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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: Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake

This is perhaps one of the few games from my first five years playing untranslated VNs that isn't a chuunige that I remembered vividly.  I decided to pick this up again because I wanted some good catharsis, and I was tired of waiting for Mangagamer to get off their butts and actually release this.  Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta wake is what is called a 'soft utsuge', in the sense that there are no good endings but it focuses more on the bittersweet sorrow rather than the absolute despair of a 'ha
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Bloody Rondo

Bloody Rondo is 3rdEye's first and arguably their worst game.  By chuunige standards it is very much 'yesteryear' even by the standards of the year it came out, being a 'half-gakuen' type where the protagonist splits his life between school during the day and other stuff at night.    What it comes down to in the end is that this game was, from the very beginning, apologetically derivative and something of a failure primarily due to an attempt to draw on the relative success of Draculius several
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Blade x Bullet Kinrin no Soleil

Whatever else you can say about Skyfish's Soleil series, they never do the same thing (precisely) twice in a row. The Soleil series is based in a multiverse that comes into existence after the end of Ragnarok, the final battle of the gods from Norse mythology.  Previous entries in the series have ranged from your typical old-style chuunige (Shirogane no Soleil) to crazed ventures into chaotic medlies of Norse, Chinese, and Cthulhu Mythos (Gouen no Soleil).   Blade x Bullet is perhaps t
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Bishoujo Mangekyou - Tsumi to Batsu no Shoujo

For those wondering why I haven't posted recently (two weeks without a blog post is about the longest I've ever gone since the Fuwa blogs opened, save for the Fuwapocalypse periods), I've simply been too busy with work and playing Mask of Truth to bother.  This review was written up by Dergonu before then, and I only just got around to editing it.  Bishoujo Mangekyou -Tsumi to Batsu no Shoujo- was my first Mangekyou game, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect of it. The limit of my know
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Baldr Sky Zero

Baldr Sky Zero is an entirely different animal from Baldr Sky Dive. I say this as a warning for those who are looking for a complete duplicate of the experience. Baldr Sky Dive was very much like a post-apocalypse apocalypse story in some ways, with a bunch of revenge thrown in. There is much to recommend to both duologies but they are fundamentally different in some ways. This review is of the first half of the Zero duology, which covers the Sakura, Kei, and Fran paths. I chose to review i
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Eien no Aselia

I recently got the impulse to go back and replay Eien no Aselia, which sat at the top (mostly by inertia and alphanumeric reasons) of my vndb votes for so long.  Eien no Aselia was one of the final games I played in English before I took the dive into Japanese untranslated VNs, and I hadn't replayed it since, though I played Seinarukana within a year of entering the labyrinth. Eien no Aselia is one of those few 'oldies' I found hadn't lost anything vital in the years since I last played it.
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN replay: Majikoi

I decided while I was playing my Tsuyokiss marathon to replay the Majikoi series.  My reason?  I played the original over five years ago, and my perspective on it was bound to have changed since.  In that sense I was correct.  I came to one conclusion that I'll go ahead and state beforehand... Majikoi is a game that definitely picks its readers (in a sense, this is true of all of Takahiro's games).  Whereas the Tsuyokiss series is, for better or worse, a series of VNs in the 'traditional go
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN plans

Now... as I said in the nostalgia post, I've been replaying a lot of games lately.  The reason is fairly simple... my backlog of VNs is almost nonexistent now.  I've played roughly 85% of the ones I purchased during the first days, including all but a few of those that I've purchased in the last few years.  That isn't to say that there are no VNs of interest that I haven't played yet... but many of them just aren't available to purchase by download and are too expensive to obtain a physical copy
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN Finals poll

Well, essentially the above poll came down to a tie vote between Random Chuunige and Meguri, Hitohira.  I'll give you a quick run down on the two choices that is a bit more detailed than the post above. Meguri, Hitohira Essentially, the protagonist of this story is a loner with the ability to see non-humans and other mystical beings.  He has lived much of his adult life in despair, blaming himself for the death of his little sister, who was the only person who understood him and a
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN Assesment: Hatsugamai

Hatsugamai (or Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru) is one of my favorite nakige from the last four years.  Feeling in the need of some emotional catharsis, I finally went back to it a while back, and I was blown away a second time by just how powerful the emotions this game brings out are. First, it should be noted that Alcot Honeycomb, the subsidiary of Alcot that produced this game is known for two things... that it is a low to mid-price and budget company and for the fact that they have
Clephas

Clephas

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Random translation: Silverio Vendetta's opening scene

This scene is the opening of Silverio Vendetta, and the two monologues (one from Zephyr, one from a spoiler character who isn't named in the scene) define the nature of the game's theme. “勝利”とは、何だ？ What is victory? “栄光”とは、何だ？ What is glory? それを得れば、何も失わずに済むのだろうか I choose that path, will I be able to live without losing anything? 救えるのか。守れるのか。本当に、幸せになれるのだろうか Can I save what is mine?  Can I protect it?  Can I really find happiness? 　問いは切実。なぜなら、勝利というものはとても
Clephas

Clephas

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VNs

Random Translation: Silverio Trinity Countdown Video

"I have no regrets whatsoever about the fate I chose, bore, and walked to its end." "The reason is that I had only to but bear the burden alone.  It was a situation where the madman known as Valzeride was the only one that needed to suffer to the end." "If offering up the Monster of Light as a sacrifice would bring my homeland prosperity, then there need be no hesitation.  It truly was a perfect exchange.  As I desired, I ran through the infinite hells to their end." "Believing to
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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Random Translation: Silverio Trinity (Dainsleif rant)

「かつて、核爆弾という殲滅兵器があったらしい。旧暦二十世紀に誕生した破壊の炎は、長らく人類を焼き尽くせる破壊の象徴だったんだとよ。　2500年代にもなればどの国でも当たり前の基本装備になり、それぞれが世界を焼き尽くせる量を保有しつつ、それぞれの領土へ常に矛先を向けていたそうだ。おまえ達が撃って来たらこっちも撃ち込んで滅ぼしてやる、という感じでな――いわゆる核抑止論というやつだ」 Dainsleif "In the distant past, there used to be a weapon of annihilation known as the nuclear bomb.  This destructive flame, born in the twentieth century of the old calendar, was for a long time the symbol of humanity's ability to destroy itself.  By 2500, it was basic equipment for every nation, ever
Clephas

Clephas

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VNs

Random Translation: Silverio Ragnarok Misaki and Ragna

Come into being, oh supernova written upon the heavens--- for we are a falling star from the Age of Gods. Oracle received, beginning revelation of the star. The plundered afternoon light brings forth the frozen blizzard.  The wind, the sword, and the wolf... the steps to ruin within the winter prison. The uncountable ruins stained our family and brothers in crimson.  Not even the three children of the gods were excepted.  There are no longer bonds between the sun, the moon, and th
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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VNs

Random Translation: Silverio Ragnarok - Cecile, Jace, Angelica, Patricia

Come into being, oh starlight written upon the heavens, for we are a shining falling star. From the moment this heart began to beat, the dark prophecy was set in stone.  The messenger of disaster is given no right to live upon the earth. Sunken deep beneath the dark ocean, the serpent burns its very self with curses.  It will never be forgotten, it will never be forgiven.  The grinding of scales, the raging fangs.  For the sight of Midgard burnt upon the inside of its eyelids stokes th
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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VNs

Random Translation: Gilbert vs Valzeride

The video below starts in the middle of a side-story where Valzeride (the antagonist and hero of Silverio Vendetta) confronts Gilbert over his ideals.  They begin to fight because their ideals, while both based on goodness and light, are inherently opposed.  Valzeride ultimately sees himself as inhuman garbage and strives to slay evil and bring happiness to the people of Adler, whereas Gilbert wishes to create a world where people like Valzeride are free of jealousy and judgment of the masses. 
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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Random Translation: Devils Devel Concept Opening scene

(The first few lines of this can't be hooked, and I've never had the scripts extracted, so forgive me for not presenting the Japanese for them) Half of this world is made up of 'evil'.  'Evil' is desire. That which humans spill out as easily as breathing. (Clephas: combination of two lines, due to this VN being NVL style, it is often necessary to translate multiple lines together) That is an unseen crystallization of people's emotions. That is desire. That is 'evil'
Clephas

Clephas

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Random Translation: Bullet Butlers intro

異なる世界の話をしよう。 Let us speak of another world.   　我々とは森羅万象の法則が異なる世界、　違うものたちが生きる世界のことを。 A world where the laws of creation differ from our own.  A world where beings different from us live.   　誕生したとき、その世界はただの“無”でしかなかった。 When that world was born, that world contained nothing but the void.   　何も存在しないが故に何も起こらず、幾千幾万の時間が経とうとも、その世界は変化することがなかった。 Since nothing existed nothing happened.  No matter how many tens of thousands of years passed, that world continu
Clephas

Clephas

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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
Japanese literature

Random Translation: Anata no Tenshoku wa 'Daiyoukai' Desu Chapter 2

[Hey, your Mom is an evil woman (toxic woman)!] [I... I can't argue with that.] (Move... Move!  Move!  Move, please!  If I don't move now...!!) He tries to move his legs to get away from the three approaching him. However, he can't move. His body won't move an inch.  It is as if he's being tied down by an invisible something. (What is this!?  What is this!?  This is... what is it...?  It's as if I'm being enveloped in something...) At that moment, something was refl
Clephas

Clephas in Japanese literature

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Random Replay: Re:Birth Colony - Lost Azurite

Re:Birth Colony is a VN that has a special place in my heart.  It is the second VN in the two VN series about a future where a rain of meteors rendered the planet's surface lifeless and humanity is living in arcologies of various types.  The first one, Fake Azure Arcology, I plan to replay a bit later.  It has the same writer as Hapymaher, Harukiss, Sakigake Generation, and a number of other VNs going back to 2007.  The protagonist, Keram Souji (also known as Rindou Souji), is the adoptive
Clephas

Clephas

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Random replay: Izuna Zanshinken

Izuna Zanshinken is one of three pretty high-quality VNs made by Akatsuki Works Black during the period of a single year.  I say 'high-quality', but it was more for the pleasure levels rather than literary value.  Izuna Zanshinken and Yurikago yori Tenshi Made are both what I like to call 'perfect examples of chuunige crack' that are also readable by people who aren't translators or native Japanese.  Of course, there are hard moments, but in comparison to the normal ruck of chuunige, they are re
Clephas

Clephas

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Pure X Connect: A few thoughts before I play it

To be honest, if something more interesting is up before I start this, I'll probably play that... why? Simple, you can name the protagonist, which is enough of a downer for me that I seriously want to avoid this if I can. Setting that aside... this looks to be a fairly standard charage, though the protagonist isn't - for once - a high school student (instead a college student). A big downside of what I read on the title was that it seemed like the protag is a total dimwit, even by VN standa
Clephas

Clephas

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Pure Song Garden

Submitted by Dergonu, edited by Clephas Pure Song Garden has a similar structure to Pulltop's previous games, Kono Oozora and Miagete Goran: a club at a school doing something together to achieve a common goal (Clephas: Seishun, lol). But this game does put a lot less focus on the club part compared to the previous games, and it actually spends very little time in the school part. During the entire common route + the routes that I played, they only stepped into the club room, and they ne
Clephas

Clephas

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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

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