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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

Random VNs: Like a Butler

As part of my series of posts on AXL, today I finished replaying Like a Butler, one of AXL's earlier charage-type VNs.  This VN is of a type that hadn't really been touched until AXL opened it up... the ojousama-ge.  Just to give you a little history, until the release of Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no in 2006, there hadn't been any really good or famous ojousama-ge made.  It was only after 2010 when the sub-genre exploded outward into the ridiculous numbers we've seen since (with Ensemble alone pr
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Random VNs: Kyonyuu Fantasy 3

The Kyonyuu Fantasy series is easily one of the weirdest series I’ve ever encountered.  On one side, you have what is clearly nukige levels of sexual content, with some of the most absurd h-scenes I’ve ever encountered, taking male breast-obsessions to new levels.  On the other side, you have startlingly detailed settings and interesting stories with protagonists who only seem weak on the surface. Kyonyuu Fantasy 3 is no exception to my experiences with the series.  When I started it, I w
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Random VNs: Kyonyuu Fantasy 2if

Knonyuu Fantasy 2if is a remake of the original Kyonyuu Fantasy 2, with an apparently expanded narrative.  Having played the Digitalized Novel version of the original Kyonyuu Fantasy, which I loved, I found Kyonyuu Fantasy 2if to be very… familiar. To be blunt, everything in this VN is exactly like the first few chapters of that estimable game, with the easygoing, unambitious protagonist gaining political power and rising to the top over the course of the game… while having sex constantly
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Random VNs: Kono Sekai no Mukou de

Kono Sekai no Mukou de was the first game made by Orange Yell, and it is based in the same world as their second game, Sakura Nikagetsu.  This company is a low-budget maker that produces comedy/nakige (from the time between each release and the low budget, I'm guessing they are almost completely self-funded).  While they are nothing special visually or in terms of the audio, their games 'have heart' as some people put it. Kono Sekai starts out just after the protagonist, Asobu, discovers hi
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Random VNs: Koitate

Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - The Code Name is "Shield 9" is the VN that most vets think of when they think of AXL as a company.  For better or worse, this has become the defining work in this company's library, and it is the only one that has any sort of English release patch out (though it is only a partial with Yukino's route).  This VN is something of a thriller, focusing on Kisaragi Shuuji as he protects Yukino, Ren, and Marina from the assassins and would-be kidnappers inside their
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Random Vns: Itoshii Kanojo no Mamorikata

This VN is the third AXL VN I played, way back in 2011.  This VN is a charage with a twist.  That twist is that its setting is a military school run by a PMC (Private Military Corporation) named Blaze, designed to produce bodyguards, special forces mercenaries, and military researchers.  It starts out with the protagonist entering the school, hoping to reunite with his osananajimi Yui, having promised to do so as a child *pauses for laughs*, and having exchanged letters over the years, keep
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Random VNs: Haru Uso, Natsu Uso, and Aki Uso

The 'Uso' series by Campus is a series of games, each focused on a different heroine who is in love with the same protagonist. That protagonist possesses the ability to hear lies (note that he doesn't hear truth), due to a magical artifact accidentally implanted in his body half a decade before the story begins.  The last game in the series, Fuyu Uso, will be coming out in July and covers the final heroine, the school president.   The other three heroines are Satsuki (Haru Uso) the school idol w
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Random VNs: Gleam Garden no Shoujo

Gleam Garden is a semi-chuuni VN by the makers of Lovesick Puppies, Cosmic Cute.  While it isn't amongst the VNs I love the most, it was nonetheless a pleasant memory, so I chose to dig it out of the pile and play it again this week.  Edit: I should mention that while this VN does have action scenes, a lot of the VN is about the changes in the characters, especially the heroines, as they learn to accept their sins, their past, and the restrictions placed on their future by their situation.
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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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Random VNs: Draculius

NSFW?   I'll say it straight out... in my mind, Draculius is one of the top two vampire VNs in existence... with the other one being Vermilion by Light.  Meromero Cute was a company that had a tendency toward making... eccentric works.  Mahou Shoujo no Taisetsu na koto is particularly memorable for the cross-dressing protagonist who spends a ridiculous amount of time being reverse-raped in a magical girl costume...  It used the fact that nobody expects mahou shoujo stories and settin
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Random VNs: Doushite, Sonna ni Kuroi Kami ga Suki na no?

First, I should say that this VN has major problems, despite the fact that I ended up enjoying it quite a bit as a whole.  This is true of most VNs (obviously), but in this case, the problems are a bit more obvious. The main problem is the number of choices... to be honest, the sheer number of choices in this VN completely breaks engrossment with it at most points.  Generally, the best parts of this VN are found when the choices are over and all that is left is the momentum until the end of
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Random VNs: Damekoi Part 1

It has been a while since I did a partial post on a VN, and most of the time I either do it out of enthusiasm or because I got a specific request for a path-by-path detailed report from a friend.  In this case, it is because I ran out of time to finish Sekai de Ichiban Dame na Koi after I played through half the game and two of the paths.  I ran out of time because my copy of Senren Banka, which I asked me friend to ship to me directly, arrived two days early.  I wasn't expecting it until Tuesd
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Random VNs: Damekoi Final part

Now, this is going to be a somewhat short post, despite the fact that Damekoi has turned into one of the better VNs I've played in recent years (well, for the first time, anyway).  That is because Asami and Mitoko's routes split at the same point and share at least some of the same events and text, and Asami's route is mostly done by that split. I'm going to be blunt... once you get past Himeo's route, it turns into a muddy and messy ren'ai drama.  The protagonist, Osamu, is torn between hi
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Random VNs: Comments on Silverio's setting and VN of the Month

Silverio's setting is based approximately fifteen hundred years from now, just over a thousand years after a massive disaster obliterated the civilizations that existed then.  The disaster was caused by a dimensional reactor melt down (basically, a reactor that draws energy from higher dimensions) and it basically erased Japan, the entire east coast of China, and most of Alaska (along with most of the islands in the Pacific).  In exchange, it created a 'second sun', known as 'Amaterasu' in the a
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Random VNs: Bradyon Veda

Bradyon Veda is one of the hardest to read VNs out there... right up there with Kajiri Kamui Kagura, if for different reasons.  One reason is the frequent usage of internal jargon, obscure (to an outsider) physics terms, and other setting issues.  The other reason is that the writer is, similarly to Masada, in love with spellchants and rarely-used kanji.  That said, Bradyon Veda is science fiction and science-fantasy, not fantasy.  One of the biggest distinctions between this game and fanta
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Random VNs: A second play of World Election

As you can see above, this isn't the first time I've played this game, and I had a reason for going back to it... a good one.  To be blunt, I thought I hadn't given it a fair review, as it seemed a lot better as the memories soaked into my backbrain than it seemed immediately after.  So, naturally, I decided to play it again after a year had passed (my minimum for replaying non-chuunige). First, I should say that my view of the common route is pretty much the same as the first time I played
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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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Random VNs Tsuyokiss Nigakki

For those who haven't read my comments on the first Tsuyokiss game, here they are.  I'm now going to move onto the direct sequel to the original, Tsuyokiss Nigakki Tsuyokiss Nigakki is the second VN in the series, based in the second semester of the same year in the protagonist's life.  The introduction of a new character - Serebu - seemed like it might change the dynamics a bit... but it really didn't.  I was honestly disappointed with the lackluster common route and the sheer amount
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Random VN: Zero Infinity - Devil of Maxwell

I've been saving a replay of this VN for years.  My original opinion on this VN was excessively influenced by the fact that this VN is filled to the brim with Masada and Dies Irae worship.  However, it is also the VN that, separate from that, defined the second Light team's style.  The base character archetypes, roles, and numerous aspects of their settings were almost universally drawn from Dies Irae, if you strip away the specifics.  This is the biggest reason I had so much trouble properly ra
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Random VN: Yurikago yori Tenshi Made [Edited]

Yurikago is one of my favorite VNs.  That isn't because it so 'awesome' or a kamige.  Story-wise, it is actually a bit below the average for Akatsuki Works.  No, the reason I like this game so much is the characters and their interactions. Kiritooshi Hiro, the protagonist (his surname means 'to cut all the way through' lol) is a young high school student who lives every day trapped in a web of his own apathy.  Tormented by his 'Knight Frame' (a magitech-type device that replaces his entire
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Random VN: Yurameku Kokoro ni Michita Sekai de, Kimi no Yume to Yokubou wa Kanau ka

Yurayuka was released  in 2017 by Cube, a company that I never got around to messing with (mostly because their other games were nukige, for the most part).  I chose to put this one in my 'rainy day' archive for a time when I wanted something to play that I hadn't read before but wasn't a charage (most games I set aside are charage, since there is only so much virtual sugar I can consume without getting virtual diabetes).  From the very beginning, this game makes its 'time loop' concept obv
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VNs

Random VN: Yome Sagashi ga Hakadorisugite Yabai

This is the second game in Hulotte's Yabai trilogy.   It is also, by far, the highest quality of the three.  Like the other two, it is a harem-ge/charage with slight rom-com elements.  Where it differs from more modern charage/moege is that it is more of an issue of 'who' he picks rather than falling in love in the normal way.  The why of this makes sense (and not in totally forced way) within the setting and story, so that isn't necessarily an issue. The protagonist, Ashihara Daiki, is the
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Random VN: Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary

Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary is a game made back in 2017 that came very close to being my VN of the Year for that year, for good reason.  Since I've already reviewed this game as a whole once, I'm going to go into more detail about what the catch points are of this game, as opposed to merely assessing it based on a lot of general points. A major plus point of this game is the way Alice, the main heroine, often serves as a sounding board to provide the reader with an intellectual understandin
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Random VN: Vermilion Bind of Blood

This is my fourth time replaying the Light VN, Vermilion Bind of Blood, and to my startlement, I realized that my only commentary on this is is in my ancient VN of the Month Thread on the forums.  So... of course I cannot leave my beloved public ignorant of this game (though I've made a habit of recommending it to everyone, like Evolimit). Vermilion was the first chuunige made by Light's second team, and it was my first experience of the team's work.  It is also probably that team's single
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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
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