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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

Kikouyoku Senki Gin no Toki no Corona part 1: Gameplay and Unit types

I'm in the midst of playing this game, and I thought I'd first give you a basic outline of what to expect. This game is based around four major aspects: 1. Hitting enemies' weak spots (elemental) 2. Getting enemies to hit your strong points (elemental) 3. Use 1 and 2 to build up your MP to use powerful super-skills. 4. Keeping Corona, Tokino, and Touka (the protagonist) alive while still keeping their levels up. There are a lot of other points and complexities, but it pretty much boi
Clephas

Clephas

0

Books: The Malazan Book of the Fallen series

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is perhaps one of the most complex series I've ever read... and that is saying a lot.  It is high fantasy in the sense that it is based in a fantasy world that is unbelievably complex (it makes Game of Thrones look simple at times) and it has the combined moral ambiguity and dark humor of Glen Cook's Black Company series as well. However, where Steven Erikson shines the most is in his world-building... and in his character-creation.  This is perfectly natural, as h
Clephas

Clephas

12

Harems: Vns and real-life

The idea of a harem is a very old one. In fact, there is literally no culture (prior to Christianity) that, sometime in its past, did not accept the idea of a harem in one form or another. However, it was never a simple system of one man simply marrying as many women as he wanted. In some places, it was a mark of familial wealth. In order to avoid long-term difficulties, a wealthy individual would take numerous wives, produce numerous sons, and split that wealth amongst those sons in order
Clephas

Clephas

5

October 2016: Which VNs I plan to play and what I'm doing now

October is turning out to be a frustrating month, with the VN I was most interested in delayed until December (for some reason, December seems to be getting all the most interesting ones...).  I honestly had hopes that October would break the 'dry spell' I've been experiencing since I completed July's releases.  There is still a possibility of that happening, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Right now, I'm busy with work, trying to open up a nice quiet period so that I can get all of Octobe
Clephas

Clephas

12

Koisuru Kimochi no Kasanekata

This is the newest VN by Ensemble, a subsidiary of Will which has previously specialized in 'ojousama-ge' (VNs where most or all the heroines - and sometimes the protagonist as well - are from a wealthy background).  This VN takes a slightly different tack than the company's previous games... probably because of the effects of the mediocrity that was Golden Marriage and the kusoge that was Koi no Aria (incidentally, they also split off another subsidiary that specializes in ojousama-nukige, lol)
Clephas

Clephas

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Shirogane no Soleil

Shirogane no Soleil is the very first Soleil game, and it begins with Ryuuhei - the protagonist - encountering Soul Valkyrie in the ruins of the Ship of Time in Iceland (fictional).  There, he contracts with her in order to save his sister and her fellow archaeologists.  However, as a result, she constantly drains his lifespan (literally the time he has to live) away in order to use magic, fight, and even just to exist on the mortal plane of existence.   Unfortunately, at the same time he discov
Clephas

Clephas

4

The nature of an infodump

In plotge of all types, whether they are chuunige, kinetic novels, horror suspense, or mysteries, infodumps are ubiquitous throughout the VN world.  Infodumping in and of itself isn't a horrible thing to do to the reader (as some people claim), but it is a tool that is often abused by writers who want to expound on their beloved world and its characters.   First, the definition of an infodump is a scene with little or no dialogue where background information is provided without directly pro
Clephas

Clephas

10

Anata ni Koi Suru Ren'ai Recette and VN of the Month May 2017

Clephas's comment I dropped this VN because I couldn't take the sugary texture of the thing... Sweetness and cute without depth turns me off every time.  This game looked to me like your standard yurufuwa food-business moege, and Kiririri's comments haven't really changed my viewpoint, lol. Kiririri's review (edited by Clephas) So, I originally played this game because Kasu was the artist for 2 of the heroines and I love her artwork. And well uh, it didn't start well. I started wi
Clephas

Clephas

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JRPG: Growlanser IV

The Growlanser series is one of those weird, hardly known jrpg series that died out after the ps2 era (mostly because its gameplay was too traditional, but also because the transition to 2.5D sprites failed so miserably in V and VI, along with the derivative, predictable story).  However, before its death, it produced four first-class games, three of them linked in a single chronology.  IV, also known as Wayfarer of Time, is the exception in the series as a whole, being the only entirely standal
Clephas

Clephas

10

Hana no No ni Saku Utakata no part 2: Kasasagi Shizuku

Kasasagi Shizuku Shizuku is the student council president, an intelligent young woman who appears strict and unbending but really just interprets matters through her own unique psychological 'lense'. She is the only heroine who doesn't have a past relation to the protagonist before the story begins (one way or the other), and obligingly, her route seems to be the longest of the four heroines other than Ouka. She also possesses three endings... though two are basically 'normal, nothing ha
Clephas

Clephas

0

Why are so many Vampire protagonists self-hating?

This is a question I've asked myself on any number of occasions (and despite my own thoughts below, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well).  For some reason, most vampire literature with a vampire protagonist has that protagonist hating him/herself and his/her condition (switching to 'his' after this sentence, for the sake of brevity).  Let's be honest with ourselves... if we could gain immortality, immense strength, and the ability to control people's minds in exchange for having
Clephas

Clephas

6

Sakura Sakimashita Part 2: Common route, Miyako

The common route of this VN is fairly short, though what is there is pretty strong. It basically establishes the character relationships, the setting, and the characters' personalities. Since this is the role a common route should serve, I have nothing but praise for this one, lol. The character interactions are fairly comical most of the time, and the way it moves into the heroine routes is so natural you almost don't notice (in fact, you aren't supposed to notice with Miyako's route, since the
Clephas

Clephas

2

CharaBration! ~Otome wa Koi shite Charabureru~

Let's be clear... I have no reason to try to be fair to charage anymore.  This might sound like a terrible statement to make, but the fact is, I've been a lot nicer than I wanted to be for years when it came to charage.  I went out of my way to look for positive aspects, and when I found one, I deliberately put it in as positive a light I could without overdoing it.  This was because the sensation I got coming out of most charage was fatigue.  SOL, in small doses, is enjoyable and even relaxing.
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sumire

Wow. This is definitely a case of not being able to judge a book by its cover... or by its summary, either. I don't think I've encountered a VN with as much emotional impact as this one since Houkago no Futekikakusha, last summer. Sumire is by Nekoneko Soft, one of the oldest existing VN brands... They are one of the 'founding names' of the moege umbrella genre, while also producing more serious works through their subsidiaries, such as Cotton Soft (of Reconquista and Owaru Sekai to Birthday
Clephas

Clephas

3

Random VN: Venus Blood Hypno

Venus Blood Hypno is by far my favorite Venus Blood game.  There are a number of obvious reasons.  The story itself is the deepest and most interesting, it is emotionally powerful, and, if you follow the Law route, it is possible to avoid sexual corruption issues entirely. However, the true reason I love this game is because of Leonhardt and Anora. Leonhardt and Anora have one of the most powerful, deepest relationships I've seen in any type of VN, ever.  The emotional bonds between th
Clephas

Clephas

0

Hanidebi! Honey & Devil

I thought so after playing Koiken Otome... but this company is absolutely incapable of properly utilizing their settings.  Good music, mostly good characters (the protagonist sucks), decent art... but so empty of content it isn't even funny.  The sex obsession from beginning to end is carried out poorly, the actual paths have too much ichaicha, and the potentially humorous elements fall short of where they would have gone in any other game.  In other words, this is yet another kusoge f
Clephas

Clephas

1

The Feminized Historical Fantasy

I'm sure you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about with the title of this post, but the concept is pretty simple...  You take a period of history or a series of famous/infamous events, turn all or most of the male personages into females, and then plop your main character into their midst, evolving a story from there.  A few examples of this... The Koihime Musou, Sengoku Koihime series by Baseson Chuushingura Sengoku and Sangoku Hime series by Gesen Kikan Bakumat
Clephas

Clephas

7

Junjou Karen Freaks

Junjou Karen Freaks is based in a future world where all the mysterious creatures of human mythology have turned out to be real, and, after some twists and turns, have begun to coexist peacefully with humanity as part of a larger society.  The protagonist, Mikitaka, is the child of two 'diplomats' who work at trying to bring together the many races, and he lives alone together with his cousin oneechan Shizumi.  Suddenly, one day their osananajimi Yuuka appears before them as a ghost, they meet t
Clephas

Clephas

0

Baldr Bullet Revellion...

I'm going to be blunt... this game is badly overrated on vndb. I was - quite frankly - amazed at how poorly the story was told... it was like looking at a bunch of disorganized pictures set on a wall and trying to make an actual story out of them. The protagonist is your classic cipher for the reader, and the female characters basically exist to have random sex with the protagonist. The actual battle system is nowhere near as refined as it was even in Force, despite the fact that Revellion is a
Clephas

Clephas

1

Akiyume Kukuru

Akiyume Kukuru is the third (and possibly final) game in Sumikko's 'Seasons' meta-sci-fi series.  It centers around a group of five 'Holders', people genetically altered at the embryo stage to possess possibilities that don't otherwise exist in Earth's evolution using artificial DNA and RNA known as XNA.  These five people are individuals whose actions or abilities have made them a threat to society/the government/etc., and they have been exiled to Ruruan, a closed city in Hokkaido where a
Clephas

Clephas

2

***SPOILERS*** Komorebi no Nostalgica: Why I think this is the best AI VN out there.

Komorebi no Nostalgica is one of the more interesting VNs I've read in the past three years.  I occasionally go back and play one of its paths when I want to restore my faith in VNs, and one of its primary themes is artificial intelligence.  There are a number of different viewpoints represented in the VN about AIs, ranging from classic horror stories and instinctive repulsion to acceptance and/or affection.  Cinema, who is the source of most of the central conflicts of the VN, is a humanoid rob
Clephas

Clephas

5

Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren'ai

This VN is pretty straightforward.  It is a comedy charage with about 90% of the emphasis focused on the comedic aspects.  What about the romance?  At its best, it is a bare bones generic type, constantly interrupted by jokes that break the mood (deliberately).  What about the story?  Irrelevant to nonexistent. This is a VN where you get almost all the enjoyment out of the comedic aspects and character interactions.  Even if I were to compare this to the 'average' charage, the romance would
Clephas

Clephas

1

Ryouchi Kizoku

I'm going to be blunt... this is yet another SofthouseChara game where the entire point of the game lies in the gameplay, which is just complex enough to be annoying.  The heroines and the protagonist are non-people, and the actual endings are boring.  Basically, you are a new noble given a completely random amount of time to build up your lands before the King dies, which takes you to the ending.  The game system is split into building, hiring individuals of talent, fighting off threats, d
Clephas

Clephas

0

Advice for those Playing VNs for a second time

Now, I'm well aware that most people don't play VNs twice.  Visual novels are a static media, similar to one of the old 'choose your own adventure' novels in interactive terms, so this is only natural.  To be blunt, the main reason I go back and play old VNs is because nothing is satisfying one of my itches amongst the more recent releases.  That said, there are some pieces of advice I can give for those who habitually re-read their favorite books and rewatch their favorite anime. 1- Wait l
Clephas

Clephas

7

Random VN: Gensou no Idea - Oratorio Phantasm Historia

Gensou no Idea is the third VN from 3rdEye, a company specializing in chuunige.  When I originally played this game, I was a bit more perverse, personality-wise, and as a result, I treated this VN badly, as one of my pet-peeves is dual-perspective VNs.  I generally prefer for there to be only one protagonist, and my reaction to this game was colored badly by that. First, I'll introduce the protagonists.  The first protagonist is Minase Yuuma, an optimistic young man who is nonetheless
Clephas

Clephas

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