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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

April Release: 9 -Nine- Sorairo Sorauta Soranooto

This is the second game in the 9 -nine- series, a half-chuunige series that began last year.  For my comments on the first game, look below.   I'm going to be blunt... all my complaints about the previous game in the series still apply here.  While a little more information is revealed in the second game than the first, and two of the characters (Haruka and Sora) come to life a great deal more than in the first game, it has to be said that the sense that I should have waited for all t
Clephas

Clephas

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Clephas' 2018 VN recommendations

This is a list of VNs I think are worthy of playing, regardless of my vndb vote (no VN of the Year, since I don't do VN of the Month anymore).  While I haven't been playing much since September, the fact remains that I still played a large number of VNs this year.  Feel free to object, but I have no obligation to listen anymore *whistles cheerfully as he juggles the flaming skulls of those who have opposed him in the past). Fuukan no Grasesta Mirai Radio no Jinkou-bato Haru to Yuk
Clephas

Clephas

2

An apology and Vn of the Month May 2016

I have to apologize for being unable to deliver on one of my promises... to be specific, it doesn't look like I'm going to have time to finish Seiken Tsukai no Proposition this week... although, I could already tell it wasn't going to be a solid VN of the Month candidate. Unusually, there were actually two solid candidates for May's victor... Sakura no Mori Dreamers and and Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru.  It really could have gone either way... both VNs are memorable and interesting, w
Clephas

Clephas

2

Kimi to Tsunagaru Koi Flag

To be blunt, I only started this one first because I don't want to read something written by Kazuki Fumi (the writer of Nanairo Reincarnation) just yet... I'm sleep-deprived, so I wouldn't be able to appreciate it, lol.  In any case, it was either this game or the new Windmill release, and, when in doubt, I try to get the new company games out of the way first.  This is written by Scokan, a new writer on the VN scene.  Judging by what I saw in the common route, he is about of average level
Clephas

Clephas

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The worst and most poorly-used Tropes in VNs

I've raved on tropes before.  Many times.  However, as I have also said many times before, tropes and stereotypes do have an important place in fiction of all sorts.  The important part is to balance the use of tropes to create something interesting and unique, rather than just using them to copy a previous work or works. 1.  The 'standardized' voiceless protagonist- For better or worse, there was a long period of time when VN protagonists outside of chuunige were forbidden by industry cust
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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Clephas' Favorite VNs: Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas part 1

One of only two games written by Kazutaka, the writer of the somewhat comically-named Doushite Daite Kurenai no!?  Onna no Ko Datte Yaritai no! (incidentally, despite the title, the aforementioned game is not a nukige, which is in itself humorous, lol).  It is also the game that gave substance to Ensemble's quest to define itself as a specialist company in trap protagonist and ojousama-ge.  Ironically, it is also the flat-out best SOL game the company has ever made, which makes it somewhat sad f
Clephas

Clephas

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Japanese literature

Web Novel Review: Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

Some people may have seen the relatively low-quality anime for Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou and are probably wondering why I am bothering to spout about this.  Lately I've been plowing through LNs and web novels because I ran out of interesting VNs, but this is the first one I feel a need to expound on at length.  Let's be clear, I am one of the freaks who enjoyed the anime, though I did so while wincing constantly at the animators' choices and the horrible monster CGs.  To me, Hajime's
Clephas

Clephas in Japanese literature

5

Random VNs: Yuyukana (also VN of the Month for September announced)

Ok... as random choices to play go, this one was probably a horrible choice.  Yuyukana starts out as and rarely escapes the standard charage model (there are some tear-jerking moments at the end of some of the routes, but it isn't at nakige level).  First, you have the tsundere osananajimi.  Then you have the ojousama who mysteriously comes in every morning to cook breakfast for the protagonist whose parents are not living at home.  Third you have the mysterious transfer student who profess
Clephas

Clephas

3

Random VN: Komorebi no Nostalgica

Yes, it is another Takaya Aya game... to be specific, his joint work with Morisaki Ryouto (known for his sci-fi bent and work with Applique).  This work is also considered to be one of his penultimate masterpieces, which is ironic, since the company he created got bought out almost immediately after this game was released, hahaha.   Anyway, Komorebi no Nostalgica was one of two contenders for my VN of the Year 2013 and lost out to Hapymaher.  However, given how Hapymaher has proven somewhat
Clephas

Clephas

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The relativity of inconvenience

One of the things I've experienced more and more in the last decade as a part of 'the generation gap' is a difference between our interpretations of the word 'inconvenience', especially when it comes to games and devices. Understand, when I say 'inconvenience', it generally means 'it doesn't have the functions I find useful'.  When I talk to people who were born after the year 2000, it is almost always 'too many functions I don't know how to use/are not intuitive to me'.  Perhaps the m
Clephas

Clephas

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Sakura Sakimashita Part 5: Serika and Kaname

Serika and Kaname Serika's and Kaname's routes are two branch-off routes, Serika branching off from Miu's and Kaname branching off from Miyako's. Kaname's has a similar ending to Tsubame's, albeit without the massive infodump of backstory. Serika's is a lot more comical (pretty hilarious) and actually has a 3P H-scene with Miu and Serika (where Miu basically manipulated Serika into it, lol). Serika's definitely goes for comedy, mostly because Serika is a comedy-relief character, though she is
Clephas

Clephas

0

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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Natsuiro Koi Uta

Studio Ryokucha.  This company is fairly unique, utilizing an art style that differs dramatically from the standard for moege/charage but still falls into the same realm nonetheless.  In addition, this company has produced a disproportionate number of excellent games, despite the fact that they are all essentially charage (though the degree to which they fit the genre differs from game to game).  Natsuiro Koi Uta is their latest work, a ‘pure’ charage set in modern Tokyo.  It starts out
Clephas

Clephas

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Newton to Ringo no Ki

... Laplacian isn't a company I had any hopes for, after how much of a kusoge their first game, Kimi to Yumemishi was.  However, Newton to Ringo no Ki is a pleasant surprise, with a lot of nostalgia for people, like me, who were born in the mid to early eighties. Why?  Because this is, in some ways, a tribute to the Back to the Future movies I watched as a kid.  While the time travel style is switched from a car to a telescope and there are a few minor differences (no vanishing protagonists
Clephas

Clephas

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VNs

Magatsu Barai: Story

First, I should note that this game suffers from what are likely budget constraints.  I say this because some of the VA choices are... questionable.  Ragou's VA in particular is something of a disaster, with a discordant mismatch between the voice and the characterization.  This stands out even more because other choices like Kaen and Diran's male VAs are actually really awesome matches.   I failed to properly articulate what the music in this game resembles at most sometimes... and that wo
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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Feb Release: Ouka Sabaki and VN of the Month

This entry was written by fun2novel and edited by me.  As in the previous post, I have only made grammatical and stylistic changes, as well as eliminating unnecessary spoilers.  As such, the content is essentially fun2novel's review of the game. tl;dr: If you’re a fan of the Phoenix Wright series then stop reading. There’s nothing more I can say to make you want to play Ouka Sabaki. Go play it now. The rest of you keep reading. In the ancient Japan during the Edo period, under the firm
Clephas

Clephas

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The June 2017 releases

I am bored, so I figured I would note the non-nukige VNs scheduled to come out on PC at the end of the month, for those who are interested. Ojou-sama wa Sunao ni Narenai - This game looks to be the first serious title by Ensemble in some time (since Gokigen Naname), just going by the descriptions of the situation and the protagonist.  While the setup is definitely a twist on the Shugotate theme (sans cross-dressing), it is nonetheless one of the two games I'm seriously looking forward to fr
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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Liber 7 Eigou no Owari o Matsu Kimi e

First, I should state that I'm not a fan of Lass in general.  Legion and Tsurugi Maya are decent writers... but as scenario-designers go, they tend to screw up the pacing at the beginning and toward the end of their VNs to one degree or another.  Also, they have a long-standing preference for the 'only difference is the epilogue' style of 'heroine route', which leaves people like me who enjoy immense variations in story based on which heroine is chosen feeling unsatisfied. In that sense, Li
Clephas

Clephas

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April Release: Koneko Neko Neko

Yes, I did this game first.  This is one of those games that is a bit hard to define.  It is part moege, part nukige and part charage... and part surrealist story.  It is about cats being reborn as humans being reborn as cats being reborn as humans (it gets ridiculously complex, to the point where there is no point in keeping track).  There also isn't a whole lot to say about this game... it is mostly at-home SOL, h-scenes, and reminiscence of past lives.  As a VN, it is a bit hard to read
Clephas

Clephas

5

Oni ga Kuru. ~Ane ga Hinshi de Pinchi Desu~

First, I should mention that this VN, despite having a different writer, is in a style that is very similar to that of Oni Uta, a VN made by 130cm using the same artist back in 2009.  I say 'the same style', because the character dynamics are eerily similar.  First, there is the ponkotsu oneechan who is open about her desire to reverse-rape the protagonist (though she prefers it the other way around).  Second, there is the stalker osananajimi, who casually steals his underwear, toothbrushes, and
Clephas

Clephas

2

A preview of the first quarter, 2018

I felt like giving a you all a preview of the first quarter of 2018, after reading this blog post: I generally choose to refrain from posts like this that cover the future of an entire year, but I feel that I have a good grasp on what is coming out over the next three months that is worth paying attention to, based on my own experiences. Grisaia Phantom Trigger Vol. 4 This is something to look forward to for anyone who has liked this series so far... more assassin action based in
Clephas

Clephas

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Maboroshi no Dystopia Final: Akari and Youko - Why the difference?

I left these two to last for the simple reason that they were obviously intended to be the main heroines. As usual, my instincts for the intentions of a writer were correct. There is a significant difference, both in depth and in detail, between these two paths and those of the other two heroines. First, in both cases, the protagonist's past (though different parts of it) is revealed, and there is something approaching drama involved in the story. Second, the heroines themselves are much dee
Clephas

Clephas

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Izuna Zanshinken Analysis [SPOILERS]

For the sake of those who haven't played the game and don't want to be spoiled, I will endeavor to keep the worst spoilers in a spoiler box, but since I can't speak of what I want to speak of without spoiling things, I'm going to say right here that if you read any further, I will spoil things for you to some degree.         First, it needs to be said that I usually present Izuna Zanshinken in a way geared to take the interest of someone without extensive experience of V
Clephas

Clephas

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