What are you playing?

[theboxcarracer]

Yeah, the translation is kinda bad, but I still love Kira*Kira. Nothing compared to maschine translations or Konosora though.

 

Kira*Kira is easily one of my favorite VNs and yet I despise it a little at the same time. 

[Eclipsed]

Hoshizora no Memoria (yeah yeah, I'm only actually reading it just now, despite having it listed as currently reading in my signature for like 12 years now)

 

Currently on first route, Asuho. Passed the first major couple crisis.

Misc. ramblings/thoughts/comments(spoilers)

• Komomo is best girl
• Chinami annoyed the shit out of me at first but then she grew on me hardcore and I've come to appreciate her dynamics with You. The scene where she congratulated him once she found out he was dating Asuho really made me shed a tear. A well done "Graceful in defeat" trope.
• Unfortunately, not really liking Aoi. She probably has the weakest development out of all heroines in the common route; I don't even know her first name GG. Maybe her character will be better when it is time for her route. Her sister is gawd adorable tho.
• Komomo is best girl
• I still find it weird when characters have sex within a day of actually becoming a couple, but whatever
• I really liked the 'revelation' as to why Asuho tends to zoom in onto people's faces and stand on their right side. Here I was thinking there was some fancy psychological reason, but nope. It was a physiological reason xD (she's deaf in her right ear). The drama that came afterwards felt pretty unnecessary though. "I kept a secret from you. I'm bad. I don't deserve your love anymore" GG Asuho.
• Komomo is best girl
• Really liked how Mare popped up out of nowhere when Asuho decided to try to "break up" with You. Mare was out of focus up until that point, so I was like, "Alright, when's Mare gonna show up?" and then BAM!
• Did I mention Komomo is best girl? Seriously, I was already attracted to the girl the moment she was introduced, but once she singlehandedly tanked the blade from her sister Kosame to save You, I was sold xD.

[Ezeefreak]

Hoshizora no Memoria (yeah yeah, I'm only actually reading it just now, despite having it listed as currently reading in my signature for like 12 years now)

 

Currently on first route, Asuho. Passed the first major couple crisis.

Misc. ramblings/thoughts/comments(spoilers)

• Komomo is best girl
• Chinami annoyed the shit out of me at first but then she grew on me hardcore and I've come to appreciate her dynamics with You. The scene where she congratulated him once she found out he was dating Asuho really made me shed a tear. A well done "Graceful in defeat" trope.
• Unfortunately, not really liking Aoi. She probably has the weakest development out of all heroines in the common route; I don't even know her first name GG. Maybe her character will be better when it is time for her route. Her sister is gawd adorable tho.
• Komomo is best girl
• I still find it weird when characters have sex within a day of actually becoming a couple, but whatever
• I really liked the 'revelation' as to why Asuho tends to zoom in onto people's faces and stand on their right side. Here I was thinking there was some fancy psychological reason, but nope. It was a physiological reason xD (she's deaf in her right ear). The drama that came afterwards felt pretty unnecessary though. "I kept a secret from you. I'm bad. I don't deserve your love anymore" GG Asuho.
• Komomo is best girl
• Really liked how Mare popped up out of nowhere when Asuho decided to try to "break up" with You. Mare was out of focus up until that point, so I was like, "Alright, when's Mare gonna show up?" and then BAM!
• Did I mention Komomo is best girl? Seriously, I was already attracted to the girl the moment she was introduced, but once she singlehandedly tanked the blade from her sister Kosame to save You, I was sold xD.

 

[Heizei_koukousei]

Finally getting around to playing Sharin no Kuni. I hope I really enjoy it because I already have the fandisk too

[Eclipsed]

Eclipsed, who do you think is the best girl? ... Mine is/was Asuho, so enjoy it!

 

I'm still on KonoSora and now in the Kotori Route -> such a pleasant feeling there.

[Heizei_koukousei]

Before you read the fandisc, know this: everything but Houzuki's route was machine TL'd because it's just fanservice dreck.  Really, I don't have a problem with h-scenes (usually), but it's pretty much h-scenes with minor fluff plot points in the background.  Also...they added h-scenes for some characters that really should never have had them.  Prime example:

Mana. They even have her be in a threesome with Kenichi and Sachi...no joke.

  Don't read anything but Houzuki's route if you want a decent story.

Yeah, you know what you are getting yourself into when you go for the fandisc. But I won't read machine garbage so I'll just click through it Thanks for the heads up about the routes

[TexasDice]

I'm enjoying it so far, though this completely naively ignorant view of the music scene (at least early on) is pretty foreign to me. I mean, I played in a punk band in high school and was at least vaguely aware of the scene when I was in school, so watching these characters bumble around and have to look up information because they don't really know what a band is seems pretty insane to me. Maybe it's a cultural thing? I don't think so, though; I can't imagine your average Japanese student barely even knowing what a band is. 

[nohman]

Starting on Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer tonight after I take an exam. I hope to have it done before the week is up.

[theboxcarracer]

If you would ask me, what a band is, I couldn't say more than "a bunch of people making music, I guess?".

So, I don't know anything about music and connected easily with this part of the plot because of that. It's feels like a real thing that probably would happen, if some guys without any clue decided to start a band.

 

 

It's good to stay open minded, because so haven't seen anything yet.

 

Well, your description of what a band is is totally and completely accurate. That's why I found it so incredibly ridiculous that they had to look up what the damn word meant.

 

Also,

 

KIRA KIRA IS A FUCKING RIDICULOUS THING AND I LOVE IT. I'm sure I'm not even 10% of the way into the craziness yet,  but their attempt to be punk by saying "fuck" a lot was hysterical on so many levels, and I really think they are nailing the humor in this game. 

 

EDIT: I just got to the part where

the MC talks about his panic attacks and his general mental state surrounding them

and it's beautiful. It's incredibly relatable, especially the bits where he talks about his feelings of freedom, and the parts where he talks about lacking drive. This is a really fantastic experience so far.

[Eclipsed]

Eclipsed's HoshiMemo pt.II 

Finished Asuho, playing Isuzo route, currently at the resolution of the first major couple- or shall I say trio- quarrel. edit: OH LOL THE ROUTE'S DONE LOOOOL 

Misc. thoughts/comments(spoilers)

• So far Asuho's my favorite route, and favorite heroine. #1stplaythrough bias
• While skipping through common route to get into Isuzu's route, got a glimpse of what I believe to be the mystery girl. Interesting.
• Finally know Isuzu's name. I mean I know it's listed in the text box, but everybody has been calling her Aoi so yeah xD
• There was a thread on Fuwa about how someone felt guilty for 'cheating' on a heroine for playing another route. Well, I just played Asuho's route, so yeah, I felt SOOO bad for her xD. Remember, the only reason she refrained from going after You in her route was because of her little "he wasn't able to get his first love, so why should I?" and not wanting to 'steal' him away from the mystery girl.
• So if you think about it, it must have been like a big F!@$ YOU to Asuho to see that You totally ditches/doesn't even consider his first love when going for Isuzu, so all of her feeling guilty and hesitating was all for naught and costed her big time .
• I'll give it to the Kogasaka siblings. They have some god-tier patience when it came to dealing with Isuzu. I would've given up- not even in the beginning of her route, but rather, at the beginning of the whole story >.>-
• I liked the contrast b/w Isuzu and Asuho in terms of how they get together with You. For Asuho, it was her doing all of the work with You being an ignorant douche (actually, he KNEW, but was still too pansy to do anything about it) Then for Isuzu's route You's the one doing all of the work with Isuzu being the douche xD
• Oh look, Ren's in the game! I guess that's why you have to play Isuzu's route to unlock Chinami's.
• The repaired telescope scene saved the route for me. I was just about to lose my patience with how stupid their drama was and I was yelling at both You for his silent treatment BS and Isuzu for actually acknowledging that she should apologize to Chinami but was being too stubborn to do so.
• edit: only regret I have with this route is that you don't actually get to spend time with Isuzu after her problems are solved to see her post-conflict personality (instead, the story ends) there is the epilogue, but that's like 5 seconds 

 

[theboxcarracer]

Okay, I know I'm gushing about it and I'm only a single chapter in, but Kira Kira just inspired me to write a song and I've had the worst writers block and haven't written a decent song in literally months and playing Kira Kira gave me just what I needed to actually make something decent. This is seriously a fantastic VN.

[TexasDice]

I'm glad you two have so much fun. Go on and read! Read until your eyes give up!

[Desert35]

Finished Benio's route in Comyu and I must say that I found it good in order to explain the basics of the story and as for Benio herself I must say that I liked her (she is not the best and

her ally of justice ideology was kinda annoying mostly at the end of the route during the final fight in my opinion ^^

) but she is not a bad girl and some moments with her made me laugh

like the first h scenes with the end which was just hilarious for me

like her funny reactions when she see Akihito with so many other girls.

[Eclipsed]

Eclipsed's HoshiMemo pt. III

Komomo's route, after the grand revelation of what's been going on behind Komomo's, uh, issue.

Misc. thoughts/comments(spoilers)

• Komomo is best girl 
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl 
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl   
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl 
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl
• Komomo is best girl 
• Komomo is best girl

• I gotta say, Komomo's route is friggen' AWESOME. There's no silly drama like there was in Asuho's or Isuzu's routes. I was completely immersed watching the interactions b/w Komomo & You while trying solve the mystery behind Komomo's nightmare. The other heroines are super out of focus in this route (to the point Chinami complains about her lack of screentime) but it was hilarious how everyone gangs up and calls You a traitor whenever Komomo takes him away 
• Romance was well done. Komomo + You dynamics are pretty cute and entertaining; everything felt so natural that by the time they had their first time together it didn't feel rushed for me (or maybe I'm just used to the "sex within one day of becoming a couple" trend )
• Well how about that. Kosame herself is Komomo's nightmare. I feel a bit silly for not realizing that since SO MANY HINTS ARE GIVEN!@# GOD I'M SO SLOW but hey, it's fun to get these "OHHH LIFE MAKES SENSE NOW" feelings when these types of revelations are made xD. I now feel bad about having a slight grudge towards Kosame ever since her actions towards Mare during the "The Lookout Incident" 

[FinalChaos]

Finally started Steins;Gate.

Have high hopes of this one and it looks good so far. I've gone just a bit further than the prologue till now.

[TexasDice]

Eclipsed's HoshiMemo pt. III

Komomo's route, after the grand revelation of what's been going on behind Komomo's, uh, issue.

I agree, it's probably the best route in Hoshimemo. Not my favorite, but objectively the best.

 

That's also a good time, to give kudos to the design team. Komomo, with her hair straight, looks just like Kosame. That isn't surprising at all, but I still like this connection, since those sisters are normally so different in appearance and personality.  

[Decay]

I'm reading Cross Channel. Once I got used to the main character, the VN became quite endearing. I still generally dislike the protagonist's pervertedness but once I learned more about the settings and characters and the MC's mentality, I became able to accept the humor at face value. If there's one thing Tanaka Romeo is really good at, it's writing a very funny protagonist. Main characters who aren't just the butt of all the jokes or the comedic straight man. The only other VN of his that I read was Rewrite while there are a ton of differences between Taichi and Kotarou, the big common thread is that they're both independently very funny people. I very much appreciate this and now consider Romeo to be one of the funniest VN authors out there.

 

Of course, it's not all comedy. Another one of Rewrite's main themes that I thought wasn't explored very well was the dissolution and mending of friendships. Cross Channel is almost exclusively about this and explores it much more intimately. It's also seemingly the main theme of Saihate no Ima. It makes me think that Romeo holds some trauma over destroyed friendships from his teenage years. Hopefully Saihate will be eventually translated, although it's such a seemingly daunting task that I have my doubts. It's apparently holds an even more convoluted narrative than Cross Channel.

[Kurisu-Chan]

Finally started Steins;Gate.

Have high hopes of this one and it looks good so far. I've gone just a bit further than the prologue till now.

[FinalChaos]

Oh and now pay attention to every detail, it's my number 1 advice since this VN is filled with references.

Yeah there are references all over the place. The Chaos;Head ones are the ones that interest me the most. I'm glad that I had read Chaos;Head before starting S;G. The protag is another paranoid guy like in C;H but he is a lot more 'mild' than Takumi.

[Kurisu-Chan]

Yeah there are references all over the place. The Chaos;Head ones are the ones that interest me the most. I'm glad that I had read Chaos;Head before starting S;G. The protag is another paranoid guy like in C;H but he is a lot more 'mild' than Takumi.

[sirjabberwock]

Yeah there are references all over the place. The Chaos;Head ones are the ones that interest me the most. I'm glad that I had read Chaos;Head before starting S;G. The protag is another paranoid guy like in C;H but he is a lot more 'mild' than Takumi.

[FinalChaos]

But this time it's the chunnibyou kind of paranoid, more "fun" than Takumi then.

But trust me, Okabe is a great protag.

[Kurisu-Chan]

Yeah that's what I meant Okabe is far milder than Takumi who has horror-esque delusions. Okabe has chunnibyou paranoid which also acts as comedy at times(when he and Faris talk).

 

 

Yeh and the organization exists. lol 

[Vokoca]

I'm reading Cross Channel. Once I got used to the main character, the VN became quite endearing. I still generally dislike the protagonist's pervertedness but once I learned more about the settings and characters and the MC's mentality, I became able to accept the humor at face value. If there's one thing Tanaka Romeo is really good at, it's writing a very funny protagonist. Main characters who aren't just the butt of all the jokes or the comedic straight man. The only other VN of his that I read was Rewrite while there are a ton of differences between Taichi and Kotarou, the big common thread is that they're both independently very funny people. I very much appreciate this and now consider Romeo to be one of the funniest VN authors out there.

 

Of course, it's not all comedy. Another one of Rewrite's main themes that I thought wasn't explored very well was the dissolution and mending of friendships. Cross Channel is almost exclusively about this and explores it much more intimately. It's also seemingly the main theme of Saihate no Ima. It makes me think that Romeo holds some trauma over destroyed friendships from his teenage years. Hopefully Saihate will be eventually translated, although it's such a seemingly daunting task that I have my doubts. It's apparently holds an even more convoluted narrative than Cross Channel.

I had a very similar experience. I was turned off by the protagonist at first, but once I grasped the setting, the bizarre behaviour and feel of just about anyone became really enjoyable and interesting.

 

It's just a shame that Cross Channel is translated like it is... I hear Romeo knows his words and how to use them in interesting ways, but the translation made the writing style feel average at best.

[FinalChaos]

Yeh and the organization exists. lol 

shush  minor spoilers...........