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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

dropping for now: IxShe Tell

I honestly normally wouldn't bother explaining why I choose not to play a given VN in a given month, but with Hooksoft games, given their rather high popularity, there is a real need for me to say something. First, I don't like Hooksoft games.  They are written well, are visually pretty, and generally have moe-stimulating heroines.  However, they are also perfect examples of every reason I can find not to bother with the genre at times.  The characters are cute, there is plenty of ichaicha
Clephas

Clephas

1

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

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
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

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
Clephas

Clephas

3

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

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

Hanikami Clover: Succubi and wasted potential

... it has been almost a year and a half since the last release from Studio Ryokucha, and I was looking forward to this, almost despite myself.  This company has produced some really good games over the years, and I have generally enjoyed most of their games I've played thoroughly.  At first, it seemed like this one might end up being one of the better VNs by this company, but once I finished my first route, I was forced to come to the realization that my expectations - based on the building of
Clephas

Clephas

0

Tsuyokiss Next

This is actually my second time playing this VN, though my first playthrough only went through Neko and Kohane.  I will say that playing this after the original series does change my perspective somewhat, as it is easier to get the many references throughout the VN.  Hakari, one of the heroines, is the cousin of the protagonist from the original trilogy and the protagonist is Kani's cousin.  Jiro is a relative of one of the Kenpou Club's members from the time of the first protagonist (ten years
Clephas

Clephas

0

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

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