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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

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

2

Random VNs: Shin Koihime Eiyuutan

Shin Koihime Eiyuutan is something of an alternate fandisc for Shin Koihime, including characters from the 'extra materials' that have come out over the years and a canon story flow from the original that seems to be based on Kazuto somehow being on all three sides at once during the wars (lol).  To be honest, for consistency, Moeshouden was much better, because it uses the Gaishi setting to explain everything, lol.  Having played all three, I can safely say that it is a very satisfying aft
Clephas

Clephas

7

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

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

Weabooism: The experience, its causes (in Westerners), and tempering it with doses of reality

Hello, my name is Clephas, and I am/was a weaboo.  *snickers at the AA reference*  I'm mostly posting on this matter to give those otakus who aren't necessarily weaboos an idea of what it is like to be a weaboo (ignoring social problems, for the moment, haha) and just why we exist in the first place.  First, to correct a common misconception... not all weaboos are solely obsessed with Japanese culture/history/etc.  In fact, most Western ones are or eventually become interested in all Asian cultu
Clephas

Clephas

19

Sakura no Uta part 2: Rin and some linguistic comments (edit: added Rina and yuri ending)

Yeah, I said I was going to wait until I'd played at least two more heroines before I posted again... but Rin's path has enough impact that I felt a distinct need to post on it ahead of time. Misakura Rin is the protagonist's osananajimi... a childhood friend and one another's first love (this is said pretty much from the beginning, so it doesn't really count as a spoiler).  For reasons the protagonist deliberately only hints at (typical Sca-ji) he has been avoiding any sort of contact with her
Clephas

Clephas

2

DS Dal Segno

This is a VN by Circus, the company that makes the Da Capo series, which I'm sure most of our resident moe-addicts are familiar with.  It is also based in the same universe (well, I'm pretty sure it is, since a Professor Amakase made an AI with emotions who likes bananas and who is the true heroine of this VN, lol).  To put it straight to you... this is a very old style of VN.  It is a lot closer to the old Da Capo games and Key's early VNs than it is to anything else made in modern times. 
Clephas

Clephas

5

Zettai★Maou ~Boku no Mune-kyun Gakuen Saga~

I had a lot of reasons for avoiding playing this game... first, it had really crappy-looking gameplay. Second, it was tagged both in Japanese and English with the hetare protagonist tag. Third, the concept was pretty stupid, even by VN standards... On all these counts, I was correct in my assessment as to whether this would be playable. That's not to say this VN doesn't have a lot of positive points. The heroines are generally well-developed, and they do have their own paths (though all
Clephas

Clephas

0

Silverio Ragnarok

The final game in the Silverio series enters with a whimper and exits with a bang. First, this game absolutely requires that you have played the previous two to appreciate.  Too much of what is going on requires understanding of concepts that aren't reintroduced but constantly referenced throughout the game.  This game is based only a few years after Trinity in Canterbury, the theocratic state ruled by a Japanophilic religion based on seeing old Japan as a sort of El Dorado.   I should
Clephas

Clephas

3

Ren'ai x Royale

This is the latest game by ASa Project, a company that rose up during the Golden Age of VNs, making a name for themselves as solid comedy charage makers.  To this day, their style hasn't changed significantly, but in some ways that gives them an advantage over modern charage, which tend to be less comedy-focused (actually, most newer charage makers don't seem to know how to make the readers laugh anymore).   This game is focused on the harem of a young man named Hirotaka.  The situation is,
Clephas

Clephas

0

Random Vns: Rui wa Tomo wo Yobu

Now, Ruitomo is one of 'those legendary VNs', the first kamige written by the Akatsuki Works team.  It is well-known and often discussed amongst vets of playing untranslated VNs, and you can see how this was the formative stage for a team that would go on to make numerous great games in the future, most of them chuunige. First off, Ruitomo isn't a chuunige, at least in the classic sense.  The protagonist is a trap who is bound by an inherited curse not to reveal his true gender, and the sto
Clephas

Clephas

4

Clephas' Translated VN recommendations

As you can imagine, I got a lot of requests for a similar list over the years, but the thing is, I don't play VNs in English that didn't start out in English.  As such, my recommendations are based entirely on my experience of the Japanese versions of these VNs, rather than the localization.  As such, don't hold me responsible for your personal experiences, lol.  I'm going to split these by genre so I don't have to answer questions along those lines.  For the purposes of fairness, I won't includ
Clephas

Clephas

2

Random VNs: Evolimit

Now, if you asked me my top three VNs of all time, I would honestly put this one as one of those three, no matter how often the other two get rotated out.  Evolimit, in my mind at least, shows off the best of Higashide Yuuichirou's writing in combination with Propeller's unique art style and superior musical direction and composition.  Oh, and incidentally, this is the sixth time I've played this game from beginning to end, reading all the endings... that I can still find a VN enjoyable aft
Clephas

Clephas

3

Not much hope for 2015's VN of the Year?

To be honest, the harvest for this year so far has been kind of... less than impressive, to say the least. The best VN I've played this year so far was Silverio Vendetta, and even I think it would have been much better if it had only contained Vendetta's path. I'll come straight out with it and say there aren't any solid candidates so far, even though the year is almost half-over. Last year, by this time, there were four solid candidates - though the later part of the year blew most of them o
Clephas

Clephas

8

Random VNs: Thoughts on Houkago no Futekikakusha

This is an utsuge.  For those who don't already know what an utsuge is, it is a VN where the main endings are 'bad' endings.  Generally speaking, the intention with an utsuge is to give the reader catharsis through a sense of despair or sorrow.  Unlike in a nakige, where the sorrow or despair is temporary and everything ends with what amounts to a 'happily ever after', an utsuge's endings tend to be ones where everyone dies, despair goes on unending, or some other kind of bitter aspect.  While m
Clephas

Clephas

4

A List: Chuunige likely to sell in the West

Understand, chuunige mostly appeal to a very core fanbase.  The style, the fact that they don't translate well, and the fact that most of the action/story is so 'out there' makes the games unapproachable.  The sheer amount of text means that localization costs are through the roof, which makes things worse, of course.  I'm being realistic, ignoring my inner fanboy who screams everybody should love chuunige because charage suck in comparison.  However, that is the flat-out truth.  So, I
Clephas

Clephas

10

Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence

I'm going to be blunt... for some reason, the 'Otome' series of trap-protagonist ojousama-ge by Ensemble seems to be incapable of fulfilling the promise of Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas in any of its follow-up games.  Koi no Canvas was, for better or worse, one of the single best charage I've ever played, with strong characterizations for all of the characters (including the protagonist) full voices for all characters (later Otome series games all had voiced protagonists, though), and superlati
Clephas

Clephas

4

Sakura no Uta part 1: Makoto and thoughts on Sca-ji

First, I should say that I hated Subahibi.  Those of you who loved it will probably try to convince me it was a kamige or that I'm not rating it without bias... but from my perspective, it ultimately fell flat.  Part of this is because I absolutely loathed the psychedelic fantasy craze that went through otaku media around the turn of the century and gained full strength in VNs with Sumaga and Subahibi.  Another part is that Sca-ji doesn't know when to shut up.  Oh, I honestly think that if he wr
Clephas

Clephas

2

Bullet Butlers: Intro

Bullet Butlers: An Introduction Bullet Butlers has one of the more interesting fantasy settings that I've seen in a VN. Think film noir combined with elves, lizardmen, orcs, and magic and you won't be far off. The guy you see above is Rick Arrowsmith, the protagonist of the story and butler to one of the potential heirs of the draconic Mystic One (spiritual - not necessarily physical - descendants of the heroes who defeated the Undead King who serve as symbols of God's favor). Now, Bulle
Clephas

Clephas

3

Minato Carnival FD

This game is a crossover FD for Anekouji Naoko to Gin'iro no Shinigami and Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road.  To be clear, the former game (Anekouji) was a kusoge... inasmuch as it is possible for a game made by Minato-soft to be a kusoge.  In fact, its section in this VN is several degrees more interesting than the original, which is just pathetic, in retrospect... However, this fandisc is actually quite a fun read... setting aside that the Tsujidou side of things is based on a shared ending wh
Clephas

Clephas

0

Silverio Vendetta: Common and Milly

Common This VN was made by the same team that did Zero Infinity and Electro Arms, and it shows (in some ways). They have definitely improved their character balance and the way they present them, as well as the overall storytelling. The common route is fairly long (think about ten hours for me, about the same amount of time it takes me to completely finish a small charage), and it covers a rather large amount of content (there is no wasted time in this game at all, and yet it still manages to
Clephas

Clephas

3

VNs: Gears of Dragoon 2, settling in for the long haul, VN of The Month Announcement

OK, I started playing Gears of Dragoon 2 about four days ago (I've only managed twenty hours so far, due to work), and I have a few comments on the game. For better or worse, Gears of Dragoon 2 Reimei no Fragments is a dungeon crawler/rpg/VN hybrid, and like most VNs of this type, it is pretty big.  To be blunt, in 20 hours, I've only managed to get to level 24 and get halfway through Chapter 2.  Considering that with the same amount of time I was already halfway through (or farther) with e
Clephas

Clephas

4

Clephas' basic advice to untranslated beginners

Since I get asked questions constantly on this subject, I'll go ahead and list a few pieces of advice I felt apply to most beginners.   1) Use translation aggregator and a text hooker, even if you feel like you should be getting out your kanji dictionary, out of a sense of self-reliance. I'll be blunt, it is hard to enjoy something if you have to refer to a kanji dictionary for every other non-particle word. I am sometimes stunned at people bragging about spending 100 hours on an 8 hour moege
Clephas

Clephas

4

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
Clephas

Clephas

1

Monster Musume series part 1: Why the heck is Clephas playing this?

Well, the answer to the above question is simple... I saw the monster girl anime for this season's first episode and got curious about what kind of content these games had... to be honest, I was planning to drop it inside the first few hours, using it as a break from more serious content before starting Baldr Force.. but I was surprised to find just how good the writing in these games is. That said, the early games (the Lamia and Alraune games) are nukige, as presented... and the H scenes ar
Clephas

Clephas

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