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Hello everyone, this is one of the CG of my visual novel "one day to disappear" what do you say? The style is not manga, but the designer is very good. I'd like you to play my demo, find it here! thanks! https://onedaytodisappear.itch.io/one-day-to-disappear

It's still May where I am so a happy birthday to our EVN defensor extraordinaire @Plk_Lesiak

I really dig that kind of artstyle! Right now I'm reading my fair amount of visual novels and I don't really have time to read more but I'll check it out asap!

Thanks as usual. Your succinct VN news summary covers most of the events in the VN world and is comprehensive and insightful.

I only got one at the moment (but apparently, we're getting another one soon) and I just love the little guy to death. :3

So, I finally finished this and it was a very nice read overall. Maybe not a master piece, it does have some weaknesses, but it was certainly an entertaining story. The good stuff: I think the VN was rather well paced for most of the part. While some parts might have felt a bit generic and lengthy, they usually weren't too long, because the VN iterates beween slice of life and plot arcs. In that regard, the VN felt rather well organized anyway. It had several connected cases and a bigger overarching plot arc. That's at least for me one of the best ways to write a story, because it gives you a feeling of progress if you can finish a case and then there's new stuff coming to keep you interested. On the other hand, there's still a bigger overarching plot with each case being one piece of its puzzle pieces. I also found the story reasonable explained for a super-natural thriller. They did neither try to overcomplicate nor overexplain things. There are some clear rules how the Bodach world works and they tried to stick to those for the most part, with some smaller unknowns left to keep the mystery. I also liked the protagonist. He was proactive and had a clear mind. I also appreciate that they didn't try to bore me to death with a time loop. Taking a 5 hour story, stretch it to 10 hours and then further multiply it to 50 hours via time loop isn't something unheard of. If a plot arc is over, then it IS over and you don't have to go through it again a dozen times. It's also nice, that despite delivering a full story full of murder mystery, you still get heroine routes with several H-scenes each, even if the routes felt more like extended epilogues. Although the VN has some rather creepy scenes and darker moments, it still keeps the mood comparatively light. Even if it's a bit darker than the 9-nine series and has more plot focus, I'd still also classify this as a story-moege mix. There was also considerable effort put into the VN, to pull that off. I counted well over 150 CG's im the image gallery, which is massive. Most VN's keep it well below a hundred - usually more in the ~70 region. I think Aokana had a similar CG count - probably even more and the quality was higher though. I also played all routes, even Hatsune's, which is saying something. But granted, the routes itself weren't that long. The not so good stuff: I think most of my complaints could be summarized with one word: the execution. The moege roots of its creators are gleaming through in almost every aspect - art, sound and writing. While the VN does have some creepy scenes, it can feel almost undistinguishable from a generic slice of life of moege in its more peaceful scenes. Although this is a murder mystery, the whole mood and style isn't really comparable to darker counterparts like Kara no Shoujo. The VN also had some problems how to switch between the lighter and darker parts, especially at the start. It also suffered from a severe disregard of male characters. I found almost all male character sprites and voices lacking. That's a typical moege problem. All the effort goes into the girls, while male characters barely make it beyond idiot-friend. And then the weird poses of some of them. Take Hidenori for example, he always has its arm at its head - ALWAYS. Rule number one for every character artist: If a character has only one pose, always use a neutral one, NEVER EVER a special gesture one. Tomonari's was almost worse. I think the only male character that was kind of okay was the detective. Since some of the male characters had important roles, you can't just leave them in the dust like that. Fortunately, at least the event CG's with them were usually better. Writing and story was also a bit uneven. Some parts were actually pretty good. I think I liked the first case with the restaurant the most. It had good foreshadowing, decent introduction into dream diving and an intense finale. On the other hand, the case directly after felt more like 'monster of the week'. Character motivations were also relatable on paper, but with the cheap sprites and voice acting of male characters, they often came across as rather generic and one-dimensional. The heroines were a bit overshadowed by the omni-present Madoka. That made it difficult to follow the fast switch into a heroine route after the main plot. It's admittedly not an easy thing to get right considering the circumstances. And I'm pretty sure I've seen worse in story VN's, provided they even have heroine routes which certainly isn't a given. The last thing I want to mention is a bit of a, let's say 'luxus complaint' - the VN lacks a bit of 'flair'. The cool characters of a Dies Irae, the engrossing atmoshere of a Kara no Shoujo, or just the pretty character art of a Palette or Purple Soft title. While the female character sprites of Sakura no Mori † Dreamers aren't bad, they have just a front pose and the facial expressions could have been better. I played that in tandem with Senren Banka and Yuzusoft puts more effort into those things than anyone else, even if I'm not sure if they also have back poses like Palette. Conclusion: Although my complaint section is pretty long like usual, most of it is still more on the nitpicking side. They got the important parts right I think. Heroine ranking: Madoka > Mahoro > Kureha > Hatsune > Mifuyu Overall rating: 7.5/10 It doesn't reach the 8 in my book, mainly because of the problems with the male characters, but it deserves an upper 7 rating. It was certainly the best VN I've read this year so far, even if that doesn't say much. But I do appreciate what Moonstone tried to achieve here and for the most part they did succeed I think. I hope they keep that up and even improve with their future titles.

I have some news for you, man...

Yesterday instead of usual 30 minute facebook stream, Youko did full-fledged 90 minute concert - transmitted on YT from studio, with proper sound, lighting etc. It can be viewed as a video now, and I think it's really worth listening to.

In all my years of reading VN's, I didn't think I would find such an old gem!

Nothing quite screams "gem" like the first coming of the titty spider.

Foreword: Cotton Soft debut work Natsumegu did not snatch stars from the sky, but Reconquista seems to have a totally different, serious approach and thus arouses interest. Synopsis: There is a certain town on a reclaimed island. It was developed as an international residential area, but it's in ruins now. And there is a rumor that if you walk around there at night, a girl in school uniform will appear and cut off your head... Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esl-hAk-6M8&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_3HkMSokjrZXfwZiVI0FIR Game type: Suspense mystery Character Design rating: 8/10 Protagonist rating: 7/10 Story rating: 8/10 Game quality: 8/10 Overall rating: 8/10 Due to mystery genre there are limitations to what can be revealed, but at least concept should be laid out to understand what to expect. So, different characters miss beloved dead people, and there is a technique to bring back the dead, but the key to it is urban legend about beheading woman. Game has three chapters that can be roughly described as present dimension, past dimension and true route that can be called future dimension just for sake of simplification. First present Chapter is the largest one, and it contains two protagonists zapping views and all the four heroine endings. We do approach beheaded woman in each of those routes, but in the same manner, so mystery does not really get developed, it's just observation from different angles. Past and Future chapters are focused on the mystery roots and nature, correspondingly. So mystery gets focused extensively, and everything gets explained, so even some emptiness is felt due to limited possible interpretations. But game touches important humanity questions for us to explore ourselves. Does one human life worth sacrificing another one? How does it cope with the concept of eternal soul? What will happen if everyone starts sacrificing other lives to save their beloved ones? Madness becomes the main theme of the game - and it contaminates not only maniac's mind, but even heroines minds who start to lose grip with the reality and ethics. Game actually reminds me old game Kurenai by light. Same madness dominates the air, same bloody scenes everywhere, even main heroine of the two games basically looks and feels the same - in this game it's Kureha (even name seems to bear reference). Different heroines sing famous Japanese horror Kagome song which becomes a symbol of madness. I should also mention great BGM that contributes to the atmosphere a lot. But aside from Kureha, heroines aren't developed much. Loli daughter Momiji is also greatly portrayed, but she is not a capturable heroine, luckily. Shiina also feels alive with her bitter attitude compared to more ordinary heroines Mahoko and Masaki who have their share of charm, but that's it, no development. Male characters in this game are especially subtle and passive. All characters are normal people without special abilities, so at times lack of excitement is felt. Reconquista story is not that complicated, but thanks to four protagonists zapping and different chronology it gets rich in taste and details. It's not our usual fluffy happy end game. It leaves reader with touching moment, heavy feeling, hope and afterthoughts to linger on.

All Best Wishes to lately disturbingly quiet @Ranzo!