ChaosRaven

When you're in Japan, what about joining the official eroge racing association?! 

I guess my favorite cars would be the following ones...
I'd probably die of embarrassment driving in one, but it would be so worth it! 

That's very interesting! In contrast to this SPIRAL! thing they released some time ago, this actually 'looks' like Shuffle. Those are clearly Sia and Nerine on the cover page. I guess it certainly helps that the original artists are actually drawing the VN this time and aren't just 'assisting with school uniform design' and leaving the character designs to a loli artist from Da Capo. 
Maybe... there is even a chance for my favorite character Ai (my avatar) from the Nerine fan disc to be included. 
The list of writers actually looks pretty impressive. They have Ou Jackson and Higashinosuke on board, the main writers of Oretachi and Tsuriotsu which are Navel's most highly regarded works. I hope they'll keep the the two Da Capo writers from messing things up.
That was certainly one of the main reasons it got popular both in Japan and in the west. It's rating isn't high, but there aren't that many VN's with more than 3000 votes on VNDB. Popularity isn't just about a high rating but also about the vote count. Shuffle's main strength was arguably its simplicity, so it's not surprising that the rating isn't high. It's the same with Nekopara - huge popularity and high vote count, but the rating is below 7.
I also appreciate that Shuffle was a somewhat fast-paced moege - in the worst case it at least didn't overstay its welcome. Many moeges nowadays are real slice of life monsters with huge amounts of filler text that unfortunately have the tendency to bore me to death. 
Though Shuffle did have an interesting setting, so I think there's also more potential in it than just a simple moege if they want to.

That's very interesting! In contrast to this SPIRAL! thing they released some time ago, this actually 'looks' like Shuffle. Those are clearly Sia and Nerine on the cover page. I guess it certainly helps that the original artists are actually drawing the VN this time and aren't just 'assisting with school uniform design' and leaving the character designs to a loli artist from Da Capo. 
Maybe... there is even a chance for my favorite character Ai (my avatar) from the Nerine fan disc to be included. 
The list of writers actually looks pretty impressive. They have Ou Jackson and Higashinosuke on board, the main writers of Oretachi and Tsuriotsu which are Navel's most highly regarded works. I hope they'll keep the the two Da Capo writers from messing things up.
That was certainly one of the main reasons it got popular both in Japan and in the west. It's rating isn't high, but there aren't that many VN's with more than 3000 votes on VNDB. Popularity isn't just about a high rating but also about the vote count. Shuffle's main strength was arguably its simplicity, so it's not surprising that the rating isn't high. It's the same with Nekopara - huge popularity and high vote count, but the rating is below 7.
I also appreciate that Shuffle was a somewhat fast-paced moege - in the worst case it at least didn't overstay its welcome. Many moeges nowadays are real slice of life monsters with huge amounts of filler text that unfortunately have the tendency to bore me to death. 
Though Shuffle did have an interesting setting, so I think there's also more potential in it than just a simple moege if they want to.

What I remember about Shuffle is that it was scene-based--it jumps straight to the notable moments, much like an anime.  This is likely one of the reasons it is popular in the West.  Many games try to fill out each day from the protagonist's perspective, from when he gets up to when he goes to bed.  It's very difficult to tell a compelling narrative like this unless your protagonist or setting are extremely unique and you can make each moment meaningful and fascinating.  Most attempts fail.

Navel just annoucned on twitter that they have started working on a direct sequel to Shuffle, "Shuffle, Episode 2."
The game's website. (Very bare-bones atm.)
 
As a big fan of Shuffle, I'm pretty hyped about this!

I would have expected Scandinavia to be expensive just like Western Europe in general, but not that the difference to Japan would be so big. 

I lived off a student loan last time, and found this to be more than enough to get by in Japan. I tried to avoid eating at super expensive places etc ofc, but overall didn't have any issues living on my student loan. Next time, I'll be living off my freelance work, and plan on sticking to VNs for the moment, as I have a rather good setup with a company that let's me do titles on a fairly frequent basis. I'm also saving up a decent chunk of money for the trip.
Japan is way cheaper than Norway. Generally people can't afford to eat out in Norway except for special occasions. Eating out one time here will be the same price as eating out like six times in Japan, assuming you pick reasonable-ish options. Rent in Japan was about half of my rent in Norway. So yeah, for a Norwegian, Japan is extremely cheap. Of course, it's not like Japan is a super cheap country, I think it's more that Norway is a stupidly expensive one, lol.

Propeller VN's also have pretty good tense and atmospheric music. I'm still hearing the soundtracks from Tokyo Babel and The Shadows of Pygmalion from time to time.
Liar-Soft VN's also have good music with a mixture of classic and atmospheric tracks - especially Ourai no Gahkthun.

I think Fatal Twelve didn't get enough attention because it's pretty much from a no-name company aiueo Kompany. Considering what some established franchise dared to deliver as a 'story', it's really painful to see this going almost unnoticed. It's not without flaws, but right along with Fata Morgana it's one of the best story VN's I've read in years. Judging by their former releases, it probably got about three years of development time - and it shows. It's clearly not one of those half-assed products where the plot was sacrificed to comply to an annual release cycle.

I think Fatal Twelve didn't get enough attention because it's pretty much from a no-name company aiueo Kompany. Considering what some established franchise dared to deliver as a 'story', it's really painful to see this going almost unnoticed. It's not without flaws, but right along with Fata Morgana it's one of the best story VN's I've read in years. Judging by their former releases, it probably got about three years of development time - and it shows. It's clearly not one of those half-assed products where the plot was sacrificed to comply to an annual release cycle.

Haha, funny how similar we are in preferences 

For my first serious foray into reading untranslated stuff, I've been reading Koi-Kakeru Shin-Ai Kanojo for the past week or so. I've frankly been surprised at what an easy time I'm having getting through it; apparently years of osmosis through editing and the occasional grammar reading helped more than I realized.
I like most of the heroines, though maybe not the main one, tbh, and I'm looking forward to seeing whatever ending the true route has that's made so many people angry over the years. The foreshadowing is interesting, and the first big hint at deeper problems lying under the surface immediately after they (finally) show the OP video set a pretty promising hook.
The humor is great, and the writing is enjoyable even when the main character goes off on monologues talking about the definition of literature. The longest one of those so far brought back fond memories of a similar scene from Majo Koi—and it's almost shocking how many shared themes, topics, and just little quirks there are between the two. I guess Niijima Yuu really writes about Niijima Yuu-ish things. After this, I suppose I'll have to read HatsuSaku or Summer Pockets... though at this point I find it hard to imagine Niijima Yuu writing about any season but spring, so I imagine I'll find both of them a little odd.
The music is nothing short of phenomenal. Mizutsuki Ryou has my undying devotion. My favorite track is probably Ayane's song, but honestly, all the music is so good that I get excited every time the BGM changes and I get to hear yet another beautiful song that I've somehow already grown nostalgic for.

Phew! Yesterday I finally finished ChuSinGura46+1 and wow, was that a long one!
And while there is no doubt that this VN can be called epic it was also far from perfect. Although many aspects are hard to judge because of one thing - the horrible translation! Now I am really not very strict about translations. If I see little errors here and there I don't mind. But this TL (Steam version) was extremely bad. Most of the times I could imagine what the translator was trying to tell me but there were points where it was just gibberish. I am not a native English-speaker but I am sure it would have been a lot better if I had done some proof-reading. It seems to me like this was translated by someone whose native language is definitely not English. But I will try to still be objective about the game since the translation is not really a part of it.
About the story: The VN is about the MC shifting back in time to the timeline where the story of the 47 ronins happens. He lives through that happening 5 times (5 chaptrers) and uncovers a conspiracy surrounding the events. While lots of the events and acting characters are authentic the conspiracy thing is fiction AND of course the 47 ronins being almost exclusively female is also fiction. Other than that many historic details are integrated in the story.
The story is usually quite exciting to follow and uncovering the different happenings in the various time loops and getting to know each of the ronins is fun. The sword fights and duels are also well made and well placed, not too many of them so that it never gets boring. But there are also a few moments where the story seems to drag on (for me mainly in the 3rd and 5th chapter). The conclusion of the story is technically well made and fun to read although I still think there are many questions left open and things unexplained (but perhaps it was the bad TL?).
In the romance department I have mixed feelings. I played the Steam all ages version and the romance with the heroines (each loop has a different love interest) seemed ok although sometimes the MC seemed extremely dumb (especially in Yasubee's route) while Chikara behaved totally strange in her route (she seems completely different in the other routes). It was also the first time in a VN where I was asking myself if I missed something because of a cut out h scene (4th chapter) as the relationship between the characters seemed quite different afterwards (don't want to spoil who it is )
The cast of characters is HUGE! And they are well drawn and interesting and likable (well, most of them). I really enjoyed the diversity of characters in this game and there are still new characters showing up in the 5th chapter.
I liked these 4 characters most:
Yasubee: She was the only main heroine I really got into. I liked her honesty and clear principles, but also her cool-headedness when needed and I think her route was the best. Sayo: She was a very sharp and cute character. How she always gets her point across and realizes what's going on is really cool. Well done making such a young character so interesting and enjoyable! Fuwa Kazuemon: A pity she didn't get highlighted more. I found Fuwa a very funny character with her wild manners. Yet, although she seemed so unruly at times she was probably the most loyal character of all. Shimizu Ichigaku: An beautifully drawn character that perfectly fits the role of the villain. I liked her looks, her behavior and also her voice acting. Simply awesome! All that said I wish there would have been a bit more of an epilogue. I was surprised that the game ended where it ended
Oh and btw. this is actually a kinetic VN. There is one choice (ha, that was almost shocking ) in the third chapter, but that's it.
 
So, I will be moving on now to read https://watercress.itch.io/this-was-for-you before I start another long-term project!

As for the review of non anime (ie the VN), there's two from both of Maryzan and Joyjason. If you've been hesitate to play it, at least Joyjason's review should be more than enough to help you to decide. If anything else, I'll just treat it as school life comedy to avoid disappointment (Well I already think like that since the beginning). I hope that the reviews will help you there so that you wouldn't fall into the expectation like back at Chaos Child.
As for the casts, there's five main heroines and three side heroines. Since the heroine number is the same as Yoake (Well both of Daitoshokan and Yoake were from same developer), I'll just use the same format like back at Yoake here to list the casts and their VAs (ie the seiyuu). But before going to the casts, I'll give a bit of summary in which the premise is that Kakei did have sort of precognition power and that he's been a sole member of Library Club, at least until a certain encounter happen and then his life in the club was changing with the new members joining in and the club goal was changed to help the people in the academy (Which is a big task considering that the population number is very massive at 50,000 people (I don't know though if it's including the faculty staffs or not)). Oh and by coincidence all of club members did received an message from mysterious Shepherd, so the club also decided to investigate that as well.
Shirasaki Tsugumi - Our main heroine (Sort of) that was quite unfortunate in that Kakei did accidently grope her breast when he save her. Her goal is to make the school more happier, although she really didn't know how though. Her innocence can make the people follow her loyally at the very least, and that it manage to interest Kakei who originally didn't have much interest other than reading. Her seiyuu is Yonezawa Madoka who as we know her most prominent role us Ogiso Setsuna from White Album 2 (Just nice that Yoake's main heroine (Feena) seiyuu is Kazusa from the same VN), although she also have some other role though. Such as Ichinose Rika from Aokana, Hirasawa Ui from K-On, Akazawa Izuni from Another, and Leviathan from Umineko. Mochizuki Maho - The first side heroine in that she's the student council president, and that she's been interested with Kakei so much that she's quite annoying to him just because she's quite persistence. There's no much to her at the beginning other than she's quite capable as student council president, and that she's the 3rd grader. Her seiyuu is Nakajima Saki who voiced Sasamori Karin from To Heart 2, Kouzaki Umi from Koiresort, Saotome Miharu from Miagete (Too bad that it's censored), Souma Nanao from Sanoba Witch, Shigure Kanako from Konosora, and Momoyama Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew. Sakuraba Tamamo - Tsugumi's best friend, and the real leader for the Library Club because Tsugumi was too inept to do the work even though she's the president. Other than very capable at the leading the club and do the works, she's implied to have an interest to Tsugumi. As for Tamamo herself, her background is quite interesting in that she matched Feena in which she's the daughter of a descendant of a feudal lord and that she's quite capable in tea ceremony and flower arrangement, although obviously her family didn't have any political power anymore. Her seiyuu is Saitou Yuka and her roles is Fione Silvaria from Eustia, Houjou Ayumi from Tsujidou, Lucifer from Umineko, Akaba Chizuru from Seitokai no Ichizon, and Naotora Ii from Samurai Warrior IV. Suzuki Kana - Nicknamed Kanasuke, and she's quite simply the mood maker for Library Club in that she's make the atmosphere more brighter thanks to her cheerfullness (She's also the junior here). Her breast is quite small and have cat allergies when the cat touch her, in which both of those cause some angst to her. The latter is quite ironic seeing that she's like to play with the cat, and so she can only play with the cat indirectly through the cat toy. Her seiyuu is Eri Sendai in which her role is Inaba Meguru from Sanoba Witch, Tomotake Yoshino from Senren Banka, Kusunoha Misaki from Hatsukoi Sankaime, Otonashi Saku from Hello Lady, Kouzuki Io from Dal Segno, Takanashi Touka from Chuunibyou ga Shitai, Milk/Mimino Kurumi/Milky Rose from Yes Pretty Cure 5 duology, and Triela from Gunslinger Girl. Ureshino Sayumi - Kannasuke's fellow waitress (Forgot to say that Kana did have part time work at the cafeteria) and the second side heroine that was cute looking, but there's much more than that. Such as she's quite capable in computer programming, like to play the game, easily hold the grudge, and don't like to called small (Well if you say that Ureshino small you wouldn't hear her anger because you'll be dead with Ureshino as the murderer (By Kannasuke's word)). As for the seiyuu, her name is Mamiya Yuzu in which she voiced Emelita from Kamidori, Kurama Koharu from Senren Banka, Iyo from Nanairo Reincarnation, Yanagihara Tomo from White Album 2, and Otonashi Kushina from Love Sweets. Misono Senri - Known as 'Singing Princess' by the whole school because of her singing that reached national level, and yet she really didn't care much about it because she was more or less got pressured by the music teacher to explore her talent (There's also the matter of her past). While from the first glance she looks like a kuudere, actually she's more expressive compared to most of the kuuderes out there. As for the seiyuu, her name is Yamamoto Nozomi who recently got a boy with feminine face role such as Satou Koutarou from Wagahigh and Shibazaki Kaoru from Koiken Otome, although of course she also got female roles such as Arisaka Mashiro from Aokana, Kabutoyama Midori from Hello Lady, and Murasame from Senren Banka. Serizawa Miyu - The third and final side heroines, and her role is that she's the member of Broadcast club who also have a part time job as the seiyuu. She was the one who ask Library Club to investigate Senri for her personal matter. Speaking abut seiyuu, she's got an impressive one who is also quite famous in the anime as well. As for the seiyuu's (Rina Satou) roles, we have Ushiromiya Ange from Umineko, Kusakabe Yuuki from To Heart 2, Ohara Kuon from Island, Tachibana Kazami from Root Double, Souya Misaki from Snow Sakura, Haruka from Minami-ke, Rei Hino/Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon Crystal, Misaka Mikoto form To Aru Index franchise, and Niijima Makoto from Persona 5. Nagi Kodachi - Out of all heroines, her breast is the biggest although of course we shouldn't focused on that lol. Anyway she's one of Library Committee member who always encountered the Library Club because she always felt that Library Club getting noisy, and that Kodachi always warn the club. We also knew that turned out she's one of Kakei's neighbor, and that she like to watch the TV in Kakei's apartment. Other than those two trait, anything more would be the spoiler so I'll leave it to the reader to find out about her. Her seiyuu is Kiritani Hana (Kirihana) in which she voiced Lena Liechtenauer from Senren Banka, Ousaka Sora from Hoshiori, Ayachi Nene from Sanoba Witch, Hachiroku from Maitetsu, and Fia from Amayui Castle Meister. I think that's all for the casts, and feel free to discuss about Daitoshokan at this thread. Have fun.

Just finished this and what a damn ride that was! Beautiful ending as well. Well, apart from indecisive harem. Don't know why writers write themselves into a corner like that tbh as i understand that none can be selected, at least from the important two. And it's funny how non romance stories have the best damn romance when it happens, what's up with that? Watase was a true man when he was talking to Kazami, way more touching than regular romance stuff.
Either way, the story was good. There can be no doubt about that. It did have it's giant problem though, and that was it's way of telling the story. First route was amazing through and through. Second, not so much with it's infinite number of flashbacks and mc's grating voice as a kid. Third was ok. Fourth was almost as bad as the second with it's relentless flashbacking. Yes, every flashback was relevant and gave us a lot of "aha" moments, but that nagging feeling about the story as a whole being completely halted never vanished. It was a slog, even though it was at times very interesting, it was tedious nonetheless. But when the story finally broke out of it's cryostasis it immediately became amazing again, and with a touching ending as well.
Well, i can't do anything but recommend this for anyone who likes suspense thrillers with loads of mysteries, plot twists and careful revelations. Well, be prepared for flashback hell, but that's about the only thing i can truly fault it with.
I didn't read the extend episodes though as they just seem to be more flashbacking for more fleshing out of characters, which i personally feel is pointless.

So, I'm currently also poaching in otome territory and finished Hakuouki - Kyoto Winds, the first part of the saga with the second part Edo Blossoms to follow. While Ozmafia left we with somewhat mixed feelings due to a wonky plot, this was overall a vastly better experience. I think this is also the first VN that I've read that could be called historic fiction, following a group of Shinsengumi samurai through the fall of the shogunate during the second half of the 19th century. I liked the two anime seasons and therefore always wanted to read the visual novels too. The first part does focus on the events in Kyoto and the conflict with the Satsuma domain.
Surprisingly, despite being an otome and playing a female protagonist, this didn't feel 'girly' at all. Although the characters are certainly a bit romanticized, the whole atmosphere and setting was serious and mature. Although the VN has many hero routes and choices, it's still more of a plot focused kinetic story. The chapters focus on certain historic events involving the Shinsengumi and the choices mostly decide which characters to follow. The romance was at least in this part very light - there was not even a kissing scene. It's more bromance than romance. The protagonist was also so passive that she often appeared more like an independent observer instead of a fully involved character. The VN is clearly more about the story and the interaction of its characters and less about the interaction with the protagonist. I think there was even a choice to switch off romance at the start, but I didn't use it since I wasn't sure what I'd miss.
Ironically, this often felt more like a well written chuunige due to its focus on cool guys and sword fighting action. You won't find your typical idiot friend here. The characters were a real blast, not only the Shinsengumi themselves, but also their enemies and the Choshu clan in particular. I think only Fate and Dies Irae put so much attention into their male characters. 

Although this is a historic VN, it also has some fantasy elements. There are furies - vampire-like individuals with special powers (that's not even a spoiler since it's already shown in the prologue) - and the Choshu also aren't exactly normal. Overall, my favorite character was Hijikata, the commander of the Shinsengumi whose route I played first. Then I played the route of the Choshu leader Kazama and Saito's afterwards. I thought about playing Harada's route as well, but with each route there's less new stuff and only the endings are a bit different, so I passed on it. Amagiri was also pretty cool despite being just a side character. Though those were only my favorites, since I liked most characters.
The production values of the VN are very high. Great art even with animated mouths, good music, top voice actors and lots of drawn and voiced characters in general. It's hard to believe that this VN is already more than 10 years old.
Overall, I'd rate this part an 8/10. I'd even given it a higher rating if the protagonist would have been better developed and more pro-active, but it was also not a big hassle, since she was more passive and not annoying. Looking forward to the second part. 

Do you know what Majikoi is? Comedy
Do you know what is the WORST thing to machine translate? Comedy

So, I'm currently also poaching in otome territory and finished Hakuouki - Kyoto Winds, the first part of the saga with the second part Edo Blossoms to follow. While Ozmafia left we with somewhat mixed feelings due to a wonky plot, this was overall a vastly better experience. I think this is also the first VN that I've read that could be called historic fiction, following a group of Shinsengumi samurai through the fall of the shogunate during the second half of the 19th century. I liked the two anime seasons and therefore always wanted to read the visual novels too. The first part does focus on the events in Kyoto and the conflict with the Satsuma domain.
Surprisingly, despite being an otome and playing a female protagonist, this didn't feel 'girly' at all. Although the characters are certainly a bit romanticized, the whole atmosphere and setting was serious and mature. Although the VN has many hero routes and choices, it's still more of a plot focused kinetic story. The chapters focus on certain historic events involving the Shinsengumi and the choices mostly decide which characters to follow. The romance was at least in this part very light - there was not even a kissing scene. It's more bromance than romance. The protagonist was also so passive that she often appeared more like an independent observer instead of a fully involved character. The VN is clearly more about the story and the interaction of its characters and less about the interaction with the protagonist. I think there was even a choice to switch off romance at the start, but I didn't use it since I wasn't sure what I'd miss.
Ironically, this often felt more like a well written chuunige due to its focus on cool guys and sword fighting action. You won't find your typical idiot friend here. The characters were a real blast, not only the Shinsengumi themselves, but also their enemies and the Choshu clan in particular. I think only Fate and Dies Irae put so much attention into their male characters. 

Although this is a historic VN, it also has some fantasy elements. There are furies - vampire-like individuals with special powers (that's not even a spoiler since it's already shown in the prologue) - and the Choshu also aren't exactly normal. Overall, my favorite character was Hijikata, the commander of the Shinsengumi whose route I played first. Then I played the route of the Choshu leader Kazama and Saito's afterwards. I thought about playing Harada's route as well, but with each route there's less new stuff and only the endings are a bit different, so I passed on it. Amagiri was also pretty cool despite being just a side character. Though those were only my favorites, since I liked most characters.
The production values of the VN are very high. Great art even with animated mouths, good music, top voice actors and lots of drawn and voiced characters in general. It's hard to believe that this VN is already more than 10 years old.
Overall, I'd rate this part an 8/10. I'd even given it a higher rating if the protagonist would have been better developed and more pro-active, but it was also not a big hassle, since she was more passive and not annoying. Looking forward to the second part. 

A boy dressed as a girl, usually to sneak into an all girls school for whatever reasons. 
Otoboku made the genre popular about 15 years ago. Since then several studios jumped on the train, especially Ensemble who made it their main theme, but also Navel with their popular Tsuriotsu series.

Tsumamigui 3 has a true love mode where all NTR is switched off. Regarding the others, for the most part yes, since that usually only happens in bad ends or with unrelated side characters. There are a few exceptions though, especially if it comes to side heroine routes.

I think Tsumamigui 3 fits the bill. And most of the mystery type VN's from M&M have seductive characters in them: Kiriya Hakushakuke no Roku Shimai, Saint Estella Gakuin no Shichinin no Majo and Hyakki Ryouran no Yakata. Also Onee-chan no Yuuwaku, thought I'm not sure if that one really qualifies for an actual story.

I've voted for Unionism Quartet and Walkure Romanze like every year, but my third vote got Hyakki Ryouran no Yakata from Astronauts: Sirius this time instead of an Eushully title. Since MangaGamer sold their soul already to AliceSoft regarding gameplay titles, I think it's pointless to still hope for Eushully.