Dreamysyu

I'm obviously still active on the forum, so of course I'll try to help making the forum alive again as much as I can here.

TUYU time!

Let the wall of beautiful noise blow you away. Anyway, I recently discovered that Japan might be the country with the best shoegaze scene around (at least after its first wave). J-rock typical chord progressions and its tendency for hymnic choruses work really well with a dreamy wall of noise it seems.

Giga was very popular and a staple of the Japanese visual novel/eroge industry, but the west barely got any of their first-party titles. We might onlym know them through Baldr Sky actually. Any other giga titles you have played? Which have you looked forward to to eventually get localized?

Ahem. Reincarnated as a villainess is literally an entire genre in web-novels and light novels, and while Hamefura is one of the earlier ones and did inspire a lot of the other works, it's far from the first one. The first web-version came out in 2014, while there are some similar novels that started in 2013, like It Seems Like I Got Reincarnated Into The World of a Yandere Otome Game, or I Will Live with Humility and Dependability as My Motto.

Well, I am.
Anyway, I've watched the current episodes of Bocchi the Rock, and it was pretty good. I've never really watched any music-based anime, so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but so far it's been pretty enjoyable, and the comedy is gold. As someone who also suffers from pretty strong social anxiety, I like how they presented the protagonist. It's overly exaggerated, of course, but I did find myself in many of her antics, and it didn't feel particularly offensive like how often Japanese comedy tends to be. On the other hand, she does grow throughout the show, but obviously she still has a long way to go.

Well, I'll wait for a PC release. 

祝姫
It has some of Ryuukishi's trademark writing: the unreliable protagonist, the sudden shifts in mood, the blurring of reality and fantasy, but without any of his themes. It's a rather bland and boring horror game, but shows some of his spark from time to time.
So far, it's a rather standard B flick horror movie. They just try and shove as many disgusting things at you as possible. They don't even show the worst of it explicitly, which makes it a rather half-assed game. I feel like the art doesn't really contribute anything to Ryuukishi's writing. If there is any good thing that came from this, the voice acting is top notch.
Ryuukishi really knows how to go back to being a kid and write SOL the way a kid would think, but the problem is it doesn't fit the story this time. Overall, a rather mediocre experience.

Helloooo! I am Seceria o.o
I discovered Fuwanovel this November while writing the next episode in my visual novel for this year's nano.
I lurked around here for a day, but come to think of it...
My first visual novel was technically Katawa Shoujo. My friendo in intermediate school told me about it so I played it, which was... an experience. At the time I didn't know that it was a visual novel, or what visual novels were, or that there were more of them. 
A few years later I sign up on steam to play Team Fortress 2 with said friendo, and some more years later I discover visual novels on steam. My induction into visual novels was Fault milestone one, which was completely amazing and made me promptly go to read the second one and I am STILL waiting for the next one! Time passes and I consume ISLAND, Lucy the eternity she wished for, Newton and the Apple tree, World End Economica, Heart of the Woods, Doki Doki Literature Club...
Then last year I stumble across RenPy. Armed with the Python knowledge gained from my last year of highschool and first year of university the time had come to see if I could do anything with it. Writing my own visual novel turned out to be a very fun time and so come to think of it, I've read more than one or two visualnovels in the past, and now... I've written one... So I've kinda already become a visualnovel fan somewhere along the way without realizing it...
I have many hobbies - I play videogames (I still play TF2 to this day!), I play piano and compose piano music, I've written script fics and dabbled in a bit of roleplaying in the past, and I'm bad at chess. Let's add coding RenPy and visual novels on top of that, shall we!?
Nice to meet you all!

I have not heard about that one at all until you mentioned it. This season is so noisy it's pretty easy to miss stuff, but I'll add it to my growingly-desperate to-watch list.

Oh, I wasn't talking about this story in particular. As little as I remember about the original novel, I'm pretty sure she was definitely not like that. 😅 I was mostly just rambling about the villainess genre in general and why I don't follow it as closely as I used to. On the other hand, there are still a lot of really good and creative stories there. And, well, even among stories that follow that formula there are some enjoyable ones.
On another note, have you watched Bibliophile Princess from this season? I'm pretty curious about what people think about this one.

I liked the first season of Bakarina, but when it ended I realized that I wouldn't watch the second season, nor read the original. I just felt that the first season did everything that it could with the setting, and the continuation wouldn't add anything new to it.
To be honest though, when it comes to LNs and manga, villainess stories at this point are just as overdone as regular littpg isekais. Usually it's just the same story over and over again: the villainess is actually a literal angel, but nobody understands that; the original heroine is a complete sadistic bitch, and the original love interests are just idiots. Though there are some decent ones as well.

I have shitty taste for sure, so not sure how much my opinion is worth, but while Bakarina quickly got me bored with the repeated jokes and lack of character development, I really like how this series is flowing. It focuses on proper romance (the chemistry between the protagonist and the demon lord is actually quite adorable) and intrigue instead of exploitable gags or meandering harem plots. It also seems to breeze through light novel volumes skipping most of the filler, but keeping all the important stuff, so it's not feeling particularly rushed or disjointed but gets to the point pretty quickly in every story arc. It's not very deep and definitely a lighthearted, feel-good show above all, but so far the plot structure felt surprisingly fresh and the overall experience left me with very little to complain about. I really think it's quite solid, beside feeding exactly into my personal preferences.

Evolimit
Tokyo Babel
Dies Irae
Draculius
Amatsutsumi
Mirai Nostalgia
Aoi Tori
Devils Devel Concept
Soshite Hatsukoi wa Imouto ni Naru
Minamijuujisei Renka
Paradise Lost
Kajiri Kamui Kagura
Yurikago yori Tenshi Made
Haru to Yuki
Eden*
Eien no Aselia
Silverio Vendetta
Silverio Trinity
Zero Infinity
Vermilion Bind of Blood
Electro-Arms
Muramasa
Akatsuki no Goei trilogy
Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana
Akeiro Kaikitan
Nanairo Reincarnation
Ikusa Megami Zero
Bradyon Veda
Bullet Butlers
Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier
Ayakashibito
Chrono Belt
Cross Channel
Tsukihime
FSN
Comyu
Rui wa Tomo o Yobu and fandisc
Hapymaher
Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no
Lovekami (original)
Jingai Makyou
Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate (both)
Komorebi no Nostalgica
Tiny Dungeon series
Valkyrie Runabout
Majikoi
Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai
Phantom of Inferno
Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas
Ryuukishi Bloody Saga
Suzunone Seven
Kamikaze Explorer
Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide
Tsuisou no Augment (both)
Yomegami
Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary
Suisei Ginka
Hello, Lady (all versions)
Konata yori Kanata made
Houkago no Futekigousha
Semiramis no Tenbin
Baldr Skydive
Baldr Sky Zero
Ojousama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu
Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname
Dracu-Riot
Kin'iro Loveriche (and fandisc)
Campus's Uso series
Bloody Rondo
Gensou no Idea
Shinigami no Testament
Natsuiro Recipe
Venus Blood Hypno (known as Hollow in the West)
Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic
Tayutama (original)
World Election
Prism Recollection
Haruru Minamo ni
Duelist x Engage
ExE
PrimalXHearts
Sakura, Sakimashita
Abyss Homicide Club
Amairo Islenauts
Blade x Bullet
Shirogane no Soleil
Fake Azure Arcology
Re:Birth Colony Lost Azurite
Hyakka Ryouran Elixir
Kanojo-Tachi no Ryuugi
Kono Sekai no Mukou de
Kouyoku no Soleil
Primary
Lunaris Filia
HHG
Sakura Iro Quartet
Otomimi Infinity
Reminiscence (for Aki's route)
Toppara
 

Pretty cool, but driving that to work everyday must feel とても痛いですね。

And why?
I am a person who rarely reads or watches the same stuff twice or more, with a restricted few exceptions. As we all know by now, reading VNs takes a lot of time, patience, and our backlogs are constantly getting bigger as months pass and we get a ton of new releases - even more if you read Japanese-only VNs.
Then, we have those special games that speak to our hearts months after their first playthrough and we decide to give it another try, maybe just to read our fave hero/in route or to have a stress-free time with something that we already know we love.
In my case, there are only three VNs that I fully reread, one that I'm currently rereading alongside White Album 2 and one that I reread just the first hours because I have previously dropped that VN [which after finishing it I got to know that it was a huge mistake what I did before].  So here is my list:
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - For those who know me from before and from the many request threads we got back in the day, Umineko is my favorite VN of all time. My final project for college was about the story, where I analyzed the concepts of truth [portuguese only, sadly]. I decided to read it a second time because I already knew the culprit, mas never got to understand how they did the crimes. Reading Umineko again was an opportunity to appreciate the game without the "magic" lens that blinded me the first time around. I recommend people to read it again too, but only years after the first run, so the experience still feels fresh.
Little Busters: This one is a curious one. I decided to replay it on the Switch because I've never read the 3 final routes [the Ecstasy-exclusive], so I got the game and read it from start to finish.... except when I got into the first new route, I hated it! It didn't feel fun reading the new content, so I decided to skip them altogether a second time. Still, the main story is great and I had a lot of laughs and reexperienced a lot of the story, since I had forgotten a lot.
Kindred Spirits on the Roof - I simply loved the game, but I read it in a time when I was studying a LOT and could not fully focus on the VN. So I simply skimmed through the game and that was it. So a few years ago I decided to start it all over again and I must say it was 100% worth it. All characters are fun to follow, the romance is really well done and let's be frank: listening to Rita singing AND voice act is a gift from the gods.
Sea Bed - If you search for Sea Bed here in the forums, you'll find me bashing the game A LOT. I hated it the first time I tried, to the point that I dropped it even before the third chapter. I didn't like the exhagerated slice of life and simply wanted to get deep into the mystery that, at the time, a lot of people were praising. Then it was released on the Switch and I was going back to read after a year when I didn't read anything at all, even books or manga. So I decided to give it another shot, because I mean, maybe now, with more maturity, I would be able to feel the story. MAN, it was the best decision ever! The story is great, the pacing is purposefully slow in the beginning, but as we get close to the end more and more stuff is revealed and if you don't pay attention, you can miss a lot of nice twists. Even the slice of life scenes were super relevant when I found out the truth behind the story. So if you ever drop a VN - or even Sea Bed -, give it another shot a few years later, because your tastes may have changed and you'll have a blast like I did.
Summer Pockets - The one I'm currently reading because we now finally have a translation for the Reflection Blue content. I don't have much to say yet because I'm still in the beginning of the first route [going with Kamome right now], but I may update here after I get into the RB exclusive content. I simply love the atmosphere and writing of this game, and thanks to its art style and fun cast of characters, it's become a easy Key masterpiece. If you ever feel on the fence about reading SP, please, do yourself a favor! You won't regret it!
 
Sooooo, what about you? Which VNs have you read more than once and why? Do you have a similar story to one of my list?

I'm lurking, I'm lurking! I will be participating more in the next few days, I promise ❤️ Thank you and all the people involved in making the forums alive again

With the writer was revealed as Ryukishi, the trailer here did sneakily made reference to his past work (Higanbana, in that it's the flower in the movie). As for what I can say, well I'm not going to play this but at least I know that Ryukishi here would be meddled by the director like back on both of Iwaihime and Loopers (Doubly so because it's Konami), so perhaps keeping the expectation a bit lower might be help. At the very least, Ryuukishi here didn't write another Higurashi title that supposed to be the continuation of Miotsukushi, seeing that having Gou and Sotsu as Matsuribayashi's so-called sequels are controversial enough (And not to mention it did forcefully link Higurashi with Umineko).

Bad news for you, good news for many others: No porn!

終のステラ
The setting is in a post-apocalyptic world where large singularity machines roam around and pose a threat to anyone who comes near them. The MC, Jude, is a Transporter who gets a request to transport an android to a certain place for the revival of humanity.
Jude finds the android in an old ruin, and names her Philia. Philia wants to be a human, and Jude promises to take her to the professor who might be able to make her human. So the two travels together while trying to figure out how to be human.
Philia has a child-like innocence lacking knowledge of most things with her being a complete blank state. You watch her slowly learn about the world. She doesn't want to eat deer as she feels sorry for it, but she's fine with eating fish. I guess it shows the hypocrisy of humans as mammals are closer to us, so we can relate it to it more. She often reminds Jude of his daughter.
Her lack of sense of danger with Jude's realistic outlook makes for a good contrast. They both experience both the beautiful and ugly side of human nature through their travel.
This works seems to be about finding the boundary between machine and human. What does it mean to be human? Does having a human body make someone human even if their mind is an AI? Or is the mind what matters, if an AI passes the turing test, does that mean they are indistinguishable from humans?
It explores what is necessary for an AI to gain an ego. The professor says that for an AI to gain an ego, it is necessary to have instinct and fear. An AI stuck in a CPU case cannot gain a mind, because they cannot experience instinct and fear without a body. They need a body that can be stimulated by the outside world. I wonder what does /u/gambs think as this seems close to his field of study?
It talks about the uncanny valley: a robot that looks too close to human becomes creepy. A simple robot with a ribbon looks cuter. But the uncanny valley can be conquered by making them indistinguishable from humans.
As usual, Tanaka Romeo's prose is amazing. I have zero complaints. The background art looks great with the scenery.
Tanaka Romeo explores the relationship between parent and child well. How a child is seeking the attention of their parent to prevent from being abandoned. Why are parents willing to die for their kids? Jude's answer is because it's their instict to preserve their genes. Sounds like something Setoguchi would say, hahaha. But he adds later on, that it can develop past instinct into true love after spending time with them.
What the professor wanted was as I expected a 人柱 ending: sacrifice the few for the many. While it might be good for society, if it doesn't prove beneficial for the people being sacrificed it's a conflict of interest. So Jude ends up risking his life to save Philia.
At its core, it's an adventure of two people who learn more about the world：its beauty and ugliness, what it means to be human, and about family love. Tanaka Romeo has created another great piece.
For those who also just want to read a moege, not to worry, Philia is moe as hell. You can ignore all the complicated story and just focus on how moe Philia is.
 

美少女万華鏡 -神が造りたもうた少女たち-
I can see why some people can like Biman 3 so much. It has lots of meme, and lots of it is based on Steins; Gate. But the story is rather meh. It's decent enough for a sci-fi, but there are plenty of better ones. What I would praise it for though is I guess the threesomes scenes which the previous Biman games did not have.
It explores the relationship between religion, science, and the masses. How religion is used as a tool by those in power to keep themselves at the top, and the masses use it to mentally support themselves in hard times. It is amazing how self-aware Japanese are of religion, while accepting it themselves： 「苦しい時の神頼み。」 But honestly, compared to Tsui no Stella, it is rather shallow. Still, It is a decent game with a rather strong ending.

Keep in mind that Kamishino had over a decade to get translated, and yet it was only finished recently as a passion project.  Moreover, though the initial translation was done some time ago, it was only recently that it was actually released.  I imagine if a potential translator plays the translated version and wants the two remaining paths, it might be a possibility.  However, keep in mind that most fan-translations fall apart for a reason, and those two paths are a prime candidate for manufacturing such a reason (they are unnecessarily long for the actual content contained within the path, as well as having a more H focus than the other four paths).

I'm not. I'm the only person who could be bothered translating this game so I get the right to choose to translate whatever I want, and express what I like about it or not since that's my opinion. I am not obliged to do any fucking thing at all as a fan translator. You can take it or leave it.

And here it is.
 

The proofread is now complete. The final changes are all in. I'm now preparing the patch and testing it, so release is imminent.