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VN of the Month October 2011 - Izuna Zanshinken


kivandopulus

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Izuna Zanshinken is VN of October. But I also see merit in Midori no Umi . Zen and Micchi promote these two games as well while also picking Renai 0 Kilometer and some fandisc.

 

1. AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara... AKB1/48 アイドルとグアムで恋したら・・・ [111006] Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
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Dating is something the AKB girls are not allowed to do. But for you, they are going to make an exception. This summer, the girls invite you to the tropical paradise Guam, all you need to do when you get there is to spend time with them and choose your one dream girl from 48.
The game boasts the largest set of heroines in a dating game. To gain your attention and affections, the girls are going to put on their bikinis and their summer dresses. The game becomes sexier, and the girls are more daring. Choosing one girl poses no difficulty, but do you have the heart to reject the rest 47 girls?
Anything with AKB in title is crap by default
 
2. Tsugi no Giseisha o Oshirase Shimasu 次の犠牲者をオシラセシマス [111006] BOOST ON 1
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When a bizarre chain mail about a serial killer becomes popular on the Internet, no one suspects that the murders are actually happening. This is the story of the people caught in this bizarre game.
Serial murder escape PSP game is of zero interest to me.
 
3. Nekoguri. ~Nekura to Koi no Grimoire~ ネこグリ。~ネクラと恋のグリモワァル~ [111021] Frantic LABO. 1
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Kyousuke accidentally embarrassed the new transfer student Misa. Unfortunately for him, she is fond of black magic and cursed him in revenge by locking him in the school and forcing him to search for a magic book in the underground bookcase. For some reason, she ended up cursing herself as well and also trapped his osananajimi Sayu, the timid Nono, and the rich ojousama Reika in the school. But the school grounds become a strange amusement park at night. Will they be able to find the magic book and dispel the curse?
Game is relaxing and of B class. That's all you need to know about this one.
 
4. R-15 Portable R-15 ぽーたぶる [111027] Kadokawa Games
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R-15 is about a boy, Taketo Akutagawa, who attends a school for geniuses: Inspiration Academy Private High School. Taketo is a genius novelist and writes erotica. Despite negative perceptions many people have of him, he aims to be at the top of his class and be recognized as the world's greatest writer.
This game mixes visual novel segments with interactive minigames where the player touches the girls.
Such games are very important as rock bottom for assessment in comparison.
 
5. Rou-Kyuu-Bu! ロウきゅーぶ! [111027] Vridge Inc.
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Based on a light novel by Aoyama Sagu.
High school student Hasegawa Subaru decides to stop associating himself with basketball, despite his love for the sport, when his school's team captain was suspected being a pedophill and the club is disbanded for a year. His aunt, Takamura Mihoshi, then assigns him to be an elementary school girl's basketball team coach. Initially, he accepts to train the girls just for three days, but after learning of their circumstances, he decided to keep coaching them.
Anime spin-off
 
6. Tanteibu: The Detective Club -Haibu to Kaiga to Bakudan to- たんていぶ THE DETECTIVE CLUB -廃部と絵画と爆弾と- [111027] BOOST ON 1
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Third in the four volume romantic detective story. The detective team consists of Maya, Tora and Natsu, three teenage girls and Sodom, a little robot with a useful set of skills. Each game in the series focuses on three different cases you have to solve.
Detective game
 
7. Izuna Zanshinken イヅナ斬審剣 [111028] Akatsuki Works Black 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Koutarou arrives in Yuunagi City, in order to enter the service of the Kuzuryuu yakuza family. A slender young man with an apparently innocent manner, he reveals the other side of his nature during a rather abrupt test from his new 'owner', his cold eyes promising death. He is there to replace his father as Izuna for Yuunagi City, claiming the lives of true villains at the orders of his new master.
There are English reviews.
 
8. Master×Re:master [111028] Silver Bullet Automatic 1
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Kyuu and Nanami are childhood friends and they’re both members of the occult club in school, although Nanami is more interested in it than Kyuu. On day, the club’s chairman Saeko tells them that there’s a really good second-hand shop which might have some occult items in it. The visit the shop and Nanami ends up buying a book called “Grimorium Verum” which apparently allows the reader to summon Satan. On the night of the full moon, Nanami tries to perform the ceremony to call the devil and she actually manages it. The figure that appears calls itself Mephistopheles and says that in exchange for Nanami’s soul, he will give her great power. Kyuu tries to protect Nanami and obstructs the ceremony, however, he is thrown onto the ground and Mephistopheles announces that his contract is complete and that both Nanami and Kyuu are now “contractors” but they have to fight together.
Battle scenes and bloodiness fascinate, but enemies are poorly done and development is similar for all individual routes. For this reason there's no meaning in playing more than one main heroine Nanami route. Scenario gaps and low production values prevent this game from being something bigger.
 
9. Midori no Umi 翠の海 [111028] Cabbit 1 2 3 4 5 6 
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In the middle of the forest, there is a beautiful lake and a spacious western-style building where 12 people lived. They had all lost their memories and woke up to find themselves in this place. With many books in the library, instruments in the music room and absolutely no troubles, it is like a paradise for the residents. Even if they wanted to leave, they can’t because it is surrounded by a sea of trees and darkness. No one has been known to have successfully left. Then, one of the boys disappeared and Kai gradually remembers his past. He wants to find out why he is here, but is warned against doing so. What would happen if he regains his memories?
There are English reviews.
 
10. Ren'ai 0 Kilometer 恋愛0キロメートル [111028] ASa Project 1 2 3 4 5 6 
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A reckless mother with 5 daughters lived next door to a reckless father with 4 sons. The daughters wished for a boy in the family, while the sons wanted a girl. So their parents proposed that they swap one child between the two families for 3 months. Kyouichi, the second-oldest son, was selected and the girls, who were only osananajimis before, now treated him like their own otouto or onii-chan. The girl who was swapped out also had feelings for him and was extremely jealous that she cannot be part of the family as well. He felt both happy and very uneasy... how will this pretend-family turn out?
There are English reviews.
 
11. Sekisaba! ~Shiritsu Sekigahara Gakuen Joshi Survival Game Bu~ せきさば!~私立せきがはら学園女子サバイバルゲーム部~ [111028] Spermaniax
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Yuuichi is starting first year at Sekigahara Gakuen, a school that is famous for having many clubs. But he has absolutely no interest in joining any clubs of them; he had chosen to attend this school only because it was close to home. His osananajimi Sonoka on the other hand desperately wanted him to join a club with her. While looking for Sonoka one day, he was suddenly taken down by people dressed in camouflage with face masks and guns. They demanded him to join their club at gunpoint.
Military moege existence confirmed
 
12. Shinsei ni Shite Okasubekarazu 神聖にして侵すべからず [111028] Pulltop 1 2 3
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There is a mansion surrounded by walls in a street situated in a corner of the city. Ruha lives inside this tiny Falkensleben Kingdom, which only contains her and two others: Hayato and his mother Yoshino. Hayato takes care of everything from waking Ruha up in the morning to cooking and cleaning. He feels that it is the least he could do for a girl that is alone. However, as summer approaches, both of them and the small kingdom all gradually begin to change.
There are English reviews.
 
13. Taisetsu na Kimi no Tame ni, Boku ni Dekiru Ichiban no Koto たいせつなきみのために、ぼくにできるいちばんのこと [111028] Dandelion 1
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"I want to cry in this gentle yet cruel world. But i must say 'goodbye', until we meet again…"
After being hospitalized after an accident, the protagonist goes back to school after a year. Even though he’s a year older than everyone in his class, he fits in well and has a peaceful school life. In June, the school holds a festival to celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist (St John) since he is the patron saint of the school. During this time, the protagonist hears about the “6 secrets of the school”, and one of them is that, during the ongoing celebrations, every evening during sunset a beautiful old school-house appears beside the lake near the school. The protagonist is curious and on that day during sunset, beside the old schoolhouse, he meets “her” again.
There is an English review.
 
14. Walkure Romanze ~Shoujo Kishi Monogatari~ ワルキューレロマンツェ ~少女騎士物語~ [111028] Ricotta 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Walkure Romanze's story revolves around Mizuno Takahiro, a student studying at an academy with jousting as its main focus for sport. Takahiro acts as an advisor to the riders of the sport. Takahiro goes through each day tediously until the time of the annual competition draws near. Due to some odd circumstances, his childhood friend Kisaki Mio is enrolled into the competition. She has never even ridden a horse before in her life, and Takahiro senses the fear in his friend and becomes Mio's coach.
There are English reviews.
 
15. NOeSIS ~Uso o Tsuita Kioku no Monogatari~ NOeSIS~嘘を吐いた記憶の物語~ [111030] cutlass 1
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A girl who can capture the memory of whoever she's in front of by just looking into their eyes.
A childhood friend who lives with two red-smeared eeirie dolls, convinced they are her parents.
A sickly little sister who manipulates persons by just smiling.
The protagonist meets these girls who lack something, and gets involved in strange events.
This slowly gnaws at his heart, like tracing with a fingertip the reminiscences of a distant day.
A sad, and somewhat nostalgic, story about memories.
Doujin, but from rather famous series and with an English review

 

BLOCKED
 
1. Koiiro Soramoyou: After Happiness and Extra Hearts 恋色空模様 After Happiness and Extra Hearts [111028] Studio Ryokucha 1 2 3 
This is the fandisk to Studio Ryokucha’s 2010 title Koiiro Sora Moyou, with after stories for each of the 5 heroines, as well as new stories for the 4 subheroines (Yuuki, Aiko, Kiyomi and Machiko). Returning to peaceful (?) days, Seigo helps the new student council out with the culture festival preparations. Of course, there’s also now more time for sweet love.
Fandisc
 
 
2. Steins;Gate: Hen'i Kuukan no Octet STEINS;GATE 変移空間のオクテット [111028] MAGES. GAME 1 
A non-canon extension of the True End of the original game. Unlike the modern visual novel format of the original game, this retro game perfectly mimics the style of graphical text adventure games from the 8-bit PC era (e.g. PC-88), with the player typing short commands to interact with and explore the game world. It features all backgrounds and characters drawn in a low-color pixelated style with emulated scanlines, chiptune music played through an emulated FM chip, and no voice acting. The premise of the game features Okabe receiving a D-Mail from himself in 2025 that states that he must save the future by reclaiming an IBN 5100 from a person under of the alias "Knight-hart".
Fandisc
 
3. World Wide Love! -Sekai Seifuku Kanojo Fandisc- World Wide Love! 世界征服彼女ファンディスク [111028] Navel 1
This is the fandisc to the Navels’ 2010 title Sekai Seifuku Kanojo. Contains after stories for all 5 original heroines and will include a route for Yoshiko who was a sub-character in the original game.
Fandisc

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I agree that Izuna Zanshinken is the best game from this month, but there are more games of note than just Midori no Umi and Kilometer.

MasterXRe:Master is a mediocre chuunige focused on Faustian deals and gakuen battle themes.  The main heroine of this game is an airheaded ditz obsessed with demon summoning who manages to get hold of Mephisto... and promptly sells her soul to him for power.  While that might seem like a fascinating theme, too much of the game is spent in pointless SOL and wasted scenes, with combat only really taking the center stage in the heroine paths.

Midori no Umi is excellent psychological horror and the game that put Cabbit on the map.  I won't say it is a kamige, but if you like settings where things seem ok on the surface and are horrific below it, its a good choice.

Zerokiro (Kilometer) is essentially your standard-issue charage, of which hundreds have been produced since and are still being produced - albeit in reduced numbers - today.  I dropped the VN halfway through out of boredom, due to how mundane it was.

Shinsei ni Shite Okasubekerazu is one of the more... eccentric charage out there.  It would have been GOTM material at the time, if better stuff hadn't released at the same time, lol.

How Kvan failed to mention Walkure Romanze escapes me... if you want to see the prototype (which did everything better) to Aokana, Walkure Romanze is your option.  This game took the 'washout combat sports player protagonist teaching newbies the ropes' gig and did something excellent with it.  Not only that, the protagonist isn't sidelined in any of the paths, so you don't get that feeling of fadeout that drove me crazy with Aokana.

Last of all, the best release of the month, Izuna Zanshinken.  While this game has its issues, it is probably the best splatter-violence focused chuunige I've ever encountered.  The protagonist is a ninja/vigilante in the service of a very old-style yakuza family... that sentence alone should make any chuunige reader want to play it.

 

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AKB48 VN - Seeing Bandai suddenly I hope that they made a similar VN, except instead of AKB48 I hope that they'll add Precure as the heroines. Which should give you ample of heroines number seeing that the number of current Precure are at 68, including the ones from the newest series Tropical Rouge Precure (TRPC). My sudden wild unrealistic idea aside (Because obviously Bandai would need to shill a lot of money if they want to hire the VAs for that kind of Precure VN, and morality wise it'll be wrong), what I can say is that it's just the game that was created with the demographic target of AKB fans who want to have their own wish fulfillment to date one of AKB48 member, and obviously it'll be bad VN if you didn't have interest to see your favorite AKB48 idol in bikini.

Rou-Kyuu-Buu - Well the MC was trained five elementary school girls to be the best basketball team, and that all of the girls are cute in their own ways. I don't really know what to say other than it won't have as much as handsome player like at either Dear Boys or Slam Dunk, although it should be good anime anyway if you prefer to watch basketball anime with cute girls.

Steins Gate 8-bit - The first translated Steins Gate spin-off that I see, and from there I started to think that the company like to milk Steins Gate.

Walkure Romanze - Compared to Aokana and Rou-Kyuu-Buu, the reason for the MC to retire from his favorite sports should be the most sympathetic one because it involve the incident that was unavoidable even as adult. That said it's just too bad that there's no more Walkure Romanze VN after two VNs, so it's safe to assume that they didn't have enough resource to produce more VNs. No known plan to localize this either, so no way to play this in English as of now.

Midori no Umi - I did say that I like the opening song and angry for there's no translation way back at 2015, although currently I'm more or less neutral though mostly because there's much more interesting VNs being localized. Another reason is that we already have Midori no Umi being localized, although the company who involved in the process is SakuraGame which mean that it won't be a good read. At least there's 18+ patch unlike back at Fortissimo and that there's a project to retranslate this, although currently there's no known progress as of now so safe to say that the project was probably already dead or at best it was stalled because of translator's business.

Shinsei ni Shite Okasubekerazu - The name is quite hard to type. Anyway I like the opening song in that it was sang by Shimotsuki Haruka. As for the premise, it's about the MC who work as the butler in a very small kingdom that only consist him, the princess who is the main heroine, and the MC's mother. Although it's said to be the kingdom, micronation would be the exact term for the setting unless the VN did state that the kingdom got a legal recognition from the other countries (Or in this case Japan). That said even with the unique setting, you better focused on how the MC was enjoying his daily life together with his princess and soon the dynamic will start to change with more girls befriended the MC and the princess. This VN was also established as 10th anniversary VN for Pulltop, although looking at their current effort Konosora here might be more fitting as their anniversary VN (Regardless on their questionable censorship for overseas release).

Well that's all for what i can comment in regard of October 2011 releases.

Edited by littleshogun
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