Leaderboard

Signalist Stars came at me from out of left field, smashing me across the face with a spike grenade. I literally wasn't expecting anything from this VN, as my recent experiences with new companies have left me unwilling to hope for better. This VN does, in my mind, fall into the charage genre, but it does it so well that I was left a bit stunned. Signalist Stars is based in a city where people who have a burning passion are encouraged to pursue it, regardless of what it is. In this city, for the most part, those who sneer at people who have bright hopes for the future and those that try to smash young people down with the hammer known as 'reality' are virtually nonexistent. For people who grew up without discarding their dreams, it is a utopia. Atsushi, the protagonist, is one of those people, a young man who desires to become a hero. He is the head of a committee devoted to dealing with the problems that pop up as a result of the somewhat indiscriminate nature of the city and school's affirmation of people's dreams. To be specific, this policy has led to 'geniuses' (people who excel in one area to insane degrees) being a little out of control, and the day to day life is a bit wacky and over the top. Atsushi is an idiot. I mean that literally. He is so stupid that he makes a chimpanzee seem intelligent sometimes... however, he has a nose for trouble, an endless passion for helping people, and a willingness to discard his own well-being in the pursuit of helping others. He also talks like a delinquent and loves a good fight. Trouble is his drug and peace is its aftermath, lol. Anyway, this VN is extremely comedic for most of its length, Atsushi's antics and stupidity creating so many running jokes that I found myself smiling constantly throughout most of the VN. However, if you asked me if this is just a straight-out comedy, the answer would be a definite no. This VN has some dramatic moments, with one major one serving as the turning point just before the route split and one in each of the heroine routes, where the protagonist and heroine must confront both of their issues as a team. This drama is fairly serious, though it tends to be resolved easily, in the fashion that is common to charage. Nonetheless, it adds just the right level of spice for me to consider this one of the most technically excellent charage out there... from a writing perspective. Unfortunately, there is one issue with this VN that is as annoying as hell. Of course, it is a technical one and one that will probably be fixed with a patch later on... but there are huge problems with the sound in this VN. To be specific, voice cut-outs, voice switches, sudden musical and vocal volume shifts, etc. For some reason, in this one area, this VN has points where it suddenly jars you with its imperfection. The actual BGMs used are 'common' ones I'm familiar with from other games, indicating that they are 'recycling' music from other VNs (probably at low cost). However, they are mostly used ideally. If it weren't for the technical issues (which might be programming-related) I'd honestly say that using 'generic' music wasn't a minus. Even if one ignores that this is a first effort on the part of this company, this VN is a gem. While it needs some polishing (preferably with a technical patch to fix the sound problems), it is one of those rare charage that appeal both to me and the mainstream without throwing either side out of the boat. If you asked me what I liked best in this VN, I'd have to say it was either the comedy or the character dynamics (both of which are intricately interrelated). My favorite heroine was Isumi, the 'witch' and my favorite character overall was Atsushi (yes, despite the fact that he is an idiot). Why do I like Atsushi? Because, despite being an 'idiot' character, he actually manages to escape the archetype, becoming something more than the frame that was used to shape him through the skill of the writer. VN of the Month, October 2016 This time it is a straight-out race between Sora no Tsukurikata and Signalist Stars. Both VNs escape genre and archetype flaws through skilled writing and surprising escapes from the traps of convention, and both VNs managed to surprise me with their levels of quality. They are neck and neck in my mind and almost so in my heart. So, when it comes down to it, I'm going to decide this Month's VN of the Month based on a smidgen of personal bias, simply because they really are that equivalent when I eliminate that bias. In other words, Sora no Tsukurikata is VN of the Month October 2016. Both games are going on my list of VNs to play from this year, though. For those of you who just want a comedic romance and slice-of-life (albeit an unrealistic one) Signalist Stars would probably be the better choice, whereas Sora no Tsukurikata is a far better choice for raw story and plot. Anyway, have fun yall, and look forward to November's releases! I won't be playing Nanairo Clip, due to my inability to enjoy any story focused mostly on the entertainment industry in general and the Japanese idol industry in particular.

I think we can all agree I've read a lot of VNs. *waits for audience laughter with a smile* *looks sad when the audience laughter recording doesn't work* Anyway, over the years I've encountered a lot of writers. Some were mediocre, others were decent, yet others were good... and some were just great. I decided to list the writers I honestly think have a lot of talent and whose works are something we, as VN fans, should at least keep an eye on. Tier One presents writers who are 'masters of their craft', to the point where they can be put onto a pedestal with few qualms. My list: Hino Wataru- Hino Wataru is Akatsuki Works' primary writer. His bad habits include a tendency toward overuse of line repetition (like 'soredemo, to' in Comyu and 'norowareta sekai' in Ruitomo) and an absolute adoration for hedge philosophy themes in each VN he writes. However, if you can endure his quirks, his raw writing is actually really high quality, and he does have a serious talent for scenario construction. It's just too bad that you can tell how he favors his heroines based on their path length and closeness to the 'true' heroine. Masada Takashi- Now, the first thing that comes to mind to any of us when we hear 'Masada' is the famous/infamous VN Dies Irae. For chuuni fans and fans of elaborate prose, Dies Irae is a drug more powerful than heroin. For people who want prose to be straightforward and easy to understand, it is pure poison. His adoration for the use of phrasing rarely utilized in modern prose, flowery descriptions, and poetic phrasing have also made him one of the most impossible writers to translate, though. His preference is for grandiose settings, 'archetypical characters escaping their archetypes', and over the top plot twists. He is surprisingly good at avoiding giving away future story developments to the reader, and his most brilliant characters are usually the antagonists of the story, rather than the protagonists or the heroines. He is also a first-class master of the art of presentation. Kurashiki Tatsuya and Takahama Ryou- These guys are what I like to call the 'Masada Fanboys'. Their prose, their scenario and setting construction, and even the cadence of their poetry is all an imprint of Masada. For those unfamiliar with Light's works, Kurashiki Tatsuya was the scenario writer for Maggot Baits (which had unbelievably good prose outside of the torture/sex scenes) and Takahama Ryou was one of Izumo 4's writers. While their writing shows off a rather obvious obsession with Masada's works, that doesn't seem to keep them from writing enormously enjoyable stories and characters. The biggest difference between them and Masada is that they tend to place more of an emphasis on the protagonist and heroines than Masada does (as Masada is a master of the 'supreme antagonist' as is evidenced by Amakasu, Reinhardt, Mercurius, and Hajun). Evidence of this is Vermilion, Electro Arms, Zero Infinity, and Silverio Vendetta, all of which were VNs that were defined almost entirely by the protagonist and/or the heroines. Kinugasa Shougo- The writer of Akatsuki no Goei (the series) and Reminiscence (the series), Kinugasa Shougo is perhaps best known for his character-based situational comedy, despite having a surprising flair for building a setting. He has an inordinate fondness for dystopian settings and characters who are either amoral or outright villainous. Kaito in Akatsuki no Goei is perhaps one of the most amoral protagonists I've ever come across, possessing a capacity for directed brutality that I've found nearly unmatched in VNs combined with an arrogance that causes endless hilarity throughout the VNs involving him. However, this writer does have one huge flaw... he loves leaving things unfinished and/or to your imagination. He never concludes his stories, and things almost never have a 'happily ever after' feeling to them after he gets done with them. Takaya Aya- Perhaps one of the most versatile writers on this list, Takaya Aya is Caramel Box's primary writer, having been responsible for many first-class VNs, including Semiramis no Tenbin, Komorebi no Nostalgica, Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic, Otoboku 2, and Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier. He is absolutely brilliant at creating empathetic characters and pulling the reader into their situations. He can do chuunige, slice-of-life comedy, nakige, and even a dark social commentary. Higashide Yuuichirou- Like Masada, Higashide Yuuichirou is/was (he is retired) primarily a chuunige writer and was Propeller's main writer until 2011. Unlike Masada, he specializes in a more 'standard' version of the hero. His protagonists are designed to inspire, his writing is full of humor (both standard manzai and self-effacing), and he has a mastery of catharsis that Masada simply doesn't possess. To be honest, I've only come across a few writers that can balance so many elements in a single literary work without having it all fall apart, and his works don't lose their flavor after multiple playthroughs. Takehaya- Takehaya is a master of catharsis, the creating of characters, settings, and scenarios that can draw out the emotions of the reader, forcing them into an emotional release despite themselves. All of his best works - from utsuge Konakana to the more recent Rakuen no Shugosha - rip into your heart and force you to make a place for the characters there. There are few writers out there that can do what he does, but I can't help but wish there were. Morisaki Ryouto- Morisaki Ryouto is a challenger for Takaya Aya in terms of versatility, capable of writing nakige, charage, hard sci-fi, chuunige fantasy (Fate/Hollow Ataraxia) and even heavy eros. While he isn't as brilliant as Takaya as a writer, he does have a gift for adapting himself to the genre he is writing, and it is always worth it to at least try anything he writes, even if the genre itself turns out not to suit your tastes. Shumon Yuu- Shumon Yuu is something of an enigma. He occasionally appears in the VN industry (every three years or so) and puts out a VN that is artistically brilliant (in the general sense) and possesses depths that are almost impossible to fully plumb in a single playthrough. Every VN he has put out since he hit his stride with Itsuka Todoku has been a kamige. He is also a light novel writer. He is brilliant at portraying both suffering and joy, drawing you into the setting and characters while presenting them in their best lights. If there is a writer in the VN industry I can say unequivocally is a genius, he is it.

I know nobody cares about this type of translation in this forum (for obvious reasons, for once the novel is already translated and second nobody really speak spanish in this forum xD) I'm doing a translation of himeko's epilogue and posting it here mostly to keep track of my own translation and have a place to share it. At first it was going to be an eng>spa translation but there are some huge mistakes on the translation itself (specially on the atogaki 1980 story) and also many sentences that don't make much sense or silly grammar errors that shouldn't be there even if they are silly (tons of these)... I don't know the guy who did the translation but it seems that he just rushed it and cut corners in some places because of time restriction, with more time and someone checking the script it could have been a good work. I don't like to complain or shit on others work but come on they are charging for it...it's not a free fan-translation project. Second by looking at the files itself (again with the huge help of Schwarzstorch who is editing the images, creating the patch etc) we found: *Inside the files of himeko is almost the whole ame no marginal script (untranslated) *The game "hides" the UI in some lazy way but you can still active it, just turn the windows transparency up or down and it will appear. *They used the same engine from sorairo (probably in this whole 10th anniversary narcissu project and ame no marginal) they just changed the script and CGs (with same engine I don't mean majiro but they actually grabbed it as it was in sorairo and didn't change anything besides the script and CGs), this isn't so hard to spot, I mean check this image and if you check the menu you can still see options that don't make much sense in this game, like changing the color of previous choices (in a kinetic vn ) and so on. *There are some files from the Mahjong minigame and many more things but you get the idea. In conclusion, it's going to take more time to check line by line to see if there are errors than translating everything from 0 so in the end it's going to take more time than I thought, but it won't take more than a month, on a side note my original idea was to add 1993 short story into this patch but I don't know if that's legal or not (probably it's not) so I dropped it. それだけだ EN ESPAÑOL: Para hacerlo breve ya que no tengo muchas ganas de escribir xD voy a realizar la traducción del epilogo de Himeko, mi idea era utilizar la traducción en ingles y pasarla al español pero debido a los muchos errores que tiene, gramaticales y también simplemente de mala traducción - el traductor utilizó atajos en oraciones complejas y se nota! - también hay cosas mal traducidas, ejemplo de algo muy tonto "１９８０ 中坊の日のこと。" como "The mid-1980s... those days..." en español es "En los mediados de los 80'... aquellos días" cuando debería decir algo como "Aquellas cosas que sucedieron en esos días de cuando era un alumno de secundaria en los 80'" xD queda medio feo así tan largo pero ya se dan un idea de lo que hablo. Ese kanji raro (difícilmente aparezca seguido en algún lugar viene de acá 中坊) es decir un estudiante de secundaria de ese periodo especifico, no de cualquier momento. (si no entendieron nada de lo que expliqué no importa!) La traducción va a tomar 1 mes, ma o meno - cachito más cachito menos xD , dependiendo de las ganas que tenga de traducir , calculo que voy a traducir unas 30 lineas al día y son casi 1000, y eso es todo por ahora.