Apocripha/0 Fanbox: Happiness Cage

An angel falls from Heaven to the Abyss, and here he cultivates a kingdom, the kingdom of Hell (Naraku), becoming the King of Hell. He tries to build a beautiful land, but it can never reach the beauty of Heaven: the demons live in troubled times, being attacked by fallen angels who survive the fall to the Abyss, fearing the bloodshed caused by these insane former angels against them. The King starts to become weak and tired, and with his last power, he gave birth to two new hopes: a prince with golden hair born from his red right eye, and a price with silver hair born from his blue left eye.

The King decides that the two twin prices, Alex and Platina, are to fight each other, and the winner who proves his power will become the new king of Hell, while the loser will face death. As such, Alex and Platina, who never even knew each other, are thrust into a battle against each other, and the future will change depending on the outcome.

Now find out what happened behind the scenes, before the battle for succession was to take place...

Alexander Pastener - Alex is the first prince of Hell (Naraku), the elder twin born from the right red eye of the King of Hell. He is to fight Platina to the death over the succession of Naraku. He doesn't really know Platina and has a lot of conflict over having to fight, especially as he is initially weaker than his brother. He is a bit selfish with a short temper if he doesn't get his way, but behind this lies a deep and caring attitude. Seiyuu: Motoki Takagi.

Platina Pastener - Platina is the second prince of Hell (Naraku), the younger twin born from the left blue eye of the King of Hell. He is to fight Alex to the death over the succession of Naraku. He is initially stronger than Alex and seems to have no problems fighting to save his own life, but inside he still struggles with internal conflict about the battle for succession. He is a bit calm and cold, taking a rather serious stance towards things, but he really is concerned with doing the right thing. Seiyuu: Suzuki Chihiro.

Sapphirus Hawthorne - Sapphirus is a fallen angel, thrown from Heaven to Hell for loving his mate more than God, though really he was only taking the blame and it was actually the other way around. He finds another fallen angel like himself, Jade. Fate brings him and Jade into a scheme to try to get back into Heaven, and together they take up the task as bounty hunters against the angels to try to achieve this goal... Seiyuu: Seki Tomokazu.

Jade Davis - Jade is a fallen angel, thrown from Heaven to Hell for his suspicions that God was dead. He finds another fallen angel like himself, Sapphirus, and together they are put into a plot to regain their wings, and part of that plot included masking in the demons by working as bounty hunters of angels... Seiyuu: Morikawa Toshiyuki.

Rize - Rize is a bounty hunter who works in the same group as Jade and Sapphirus. He starts to suspect that Sapphirus is a fallen angel and plans to do something about this...

Ruby Jackson - Ruby is a care-free chivalrous thief who worked as a bouncer in a pub when he wasn't off doing his bit of justice by thieving and killing those of ill intentions. He finds a wounded priest outside the pub and saves his life, unknowing that this person is his own half-brother who is seeking vengeance on him... Seiyuu: Ishikawa Hideo.

Carrol Martell - Carrol is a half-angel priest. He is very quiet and reserved, but actually hides a hidden short-temper and can lash out in anger without thinking. He shows up on Ruby's doorstep wounded one day and is saved, finding the person he will one day take vengeance on... Seiyuu: Hoshi Souichirou.

Rita - Affectionately called "sister" (nee-san) by Ruby, Rita is a good friend of Ruby's. She works in the pub where Ruby acts as bouncer, and is in love with him, even though he does not share her feelings. When Carrol shows up, she helps to take care of him. A very pretty and caring individual, she ends up in a bad situation when the town is attacked by bandits...

Boy - One of the members in Ruby's gang. He is killed when Ruby's target and his bandits attack the city.

Apocripha/0 Fanbox: Happiness Cage, being a fanbox, isn't really a game, but rather a bunch of collected goodies for fans of Apocripha/0.

First off, the game features three short stories that give you more information and new CG pictures of the cast featured in the original Apocripha/0 series. The first short story is "Forget Words," told from Ruby's viewpoint, which shows when Ruby and Carrol first meet. "Call My Name," the second short story, is told from Sapphirus's viewpoint, and is the conversation between Sapphirus and Jade after their initial fall from Heaven to Hell. "Happiness Cage" is the last short story, and features Alex and Platina, and you can view into their different viewpoints by replaying the story. These short stories play just like the "visual novel" aspect of the first game: you read the story and chose different options, and depending on your choices you may see different CG pictures.

Secondly, the game features a section that gives you tips for the original games. In humorous dialogue between Alex, Platina, Sapphirus, and Jade, you can find out about the characters and how to get all of their CGs in the original game (it even gives you which options you need to pick), how to get the special Alex/Platina CGs if you have both versions of the game installed, and tips for doing card battles.

The rest is a collection of computer goodies: a calendar for your desktop, sound files for your system (nothing like having the cast of Apocripha/0 announce that you have new mail), a clock, a screensaver (beware that the screensaver features /all/ the CGs from the Alex and Platina Discs, so you won't want to run this if you haven't won all the endings and don't want spoilers), and a collection of wallpaper that is available in four different resolutions: 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, and 1400x1050.

As far as technical issues with the game, I had no problems on Windows XP with the language set to Japanese.

AGTH Compatibility - Apocripha/0 is completely compatible with Anime Games Text Hooker. Set game text speed to maximum for best efficiency.

Apocripha/0 Fans Mailing List - Several summaries and scripts for the Apocripha/0 games.

Apocripha/0 Fanbox: Happiness Cage Full CG Capture Save File - A save file that unlocks all the CGs in the game.

Being a fanbox, this game really is designed for fans of Apocripha/0, featuring all sorts of new goodies to whet a fangirl's appetite: side stories, computer goodies, and even tips (given by the cast) on how to collect the CGs on the Apocripha/0 Alex Disc and Apocripha/0 Platina Disc and for the card battles.

As such, this is a game that you will only want to pick up if you are a fan of Apocripha/0. And if you are an Apocripha/0 fan, then you definitely will want to add this to your collection. While it is short, as most fanbox games are, the simple fact it has new stories, new CGs, and extra features such as the screensaver, system sounds, and beautiful wallpaper collection should please fans. In fact, the only thing that is really upsetting is that the stories are a bit sad, there aren't that many new CGs (the Alex and Platina CG sections are a major letdown, but the Sapphirus and Jade sections make up for it) and that because it is short, it leaves you wishing there were more stories, like perhaps a short story for Lhodo/Plum and Zil/Beryl. Ah well, can't have everything, I suppose.

If you are a first-timer to the story of Apocripha/0, likely the side stories in this game would be confusing without the background that is revealed in the original games. On the other hand, if you have an interest in Apocripha/0, it also may be a nice introduction to get you interested in the series. However, if you haven't played Apocripha/0 before, I recommend passing this game up and grabbing either the Apocripha/0 Alex Disc or Apocripha/0 Platina Disc (or both!) and /then/ check out this fanbox.

Stack Software's Official Apocripha/0 Site (Japanese) - The company's site with information on the game.

Azline (Japanese) - Personal website of Azusa Yuhki, the artist of Apocripha/0.

Tower of Confession's Apocripha/0 Alex Disc Capture Guide (Japanese) - A complete capture guide for getting all the endings in Apocripha/0 Alex Disc.

Apocripha/0 Webring (Japanese) - Official Japanese Apocripha/0 webring.

Apocripha/0 Search (Japanese) - An Apocripha/0 search engine for Japanese sites on the game.

MM's Apocripha/0 Site (Chinese) - In Chinese, but it has tons of information on just about everything for the game of Apocripha/0.

Apocripha/0 Mailing List (English) - A mailing list to chat with others about Apocripha/0, and share pictures, fanart, fanfics, and the like.

Apocripha/0 Fans Mailing List (English) - A more-active (non-lurker) mailing list to discuss with others about Apocripha/0, and where fanworks are highly encouraged and shared.

Apocripha/0 Live Journal Community (English) - The Live Journal community for anything related to Apocripha/0.

Daideem Project - Apocripha/0 (English) - One of the only websites I've found thus far about Apocripha/0 in English. Has information on the story, characters, game, and manga, as well as a few character shrines and a nice fanart collective.

Marfisa's Apocripha/0 Page (English) - A great site with character information, manga scans, manga translations, and other Apocripha/0 goodies.

Obsession Apocripha/0 Shrine (English) - Another Apocripha/0 site. Just a small shrine, has a little info and some screen captures.

Wings of Enchant (English) - Fanart site for Apocripha/0.

Desperate Love - Manga scanlation site that has done some of the Apocripha/0 manga.

Disclaimer: All written text and capture guides © Boys' Love Games Headquarters. All pictures and downloads are copyright of their respective companies and artists and are for promotional use only. I am in no way claiming the art as my own, nor am I trying to infringe upon the company's rights. I am trying to promote these games by allowing a foreign audience to see some artwork from the game.