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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

Japanese literature

LN: Yaritsukai to Kuroneko

To be clear, I haven't finished this particular WN series (at over 900 chapters, all of them of reasonable length, that would take a long time).  I have gotten around halfway through the story, enough to get a solid impression of how this is going to go.  Like most of the LNs/WNs I have been reading lately, it is an isekai story.  This particular story has a different approach compared to the ones I've posted about so far.  First, this story doesn't have a specific antagonist or group of antagon
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Japanese literature

LN: The Great Cleric (Seija Musou)

Seija Musou, better known as the Great Cleric for its English release (which I haven't read), is an interesting story about an isekai reincarnator who becomes a cleric purely because he wants to die of old age this time around.   In a way, Luciel, the protagonist, is fairly similar to Satou, the protagonist of Death March, in that his goal isn't to save the world but he ends up doing it anyway.  The biggest difference is that Luciel isn't all-powerful (well, at least not until VERY late in
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Japanese literature

LN: Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata, Magan to Dangan o Tsukatte Isekai o Buchinuku, Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute

These three I'm only going to introduce to yall because they were the most memorable of the Web Novels/LNs that I read through in the last month. Chiyu Mahou Chiyu Mahou has the protagonist, Usato Ken, being summoned by accident along with two heroes.  Usato, being a kind-hearted young man to the core, isn't particularly annoyed or angered by this (Kazuki, one of the two heroes is more bothered by it than he is), but he has the misfortune to have a talent for healing magic, meaning he
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Litrpg: Everybody Loves Large Chests

Everybody Loves Large Chests (the series) by Neven Iliev is probably the most horrifying dark comedy fantasy I've ever read.  I laughed almost constantly throughout the first five books (what I've read) of this series... simply because it is just so far out there that it insulates you from the sheer horror of what is going on. This series is focused on the antics and life of an aberrant, sociopathic, homicidal and ever-hungry mimic (yes, the treasure-chest monster) named Boxxy T Morningwood
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Litrpg series: Project Crysalis

Since I'm still messing around with Cabbit's new game, I thought I'd drop a short review of a litrpg series I just finished reading. Project Crysalis is based in a future where Earth has been abandoned (not because it is ruined anymore, but because the first non-Terrestrial human nation forced people to leave) in favor of living in colonies all across our solar system.  The main political and scientific power in the first three books is Lunar, a nation built on the Moon that began when a pr
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Litrpg series: Emirillia Chronicles

The Emirillia Chronicles by Michael Chatfield (incidentally my favorite litrpg author), the writer of the Ten Realms series, is one of the more fascinating ones I've come across.  Unlike the Ten Realms, which is fairly unfocused due to Erik and Rugrat's generalized motivations based on their personal ethics, desires, and whims, Emirillia has a somewhat clearer goal for the characters.   In the series, humanity was defeated by an alien empire called the Jukal, but the Jukal almost lost every
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Litrpg

Litrpg series: Apocalypse Gates and Alpha Alpha World

Recently, I've been devouring anything written by Daniel Shinhofen, the writer of the Binding Words series I recommended in a previous post.  Shinhofen is a harem specialist that can vary from having non-existent ero to full-on BDSM in his stories, but a common element to all of them is that all his protagonists end up with a harem and that harem is happy (for the most part).   Lest I make that sound like he scrimps on story, the very reverse is the case.  Every one of his series is extreme
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Litrpg series I've liked so far

I have only recently 'discovered' the litrpg genre (for those unfamiliar with this, the most similar examples I can give are Overlord, SAO, and Log Horizon) of novels.  As such, I'm not going to presume to review things like stat systems and how the stories 'played'.  It would be ridiculous for me to do so (since I'm not a min-max freak who loves all that math), and it would also be boring as hell to listen to here, lol.  I will note some classic tropes:  Protagonists who jump to wrong conclusio
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litrpg author: William D. Arand

The Litrpg genre has a bunch of subsets, from the gamelit (characters are actually in a game) and portal fantasy  (go through a portal to a game-like world) to Wuxia/xanxia style cultivation and anime-style harem setups. William D Arand is an interesting writer...  He is definitely on the harem side of things, because all of his protagonists end up with a harem of women who are both devoted to him and end up running his life, as well as being deadly, amoral and more than a little crazy.  Mo
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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
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Lamunation

... wow, it has been a while since I've come across a VN where I can't use meta terms to explain everything.  If I had to put a genre type to this, it would be 'random/comedy/ecchi'.  There are a few really unique elements to this VN that I should probably explain before I go any further.  First, narration in this VN is almost nonexistent... roughly 98% of the game's text is dialogue, though the h-scenes are narrated.  Second, this VN makes no attempt whatsoever to be serious at any point. 
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Kyuuketsu Hime no Libra

Mmm... first of all, this is by Onamatope, a company previously known only for its harem-ge from the Mecha-con series.  The Mecha-con series fell somewhere into that thin area between a nukige and a moege, and it was actually pretty decent for something in that area of the VN universe.  So, keeping that experience in mind, I went into this VN with a more open mind than some people probably would have.  Fortunately, this VN wasn't a disappointment, precisely because I wasn't looking for it to be
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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
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Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Part 2: Arika, Kotobuki, and Iroha (edited)

Arika's path is... one of the ecchi-est paths I've seen in a non-nukige in a while.  That is to say, Arika plays the role of the 'honor student' of the future, the ideal of the people from Yoshikazu's era.  There are minor spoilers in the box below, but they were significant enough I had to box them up.  Besides this, it addresses seriously a number of issues when it comes to modern child-rearing and the reasons why it has become so hard (in an oblique manner) for kids to be raised in an era wh
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Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Part 1: Common and Yuno

For those who care, I posted my thoughts on Clochette and VN activism in general in this post ( http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blogs/entry/975-clochette-activist-vn-makers-or-just-endless-oppai/ ).  Now, a few issues with this VN.  Kokonatsu (Koko kara Natsu no Innocence) very much follows in the tradition of combining science fiction, fantasy, and/or science-fantasy elements in a charage with solid scenario design and writing to create an interesting whole.  In this case, it would probably be best
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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
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Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - Bara no Seibo

First, I should mention that this is a true sequel to the original Shugo no Tate and that it is based three years after the events at St Terejia Academy.  The protagonist, Kisaragi Shuuji (who didn't get together with any of the girls from the original) is stuck in the job of the cross-dressing bodyguard, and he agrees to carry out this one last mission in exchange for the right to stop cross-dressing (lol).  I'm going to say right off the bat that Nozomi is the true/central heroine of this
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Koisuru Kimochi no Kasanekata

This is the newest VN by Ensemble, a subsidiary of Will which has previously specialized in 'ojousama-ge' (VNs where most or all the heroines - and sometimes the protagonist as well - are from a wealthy background).  This VN takes a slightly different tack than the company's previous games... probably because of the effects of the mediocrity that was Golden Marriage and the kusoge that was Koi no Aria (incidentally, they also split off another subsidiary that specializes in ojousama-nukige, lol)
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Koi wa Sotto Saku Hana no you ni

A few words before I get into this... As my previous post spells out, I will no longer be doing the VN of the Month column, and this VN was the one that was the straw that broke the camel's back.  That said, it isn't like I didn't enjoy what I played of it once I got past the sticking points (date scenes).  If anything, this game is a definite increase over the quality seen in Ensemble's works since Gokigen Naname blew me away.  That said, when it comes down to it, this game is SOL all
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Koi to Mahou to Kanrinin

This is a VN by a new company, Prometheus that seems to be reusing members from ID, a company known for third-rate moege. Overall, I didn't have any real hopes for this VN going in, and thus I wasn't disappointed. That said, this VN did surprise me in that it actually had some good points to it, which I'll enumerate below.   Pros   1. The two heroines, while not entirely unique, actually have real worries in life that get wrapped up in the events of the heroine routes. There is actually dr
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Koi to Koisuru Utopia and VN of the Month June 2016

Mmm... the first word that comes to mind with this VN is 'nostalgia'.  This VN isn't a high-budget affair... in fact, just from the looks and sound of it, it is fairly obvious it is on the lower-budget end of things.  The music is about as generic as it comes (fairly low-quality and lacking in variation), and, while there are character sprites for far more characters than is usual, the actual resolution outside of the h-scenes is fairly low.  This is a charage/moege, with no element that va
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Koi Suru Kokoro to Mahou no Kotoba

This is the latest charage from Hearts, a company specializing in 'yurufuwa' charage with nakige elements.  This company's works have a tendency to make me want to puke waves of sugar, but, in my experience, this is one of the better 'yurufuwa' companies out there. This game focuses on a kind-hearted young man named Harutoki Narumi as he suddenly (and by accident) summons a high-level spirit named Haruharu, and, as a result, he gets dragged into the world of witches and magic users whose du
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Kodomo no Asobi: Final

Mmm... there isn't too much extra to comment on with the Katsumi's and Michiru's paths.  They are of about the same length as the previous two (which means about one and a half times as long as the average charage route) with a lot of buildup before the relationships actually form.  That was my complaint with the other two, and that hasn't changed here.  Similarly to the other routes, I felt that the drama actually inside the route was a bit lacking compared to the common route.  Katsumi's route
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Kodomo no Asobi Part 2: Yuzuriha (moving onto Hatsuru)

I went ahead and did Yuzuriha's path, since it and Sera's branch off from one another.  Despite this fact, Yuzuriha's path is quite distinct from Sera's, so you don't need to worry about all of the text repeating or anything like that.  Yuzuriha's path does have one thing in common with Sera's though... and that is that the relation formation stage is pretty long.  In both cases, there is a lot of back and forth, chasing and being chased, and if you have trouble with that, this path might be a b
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Kizuna Kirameku Koi Iroha

For obvious reasons, VN vets rarely get up their hopes for games by new VN companies.  Generally speaking, most of them are charage or nukige, and those that aren't usually flop on their faces.  So, it should come as no surprise that the people I chatted with about this game generally didn't have any hopes for it.  However, that is probably because they didn't take a look at the team of scenario writers.  The first one, Gihara, was the writer for Tenka Gomen, Shin Koihime Eiyuutan, Shin Koi
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