With the recent rise of subculture games, developers are increasingly expanding their intellectual property (IP) through media franchises rather than stopping at the game itself. In this context, WFS, Inc. (WFS) held a session at CEDEC 2026 today (the 24th) to discuss the media franchise strategy for its flagship title, 'Heaven Burns Red.'

Released in 2022 in collaboration with Key, a brand under Visual Arts known for its 'pretty girl' games, 'Heaven Burns Red' is a collectible RPG that follows a group of girls struggling to survive against a mysterious entity called 'Cancer' using the ultimate weapon, the 'Seraph.' The game has been well-received for its immersive portrayal of the girls' chaotic daily lives and their desperate fight for humanity's survival, all wrapped in classic JRPG-style gameplay. WFS Director Hiromu Kikuoka and Producer Tomoya Inoue shared their experiences in adapting this game IP into ASMR content and a musical.

Media Franchises: Understanding the Characteristics of Each Medium is Key

Director Kikuoka pointed out that while the term 'media franchise' is commonly used when adapting game IPs, it often overlooks the diversity of each medium. Even within broad categories like animation, live-action, novels, and manga, there is significant variety. For instance, animation can be broken down into TV series, shorts, or theatrical films, while live-action can range from movies and musicals to stage readings, creating a vast number of possibilities.

The challenge lies not only in the sheer number of media types but also in the fact that each has its own unique characteristics and target audience. Without a deep understanding of these factors and a strategy for user expansion, even a successful game IP can struggle to achieve results in a media franchise.

He emphasized that such cases have existed for a long time, but with the current overflow of content—including user-created content (UCC), Shorts, and OTT platforms—success is no longer guaranteed by simply launching a media franchise. In the past, fans were thrilled just by the announcement of an anime or ASMR release, but now, with so much content available, simple production is not enough to capture the attention of fans who can easily look elsewhere. Therefore, it has become difficult to succeed without a deep understanding of the IP's unique traits and the specific characteristics of the medium, and without providing an optimized experience.

For an IP with a strong narrative like 'Heaven Burns Red,' there is the added hurdle of increasing the IP's value without undermining the existing world-building and character identity. Because the original story is excellent and the characters are compelling, any perceived shortcomings or contradictions can lead to significant backlash from fans. There is also the risk that new users might feel a sense of dissonance when they encounter the original work.

How to Create ASMR Without Breaking Immersion While Maintaining the IP's World

The first media franchise 'Heaven Burns Red' chose was ASMR. ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) in the context of game franchises usually refers to content where a character's voice is used to whisper lines to the listener in various simulated situations.

There were two main reasons for this choice. First, they wanted to convey the charm of the characters from perspectives other than that of the protagonist, Ruka Kayamori. Second, they aimed to lower the barrier to entry for new users, as the story of 'Heaven Burns Red' can be quite high-context. Given that the game is fully voiced, it was easy to imagine the reactions of various characters, and they considered the high compatibility with ASMR.

Although they wanted to produce ASMR, WFS lacked the experience, so they commissioned Vivion, a company with a track record of releasing numerous ASMR titles on DLsite. The supervision was handled by Key, the studio where Jun Maeda, the original scenario writer, is based.

After setting up the roles, they began analyzing the ASMR market and its needs. Guided by Vivion, they identified popular genres and keywords such as healing, ear cleaning, whispering, romance, and intimacy. A popular scenario was spending time with a character at an inn, as it easily incorporated all the aforementioned keywords.

After sharing this knowledge, WFS and Key introduced a scenario often seen in the original game—bathing together—as a unique element of the 'Heaven Burns Red' ASMR, common to all characters. This allowed the listener to experience auditory and tactile stimulation with the target character, adding a sense of physical closeness and the familiarity and comfort of an event that inevitably occurs in the original game's interaction features.

However, while the main game proceeded from Ruka Kayamori's perspective, the ASMR needed to unfold from a different viewpoint. Since Ruka is not a blank-slate avatar for the user but a character with a very strong personality, there was a risk that the listener's emotions would not align with hers. They had to redefine the subject of the story, setting the listener as a 'person who could plausibly be in any situation' and 'someone who could interact with the characters on a daily basis.'

As a result, the listener was set as a female military member supporting the Seraph units. Because they perform operations together, it feels natural to be with any character, and they can talk without restrictions. This also allowed for the natural staging of the original's poignant narrative structure, where characters quietly reveal their pasts or hidden feelings in the natural setting of relaxing together in a bath.

After setting the listener's perspective, they had to choose which characters to feature in the ASMR. They didn't choose based on popularity, but rather on which characters could naturally fit into ASMR scenarios within the original narrative. As a result, Risa Murofushi and Isuzu Oshima were selected. Risa is known in the game for taking care of others and even has a scene where she offers a lap pillow, making her a perfect fit for the classic ASMR 'lap pillow/care' genre. Isuzu was chosen because she has a hobby of opening rooms that seem to hold secrets, and the act of whispering near someone's ear appears frequently in the original game, making her suitable for ASMR.

After selecting the characters, they had to reconstruct the experience from Ruka's third-person perspective in the game into an immersive experience where the listener is lying there, hearing the whispers of Risa or Isuzu. During this process, there were contextual issues. In one of Isuzu's ASMR tracks, the line, "I will do anything to protect my sister," appears. While the line itself seems fine, Isuzu's state of mind changes drastically depending on when it occurs in the timeline. After learning a shocking truth, she says this line with a clear will rather than a vague wish.

Like Isuzu, many other characters have similar lines in the original game, but their feelings change significantly after certain points, making it crucial to grasp the context. Therefore, representatives from both WFS and Key participated in the ASMR production and recording process. This allowed them to resolve contextual issues on the spot, ensuring the production of a natural, 'Heaven Burns Red'-esque ASMR without any sense of dissonance.

What is Needed for Live-Action Game Adaptations is Close Communication with the Original Creator

Next, Producer Tomoya Inoue took the stage to share anecdotes from the planning process of the 'Heaven Burns Red' musical. Before joining WFS, Inoue built his career in IP-related business at Nissin Dress, where he handled character IP product planning, manufacturing, and quality control on an OEM/ODM basis. He later worked as an operator for the WFS Store before becoming the producer for 'Heaven Burns Red' and its musical adaptation.

Although he had participated in IP product production and planning outside of games, he had no knowledge of stage direction or musicals. Therefore, finding a partner company to handle production was the priority. After watching several IP-based musicals, they selected Office Endless, which had produced musicals for 'Tokyo Revengers,' 'Blue Lock,' and 'Lycoris Recoil.' The production followed a licensing-out model, where WFS and Key, as the copyright holders, supervised the planning while entrusting the production to Office Endless.

Once that was decided, they selected the scope of the main characters and script for the planning phase, focusing on the 31A unit, including Ruka Kayamori. To express the fleeting and beautiful world of 'Heaven Burns Red,' they decided to cover the main story of Chapter 1 in Act 1 and Chapter 2 in Act 2. In this process, they allowed for some adaptation of the original work, considering what could and could not be expressed on stage.

They also had to consider the characteristics of the stage performance and the corresponding casting. 'Heaven Burns Red' features many multi-on-multi battles between Seraph unit members and Cancer. Live performances were also a key point, as Ruka Kayamori is the former guitarist and vocalist of the legendary band 'She is Legend,' and the six members of the 31A unit reform the band. To emphasize this, they needed live performances where the actors themselves played and sang, rather than acting to pre-recorded tracks. Therefore, they decided not to use the original voice actors and instead cast actors who could handle both the action and the live performances.

After that decision, Producer Inoue took on the role of coordinator between WFS, Key, and Office Endless. Defining his role as 'the original work representative closest to the production site,' he first clarified the expectations of both the original IP holder and the production company. For 'Heaven Burns Red,' the key points were character and world settings, core scenarios, and performance quality. After identifying these points, he facilitated adjustments while constantly reviewing tasks and summarizing key points to request necessary information from each side.

He then coordinated the schedule for planning, including selecting partners and signing contracts, as well as promotion, marketing, and auditions. Due to scheduling conflicts, he only personally oversaw the final auditions. Once casting was confirmed, they began working on costumes and the Seraphs each actor would use. This involved meticulous work, such as selecting fabrics that maintained the feel of the original while standing out on stage, and sizing the Seraphs based on the original designs while considering the actors' actual use.

Once this work reached a certain stage, they released information via social media and began media promotion. When the costumes and Seraphs were completed, they proceeded with visual shoots, where representatives from WFS and Key were present to check gestures, expressions, and poses in detail. They also exchanged scripts, planned merchandise, and observed the actors' instrument and singing practice to check the level of completion and progress. Once the practice reached a certain level, stage rehearsals began in earnest. Rehearsals lasted about a month, and Producer Inoue was on-site almost every day during that period.

Producer Inoue explained that the time taken was 3 months for planning, 10 months for production/rehearsal, and about 2 weeks for the actual performances. Although they had prepared diligently with mutual adjustments and a solid plan, trouble was inevitable. First, there was the issue of the script writing and revision process taking too long. As a result, WFS and Key only saw the final revised version one month before rehearsals began. This led to an emergency situation where coordination dragged on until the day before rehearsals.

To address this, they categorized feedback into 'mandatory revisions to prevent breaking the original' and 'suggestions for better direction.' This was to ensure all feedback was applied without losing the stage's tempo. They also listened to the director's intentions regarding parts that had to be adapted for stage movement or tempo when moving the game to the stage, and the producer personally met with the production team and actors the day before rehearsals to finalize and settle the plan.

The second problem was the discrepancy with the settings. Karen Asakura, who appears in the original work, has a 'Curren Chan' personality—a killer persona—in addition to her usual quiet personality, and her costume changes slightly when she switches personalities. When she is Curren Chan, the hood's collar and tail change into a devilish shape, and the doll on her head disappears. Also, since Curren Chan handles the fighting, the Seraph does not appear when she is Karen Asakura.

However, on stage, the actor could not change costumes or suddenly pull a Seraph out of thin air to match the personality switch. They realized this discrepancy during a rehearsal of an episode scene. It was a brawl scene between Commander Tezuka and the 31A unit—a 1-on-6 fight—and the actors' passionate performance resulted in high-level action. However, in retrospect, it turned out that she was fighting with the Seraph while in the Karen Asakura persona, which did not match the settings. Although the actor was performing as Curren Chan, there was a discrepancy between the appearance and the settings, which could have caused dissonance for fans.

However, they couldn't just solve this by saying, "This is a setting error, please fix it." Due to physical movement and scene constraints, there was a high risk of disrupting the action, and the entire stage performance could have collapsed if the flow was broken. Therefore, they minimized the frequency of setting discrepancies from the original perspective and used lighting and sound effects to offset them when they were unavoidable. When she was Curren Chan, they used red lighting and ominous sound effects, adding changes in the actor's vocal tone and expressions to maximize characterization and immersion.

In addition, as the original work representative, he consistently checked for subtle differences in character speech or behavior that didn't fit the world-building on-site. He didn't just point these out; he respected the professionals in each field of the musical and clearly communicated revisions and suggestions. He also grasped the intentions of the stage producers on the spot and mediated with other original work representatives to facilitate smooth communication. As a result, they were able to complete a performance that respected the original settings while being tailored to the stage, earning positive responses from both original and musical fans.

Having gone through this arduous process, he emphasized that the original creator is the one who understands the IP best. He added that one must know what is most important to the IP, hold the center, and adjust other elements to fit the characteristics of different media. Since the delivery methods and characteristics differ significantly between media, it is impossible to deliver them to users as good media content without adapting accordingly.

He reiterated that this requires respect for other media and partners, and that the original work representative must stay as close to the production site as possible to maintain communication. This is the only way to check even the smallest details and continue coordination, ensuring the best media franchise results that do not ruin the immersion of original fans while conveying the charm of the original to new users. Producer Inoue and Director Kikuoka concluded the lecture by expressing their hope that this session would be helpful to all creators striving to deliver the best media franchise works to IP fans.