Junnosuke Tachibana is a rabid dog who should be beaten to death with a stick: let's talk about Nukitashi

Ok, once more for good luck: Junnosuke Tachibana is a rabid dog who should be beaten to death with a stick. Now, where were we? Oh, right. Nukitashi.

Read More[+18]

I’ve been putting off writing this review for months at this point. Looking back on it, I kind of forget why I even decided to read this VN in the first place…and as yet another one of my friends liveblog the second game, I begin to remember. Ikuko, Touka, Rei, Asane…I wish I knew how to quit all of you.

Some people will call it a plotge, I honestly disagree. The amount of h-content is pretty ridiculous and over the top, to the point where it just sort of blends in the background…kind of dangerous should I ever forget that the normal hallway bg has people going at it in the background and don't think of closing the game when a family member barges into my room (it happens). It’s a bit long at (apparently) 450910 words, but at least a third of them are probably “get pregnant, bitch”, a sentence I read so often it stopped to mean anything(not that it ever did, to be fair). There’s only two choices: in the first one you pick which of the first three heroines you want, and then unlock a new choice at a slightly earlier point during your fourth playthrough. I should also mention the opening, that goes way harder than it should.

Oh yeah, all the h-scenes kind of suck. That's fine, since like everyone else I'm reading this nukige for the character themes, and, most importantly, for the yuri.

Part 2: there's a lesbian character but she never gets with anyone

Ah.

Part 3: don't mind that there isn't a part 1

Even at his best, Junnosuke can come across as a deeply aggravating protagonist, and Nanase’s route is him at his worst. His biases are explained in the context of his backstory, but not really meaningfully challenged in the end—all of the endgame heroines, including Nanase, are virgins. At least I could probably say that he and Nanase are kinda cute together…somehow. Trust me, this is kind of moege if you squint. A little bit more. Yeah, close your eyes. That’s it.

This is a real follow-the-plot-beats kind of route; Jun basically does as he’s asked and gets a decently happy ending out of it. The other routes break this pattern, culminating in the fourth one setting the “you get to date your childhood friend” route as an explicitly bad ending, which is kind of weird. Poor Nanase. She’s better off without him, anyway.

I don’t have much to say about Hinami herself, that isn’t “everyone who made this should be beaten with a stick”. Her route adds insult to injury because that’s where Rei’s story happens. Rei’s character arc was so good, I can’t believe it had to be in a VN like this one. It’s insane. Her VA was acting her heart out. Why did Nukitashi of all things have to make me cry? But it’s fine. I can erase everything else, and just remember Rei. Probably.

Now, let’s get it out of the way: I hate Hotori. She’s like the Jar Jar Binks of Nukitashi, and her route feels so damn long. She and Jun are so happy together and obsessed with each other. I hope he dies.

There’s one good thing about this route though: my girl Ikuko is the main antagonist! She’s so blue! And cute! And I get to see her a lot! That scene with her in the rain was so good, I wish I could hug her in real life…

After Hotori’s overly long and annoying route, Fumino’s felt like even more of a crawl, this time without the Ikuko eye candy to back it up. At this point in time I was really getting diminished returns. Part of it might’ve been the story being boring, and also the exhaustion of rushing through the whole VN in less than a week, but also, this last route is long, and once again I couldn’t care less about the main relationship. A friend called the last confrontation a “heaven’s feel-ass fistfight”, and I hate that she’s right.

All’s well that ends well, and now the Sex Island is inclusive of gay people. Diversity win!

It feels like I have way more complaints than things I enjoyed, which is the case, but still. There’s good characters, sometimes. It’s funny, sometimes. Asane is there.

I hope Ikuko’s route in 2 doesn’t suck…

Wind that scatters the flowers: let's talk about Hanachirasu

Before the behemoth that is FMDM, Narahara wrote another VN, Hanachirasu. In comparison to its successor, it’s incredibly short. Reading it probably took me some 5 hours?

Hanachirasu shows what it's about right off the bat by opening on an h-scene, where our protagonist, Akane—described as “short and girlish”— is playing the role of a rich woman's “pet”. When terrorists attack the building, he shows his true colors—a masterful swordsman that kills people like second nature.

We are then given a brief lesson on the history of this world. Nuclear weapons were never developed, the USA and the USSR took Kyushu and Hokkaido, respectively, and Yukio Mishima(who here is called Ishima Kaigen, and also, crucially, a girl)’s coup succeeded, and Tokyo is now a walled city where there are no firearms nor explosives, but people constantly kill each other with swords.

This insane setting is the backdrop to an incredible story of rivalry, revenge, and maybe most of all obsession between two swordsmen who were once friends.

Much like FMDM, kendo takes a center stage in the writing. The lavish descriptions of sword fighting technique I'd come to expect were paired with cgs showcasing the action in an almost comic-book like fashion. It's really cool!

There are only a few choices, two of them leading to “joke” endings…or maybe the yaoi ending is the true one. I mean, it has necromancer girl Yukio Mishima and also a turn-based sequel game—

Anyway. If you like FMDM, you should read Hanachirasu. If you don't know whether you like FMDM or not, you should read Hanachirasu. If you've already read Hanachirasu, you should read it again until you've developed your ma’ken. If you've already developed your ma’ken, you should meet me tomorrow night at Tokyo Tower and—

Mine is the Way of the Sword: let's talk about Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

Writing reviews isn't really something that comes naturally to me, and when the subject is such a large-scale work, that becomes even harder. I went in with expectations that were, frankly speaking, ridiculously high— I was expecting something on the level of my favorite route of my favorite VN(that being UBW in Fate/Stay Night)— and reader, it delivered.

Read more[+18]

In a world where smiths forge themselves into living robot armor that join their pilots through henshin poses, our story opens in a battlefield. The first of many fight scenes takes place, followed by the plundering of a village—and the descent of an otherworldly silver-colored musha that puts an end to it all…before abruptly cutting to a slice-of-life story about a group of teenagers looking for their missing friend. These are the actual protagonists and through their all-powerful friendship they defeat—just kidding. FMDM loves pulling the wool over your eyes. This is not a story of heroes, the title card says, but not everyone gets the memo.

Our (actual) protagonist is the police inspector Minato Kageaki, who pilots the crimson tsurugi Muramasa. Some call him a hero of justice, but he calls himself a demon. His actions are initially inscrutable—just what is up with that guy? I spent most of the common route wondering about this question—and so did everyone around him. What a character.

Now, what's the difference between a hero and a demon, anyway? What is justice, what is revenge? In this world where the flames of World War II are being stoked, whether a hero shows up or not, whether sins get punished or not, people keep fighting as best as they can.

The fight scenes in this VN are a spectacle in and of itself(and according to the Liner Notes, around ¼ of the final product!). They're beautiful, carefully written—you can tell Narahara really cares about kendo. Graphics illustrate the blows and the mechanics of aerial flight, making it feel like I was being taught a class in musha combat—a class which I was tested for(and found rather lacking) in the Nemesis route impromptu kendo exams(⁠-⁠_⁠-⁠メ⁠)...but I digress. Some of the battles are breathtaking with their paragraphs describing form and intent before any swords clash, and others shine through their epic proportions, finishing off with short animated cutscenes that had me cheering like crazy.

Hero route was one of the best routes I've ever experienced in a visual novel. Ichijo is such an amazing character. I was incredibly hyped for it, and it delivered even more than I expected. The debate rages on…

Nemesis route felt kind of lacking in comparison. The thematic core is not as strong as in hero route, and I never really cared about Kanae as a character. The route also feels kind of oddly put-together, what with the random kendo exams and weird adventure game-esque segment. It's just kind of meh in general…

Conqueror route, the last one, felt like it dragged on a bit here and there, but I was on a roll so I didn't really care. From the moment I started the game I wondered if I could romance Muramasa(and throughout the routes, I wished her relationship with Kageaki was more developed) so it made me really happy to see that she now had an affection meter. I went in pretty much blind so I was surprised to see her as such an important character in this route. I never would've expected to have scenes from her POV. She's so cute…ahem. This route’s scale is absolutely insane, and two months later I still kind of feel like I haven't quite processed all of it. It's a story that makes your stomach churn all the way through.

After a kind of mysterious epilogue, we actually get another route—demon route, that is. It's a direct continuation of the conqueror route—the ending, basically It's also very short. I didn't know this route existed beforehand, but you could also say I was hyped for it since it's where the Muramasa h-scenes are.Eh, who am trying to fool with that strikethrough. They were the only fun h-scenes in the whole VN…but half of that might be because I really like Muramasa. Of course, it can't be all flowers and sunshine. No one can get away from all the violence, as much as I wished they could. This is not to say the ending wasn't peak, though. The debate rages on, once again.

Whenever a VN affects me so deeply, I find it hard to say goodbye. At the same time, I feel like I need to delete it as soon as I can, so I can free my soul from it, or something along those lines. What I can say after the end is that I'm really glad I finally got to experience it. Now, let's all listen to Uzuki and do cool henshin poses together!

Dating is kind of annoying, actually: let's talk about Love Plus

So, Love Plus. The only game in my DS emulator, save for TWEWY. I didn't know anything about it coming in, except that it was a dating sim developed by Konami of Tokimeki Memorial (and probably something else? IDK I don't play videogames) fame.

Presentation-wise, it's pretty neat. You play in portrait mode, and the girls are 3d models, though you get the occasional 2d event cg. You even get to choose how they'll say your name in the character creation part, which I thought was pretty cool.

You get three save slots, one for each girl. The routes are very short, and compared to Tokimemo, the stat-balancing is incredibly easy. In just one day, you can reach the ending…or rather, the beginning. That's right. Once you start dating, that's when the game really begins…and also where it lost my interest (⁠-⁠_⁠-⁠;⁠)⁠・⁠・⁠・

After you start dating, the game switches to real time mode. You can pick an activity for the day, call your new girlfriend out on dates(just don't be late!), pet them (if they let you…) and talk to them in Love Plus Mode. I had some problems with the voice input which was obviously annoying, but all things considered, it worked better than I expected it to.

So, I'm bad at the petting minigame, and while talking to Manaka was fun(it reminded me of a doll I saw at a store once. You talked to it and it answered!), it got old pretty fast. Off to the next route…or so I say, but playing this so soon after Totono made me feel like I was going to get murdered for betraying her(⁠;⁠;⁠;⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠)

Well. None of the girls had a cellphone to call god with, so my sins were known to no one and I obviously didn't get murdered. I started playing for Manaka, but Rinko ended up being my favorite…sorry for being a three-timer and a bad girlfriend…

In the end, it's one of those games that I imagine is more fun with an actual DS, but even then, I can't see myself ever playing the whole girlfriend gimmick seriously…unless they made a version of this with like. Saber as a romance option. Oh my god can you imagine—

This world is a game: let's talk about YOU and ME and HER

Something about this VN felt targeted to me specifically. I love weird girls who transmit waves from rooftops, after all. Even though I went in somewhat knowing about the twist, it still managed to surprise me. The atmosphere was simply incredible all the way—some scenes were like, genuinely upsetting, and I don't mean the violent ones—there was a sort of tension buildup that it nailed very well. The soundtrack was also very good (my favorite song was End of Eternity—so haunting...) Most of all, the UI gimmicks were very clever—I'm still riding the high from figuring out that final puzzle by myself. It's a fun game!

It's been almost a week, and I'm still thinking about that final choice. I thought it would be easy—I had a favorite character since the very beginning, after all—but it being a one-and-done deal affected me so much, it's kind of funny. I initially quite disliked Miyuki, but I guess she grew on me more than I realized... I could always sate my curiosity and look up the other ending, but I'm going to keep true to my word. I think it's more fun that way.

As for who I picked...it's pretty obvious, isn't it? ;)

Loneliness and explosions in a city of ghosts: let's talk about Ghostpia

Right off the bat, Ghostpia's presentation is amazing. The beautiful, crayon-like art, the CRT effects(that can be turned off in the menu, if they're too eyestrain-y for you) and the lovely soundtrack make for a stunning combination.

From my friends' posts about it, I figured it was some comedy detective story with some yuri themes, so seeing all the guns and explosions and robots was very surprising...

The story—going back and forth from slice-of-life adventures to straight-up insane action flicks—follows Sayoko, an outsider in a secluded town inhabited by ghosts that only wake up at night. Both the town itself and the people in it are full of mysteries, but everyone still goes on about their life—if you can call it that—and we get to follow along with her messy efforts to put herself out there and connect with the people around her, both her old friends and the newcomer who brings them together.

This is just part one, so a lot of mysteries are still lurking beneath the surface—I can't wait to find out how the story continues from here on!

There's another me in the sky: let's talk about AIR

Growing up, I remember seeing many pictures of anime girls whenever I went online. They all had big, sparkling eyes, and my favorite ones stood against blue skies and wore white dresses that floated against a breeze. Many years later, I got into anime, and subsequently visual novels, wanting to experience stories that felt the same as those pictures I used to browse through.

When I booted up AIR and saw the story about the girl in the sky, along with the cg of Misuzu opening her arms to feel the wind, I felt a deep sense of nostalgia. That was the story I had been looking for all this time.

This was also my first Key VN. I knew about them from watching the Clannad anime back in highschool(one of my fondest memories from that time) so I went in expecting a lot of drama, and boy, they delivered. I love stories like this. I'm a noted crybaby, but it had been a while since something made me cry that much. It's genuinely heartbreaking. They don't call it a nakige for nothing, I guess...

So, what can I say about Air? I'll admit that at first, the artstyle was a bit jarring, but it really grew on me after a while, and now I love it to bits. The soundtrack was very nice—I ended up just leaving the game on for hours on the background while chilling to the music, oops. The characters' stories were engaging—the main girls were all very lovely.

Whether it was Misuzu's gooey juice and 1000-year old tragedy, or Kano and Potato's shenanigans and tragic spirit-possession, or Minagi and Michiru's familiar happiness and unhappiness, or even Kanna's ultimately failed escape along with Ryuuya and Uraha, each route is equal parts funny and sad...or so I say, but for Misuzu and Kanna, the sad moments probably outnumber the happy ones...even then, I wanted to believe that it would all be all right in the end. That a miracle would happen. Maybe it did, in a way.

All in all, AIR had a deep sense of magic. I feel like I'll remember that ending for the rest of my life.

The delusion I wished for: let's talk about Chaos;Head NOAH

Many years ago, my friend tried to describe the plot of an anime whose name he’d forgotten. To me, it seemed like he was rambling incoherently: suicides, government conspiracies, Tokyo being completely destroyed in some sort of catastrophe—just what could this show be? A few months later, he found the anime’s name: Chaos;Head. Being a fan of the Steins;Gate anime and manga adaptations, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to me. By that time, I was already into VNs, so I decided I’d read it when it got officially translated. That was around five years ago…

This August, I finally installed C;HN, along with the Committee of Zero patch, after letting it sit for months in my Steam Library. This November, I finally finished reading it.

Except for the vague disconnected plot points described by that friend, I went in completely blind. The protagonist, Takumi, is a very unpleasant person, though far from the worst VN protagonist I’ve encountered. Like all reclusive otaku protagonists, he ended up being relatable to me in some aspects—and he’s got quite the amazing figure collection.

The story presents insane, impossible murders, one after the other, all while Takumi tries to go about his life as reality and delusions meld together. The Delusion Trigger was a pretty interesting mechanic—some delusions are iffy, some are violent, and some are funny—at the start I couldn’t resist pressing the big red denpa button at every opportunity, hah.

The pacing in the common route ran a bit slow at times, but I liked going about Takumi’s days, so it didn’t bother me too much. The story is filled to the brim with crazy plot twists, and it really picks up in the later chapters. It can get very dark and graphic—I’m a bit of a wimp, so sometimes I’d just leave the computer and take some fresh air while going, “what the FUCK was that, dude” and come back just to get my mind blown again.

As for the character’s routes, Nanami’s was kind of whatever; Yua’s was… interesting; Ayase’s was incredible; Kozue’s was incredibly violent; Sena’s was very, very good; and Rimi’s was very sweet. The ending was very cool—I live for epic final battles and repetitions— and also very satisfying after some 120 odd hours of playtime (a normal person would definitely take way less than that, I’m just a slow reader).

It's definitely not a VN for everyone, but if it’s your thing, you’ll love it. I sure did.

In our little town of Phada: let’s talk about Soundless: a modern Salem in a remote era

I’ve had my eye on milk+’s Soundless for a little while now and was just waiting for the art update to be completed before reading it.

Right out of the bat, the UI reminded me a lot of some 2000’s vns, mainly Higurashi (I also toggled on the old art to compare it with the new one at times, much like I did when I read Higurashi).

The story hooked me in immediately; the beginning builds up the setting and doesn’t hesitate to jump straight into violence—interspersing it with sweet, heartfelt bonding moments—and keeps a general air of mystery and suspense before descending into the chaotic madness of the latter half of the story.

The ending, although very fitting and impactful, leaves several questions unanswered, most of which are explained through the computer logs in the epilogue. I enjoyed reading through them, even if they felt a bit detached from the main story.

After the epilogue, there’s an extra chapter, Adiaphoron. Everything in the main story goes down pretty quickly after a certain point, so the slow pace was a welcome change, giving the characters a chance to talk to each other and make themselves known to the audience— specially Nina, who proved herself a delightful character once she was given the spotlight. It leaves the story in a much cheerier and more hopeful place than the main story, and even though I loved that ending, I think the overall product is better for Adiaphoron’s inclusion.

Overall, it's a very nice read, and definitely one of my favorite OELvns ever. I can’t wait to reread it some years from now.

Enter the Maid: let's talk about The House in Fata Morgana

Fatamoru was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Much of the experience was carried by the gorgeous, dream-like soundtrack that's become a staple of my playlists, but the overall execution had some pitfalls that took me out of it. The writing tended to be very unsubtle; the scenes where the characters are being tortured just go on for way too long and end up losing whatever effect they might've had.

That said, it wasn't all bad! The art was very beautiful, and combined with the soundtrack it made for some truly memorable moments along the way.

The soundtrack is sung in a sort of broken, european-sounding portuguese(with occasional latin and italian?),making the songs seem like something my grandma would listen to on an old record player, a half-remembered song that you'd listen to inside a dream.

Door 2 has some issues(the way they chose to write Yukimasa as just. Ontologically evil was kinda weird) but it was my favorite, story wise. Making it seem like Yukimasa was killed by the beast was pretty clever, and Delphinas is one of the prettiest songs ever. It also didn't get overused like other songs(cough cough Cicio)

Life got in the way a lot so I took a long time to read this VN, and had fun theorizing about the plot and characters for a few months(and being right about some of them!). The conclusion was satisfying enough, even if the pacing was a bit off.

I wouldn't consider it a waste of time—I still liked it quite a bit—but I couldn't bring myself to truly love it, even if some of the characters really resonated with me.