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About this blog

This is a blog primarily focusing on but not limited to VNs.  It is primarily designed to express my opinion on otaku media (jrpgs, anime, manga, LNs, VNs, etc), individual VNs, and otaku community issues.   Most of the posts are related to my VN of the Month and Random VN columns, originally started in threads in the forums. 

As of March of 2017, I'm also looking for people to help with VN of the Month.

Entries in this blog

Tsuyokiss Festival

This VN is a direct sequel to Next, beginning approximately at the end of the common route of the original.  At this point, the characters from the original series begin streaming back into town, Kachiki appears on the scene (dramatically), and Kitsune's character is given a new facet.  However, the common route in this VN is very short, mostly providing comedy (there is one ending you can get out of the prologue/common path that is absolutely hilarious) and fitting the new character dynamics in
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Random VN replay: Majikoi

I decided while I was playing my Tsuyokiss marathon to replay the Majikoi series.  My reason?  I played the original over five years ago, and my perspective on it was bound to have changed since.  In that sense I was correct.  I came to one conclusion that I'll go ahead and state beforehand... Majikoi is a game that definitely picks its readers (in a sense, this is true of all of Takahiro's games).  Whereas the Tsuyokiss series is, for better or worse, a series of VNs in the 'traditional go
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Random VN: Majikoi S and A-1 through A-4

To be honest, it is really hard to comment on this series of sequels/fandiscs...  S For better or worse, S really is a sequel, starting from just before the events in the true route of the original.  It adds a massive number of characters (seriously, the number added is ridiculous), extended after-stories for the original game, a what-if scenario for Yuki, and five new heroine paths...  unfortunately, those heroine paths are hit and miss.  I'm going to say it outright... Tsubame's
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Natsuiro Kokoro Log

To be honest, despite how much some people recommended this VN to me (or hyped it without playing it *smiles dryly*) this VN didn't seem even the least bit exciting to me. This didn't change significantly even after I started playing it, and it never really felt like it got off the ground.  First of all, they plopped down a bunch of wastefully (and I do mean that as it sounds) colorful characters into a setting that felt kind of forcibly glued together.  Second, the story itself is brutally
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Busy and a preview of July's releases

... exactly how many times have I mentioned that I'm busy lately...?  Seriously.  I'm in the middle of VN withdrawal for the first time in over three years... and I'm realizing how addicted I am.  I'd be perfectly happy to play a kusoge for the second time, at the moment... if I had the time.  The best I can do these days is drop in for a few minutes and maybe a quick post or two.  Considering that I originally started this style of work because it made me enough money in a short enough per
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Some thoughts on Charage/moege (positive this time)

Understand, I'm not a huge fan of the moege and charage umbrella genres.  This is something I'm sure anyone who reads this blog is already well-aware of (to the point of exasperation in some cases) and at this point, it isn't something I need to reemphasize.  However, I've noticed that I've never really mentioned what I do like about moege/charage and their positive elements...  and I thought I'd go ahead and put that down here.   1. Charage do make decent breaks from my workday, as they
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Poll: Which Random VN?

Now... I've been asked to play/replay several VNs and post on each by several people who read but don't post here, as well as several members.  These will have to come after I finish Damekoi  and after the VN of the Month (currently playing Floral Flowlove), but there is a distinct possibility I'll manage to play at least one more VN through before the release of Deus Ex later this month.  I've also had requests to play and comment on more JRPGs, but I'll be honest when I say there aren't a ton
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Kimi to Yumemishi

Ok... this is by a new company by the name of Laplacian, and as a result, I didn't really have much in the way of expectations for it.  As a result, I wasn't disappointed... but they didn't manage to surprise me either, sadly.  This VN's protagonist has the ability to enter people's dreams when they dream about him and uses a perfume he designed himself to make people remember and dream about him when they go to sleep. This VN, when it comes down to it, is a straight-out moege.  The low-lev
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Gin'iro, Haruka Part 2: Yuzuki

I'm going to be blunt... I can only take Tone Works games in small doses (one path at a time), so I'll be setting Gin'iro Haruka aside now, though I am interested in two of the remaining three heroines (despite Hinata's horrible VA).  Yuzuki's path actually starts out fairly similar to how you would imagine the classic 'imouto' path would if it was done by Tone Works... the slow growth into full sibling-hood, the slipping into habits that go a bit too far for teenaged siblings, then the rea
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Random VNs: Evolimit

Now, if you asked me my top three VNs of all time, I would honestly put this one as one of those three, no matter how often the other two get rotated out.  Evolimit, in my mind at least, shows off the best of Higashide Yuuichirou's writing in combination with Propeller's unique art style and superior musical direction and composition.  Oh, and incidentally, this is the sixth time I've played this game from beginning to end, reading all the endings... that I can still find a VN enjoyable aft
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Taking a short break (by my standards)

I'm delaying playing through anymore VNs until at least Saturday, mostly because I realized my fatigue was reaching its peak.  The reason why I realized this was fairly simple... I wasn't enjoying the bloody scenes in Sen no Hatou, which is highly unnatural for me.  Normally, I would have been on a blood high after that first scene, but after replaying Evolimit, I was a bit glutted on battle scenes.  As such, I came to the conclusion that I can't fairly assess Sen no Hatou at the moment.  Also,
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Random VNs: Yuyukana (also VN of the Month for September announced)

Ok... as random choices to play go, this one was probably a horrible choice.  Yuyukana starts out as and rarely escapes the standard charage model (there are some tear-jerking moments at the end of some of the routes, but it isn't at nakige level).  First, you have the tsundere osananajimi.  Then you have the ojousama who mysteriously comes in every morning to cook breakfast for the protagonist whose parents are not living at home.  Third you have the mysterious transfer student who profess
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Shin Koihime † Musou - Kakumei Son Go no Ketsumyaku

First, I should mention that this post is mostly going to focus on how this VN improves on the original content from Shin Koihime Musou.  The reason is fairly simple... if you like the series, you'll eventually play this, and if you played the original Shin Koihime Musou, then that is probably what you want to know.  I know I would. Next, I will go ahead and come out with it... I loved what they did with this path.  The degree of added detail in this VN is actually higher than in Souten no
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Ryakudatsusha no Inen

This VN is Akabeisoft3's latest VN, adding yet another genre to that company's list.  To be straight, this is a guro-rape dark fantasy similar to Maggot Baits in atmosphere (albeit not as extreme).  The protagonist, Roy, starts out as a shota living happily with his family.  However, one day bandits, led by a psychopath named Ix, attack the village, raping and murdering the women, including his mother and older sister.  He himself is raped by the leader's wife as well as her shota slaves. 
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December 2016: The remaining VNs

December was a month with a ridiculous number of highly-anticipated VN releases... and after having played three of them in such a short time, I felt a need to recall which ones I hadn't. Currently, I'm playing Shinsou Noise, which is a dark fantasy mystery written by the Liar-soft team and drawn by the Silky's Plus team (of Nanairo Reincarnation fame).  What remains after that that I planned to play is: Venus Blood Ragnarok (sequel in the 'main setting' of the series) Akiyum
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VN of the Year 2016

As usual, I spent a lot of time thinking over this before I even considered making a decision.  The original list of candidates at the end of the year (after the initial series of in-brain eliminations) is as follows: Tokyo Necro Akeiro Kaikitan Amatsutsumi Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana (knocked Inochi no Spare out of the running) Tokyo Necro Tokyo Necro is Nitroplus's first masterpiece outside of the Science series (Steins;Gate, for those who don't know what I'm talk
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Random VNs: A few thoughts

First, I recently completed my second playthrough of Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier... and I'd forgotten how much fun it was digging around in the political violence of that period.  It made me remember why I named it VN of the Year 2015, though that was mostly because 2015 sucked, lol.  It is a great game for fans of historical fantasy and the Shinsengumi, as well as fans of Grisaia's writer (who also wrote this one).  Having a trap protagonist who is also more than a little... bewitching m
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Akatsuki no Goei (series) Characters

Since I've posted previously on Akatsuki no Goei as a trilogy, I thought I would instead make a description of the setting and a list of characters and their roles in the story, with a personal assessment attached.   I'm pretty sure I missed at least one of the Route C heroines, but there are so many of them...  Setting The setting of the Akagoei series (several generations before the events in the Reminiscence series, incidentally) is in a fictional version of Japan.  In this version
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JRPG: Nier Automata

The Nier/Drakengard series is one of the single weirdest series out there.  It's games range from DW-style man vs armies  with dragon flight simulation elements to heavy action-rpgs like the Nier games.  The Nier series originates with one of Drakengard's endings, where the protagonist and his dragon get thrown into another dimension and end up getting impaled on the Tokyo Tower after having it out with the JSDF.  This leads to the events of Nier, a thousand years later.  The original Nier'
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The worst and most poorly-used Tropes in VNs

I've raved on tropes before.  Many times.  However, as I have also said many times before, tropes and stereotypes do have an important place in fiction of all sorts.  The important part is to balance the use of tropes to create something interesting and unique, rather than just using them to copy a previous work or works. 1.  The 'standardized' voiceless protagonist- For better or worse, there was a long period of time when VN protagonists outside of chuunige were forbidden by industry cust
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VN Staff: Higashide Yuuichirou

Higashide might be familiar to Western anime fans as the writer for the Fate/Apocrypha LNs and the new anime series, or he might be familiar as the writer of Ayakashibito and Tokyo Babel.  However, of late he has definitely begun to worm his way into the collective consciousness of the Western otakus. So what kind of writer is he?  He wrote one of my single favorite VNs, Evolimit, and his works definitely have a certain... style.  Perhaps the most obvious reason why he leaves and impression
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Kanojo wa Tenshi de Imouto de

... *weeps like a small child* Seriously, I haven't run into an utsuge/nakige hybrid like this since Karenai Sekai last year.  Imoten (the nickname for this one) is the latest production by Alcot Honey Comb, the mid-priced subsidiary of Alcot responsible for Satsukoi, 1/2 Summer, and Hatsugamai.  For some reason, in most years, the larger majority of the high quality VNs for the year tend to be put out in the first or last three months of the year... at least, that's the way it has bee
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VN of the Year 2017

As always, I took a ridiculous amount of time considering candidates for VN of the year, this year.  The final lineup of candidates were: Aoi Tori Kin'iro Loveriche Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo (I determined that it, to an extent, stands on its own enough to be considered) Suisei Ginka Haruru Minamo ni Eliminated: Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary (lost to Aoi Tori) Kanojo wa Imouto de Tenshi de (lost to Haruru Minamo ni) Oni ga Kuru (los
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Releasing VNs in pieces

First, I should say that I disapprove of releasing visual novels in pieces.  I'm perfectly willing to wait three or four years for a good story, but I hate nothing more than being interrupted in the middle and having to wait another year for the next one.  The habit of releasing VNs in chapters was a vice mostly restricted to doujin VNs in the past.  The more obvious reasons are people like me who hate having their stories interrupted, the previous dominance of physical media, and other iss
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Butterfly Seeker

This is Unobara Nozomu's second attempt at the mystery genre (for those who are interested, he also wrote Yurirei, Teito Hiten Daisakusen, and Fairytale Requiem) after the dramatic failure of Shinsou Noise last year.  To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this game, despite its interesting concept.  This game, like many detective mystery type VNs, possesses a deduction system... but thankfully, it also lets you skip that portion at the click of a button (thus avoiding the story disrupti
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