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Perhaps the most universal complaint of those who read Japanese VNs, regardless of their tastes, is the bland, non-people, average protagonists that make up better than 90% of all VN protagonists. This trend began with the first moege, as a technique to allow people to self-insert more easily, but the tradition has worked against VNs more than it has worked for them, with protagonists with unique quirks turning out to be almost as important to a VN's lasting popularity as heroine quality. Unfortunately for those new to VNs, it is impossible to tell at a glance whether a protagonist will be interesting or not based on the cover, since most protagonists don't have a tachie, voice-acting, or a character description on the official site, lol. So, as a service to my fellow Fuwans, I decided to go ahead and make this list. The greater majority of these games will be untranslated, but I will go ahead and list ones that are translated that I know of. Feel free to help me add to the list, though this one is for Japanese-origin games, not EVNs. The baseline for these protagonists will be that they are either unique, unusual, or capable (intelligent, talented, and/or skilled at something and have something approaching a personality) without deliberate nerfing of their qualities to make heroines stand out more. Harem protagonists who are merely kind to everyone will not count for the purpose of this list, and characters whose personality/capabilities/talents/skills get toned down in the heroine routes will also not qualify. Translated Tokyo Babel Ayakashibito Hello, Lady (soon) Hapymaher Noble Works (yes, he does make the baseline) Dracu-riot (assuming the official release comes out) Nanairo Reincarnation (soon) Tsukihime FSN Comyu (yes, I include this... because even if you hate Akihito's man-whore qualities, he is definitely not a cardboard cut-out character) Rance games (I hate the Rance games, personally, but you can't say he isn't unique) Majikoi Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road (Dai only seems sheeple on the surface... he has enough depth as a character to qualify) Eien no Aselia (while his personality is standard for a jrpg protagonist, it has enough twists and unique qualities to make the list) Seinarukana (similar to above) Fata Morgana no Yakata (I wavered because of the way the game is structured, but I chose to list it anyway) Grisaia series Kikokugai Demonbane 11eyes Rewrite (I hate this protagonist, but he stands out, even if he is a dumbass) Animamundi Baldr SkyDive (whenever it comes out) ChuSinGura (I honestly wavered on this one, both because the protagonist is a moron and because I don't consider this to have been truly translated) Cross Channel Daiteikoku Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai Dies Irae I/O Yumina Kyonyuu Fantasy (yes, I'm serious even as I'm laughing) Planetarian Rose Guns Days Sekien no Inganock Gakthun Sharin no Kuni Shikkoku no Sharnoth Shin Koihime Musou (apparently tl is at 100%, so I'm including it) Sorcery Jokers (Senri!!!) Tears to Tiara Tokeijikake no Leyline series Venus Blood Frontier (whenever it comes out) Wanko to Kurasou Eden* Untranslated Akeiro Kaikitan Ikusa Megami series Soukoku no Arterial Fuukan no Grasesta Madou Koukaku Silverio series Tiny Dungeon series Zero Infinity Electro-Arms Soranica Ele Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier Komorebi no Nostalgica Devils Devel Concept Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana Evolimit Bullet Butlers Tokyo Necro Soukou Akki Muramasa Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai Shugo no Tate series Amatsutsumi Floral Flowlove Aoi Tori Mirai Nostalgia Bradyon Veda Draculius Gensou no Avatar Abyss Homicide Club Hyper→Highspeed→Genius Inochi no Spare Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo yori mo Konata yori Kanata Made Kanojo wa Tenshi de Imouto de Jingai Makyou "Hello, World" Natsu no Owari no Nirvana Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas Rui wa Tomo o Yobu Ryuukishi Bloody Saga Vermilion Bind of Blood Satsukoi Sinclient Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide Suisei Ginka Yurikago yori Tenshi Made Izuna Zanshinken Tasogare no Sinsemilla Valkyrie Runabout Sekai o Sukuu dake no Kantan na Oshigoto Haru to Yuki Semiramis no Tenbin Tsukiakari Lunch Tsuisou no Augment Kamikaze Explorer Prism Recollection Houkago no Futekikakusha Izayoi no Fortuna Natsuzora no Perseus Minamijuujisei Renka Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary Sakura no Mori Dreamers AstralAir no Shiroki Towa Irotoridori no Sekai Senren Banka Reminiscence Akagoei series Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru Harumade Kururu Haruru Minamo ni Kin'iro Loveriche Love Rec. Natsuiro Recipe Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic Sakura Nikagetsu Iroha ~Aki no Yuuhi ni Kagefumi o~ Campus's Uso series World Election (seriously push this one for fantasy charage lovers) Curio Dealer Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai Lamunation Sora no Tsukurikata Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa Sakura, Sakimashita Amairo Islenauts Blade x Bullet Gouen no Soleil Dekinai Watashi ga, Kurikaesu Doushite, Sonna ni Kurokami ga Suki na no?! (more charage with some plot) Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake Butterfly Seeker Fake Azure Arcology Re:Birth Colony Gekkou no Carnevale Hatsuyuki Sakura Gurenka Hikari no Umi no Apeiria (this guy's personality is so out there you wouldn't even be able to tell if anything effected him, lol) Hotel. (this is also a joke from me that I can share only with those few who have read it, lol) Kamigakari Cross Heart Kimi to Boku to no Kishi no Hibi Witch's Garden Kono Sekai no Mukou de Kouyoku no Soleil Lovesick Puppies (more food for charagamers) Toppara Zashiki Warashi no Hanashi Naka no Hito Nado Inai Natsuiro no Nostalgia Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname Onigokko Otomimi Infinity Para-Sol Prima Stella Paradise Lost Kajiri Kamui Kagura Sanzen Sekai Yuugi (only Otomege I know of that fulfills the prime condition) Primal x Hearts Tayutama (original only) Shinigami no Testament Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro Stellula Eques Codex Tasogare no Himekishi (seriously, the protagonist is subject to some interesting stuff, like akuochi and/or corruption of characters) Toki o Tsumugu Yakusoku Unjou no Fairy Tale Yuganda Uso no Koi to Letter Yoru Meguru, Bokura no Maigo Kyoushitsu Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou Request includes G-Senjou no Maou Aiyoku no Eustia Watashi no Real wa Juujitsu Shisugiteiru Shirogane no Soleil Root Double Edit: A lot of these characters stand out due to personality traits or quirks, as much as anything else. The key point is that the protagonist is a 'person' instead of a cipher or catalyst. For those who wonder why I didn't include Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou 2, the reason is pretty simple... in every path, the protagonist's individuality vanishes and he becomes enslaved to the heroine's character needs.

If yall haven't guessed (or just read my previous posts) my primary reason for giving up VN of the Month was being buried in SOL... well, that and the fact that playing that many new VNs a month took up too much of my time and left me none for any pursuits beyond work. My immediate realization afterwards was that I quite simply couldn't play SOL games at all for the first few months. After years of constant overdosing on saccharine fake romance and meaningless conversations that exist only to make you go moe over the heroines, I had simply had enough. Even now, I literally cannot play a pure SOL game without my body physically rejecting it by putting me to sleep or giving me a headache. After a while, I got to where SOL didn't bother me, as long as I knew there was something beyond it (actual plot of some sort, maybe a little violence or a protagonist I could like). Unfortunately, that means I can't bring myself to play anything where I see no hint of something beyond the SOL (seishun doesn't count, since that is default). My most recent experiments (Clochette games) told me that I could still enjoy SOL as long as it was peppered with something interesting. However, I quickly realized when I tried to play some of the newer games that came out this month... I wanted to vomit after starting several of them. I literally couldn't stand the obviously standard-issue protagonist, the weak carbon copy heroines, and the dead copies of games that came out years ago. For instance, Sora ni Kizanda Parallelogram was such a blatant attempt to use the nostalgia of both Aokana and Walkure Romanze fans (FD for the former and complete pack for the later came out recently) that it made me want to be sick. The protagonist's situation and personality were carbon copies of the one from Walkure Romanze, and the situation and setting were partially stolen from Aokana. Hell, one of the heroines is of the same type as the main heroine from Aokana. That sent me over the edge, and I sold my copy to a local eroge addict so I wouldn't have to look at the filthy thing again. Worse, a bad copy of Ninki Seiyuu no Tsukurikata came out this month, and I wanted to smash something (I hate games that focus on entertainment industries). Ugh. *coughs* ahem, now that I got that out of my system, I have to wonder... am I going to have just as violent a reaction next month and the next after? There are things I used to like about SOL games that I just can't enjoy anymore, and that saddens me deeply... and my tolerance for blatant and pathetic attempts at milking other companies' games' popularity has gone down to zero, apparently.

Poll is rigged there is no option for "I am dating my waifu in real life."

Here's all your hatless avatars back. Personally, I'm going to change mine back when the liturgical Christmas season ends, because I'm not a heathen. @1P1A @Akshay @alpacaman @bakauchuujin @Canicheslayer @Dergonu @Dreamysyu @Emi @Funyarinpa @Happiness+ @LemiusK @MaggieROBOT @mitchhamilton @SeniorBlitz @Silvz @tahu157 @Thyndd @UnlimitedMoeWorks @wei123 @Zakamutt (Man, the @ function is buggy in every way imaginable. Fix that shizzle, Tay.)

Hello there, I haven't posted in a long time so I wanted to ask some people what they thought about this topic as recently it has gotten to me like being hit by a truck. Just as a heads up, I've played a lot of different visual novels in the past including visual novels from Pulltop / latte, Yuzusoft, circus etc and only the English releases because I do not understand Japanese. Minor spoilers as I will be discussing a character in a visual novel and how it relates to my life. This is a bit of a personal discussion but I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts on it. So I just finished playing a route from Sanoba Witch, specifically Meguru Inaba's route and I have to say I've never before liked a character from a game / visual novel before this much. This girl for me in my eyes is amazing in many ways. She is basically very similar to me but in girl form (I'm a guy), she is cute, fun to be around, funny, daring, dresses very nicely (especially during the Halloween party, and when she reveals her normal look at home), beautiful, adorable, sensitive and worries about what others thinks of her, likes to stick with people she is very close to and opens up to them, clingy (Yes for me this is a positive). She plays games, reads books, likes staying at home and generally a very nice, loving person who has a heart of gold. Now I'm really hoping I'm not looking crazy right now to some people over this because I can understand that this looks way too over analysed but these are my thoughts on the character after going through her route from start to finish including the after story. After going through her route I was feeling so happy and having so much fun being in the shoes of the protagonist, I sometimes like to think I am the protagonist because I make the choices during the game and I was having such a blast because I was so in love with her character. I felt like if I were to meet this character in real life and we were to bond, I would fall for her instantly. And at this point, it hits me (you?). You are nearly the end of the route and you know the character's story is going to end. You will likely never have another game involving that character and you will never have another encounter with them. This is where I actually start to want to stop playing and in this case it is really hard for me as I've gotten so attached to a character I've been involved with because I want to stop the inevitable. The end of the story. I would stop playing the game for a bit to stop myself from finishing the story knowing that the story is still not over but I always felt really sad when I thought about never being with that character on a personal level ever again. It actually hurts. I feel sad. I feel unhappy. I feel upset. Because I know this character does not exist in real life. I think I know the reason I feel so strongly about Meguru and the reason is it's a person I've been longing for in my life. She's a good friend, a good listener, a good comforter and a good lover that will be there for you no matter what and in my opinion one of the strongest characters I've ever known. Her backstory was also quite sad and when I resolved her problem (without spoiling it) I felt really happy I could help someone I was interested in greatly. Another problem I've faced in other visual novels and especially this one now is the fact that the story has ended and it is time to move on to another character route. This greatly pains me. I'm no longer there to help her. I've lost that connection with her that I found so special. Think of it this way. If you were to fall in love in real life with a girl and you go through a year together and one day, poof. You are back to where you started before you fell for that girl and you both lost all memories of the times you were together. The loop continues. This for me is just painfully sad. I normally get over it but this time I'm likely going to have to take a break from that visual novel because I felt such a connection with this character because of so many similar traits and traits I really liked. I will continue the other stories of the game at some point and I'm sure I will like the others girls too but even during the common route I knew she was the one I was going to really like. I'm actually unsure if I'm just really weird or this is something people normally feel (I am a sensitive person) who haven't had a strong connection like this. Do you think this is weird or not? I've love to hear your thoughts on it. Lastly I just wanted to say, Meguru Inaba may not be real but she has had a real impact on me deep in my heart, I 100% fell for this girl and if I had a free wish to make her be real in my life I'd take it because it would make me so happy to be with a person like her. She is wonderful and I'm really happy to have met and enjoyed the character's company in this game and I hope to meet someone just like her in real life. Visual novels done right have amazing effects. Thank you very much for reading, if you have any thoughts or would like to discussion please write it so I can reply. Edit: I just remember I forgot to mention that personal feelings doesn't have to be romance related. It could be a personal connection, a good friend, any kind of attachment etc. My case is related to a romance connection but others may not be.

So, done with Aselia's route. I wanted to make a mini-review of the game at this point, but, to be honest, I have too many conflicting thoughts about the game right now, and I need to let them sink for a while to turn my thoughts into a reasonable form. The last battle was a bit annoying though. It wasn't particularly difficult, but continuously moving the squads from one part of the dungeon to another kind of killed my enjoyment. I'm not sure I'm going to read all the routes though. It feels from the story structure that the differences between routes is pretty small, and replaying all the battles for 7 times might be a bit too much. On the other hand, I just found on the fan-translators' forum that if you max out the stats of all the characters in super-hard mode and then play the game in the easy mode, and then you will apparently be able to finish all battles very quickly and without much thinking. I don't know, I'll see how it goes. Also, I'll try going for Lesteena next, I guess.

Hey, y’all mind if I whine about needless shock value for a bit? Thamks. I’ve just started Deathdays End as a break from Clannad’s slow slice of life (I’ve gotten a tad bored of it, whoops), I’m only about an hour in, but I’ve got beef with one (quite spoilery, so beware) scene. So! In the first scenario, one of the main characters finds this little girl, right? She’s about 8 years old, has no family (as they all got wiped out in the mini-pocalypse that had just befallen the world) nor friends and will most probably not survive a day in the state that she’s in, so he takes her with him. I thought, cool, maybe they’re setting up a The Walking Dead-esque thing with those two, like, the guy is going to take care of and protect the girl, and there’s going to be a growing relationship between the two, maybe some drama, and we’re going to have some cool themes to explore… But nope. Half of an hour in, the girl just ups and does a Sayori. And I’m just like… what? Why? Why the fuck did that have to happen? There was no build-up, no real reason behind it, it just came out of the left fucking field… At this time, I really think that it was done purely for shock value - “ooooh look, the poor innocent little girl just hanged herself, isn’t that horrible?! Don’t you feel bad?!!”. Like… no. I mean, I do, but not for that reason. I just feel… Cheated, I guess? Or maybe disappointed would be a better word for it? It’s just such a transparent attempt to shock the reader and make them feel sad, it just makes my teeth grind. Am I too harsh? I don’t think I am. This whole mess is pretty much this scene: (Btw, I recommend Terrible Writing Advice, it’s a great show) Ok, I’m done with my ranting for now. I hope it gets better later on

You knew about it?! I didn't see that coming

Personally, I didn't mind the way she spoke at all. It gives a kind of special charm to her. I could tell that she was speaking in third person in the voice lines at times but the text didn't show this but it was never a problem for me. It's adorable, just like her!

That is a nice way of thinking about it, I have no doubt that I'll be letting my mind wander too thinking about what could happen next in that story but I generally don't feel too satisfied if I ended up really being invested with a character I have lots in common with. It's like I had so much fun I don't want it to end.

Yeah, I liked them all. I went with Tsumugi -> Meguru -> Touko -> Wakana -> Nene1 -> Nene2 order. If you started with Meguru, I'd suggest going for Tsumugi next, and then Touko and Nene. Nene2 is "true route", and is a continuation of Nene1, that's why I think it's best to keep Nene's route for last. Tsumugi was good introductory route for the "magical" part of the story, and also, while still good, the weakest one for me, so it's good to do it near the beginning. It's like - it was good route, but each next one was even better than the previous. (Wakana is a side route that can be played at any time, but AFAIK it unlocks after completing at least one main route).

Renne/renna i think. The blue wasnt bad either. Ai isnt really that bad, but it struck me that she took dai for granted in her route, while being desperate and lovestruck in others. I'd do her route first

I loved Yukino as a character but her route is considered by many the worst in the whole game. MC does some really facepalm-worthy shit there The ending is nice, but the route requires some endurance to get through (for me it wasn't that hard, but I understand where do critics come from. Well, one of the first VNs I read was infamous Harukoi Otome - after I survived Yuika's route, where for maaaany days in a row the protagonist would just whine to himself and do nothing else, Hatsukoi 1/1 was nothing compared to that )

Well, some vn's force a heroine in your face in a way that makes you feel bad for her when choosing someone else. Most recent example is hoshiori with the childhood friend

Does empathy count as a personal feeling? It's necessary to enjoy any character focused story in the first place after all. Aside from that when I played, watched or read something there weren't any deeper feelings involved (I think. I probably wouldn't notice even if it were the case). Wishing a character would exist in RL or the feeling of wnating to swap roles with the Protagonist is in my opinion not necessarily connected to that though.

I use escapism to nurture my crippled mental state, so I obviously get really deep into those feelings. On the condition that the writing, atmosphere and/or characters made me care enough.

I think I'm closest to the first option in the poll. Meaning, I sometimes develop feelings for the heroines in the VN or anime I'm watching, and sometimes even wish that they were real, but usually I get over it - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to read other routes or other VNs But still, some of those 2D girls have their own little space in the corner of my heart. I experienced this for example when rereading Princess Evangile recently - I almost instantly felt like coming back home, and was really glad to see them again

Yesterday I finished Nanako's route. It was good I will elaborate when writing final impressions after completing the VN, but for now I have to say, that for this game adult patch is a must-have, as the so-called "all-ages version" is really half-assed. Also, maybe I'm weird, but I don't hate Naoki at all. As a side character he's rather funny.

Relative to the era in which it was released? Tsukihime. There was literally nothing like Tsukihime at the time it was released, and it set the precedent for doujin circles going professional, which was one of the reasons for the rapid explosion in plotge that occurred in the years immediately after. The question is too broadly defined, lol.

Being able to develop personal feelings for a fictional character is one of the primary qualities necessary in an otaku. Throughout my life as an otaku, there have been characters - whether heroine or otherwise - that I came to love deeply. In many cases, the knowledge that my journey with them was over was enough to make me cry openly, and I still have a deep affection for them to this day. A few examples: Tonoko (Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no)- My experience with this girl wrenched my heart to the core, my vicarious experience of the development of her relationship with Tsukasa, both as a father figure and a lover, touched me on so many levels that it became the standard by which I judge nakige heroines to this day. While I came to love Shino and Miyabi as well, it was Tonoko that I still think of as my daughter to this day.

Nekopara. Whoever thought to utilize bouncing boobs in that game deserves a Nobel Prize.

Chiho attempts to explain the plot of her route - (ca December 2018, colorized)

Whether the art is good or not is quite subjective, so I couldn't say for certain that you'll like the art in my recommendations here. But still I want to recommends some VNs here, so let me try here. As for my recommendations here, I would say that both of Sanoba and Dracu Riot di have the good art, and so does Hoshiori (It's still in translation progess though, but I'm sure that you can get it in near future). Also I would like to recommend Suki Suki as well seeing that it'll be coming at 13th later, and perhaps I can say that HGB did have the good art as well even though the release date for that i still a bit uncertain. For the last recommendations here, I would recommend both of Maitetsu and Hapymaher, in which the former did have some trivia matter in regard of train and business. I hope that my recommendations here would be helpful to you.

Yes, Princess Evangile has nice art. If we're going by art quality, then I'd also recommend Konosora, Koirizo, Chrono Clock, Yoake, Fureraba, SakuSaku, KoiIro ... there are many good looking translated VNs. ToHeart2 is actually pretty good looking too. I also absolutely loved the art in YU-NO (original, not remake), but YMMV in this case.

Princess Evangile maybe? It seems that you like art that is colorful and attractive, but not too fancy.

I've had a lesson on all the hot new conspiracy theories from my grandma. Now I know everything about who is pulling the strings in the government, how corrupt is the church and why everyone is conspiring to destroy my country... Y'know, fun stuff like that Staying off alcohol can be hard sometimes...