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In a world full of super-speed translation, it's no wonder that many would have to resort to machine translations to get their job done. However, Japanese and English are not one to one. There's grammar, formalities that don't exist in English. For example, ちゃん、さん、様。(chan, san, sama). As well as referring to people by name rather than "you". The change in these small factors is still localization. These intricacies are something that machine translations tend not to take into account. That ends up creating a problem. The script does not end up flowing in English, which leads your readers to believe it's a poor translation. We also have to realize that some gags just don't work in English. Early on in the Nichijou manga, we can see a joke about a ten key keyboard. Most English speakers do not speak a second language, so this may go over their heads. As Yuuko states that the weather "天気" (tenki), is nice, so she should buy a ten key, "テンキー" keyboard. This joke would go over most English speakers' heads, and yet this joke was kept in tact for the English manga release. This whole section is full of puns that I don't understand as a native English speaker myself. If I can't pick it up, how is a machine supposed to? Sometimes putting unrelated politics into your work may be off-putting. Like in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, in episode 12, Tohru asks about her new, more conservative outfit. In the English dub, she states that due to the patriarchy. I remember seeing a lot of anitwt and ani YouTube mald over this clip. As in Japanese, Tohru asks the same question, but instead suggests Lucoa should change her body instead. Personally, I found the patriarchy joke funny, as I don't think the changing her body joke would have flown well with audiences either. It reads as body-shaming to me, and that would still turn a lot of heads. It's not 1997, but 2017. The third wave of the body positivity movement was well on its way. Highest quality clip I could find below. But it still ends up being funny anyway because of the performances of the voice actresses and the scripts that they were given. Not all localization is good, though. Dragon Maid's, although controversial, still ended up sharing roughly the same message in tone and delivery. I'd like to provide a bad localization example as Smile PreCure's dub. (Glitter Force) by Saban. A majority of cultural references had been removed, and everything being Americanized to a point where Glitter Force and Smile PreCure are two different shows. With Glitter Force cutting eight out of forty-eight episodes of Smile PreCure. The localization choices in the cut episodes sadden me. Mostly relating to Japanese culture and tradition. Another cut that stuck out to me was the episode about Yayoi's late father being cut, as well as Akane crushing on a boy. Glitter Force's reception was rightfully criticized by the PreCure fandom. With Ella Anders of BSC Kids stating, "With the world being so interconnected as it is now the removal of cultural aspects was saddening. It would be such a great chance to celebrate and focus on Japanese culture." https://www.bsckids.com/2016/01/pretty-cure-glitter-force-graces-netflix/ Now, I know it's a lot cheaper to have an AI or a text scraper help you translate text. Cutting translators and localizers out of a job entirely would make for a great time, would it not? No. No it ever has and never will. Generative AI is already putting artists out of work, and Crunchyroll's transition to using AI will be disastrous for the company as a whole. Admittedly, that's why I revoked my subscription towards them. It's a gross way of saying the money is more important to you than the product you provide. In a late stage capitalism landscape, that $80 a year gets harder to justify for the bare minimum. This will only increase piracy, I fear. As people are asking for more accurate translations that read well in English. This is something GenAI and Machine Translation cannot provide. Genuinely, I think we as anime and visual novel fans alike seem to forget that localization is an important part of translating a work into English. Whether that be simply changing a joke to fit current standards, or using slang like "chill" or using politically correct language to make more sense to English speakers. A machine may be able to translate, but it is unable to localize. ChatGPT and DeepL cannot accurately translate a script writer's work and prose into something that doesn't sound bland. Localization is a necessary evil if we like the way the dubs are now. Good performances and good localization makes or breaks an English release of a game or anime. I'm glad more companies are trying to keep including Japanese culture into their shows more. We are a world that's more interconnected than ever thanks to the internet, and the ability to share what makes us unique is beautiful and should be preserved.

Spoilers - Yes | Platforms - | Author - Timmy (NarrativeKnickKnacks) Released a day after Christ's birthday on December 26, 2003, Saya no Uta was born to the horror of God's children. Unlike the redemptive tale of hope that was celebrated the day before, Saya no Uta is the demented creation of the now-revered Gen Urobuchi and his literary love affair with the great H. P. Lovecraft. A tragic tale of cosmic horror through and through, Urobuchi's blasphemous scripture began its notoriety as a cult classic and has since blossomed into the most celebrated horror story in the visual novel community. Now, as we quickly approach the 20th anniversary of its release, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on this endearing piece of grotesque beauty. Has it aged like fine literature, or has it aged like the putrid meat of Fuminori's personal hell? As with most characters thrust into a Lovecraftian universe, protagonist Fuminori Sakisaka is at the whims of the author's sadistic storytelling. Having suffered a fatal car accident with his parents, Fuminori is the sole survivor of a tractor-trailer's crushing weight. Under normal circumstances, he should've succumbed to the same fate as his parents — but a surgery involving micromachines keeps him from falling into the abyss. However, compared to his new life, the abyss seems like a blessing ripped away by a god named "humanity." Due to the experimental nature of this surgery, Fuminori develops a fictitious form of agnosia, forcing him to perceive the world as a fleshy hellscape of blood, guts, and otherwordly monsters. The average person would've understandably killed themselves given the situation, but Fuminori is... not different, actually; in fact, he's an average medical student living in an average suburb with average friends. What compels him to keep living? After a fateful encounter at his hospital bedside, Fuminori's will to live is reinvigorated by the pleasant sights and smells of a child named Saya. With Saya acting as his secret nurse, Fuminori manages to recover at an astonishing pace. Before long, he's deemed ready to be discharged by the nightmarish hospital staff, cheering him off with a gurgly "#$OhT%*nG@1!" as he's escorted back to his home by the monsters that were previously his sightly friends. There, in his childhood bedroom, Saya sits waiting for his embrace — a testament to the relationship they had built during their nightly bedside chats. From this point, Saya and Fuminori spend their days basking in each other's company while avoiding the loathsome anxieties of the outside world. Like a husband and his darling wife, they eat together, bathe together, and sleep together; and on most nights, they even @!GdkkT*& each other. Madmen will be madmen... right? Even though the world outside Fuminori's mind may be a blood-soaked hell, Saya's angelic appearance is heaven's gift to Fuminori's perseverance. However, no sooner than they settle into their new lives, one of Fuminori's friends begins a chain reaction that either spells a fatal end to their relationship or damns all of humanity to Fuminori's hell. The fate of the world is in your hands. Fuminori Sakisaka Fuminori Sakisaka was a typical medical student aspiring to be a medical professional. Before the accident, he was a shy yet caring man with a small group of loyal friends, one of which a potential romantic partner for Fuminori. However, after his agnosia sets in, he quickly spirals from an understandably paranoid and despair-ridden man to a monster not unlike the ones shambling around him. With his life ruined and Saya by his side, he's willing to cross any ethical boundary so long as he can be with her. Saya Acting as Fuminori's anchor in his maddening world, Saya is a mysterious girl who looks like a lily in a field of corpses. Lonely and determined to find her dad, Fuminori and her forge an inseparable relationship that transcends humanity. Koji Tonoh As the only other man in Fuminori's friend group, Koji Tonoh is Fuminori's closest ally. Similar to the Fuminori he once knew, Koji is a kind, well-mannered adult who cares deeply about the feelings of his three friends. However, once Fuminori goes off the deep end, he does not hesitate to take matters into his own hands. Yoh Tsukuba By all accounts, You Tsukasa should've been Fuminori's girlfriend. That is until Fuminori withdraws from any and all contact with Yoh after a particularly brutal rejection. Without the support of her friends, self-loathing and paranoia begin to creep into her mind as much as the monsters creep into Fuminori's. Omi Takahata Omi Takahata is Koji's girlfriend. That is all. Ryoko Tanbo A head surgeon at T University, Ryoko functions as Fuminori's doctor and armchair psychiatrist. While she may present herself as professional and mature, some things are best kept hidden... I'd like to admit something: over the past couple of years, I've watched and read my fair share of Saya no Uta reviews. Yes, my barely-shocked reader, that does mean some of this review takes inspiration from others. However... I'd like to distance myself from the short-form Youtube analyses and long-form Steam and VNDB reviews — not because I want to be a contrarian, but because I genuinely believe there are aspects of Saya no Uta that extend beyond the typical "nuances and ambiguities of morality" thoughts that are regurgitated ad nauseam. And I do want to make clear: they're not wrong, but I think this goes a bit deeper. Please, indulge me for some paragraphs. From what I've seen, there are two schools of thought pertaining to Fuminori's actions: his actions are unethical without question, and his actions are unethical but are a byproduct of extenuating circumstances outside of his control. While I do believe Fuminori's actions are objectively unethical, it's important we understand how they're unethical. The "how" may seem obvious, but the details are important. Before we talk about the "how," we first need to briefly discuss Saya no Uta's thesis. It can be summarized as the following: by and large, ethics is a byproduct of how we receive and process reality. To some, I'm sure this assertion is deemed as a sort of "moral relativism" that refers to differing cultural norms, customs, and taboos, but that's not what I'm referring to. By "receive" and "process," I'm referring to the ways in which our sensory organs receive external information and how our brain processes that information. The question is: do we have any reason to believe this thesis? Let's contemplate a hypothetical: imagine a world where, for whatever reason, we all wake up tomorrow and realize our bodies have seemingly changed overnight. We all look the same, but there's one small difference: stubbing our toes now feels immensely pleasurable. In a situation like this, what would happen? I have reason to believe three things would occur: Most, if not everyone on Earth would now purposely stub their toes at least a couple of times a day. Toe stubbing would universally change from an unfortunate, avoidable part of life to a celebrated activity that many partake in. And, most importantly, people would begin to stub the toes of others. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if handshaking would be replaced with "toe stubbing," a greeting where two people stub each other's toes by kicking their feet together. I'm sure pornography would also look a tad different... It seems like an absurd scenario — and it is — but realistically, the ethical nature of toe stubbing — stubbing the toes of others, that is — would undoubtedly change. Really, this can be applied to any displeasurable activity turned pleasurable. I shouldn't have to keep listing examples to illustrate how a behavior's ethical status can change based on our processing of it. But I already know what you're thinking, "Timmy, ethics is far more complex than that! You can't reduce it to the pain/pleasure dichotomy!" I'm aware, which is why I should quickly elaborate on a theory of ethics. No, this theory won't be academic or comprehensive, but it'll work for this review. In my mind, ethics has four "pillars." They are the following: The pain/pleasure dichotomy, which dictates how we respond to external stimuli Various biological proclivities, which steer an aspect of our behavior and are responsible for psychological suffering Cultural and societal norms, customs, and taboos that help manage a cohesive society Our intuitive sense of consequentialism Combined, these ethical "pillars" control what we do to ourselves and others. Let's apply this system to Fuminori's actions. Fuminori's cannibalism toward Omi - This violates all four of the ethical pillars. Sure, it may be far more pleasurable for Fuminori to eat a human, but the consequences produce immense physical suffering for Omi, psychological suffering from Koji's grief, violate the cultural and societal facets that manage a cohesive society, and lead to grave consequences for Fuminori, Saya, and everyone around them. Fuminori's sexual relations with Saya - As ridiculous as it may seem, Fuminori's relationship doesn't violate the first two pillars; however, it does violate the third and fourth pillars. What I find interesting about their relationship is that it's only problematic insofar as it dooms humanity and violates taboos outside of Fuminori's mind. Unlike a real child, Saya seems to take great pleasure in having sexual relations with Fuminori — and she seemingly knows more about what they're doing than he does. Still, for anyone outside of Fuminori's mind, his behavior is reprehensible. Fuminori does engage in other unethical acts, but this section is already long enough. For anyone who reads Saya no Uta, I believe their biggest ethical takeaway should be the following: humanity's physiology — how we receive and process the external world — shapes our ethics to a large degree. To be outside of the human condition is to be outside of humanity's ethical sphere — a place reserved for monsters. They look like monsters to you? Without a doubt, Saya no Uta's atmosphere is gripping in a way most visual novels struggle to achieve. From the uncanny computer graphics to the black backgrounds and crudely drawn sprites, there wasn't a single time when I wasn't enthralled by the presentation. Even more impressive, the presentation is relatively simplistic, yet it combines with the superb soundtrack and evocative prose to create an unforgettable atmosphere — vibe, if you will — that hasn't left my mind since I reached the final ending. I could list countless examples, but I'd be remiss not to mention a certain scene that made me tear up. During the "good" ending, Saya bears Fuminori's children by "blooming." The illustration below, combined with my favorite song in the soundtrack, quality prose, and convincing voice acting form a scene that was profoundly emotional. Words do it no justice. And then... she blooms Aside from Umineko's compendium of amazing tracks, I have yet to find another visual novel that reaches the same musical excellence that Saya no Uta's soundtrack does. Zizz Studio, the talent behind the soundtrack, did a fantastic job composing songs that align with the bleak, tragic world of Urobuchi's imagination. Instead of attempting to describe what ought to be heard, take a listen to "Silent Sorrow," a personal favorite of mine. Silent Sorrow If Silent Sorrow somehow didn't convince you, click on the image below for the entire soundtrack. A big shoutout to Carnivore Mors Interactive for remastering this classic! While Saya no Uta has a soundtrack and atmosphere that only giants like Higurashi and Umineko can rival, I, unfortunately, can't say the same about its characterization, narrative, and sexual content. As I probably made obvious in the "Characters" section, many of Fuminori's friends are quite shallow. In fact, Omi and Yoh — especially Yoh — are merely plot devices with little redeeming qualities other than their function to keep the plot progressing. Ryoko and Koji were treated slightly better by Urobuchi, but that isn't saying much. Ryoko's persona as the head of T University and Fuminori's caring doctor is an endearing act that completely falls apart once she drops the act. While I don't find anything inherently wrong with this, I do take issue with how this transformation is portrayed. See, Ryoko wasn't just playing an act, she was really playing an act. It turns out that, after years of investigating the events surrounding Saya's father, she has Lovecraftian levels of traumatic baggage behind her facade. As a result, her true personality is obnoxiously edgy and horribly unlikeable — something you'd find in a satirical portrayal of a Lovecraft character. Like Fuminori, Urobuchi could've benefited from some restraint. As for Koji, he's about as one-dimensional as Yoh and Omi. While he is slightly more elaborated upon due to his role in the plot, his "characterization" is purely focused on the expected disillusionment of Fuminori's actions and his spiral from sanity into madness. I didn't find him compelling enough to warrant such an important role in two of the novel's endings. Saya no Uta also suffers from Urobuchi's amateur writing. Due to the novel's compact length, more time is spent telling the reader who the characters are instead of showing it through their actions. Additionally, Yoh, Omi, and Koji act in the predictable, nonsensical ways you'd expect in a B-movie slasher film. The most egregious example is when Koji decides to give Fuminori a ride to an abandoned, isolated house three hours from Tokyo — all the while suspecting him of a crime and monologuing about his eerie demeanor. Lastly, Saya no Uta really wants to convince you the police aren't an option. Considering how much emphasis is placed on this, I get the sneaking suspicion that Urobuchi knew of this plot hole, attempting to explain it whenever he felt the reader would wonder about the obvious solution. As for sexual content, I found most of the sex scenes to be gratuitous and laughably written. The first one between Saya and Fuminori does have pertinent characterization, but the rest are unnecessary and by no means required for a full understanding of the novel's plot, characters, and themes. At least I got a chuckle out of the narrator referring to Fuminori's penis as his "manhood," along with Urobuchi's attempts at being "poetic" during select sex scenes. What Urobuchi does to a mf So, has Saya no Uta aged like fine literature? In some respects, it has — but no one should ignore its glaring problems. If Urobuchi had taken more time to develop a compelling, cohesive narrative with complex characters, then it would easily deserve every bit of praise it has received since 2003. For me, however, Saya no Uta is more akin to Saya herself than any piece of fine literature: pretty and charming on the outside, but horrific and flawed on the inside. Pros: Engrossing atmosphere Superb soundtrack Thought-provoking themes Competent prose Genuinely unsettling The best opening sequence I've ever had the displeasure of hearing Cons: Amateur storytelling Shallow characterization Gratuitous sexual content Occasional contrivances If you'd like to follow the development of a visual novel that takes heavy inspiration from Saya no Uta, check out my visual novel Madness for Two. The link to my Twitter can be found at the top of this user blog.

I'll go ahead and begin with an intro to my current experience with Light Novels and Web Novels in Japanese. For the last two years, I've been reading them at a rate of 60-100 chapters a day (faster in the case of below-average size chapters). I primarily read fantasy with a side of science fiction (no, not just isekai, though I love isekai). This isn't hard, because fantasy and science fiction make up over three-quarters of all the LNs and Web Novels out there. This is a bit ironic to my eyes, since it was the reverse with VNs, where romance and slice of life made up over 90% of all JVNs. The great thing about web novels is that you can read them at your leisure without paying anything, and if you like it, most good authors have a patreon you can contribute to or get a light novel release you can buy to put money in their pockets. The downsides are that there are usually three bad web novels for every one good one, and even the good ones usually have problems with the writing (a web novel I read recently used incorrect kanji for common phrases in a number of cases, making it annoyingly hard to read). The good thing about Light Novels is that they generally have added and more refined content compared to the original material, and they generally also come along with at least some pictures to help you get an idea of what the characters look like (some Japanese authors just suck at describing character appearances beyond hair color and skin color). The downside is that light novels are generally more expensive than standard paperbacks or ebooks and rarely go down in price even after years or even decades have passed. As such, they are often a huge burden on the pocketbook (in particular, a lot of LN series give you very little content for each $10 volume, as little as one hundred fifty short pages in a lot of cases, which is totally not worth it). The upside of web novels in terms of content is that web novels tend to be more freeform and creative. However, in exchange most are never completed and many of them just trail off because the writer runs out of ideas. This is opposed to Light Novels, where I've definitely experienced situations (repeatedly) where authors are just continuing out of momentum and the story never goes anywhere... which is horrible when you are already overpaying for novels that are far too short for the money in question. It is pretty common for LN series to run to 20+ volumes and yet never really get anywhere...

Dark Butterfly: after dream has been added to the summer sale, now you can get RosesOfLove and Dark Butterfly: after dream at 50% off their prices. https://itch.io/s/95309/kagarisoft-summer-sale

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Forbidden Love? If there is one genre which thrives in the visual novel space it is Yuri. While other mediums and types of games touch on Yuri, there are none that put their entire focus on it in quite the all consuming way present in visual novels. Rather than being a sideshow for another genre to use as romantic fluff, it is front and centre in many of the best and defining titles you can play. On top of this prominence there is a distinct difference of approach to the genre taken by Japanese and Western developers. One presents a romance steeped in purity and idealism while the other focuses in on the issues of identity and belonging that effect the characters. These divergent paths have led to a variety of content and themes not present in many other spaces. Over the course of this deep dive these elements will be explored as well as a rich landscape of creators and visions of what Yuri means. Let’s fall in love with a cute girl and find out what makes the genre tick. Vision of Purity – Japanese Yuri Pervasive within Japanese Yuri is the idea of the romance as being akin to a garden of flowers and the pairing as the most brilliant blooms among them. The focus on a very specific set of emotions adds some distinctive flavour to the love story and helps this genre stand out. However, under the surface there is the same treatment of love as a form of titillation to sell a product in many games which use Yuri as a secondary element. At its core the link to flowers and purity found in this style of Yuri stems from an extreme idealisation of the lesbian romance. It is placed in opposition to a male centric romance story which is by contrast is a tale of desire and lust with love being the ultimate driver behind it but obscured by this layer of impurity and dirtiness associated with men. In contrast the female is seen as the purer sex and thus it follows that any love between two of them would be equally pure. Even when lust does enter the conversation it treated with a sanctity as if it were the precursor to a holy act of union. Generally this is caked in vaguely Christian iconography and language, such as the pair attending a Catholic school, to present the pair’s relationship as an act before some kind of unseen divine presence which accepts their choice of partner. We can see this in the Sono Hanabira series where the complete focus on a single couple makes it stand out the most. For each game their pairing is presented with a sort of all consuming sanctity, everything points to the couple from the supporting cast to the everyday events, even previous games’ couples act as conduits to insure the new couple comes together. An entire world orientated towards an outcome is a pretty convincing argument for its legitimacy. Theirs is a union painted through bright colours and delicate gazes and there is an almost otherworldly glow to their encounters to better emphasise the feelings they are enraptured by and the purity of their intention. Sono Hanabria is a particularly good example of these traits since it leans into lust as part of its content and even there the colours never let up, their acts are done in the light of day and have none of the messiness of a male orientated union, but it is instead one where only the cleanest intentions are realised and this is reflected in their language and generally cleanliness of proceedings. Overall it is a unique presentation of romance that puts this particular coupling on an almost unattainable level. These distinctive traits do allow for the exploration of some emotions often forgotten about or sidelined in a more traditional romance story. The two points it excels at are the capturing of the feeling of wishful longing and the power our desire for human connection has over us. Capturing the essence of wishful longing within a romantic context is something many stories gloss over in favour of the more dramatic aspects of a relationship, such as the confession, and the intense focus affords to it in Yuri helps the genre stand out. Needing to be with someone else for your happiness is a part of love that effects both participants in often vague ways and the pale colour and idealises space of Yuri is a perfect place for exploring this since it can shift its already vague imagery towards this equally vague subject. In doing so it can present the emotions of its characters and explore the reasons for their emotional state and the effects it has on people. By extension the power of the human desire for connections is expressed through the completion of the longing and the realisation of the pair’s bond. Similarly to the longing, this is made possible by Yuri’s extreme emphasis on the emotional states of its characters and makes the strength of their desire for each other clear and gives a good space for exploring what exactly this means in practice. Of course not everyone sells this vision of purity for the right reasons, there is no denying that the teasing of Yuri is a strong selling point for a product and there are many visual novels which lean into this for all the wrong reasons. These are the type of visual novels which have Yuri as a flavour to entice in an audience without then committing to the idea as in practice they pay it off with only vague insinuations. They also make use of the aesthetic by signalling the colour and composition associated with Yuri to paint the game in Yuri to complement the main thrust of the game, but the result often feels hollow because the juggling act between these elements is difficult to manage while keep a consistent tone. An example of this attitude to Yuri can be seen in The Curse of Kudan which uses it as a side element to drive the emotional core behind its main mystery focus. What results is a confused experience with the Yuri cues not matching the serious and darker mystery causing a form of narrative whiplash. Alongside this is the problem of the romances feeling undercooked and merely in there to act as bait to keep the player hooked without the developer considering that will have to pay this off at some point. This type of treatment for Yuri is strangely common despite its very mixed results from an overall game standpoint and more often than not leaves a sour taste in the player’s mouth. A Vision of Reality – Western Yuri For Western Yuri the presentation and priorities are very different than with Japanese Yuri to the point at which the only commonality at times is their base subject matter. Rather than pastel idealism there is instead a sense of the weight to the relationship. It is something to be treasured but there are many experiences which will be difficult or strange to those under these emotions. This shift in approach from their Japanese peers stems from the different origins of those creating the influential titles and the space around the topic which has developed. Even when the setting is fantastical Western Yuri has its sights firmly set in the real and grounded experience that reflects the lives of actual lesbians. These take the issues and frames them individually within events and characters who bring it into an easy to digest form that emphasises the emotions involved. Presentation of these themes is not limited by an established visual language and instead plays host to many contrasting uses of imagery from other genres with interesting merges taking place in order to get the desired effect. As a result there are a lot of different interpretations of the same ideas that have arisen leading to many new ways of approaching the Yuri design space as well as a fair amount of cross-pollinating from popular games. One of the best examples of this culture of design can be seen in Blackberry Honey. This visual novel, set in mid-19th century England, takes the issues surrounding lesbians relationships and puts them into a distinctive historical context which allows them to standout against a world hostile to their existence. In assuming the visual identity of the era the game gains a presentation it can play with to better convey its ideas without being bound to a set of prescribed iconography. On the other hand this does mean the game has to work twice as hard to make sure it is clear in its intent since it has nothing within the player’s established understanding of the genre to fall back on. It is a trading of stability for freedom and it is a common choice among many Western Yuri games. The difference in approach originates for the far more indie centric development of Yuri visual novels due to the way the market has developed in the West. Rather than being defined by an industry in need of profit to survive, the Western scene is defined by individuals or small groups who act within the genre out of a love for it and as a result the vast majority of the visual novels produced by them are passion projects that their developers do not expect to make large (if any) profits from. As you would expect this leads to a diverse field both in terms of game concepts but also the people involved due to the low barrier for entry and easy access to simple but competent engines. Of course such a wide array of releases leads to an unevenness in terms of quality with many being basic in nature with a few which stand out for their distinctive originality, but each one has the same passion and contain the experiences and thoughts of their developers. NomnomNami is a good example of an individual within this space. Their projects are small in scale but tight in focus and have allowed them to develop a visual and narrative identity of their own that reflects their passion for the ideas they express. Rather than being made with an eye for sales their projects are the stories they want to tell and this comes across in every moment of these games. They also showcase of how there is a lot of overlap in Western Yuri between the genre and other LGBTQ+ narratives and spaces. Many of their works often touch on, if not outright make the focus, other feelings effecting this group and the commonality between them. Conclusion Regardless of which of the two approaches you might follow in your own work or play, there is no denying the unique power that Yuri has to inspire the presentation of often unexplored ideas and emotions in relatable fashions. Be it through the bright colours, pseudo religious imaginary and idealism of Japanese Yuri or the grounded, alive and real issue orientated Western Yuri, there is no limit to the sheer variety of expressive tools on offer for budding developers. Each one offers some angle on love that a more traditional romance experience would shy away from but which Yuri makes front and centre for all to see. The strange mixture of longing, desire, hopes, acceptance and realisation which make the space such a sight to behold continue to attract more people into the genre. Perhaps something here tickled your creative juices and you want to explore this space more and doing so would definitely be worth your time as the diversity on display is not something any one article can possibly capture.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. There Is Something Behind You Genres define the games they inhabit and how the game uses its unique features to achieve or subvert the expectations of the audience. This is especially true for horror which aims to invoke feelings in the player that many other genres deliberately steer clear of. As such it is an excellent candidate to begin to observe how visual novels adapt themselves to accommodate and play to the strengths of a specific genre. When a developer sets out to make a horror game they are shaping their game into a framework with the aim of creating fear and dread in the player. This is an extremely narrow set of priorities which often leads to creative use of assets and ideas, but also restricts what a game has access to in terms of standard motifs since it is highly incompatible with other genres. Visual novels are by nature a medium of limited means of expression while still being extremely flexible and has lead them to have an odd relationship with horror. Let’s dive in and find out exactly how the bond between them manifests. Less Is More In Horror And VNs The strongest bond between horror and visual novels is their understanding that less is more when it comes to narrative and presentation. For horror this is about not giving away too much information in order to insure that the source of the fear and dread does not become a known quantity and thus familiar to the player. By contrast visual novels lean into this narrative style more out of necessity due to the limitations of the medium and the need to keep the pace of story up while making the most out of the assets available in creative ways. Regardless of their differing reasons for this choice, it makes for an excellent pairing with horror which is able to cleanly achieve its aims and not put a burden on the resources of the visual novel. Perhaps the most iconic example of this common trait is the original Higurashi. This title had a very limited budget to work with resulting in the creator having to make all the artwork himself and splitting the overall narrative into a series of shorter visual novels. However, these apparent shortcomings were in fact strengths for the horror focus of the game. They prevented the source of the fear from becoming an easily identifiable element through the odd style of the artwork, and limited nature of its implementation does as much for obscuring the truth as the narrative. While other horror visual novels might not practice this technique to the extremes of Higurashi, they nevertheless lean into it for both budgetary and artistic reasons to help form the desired dread in the player. Monster Of The Week When it comes to structural elements, there is one type which both horror and visual novels love for longer form storytelling and this is the episodic format. The most common manifestation of this format for horror visual novels is a monster of the week style where the threats facing the characters changes regularly to keep the player on the edge of their seat. By not sticking to a single monster the game can preserve the overall sense of the unknown since it can discard an individual threat the moment the player no longer feels fear from them. It also allows for the build up of a greater and insidious final antagonist to act as a capstone for the game through an escalation of the dangers facing the characters, thus making the entity responsible for all the previous monsters come across as particularly threatening. The Death Mark games showcase this compatibility through the various ghosts and ghouls the developers based their episodes around and the way in which the visual novel format complements this approach. Each self contained segment has its own mystery and mechanical puzzles to complement the associated monster and provide a pacing tool through which the game uses to control the build up and release of tension. This is important as for a game of Death Mark’s length as it cannot keep a constant tension otherwise it will wear out the player and cause them to want to stop playing the game. So the solution Death Mark hits upon is to simulate the highs and lows of an overall horror experience on a smaller scale to give space to breathe and generate excitement for what is coming next. It is the also a great pacing tool utilised by visual novels in general to make break their longer games into manageable chunks, leading to them slotting nicely alongside horror. Control Over Information One particular sub-genre of horror which does not adhere to the episodic format is Denpa, a genre where controlling the player’s access to information is critical to the effectiveness of its fear. Given the limited means visual novels have of presenting the player with information, they are capable of providing a developer with precise control over what is know, while still offering the option to drop hints and create striking moments. This might be through the use of specific character portrait placement, subtle audio cues or the clever narrative moments. There are a surprising number of avenues to rely ideas down but these have limitation on the amount which can be conveyed at once and this sets the player’s expectations for what they are witnessing. Together these are excellent tools to sow doubt in the player's mind and invoke a paranoid state in them that is the hall mark of Denpa. Soundless - A MODERN SALEM IN REMOTE AREA – is a good example of how compatible Denpa horror and visual novels are at their core. The overall aim of Soundless is to create a sense of claustrophobia and doubt the game can channel into making the player question everything as events decay into a whirlpool of madness. To do this, the game establishes a status quo through a set of symbols and sounds that meet the player’s expectations while subtly cueing them in that something is not right, but never allowing them to put their finger on what it is. Thus when events start to slip into an uncontrolled descent, the player cannot tell if the protagonist is a reliable narrator to events given how off they can be at times, but still having to grapple with them as their only source of information. The restricted space to understand what is happening provided by the limitations of the visual novel medium ensure the player will always be in the palm of the developer’s hand and experience the desired dread. Conclusion Horror, just like humour, varies by person, some find grotesque monsters scary while others find the unknown a source of dread. Regardless of what type of horror experience is desired, visual novels offer a flexible environment to create an emotional roller-coaster for the player. Their compatibility with horror is founded in a fundamental commonality with how the two approach their structure and execution. From an emphasis on a limited means of presenting ideas, to an episodic centric approach to long form stories, to an ability to create gaps into which the player can project their own monsters. Together they can create games and narratives which would not be possible in other mediums due to their more expansive tool sets and differing player expectations. Horror is a genre defined by its ability to make something from very little material and visual novels understand this approach in a way nothing else can hope to match.

Visual Novel Translation Status (07/04/2024) Welcome to this week VNTS Review. For the title, because we have Tengoku Struggle with the female MC being the step daughter of King Enma tasked to return the prisoners from Hell, I decided to make the parody of the old anime Yu Yu Hakusho with it has the son of King Enma as one of the major character by changing 'Ghost' in its direct translated title (Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files) into 'Prisoners', so we have 'Yu Yu Hakusho: Prisoner Files' as the title. As for this week, we have several releases which to be frank not really interesting to me. Another thing to note is that finally Ninetail announce their timeline for Ragnarok Kickstarter, and ironically it's the most interesting news in this week. Overall, this week is another below average week and let's see what I can write in regard of it. Aksys did release Tengoku Struggle, and for the premise we have female MC Rin who is the step daughter of King Enma tasked to return all of the escaped prisoners that suppose to face their punishment. In order to have good chance to successfully capture the prisoners, Rin enlist the help from Goemon and several others handsome prisoners to do her job, and obviously we'll going to see the romance blossom between Rin and one of her helper. Go get Tengoku Struggle if you have Switch and want to play it, and have fun. Dramatic Create announce they'll localize Nie no Machi along with it's fandisc, and from what I see Nie no Machi is BL VN with the MC is stranded in the world of between the living and the death. For the release time, the main game will be released in this year and the fandisc will be released in 2025. Also there'll be PC version as well, so you didn't need to buy Switch if you want to play this. Shiravune released Holy Slave Academy, and well no much to say other than it's old nukige with the MC was the teacher who tasked to mold his student into the sex slave by using any means. Speaking of nukige, Cherry Kiss also suddenly released their nukige back in April 1st, and it's about the MC who has his own bunny suddenly transform into the girl which of course will have a lot of sex with the MC. Ninetail announce the time for their Ragnarok Kickstarter, and they say the KS will start some times in May later. Ninetail also mention some difficulties in regard of their upcoming KS, such as no gameplay demo thanks to the engine issue, the increased shipping price because of the rising cost, and the increased price for one of the pledge. For fan translation, we have Taima Seiko Alice is at 30% edited, Akagoei 3 is at 53.37% edited, ChuSingura is at 41.91% translated, and Ushieta is at 44.9% translated with Airi's route is fully translated. For Ushieta here, obviously this is quite big achievement seeing the old project was stopped at 35% translated, so good job to the translator for finishing Airi's route. Anyway, now that Airi's route is fully translated, the translator planned to working on Nagisa's route next. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week. PS - I know there's some significant update in regard of Ginharu, and I decided to save the talk for next VNTS Review.

Visual Novel Translation Status (31/03/2024) Welcome to this week VNTS Review, and for the title because we finally have Sekai released ReLord 3 with the sub title '~The demon lord of Groessen and the final witch~', I made the parody with I change 'Groessen' into 'Toyotoki' (From Ihanashi no Majo English title, Tales from Toyotoki) and 'the final witch' into 'the songstress' with songstress part come from one of Venus Blood Hollow fandisc title 'The Dragon Songstress'. Anyway, for this week initially I thought it would be a plain one, but near the end of the month there are several sudden release along with Mangagamer finally do another updates. Overall, this week to me is more or less a below average one, and let's see what I can write in regard of it. We have a new publisher called Ramune Games about to release their debut work, LingerieS, with the premise the trap MC was assigned to take care of the lingerie shop that his twin sister take care of while said sister have some other business for the whole two months. From what I see, apparently it's another single heroine VN, and looking from the number of the side heroine we may have more parts available later. In any case, the plan is to release the VN in this year later. Ramune Games itself is the branch company of the developer who usually made nukige, so we may have 18+ patch for this. Speaking of this year release, we finally have Ihanashi no Majo English language support for Steam with the support will be available on Autumn later (The Switch version will be available on this Summer). It's interesting if not funny on how both Ninetail and Sekai decided to do sudden release for both of their VN, and it's good for the latter now that they have one less title to worry about. No much comment on Venus Blood Hollow fandisc other than it'll focused on the dragon sibling (Julia and Liese) who will received a lot of love from Leon's trusted tentacles, and feel free to play if you want more of Hollow (I'm still waiting for Ragnaro's KS). Sekai did suddenly released ReLord 3rd, and with it they finally done with ReLord trilogy. For the premise of ReLord 3, we have the demon lord MC finally almost done to liberate his territory from the witches, although obviously the MC still need to face the hard fight seeing now he need to deal with two enemies at once. Go get ReLord 3 if you've been waiting for the release before playing the trilogy, and have fun. We also have Shiravune announced the exact release date for (Redundant) Taimanin Yukikaze, with said date is 30th later. Once again, this week we have Mangagamer's updates. As for the updates, we have Hana Awase PC port is in progress, Funbag Fantasy 4 is at 80% translated along with 78% edited, Rance 03 is at 73% translated, Rance X is finally reached 90% mark translated, Sex Open World is also passed 90% mark translated (92%) along with 86% edited, and Ixseal is at 84% translated along with 81% edited. Honestly I only care for Ixseal here, but it's good to see that Rance X finally almost finished its translation work with X has a very big amount of text. Lastly for fan translation, we have Akagoei 3 is past halfway (50.05%) edited, Ryouken After is past halfway (55.58%) translated, Taima Seiko Alice is at a quarter edited, and ChuSingura is at 41.53% translated with Chapter 2 is past three quarter (76.43%) translated. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week.

Rise of the Ronin is an open-world game that covers important events from 1853-1868 from the perspective of a ronin (masterless samurai) of the fallen Kurosu-han (fictional). This period of history is often called the 'Bakumatsu' (TL: The End of the Shogunate) or the events leading up to the Meiji Restoration beginning with the opening of Japan (signing of unequal treaties) and ending with the surrender of Edo to the Satsuma-Choshu forces. Your character is one of a pair of twins (you can choose male or female) who has a chance encounter with Sakamoto Ryouma before he enters Yokohama, and much of the central story is told from your outside perspective interacting with important individuals in one of four periods of the time: The anti-foreigner movement and Ansei Purges, the rise of the Anti-Shogunate movement, the breakout of open conflict in the streets of Kyoto (the Ikeda-ya incident and the first Choshu Rebellion), and the Boshin War. What I didn't like There were two major issues I had with the game, not having to do with the gameplay but rather with the story. The first was the blatant favoritism of the scenario team toward the anti-Shogunate side of things. The second was the blatant historical inaccuracies that were just plopped in. To be blunt, from the very beginning, you are encouraged (and not subtly so) to side with the Anti-Shogunate (Tobaku in future mentions) forces. It is at its most blatant in the prologue and first chapter, where your main character's homeland is destroyed by the Shogunate (Bakufu in future references) after a failed assassination attempt on Admiral Perry. In the first chapter, you meet a lot of famous and interesting figures in the Tobaku's historical membership, Sakamoto Ryouma, the silly drunkard Katsura Kogoro, the gambler Takasugi Shinsaku, and the idealistic young hero Kusaka Genzui, and for much of the main story you are basically following the major points of Ryouma's journey, even as you go off to do side-quests and the like along the way. In addition, the main Bakufu characters are a Geisha with a creepily subtle approach to things and an old man who seems like he'd order your death without a blink if he felt like it. The problem is that this deliberate placing of extremely likeable and idealistic characters on one side and a slightly creepy group on the other makes it natural to just choose the Tobaku side from the beginning. While later chapters introduce more interesting characters on the other side, such as Katsu Kaishu, the Shogun Yoshinobu, and the Shinsengumi, you are still encouraged at key points to take the side of the Tobaku, and it isn't even subtle. The second issue, historical revisionism, is actually tied in with the issue above. Two key points that I need to stress are the enthronement of Yoshinobu and the death of Kondou Isami of the Shinsengumi. The former, the enthronement of Tokugawa Yoshinobu as Shogun, is something that - in actual history - didn't occur until August of 1866, whereas in Rise of the Ronin he is already Shogun in 1858, when Yoshida Shoin is executed. This might seem like a minor revision, but considering how it was the internal disorganization caused by his predecessor's illness and inability to rule that led to Ii Naosuke having the power to order the Ansei Purges that martyred a lot of Tobaku philosophers and activists, the only reason I can see to treat his character the way they did was to make him seem incompetent, thus leading to more favorable impressions of the Tobaku side in comparison. The latter is less of an issue, except as a convenience for those who wanted the story wrapped up neatly in the second Edo chapter. However, losing Kondou early in the sequence of events (since he was still active after the surrender of Edo), was a somewhat questionable decision. I will admit that the event itself was incredibly emotional to watch in video, and a certain mission involving the Shinsengumi survivors afterward was equally so. What I did like The gameplay is the first thing that comes to mind. There are so many different ways to fight your battles in this game, from utilization of its nine different main weapon types (including bare fists), to the varying combat styles (particularly in the katana and nodachi styles), to the use of the hang-glider and horses to get around. The mini-games are interesting without being intrusive, and they include hang-gliding courses, target-shooting with a rifle, horse-archery, and mock fights in the dojo with NPC unique characters, all of them for prizes. For side-quests, you have collection quests for each region: treasure chests, Usugumo Dayu's cats, cleansing of violent ronin, and taking pictures of scenery. I should note that the cats and dogs in this game are ridiculously cute and a constant source of easy items that can at the very least be disassembled for upgrade parts. Completing all the quests in an area of a region gives you a reward that helps you advance your character or your bonds with NPCs. Your home, a small longhouse that is on the edge of town in each region, is a good place to meet random friend NPCs and interact with them without going to them. It is also the place where you initiate pilgrim dog and cat service missions, both of which are a steady source of income without effort. You can redecorate it with your favorite weapon, a picture or scroll, and six curios that attract different personality types amongst the NPCs you've met so far. In your house, you can also put together an ensemble through the redesign feature that lets you look less like a murder hobo. Story-wise, there are a ton of extremely emotional moments. This was a period of Japanese history that was full of heroes on both sides, many of them tragic and glorious at the same time. The fact that it is possible to save three major tragic heroes from their fates (Sakamoto Ryouma, Okita Soji, and Takasugi Shinsaku) earned points with me. The battle of Toba-Fushimi is a perfect illustration of why the samurai caste was doomed, as men with swords fought against others armed with rifles, gatling guns, and cannons. Being able to fight this battle and other key scenes from both sides without replaying the game from the beginning made the story as a whole come to life. Though I was a bit annoyed that your efforts don't make any difference in the final result (I love it when historical games let you break history), but the personal story was decent enough, in the end. Conclusion Rise of the Ronin is one of the better open-world games I've played, making others like Assassins Creed seem stale and boring in comparison. This might be because I'm a weeb and tired of AC's stale plotline, though. The story is impactful and emotional in a way purely western-made games never seem to manage for some reason, and it showed off why Team Ninja is one of the better game developers out there.

Visual Novel Translation Status (24/03/2024) Welcome to this week VNTS Reviews, and for the title I'll tell it in PS. As for this week, compared to the last one we have several updates, so in theory this should be interesting week. That said, those updates are not quite interesting to me for the most part, but it still worth to note anyway. So overall this week is an almost average one, and let's see what I can write in regard of it. Shinzou Translation released Nagi no Koi on last Sunday. For the VN itself, I knew that it has two love stories with one of the story has amnesiac MC, while the other story has the MC find his happiness in the arranged marriage after he failed yo become the lord in his territory, and I also knew the team got the approval from the developer to work on this. Feel free to get Nagi no Koi of you're interested, and have fun. For the rest of fan translation updates, we have Akagoei 3 is at 48.12% translated, Majikoi Ryouken After is at 46.19% translated, Taima Seiko Alice is at 20% edited, and Ushieta is at 35.6% translated with Airi's route is past halfway (55.7%) translated. HuneX announced they currently will release Steam Prison FD within this year, and as the bonus there'll be English version of it with Mangagamer responsible for the translation work. No much to say other than it's nice that it's also will be available on PC. We also have PQube announce new Memories Off, SINce Memories, with the most important thing is it'll be available in English, which mean it's the first Memories Off VN in English. To elaborate, Memories Off series is the series of charage by KID, and Never7 slice of life writing is obviously influenced by Memories Off series with the sci-fi plot appear near the end. For the release time, it's still unknown when PQube will do it. That said, I know the artist is the one who work on Aonatsu Line and Yukiiro Sign (Also Aquatope anime), and I immediately recognize her style when I saw the announcement. Aniplex announce their newest VN, Tanetsumi no Uta, with them will release it in this year. For it's premise, it's about the 16 years old young girl Misuzu who's going to the adventure to face True Winter with Misuzu's late mother in her youth, Misuzu's future daughter, and Misuzu's stillborn little brother. Aniplex also announced the exact release date for their (Redundant) Tsukihime Remake Part 1, and it'll be on June 27th later. It's too bad there's no PC version announcement of this, although it may took a year to work on it just like Mahoyo. Shiravune finally announced the exact release date for Kara no Shoujo 2, and it'll be on April 19th later. What I can say is the release are mostly redundant since we already have the translation for Kara no Shoujo 2 since 2015 thanks to Mangagamer. If anything else, at least Innocent Grey made the trial (Which is very different from the main story) as the Prologue in the new version that Shiravune took. Lastly, they also announce Shukusei no Girlfriend 2 which is inevitable if we see Criminal Border. The sequel here put the focus on the new girl to focus is Maja, although she's not exactly new with here appear in the first part as the magical girl who antagonize the MC. No idea of the exact release date for this, but Shiravune listed Q2 2024 (ie at most June 30th) as the estimation time, and let's hope there won't be any complication before the release. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week. PS - Since we have new VN announcement with the artist herself worked on Yukiiro Sign, I made the parody of Sherlock Holmes 'The Sign of the Four' with I changed 'Four' into 'Two' because we have Kara no Shoujo 2 exact release date announcement, which is very fitting seeing both of Sherlock Holmes and Reiji (Kara no Shoujo MC) are detectives.

Visual Novel Translation Status (17/03/2024) For this week title, because we have Shiravune localized redundant NTR VN with Steam title 'Saving Mrs. Hinako', I just make a parody of Saving Private Ryan movie with I changed 'Ryan' into 'Hinako', and obviously Hinako's setting is not the private in military like Ryan. Anyway as for this week, turned out Shiravune has new announcements in which it's quite an interesting one to a degree, namely Amanatsu. So with that, overall this week is an almost plain one and let's see what I can write in regard of it. Like I say beforehand Shiravune did release a redundant NTR VN with the full uncensored title 'Saving Mrs. Hinako with My Cock', which obviously mean the MC will have a lot of sex with the titular Hinako. I did say redundant is because we already have the fan translation of this back in 2021, although honestly I didn't pay much attention to it back when it's released at that year. For the premise of the VN itself, we have the MC who find out his childhood crush Hinako has already moved on and have a daughter. At first the MC felt very hopeless now that his crush has move on without him, although knowing that Hinako's marriage is not exactly a happy one with her husband do his best to cheat from Hinako as much as possible, the MC decided to take the action to take Hinako from her husband, which including have sex with her. Note that Shiravune did use the new translation instead of the available fan translation, so fell free to pick whichever translation you prefer. For this week fan translation updates, we have ChuSingura is at 40.83% translated, Taima Seiko Alice is at 15% edited, Akagoei 3 is at 37.62% edited, and Ushieta is at 28% translated with Airi's route is at 18.9% translated. We also have the big progress from Konosora Snow Present, with the most recent status is it has been fully edited and the team will tackle the image editing before compile the final patch. Last but not the least, we have Shiravune's new announcement, Amanatsu which is quite an interesting one. The reason on why I say it is because it's bigger title from Azarashi Soft which usually has better graphic, and doubly so considering so far we only have smaller title from Azarashi. With now Shiravune announced Amanatsu, at least now we know on who has better chance to finally pick the most well known Azarashi Soft VN, Amakano series. For Amanatsu, while it's very obvious that it has good graphic, the other notable one is the writer of the VN is Hayase Yuu, who as we know wrote several comedy VNs for Smee, so we can expect the comedy that usually available in Smee VNs on Amanatsu. For the release date, this time Shiravune decided to be secretive about it, although if Mangagamer placeholder date (July 31st) is any indication, we may have Amanatsu available within this year (2024) so let's wait and see here. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week.

Visual Novel Translation Status (10/03/2024) Welcome to this week VNTS Review. For the title, because we have Criminal Border 2nd Part release and it has same core staffs (Writer and director) as Nine series, once again I make the parody of Nine series by adding 'Liminal' (From Criminal Border Steam version name) in front of it. Also, the full name of 2nd Part heroine is Kotoko Tenshigawara, so I use her name as the subtitle. As for this week, the most obvious highlight is Shiravune just released Criminal Border 2nd Part. That said, there's a big surprise from fan translation section, namely we have Frisay Studio (The translation team behind Imaimo and H2O) decided to tackle another translation project with the VN they translate is Ushieta. Overall, I guess this week is slightly better compared to the last one, and let's see what I can write in regard of it. I did mention that Sekai has some problem when it come to bring their big title, although turned out they can still bring some updates. That said, unfortunately the updates are not in regard of their bigger title, but instead it focused on two of their shorter VNs, Sheol and Nekonin ExHeart Spin, with both of the updates are listed as waiting for build on top being fully translated and edited (Also additionally the QA work on Sheol is already 40% done). Well, I can only say that at least Nekonin has good graphic like usual, and Sekai tried to do their best to release new title despite their own problem. From fan translation, we have ChuSingura is at 40.64% translated, Taima Seiko Alice is at 10% translated, Majikoi Ryouken After is at 23.96% translated, and Akagoei 3 is at 33.96% edited along with 7.42% in QA. There's also an update in regard of Ginharu, which can be summed as the hacker just manage to have time to work on it with the estimated release time is April at the earliest. To elaborate more, turned out the staffs is just finished do the final QA passes for both of Mizuha and Yuzuki routes, and right now they preparing to do the playtesting (Think like testing in Mangagamer's usual updates). Like I say beforehand, Ushieta was picked up by Frisay Studio after it's been dropped back in 2018 by the older translator, and so far the progress is quite well with it's been past a quarter (25.4%) translated. Oh yes, there's also Otogirisou release, and I only know it's 1992 horror VN for SNES in which it popularized sound novel format with it has no character sprites. Lastly, we have Criminal Border 2nd Part. While obviously we know that it's the continuation of the first part, unlike Nine in which it has little sister heroine Sora, in here we have Kotoko as the heroine with her is the daughter of the prominent yakuza leader. Also unlike Nine series in which each part is some sort of alternative continuation, Criminal Border is the linear story, so the second part here is the continuation from the first part ending. In second part here, after the MC and their friend got into crippling debt with yakuza after doing their best selling the electronic drug, they have no choice except to turn to Kotoko, with the hope that she being the daughter of the yakuza leader may be able to help the group to be free from the debt. No much to say here other than go get Criminal Border 2nd Part if you've been waiting since 1st Part ending and didn't mind the remaining two untranslated upcoming parts, and have fun. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week.

Visual Novel Translation Status (03/03/2024) Welcome to this week VNTS Review. As for the title, because we have Lunaria release at the last week along with Sakura Isekai Adventure release (With Winged Cloud realize that they should make it as GL VN with female MC), I combined both so we have 'Sakura Moonchild' as the title with 'Moonchild' is from Lunaria full title, Lunaria -Virtualized Moonchild-. For this week, one thing for sure is that it's calmer week compared to the last one. That said, it still has some updates, with the notable one is the new VN from Frontwing. Overall, this week is a below average one, and let's see what I can write about it. Idea Factory released Sympathy Kiss, and this time they do it by themselves instead of asking Aksys Games (They keep released the otome game for Switch only though). For the premise of Sympathy Kiss, we have a female app designer was suddenly tasked to rebuilding the new app that was about to be terminated. As if the MC problem is not enough, she was tasked to work with several handful handsome men, although this may be a boon for the MC seeing that she can end up together with one of the handsome co-worker. Go get Sympathy Kiss if you want it, and have fun. Speaking of otome VN, we also have a new one called Ryuusei Fantasia with the premise is the female MC was tasked as the producer (Like in Idolmaster) of the idol group which consist 14 handsome male idol. The most notable thing is that it'll be available sometimes in this year, and more importantly there's PC version planned so you didn't need to buy Switch just to play Ryuusei Fantasia later. Oh yes, we also have Shiravune announced the exact release date for Holy Slave Academy, and it'll be on April 2nd later. For this week fan translation, we have ChuSingura is at 40.24% translated with Chapter 2 is at 71.64% translated, Taima Seiko Alice is at 5% edited, and Akagoei 3 is at 30.7% edited along with 0.82% in QA. There's also the big update in Majikoi Ryouken After, with the current progress is at 17% translated. Note that Daybreak change the way to note the progress in Ryouken After from script file count into percentage, and for the info if we keep using the script file count it would be equal to 7 out of 17 script files translated. For new VN from Frontwing, it's called Lilja and Natsuka: Painting Lies with them will release it on June 6th later. While it looks like GL VN from the first glance, it's still too early to tell. What I know is that the writer is the one who wrote euphoria which as we know is quite disturbing. Anyway, the story of the VN is goes like there's two female who consist of blind painter (Lilja) and her assistant (Natsuka), and both of them apparently have some kind of dark past that they want to move on from. Note that Frontwing already provided the Steam store page of it along with both Lilja and Natsuka have anime VAs ,so at least we can be sure there won't be disturbing sex scenes like in euphoria. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week.

Since we have Ninetail planned the Kickstarter for Venus Blood Ragnarok along with a fan released the less known VN with the title 'Fake World's End at 4 AM', I decided to make the parody for the later by changing 'World's End' into 'Ragnarok' so we have 'Fake Ragnarok at 4 AM', which is quite fitting because Ragnarok is known as the big war happening when the world is about to end according to Norse mythology. Anyway, for this week, let's just say that it's too bad that Steam decided to ban Tenshi Reboot which obviously cause the delay. Also yes I knew Nekonyan had done harsh but necessary action towards Sakuramoyu project, but it's still rough for Nekonyan to suddenly face the setback, so yeah overall I felt unpleasant to both incidents. My feeling for this week situation aside, overall what I can say about this week it would be another below average one, and let's see what I can write in regard of it. Once again Steam decided to ban Tenshi Reboot, which mean Steam didn't bother to change their policy to their random banning, although seeing that it got its job done for years perhaps Valve know there's no point to change the system. To be fair though, its not the fault of Valve alone, but rather one of the reviewer who randomly tasked to reviewing Tenshi Reboot. Also to be fair, there are several questionable image even on the Steam build, so of course the random reviewer probably just banned it as the response of him being panic. Anyway, for now Nekonyan decided to ask for Hikari Field help to resubmit the build to Valve, so it will take a while before Tenshi Reboot ready for Steam release. Wake-Up Call in form of Tenshi Reboot ban aside, at least we have Nekonyan manage to have Irotoridori finally ready to be released with they'll release it on February 16th later, so feel free to note the date if you've been waiting for very long time (At most 12 years). Cherry Kiss manage to release their newest nukige, and I only know that it has aunt heroine looking from the title alone. Idea Factory announce they'll localize the newest Date A Live VN (Ren Dystopia), and they stated it'll be available sometimes in this year. Speaking of announcement, PQube announced they'll release Konosuba VN on February 8th later. From fan translation, we have Akagoei 3 is at 81.95% translated along with 10.14% edited, Nagi no Koi is at 45% translated along with 20% edited and the assets has been 30% worked on, and ChuSingura is at 37.08% translated. For the release, actually Fake World's End at 4 AM is from the last week, but I forgot to write about it. From what I can see, apparently it's about the MC who entrusted the mysterious egg by the mysterious girl Feni who tell the story about fake apocalypse by God at 4 AM morning, and it has a big number of cameo from the developer previous VNs. Go get the VN if you didn't mind the pixel art, and have fun. I admit that at first I didn't look at Venus Blood Ragnarok favorably, mostly because it's the sequel of Frontier with the VN ended satisfyingly. That said, like Evenicle 2 my feeling can be changed, and so I'm look forward to the KS that Ninetail will do later. For Ragnarok itself, it's about the world after Loki united the world (Obviously with a lot of help from the tentacle). Five hundred years later, Loki was disappeared and Odin was passed away, so the political condition become chaotic with the faction that favor anyone with strong divine blood got rid anyone who have dominant demon blood, with one of those people is the MC Vali. Some times later, Vali met a boy who introduce himself as Loki, and Loki offer Vali his wealth of knowledge and tactic to help Vali which he accept. No idea when the KS will start, although most likely it'll be started around March when they released Venus Blood Hollow fandisc later. That's all for what I can write in regard of this week, and see you next week.

Probably best viewed on my wordpress blog given the gallery element used. Academically this year has been a meme. I’ve managed to fail both courses I tried due to Not Doing Work, and also somehow bricked on getting an actual CV to apply for thesis projects. Twice. More importantly though, in February this year Tadoku added any-time tracking. While there are many tracking platforms and systems, Tadoku is likely the only one I will ever use semi-seriously: the minimalism appeals to me, and there are basically no features I personally need that are missing. In any case, if you’re not aware of my journey I’m an enlightened man who decided to slack as much as reasonable in my Japanese learning, eschewing all SRS and hitting a magnificent 30 minutes per day of input on average1. One might call this unenlightened, but consider: the reckless desire for learning exhibited by many individuals is clearly the very mirror of samsara. The wise man knows that he has many years to live, and has no rush to achieve his goals. Well, if the wise man is as lazy as me anyway. And if he’s not trying to escape himself/his country/his Mafia pursuers by passing JLPT N1 and moving to Japan, of course (many such cases). What I’m trying to say is wisdom comes in many forms, but mine is clearly the best. In any case, January started out with a month-long contest. Looking back… wait…. did I even read in this thing, I’m on page two and I’m still not… ayyyyyyyyyy I’m in place 120 with 9.1 points! My stellar performance here is due to reading part of this nicovideo article and all of 「意外に」と「意外と」に違いはあるのか――辞書の個性. That’s all I have logged. I think this shows that I have a certain comfort in reading things in Japanese for information when I actually want to, even if I’m not going hard. Also that I’m a fucking nerd that will read about minuscule language differences and the interpretation of legal terms2, but we knew that already. Having successfully avoided reading during actual contest time, I picked things up in February. The bulk of my points this month are from watching Okayu stream Minecraft precisely once for 80 minutes, and this one LN. Sometime in the month, I picked up and eventually read 80% of 男子だと思っていた幼馴染との新婚生活がうまくいきすぎる件について, which apart from hitting approximately every emotional fetish I possess in its setting also had ok tier writing and even a decent mildly dramatic plot development toward the end. I finished (well, logged…) the last 20% at a totally not sus timing, just late enough to add it for the March contest. I’m often not super diligent about logging my progress, and for books read on my Kobo I will just log at 10% progress intervals based on the LN physical page count; maybe I only ‘legitimately’ read like 11% of the book that first day starting at 89% : >. In the end, I get like 300 points during February. Acceptable. Anyway, March. It looks like I’m trying to actually score some points for this one, because on the 3rd I start up 戦国の黒百合～ふたなり姫と隷属の少女～ for 12303字. On the 4th I even log 383字 of a script I was reading in preparation to translate it! Honestly I have this perverse urge to log the weirdest things on Tadoku, which is why I’ll definitely log 10 minutes of bad little sister ASMR I didn’t even enjoy just to épater la normaloisie or whatever. Anyway, After this I start up book two of the osananajimi 云々 LN series with a valiant 10%, start legendary eroge Cross Channel and read like 6k/hour due to Romeo’s many references and occasionally otherwise dense prose, some story about how a mangaka was screwed by their publisher or something (I think I saw the manga in mudaebot or whatever and wanted to look it up and shit just happened, but god knows), part of an article about piercings not being accepted at a Japanese school, listened to vtuber and good voice haver polka read a literal story for children and immediately made connections to James Scott’s Seeing Like a State (don’t get me wrong, I only know of it from Scott Alexander’s review and have never bothered to read the original). Also I actually listened to more than the story I guess since she spoke a lot more as it was so short but I didn’t log that because uhh whatever you’re not the master of me! I returned to the osananajimi story with 20% more for 59.2 points, then Shoui posted a rec and acquisition method for 子猫を拾う、子猫の癖に in The Moe Way’s discord and I ended up reading it pretty quickly. Is there anything better than edgy yuri? Okay, your mom is better specifically in bed, but that’s an unfair comparison. She is truly unbelievably experienced. Anyway, I also read some of あさにゃあ, a cute TS nukige, recorded a whole story arc porn image series for 45.6 points, this random chiebukuro question text because it amused me, 50 whole minutes of Okayun stream, read 20% of お姉ちゃんといっしょに異世界を支配して幸せな家庭を築きましょ？ before concluding the writing was trash and I didn’t want to continue (the Zaka rare drop with malice!), 10% of TRPG before concluding the writing was trash and painfully repetetive… look, it’s a coincidence okay? Anyway, dropped with extreme prejudice. Not feeling like the feelgood moment of osananajimi LN, I picked up 転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命, also known as tenten. This one also has bad writing, but it’s mostly in the exposition rather than normal dialogue. Why the writer decided to create a setting where a lot of exposition is practically required despite sucking at it is beyond me, but the other parts of the setting weren’t too bad. The worst thing I subjected to wasn’t even in techno-exposition though, it was this inexplicably redundant pair of lines found on two successive pages: I’m still mad I only read 5% of tenten in March, on the 31st — probably to try and keep my position against someone, though in the main contest my 40th place ended up >100 points away from the next person. Maybe I just wanted to hit 1050 points? Maybe it was for a side contest? Could it be I was simply reading it because I wanted to??? Madokami knows. March was the first contest that admitted listening content, and initially it might have been a little overtuned. While I was a bit annoyed until it got a minor adjustment downward, the truth is that for my own purposes anything that incentivizes listening is probably to my benefit: I very rarely do any of it, and I still only got like 400 minutes logged for this whole year. Sure, there was probably a little more unlogged, but not much. I still wish the site had a UI option to see only a reading leaderboard, but the Tadoku admin and dev io needs more motivation so we’ll see if he ever gets to it. Anyway, at this point Tadoku has gotten off-contest tracking, and I don’t really slow down that much in April. After hitting 90% on tenten, I don’t quite feel like getting it done and am a little disappoint (but haven’t dropped it with malice!), so I manage to acquire and read 8000字 of the obscure doujinge with known writers 魂々, make a quick patch to fix their miserable scripting, then never read it again. Honestly when I make a patch for something to make it better to read, it’s a bad sign for my reading progress. That’s kind of scary. At least a guy I know actually ended up using it later… So after Kon Kon, I get to Voynich Hotel, which I have imported physicals of. Despite the many cultural references I autistically researched, I make it through volume 1 and 2 from April 13-15, then hit volume 3 and suffered my fear of actually finishing things, ending up even how having just 30 pages of volume 3 read. It wasn’t the easiest reading, but it’s pretty fun and definitely out there. You see why it’s a cult classic — I actually read quite a bit of it in English back in the day, but true to form I didn’t finish then either! Ah well. I eventually (April 19) do finish off tenten 1, and the last 10% actually makes me feel a bit better about the book as a whole. I immediately start on tenten 2 and by April 23 I’m 60% into it. Unfortunately my feeling-bad-guard activates and since nice characters are in grave danger at this point I stall it and still haven’t read more yet. This volume actually ended up a lot better than vol 1 for the most part, as it focused on characters more than the whole thing about developing magical artifacts that’s half the premise. Since the writer is actually kind of decent at writing this, the quality instantly goes up. Maybe the narration also got a minor upgrade, but who knows. Anyway, I finish 9th in this totally legit user contest for April with 615.3 points. May. Tadoku constest season again, but now it’s a quirky 14-day one. I start out strong with 120 minutes of Okayun for 48 points, read way too much (17k!) of a Japanese interview, and write a summary for another writer to use in a Fuwanovel article. Though I manage to meme it a bit because technically the damned vague Japanese never says they’re using 2d sprites for the new Ever17 release, just that they’re going to “refine” whatever they did with the crappy 3d sprites for the xbox 360 release. Also, I fucking hate Japanese interview-type stuff. Maybe I’m just not used to the domain, but these motherfuckers barely commit to anything if you really read what they say. Swear to god it drives me nuts. I try Okayun again but it turns out she’s actually shit at the video game she’s picked this time and I cannot bear to watch longer than 30 minutes. Shoutout to me literally logging 369字 of some amazon description on the 7th; I also read 3 whole chapters of 日本人のための日本語, a Japanese-language Japanese grammar introduction using a modern grammar framework for Japanese that includes such exotic (for traditional Japanese grammar) terms such as na-adjectives and the topic-comment structure. That’s like 29k字. It’s kind of fun but it does do the “wow we Nihonjin so special” thing a bit which is kinda cringe. I’m sure you can find some other language that likes describing things as passively occurring rather than being actively done a lot, nerd! Oh well. On the 9th I give Sengoku no Kuroyuri another shot for 25k字, mostly because I desire to ejaculate and it’s supposed to have quite a bit of sex. I kind of succeed in finding release eventually, but I also realize that the cold, unironic sadism of the protagonist just doesn’t appeal to me and semidrop it. Maybe I’ll read some more sometime though… On the 10th I pick up the above-average and emotional-fetish-fulfilling 不登校の幼馴染が学校に行く条件は、毎日俺とキスすることだった. I enjoy it but a shocking development later on makes me not quite want to see the end… but that’s later, I only hit 40% during the contest! Also I logged 2980 characters of a rather voluminous tweet thread by famed eroge writer Sca-ぢ. I just wanted to say that. 361 points that month, for 22nd. I only beat the 23rd guy by 1.8 points, which is kind of crazy because I didn’t log on the 14th and he did. I guess the 22nd isn’t really significantly different from 23rd in terms of placement, but he could have sniped me so easily… I spend the rest of the month reading volume 1 of instant bullet (manga) on the 20th, then nothing but two little net pages. The next entry is on June 25th, somehow. I’ve decided to start reading Oshirabu, and manage to read like 60k字 before July 1st brings with it the next Tadoku contest. Sometimes the perversity of specifically reading right before or after Tadoku just inspires me. Still, July has the next contest, and I start with getting the true end in Oshirabu on the 1st for a bit, then on the 7th realize Suou Patra is actually broadcasting content I vibe with and get 85 mins / 35 points of listening in. Next I read some chars of single-heroine eroge Aibeya 2, which I had read sporadically before and was in Real Coomer Hours after its less porny moege start. Anyway, I read enough story to get to the porn, coom, then finish (wait, aren’t those the same thing?). 24k字. After that I pick up the edgy and weird horny adult yuri novel 焦点深度 on July 9th, read to 40% the next day, take a break to finish off different endings of Oshirabu as well as the porn addition (that turns out to have a lot of emotional development to it and seems basically mandatory to have a satisfying ending so it confuses the fuck out of it that this isn’t in the all ages version at all probably) on the 13th, then eventually hit 100% on 焦点深度 on the 18th. I doubt I read all of the remaining 60% the same day, I was just chilling on the log because it doesn’t really matter, does it? Anyway it’s a bit harder to recommend than 子猫を拾う, but it was kind of fun and definitely a little unique. Not very yuri genre, but who needs that? The first lesbian romance I saw was Fucking Åmål (on Swedish public television!), in which one of the girls fucked a guy and realized she didnt really care for it before getting together with the other girl. I was always hardcore, okay. Anyway, it seems like I didn’t care to read more after finishing 焦点深度, leaving me with 404.6 points for 28th place. August. No contest means no motivation, but also there’s probably some creeping academic deadline I’m not dealing with that’s killing me inside. On the 13th I pick up ロンリーガールに逆らえない (漫誤) and read 2 volumes, if only to feel something again. Another volume falls on the 16th, but then the next volume I don’t finish because an unpleasant (though interesting) development of the plot occurs and suddenly I can’t bear to see what will happen. Damn, is that three times this year now? I can’t believe I’m letting my own entertainment cuck myself like this. That’s all for August. Damn. September. Normal length contest, but I’m clearly not trying hard as my first entry is on the 10th with this live2d loli nukige that exhentai gifs couldn’t do justice. However it has 3 h-scenes in a row which shows the writers don’t know how to pace their illustrated pornography, so I bail after like 22k字. At least the intro was entertaining for the most part… Having gotten beaned by mismanaged coom material, I pick up the interesting old-school lowtech scifi キーリ series. I think these are technically published as LNs, but the anime-style tropeyness is low and while I only read 10%, I kind of liked it and would recommend anyone that finds that description interesting to try them. It’s available wherever TMWs are present. It wasn’t easy, mostly due to longer sentences I think, though not crazy hard either; maybe not for the beginner. It looks like I’m still on life support, as the next entry is me reading 10% of アオハルデビル on the 27th (picked up after seeing it come up in TMW sharing mostly because it had a short, effective title). My 200.7 points still got me to 21st place. Truly the Tadoku has fallen. October 10th. I read the last of that vjedogonia script I was going to translate and it’s a whole 7k characters. I guess sometimes it pays to log random shit! I also read 16k of the fast-paced, entertaining start of eroge 空のつくりかた, get text hooking working for and quit reading 背徳シレネ after 7.7k on the 21st, then read 2 manga volumes on the 26th. It is very 惜しい that I can’t find more than volume 1 of 夢でフラれてはじまる百合 for free, but I survive by moving to volume one of 世界で一番おっぱいが好き！, which ends up being really meme and god knows how yuri it’ll even be. Probably eventually. Until then girl semiconsensually grope girl boob, I guess. November. Another 2-week round. I read to 40% of アオハルデビル (it’s actually quite fun — it looks like it will basically be (I think this is kind of spoilers because if you actually hit it blind it’s kind of cool to go wtf, but I can’t really sell it otherwise) : Anyway I watch Patra (who I have by now realized has become one of the few big vtubers playing actually interesting games rather than the corpo flavor of the month) for some time playing an interesting retro rpg. The same day, I read some of apparently not very pure yurige 早咲きのくろゆり (12k), and dip for the month. 143.3 points gets me 20th. Retvrn! What manner of competition is this! …Okay it was a 14 day one whatever. December. No Tadoku. You know it’s time to actually read. Early on I pick up 飛び降りる直前の同級生に『×××しよう!』と提案してみた。 I kind of hope they’ll fuck real quick because I want to coom but this doesn’t happen as it turns out this wasnt a nukige book oops. I think I’d class this one as “good anime” in that the insane main character is part of what makes it entertaining, but then it goes pretty hard into darker territory (well, the girl is about to off herself, it’s warranted). Honestly not too bad, happy to have picked it up after some TMW guys reported enjoying it. But I get to 30% and I realize that I should just read what I really want to read: motherfucking yuri. My roots. I don’t know what exactly brought 私の推しは悪役令嬢 to mind, but apart from having planned to read it for ages based on reputation, I think the anime was also running at the time. December 7th, I hit 10%. December 8th, I take a brief detour because my recently discovered kami 女性実況 Sayaka has a collab out that’s reasonably short for a horror ge. 72 precious listening minutes, 28.8 points. December 10th I hit 20% in wataoshi. and then… At the end of the year I realized 4k total points this year was close, so I worked a little harder… and 4k I now have. A modest amount, but it does mean like 12 books of modest Japanese size read. To be honest as I realized going through the scores, like 50 of those points are doubled because I couldn’t edit entries and I wanted to enter them to a private contest or some shit like that. So I guess my cope is clearly my untracked input would be enough to hit 4k anyway, and fuck the haters. I hope I do better in school next year. However have no plans to get more serious about Japanese, because I am an enlightened gigachad and simply don’t need to. Thanks and thats all nerds. year score during contests: 2169.1 year score full: 4014.6 [1] Estimated based on 1 tadoku point = 400 characters and a 10k/h reading speed. I actually think I read a bit slower than this most of the time, but it’s actually lower than 30 mins a day naively calculated, so heck it. Of course, this also doesn’t count casual reading of a few lines from someone’s VN screenshot, or whenever someone consults me on translation for a few lines, or when some dude starts playing some VN on stream to show me the “funny moments” with some two-dimensional bishoujo he is particularly fond of. Life is full of surprises, much like your rectum after excessive chili ingestion. Will It Burn? Truly a pertinent question for this age. [2] Though this one’s very relevant for eroge: I was looking it up in connection with its use in agreements on how to use for example royalty free resources. From what I remember, the legal meaning is generally seen to narrowly protect citizens from entering contracts to do unreasonable or illegal things, but maybe there’s more, I’m not very sure. The more widespread folk meaning would be anything “obscene”, with all the vagueness that term would imply in American law. I’d look it up again, but I don’t think I found a very conclusive answer and besides I’m way too lazy. meow View the full article

Come into being, oh supernova written upon the heavens--- for we are a falling star from the Age of Gods. Oracle received, beginning revelation of the star. The plundered afternoon light brings forth the frozen blizzard. The wind, the sword, and the wolf... the steps to ruin within the winter prison. The uncountable ruins stained our family and brothers in crimson. Not even the three children of the gods were excepted. There are no longer bonds between the sun, the moon, and the sea. Then, oh Tsukuyomi who rules the dark of night, give to me twilight. This is the realm of man, that which stands between the heavens and earth. If the ancient laws are no longer needed, it is the gods that should be massacred. The enraged butcher bares his fangs from the depths of Hel. Chew upon the roots of Yggdrasil and open your wings, Nidhog! Then I shall guide that flight with the moonlight that falls upon the path of night! To a brilliantly-colored twilight that lies at the end of the Age of Gods! It needn't be said, oh silver goddess! For I exist only for you. The demonic dragon rises from the underworld, tramples the rainbow bridge and devours the nine universe to become a new sun! Now is the time, bestow Fate upon the jaws of madness! Oh, thou martyr of Light, dig your fangs into my heart and complete Ragnarok. Metalnova- Silverio Fimbulvetr!

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Horror, Yuri Play Time - 25 hours Developer - Success Steam VNDB Shaped By Inevitable Bonds Being bound by the red string of fate is a common trope in Japanese romance stories and at first glance you might assume that Akai Ito would follow these conventions given its emphasis on yuri. However, nothing could be further from the truth as the game takes this romantic convention and repurposes it to further a disempowerment horror story. Fate takes on a shade of grey with the feeling of love being tinged by the march of supernatural forces who care nothing for this newly formed bond. Akai Ito is very much a visual novel from a bygone era and this makes it a strange oddity in the modern day especially with how few games in the medium get HD remasters. Its strong core identity has only grown in potency as its peers have fallen into obscurity and a lack of the cliches of the current age makes for a novel experience. Even its strange collection of design choices are not enough to sour the overall package. With all that said how well does this mix of yuri and horror stand up against the more varied modern medium? Let’s follow the treads of fate and discover what this relic has to offer. Returning To A Forgotten Home – Narrative and Themes As a narrative core romance and horror make for odd bedfellows and it this exact dissonance Akai Ito uses to great effect. It utilises a supernatural mystery as the binding element between these two halves and puts each to good use as the source of the tense horror of being in the shoes of a weak protagonist and for rich variety of yuri relationships. Sometimes this is pushed too far and stretches the player’s patience with just how powerless the protagonist is even in situations where it does not make narrative sense. Returning to a family home you barely remember is a strange experience with memories slowly coming back as you explore the place where you once spent so much time. Such is the backbone of Akai Ito’s supernatural mystery, a forgotten past in a distant home which many people who would rather the protagonist, Kei, forget for good. No secret can remain hidden for long when curiosity guides the one it concerns and this acts as the diving force for both Kei and the player leading to a feeling of exploration and forward momentum. Each new discovery hints at the next and passes on the sense of intrigue in such a way that the player never feels too sure they know how this is going to end. There is a well divided structure to the distribution of key revelations between the routes so none of them horde all the good twists and they are provided to the heroine with which they have a connection, so they can be delivered believably. What this means in practice is utilising them as a source of conflict against and between Kei and the route heroine creating dynamic situations in which secrets flow out naturally. In doing it this way the supernatural mystery can sit next to the other narrative elements without overwhelming them with major plot points centred around it. Alongside the mystery sits the game’s emphasis on a tense disempowerment brand of horror. Kei is no superpowered fighter nor does she become so over the course of the story. Instead she is a fairly average human in terms of physical capabilities and this makes the threats against her life all the more palpable. The player instinctually know the consequences of any harm that comes her way since they too feel the fragility of human life with each attack being a possible broken limb at best or instant death at worse. Tapping into this primal fear of our own weak bodies and the spectre of death in every possible slip up is the game’s greatest achievement and it injects a visceral sense of tension into the supernatural threat facing Kei. It feels as if even the slightest nudge could cause this story to come to an abrupt and bloody end. The only issue with this approach is that Kei’s weakness can sometimes be pushed too far and she feels like a passenger in her own story with her love interests doing all the heavy lifting to the point of eclipsing the person who is meant to be the main character. While this never makes itself know enough to break the player’s suspense, it can still be distracting to see how little our main character does at times in their own story. Tied Together By Fate – Characters On one side of the character divide with have our protagonist Kei who as mentioned above is a deliberately underpowered character for the threats they are facing, but beyond that they are also immensely relatable. Their vulnerability makes the actions they take to face the threat against their life take on a greater weight and helps sell the human nature of their heroism. Kei is not someone who is helping out of the goodness of her heart and instead she acts to protect and support those she cares about, normally the route heroine. The childish and selfish streak in her does a good job of making feel like she is someone her age, on the cusp of maturity but still with a lot of the emotional baggage of a teenager. For a player point of view character, this mixture of strengths and weakness is perfect for keeping interest constant and having a relatable point of reference among all the supernatural forces since we have all been in that cusp of adulthood during our lives so we too know how confusing it can be. She also works well as a mirror for the heroines since she has the innocence that they do not and is able to see through the masks they wear and show them their true feeling even as they try to reject her. These bonds are reciprocal as Kei learns and matures in a way close to the route’s heroine by taking on a small amount of their traits so she can be more like them. Sitting opposite Kei is the rest of the cast, both heroines and antagonists, as they all share a similar clear focus to their aims even if Kei is not immediately aware of what they are or what they involve. These competing desires lead to them rubbing each other the wrong way and results in interesting, telling and varied interactions that do a lot to further the mysteries at the heart of the game. The conflicts are not limited to fighting against the antagonists and many stem from the heroines’ differing values as they struggle to contain their hostility or unease towards each other, all the while tiptoeing around Kei. Such a wide pool of character relationships helps support the game’s multiple route structure as it can put an emphasis on a certain set of struggles to make them the focus, keep them fresh and encourages a thorough dive into each route to gain a complete picture of these characters. The mystique surrounding the antagonists is maintained by never revealing enough through these interactions to give away what drives them or what they have planned, but still provide enough for the player to form their own theories. As a whole they are an astonishingly well thought through cast that fit their roles and the tone of the game well. Otherworldly Beauty – Visuals, Audio and Technical Presentation is one of the key elements used to sell this HD remaster and, while the original version never released in English, there has been a clear effort to make sure it lives up to these expectations. This new layer of polish breaths life into an early 2000’s title with crisp visuals and increased fidelity which helps enhance the game’s tone by giving it a grounded aesthetic. The charm of this older style of anime character and CG designs is not lost in the transfer into HD and now it stands out even more alongside a field of moe centric visual novels, making it a refreshing blast from the past. However, the visuals have not been stretched to fit into a widescreen resolution and instead light patterned sidebars have been added to fill out what would have been black bars around the image. These are relatively unobtrusive and to be expected since this is a remaster rather than a remake and they never intrude into the experience in the way simple black bars would have. On the audio front the sound effects and music maintain the excellent atmosphere of the original and they are clear to the listener with no distortions. Each track is used to great effect and they all lean into the mystery and romantic tones that define Akai Ito which leads to some impressively emotive moments. Despite the general high quality of Akai Ito, there is one area bringing down the whole experience and this is the uneven nature of the translation and its implementation. The overall quality of the translation is decent, but there are certain places were it stumbles and these happen often enough to be distracting. One of the most noticeable places to observe this is in the menus where some text is translated very literally to the point of requiring you to stop and think about what the button you are hovering over actually means. Within the game itself there will be moments where the phrasing of certain sentences will be unnatural or flow poorly and you’ll wonder if you misread it which brings you out of the events on screen. Then there are the issues with how text is implemented into the game, it is a regular feature for a single section of text to be broken into several textboxes with one ending suddenly and shifting directly into the next in a way that makes it clear that the original text occupied a single textbox. This can lead to the text lacking the impact it might have otherwise had if it was delivered as a single blow rather than being split up. All these points are disappointing given the otherwise high bar of the game’s quality and are worth keeping in mind when considering your purchase. Conclusion On the surface mixing yuri and horror might seem to be a recipe for disaster but Akai Ito showcases a strong case from how taking two disparate genre together can lead to exciting new games. Smoothly blending the suspense of its supernatural mystery with the horror of our own fragile mortal bodies and the enriching and varied nature of love is the main draw of this visual novel. Backing this up is a solid cast of multifaceted heroines and villains alongside a protagonist who displays a strong humanity in her actions. This strength continues in its visual and auditory presentation which has benefited highly from the HD treatment. The only places the game stumbles are in its uneven translation and frustrating lock system, but neither of these do enough to ruin an otherwise well put together title. Verdict – An outstanding disempowerment horror experience that utilises its yuri component with grace and which stands out despite its age and a few questionable design choices. Pros - + A good balance of supernatural mystery and tension keeps the narrative engaging. + The yuri relationships are presented believably and never overshadow the story’s direction. + Clear and crisp HD visuals that retain the charm of their originals. + Plays up the protagonist vulnerability just enough to enable the horror elements. Cons - - Translation can be a bit strange at times and there is a lack of polish when it comes to how it is integrated into the game. - The lock system creates unnecessary confusion and serves only to frustrate the player. - The protagonist can be a bit too passive in the events determining her very survival and often leaves things to her love interest rather than doing it herself.

For all members of the press who follow the progress of KagariSoft games, we inform you of the reopening of the form to request keys. The criteria are the same. The keys will be set aside and sent in due time! https://kagarisoft.unset.com.ar/forms/request-key

The characters in Dohna Dohna are factually at least 18 years old, and therefore not minors. This is clearly indicated on the website of its original English storefront, Johren.games:[1] Dohna Dohna is also now sold on the following download stores as of August 8, 2023, which also clearly state that the characters depicted in sexually explicit conduct are at least 18 years of age: JAST USA (jastusa.com), Based in California, United States, which states on the product page: More information about JAST USA: erogefyi.carrd.co/#jastusa Kagura Games (kaguragames.com) Based in California, United States, which states on the product page: More information about Kagura Games: erogefyi.carrd.co/#kaguragames MangaGamer (mangagamer.com) Based in Japan but dealing primarily to the United States, shipping physical games from California, United States, and blocked to Japanese customers, which states when visiting their website: More information about MangaGamer: erogefyi.carrd.co/#mangagamer Given that Dohna Dohna is now sold from websites based in the United States (JAST USA and Kagura Games), legitimate businesses that each do their own legal diligence and openly adhere to United States record keeping laws for sexually explicit material, one can only conclude that the game Dohna Dohna must be legal to be bought and sold in the United States. Not only that, but as I describe in this essay, Dohna Dohna is a serious work of art and literature concerning issues of grave social and political importance and as such must be entitled to the highest degree of first amendment protection, not only regardless, but because of, any of its sexually explicit content. The second warning is displayed upon launching the software: "All appearing people, places, and organizations are entirely fictional. They have no relationship to anything in reality. All violent and illegal acts depicted would be subject to just punishment under the law if carried out in real life. Absolutely do not emulate them."[6] Only adult development staff and no real sexual acts were involved in its creation.[1][5][10][8] Johren states they are based in Japan but conducts business partly from "other countries such as the U.S.",[3] (and Cyprus)[4] and prohibits the transmission of "information that is unlawful, obscene……fraudulent, predatory of minors…" etc. through their services.[2] They also state that they "reserve the right to……cooperate with legal authorities", including the "California Department of Consumer Affairs", and that their products are "protected by United States……Copyright Law."[2] They cater primarily to the United States (and China), accepting USD by default (and of western currencies, only USD). One can only conclude, in due diligence, that Johren is a lawful business and their products are otherwise legal according to U.S. code. More detail on publicly available information about Johren can be found at https://erogefyi.carrd.co/#johren Dohna Dohna is rated by the Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) in English (rating identification code: "2003189K")[1], and Japanese. The EOCS is a regulatory body, similar to CERO, established in direct response to ethical concerns about objectionable depictions in erotic games which cooperates with the Japanese government. It is further compliant with their standards by board review, including the following: No real, living person under 18 years of age may participate in adult game development.[8] All characters involved in sexually explicit activity must be at least 18 years of age.[8] Characters do not appear to be children either, visually by objective standard: they do not appear to be children when compared next to clear adults in the same work, and do not measure 5 or less heads tall.[7] They also are not referred to in any way, or have certain visual elements, that could state or imply they are underage, from a list of proscribed terms and items.[7] Depictions do not violate socially accepted moral norms and are not obscene.[8][4] Works should have creativity, originality, theme, and genuine artistic purpose. They should not frivolously depict gratuitous sex. Sex scenes should be responsible, appropriate, and balanced cumulatively in the work.[8] You can learn more about what the EOCS criteria require at erogefyi.carrd.co/#eocscriteria or from official EOCS legal documentation (in Japanese) here[7] and here,[8] (I have also translated it to English here). It is also summarized on their Wikipedia articles in Japanese and Chinese. DLsite, the other Japanese distributor, (and Exclusive Distributor in China)[9] separately found of the original Japanese version before allowing it to be sold on their storefront (by "strict review") that it does not "appear" or "imply" to depict "children" by "reasonable consensus" including by using terms or "certain expressions, accessories, etc. that are strongly associated with minors" and are likely to indicate a character is under 18 years of age (対象が18歳未満と受け止められる可能性が高い表記).[10] They also attest that their products do not involve depictions that are "socially unacceptable," against a range of specific standards (eg. "promote antisocial behavior", "inappropriately warped" or "unnecessarily cruel…exaggerated" sexual expressions) and their own discretion. Also, they state "any products on this website containing sexual content are works of pure fiction. They contain only sexual fantasies which have been fabricated by creators."[10] It is my fervent, good-faith, and supported belief that Dohna Dohna has serious literary, artistic, (and even political) value. Otherwise I would have not written this essay at all. Sources 1 Johren.games, "Dohna Dohna” 2 Johren.games, “Terms of Service” 3 Johren.games, “Privacy Policy” 4 Johren.games, "About Us” 5 Dohna Dohna, “Game Manual” 6 AliceSoft & Shiravune, "Dohna Dohna" 7 "Overview of the Shoujo Game (adult-oriented PC game software) Industry" (an EOCS statement to the Japanese National Police Agency) (October 2006) web.archive.org/web/20190606131208/http://www.npa.go.jp/safetylife/syonen29/6-siryou4.pdf 8 "Ethics Organization of Computer Software Code of Ethics" (2020) www.sofurin.org/htm/about/sofurin-rinrikitei2020.pdf - 2011 version: www.sofurin.org/htm/about/sofurin-rinrikitei2011.pdf 9 "doHna:doHna -Issho ni Warui Koto o Shiyou-". The Visual Novel Database. 10 DLsite, “Compliance Policy”

Finally the second and last Jam of this year is here! The Yuri Visual Novel Jam! KagariSoft invites all developers who are just starting to develop or veteran developers to work on their next Yuri-themed project. The challenge here is to finish a visual novel between August and November having all the features of a classic visual novel. You can join and challenge yourself on this link

As announced on Twitter and Discord, the release of "Roses Of Love" on the Valve store is very close, as I was finally able to open a bank account. The release date will be decided between October and November, since I hope to have at least Hoshiko's route finished by those months. Now, this may bring a number of questions from the public which I will answer to the best of my ability. Below I will leave a list of questions and answers that you may be asking yourself. Is this the full version of the game? Yes and no, it is an early access version. It is seriously the second version, but it will have the full story. How is it different from the full version? Basically, an improvement and change in the game interface. A change of layouts, since the current ones are temporary. Are the game saves in the current early access version compatible? No, the structure and code of the game was made from 0. Therefore, the current games cannot be exported. Earlier it was mentioned that the "Twin Roses" route (currently available route) would not be available in the second stage of early access, why? Because of the short time to release the game, and because it's just me working on writing and programming the game, I decided it would be best to remove this route from the equation temporarily. But don't panic, it will be added as DLC. Why two early access versions? To see the reaction of the players during development, although there is already the demo for it. I considered that I could improve and take into account some points that people recommended me to improve the final product. Besides, the game is maintained thanks to the sales and this way I will be able to acquire the original assets for the game. Why was the release of the game delayed? There are currently two factors that prevented me, first a bank account. Not being able to acquire one triggered this mess of not being able to launch the game. The second was problems in my country. Should I buy the game now or wait? If you decide to wait, you may buy the final edition. And this will cost 14.99/15 USD depending on the store. If you buy it now, or during the release of the second early access version you will be able to purchase it for $3. Although, on a personal recommendation, the final product would be the better choice!

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Sci-fi, Action, Mecha Play Time - 22 hours Developer – Love In Space Steam Return From Exile A fall from grace changes a man and exile from all he has ever known can break him. Such is the state of Kayto Shields as the curtain rises on the fourth game in the Sunrider series. This is the tale of how he pulls himself up from the pit he has fallen into, but this journey will be far same smooth sailing. Love In Space are back again with another space adventure through the brilliant Sunrider universe with a familiar crew, but now on the back foot as both enemies and former allies see them as a threat. The game also features a complete rework of the combat systems and leans into creating more realistic feeling battles with tactical depth. But how does the whole package fit together and is it the worthy sequel we have waited five years for? Let’s jump into our ryders and travel to the edges of the universe and find out. The War is Over – Narrative and Themes To be in exile is to be left behind by the world and on your return you may find that the world no longer wants you. It is this feeling which Sunrider 4 focuses its plot and themes around to great effect and manages to balance the needs of a sequel with its own unique identity. It builds on Liberation Day in all the right ways, picking up the plot points left by that game and running with them inside its own narrative. The choice to put the heroes on the back foot also factors strongly into the effectiveness of the core events of the game and they work together to communicate the journey of the crew. Of course it is not perfect and the game’s relationship with the additions to Liberation Day is an uncomfortable one at best. A sequel should build on what came before in its own distinctive manner and this is no easy task, especially so when that game in the fourth in a series. The way in which Captain’s Return chooses to tackle this problem is by taking the points which defined the previous games and asking what they really meant and what people beyond the crew thought of them. This extends from both the obvious fallout from the Liberation Day massacre to smaller relationships between the crew and works to create an overall sense of both progression and returning to a familiar place. It takes the ending point and runs with it, drawing many ideas presented in that game to their logical conclusion within the tone and context of Captain’s Return, be this reinventing familiar mechas in new forms or haunting the characters with past traumas. Relying on this pre-existing backbone means the game does not have to worry about explaining every little detail again to the player and can focus on the heavy lifting of expanding the already rich universe in new and exciting ways. These all combine to make Captain’s Return a benchmark most sequels can only dream of reaching. If there is one flaw in this otherwise excellent narrative it is the uncomfortable relationship it has with the additions made to Liberation Day after its release. These changes expanded on some key points of that game’s plot and by extension the plot of Captain’s Return. However, the reality is that Captain’s Return picks and chooses which parts of those modifications it considers cannon and this leads to many moments where the player will experience a sense of whiplash as what they have experienced in the previous game is ignored by the new one. These points vary from minor details from the side story to major events and set up from the main game’s ending. It is clear that Love In Space were not entirely happy with the choices they made in the rushed additions to Liberation Day and wanted to trim back things that did not fit into their vision for the future of the Sunrider series. This does not change how this choice can take the player out of the experience which counter to how much effort the game put in to making you feel as if you are a part of this world. A Captain Is Only As Good As His Crew – Characters Sunrider’s cast has always been one its biggest strength and means of getting the player invested in the plot. Captain’s Return does a good job of developing the characters and focusing the new additions to help create a lively universe with people who exist beyond the main conflict of the series. However, there is a glaring issue staring you in the face for much of the play time and this is the inconsistent characterisation of some key characters. Captain’s Return could have relied on the affection the player base already has for the cast and cruised through the narrative without emphasising the characters too much. Instead of resting of their laurels Love In Space made sure to give every member of the main cast some sort of arc both big and small. Sola and Kryska being the crewmates who get by far the most exploration of their personalities as both are faced with very different events which shake what they once held as fundamental truths. There is also notable elements of discord between the crew and Shields who's actions create a disconnect between them and him in a subtle way which never oversteps its bounds but instead highlights Shields’ increasing desperation. This compliments the generally darker tone of the plot by providing a dose of much needed reality to the more idealistic characters and pushing them to the extremes of their beliefs. Shields as the protagonist embodies this push into an examination of the true motives for each person’s actions as he starts at the edge of what he can mentally take and is then pushed far passed breaking point. What results is a fascinating presentation of the kind of mind set that lead him down his path to ruin and having him face and accept this truth sets his character up to be ready for the challenges of future games. Most of the new characters added by Sunrider 4 serve the purpose of expanding the world building and help provide a more balanced perspective of this universe. Previously the player’s view of the Sunrider universe was limited to the areas directly involved in the conflict which gave a very narrow perspective. To rectify this issue Captain’s Return makes all the new characters serve the role of fleshing out this setting. Since the player is no longer limited to the area of conflict for the war, the narrative can take them to places and people who could not have otherwise been interacted with. Pre’ator Qisah is a good example of this technique as she serves as the player’s main point of interaction with her culture. She is a part of a people who live at the edge of Alliance territory and had their resources bled dry by them, now they are just a backwater nobody cares about. Despite this the player gets a sense of how proud this people are through the actions and words of Qisah who fervently acts on to defend her people with the will of someone that truly believes in their cause. There are countless examples of this communication of place through characters and it helps make Captain’s Return the powerhouse in the series it is. Space, Mecha and Soul Searching – Visual, Audio and Gameplay Love In Space have upped their presentation and gameplay with every new game and this is especially true for Captain’s Return as the gap between Sunrider games makes their vast improvement even more obvious. A distinctive visual and audio identity has always been a critical part of the Sunrider games and this fourth instalment does not disappoint. The overhauled gameplay mechanics help inject new life into a system which had reached its limit. Despite these positives there are a few areas where the gameplay stumbles and brings down the experience. Sci-fi has a set of expected design elements when comes to visuals and audio, especially for a game set in a far future. While these are adhered to by the Sunrider series, it has always strived to inject its own flare into proceedings. Perhaps the best demonstration of this is with the mecha designs. On a base level they adhere to the expectations of a mecha, they are humanoid and adhere to the mechanical aesthetic of the setting. However, in practice the strong use of angles and sharp points gives these machines a strangely otherworldly quality with them appearing to almost be an exaggeration of their pilot’s personalities, which is helped by their smart use of colours to make them stand out from one another. It also goes a long way to help sell these mechas as part of the greater setting and when an ancient or special rider appears their designs lean even more into these aestheic choices. This ensures a consistent presentation without losing what makes the regular mechas special. The rest of the visuals and audio follows a similar trend and together allow Captain’s Return to stand out from among its peers with an identity that many game can only dream of. The change in the foundational gameplay made by Sunrider 4 is exactly what the series needed. The system which had been in use for the three previous games was already at its limits and Liberation Day clearly felt like the end of the complexity the developers could realistically add to it without the whole thing collapsing. So this reimagination of the old system was definitely needed and the results speak for themselves. More free-form movement mechanics are the new core of the gameplay and involve a conservation of momentum over the course of several turns. No long is movement a static consideration, instead the player must think ahead about where they want to end up and plan for the future accordingly with it becoming increasingly hard to correct course the faster you go. On the other hand it also means you do not have to dedicated valuable turns to movement and can instead focus on attacking the enemy units. What Love In Space has created here is a uniquely dynamic series of interactions which demand the player consider an array of important actions each turn and keeps them constantly engaged. It is a shame then that this excellent system somewhat goes to waste due to the the other elements of gameplay, most notably the lack of mission variety, long enemy turns in the late game and basic AI. There is some attempt to spice up the mission variety throughout the game with a few mission types, but they can all be boiled down to two type, kill all enemies or move to a place. Within these two types there are some changes made to the standard formula, such as using the move type missions as a form of puzzle, but they ultimately do not stray too far form the base formula leaving them to feeling lacking and repetitive, especially as the game goes on. Compounding this problem is the long enemy turns which are a feature of the late game due to the enemy having a lot of units and each one having to perform their actions as well as move. This causes the pacing of turns to be reduced to a crawl as you can spend up to two minutes waiting for the enemy to finish a turn that only took you maybe thirty seconds due to your lower unit count. As you can imagine this kills the pacing of battles and makes them feel like a slog. The final nail in the coffin is that the AI is not even doing anything interesting during their turn since their patterns are incredibly basic. Broadly speaking they will do one of two things, move into point blank range to shoot at you or fire all their missiles at once. This predictability makes them easy to counter when you realise these are the only tricks in their book and results in the player repeating the same actions each battle and by extension causes them to tune out of the actual events of the battles. Verdict – There are few series which continue to impressive so consistently in each new entry with their narrative, characters and gameplay in the way the Sunrider series manages to. Pros + A wonderfully crafted space adventure which builds perfectly on the ending to Liberation Day. + The cast of Sunrider has always been its biggest strength and they are just a likeable and human as before. + Putting the heroes on the back foot allows for characters to show their less desirable aspects and be forced to confront them. + Achieve a more lived in feeling universe through a nuanced look at how the politics and people have shaped the world the player witnesses. + The new gameplay mechanics are a strong basis from which future games can build. + Love In Space continue to up their visual and audio presentation with each game and Captain’s Return is no exception. Cons - Implementation of the gameplay is weakened by samey missions, long enemy turns and one note AI. - Some character directions stretch believability and seem confused, particularity related to Claude. - Has a very uncomfortable relationship with the additions made to the original Liberation Day.

New discount for Roses Of Love, this discount will help to improve the game in the final version. Buy for 52% off! Ends May 23rd 2023

This is the latest game from the makers of Dracu-riot and Sanoba Witch, Yuzusoft. For those who are curious, in nature it is somewhere in between the two styles this company tends to use (placing more emphasis on the SOL portions or the story portions). There is, technically, an overarching story, but it is given more focus in some routes than others, while there is as much lovey-dovey and ero content as the most SOL-focused entries in Yuzusoft's library. I'm going to be blunt, I basically picked up this VN because of Kaguya, as I am a kemomimi fetishist above all other things when it comes to eroge. I'm also going to state my biggest disappointment with this game... Kaguya's ears are only present in a vast minority of the game's scenes! *cries* Considering how much effort (and probably money) went into producing so many varied sprites for her expressions both with and without the holy kemomimi, I was sadly disappointed at how rare it was for those ears to actually pop out (what can I say, my first fetish is my first fetish). Setting that aside (I basically had to get that out of my system to give my honest assessment of the game otherwise), this VN stands in the upper three of Yuzusoft's games in quality, along with Dracu-riot (which I consider to be the company's magnum opus) and Senren Banka. I say this without any doubts because it displays the impact of this company's visual and scenario styles to such a degree that I couldn't help but be struck by how much it stood out in the current times. Yuzusoft didn't compromise in quality even once in this game, which is something you can't say about most VN-makers in the last few years since Covid hit. For those who want sappy VN romance, this game has it. If you want a few serious moments mixed in, this game has that too. Moreover, the interactions between the cast of characters are as highly amusing as one would expect from this company, bringing back happy memories for me and reminding me of why I often thought of Yuzusoft games as a method to 'clean my palate' after the kusoge I played so often when I was doing VN of the Month. I have no intention whatsoever of going into a detailed review at this time (I've read the two paths I wanted to read, and I'm ignoring the rest). However, I can honestly recommend it to people who already like Yuzusoft games.

You might be wondering why I chose this VN for the first one to review in quite some time, and you would be right to wonder. I wonder why I felt drawn to this VN myself, given how the first impression from the cover is a nukige. However, something about it drew me in and made me want to play it. Thankfully, it isn't an experience I grew to regret, so I'll go ahead and give you my impressions. This VN focuses on a club (six girls, one guy) who get stranded in an abandoned village in the mountains, surrounded by impassible mist. The protagonist, Itsuki starts having ero dreams that disgust him, and the girls gradually start acting strangely. A red-eyed, white-haired girl named Kagome occasionally appears and hints at the nature of his predicament and warns him the only way to leave the village is to offer up a sacrifice. Up to now, there are no actual spoilers you can't find on the official website. Atmosphere-wise, this game kind of resembles Higurashi, though the actual content is drastically different (basically exchange violence for h-scenes and Rika for Kagome, lol). A great deal of the actual plot parts is the characters gathering food and researching the village as they try to find a way out, even as they find themselves going a little crazy (sometimes realizing it, sometimes not). The story itself is structured so that most of the content is shared, with the final split-off occurring rather late in the game (about seven-eighths of the way through). If it weren't for the impact of the last scenes in each ending, I would have complained about this, but it works out well because the point of the split-off is timed perfectly from the perspective of telling the story as a whole. For people who want a straight-out happy ending, I recommend only playing Kagome's path, because it is really the only ending where things turn out in a way that doesn't leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth. I very much enjoyed the way the writers portrayed the differing perspectives between the various characters, with the discussions between Kagome and the protagonist often providing the most food for thought. In conclusion, this is a VN for those who like a little mystery, a lot of H, and bittersweet experiences.

First, I should note that this game suffers from what are likely budget constraints. I say this because some of the VA choices are... questionable. Ragou's VA in particular is something of a disaster, with a discordant mismatch between the voice and the characterization. This stands out even more because other choices like Kaen and Diran's male VAs are actually really awesome matches. I failed to properly articulate what the music in this game resembles at most sometimes... and that would be Persona 5. Something about a number of the tracks resembles the ones seen in that game enough that, in combination with the horrible color choices, made me feel like something was off at a lot of points in the story. Common Route The common route of this game is not particularly long (the game as a whole is not nearly as long as any of Light's other games), but it does serve its purpose. In introduces the primary antagonists, the heroines, the side-characters, and the protagonist while setting the stage for future conflicts. It is functional, more than anything else, and if it weren't for the excellent characterization for Mizuri, Shion, Amane, and Tsubasa, it would be considered bland. Ragou and Kaien, for pure chaotic evil characters, are pretty amusing to watch, despite the fact that they are doing horrible things to people. My complaint is that there is too much time spent on SOL for a Light game. Yes, there is a sense that you need to know what the characters are losing for it to be poignant when everyday life is disrupted, but the ratio is a bit skewed for this game, considered the golden ratio of SOL to plot and action in any good chuunige is 1:4:3. Tsubasa Tsubasa is a weird heroine... not the least of which because she is a TS heroine who was once a guy. However, in opposition to this, she tends to be the sexiest of the three heroines due to her characterization (it was intentional). She is also the most 'classic' onmyouji of the two human heroines, using some familiar onmyouji techniques and preferring the bow as her weapon of choice. Her story is, at least in part, a confrontation with her past, and the primary conflict - for her, at least - is internal rather than external. While there is some buildup to a major confrontation toward the end, it needs to be said that the whimsical nature of the antagonists makes the shift to the final battle somewhat abrupt. In addition, it felt like this path didn't really have the sheer drama I'm familiar with from the company's usual works. It isn't a horrible path, but it does feel more like a Millie path than a Chitose path. Amane Amane is Hayato's adopted older sister who was raised by his grandfather with him. She is a total brocon and constantly clinging to Hayato when she is with him. However, the best way she can be described when she is away from him is 'cold and competent'. She is a master of kenjutsu and a 'power type' onmyouji, using techniques that fall into the 'open path' style of direct combat rather than the more roundabout styles like Houjutsu (which is basically a preparation is everything), Fuujutsu (the art of binding and sealing), or Injutsu (the art of curses and turning ties against an opponent). It makes sense, since the protagonist takes a lot of his inspiration from her. Her path is more involved with Kaien, as opposed to the way Ragou was the prime antagonist for Tsubasa's path. You'll discover this during his first appearance, but Kaien is the kind of absolute evil that just deserves a good superhero punch to the face. He likes to make people suffer above all other things, and he finds the hatred people direct his way to be pleasurable. The irony is that, rather than the confrontation with him, Amane's inner conflict with her yandere nature is the bigger draw point of this path. To be blunt, if you played the common route, you'll have noticed the signs of yandere in her actions, and this path brings them out in a big way midway through. Uncharacteristic of Light's usual style, it isn't taken to its logical conclusion, instead being solved with the power of love *vomits*. Shion Shion's path is far more typical of Light's style, in that it is long, highly-detailed, and has a lot of twists and turns. Now for some explanation. Amongst the Magatsu, there are thirteen called the Thirteen Demonic Generals, who both possess a humanoid shape and intellect, as well as the ability to touch on one of the Seven Aspects of Creation and use them in a spell that matches their desires. Shion, also known as Saikakou Nue, is one of these. In the distant past, she was sealed away by the founding onmyouji of the Isurugi bloodline (Hayato and Amane's ancestor) during the Heian era. Shion herself is one of the few of her kind that is capable of coexisting with the human race, for reasons that are only illuminated in her path. She is a contrary individual, being something of a tsundere combined with someone who puts on arrogant airs and brags about her abilities to any and all that will listen. To be honest, I was a bit startled at the huge difference between Shion's path and the other two. While the first third is mostly SOL, almost the entirety of the remaining two-thirds is pure plot and action. There are plenty of good action scenes toward the end (the last two chapters of her path are almost entirely battle scenes), as well as background for Kaien (whose origin story is unbelievably sad) and Shion (whose origins are equally sad, which seems to be typical of most humanoid Magatsu). The ending itself is a tear-jerker, and I was somewhat annoyed at the very last part, for reasons that will be self-evident to anyone who dislikes Ragou. Conclusion I'd say this one is on the lower end in terms of quality for a Light VN, even if you don't include the minus points for the character design and VAs. It is ironic that even a low-quality Light game is still better than most of what the rest of the industry can produce, though, lol. Typical of my habits, I have been a bit harsh on this game, as it is in my favorite genre. It isn't going to become one of those chuunige I replay on a regular basis, either. However, it is still fine if you are starved for the genre. Edit: If I have one thing I wish they would redo (other than some of the VAs and the artwork) it would be making the story somewhat less straightforward. Too many of the conflicts in the story are resolved too easily for a Light game, and there is no foreshadowing or long sides that give life to the characters' hidden sides. In particular, Ragou remains a two-dimensional character to the end, despite being the main antagonist. It is ironic that the nihilistic sadistic demonic priest Kaien has a more filled out character than him.

Before someone asks, I merely paused the other VN to start Magatsu Barai (and Xenoblade Chronicles 3). I will finish it (eventually). Magatsu Barai is the first Light game to be made from beginning to end after the collapse of the company's original owners. As such, it is only natural (and unfortunate, at least to an extent) that some things will have changed. To address the elephant in the room for anyone who has seen the cover or sample cgs... The coloring really is that awful. I mean, how could any cg artist think those colors wouldn't be eye cancer? On the other hand, the music is an interesting set of contrasts. There are a lot of themes that have been slightly rearranged to seem like new ones but are actually just modified ones from the Silverio series. The rest are actually quite high-quality, but then, Light has never had any problem on that side of things. For those unable to read the official website due to being Nihongo-disabled, I will explain the basic setting. Essentially, it is a world where sorcery in Japan remained intertwined with politics and daily life right up to the modern day. In that sense, the setting is somewhat reminiscent of Tokyo Ravens. However, a vital difference is that there was no real magic left outside of Japan before WWII, when the atom bombs spread it over the world when they hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This resulted in the Japanese having a valuable service to provide the rest of the world... exorcists and sorcerers to counter the new laws of reality that made some of the habits the rest of the world had developed disastrous. As an example of this, the 'magatsu' in this world setting essentially causes a magical reaction whenever enough harm is done to a feeling being (even an insect), and this effect magnifies the more this is done. At the beginning of the story, a news story comes up on the TV where, as the result of a country overusing pesticide against a plague of locusts, the locusts' spirits became a cloud of demonic insects that were even worse than the locusts in question. Because this happens all over the place, it is a world where magic-users always have a role to play. As such, I find the setting interesting... at least so far. As for the heroines, I'd say the two magatsu heroines are the most interesting, with the protagonist's older sister entering one step behind and Tsubasa falling a few steps behind her. This is my tastes though, so others might feel differently. A huge positive is that there are no 'Victim A' heroines in this story. All the heroines are capable of protecting themselves (sometimes better than the protagonist is... actually all of them), so there is no sense that any of them is helpless, one of the most annoying chuunige tropes. On the other hand, the protagonist is under the influence of one of the more annoying tropes of the genre... the talentless guy who nonetheless throws himself into things (think Emiya Shirou from Fate). While he does gain a power that lets him keep up, this is a power given to him by the true heroine, not a power of his own (which is another trope). All in all, my opinion so far is that this is an interesting chuunige VN whose art is eye cancer.

Foreword: The reviews we have are pretty vague (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), so the impression of a very difficult work is created. I'm going to put all the dots so that there was not fear to read it. VNDB: https://vndb.org/v1278 Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyO6B82c_GE&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9G-VbjOXlAvQZqm-u8F497 Synopsis: This game tells the story of seven long-time friends. How they grew closer or further apart as they got older. The story is presented using a blog-like interface. The protagonist, Atemiya Shinobu, who was raised at a certain facility since young, had no one around him that could be called "friend". Being that way, the first thing he started doing after leaving the facility with his sister - Chidori - was to find and make friends. Benio Azusa, a tomboyish girl who lived nearby. Hondou Sayaka, a quiet yet sharp-tongued girl who was in charge of raising the pets at school just like him. Tsukamoto Youko and Itsuki, a pair of siblings who belong to a prestigious family around the area. Higuchi Shouji, a boy he knew by being attracted to by the similarities they both share. Izuki Fueko, a girl he met by chance. Together with Shinobu, they were a group of seven. Just like that, each and every one of them, who had never experienced the joy of having friends, was able to meet each other and become companions. The story begins in a quiet town colored by dusk. Around the seven friends, there were understanding, empathy, conflict, and what's more, fleeting love of adolescence. It was a friendship that could last forever. Such a simple happiness should have... lasted forever. That was until the "enemy" appeared. The "enemy" had disturbed the peaceful relationship of the seven people. Shinobu could not forgive that. He could not forgive the one that injures his companions, nor could he forgive the one that hurts another one's hearts. And when he realized all that, the world they reside in changed, rather then becoming the new world that it should have... they had arrived at the "sanctuary" instead. This is a story that describes the heart. A story that describes the thing located in the farthest end of a heart. Game type: Mindscrew circle of friends story Character Design rating: 10/10 Protagonist rating: 10/10 Story rating: 10/10 Game quality: 10/10 Overall rating: 10/10 I just can't understand how it's possible to give any other score than 10 if game is played to the end. It's the third philosophical visual novel in history after Kusarihime ~Euthanasia~ and Cross†Channel, and it's just a great human story with the magic of Cross†Channel still present, and even on a higher level since childish pranks don't interrupt serious talk this time. But enough vague words. The structure of Saihate no Ima is very simple. There are four girls in the circle of friends - Azusa, Sayaka, Fueko, Youko - and there is a route for each this heroine told in a forced order. In the last Youko route we see a mysterious gothic loli girl Ima who says that Shinobu is not ready yet. And then all the four girl routes repeat again, but with more explanation and depth to the stories as well as the Shinobu mystery. In videos I call this second lap of routes as True heroine routes. After the end of True Youko route there's the True Shinobu route as I call it. It's something absolutely different from the rest of heroines routes. Basically, there are no four main heroines in there, but instead there is a whole new cast of characters. So, there are only nine structural parts in the game. Moreover, True routes generally include all or almost all the scenes from the Normal heroine routes, so I'd advise to skip Normal heroine routes overall and start with True heroine routes if you follow the video. That saves you from the bulk of repetition and allows to have a fresh view. There are actually some scenes in the Normal routes that don't present in True routes. For example, there is a step sister Chidori H scene in Fueko Normal route that does not present in Fueko True route. But it has little influence on the story, so I'd still stronly advise to skip Normal heroine routes or at least watch them after all the heroine routes and Shinobu True routes are finished. Again, the story is simple. Just mind it that heroine routes are not entirely romantic ones as different killer stories often in the core of the routes. Heroines are fleshed out so well that I absolutely adore all four of them. Azusa has a perfect buid-up for her story. Sayaka the sulky ojousama really starts to shine in her route. Fueko has that beautiful a-ha effect upon taking down glasses. Youko is actually my favorite character for her sharp tongue and absolutely enthralling voicing that I can't ever have enough of. All the more difficult parts of this visual novel actually refer to retelling the concepts of modern world philosophy related to the core of the game, namely, the phenomenology of Husserl and Global village concept of McLuhan. Basically, all the spoilers of the True Shinobu route are given in the synopsis. This is a story of the heart, and the main mystery is the identity of the "enemy". Pretty much anything else would be in the spoiler zone already, so I hope you see everything with your own eyes. Basically, Saihate no Ima is an eternal ultimate masterpiece that shares the Olympus of intellectual visual novels alongside Kusarihime ~Euthanasia~ and Cross†Channel. Saihate no Ima deserves dissertations written on it just like George Henry Shaft's 160000-word dissection on Cross Channel. From these dissertations we'd be able to discuss the message of the game, follow all the hints and compare all the additional scenes in Normal and True routes as well as clicked links versions compared to non-clicked versions (since there are couple scenes available only when no links are clicked, actually). But unlike Cross†Channel the other two games are not translated, so we'll see none of those, to my great regret. Let's keep fingers crossed, with Kickstarter miracles are possible like the one with Dies Irae.

This is an utsuge. For those who don't already know what an utsuge is, it is a VN where the main endings are 'bad' endings. Generally speaking, the intention with an utsuge is to give the reader catharsis through a sense of despair or sorrow. Unlike in a nakige, where the sorrow or despair is temporary and everything ends with what amounts to a 'happily ever after', an utsuge's endings tend to be ones where everyone dies, despair goes on unending, or some other kind of bitter aspect. While most of an utsuge's endings will be 'bad' or 'sad', even with an utsuge, there is generally one or two endings that are merely bittersweet or almost good, though. A 'soft' utsuge is one like Konakana or Eden, where the primary emotion is sorrow and the sense of loss is relatively mild. In a VN like this, the sense of 'bitterness' is a lot lower than in a 'hard' utsuge. A 'hard' utsuge is defined more than anything by 'despair' and the emotions that come from it. The crushing of hope, the end of dreams, and the inevitability of a heavy reality are all popular themes in VNs of this type. Swan Song is probably the most obvious translated one of this type. Houkago no Futekikakusha falls into this type. I'm going to be blunt... even with this being my second playthrough, I've been crying all the way through my first path. This VN is an unrelenting well of sorrow, despair, love, caring, and loss. For every positive moment, the inevitable ending lurks in the background or hangs over the head like the Sword of Damocles. Salvation comes for some at the cost of heart-rending despair for others, and love is no barrier to the despair that infects the VN as a whole. To put it bluntly, the protagonist and his friends, classmates, and teacher are all lost beyond hope from the beginning. This isn't a VN where hope is anything more than a blade gouging at the hearts of those involved, and those who don't benefit from this level of catharsis should keep away from this VN. The narrative presentation in this VN is of the highest quality when it comes to describing the characters' emotions and unique perspectives, and the writer seems to take a certain pleasure in creating a situation that gouges the heart of the reader, using those perspectives masterfully. Now, to address the biggest complaint people inevitably have about this VN... the setting in this VN is horrible. I don't mean the characters' immediate surroundings, but rather just why the characters had to end up like they do in the VN is never made very clear. Part of this is because the characters who might otherwise reveal the source of the conflict in the story simply aren't present, acting through pawns rather than in person. Another part is that I think that while this writer is excellent at emotional writing and skilled at manipulating the reader's emotions, s/he honestly has no idea of how to create a coherent setting. It is a mark of the VN's impact that I never really felt like seriously complaining about it... but it does make it stop short of kamige level. It is also the primary reason people use to bash it (when they really just want to lash out at someone for what happens to the characters in the VN, lol). Edit: The Protagonist Tokiwa Itsuka is pretty much your normal, overly kind-hearted harem-building protagonist at heart... but the situation he is in has made him into something very different. He is broken down, shattered by his taking on of the heaviest role in the characters' collective fate, and he is unable to give up, as doing so would doom all the others to a fate far worse than death. He is their one, sad, brittle hope and the only reason they haven't all succumbed to despair. About 60% of the VN is told from his perspective, relatively frequently switching perspectives with various other characters, including the heroines. For him, the very kindness and capacity for love that is default equipment for an eroge protagonist is a blade gouging at his heart, leaving him hopeless and helpless before the grinding gears of fate. Shiori One of the the heroines and the class's teacher. As the only adult in the group, she bears the heaviest burden, after the protagonist. She is the kind of 'young teacher' who tends to become an 'extra' heroine in various older VNs. She is gentle and kind, as well as being something of a dojikko. She is easily influenced by movies, and this generally leads her to impulse-buy expensive things like cars and cameras (her family is apparently rich, lol). During the story, her primary role is as the 'mother' archetype, giving love freely and without reserve to her students in general, and Itsuka in particular. Suenaga Haruka The only one of the heroines in the VN that isn't a direct victim of the fate that is swallowing them. She transfers into the class at the beginning of the story and watches over the events that occur with a kindness and compassion that makes her the equal of any of the other heroines. In many ways, she is the representative of hope in the VN as a whole, though her actual role with the characters tends to differ. Asagao The tomboyish, older of Itsuka's twin-sister osananajimis. She is also one of the heroines. When she isn't down in the dumps due to what is going on, she is bright and active, but she is fundamentally more fragile and sensitive than her younger sister Yuugao, not to mention a bit on the dim side. She, along with Yuugao, are representatives of the precious 'daily life' the protagonist lost forever before the story began. Kanade The class president, a friend to most in the class, and the last remaining heroine. She tends to be kind to everyone and is something of an optimist, though the fate they are enduring makes it harder for her to be so. She learned the piano from Yuugao. Despite the stark knowledge of what is coming in the near future, she has a deep well of strength that allows her to continue on, unifying the class where it would have otherwise long-since broken apart. Yuugao Asagao's elegant, quiet younger sister. The story starts being told from her perspective. Her deep love and compassion are impressed upon you almost from the beginning, and her comments on the characters in the class are your first impressions on them all. She is actually much stronger mentally and emotionally than Asagao, but people tend to underestimate her based on her manner and appearance. She loves everyone in the class, and it is through her that the bonds between the members are most obviously seen. Without her perspective, the emotional bond I felt toward the characters would have been much weaker. Kousuke and Rika A couple born within the class after things fell apart. Kousuke was once a delinquent, but through the efforts of Itsuka and friends before the disaster, he was settling down. He is devoted to his friends and deeply in love with Rika, despite lingering feelings for Shiori. Rika is a 'normal girl' who fell in love with Kousuke despite his rough past and got up the courage to confess despite the inevitable end that awaited them. Their bond is a bright point for a class that tends to be more than a bit gloomy. Anna A high-strung former member of a music club, she is one of those most obviously effected by the knowledge of their fate. She and Ryou are the characters who have the most difficulty adjusting to the facsimile of 'daily life' while the axe of fate hangs above their necks. At heart, she is a weak and vulnerable young woman, but she covers it up with her somewhat harsh manner. Ryou A quiet young man who nonetheless feels a strong bond with his few friends. Like Anna, he is a bit high-strung and has a lot of difficulty adjusting. To him, the wait for his inevitable fate is an unendurable terror, and he isn't able to relax enough to really take the feelings of the others around him into account. However, his introverted personality tends to make him less... caustic than Anna. Jun The former ace of the soccer team and Itsuka's best friend. He used to play soccer with Itsuka, with Itsuka as the team captain. He cares deeply about his friend, and he is hurt deeply by how helpless he is to do anything for him. He has many friends but Itsuka is his best one. He is in love with Yuka, but due to the situation he has been unable to bring himself to confess. Yuka She has been friends with Itsuka since middle school and at one time was on the verge of falling in love with him, but Itsuka's closeness with the twins made her back off. Now, she is close with Jun, though they are not yet lovers. She is a bright and easygoing girl who is very good at hiding her emotions regarding the fate they are all living with.