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About this blog

This is a blog primarily focusing on but not limited to VNs.  It is primarily designed to express my opinion on otaku media (jrpgs, anime, manga, LNs, VNs, etc), individual VNs, and otaku community issues.   Most of the posts are related to my VN of the Month and Random VN columns, originally started in threads in the forums. 

As of March of 2017, I'm also looking for people to help with VN of the Month.

Entries in this blog

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Trinkle Stars

I apologize if this post seems a bit disjointed, but this game was long enough that I felt a need to write as I finished the paths. First, Otoboku 3, as the nickname implies, is the third game in the series begun with the original Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru. Unlike the previous two games, which were based in the same school, this is based in a sister school a few years after the original game (probably a few years after Futari no Elder, which apparently happened about a year after the even
Clephas

Clephas

6

Releasing VNs in pieces

First, I should say that I disapprove of releasing visual novels in pieces.  I'm perfectly willing to wait three or four years for a good story, but I hate nothing more than being interrupted in the middle and having to wait another year for the next one.  The habit of releasing VNs in chapters was a vice mostly restricted to doujin VNs in the past.  The more obvious reasons are people like me who hate having their stories interrupted, the previous dominance of physical media, and other iss
Clephas

Clephas

3

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, as of thirty-nine minutes ago, it is officially my birthday (as of the time I checked at the beginning of making this post).  I have a lot of things to reflect on this year.  I am now thirty-six, settling into the beginnings of middle-age, knowing my lifestyle will probably kill me before I hit fifty.  I'm a sugar addict, I love fatty foods, I make my own alcoholic drinks (this year, a mixed fruit wine that actually turned out well and was much easier than the rum and hard root b
Clephas

Clephas

12

VN of the Year 2017

As always, I took a ridiculous amount of time considering candidates for VN of the year, this year.  The final lineup of candidates were: Aoi Tori Kin'iro Loveriche Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo (I determined that it, to an extent, stands on its own enough to be considered) Suisei Ginka Haruru Minamo ni Eliminated: Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary (lost to Aoi Tori) Kanojo wa Imouto de Tenshi de (lost to Haruru Minamo ni) Oni ga Kuru (los
Clephas

Clephas

3

Random VN: Gensou no Idea - Oratorio Phantasm Historia

Gensou no Idea is the third VN from 3rdEye, a company specializing in chuunige.  When I originally played this game, I was a bit more perverse, personality-wise, and as a result, I treated this VN badly, as one of my pet-peeves is dual-perspective VNs.  I generally prefer for there to be only one protagonist, and my reaction to this game was colored badly by that. First, I'll introduce the protagonists.  The first protagonist is Minase Yuuma, an optimistic young man who is nonetheless
Clephas

Clephas

1

Yuusha vs Eiyuu

First, as a fantasy anime/VN fan, one thing you'll inevitably run into are these two words... 'yuusha' (勇者) and 'eiyuu'　(英雄).  The problem with these two words is that they inevitably end up translated as the same thing... 'hero'.  However, the nuance of each word is dramatically different, at least for those of us who actually care about nuance. Now, 'yuusha' is a word you hear mostly in certain types of fantasy VN or anime... these include 'sent to another world' and 'classic swords and s
Clephas

Clephas

9

VN of the Month January 2018

Well, this ended up being a contest between two charage... Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro and Yorite Konoha  wa Kurenai ni.  While I did not play Futamawari, so some will object to me naming a VN of the Month now, I will again repeat that I don't have any interest in that kind of lolicon story. To be honest, it really isn't that much of a contest... Shogun-sama's flaws pretty much ensure it falls behind Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni as VN of the Month January 2018.  The flaws are relatively m
Clephas

Clephas

0

Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni

Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni is the newest release from Lump of Sugar, the company responsible for Tayutama.  Lump of Sugar is a huge hit and miss company.  Though it was more consistent ten years ago, of its last seven releases, only two have been at VN of the Month level (eligible if nothing better is there), which is a huge downward move from the era of the original Tayutama.  Lump of Sugar's art-style is 'classic moe', updated with current tech but mostly left alone at the most basic level. 
Clephas

Clephas

1

Clarification: VN commentaries

I've been asked what my standards are for VNs in general and how I apply them to my commentaries on VNs I've played in this blog. I've explained my standards before, as needed, but there is something that came out in that conversation that I think needs to be addressed. First, my favorite genre of VNs is and probably always will be chuunige.  This is because I like violence, I like internal monologues, I like hedge philosophy, and I love all that crap that makes former chuunibyou patients r
Clephas

Clephas

0

Grisaia Phantom Trigger Vol 4

First, I'll give you links to my observations of the first three chapters of this game. Contains Chapter 3 Chapters 1 and 2     Now for Chapter 4... as I said in my post on Chapter 3, the bottom line for this is that if you liked the first three chapters, you'll like this one.  It is humorous, it is bloody, and it contains an odd mix of the grim and abnormal slice-of-life.  I laughed out loud - literally - several times while playing this game, and I honestly liked the
Clephas

Clephas

0

Sora no Baroque

For various reasons, this is one of the rare occasions when I didn't aggressively look forward to a Light game. The first reason is that the setting/story descriptions in the Getchu and homepages were vague and of no real use.  The second was that a crossover was announced between this and Nemurenu (the recent Clock-up title with Kurashiki as the writer) recently.  The artist for this game (at least the character design, anyway) is Ueda Metawo, the artist from Gore Screaming Show, Mind
Clephas

Clephas

0

A likely delay for VN of the Month, January 2018

To be blunt, there is no way I'm going to be able to use more than an hour or two each day for the next week for VNs.  My work pace is currently at the highest it's been since the summer of 2013.  I, quite frankly, had to cut sleep out of my schedule to get through Shogun-sama, and that is costing me in focus and energy now.  As such, I am unsure of when I will get to the next VN.   Of late, my days have consisted of work>eat>take nap>more work>eat>take nap>yet more work&g
Clephas

Clephas

1

Shougun-sama wa Otoshigoro

This is the newest game by Alcot, based three hundred years before Onigokko (yes, it is a prequel, sort of) during the time of the infamous Tokugawa Yoshimune (who is the central character of the jidaigeki Abarenbou Shogun), the first Shogun to take the title based on the 'gosanke' system set up by Ieyasu to prevent the end of the shogunate due to the end of his direct descendants.  The protagonist of the story is a young man who has been dragged into the body of a person of the same name in the
Clephas

Clephas

0

2nd Experimental Book Post: Honor Harrington

First, I should mention that I'm a huge fan of David Weber.  Even his crappiest book is still interesting to read (the crappiest book being Out of the Dark, an Independence Day-style story where the world is saved by Dracula, lol).  However, the Honor Harrington series is my favorite series written by him. Beginning with On Basilisk Station, this military sci-fi series begins focused on the character known as - obviously - Honor Harrington, a young warship captain getting command of a new l
Clephas

Clephas

2

Random VN: Venus Blood Brave

After almost three months of playing it about a half hour a day (usually right before I sleep), I finally finished this one... I didn't have the time to devote to this all at once, so I've been inching forward to victory since it came out back in October. First, this is the latest Venus Blood game in the 'monster birth' side of the series (except for Hypno, all Venus Blood games fall into the 'Goddess Corruption' or 'monster birth' types in a general sense).  Unlike Gaia and Abyss, which re
Clephas

Clephas

2

Clephas Guide to a fun untranslated chuunige life

For the hell of it, I decided to make up a 'suggested playlist' for people who like/are interested in chuunige who have just begun to play untranslated VNs. There are two variations on this guide.  One is a 'test the waters, gradually take a dip, then dive into the depths' guide.  The other is a 'Spartan Guide', which starts out with medium difficulty VNs and moves into harder and harder ones at the top tiers.  Each VN list will have four tiers, based on a combination of my estimation of di
Clephas

Clephas

6

Why I always play games with nonhuman heroines first.

My name is Clephas, and I am a pervert. lol, just kidding... or not.  Considering how long I've been playing eroge, I'm definitely a pervert.  However, that isn't really what this post is about. When I look at the VNs for a month, the first thing I look for are chuunige, then fantasy/sci-fi, and then non-human heroines (though the last two are interchangeable depending on my mood).  The distant fourth is an interesting protagonist, the fifth is an interesting heroine (if I don't find a
Clephas

Clephas

6

Random VN: Love Revenge (REVISED)

Now, I know what you are wondering... 'Why did Clephas pick a charage for a random VN this time around?"  The answer is not as straightforward as usual.... This game is about as close to being the 'perfect' charage as I've ever encountered.  That's not to say it is exceptional in every way.  There are better written and better presented charage out there.  However, I've yet to encounter a charage that utilizes every single element included to the greatest degree possible like this one does.
Clephas

Clephas

0

Crazy Charage Settings

Now, I love nothing more than an interesting setting, and I'm tired of normal charage in general... so one of the biggest points that can be used to draw me into a charage is a crazy setting.  Crazy charage settings are settings that have no possibility whatsoever of happening in real life or are so far outside of common sense that they are inconceivable as a real possibility to most people.  This includes fantasy settings and sci-fi settings, but more often it includes a simple concept tak
Clephas

Clephas

0

The Sad Fact about Replaying VNs

The sad fact about replaying VNs... is that VNs don't have replay value. That's not to say it isn't possible to replay a VN and enjoy it.  With many of the more complex VNs, it is impossible to take in the entire thing on your first playthrough, so it is usually worth a second one.  Others are so well-written or have such great characters that they are worth reading again and again.  Yet others are just so much fun or are so funny (games made by Rosebleu, Lamunation, etc) that they are wort
Clephas

Clephas

5

A preview of the first quarter, 2018

I felt like giving a you all a preview of the first quarter of 2018, after reading this blog post: I generally choose to refrain from posts like this that cover the future of an entire year, but I feel that I have a good grasp on what is coming out over the next three months that is worth paying attention to, based on my own experiences. Grisaia Phantom Trigger Vol. 4 This is something to look forward to for anyone who has liked this series so far... more assassin action based in
Clephas

Clephas

6

VN of the Year Candidates so far

This is the list, as it currently stands, of VNs being considered and those previously considered but disqualified for VN of the Year 2017.  While this year hasn't been good for producing kamige, it has succeeded in producing a number of memorable ones. Being Considered Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu Oni ga Kuru. ~Ane ga Hinshi de Pinchi Desu~ Haruru Minamo ni Suisei Ginka Additions from 12/30/2017 Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo Y
Clephas

Clephas

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VNs of the Month, November and December 2017

November 2017 I delayed this one so I could get fun2novel's input on Yurameku Kokoro ni Michita Sekai de, Kimi no Yume to Yokubou wa Kanau ka (As he put it, this game is boring as hell and spends way too much time implying things without actually doing anything).  While November had some surprisingly great leases (Kizuna Kirameku being primary amongst those), Aoi Tori was the only conceivable winner for the VN of the Month, November 2017. December 2017 You might think me a bit pr
Clephas

Clephas

0

Kin'iro Loveriche

This is the latest release by Saga Planets, the makers of Hatsuyuki Sakura and Natsuyume Nagisa.  This, like many of the games by this company, is an emotional game that sort of edges around being a straight-out charage, though it can't really be called a story-focused or a true nakige.  This kind of genre ambiguity is common to this company's better works, so in that sense, it probably wasn't a bad choice, overall. First, I should say I skipped Akane's path.  I played the first three heroi
Clephas

Clephas

12

Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo

This is the third game in the series that began with Chuusingura (please don't judge that particular work by the utterly shitty translation).  I do highly recommend that you play both Chuusingura and Bushi no Kodou before you play this game, because it is necessary to fully understand some of the events that occur (particularly in the true Hijikata ending). First, a bit of background about the Bakumatsu period.  Essentially, after Admiral Perry forced open Japan with the threat of his canno
Clephas

Clephas

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