Clephas

Elfen Lied

Tsukimichi- A decent isekai, though it really doesn't get going beyond the comedy until near the end of the first season, when Makoto is forced to go beyond being dragged randomly into things. Genjitsu Shuugi Yuusha- This one is a nation-building isekai with a pragmatic protagonist who has no personal combat ability. If you like settlement-building, nation-building fantasy or isekai, it is top quality. Seirei Gensouki- The start and the middle are good, however the last few episodes are rushed and completely diverge from the original material, which pissed off the fanboys like crazy. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag- This is the 'reborn as an akuyaku reijou' (reborn as a villainous rich girl) genre's first real anime. This genre generally focuses on the perspective of a reincarnated Japanese person in the body of an otome game villainess. About ninety-percent of these protagonists are trying to change their own fate and end up going off in wildly weird directions as a result. In only four years, this genre has gotten ridiculously variable, for some reason. This is the most straightforward variant of the genre, and it is mostly a comedy as the protagonist accidentally forms a reverse-harem without realizing it. Peach Boy Riverside- Ridiculous aesthetic, ridiculous concept, decent action. Not much else to say about it, though. Cheat Kusushi- Guy is transported to another world and creates a pharmacy where he works to resolve local issues. Mostly iyashikei, with a monster girl wolf main heroine.

Hige wo Soru, Joshikousei wo Hirou- This is easily my favorite anime of this season, which should surprise everyone given my obvious preference for fantasy and isekai. However, this is one of those rare slice-of-life anime that just hit the spot. The main character is a normal salaryman and the heroine is a runaway girl who has gotten so used to mistreatment that she has come to expect it. The biggest attraction of this story is that it isn't a romance, but rather the story of a guy serving as a father figure for someone who very badly needs it. Vivy- This sci-fi anime has a Terminator-style twist, in that a robot is sent back into the past to help arrange a change to the future. The difference is that the method it uses is to manipulate a semi-sentient singer AI named Diva to alter certain events so that AI's development is slow and the direction altered. Vivy/Diva, who gradually awakens to full sentience, is tortured by the experiences she has during this time, as they clash with her reason for being. It has a nice mix of themes that was interesting to watch. Slime Taoshite 300-nen- This anime is a semi-yuri iyashikei with only female main characters. The protagonist is former over-worked office lady who gets reincarnated as an immortal witch who lives about 300 years just killing slimes, gardening, and generally doing nothing of importance. However, one day she is found to be max level, thus earning interest from a variety of people who disrupt her peaceful and slow life. Sentouin, Hakenshimasu- A mediocre anime where a Power Rangers type minion and an android set out to conquer a new world after Earth has fallen to their organization. Generally a comedy more than anything else, the nonsensical nature of the story is jarring - at least for me. Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu- An otome isekai anime where a plain-looking but kind-hearted woman is summoned along with a pretty but insecure girl as a seijo (holy woman, saintess). Sei, the plain-looking girl gets ignored by the prince, who immediately sweeps the other girl off her feet and carries her off in absolute confidence she is the seijo. However, Sei, as she uses her new abilities to create potions and heal people, pretty soon earns the interest of a number of people. Generally a good story, with the downside that I'm not the audience it is directed at. For isekai-romance lovers, this is a good choice, especially when combined with the second season, which has a more romantic focus. Shuumatsu no Walkure- Excellent action. That is about it.

Even if you download, VNR won't work on Windows 10 or 11. At least not consistently. Better to use Textractor. Also, I doubt any downloads of VNR that are still active won't be infected, given that no one has updated it in the last seven or eight years.

To be straight, I'm an all-out anti-achievements gamer at heart. To me, they aren't an encouragement, they are a distraction. If I want to do something in a game, I'll do it without the achievements, and when an achievement randomly pops up to say I accomplished something, it makes me feel disgusted, not encouraged. I guess it is because I'm a solo gamer to the core, but more than once I've just stopped playing a game because of the intrusive ding of achievements in regular games. That was actually the reason I couldn't finish AI: The Somnium Files when I tried to play it. The achievements kept distracting me when I just wanted to experience the game and its story.

Mushoku Tensei- The aesthetic of this reincarnation isekai is really well done, with the protagonist only being highly capable rather than truly overpowered. I could have done without seeing his old body during conversations with Hitogami, but... *shrugs* Kumo Desu ga, Nanika- An excellent isekai series with something of a twist. While this wasn't the first 'reincarnated as a monster' story I've encountered, it is one of the more amusing ones. Tatoeba Last Dungeon- One of the first 'kanchigai' fantasy anime. In this case the variation where the protagonist doesn't realize how powerful he is due to his experiences in his early life. Like all anime/LNs/Manga of this type, it is mostly a comedy rather than action. As a result, the comedy gets repetitive as the story goes on, so it falls a bit flat. Hortensia Saga- An actually decent fantasy of the old-style of anime fantasy. However, it doesn't go beyond decent, so it isn't all that memorable.

Ah, let's keep the heat down, and you guys are thread derailing, so please make another thread if you want to debate the merits of the VN-learning method of mastering Japanese. Edit: Also, I should note that there is a small but significant (around eight percent of all humanity) portion of humanity that is incapable of learning languages that aren't directly related to their native language. Basically, these people, if they already know English or Chinese, they can't learn any language whose grammatical structure differs significantly from their own. This is not a problem with their intelligence but rather with how their brain works (basically how their brain forms associations).

Jujutsu Kaisen- Top-quality seinen action. Moriarty- The story of James Moriarty's rise to power and influence, how he built up his organization and set the background for his eventual conflicts with Sherlock Holmes. The anime succeeds in its mission of making the Moriarty group sympathetic, while maintaining their bloody and at times evil bent. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear- Iyashikei isekai. It is a pretty silly series that is heavy on humor, with most of the important characters either being girls or bears. The protagonist is overpowered to the extreme, with a dry personality and a tendency to do whatever she feels like at a given moment. Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko- Iyashikei isekai reincarnation. It really is just that. The protagonist is a guy who died of a silly cause after a life of extreme hard work and set out to enjoy a slow life (this guy is the original, and most of the slow life anime/wns/lns came afterward). It is a pretty cute anime, and there is no real darkness to the story. Just sit back and enjoy the puni-puni slimes and the surprisingly innocent interactions of the protagonist with those around him. Noblesse- As vampire anime go, this is on the higher end, being internally consistent and having good to top quality action. On the other hand, it could have used another arc or two before the story concluded, but what can you expect, considering current trends? Mahouka 2- This is probably the most boring arc in the series, and I wondered why they wasted an entire season on it when four episodes would have been enough (though the answer is fairly obvious, as they dragged out the third season's arc as well). Still, it is Mahouka quality, so it has some really good fights and moments where Tatsuya gets to shine.

When I saw there were replies, I was hoping there was new news. *looks sad*

In my experience, VN dark fantasy either emphasizes an endless path to despair or a path through despair to hope for the future. Nitroplus tends to focus on the former, as is seen in Tokyo Necro and Muramasa, where the majority of paths and their endings are unrelievedly dark from beginning to end. Indeed, there is this belief in a lot of Japanese makers that the dark needs to continue right through the epilogue. When there is an exception, it often comes with a backlash. One particular scenario that annoys me to this day is the Ein route vs the anime of Phantom of Inferno. In the original Ein route, the ending has Ein smiling and happy for the first time in her life, whereas the anime has the protagonist murdered during their trip to Mongolia. This contrast seriously pissed me off, because Ein's path was essentially the 'good ending' of the game, the only path where there was some level of salvation, and the anime makers ruined it out of a desire to turn it into some kind of twisted moral lesson. Anyway, one thing I find ironic is that there is far more dark fantasy on the otome-ge side of things than there is on the male-oriented side of things. I'm sometimes stunned at how deep into the darkness the otome genre goes, with levels of emotional brutality (both toward the characters and toward the reader) that are frightening. I mean, I like yandere heroines, but yandere heroes are freakin' scary. Dark Fantasy in male-oriented JVNs hit its peak in the mid-2000's, and most of the games were focused on extreme stuff similar to Maggots Baits, even if it went in a different direction. At present, the only real (non-nukige) dark fantasy company still operating is Clock-up, since Nitroplus hasn't put anything new out in half a decade. Edit: Incidentally, to this day I have extremely mixed feelings about Maggot Baits. It had excellent action and if you cut out the H, the story was great. However, if you include the H, it all becomes disgusting smut.

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6247dd/ Something to keep in mind is that while the author hasn't marked it as complete, the main story is in fact complete.

A few more Shuumatsu no Walkure (Worth it for the awesome battles) Hyouken no Majutsushi (Deep lore, solid protagonist, some Fate-like plot twists, if not as well-executed as Fate is in general) Ragna Crimson (probably the closest to what you want, in my opinion) Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha (Series diverges massively from the original material toward the end, but it is still cool to watch) Saihate no Paladin (though this is more traditional pre-isekai fad fantasy) Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita (Protagonist is mostly a mentor and father figure for the main character due to his circumstances, but it is genuinely a great series with good drama and action)

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha Overlord Saikyou Onmyouji no Isekai Tenseiki Solo Leveling Relatively few anime that would be considered chuuni in truth. That peculiar mix of aesthetics is pretty rare in general.

The remake is pretty good, but it actually gets better if you've played the original, if only because the differences are interesting. The remake has infinitely better battle scenes, visuals, and music... There are also huge changes in antagonists and stuff like descriptions of the mythos go into more detail and are more interesting to read than in the original. I'd say that the action scene visual quality is about at the same level as Light at its peak (in terms of aesthetics), and the actual detail and writing is just a step or two below Light's second team (the non-Masada team).

It depends on the game. In the case of Tsukihime, the reason people encourage you to play all the routes is because the experience only grows richer with each route, and in the case of games in the same genre (known as chuunige or action fantasy) the story is frequently only partially told in any individual route. In the case of rom-coms, sol, and the like it is perfectly fine to just play the route of the heroine you like the most. In fact, the vast majority of people do just that. However, if you were to play Tokyo Babel or Dies Irae, both games pretty much require you to play all the routes to get the full experience. Honestly, it is up to you in the end. Even with rom-coms and the like, there are some VNs that benefit immensely from playing most of the routes, like Kin'iro Loveriche.

Oh, you also mention characters acting oddly to make the story progress, but this is fairly common in plot-focused VNs. In early VNs, it was mostly because of the philosophy of 'gotsugoushugi', which is a game-maker philosophy for plot-focused games with multiple routes where character actions and even personalities are warped at a moment's notice solely to move the story forward. The real issue is a matter of degree. For instance, there are a number of VNs I can think of off the top of my head where the personality change of a main character was so dramatic it completely broke me out of my engrossment in the story. The most egregious example of this I can name right here and now is Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou 2. During the common route of the game, the protagonist is an arrogant, immensely capable person with a wide variety of talents, but in each of the heroine routes, his personality gets toned down, his talents weakened, and his motivations twisted in ways that don't make sense even in the context of the route. This is an example of going too far with that kind of tactic. More subtle are the random bad endings that pop up in a lot of horror and action VNs (especially early ones) where the actual choices result in random horrible deaths that make absolutely no sense in the chronology of the story. These games were the reason I started resulting to using walkthroughs for all VNs, because I got tired of making choices, only to end up with senseless bad ends or normal just friends endings. However, at the same time, this degree of manipulation can actually result in a positive result, as while those endings were often frustrating, they were also part of the experience as a whole and made it richer in some way. To be honest, it is one of those JVN storytelling techniques that can be either excellent or horrible depending on how well it is utilized.

This isn't the only VN series that organically turned into a trilogy or a duology. A perfect example is Akatsuki no Goei. It has an almost identical approach to continuing things to Grisaia, in that the second game is a combination of after-stories and a route that covers the protagonist's past (which is incidentally even more brutal than Yuuji's). The big difference is in the third game, which is based off of the Kaoru route of the first game (non-romantic route). While it has a core story, it has three main routes and numerous heroines, the big change mostly being in what perspective the protagonist sees the story from. As an approach, it has its positives and negatives. Kinugasa Shougo, the writer for Akatsuki no Goei, hates conclusive endings, and it is pretty evident that Shangri-la (later absorbed by Akabei) forced him to conclusively end the main series in Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron. His resentment came out in spreading the reader's attention across way too many heroines, in my opinion. Grisaia came out later, so I always figured that they learned from the excesses of the Akagoei trilogy when they made Grisaia into a trilogy, focusing on the cast of characters rather than expanding it massively.

Hapymaher's is a nakige, by genre, a game where the entire point of the story is to make you cry. The mystery elements are secondary. The most impressive parts of this VN besides the quality of the feels are the quality of the soundtrack and the genius with which it is utilized. To be blunt, there literally haven't been any VNs since it that have had such an excellent soundtrack that was also used so perfectly. The character designs are also unique and high-quality, if a bit overly influenced by Alice in Wonderland. As for routes, Yayoi's, Saki's, and Keiko's routes are interchangeable for order, so there isn't really a recommended order for them, at least in my experience. It is pretty much required that Alice's path be right before the true end, though. It is possible not to do the normal or bad end at all if you don't want to.

I never liked timed choices as a mechanism in VNs... most of the time, they were just annoying. I guess it is because if I wanted to feel pressured, I would just go play a normal video game like a shooter or an a Souls-like game.

Infinite Dendogram- It's been a while since Kvan and I have agreed on an anime, but this is one of those times. I don't understand why people bash this one so much... Bofuri- Overpowered iyashikei at its best. Tennen main character becomes overpowered through random silly actions like eating her enemies while they can't penetrate her defenses.

Translated Dies Irae (Kei) Dies Irae Interview with Kaziklu Bey Ayakashibito (Kaoru) Untranslated Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier (Iori and Tokio) Akatsuki no Goei 3 (Mai, Akemi, Kiyomi, Kanako, Kaede) Vermillion Bind of Blood (Ariya) Yurikago yori Tenshi Made (Aria) Zero Infinity (Eliza) Abyss Homicide Club (Kotoko and Yuu) Blade x Bullet (all of them) Gekkou no Carnevale (all but Anna) Gleam Garden no Shoujo (Luna) Shinigami no Testament (Irina)

Arifureta Shokugyou- An example of how an awful anime can come from a top-class light novel. The two biggest flaws of this anime are that too many episodes are spent on the labyrinth (basically the prologue) and the decision to use 2.5D animation for some of the monsters. The results were that some of the monsters just look off and don't match with the basic animation, thus making the combat less interesting than it could be. I recommend just reading the light novels instead. Isekai Cheat Magician- Extremely low-quality isekai. Cop Craft- A top-quality anime about a version of Earth where a fantasy world was connected to Earth through a gate, causing a massive war. The protagonist is a detective with a history as a veteran and the main heroine is an aristocrat from the other side of the gate. Katsute Kami Datta Kemono Tachi- A fantasy series focusing on a group of soldiers experimented on and turned into weapons of war. As time went by, they lost their humanity and now the last sane member is hunting them down. Maou-sama, Retry- This particular season's guilty pleasure for me, because the setting and story are all over the place. However, it is fun to watch, especially because of how it constantly mocks isekai tropes. El-Melloi Case Files Season 2- Normally I wouldn't bother mentioning this, but I love El-Melloi Case Files, lol. Uchimusume- An interesting variation on the Japanese-style high fantasy world. The world has multiple 'maous' and the mazoku are just another race. The protagonist is an adventurer who finds an exiled mazoku child in the forest by the skeletal body of her father. He brings her back to civilization and raises her as his own. Much of the story is tear-jerking or adorable (sometimes both) with the little girl jerking on your heart strings and just being an adorable little girl in general. There is some action to the series, and what is there is pretty good. However, it isn't a focus. Vinland Saga- Historical fantasy/drama focused on the era when the British Isles were colonized forcibly by the Danes. Extremely violent and bloody. Sounan Desu ka- A weird little anime about a group of girls who get stranded on a desert island. I recall it being weirdly fascinating to watch. Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka?- This anime is a comedy about a harem protagonist who is followed around by a bunch of perverted girls (all of them different types). It is generally a fun watch, but it isn't something to go back to again later once you've finished it.

Shortlist of translated dark non-romance focused VNs that are tled. Tokyo Babel- Romance is non-standard (under stress) type, action and plot-focused. Dies Irae- Ditto to above Hello Lady

I could list a lot more, but these came to mind more or less immediately. https://vndb.org/v3671 https://vndb.org/v18842 https://vndb.org/v10957 https://vndb.org/v10958 https://vndb.org/v370 https://vndb.org/v1335

Unfortunately, it is no longer available. This is no surprise, since it is from before the turn of the century and was likely never redone in a digital format. Also, please remember to put NSFW pics and borderline ones inside of spoiler boxes with NSFW warnings above.