Clephas

The House War series is one of three co-existing (to some extent, each of the series co-exists in time, often with the same characters) series written in the same universe by Michelle West, a half-Japanese, half-Canadian writer who first came to my attention when I was stunned by the first book of the Sun Sword series. The universe created in the three series (the Sacred Hunt duology, the Sun Sword series, and the House War series) extend across over thirty years of time in-series and involve as many varied perspectives, people, and desires as the more infamous large-scale high fantasy book series out there (the Wheel of Time, the Game of Thrones, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, etc). However, it is distinct in every way from them in style. While the world West puts together is often as harsh or more so than the Game of Thrones series, it manages a degree of mystique that Martin never achieves, at least partly because the focus is more on the people and setting then making as many dirty deeds as possible occur in the shortest time possible (incidentally, that is my assessment of Martin's works). A typically Japanese flavor exists in the writing, mixed with flavors of Celtic and even Middle Eastern tones at times. Depending on which characters form the core of an individual book, the atmosphere differs dramatically. The House War series is centered around Jewel Markess ATerafin and the people that surround her. Jewel is a key character in all three series, though in different ways. In the Sacred Hunt, she is the desperate leader of a den (think street gang) of orphans whose existences are only considered relevant relative to her. As such, little focus or spotlight is put on the den, except to give them some minimal color and give you a vague idea of how they matter to Jewel. Jewel is seer-born, a rare form of 'talent' that causes her to see potential futures in dreams and instinctively (knee-jerk, gut-level) know when her own life is in danger and avoid it reflexively. Other talents, such as mage-born, healer-born, god-born, bard-born, and maker-born are all present in the series, but explanations for each are generally only presented as aspects of their existence become relevant to the story at large. She lives in Averaalan, the capital city of an Empire ruled by the Kings, two god-born children born of the gods of Wisdom and Justice. The complex society of the Empire nonetheless has only a very limited privileged class, made up of a wealthy but not feudal 'patrician' nobility, the commons, and the Ten. The Ten are one of the constructs I like most, besides the Kings, in this particular setting. They are a group of ten aristocratic clans that are granted almost complete internal autonomy and are not hereditary. Instead, the Ten increase their numbers by merit-based adoption, wherein individuals that have talents and skills desired or needed by the clan as a whole are 'adopted' regardless of origin. The House War series follows Jewel's life from early childhood, details the creation of her den, and further writes in details of the events around the duology solely from the point of view of the den and Jewel herself in the first book. The rest of the books detail her rise after the events of the Sun Sword series to the rank of the Terafin (the ruler of the Terefin, the greatest of the Ten) and the results of her choices until she meets her destiny. Of the three series, the House War series most deeply details the aspects that are left oblique and unexplained in the previous books, regarding the nature of human talent-born, the nature of power in that universe, and the nature of the immortals and gods. Jewel is, other than her power, merely a fiercely compassionate woman who cares far too deeply for someone who rules. Her immortal companions are frequently frustrated by her (mostly because they only understand the power she wields and what it will become), and her mortal companions fear for her as her power grows and she struggles against the necessity to change in order to master it. The over-arching antagonist of all three series is Allasakar, the Lord of the Hells, a being that is deliberately demonized (lol) in the Sacred Hunt, given some perspective through the eyes of Kiriel, his half-human daughter, in the Sun Sword, and given a third and more complete relative perspective based on the truths revealed in the House War series. I won't go into detail about this, but Allasakar is presented as being inimical to all mortal life... and this is true in every way. However, one thing that gets revealed in a rather stark manner in the House War is just how inimical ALL immortals in this series are to mortals. The world Jewel and the other characters live in is one that is asleep, the gods having withdrawn to another realm for reasons of their own, the Firstborn (their 'children) confined to the mystic wilds, and many of the other immortal existences in a thousands of years long sleep. Because of this, a marked difference between the early books and the later ones is the stripping away of the gentle human 'myths' that gloss over just how terrible the immortals, regardless of alignment, were. If the Duology was a simple good vs evil play and the Sun Sword was an interwoven tapestry of demons an politics, the House War is the mortal coming into contact with and struggling against the immortal. Michelle West's concepts of the immortal are very Japanese, for someone familiar with Japanese Buddhism and Shinto. Indeed, I can say that while there is a strong Celtic influence on the aesthetic, the essence is almost entirely Japanese when it comes to immortals in the story (it becomes even more so later on). For those with an interest on why I said there is a strong Middle-eastern influence, I recommend you read the Sun Sword series. Following the events in the lands of the Dominion, in particular the first book of the series which almost exclusively centers around that region with few outside influences, brings that influence out in full. Serra Diora, one of my favorite characters in the series, is someone I can honestly describe as one of the most admirable characters in the series as a whole, while being one of the weakest relatively (Edit: In terms of power, not personality). It gave me a much better perspective on Middle Eastern culture, and it is one of the reasons I actually began reading some literature from that part of the world.

I recognize it as a fantasy and nothing more. For one thing, romance is never as clear-cut as it is in most SOL games... and for another, girls aren't that pretty in the third dimension. Becoming lonely... I do wish sometimes I could go back in time to kick myself in the ass, but that doesn't have anything to do with that kind of game, lol.

... I want summer Scathach (mostly because I think she's hot), but since I'm not really rolling for any of the characters in this event, I don't have any of the craft essences, except the one from the friend point gacha... I forgot how time-consuming things are when you don't have the higher-rarity event craft essences. Tbh, after how exhausting Onigashima and BB events were, I am finding myself increasingly reluctant to spend much time on the plethora of random-seeming events that get dropped in this game so regularly. The only saving grace of the first half of the event is that I have zero interest left in the Servants on the summoning banner and don't need most of the materials on offer in the shop at the moment (though I'll get what I can without making undue effort). Unfortunately, I can totally see myself obsessing over Archer Altria. In fact, I'm mildly obsessed with getting all versions of Altria (including the Santa and Alter Rider versions), though I have tentative plans to simply ignore the summoning banner (yeah, right... like that's going to happen with about forty free missions sitting around to earn me enough saint quartz to roll). ... there is a good reason why I passed on a free trip to Vegas and put the tickets up on Ebay four years ago.

Majikoi is Majikoi. There really isn't anybody who copies Minato Soft's style. Assuming you want things that are over the top... Appare! Tenka Gomen comes to mind Onigokko Kizuna Kirameku Koi Iroha (sort of a battle tournament school where people use magic weapons to fight one another in hopes of going pro) Hyper→Highspeed→Genius (Above has 'main story' and 'charage' routes based on choices you make) Tiny Dungeon series (probably the closest outside of Minato Soft games) Kamikaze Explorer (no true route, but it has solid story for the heroine routes) Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary (depending on your tastes, the atmosphere might be too dark, but it fits your basic requirements. Protag is Momoyo-level brought down to earth, lol) World Election Primary Magical Trouble Scramble

ugeh, that's just creepy. I got four SR servants rolling that free saint quartz from three minutes ago... Helena, Rider Mordred, standard-issue Nitrocris, and standard-issue Elisabeth Bathory... It's like, when I stop caring I get the drops... otherwise, I get nothing, lol. Edit: When I say 'stop caring', it is because I already blew through 120 free saint quartz I built up trying to get one of the event servants for the hell of it... and I sort of told myself, 'meh, might as well give it one more roll'. I seriously sometimes think the gacha in this game has supernatural powers.

Hard for me to compare it, but it doesn't seem that much different.

My thoughts so far: Arifureta- Interesting to me, pisses off the 'source material purists' like crazy, needs more episodes to decide. Maou-sama, Retry- My go-to show for this season... I laughed repeatedly for the first two episodes, and I love the VA and character design choices for Kunai and Aku. Cheat Magician- Worst type of junk isekai. It reminds me of Smartphone and Hyakuren no Haou for the feeling of the first episode. Uchimusume- This season's replacement for Senko-san as iyashikei godliness, if in a different direction. Looking at Latina is like looking at my niece when she isn't being a demonic troublemaker. Dr. Stone- Visual style is 'interesting' for certain values of interesting. Actual experience of the first episode was excellent. Kind of feels like it would be easy to mess up as a series, though. Enen no Shouboutai- Reminds me of Ao no Exorcist in a bad way (since I consider that anime to be godawful) Cop Craft- Feels familiar, looks like it could easily go into the crapper but also has kami-anime potential. Along with Arifureta, one I'm waiting on later episodes to judge. Kochoki- Young Nobunaga is... boring. Sorry but Nogunaga's most interesting years were his early middle age, lol. Sounan Desu Ka- So far a stable comedy anime, worth watching if you don't mind seeing girls eating bugs. Kanata no Astra- Pushes all the wrong buttons with me, made me drop it after one episode. I might watch it after it is done airing, but for now it is off my watch list. Vinland Saga- Nice violent historical fantasy... probably is going to suck overall but be a fun ride for fans of superviolence. Granbelm- Has sucky vibe. No way I'm continuing this. I hate innocent protagonists in action-y series. Danmachi S2- Recap made me rewatch the original, can't wait for the actual episodes to show. Will never forgive them for airing a recap first, lol. Lord El-Melloi- Waver just can't get a break, no matter how old he gets, eh? Definitely watching, even if it turns out not to go anywhere. It's a good window into the way Mages in the Nasuverse think so far. Nakanohito Genome- Umm... probably will drop this. I hate large-scale social media, and a set of death games for the sake of getting watchers is the kind of scummy crap that makes me want to spit. No, I'm not a fan of Danganronpa, either.

Ayakashibito... Higashide's first major work is a great story that will suck you in.

This list is my gift for newbies who are looking for straight-out overpowered, god-level tier, or just generally strong protagonists. In other words, this is my list of protagonists who are great in a fight. This is a list of those protagonists and the VNs they are in. Vermilion Bind of Blood- Toshirou Kashima (the game is based in the US, so his name is first name first throughout the story) is a former samurai from just before the opening of Japan. He became a vampire and lived until modern day, and he is a master swordsman and killer of his own kind. His special ability as a vampire is the control of electro-magnetism, which can be done through touch or his blood. Electro-Arms- Kirihara Reiji is a delinquent protagonist who made a name for himself by essentially beating every other delinquent in town (he lives in Roppongi Hills in Tokyo). From a young age, he developed the ability (non-supernatural) to see how things fit together and the flaws and habits of systems and people. In any situation, he can find a way to win, and he is constantly looking for thrills. While he is technically a delinquent, he doesn't harm normal people and generally only gets in fights with those who challenge him. Zero Infinity- Akizuki Ryouga is characterized as a young man who quite naturally and without any outside influence, can reach levels of ability few others can match. As the game's antagonist puts it, he is a 'natural-born monster' who, from the very beginning, has his own philosophy in life and is capable of putting it into action without any significant degree of stress. As a fighter, he is the type that evolves so rapidly he leaves others in the dust. Devils Devel Concept- Shigure Sora is perhaps the most powerful mortal being in his world. With a combination of immense power, a naturally combative nature, and a near-infinite array of desires that are held only by the thinnest of leashes, he is perhaps the most 'out-there' non-rapegame protagonist I've encountered in a VN. Able to kill the Demons entire clans of Hunters lose to with hardly any effort, as well as possessing an inhuman degree of ability to alter reality, he is a truly unstoppable force... unless he wants to be stopped. Silverio Vendetta- Zephyr Colerain is a cowardly deserter from the army of the first country to develop soldiers capable of using Astral. However, that very cowardly nature makes him horribly deadly and an absolute realist when it comes to combat, ruthlessly using anything that comes to hand to survive and killing without mercy and often in sadistic ways to carve his path to life. His personality is fundamentally cynical, self-doubting, and negative. Outside of combat, he sponges off his adopted little sister while working dirty side jobs to bring in money. Akagoei series- Asagiri Kaito is the product of surviving in an environment that is harsh in ways that normal people would have difficulty comprehending. While he is normally an apparently selfish and random person who does what he wants at any particular moment, regardless of the eyes and expectations of others, when provoked his brutally sadistic and ruthless side can come out. He is a master martial artist and an experienced killer, but he has made a habit of showing neither side in everyday life. He is described as a 'complete independent individual' by one of the games' major side-characters. Dies Irae- Fujii Ren is your typical chuunige protagonist in personality, but where he stands out is his rapid growth as a fighter. He goes from a complete amateur to a godslayer in the course of the game, and that is the reason he is on this list. That said, I say he is 'overpowered' in a non-relative sense due to the ability to slow time (and later stop it relative to himself), which is something of a cheat ability, if you look at it objectively, lol. Though, in the Shinza universe, no ability is truly absolute. Paradise Lost- Lyle is the somewhat nihilistic anti-hero protagonist of Paradise Lost. Possessing immense powers, including the ability to corrode matter, thrive in miasma-contaminated environments, and regenerate at an incredibly rapid pace, he is a devastating opponent by any standard. Moreover, his strength of will is among the strongest of any protagonist I've seen in any VN. Evolimit- Shiranui Yoshikazu possesses the 'common' ability over fire, but what makes him stand out as an overpowered protagonist is his bravery, the ability to 'climb the ladder' of evolution for the sake of others and gain immense power. Depending on the path, he even possesses sufficient power to jump between universes or share his power over fire to every person on Mars. He is perhaps the best example I've seen in VNs of the traditional 'hero' archetype. Tokyo Babel- Tendou Setsuna is an incredibly powerful individual, even before his growth in the course of his pilgrimage through Tokyo Babel. With nanomachines that rapidly accelerate regeneration, allow him to control his own metabolism and memory, 'perfect' genes, and the ability to naturally produce non-magical lightning and fire, his basic specs are frighteningly high. His personality is grim and his emotions are somewhat dulled, his manner of speech somewhat mechanical. Nonetheless, he does possess emotions, which develop during the course of his pilgrimage. Bullet Butlers- Rick Arrowsmith is the only gunman on this list. The wielder of a cursed divine artifact, a gun that devours the souls of those he kills and can unleash immense power at the cost of part of his soul, he is also a master of close combat and gunfighting. His loyalty to his mistress causes him to cast himself into the flames again and again in her service. Ikusa Megami series- Celica Sylphil, the former servant of the God of Adventurers and Storms known as the Godslayer. His emotions are frayed from centuries possessing the body of the goddess he loved, and he is a master of the sword and storm magic. Judar Schwarka- A warrior from a lost tribe of Darkness-aligned humans in Dir Lifyna (the same world as the Ikusa Megami series). He wields a greatsword as easily as a normal warrior would wield a shortsword, and he fights with ferocity and ruthless utilization of anything that comes to hand for the sake of his own survival. (his alignment in D&D terms would be chaotic neutral, as he is a believer in strength and free will first and foremost) Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier- Okita Soushi (an alternate of Okita Souji from the historic Bakumatsu era), he is a master of the sword, carving away at his own life using a power that is unnatural for men to use. As the game goes on, his sword only grows sharper and his soul steeped ever deeper in death and bloodshed. Chrono Belt- This game has two protagonists, both of whom are overpowered, as anyone who played Ayakashibito or Bullet Butlers can attest to. Their names are Kuki Youkou and Alfred Arrowsmith. Kuki is the master of martial arts that taught the protagonist of Ayakashibito, as well as a man who can fight dragons with his bare hands. Alfred Arrowsmith is a gunfighter who dwarfs his little brother Rick in skill, with a ruthlessness that Rick never possessed. Sorcery Jokers- Senri is undoubtedly disproportionately overpowered, even for a chuunige protagonist. His level-headed persona is perhaps his most attractive feature, not the least because the other protagonist is such a hotheaded idiot. Draculius- Ogishima Jun is the son of a true vampire, and he possesses the natural power over other vampires that comes with his royal blood. While he might start out undeveloped, he quickly grows in power as the story progresses. On the surface, he seems to be a somewhat light-hearted young man with a tendency toward pacifism. However, under that surface boils an intensely protective personality who can be driven to a horrible rage when those he cares about have been harmed. He is also naturally gifted as a leader, and his desire for family attracts those who also desire it. Note: This is a tentative list that I made in a hurry while half-asleep, so please feel free to suggest additions to it. The requirements I ask you to look for in a protagonist are someone who is powerful in an objective sense, becomes powerful in an objective sense, and/or becomes or is extremely powerful relative to those around them.

On request and because I am a Kurashiki fan, I decided to play this, despite worries about the concept and the characters... and I came out finding my worries perfectly justified. First, the protagonist Teru... in a standard chuunige, he would be the jackass that gets killed after begging for his life in the opening act after doing something totally scumbag-like. Worse, rather than being merely a cold-blooded manipulator (which is how the Getchu page presented him), he is actually an irritable kid who thinks he is a lot smarter than he is. Second, the heroines... first, the punk-like Aira who overdoes her makeup and generally speaks like an airhead but has definite anger issues. Second is Asami, another man's wife who is generally weak-spirited and only clings to her second life out of a desire not to lose what she has left (her husband and child). Third is Mao, the protagonist's osananajimi who has a strong sense of justice, is pretty naive in general, and tends to get on the protagonist's nerves constantly (this gets worse after he dies and gets resurrected). Mao is the true heroine of the game... and also the single most annoying character in the game, even setting aside the protagonist's issues with her. To be blunt, she is yet another Victim A heroine presented as the true heroine of a serious game with violence... Third, the writing... I wanted to cry at how low-quality the writing in this game is compared to Kurashiki's previous two Clock-up games. Both Okami and Maggot showed off his skills in full, and as a result, they have a cult fanbase even amongst those who don't like the sexual themes involved in the latter or the social ones in the former. The basic narrative quality is scaled down to the level of the protagonist, which is hugely disappointing. Last, though this is more of a universal complaint for all Clock-up games... too much meaningless h-scenes. I hate Clock-up's visual style for H-scenes (there aren't any torture rape scenes in this one, outside of the bad endings which I didn't watch), and the presence of loli content made me vomit... twice. Seriously, was that really necessary? The good points of this VN lie solely in the individual heroine paths, because the common route is just poorly handled and paced. The heroine paths, on the other hand, are slightly stronger, though only Mao's has a decent epilogue (even by VN standards). Overall, this game felt like a really inept attempt at psychological horror. Considering how good a job Kurashiki has done previously at this kind of thing, it startled me how huge the gap in quality was between this and his previous works... both for Light and Clock-up. Even Sora no Baroque was better, and that is saying a lot.

Expanded is best, then the anime, then the oldest version. For better or worse, the oldest version was written under a lot of restrictions from Navel that were lifted after the anime came out and it was decided to make the expanded version.

The supposed 'Saber route' anime was pretty poorly done, with random scenes from all paths included in such a way that it made no sense when you took a step back and looked at it seriously. UBW anime was good and ufotable did a great job with the presentation, but I can't really say I prefer the anime... also, NVL system's slow death is mostly because narrative-focused VNs are smaller in number than they used to be. There are a lot of VNs out there that still use it for narrative-heavy scenes, lol. Shuffle's anime comes to mind... if nothing else, I loved how they handled Kaede in the anime. I'm referring to the original version of the VN here, rather than the partially rewritten and expanded versions that came out later.

Amazing... only two anime I'd even consider watching and sequels for crap shows and shounen anime I dropped out of boredom. SAO and Assassins Pride I'll watch, but the rest isn't even worth considering, from what I can see.

Mm... I probably won't ever skip it... even if it is a dupe or a junk SSR, it is still a guaranteed SSR. I'll probably bombard the Scathach limited summon at the beginning of next year for my favorite character in THIS game... I won't be able to resist. I've been able to resist most of the recent summon campaigns, because, thankfully, there haven't been any really good ones. However, I do have weak spots for evil women Servants and badass female Servants in general. Edit: I buy about two or three less VNs a month now than I used to, so if I feel like it, I have the budget... but most Servants aren't worth it, lol. I'd rather just build up the free ones (edit: saint crystals) and buy ebooks on Kindle instead. Games like this eat at my collector's soul, so if I want to actually enjoy this game rather than just being obsessed, it is pretty much a basic requirement that I don't spend on any but the ones I want the most... or when I'm guaranteed a result, like today.

If you rolled, what did you get from the guaranteed SSR summon? I got Jack the Ripper, which was one of my wants (Scathach was my prime, but I've been aiming for Jack almost from the beginning... ).

Anyone else loling at the fourth of July event on the English server?

I got her with a summon ticket, so I'm good... I also got Ibaraki (two in a row? After like forty summon tickets with nothing but three star craft essence... gacha is weird). My current support setup is as such: Favorite: Metryllis with Kaleidoscope Saber: Evil Altria with maxed Golden Catches the Carp Archer: Gilgamesh NP3 (I got three in one ten pull, probably my luckiest single ten pull) with Devilish Boddhisattva Maxed Lancer: Karna with maxed Jeweled Sword Rider: Ushiwakamaru (Level 75) with maxed One Summer Caster: Waver with Fragment of 2030 Assassin: Shuten-douji with Another Ending Berserker: Minamoto no Raikou with Maxed Golden Sumo Extra: Jeanne D'Arc (post-NP interlude) with maxed Faithful Companions I stopped buying saint crystals back in April, but I'll probably put out for Nitrocris (assassin)... I loved Nitrocris in Camelot, so I won't be able to help myself. I also have Umu Bride, BB, Medusa Lancer, Stheno, Chacha, Nobunaga, Hijikata, Emiya (maxed NP... for some reason, I've gotten him twelve times, lol), Hessian Lobo, Golden Rider, and Ibaraki... I've had more luck with summon tickets than ten pulls for some reason, since almost all of those were gotten with summon tickets I threw at random pickup summon banners or welfare servants... the only exceptions are Gilgamesh, Shuten, and Metryllis, who I was really going after from the beginning (I fell for the tsundere routine in BB's event). My number is: 263090454 for those who are interested... I can always use more support friends.

I do not regret playing this game. I needed to say this first, because this game has a pretty high level of emotional impact. The actual characters are quiet for the most part, but the relationships in this game are so twisted that even thinking about them being real would make a saint wince. This story centers around a young personal servant, Kumagata Arima, and his young mistress, Otobe Supika. It is the Taishou Era (pre-WWII, late teens to late twenties of the twentieth century), and Japan's first age of modern prosperity is at its height. Supika is an apparently sickly ojousama who reluctantly goes to school at the urge of her personal servant Arima, who takes care of all her personal needs (up to and including dressing her and doing her hair). Arima is an apparently devoted servant who can be relied on without reservation by his sickly mistress... Well, there is a lot more to it, but this is as far as I can go in terms of specifics without spoiling it for you. Tasogare no Folklore is a game where not knowing too much is an important aspect of enjoying the story, so I really suggest you don't read the official site or the Getchu page. Instead, I will explain what kind of game it is. Tasogare no Folklore's primary attractions are the disparity between the darkness hidden in the depths of the characters' home and the apparent strength of their relationships, particularly the one between Supika and Arima. Their relationship is not as simple and straighforward as it seems on the surface, and the way it twists is the source of a lot of the sick fascination I felt watching the train head for the broken tracks. To be straight, this is a dark game with no miraculous salvation. Oh, there are a few times when a 'convenient' outcome occurs, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. The characters' feelings for one another are real, but they are also muddied by circumstance and events in the past. As a result, their relationships are twisted to an extreme degree (though Supika and Arima's relationship is so twisted even the other characters can't understand it). However, the presentation of this game is top tier. I'm almost tempted to cry 'kamige', but that is going too far, lol. This game is a dark fantasy, but it is also a quietly intense love-romance. It also has elements of a number of genres, but in the end, what stuck with me was that I felt it was a romance from the beginning. There are two endings (and one extra story based off the 'good' ending) in this game... a 'good' ending and a 'normal' ending (in Tsukihime style). The good ending is a happy one... but I say that with the caveat that it is still bittersweet. The environment Supika and Arima are forced into is not one that goes for charage-style 'purely happy' endings, after all.

Nah... for one thing, my Japanese friends have all played it. I met most of them through fantasy addictions while they were here for college, and they were the ones who insisted I play it, along with Sanah suggesting it (way back when).

I'm also talking about English. To be blunt, someone who can't read English at a decent speed isn't going to master Japanese anytime soon. One reason having a large vocabulary in English makes it easier to learn other languages is that you have a much deeper 'pool' of concepts to draw from to understand concept, to grasp when the literal application of a word misses the nuance, etc. Reading comprehension as a skill doesn't change to any appreciable degree based on what language you are reading in, from what I've experienced. Rather, the difference in speeds between my Japanese reading and English reading primarily comes from having to use more 'processing power' to handle the kanji. English's alphabet has 26 letters, which is an amazingly small amount compared to hiragana and katakana, much less kanji. As such, inevitably the processing speed is going to go down in comparison. That said, actual understanding of what is said and what the writer means is often deeper as a result of how the kanji are used. Japanese is both a writer's nightmare and a writer's wet dream, since it provides so many tools to create meaning.

A 'coworker?' Well, really a subcontractor I introduced to VNs about a year ago... He isn't particularly brilliant (if anything, he's on the downward side of human intelligence), but he's been a bookworm as long as I've known him (about twelve years now?). I gave him a copy of Dies Irae and he managed to finish it in about forty hours (the English version). He was also able to have a decent conversation on the events that occurred and seemed to grasp most of the twists. Part of that comes from him being a fiction specialist normally, but it is also proof of concept. He did miss some things, but then, very few people grasp every single nuance of what happens in that game the first time around (I certainly didn't).

I decided to make this post after analyzing my own reading speed and the reasons why it is so fast... but I also wanted to give tips on how to increase your reading speed without hurting your enjoyment of VNs, manga, and books. At the same time I was doing this, I gradually came to realize that one of the big reasons why my favorite genre is so niche (chuunige) is simply because most people bump into the walls of complex text and give up. Regardless of which language you are reading (Japanese, English, or any other language), the basics of reading are the ability to see and understand the writing, have the vocabulary necessary to understand the words, and an understanding of grammar advanced enough to comprehend how the words come together to create meaning. I know it sounds condescending for me to go back and name these basics, but it is necessary to do so in order to make my points. When it comes to reading fiction, there is an aspect that comes into play that many don't take account of... the gap between the language used when writing and that which is used in verbalization. Most people won't use even a fifth of the terminology and styles that exist in the literary world to converse with others (at least, if their job doesn't require it). For this reason, becoming a fast reader necessitates that a person have a gut-level understanding of a large amount of word and style choices that simply don't get used when they are conversing with others. This is also the reason why classroom Japanese is inadequate for playing or translating visual novels, incidentally. To be frank, the above reality is the main reason why reading for pleasure is an acquired taste for most, rather than a natural addiction. To me, a well-written scene in a VN is a sensual, almost erotic experience... but that is because decades of reading have made me into that kind of person. To be frank, there is a limit to reading speeds based on intelligence and short-term memory. However, this limitation is far less of an issue than most think. It is quite possible for someone who is of less than average intelligence to be able to enjoy reading something as ridiculously complex as Dies Irae at a speed you might be surprised at, and it is quite possible for a person who is otherwise of high intelligence to have a turtle-like reading speed. Basic methods to increase reading speed include deliberate expansion of vocabulary (memorizing lists of words and how they are used) and deliberately exposing yourself on a regular basis to writers with unique or unusual styles that are difficult to follow. Grammatical understanding needs to be gut-level or reading speed won't improve, as you'll be constantly stumbling over how the words come together. Context is also important... essentially, to be a fast reader, one must be able to keep at least a decent grasp on what has gone before and be able to at least retain most of the details from the chapter you are currently reading. A bad habit many translators, both professional and fan, fall into is translating line by line. This is also a stumbling block when reading. If you are merely reading line by line while not keeping at least some track of what has been going on, you will be unable to grasp what is coming. This lack of understanding slows the reader, as they grow confused, then bored. One reason why I almost never play multiple VNs at once without dropping the previous ones outright is because retaining a firm grasp on the flow of events at my stopping points for those games causes an intellectual and emotional disconnect that makes it hard to resurrect my interest if I try to go back to them. In the end, what was this post about? Essentially, I was saying 'refine your basics, and your reading speed will improve'. I'm not going to go into more advanced techniques such as being able to 'flash-read' paragraphs and lines, because I generally don't use those techniques when playing normal VNs (the slow death of the NVL format has ensured it only has limited usefulness when reading VNs). A note about the difference in enjoyment: The pleasure gained from reading varies in nature as you get faster. One reason I love VNs that are heavy on complex narration is that such VNs rarely leave me feeling that I wasted my time reading them, whereas ones with little narration and most if it simple tend to leave me feel like I wasted my time. In my observations of others, including some friends I introduced to VNs who have significantly slower speeds than myself, I saw that they tended to be more able to enjoy both better than myself. However, since large-scale VNs seemed like monumental tasks to them, they often don't even try them. In this sense, reading speed determines what some people read in the first place, thus narrowing their options and experiences. I hear stories about people taking months to finish a single VN, and I honestly can't comprehend that, given that even the longest VN only takes me about thirty to forty hours (incidentally, only a half dozen VNs have reached this threshold in my personal experience)... which is about the same amount of time full completion of an average-scale jrpg takes, lol. I honestly don't have the experience to gauge how to enjoy a VN over the course of a month or more of time... and I'd like some input on just how that experience feels, since I don't have any references in my experience that might enable me to understand it. Even my friends were book-addicts before I introduced them to English-language VNs, so they were still faster than the average... Edit: What caused me to decide to post this was the simple fact that I have, on a number of occasions, been asked for advice on how to improve reading speed. In the process of trying to articulate how to improve reading speed based on my experiences, I decided to focus on visual novel reading speed, because the explanations for some of the techniques I've picked up over the years would require me to rediscover how-to books I read back in my teens when I was trying to reduce the amount of time I had to spend studying by finding ways to read faster. I had to laugh when I realized that all I could do was explain why the basics were important, because the most important element for reading VNs turned out to be accepting that the vocabulary you pick up reading the 'classics' in your years of public education is not nearly enough. Vocab and an understanding of how it fit into grammar are so vital to reading quickly, because you don't have to stop to think about what a sentence means if there is no part of it you don't already understand.

My top favorites are Kosugi Juurouta (whose narration in particular is godly) and Maeda Takeshi, who plays the snarky Shirou in Dies Irae and is Zephyr in Silverio Vendetta. Kosugi has a tendency to play older men, for the most part... often mentor or organizational superiors. He's been in the industry since the mid-nineties. My favorite role for him was as the Narrator of The Third Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo (anime). Maeda Takeshi is a bit less spectacular, but he stands out for his awesome role as Shirou in Dies Irae (the VN) and Zephyr in Silverio Vendetta. His VN characters tend to be in your face or nihilistic, though there are exceptions. Another one that comes to mind is Miyashita Eiji, who plays a lot of truly great supporting characters in various VNs I've encountered. In particular, his role as Isaac in Vermilion Bind of Blood was godly.

I went ahead and added you... I have Shuten at lvl 90. I'm mostly enjoying Agartha as mild comedy. I honestly don't expect things to get good again for a while, since I'm not sensing Higashide's writing style behind the sentence structure right now...

My addiction to this game has gotten a bit ridiculous... I'm playing the English version, and I'm currently enjoying Agartha's story. My Servant roster has finally reached a point where I consider it nicely rounded out, save for the lack of a decent farming Caster, which, admittedly, isn't really a priority. One thing that drove me crazy is how much I wanted Shuten-douji to be an h-game heroine... the combination of kyou-kotoba, her sensuous manner, and her general evil was just too sexy. *sighs* Me and my eroge brain.