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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

Ou no Mimi ni Todokenai

Now, I've said this several times before, but AXL is a company that reuses its art, music, and character designs/features heavily.  As such, I rate their games solely based on plot/story and how those elements are used (in other words, jackasses who point out the somewhat dated art style and recycled music can go sodomize themselves with a pickle for all I care).  Unless you are a bigot who absolutely has to have the latest art styles, this shouldn't be something that bothers you anyway. Ou
Clephas

Clephas

1

Random VNs: Like a Butler

As part of my series of posts on AXL, today I finished replaying Like a Butler, one of AXL's earlier charage-type VNs.  This VN is of a type that hadn't really been touched until AXL opened it up... the ojousama-ge.  Just to give you a little history, until the release of Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no in 2006, there hadn't been any really good or famous ojousama-ge made.  It was only after 2010 when the sub-genre exploded outward into the ridiculous numbers we've seen since (with Ensemble alone pr
Clephas

Clephas

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An Opinion: Grittiness vs Humanity

This is an opinion that has been a long time in forming, but I am coming around to an opinion that the more simplistic viewpoints I've possessed on the differences between American approaches to storytelling and Japanese ones are somewhat off the mark. Note:  This is a rant, it should be treated as a rant, and if it doesn't make sense to you, that is because it is my brain leaking into text on this blog. First, my original opinion: To put it simply, it was my belief that the Japanese h
Clephas

Clephas

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[Major Spoilers]Some fun VN Setting facts

Right now, in order to 'clean my palate' before playing Mojika, I'm replaying Bloody Rondo, 3rdEye's first (and arguably worst) VN.  A thought came to my mind that has been bothering me since I finished Oratorio Phantasm.  Are Shinkurou and Luna still alive at the time this VN occurs within the setting?  The reason I ask is because Now that we are finished establishing my hypothesis about why things in Oratorio Phantasm played out as they did, I thought I'd consider Shinigami no Test
Clephas

Clephas

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Experimental book post: The Black Jewels Trilogy

This is a test post, based on the results of the poll I posted a few weeks back.  The win was borderline, so if I don't get a reasonably large response, I won't continue to post about my conventional reading. The Black Jewels Trilogy, by Anne Bishop is one of my favorite book series of all time.  It is a dark, sensual fantasy based in a unique universe, where a race of magic aristocrats called the Blood rule three worlds, Tereille, Kaeleer, and Hell.  The main characters of the story are a
Clephas

Clephas

5

My list of Capable Heroines

The definition of a 'capable' heroine, in my case, is a heroine who manages to surf the waves of life and move circumstances to create a situation convenient to herself, either through manipulation or force of will.  A heroine of this type might pursue a dream, pursue revenge, or pursue power, but what defines them is that they both 'seek' and 'take' what they want.  Most heroines in male-oriented and otomege VNs do not fall into this area.  Most are reliant on the males in their life to some ex
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Golden Marriage (and Jewel Days)

Like many of the charage I choose to replay for this particular part of my blog, Golden Marriage is one of those VNs I thought I didn't quite give a fair chance to the first time I played them, looking back.  In retrospect, I realize I'd really come to expect great things out of Ensemble due to the examples of Koi no Canvas and Gokigen Naname.  The former is a kamige, beyond all doubt, and the latter was a deliciously dramatic look into the muddy world of money and old families.  While things tu
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary

Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary is a game made back in 2017 that came very close to being my VN of the Year for that year, for good reason.  Since I've already reviewed this game as a whole once, I'm going to go into more detail about what the catch points are of this game, as opposed to merely assessing it based on a lot of general points. A major plus point of this game is the way Alice, the main heroine, often serves as a sounding board to provide the reader with an intellectual understandin
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: love, Vampire Flowers

This game is on a short list of VNs from 2015 that I am pretty sure I underrated.  As a result, I decided to take a second look at it and see if my impressions changed.  To an extent, they did.  I was much nicer to it this time around, if only because I had better perspective after having taken a few steps back from VNs in general.  This game is focused on the Gardening Club of a Protestant boarding school in Japan.  The protagonist, Haruto (real name Hartviche or something like that) is a
Clephas

Clephas

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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

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April Release: Tenpure!! (EDITED)

First, I'll say that this game is pretty much based on the concept of using the concept of templates and archetypes in the story.  The protagonist bumps into a girl with toast in her mouth, gets woken up by an osananajimi, catches a maid falling from the sky, is frequently scolded by a fake-prude iinchou, and he even has an ojousama fall in love with him at first sight. Now, the attempt to turn all the classic template happenings of a moege/charage into a joke sort of falls flat in this gam
Clephas

Clephas

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Random Vns: Valkyrie Complex

.... I finally finished this one.  It has been installed on my computer for the better part of three years, with me only going back to play it occasionally... This VN/srpg hybrid is by Circus, the same company that did Suika and the Da Capo series... so obviously, this kind of VN is completely out of character for them, lol.  I'm going to be blunt... this VN pales in comparison to just about every decent hybrid I've played, both storywise and gameplay wise.  The best thing I can say for the
Clephas

Clephas

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Traveling Stars End: Zirconia, Miisha, and Pascal

Zirconia Zirconia is the protagonist's elven 'oneechan', who basically took care of him while he was in the other world... and who raised him like Hikari Genji in the Genji Monogatari to be her ideal man. She is probably the most straight-out hilarious heroine in the game, because she even goes so far as to lock the door whenever they are alone in a room, has a dakimakura of the protagonist, and her favorite pastime is having daydreams about the protagonist... Her path is easily the most co
Clephas

Clephas

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Tokubetsu na Bonjin no Seikatsu

No, the title isn't the name of a VN... at least as far as I know.  It essentially means 'the lifestyle of a special normal/average person'.  This is the wording that came to mind when I thought about the standard charage protagonist... Now, slice-of-life is by nature just that... a slice of the characters' lives outside of whatever conflict or set of events that determines the flow of the story.  There are slice-of-life moments in almost all VNs (except for a few sex-only nukige, mahou sho
Clephas

Clephas

1

Random VNs: Prima Stella [edited]

First thing that anyone thinks when they see a VN written by Choco Chip is 'nukige!!!'.  That isn't precisely correct.  I've played exactly three games by this guy that impressed me, though that was over four years ago.  Those three games were Prima Stella, Sarasara, and Sakura Iro Quartet.  Randomly, I decided to pick Prima Stella back up, and I relived my ancient experiences with it, gaining new impressions relative to what I've experienced since. First, my impressions are universally pos
Clephas

Clephas

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November 2018 Releases

While I won't be playing everything anymore, I thought I'd list here the non-nukige up for release and my impressions based on the Getchu and official pages. Definitely will play Fuukan no Grasesta: https://vndb.org/v23199 This is the latest Eushully game... and it also shares a writer with the last few entries, which were a somewhat mediocre set of games.  As such, my hopes aren't high... but I can't resist playing it.  I mean, the protagonist is a sociopathic mercenary in a city
Clephas

Clephas

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Issues when Reviewing/Commenting on stuff you like and stuff you don't

Something I'm sure people have noticed in my posts in this blog is that I almost invariably compare VNs I'm reading on to either a genre standard or a similar VN in the past.  To be blunt, this is a shortcut, as it is incredibly tedious to write out an extensive analysis of a genre-typical something that is only minutely different from a hundred other VNs of the same type.  Comparisons provide a frame of reference, giving the readers a chance to figure out what they can expect based on prev
Clephas

Clephas

2

My VN Reassessment Project (UPDATED)

When I first started playing untranslated VNs (right about the time Obama got into office), I had the luxury of cherry-picking some of the best titles in existence at the time for my initial lineup.  In some cases, I just randomly grabbed stuff that met my tastes, and in others I went by recommendations by established vets like Accany.  However, at this point in my VN experience, I had yet to start VN of the Month and I was basically seeing VNs solely by how they met my expectations and tastes,
Clephas

Clephas

1

Venting sorrow: I lost my cat today

I love my cat. Let’s get that out of the way from the beginning. Even though she is gone, as of today, I have never, for one moment, believed that I would ever stop loving her. For seventeen years and eight months, this calico wonder has made her home in my heart, never failing to wrap me around her paw and jerk me around by my heart strings. As the undisputed mistress of all she surveyed (all eleven rooms and corridors of it), she has dominated the lives and conversation of our family
Clephas

Clephas

1

VNs with a Seasonal Theme

The greater proportion of VNs out there take place in a three or four month period... and are usually linked to a seasonal theme.  This is especially true of moege/charage variants, but it can also be said for more story-focused games, like Tasogare no Sinsemilla.  I just thought I'd bring out my thoughts on the use of seasonal themes here, since it comes to mind fairly often. The two most common seasons used in VNs as a thematic background to the setting are summer and winter.  Now, why mi
Clephas

Clephas

1

Kodomo no Asobi: Final

Mmm... there isn't too much extra to comment on with the Katsumi's and Michiru's paths.  They are of about the same length as the previous two (which means about one and a half times as long as the average charage route) with a lot of buildup before the relationships actually form.  That was my complaint with the other two, and that hasn't changed here.  Similarly to the other routes, I felt that the drama actually inside the route was a bit lacking compared to the common route.  Katsumi's route
Clephas

Clephas

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September Releases (UDATED!!!)

First... I already talked about Haze Man, though you can't really call it a review, lol.  Second... I'm stalling Mono no Aware for now.  After playing it for three hours, I've come to the conclusion that I hate the setting in this game.  It feels like one of those anime episodes in an otherwise awesome series that I drop simply because I don't like how they handled it.  This game has enormous potential to be interesting... if you obliterate player agency.  Unfortunately, I hate the way this game
Clephas

Clephas

1

Random VN: Yurameku Kokoro ni Michita Sekai de, Kimi no Yume to Yokubou wa Kanau ka

Yurayuka was released  in 2017 by Cube, a company that I never got around to messing with (mostly because their other games were nukige, for the most part).  I chose to put this one in my 'rainy day' archive for a time when I wanted something to play that I hadn't read before but wasn't a charage (most games I set aside are charage, since there is only so much virtual sugar I can consume without getting virtual diabetes).  From the very beginning, this game makes its 'time loop' concept obv
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Prism Recollection

Prism Recollection is a more recent release by Clochette, with a less fantastical setting than Kamikaze Explorer's or Suzunone Seven's.  Prism Recollection's setting is in a future Japanese town that is being redeveloped by corporations using it to test cutting-edge technologies and techniques for comprehensive economic redevelopment (as opposed to the piecemeal redevelopment that is normal in most cities).   From the fact that most stores require people to use digital money to the AR holograms
Clephas

Clephas

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Hook Soft: A few comments on Moe VNs

There are a few companies out there, such as Feng, Hook Soft, and Circus, who specialize primarily in the 'pure moe' genre. They might tack on a real story to some of their VNs (Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou), but at the core is a direct appeal to the moe-addicts that make up about seventy percent of all otakus. There is absolutely nothing wrong with moe-appeals. Almost all Japanese VN-makers have moe appeals, even ones like Light that primarily do chuunige. I don't even think that pure mo
Clephas

Clephas

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