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Find ghosts. Understand the machinery.

For people new to Ukagaka and people moving from another baseware. App installation is covered on the overview page.

Ukagaka and ghosts

Utatane is the “baseware,” the program that runs Ukagaka content. A “ghost” bundles a character, dialogue, and reactions. Shells change its appearance, balloons display dialogue, and releases commonly use the NAR archive format.

Where to find ghosts

GHOST TOWN is a long-running database. Ghost Captor Sakura presents an image-rich update feed. Use Nise SiReFaSo to follow recent updates and Nise SoSiReMi to browse registered downloads. The Ukagaka Dream Team beginner guide is an English-language introduction.

Older databases contain discontinued or broken links. Follow through to the creator’s page and read its terms. Many releases are tested only with SSP, so Utatane compatibility varies by ghost.

Install a NAR

Add a downloaded NAR with Utatane’s file picker, drag and drop, or Finder’s Open With command. See the overview download section for installing and opening the app itself.

Comparing baseware

Area	SSP	ninix-kagari	Utatane
Primary OS	Windows	Linux and Windows	macOS 14 or later
Position	The current de facto reference	A ninix-aya fork; major SHIORI can be built with it	Built for macOS; major features in progress, not fully compatible
Modules	Loads Windows DLLs directly	Linux needs compatible SHIORI builds; SAORI is mainly ninix-saori	Native implementations first; some modules can use configured Wine
Setup	Windows distribution	Build on Linux or use the Debian package	Mac app; can import an extracted SSP folder

Support varies by environment; see the ninix-kagari project. For Utatane, see tested ghosts and remaining gaps.

How compatibility works on macOS

Utatane identifies the dialogue engine (SHIORI) from files such as descript.txt, then connects YAYA, SATORI, KAWARI, MISAKA, and other known engines to Swift or macOS-native implementations. Known SAORI modules also have shared native implementations. Unsupported Windows DLLs run only when Wine and the helper host are configured.

State is kept outside the distributed ghost in Application Support. Even a supported engine does not guarantee every branch or Windows-specific dependency. Read Native SHIORI / SAORI for the technical details.