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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

Hana no No ni Saku Utakata no part 1: Common and Reina

This is a VN by Applique, the makers of Concerto Note and Tasogare no Sinsemilla. Like most of their other VNs, this one has a layer of the supernatural mixed in with slice-of-life, wherein the supernatural becomes integral to their daily life. There are two major supernatural aspects present from the beginning. One is the protagonist, Michitaka, and his ability to see the traces of other human beings as colors, both on they themselves and the objects they touch or own. The other is Ouka.
Clephas

Clephas

2

Signs of a saturated market: Charage/moege

Now... I know you've heard me bash charage/moege before.  That isn't the purpose here, though.  I've played plenty of VNs of the type over the years, and a decent number of them have actually managed to make it pretty high on my list of recommendations, despite the genres' flaws.  I've also mentioned before that VN quality has fallen drastically in the past two years... and I still think that, despite a few seriously stand-out works this year in general and this month in particular. The rea
Clephas

Clephas

15

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

11

October Releases: Tsukikage no Simulacre

Tsukikage no Simulacre is a mini-VN by Akatsuki Works' sibling brand, Applique, which specializes in solid story-focused VNs ranging from nakige like Toko o Tsumugu Yakusoku to hard sci-fi stories like Re:Birth Colony.  Applique is also responsible for the creation of Tasogare no Sinsemilla, which is a classic VN that I still remember well to this day. This VN, like Hinonai (reference the previous post), seems to have been created as a combination prelude/advertisement for a future, more ex
Clephas

Clephas

4

Silverio Vendetta: Amatsu Oboro Chitose

Amatsu Oboro Chitose Chitose is a nearly pure-blooded descendant of the people of Japan, a nation that has come to be worshiped as a god by many, because of the way its technology altered the face of the world and civilization. Her sub-family of the Amatsu, the Oboro, were the ones who were obsessed with justice and noblesse oblige, which shows really obviously in her daily actions and reactiions. My first conclusion upon finishing her path was 'I am so glad I did Milly first'. Why? Sim
Clephas

Clephas

3

Tamayura Mirai

Tamayura Mirai is the latest game by Azurite, the company behind Shinsou Noise and Akumade Kore wa.  Unlike the previous two, it is not a guro mystery.  Instead, it is a fantasy with an extremely similar setting to Monobeno (which had a great setting, even if the lolicon elements were outright disgusting).  It also shares a writer (Touta) with such excellent games as Kin'iro Loveriche, Floral Flowlove, Gin'iro Haruka, and Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname.   Before I go any further, I want to spea
Clephas

Clephas

0

Random VN: Onigokko

Onigokko is a high-quality fantasy charage that was amongst the second fifty I played after I began plowing through untranslated VNs.  Unlike many I read during that time, I find I haven't really forgotten anything significant, so it turned out to be a bit harder to get into than I expected, even after half a decade.   That said, it has a lot to recommend to it, even today. The story focuses on the protagonist, Keisuke, who is also the Phantom Thief, Ura.  He and his family have been steali
Clephas

Clephas

0

Tokyo Babel

Tokyo Babel is scheduled to be released pretty soon, so I decided to replay it.  As Propeller is one of my favorite companies and Tokyo Babel has a more or less permanent place in my top fifty (when the number of VNs you've played passes five hundred, fifty is a good place to be, lol), so this doesn't bother me.  Tokyo Babel is one of the few purely all-ages titles from Japan on the PC, and it is a chuunige of rare quality that was obviously written with one of a dozen or so pairs of eyes on Mas
Clephas

Clephas

6

Amayui Castle Meister part two: The story

I'm going to be blunt... the story of Amayui can be summed up in one word... unimpressive.  The same could be said for Kamidori and Himegari, but whenever Eushully goes off on one of their item-creation rampages, the game's story inevitably takes a back seat.  Now, that's not to say that this story doesn't have good points.  Toward the end it actually starts to resemble an IM world game... the problem is that it doesn't feel like an IM world game until near the end.  For better or worse, th
Clephas

Clephas

4

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
Clephas

Clephas

0

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

4

Tsuyokiss Festival

This VN is a direct sequel to Next, beginning approximately at the end of the common route of the original.  At this point, the characters from the original series begin streaming back into town, Kachiki appears on the scene (dramatically), and Kitsune's character is given a new facet.  However, the common route in this VN is very short, mostly providing comedy (there is one ending you can get out of the prologue/common path that is absolutely hilarious) and fitting the new character dynamics in
Clephas

Clephas

3

Monobeno Happy End part 1: Sumi

First, I should state that Monobeno is an unapologetic lolige. The extent the writers went to to make this game a lolige (even in Alice's path) is so ridiculous I had to sigh in exasperation. Sadly, it also has one of the best plots and some of the best characters you can see in a VN. Like this company's previous VN, Gothderi, dismissing it because it is a lolige is a huge mistake. I played the original version of Monobeno, where all the endings were extremely bittersweet and vague, and
Clephas

Clephas

2

Something to keep in mind: Why my perspective is different than yours

One thing I've noticed over the last seven years is that people frequently have subtly different opinions than I do, and I get asked frequently how I can play so many moege/charage despite the fact that it isn't my preferred genre.  The answer is relatively simple... I read about 20 times faster than most of the rest of you - with the exception of a few bibliophiles.  What is a true chore, taking up tens of hours for you, might very well only be a short eight to ten hours for me.  Reading t
Clephas

Clephas

9

Sakura no Uta Final: The true path, Ai (the normal ending), and the True ending

I'm going to come right out and say it... Sca-ji slipped up a bit when he designed the true path.  Oh, I could understand the big turning point event being as it is, but its effect on certain characters - Rin for instance - doesn't make nearly as much sense as he wants you to think.  Rin's change is the most dramatic (for all that happens during the true path, the protagonist is pretty much rock solid, even if he wavers).  It is also the most odd, even with the knowledge about her that Sca-ji ha
Clephas

Clephas

0

Loli-Clephas strikes again!

Loli-Clephas recently emerged from Clephas' mouth, beginning a reign of terror in which billions have already perished, their blood staining her massive metal teeth, their flesh sliding down her throat. As the universe trembles at the unleashing of this, the most beautiful and terrible of all the monsters ever conceived in the depths of the Abyss, Clephas himself is busy playing VNs for his VN of the Month blog, having allowed his female self free reign to indulge her hungers for the first time
Clephas

Clephas

5

Seikishi Melty Lovers

To be honest, after the moe-moe disaster of Juukishi, I wasn't really interested in this VN... and while the VN was much more interesting than that lump of adorable pink crap, it had the down-side of being utterly predictable... to me.   Now, I don't know how many of you are familiar with a particular VN fad that several major companies bought into about five years ago, where they did partial 'slice-of-life' VNs in faux-medieval settings. This fad resulted in some good VNs, lots of mediocre one
Clephas

Clephas

3

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
Clephas

Clephas

4

Baldr Bringer (dropped)

Understand, I loved the Baldr series, before Heart... even Heart still retained a lot of what was great about the series, though it placed too much emphasis on the less interesting elements.  The Baldr series is literally Giga's only good IP, and as such, it is the only reason I even bother with this company. Unfortunately, it looks like Giga has set out to destroy its costly but greatest IP, ending it on a sour note. Baldr Bringer, from what I have played of it, has very little story
Clephas

Clephas

4

11gatsu no Arcadia Part 2: Hattori Airu

Airu Airu is the game's 'fushigi-chan', or a girl who is mysterious/acts oddly. Generally speaking, her role in the earliest parts of the VN is fairly weak, but in the chapter leading up to the split for her route, she suddenly gains density and roundness as a character, and there is a definite sense that she is someone the protagonist might choose over his objective. Airu's route is a bit less of a depressing wind-down than Nono's is, if only because Airu's relationship to the protagonis
Clephas

Clephas

0

Games in General: Why I hate Trophies

Yes, I hate trophies, achievements, or whatever you choose to call them. Why? At least part of it is because I was a gamer back in the NES era, and I liked that sense of private accomplishment it gave me for beating a game on my own. Another reason is simply because I hate the way achievements and the like break immersion, particularly in rpgs and games with a good story. I can say this outright... I almost never finish games where I can't disable trophies. I'm not interested in showing off
Clephas

Clephas

5

Sanoba Witch Part 4: Shiiba Tsumugi

Shiiba Tsumugi Tsumugi is both a transfer student and the game's reverse trap. That said, she has a definite fondness for cute things, and the way she dresses is a special circumstance, so don't go in thinking she is a boyish heroine. She's actually quite the reverse. Her path is probably the most focused on the protagonist so far, with an even stronger focus on a certain aspect of the setting that is vital to all the paths. Since I'm avoiding spoilers here, I won't spell it out, especiall
Clephas

Clephas

0

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
Clephas

Clephas

17

Burned out

It's been a while since a single VN burned me out completely, but Silverio Trinity managed it.  That VN had many of the best elements of its predecessor, while being more balanced, having added unique soundtracks, and overall creating a mostly new experience that, while it didn't completely transcend the original, still managed to stand on the same plane. Unfortunately, it was a highly emotional experience, with a lot of excitement along the way... so I know I won't rate any VNs I play at t
Clephas

Clephas

11

Tenkiame

Shiro Kon Most of you already know that one of my fetishes is mimikko... and kitsune in particular. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that I liked this VN. That said, this VN is so straightforward (in a 'in a straight line' sense) that you probably shouldn't expect anything in the way of twists. The two heroines are Shiro and Kon (see the pics above). Shiro is the little sister, a white-haired loli-kitsune who is totally innocent and carefree. She is straightforward both a
Clephas

Clephas

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