VN reading club - June 2015 (Yume Miru Kusuri)

[Nosebleed]

While Aeka's route is the one that handles the problems more realistically (though I still found the set up messed up), I found the other routes more intriguing to read through, just because they had more elements to pull you in.

Because when I go into a VN I'm not looking for a carbon copy of real life, I want to be fascinated and Nekoko managed to do just that for me. I grew attached to her character the most and the journey to find the fairies was a really touching one.

I don't know, I found the drug issues more interesting than the bullying, because Aeka's role in her story was basically play the victim 24/7 and you're essentially forced into a state of pity for her and Nekoko's route is a bit different since Nekoko is not acting all depressed the whole time and you start of thinking of her as quirky and then it slowly descended into more serious drug abuse issues.

Mizuki's route was the worst for me though lol, I just didn't like her personality at all, it doesn't even have to do with her story as a whole.

[Deep Blue]

While Aeka's route is the one that handles the problems more realistically (though I still found the set up messed up), I found the other routes more intriguing to read through, just because they had more elements to pull you in.

Because when I go into a VN I'm not looking for a carbon copy of real life, I want to be fascinated and Nekoko managed to do just that for me. I grew attached to her character the most and the journey to find the fairies was a really touching one.

I don't know, I found the drug issues more interesting than the bullying, because Aeka's role in her story was basically play the victim 24/7 and you're essentially forced into a state of pity for her and Nekoko's route is a bit different since Nekoko is not acting all depressed the whole time and you start of thinking of her as quirky and then it slowly descended into more serious drug abuse issues.

Mizuki's route was the worst for me though lol, I just didn't like her personality at all, it doesn't even have to do with her story as a whole.

 

well sometimes I look for what you call "carbon copy of real life" just like katawa shoujo for example.

 

And saying that Aeka's role was playing the victim then you don't understand what bully is

and she wasn't being a victim at the end...she got fed up and explode like people in real life do! this videos are hard to watch but they are real

(it is hard to watch but this are just 1% of the videos you can find in youtube, in my country one kid had enough with bullying he brought a knife to the school and killed the other kid

, but it is fine, you are entitle to have your own opinion

[Nosebleed]

I'm not saying she was playing the victim on purpose, obviously she was not, I'm saying that her role in the story was basically being a victim that you pity from the get go and I'm not a huge fan of that. It diminishes the character that she could have been and reduces them to a punching bag that you're forced to care about. Even the protagonist doesn't have any solid reasoning to go to her.

 

In Mizuki's route you end up meeting her because you're forced to help the student council which is fair enough and credible.

In Nekoko's route you end up going after Nekoko because she essentially barges into your work place and you kind of have to do something about it.

But Aeka's route is the only one where you just decide to go to her because she's getting bullied

 

Her story was still sad when you got to know more about her background and discover her personality, I really liked the later parts of her route quite a lot, but once again I struggled to find something that glued me to the screen as much because I just didn't feel as emotionally invested in her from the get go.

 

The way the game goes about her is what bugs me, it essentially is "Hey look at this poor bullied person, you better go save her".

There's no deeper meaning behind it, it's just trying to make you pity her as much as possible so you can get emotionally invested, and for that reason they're always trying super hard to make her miserable, sometimes pulling off ridiculous set ups for it.

[Kurisu-Chan]

My thoughts?

 

I hadn't read YMK.  

[Kurokusari]

I'm not saying she was playing the victim on purpose, obviously she was not, I'm saying that her role in the story was basically being a victim that you pity from the get go and I'm not a huge fan of that. It diminishes the character that she could have been and reduces them to a punching bag that you're forced to care about. Even the protagonist doesn't have any solid reasoning to go to her.

 

In Mizuki's route you end up meeting her because you're forced to help the student council which is fair enough and credible.

In Nekoko's route you end up going after Nekoko because she essentially barges into your work place and you kind of have to do something about it.

But Aeka's route is the only one where you just decide to go to her because she's getting bullied

 

Her story was still sad when you got to know more about her background and discover her personality, I really liked the later parts of her route quite a lot, but once again I struggled to find something that glued me to the screen as much because I just didn't feel as emotionally invested in her from the get go.

 

The way the game goes about her is what bugs me, it essentially is "Hey look at this poor bullied person, you better go save her".

There's no deeper meaning behind it, it's just trying to make you pity her as much as possible so you can get emotionally invested, and for that reason they're always trying super hard to make her miserable, sometimes pulling off ridiculous set ups for it.

I agree with how Aeka's character in her route played out. She was reduced to nothing but a victim and she didn't proactively do anything to end it. She just endured more of the bullying and it doesn't exactly solve her problem. While she did have reasons for doing so since she has quite the strange outlook on her own problem, it didn't solve anything at all. If anything, the protag is the one who solved her problems for her.

 

This is also one of the reasons why I liked Nekoko's route and as a character more than Aeka. After accepting that she had a problem, she did her best to overcome it and while the result was a bit exaggerated, she did it with the help of the people around her. The protag did his part in making Nekoko realize her problem and help her start. And for me, her doing her strange antics was more entertaining and enjoyable than watching Aeka get tortured.

 

Lastly, I didn't like how Aeka's problem dragged on through most of the route. They could've just get on with it earlier and made more for her recovery/resolution of the story.

[SoulJustIn]

Aeka's route .........

 

“a cornered rat will bite the cat.”

[Deep Blue]

Well the novel could have taken 2 directions, a realist one or a fantasy one, it took the realism one were she was acting like a real bully victim and not like a super hero the same with Kagami a guy who saw bullying and did what he could (and they are both kids too), and I'm glad it did, that's why I love it so much, we already have a loooot of fantasy vns out there, even the nekoko's route was a bit too much.

But this again is a personal taste, I love all types of vns but I prefer slice of life+drama above everything.

[Fred the Barber]

Finished the final route for me, Aeka.

 

Aeka is really sweet - I like sweet. So, at least there was that.

 

Other than that, I didn't especially like this route either. Most everything about it was both too upsetting and too repetitive. When the situation finally started to change, I liked that, but the fact that things only got worse was horrifying.

 

The final confrontation on the rooftop was way more than I bargained for in several ways, and from start to finish wound up just feeling really disturbing. For some people, I'm sure this sort of thing is fine, but it's just not pleasant for me.

 

Final rating for how much I enjoyed each route is probably:

Nekoko > Mizuki > Aeka

 

Amusingly, it's the opposite of the way I'd rank best girl:

Aeka > Mizuki > Nekoko

 

Other elements:

- The music is not great, but not a total loss. Mercifully, the BGM track I found most listenable was the one that played the most often, "Today Again So Pure a Blue"; I never really got tired of it, despite it playing all the time. The OP is pretty decent as well (though the presence of H content in the OP video was a not-especially-enjoyable surprise).

- The art style is interesting, and I'm a bit torn on how to feel about it. It reminds me a lot of Katawa Shoujo's character art style. I find many of the facial expressions and poses a bit off, especially all the ones where people are looking directly forward (maybe only Aeka and Nekoko had that pose), and the previously-mentioned Mizuki wry smile. But when the style looks good, it does look pretty good - Mizuki's normal smile is quite nice; it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also really liked Aeka's facial expressions in the first shopping CGs (during the common route).

 

Plot and characters were both really weak. There wasn't a lot of plot (basically one very straightforward conflict per route). The main characters were basically completely one-dimensional. And the way any given event played out was consistently way over-the-top, probably in an effort to make up for the weaknesses elsewhere, which instead just made the whole experience even less palatable.

 

So, overall, I didn't really enjoy this VN very much. It had a couple of good moments where it hit me in the feels, but the vast majority of the time was spent rolling my eyes at yet another H scene, while wondering when we were finally going to make some real progress against the conflict.

[Deep Blue]

I guess this is one of those vn that you either love or hate there is no in between

[Heizei_koukousei]

One things that really got on my nerves is that whenever something amusing happened, the exact same track, Attached to Maturity, would play, and my God, did I start to hate that track.  I wasn't particularly interested in it in the first place, so hearing it so often made me actually hate it.  The only track I really liked (so far) was Goodbye to the World.  Still watch the opening cinematic just to hear it, as a matter of fact.  Dunno why exactly, but I love that song.

 

I find the art style to be pretty hit or miss.  Most of the CGs in the opening cinematic use the art style the best, with exaggerated facial expressions and only slight amounts of turning involved, so we can see most, if not all, of the heroines' faces.  I don't really like the sprites so far, but I can't exactly put my finger on why.  They just look strange to me, especially when they look forward, like you said.  And yes, Mizuki's wistful smile is godawful.

I thought that the soundtrack was poorly balanced and overused songs until it just made me turn the BGM off.

 

In the review I'm writing for YmK, I actually noted some issues with the heroines faces looking a bit off. I also found that the background CGs also lacked consistency in style. Some were toned down while others more crisp.

 

I'm sad to say it, but I'm finding myself to be apart of the "hate" group for this title. I had known about it for a while, and always wanted to play it. But now that I have I'm pretty disappointed overall. 

[Kosakyun]

Ohohohohoho.

I'm joining the thread late.

I'm still in Aeka's route. At the point after you see her parents fighting for the first time.

 

Here's my current experience.

 

I honestly don't know what to say. It seems pretty mediocre compared to the others that I've already read, but it's fine. No problems here. The issue of bullying is discussed in this route, yeah. It strikes pretty deep. I may as well be able to project myself unto Kouhei in this certain scenario. After all, this situation is something I've already seen in reality. Not this grave, but might be close to it. That stun gun thingy is something that wouldn't probably happen in any school, so let's rule that out. Though that 'naked' thingy probably comes close. It's heart-wrenching to see this certain scenario because it's largely true. One way or another, a person or two would probably be isolated from the class and made laughingstocks. Though the degree of severity in Aeka's case is very high. Higher than most cases, at least. So far, I'm very much affected by whatever's happening in this route because it feels very familiar to what I've experienced back in grade school. I probably took part in the fun a few times, which hits me pretty hard. It sucks. It really does. Not to mention that the bullies back then were my friends. My best friends. It was all fun and jokes, but sometimes, they really took it to another level. It wasn't nice. Something that really irks me. Ugh. I'm probably being affected too much, but this route really reminds me of the mistakes I've made in the past.

 

In regards to the route itself:

I think it's doing a decent job, for now. I do hope it continues to do one. Also, I'm turned off by the number of H-scenes I've read at this point in the route. Though I understand that it's because their current relationship at this point is built solely on the idea that they're seeking each other's flesh. Other than that, I'm intrigued by whatever's happening behind the scenes. I'm hating Nanjou right now. I would probably not be able to hold myself in if she talked to me about Aeka or something. That attitude is something that pisses me off. She gets a point for being the first character to actually piss me off. Won't deny that she has a nice body though.

 

I'm personally fond of Aeka.

[Nimbus]

I got so bored of Mizuka's route that I stopped halfway through a H-Scene and started working on Nekoko's route.

 

I have to say that Mizuka's route was perhaps one of the most boring and lacklustre routes I've ever played. It could be that it gets better but given that I've been playing for hours and have made all the choices I doubt the pay-off would make up for it. A pity given that her whole "I can't imagine a future" thing seemed like an interesting concept but they didn't do anything with it.

 

And while some people are talking about the art design I thought I'd ask, does anyone think the character's heads occupy a different plane of existence or is it just me?

[GreyWolfXx]

The soundtrack was okay. I didn't really like any of the songs besides the track that I think is called "The Villian" and the track for the main menu. I had to turn the music off whenever "I'm Falling" came on though. Just didn't like that one. 

[Kosakyun]

Finished Aeka's route.

 

Well that escalated quickly. It quickly became worse. I have not seen a case that severe yet. Why, they'd go as far as rape? Well, it's not like that's the first time I've heard of that. But c'mon. Repeated stun gun attacks? That fucking sucks, man. I can sympathize with Kouhei quite easily here. I bet anyone could. He basically did what I couldn't do in the story. That takes guts, man. Though at this point in life, I'd probably do the same. I'm not that scared kid anymore. Besides, the status quo doesn't really matter to me. Rather, I'm one of the people that likes breaking the status quo. Because it's boring doing the same stuff over and over again. I mean, sure, it's nice doing regular stuff, but you need to do something new sometimes, right? Also, way to go, Sayama and Iogi. Way to go. It just makes me realize how far friends can take you. I don't know if my friends would've stuck with me through the trouble, but it indeed helps that there are people who are willing to come with you, no matter what troubles you're about to face. It's reassuring. It definitely strengthens a person. I get that. Since, well, some already stuck with me, even though they were taken away from me. Though that was pretty petty, compared to this. But ah, friendship's really beautiful. This just showed how ugly one can be. No matter how dire the circumstances, no matter how logical it may sound, how the fuck can you just abandon someone you've interacted with just like that? I somewhat like how it all ended up. It's realistic, yeah. I would've fought back too. He was lucky that he was able to smack that stun gun though. One wrong move and it could've been the end for both of them. Though you can't really think about possible circumstances at that point, since the will to survive would've overtaken your logical processes.

 

That ending though. It was pretty nice. I like it. It's sweet. Aeka's sweet. Their relationship is sweet. It makes me not want to play through the other routes, since if Kouhei pays attention to someone other than Aeka, what will happen to her? It pains me to think about it, but I'll have to bear with it. The ending is nice and heartwarming. It's a nice ending for someone who suffered so much. Someone who lost so much, but bore it. Someone who was subjected to such a horrible experience, yet was still living on. I love how Kouhei was able to save her from committing suicide. Suicide is one action I will never consider doing, and something I'll always consider stupid. But that's my opinion. I have the same opinion as Aya's. It's great that Aeka thought about Kouhei that much, but suicide isn't the only resort. But I guess it's hard to think straight in those circumstances, no? That's why I respect anyone's decision of doing it. But I can't help being selfish and telling people not to do it. Especially to people that I rather cherish.

 

Finally, I guess, I'll be getting one quote from the route.

 

"But it's true, isn't it? Even now, I'm living by tying you to myself.

Maybe there were other paths you could have taken. Maybe there was another happiness for you.

But I claimed you for myself."

-Shiraki Aeka

 

It's something that hits home. That quote just warms my heart a lot. It's a statement from someone that actually considers the possible outcome of not being selfish. Of not pushing herself onto him. An alternate future, where he could have been even happier, even if she would've continued suffering. As heartwarming as it is, I share the same opinion with Kouhei. It doesn't matter. What matters is now, and what he holds close to his heart. What matters now is what they did, and what they're going to do in the future. What matters now is if they're ready to face the consequences of their actions, and if they're ready to stick with their decisions. What matters is now. I just felt like putting that there. It's something that I'd love to discuss a lot. The route hit home for me. It was very nice. It could have done better, yes, but at least it was able to transmit the message about bullying. Though that was pretty severe. I liked the route.

 

Live happily, Shiraki Aeka. <3

 

That amount of H-scenes though.

 

On to senpai route!

[Fred the Barber]

Aeka route spoilers:

 

Agreed the ending is sweet. For me, the scenes leading up the ending were just so f-ed up that it ruined the immersion, though, and I just wasn't able to enjoy it much. It was kind of a consistent problem in the VN, that every individual scene effectively amped the drama up to 11, and by the time I got to this route, I was completely burned out on that.

[Kosakyun]

Aeka route spoilers:

 

Agreed the ending is sweet. For me, the scenes leading up the ending were just so f-ed up that it ruined the immersion, though, and I just wasn't able to enjoy it much. It was kind of a consistent problem in the VN, that every individual scene effectively amped the drama up to 11, and by the time I got to this route, I was completely burned out on that.

 

Sorry for replying late to that. Couldn't open spoiler buttons a while ago.

I do agree that it's fucked up, but I didn't think much of it, in terms of ruining the immersion. First of all, the setup itself is already extreme. What you've seen in the visual novel is far from the territory of normal bullying. That was downright trampling on a person's rights. That couldn't have been simply bullying. I agree that it's sorta not nice that you used that extreme bullying as a device to link the readers to the route emotionally, but whatever we say, it's there. So the outcome, which is what happened in the roof, is something that may as well be reasonable, seeing how far the person in question did the bullying. I cannot say for sure, of course, since you can never fully understand the reasoning of the characters unless you are the one who's actually experiencing what they're experiencing. 

 

Other than that, the factor that may have affected you could be the order in which you played the routes. Seeing that you played Aeka's last, I could imagine getting burnt out from reading these three routes from the game. Of course, I know nothing about how the other two built their setups, but I'm glad I read Aeka's first. Don't be mistaken though. I'm not regarding the route as a masterpiece of any sort. It was just nice, from a reader's viewpoint. From my viewpoint.

 

Difference in opinions is inevitable.

[Kurisu-Chan]

...Maybe it wasn't a good VN choice, after all. 

[SoulJustIn]

well,

to me YmK is nice Vn.

 

(ps: the only route i lost following (story plot) is mizuka's route only..... maybe H-scene got important dialogue (since i didn't read H-scene))

[Nimbus]

Just dropped Nekoko's route to go onto Aeka's route.

 

I'm not having a good run with this vn. 

[Heizei_koukousei]

Just dropped Nekoko's route to go onto Aeka's route.

 

I'm not having a good run with this vn. 

You definitely are not alone. This visual novel is filled with sex, has poor artistic design, not to mention pacing problems.

 

Oh and you could definitely tell JAST was getting sloppy with Aeka's route towards the end.

 

Despite all the things I have pointed out, and contrary to how I may have come across in an earlier post, I do not completely dislike this visual novel. It does have its redeeming qualities. Aeka's ending, I mean come on, how you could you not enjoy it even a little bit? I think the order I chose to read the routes (Mizuki->Nekoko->Aeka) was actually a good choice considering each route has it's own very distinct flavor, which I really enjoyed despite wanting Nekoko's route to just be over. 

[Kosakyun]

Finally, after going back to the start, I got Mizuki's good end.

Which means I finally finished Mizuki's route.

 

Thoughts:

I don't know what to say, honestly. The route itself started off as something normal, y'know? Senpai-kouhai relationship. 'Help me, kouhai' would be a nice phrase to start it off. Of course, you're met with the senpai's 'true personality', which Kouhei refuses to come to terms with. First impressions do stick, y'know? At least, for a while.

 

I can't really think of anything in this route that might relate to whatever has happened to me in my 17 years of living, but eh. The relationship did feel a little rushed. Once again, the whole relationship started off from their curiosity with sex. It seems like sex is the main driving force of this VN's story. It's not even the guy who asks for it lol.

 

Anyway, this route, overall, really felt like a romance-themed one. More so than Aeka's, I believe. Though the presence of flaws are definitely noticeable, it didn't really prevent me from enjoying what I was reading. It's worth continuing despite the flaws, imo. Though it didn't really click with me that fast. I thought it was gonna be all about how lazy she really is; about how it's the opposite of the supposedly responsible senpai image that Kouhei had of her. But nope. It wasn't.

 

I was surprised at her lines back at the scene where Kouhei met her in the streets, honestly.

 

"There are many humans in this world.

Many in just this city, buy if you go somewhere else, you'll find more of them.

There are so many, and yet it's certain...

...That these people will die."

-Kirimiya Mizuki

 

It definitely resurrected my desire to finish her route. It made me interested in her character. Rather, it made me interested in what's inside her; interested in what's going on in her mind. I think it was worth the ride, honestly. You get to know more of who Kirimiya Mizuki is. You get to know her other side-----the wild senpai. Though the number of sex scenes really do disturb the flow of the story. At least, in my opinion. A visual novel this short doesn't really sit right with me, having that many.

 

Over the course of the route, you find her trying to live her life to the fullest. Trying a lot of stuff that they shouldn't really be trying in that time. Finally, that cigarette scene at the start of the novel bears some significance. Then, finally, that event in Macau comes. She makes it sound like it really was an accident caused by their intake of drugs, but if it didn't happen, then what could've happened would be no accident at all. It's a creepy feeling, having someone with you who's that desperate to escape something. So desperate that she considered killing herself using you. Since it'll be fine if it's you or something. That's really a creepy feeling, yeah. 

 

Then she finally shoots at you. She finally reveals her reason for doing the stuff she does. I can sort of understand why she'd fear sleeping. Not being able to visualize tomorrow... Though I admit that's a bit hard to pull off. Or is it hard imagining it because it's something that hasn't really happened to us? I'd have to go with the latter, honestly. I can't begin visualizing what it's like sleeping without knowing whether you'll be able to wake up tomorrow or not. Though I think it's generally like that. But not being able to visualize the future? That must be hard. Most of us, if not all, sleep without the certainty that we can still wake up tomorrow, yeah. We can make it through though, because we can actually think of what we might do tomorrow. That must be one of the greatest fears that one can have. It's not a matter of being scared of what's in front of you anymore. It's being scared of what you don't know. Of what you can't reach. Of what you can't do anything about. Of course, it sounds kinda, well, y'know, simple. But we'll never really know 'till we're the ones who experience it.

 

Actually, the first ending I got was the one where Mizuki died of toxemia due to pregnancy. That's after six months of being apart, yeah? I thought it was sad. Kinda like Hisoka's ending sad. But then, after getting the good end, it hit me even harder. I did not expect pregnancy in this visual novel. To be shoved face-first into a scene like that... I couldn't take it, honestly. I couldn't take it in a way that I got too emotional because of it. It's a topic that's hard to take in. Family. Or at least, building a family. This route felt special because it wasn't like those other routes that just gave them a good ending, then boom epilogue from after a few years, with a baby in their arms. It actually showed you pre-childbirth. The influx of emotions was just too much for me. It wasn't sad. Hardly that. It was actually happiness. It's really nice, that scene. I don't think I'm forgetting that ending any time soon. If there were other VNs with scenes like that in my list, I'd probably remember them too. But god. It's beautiful, that ending. 

 

My favorite line from the ending would probably be this.

 

"With those words...

Something inside of her finally dies.

...And something else is born."

-Kagami Kouhei, referring to Mizuki

 

I especially like it because of 'something being born'. I thought it was nice that they actually used childbirth as a metaphor to a new life inside Mizuki being created. Something that realizes that she actually has a future. And that she has nothing to be afraid of. That last CG of hers does justice too, in my opinion. She can finally rest easy because of the baby. It's something like a reminder for her that there will be a tomorrow, no matter what happens. It's really nice.

 

That ends my thoughts for Mizuki.

 

You definitely are not alone. This visual novel is filled with sex, has poor artistic design, not to mention pacing problems.

 

This is my main problem as well, honestly. But it's not something so grand.

[Nosebleed]

I find it sad like half the people really disliked this.

I had a blast reading through it. Maybe it's just me being desensitized to it but I really did not feel the sex so eye popping and distracting.

For one, it made sense for most of the sex scenes to be where they are, and also most of them are really short and not too in depth. And of course some of them were pretty lewd.

I don't know I just wasn't bothered by any of the sex in this game like a lot of you seem to have been.

As for artistic direction, that's very hit and miss, the art was really all over the place, but I'm glad I'm on the side who easily got used to it.

Nekoko's route will forever remain my favorite because feels.

[Kosakyun]

I find it sad like half the people really disliked this.

I had a blast reading through it. Maybe it's just me being desensitized to it but I really did not feel the sex so eye popping and distracting.

For one, it made sense for most of the sex scenes to be where they are, and also most of them are really short and not too in depth. And of course some of them were pretty lewd.

I don't know I just wasn't bothered by any of the sex in this game like a lot of you seem to have been.

As for artistic direction, that's very hit and miss, the art was really all over the place, but I'm glad I'm on the side who easily got used to it.

Nekoko's route will forever remain my favorite because feels.

 

It wasn't the sex that was distracting. It was the amount of sex in a certain measure of time. Of course, seeing that the visual novel is being as realistic as it can be, the amount would be normal, I guess. Considering how much other VNs have, the amount here may be considered a lot, seeing that it's also a short read.

 

But I'm on the side that's enjoying what they're reading. 

[Nimbus]

It wasn't the sex that was distracting. It was the amount of sex in a certain measure of time. 

This sums up my feeling on the H-Scenes.

I usually don't mind them and in this game the scenes usually do make sense in the story but they are simply occurring too often with not enough content in-between.

[Heizei_koukousei]

Wow, I almost never 100% visual novels and I actually made it through YmK. I'm rather surprised to see people skipping routes and dropping... especially if for a VN reading club discussion. I'm sad to say it, but I think that this month was a bit less organized than in previous months