VN Reading Club - May 2015 (Coμ -Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku-)

[Vej]

Well since I don't have all the OSTs I would say

A Gentle Kingdom or Girl A's Song would be my favourites.

Rondo Rondo's theme song is pretty good also

They nearly all great.

 

Turning the Tables

Ceasar Legion

Rondo Rondo

Others are Others - this one i just love

Gig

Battle - this one just gets the heart pumped

Suprise Attack

Find a Way Out

[Kosakyun]

Here are my thoughts about Heroine 2's route:

 

Soejima's bad ending (the first end to the full route - maybe better termed a Neutral end?) was way more enjoyable for me than her Good Ending (the one that you can only see after you get that other one). I really, really like bittersweet stories, and that first ending hit that mood perfectly. I guess I must be a tiny bit of a masochist, given how much I relished the little twinge of pain that delusion in the hospital caused me. I definitely shed some tears for this ending, which hasn't happened in at least a few months.

 

I agree so much. I just didn't like the good end very much. It just didn't hit the correct spots for me.

Well, at least they gave Hisoka a chance to get her own happy ending. Her tale was too tragic, given the role she took in those two routes that she showed up in.

Hisoka's a great girl, that's for sure. I still feel down whenever I remember her last scene.

[Kurokusari]

I agree so much. I just didn't like the good end very much. It just didn't hit the correct spots for me.

Well, at least they gave Hisoka a chance to get her own happy ending. Her tale was too tragic, given the role she took in those two routes that she showed up in.

Hisoka's a great girl, that's for sure. I still feel down whenever I remember her last scene.

Yeah the good end really pales in comparison compared to the neutral one but I don't want it to be removed. If there was only the neutral one, I think I would've raged since Hisoka got the shorter end of the stick, AGAIN. I was just happy that she got what she wanted in one of the ends.

[Turnip Sensei]

About the Heroine 2 ending.

In my opinion the Hisoka's "neutral" ending was the best ending in the whole VN. Not only was it really beautiful and touching, but most importantly it was also a perfect and fitting continuation of the route. During the route Akihito was already making some pretty desperate decisions and abandoning the morals he had in the other routes for Hisoka. He was prepared to do anything for her and he got used to taste of the underworld, so becoming a crime lord was only fitting.

 

And the hospital scene was genius stuff, hopeful delusion of cynical man who abandoned the world for a girl. Just beautiful.

 

I would have been happy with just the bittersweet ending. Hisoka's "good" end pretty much undid all the drama in the route and left a bad taste.

[TehRealOne]

About the Heroine 2 ending.

In my opinion the Hisoka's "neutral" ending was the best ending in the whole VN. Not only was it really beautiful and touching, but most importantly it was also a perfect and fitting continuation of the route. During the route Akihito was already making some pretty desperate decisions and abandoning the morals he had in the other routes for Hisoka. He was prepared to do anything for her and he got used to taste of the underworld, so becoming a crime lord was only fitting.

 

And the hospital scene was genius stuff, hopeful delusion of cynical man who abandoned the world for a girl. Just beautiful.

 

I would have been happy with just the bittersweet ending. Hisoka's "good" end pretty much undid all the drama in the route and left a bad taste.

But from a totally business frame of mind, I can see the positives of including it. 

With a character like Hisoka

Who is characterised with many similarities to the MC and hence gets a lot of reader attention + her sad backstory, attitude towards life, etc, etc.Giving her a neutral ending might be the most legitimate but its going to leave a bad aftertaste in most readers.

Whilst having her finally embrace happiness has a much gentler undertone and will guarantee the majority of reader satisfaction.

[Vej]

But from a totally business frame of mind, I can see the positives of including it. 

With a character like Hisoka

Who is characterised with many similarities to the MC and hence gets a lot of reader attention + her sad backstory, attitude towards life, etc, etc.Giving her a neutral ending might be the most legitimate but its going to leave a bad aftertaste in most readers.

Whilst having her finally embrace happiness has a much gentler undertone and will guarantee the majority of reader satisfaction.

I agree, her neutral/bad ending was really good and shocking however if there wasnt a good ending i woudnt feel satisfied even though the good ending wasnt that spectecular

[TehRealOne]

I agree, her neutral/bad ending was really good and shocking however if there wasnt a good ending i woudnt feel satisfied even though the good ending wasnt that spectecular

Exactly, they did a smart choice doing both but showing the neutral one first so that is the one you are most inclined to think of.

After all first impressions always last. 

[Kosakyun]

Hisoka's neutral end was supposedly the end which makes the most sense, given the facts that we know from the previous playthrough before that route. It was in that route that the possibility of saving someone whose avatar has already stampeded surfaced. If you think about it, it may as well be the basis for Kagome's end, where she got over the stampede. Though hers was more thorough than that of Hisoka's, seeing that Kagome permanently decreased her action points by killing off the souls connected to Sting. Anyway, her neutral end has got to be one of my favorite things from Comyu. It was sad, yes, but it did good. Though I cannot really deny the existence of her good end, which really does good for the character herself. Everyone deserves their own happily ever after.

 

Though I'll stand my ground that Hisoka's last scene in Kagome's route was the most beautiful scene in the game for me.

[Vej]

Hisoka's neutral end was supposedly the end which makes the most sense, given the facts that we know from the previous playthrough before that route. It was in that route that the possibility of saving someone whose avatar has already stampeded surfaced. If you think about it, it may as well be the basis for Kagome's end, where she got over the stampede. Though hers was more thorough than that of Hisoka's, seeing that Kagome permanently decreased her action points by killing off the souls connected to Sting. Anyway, her neutral end has got to be one of my favorite things from Comyu. It was sad, yes, but it did good. Though I cannot really deny the existence of her good end, which really does good for the character herself. Everyone deserves their own happily ever after.

 

Though I'll stand my ground that Hisoka's last scene in Kagome's route was the most beautiful scene in the game for me.

indeed her last scene made me lose some tears

[TehRealOne]

Hisoka's neutral end was supposedly the end which makes the most sense, given the facts that we know from the previous playthrough before that route. It was in that route that the possibility of saving someone whose avatar has already stampeded surfaced. If you think about it, it may as well be the basis for Kagome's end, where she got over the stampede. Though hers was more thorough than that of Hisoka's, seeing that Kagome permanently decreased her action points by killing off the souls connected to Sting. Anyway, her neutral end has got to be one of my favorite things from Comyu. It was sad, yes, but it did good. Though I cannot really deny the existence of her good end, which really does good for the character herself. Everyone deserves their own happily ever after.

 

Though I'll stand my ground that Hisoka's last scene in Kagome's route was the most beautiful scene in the game for me.

The one thing I never fully understood was what was that place where Kagaome talked to Girl A and destroyed her action points.

Like that was out of the blue for me, I never even thought about it. 

[Vej]

The one thing I never fully understood was what was that place where Kagaome talked to Girl A and destroyed her action points.

Like that was out of the blue for me, I never even thought about it. 

From what i understood, that place was in the avatar(Sting) itself.

Her mind had gone mad (stampede) so she was stuck in Sting.

Atleast thats what i understood about it

[Kurokusari]

From what i understood, that place was in the avatar(Sting) itself.

Her mind had gone mad (stampede) so she was stuck in Sting.

Atleast thats what i understood about it

I thought it was in Kagome's mind since my idea on the avatar is only a tangible representation of where the connectors' souls are loaded in. I think she was using Sting inside where she re-killed all the avatars Sting ever destroyed so I thought that it was unlikely that she was inside Sting. Then again Hisoka appeared out of nowhere (with a sense of self) so I can't really say much about logic in there. Well if it's fully the wills of the original connectors of the avatars then that situation is possible.

[TehRealOne]

Remember Kagaome had this conversation with Girl A which turned out to be a version of herself or something. So I guess the best response is that it was in her mind.

[Fred the Barber]

Started reading Heroine 3's route:

 

I totally lost it when she said, "Google it." I am actually still laughing while I write this.

[Kurokusari]

Started reading Heroine 3's route:

 

I totally lost it when she said, "Google it." I am actually still laughing while I write this.

Yeah I was surprised for the to actually explicitly use 'Google'. It's just because they usually change it to something else. I think they used 'Michaelsoft' instead of 'Microsoft' somewhere in Akihito's PC there.

[Kurisu-Chan]

Yeah I was surprised for the to actually explicitly use 'Google'. It's just because they usually change it to something else. I think they used 'Michaelsoft' instead of 'Microsoft' somewhere in Akihito's PC there.

it may have not been wrote like that in Japanese. 

[TehRealOne]

Started reading Heroine 3's route:

 

I totally lost it when she said, "Google it." I am actually still laughing while I write this.

Yeah I was surprised for the to actually explicitly use 'Google'. It's just because they usually change it to something else. I think they used 'Michaelsoft' instead of 'Microsoft' somewhere in Akihito's PC there.

I wasn't sure if they were actually going to do Mayuki's route(a loli route) but I'm so glad they did. Turned out to be my favorite route, Mayuki's lies and behavior is just too hilarious.

[Kosakyun]

Remember Kagaome had this conversation with Girl A which turned out to be a version of herself or something. So I guess the best response is that it was in her mind.

 

Saying that it was in her mind is true, yes, but I thought it was in that 'space' that the Thing provides the connectors with. I remember Girl A mentioning something like that. Since Sting was the very center of the network of connectors in Takakura City, Kagome was bound to each one of the connectors by that very same network. Since she was the very core of the network, I was thinking that she had been able to manifest herself in that 'space' due to having her avatar stampede, which essentially ruins the connector's mind. If I'm not mistaken, the 'soul' of the connectors seem to drift toward that very 'space' after their mind has been shattered or after they had died. Don't those souls provide Sting's action points, since they're very well connected to Sting's network? I'm not sure anymore. Anyway, since she was the core, I thought she could sever those connections herself by killing them once again. Those are my thoughts on the matter. It couldn't have possibly been in her mind only, since it had direct effects on the action points that Sting had in the very same moment. So she must have severed the connections from her own network.

 

Also, I enjoyed Mayuki's route immensely. Mayuki's too good.

[Kurokusari]

Saying that it was in her mind is true, yes, but I thought it was in that 'space' that the Thing provides the connectors with. I remember Girl A mentioning something like that. Since Sting was the very center of the network of connectors in Takakura City, Kagome was bound to each one of the connectors by that very same network. Since she was the very core of the network, I was thinking that she had been able to manifest herself in that 'space' due to having her avatar stampede, which essentially ruins the connector's mind. If I'm not mistaken, the 'soul' of the connectors seem to drift toward that very 'space' after their mind has been shattered or after they had died. Don't those souls provide Sting's action points, since they're very well connected to Sting's network? I'm not sure anymore. Anyway, since she was the core, I thought she could sever those connections herself by killing them once again. Those are my thoughts on the matter. It couldn't have possibly been in her mind only, since it had direct effects on the action points that Sting had in the very same moment. So she must have severed the connections from her own network.

 

Also, I enjoyed Mayuki's route immensely. Mayuki's too good.

Now I'm not sure of anything anymore. I guess they suddenly turned to info dump at this point of the game. I can reread this to understand it a bit again but I don't have the will to do that. 

 

Someone end this mystery. 

[TehRealOne]

Now I'm not sure of anything anymore. I guess they suddenly turned to info dump at this point of the game. I can reread this to understand it a bit again but I don't have the will to do that. 

 

Someone end this mystery. 

Thats the problem when you introduce fantasy elements to a story, you'll never find out how everything works. 

Atm im going with Kosaki's explanation as the best. 

Which TL : DR: People's souls go to a place when avatar dies, Kagaome is the centre of the system hence she can somehow maintain consciousness after she stampedes and her soul goes to the place. 

[Kosakyun]

Which TL : DR: People's souls go to a place when avatar dies, Kagaome is the centre of the system hence she can somehow maintain consciousness after she stampedes and her soul goes to the place. 

 

I was more or less thinking that she wasn't conscious. Rather, her very being has manifested in the 'utopia' that the Thing made for the connectors. I was thinking that it was the same for Hisoka, though she didn't have any way of severing connections of souls from her avatar to reduce action points since she wasn't the core. She didn't have direct access to the 'souls' bound to her avatar, since they're connected to Sting, rather than Nomad. 

 

Now I'm trying to think about the people that Kagome saw in that 'utopia'. She killed every one of them. There wasn't anything stated that Babylon's action points decreased, so she probably didn't encounter any soul of a connector whose avatar wasn't killed by Sting. Basically, she could only see connectors that she killed. If that's so, then how does this 'utopia' work for every connector? How did Hisoka act on her own in that 'utopia'? Did the connectors battle Kagome because she had an intention to kill them once again?

 

I'm betting on the fact that Kagome was the core of the system, so she could potentially rule over the 'utopia' created by the network linked to her. That could be seen by the venues recreated in that 'utopia'. It was based on her mind. Basically, she could recreate the 'utopia' according to her mind. Or based on certain triggers in her mind. Her 'utopia' was the classroom, probably because it was the venue she had fond memories of. The venue where she had fun. And when she went into battle against the other connectors, ground zero was the venue because it was the place that reminded her of the war and battles she fought five years ago. It's the strongest memory related to fighting connectors. Since she could recreate the place according to her mind, the action points probably decreased since by killing these connectors in the 'utopia', she severed their connections to Sting's network in that utopia, which also relieves the burden of these connections on her mind. That's how she recovered from the stampede. The elimination of these souls could be compared to erasing files in the computer, since you effectively removed them from the 'utopia' that was being maintained by the Omnipotent.

 

I can't explain properly. Probably because it's 1 AM.

[Jakez123]

I just finished this Visual Novel. Well, quite a lot to say I guess.

 

My favourite Character definitely has to be Gasai, I like characters like him. Especially when they are honourable 

Eg, In Benio's Route, despite Akihito and Benio having a discussion mid-fight, Gasai didn't kill them off.

 

Needless to say 

I was devastated when he died, he was always a man with a plan, always one step ahead, yet he got taken out like it was nothing. I wanted him to pop back up halfway down the track to help the Main characters, I mean, he did say "I will repay you", then he just dies after that. I'm also annoyed that Akihito touched Yuriko. I like shows/Visual Novels where the MC isn't the only character who gets a female companion, I always believed that Yuriko & Gasai should have stayed together, but he gets killed and Yuriko is having sex with Akihito 4 hours later.

 

I liked Kagome's route, although 

This whole "Kagome survives" thing, was annoying. I always believed there was no "Plot armour" per say (Even though it's lampshaded a few times by Mayuki). The whole "feel" of the Novel is that "The world is harsh", "There are no miracles" & "Life is easily taken". Shown by the deaths of people like Gasai, Iroha, David. Yet no one in Akihito's Comyu does die, despite the overwhelming odds against them. Furthermore they also saved Kagome, "No one ever recovers from Stampeding, you know this best yourself Kagome" Fast forward 10 minutes and she recovers from it. I think it would have been best if Kagome died in the end, it would have really fitted well with the story "Miracles don't happen".

 

Either way, I enjoyed the Visual Novel, I still preferred titles such as G-senjou no Maou or Ever17.

[Nimbus]

I just finished this Visual Novel. Well, quite a lot to say I guess.

 

My favourite Character definitely has to be Gasai, I like characters like him. Especially when they are honourable 

Eg, In Benio's Route, despite Akihito and Benio having a discussion mid-fight, Gasai didn't kill them off.

 

Needless to say 

I was devastated when he died, he was always a man with a plan, always one step ahead, yet he got taken out like it was nothing. I wanted him to pop back up halfway down the track to help the Main characters, I mean, he did say "I will repay you", then he just dies after that. I'm also annoyed that Akihito touched Yuriko. I like shows/Visual Novels where the MC isn't the only character who gets a female companion, I always believed that Yuriko & Gasai should have stayed together, but he gets killed and Yuriko is having sex with Akihito 4 hours later.

 

I liked Kagome's route, although 

This whole "Kagome survives" thing, was annoying. I always believed there was no "Plot armour" per say (Even though it's lampshaded a few times by Mayuki). The whole "feel" of the Novel is that "The world is harsh", "There are no miracles" & "Life is easily taken". Shown by the deaths of people like Gasai, Iroha, David. Yet no one in Akihito's Comyu does die, despite the overwhelming odds against them. Furthermore they also saved Kagome, "No one ever recovers from Stampeding, you know this best yourself Kagome" Fast forward 10 minutes and she recovers from it. I think it would have been best if Kagome died in the end, it would have really fitted well with the story "Miracles don't happen".

 

Either way, I enjoyed the Visual Novel, I still preferred titles such as G-senjou no Maou or Ever17.

I found Gasai to be an incredibly underused character. I get that they wanted to make him somewhat mysterious and by having him appear infrequently his moments were all the more memorable but I still think he could've had a few more appearances. 

[TehRealOne]

I found Gasai to be an incredibly underused character. I get that they wanted to make him somewhat mysterious and by having him appear infrequently his moments were all the more memorable but I still think he could've had a few more appearances. 

Yeah, Gasai needs more love, a lot more.

 

Plus I also wanted a Gasai x Yoruko scene, I knew that Yoruko would get a h-scene due to her being a main character and the amount of missing spaces on the Replays page. 

But Yoruko and Ahkito is meh, still got a Yoruko h-scene so...

[Kurokusari]

Gasai needs a fandisc.

 

Yeah although there's the theme of the world has no mercy or is unforgiving but killing of few of the characters might be not the best choice considering that some of the readers might hate the game. You know how business works, no matter how good it is, if it's not well received, you're out. Also it could also go along the lines of 'persevering against the gentle kingdom and win'. But I do agree that having a more bittersweet ending would be nicer.