Bolverk

Hello everyone 
I'm BennMa ! i just registered ! i used to play a LOT of visual novel and now i fell in love again xD 
also i'm an artist/anime lover/YouTuber/Game maker(not really but i'm learning)/ also i understand Japanese so i may help in some translation stuff!! so yea i'm looking forward to have fun with you guys!!! 
By the way this is one my drawings that i made a fast painting video about:

Tried out http://capture2text.sourceforge.net/ it's a OCR software. It works but mainly just on roughly 1 - 5 kanji in one go. So a lot of tedious work to do. Sometimes it really doesn't want to work. So the usual OCR there..
Worked out the first 3 lines of txt...

I recently put up a blog post about how 2015 is devoid of anything I can honestly put in a VN Hall of Fame... but that doesn't mean there aren't any VNs worth playing from 2015.  However, the sheer amount of dross in a given year's releases means that figuring out what VNs are worth your time is a serious chore.  I chose to start with 2014 and move into 2015 (I'll update this list after December's VN of the Month is over), as I don't have the energy to sift through 2011-2013 right now, lol.   Understand, these are opinions based on my own experience, and these recommendations for those who basically 'can't bring themselves to play the old stuff', so I'm restricting it to post-2010 releases, as that was when the current styles began to emerge.  For now... 2014 and 2015.
2012
Gun Knight Girl (also known as Yandere and Mechs Festival, for those in the know)
Ore to 5-nin no Yome wa Raburabu na no wa, Mirai kara Kita Aka-chan no Okage ni Chigainai! (yes, this is a harem-ge, but it is also immensely amusing and generally fun to read)
Yaneura no Kanojo (also known as Konakana 2... but unlike its predecessor, it isn't an utsuge and it is focused entirely on the vampire issue)
Aete Mushisuru, Kimi to no Mirai
Kono Sekai no Mukou de (short and sweet nakige)
Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas (this and its fandisc... one of the year's kamige and one of the three best trap protagonist VNs ever)
Witch's Garden
Chuuning Lover
Sinclient
Re:Birth Colony
Shukufuku no Kane no Oto wa, Sakurairo no Kaze to Tomo ni (I probably need to update my vote on this one, because it is better than most of the others I rated below an 8...)
Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou (one of the 'three tops' of the trap protagonist sub-genre, it only falls behind Canvas because of production values and the fact that it isn't complete without the patch from the sequel)
Tsujidou-san no Junai Road (this one I didn't like the first time I tried it, but it grew on me the second time, despite not liking the protagonist)
Zero Infinity Devil of Maxwell (I rated this one harshly, mostly because I saw how it was trying to imitate Dies Irae, but it is an immensely enjoyable experience the first time around)
Tsukumo no Kanade (has some problems, not the least of which the confusion of so many endings and the abominable h-scenes, but it is enjoyable otherwise)
Tsuisou no Augment (hilarious and has great drama... makes me wonder why this company didn't capitalize on the success and start pumping out VNs like crazy)
Naka no Hito Nado Nai! (made by the same people who did My Girlfriend is the President, it uses the same setting and has a similar atmosphere)
Tokyo Babel (a kamige.  This is slated for translation by Mangagamer and it is one of the few projects they've taken on that I approve of without reservation... and it is also non-ero)
Sakura, Sakimashita (the first VN I did for my Fuwablog, you can check the earliest posts if you want my thoughts on it)
Sei Monmusu Gakuen (if you can get past the fact that the heroines are monsters, this is an immensely fun VN)
Rose Guns Days (for those who care what I think, I didn't really want to include this, because I hate Ryuukishi)
Sousei Kitan Aerial  (It is compared to Muv-luv Alternative, but it is a lot different thematically and actually has a protagonist who feels like a human being... albeit a somewhat hetare-ish one at times)
TIny Dungeon Brave or Slave (conclusion of the four-VN main series, wraps up the main plotline)
Furuiro Meikyuu Rondo (horror/mystery/supernatural VN)
Owaru Sekai to Birthday (Horror/apocalypse type)
1/2 Summer (nakige)
Dolphin Divers (AXL doing what it does best)
Erect! (great borderline charage/nukige)
Fortissimo EXS//Akkord:Nachsten Phase (chuunige)
Gurenka (chuunige)
Namima no Kuni no Faust (kinetic novel, social commentary, dystopia)
Kamigakari Cross Heart!
Grand Libra Academy (despite having one of the weirdest concepts)
Shiawase Kazoku-bu
Harumade, Kururu (mindfuck, rapid extreme genre change)
Hyouka no Mau Sora ni
Monobeno
Kouyoku no Soleil -vii’s World-  (like everything from this series and this company, it will be hit and miss depending on your tastes)
Soukoku no Arterial (Eushully, card-based rpg/VN)
Dracu-Riot
Venus Blood Frontier (if you can get past the tentacle rape)
Strawberry Feels
Grisaia no Meiikyuu
Eiyuu Senki
Hatsuyuki Sakura
'&' - Sora no Mukou de Sakimasu you ni (think if you removed the darkest parts of Ruitomo)
Shinigami no Testament (chuunige)
Kaminoyu (no human heroines, an iyashikei VN)
Gaku Ou
Majikoi S (great sequel, should have stopped here, because there didn't need to be anymore after this)
 
 
 
 
2013
Sanzen Sekai Yuugi (otomege)
Timepiece Ensemble
Electro Arms
Izayoi no Fortuna
Monobeno Happy End
Baldr Sky Zero (the first one)
Cocoro@Function
Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka?
Karumaruka Circle
Tsujidou-san (both)
Innocent Bullet
Gleam Garden no Shoujo
Otome Riron (Tsuriotsu sequel)
Amairo Islenauts
Futagoza no Paradox
Gensou no Idea
Natsukumo Yururu
End Sleep (horror)
Tsukiakari Lunch
Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname
Reminiscence
Unmei Yohou wo Shirase Shimasu
Tsuisou no Augment
Lovesick Puppies
Mirai Sekai no Planeta
Himawari no Kyoukai to Nagai Natsuyasumi
Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake (utsuge)
Hapymaher (2013 VN of the Year by me, lol... best VN Music of the decade)
Inpyuri
Komorebi no Nostalgica (almost VN of the Year, fell just short of Hapymaher)
Prism Recollection
Shiro no Pikapika Ohoshi-Sama
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai (not my favorite game, but someone is bound to insist it be included and it is decent enough)
Natsu no Owari no Nirvana (nakige/utsuge)
 
2014
Unionism Quartet
Hello, Lady (and its sequel)
Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai
Zannen na Oretachi no Seishun Jijou
Kimi no Tonari de Koishiteiru
Sekai wo Sukuu Dake no Kantan na Oshigoto
Nanairo Reincarnation
Minamijuujisei Renka
Amairo Islenauts
Satsukoi
Dekinai Watashi ga Kurikaesu
Primal Hearts
Baldr Sky Zero 2 (if you played the first one)
Love Revenge
AstralAir no Shiroki Towa
Reminiscence Re:Collect (again, if you played the original)
Semiramis no Tenbin
Koi ga Saku koro Sakura Doki
Harvest OverRay
Houkago no Futekikakusha
Sakigake Generation
Hapymaher Fragmentation Dream (again, you have to play the original first)
Baka Moe Heart ni Ai wo Komete!
Alia's Carnival
Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa
Koi suru Doll to Omoi no Kiseki
Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Hachimyoujin (do not bother with Bansenjin... it just ruins the experience after the fact)
Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de
Bradyon Veda
Kimi to Boku to no Kishi no Hibi
 
2015
Sakura no Uta (yes, I bashed it for what I considered a failed true ending, but I also praised several of the heroine paths, and a lot of it is genuinely touching)
Primal Hearts 2
Kyuuketsu Hime no Libra
Rakuen no Shugosha
Marrybell ga Shinda to Papa ni Tsutaete
Natsuiro Recipe
Sakura Nikagetsu
Sorcery Jokers
Love Rec
Sumire
Koitama
Chrono Clock
Hana no No in Saku Utakata no
Shirogane Spirits
Valkyrie Runabout
Hanasaki Work Spring
Silverio Vendetta
Soreyori no Prologue
Sanoba Witch
 
 

VN arrived in the mail: 

This has officially turned into the most entertaining thread of the week. 

You can skip this part and go to the tutorial if you want:
So after doing a lot of searching I finally found the perfect text hooker to read untranslated vns in the way I want to. Say hello to Chiitrans Lite
*NOTE: Please bear in mind that there is no such thing as the perfect software, this program has some issues so it might be useful to your or not. I'm doing this tutorial because I found it very useful and wanted to share it.
What other softs I tried and why they didn't work for me:
Visual Novel Reader
*The parser is awful. (biggest problem)
*It uses a lot of resources, it takes a lot to load up.
*I don't use 90% of the functions.
*Checking the translated words is a pain and really slow, every time you hover the mouse on the words you need to close the tab with the translation.
 
Translation Aggregator:
*You cannot full screen and read at the same time.
*The interface is old and it makes it awkward to read a vn with it.
It is ok if you are studying or using it to help you out for something in particular but reading a whole novel in 800x600 is not fun...

All the problems I had with those programs were fixed  with chiitrans.
So here is my tutorial 
 
How do I start using it?
IMPORTANT: THIS IS NOT A GUIDE TO SHOW YOU HOW TO USE MACHINE TRANSLATION BUT TO READ WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A PARSER (I WON'T BE ABLE TO HELP YOU IF YOU NEED TO INSTALL ATLAS OR ANY OTHER MT PROGRAM) 


1) Download the software from here: https://alexbft.github.io/chiitrans/
Install .NET Framework 4 from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/download/details.aspx?id=1785 and https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=40784
You can chose the .zip version which doesn't need an installation (portable) or the .msi installer.
You don't need to download anything else!
Atlas V14 if you want to.
 
2) Open the software after installing it or downloading it.
You can either click on:
A) and search for the .exe of your vn in your pc or click on
B) and then execute the .exe of the novel, after that just click on 
C) Connect and the game will lunch.
3) Now you can use the text hooker that comes with the program itself (AGTH) which works perfect most of the times or use ITH.
Once the vn is loaded it will automatically search for the text, if you don't see it click on "TL Window" and it will appear
Select the correct text you want the program to show, in this case all of them were correct, sometimes it will show you one that it has the name of the character speaking, one that it doesn't, one with is just random garbage, etc.
Don't forget to deselect  the ones you don't want to use!
You can also add codes for agth, once the novel is lunched just go into Options>Text Capture and there click on "Install user hooks"
And that's pretty much it!

What do I do if the program doesn't hook the text from the vn that I want to read?
 

If the program doesn't find the text do this instead:

First of all don't run the novel with chiitrans like I explained before just open the program and open the vn separately since you are not using AGTH there is no point in using chiitrans to lunch the vn.
1) Open the option menu > Text Capture> select "Capture text from clipboard"
2) Lunch ITH and hook the text of the novel (there is a tutorial at the end of this thread that will teach you how to hook the text with ITH)
3) Run the vn normally and that's it, it will automatically copy the text from ITH and pasty it on the textbox, don't use anything else while reading or it will start copying everything that you are reading.
*If for any reason the program doesn't start grabbing the text from ITH, just select the text from the ITH textbox and click on copy and from then on it should work alone.
4) and that's it!
Note: you can just paste text into the textbox if you want and use it as a parser for anything you want not just vn.
Inside the program:
Looking the translation is really easy you just need to hover the mouse over it, just like translation aggregator
 

You can move the textbox wherever you want and make it bigger or smaller or make it transparent or just black so you can't see the background.
 
When I go full-screen the textbox appears white, is not transparent anymore!! Help!!
If the textbox changes to white when you go full screen do this.
1) Select with your mouse the menu where you can make the screen transparent
2) click on it.
 
If you still can't fullscreen the vn and see the textbox at the same time, there are some novels (very few) that have this problem, for example Aster. There is a trick that works on some of them. For this you need Visual novel reader.
1)Download VNR from here https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3YXxE6u-4bzc1RKWHpoLWZROTQ
2) Open your vn with VNR.
3)Once is loaded go to the side bar and click on the "FS" and use the one that suits you better, in this case was "fullscreen" and "padding"
Tadaaaa
 
When I go fullscreen I don't see the textbox
 
Use romaji
 

1)Go to options
2) Parsing and select Latin
 
 
You can translate words or names

1) select the words you want to translate with the right click
2) Left click and "Add new name"
3)Insert the word
*This is really useful for me with names (I hate reading names) and katakana words, all the words and names that you add will stay saved and will be used next time they appear in the novel.
You can add your custom list too:
1) Go to options > Parsing >Edit names...
2) you can add your list of words there, all the words and names you have added will be there too.
3) they need to be added like this: "タブー = Taboo"
Sometimes some words are not correctly parsed
 
To correct parsing errors do this (the program will remember this correction):
1)Select the text that is incorrect by selecting it with your left mouse button
2)Right click on the selected text and click on "Re-parse with selection"
 
Finally using Atlas or any other online translator if you want (I will assume that you know how to install atlas, once installed the program doesn't need any configuration it will use it automatically):
NOTE:
*Here is a tutorial on how to install improve a little bit the ATLAS translation if you want: http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/79006-fhc-dictionary-of-ATLAS-Japanese-Translator
1)Go to Option
2)Translation > display both or just translation
何 wtf atlas..
If you want to use another translator:
1) Go to Options > Translation > Additional Translators and then just select from the right box of "Available translators" and drag them to the left side of "Selected Translators"
 
And that's it, start reading your untranslated vns fullscreen without any problems  
Now that you are able to read untranslated vns you are going to be the coolest guy/girl in your neighbor.
ITH Guide
 
Notes:
*You can download ITH from here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ie6ypsake9v9n6b/ITH_2015-03-04%282%29.7z and if you want to hook psp, ps2 and wii games use this ITHVNR  (props to stomp for this modified version)
*List of engines supported for ITHVNR
*If you can't find any thread to hook with ITH then you will need to use a code for it.  H-CODES list
 
 
How to hook up text with ITH:
1) Open your vn first and then ITH 
2) Inside ITH go to Process and select your vn from the list
 
 
3) Click on Attach and then OK
4) Once inside the vn you need to read some text
5) Select from all the rows the one that shows the text you are reading on the vn, sometimes you will have many rows to select from others just a few, in this case only 2
6) Once you see the text is being displayed on the ITH textbox,open chiitrans lite (don't connect/lunch the vn with it!)
7) Click on TL Window
8 ) Copy the text from ITH textbox and you're done.
 
Common problems with ITH that I know of:
*If the text for any reason splits and you hook half and the other half comes after so it makes the reading really annoying just change in options the "split time" from 500 to 2000.

The World Ends With You is the fucking tits (SPOILERS INSIDE)
edit: Also the fucking OST, don't know where to begin. Finally got to where Twister pops up in the game, and it's glorious. 

Funny thing - you can be anyone you want on the internet. I'm actually myself. Maybe it comes from being older, but I find the internet the easiest place to actually be myself. And with that...
Confession: your lack of likes to my reputation makes me think you all hate me. As all things Japanese entertainment has taught me, if you don’t instantly respond with liking me, it means you completely hate me. Why snepai?

Someone please photoshop banana's over Emi's artificial limbs

Having started college a few months ago, I still find myself looking back on high school in a very retrospective light. Sometimes I look back with nostalgia on the fun I had with my friends and the joys of my old life, but other times (including most recently) I look back on the things I regret. Particularly I regret my complete inaction in pursuing romantic relations. If my High School experience were like a VN, I got (and indeed I chose) the no girl bad ending. In fact, the no girl ending in Yume Miru Kusuri basically summarizes my experience. The fact that I can identify with the main protagonist from YMK (Kouhei Kagami) as much as I can is almost scary. Quotes from that ending like "I just couldn't be bothered. There have been a number of chances. And when I think about it, they all had to do with girls. I kept my distance from them, because of their peculiarities. I was concerned that I might get caught up in something bothersome. And that's why I refrained from getting involved with any of them." (Not using a spoiler tag since this quote doesn't really spoil anything from the VN)
What's particularly striking about this is that much like that ending, I had options. Not just options, but multiple opportunities that I repeatedly declined. There were girls that I knew were interested in me, and I intentionally did nothing about it. At the time I dismissed them because I didn't think we would match well. But that sounds a bit too much like "I kept my distance from them, because of their peculiarities." And above all, much like a bad ending, I feel this lingering hopelessness. I realize that I haven't really changed much from high school. Which makes me fear Kouhei's concluding words in that bad ending even more, "I'm sure that, in reality... I never really wanted it to change..."
In all honestly, I think things will be fine for me (in the future); I'm just in a particularly gloomy mood right now which is influencing my thoughts and writing. But yeah, how about you guys? If your high school experience were a visual novel, what ending did you get? (I'm really curious if anybody got something resembling the childhood friend ending.)  

Finally finished Utawarerumono Itsuwari no Kamen and I can't really say anything but... wow. I wrote a big wall of text with my impressions here but for anyone who wants a tldr: Utaware2 turned out incredibly good and I recommend it even if you weren't super fond of the original (though it certainly adds to the experience if you were). I'd also encourage people who don't consider themselves good enough at japanese to read without a text hooker to challenge themselves and read it anyway. I had only read one japanese VN (Eustia) with the help of a text-hooker before reading Utawarerumono portable this summer and Itsuwari no Kamen is just my third VN in JP. The Utawarerumo series is probably one of the best examples to challenge oneself with as it's almost entirely voiced (even the narration). Just get an okayish phone dictionary (I use the free imiwa) and learn some basic stroke order so you can look up kanji using the SKIP method (radical search is awful for everything but very complicated kanji or kanji where you can't make out all the radicals) and you should be good to go.
Big wall of text with impressions below.

It's that day.

And, of course, me being me, I couldn't be satisfied to just go pick up my game.

Seriously. **** my wallet.

Guess I can reveal myself as well.

Put aside Noble works for now. I got 2 routes left. I'll prbly go back to it again when I feel like playing a charage. But for now I've had enough.
So I started playing Baldr sky zero 1 (bsz) instead. In many ways it's good as old baldr sky (bs). But I am missing a big overall great story bs had. I am hoping it will come to it later. As currently I am just getting to know more of the world slowly. Although there is nothing wrong with that. I will get bored if this continues forever.

Wow....... I was doing so well until the end then the Chrono Cross victory theme started playing. Now my screen is all wet.
Thanks nostalgia of classic RPGs.  

My most hated character is no doubt Sakaki Chizuru from Muv Luv. (Rage censored in spoiler)
 

The day I was born; I am still living with that shame.

Playing Dies Irae - Acta est Fabula

Finished Hatsuyuku Sakura. I wasn't expecting much from it, but I was pretty impressed in the end. What acts like a moege tries its best to push its way into the utsuge territory, and while it does fall back onto nakige (and its magical twists) in some parts, the majority of the endings actually end on a pleasantly bittersweet note. It actually tackles its darker themes more responsibly than I expected it to at first, and for that the writer has my respect. What I can't praise is the author's tendency to write twists just for the sake of having twists at places (there are a few random ones) and his habit of outright skipping fight scenes altogether (why even have them in, then?), but those are my only complaints about the writing. Not much to say about the art, but the OST is easily the highlight of this VN - it quickly made its spot amongst my favourites.
 
All in all, a very enjoyable 8/10 from me, definitely give it a read if you're looking for some feels with entertaining comedy and interesting plot.
 
Other than that, I've slowly resumed Sui (finally!), and I'm making my way through Meakashi. I think I'm around the last third, but damn this arc is long! More and more of dai's goodness is sneaking its way into the OST, and Ryukishi's hilarious writing is reaching a legendary status in my head. It feels hilarious and endearing in a different language, but I do have to wonder how I would feel about reading something like this in my native language. At the very least, I can definitely see why some people hate it.
 
Anyway, now that I'm done with HatsuSaku, I might get back to re-reading Kara no Shoujo and then finally jump on that sequel... or maybe go back and read Cartagra first.

For Osu, I know there's a lot of bad habits and practice habits that can stop you from getting any better. It takes the right type of practice and a lot of work to continuously improve. So, while I'm disappointed, I'm hopefully not beating myself up over being stuck at this wall at ~25k, even though I've played more than most people have at that level. Nowadays for MP games, as far as gameplay reasons,  I only play them now if the strategy is fun, or if gameplay is pretty fun regardless of win or lose.
 
There are few IRL people I knowwho have spent less time on Japanese (or managed their time better and so have gotten more other things done in addition) and are just as good or better. This had me quite taken-aback, but the truth is, the fact is that, as long as it's the stuff attached to you that you value, someone else having more skill than you doesn't make what you've experienced and gained less valuable.
I chose to study Japanese, and it matters how good I am compared to if I had spent a different amount of time on it. It shouldn't matter how good I am compared to another person. If I see other people studying more efficiently, I can try and copy that study method. But studying the method might be difficult (for me) and so I shouldn't expect 100% to see a benefit out of that, nor should I feel so bad in the case that I can't apply that method effectively.
 
I'm not really the king of positive thinking, but what I say to myself when I see people way ahead of me:
"Those people are miles ahead. Well, the best thing I can do is keep working, that'll get me as far as possible. That's the important part."
 
Having people somewhat above and below your level is good for gaining gaining and understanding of what constitutes skill. Having people way above your level is disconcerting, and can be harmful if you don't handle it well internally.
 
Hah, I look down on people too from time to time. I can't help it. It must be my blasted insecurity showing.

Check your drawer again. You now have nine.
 

This was by far 1 of the most time consuming things I have ever done. Let me know what you guys think and if it's easy to follow. 6 hours of work? I hope it's worth it...
 
Rough Draft:
 

 
Finished Draft (Final):