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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

The two ways to view the Akagoei series

Akatsuki no Goei is something of an oddball if you ignore the existence of Grisaia, but they share some major traits.  Both have a relatively 'peaceful' (if dramatic) first game that involves romantic paths that are mostly irrelevant to the third game.  Both have a psychologically-scarred, killer protagonist with a criminal past.  Both have a quirky sense of humor that is mostly generated by the protagonist's abnormal actions... I could go on, but I'll move on to my point. The most blatantl
Clephas

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The spirit of an older gamer: Why I play games and why other people play games

I've been playing video games more or less constantly for over twenty-five years.  That's a very simple statement that holds a surprising amount of meaning, considering how much video games have changed since I first began playing them. It began with the NES, for me... with Mario, Luigi, and the ducks.  I shot ducks out of the air, I jumped Mario across gaps and on top of turtles, without ever really understanding what was going on.  As a kid, this was fun, seriously.  Understand, this
Clephas

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14

The Soleil series

The Soleil series by Skyfish is one of the weirder VN series out there... all the games are connected, but the connection is so twisty and strange that if you make the mistake of starting from a later game, it becomes incomprehensible.  Part of this is that all the protagonists in the series are fundamentally ignorant of the nature of the worlds they are living in, and another part of it is that the nature of incarnation and reincarnation in the series deliberately unpredictable. Basically,
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The Schools of Charage/Moege harems

First, I'm going to state that all charage/moege are harem-ge (with the exception of kinetic novels with only a single heroine).  In all these cases, you have a bevy of heroines that are, at the very least, friendly with or somehow attached to the protagonist.  There are a three standard types of harem that I consider to be general umbrella types.  These harems do not include nukige sex-only harems or the type of harems that pop up in gameplay hybrid VNs, as these often have distinctive story-ex
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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
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The rules of a Good Trap Protagonist game

I will say it, yes, games with trap protagonists are one of my secret pleasures.  While there are numerous types of this particular niche in VNs, and there are a disproportionate number of this type of game compared to ten years ago, there are some rules shared by all the greats that I thought I'd put out there. 1.  A good trap protagonist is a voiced protagonist.  Most trap protagonists are voiced.  There are a number of reasons for this, but, regardless of the reason, almost all the 'good
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The relativity of inconvenience

One of the things I've experienced more and more in the last decade as a part of 'the generation gap' is a difference between our interpretations of the word 'inconvenience', especially when it comes to games and devices. Understand, when I say 'inconvenience', it generally means 'it doesn't have the functions I find useful'.  When I talk to people who were born after the year 2000, it is almost always 'too many functions I don't know how to use/are not intuitive to me'.  Perhaps the m
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Xianxia

The problem with translated and weabooist Xianxia

While reading litrpgs, I sometimes come across ones that stray into the realms of Xianxia or are simply Xianxia mislabeled as litrpgs.  Xianxia is a genre of Chinese-origin, creating a system of magic and abilities based off of Qigong practices.  Technically, stuff like Naruto and Hunter X Hunter would fall into the realm of Xianxia, given its use of many of the same concepts. Xianxia books have a number of common issues, in my opinion.  Some of them are quite enjoyable, but even the enjoya
Clephas

Clephas in Xianxia

1

The problem with reviews and reviewers

Anyone who has read one of my reviews knows I'm something of a cynic and a pessimist.  I try to think the best about every VN I go into, but my first impulse is to see what is wrong, rather than what is right.  Whether it is optimism and rose-colored glasses or pessimism and cynicism, and excess of either is often a negative influence on the quality of a review.  Generally speaking, I usually make an effort to find something I like about a VN's concept before going in, then I start the VN t
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The pitfalls of creating a unique setting

I'm currently playing Ai yori Aoi Umi no Hate, AXL's latest game by their 'unusual slice-of-life' team, and the setting is seriously bothering me.  It isn't that the concept is boring... there is nothing wrong with the concept of people living on a massive self-repairing ship hundreds of years after the demise of land-bound culture due to global warming.  No, the problem is the concept of the game and how it interacts with the setting.  Ok, I can live with the idea that advanced culture was
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The Otoboku series

The Otoboku series is often put forward as a prime example of a sub-genre that first gained popularity about eight years ago... the 'trap protagonist in a girl's school' type.  However, there are a number of aspects that make this series a bit unique... or at least make them feel unique. One is their protagonists... despite their differences in personality and upbringing, all three protagonists end up taking a similar role in the common route, even aside from the 'Elder' issue.  To be strai
Clephas

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The nature of an infodump

In plotge of all types, whether they are chuunige, kinetic novels, horror suspense, or mysteries, infodumps are ubiquitous throughout the VN world.  Infodumping in and of itself isn't a horrible thing to do to the reader (as some people claim), but it is a tool that is often abused by writers who want to expound on their beloved world and its characters.   First, the definition of an infodump is a scene with little or no dialogue where background information is provided without directly pro
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The June 2017 releases

I am bored, so I figured I would note the non-nukige VNs scheduled to come out on PC at the end of the month, for those who are interested. Ojou-sama wa Sunao ni Narenai - This game looks to be the first serious title by Ensemble in some time (since Gokigen Naname), just going by the descriptions of the situation and the protagonist.  While the setup is definitely a twist on the Shugotate theme (sans cross-dressing), it is nonetheless one of the two games I'm seriously looking forward to fr
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The influence of Draculius on the Western community

Those who talk to me regularly or pay attention to my lists will notice that one of the VNs that comes up fairly often is Draculius. This is a VN that has had a surprising amount of influence on modern VNs... or rather, the Western VN world.  Oddly enough, that influence is mostly indirect rather than direct (it isn't translated, so the VN's direct influence is rather limited).  The most obvious point is Grisaia... to be straight about it, it had the same writer as the Grisaia series,
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The heroine that is always present

For those who have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about, I'm referring to a type of heroine that tends to exist in a relatively high proportion with a strong central plot... the type of heroine that remains by the protagonist's side, usually no matter which heroine he chooses and is usually the true heroine.  This heroine has a bond with the protagonist that surpasses that of a simple friendship or lover and can't really be cut without destroying them both.  This heroine's existence is usu
Clephas

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The Feminized Historical Fantasy

I'm sure you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about with the title of this post, but the concept is pretty simple...  You take a period of history or a series of famous/infamous events, turn all or most of the male personages into females, and then plop your main character into their midst, evolving a story from there.  A few examples of this... The Koihime Musou, Sengoku Koihime series by Baseson Chuushingura Sengoku and Sangoku Hime series by Gesen Kikan Bakumat
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VNs

Tenshi Souzou partial review

This is the latest game from the makers of Dracu-riot and Sanoba Witch, Yuzusoft.  For those who are curious, in nature it is somewhere in between the two styles this company tends to use (placing more emphasis on the SOL portions or the story portions).  There is, technically, an overarching story, but it is given more focus in some routes than others, while there is as much lovey-dovey and ero content as the most SOL-focused entries in Yuzusoft's library. I'm going to be blunt, I basicall
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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Tenkiame

Shiro Kon Most of you already know that one of my fetishes is mimikko... and kitsune in particular. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that I liked this VN. That said, this VN is so straightforward (in a 'in a straight line' sense) that you probably shouldn't expect anything in the way of twists. The two heroines are Shiro and Kon (see the pics above). Shiro is the little sister, a white-haired loli-kitsune who is totally innocent and carefree. She is straightforward both a
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2

Teito Hiten Daisakusen

First, for those of you who are fans of the Steampunk Liar-soft games, this isn't one of them. Rather, it is based on an alternative version of the 1920's where curses, magic, and monsters exist and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 never happened. Japan has come away from its first major military contacts with the outside world as the victor over Russia, which is making its bloody transition from Empire to communist state. Garan, one of the two protagonists, is a tengu... as arrogant as
Clephas

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Tayutama 2 or Sen no Hatou?

A simple question, with the poll closing at the stroke of midnight Monday morning US Central time.  Which VN do you want me to play first?  Honestly, there is no chance whatsoever of me playing anything else before at least one of these two, so feel free to make your decision based on which you are most interested in. For those who aren't aware of the games: Tayutama 2 is the direct sequel to the original game, based off of Mashiro's ending as canon.  The main heroine is one of Mashiro
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8

Tayutama 2 After stories

For my post on the original Tayutama 2 game, look below Now, my opinion of what LoS did wrong with Tayutama 2 hasn't changed at all, and, in my mind, they did the same thing with this one.  As fandiscs go, it has a lot of content, though most of the stuff that was actually of interest was to be found in the extras portion.  While it might bet tempting to see the three original heroines' stories as the main part of this one, they are in fact a secondary issue.  Their actual stories are shor
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Tayutama 2

First, I should apologize to those who voted for Sen no Hatou.  To be honest, I had every intention of finishing it first... but I kept running into the walls I described in the previous post, so I switched over to this game.     ****** Before reading further, please realize that it is impossible to talk about this VN without spoiling the original to some extent.  If you haven't played the original Tayutama, you shouldn't be considering playing this game anyway (as it doesn't make sens
Clephas

Clephas

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Tasogare no Folklore

I do not regret playing this game. I needed to say this first, because this game has a pretty high level of emotional impact.  The actual characters are quiet for the most part, but the relationships in this game are so twisted that even thinking about them being real would make a saint wince.  This story centers around a young personal servant, Kumagata Arima, and his young mistress, Otobe Supika.  It is the Taishou Era (pre-WWII, late teens to late twenties of the twentieth century),
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Tarareba

This is a moege (yes, a moege) and a nakige (think Key style, with less depth and more sex) by Aries, a company that makes 'themed' games (mostly).  In this case, the theme is 'what if?'  Basically, they set it up as a deliberate 'what if you changed these events?' scenario for the protagonist.  To be frank, Aries' games tend to rank from average down to somewhere below mediocre, outside of having some of the sexiest heroines I've seen outside of nukige and Semiramis no Tenbin, lol (this is sett
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Tamayura Mirai

Tamayura Mirai is the latest game by Azurite, the company behind Shinsou Noise and Akumade Kore wa.  Unlike the previous two, it is not a guro mystery.  Instead, it is a fantasy with an extremely similar setting to Monobeno (which had a great setting, even if the lolicon elements were outright disgusting).  It also shares a writer (Touta) with such excellent games as Kin'iro Loveriche, Floral Flowlove, Gin'iro Haruka, and Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname.   Before I go any further, I want to spea
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