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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

Koi Suru Kokoro to Mahou no Kotoba

This is the latest charage from Hearts, a company specializing in 'yurufuwa' charage with nakige elements.  This company's works have a tendency to make me want to puke waves of sugar, but, in my experience, this is one of the better 'yurufuwa' companies out there. This game focuses on a kind-hearted young man named Harutoki Narumi as he suddenly (and by accident) summons a high-level spirit named Haruharu, and, as a result, he gets dragged into the world of witches and magic users whose du
Clephas

Clephas

4

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
Clephas

Clephas

2
Japanese literature

WN: Maou-gun Saikyou no Majutsushi wa Ningen Datta

This particular WN is remarkable for a lot of reasons.  The protagonist of this story is reincarnated in another world as the adopted son of a lich general in the service of Dairokuten Maou (lol, if you can guess who else got reincarnated, I'll clap in congrats), and he joins the demonic armies as a commander while hiding the fact that he is human behind a skull mask and lich's robes.  The story itself begins after he has already begun to become famous as a conquering commander but before his re

Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai

Well, that was a bit of a surprise... after people's iffy ratings of the trial, I'd honestly expected this VN to be disappointing, in general, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the VN as a whole exceeded the expectations I'd had for it previously.  What were those expectations?  I thought it would be a mere variation on the usual 'human goes to another world, gains ultimate power, defeats the evil, and gets a harem' theme that defines most VNs that have a protagonist go to another world
Clephas

Clephas

7

Random VN: Tasogare no Sinsemilla

This is a VN frequently recommended to those who have just gotten used to playing untranslated VNs, a story-focused mystery VN focused on the village of Minagami, a small farming town in the mountains somewhere on the main island of Japan.  I remember playing this back when it came out and enjoying it immensely... but since it was like the twentieth untranslated VN I'd played, I was still not quite to the point where I was able to grasp every single detail of the story.  In addition, I was still
Clephas

Clephas

0

Why I'm going to drop Kadenz Fermata

Yes, I'm serious about dropping this VN.  There are a number of reasons... but the main one is a pet peeve that has recently become my primary one when it comes to VNs... and that is flowcharts.  I HATE flowcharts.  Making it worse is that Kadenz Fermata's flowchart is combined with an unbelievably annoying 'gameplay' system that requires you to take a really half-assed 'active' part in the battles to bring them to the best possible conclusion... even though that conclusion is often identical to
Clephas

Clephas

7

Changing views of localization

Yay, Clephas is contributing to a controversial topic in his blog!  *listens for the hisses and boos of his loving public* More seriously, I'm not out to bash fantranslators, localization companies, or anyone else involved with the process.  I've been on both sides (consumer and producer) and I can honestly say that I can see all four sides of the argument (the producer side, the negative consumer side, the neutral consumer side, and the positive consumer side). The Positive Consumer
Clephas

Clephas

8

Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Part 1: Common and Yuno

For those who care, I posted my thoughts on Clochette and VN activism in general in this post ( http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blogs/entry/975-clochette-activist-vn-makers-or-just-endless-oppai/ ).  Now, a few issues with this VN.  Kokonatsu (Koko kara Natsu no Innocence) very much follows in the tradition of combining science fiction, fantasy, and/or science-fantasy elements in a charage with solid scenario design and writing to create an interesting whole.  In this case, it would probably be best
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sangoku Hime 4: Giving up in Exasperation

Like some others, I got tricked into playing yet another gameplay-hybrid in the series of games by Gesen known as the Sangoku Hime series. To be honest... I couldn't imagine how they could have screwed things up worse.   First of all, they used their 'restructuring' of the game as a big draw for those who were disappointed with a lot of the aspects of 3. They basically redid all the character designs (without exception) with completely new characterization, art, and voices... and I'll be honest
Clephas

Clephas

3

Japanese Ghosts, spirits, oni, etc: A bit of a crash course

First, the simple basis for understanding the way Japanese think about the supernatural. Simply put, Shinto, which was the country's official religion and is the religion that originated there, is an animistic faith, with a strong tendency toward the personification of nature and objects. Second, Buddhism was the dominant faith in Japan for centuries, when the various shogunates tried to weaken the Emperor's power by strengthening the influence of Buddhism as a rival faith. Why is this rel
Clephas

Clephas

4

Shunkyoku no Tyrhhia ~What a Beautiful Dawn

I'm going to be blunt... if it weren't for the urging of one of my online friends, I wouldn't have played this game.  For one thing, it is a direct prequel to Gakthun, which I didn't have much fun with (I don't really like Japanese versions of Liar Soft games, for some reason... though I loved the English version of Sekien).  It is based in a steampunk world version of one of the most-visited eras of Japanese history in otaku media, the Bakumatsu era.  In that era, Japan was opened by Briti
Clephas

Clephas

3

Gusha no Kyouben [UPDATED]

First, I should say that I have no taste for loli-shota whatsoever, so I'm going to drop this now that I've finished one of the paths and gotten a feel for what this VN is like.  So... this turned out to actually be a loli-shota game, despite my hopes otherwise.  I have no idea of what Akabeisoft is thinking, turning its main child brand into a sub-brand that produces random games, but I can honestly say that I wish they would stick to one or two genres... Now, this is one VN that has no bu
Clephas

Clephas

0

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
Clephas

Clephas

3

Tayutama 2

First, I should apologize to those who voted for Sen no Hatou.  To be honest, I had every intention of finishing it first... but I kept running into the walls I described in the previous post, so I switched over to this game.     ****** Before reading further, please realize that it is impossible to talk about this VN without spoiling the original to some extent.  If you haven't played the original Tayutama, you shouldn't be considering playing this game anyway (as it doesn't make sens
Clephas

Clephas

1

VN of the Month January 2017

This month was almost a no-brainer... while there were some halfway-decent charage releases, there weren't any that made a significant impression.  I'm afraid I don't have time to read Giga's newest half-hearted-but-pretty-looking charage (work is busy) and I haven't actually played any VNs since i finished Ninki Seiyuu last week.  Silverio Trinity is VN of the Month January 2017.  Normally, I wouldn't name a sequel as VN of the Month, on principle.  However, in this case, the game itself w
Clephas

Clephas

4

Rehash of vital points for those who played Hachimyoujin

Everything in this post is spoilers, so I'll be treating it as such. Don't look in the box below unless you played the first Senshinkan VN, Hachimyoujin. That is a very vague summary of the basic outline of what went on in the first VN, and no one should play Bansenjin without having played Hachimyoujin. Edit: At the same time, people who are used to Masada's style will have time getting into Bansenjin, simply because you have already experienced the majority of the characters in thi
Clephas

Clephas

1

Puramai Wars

Aah... to be honest, this VN is really nostalgic. After about an hour, I felt like I'd begun an old-style love-comedy anime, full of whacky antics and blushing girls who pretend they don't - or don't realize - they all like the same guy... I only played three of the routes - mostly because it is a straight-out love-comedy with no real story at all. However, I can say that this VN has a few major attractions for someone looking for something light to play. 1. It really is just one big laugh-sp
Clephas

Clephas

1

A guide to Devils Devel Concept (Necessary spoilers)

Why I made this post. Devils Devel Concept is one of my favorite VNs and has one of my top 3 VN settings.  The setting is so ridiculously complex and explained only in fragments along the way, so it is difficult to gain any real grasp on what is going on just reading any one path... Not to mention that there are a ridiculous number of details that can be lost along the way as you read.  Sora is fundamentally an indifferent narrator when it comes to such details, because he doesn't have any
Clephas

Clephas

0

Hyakugojuunenme no Mahoutsukai

I'm going to be blunt, I wasn't really up for playing this in the first place, and as a result, my opinion of this VN is probably quite a bit lower than it actually deserves... but at the same time, it is probably a bit more realistic than those who are tricked by the pretty pictures. I mostly picked this one up to satisfy those who are curious and because it is technically a May release. From a writing standpoint, this VN is about average, as moege go. There is nothing really special about
Clephas

Clephas

2

Steam: Silverio Trinity append stories

A few weeks ago, I picked up the Steam versions of Silverio Vendetta and Silverio Trinity.  My reasons in the latter case were pretty self-explanatory... I wanted to read the append after story that Light so cavalierly and cruelly only included with the all-ages version previously only available on the Vita.  Considering that the after story append serves as a bridge between Trinity and Ragnarok, as well as giving you what amounts to a four to five hour extension to the true route... I can say i
Clephas

Clephas

4

Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Part 2: Arika, Kotobuki, and Iroha (edited)

Arika's path is... one of the ecchi-est paths I've seen in a non-nukige in a while.  That is to say, Arika plays the role of the 'honor student' of the future, the ideal of the people from Yoshikazu's era.  There are minor spoilers in the box below, but they were significant enough I had to box them up.  Besides this, it addresses seriously a number of issues when it comes to modern child-rearing and the reasons why it has become so hard (in an oblique manner) for kids to be raised in an era wh
Clephas

Clephas

0

VN staff: Shumon Yuu

I'm going to give you my basic opinion of Shumon Yuu straight up and without embellishment... he is a genius. I generally am reluctant to call any writer a genius.  I have read thousands of stories - if I include both books and VNs - and I can only name a bare dozen or so authors/writers I can honestly and unequivocally name as geniuses.  Of course, this is a subjective viewpoint... but it is backed up by significant experience, lol. Shumon Yuu is that rarest of the rare in VN writers/
Clephas

Clephas

6

Why September (probably) isn't going to have a VN of the Month

I've played a number of releases from September's releases, and I'm currently playing Renai Phase (which I'd promised not to, as Giga is incapable of making anything truly great outside of Baldr). However, this month really doesn't have anything I'd really consider VN of the Month material... Seikishi had its fingertips on the vague possibility, and it is undeniably the best thing I played from September. Unfortunately, 'the best from September' is not good enough.   The reason I'm already p
Clephas

Clephas

3

Reflecting on my Otaku Origins

I took my first steps onto the road of the otaku in 1992, when I watched the poorly dubbed (all dubs were godawful back then) Record of Lodoss War Volume 1 OVA VCR tape.  Now, I was already a heavy fantasy addict, having been introduced to the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance in 1990, and my obsession was at its peak at the time.  When I watched Record of Lodoss War, I saw the typical 'elven maiden with human hero' romance in a new way (incidentally, this is a pretty typical romantic theme in th
Clephas

Clephas

8

Senkou no Clarias

It was remarked by Veshurik recently that it seemed like I wasn't really around anymore... but that isn't really the case.  I still play VNs, but the fact is, I don't play many new VNs that I haven't already blogged about yet.  I simply can't muster enough interest to play most of the new stuff that comes out, simply because there just isn't that much that looks interesting coming out at any given time.   Senkou no Clarias, by Team Baldrhead, was the game I thought would break through my boredom
Clephas

Clephas

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