Bungo and Alchemist
A collectible card game featuring real-life writers as bishōnen.
Bungo and Alchemist (文豪とアルケミスト, Bungō to Alchemist), also shortened to BunAl (文アル, Bunaru), is a free-to-play collectible card browser game that launched in Japan on November 1, 2016. A mobile version followed on June 14, 2017. The game was developed by EXNOA and published by DMM.com.
In the game, the player takes on the role of a Special Duty Librarian, also known as The Alchemist. Their job is to enter corrupted books and cleanse them using teams of writers, who are depicted as bishōnen. These writers are obtained by the player entering ensouled books to transmigrate and recruit them into the library. The character designs are partly inspired by real-life authors, with each holding a book whose cover resembles one of their actual works, though their hairstyles are entirely original creations.
The concept was first proposed by Kōhei Taniguchi as a game about collecting fictional characters from Japanese literature. After discussing it with Jiro Ishii, they decided to focus on the authors instead. Taniguchi handled concept planning, while Ishii built the world. Initially uneasy about having writers fight with weapons, they settled on the fantasy-like premise of writers entering tainted books, which they liked enough to implement. The idea of obtaining writers through transmigration came later, after Ishii suggested pulling them out of books, once the library setting was established. Early on, the creators also decided to include writers with strong real-life connections to other characters, aiming to show those relationships. Taniguchi wanted to explore how certain writers might interact, mirroring their real-life feelings toward one another.
The characters are based on real-life writers, mostly Japanese, with a few from the Western world. The weapons each writer uses reflect their main body of work: blades for novelists and short story writers; bows for naturalist literature authors; whips for writers of popular literature; and guns for poets and children's literature authors.
In 2020, an anime television series adaptation by OLM, titled *Bungo and Alchemist: Gears of Judgement*, aired for 13 episodes from April 3 to August 7. It was licensed in North America by Funimation and later moved to Crunchyroll after Sony's acquisition of the platform.
- Developer
- EXNOA
- Publisher
- DMM.com
- Platform
- Browser (2016), Mobile (2017)
- Genre
- Free-to-play collectible card browser game
- Anime adaptation
- Bungo and Alchemist: Gears of Judgement (2020, 13 episodes)
Lore & Background
The game was conceived by Kōhei Taniguchi as a project where players would collect fictional characters from Japanese literature, but after discussions with Jiro Ishii, the focus shifted to the authors themselves. Taniguchi handled concept planning, while Ishii managed world-building. Initially uneasy about having writers fight with weapons, the team embraced the idea after setting the game in a fantasy-like library where writers delve into tainted books. The method of obtaining writers through transmigration—dragging them out of ensouled books—was Ishii's idea, developed after the library setting was finalized.
Reader's Guide
Bungo and Alchemist occupies a niche in the collectible card game market by centering on historical literary figures rather than original characters. Its gameplay involves purifying tainted books with parties of writers, each wielding weapons (blades, bows, whips, or guns) that correspond to their literary genres. The game's character designs are partially inspired by real-life counterparts, though hairstyles are entirely invented. The developers intentionally included writers with strong real-life connections to explore their relationships. The 2020 anime adaptation, Bungo and Alchemist: Gears of Judgement, produced by OLM and licensed by Funimation (later moved to Crunchyroll), expanded the game's reach. The game's significance lies in its fusion of Japanese literary history with fantasy and collectible mechanics, offering a unique entry point for players to engage with authors like Ryūnosuke Akutagawa or Osamu Dazai through a fictional lens.
Did You Know?
- The game was originally proposed as a collection of fictional characters from Japanese literature before shifting to real authors.
- Writers in the game use weapons (blades, bows, whips, guns) that represent their main literary genre.
- The anime adaptation ran for 13 episodes from April 3 to August 7, 2020.
- The game's mobile port was released on June 14, 2017, after the browser version launched on November 1, 2016.
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