pictures and CANDYBOX and directed by Daigo Yamagishi, with Hiroshi Ōnogi and Yamagishi overseeing series scripts, Shunji Maki serving as assistant director, and Hiromitsu Hagiwara designing the characters and serving as chief animation director.[21] The anime will adapt the "Countermeasures Committee" arc. The cast are reprising their roles from the game. It is set to premiere in April 2024 on TV Tokyo and other networks.[22]

Print media

The game has released a few official print media such as anthology comics, spinoff manga series and official artwork books.

Blue Archive Official Artworks

A series of artwork compilation book of the game titled Blue Archive Official Artworks is published by Ichijinsha under its DNA Media Comics label with its first volume releases on October 5, 2022. The first volume contains various designs concepts and profile of the characters and other related art materials throughout the first year events of the game, as well as guest artworks and staff interviews.[23] The second volume which covers materials from the second year of the game follows on December 19, 2023.

The book is also published in Traditional Chinese and Korean by Nexon.[24]

Anthology comics

An anthology comic series named Blue Archive Anthology Comic, consisting of various short story comic from various artists, has been announced in production on July 24, 2021, and the first volume of the comic is released on July 26, 2021. The manga has been released up to Volume 3 on July 25, 2023. The manga is published by Ichijinsha.[25][26] [27]

Another anthology comic series named Blue Archive Dengeki Anthology Comic is released by Kadokawa Corporation under Dengeki Comics EX label on February 3, 2023.[28]

Problem Solver 68 Business Diary

A spinoff manga titled Blue Archive: Problem Solver 68 Business Diary (Japanese: ブルーアーカイブ 便利屋68業務日誌, romanized: Blue Archive Benriya 68 Gyōmu Nisshi), focusing on the characters from the group Problem Solver 68. The manga is released monthly by Bushiroad in their website Comic Bushiroad Web starting on October 14, 2022, with Kaede Nogiwa as the artist. The first volume of the manga has been released on June 8, 2023.[29]

The Great Adventure of Game Development Department!

Another spinoff manga titled Blue Archive: The Great Adventure of Game Development Department! (Japanese: ブルーアーカイブ ゲーム開発部だいぼうけん！, romanized: Blue Archive Game Kaihatsubu Daibouken!) has been announced in production during the livestream on October 20, 2023, focusing on the characters from the group Game Development Department. The manga is illustrated by Asato Mizu and began serialization on Square Enix's Gangan Online manga website on December 31, 2023.[30][31][32]

Music

Theme songs

A few songs has been used throughout the game versions. "Clear Morning", by Yui Ogura is used as the main theme song for the Japanese version of the game, with the single is released on March 31, 2021.[33] "Target for love" by Lee Jin-ah is selected as the worldwide version theme song of the game, with separate versions of Korean and English is used for Korea version and rest of the regions respectively. For Chinese version, "Blue Canvas" by ClariS is used as a regional theme songs.

Other themes used in the game are "Kagayaki Summer Days" and "Our Quest", which is used in their short animation titles and sung by various voice actors of the game, "Memories of Kindness", theme for Volume F ending sung by Kano in Japanese and Younha for its Korean and English versions. Younha also sings "Thanks to", which is a special theme song for its 1.5 anniversary event in Korea in English and Korean.

Original soundtracks

The original soundtracks of the game are composed mostly by Mitsukiyo, KARUT and Nor. Other composers do periodically contribute to its tracks such as Aiobahn for the collaboration event with A Certain Scientific Railgun series.

The soundtracks are officially compiled in sets of albums titled Blue Archive Original Soundtrack, with first volume is released on March 24, 2022. The latest volume, Vol. 5 is released on January 21, 2024.

Cultural impact and reception

Popularity

While originally criticized due to lack of content, the game has marked spikes in popularity later on with their improvements, with it now enjoying a huge successful fanbase especially in the Asia–Pacific region (Japan and South Korea).

The game has been a recent big hit in the Comiket with the data for its C102 event in Summer 2023 shows the game has the highest number of circle participating in the general net social games section, with 894 circles selling doujin products for the game alone.[34] This is a spike of increase from 446 circles for their Winter 2022 event (C101).[35] The game will get their own section in the Winter 2023 Comiket (C103) after being put in the general net and social games section before this.[36] It was reported that some prominent staff like chief developer PD Kim Yong Ha and sound composer Mitsukiyo also visited the booths in the events and met the artists as a form of support.

The game also has attracted some well-known manga artists and animators to become a fan and also produces fan arts for the game. One of the most notable is the Bocchi the Rock! author, Aki Hamaji who participates in the C101 event with her own circle producing Blue Archive doujin. As her own work Bocchi the Rock! just explodes in popularity with the anime adaptation finished airing a week before the event, her activity attracted a lot of fans to line up at her booth. This prompted the organiser to move her booth outside the hall to avoid congestion and her booth quickly sold out just noon of the first day of the event.[37] She continued her involvement in the next Comiket with Blue Archive doujin and has also contributed to some official promotional art of the game.

Revenue

Their total revenue until October 2023 has reached over $400 million for all their versions. The Japanese version of the game contributed 75% of it.[38] In August 2023, the game recorded $19 million for the Japanese version, and $4 million for their global version.[39]

According to Nexon, Blue Archive has been considered one of their most-grossing games in their quarterly financial report, with remarkably being one of the dominant contributors of revenue in Japan in their Q2 Financial Report 2023.

Controversies

Global version content censorship

The global version has been criticized heavily for including censorship in some of their scenes in comparison of their Japanese version, despite Nexon's promise to keep the content unchanged. Some of the game graphics were either altered or zoomed in, and some risque dialogue was toned down and censored in the translations. This led to review-bombing by users in both the Google Play Store and the App Store. It was stated that the Korean version was unaffected by these changes.[citation needed]

In response to this, chief developer PD Kim Yong Ha stated that they needed to abide by "external requests" to be able to market their game in other regions, apologizing to the players for not keeping his promises.[40]

The censorship was reversed in November 2022, when Nexon introduced a separate "T-rated" version (marked as 15 or 12 on Google Play and App Store) to take the place of the former 'global version', while raising the age rating of the original game to 17+ on both platforms (18+ in Korea). This was mainly due to the GRAC increasing the rating of the original version, which led to a protest to boycott from Korean Blue Archive fans that eventually led to evidence of fraud surfacing.[41]

South Korean rating board controversy

In a controversial decision, the South Korea rating board, Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC), increased Blue Archive and Fate/Grand Order's game rating from 15+ to 18+ in October 2022. Fans who were contempt with the decision launched a petition, signed by 5,400, to call for a public audit into the GRAC.[42] The protest was led by lawmaker Lee Sang-Heon of the Democratic Party of Korea.[43] The result of the audit was published in June 2023 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which found that the GRAC had misused ₩700 million (US$500,000) in taxpayer money, which had come from funding to internal projects. The ministry said they would overhaul the GRAC, replacing heads and prosecute those involved.[44][43]

References

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