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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

Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki

First, a little background for those who didn't read my previous posts on the subject.  I'm one of those rare souls who read Aiyoku no Eustia, by this same company, and came to hate it in the end.  I have reasons... even good ones.  The biggest one is that the side-heroines' endings make no sense in the context of the story as a whole.  This isn't a joke and it isn't something that can actually be denied by anyone who finished the main path (Eustia's).  This is actually the thing I despise most
Clephas

Clephas

2

Semiramis no Tenbin: Why I love it.

I get people asking me all the time why I like this VN so much, and indeed, there is a lot about this VN that makes it a somewhat eclectic choice. The only thing that is even remotely moe is the basic visuals, and the arcs of the story range from the shocking to the creepy. First, the biggest reason is quite simple... Kamio Ami. It is really rare for a heroine to so completely shatter pre-existing standards of what a VN/anime/manga heroine should be. Ami is the single most pragmatic, cold
Clephas

Clephas

4

Semiramis no Tenbin: Characters

Like Akagoei, I've previously posted on Semiramis no Tenbin, so I'm going to limit my comments to some generalities and character descriptions.  This game, for the most part, focuses on the manipulative efforts of one Kamio Ami, the game's main heroine, seen from the point of view of Hayami Reiji.  The game starts out with Reiji being tricked into having sex with Ami, who then proceeds to blackmail him into giving her a place to stay.  He then ends up being at her side as she manipulates the hel
Clephas

Clephas

0

Seishun Fragile

Seishun Fragile is the latest of Purple Software's VNs.  Purple Software is famous these days primarily for powerful nakige/borderline utsuge like Aoi Tori, Amatsutsumi, and Hapymaher.  However, they also are responsible for Chrono Clock and Mirai Nostalgia which, while having an actual plot, are closer to charage than their more plot-centric brethren.  This game is much closer to Mirai Nostalgia in style (based on a few comments inside the story, it is probably based some years after the latest
Clephas

Clephas

8

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

Secret Agent Kishi Gakuen no Shinobi naru Mono

This game, is to some extent, a redemption of my hopes for Ensemble.  I say this from the beginning because I will inevitably be critical in a familiar way about some parts.  However, this game was far closer to Ensemble at its best than we've seen in the last six years. The story is set in an academic city in a school that has a weird setup where individuals who want to get involved with student government join the Knighthood, with Chevaliers and apprentices serving in roles from librarian
Clephas

Clephas

1

Sci-fi Addiction: An analysis of AI-focused sci-fi VNs

Recently, I played (partially) through Missing X-link, and this led me to think of how various VN writers handle the concept of AIs and machine sentience.  There are a number of different approaches, each of which has its own ups and downs. There are minor and major spoilers in all of these examples, and, as such, read them at your own risk.       The argument of the 'emulated human' AI and the philosophically-built AI (Komorebi no Nostalgica)- Komorebi no Nostalgi
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sanoba Witch Part 5: Kariya Wakana, Conclusion

Kariya Wakana Wakana is the game's single sub-heroine, who is only accessible after you have finished both parts of Nene's route. It is slightly shorter than the other routes, naturally, and it splits off a lot earlier in the common route. This route is entirely devoid of the fantastical aspects that were central to the drama of the other paths, setting them aside for standard love-comedy drama. Thankfully, this doesn't include a lot of meaningless ichaicha (in fact, the route ends really
Clephas

Clephas

3

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

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

Sanoba Witch Part 2: Inaba Meguru

Inaba Meguru Meguru is the 'lively and cheerful, puppy-like kouhai' of the story. She is also the most 'fashionable' of the heroines, and the one who is perhaps the most like a 'normal girl' as far as this type of VN goes. The fact that Yuzusoft managed to make her character work is a mark of how high quality their stories are. I will say that the ichaicha in this one is a lot more tedious than it was in Nene's story, though. A lot of it is that both Meguru and Shuuji are really dense abou
Clephas

Clephas

1

Sanoba Witch Part 1: Common and Nene

Common First of all, this is, like most Yuzusoft games, a high-quality charage, though a charage first and foremost. As such, there is definitely a lighter atmosphere than you'd expect, considering the protagonist's personal difficulties and those of the heroines. Problems are resolved quickly and with no real secondary disasters, and they are generally resolved to the satisfaction of the characters involved, if not in the most ideal of manners. In other words, you won't be reading this VN
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sangoku Hime 4: Giving up in Exasperation

Like some others, I got tricked into playing yet another gameplay-hybrid in the series of games by Gesen known as the Sangoku Hime series. To be honest... I couldn't imagine how they could have screwed things up worse.   First of all, they used their 'restructuring' of the game as a big draw for those who were disappointed with a lot of the aspects of 3. They basically redid all the character designs (without exception) with completely new characterization, art, and voices... and I'll be honest
Clephas

Clephas

3

Sakura, Moyu. -As the Night's, Reincarnation-

Sakura, Moyu is the latest game by Favorite, the producers of Hoshimemo and the Irotoridori series.  For those who aren't yet familiar with Favorite, I should tell you that there are three things this company is known for.  For one, they produce first-class 'nakige' in a unique style full of pastel colors and manipulation of visual and narrative perspectives.  Second, they are known for their excellent stories and characters, regardless of which writer they have on the job.  Last of all, they ar
Clephas

Clephas

9

Sakura Sakimashita Part 5: Serika and Kaname

Serika and Kaname Serika's and Kaname's routes are two branch-off routes, Serika branching off from Miu's and Kaname branching off from Miyako's. Kaname's has a similar ending to Tsubame's, albeit without the massive infodump of backstory. Serika's is a lot more comical (pretty hilarious) and actually has a 3P H-scene with Miu and Serika (where Miu basically manipulated Serika into it, lol). Serika's definitely goes for comedy, mostly because Serika is a comedy-relief character, though she is
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sakura Sakimashita Part 4: Tsubame

Haruno Tsubame Tsubame is the person who has perhaps the most 'normal' reaction to the central conflict of this VN, and for that reason I consider her to be the best representative of 'normal humanity' in this VN (though this VN deliberately doesn't show the stuff happening in the cities, referencing it only obliquely). Emotionally, she rises and falls with a predictability that is reassuring, in comparison to Miu (who is something of a nihilist) and Miyako (who has issues that distract her f
Clephas

Clephas

1

Sakura Sakimashita Part 3: Miu

Minato Miu Miu is one of my favorite types of characters... a character that has two sides to their personality that are so dramatically different that you'd almost think they had a major psychological disorder. Miu's path is focused on taking joy in life in the face of certain death (though it might not seem that way at first). To be blunt, Miu's dere is probably the most hilarious and adorable of all of them. When she goes all lovey-dovey, it is in a fashion that even puts other lolis to
Clephas

Clephas

1

Sakura Sakimashita Part 2: Common route, Miyako

The common route of this VN is fairly short, though what is there is pretty strong. It basically establishes the character relationships, the setting, and the characters' personalities. Since this is the role a common route should serve, I have nothing but praise for this one, lol. The character interactions are fairly comical most of the time, and the way it moves into the heroine routes is so natural you almost don't notice (in fact, you aren't supposed to notice with Miyako's route, since the
Clephas

Clephas

2

Sakura Sakimashita Part 1

I'm currently replaying this, a VN by Sorahane. This is not a moege or a charage, despite the packaging. Rather, it is a VN centering around several major themes: life (its meaning), death (immediacy and fear of), and 'immortality'. This is one of the few VNs with an immortality theme that I felt attacked the matter of immortality with something approaching intelligent thought, which gave it a special place in my heart, despite the fact that this is a mediocre company overall (its other two game
Clephas

Clephas

2

Sakura Sakimashita Final Part: Sumire and Omake

Shirataka Sumire By the time you hit this path, all the VN's secrets will be pretty much revealed, so this isn't a path about revealing secrets. It is simply the path that follows the character most central to the story as a whole. Sumire is the club president of the Lifestyle Club, a club devoted to finding reasons to live, joy in life, etc. She is also perhaps the person who enjoys life the most... and also the one who is the most desperate to do so. I won't spoil it for you, but even after
Clephas

Clephas

2

Sakura no Uta Part 3: Shizuku, Episode IV

For various reasons, I haven't had time to push my way through the rest of this VN.  The biggest reason is simply because I had too much work to do.  I haven't even been playing Fallout 4... god what a boring few days.  Anyway, this latest entry covers Shizuku's path and the episode marked IV... both of which have a lot of similarities. Shizuku's path doesn't really feel like a heroine's path, to be frank about it.  Almost all of it is a reminiscence of what occurred in the months immediately be
Clephas

Clephas

0

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

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

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

Sakura no Mori Dreamers (Clephas returns to the internet)

…Wow.  After the disappointments of last month, it is so nice to encounter such a great VN on my first one of the month this one.  Sakura no Mori Dreamers is a horror/mystery nakige based in a medium-sized Japanese town.  It is primarily focused on the protagonist, Shinji, and his quest to discover the killer of his first love, Madoka.  However, if you ask me if this is a story of revenge in the vein of Hello, Lady, that isn’t the case. Shinji is one of those rarest of things in a VN prot
Clephas

Clephas

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