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VN of the Month October 2015 - Sakura no Uta -Sakura no Mori no Ue o Mau-


kivandopulus

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Two-digit number of games for a change! Sakura no Uta -Sakura no Mori no Ue o Mau- is VN of the Month. Kyuuketsuki no Libra is another worthy masterpiece. Clephas also evaluates Primal x Hearts 2 high within its genre. Micchi basically likes everything else - Ama no Sora Retrospect , Cocoro Rista , Koi x Shin Ai Kanojo

 

1. Tokyo Ghoul: Jail 東京喰種 JAIL [151001] Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
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The Jail incident - once, the ghoul Jail committed the crime of mass-killing investigators. But there were few eye witnesses, and no one knew his true appearance. The ghoul youth Rio, as one of the suspects of the Jail incident, was falsely charged with the crime and imprisoned in Cochlea.
Kaneki was abducted by Aogiri Tree. While being subjected to severe torture in their 11th Ward Base, Kaneki finally accepts that he is a ghoul, seeking strength.
At the same time, Anteiku, Aogiri Tree and CCG are fighting a three-way battle. Kaneki evades Aogiri together with his comrades from Anteiku, and at last CCG eradicate Aogiri's 11th ward base.
After the battle ends, Kaneki leaves Anteiku, and follows the trail of what caused him to turn into a ghoul together with Tsukiyama, Banjou and co.
Meanwhile, Cochlea is being attacked by ghouls who seem to be Aogiri's elite forces under the cover of the fight in the 11th ward. Villainous ghoul prisoners are released into the world again. Taking advantage of the commotion, Rio successfully breaks out of Cochlea. Even though he's worn out, he wanders around the town, and is given a warm welcome at Anteiku. In order to prove his innocence, Rio is searching for clues on Jail, who was the cause for his imprisonment.
Rio catches hold of some information on Jail, and decides to approach the ward that he assumes to be Jail's turf. There, he meets Kaneki, who is eating powerful ghouls and seeking to become stronger. Because they share the goal of chasing Jail, they decide to act together. Who on earth is Jail?
The fates of the ghouls Rio and Kaneki, who encountered tragedy, cross towards a new end.
Anime Spin-Off

 

2. Kenseiki Alpha Ride 剣聖機 アルファライド [151023] Eternal 1 2 3 
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Kai leads a normal student’s life with a nagging father, boring school and inseparable friends. One day, he started seeing a strange dream in which he was a wielding a sword in a strange land. His dirtied hand and the smell lingering smell of iron troubled him every day like a recurring nightmare. When he noticed that his body also began to change, his father revealed that those in their bloodline would be summoned one day to a war-torn world and his dream would become reality. His chance meeting with siblings Shino and Shizuma taught him the preciousness of their everyday lives. As his father repressed his sorrows, Kai faced down a destiny from which he could not escape.
Determined to bring back his older sister Shino, Shizuma headed into the heart of darkness. Arriving at the corrupt country of Rujiwada, he was taken prisoner and sent to the capital. There he met the doll Stigma, who looked just like his sister. This was a world where one must kill to stay alive. He would dirty his hand with blood to find and rescue her. He would risk his life in this battlefield hell to gain freedom. He was caught in the unavoidable gears of destiny, with the strongest enemy standing in his path.
RPG

 

3. Sakura no Uta -Sakura no Mori no Ue o Mau- サクラノ詩-櫻の森の上を舞う- [151023] Makura 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
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Spring. After the death of his father - a world-famous artist - left him without any living relatives, protagonist Kusanagi Naoya is put under the care of his friend Natsume Kei's family. There, his homeroom teacher Natsume Ai, and Kei's younger sister - the actress Natsume Shizuku - await him in turn. And with the arrival of the new school term, Misakura Rin - Naoya's childhood friend who transferred long ago - reappears right before him.
Beyond the veil of cherry blossom petals blown by the wind - almost like their promised reunion --
Feelings pile up with the passage of time: once the torrent of emotions comes rushing down, what is the spectacle that awaits?
There are English reviews

 

4. Ama no Sora Retrospect 天ノ空レトロスペクト [151030] GLace 1 
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Amanosora is a small town of around 60,000 people, formed ten years ago from the merger of the villages of Tensei and Sorami. Shikimi attends the local school with the cleaning club leader Himari and his lively kouhai Shinon. There’s a rumour at the school that the door to another world would be opened by pressing a certain sequence of buttons in the elevator at the lighthouse in the Stargazing Commemorative Hall.
One day, the school committee asked the cleaning club to tidy up the interior of the lighthouse. Together with his mysterious book-reading classmate Misumi, they solved the elevator riddle while doing the cleaning. It led to the top floor of the lighthouse, which was a huge fairytale-like library. This was the other world: Remembrance. A small girl named Amahoshi awoke from her slumber and asked for their help in gathering the town’s scattered memories.
There is an English impression

 

5. Koi x Shin Ai Kanojo 恋×シンアイ彼女 [151030] Us:Track 1 2 3 4 5
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Kunimi Koutarou is a second-year student at Mikagegaoka Gakuen who is part of the literature club. He dreams of becoming a novelist, but he is unable to write a romance novel because of a first love trauma when he was small.
This spring, Mikagegaoka Gakuen was merged with two other schools, Sakuradai Gakuen and Mikagegaoka Nishi Gakuen. Koutarou found himself sitting in between Sena, his former love who had moved away, and Ayane, his best friend a few years ago who hadn’t talked to him since a certain incident.
Now his regular days suddenly turn into those like you would only see in romance novels...
There are English reviews

 

6. Kokoro Rista! こころリスタ! [151030] Q-X 1
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This is the sequel to Q-X’s 2003 title Kokoro Navi. In the near future, the otaku world which had been somewhat accepted into society returned underground as a result of large-scale regulations. The regulations then began to spill over to the Internet and even the once popular communication tool IRIS showed signs of decline with the departure of many occasional users.
The shy Yuuto has no confidence in communicating with others and lives an uneasy life while keeping his 2D passion a secret. For him, who avoids others in real life and would only talk with strangers online, IRIS’s decline was a huge problem. However, he did nothing but lament at his situation. Then suddenly he discovered that ‘Cocoro Rista’, the next-generation version of the rumored magic browser ‘Cocoro Navi’, was force-installed on his smartphone! He was pulled into a virtual, where he met a mysterious young girl, Alpha. She was a ’rounder’ who lives in the online world and she had been waiting for him.
There is an English review

 

7. Kyuuketsuki no Libra 吸血姫のリブラ [151030] Onomatope* 1 2 3
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Kusanagi Shuuma was living a life of an ordinary boy until one day he got suddenly abducted by one of the three vampire ringleaders - Iris Pumila. She revealed to him the secret of his ancestors - that he has vampire progenitor's blood coursing through his veins and that it is her destiny to awaken his true nature. Fortunately, Shuuma was able to escape from Pumila at that time and return to his ordinary daily life, but as a consequence of his encounter with her - his body has radically changed and he became a half-vampire. As a side effect of his sudden change, Shuuma obtained superhuman strenght and vampire's vitality but he also started having spontaneous vampiric impulses that are calling for him to suck blood of living creatures.
On top of all of that, Shuuma made a bunch of new bizarre acquaintances with random women from both human and vampire side:
- Maritima Malcolmia, the cute werewolf maid who was tasked by Shuuma's deceased father to restore the family she served to its former glory;
- Calendula Officinalis, a daughter of one of the three progenitor's families, who declared herself as a Shuuma's fiancee;
- Aoi Kamishiro, a tsundere vampire hunter sent from the Holy See's secret anti-vampire organization - the Rubina;
- Lycoris Radiata, an airheaded subordinate assassin sent by Pumila to abduct and capture Shuuma.
While dealing with all these women as well as his old female friends, Shuuma is trying to live not as a vampire, but as a human. Tangled in the midst of this web of conflicting intentions, Shuuma will have to use his vampiric powers despite his aversion to them to oppose the rising forces of evil. His ordinary everyday life of a simple boy is no more.
Game is localized and has English reviews

 

8. Primal x Hearts 2 [151030] Marmalade 1 2 3 4
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On the advice of his older sister, Daichi transferred into Ainoshima Gakuen in the second term. His heart was full of expectation for a new life, at least until he crossed the school gates where he was accosted by the two student council leaders. There are two student councils: the noble Gekka-kai and the fashionable Tendou-kai. They regularly compete against one another and their support is evenly split. As such, he held the sway vote and everyone greatly anticipated his arrival, much like what happened at the school 6 years ago. They say 777 is lucky, but to Daichi, who had planned to spend a quiet school life, it was extremely unlucky.
There are English reviews

 

9. Royal Garden ~Otome ni Koi Suru Ouji no Gikyoku~ ロイヤルガーデン~乙女に恋する皇子の戯曲~ [151030] Azarashi Soft
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Life is a series of choices; one must make important decisions at various points in one’s life. Shinkurou is a poor guy barely getting by every day while troubled by debts. Yue is a dark-skinned maid who was tasked with a secret mission from her mother country Elgandia. They came together on the main street in the resort town Oumisaka, and she asked him to enrol for a year at Oumisaka Girl’s Private School as Yang, the Crown Prince of Elgandia.
Thus, he ended up in the midst of a maiden’s garden with only the daughters of the elite. He must abide by two rules: he must not reveal to anyone that he is a fake, and he must capture the heart of a princess. A tragic end would await them if he was unable to keep this oath. How will he act along with the princesses? Will he be able to ad lib through the entire year?
Moege

 

10. Unlucky Re:Birth/Reverse アンラッキーリバース [151030] Windmill 1 
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Spring is the bright season of new exciting beginnings. However, the unlucky Yuuto felt in the dumps after having failed to find a job. Ever positive, he looked at the silver lining and felt that everyone has these kind of days in their life and tomorrow would be a brand new day. That’s when he suddenly fell into a hole and the self-proclaimed goddess Urushu took him to another world, Alternia. He ended up on top of Eris, the girl who had summoned him, and was promptly labelled as a pervert. It was the worst first impression, but he didn’t know that his unluckiness will soon be completely reversed!
There is an English review

 

11. Watashi ga Suki nara "Suki" tte Itte! 私が好きなら「好き」って言って! [151030] ChuableSoft 1 2 3
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"I love you."
Under the tree in the garden behind the school, I confessed my love to 'Her'...
My up-to-then ordinary school life took a turn after a chance encounter with QP, a fairy that was born from an apple. I met Ayame, the air-headed rich girl, my relationship with my childhood friend Yuuki has changed, and my ex-girlfriend Mahiru showed up in my life again.
One budding relationship blooms after the next, and then...
...After the longest seconds of my life pass, 'She' blushes as she responds.
What will her answer be?
Game is localized and has English reviews

 

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1. Maro no Kanja wa Gatenkei 3 Kanketsuhen 麻呂の患者はガテン系3 完結編 [151015] Elf 1
Maro 3: The End of Marogelion begins by backtracking slightly to replay the ending scene of the second game, which is for a reason and the scene, seemingly abrupt and random in 2, eventually takes on meaning but still feels random at the start of this game too. Randomness, disjointedness are themes of note throughout the third and final Maro.
Nukige has an English review
 
2. Grisaia no Yuukan グリザイアの有閑 [151023] Frontwing 1
This game was released with the third DVD and Blu-ray Disc volume for the Grisaia no Rakuen anime.
This side story is a character-driven visual novel featuring some of the same characters. This time, it's Michiru who takes the lead role in this slapstick comedy. She tries to decide on a new club activity with the help of Sachi and her other friends, but it's harder than it sounds...

Fandisc
 
3. Seven Piece! ~Ochiteyuku Shoujo-tachi~ せぶんぴ~す! ~淫ちてゆく少女たち~ [151023] Abogado Powers
Main character moves to a school in a rural town and starts to live at Pension Lupine run by his uncle. There he communicates with girls who have supernatural witch powers. But he has demon king's ability to absorb powers of others. As he loses control to the darkness within, he starts to subjugate girls around him.
Nukige listed for the sake of opening

Edited by kivandopulus

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Kenseiki Alpha Ride is an example of a game that would have been so much better... if 1) there had only been one protagonist, 2) the gameplay was more well-balanced, and 3) Said protagonist wasn't a whiney little bitch.

I gave Sakura no Uta a relatively high rating, but most of my positive comments on it exclude the true path.  I say this because, while Sca-ji constantly annoyed me throughout the game, it was only on the true path that he managed to send me over the edge into rage.

Kyuuketsuki no Libra... it should be noted that this is a watered down Draculius with a much weaker protagonist, less interesting humor, and an unnatural obsession with loli+urination.  I liked the game, but it was so obvious that they were trying to create a spiritual successor to Draculius that it ended up falling short in every respect.

Primal Hearts 2... is basically the same as the first game.  It is a great charage with hot H and decent humor, but you won't find any deep insights or truly interesting plot elements to it.

Unlucky is an isekai SOL charage.  While it is a fantasy world, it is a fantasy world that has tech at around the same level as the 1980's modern world, though lacking in some areas.  Decent story and characters, and it is definitely worth playing for people interested in any of the genres.  However, it isn't so exceptional that you should play it even if you don't have an interest in the genres involved.

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Grisaia no Yuukan - One of Frontwing's attempt to milk Grisaia, and at least you can just directly dismissed it unlike Meikyuu and Rakuen which most people would still treat those two as Kajitsu's sequels even though I treat those as fandisc.

Suki Suki - Supposedly normal moege (Which for the most part it is) that ended up has more soap drama plot compared to Haretaka (Same writer) in the routes, and that the staffs badly manage their budget so much that they can't write Maya's route which according to the director was in the initial plan. Another controversy here is that Arunaru did localized English as Spanish and change 'Onii-chan' into 'Dude', but seeing that he's sort of unwilling to work on this according to one of his tweet and that the girl who call the MC 'Dude' is probably the cause of budget mismanagement, I guess I can understand on why Arunaru did the blunder here.

Libra - Mikandi did KS of this and released this back at 2017, only to be revealed that they've been scammed because the translation is quite bad from what I'd hear. Other than that while this VN has potential to be good chuunige, unfortunately a lot of urination along with a high number of sex scenes would turned off a number of people to read this. In any case, Libra should be good choice if one want to read vampire chuunige as long as they're willing to endure the (So-called) bad translation and a number of urination scenes.

Sakura no Uta - A so-called kamige VN that was written by SCA-DI, although of course like every kamige VN out there you'll either find that this is really good as the reviews said or this VN was massively overrated by the reviews. That said, I suppose it's up to each other to see if Sakura no Uta is really good or not, although the opening song here is pretty nice. Anyway this VN itself has the talk about art and on how it affect the MC so much, and it also has surprisingly nice GL story (So much that I see an opinion that SCA-DI may like to write GL stories if we look at Yasuko's crush on Kotomi at Tsui no Sora and Kimika's ending at Zakuro's chapter in Subahibi). Also while SCA-DI did express his interest to localize this (If I remember), until now there's no much talk in regard of that so perhaps it would be quite difficult to see this translated.

That's all for my comment in regard of October 2015 releases.

Edited by littleshogun
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