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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

Bunny Black 3

I've been playing this one off and on since it came out, but I went ahead and finished it today. To be honest, this game's difficulty level is about three levels higher than either of the previous ones, whereas the actual gameplay isn't improved all that much from the second one. The addition of a town-building element just made the game tedious, rather than adding anything to it. Story wise... a good beginning, some good moments in the center, and a last part that falls flat on its face.
Clephas

Clephas

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Teito Hiten Daisakusen

First, for those of you who are fans of the Steampunk Liar-soft games, this isn't one of them. Rather, it is based on an alternative version of the 1920's where curses, magic, and monsters exist and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 never happened. Japan has come away from its first major military contacts with the outside world as the victor over Russia, which is making its bloody transition from Empire to communist state. Garan, one of the two protagonists, is a tengu... as arrogant as
Clephas

Clephas

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Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart

なんだこりゃ？！  Seriously, that was what I thought as I read this VN.  'What the heck is this?!'  Mmm... at times, it felt like I was reading an adult version of a children's picture book (if such things exist), at others I felt like I was reading a VN version of the various -gatari anime series, and at yet others, I almost thought this was just another charage.  This VN is by Harukaze, a subsidiary of Minato Soft (makers of Majikoi) that has produced one other game before, Love of Ren'ai Koutei
Clephas

Clephas

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Hanasaki Work Spring, part 1: Shiranui Asuka, common

So far this VN takes the form of a straight-out high-quality charage, with some nakige elements. The protagonist, Yuuma, is like the ultimate lazy guy... so much so that he researched ergonomics solely so he could create the ultimate pillow for sleeping in class. The heroines are Ayano - the much-older senpai who is a genius but has been held back more than any other person in the history of the school -, Inori - a lone-wolf girl who hates people who ask her personal questions -, Wakaba - t
Clephas

Clephas

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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

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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

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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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Evenicle Part 1

Ok, this is the first part of my words on Evenicle, which will be the last VN I play from April's releases. I am only playing this one because it was specifically requested by several people, and to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I am not a fan of the Rance series or Alice Soft in general, because their VNs' plots just aren't that interesting, generally. The ratio of goofy to serious is generally too slanted in the goofy direction, so I tend to get bored about halfway through.
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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Koitama

I picked this one as my second game for VN of the Month May for a very simple reason... this company's previous works(1/2 Summer and Timepiece Ensemble) were overall enjoyable/emotionally powerful and I was hoping for a repeat of the experience. I'll be honest and say outright that it is nowhere near either of those two for sheer emotional impact, but I did find it more interesting in some ways, intellectually. First, the basic setting is pretty interesting. The VN takes place in a school wit
Clephas

Clephas

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Rensou Relation and VN of the Month Announcement

This is the newest title from Lump of Sugar, and as is typical of their recent productions, it has a needlessly complicated system for story progression that would have driven me insane inside ten minutes if I hadn't dled the patch that removes the gimmicks from their site. From what I've heard, LoS finally heard the screaming of their fans, that they didn't want anything to do with the pointless gimmicks that plagued Unmei Senjou no Phi and Magical Charming. Kind of sad that it took them a f
Clephas

Clephas

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Hapymaher Character Special: Talking about Maia

Now, anyone who has seen pictures or videos from Hapymaher will have noticed the VN's resident loli, Maia. For various reasons, Maia is easily the character who leaves the strongest impression in the VN, hands-down.  She is the center of the VN's obvious conflict, and she easily has the greatest variety of character poses and non-H CGs.  If there is drama of some sort throughout the common route, Saki's route, Keiko's route, or Yayoi's route, she is somehow involved or the cause of it.
Clephas

Clephas

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Venus Blood Empire

Yes, I went and played a game in this series, mostly because Sanahtlig is an old friend and I didn't want to keep brushing him off. In fact, I'm marathonning this series starting with this game. First, an initial umbrella statement... this would have been a first-class story (though flawed) if it weren't for the massive amounts of tentacle rape and choukyou. Am I serious? Yeah. Despite everything, the base story is actually really good. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the gamepla
Clephas

Clephas

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Kikouyoku Senki Gin no Toki no Corona part 2: Mini-review

First, I should state that I couldn't stand Yumina from Yumina the Ethereal, so I dropped the game about halfway through. I hate it when a ditz is the main heroine, and Yumina is one of the most air-headed heroines I've ever run across... and I've played a lot of moege. As such, I went in without a lot of the knowledge you are supposed to gain in Yumina's late-game, so my experience will be slightly different from those who played Yumina. First, Touka, the protagonist, is a former chuunibyou
Clephas

Clephas

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Caramel Box: The VN industry's 'oddball' company

Caramel Box is one of my favorite companies.  I'll say that right off the bat.  They have one of the best writing/producing teams in the business, and it tends to show.  Not only that, but their VNs tend to run the gamut, all the way from nakige to chuunige.  While artist-freaks will sometimes nitpick on the details of their CGs, their artistic style is unique in VNs, retaining some older techniques and mixing it with new.  In addition, their musical choices are similarly odd, frequently utilizi
Clephas

Clephas

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Monster Musume series part 2: The fandisc and my final thoughts (for now, anyway)

The fandisc for the entire series actually brings all the characters - plus a new cast of one protagonist and three heroines - together, including extensive after-stories for both the first and second generation of characters (Gakuen being the second generation and the others the first). The new cast is based in an era fifty years after the events in the second generation, when most of the characters are elderly or deceased (with the exceptions of near-immortals like Suiku). The three heroines
Clephas

Clephas

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Baldr Bullet Revellion...

I'm going to be blunt... this game is badly overrated on vndb. I was - quite frankly - amazed at how poorly the story was told... it was like looking at a bunch of disorganized pictures set on a wall and trying to make an actual story out of them. The protagonist is your classic cipher for the reader, and the female characters basically exist to have random sex with the protagonist. The actual battle system is nowhere near as refined as it was even in Force, despite the fact that Revellion is a
Clephas

Clephas

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Maboroshi no Dystopia part 2: Kaede's path and one pissed off Clephas

Ok... if just one path got gypped by the writers, I would have overlooked it as a minor flaw. It would have been worthy of irritation, but I wouldn't have bothered remaining angry forever. It isn't uncommon for a single heroine to pull the short straw when it comes to route quality... but after reading Kaede's route I have something I need to say. This game is incomplete!!!! Here are my reasons for saying that: 1. Ruriko's route goes from dark revelations to sudden lovers to the ending
Clephas

Clephas

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Monobeno Happy End part 2: Alice, Natsuha, and a few thoughts

I'm not going to go into detail like I did with Sumi's path, if only because my love for youkai isn't fulfilled to the same degree in Alice's or Natsuha's paths as it was in that one. Also, another reason is that the progression for both is far less dramatic than it is with Sumi's path. In Alice's case, the actual events leading up to the end of the main story are really dark and sad, and the path itself tends to be quite a bit more gloomy than the other two. In exchange, there is a lot mor
Clephas

Clephas

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VNs

VNs and Me Today

I've had numerous comments from people who were asking, 'Do you still play VNs?' in the last year or so because I hardly post anymore.   When I do, it is usually litrpg, random commentary, or maybe one game a month.  The short answer is yes.  The full answer is a bit more complicated. First, I should note that a lot of this is about timing... to be slightly more specific, a confluence of factors that created a singularity of me just not posting anymore.  The events in question are my increa
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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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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Japanese literature

WN: Ankoku Kishi Monogatari

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054885318680 This particular WN is one where the protagonist is summoned... by the demon lord to save him from the hero!  The protagonist, Kuroki, becomes a Knight of Darkness and faces off with his trauma - the hero in question - and begins a story of endless misunderstandings and plot twists. That is, in fact, the peculiar flavor of this story.  Over 90% of Ankoku Kishi Monogatari's characters are self-absorbed pricks on some level, with the gods bein

Random VN: Psycho Logic Love Comedy

This one is a doujin VN by Initial, a doujin group that seems to have pretty varied tastes.  To be honest... I wasn't expecting what I got with this VN.  This is a kinetic novel, meaning that there is only one story that is progressed without any branches or choices.  You progress through the story by picking your chapters, which go in in order from one to forty-six.  The game itself is about eight hours in length, and it is a science-fiction/fantasy VN. The story begins in a city walled in
Clephas

Clephas

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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

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Tsumi no Hikari Rendezvous

Since I finished getting the acidic, poisonous, and unreasoning emotions out of my system - see this post: I was able to get through this VN without a lot of pain and twisted emotion such as I experienced with Soreyori no Prologue.  First, this is a VN that people who prefer moege/charage will not like.  I say this because, despite the high-quality visuals, this is - like most of Minori's more recent VNs - just a few steps too far in the direction of 'down in the mud romance dram
Clephas

Clephas

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