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VN of the Month April 2012 - Kouyoku no Soleil -vii’s World-


kivandopulus

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April is busy as usual even without couple nukige skipped by me. Kouyoku no Soleil -vii’s World- is the only game that I acclaim as masterpiece. Zen is justly fascinated by Mahoutsukai no Yoru, but I have a difficult history with this game and I loathe it. Micchi is dying for D.C.III and lots of other sweet stuff that I avoid listing in fear of getting diabetes.

 

1. Mahoutsukai no Yoru 魔法使いの夜 [120412] Type-Moon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
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“Near the end of the Showa Era. (Late 1980s)
In the old mansion rumored that a witch lives, Aoko Aozaki who just started learning sorcery and her teacher, a young mage Alice Kuonji, lived together.
But as if he was guided by an invisible string of fate, a young boy called Soujuurou Shizuki joins them and a strange communal life begins…”
“Late 1980s. The golden age full of brightness and spirits. The boy who came to the urban city passes by the two witches who live in the present”
“The boy lived a really normal life
She lived with pride and confidence
The girl lived hidden as if she’s asleep”
There are English reviews.

 

2. Ciel Nosurge ~Ushinawareta Hoshi e Sasagu Uta~ シェルノサージュ〜失われた星へ捧ぐ詩〜 [120426] Gust 1
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Ciel nosurge, full name Surge Concerto: Ciel nosurge, is a life simulation video game for the PlayStation Vita developed by Gust. The player is introduced to Ionasal (shortened to "Ion" in the game), a girl with amnesia; the player's objective is to help Ion regather her memories by entering her mind, which is shown as a broken world which the player can repair (in order to recover Ion's memories). Although not a continuation of the Ar tonelico series, it takes place in the same universe with many of the same elements and expands on the series mythos. The game is notably the first game to be developed by Gust after their merger with Tecmo Koei.
Dating SIM has an English review.

 

3. Game demo, Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! ゲームでも、パパのいうことを聞きなさい! [120426] Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
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Segawa Yuuta is a university first year student who was looked after by his older sister, Yuri, but decided to live alone when Yuri got married. One day, Yuuta is asked by Yuri and her husband to babysit their children, Takanashi Sora, Miu and Hina, while they go on a trip. However, during this time, the plane Yuri and her husband are riding crashes and they are both reported missing. In order to prevent the girls from being separated from each other, Yuuta takes it upon himself to look after the girls in his small dormitory apartment. Thus begins Yuuta's life of sharing his everyday life with three girls.
Anime spin-off

 

4. Phase-D: Shuki no Shou Phase D 朱姫の章 [120426] BOOST ON
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The last chapter in the four-volume Phase D sci-fi visual novel series. There are four phases of human existence. From conception to birth is called Phase A. From birth to death is called Phase B. From death to disappearance of the corpse is Phase C. And last, remnant after the death, separate from the corpse, is referred to as Phase D. As with the previous chapters, the general story is very similar but revolves around a new protagonist, Ren Ichishi, and features new characters and places.
The anticipated grand finale of the series (NOT).

 

5. AngelGuard [120427] Athena 1
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This is the first title by Athena. Lisa’s father is the chairman of the military conglomerate ‘General Technics Group’, which plans to build an oil pipeline in central Asia with the backing of the U.S. government. However, they are opposed by the rival Russian financial group ‘Arsenary’ which will use any means to secure the deal. Ryou is an agent of the private military company ‘GMSS’ who is designated to protect Lisa with the help of fellow agent Reina. At the client’s request, he has to do this while undercover as a teacher at Lisa’s school Seika Gakuen.
There is an English impression

 

6. D.C. III ~Da Capo III~ D.C.III ~ダ・カーポIII~ [120427] Circus 1 2 3 4 5 6 
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The sakura that bloomed year-round are now a thing of the past and Hatsune Island is now known as an island that shows that beauty of each season.
Kiyotaka is a second-year student at Kazami Academy who is part of the news club along with the school idol Rikka, his younger sister-like childhood friend Himeno, his mixed-race cousin Charles, hard-working junior who skipped a grade and is in his class Sara, and energetic in spirit but weak in body Aoi.
Unlike in the past, there are no more mysterious things happening on the island. That was until one winter day when the sakura began to bloom. All the news club members got a message on their cell phones telling them to do something at a promised place when the sakura begins to bloom. They couldn’t make out the rest of the message, but are surprised that it was dated 1951. Rikka was extremely curious about the message and the sudden blooming of the sakura, so she called on everyone to solve the mystery with her.
There are English reviews

 

7. Futari wa My Angel ふたりはマイエンジェル [120427] Crowd
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A long long time ago, angels and demons fought against one another on Earth, resulting in demons being sealed deep underground. Now over a million years later, two students attend Amatsuka Gakuen. Kou was the student council president who was famous around the school, while Ruka didn’t stand out at all even in his own class. Other than being in the same class, they shared nothing in common… until they were caught up in the battle with the demons which was started up again, turning them into girls. An angel appeared and bestowed magical powers on them, turning them into Angel White and Angel Black!
Crowd keeps kicking the dead horse of sex change. As usual, ecchi comedy is the best readers can hope for.

 

8. Grand Libra Academy [120427] FOUNDATION
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Grand Libra Academy is a school with the most powerful magicians and those who possess special abilities and aim to become magicians. With such a high concentration of magical prowess in one place, it is entrusted with maintaining peace in the world. People from all countries come to the school for different reasons – some to bring back their newly acquired skills, others to satisfy their ambitions – but the main objective is to find someone to marry! Enter Akihiko, a boy coming from the bloodline of a famous onmyouji from the Heian Era who is now responsible for bringing his family which has fallen on hard times back to its prominent status. Will he find the girl that’s right for him among the many peculiar girls at the school?
Boring and unfinished moege borderline with nukige.

 

9. Hanachiru Miyako to Ryuu no Miko 花散る都と竜の巫女 [120427] Debo no Su Seisakusho
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One day, something went wrong with Ein’s alchemy, causing him and dragon girls Lime and Sheena to be transported to the Far East. They were surprised to find themselves in an unfamiliar place and were invited to meet the castle lord. He sensed their dragon power and asked a favour of them: to rescue his daughter Kukuri-hime who was kidnapped last night. After successfully bringing her back, they return to search for a way to return to Erile.
RPG from endless Kagura franchise autors.

 

10. Harumade, Kururu. はるまで、くるる。 [120427] Sumikko Soft 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
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For some reason, the protagonist ended up spending his spring break with four girls in a remote area that had no wireless reception and didn’t even have a convenience store. There was only a school building that seems to be on the verge of closure, a large dormitory that looked like a hot spring hotel and a chimney that stretched up to the sky as far as the eyes could see. He thought that he would just spend some peaceful days here, but that’s when one of the girls Shizuka declared that they will make this place his harem, and started stripping in front of him in his bewilderment.
There are English reviews

 

11. Hyouka no Mau Sora ni 氷華の舞う空に [120427] Rosebleu 1 2
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Suou lived in a small town blanketed by snow every winter. One day, his cousin Shiina moved in with him after her parents went overseas. Her transfer into the school so close to the winter vacation was the talk of the school. It had been a long time since he had seen her and their time together is quite different from back then. Then a rumour spread that the school might be closed down…
There is an English impression

 

12. Kouyoku no Soleil -vii’s World- 虹翼のソレイユ-vii’s World- [120427] SkyFish 1
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It is a battle royale between seven battle maidens from seven different worlds. Touya is the master of one of them, Linaswell, who resides in the center world. Will they be able to live through the battles?
There is an English review

 

13. Monobeno ものべの [120427] Lose 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
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After six years, Tooru returned with his imouto Natsuha to the remote village of Monobeno deep in the mountains of Kochi prefecture. They reunited with the Akashaguma (child-like Yamori Youkai) Sumi, the Kasayou Hishakaku and his osananajimi and self-proclaimed fiancée Alice. They played in the mountains, visited the shrine and were visited by the Ushi Oni Tooko just like in the past.
Just as they were getting used to living in Monobeno, it was time for the Shichi Seisai summer festival dedicated to the local deity Himemiya-sama. The festival was lively, concluding with the masked dance. While watching the dance, Natsuha suddenly started shaking, complaining that her body felt cold. Tooru quickly took her to the doctor, but nothing seemed to be wrong with her. They went to play in the nearby stream the next day. Hearing the waterfall caused Natsuha to panic and run off in fear, but once again they couldn’t find a reason for her peculiar actions. That night, she appeared in front of them very much an adult, and she bled in her nether regions for the first time. Unable to figure out what caused these inexplicable changes, they could only calm her down and watch over her. Another shock awaited them in the morning when they found Natsuha had returned back to her normal size, but without any memories of the day before.
They decided to head back to the city for a proper examination. Unfortunately, there was a major landslide which blocked off the only world into the village. Natsuha wished to leave badly, saying that something scary is coming for her. What was causing Natsuha’s changes? Was it a disease or a curse? Tooru was determined to find the cause and a way to save Natsuha.
There are English reviews

 

14. Muriyari!? Otome Days むりやり!?オトメDAYS [120427] Nyann.
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Makoto is a boy with pure and cute looks that rival the prettiest girls. He has a complex about his looks and trains to become more manly, but has nothing to show for it. His osananajimi Kiyora asked him to help out at her family’s shrine. Since he cannot turn down a girl’s request, he ended up working there as a miko. He became popular among the shrine visitors and with Kiyora planning more things, how far will his cross-dressing go!?
How did we even live before all those trap games. Anyway, scenario and heroines individual charm are weak to stand out.

 

15. Ore no Kanojo no Uraomote 俺の彼女のウラオモテ [120427] Aries 1
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It's the end of July and the summer holidays have begun.
Takaya, the protagonist, has decided to announce his candidacy for the executive committee of the school festival. The president of the committee is Miyabi, his classmate he is attracted to. The day he thought the distance between them has diminished, he sees that there is something different in her.
In the same period, the match of the basketball club of his younger sister Akeno has come near. And then there are Nazuki, his childhood friend, and Kanna, a girl he gets to know by chance. He feels that the summer of the last school festival he wanted to pass with his friends will be different.
And finally, the second marriage of his father. It seems like that the spouse has a daughter. Is it ever possible that she is someone close to Takaya?
There is an English review

 

16. Soukoku no Arterial 創刻のアテリアル [120427] Eushully 1 2 3
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Shuuya lives with his younger sister Mirai and attends Academy Tengyou Daini. However, their peaceful days come to an abrupt end as their world is taken over by an alternate world called Waibin Sekai – one where angels and demons battle each other and monsters called ‘creators’ roam freely. The students are forced to decide to ally with the angels, side with the demons or do neither. No matter which choice they make, they would be hard pressed to survive in this dangerous world.
RPG/Card game has English reviews.

 

17. Venus Blood -Frontier- ヴィーナスブラッド-フロンティア- [120427] Dual Tail 1 2 3 
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...Gods in heaven, demons on earth, and a giant floating continent for humans.
The continent that is known as the "Floating Continent of Yggdrasil".
That is, a floating miniature garden of the gods.
A place where the human survivors of the great war live, the continent closest to the realm of the gods.
The Demon Emperor Surtr who has his eyes set on that continent said this to this heirs.
"The one who brings me the Heart of Yggdrasil said to be safeguarded by the goddesses on the Floating Continent of Yggdrasil shall be the heir to my throne. As long as you get your hands on the Heart of Yggdrasil, I will not question your methods nor your past transgressions. You are free to make alliances between yourselves, sabotage, or even 'remove' your fellow heirs as you would any obstacle. Kill and rampage as you wish and prove to me your strength and worth"
Hearing those words, Surtr's heirs, all having motivations of their own, began their invasion of the Floating Continent of Yggdrasil.
Among them, an ostracised member of the demon nobility, Loki, has also decided to participate in the feud for the throne.
To become the Demon Emperor is to stand above and at the very top of every demon.
If corrupting the goddesses said to be as beautiful and elegant as a flower in full bloom will be the key that leads to him gaining the throne, he saw no reason not to participate.
He, who desires the divine, beautiful goddesses.
He, who lusts for power to obtain everlasting freedom.
He, who wishes for the neck of the Demon Emperor who took everything from him.
5 invading demons, and 5 goddesses fighting back.
All the pieces have fallen into place. All that remains is for him to wager his own existence in this battle and fight.
In a continent caught in a whirlpool of chaos and ambition, Loki's own ambition burns brightly.
RPG has English reviews

 

18. Yukiiro ~Sora ni Rokka no Sumu Machi~ ゆきいろ ~空に六花の住む町~ [120427] NekoNeko Soft 1 2 
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It’s a city that is adorned by snow. Snow preoccupies the landscape 5 months of a year. Within those months, people’s relationships also changes bit by bit.
As far back as I can remember, everyday of my childhood was fun. But the truth is, even a tiny difference in how I ran my life, perhaps a mismatched button and I would probably not have arrived at the present me at all.
The November of this year will see snow start to fall like every other year. But this year… this year perhaps maybe somehow, something about us will be different…
There are English impressions.

 

BLOCKED
 
1. Shindan no Kekka, Sore wa Koi no Yamai Desu 診断の結果、それは恋の病です [120413] Artemis. 1
Tatsuya is a NEET otaku living in Tokyo. One day Tatsuya and his older sister Rikka, who’s a doctor, travel to a small village in Hokkaido to work at a clinic for a short time. There he meets Nana, a nurse who has likewise come to the clinic as a temp worker.
Nukige, but with an English review
 
2. S.I.S.T.A.R.S: Kiss of Trinity ひよこフェスティバル! [120418] Hyperiyon 1 
Older brother (nameable) has two younger twin sisters, Luna and Sol. Luna is a brocon who wants to have sex with her onii-chan while Sol is high spirited and enjoys teasing both her siblings. The twins both propose to onii-chan to become his lovers.
Doujin, but with an English review
 
3. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi AA 星空へ架かる橋AA [120427] feng 1 
The fandisk for Hoshikaka, containing after stories for the 6 heroines and another stories for new heroine Seira and subchars Senka and Yocchan. The new routes take place one year after Kazuma first came to Yamabiko city. Ui and Hina’s Valentine’s Day routes from the special patch will now be fully voiced, with episodes for other characters coming out too.
Fandisc
 
4. Imouto ga Boku o Neratteru 妹が僕を狙ってる [120427] ALL-TiME 1 
Keita has three imoutos: Erina, Tomoka and Yuzu. They may seem to be normal siblings, but he actually lusts after them, sneaking into their bedrooms at night and masturbating to their cute sleeping faces. At the same time, the oldest imouto Erina had fallen in love with him since he had always been by her side since she was born. However, she felt that there’s no way she could admit to having these feelings and continued to hide her true feelings. One day, a girl named Saori joined their family via their father’s remarriage, becoming their older sister. She was beautiful, kind, smart, great at housework and cooking – perfect in every way. Saori quickly became close with his imoutos and Erina found someone that she could confide in. Following Saori’s plan, his imoutos begin to launch a full-on assault on him.
Nukige, but with an English review

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This is a rather huge month... lots of middle to high quality releases, with a bunch of duds on the side.

AngelGuard is one of a number of meh bodyguard-focused VNs that came out around this time, most of them seeming to ape Akagoei or Shugotate to one degree or another.  Nothing to really say about it, since it didn't meet my standards then and doesn't now.

Grand Libra Academy is a game that could have been good... if they'd decided precisely where to go with it beforehand.  This game can't decide whether it is a nukige or a charage.... and not in a good way, like Erect! was.

Harumade, Kururu is a classic.  I say this because for mindfucks, this game and the series it started are generally the ones most often pointed at by mindfuck fanboys.

Hyouka no Mau Sora ni is the only kusoge ever made by Rosebleu.  The less said the better.

Kouyoku no Soleil is probably the most 'obvious' of all the Soleil games.  The protagonist is straightforward and what is going on is never really concealed to any significant degree.  The only thing that I should mention is that there is a cameo from Primary (by the same company) in the story.

Monobeno should never have happened.  Yes, the story is fascinating... but there should never have been ero involved in this story.   Frigging lolige freaks *vomits*

Ore no Kanojo no Uraomote is a 'themed' moege, a type of moege that was more common at the beginning of the century, when less was expected of a writer when it came to characterization and storytelling.  As such, this game is not really much to look at.

Soukoku no Arterial is one of Eushully's better games not based in Dir Lifyna.  It has a solid cast of characters, an excellent story, and a workable card battle system (since no card battle system ever gets any better than workable).  

Venus Blood Frontier is the second best VB game.  I put it several steps behind Hypno in quality, but that shouldn't detract from how excellent it is, nonetheless.  It has a solid story (except the endrun, which all VB games except Hypno screw up on) and decent gameplay (really, like all VB games, it is all about preparations).

 

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Quite a lot to discuss at this month just like mod Clephas said, so let's try to talk about this one by one.

Mahoyo - The only new Type Moon VN that they manage to write before they decide to pour all of their resources into FGO, and there'll be two more sequels of this which as of now would be impossible to make if only they currently put the focus on FGO and Tsukihime remake. That aside, Mahoyo here has some very good special effect which is more than make up for the lack of the voice. The premise is that we'll going to have Aoko (Shiki's teacher in Tsukihime) who somehow get her male schoolmate who definitely not created as the stand in for male MC because usually this type of VNs have male MC joined her magic study with her eccentric teacher, and from there the trio will experience some strange occurrence which one way or another will involve the fight. As for the translation, there's several failed attempt to translate this in the past so much that we have French version comes first, and currently there's a group with steady progress which apparently almost done from what I see from the progress.

Ciel Nosurge - The first part of the duology Nosurge in that Nosurge itself is the prequel of Ar Tonelico. Currently we didn't have this localized because somehow Gust didn't want to have this in English and yet they localized the sequel (Probably because they still adjust the stuffs back when they just finish the merger with Koei Tecmo), and that currently we have Steam version of Nosurge duology (Japanese only). No idea if Gust will released English version of it, but I can say that I'll look forward to the English version of this if possible. Oh yes as per Ar Tonelico here, obviously we'll have the song magic which was activated by singing and there'll a lot of nice vocal song here.

Da Capo 3 - This VN had some history with Fuwanovel and Aaeru here, and let's leave it at that. The premise is like we have Kiyotaka who somehow together with his five female friends (ie the heroines) manage to see the everlasting sakura tree was alive at 2072 which is unusual because the tree itself was already dead in the previous Da Capo event. While at first you may think that 2072 here will be the main part of the VN, actually in here we'll going to London Magic Academy in 1951 and from there we'll follow Kiyotaka studying magic while at the same time try to have a romance with one of five heroines. It's been localized by Mangagamer back at 2017, and that the real prologue is hidden in the first extra story while the Prologue section here is merely the opening part from 2072 in that it's unrelated to 1951 stories for majority of the VN.

Harukuru - The nukige that show us on how four girls and male will have sex for fifteen times straight. Or not because after the nukige like prologue suddenly the situation turned serious and it's up to the MC to find out what's wrong with his situation. It's quite a mix indeed, although in case you play this only for nukige then you'll be confused with the science explanation and then you'll find out that there'll be only two sex scenes per heroines after the prologue. Sekai did localize this, although until now they waiting the engine work from the company which mean more waiting for us.

Monobeno - After I see the outfit entry on the heroines along with Maitetsu, I can say that the character designer like to design several outfits for the main heroine which automatically mean that the sprites have a lot of production value. Other things to note is that it have several singer to sing the songs along with there're many loli like characters, in which the latter may cause some uncomfortable situation so much that the developer (Lose) did censor the panty shot for the oversea release of Maitetsu (Which compared to what Pulltop did the censorship is not that bad because we still have the sex scenes translated in Maitetsu). The premise here is we have the MC who come back to his hometown and he find out that his little sister somehow has strange condition, and from there the MC did his best to find the way to solve the problem in that it might be caused by the curse. There's also Happy End release later in which it seems to be the complete version of Monobeno here just like what Lose did later with Maitetsu Last Run. 

Soukoku no Arterial - I did play this as soon as narration patch was released because I like the card battle gameplay in there, and turned out that the translation is very bad because the sentences aren't arranged properly along with there's so many untranslated words that I heard in the spoken lines alone and therefore it's a mess to read (I still manage to finished Human route here). Back to the game, and as for the VN with card battle this is the best one because the rule of it is quite complex in that it's resembled Yu-Gi-Oh to a degree with card effect and equipment (Although Yu-Gi-Oh is more complex though). Someday I want to see proper narration patch of this, although looks like no one interested to do this as of now.

Venus Blood Frontier - If what mod Clephas said is true, looks like we lucky that we got both of best (Hypno) and second best (Frontier) of Venus Blood VNs being translated and right now we already have Frontier released. From what I gather, looks like it's the first time when Dual Tail started to add passive abilities so you need to think more in regard of abilities compared to previous Venus Blood. As for the story, it has Norse mythology with Loki as our MC try to fight his unfortunate situation by searching a certain item in order to get accepted by his grandfather who Loki loathed so much. In here Loki can also corrupt the goddesses that he recruited, so if you like the corruption then you can play this although you can also keep the goddess uncorrupted. Lastly you can also chose between to have sex scenes and no sex scenes if you play translated version, so good for the writer in that they did work hard to improved Frontier for overseas version and I believe they'll do the same effort with Hypno localization effort as well.

That's all for what I can comment in regard of April 2012 releases.

Edited by littleshogun
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