Hope you don’t mind me asking, but what exactly is a3 ? I’ve been seeing a lot of it on my dash (not just from you lol) and when I looked it up it’s an anime but also a game of sorts? I didn’t really understand but could you explain a bit more? thanks :)
HI NONNY!!!
I absolutely do not mind you asking, talking about a3 is one of my favorite thing to do, so you're in luck!
I'm putting it all under a cut because, while i tried to be vague and short, i, at least, failed on the second part of this attempt, but i sure hope it'll be good to read still!
and if you end up interested in trying a3 in some shape or form do let me know, i'd die for those kids in a heartbeat and if you get to want to meet them or are just curious about some aspects of it, i'm all open to discuss it. I love a3 so damn much.
A3!, or in its full name: A3! Act! Addict! Actors!, is a visual novel gacha mobile game. Its Japanese server opened in 2017 and is still ongoing. In 2019, an English server opened, translating the story from the start, but it unfortunately had to close down in 2021 after running two years of content :(.
in 2020, an anime adaptation of the 4 first main story chapters was released. It's a... pretty uneven adaptation, depends on the arc it adapts, it had to cut a LOT of things, and i'm personally biased because it completely cut down my fav chara's arcs and i'm not fan of some adaptation choices around some other favs, but it can be a pretty good introduction if you want to give yourself an idea about it (starting by the Spring/Summer season, then the Autumn/Winter)
Personally i started keeping up with the A3! English server when it first came out, until the bitter end, and i miss it so dearly. There's translations for the rest of the story on the wikis, but i've been so heartbroken i haven't managed to get around and catch up just yet...
For the record: fans managed to record and save the entire content of the A3!En server in videos, that we keep on an archive available on a google doc. We're trying to keep it as under the radar as possible so it's hush hush, but if ever you are curious enough to want to navigate it, let me know and i'll share it and give you pointers.
EITHER WAY that's for the technicality.
The Visual Novel follows the story of Izumi Tachibana as she is lured into the indebted theater her father used to own before he disappeared years ago. Due to circumstances that involves yakuza because it's a very normal game, Izumi ends up in a situation in which she is tasked with bringing back the Theater to its glory days in less than a few months: mainly, by forming back Four Troupes of 5 Actors, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, each dedicated to a specific type of plays, and putting on successful shows after successful show in the hope to save the theater.
The core of the story is especially found, of course, with the actors that ended up joining the various troupes and the dynamic those troupes end up having with one another, as each have very clear themes in the way they interreact with one another.
While the story starts about clearing a debt, the story follows specifically the whole idea of encouraging those actors to grow and bloom, both as actors and as individuals, learning to heal from their past and move forward to their future.
The Gimmick is also that each play we end up putting on together, tends to serve to have the characters use introspection in order to understand their roles. So you both end up having Unique New Mini Stories at every play, but also play the game of "and how is that play serving the character arc of the Actor inspiring it".
Here's are our first members, for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
After one year of content, each troupe got a 6th member, whom therefore we call the rookies.
A3! shines a lot by its really amazing dialogues and humor, but also the genuineness in which it approaches its emotional moments and the characters arcs of each character.
Basically we all agree, if you end up relating to Any Characters, be prepared to cry because they'll be coming for you specifically with arcs made specifically to hurt you. But also to heal you. I've never recovered and it was the best thing that ever happened to me, that coexist.
As you can see, there's 24 main characters who's story ends up very important, so teasing more about presenting each of them would make this post impossibly long (i COULD do it though, because i do love them all so dearly). The story focus mostly on them, but, at least in the VN, Izumi is herself a pretty fun protagonist to follow. I think the anime cut down a lot of her scenes though....
The story is followed through Main Story Chapters AND Event Stories, Main Story at the begining of the "Act" (see bellow) and two event stories each months, and the events bring a lot to the character arcs so it's not exactly bonus content.
Playstyle wise it's nothing really interesting, and we mostly participate to the Gacha or ranking up events because the cards are new arts of the boys and come with bonus stories only unlockable once you own the card, usually linked to the current ongoing event. They're more bonus content but a lot of them are really fun or hint at some angst as well.
The First Year of content was called Act One, and it covered first the 4 First Main Story Chapters following the creation of each troupes, then, 19 event stories.
Then, Act Two, which had 4 New Main Story Chapters introducing the Rookies, each separated by one event, before then being only events. When the English server closed we were 19 events into Act 2, and we never got to see Act 3.
Act 3 is a little more mushy in term of how the time flow/how the Main Story and Events are organized so i'd only recommand looking into it only if you get into the whole thing.
As I mentioned, the anime only covers therefore the 4 First Main Story Chapters, which means, only the creations of the troupes and their first plays, and it condensed them a lot so yeah...
Another thing about a3 is that it's also really musically based.
Each Troupes have about 3 Troupe songs each that kinda showcase their dynamic (Two for Act 1, One for Act 2), and each character have a Solo song that showcase their characters pretty well. (one at the beginning of their story, and one set in Act 3).
I'm not going to list everything, unless you're curious in which case i can share some of my favorites, but i can at least share one song of each of the troupes, as to drive the point that each troupe have a very different vibe going for them.
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Aside from that, each Play the actors pull together have a duet between whoever is the Lead and Co-Lead actor of each play, in character of the play itself. Noteworthy however that each play is made to explore character arcs, so while they represent their play characters, it also represents the actors themselves.
There is also a few songs sang by the Leader of each troupes, as the one i linked above. The song i linked above is the opening song of the game when you open it for the first time!
(since the singing is an appealing part, if you want some "hey, it's the seiyuu of ____" moment, i can provide. If you're a nonny who follows me for gbf for instance i need to tell you about the duet between Vane's and Mordred's VAs because i think about it All The Time)
So, that's basically the outline of what you need to know about A3!.
Any more details about the specific bonds the troupes have, or who the characters are, could be spoilery if you want to get into it, but if you're curious about any of them i'm willing to talk more about them. I swear i could ramble about all of them for hours.
And yeah a3 is hilarious, i'm bringing back those beauty to make a point:
I Rest My Case.
A3! So Good I miss it every single day of my life. Here you should know a little bit more about it.
and as i said, i'm always up to talk more about it. God knows i can't shut up about a3.....
@moontheoretist replied to your post “the mc of this game is fantastic, i don’t even have the time to make...”
Now I wanna play it too.
:3c :3c
i personally would recommand if only because the plot is... just hilarious and it’s amazing and i love the characters
it’s a free mobile game with elements of gatcha (so like collecting diamonds to pull special cards) but you can work through the game without using that so it’s pretty neat.
Anyway if you’re curious, you need to look for “A3! Actor Training Game” on your mobile’s store.
