9 R.I.P.

Lore & Background

9 R.I.P. was originally announced at the Otomate Party 2022, held between September 3 and 4, where it was revealed that the game would be released in 2023. Idea Factory later announced the specific release date of June 29, 2023. The game includes multiple arcs—School Ghost Stories, urban legend, alternate world, and Yō—each with its own ending theme song. No sequel has been officially announced.

Reader's Guide

9 R.I.P. received generally favorable reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Audra Bowling at RPGFan gave the game a score of 89 out of 100, praising its likeable protagonist, character designs by Yuuya, sound effects, voice acting, and theme songs, while noting insensitive themes such as bullying and gruesome scenarios. The game was released in English by Idea Factory International on October 15, 2025, and its sequel is set for an English release on October 27, 2026. A stage play adaptation took place at the Zenrosai Hall/Space zero in Tokyo from March 12 to 16, 2025. The game's significance lies in its branching narrative where the protagonist's life or death changes per route, and its exploration of career anxiety as a central theme.

Did You Know?

• The game's protagonist, Misa Isshiki, can have her name changed by the player.
• No stage play adaptation has been officially confirmed.
• The game features four arcs, each with a distinct ending theme song, but the official artists have not been confirmed.

Production & Global Rollout

9 R.I.P. is an otome game crafted by Idea Factory and published through their dedicated Otomate label, built for the Nintendo Switch. The project first surfaced publicly during the Otomate Party 2022 event, which ran over two days in early September, where the studio confirmed a 2023 launch window. That window ultimately settled on June 29, 2023, for the Japanese market. The game's momentum carried well past its debut: at the Otomate Party 2024 on August 18, Idea Factory unveiled a direct follow-up, 9 R.I.P. sequel, which hit shelves on September 25, 2025. The franchise's reach expanded internationally when Idea Factory International brought the original title to English-speaking audiences on October 15, 2025. The studio also confirmed that the sequel would receive the same English-language treatment, with a scheduled release date of October 27, 2026. This staggered rollout—spanning nearly four years from initial announcement to the sequel's Western debut—gives the series a notably patient, multi-market footprint within the otome genre.

Cast & Character Design

The story centers on Misa Isshiki, a second-year high school student whose name players can customize. Her central dilemma—deciding what to do after graduation—anchors every narrative branch, and her fate swings between survival and death depending on which route the player follows. Around her orbit nine male characters, each with a distinct name and a dedicated voice actor: Kureha (Toshiki Masuda), Hibiki (Shun'ichi Toki), Kōyō (Ryōta Suzuki), Sena (Tetsuya Kakihara), Minami (Nobuhiko Okamoto), Seiya (Shinnosuke Tachibana), Yukimaro (KENN), Koharu (Yōhei Azakami), and Tōka (Kōhei Amasaki). The supporting cast rounds out the world with Misa's siblings Tsubasa (Tomoko Ikeda) and Ayame (Airi Ōtsu), friends Sayaka Hida (Narumi Kaho) and Yui (Ruriko Noguchi), Reika Misumi (Saran Tajima), and a figure simply called Kannushi (Takahiro Yoshizawa). Character art is credited to Yuuya, whose designs were singled out for praise by reviewers. The sheer breadth of the roster—fifteen voiced roles in total—gives the game a dense, ensemble feel uncommon in the otome space.

Soundtrack & Musical Identity

Each of the game's four major narrative arcs closes with its own dedicated ending theme, creating a musical map that mirrors the story's tonal shifts. The School Ghost Stories arc is bookended by 'eternal,' performed by Pluto with lyrics and composition by tsuzuki. The urban legend arc carries 'Rin'ne'—a Japanese word meaning reincarnation—delivered by Williams' % Range, with lyrics penned by Ōma and a composition by Shayou. The alternate world arc features 'Memories,' again performed by Pluto but this time with both lyrics and composition handled by kei. Finally, the Yō arc concludes with 'Hōai,' a term translating roughly to 'dharma-love,' also by Williams' % Range with the same Ōma–Shayō creative pairing. The recurring collaboration between Williams' % Range and the Ōma–Shayō team gives two of the four themes a cohesive sonic fingerprint, while Pluto's presence on the other two provides a contrasting vocal texture. RPGFan's Audra Bowling specifically highlighted the theme songs as a standout element in her 89/100 review, underscoring how central the music is to the game's emotional architecture.

Critical Reception & Stage Adaptation

9 R.I.P. landed on the positive side of critical consensus, earning generally favorable scores on Metacritic. One of the more detailed assessments came from RPGFan, where reviewer Audra Bowling awarded the title 89 out of 100. Her praise centered on several pillars: the warmth of the protagonist, the visual design work by Yuuya, the sound effects, the vocal performances, and the musical themes. At the same time, Bowling flagged certain narrative choices as potentially problematic, specifically calling out the handling of bullying and the inclusion of gruesome scenarios as elements that could feel insensitive to some players. Beyond the screen, the title found a live-audience life in the form of a stage play adaptation staged at the Zenrosai Hall/Space zero venue in Tokyo. The production ran for five consecutive days, from March 12 through March 16, 2025, giving fans a theatrical reading of the material. The combination of strong digital reception and a physical stage run signals that Idea Factory viewed the property as a franchise with crossover potential, a bet that the already-announced sequel and its planned English release appear to be cashing in on.