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Akiyume Kukuru


Clephas

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Akiyume Kukuru is the third (and possibly final) game in Sumikko's 'Seasons' meta-sci-fi series.  It centers around a group of five 'Holders', people genetically altered at the embryo stage to possess possibilities that don't otherwise exist in Earth's evolution using artificial DNA and RNA known as XNA. 

These five people are individuals whose actions or abilities have made them a threat to society/the government/etc., and they have been exiled to Ruruan, a closed city in Hokkaido where a quantum bomb was detonated, obliterating the possibilities of the area it covered.  In this area, objects and time move on a one-day time loop, causing objects and the shattered remnants of the people (blobs known as WASPs) to return to the state they were the previous day.  The only way for an object to cease looping is for an individual to purchase it, thus 'observing' it as being their own ('observation' in the Schrodinger's Cat meaning of the word). 

Anyway, despite what sounds like a bunch of spoilers above, this is all basic everyday knowledge for these five people (six if you include their human loli-teacher).  These five were placed there both as an exile/punishment and in order to see what effect their presence would have on the damaged region. 

This VN is classic Sumikko in one sense... in that it is full of meta-ideas and insane over the top happenings, as well as an immense amount of sexual and violence-related humor (which is also a signature of this series).  To let those interested know, this one is as distinct from Natsukumo as Natsukumo was from Harumade.  What that means is that the ideas it explores are fundamentally different while still being involved in concepts drawn from quantum physics and ideas (ideas versus the scientific meaning of theory).  To be blunt, most of the scientific terms involved are ones that are beyond the understanding of someone who doesn't major in physics (well, beyond a surface understanding anyway), so I advise anyone reading this to focus on the protagonist's interpretations, since those the ones most likely to be relevant (obviously).

I honestly loved the characters - both the heroines and the protagonist - and I thought the game as a whole was a really enjoyable read.  I laughed a lot at this one, and other parts made me think.  I came to the conclusion that Sumikko is the only company I've ever encountered that can manage this meta-crap without making it sound like a pretentious teenager quoting Nietzsche.  That's mostly because the writer is rather open about the fact that he/she doesn't care if we understand every detail of what is going on, as well as noting (in a really subtle way) that all of this is a bunch of convenient interpretations of various thought experiments.

Anyway... this is a fun VN if you can stand a few infodump-related headaches and like Sumikko's peculiar brand of violence and sex humor (think heroines that casually make serious death threats out of love/friendship and others that get hooked on not wearing panties...).   The characters are all nicely twisted, whether it is the ex-male (had his/her balls shot off during the conflict) Noa who used to be a bomber or Saori's belief that making her breasts sway is an art form... so that in itself would have made for a fun game.

Don't expect any really huge mindfucks in this one, in comparison with the previous two.  For whatever reason, they didn't really focus on fooling you on the big points, preferring to catch you on the details (there is a mindfuck hidden in the story, but it is relatively mild compared to Harumade or Natsukumo). 

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> To be blunt, most of the scientific terms involved are ones that are beyond the understanding of someone who doesn't major in physics (well, beyond a surface understanding anyway)

:marie:

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Don't expect any really huge mindfucks in this one, in comparison with the previous two.  For whatever reason, they didn't really focus on fooling you on the big points, preferring to catch you on the details (there is a mindfuck hidden in the story, but it is relatively mild compared to Harumade or Natsukumo). 

The fact that they didn't try for the same thing makes me excited about the author.

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