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Well, I'm writing on a phone so I'll be brief... 1. You probably through your absence missed the worst times of institutional paralyses due to Tay's disappearance. This was partially resolved by Emi taking charge, but generally, nothing could be done on Fuwa for literal years because Tay went AWOL. When it got (partially) fixed, there was no energy left to ressurect the site as something more than the Forums, which is also staying alive through inertia more than anything else. Because no main site content = no traffic and no new people. 2. The main roles of this site are not as important as they once were. People get news and discuss them on Reddit. Socialise on Discord. Organise fan translation... Pretty much nowhere because those are dead. I'm being hyperbolic, but only a little. Fuwa is a cool community... But is in no way essential as it once was. The "fix" I was hoping to spearhead for that issue was making it something like an editorial/review hub once more... But few people, me including, had any kind of energy for it, and none had enough for long-term commitment. 3. When it goes to the community itself and the atmosphere on the site, I think it's overwhelmingly positive. I'm not objective here of course, but I don't think it's toxic members of any kind of cultural flaw that keeps Fuwa down. Unless you count lethargy as one. I don't want to discourage you and any initiative to energise the community is welcomed. I'm not sure there's an answer to this crisis though, different then the community being old, slightly anachronistic and really not having time or energy for all that reforming/rebuilding business. :>

Because passione produced a subpar season (DxD Hero), while you may be able to bash TNK for the last season (BorN) and their decision to cut content from it plus the pacing being all over the place, passione did no better in their first attempt plus while more faithful to the LN the art style was also lost and downgraded. Overall I don't think Passione did a good job, personally I would've gone with a different studio tbh. TNK was out because they couldn't shoulder it financially anymore either.

What are you interested in outside of Japanese culture? Even outside of video games or TV? And what did you used to enjoy but don’t really anymore? Fore me I’m always playing around with something new, spent some time in the past gardening but now don’t really have a care for it. Then moved on collecting bolt action WWII rifles, which has been difficult as I am by no means wealthy, over time I’ve collected examples of most of the rifles used by the major forces in WWII. I’ve actually noticed a lot of people interested in otaku stuff are also interested in military surplus firearms and history. More recently I’ve been getting into wine, though it’s partially due to my job requiring me to have that kind of knowledge. Learning about various varieties around the world and pairing with food is extremely difficult, but enjoyable. Never would have imagined I would enjoy wine as an adult but now I drink it relatively often.

What I mean more specifically is whether you have VNs that you would recommend to somebody who falls under a particular category. For instance I usually organize my VN recommendations under three categories of people I could potentially be speaking with: 1) Somebody completely ignorant of weeb stuff, 2) Somebody familiar with anime, manga and/or Japanese video games, 3) Somebody who is already exposed to VNs looking to try new ones out. More specifically I always find myself recommending people who have minimal contact with weeb stuff Narcissu since firstly it doesn't have an overtly anime-ish style in comparison to most VNs, I consider it to be quite good, and its short as well as free. It seems to be the most accessible VN I could recommend to somebody. But then I also have a VN like Suba Hibi which is among my all time favorite, but I struggle to recommend it even to the 3rd category of people because of how difficult it can to be to get through to the finish. Inevitably most of my recommendations are best suited for people who fall under categories 2 or 3. So I guess I'm asking whether anyone else uses a similar system when recommending VNs, and if so do you mind sharing what system you use and which VNs you recommend for the different categories?

Each main route should take around 40 minutes to an hour. And there are a total of ten endings you can get.

We've just launched Kickstarter campaign for our first game! Demo is available right now! We're waiting for your feedback.

Here’s hoping we get an announcement for Demons Souls remaster and release date for Elden Ring

VN of the decade's gotta be the one I simultaneously never shut up about and also never say anything about, Subahibi. I don't read manga so I'll abstain from that category. I also only recently got into anime, so I'll abstain from that category as well. Game of the decade's gotta be Just Shapes and Beats!

https://vndb.org/v11009 Disclaimer: I played the recent fan translation and from my (limited) knowledge of Japanese, I found it to be quite accurate. I was actually surprised by how the translator made certain sentences work and I can't recall an instance where I thought the translation looked strange. When Hajimete no Okaa-san's fan translation came out, it caused a tiny yet significant uproar on certain visual novel related communities. The English idiom that spans over a century - don't judge a book by its cover - could possibly have been created for this very moment. I hope that by writing this review, I can clear up any misconceptions about this novel, teach you to not judge a work by its outward appearance and give you the courage to read a truly touching story. Dealing with the loss of a loved isn't easy, no matter if you're an adult or a child, and even more so if the person in question is an irreplaceable person that you've vowed eternity to or that defines your complete existence. When our unnamed protagonist, who I will refer to as "Papa", loses his beloved wife to a traffic accident, he is left with the troublesome task of single parenting. Confronting the sorrows of one who has been turned into pure white ash, he finds solace in the one and only person who could understand him and also the one who might be suffering the most - his one and only daughter Chiyori (Chii). Hajimete no Okaa-san is a very special Visual Novel. Unlike the disappointing standard of recent releases, it treats both its audience and characters with the respect they deserve. The most significant difference between this novel and the many others is the fact that its willing to portray the characters as real human beings. Please allow me to mention that there exist only eight translated visual novels with the "Widower Protagonist" and likely no other that focuses as deeply on the theme of single parenting. The rather simplistic approach to emotions is surprisingly expressive, although one could argue about the emotional depth of a 6-year old, I was able to completely grasp both the personality of Chii through the brilliant performance of seiyuu Amakawa Milk (a respectable veteran in her own right with a wide palette of roles) and the internal monologues of Papa. The beginning is rather surprising. The amount of effort that the creators have put into this work is nearly palpable, often leaving one surprised at how nicely written and how well the narrative flows. Starting with ordinary slice-of-life scenes, we're thrown into the daily life of Papa and her daughter Chii. Starting with the smallest things like learning how to write hiragana and her own name in Kanji, the basics of arithmetic, giving up one's fork and knife and mastering the use of chopsticks - they are all endearing moments that help us connect with Chii as a character and reminding us of times long past of our childhood when everything was much simpler. It is this genuine and pure simplicity that initially made this novel stand out. In contrast to this feeling, enter "Chii wa kodomo janai!" - Chii is no longer a child. Her own desire to find a way to deal with her own sorrows, all the while supporting the one person she loves most in her world, one of the most satisfying factors of reading through this novel is observing Chii's maturity as a character. Despite the more lighthearted scenes, the novel is plentiful with well-timed drama which never for a moment felt excessive or artificial. Papa is stuck in a constant internal moral debate which at times stops him from realising the suffering of those who are right in front of his eyes. As far as storytelling goes, one of the biggest attributes ishow the reader has the freedom to change the course of the story (albeit into premature ends). As for this aspect, I would like to divide the story in three or four parts (I will just say that the forth part is a Web Omake, essentially a short epilogue that portrays the life of our two, now three characters after the events of the main game). The first being the first two hours where we accompany the characters until the inevitable H-scene. Here, the reader is given the choice to not go through it at all and completely avoid the H-scene, ending the game prematurely. To not give in to his dark desires and not abandoning one's morals, is too a possible answer that Papa can find. The second part and probably the longest, accompanies our two characters as their relationship develops. The most important aspect that I'd like to bring up is that the whole theme of pregnancy is treated. In many eroge, pregnancy is either completely ignored, allowing our most likely 16-year old protagonist to let out his seed without any worries in the world, or treated as an afterthought, perhaps featured in one last H-scene before the game ends. In this novel, not only do we see their relationship flourish but the passage of time, told by the growth of Chii's belly and change of hairstyle (over five different character sprites!), shows us that this is aspect that is willing to be embraced, often being the case for worry for our protagonist. At the end of the second part, the reader is given another important choice: to go beyond mere carnal desires and a parent's desire to protect his child and thus taking their relationship to the next level, or to once again fall into self-hatred and not take responsibility for one's actions. Thus begins the third part: "I want Papa to always be by my side". While perhaps as long as the first part, it's perhaps the one with the most emotional impact. Vowing to combat loneliness, Papa and Chii realise that being surrounded by the people you love is far more important than having a peaceful life. Chii does not become a replacement - she is her own person and the most important thing in the world to our protagonist. As long as two people can love each other, that is more than enough. And as long as there is love, there is warmth. A new family is born. The two become three, the warmth keeps rising and it spreads to others around. When I finished reading Hajimete no Okaa-san, I felt a warmth deep inside of me because I realised I had just been through a really special experience. With this review, I hope that I convinced you to read this beautiful story and too come to have warmth in your heart. Thank you for reading. https://imgur.com/a/FpPkAxp (This might be a little of a spoiler so I won't post it as an image, but it's the last and most impactful scene of the novel) I am open to criticism and would be happy if you could help me improve as a reviewer.