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The reason that I don't have internet the majority of the week, so I can't participate. I feel left out. On the thread, you can always catch up, seeing as there are pages and you can use quotes and such.

The first thing i thought of... Am I the only one? o.0

As long as there is Dere, then there is room for love.

This list won't feature the VNs in order of "how good they are". Rating them would be way too much of a clusterfuck to me. The VNs are not in their respective order. Meaning number 1 is not the best, and so on. 1_CHAOS; HEAD 2_Cross Channel 3_G-Senjou no Maou 4_Fate/Stay Night 5_Forest This Visual Novel is the easiest visual novel translated to get a bad ending without using a walkthrough- which just adds to the fun of it. It makes a massive amount of references to common literature, which makes it even better. 6_Katahane It may seem like an ordinary moege- the atmosphere is light, the story is full of cuteness, which you can note by the character design and soundtrack. It gets really good in the middle, and you'll be dying to know what happens in the end. A game with multiple perspectives, it's definitely one of the most enjoyable Visual Novels I've ever read. 7 Majikoi 8_Little Busters! 9_Tsukihime "You shouldn't tell lies that you can't even fool yourself with" 10_Swan Song A post apocalyptic Visual Novel. 11_Symphonic Rain It may seem like your ordinary moege. Trust me, it's not. 12_Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (and sequel) 13_Sekien no Inganock Steampunk. An atmosphere full of mysteries and references that will make your head blow up. 14_Steins; Gate A visual novel that deals extensively with time travel and it's consequences. 15_Utawarerumono 16_Fault: Milestone (1 & 2) 17_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni 18_Kara no Shoujo 19_Umineko no Naku Koro ni 20_Planetarian 21_Ever 17 Another top 10. 22_Remember11 It lacks in the ending, but otherwise the story of this VN has enough to easily become one of my all-time favorites. 23_Zanmataisei Demonbane 24_Rewrite "Could it possibly be rewritten, this fate of hers?" Another one that enters the top 10. 25_Narcissu 26_Grisaia no Kajitsu 27_Saya no Uta Only if you enjoy dark and messed up settings. 28_Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni 29_Eien no Aselia 30_Rose Guns Days (1 & 2) There are small sections of gameplay on this one, but you can skip them by pressing the space bar, so this still qualifies. 31_Sengoku Rance I feel obliged to comment on this VN before suggesting it to anyone. It's an Alicesoft title, which speaks a lot for itself... If you don't know how it's going to be like, well.. Kind of tough to describe. Lots of sex, including comedy rape. Alicesoft tends to make the whole story a comedy until right near the end, where things actually do get serious. It's worth checking out, if you don't mind Rance's personality. 32_Phenomeno Want a short VN that can captivate you for their whole duration? Here is it. Visual novel adapted from the youth horror novel written by Hajime Ninomae and illustrated by yoshitoshi ABe. 33_Ef- A Fairy Tale of the Two 34_Dysfunctional Systems Another one great for those who want short Visual Novels. 35_Daibanchou Another Alicesoft title. While Rouga is not near Rance's level when it comes to pissing off people, alicesoft's style is something which often doesn't please people. 36_Yume Miru Kusuri The endings pack quite a punch. 37_Kikokugai- The Cyber Slayer 38_Eden 39_Hoshizora no Memoria 40_Katawa Shoujo Yep, it's somewhat overrated. Still, the fact that it is substantially easier for those who are starting to play visual novels to read should not be discarded, and overall, the story was good. 41_World End Economica 42_YU-NO 43_Shikkoku no Sharnoth Yep, there is a minigame on this one. If you download a save data you can skip the minigame, though. So it still qualifies. Another VN that enters my top 10. 44_Muv Luv Alternative The first Muv Luv didn't have enough to enter this list. You should still read it, though~ MLA is definitely awesome. 45_Dangan Ronpa 46_Comyu - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku 47_Hanachirasu 48_Ayakashibito 49_I/O 50_Deardrops

This is a list of good games to begin your journey into playing VNs in Japanese. Inevitably, most of these games will be moege, charage, or nakige. There is little to be done about this, as chuuni, sci-fi, and fantasy-action VNs have linguistic barriers that will be too much for someone still struggling with reading conversational Japanese. In particular, the biggest barrier for someone who is used to dealing with Japanese that is 'spoken', rather than 'written' is the existence of literary Japanese. The turns of phrase, different wording, etc. that an inexperienced reader might run into can either be seen as a learning experience or as pure confusion, depending on your level and state of mind. As such, I am only putting down games that are readable for someone who understands spoken Japanese but is weaker in literary Japanese. I will also put a 'second level' for those who are interested in challenging themselves a little but not too much. This one will be for those who are willing to see if they can handle the easier action scenes, more difficult event descriptions, and the like. First Level: Maji Suki Marginal Skip Suzunone Seven Kamikaze Explorer Tsuisou no Augment (this game is hilarious, and it is not a moege. I recommend this to people who liked the atmosphere of Yume Miru Kusuri) Akabanzu - Real na Sekai de Boku ga Kimi ni Dekiru Koto (this game has only minor scientific terms and jargon, mostly related to AI and MMO's. Since it is distinctly possible you ran into these terms just watching anime, I went ahead and put this up.) Chuning Lover (this game is just generally rofl) Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka (one of the few almost-pure comedy in my personal lineup) Otomimi Infinity Sakura Iro Quartet (this and the game above are for mimikko fetishists) Ryuusei Kiseki (sci-fi moege, fairly easy. Hardest parts are when the protag begins preaching about his hobby) Shiawase Kazoku-bu Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (surrealist fantasy moege... mildly funny, interesting in general) Toppara - Zashikiwarashi no Hanashi (use this as your crash course in youkai) 12/30/2014 edit Love Revenge Real Imouto ga Iru Ooizumi-kun no Baai 08/15/2016 Edit Sakigake Generation Minamijuujisei Renka Primal Hearts Primal Hearts 2 World Election Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence Second Level: Irotoridori no Sekai (yeah, it is being translated, but it isn't done yet) Konata yori Kanata Made (relatively low-difficulty action/event scenes, as well as being an excellent entry point into the utsuge genre) Tiny Dungeon series (relatively normal conversational and event scenes, and the actions scenes are relatively low-difficulty, if somewhat fast-paced) Draculius (similar to above in the action) Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (this game is probably one of the top three non-action/sci-fi/fantasy games I've played and it is harder than the games on the first level... but in exchange it is also a lot better, lol) Hyper→Highspeed→Genius (relatively high difficulty to first level, but it is easier than the games I'd prefer to introduce people to, lol) Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - The Code Name is "Shield 9" (fanboys of fantranslations know this as one of the many dead projects) Ore no Tsure wa Hitodenashi Kaminoyu (this one and the one above are your source for non-human love in this stage, lol) Otome ga Tsumugu, Koi no Canvas (higher difficulty than first level primarily due to the art terms) Aete Mushisuru, Kimi to no Mirai Akatsuki no Goei (first one only, later ones are too hard for Second Level) Re: birth Colony Lost Azurite (this, Tiny Dungeon, and Draculius are probably the hardest games on this list) Fake Azure Arcology (direct link to the game above, and ditto) Kimi to Boku to Eden no Ringo Koiiro Soramoyou (famous for certain VN fanboys) Kimi to Boku to no Kishi no HIbi (recent release, fairly easy, good protag) Lunaris Filia (a vampire charage, for those who want some of that) Naka no Hito nado Inai!! Tokyo Hero Project Dracu-riot Sakura Tale Tojita Sekai no Tori Colony (this game is pretty hilarious, especially if you insist on seeing all of the loop ends before getting to the true end) Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou (similar to Koi no Canvas, in that the terms that will give you the most trouble are the technical ones - this time for sewing and clothing design) 12/30/2014 edit Zannen na Oretachi no Seishun Jijou Kimi no Tonari de Koishiteiru Sekai wo Sukuu Dake no Kantan na Shigoto Nanairo Reincarnation (borderline within this if you are familiar with the base concepts of youkai and ghosts as understood by the Japanese) Sakigake Generation Edit: This will be the last in my series of lists. I will edit them with additions occasionally, but I won't be making any new ones. Have fun yall.

Just a question that Nosebleed wonders

There there. *Gives a nice balanced and healthy set of onigiri*

Welcome! Have some fruit:

<3 I can forgive the Yandere-ness then.

Lol, fair enough. I'm yandere for you, though, soul-bro...

It's alright. Just send the lings in to scout for danger, they're expendable. Have you checked out IRC? it's kind of full of delinquents, so watch out. There's this one guy called "Kuu" who just abuses me by the second T.T

toooooo late

Nagisa....if u know Dim realllllly well...

Tis a scary place. Join at your own risk.

Congrats!

Hope you will enjoy it as much I did if you try to read it. Btw when you reach Tomo's letter in the beginning don't worry about it being difficult to comprehend, the rest of the story isin't that hard haha. Yeah, I am going to read the fan disc as well. It kind of passed by my head while I was writing my post. I got it downloaded and ready to be installed. But I am going to hold off on it for a for a while though. Ruitomo required me to concentrate quite often to be able to follow the jokes and story. I need a break from ruitomo level of diffucility, as I find it hard to enjoy reading Rui while being exhausted. I'll likely get around to it in a few weeks when I done with my exams. Btw Vokoca, I read Amane's after story in Meikyuu. Her first H-scene... L0L

I'd say it's worth it, but Mangagamer is currently retranslating higurashi. Might be worth it to wait for it, and read something else meanwhile.

I once was in the same position you are in now; I finished Higurashi anime and really liked it, short after found the VN and wondered if I should read it. The anime was pretty good, and compared to the VN not bad at all. Even if it was a bad adaptation, you still already know all the secrets. I waited a year or 2 and decided to read it anyway. In my opinion it was worth it, especially Higurashi kai. I loved meakashi in the VN. As for your direct questions. No. You may recognize a lot, but the first episode(s) were just a bit boring compared to the rest. A lot of character introduction (of characters you already know really well), a lot of school scenes, lack of great music and getting used to the art is also part of this I think. It has more content, but I only really noticed it in Kai. Higurashi and Higurashi Kai VN both consist of 4 chapters. The anime had 26 episodes for "Higurashi" and 24 episodes for "Higurashi Kai". Iirc the anime that is called "Higurashi Kai" actually only contains chapter 3 and 4 of the Higurashi Kai VN (they probably did this because there is a lot to explain in this part). The chapter 1 and 2 of the Kai VN are in the last episodes of the "Higurashi" anime (Meakashi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen). So you will notice you get more information about these chapters. Well to be honest, my answer to this question would always be yes in every case. As for if you would enjoy reading Higuarshi I don't know. But even if you decide to not continue with Higurashi, I would recommend to give Higurashi Kai a try before you decide to not read any of it. Higurashi Kai is a great VN and it is atleast worth your time to try it.

10 most visited websites? Hell no.