Something lighthearted but also low on romance.

[Suzu Fanatic]

I recently found out an old buddy of mine had a pretty tragic christmas, and during our conversation he asked me to reccomend something lighthearted/funny. I can think of a few, but they all have their share of drama and/or romance attached to them - and I suspect that would not do him any favors.

 

Generally speaking, VNs are pretty romance-focused - but there's gotta be a few out there that know how to keep it to the friend zone? I was almost thinking of maybe Rance or something - but it's a bit too rapey for his tastes.

 

Thanks for any suggestions - i'm the one that first got him into VNs (used to lend him a usb stick with my favorite VNs when we worked together, heh), but having a tough time thinking of anything right now.

[Deep Blue]

what about manken? the other vn I can recommend you is in japanese 120 yen stories which requieres only a minium of jap i bet you can even read it properly with a MT.

[ChaosRaven]

Completely without romance but lighthearted is tough. If low on romance is also okay I'd suggest Overdrive stuff: Edelweiss, Kira Kira, Deardrops or Dengeki Stryker. They have very entertaining slice of life with lots of fun and quirky characters.

[Suzu Fanatic]

Dengeki Stryker and Manken sound like good options - I forgot how funny Dengeki could get. I'll probably toss him that, think he'll like it. Still has some romance in it, but it's minor enough I don't think it'll have an effect.

 

Thanks.

[Decay]

The Phoenix Wright series and/or Aviary Attorney.

... DanganRonpa? I mean, it's not exactly nothing but funtimes,  but for a murder mystery story, it takes itself very lightly. I guess the same can be said for the PW series.

[Clephas]

To be honest, your request is one of the few I honestly couldn't think of on the spot.  VNs without romance don't tend to be very light-hearted (mostly the reverse).  If it were just light-hearted, there are hundreds I could name... but no romance? 

Romance isn't a focus on Namima no Kuni no Faust, but that VN is pretty heavy and dark...  I really am sorry, I scanned my list of VNs and I honestly couldn't come up with one that would satisfy you.

[Suzu Fanatic]

22 hours ago, Clephas said:

To be honest, your request is one of the few I honestly couldn't think of on the spot.  VNs without romance don't tend to be very light-hearted (mostly the reverse).  If it were just light-hearted, there are hundreds I could name... but no romance? 

Romance isn't a focus on Namima no Kuni no Faust, but that VN is pretty heavy and dark...  I really am sorry, I scanned my list of VNs and I honestly couldn't come up with one that would satisfy you.

Yeah, I decided to opt for "low on romance" instead of "none" - otherwise it would be slim pickings. gave him Denegki for now, see what he thinks~ I figure if he gets enough laughs out of whatever he reads, it'll count as a success.

[Clephas]

Unfortunately, that means you'll probably have to avoid almost everything still (all charage and moege, lol)... but I thought of a few that might satisfy you.

(What's funny is that everything I thought of that was really great that might fit is pretty heavy anyway... hahaha)

Appare! Tenka Gomen is a two-VN series that is pretty light-hearted and not very romance-focused.  It is pretty silly overall, but it is generally fun to read/play.  It is so absurd you'll probably enjoy it.  I say it is silly because the setting is so whacked-out that it is easy to just sit back and enjoy the thing as a whole.  The only real downside to it is that there are like thirty heroines.

Mahou Shoujo no Taisetsu na Koto is a VN by the makers of Draculius... with a trap protagonist.  It is a pretty weird and - mostly - light-hearted VN (it is so absurd that it is hard to take it seriously, even when it tries).