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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 VN: Iroha ~Aki no Yuuhi ni Kagefumi o~

This is a VN made by a long-defunct company called Cait Sith.  Its members went to a number of places afterward... the more famous ones include Nekoneko soft's art crew and the writer of Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de.  In fact I can see that, in this case, some of the inspiration for the writer's later works definitely came from this VN.  It is about a young man living in a mysterious village of youkai.  He was raised from a very young age by the town's doctor, Waka-sensei, and he was watched ove
Clephas

Clephas

7

How I feel about games that come in parts

When Corona Blossom came out recently, I once again came face to face with a niche trend in gaming that has roots back in the nineties era console games... video games that, rather than presenting a full story in and of themselves (even if they are intended to have sequels), instead are released in parts.  Now, I thought about why this kind of game production method has never really caught on... and it took me all of ten seconds to remember why. Let's take the Shenmue series.  Really a
Clephas

Clephas

7

Ojousama wa Sunao ni Narenai

This is yet another VN from Ensemble, the company specializing in trap protagonist infiltrations and ojousama-ge.  For the first time in a while, the protagonist in this one is actually not a trap and the game actually has something approaching a good story... which was nice.  However, if you ask if it met my expectations for it, that's another story entirely. First, this VN starts with the protagonist, a part-time bodyguard from a family of such individuals, transferring into a school to s
Clephas

Clephas

0

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
Clephas

Clephas

0

2016: VN of the Year Candidates so far

Compared to 2015, this year has been an excellent one.  That isn't to say that we saw a glut of first-class VNs like in 2011 or 2014, but there have nonetheless been several releases worthy of consideration for a VN of the Year award from me so far. Candidates so Far Inochi no Spare Amatsutsumi Floral Flowlove Tokyo Necro Akeiro Kaikitan Close but not quite there Koi Suru Otome to Shugo no Tate ~Bara no Seibo~ (a direct sequel, so not a potential winner)
Clephas

Clephas

10

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
Clephas

Clephas

3

11gatsu no Arcadia Part 4: Mitouya Sena

Sena Sena is another active type of heroine... the lazy martial artist heroine. With anything other than pursuing self-training, she is lazy, and she is also a glutton. Generally speaking, she's good if you like boyish heroines with a tendency toward sexually harassing other girls. Her path split is shortly after Kokone's, so there is not really much in the way of extra character development... but in exchange, her route is probably the most detailed of all the heroine routes. Not only
Clephas

Clephas

0

A few thoughts

I think those who follow my blog might be aware of this, but I've played waaaay too many VNs this month. To be blunt, once Hanasaki is done, I'll have played seven. I know that might not seem like much, just saying it... but it still makes up about 100 hours of play/read time in under a month. What makes it worse is that several of the VNs I played were horrible disappointments, despite being from companies I normally liked. What am I trying to say here? It is fairly simple... no matt
Clephas

Clephas

1
VNs

Random Translation: Ashley Horizon and Dainsleif

Come into being, oh starlight written across the heavens... for we are a shining falling star. Oh how foolish, you blind and ignorant master of the throne!  How could you believe that you could take from my heart hope for the future with a mere prison at the bottom of the sea and an endless labyrinth? Look within these two eyes.  Know the fierce and undying flame within my gaze.  I already fly far into the distant sky, seeking the solemn flame (the sun). Even though my wings burn
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

9

November's releases so far

It has turned out to be a big month, hasn't it?  Three good quality games in a row... one of which I was sure was going to be a kusoge (guess which one).  This month had a surprising number of non-nukige releases that I was interested in, and I didn't really want to leave any of them to anyone else (I was actually interested in most of them).  Here is a list of what I've played and what I might play before picking VN of the Month. Played Aoi Tori Kizuna Kirameku Koi Iroha Yor
Clephas

Clephas

6

My Guilty Pleasure: Ojousama-ge

What is an ojousama-ge? It is fairly simple... it is a VN where multiple heroines (sometimes all or most of them) are young women from wealthy families. I love these VNs... but it isn't so much because I like ojousama heroines (though there is that, since I love people with warped personalities). Rather, it is because some of the best charage, nakige, and non-action story-focused VNs I've played are ojousama-ge.   Examples Otome ga Boku ni Koishiteiru 2 Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no Akatsuk
Clephas

Clephas

4

Tiny Dungeon Birth for Yours

This is the third VN in the Tiny Dungeon series (see: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blog/46/entry-727-tiny-dungeon-black-and-white/ and http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blog/46/entry-747-tiny-dungeon-bless-of-dragon/ for the first two). This one is focused on Note Ruum.   Note Ruum's secret you will already know from Black and White (it is central to the drama near the end), but I will refrain from revealing it anyway. She is the First Princess of the Divine World, as well as being the 'Grand Luna'
Clephas

Clephas

0

Amanatsu Adolescence (Dergonu) and Suisou Ginka no Istoria (cancelled by Clephas)

Played and written by Dergonu, edited for grammar by Clephas Amanatsu Adolesence is a moege that might seem very average at first glance. And, well, I'm not going to lie, it kind of is. But, at the same time the game has quite a few fun aspects that breaks away from the norm that is the "standard moege". This, alongside a fairly enjoyable cast, made me like this game more than I expected to. You won't find any seriously engaging drama, or super intellectual writing in this VN. But it does a
Clephas

Clephas

1

VN element: Slice-of-life

One of the single biggest elements of most VNs in existence is slice-of-life.  This entire post is based on this fact, and it isn't one that can seriously be argued against by anyone who has read more than a hundred VNs. So what is slice-of-life?  With VNs, it is a type of scene where bits and pieces of daily life, without any particular conflict, are portrayed.  These can be humorous, mildly touching, or informative.  So what is the value of slice-of-life as a tool for storytelling? 
Clephas

Clephas

4

JRPG: I am Setsuna

Yes, I went ahead and played this, having pre-ordered it on Steam. I've been pumping about three hours a day into it since it came out and my final level for my main party was 47 (which seems to be low, but that is apparently because people go for the 'beat the boss without weakening him first' trophy, pfft).  This is a game designed to bring nostalgia to the minds of those who are fans of the SNES and PS1 eras, and in that sense, it definitely succeeds.  It utilizes a battle system copied from
Clephas

Clephas

5

Mono no Aware wa Sai no Koro

The review below was done by fun2novel and edited by me.  One word about the title that might be interesting to you is that 'Mono no Aware' is a term for the 'awareness of impermanence', and it is one of the fundamental concepts underlying the traditional Japanese views on life and death and mortality.  In essence Mono no Aware wa Sai no Koro is a Japanese take on the film Jumanji staring the late Robin Williams (Clephas: I cried when he died for a week straight...). However, this is doesn
Clephas

Clephas

2

My attitude toward moege/charage

Since most of the people who read my blog at all are probably already aware of this, I'm not going to hide the fact that moege/charage aren't my favorite sector of the VN industry.  I see VNs in general as a storytelling medium first and a visual art third or fourth, so the overfocus on visual elements that defines 'true moege' and the inevitable inconsistencies and storytelling incompetence in charage can be pretty irritating for me.  That said, I have and do enjoy some charage/moege.  One
Clephas

Clephas

1

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.
Clephas

Clephas

4

Why I still haven't given up on VNs.

After ten years playing VNs, you would think I would have completely lost faith in them by now, especially considering just how many I've played (744 not counting most of the nukige, replays and incomplete/dropped ones).  Most VNs that aren't nukige are SOL-fests that exist solely to promote nostalgic fantasies about life in high school and getting into bishoujos' pants... not that that is an entirely horrible goal, but it isn't something I want to see five hundred times over. The romance i
Clephas

Clephas

4

Kokorone Pendulum

This is the latest game by Clochette, a company known mostly for four things:  It's decent stories, it's excellent characters, a tendency toward fantasy and sci-fi settings, and the forest of oppai heroines that spring up in its wake.  lol Clochette is straight out my favorite plotge/charage hybrid company, mostly because they understand what they do well and don't try to do anything but develop from that perspective.  The result is that I can depend on their games being enjoyable.  Some pe
Clephas

Clephas

0

Pragmatic VN gaming: Some common sense

For better or worse, the VN localization industry in America and other Western nations is expanding rapidly, primarily due to the efforts of aggressive localization companies such as Mangagamer and Sekai Project, but also due to the increased interest on the part of at least some Japanese VN companies in making a few extra bucks through localization.  I say 'for better or worse' because the increase in localizations has actually begun to outline what some of the biggest problems with VNs ar
Clephas

Clephas

2

Unlucky Re:Birth/Reverse

This is a VN by Windmill, the company that made Hyper Hyspeed Genius and Kamigakari Cross Heart, both great VNs, even if they were wildly different in focus and genre.  While this VN doesn't quite measure up to them overall, it does have its moments, which I will outline below. First, the common path... it is your classic charage common path, though with the fantasy twist that the protagonist is sucked into another world whose only real differences materially is the existence of magic and the la
Clephas

Clephas

0

[Changed] Reminiscence Collectors Edition part 1: Reminiscence

I picked up the Reminiscence Collectors Edition, despite the fact that I already possessed the original game, primarily so I could see how they altered things.  To be blunt, the changes so far - having finished Rin's, Nozomi's, and Aki's routes - are a lot less than is indicated on the site.  The typos I vaguely remembered from my first and second playthroughs are no longer present, Rin and Nozomi both got minor (very minor) touch-ups to their paths, and there are a few added scenes in the commo
Clephas

Clephas

0

My March Release schedule

I'm going to be blunt.  As soon as Persona 5 comes out, I'll probably drop everything and stop talking for at least two or three days.  As such, you can pretty much be sure that the time from now until the fourth is the time for me to play VNs, lol.  This month is, however, extremely heavy on the number of releases, if not the level of excitement that follows them (Minori's style is antithetical to me, so I really do want to offload Trinoline on someone else, despite their high quality productio
Clephas

Clephas

6

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
Clephas

Clephas

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