Scars Unseen

Okay, I gotta ask: who is that and from what? I love the art style. As for my contribution, I'll go with Senjougahara in a state of uncharacteristic cuteness:

I don't get angry about them so much as I find them amusing(which isn't terribly surprising since I find almost everything amusing on some level). It's like they think that the absence of climate change would invalidate all the other reasons why cutting down on pollution and increasing energy efficiency would be a good thing.

Thanks for all the welcomes! Experiences in Japan, huh? Hmm... Well I've lived in Okinawa for 7 years, and my wife of 5 years was from Nara. I can't speak much Japanese, though now that I no longer have a live-in translator, I'm starting back up on that. One thing to remember is that Okinawa isn't really Japan. Well it is, but in the same way that Hawaii is the United States. It's a place that Japanese people go to on vacation(traffic gets absolutely horrid here during Golden Week). The culture is notably different from what you would find on the mainland. In addition to the original Okinawan culture, the island technically belonged to the United States until 1972, and with the relatively high number of military bases on the island, there is a greater American influence in the areas surrounding those bases. Festivals occur here quite frequently since we get both Japanese and Okinawan occasions to do so(as well as a couple of western influenced ones like Oktoberfest... I think the islanders just like festivals). I used to go to them fairly often wearing a jinbei, but sort of stopped after my marriage got more contentious. Now that I'm single again, I might start going more often. I have traveled to mainland Japan a couple of times to visit my then wife's family and do some site seeing. Nara, my ex-wife's hometown, was the capitol of Japan during the 8th century(known as the Nara period), and is the site of Todai-ji, a temple that houses the largest bronze Buddha in the world. surrounding that temple is a park where deer roam around free. They have no fear of humans, and will come right up to you if you have food(stands along the park sell biscuits for 100 yen). Some of the deer will bow to you for food, and some more aggressive ones will nip at you until you give them something. Also, apparently my daughter is ridiculously cute or something because tourists kept wanting to take a picture of her. Not too far away from Nara(about 40 minutes by train) is Osaka, the second largest city in Japan. It's a port city, and the sushi there is delicious, with some rather generous serving sizes in a lot of places(I got served nigiri with the fish drooping all the way to the plate; you couldn't see the rice at all). Another common dish I love there is okinamiyaki, a sort of fried pancake with cabbage, seafood and pork in it(there are different styles in other regions, but I love the Kansai style best). I went shopping in Yodobashi Umeda and Nipponbashi(also known as Den Den Town, and similar to Tokyo's Akihabara, albeit on a smaller scale), though I didn't really end up buying anything. While I was there, I visited Osaka-jo(one of the many castles in Japan) and Universal Studios Osaka(where I had the very odd experience of watching Hello Kitty sing and dance to a very upbeat rendition of the Marilyn Mason version of Beautiful People... Japan is a weird place). The last place I visited on the mainland was Kyoto, another former capitol, and the site of a ridiculous number of temples. My ex and I rented kimonos while we were there, and I would like to go on record to say that I hate kimonos now and will never wear one again if I can help it. I had to take tiny steps the entire day, and the weather was fairly cold(we went in November). We visited a few different temples there, most memorably Tou-ji and Kiyomizu-dera(which has an amazing view) and then had dinner and some drinks with one of my ex's coworkers -who just happened to be visiting the city on the same day- at a British-style pub called the Pig & Whistle. Overall, I enjoy living in Okinawa, though I might try to transfer to one of the mainland bases in the future. I would like to visit Tokyo at some point.

It's time for another stirring round of Hey, I've got an XKCD comic for that.

"My nose! It's gone! How shocking? That last sentence wasn't meant to be a question!"

I really like the type of routes found in School Days. Despite my dislike of most of the characters in that VN, I love that the story feels organic growing from your choices rather than feeling like a series of railroad switches like in games like Grisaia no Kajitsu(though on the whole, I like that VN better). It feels more like I'm participating in the story instead of merely choosing which story I want to read.

Bakamonogatari: I enjoyed watching a show about monsters, really awkward fan service and sexual assault involving kids 15 and under; I am a horrible person.

Congratulations on winning an award that I had no idea existed until this very moment! I knew you could do it!

Record of the Lodoss War: What the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon should have been.

You know, I think I've realized... I'm not sure what I am anymore. I'm fairly emotional and affectionate at heart, but when most people try to get close, I kind of wall them off. However, I learned a while ago that people ask more questions when you look unhappy, so I pretty much wear a smile and speak in a pleasant or cheerful tone in most situations regardless of how I feel. I frequently get told that I have a radio voice.

To be fair, Hisao hasn't had time to come to terms with his situation like everyone else in the game has, so it would be somewhat unnatural if he was this lovable well adjusted guy to start. I don't entirely disagree with your assessment of him, but some self-absorbed behavior is to be expected when your entire life has been ripped apart in an instant. And really, in that respect, Hanako is actually worse; you just don't see it as much until the end because she isn't narrating.

The room I spend most of my time in pretty much consists of a futon mattress on tatami and my PC. The other rooms are pretty much filled with boxes because I have nowhere to unpack them to. I do plan of building a Steins;Gate style nixie tube clock in the near future. I also have several unbuilt Gundam models and a couple of lightsabers.

Out of those, I probably fall closest to Kuudere. I spent the first 9 years of my life living in a forest with no one my age within 20 miles, and then after my parents got divorced, I moved in with my aunt in the middle of Houston. As a result I never really figured out how to deal with people on a social level until much later in life than most do, and I still have a habit of walling off my emotions. I spent a good deal of high school avoiding others. I actually can converse with people casually now(combine drama club in HS, loads of D&D sessions and years of customer service jobs), but I still can't easily relate personal feelings to others(my ex-wife has occasionally described me as being "cold").

I think that Liar Game would make for an interesting VN, though it might be difficult to create multiple routes for it. I imagine the result would be sort of a narrative puzzle. And more of a franchise than a specific series, but I would love someday to see a UC Gundam based VN.

Not necessarily. Certainly the bus hit nothing of note on the way down or it would sustained more damage. It is more likely that it simply fell through lighter foliage, which would have simply snapped back into place after the bus passed. There might have been some snapped branches, but nothing that would catch the attention of a helicopter that had no reason to be looking for people in the first place(Kazami pointed out that it was likely military and was passing by as a coincidence rather than as part of a search effort). As far as anyone knows, there was no point in time where anyone searched that particular area for the missing students. They had essentially taken a country back road without telling anyone about their planned route beforehand.

I'm not a huge fan of J-pop/rock so there are only a couple of OP that I really like. As for my favorite, the one that popped into my mind immediately was Serial Experiments Lain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-PkAQcuZOw Some others I enjoy are Trigun, Noir and Cowboy Bebop. As for ending songs... well it's kind of cheating since it's from a movie, but I love the song that plays at the end of Armitage III: Polymatrix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5C4U7Zf-c

Feels weird quoting a post from half a year ago, buuuut... "sometimes" deserves all caps, italics, boldprint, underline and about a dozen smilies. There are a couple scenes in the VN that make my skin crawl because you are given no choice but to be a massive creep.

Mirrai Nikki: Dysfunction junction, who gets unctioned?

Hmm... a lot of the ones I like have been listed already, but I have to say that I really like the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. They started out as a retelling of the first part of the series, only with a lot of Shinji's whining cut out, and then they screwed the story in a completely new direction that I'm really digging so far. It's been a while since I've been this impatient for a sequel movie to be released.

Hmm... Let's see what I can come up with off the top of my head. Keep in mind, some nostalgia factor is going to apply. In no particular order: 1) Zeta Gundam 2) Azumanga Daioh 3) Steins;Gate(even if it is a pale shadow of the VN) 4) Trigun 5) Mirai Nikki 6) Serial Experiments Lain 7) Neon Genesis Evangelion Rurouni Kenshin(until the Kyoto Arc ends, at least) 9) Death Note 10) Cowboy Bebop EDIT: Just recalled one that had to make the list. Sorry, Lodoss War, I still love you, but Azumanga Daioh is hilarious.

My first VN experience depends on whether you consider Monster Girl Quest to be a shallow but funny visual novel with RPG elements or the world's most linear JRPG with a surprisingly well told story. It could certainly be described as an "experience" either way. If you can overlook the sex - and if you can't there isn't enough brain bleach in the world to erase the memories - then it's pretty enjoyable as a short little story with JRPG style battles that actually require strategic use of all your abilities(thanks to the utter lack of random battles to level up on). My first visual novel that I knew was a visual novel going into it was Katawa Shoujo. I played without a guide until the only one I had left was Rin. Overall, I really liked it, with probably Hanako and Emi being my favorite routes overall and Shizune being my least favorite.

@Flutterz and Nosebleed Thanks for the suggestions! I already had Little Busters and Clannad on my to-do list, though knowing that there aren't H-scenes may bump them up a bit. Any suggestions on which of those I should try first? @Kaguya Saw that thread earlier, and hope to live long enough to get to them all. Quick question for you: If I wanted to use an untranslated VN as an aid in learning the language, would there be one you would recommend? I have taken a couple of classes, but have only touched hiragana and katakana so far. @Yukiru It is really difficult for me to pin down a favorite character in that game. Every last one of them is incredibly well written, and even the route that I thought I'd like the least (Michiru) turned out to stand out once I played it. I guess if I had to base my choice on the thing that I liked best about the game(the humor), I'd have to say that Michiru inspired the most laughter from me. Sachi probably had the best balance between comedy and drama, and Yumiko was oddly the most likable to me once an actual relationship was started.

Hello everyone! I'm an American living in Okinawa the past 7 years, and I've only recently gotten into VNs after finally getting around to playing Katawa Shoujo while waiting for internet to be installed at my current apartment. I haven't played a lot of VNs yet, but I'm working on correcting that. Played so far: Katawa Shoujo (finished all routes) Steins;Gate (finished Suzuha's and Kurisu's Route, but didn't get true ending yet) Grisaia no Kajitsu (finished all routes) School Days HQ(finished a few routes) Partial Playthroughs: Ever 17(so far don't like any of the characters that much) Muv-Luv(trying to slog my way through Extra at the moment) Of the ones I've played so far, I think I like Steins;Gate best because I love the sci-fi theme, and the dialogue has a good ratio of humor to seriousness. On the other hand, I couldn't stand Okabe until late in the game when you find out why he acts the way he does, and the phone system's relation to changes in the story's flow is so opaque that I find this game impossible to play without a guide(I actually got Suzuha's ending before I realized that I had made any plot relevant choices at all). I also love the art style. Grisaia no Kajitsu comes as a close second just because the dialogue is amazingly written, making me literally laugh out loud fairly consistently throughout(until late game when things turn serious, of course). On the other hand, the VN really could have used more choices. School Days is kind of weird for me. On the one hand, I don't really like any of the characters, and there is no humor at all to be found. On the other hand, the production values are pretty great, and the choices come just often enough and have just enough impact that I feel neither lost nor railroaded at any point in the game. Structurally the best designed VN I've played, and I'll likely use this as something to play a quick route in between other VNs. Katawa Shoujo is what it is: a good entry point into the medium with mostly likable characters and decent if not amazing writing. I probably wouldn't like it as much if it hadn't been my first, but it is by no means bad, and certain routes stand out as being particularly enjoyable(Hanako being the one I enjoyed the most). So far I really am not liking Muv-Luv at all, but I'm trying to push through(off and on for the past week and a half now) because I hear that Alternate is amazing. But seriously, playing through Extra reminds me of grinding levels in an MMO... just nothing enjoyable about the experience at all. One thing I'm finding about myself is that I dislike H-scenes. Maybe the ones I've experienced so far are just poorly written, but I think that the utter lack of them may be one of the things that boosts Steins;Gate in my eyes, Anyway, Good to meet the community. See you around!