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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

Random VN: Prism Recollection

Prism Recollection is a more recent release by Clochette, with a less fantastical setting than Kamikaze Explorer's or Suzunone Seven's.  Prism Recollection's setting is in a future Japanese town that is being redeveloped by corporations using it to test cutting-edge technologies and techniques for comprehensive economic redevelopment (as opposed to the piecemeal redevelopment that is normal in most cities).   From the fact that most stores require people to use digital money to the AR holograms
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Kamikaze Explorer

Kamikaze Explorer was the third game from Clochette I played, and even today it remains in my memory as one of the most well-balanced charage/plotge hybrids I've ever played.  I say 'balanced' because most games don't achieve hybridization at all.  Most charage are essentially character development, light romance, and SOL with little else.  Plotge, on the other hand, often tend to go for 'efficiency' on character development, romance, and SOL (exceptions exist), and true hybridization of the gen
Clephas

Clephas

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Commentary on Hino Wataru's chuunige

Over the last few weeks, I've gone back through all of the chuunige Hino Wataru was responsible for, and I came up with a number of common points that exist in each of his games, that define his overall style.  At the same time, I thought I'd also mention why I usually recommend Comyu to people despite the translation being such a disaster. Hino Wataru patterns Hino Wataru has a number of unique patterns that define his style of writing chuunige (some of it spills over into his SOL gam
Clephas

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Hello, Lady Superior Entelecheia

This is essentially a bundle release of all Hello, Lady related games/scenarios.  As such, normally I wouldn't really see much of a need to go back over it... but there was enough material added here to make it worth a further assessment. Hello, Lady The original game, Hello, Lady, is unchanged from its original version.  That's to say, it is the last truly great Akatsuki Works game.  For those who have never read my long-past review of the game, it occurs during the same time per
Clephas

Clephas

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Fuukan no Grasesta: Story and final impressions

Now that I've completed the main game, it is time to post about the story... which is the most important part of any VN, hybrid or not. The story begins with Judar Schwarka, a Rovari (race of nomad/barbarians who are the source of prejudice due to their physical attributes) mercenary and his employer, Eutre Hyte, heading out to ambush the supply train of a Telphion Federation army besieging the Belgrad Empire forces in a fortress.  Judar, flat and uninterested in anything except the job, is
Clephas

Clephas

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Fuukan no Grasesta: gameplay as of Chapter 6

Fuukan no Grasesta is the latest release from Eushully, the company responsible for Kamidori Alchemy Meister and Ikusa Megami Zero.  As I mentioned in my previous post, it is based in a unique fantasy world based off of the idea that a futuristic version of our world got fused with a world of demihumans and gods who granted magic in return for faith.  Fuukan no Grasesta's basic system is that of a dungeon-crawler... with a few twists.  First, the party shares an HP bar, which signals the pa
Clephas

Clephas

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Eushully's fantasy world

I love Eushully's unique fantasy world, Dir Lifyna.  Most of Eushully's games, save for a few oddball ones by the subsidiary Anastasia and Fortune Arterial, are based in this world, which began with the original Ikusa Megami (if this gets translated, somebody please smash the skull of anyone who translates the title, because they'll probably pick the worst permutation of it).  The first thing that anyone going into this setting should know, if only for giggles, is that this was never intended to
Clephas

Clephas

12

The two ways to view the Akagoei series

Akatsuki no Goei is something of an oddball if you ignore the existence of Grisaia, but they share some major traits.  Both have a relatively 'peaceful' (if dramatic) first game that involves romantic paths that are mostly irrelevant to the third game.  Both have a psychologically-scarred, killer protagonist with a criminal past.  Both have a quirky sense of humor that is mostly generated by the protagonist's abnormal actions... I could go on, but I'll move on to my point. The most blatantl
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November 2018 Releases

While I won't be playing everything anymore, I thought I'd list here the non-nukige up for release and my impressions based on the Getchu and official pages. Definitely will play Fuukan no Grasesta: https://vndb.org/v23199 This is the latest Eushully game... and it also shares a writer with the last few entries, which were a somewhat mediocre set of games.  As such, my hopes aren't high... but I can't resist playing it.  I mean, the protagonist is a sociopathic mercenary in a city
Clephas

Clephas

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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

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JRPG: Growlanser IV

The Growlanser series is one of those weird, hardly known jrpg series that died out after the ps2 era (mostly because its gameplay was too traditional, but also because the transition to 2.5D sprites failed so miserably in V and VI, along with the derivative, predictable story).  However, before its death, it produced four first-class games, three of them linked in a single chronology.  IV, also known as Wayfarer of Time, is the exception in the series as a whole, being the only entirely standal
Clephas

Clephas

10

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

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An Opinion: Grittiness vs Humanity

This is an opinion that has been a long time in forming, but I am coming around to an opinion that the more simplistic viewpoints I've possessed on the differences between American approaches to storytelling and Japanese ones are somewhat off the mark. Note:  This is a rant, it should be treated as a rant, and if it doesn't make sense to you, that is because it is my brain leaking into text on this blog. First, my original opinion: To put it simply, it was my belief that the Japanese h
Clephas

Clephas

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Deatte 5-fun wa Ore no Mono! Jikan Teishi to Atropos

The first thing most of you are going to ask is why I didn't play Deep One first, given my tastes... but the answer is fairly simple.  An a-hole spoiled the entire story on the release day to me in a PM on another site, and I read it before I realized what he was doing.  As such, my enthusiasm was dampened to almost nothing, and I'm left feeling listless about everything in general.  The commentary about it all over the untranslated VN community only accelerated its trip to being sealed in my ar
Clephas

Clephas

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An Assessment of the Silverio Series concept [Spoilers]

First, it should be noted that I love the Silverio series, regardless of its flaws.  I see those flaws, I recognize them, then I shrug as I realize I don't give a flying fart about how the critical part of myself feels.  First, lets consider the two games that have come out (so far, given that the setting is so insanely detailed that it would be sad if they didn't make more games) in the series separately.  Silverio Vendetta Silverio Vendetta follows Zephyr Colerain, an unemployed
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Meguri, Hitohira part 1

Due to work and other stuff, I hadn't had time to really get into this until recently, and with friday signaling the release of October's list of VNs, at least one of which (Deep One) will play immediately, I felt that it would be fitting to go ahead and give you my initial impression  of the game.  My first impression, after playing through the prologue, was that, while this game is pretty old, it is also very... familiar in an odd way.  At first, I couldn't figure out where that impressio
Clephas

Clephas

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CharaBration! ~Otome wa Koi shite Charabureru~

Let's be clear... I have no reason to try to be fair to charage anymore.  This might sound like a terrible statement to make, but the fact is, I've been a lot nicer than I wanted to be for years when it came to charage.  I went out of my way to look for positive aspects, and when I found one, I deliberately put it in as positive a light I could without overdoing it.  This was because the sensation I got coming out of most charage was fatigue.  SOL, in small doses, is enjoyable and even relaxing.
Clephas

Clephas

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Revisiting an old memory

Recently, @Dreamysyu liked one of my older posts, and I felt it was worth revisiting three years later, simply because it has become an even more valid post in light of current events. At the time I wrote this post, I was pretty angry.  Why?  I'd had the misfortune to see several fellow otakus who happened to be female being subtly (and not so subtly) denigrated by other male otakus at a small gathering at a local gaming event.  The girls were obviously enjoying their cosplay (it was a cos
Clephas

Clephas

1

Kemono Musume no Sodatekata

This is the newest game by Sweet & Tea, the makers of the near-kamige (kamige in my heart) Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana.  This has a different set of writers, with Ban'ya of Kuroinu and Mugen Renkan handling the sweaty H-scenes and NYAON, the writer of Moshimo Ashita ga Harenaraba (and a few charage and nakige besides that) as the main writer.  Now, this is a kinetic 3P lovey-dovey nakige about a girl named Iroha who, after spending ten years trapped in a divine realm by accident with a
Clephas

Clephas

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September 2018 Releases That I'm not Playing [Edited}

This is a list of next month's releases that I'm not playing (that aren't nukige) and my thoughts on each, based on the Getchu and official pages, as well as my experience with the writers and companies involved. Raspberry Cube This is from the makers of Wagamama High Spec, one of the most average charage in existence *Clephas sticks out his tongue defiantly at the inevitable protestors, accidentally allowing several demons he was eating to escape*  First, the good signs... this game's
Clephas

Clephas

2

Mirai Radio no Jinkou-Bato

First, apologies to those who actually want to read about some of August's releases.  I went on vacation (vacation being a word open to interpretation when it comes to sleeping in unfamiliar beds and helping with my brother's kids), and when I got back, I found I had absolutely no urge whatsoever to pick up a VN.  I guess that taking a true break from VNs for the first time in almost a decade (no VNs for five days straight) was enough to free me from the spell of my obsession. That said, Ji
Clephas

Clephas

6

Random VN Finals poll

Well, essentially the above poll came down to a tie vote between Random Chuunige and Meguri, Hitohira.  I'll give you a quick run down on the two choices that is a bit more detailed than the post above. Meguri, Hitohira Essentially, the protagonist of this story is a loner with the ability to see non-humans and other mystical beings.  He has lived much of his adult life in despair, blaming himself for the death of his little sister, who was the only person who understood him and a
Clephas

Clephas

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Iinkai no Antihero ~IINCHO-Re.co~

Ok, I know some of you are going to wonder why I bothered with this game.  As the remake of Iinchou wa Shounin-sezu, this game exists as a reboot of a game that wasn't interesting in the first place.  So, why did I decide to play this, despite having stopped VN of the Month?  Pure perversity and contrariness, probably. The big problem with this game, saying it outright from the first, is that it uses a style that has more or less vanished due to its massive unpopularity with the target audi
Clephas

Clephas

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My next Random VN

Hopefully, this poll will work out better than Minikui Mojika did (sadly, my opinion on it has only gotten worse in hindsight), but I thought I'd give you all a chance to pick out which Random VN I will play after my current one. First, the VN I'm currently playing... Honoguraki Toki no Hate yori.  I just started this one, and I probably won't finish it until I've played whatever I choose to from August's releases (there aren't enough releases for a poll this time around, lol).  My interest
Clephas

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Dropped Minikui Mojika

I have to say I apologize to those who voted for Minikui Mojika no Ko... my original instinct not to play this game at all was correct.  This game feels too much like a dark rape nukige to allow me to play it anymore, so I had to drop it.  Not to mention that I hate all the characters and think they should all be tossed into the nearest garbage dump. 
Clephas

Clephas

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