Canvas2

Canvas 2 is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of the protagonist, Hiroki Kamikura. Much of the gameplay is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, representing dialogue between the characters and Hiroki's inner thoughts. The text is accompanied by character sprites over background art, allowing the player to identify which characters are talking. Every so often, the player will reach a "decision point" where they must choose from multiple options displayed on the screen; the choices that the player makes throughout the game will affect the plot's progression.

The primary objective of the game is to earn the favor of one of the game's five main heroines, and to build a relationship with them. There are five main story routes and endings that the player can experience, one for each heroine. At certain points in the game, the player will encounter CG artwork taking the place of character sprites and background art; in adult-rated versions of the game, there is artwork depicting the heroines in sexual situations. In the PlayStation 2 version, adult content was removed and two additional story routes became playable.

Canvas 2 takes place five years after the events of the first game. The story revolves around Hiroki Kamikura, a dispassionate art teacher who gave up on his dream of being a painter. After a friend plagiarized his work and stole his fame in art university, and a traumatizing incident that occurred at his high school reunion, he no longer derives any enjoyment from painting and even the act of picking up a paint brush pains him. He teaches students at Nadeshiko Academy (撫子学園, Nadeshiko Gakuen), a prestigious institution that places an emphasis on art and has produced many famous artists.

At home, Hiroki takes care of his younger cousin Elis Hōsen, who moved in with him after passing the entrance exam for Nadeshiko Academy. During his time teaching at the academy, he builds relationships with various female students and teachers, and as he learns about their own struggles and passions, he gradually begins to rediscover himself and regain his love for painting.

Canvas 2 is the sequel to F&C's prior visual novel, Canvas: Sepia-iro no Motif, and is the second installment in the Canvas series. An early concept for the game appeared in Naked Blue: Canvas Wallpaper Collection, a fan disc to Canvas: Sepia-iro no Motif, as a preview to a fictitious work called Canvas 2: 2nd Stage. Two members of staff who were involved with Canvas: Sepia-iro no Motif, Yū Miyamura and Sakana, returned to work on Canvas 2. Naru Nanao, who had previously worked on Circus' visual novel Da Capo, was in charge of designing the characters Elis and Kiri.

Chikotam provided the character designs for Kana, Saya, and the side character Shie Sugihara, and Sakana provided the character design for Sumire. Miyamura, who served as the director of the project, was also in charge of scenario writing for Elis and Kiri. Shinjitsu Jōchi wrote the scenarios for Kana and Sumire, while Takuya Tanaka wrote the scenario for Saya. Lastly, the game's music was composed by Elements Garden.

In a national sales ranking of bishōjo games conducted by PC News, the original Windows version of Canvas 2 premiered as the second best-selling game at the time of its release. The game's ranking fell to 12 in the following two weeks. com, and ranked 21st in the 2004 annual sales ranking. com as fifth in sales for September 2004.

Canvas 2 DVD Edition premiered as the best-selling game on the website in October 2006, and was ranked at 38 in 2006 overall. According to the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu, the PlayStation 2 version of the game sold 18,169 copies in 2007.