Key (company)

Key (company)

Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a musical score which helped to set the mood for the game. Key's second game Air released in September 2000 had a similar if not more complex storyline to Kanon and a more thorough gameplay. Both Kanon and Air were originally produced as adult games, but Key broke this trend with their third title Clannad which was released in April 2004 for all ages. Key has worked in the past with Interchannel and Prototype for the consumer port releases of the brand's games. Key collaborated with ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine to produce the mixed media project Angel Beats!, which was produced into an anime TV series in 2010. The brand's ninth game Rewrite was released in June 2011, and a fan disc for the game titled Rewrite Harvest festa! was released in July 2012.

Co-founder Jun Maeda is a prominent figure in the brand, he having contributed on the planning, scenario, and music composition in the majority of Key's visual novels. Itaru Hinoue, also a co-founder, is Key's main artist and was the art director for Key's first three games. Na-Ga, another prominent artist in the brand, mainly worked with background art in earlier games, but with Key's sixth game Little Busters! was given the position of co-art director with Hinoue. Shinji Orito, Key's main composer and another co-founder, has composed music for the majority of Key's titles. Yūto Tonokawa, a scenario writer, first worked on the scenario in Little Busters!.

Key has been an active participant at the Comiket convention since Comiket 57 in December 1999, where they sold Kanon-related products; Key's latest appearance at Comiket was at Comiket 81 in December 2011. In 2001, Visual Art's created the record label Key Sounds Label to release music albums and singles with music related to Key's visual novels. Between December 2007 and August 2010, Key produced an Internet radio show called Key Net Radio in regards to the brand.