Net High Sees a Japanese Government-Mandated Social Network to Fight Societal Issues

We’ve gotten yet another in-depth look at Marvelous’ recently announced PS Vita game, Net High.

The new information comes via the game’s newly launched official website, alongside the debut teaser trailer, which you can view above.

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The game takes place in the year 20XX, where the country of Japan sees a major change. The newly approved “Neo Communications Act” gives Japanese citizens an obligation to live healthy, fulfilling lives. This was a response to the declining birth rates, hikikomoris, NEETs, and the bloated economy, among other key issues the country faces.

To further speed up the adoption of a healthier lifestyle, smartphones were given out, free of charge, to the populace. These smartphones came with a government-sanctioned social network, dubbed “Tweeter.” Coming from this, the more followers you garner, the bigger the allowance the government will pay out to you. Life achievements like being in a relationship, getting married, and finally having babies, are said to factor into you getting more followers.

In order to live these fulfilling lives, people become emboldened to communicate at a constant rate via this social network, day or night. This gives birth to a new type of society that surpasses both reality and the internet, leading to the rise of what many hoped would be the “riajuu era,” or the people living fulfilling lives era.

However, the circumstances of the new way of life were different – certain riajuu have created a monopoly of all the wealth and followers in the net, creating a “fulfilled divergent era.” Unfortunately, the people who are unpopular get lowly jobs, and despite this, their unhappiness and anger is not allowed in the  “Neo Communications Act.”

In these twisted and unscrupulous times, a hero rises up to the occasion – a non-riajuu, known as Oreshi (voice by Kaito Ishikawa). He is described as the most powerful non-riajuu in human history – meaning he’s a lazy and unfocused 21-year old working a simple part time job, and no goals for the future. His only motivation is to meet “that girl” from Tweeter, and to buy and collect merchandise from the “Kossetsu Man.” Curiously, one day he acquires the extremely powerful wearable tech, the “Mega-Nexus,” which completely transforms his life. Upon putting the Megane (shortened named for the Mega-Nexus) on, his personality becomes seen by others as extremely positive, and outgoing, instead of his normal self.

The rest of the cast (featured above, from left to right)

  • Cil (voice by Maaya Uchida) – She is described as the most useless A.I. in history – and she comes preloaded into the Oreshi’s Mega-Nexus. While she’s a navigation system, she is filled with curiosity, and she’ll ignore the protagonist’s needs when she is interested in something else. Being an A.I., she doesn’t have a physical form, and as such she can only do so much – she’ll occasionally make a sad face if she gets lonely.
  • Mr. Elite (voice by Tomokazu Sugita) – Between his work and his personal life, he lives a life as the upper-elite citizenry. He previously said “an elite human can only like super elite things,” however, things may change.
  • Bukako (voice by Megumi Han) – She is the self-proclaimed business partner to Mr. Elite. Despite the fact that she uses words like “consensus” and “commit,” it’s unknown as to whether or not she actually fully comprehends the meaning of words like these.
  • Master of Ceremony (voice by Yukana) – She is the mysterious woman known as the master of ceremonies. Somehow, she appeared before the citizens and completely took over all of Tweeter, and the city’s network. She is unpredictable and shrouded in mystery, and she’ll react differently pending the mood, and the situation. If you call yourself the “master of ceremonies,” she’ll find you and start an ENJ battle with you (which is described below).
  • ENJ Battles: a public debate that is held on the live broadcasting system known as Niyoniyo Douga. If a lower-ranked person challenges a high-ranked one and wins, they’ll see a huge shift in followers.
  • Riajuu Ranking: The national ranking system. The number of followers denotes what your rank is.
  • Tweeter: The official government social network system. The rankings go between A to G, based on how many followers you have.
  • Niyoniyo Douga: A video and livestreaming website in which you can find lots of content. ENJ battles take place here.
  • The Neo Communications Act: A new law based on the theory that being active on the internet will increase your happiness. This is the cause of the new “fulfilled divergent society.”

ENJ battles unfold in two steps: collecting information on the opposing riajuu and discovering the truth behind their life. As you gain new followers on Tweeter, you can obtain new information from tipsters regarding a higher-ranked riajuu. From there, you’ll have to check the validity of their information, and eventually, challenge the riajuu to an ENJ battle. The ENJ battles take place via the network program “ENJ Battle=Flame Wars,” where you’ll be able to expose their lies, and eventually, steal their followers.

Net High is due out for PS Vita this fall in Japan.

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