Leaderboard

ef is an objectively good visual novel that is written well that feels like it has a point even to its most plodding sections. It is a mostly serious story of imperfect people making imperfect decisions based on imperfect information. It has a few standout sections, but also has a few weak sections. The music in particular is outstanding. Reading it is an experience that feels unique, but I struggle to say it was very enjoyable or provided a lessen or food for thought. This will be completely spoiler free, so there will be some parts of the story or bits I outright don't mention, and that is on purpose, otherwise the few spoilers will be marked. The writing is solid throughout, and I'd like to call particular attention to the slow slice of life moments, since they did not feel like they were there just to be filler, but rather to give background and - at times - levity to what is largely written as a serious story. These moments ground the reader in a sense that these are real people living real lives rather than simple characters in a story. I especially appreciate that these people are not perfect, they make dumb mistakes. The younger characters in particular make decisions you often would see or may have made yourself when you were younger. Chapters 1 and 2 in particular (Miyako's and Kei's stories) are ones I particularly enjoyed. There are some stereotypes in these two chapters, particularly surrounding Kei being childishly violent with that being played for laughs, that will not click with everyone though. Chapters 3, 4, and final chapter felt like a tonal shift, so it was clear there was a different writer handling most of it. I'm sure some people would prefer those chapters more, but I found them to be somewhat melodramatic at times and at odds with how grounded the first two chapters were. These were no longer normal, imperfect people dealing with relatable situations, but stereotypical dramatic story beats that were foreshadowed a ridiculous amount of time in advance, to the detriment of the story itself. One part I find incredibly odd is The music in ef is absolutely amazing. Every BGM track adds to the scenes, and I can't overstate how important good BGM is to a visual novel. I had no issues running the game in a modern Windows 11 system. It has high production values, including a lot of backgrounds, sprite variations, lip sync, and sprites that are actually placed in the backgrounds at various depths so you can "see them moving" in the environment. There's even walking scenes where they move around as if they're actually walking next to the person. In particular I was incredibly impressed by the camera scenes where you can see the camera counter counting up in real time as you read. Overall, ef is an objectively good visual novel. But it isn't perfect, and it may not be enjoyable for everyone. If you're in the mood for a serious dramatic story, I'd say give it a try. At least read the first tale and know that the latter tale gets more serious and dramatic than that.

Finished retranslating the prologue!

Visual Novel Translation Status (25/06/2023) Welcome to this week VNTS Review, and as for the title I'll explain it in PS later. As for this week, it's definitely an interesting one with Nukitashi release despite several shenanigans happening. Other than Nukitashi release, we also has the sequel announced as soon as the first game was released. Of course, we also have other updates, with the most particular one to me is in regard of Clover Day's release. With that done, let's see what I can write in regard of this week. Frontwing announce the exact release date for Grisaia Chronos Rebellion on July 27th, and I can only say 'Yeah, okay. Whatever'. Admittedly speaking it could be good announcement from Frontwing, had they announced it in... 2011. My point is that while Grisaia franchise is indeed good VN, nowadays there are more translated VNs compared to back when Kajitsu was released in 2011. Cherry Kiss did release their nukige (It's Mommy Sensei: Horny Homework for the reminder), and I find that the premise is quite unique with the ugly male MC got support from very sexy (And big breasted) principal to do his revenge quest from being bullied. Go get the VN if you're already waiting for it, and have fun. This week we have H2O show some significant progress, with the current progress of the editing is past three quarter mark (75.12%) edited. Other than H2O major editing progress, we also have Tsuma Netori is at 20% proofread, 400 out of 2499 main script of Fate/Extra CCC are edited, ChuSingura is at 27.92% translated, and Akagoei FD is at 62.07% edited along with 35.63% in QA. We also finally have Alka returned after being absent for a while, and for their recent progress we have Kud Wafter all age version is past three quarter (75.5%) translated with the 18+ version is at 40.1% translated. Speaking of returning, we also have Umi kara Kuru Mono being updated with the current progress is we have 91 out of 138 script files of it are translated. JAST did release Onigokko FD, so in case you want to have little sister route back in the main VN because the little sister didn't have the route in there, go get Onigokko FD and have fun. After several years of waiting (For almost a decade ever since the original fan translation project started), we finally have Nekonyan announced the release estimation for Clover Day's, and it'll be in this August. Granted that it might be placeholder for now, but at least it's better than nothing. Oh yes, Clover Day's itself is already passed the Steam review thanks to Hikari Field submit the new build, and in case you need more proof then you can visit the Store page of it. Shiravune did announce Nukitashi 2 in which it had a new story along with the after stories for the heroines, and no idea on when it'll be released. Anyway congratulation to Qruppo now that we finally have Nukitashi released, especially after their first deal with Sol Press was failed because Sol Press lack of fund. For the premise, well it should be obvious that you better expect a lot of sex scenes because it's title and all. Or if you need more elaboration, it's about the MC Junnosuke who came back to his hometown, only to find out that the town heavily support wild sex with the new law. While it sounds good on paper, turned out that the town is basically become the police state with the government force the people to have sex, and Junnosuke has his own reason to not agree with the policy, so he decided to fight against the law by gathering several allies who've been wronged by the law in one way or another. Go get Nukitashi if you've been waiting for it, and have fun. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week VNTS Review, and see you next week. PS - Since we have Nukitashi release, I figure that I'll just make a parody for one of Mangamer nukige, How to Live a Healthy Hentai Lifestyle, by changing 'Lifestyle' into 'Police State' (Because Nukitashi setting is the police state), so we have 'How to Live in Healthy Hentai Police State' as the title.