Clephas

I'm kind of surprised Steam allowed Maitetsu at all... that game is one I don't think should have been localized in the first place, for the sake of the community. I'd feel the same way if someone tried to localize Monobeno, for the same reason... the games are tailor-made to cause a major lolicon debate in public here in the US. I have to wonder if people realize just how thin a line the Western eroge (localization and making both) industry is walking...

All of Draculius' heroines except Belche are essentially amaenbou types (at some point). Adelheid from Floral Flowlove is an ultimate amaenbou. Both doll heroines from Koisuru Doll to Omoi no Kiseki are amaenbou characters (though the blonde is a bit yandere-ish). Akira from Komorebi no Nostalgica is definitely an amaenbou (so is her mother, the protagonist's step-mother). Riko from Yomegami is an amaenbou (with an extreme scent fetish). Suenaga Haruka from Houkago no Futekikakusha is a yamato nadeshiko type, but the game is a hard utsuge, meaning lots of despair. Kujou Otome from Izayoi no Fortuna is a yamato nadeshiko. Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru has two amaenbou heroines... Tsubasa and Shinobu. It needs to be mentioned that Shinobu is borderline yandere and has a tendency to 'amaeru' in a really... forceful way. Kumari Kotobuki from Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence is a yamato nadeshiko. Sengoku Koihime's Yuina is a yamato nadeshiko, as is the shogun's imouto... and there are a ton of amaenbou types (Mari being the most obvious). Mira from Curio Dealer is half of each. Touko from Ayakashibito, except for the massive katana, is a yamato nadeshiko. Just to be clear, all Clochette game imoutos are amaenbou heroines. So, if you run out of that type, just go to Clochette (though the oppai are endless there).

Ayakashibito

http://www.hongfire.com/forum/filedata/fetch?id=5879326

Hmmm... it should work with ITH... the malie engine hooks are built into the later versions of ITH and ITHVNR has them by default. I remember playing it with both agth and ITH at different times without experiencing any problems. The anime-sharing page said ITH. I can only suggest that you try VNR and see if it has a recorded h-code in the text settings that you might be able to use for ITHVNR. If you have the Akebono version, I never played it, but I heard of some people having the familiar Light problems due to (unique to Light) font choices. If so, use the instructions from the anime-sharing page for Electro-arms to change the form to MS Gothic.

It needs to be said, but most VNs are just fine without h-codes. The non-ero SOL VNs are rare, though...

http://vn-hooking.wikia.com/wiki/H-Code

A few words before I get into this... As my previous post spells out, I will no longer be doing the VN of the Month column, and this VN was the one that was the straw that broke the camel's back. That said, it isn't like I didn't enjoy what I played of it once I got past the sticking points (date scenes). If anything, this game is a definite increase over the quality seen in Ensemble's works since Gokigen Naname blew me away. That said, when it comes down to it, this game is SOL all the way. The protagonist is the son of the owner of a small but stylish restaurant cafe and what amounts to the assistant cook. He has a firm grasp on what he wants out of life (to become a fully accredited cook), and he is also very responsible and good-hearted in general. The common route is basically one typical harem-building element after another, ranging from meeting a girl who constantly gives off 'I'm sickly but trying to hide it poorly' vibes (the protagonist doesn't notice, of course) to a seemingly strong-willed and free-spirited oneesama who shows off her fragile side at odd times. By the time it was over, even though it wasn't really long, I was so happy that I wanted to thank the magic bunnies for releasing me from that cliched hell. It needs to be said that there are too many heroines in this game, and Ensemble's current art team has such a limited range of facial designs that I honestly found it hard to tell the 'normal heroine' trio (Iori, Sanae, and Misato) apart from visuals at times. This was one of the reasons that my first impression of the game was blandness, despite the characters having dynamically different personalities, for the most part. Before I go any further, I'll say that the paths I played were the omake Nazuna path and Youko's path. This was because those were the only heroines I became interested in during the common route, which is probably the best reason possible. Youko's path is surprisingly long (it looks like the short common route is compensated for by longer and more complex heroine routes), and it is pretty emotional. While there were some definite moments where I winced at the predictability of certain events, I did manage to enjoy it to the end... which brings up the ending, which is actually excellent, because it is a 'four years down the road' ending that sees Youko having grown past her hangups and living happily with the protagonist... a definite benefit of an epilogue that goes forward significantly in time. Nazuna's path is an omake path, but it shouldn't have been. Nazuna is probably the cutest character in the game (other than possibly baby Minamo or a certain character who pops up in Youko's epilogue), and she is a rare yamato nadeshiko type to boot. However, she is cursed with an omake path that is short, feels forced, and ends without an epilogue. The decision not to make Nazuna a central heroine was a horrible one, and it isn't one I'm going to forgive anytime soon, lol.

The Secret Game/Killer Queen series.

I've been considering this for some time, but it has suddenly become a reality. To be blunt, I've come to my limit when it comes to playing pure SOL games. Oh, I can still enjoy many of them, but if you asked me whether I can look at them without my resentment of 'normal' SOL content blinding me, the answer is no. If I have to read through one more template date scene or see another osananajimi climb through the window from next door, I'm going to start tearing out the last remaining hairs atop my head. *coughs* Ahem, now that I've got that out, it needs to be said that I've been doing this since September of 2012... a ridiculous amount of time to be playing roughly 80% of all non-nukige VNs that come out (I'm figuring those I dropped or just couldn't play because they were just that bad into the twenty percent). Just to be clear, I will still continue to play VNs and comment on/review them in this blog. However, I will no longer play as many outside my tastes, nor will I go out of my way to seek gems from companies I hate reading from. I realized while I was playing Koisaku (Ensemble's latest game), that a few years ago, I would have read this game without any real problems, and I wouldn't even have blinked at the crap that now drives me up the wall. Oh sure, Ensemble's base quality has fallen massively, but when I took a step back, this is actually one of the better amongst their more recent games, with plenty of indications of real stories for the heroines in the background. However, I found I just couldn't tolerate it. It hit me in the date scene that occurs in the common route... I have no tolerance for date scenes at all anymore. Scenes like that exist for every heroine in every SOL VN, and they all turn out in almost an identical fashion. Reading it, even though it was basically a 'friend date', was like dragging my brain through mud. I just couldn't do it. I promised myself that I wouldn't BS myself on this particular matter years ago... and I knew the limit was coming. I just didn't realize that it would be this soon. So, I have to announce that this is the end of my VN of the Month column. Now, all that remains is my Random VNs and whatever VNs I choose to play each month. I will continue to play what I'm interested in, and that will probably include slice-of-life at times. However, I will no longer play SOL out of a sense of duty to my readers. My original reasons for starting VN of the Month When I first started Clephas' VN of the Month, it was because vndb gives nothing to you for info on their games beyond poor tls of the game summary from Getchu, character profiles, and sometimes tags (that might or might not be accurate). I felt that that didn't do most games justice, and I hated the way I had to go into a game blind on so many occasions. As such, I started putting up commentaries on just what kind of VN I was playing, with few or no spoilers. This was a need that, at the time, was not being fulfilled (and as far as I know, still isn't, since most reviewers include major spoilers because they are inconsiderate). Over time, my routine each month started with figuring out which games weren't nukige and which I would play first... and picking out which one was the best after I played them (the latter of course being entirely a matter of my opinion, informed as it might be). However, it is time to set down my burden. I tried handing off my work to others, and that worked for a while (thanks to @Dergonu@fun2novel@BookwormOtaku@Kiriririri for their help over the last year - yes, even you, Kiriririri). In the end, though, I'm just one man... and one middle-aged man with increasingly bad health isn't going to be able to keep this up any longer. Heck, I'm amazed i kept going this long. I do hope someone else takes up the torch of at least informing people of what to expect in newer games (and not just the ones from popular companies), but that isn't my job anymore. Thanks for reading, Clephas

Pretty sure I know the answer, but does it have to be translated? If so: Ayakashibito Tokyo Babel

This is the latest VN by AXL, and it is also the latest in its 'swords fantasy' (there is very little magic in these games) series (I say series, but they are just a line of similarly-designed games). The previous games in this series include Princess Frontier, Hyakka Ryouran Elixir, Racial Merge, and Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai. This is also AXL's fifteenth game, making it one of the most prolific companies (ignoring subsidiaries) still active. Like all the games in this series, it is based in a world whose tech level is medieval with bits and pieces of higher levels of technological development here and there. This one falls in an area similar to Ou no Mimi, rather than Princess Frontier or Hyakka Ryouran, meaning it has a somewhat more violent turn almost from the beginning. The protagonist is an antique dealer (thus the game's name) named Rowan who, due to the loss of his parents during an adventure at the highest levels of the tower, has had to deal with an aversion to the tower that is at the center of the town that serves as the center of the game's story. This changes when a young girl bearing a greatsword named Linaria comes into the picture, and he finds himself guiding a young group of adventurers through the lower levels of the tower. Rowan is not only an antique dealer but an exceptionally talented dagger-user and toolmaker. He is also the only individual in the town that can repair the various machines that come down from the tower. If I were to pick his class, I'd consider him to be a cross between an engineer and a rogue, with excellent crowd-control techniques and stuns. Like a lot of mature protagonists, there is a disconnect between his emotions and rational behavior, and as a result, he will often take the logical path, even when it conflicts with what his heart wants, thus leading to him being a bit dense about emotions in general. The tower is much like a lot of roguelike rpg towers (though this game isn't an rpg) where people climb the tower to gather treasure, fighting monsters and robot-like Guardians as they do so. The power gems taken from the Guardians can be used in various devices made from parts taken from the tower, and this is the source of most of the setting's higher technology. The tower itself is self-repairing and self-defending, deploying seemingly endless numbers of Guardians and monsters. No one knows how high it goes. The three heroines are the young princess Karin, the protagonist's adoptive sister Mira, and the newbie adventurer girl Linaria. Karin is a sort-of tsundere who very obviously is in love with Rowan from the beginning. Her father is the second King of the country (that consists of the tower, the town, and the land around it), but she only realized she was a princess at a relatively late age due to the closeness of the royal family to the people. Mira is a responsible girl who takes care of most of the chores and the account books at Rowan's shop... and has an unnatural attachment to the spiky ball and chain she uses as a weapon (the first time you see her flushing after squashing an enemy says everything). Linaria is the daughter of a deceased adventurer who came to find out why her father abandoned his family in order to seek fame and wealth in the tower. Though she resents adventurers as a profession, she is too kind-hearted to actually take it out on anyone. Common Route The common route mostly accounts the trials and tribulations of Rowan and company as they rise through the lower levels of the tower to be acknowledged as full-fledged adventurers (novices are called 'virgins' until they reach town on the Twentieth Floor). If you like AXL games' style of character interaction, you'll like the slice-of-life elements, and the battles are actually tactically interesting (something that is unusual for AXL). There are a few emotional moments dealing with Rowan's past, but the common route mostly serves to familiarize you with the characters. Normal Ending This is an ending you get if you fail to pick one of the three main heroines. It is basically a joke ending where the results of his actions in the common route come home to roost, lol. Karin Karin's path starts out with a lot of light ichaicha and a somewhat annoying get-together sequence. However, at roughly the halfway point, it suddenly turns dark and violent... and outright bloody. The violence in this path startled me a bit, as it is out of character for AXL (AXL generally restricts violence to one or two scenes in a given path, and never on this kind of scale). However, the story was interesting, and I left the path feeling satisfied. The actual progression from lighter atmosphere to darker one is common on AXL's games, and anyone who has played one will probably recognize the pattern... That didn't bother me, though, since it was interesting in and of itself. Linaria I recommend that anyone that plays this game play this path last. The reason is is that this is the only path that deals with the tower itself and climbing to the top as its subject matter. It is also the only path where certain major issues involving the protagonist are completely and finally resolved in a direct manner. This is perhaps not surprising, seeing as Linaria was being presented as the 'main heroine' almost from the beginning. However, it is a situation where anyone who plays this path will be a bit displeased with the other two if they played it first. The path itself is a lot less bloody than Karin's (to be blunt, Karin's path is the only one that gets bloody and serious to that degree), but it is still a good path, with a more emotional focus than Karin's. Mira Mira is my favorite of the three heroines, so I left her for last this time. She is the protagonist's adoptive little sister, and she falls under the archetype of the 'imouto who scolds her beloved oniichan but adores him'. Mira is a serious girl who cares deeply about the antique shop they are running, and as a result, most of her path deals with the economic issues of the city and the tower. It was when I finished this path that I came to the conclusion that Mira's path is the 'merchant' path, Karin's is the 'nation' path, and Linaria's is the 'adventurer' path. Mira's path is full of secrets and conspiracies, and it has some really good moments for Verbena (who is incidentally my favorite character in this game). It is also frequently humorous in ways the other two paths didn't manage, which was a plus for me. Some thoughts A few thoughts/complaints about this game. I honestly liked this game a great deal... but it seriously needed a grand route to put the themes of the other paths into a single one. The issues in each path weren't going to go away just because they weren't dealt with in those individual paths, and it bugs the hell out of me that there was no single path that brought them all to a resolution. I also think Verbena should have had a path other than the normal ending. Sure, she is a slut, a heavy drinker, and takes pleasure in unleashing her spiky weapons (ranging from morning stars to kusarikama)... but her personality is just awesome. Seeing that kind of character go all deredere is one of my favorite AXL events (AXL does really good 'haraguro' heroines). Conclusion If you liked any of the other 'swords fantasy' AXL games, you'll like this one. It has all the elements that make those games great, such as the protagonist being equally or more important than the heroines, decent action without being focused on the action, and a mix of light humor and serious story that keeps slice of life from getting out of hand. I'll be the first to admit that AXL doesn't change its art style or character archetypes, but that never seems to effect whether their games are good or not.

Translated Eden* Tokyo Babel Hapymaher Untranslated Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana Houkago no Futekikakusha Inochi no Spare Konata yori Kanata Made Nanairo Reincarnation Akeiro Kaikitan Aoi Tori Amatsutsumi Natsu no Owari no Nirvana Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake (supposedly going to be localized, but it has been half a decade since the announcement) Moshimo Ashita ga Hare Naraba Satsukoi Tsukiakari Lunch Yurikago yori Tenshi Made Hotel. Midori no Umi Rakuen no Shugosha Soranica Ele Strawberry Feels Dekinai Watashi ga, Kurikaesu Tsuisou no Augment Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai

Yes and no. For victimless crimes (drug use or ownership of an illegal weapon, for instance) it usually doesn't even go to the level of asking for an Inquisitor (Inquisitors are rare, so mostly they are called out for violent crimes, rebellion, sedition, collaboration, smuggling, conspiracy, etc). Guilt is assumed if one has been taken to an Inquisitor, so yes, torture (at the level authorized or ordered) goes on until the individual in question has confessed. Once that has occurred, if the crime requires a Level Seven or above, the criminal in question is tortured until they die, though in this case no effort is made to keep them alive except for ones that require a Level Nine or Ten (Ten being the most horrific), in which case they are kept alive through medical intervention until all levels of the punishment have been inflicted. In the case of rebels, information is also sought, so it is desirable to keep them in a state where they can respond until the information is extracted. A lot of discretion is given to the Inquisitor, when it comes to this. Most Inquisitors are washouts or borderline as surgeons, so the accused often die at lower levels as a result...but the system has rotted so much at this point that few care. The protagonist, being a surgical master and genius at interrogation, is scarily good at getting what he's after without destroying his victims outright... though he often ends up doing so as part of the punishment, in any case. Commanding officers can often order specific levels of interrogation, and an Inquisitor can do so as well, if he finds evidence of a crime requiring it during a low-level interrogation or when interrogating another. Edit: It should be noted that one of the most dystopian aspects of this series' setting is that so many people have the authority to order the use of an Inquisitor with relatively little cause. The Inquisitor himself (in possession of the Writ), a Judge, a military officer of Captain or above, etc...

If the appropriate authorities determine that there is a possibility of criminality based on even the slightest of circumstantial or physical evidence. However, it is always an individual with rank in the military or the judiciary that determines that a crime has been committed and sends the criminal to the Inquisitor. Lower crimes can be limited to the first few levels, such as flogging and the use of confession drugs (the flogging/whipping usually a convenient part of the punishment) but the higher the crime, the higher the level of torture the Inquisitor is required to undertake. Confessions are expected long before they reach the fifth or sixth level (very few people can deny Koscuisko anything past the fourth level), so the rest is usually punishment, save for a few individuals with stronger wills.

VN of the Month, May 2018 First, VN of the Month, May 2018 is Shunkyoku no Tyrhia. While the game had some serious flaws, like all Liar Soft games, it was enjoyable enough that I felt it worth becoming a candidate for VN of the Month. Maoten Maoten is the game I was looking forward to the most for June's releases... and I was not in any way disappointed. The game is classic Candy Soft in some ways (the over the top characters, looser sexual mores than the norm in non-nukige, etc), but it also stands out as its own story. This game focuses on a small town where a large number of demons settled after giving up rather quickly on conquering the world. The protagonist, who is at first unaware of this, is forced to an awareness of their existence by the rather extreme occurrence of Carlen's emergence into the world. Carlene, who is essentially a hedonistic free spirit with a child's attention span, becomes a catalyst for an interesting central story. The protagonist of the story, Rentarou is a fishing addict with a kind heart and an inordinate fondness for women with large breasts (I know... *smiles wryly and shrugs*). He can be be proactive when it is necessary, but, as is typical of many essentially introspective protagonists, he has a tendency to fail to ask for help when he needs it. There are three heroines in this game (though there are several noteworthy side-characters with h-scenes as well). The heroines are Rita (the protagonist's psychotic osananajimi), Yuuri (the protagonist's adoptive elder sister who happens to be a battle angel), and Carlene (the demon lord who devoured Shiva when he came down to obliterate the demon world). In Maoten's world, demons who disrupt the human world seriously are subject to obliteration (usually along with any geographical features and lifeforms in the area) by the Angels, who are 'guardians of order' (supposedly). As such, the demons who arrived twenty years before survived by making agreements with Earth's government to allow for their settlement there. Common Route The common route varies between comedic and serious moments, with those same moments (typical of Candy Soft and its subsidiaries) often being mixed heavily. Generally speaking, most of it is comedic, with the more serious moments concentrated mostly in the beginning and at the end. A lot of this is simply because of the need to form a solid picture of Carlene's character, since she is the only one of the three heroines not to be living in immediate proximity to the protagonist. I enjoyed the (rather long) common route and it had good pacing. However, it did leave a lot of things to your imagination int he worst way, so I felt myself wanting more even as I went into the heroine paths. Carlene Naturally, Carlene's path is the one I chose first. The relationship formation in this path is... kind of weird. Oh, there is definitely love there, but the resulting relationship can't really be called romantic. Rather it ends up as a rather weird version of a Queen and consort relationship, mostly due to Carlene's beliefs and her own view of her feelings toward Rentarou. There were a lot of rofl moments in this path, not the least during the h-scenes (you know that you are enjoying it when the h-scenes make you laugh). The actual story was good... and though I disliked how they dealt with the protagonist's own major issue, I just shrugged and lived with it in the end. The ending is one that made me smile, and it was perhaps too convenient... but I've yet to encounter a good ending from this company or its subsidiary (Minato soft) that wasn't that way to one extent or another. Yuuri Yuuri is an adorable person. While she seems both strict and friendly in public, in private with the protagonist, she is very much the 'wannabe oneechan', and she values her relationship with Rentarou greatly. The relationship building in this path is ridiculously straightforward, but in exchange this path deals with the events of ten years before (which involve the protagonist). Like Karin's path, this one starts mostly amusing but becomes more story-focused as the protagonist digs deeper into past events surrounding the decaying hospice and himself. It was enjoyable, and the ending is worthy of a few happy tears in itself. Rita Rita's first path is something of a bad/normal ending. The story itself is excellently-written (as should be expected, given my experience with the previous paths), and this story deals the most intimately with the protagonist's most dramatic past issue. That said, this path has a much darker turn than the other two, at least for a time, and there is one scene that is borderline guro, so anyone coming into this one should be prepared. The humor in this path is much like the humor in the rest of the VN (typical Minato-soft/Candy Soft style character typical humor). To give you a better idea of Rita's personality, she is like Kagome from Comyu (if she wasn't killing people to survive) or Momoyo from Majikoi (if she wasn't a martial artist). She is actively mischievous, strongly attached to her small circle of closest friends, and extremely hedonistic and self-absorbed much of the time. Rita 2 (Another Path) This path is referred to as Rita's second ending, but it is actually a non-romantic ending that serves as a general conclusion (it also wraps up the biggest loose end from the first Rita ending) to the story as a whole. This path is equally dramatic to Rita's path, but it is also a lot more emotionally stressful for much of its length. That said, I can honestly say there are no more secrets to this game's setting once this path is done, so it left me with a definite sense of satisfaction with the game as a whole. Omake The omake scenes in this game are basically a series of post-Another Path story and h-scenes focused on side characters (including one yaoi scene with Ramu). They are mostly humorous and/or ecchi... and it was nice to get some h-scenes with the game's rather large set of interesting female side-characters. Conclusion A first-class game that I've already put on my list of VN of the Year candidates. If you like the Majikoi style, this is an excellent game for you, but if you don't like it, there is a good chance you'll hate it. This game is apparently based in the same world as the Majikoi series, based on a cameo of certain characters, but I honestly question that, since I can't see Momoyo failing to sense Carlene and come to 'visit', lol.

Darkness route of Ikusa Megami Verita, Louis side. Yurikago yori Tenshi Made, Tae path (it is a bad/villain ending though it only gets that way at the end) Eiyuu Maou https://vndb.org/v1021

https://vndb.org/v16476

Before I go visit my remaining grandparents this weekend (my grandmother on my father's side and grandfather on my mother's side are both in extremely frail condition right now, so we are taking time to show my sister's kid to them), I thought I would give my thoughts on modern VN trends. Charage aren't going anywhere Though I frequently bash the industry for over-saturating the market with moege/charage/SOL, the fact is that the demand for this type of VN is never going to go away as long as the Japanese eroge VN market exists. Why? Because it is the single easiest way to present the formation of relationships of young people into a sexual one. While the genre isn't that attractive for people in their late teens or early to mid-twenties (incidentally the reason this market is declining), the majority of any older generation is always going to prefer this. The lesser numbers of young people in Japan compared to my generation and the lower relative amounts of income are the main reasons for the current contraction of the genre. Good Writers don't go into VNs anymore This is a truth that few of the plotge addicts like me want to admit. Most of the best writers in the VN industry are getting into middle age or later now (or have already left it), and the new and upcoming writers are mostly up and coming LN writers who have a far looser grasp on how to write/narrate and (more importantly) complete a story. This doesn't mean they won't evolve their styles to match the new medium eventually, but whenever I've read a VN written by one of these newbies, the plot holes and poor handling of the endings of their games stand out painfully. Chuunige are in decline I absolutely hate to say this. However, it needs to be said. Trends in the last nine years in chuunige have tended to result in far too much side-story exploitation and sequelitis. There is also a distinct lack of innovation, and when innovation does come, it tends to come with a huge drop in quality in the final product (Sora no Baroque). Fans of the genre are getting older, and some companies (such as Light) have been putting their games in non-ero form on consoles to try to grasp the hearts of younger VN lovers (this has actually succeeded to an extent), but the fact is that it takes a much longer time for a chuunige company to make back its investment after a release. This is exacerbated by economic issues in Japan, and the fact that these companies mostly suck at advertising (like many niche genre companies, they only put it up in places where those already 'in the know' will find them). VN Trends are always years behind the rest of Otaku-dom VN communities in Japan are insular. Even moreso than they are in the US. When rom-com anime vanished for the most part at the end of the last decade, it was replaced with cheap action-fantasy (shallow, weaker stories for the most part, with more emphasis put on 'cool' elements) and moeblob. The glut of such anime is reaching its peak right now... and that influence is starting to overflow (interpreted through the lens of the hyper-conservative VN community, of course) into our side of things. That said, this is a trend that is unlikely to take hold, because it requires a modicum of writing skill that doesn't involve dialogue, and most VN writers just don't have that. Instead, VN companies that have been around for a while have been 'testing the waters' by making games that step out of their usual niches, hoping to diversify to deal with the changing trends. Light went with going down a much darker path than usual with its most recent game, and Navel actually put up a half-assed plotge last month. These, along with many other incidences in the last two years, make me wonder just what the market will look like five years from now.

I'll warn you first, only Minato Soft produces that style of heroine, so if you go looking elsewhere, you won't find perfect matches. That kind of dominating and overpowered heroine is kind of rare... but I'll try to make a few suggestions. Silverio Vendetta (Chitose) Devils Devel Concept (though she combines her tyranny with deep manipulation and ruthlessness... think Darth Momoka) Kaito (the protagonist) of Akagoei is an almost exact match, but he's the protagonist and male. Sofia Usty from World Election (think 'invincible demon lord who badly wants someone who can equal her as a partner') Leona Kaname Burns from Electro Arms (queen of the arena, a fight addict, loves a challenge, adrenaline junkie)

If it was white with a purple tint hair, try Koi no Canvas. Possibilities: https://vndb.org/v1545 https://vndb.org/v20256/chars#chars https://vndb.org/v629 https://vndb.org/v370 https://vndb.org/v765 (warning, this one sucks) That's all I could find that I could remember.

The average/idiot/lazy protagonist The harem protagonist with no qualities beyond being 'nice' Hetare protagonists Ladder-style choice and story structure (ex. G-senjou no Maou, Aiyoku no Eustia) Osananajimi heroines Failure to utilize setting to enhance the story/heroine paths Epilogues that end two weeks or a month after the events of the path in question. School settings (sorry, I'm just tired of this) Edit: Forgot this one... but protagonists that are immensely capable in the common route but become almost incompetent in the heroine routes.

The ones doing localizations on a regular basis are those least likely to go down, and they are often the most prolific producers. This is going to have more effects on the marginal companies and the ones who are reluctant to allow their games to be localized... and new companies. Also, Will is probably going to be forced to cut loose more of its subsidiaries. Of course, this doesn't apply to all companies getting their games localized, but the companies that have some kind of lasting appeal (Purple soft and Navel for instance) aren't likely to go anywhere. The one most likely to go down amongst the MG-relations is probably Circus... they aren't diversifying. If anything, their lineup is getting narrower every year, and it is precisely what the market is glutted on. Pulltop too, maybe... though less likely. That company has been aiming for the non-ero market (testing the waters) lately. Edit: Minori might go down, though... they don't know how to reduce costs without impairing quality.

On the bright side, for most of you, there is already plenty of existing stuff to read. This is an issue that hurts people like me more than it harms people new to the medium. Once things balance out, the companies that were able to adjust the best will have survived... but who knows what that will entail. I seriously doubt Front Wing is going anywhere, for instance, considering how they've been eagerly forging inroads internationally.

Sprite is making excuses. Their problem is that their parent company hasn't produced anything new since the original Aokana (as opposed to the follow-ups/FDs). Their other subsidiaries are completely dead, and FDs rarely sell as well as original material (exceptions exist, but they are just that... exceptions). To be fair, there definitely is some contraction. Japan's economy isn't looking good (looking at yet another recession), and the otakus of my generation, the generation that mostly created the 'moege boom' (no, I didn't coin it, I translated it from a friend's sarcastic comment a few years back) by becoming obsessed with SOL have less money to play around with, as they start thinking about retirement. The generation below us (in Japan) is a lot less laser-focused on SOL (fantasy being the big thing right now), and as a result, more money is going into easily available (and cheap) webnovels and LNs. Nukige still retain their relevance (there will probably still be nukige until the fall of civilization or the generation of sex VR using neural links), but visual novels increasingly don't have the material the younger generations want for the rest of it. There will always be a 'core market' for SOL (because nostalgia for youth is an eternal theme), but it is definitely going to shrink. The simple reality is that a lot of companies are already trying to adjust to the new reality by testing the waters in new genres (just look at Navel, for instance), but I really have no idea where things are going to go from here beyond a feeling that the current way of things isn't going to last a whole lot longer (relatively speaking, for someone approaching middle age). Edit: Incidentally, this is just my opinion, based on what I've seen being put out over the last year and a half... the amount of VNs trying - usually in a really half-assed manner - to break out of the charage/moege mold have been increasing in proportion to the rest. There are still a hugely disproportionate number of SOL-focused games, but more and more it looks like the producers are trying to grab the attention of a different generation. My generation in Japan had a toxic level of SOL obsession, and now that they have less money to play with... SOL eroge just aren't as much of a priority. Of course, chuunige (my favorites) aren't in great shape, either (since chuunige companies are historically reliant on the sale of goods and long-term sales over initial game sales). However, in absolute terms, this is a much bigger blow to SOL (though in relative terms a bigger blow to my favorite genre).