Japanese adult visual novel game stuns community by revealing 400.000+ copies sold worldwide 

The Japanese romance VN developer Yuzusoft revealed on October 24 that their title Senren * Banka has sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. News of the game’s outstanding performance has gathered surprised reactions from users. Senran * Banka’s G rated version is available for the PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch, while the mature rated version is available for the PC and in physical form. 

Senren * Banka is a bishōjo visual novel game by Yuzusoft that takes place in a small, isolated village called Hoori that boasts a rustic charm and hot spring resorts. Enshrined in the village is the divine sword Murasamemaru, which is famously driven into a boulder and cannot be pulled out. 

The protagonist of this work is Masaomi Arichi, who happens to pull out (and break in half) the divine sword while visiting the village and is deemed the Chosen One. He is then forced to marry Tomotake Yoshino, a shrine maiden. Then, Murasame, who claims to be the female spirit who dwells in the divine sword, and Mako Hitachi, a female ninja in the service of the shrine maiden, appear before him as well. While living together with these girls, Masaomi discovers the truth behind the town of Hoori. 

It seems that this title has recently topped 400,000 in total sales worldwide. The Yuzusoft official X/Twitter account posted of the milestone, together with an illustration of the heroine Tomotake Yoshino and a message of thanks to users. 

News of the game’s impressive sales has come as quite a surprise to some, given that it was released back in 2016. Those who had played the game back in the day took the opportunity to express admiration for the game’s high quality within the genre, with many calling it a “god-tier game.” Japanese users also suggested that the game’s traditional Japanese elements may be part of what contributed to it’s popularity overseas. 

Senren * Banka was first released as an R18+ Windows game in July 2016, which was followed by the G-rated Steam version in February 2020 and Nintendo Switch version in May 2022. 

As mentioned, the game has received high acclaim for its scenario and characters and was ranked as the 2016 runner-up in the Moe Game Awards and first place in the 2016 Getchu Bishōjo Game Awards by Getchu.com. It also has an “Overwhelmingly Positive” status in Steam user reviews, with 99% of 14,091 reviews being positive as of this writing. In terms of concurrent players, according to SteamDB data, despite it being seven years after its launch, the game boasted a strong popularity, with over 1,200 concurrent players in August of this year. 

As for sales, Rodo, who worked on the storyboarding, backgrounds and layouts of the game, revealed that as of December 27, 2020, the game had sold more than 100,000 copies. Then, the Nintendo Switch version’s store page had stated that the game had sold “over 200,000 units,” telling of the steadily increasing sales. The 400,000+ total sales revealed this time around tell of the long-lasting and deep-rooted popularity of Senren * Banka. 

Senren * Banka is available for the PC (Windows/Steam) and Nintendo Switch.

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-10-24 19:52 JST)