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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

Akatsuki Works and Applique release free mini-VNs

Akatsuki Works and Applique, two subsidiaries of Akabeisoft2 (of Sharin no Kuni and G-Senjou no Maou fame) have each released a mini-VN for free on their websites (which are a pain to access from outside of Japan, but anyone used to bypassing DMM's controls on their MMO releases should be able to manage it).  Akatsuki Works released Hi no Nai Tokoro ni Kemuri wa Tatanai  ( https://vndb.org/v19369  ), which seems to be a chuunige-type by Hino Wataru, as is typical of the Akatsuki Works brand.  Ap
Clephas

Clephas

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The heroine that is always present

For those who have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about, I'm referring to a type of heroine that tends to exist in a relatively high proportion with a strong central plot... the type of heroine that remains by the protagonist's side, usually no matter which heroine he chooses and is usually the true heroine.  This heroine has a bond with the protagonist that surpasses that of a simple friendship or lover and can't really be cut without destroying them both.  This heroine's existence is usu
Clephas

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4

Taking a short break (by my standards)

I'm delaying playing through anymore VNs until at least Saturday, mostly because I realized my fatigue was reaching its peak.  The reason why I realized this was fairly simple... I wasn't enjoying the bloody scenes in Sen no Hatou, which is highly unnatural for me.  Normally, I would have been on a blood high after that first scene, but after replaying Evolimit, I was a bit glutted on battle scenes.  As such, I came to the conclusion that I can't fairly assess Sen no Hatou at the moment.  Also,
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3

Tayutama 2 or Sen no Hatou?

A simple question, with the poll closing at the stroke of midnight Monday morning US Central time.  Which VN do you want me to play first?  Honestly, there is no chance whatsoever of me playing anything else before at least one of these two, so feel free to make your decision based on which you are most interested in. For those who aren't aware of the games: Tayutama 2 is the direct sequel to the original game, based off of Mashiro's ending as canon.  The main heroine is one of Mashiro
Clephas

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8

Random VNs: Tayutama Kiss on My Deity (edit: and the FD)

First, let me say that this was the very first non-violent VN I played after jumping into Japanese-language (untranslated) VNs.  I should also say that it was the one that taught me that even a VN of this type (what I later came to call a charage) could have a truly solid story.  This VN is the reason I'm frequently willing to give charage the benefit of the doubt, and it is also the reason why I became somewhat obsessed with ojousama heroines.  Mifuyu is still one of the better ojousama heroine
Clephas

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Chuunige protagonists: Heroes, anti-heroes, and monsters

Now, in the past I've often tried to clearly define my favorite VN genre, the chuunige.  While there are many elements that go into making a chuunige, the primary requirements are conflict (violent or otherwise), philosophy (hedge philosophy usually), deliberately exaggerated character personalities and backgrounds, and extremely detailed settings. Now, for reasons known only to me, I felt like talking about the chuunige protagonist.  Understand, chuunige protagonists are inevitably... uniq
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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

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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
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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
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11

Random VNs: Nanairo Reincarnation

Below is the original mini-review I wrote of Nanairo Reincarnation in 2014, which I mostly pulled out because it is much harder to access than this blog because of how buried that thread is.  Also, I was feeling too lazy to completely rehash everything I said back then.     Nanairo Reincarnation   Kamige kita!!!  lol   I've been waiting all this  year for a kamige to appear, and thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.  Every once in a while I co
Clephas

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Why the Nostalgia?

If some of you failed to notice, I've been going back over my list of ancient favorites amongst the moege/charage/slice-of-life genres.  Why am I doing this?  I actually have some good reasons, other than whims. First, I keep recommending these things to people, but when you start talking about a VN you last played five years ago, people tend to let it in one ear and out the other.  I mean, my long-term memory for games and books is pretty good, but my brain is fairly compartmentalized, so
Clephas

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VN of the Month: Just letting yall know

September's VN of the Month is probably going to be a contest between Baldr Heart, Inochi no Spare, and Gin'iro, Haruka.  Why?  Everything else I dropped shortly after exiting the prologue, wanting to puke from the kusoge-smell.  It might not be fair to them, but Ichibun, Yuuwaku, and Triangle Love just aren't VNs that have any chance, with Gin'iro defining the field for slice-of-life and romance.  I can't bring myself to play anymore Gin'iro, but that isn't because it sucks... it is because I'm
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Some thoughts on Charage/moege (positive this time)

Understand, I'm not a huge fan of the moege and charage umbrella genres.  This is something I'm sure anyone who reads this blog is already well-aware of (to the point of exasperation in some cases) and at this point, it isn't something I need to reemphasize.  However, I've noticed that I've never really mentioned what I do like about moege/charage and their positive elements...  and I thought I'd go ahead and put that down here.   1. Charage do make decent breaks from my workday, as they
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A warning for September's releases (Tayutama 2)

In this month's releases comes a sequel I've been looking forward to for two years (since it was quietly first leaked), Tayutama 2. Tayutama 2 is based fifty years after the end of Tayutama (the original).  To be specific, it is based on the Mashiro ending from that one (straight out the best immortal heroine ending I've seen in any charage).  However, because it is based off of that ending, it spoils the main story completely, making it a necessity for you to have at least played Mashiro's
Clephas

Clephas

8

Ichibun no Ni Koigokoro and VN of the Month, August 2016

Ugh... can you say kusoge out loud twenty times fast?  I'm sorry, but it has been a while since I played a VN that was this awful outright.  It had all the elements, setting-wise, that a good story VN should have... a protagonist who gave up high school to work to support his sisters, twin sister heroines (yay for incest), a generally capable protagonist, a hikikomori neighbor heroine, and a lot of hints of potential story points that could have been used to enhance the paths. Unfortunately
Clephas

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1

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

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1

Gin'iro, Haruka Part 2: Yuzuki

I'm going to be blunt... I can only take Tone Works games in small doses (one path at a time), so I'll be setting Gin'iro Haruka aside now, though I am interested in two of the remaining three heroines (despite Hinata's horrible VA).  Yuzuki's path actually starts out fairly similar to how you would imagine the classic 'imouto' path would if it was done by Tone Works... the slow growth into full sibling-hood, the slipping into habits that go a bit too far for teenaged siblings, then the rea
Clephas

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3

Gin'iro, Haruka Part 1: Common and Bethly

First, I'm going to say right out that this VN feels very familiar to me, as someone who dropped Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai.  I dropped that game for a number of reasons... but the biggest one was that I was extremely tired of slice-of-life and romance at the time.  Since Hoshi Ori (and indeed all games by Tone Works) is a pure slice-of-life/romance VN (not charage) it just was a bad time for me to hit on it.  As I studied my feelings about my experiences with the path I'd played, I went ahead and rat
Clephas

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Vn of the Month, July 2016

July was unique so far, when it comes to the quality of what was released.  Three VNs, Amatsutsumi, Senren Banka, and Floral Flowlove were all at a high level of quality that qualifies them as a potential VN of the Month.  As those who keep up with this blog know, I really won't name a VN of the Month if I don't feel there were any releases worthy of it. First, Senren Banka:   Looking back on it, it was an enjoyable experience, but I came to the conclusion that it was the weakest
Clephas

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Agobarrier: Some afterthoughts on a great writer

Agobarrier, who was the writer of Shuffle (the work most familiar to people here) was one of my favorite non-chuuni VN writers.  Ironically, his best works were all written after leaving Navel and its massive stream of liquid cash to form Rosebleu, my favorite comedy company.  I started going back through his entire library of works (or at least the ones I've played and own) since I heard of his death in mid-April, and as I replay his final work, Valkyrie Runabout, I feel a need to look back on
Clephas

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Random VNs: Shunki Gentei Poko a Poko

First, I should say that this is a low-price VN in the same setting as Hatsugamai (one of the better VNs released this year), written by the same guy who wrote that estimable VN, as well as Senren Banka, Love Rec, Satsukoi, Clover Days, Karumaruka Circle (Saga Planets), and Aete Mushisuru Kimi to no Mirai.  In other words, this guy is one of those rare, extremely high-skilled writers who regularly pumps out the highest quality moe-bait charage that so many Fuwans love but can also be loved by pe
Clephas

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2

Random VNs: Damekoi Final part

Now, this is going to be a somewhat short post, despite the fact that Damekoi has turned into one of the better VNs I've played in recent years (well, for the first time, anyway).  That is because Asami and Mitoko's routes split at the same point and share at least some of the same events and text, and Asami's route is mostly done by that split. I'm going to be blunt... once you get past Himeo's route, it turns into a muddy and messy ren'ai drama.  The protagonist, Osamu, is torn between hi
Clephas

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Random VNs: Doushite, Sonna ni Kuroi Kami ga Suki na no?

First, I should say that this VN has major problems, despite the fact that I ended up enjoying it quite a bit as a whole.  This is true of most VNs (obviously), but in this case, the problems are a bit more obvious. The main problem is the number of choices... to be honest, the sheer number of choices in this VN completely breaks engrossment with it at most points.  Generally, the best parts of this VN are found when the choices are over and all that is left is the momentum until the end of
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

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1

Kimi to Yumemishi

Ok... this is by a new company by the name of Laplacian, and as a result, I didn't really have much in the way of expectations for it.  As a result, I wasn't disappointed... but they didn't manage to surprise me either, sadly.  This VN's protagonist has the ability to enter people's dreams when they dream about him and uses a perfume he designed himself to make people remember and dream about him when they go to sleep. This VN, when it comes down to it, is a straight-out moege.  The low-lev
Clephas

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