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I'm going to be blunt... for some reason, the 'Otome' series of trap-protagonist ojousama-ge by Ensemble seems to be incapable of fulfilling the promise of Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas in any of its follow-up games. Koi no Canvas was, for better or worse, one of the single best charage I've ever played, with strong characterizations for all of the characters (including the protagonist) full voices for all characters (later Otome series games all had voiced protagonists, though), and superlative individual paths with an actual story tailor-made to match both the protagonist and the individual heroines. Unfortunately, none of the Otome series games since has gotten anywhere close to doing what Koi no Canvas managed, and this one isn't an exception. I will say that it starts out really well... the protagonist is fully-voiced and capable in his own field (in this case cooking), and his actions throughout the VN show him to be competent... but the romantic portions, the characterization of the heroines, and the actual development of the heroine paths are all... second-rate. The few good points in this VN stand out so well precisely because the rest is so poorly-done. As an example, the humor is actually pretty good, and the protagonist's reactions to most situations are either funny or ones that leave you with a positive impression of him. Unfortunately, there are certain aspects that absolutely drive me insane reading this VN. The heroine routes are truncated and devoid of drama (seriously, you can't have ojousama-ge without a controlling parent or a character with major personal issues, but none of that really exists here). The romance is sudden and makes little sense. Worse, it is pretty much impossible to develop an emotional connection even to the protagonist, because every time it seems like they might sadden you with his past (he is an orphan, for instance), they deliberately cut it short or interject the protagonist's general lack of care for the issue in question. After Koi no Canvas, this series has continually sabotaged itself with this kind of BS, and I'm actually crying right now at the sheer wasted potential of the characters in this story. It is obvious the writer wanted to do more, as well... because there are a lot of signs throughout the heroine routes of cut scenes or abrupt story movements that seem awkward/amateurish. Considering the experience of this team, even aside from this series, it seems a bit ridiculous that they would have tripped so many landmines in a single game (I mean, one of the writers worked on Sakura, Sakimashita... and that game is very, very good), and I honestly think that if Will wants to stop hemorrhaging cash, it needs to stop breaking up its best teams (the Evolimit team) or letting total incompetents get involved with story and characterization (referring to the Imouto Paradise writer who was also involved with this and the other Otome series games after Koi no Canvas).

The last GM standing Q&A: Link to the thread: Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here! Chapter 1: The Last GM Standing - Day 2: Team Down's base Down was leaning over several graves, looking down at the faces of his fallen comrades. Heavy raindrops fell from the dark sky, hammering against the green barrier that protected the graveyard. Down did not want the ground where his brave warriors were put to rest disturbed, and had put up a protective shield around it. The previous day's battle had claimed the lives of four of his soldiers. Tiagofvarela, Down's general, had been resurrected because of his position as general, but the other three were never coming back. The state that he had found them in had been absolutely horrifying. MoeKyun was completely unrecognizable, with a crushed cranium. Funyarinpa had his entire rib cage split open. Nashetania was burned to a crisp, and lastly Tiagofvarela was completely gone; made into a puppet by Nosebleed and his general. "I won't ever forgive you for this." Cursing his enemies, Down turned around to face his remaining forces. Not a hint of fear could be seen on their faces. In its place he could see anger, hatred and a lust for revenge. Their weapons glistened in the faint moonlight, creating a heavy atmosphere that carried death and destruction. Upon losing so many of his warriors on the first day, Down had decided to take direct action. He would not sit by and watch more of his men fall while he himself sat around idly. Breaking the sullen silence with a voice that carried authority and bravery, Down spoke up: "Today we will avenge our fallen! The reaper of death will no longer look to us for its victims! It will follow us, but the blood that it feeds on will be that of our enemies! Today, we bring down the evils that waits beyond those mountains!" Raising his arm and pointing towards the huge volcano that towered some distance from them, Down pridefully drew his weapon. It was a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt long as a grown man's arm. The blade was forged in a green metal, Down's team color, and the massive weapon made the ground beneath Down's feet crack open from the sheer amount of power it held. "TO WAAAAR!" Down shouted just as a lightning bolt struck the ground next to their barrier. The sudden roar of the thunder made his men flinch, but they soon joined in. "TO WAAAAAR!" As the voices of Down's army rang throughout the mountains, a dark shadow spread across the centre of the battlefield. Team Kaguya had already set off, and they were approaching Nosebleed's base with great speed. Team Down were headed for Nosebleed's base as well, and moved swiftly through the storm. Nosebleed himself had prepared for battle, sensing that a great danger was approaching. Soon the three armies would clash, marking the start of the most fierce battle yet. Who would come out victorious? How many would die before the winner was crowned? - The Last GM Standing, Chapter 2 - The Cloaked Reaper The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching could be heard in the distance. The ground under Mitchhamilton's feet shook as the two armies approached from the east and the west. There was no cover anywhere, just a huge open field that went on for a kilometer. No matter what, a stealthy approach was impossible. Clutching his gilded spear in his hand, Mitch took a look around. Two clones were at a ready, weapons drawn, and the rest of Nosebleed's army was spread out across the area; ready for the battle that was to come. Nosebleed himself had marched out to face off against Down, who had charged in ahead of his troops. As the two clashed, a massive shockwave had swept all the trees and vegetation completely off the face of the earth. What remained was charred ground, like something out of an old apocalypse movie. It didn't take long for the first attacker to appear. Swiftly running towards them, three figures clad in Down's green garb drew their weapons. It wasn't possible for Mitch to see who the attackers were from the distance, but that didn't matter. Signaling the clones at his side, he sent them out to face off against the unknown assailants. The two instantly faced off against an opponent each, leaving only one attacker still on his way towards Mitch. "Well then, let's do this." As he said that, Mitch tightly gripped his spear and hurled it with great velocity at the approaching enemy. The spear made an intimidating sound as it flew through the air, and a loud clink signaling the clashing of steel resounded throughout the battlefield. The spear had not hit its target, but instead it had been stopped by the attacker's weapon. "Tch. Reappear!" Commanding his spear to once again appear in his hand, Mitch opened his palm, and a pink magic circle shimmered brightly, making the spear teleport back to him. Grasping it tightly once more, he jumped at his opponent. "Neat trick you have there." The attacker said as he deflected Mitch's attack. His weapon was a big cleaver; the kind that a butcher would use. He wielded it in his right hand, and his left hand was hidden within his cloak. Did he have another weapon concealed there? Making sure not to get too close, Mitch continued to stab at his opponent with his spear. "Seems I caught a general. Not bad." A mischievous smile on his opponents face made the hair on Mitch's arms stand up. It was a chilling sight; the sight of someone who enjoys battle. That in itself made the blood in Mitchhamilton's body boil. This was a worthy opponent. "Break!" Taking a quick step back, Mitch snapped his fingers and the ground beneath his opponents feet cracked open. It wasn't a deep hole, but it was enough so that he might break a leg or sustain moderate damage. But instead of falling into the trap, the opponent grabbed a hold of Mitch's spear with his bare hand, and nimbly pushed himself backwards. He landed safely a few yards behind the hole. The hand he had used to grip the spear was bleeding fiercely, but it didn't look like the attacker minded at all. "State your name!" Mitch called out as he tried to identify his opponent. It was a man he had seen before, there was no doubt about it, but he had trouble remembering his name. "Nohman. Remember it, because it will be the last name you ever hear!" Charging straight at Mitch, Nohman shifted his cleaver to his other hand and hit Mitch's shoulder hard. Because of his spear being a long range weapon, it was hard to deflect such an attack. The barrier protecting Mitch made the cleaver bounce back, but he could feel the energy draining from his protective shield. Such a strong blow ... The two clashed again and again, each time they deflected each other's attacks with precision. In the form of skill they were equally matched, but Mitch was at a disadvantage because of his long range weapon. Every time he managed to push Nohman back, he would come charging forward again. "This is bad. At this rate, he is going to defeat me. I have to get some distance between us again." Thinking to himself, Mitch tried to find an opening that would allow him to move away from his opponent. He couldn't use too much magic, as every time he did, it put a great deal of strain on his body. Seeing as he was already getting tired, it would have to be an absolute last resort. The attacks coming from Nohman were relentless. Every time he struck at Mitch, he hit in a slightly different spot, with slightly different strength. It made calculating where and when his next attack would occur nearly impossible. All that Mitch was able to do was block the oncoming attacks. "Are you getting tired general?" Nohman taunted Mitch as he continued to strike at his torso. A few of the attacks went through Mitch's guard and hit his barrier, but most of them were deflected. "There really is no other way, is there?" Deciding that he had to resort to his final trump card, Mitch completely let go of his spear and extended his right arm so that it was pointing right at Nohman's chest. Probably realizing what Mitch was doing, Nohman suddenly jumped sideways in fear of an oncoming attack. But he had instead walked right into Mitch's trap. Using his left hand, he pointed two of his fingers towards Nohman's new location. Channeling all the remaining strength in his body, two magic circles appeared in front of his extended fingers. Shortly after, two beams of energy shot out, moving quickly towards his defenseless opponent. The first beam hit right below Nohman's collarbone, the other one hitting him in the right shoulder. Both went straight through his barrier and burned their way through the skin, leaving behind large holes in his body. Not wasting any time, Mitch moved backwards and grabbed his spear that was on the ground. Finally getting some distance, he prepared for one final attack. But... Something felt a little strange. His stomach was tingling, and his body wouldn't move. Looking down at his own torso, Mitch saw great amounts of crimson blood running down his legs, down onto the charred ground. "W-What..?" In a weak voice, Mitch questioned what had happened. Falling to his knees, he used what remaining strength he had in order to stay conscious. A shadow moved in front of him. It started talking as it presented a cleaver stained with blood. Unable to decipher the meaning of the man's words due to his fading conscience, Mitch collapsed on the spot. He was already beyond saving... Team Nosebleed, Mitchhamilton- DEAD END ... "My oh my, it seems it works." Looking down at the dead general, Nohman cleaned his bloody cleaver with the edge of his clothing. A few seconds earlier, Mitchhamilton had attacked Nohman with all his remaining strength, hoping to take him down in one attack. Problem was, the man Mitch was attacking was just a doppelganger. Mitch had not noticed it during Nohman's relentless assault, but right before Mitch dropped his spear, Nohman had used some of his strength to create a clone of himself. He suspected Mitch might be up to something, and took some precautions. Right after Mitch had gone to pick up his spear after he attacked Nohman's doppelganger, Nohman had cut Mitch's stomach open with his blade. The cut had gone all the way back to his spine, nearly cutting Mitch in half. "Rest in peace, general." With those words, Nohman left the area and looked around for new prey. ___________________________________________________________________________ A few hundred meters away, Team Kaguya's temporary command post Moving quickly towards Kaguya's base, several hooded men in pink cloaks were running towards VirginSmasher's location. He counted four attackers in total. By his side was Kaguya, his fearless leader, wearing a long white jacket that simply hung from his shoulders. His arms weren't in the sleeves, yet the jacket stuck to his body perfectly, as if it was fastened by some invisible force. Unlike his soldiers, Kaguya was not wearing any armor, but instead he wore a long jacket with red writing on the back. He was seemingly unarmed, and paid no attention to the battles raging around him. Kaguya's tactic was simple. March out and make it seem like he was attacking. Then, pull back ever so slightly and wait for Down and Nosebleed to wipe each other out. Although it had worked at first, Nosebleed had now sent a few of his soldiers out to face off against Kaguya's army. As he noticed the approaching enemies, Kaguya sighed and shook his head. "Just when I had some peace and quiet. Ugh, you, kill those morons." Waving his hand casually at VirginSmasher, Kaguya turned around and carelessly walked away. "V-Very well sir!" Grasping his bow tightly, VirginSmasher drew four arrows at once, strung the bow, and fired. The arrows flew towards their targets with great speed and accuracy. Why were they not dodging? The arrows simply hit the four men, bringing them to a halt as they all fell to the ground, motionless. Was that it? He had at least expected their barriers to deflect the first shot, but there was absolutely no resistance at all. "Was the shots simply stronger than they had imagined?.." Wondering what exactly had happened, VirginSmasher drew another arrow and carefully started to approached the fallen enemies. There was blood flowing from their heads, and each one of the bodies lay perfectly still. "Freeze." A sudden chilling voice coming from behind made VirginSmasher quickly spin around. As he moved his legs backwards to get some distance from his target, his body started aching. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and a thin layer of ice started appearing all over his body. "Crap, magic?" Trying to shake of the ice that was restricting his body, VirginSmasher made sure to stay in motion so that the frost couldn't settle. He had been reckless. It was such an obvious distraction, and yet he had approached it without taking any real precautions. Just as he expected, the four men he had shot down earlier were now gone. Most likely it had been some form of magic as well. Whoever he was fighting clearly prefer magic over a physical confrontation. "W-Who's there?!" Calling out to the mysterious opponent through clenched teeth, VirginSmasher tried to get a look at the man's face. The man moved his hands slowly towards his hood and removed it. "Deep Blue huh?" VirginSmasher recognized the man as Nosebleed's soldier Deep Blue. Not bothering to give an answer, Deep Blue launched his body forward and hit VirginSmasher right in the chest. The ice that had restricted his body broke off forcefully, sending strong waves of pain through his entire being. A thin layer of skin was ripped off along with the ice. "GAAARGH..." Letting out a pained scream, VirginSmasher kicked at his opponent blindly with all his might. His leg hit something and he heard a light groan. This gave him time to awkwardly get back on his feet. His vision was blurry and his arms, legs and torso hurt like hell. Trying to string his bow with his weak arms, he aimed towards the general direction of his target and prepared to attack. He did not have time to look for a specific target; a general outline of Deep Blue's figure was the best he could do. Firing the first arrow, VirginSmasher quickly moved his hand behind his back to reach for another one. Trouble was, his quiver was gone. "Tch. Did I lose it in the fall earlier?" Clicking his tongue and whispering to himself, he tried to move backwards to look for his quiver. Sadly for him, Deep Blue had recovered from the attack and was once again approaching. VirginSmasher's vision was still quite poor from the damage sustained in his fall, so he wasn't able to see if the arrow had hit or not. Moreover, it became impossible to see where his opponent would be striking him next. "Ice bullets!" Deep Blue shouted and a few seconds after, a strong impact in his abdomen sent VirginSmasher flying once again. "W-What a stupid name for an attack..." He managed to squeeze out before he hit the ground. As his body hit the hard ground beneath him, his consciousness faded for a few seconds. ... Deep Blue's perspective: I had fired four ice bullets at my target, though because of the arrow sticking out of my shoulder, my aim had been a little off. Only one of the bullets had hit, not making the impact hard enough to be lethal. It seemed he had been knocked unconscious though. "Stupid brat..." I shook my head and moved over towards the fallen warrior. He was quite cocky, something that annoyed me. There was no room for such an attitude on the battlefield. He had also been way too easy to trick, as a simple illusion had made him approach his enemy despite being a bowman. Such foolishness would be the end of him. Creating a spike of ice in my hand, I leant down towards the fallen soldier and brought it towards his heart. I would be merciful. One stab to the heart would kill him in a few seconds. "Good night." With those words I put some force into my hand and thrust the spike into his chest. "Gnnnnng..." Groaning from the pain of being stabbed, his body started thrashing about. The barrier still protecting him was surprisingly strong, making the initial blow not enough to break the skin. I put some more force into it, but the barrier still wouldn't give in. "W-What the hell?" "Sorry. That kid gets a second chance. I liked his guts." A voice coming seemingly from nowhere made Deep Blue stop in his tracks. I-It couldn't be ... Was that Kaguya? Had he entered the battle himself already? I better retreat for now... As I thought that, I got up and started running back the way I came. ... "Come on kid, get up." Kaguya was standing over the fallen VirginSmasher, extending his hand to help him up. It was a surprising move, considering Kaguya's personality, but VirginSmasher would never turn down the help of his commander. Gratefully accepting the help, VirginSmasher got to his feet. "Now go on, make yourself useful. He still hasn't gotten far. Take him out with one shot." Pointing towards the figure of Deep Blue, Kaguya turned around and started walking away. That was all the help he would get, huh? Still, it was all he needed. "Let's do this." VirginSmasher still had no arrows, and his target was getting further and further away. Any more than that and he would be out of range. He had to get his quiver back for starters. Spotting it about 5 meters away, VirginSmasher reluctantly moved his still painful body towards it. The arrows were all spread across the ground, some broken in the fall. It took a few seconds to find an arrow with no damage. Getting into position, he strung his bow and carefully drew his breath. Then, he let the air out just as he fired the arrow. It flew through the air, whistling, as it made its way towards Deep Blue. The arrow then pierced his head, making Deep Blue fall to the ground. Deep Blue, Team Nosebleed- (CLONE) DEAD END ... ... ... "Phew... Kaguya, I hit him." Turning around to inform his commander of the kill, VirginSmasher instead ended up freezing up in shock. Kaguya was no longer behind him, but instead he was staring down the length of a gilded spear that was aimed right at his heart. It was precisely the same place Deep Blue had try to stab him just minutes earlier. "Sorry kid, you got some bad luck." With those words, the attacker, Mitchhamilton sent his spear forward, crushing the remaining strength in VirginSmasher's barrier. The feeling of his ribs being broken and his heart stopping was the last thing he remembered. After that, everything went black. VirginSmasher, Team Kaguya- DEAD END Turning around in surprise at the sudden feeling of losing one of his warriors, Kaguya looked towards the place he had just helped VirginSmasher and saw several soldiers in black and pink cloaks. Where had they come from?! He had not noticed their arrival at all. Despite having given him a second chance, VirginSmasher hadn't been able to do much at all. "Hmph, what a waste." The soldiers from Nosebleed's team quickly surrounded Kaguya and pointed their weapons at him. "This is the end Kaguya." The one who spoke up was Nosebleed's general, Mitchhamilton. From what Kaguya had heard, he had fallen in battle earlier. He must have been resurrected by Nosebleed right after. "Haha. Right, end. Ok. Give me your best shot then." Lifting his arms in the air sarcastically, Kaguya simply stared back at the men with a carefree look. "Tch, you bastard!" Stabbing Kaguya with his spear, Mitchhamilton was the first one to act. The spear tickled a little bit, but did not inflict any damage. Probably surprised at the inefficiency of his attack, Mitch ended up staring at his own weapon in shock for a few seconds. "Alright, is the fun over? I'm going to go stand over there. You guys enjoy." Leaving his opponents behind, Kaguya simply walked away. One of the attackers seemed angered at his carefree attitude in such a situation and jumped at Kaguya. He never got close though. As his sword was moving through the air, a bolt of lightning shot out from the distance, knocking the blade along with its wielder back. Three of Kaguya's soldiers, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and his general Greenshadow622 quickly came to their commander's aid. "Took you guys long enough." Kaguya said in an emotionless voice as he walked away from the battle. ... On the open field, six figures were visible. Three of the warriors were from Kaguya's team, and the other three from nosebleed's. Among the six were, from team Nosebleed: Mitchhamilton, Nebjula and Kiriririri. Kiriririri was unarmed, using his fists as weapons. Mitchhamilton held a long, gilded spear and Nebjula was holding two small maces, one in each hand. From Team Kaguya was, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and Greenshadow622. Velociraptor had a leather glove with metal claws, Hitoribocchi had a greataxe that he wielded with ease using only one hand, and Greenshadow622 had a black longsword and a big round shield. The atmosphere was heavy as the brave soldiers stared at each other. No one wanted to make the first move. As they stood there, waiting for their opponents to act, a dark cloud slowly covered the entire battlefield. Blocking the sun completely, a suffocating darkness consumed the area. As no one had yet spoken a word, a heavy silence was slowly driving them all crazy. A great battle was approaching... ___________________________________________________________________________ A few km away, in the aftermath of Nosebleed and Down's scuffle Arcadeotic from team Kaguya was sitting on the charred ground, resting his tired body. Just minutes ago the two commanders, Down and Nosebleed, had been fighting each other. Compared to the strength of foot soldiers such as himself, their powers were from a completely different world. It took almost all his strength just to remain standing during their battle. They had struck at each other with weapons, fists and powerful magic, and each move had sent waves of energy throughout the surrounding area, leaving it a barren wasteland. The surreal duel had lasted a while but it was suddenly interrupted when ... That arrived. Standing in the centre of the battlefield with shimmering yellow eyes, a man clad in a black robe looked at the two commanders menacingly. In his hand was a big scythe, making him look like the grim reaper himself. The most surprising thing of all, he had stopped the two monster's attacks with his bare hands. What or who was that? It seemed that the answer to that wouldn't come quite yet. As quickly as it had appeared, it once again vanished into thin air. But right before it did, something rather strange happened. The two commanders, that just seconds ago had been going at each other's throats, turned around and simply left. This was quite weird, and also a little unfortunate. If the two leaders had taken each other out, then Kaguya would have been the winner right then and there. Seeing a sudden swift movement in the corner of his eye, Arc jumped sideways and grabbed his weapon, expecting a hostile. This was a good decision. Several kunai knives had suddenly hit the ground right where Arc was previously sitting. The kunai knives were coated in a strange, clear liquid, most likely poison. The kunai themselves were shimmering slightly in a deep green metal. Did that mean that the assailant was from team Down? Either way, it would be dangerous to be caught off guard for even a second against such a weapon. Just one cut and the poison would enter your veins. The most worrying part of it all though, was that his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Grasping his naginata tightly, Arc moved around in a circle, carefully looking around for his opponent. Among the displayed weapons during the combat preparations first day, he had picked something a little more unique; a naginata. It seemed that his opponent, whoever he was, had also picked something a little different. A naginata makes for a medium range weapon that can deflect swords and the likes with ease, but a fight against someone with a throwing weapon could prove tricky. It is not as easy to move the naginata around to deflect oncoming throwing knives, making it a poor weapon for defending against his opponent's attacks. Moreover, he could not see his opponent, meaning he would already be at a disadvantage once the next attack came. Still, he would not give up. He would not want to disappoint his commander. Taking a deep breath and focusing on his surroundings, Arcadeotic kept looking around for his enemy... ... Still under the effect of his invisibility magic, Tiagofvarela moved quietly towards his opponent. The few kunai knives he had thrown earlier had missed by a hair. Now all he had left was his katana. His enemy, Arcadeotic from team Kaguya seemed to be quite the tough opponent. Despite not seeing Tiago at all until the second he attacked, Arc had managed to dodge all of the kunai knives completely. The poison that the knives were coated in would have killed him instantly if they even just nicked the skin. Complimenting Arc's impressive reflexes silently in his head, Tiago made his move. The spell he was being hidden by only lasted while he was not putting any real strain on his body. Essentially what that meant was, if he attacked someone or did anything that required him to use his muscles beyond just simple movements, the effect would disappear. Charging right at Arc, Tiago brought his katana down towards Arc's exposed back. Just like when he threw the kunai knives, Arc managed to notice Tiago just in the nick of time and turned around to deflect the attack. Sadly, because of his weapon being rather poorly matched in close combat, Tiago managed to cut Arc over his left shoulder. Using the opening this created to his advantage, Tiago spun around, nimbly moving out of the naginata's reach and cut at Arc's body once again. The previous cut had hit a barrier, but this one did not. Cutting through the soft skin on Arc's back, the katana made large amounts of blood stain Tiago's clothes in an ominous shade of red. "Gaaaah!" Falling to his knees whilst letting out a pained scream, Arcadeotic lost his grip on the naginata and was completely defenseless. The katana had cut rather deep, most likely doing some damage to the spinal cord. The fight was over. "Sorry, it really is nothing personal." With those words, Tiago swung his katana at Arc's neck, cutting through his carotid artery. After a few seconds, Arc's lifeless body collapsed on the ground. Team Kaguya, Arcadeotic- DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ The sound of steel colliding with steel resounded throughout the open field. The sound was something one would not find anywhere else but on a battlefield such as this. This was a place of war. A place of death and pain. Among the six fighters who were lunging at each other with an intent to kill, only three would make it out alive. ... Nebjula, Team Nosebleed vs Velociraptor team Kaguya Striking at Velociraptor with his two maces, Nebjula put a great deal of strength into his legs and sharply moved forward. The violent attack took Velociraptor by surprise, and one of Nebjula's maces hit him in the stomach. His barrier barely managed to block most of the damage, but the impact still stent a tremor through his body. Because of his rather short range weapon made for assassinations, Velociraptor was having a hard time getting any attacks in at all. He had fought someone with a similar, brutal weapon before, but unlike the heavy battleaxe that he had faced then, these two maces were swift and relentless. Nebjula lifted one of the small but deadly maces above his head and brought it down towards Velociraptor. At the same time, he used the other mace to lunge at Velociraptor from the left side, making it hard for him to move around to dodge. The blow from above barely missed, but the second strike from the left collided with Velociraptor's cheek and knocked him down to the ground. "D-Damnit!" Cursing to himself, Velociraptor did the best he could to stand up again, but the last attack had left him dizzy and disoriented. Not being able to figure out what way was up and what was down, he was unable to get back on his feet. "No, no, NO! I can't lose like this! Damnit!" Not knowing what else to do, Velociraptor started yelling at himself. Not long after, two maces swept through the air and struck him in the head. The ends of the maces did not have spikes like some others do, but in return they had a sharp edge on both sides of the top, making it a fearful weapon. The sharp metal edges bored into Velociraptor's skull, breaking through the bone with ease. After a gruesome sound of bone cracking, the area become completely silent. .. Team Kaguya, Velociraptor- DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ Hitoribocchi team Kaguya vs Mitchhamilton team Nosebleed "Raaaaaawr!" Swinging his greataxe down with all his might, Hitoribocchi attacked Mitchhamilton for what felt like the hundredth time. Each time he did, Mitchhamilton managed to block the attack and retaliate with a stab of his own. The spear was an unbelievably annoying adversary, as if Hito stepped a little too far back, he would be right in its kill zone. But if he stayed too close, it would be impossible for him to use his massive axe, meaning he would be as good as unarmed. The greataxe was a gigantic weapon, with a long blade smith with solid and thick metal. The spear that Mitch was using was rather thin and frail looking in comparison, so why was it that he was capable of blocking the powerful attacks with such ease?! "You annoying little ... Take this!" Changing up his attack pattern once more, Hito turned his axe around in the air, trying to hit Mitch in the head with the flat side. It would be impossible to completely stop the attack with just a thin spear. The large piece of metal approached Mitch with great speed, and sure enough, he was unable to stop the impact with his spear alone. Being knocked off his feet, Mitch stumbled to the ground. "This time I will carve you in half!" Lifting the axe above his head, Hito used both his hands to grip the handle, and whilst summoning all the strength in his body, he struck at Mitch. There was, of course, no way for him to block such a ruthless attack. But, Mitch did not need to block it. All he had to do was dodge. Rolling to the side just in time, the axe hit the ground, making a loud bang that made Mitch's ears ring. Since he had lost his spear whilst dodging the axe, Mitch had no weapon. The deafening roar of Hito's axe crashing down right next to his ear had made Mitch dizzy, but he fought through it and got to his feet. Kicking Hito in the chest with great force, he managed to separate Hito from his weapon too. They were now both unarmed. "Yaaa!" Swiftly rushing towards Hito, Mitch moved his head down in order to dodge Hito's oncoming fist and rammed into his opponent with his shoulder. As he brought him to the ground, Mitch sat on top of his chest and locked his arms down with his own knees. Then, he started punching at Hito's face brutally. A few of the punches got stopped by the barrier protecting Hito, but after a some more hits, it gave in and Mitch's fists hit flesh and bone. Ruthlessly punching his opponent's face for a long time, Mitch started to notice that his hands were bleeding. When he finally snapped back to reality, the figure before him was no longer recognizable as a human being... Team Kaguya, Hitoribocchi-DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ Kiriririri Team Nosebleed vs Greenshadow622, Team Kaguya Greenshadow622 was carefully eying his opponent, waiting for him to make a move. Kiriririri was standing a few meters away with his fists raised, but he did not make a single movement. It had been like this for over a minute already. Greenshadow was getting agitated, but he remained adamant; he would not make the first move. His sword was raised slightly, pointing towards Kiri, and his shield was covering his chest region defensively. He was holding his shield about 15 cm out from his body, which meant Kiri had to strike at Greenshadow's feet or his back in order to get a clean hit. It would be rather difficult. For an opponent using only his fists, this was an unwinnable confrontation. Sadly for Greenshadow, Kiri was no longer alone. Two of his teammates had just finished up their fights, and approached Greenshadow with their weapons raised. Nebjula and Mitchhamilton had apparently defeated Greenshadow's comrades, and were turning to him next. "Hmph. It can't be helped. Get it over with, you pathetic weaklings. I might die here, but it sure as hell won't be without putting up a proper fight." Nebjula flinched slightly at Greenshadow's words, probably due to the determination and pride still left in his voice despite the situation. Nebjula slowly raised his weapons and got in a battle stance... Then, he charged. Following Nebjula's example, Kiri and Mitch also attacked Greenshadow simultaneously. One of Nebjula's maces was blocked by Greenshadow's shield. He then twisted his body sideways, avoiding the oncoming spear thrust from Mitch's direction. Retaliating by stabbing at Mitch with his sword, Greenshadow was handling the attacks from two sides with ease. Trouble was, there was a third attacked. One of Kiriririri's fists bored into Greenshadow's ribs, crushing his barrier and pushing him to the ground. Once he was on the ground he knew that it was a lost cause. Still, he would continue fighting until his limbs were incapable of moving. Fists, maces and a spear kept on hitting him as he lay there, but he would not give up. Using his shield to deflect some of the attacks and his sword to push back the attackers, Greenshadow kept up his resistance for several minutes. All three of his attackers sustained cuts during the battle. But, in the end, there was no way he could come out alive. Who dealt the final blow was impossible to tell, but after a little while, Greenshadow stopped moving. His entire body was stained with blood, covered completely in broken bones, deep cuts and large bruises. Team Kaguya, Greenshadow622-DEAD END The cloaked reaper was standing alone in the darkness, staring down at the battlefield below him. He was imprisoned in a strange room with no furniture, no doors and no windows. It was a place of eternal night, where no stars would ever shine. For the entire duration of the battle, he had been locked up. He did not know why and he did not know how. The only thing he knew was; someone were controlling him. A dark, scary voice spoke in his head every now and then. It would call out to him and make him feel utter despair and dread. There was nowhere to run, nothing he could do... "Prevent the commanders from fighting each other until the end, that is your purpose. That is the only reason you still live." The voice once again spoke to him and sent a powerful chill down his spine. He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement... "V-Very well..." .... ___________________________________________________________________________ Deaths this week: Team Nosebleed: Deep Blue (CLONE), Mitchhamilton (General, -1 life), Team Down: Team Kaguya: VirginSmasher, Arcadeotic, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi, Greenshadow622 (General, -1 life) ___________________________________________________________________________ To be continued. __________________________________________________________________________________ List of currently remaining members!! #Team Nosebleed: Members, Mitchhamilton (- 1 life) , Kiriririri - (1 life) , Satsuki , Valmore , Deep Blue (-1 life) , Nebjula , kingdomcome #Team Down: Members, Tiagofvarela (- 1 life) , Babiker , Maxel , Fred the Barber , Nohman , Totodile , FinalChaos , Kawasumi , Flutterz , Turnip Sensei #Team Kaguya: Members, Dergonu , Nimbus, Gijimu, Greenshadow622 (- 1 life) , Eclipsed, Zebhra , Duyy , Jade __________________________________________________________________________________

So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage! (Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:) One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye. (Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.) In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein. At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey. Story and writing The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end. The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it. There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating. Characters and art The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation. Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders. Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein. Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place. And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.) Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural. The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made. The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable. The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast. Characters, 9/10, Art 7.5/10 Music and atmosphere The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer. The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game. Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me. The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy. This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride. Conclusion: In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed. Final rating: 9/10. Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:

Visual Novel Translation Status (03/26/2016) Since Tay, Decay, and Zakamutt always submit their thought in every week at VN Translation Update, might as well try to write my thought here. The title format would be the image header of VNTS derivative word and Review, and since this week header image was Maitetsu girl train, so I'll use Densha Collection for the title (Densha mean train in Japan) and collection, well you should knew if you watch Kancolle). Note that maybe I'll deliver my though for VNTS late. And below was my review for VNTS this week. For this week, once again the announcement at Saturday surely was underwhelming. Especially from Mangagamer which I'd already wrote my very long post about speculation for Mangagamer, which from 10 result of vote I guess Type-Moon as their future partner, oh well. But this time Sekai surprised us with Maitetsu and Tokeijikake announcement. I'll try to type my though here later but first I'll try to round up the translation progress. For all of the update, what I'd interested was only Astral Air and Karakara. As for Astral Air, good work for stable progress, but if each week we had update only at 0.4% we'll probably had 100% of Astral Air translated at 2017 (Hopefully not). For Karakara, I could not comment much other than good work for reaching 46.42% translation progress. Now for Mangagamer announcement, we had 4. The announcement were Free Friend hardcopy, Bokuten Steam version, Yurirei drama CD, and Imopara 2. For Free Friend hardcopy, no comment other than as long as people had necessary device like DVD RW and Free Friend download edition, they could made the hardcopy easily (Then again, maybe there was some fan who like to collect the box from every eroge hardcopy). For Bokuten, since according to Tyrosyn the H-Scene was important for character development, maybe Overdrive will try to substitute H-Scenes with porn free scene (I think they could made it just had black screen when in H-Scene or had the characters sleep and taking about their problem). Normally this VN was the one I'd looking forward the most, but Mangagamer already translating it and at this moment the progress was at 77%, so it's still a while. About drama CD, I knew GundamAce had translated Ever17 Drama CD at Animesuki forum. Here's the link for Drama CD Translation (Beware spoiler from Ever17 though). Although with this kind of arrangement, I'd wonder if Mangagamer will release it in Japan voice with translated script or either will hire local VA and had them voicing drama CD. First option will save cost, but to enjoy Drama CD required good listening and always need to read the script, while second option was more expensive because Mangagamer need to pay both VA and translator, but it'll allow us to understand Drama CD easily. Either way, it'll be interesting that Mangagamer will release their first Drama CD and hopefully it'll satisfied Yurirei fan, although Decay said he was satisfied enough. Imopara 2, I think my comment was Momoka sprite copied Aya sprite (Down to seiyuu) from first Imopara. Other than that I think it'll be standard nukige involving incest between cousins and imouto, because the cousins was born from different mother, and the mothers actually was Imopara 1 heroines (I mean back in Imopara 1 MC was involved in incest with his 5 imouto). And don't ask me why all imouto and cousins in this series attracted to MC other than the reason MC was nice guy. For Sekai, they announce Taiwan VN, South Korea VN, Sakura Spirit Ecchi Manga adaptation, Indonesia VN, Maitetsu, and Tokeijikake. For Taiwan, I think it was more eden like since it was said that the world will be destroyed because of the star. South Korea VN was more like dark love story involving NTR, I think. For Indonesian VN, well it's leaning toward dating sim and the premise was like fighting alien with you as the commander of 5 girls. The reaction from Indonesian anime community as expected quite positive. Here's the news at Jurnal Otaku Indonesia, and if some Indonesian user or lurker read that, you'll understand the news (If some of non Indonesian curious, you could just copy and paste the word to Google Translate). But the summary from the news and the comment the reaction was quite positive. For more info about Indonesian VN company, here's the website. As for Sakura Spirit Manga, no comment. And here I'll try my best to comment 2 big announcement from Sekai. Maitetsu, what I saw it was already gather some controversy regarding censorship and loli thing. Although my interest was of course not those 2 unrelated thing, instead it was more to release date and the seiyuu as usual, beside there should be enough heat if we talk about censorship and loli. The release date actually was very new, in face one day before announcement or in America the night when this VN released. In other word it was the fastest translation news delivered (Not counting Nekopara since it was planned to be released in English at the same time for Japanese release), only few hours after released in original language. As for the seiyuu they got Kawashima Rino and Kadowaki Mai there. We obviously didn't need to doubt Kawashima experience, and Kadowaki also quite famous for Fate fan as Ilya. Another interesing note that we also had our MC voiced here. Well, let's see it later. Tokeijikake, the opening was quite good. I'd knew that this game was translated since Shinikiss translation finished. But since this is first part of trilogy, not interested because I'd heard that the first part end with cliffhanger. Well, hopefully Sekai could also announce and release part 2 and part 3 quickly (Although I knew it's like hoping that Yandere translation translating Aiyoku no Eustia though ie impossible since the leader already too busy at work). Oh, for the seiyuu they got Kawashima Rino here too and also another name to note was Ogura Yui (Himiko from Eiyuu Senki, Eika from Ikikoi) and Moka Choko (Ageha from Konosora, Otome from Da Capo 2). Sekai promised this game will be released at 2016. I think that's all I could comment from Sekai announcement. And one last note, could we got confirmation from Sekai if Root Double will be released at March or not. If not it's okay then, although what I understand that the flame will be going to Sekai, and many people who waiting for translated Root Double will said profanity. Well, at least we had one certain release came from Mangagamer (Tokyo Babel). For JAST, we still wait when they'll announce release date for Seinarukana. I think that's all of my review of VNTL progress. And sorry for my bad English here.