The Moon Withdraws, Kojika Advances

About
The Moon Withdraws, Kojika Advances (月は欠ける、子鹿は駆ける, tsuki wa kakeru, kojika wa kakeru) is an unproduced spin-off of the Alicesoft game Sengoku Rance developed by Ittenchiroku and Naritaya. It was intended to be a follow-up to the duo's previous game Three for the Slash! Thrust! Burn! focusing on the character Yamanaka Kojika and her attempts to reclaim the stolen territory of the Amago family from the Mouri Clan. Using Three for the Slash! Thrust! Burn!'s system as a base, it planned to incorporate greater elements of strategy into its gameplay by featuring non-linear level progression, a larger cast of playable characters, and a branching story with multiple paths.

While an initial design outline for the game was written by Ittenchiroku, the project was canceled soon afterward for reasons given only as "adult-type stuff" and never entered into formal development. Despite this, Naritaya latched onto the concept and drew several pieces of concept artwork for it. Both Ittenchiroku's outline and Naritaya's artwork for the game were featured in the eighth issue of Alicesoft's irregular fan newsletter Hanihon magazine, with Naritaya expressing hope that there would be a strong enough response from readers to allow the project to be restarted. No further statements have been made about the game in the time since.

Synopsis
This is a story from before Rance came to JAPAN.

The Amago clan's main castle, "Tsukijo", was surrounded by a large army sent by Mouri. In this battle, which was also the first to be overseen by Mouri Teru, there were two particular warlords who crossed swords. One was Amago's Yamanaka Kojika. The other was Mouri's Shinagawa Kenrou. The intense one-on-one battle was watched by many soldiers, but ended without a clear victor after the gates of Tsukijo were captured by the enemy army.

Thus, Kojika's fierce determination proved to have been for nothing and the Amago family was destroyed. Its vassals scattered across the country in search of new work.

However, Kojika refuses to accept her loss against Mouri and returns to the battlefield with her few remaining subordinates to become a guerilla. Using the three branch castles, “Umejo”, “Kumajo”, and “Kajo” as footholds, she plans on breaking through the Mouri clan’s defenses to retake the main castle “Tsukijo”.

Gameplay
With the introduction of the branching system, gameplay has improved significantly!

This time, you can challenge any of the game's stages (castles) in whatever order you want! Including the final one!

The map for each stage changes dynamically depending on the order and method through which each is completed. The key to victory is understanding the state of your army and selecting the most suitable strategy to progress through the stages.

The shopping system has also been changed into a completely original one. There are no longer any stores on the map. Instead, supplies are purchased from the base camp before entering a stage. It's important to think about what items you'll need before challenging a stage. The biggest changes are the additions of party formation and strategies. Kojika must select three of the Amago clan's ten heroes to accompany her into each stage, taking into consideration the characteristics of the stage and the remaining stamina of each hero. The remaining heroes who are not in the active party can execute strategies to assist it by placing various helpful strategy spaces across the map.

Strategy Types

 * Assault Reinforcement Mass: If you land on this space, your enemies will be weakened or defeated.
 * Supply Reinforcement Mass: If you land on this space, a lot of your stamina will be replenished.
 * Construction Reinforcement Mass: If you land on this space, the other side will lose power.

Trivia

 * During the earliest stages of its development, The Moon Withdraws, Kojika Advances was given the placeholder title of "quik".
 * Naritaya is noted to have spent a substantial amount of time finalizing a design for the character Shinagawa Korou, primarily because he and Ittenchiroku lacked the same clear vision of her appearance that they had when creating Kakusui, the first original character they had ever developed together.
 * The character Akiage Iori is inspired by the historical figure Akiage Munenobu, a vassal of the Amago clan who assisted Kojika's historical inspiration Yamanaka Yukimori in his effort to reclaim their stolen territory from the Mouri clan. Munenobu is often thought to have been the inspiration for Akiage Iorinosuke, one of the figures referred to in texts relating to the Ten Heroes of the Amago Clan, with Iori's name being a feminized version of this alias. Iori's status as a former miko of her family's shrine references Munenobu's past as the second son of a priest, while her use of a hamaya as a weapon references its use in various Shinto rituals.
 * The character Shinagawa Kenrou is inspired by the historical figure Shinagawa Masakazu, a retainer of the Mouri clan most famous for engaging in a duel against Yamanaka Yukimori during the Mouri army's siege of the Amago clan's base of Gassantoda Castle that lasted for over two hours. Masakazu also went by the name Okaminosuke, which is referenced by both Kenrou and Korou's names incorporating the character "狼", which can alternatively be read as "okami" or "wolf". Masakazu's association with wolves is further referenced by Korou's design, which features a long grey mane of hair, yellow eyes, and a dog-eared headband.