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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

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

Shin Koihime † Musou - Kakumei Son Go no Ketsumyaku

First, I should mention that this post is mostly going to focus on how this VN improves on the original content from Shin Koihime Musou.  The reason is fairly simple... if you like the series, you'll eventually play this, and if you played the original Shin Koihime Musou, then that is probably what you want to know.  I know I would. Next, I will go ahead and come out with it... I loved what they did with this path.  The degree of added detail in this VN is actually higher than in Souten no
Clephas

Clephas

3

Random VN: Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake

This is perhaps one of the few games from my first five years playing untranslated VNs that isn't a chuunige that I remembered vividly.  I decided to pick this up again because I wanted some good catharsis, and I was tired of waiting for Mangagamer to get off their butts and actually release this.  Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta wake is what is called a 'soft utsuge', in the sense that there are no good endings but it focuses more on the bittersweet sorrow rather than the absolute despair of a 'ha
Clephas

Clephas

0

World Election

Here it comes, a possible VN of the Month!!!  Seriously, I hadn't expected that Whirlpool's ten year anniversary game would be this good.  It is written by the same person who wrote Koisuru Doll to Omoi no Kiseki, and it feels in many ways like a return to the better of Whirlpool's two distinct styles.  Whirlpool's two styles are: 1- A straight moege/charage that makes a vague attempt at seriousness on occasion and inevitably falls into the habit of producing endlessly repeated 'ongoing jok
Clephas

Clephas

5

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

9

Clephas Top 50 VNs

For the last two years or so, I've gotten repeated requests to unequivocally name my top VNs made up until the present, ignoring objectivity, my vndb votes, etc.  I've more or less just ignored most of those requests, because it is a pain in the ass to name a 'favorite' VN in the first place.  I've made lists of VNs I loved from various genres, and I've also made lists of VNs for a specific purpose.  However, I've avoided making a list like this one up until now, mostly because my 'favorites' sw
Clephas

Clephas

0

Ojou-sama to Himitsu no Otome

Well, you'll be disappointed to know that I am disappointed with this VN, even though I didn't have high hopes for it. First, I should explain the theory/template for a good trap protagonist VN. 1. Protagonist is voiced (voicing the protagonist in these VNs with a sex-neutral-sounding VA generally gives you what you want) 2. Protagonist is something of a submissive personality, when it comes to minor issues, but when it comes to anything major is proactive. 3. Protagonist at some point s
Clephas

Clephas

5

Shougun-sama wa Otoshigoro

This is the newest game by Alcot, based three hundred years before Onigokko (yes, it is a prequel, sort of) during the time of the infamous Tokugawa Yoshimune (who is the central character of the jidaigeki Abarenbou Shogun), the first Shogun to take the title based on the 'gosanke' system set up by Ieyasu to prevent the end of the shogunate due to the end of his direct descendants.  The protagonist of the story is a young man who has been dragged into the body of a person of the same name in the
Clephas

Clephas

0

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

Clephas

3

Sanoba Witch Part 3: Togakushi Touko

Togakushi Touko Touko is the 'oneesan-senpai' of the group. She takes pleasure in teasing others, making jokes, and generally maintaining a light atmosphere. Her path is perhaps the least straightforward so far... mostly because the issues are a bit less than predictable if you aren't used to seeing potential difficulties based upon minimal setting cues. I will say that I did like her as a heroine... but I didn't like her as much as Meguru or Nene. The simple reason for this is that her pr
Clephas

Clephas

0

Venus Blood Empire

Yes, I went and played a game in this series, mostly because Sanahtlig is an old friend and I didn't want to keep brushing him off. In fact, I'm marathonning this series starting with this game. First, an initial umbrella statement... this would have been a first-class story (though flawed) if it weren't for the massive amounts of tentacle rape and choukyou. Am I serious? Yeah. Despite everything, the base story is actually really good. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the gamepla
Clephas

Clephas

1

Neyuki no Genei and VN of the Month announcement

From the beginning I'm going to be blunt and say this VN is going to be a bit of a hard sell for most readers. There are several reasons for this. 1. Rapid genre shifts (this thing jumps through hoops for at least four genres and shifts rapidly from serious, to sad, to scary... so rapidly most people will probably lose track of what's going on) 2. There is a surprisingly large amount of rape and H in general for a VN that is only about five to six hours long for me (and about twelve to fourt
Clephas

Clephas

3

Teito Hiten Daisakusen

First, for those of you who are fans of the Steampunk Liar-soft games, this isn't one of them. Rather, it is based on an alternative version of the 1920's where curses, magic, and monsters exist and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 never happened. Japan has come away from its first major military contacts with the outside world as the victor over Russia, which is making its bloody transition from Empire to communist state. Garan, one of the two protagonists, is a tengu... as arrogant as
Clephas

Clephas

1

Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier

First, this VN is done in a similar vein to that of the Chuushingura VN, in that it is historical fiction with elements of fantasy.  In this case, the protagonist is Okita Soujirou, the infamous Shinsengumi swordsman (in this case a trap, lol, since the Shinsengumi are all women).  For those wondering how they chose to do this VN, it is pretty interesting.  I have so far played three of the four end-story arcs (Hijikata and Kondou share the same arc, as do the Saitou/Sanou and the Sakuma/Higo pa
Clephas

Clephas

3

Natsuiro Kokoro Log

To be honest, despite how much some people recommended this VN to me (or hyped it without playing it *smiles dryly*) this VN didn't seem even the least bit exciting to me. This didn't change significantly even after I started playing it, and it never really felt like it got off the ground.  First of all, they plopped down a bunch of wastefully (and I do mean that as it sounds) colorful characters into a setting that felt kind of forcibly glued together.  Second, the story itself is brutally
Clephas

Clephas

3

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

Clephas

3

Elements to make a good VN/gameplay hybrid

This is just my opinion, born of my experiences with both bad and good VNs with gameplay. Note that I more or less expect half of humanity (or more) to disagree with me on most or all points, so don't expect me to respond to every scream of rage at my apparent assumption of superior knowledge. These are written on the basis of the philosophy that VNs are trying to tell a story and are primarily a storytelling medium. 1- Due to the nature of a visual novel (with the emphasis on the novel), the
Clephas

Clephas

6

The Otoboku series

The Otoboku series is often put forward as a prime example of a sub-genre that first gained popularity about eight years ago... the 'trap protagonist in a girl's school' type.  However, there are a number of aspects that make this series a bit unique... or at least make them feel unique. One is their protagonists... despite their differences in personality and upbringing, all three protagonists end up taking a similar role in the common route, even aside from the 'Elder' issue.  To be strai
Clephas

Clephas

6

Haruru Minamo ni

I first encountered Clochette with Suzunone Seven, a game recommended to me by a friend who lives in Japan.  Suzunone Seven is one of the more memorable charage I've played, both for the depth of its story and the depth of its setting and characters.  Now, Clochette is frequently jokingly referred to as 'oppai central' or 'The Oppai Corporation'... or any number of other similar names, with good reason.  Their style has it so that all the heroines are either close to flat or... the opposite.  It
Clephas

Clephas

1

Butterfly Seeker

This is Unobara Nozomu's second attempt at the mystery genre (for those who are interested, he also wrote Yurirei, Teito Hiten Daisakusen, and Fairytale Requiem) after the dramatic failure of Shinsou Noise last year.  To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this game, despite its interesting concept.  This game, like many detective mystery type VNs, possesses a deduction system... but thankfully, it also lets you skip that portion at the click of a button (thus avoiding the story disrupti
Clephas

Clephas

3

Grisaia Phantom Trigger parts one and two

Since this one was released in English already, I'm pretty sure at least a good number of the members of this community have already sampled it.  However, this is also the last VN for this month (that isn't a nukige).  This has been a month full of short kinetic novels that are parts of a larger story... a setup that I normally dislike intensely.  Since this game is only a partial, it isn't actually a candidate for VN of the Month (VN of the Month's rules require that the release in question be
Clephas

Clephas

6

A bit of Hapymaher, as a motivator and because I'm evil

Before anyone asks, no I'm not translating this VN as a whole.  For one thing, it is long and I'm lazy.  For another, it actually has a small chance of coming over here, so I'm not going to do something that will spoil the whole game for them (I want this officially localized).  This is a fully narrated version (narrated by the poster of the video) of the first few scenes of Hapymaher, which was my VN of the Year 2013.  This VN has ridiculously good music... and a frequently heartbreaking story.
Clephas

Clephas

4

Weaboos and Otakus: Top Eight most Annoying Questions (Clephas version)

Generally speaking, if you are a weaboo and/or otaku and you reveal your hobby, you generally tend to end up on the receiving end of all sorts of unbelievably irritating questions.  This is my list of the most annoying questions I've heard as an otaku/weaboo. 1.  "Is that a cartoon?"  Almost every anime fan gets asked this at some point, though generally speaking, this is an event that was a lot more common when I first started watching anime.  To be blunt, American cartoons tend to be one
Clephas

Clephas

17

The spirit of an older gamer: Why I play games and why other people play games

I've been playing video games more or less constantly for over twenty-five years.  That's a very simple statement that holds a surprising amount of meaning, considering how much video games have changed since I first began playing them. It began with the NES, for me... with Mario, Luigi, and the ducks.  I shot ducks out of the air, I jumped Mario across gaps and on top of turtles, without ever really understanding what was going on.  As a kid, this was fun, seriously.  Understand, this
Clephas

Clephas

14

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

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