u/Marschflugmallow

Hi everyone!

I’ve been on a search for a really long time now. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been trying to find out which game my dad brought back for me from Japan. Let me explain:

I had a great childhood back in the 90s. My family was never rich or super well-off, but we never lacked anything either. During the 90s and 2000s, my dad occasionally had to travel for work, so he’d be away from home for a week or two at a time. I never held it against him, but I think he felt a bit guilty about it sometimes. Because of that, he often brought me gifts from abroad. He always nailed my taste, whether it was clothes, music, or video games.

During one of his trips, he visited Japan. That must have been the late 90s. Among other things, he brought me back a PC game that he picked up at the airport in Japan. I remember perfectly how he told me that you could get this game for free in a store there. I think it was given away as a freebie with purchases?

Later on, I remember finding out that the game was given away by a Japanese airline as a promotional item. All the text on the case was in Japanese, so I either figured it out by digging around back then, or my dad told me.

Biggest problem here: I can't remember the title and it's possible that I never actually knew the title since it was all in Japanese. I remember calling it "the landing game" sometimes. After thinking a lot about it and doing some research, I assume that it might be possible that the game had something with "Okinawa" in it's title. But since this search is driving me nuts, my brain maybe just make things up here...

Here’s what I actually remember about the game:

• The game came in a standard jewel case and, as far as I know, it had one of those spine cards (obi strips) that come with a lot of Japanese CDs. The cover art reminded me of early PS1 games and their Japanese covers from Namco, like Ridge Racer, Air Combat, or Tekken. It installed and ran perfectly on our PC at the time (some kind of Pentium running Windows 95 or 98).
• When you launched the game, a splash screen popped up that reminded me of the Microsoft Flight Simulator 95 startup screen (I used to love playing MS Flight Simulator with a joystick, even though I had absolutely no clue what I was doing). The only difference was that the selection menu was on the left, and all the text was in Japanese. That didn’t stop me from clicking through everything, though. It seemed to be an advertisement for the airline. I remember price tags and vacation destinations being shown. I’m pretty sure Okinawa was a major theme... even though I didn’t know what Okinawa was back then.
• After doing some research I found that the Naha Airport in Okinawa might be the inspiration for the game's airport - it's smaller in the game and has only one runway but the surrounding area matches very well if you imagine the plane approaching from the south.
• Note: I’m not 100% sure whether there was only one airport in the game. There may have been two or three. As I write this, it occurs to me that the airport might have depended on the aircraft you chose … yet the beautiful summer theme was always the same.
• The game itself wasn’t a full-blown flight simulator. You could choose one of three planes:
  • A single-engine propeller plane, probably a Cessna.
  • A twin-engine propeller plane - based on my research, it might have been a Piper twin-engine aircraft.
  • A large commercial plane, so a Boeing or an Airbus, I think.
• The camera was always positioned behind the plane. You could see a runway right by the sea. So you’d start by flying over the water, heading straight for the runway. The player's job was to land the plane safely. If you managed to do it, a sound of applause or cheering would play. If you failed, the game paused instantly - so there was no crash animation where the plane actually got damaged. Instead, the screen turned red and a really depressing sound played. That moment always gave me an uneasy feeling.
• Sometimes helpful hints would pop up on screen, which, looking back, reminds me a lot of Densha de Go!. It seemed like there was a woman (airport/tower?) and a man (co-pilot?) who popped up with little text boxes. I think their style was similar to Irasutoya illustrations. They might have even had voice samples.
• The game was actually somewhat challenging because the weather conditions could change with every attempt. Sunny, cloudy, or... even cloudier? Each with different wind speeds. The strength and direction of the wind were displayed on screen. You could also see your altitude and speed, along with a score or something similar. The runway had those typical red and white lights that serve as a landing aid to show whether you’re flying too high or too low.
• At the start of the game, the camera was always slightly above the plane. The closer you got to the runway, the more it moved underneath the plane. This made it really easy to judge the distance to the ground, so you could see the landing gear deploy and touch down.
• The graphics were somewhat realistic but had very vibrant, saturated colors. It looked really pleasant. The game always gave me a nice, summery feeling. There was a sun lens-flare effect. The distant scenery featured typical Japanese mountain and hill landscapes, which were probably made from real photos. The runway and airport buildings were reasonably detailed, but buildings in the distance were rudimentary or maybe not even textured at all. Also, it had really strong PS1 vibes to it, even with its higher resolution and larger view distance.
• The soundtrack is one of the main reasons I'm searching for this game. The music was pretty similar to OutRun 2, which I played years later. But there were also city pop-ish tracks and even songs with vocals. Everything had a very nostalgic vibe, and I always perceived the music as a bit melancholy. One notable thing is that the game had at least 5 to 10 different music tracks. A different one would play during every round (meaning every landing attempt).

While I have no actual footage from the game, this screenshot from MS Flight Simulator looks similar regarding the perspective. The plane and ground in the landing game were way more detailed, however. This makes sense, of course, since the game only had to render a small area instead of giant cities or countries like MS Flight Simulator does.

For ages, I’ve been looking for this game. Sadly, I don't have the original anymore. When I moved out of my parents' place, several boxes of mine were stolen, including my consoles and most of my games. It’s something I regret to this day, especially because they included gifts from my dad, who has unfortunately passed away since then.

It honestly baffles me how such a remarkable (and free!) game seems to be completely untraceable. Back when he was still alive, I asked my dad several times where exactly the game came from because I just found it super interesting. But he only ever told me that it was from the airport in Japan and that it was free. I should probably mention that my dad couldn't speak, let alone read, a word of Japanese.

My search efforts so far have included digging through archives of Japanese promotional games, combing through lists of free games and shareware over and over, and searching specifically for games available at Japanese airports... but unfortunately with no luck.

Usually, I’d say I’m pretty good at finding things on the internet. But with this game, I’m completely at my wit's end. Maybe one of you knows it...

Thanks a lot for reading!

I’ve been searching for this for years, and it has recently turned into a bit of an obsession. I am looking for a dark, cryptic sci-fi anime with a strong fantasy vibe that I saw as a kid around the year 2000, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. It was incredibly atmospheric and definitely far too mature for a child.

I am from Germany, and I am 100% certain that the anime had a German dub. I most likely saw it on television, as I vividly remember watching it while wearing pajamas and eating the very illegal cornflakes dinner since my parent's weren't at home at the time. So it definitely run at evening or even late evening. Given the era and the dark content, it might have aired perhaps on a channel like VOX, MTV, or RTL2, though a VHS tape remains a small alternative possibility even if I don't know how I would even get that. The animation style was highly detailed and distinctly 90s, reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop or the Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm) OVA, but carrying the surreal, somber flair of Angel's Egg.

Here is everything I can remember:

• 100% sure it had a German dub.
• Watched around the year 2000 at (late) evening
• Most likely broadcast on German TV (perhaps on VOX, MTV, or RTL2 back then?), though VHS is a small possibility
• Detailed, classic 80s/90s aesthetic. Think Cowboy Bebop or Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm), but with the surreal, dark flair of Angel's Egg. I think this description nails it.

The most remarkable thing I remember is a massive, ornate floating structure I call "the bell." Shaped like a giant egg or a bell, it resembled an enlarged, wider version of Karin Tower from Dragon Ball. Its architecture was heavily Gothic, featuring prominent arcs that surrounded a large, flat, circular central platform. In the absolute center of this area stood a massive throne. This entire structure hovered high in the clouds above a planet that always appeared to be covered in thick, yellowish-brownish clouds, giving it a Saturn-like appearance.

Characters I remember:

• The Dark Queen: Always seated on the throne in the center of the Bell.
• The Warrior: A young man with long, wild white hair (visually reminiscent of the Nameless King from Dark Souls 3).

The warrior would visit the queen to receive orders or debate. The dialogue felt very heavy, political, or philosophical. I roughly remember a plot point about some kind of betrayal, and the warrior refusing her plans at least once. I think he was convinced or forced to carry out an attack then...

After these talks, the Bell would position itself over enemy territory. The warrior would launch in a fighter ship (similar to the Vic Viper from Gradius).

The cockpit scenes had striking, brightly glowing 80s HUD colors. The ship would dive through the clouds toward the planet, dodging massive, intricate, kaleidoscope-like bullet patterns, looking like what I today know from bullet hell shooters from Cave (DoDonPachi, Mushihimesama). He easily outmaneuvered the enemy and was always superior.

There was a highly graphic scene inside the Bell where someone is killed by blades. I remember a severed limb or head, and a gory, open wound.

The overall vibe was obscure, mature, and deeply atmospheric. Because I was so young, the actual plot completely went over my head.

I've generated this AI slop image to visualize the style. The contents are of course not correct, but it did an okay job with the overall flair:

https://files.catbox.moe/t3hia5.png

Does this sound familiar to any old-school anime fans or anyone who watched late-night German TV in the early

Thanks in advance!