Plk_Lesiak

sorry but I'm not going to buy Amatsutsumi yet, as I used the money to buy Digimon Survive for Switch, but I have bought Digimon Survive physically and it's in the mail by the end of the day, so I'll sell it and use the money for to buy Amatsutsumi, if I order so much for it.

Yeah, but that point would be moot, or even void, because things like 3D OELVNS clearly have audience Although I guess the person making such argument probably wouldn't acknowledge their existence, or do not consider them "true" VNs

Oh, well, I personally like all kinds of artstyles, although if you'd ask me for my favourites, they'd likely turn out to not be non-anime, but more stylized/unconventional spins on anime art... Like Steins;Gate for example. The point being, I'm a weeb, I like anime-style things and most people that will ever look at a visual novel for more than 5 seconds are either like me or Japanese.
From their very beginnings, Japanese VNs had a pretty strong connections to anime and they are made primarily for Japanese readers, who seem to be pretty conservative with their tastes. Non-JP VNs are made primarily for weebs, often very explicitly copying Japanese media to appeal to Western otaku. While writing about VNs I always advocated for non-JP devs to avoid being copycats, but mostly in the sense of creating their own narratives and experimenting with style. I don't think rejecting anime art is needed that much, the thing you should probably try to avoid is being generic and uninspired, which a lot of VNs (from all sources) are. Plus VNs, no matter who makes them, are currently offering very thin profit margins, sadly making anything more than mild experimentation quite a big risk. You can make a non-anime one, but unless you absolutely nail the presentation, it might very easily appeal to no one – the weebs or JP otakus won't like the departure from what they usually enjoy and the broader audience still won't find your "waifu power point presentation" interesting enough to check out. Thus, I don't think VNs can really free themselves from anime art, or have much reason to do so. They won't get meainstream any time soon, considering they didn't already and the younger generations generally have the attention spans of gerbils.

As an artist myself, I agree with word of mouth. Ask around and see if someone knows someone looking for work. Be upfront about what you want and how much you're willing to pay. (if you're looking for free work, you're likely not going to get a whole lot of responses...) You can find an artist rather quickly depending on what you're specifically looking for. Don't be afraid to contact an artist directly.

There's a ton of artists out there looking for work, it's just a matter of finding ones that meet your requirements. 

I mean... Yes? Is there any reason you wouldn't be? I never had problems with paying for online purchases in PLN.
And if Sekai store gives you any problem you can try Denpasoft, but still, was there any issue I haven't heard about?

Kind of relevant, but Tsui no Sora (the 1999 precursor to Subahibi) has an animated OVA, and it's considered by some to be the worst anime to ever exist. I'm sure there's worse, but damn is it near the bottom of the barrel. 

Where are the best places to find Artists capable of making Characters? Especially male characters. I've tried Fiver so far, but most of them from the looks of it can only really draw females and those who can draw males are so booked they don't have time. I've only looked on Deviant Art and not made a post yet afraid of who all would respond and only sifted through a few vn forums. I'm honestly not sure where I should search. I'm willing to pay them provided they are reasonable. 

This might be common knowledge, but while I was aware of VN adaptations being generally cursed, I had no idea to what extent that's true. It turns out that among top 5 worst rated anime in history, two places are taken by none other than Idea Factory and two OVA that promote some very original, totally not Evangelion rip-off PS2 VNs. Mars of Destruction and Skelter Heaven. And what treats they are, so perfect in presenting virtues of VNs to broader world: alien-fighting high school girls, male protagonists perfectly devoid of unnecessary features such as personality, extremely awkward and inappropriate romance scenarios... I can't imagine how VNs never went mainstream with such profound promotional material. ^^
Anyway, I created this shitpost of a thread to see whether anyone knows something about how these abominations came to be, or anything else about their history? They are so hilariously misguided, I can't really wrap my mind around what the people making (and funding) them thought... Particularly when they didn't stop immediately after the first disaster (although to be fair, Mars of Destruction is so edgy and over-the-top gory it's unintentionally hilarious, Skelter Heaven less so, but people still find humour in how atrocious it is). Also, I'll probably want to catch up to all the other masterpieces of Satou Yoshiteru and share my impressions... Truly an Uwe Boll-level genius, shame he doesn't transform Idea Factory VNs into real art to this day.

This might be common knowledge, but while I was aware of VN adaptations being generally cursed, I had no idea to what extent that's true. It turns out that among top 5 worst rated anime in history, two places are taken by none other than Idea Factory and two OVA that promote some very original, totally not Evangelion rip-off PS2 VNs. Mars of Destruction and Skelter Heaven. And what treats they are, so perfect in presenting virtues of VNs to broader world: alien-fighting high school girls, male protagonists perfectly devoid of unnecessary features such as personality, extremely awkward and inappropriate romance scenarios... I can't imagine how VNs never went mainstream with such profound promotional material. ^^
Anyway, I created this shitpost of a thread to see whether anyone knows something about how these abominations came to be, or anything else about their history? They are so hilariously misguided, I can't really wrap my mind around what the people making (and funding) them thought... Particularly when they didn't stop immediately after the first disaster (although to be fair, Mars of Destruction is so edgy and over-the-top gory it's unintentionally hilarious, Skelter Heaven less so, but people still find humour in how atrocious it is). Also, I'll probably want to catch up to all the other masterpieces of Satou Yoshiteru and share my impressions... Truly an Uwe Boll-level genius, shame he doesn't transform Idea Factory VNs into real art to this day.

^"If you're not tired of the KEY formula yet, want another dose, but don't have time for behemots such as Clannad or Summer Pockets - go for it"

Sold. I already have Loopers on my Switch but haven't gotten around to it; but I'll definitely move it up on my to-do-list 😛 

~~
AI: Nirvana Initiative was good. If you liked the general reading experience from The Somnium Files you should be able to enjoy this as well.
The Somniums can be solved more logically this time around instead of having to trial and error yolo choosing random actions and hoping for the best so that's a plus.
The dual-protagonist system is... unfortunate; splitting screentime between Mizuki and Ryuki definitely imo weakens the both of them than if the VN focused on just one of them. Ryuki was aight, but ngl would've totally preferred Mizuki to be the sole protagonist cuz bias
The big twist... was a whole bunch of "...that's it?", especially with how it'll literally, and I mean quite literally, be told to you upfront in plain English handholding spoonfed style after a certain part in the story. It's VERY underwhelming.

8/10. I gave the first game 8.5/10. The first game just keeps you hooked with the always-a-step-behind murder mystery. Second game tries to be grand with the whole Nirvana Initiative plotline and falls flat

~~
Currently reading the most randomest thing ever, Making*Lovers. If you're ever in the mood for a legit dating sim where the narrative is all about a modern day no-relationship-experience whatsoever young adult male protagonist meeting a likewise no-relationship-experience whatsoever heroine by some contrived circumstantial chance, they awkwardly hit it off, but slowly and surely fall in love as they get to know each other and involve in each others' lives, this thing will be quite a treat. No overarching plot or common routes here, the entire focus of this VN will be on the protag and the heroine of your choice's fated encounter and blossoming romance.

If you don't got a thing for the sassy just-an-acquaintance from the good ol' college days, ya oughta rethink your life decisions:


 

Oh, well, I personally like all kinds of artstyles, although if you'd ask me for my favourites, they'd likely turn out to not be non-anime, but more stylized/unconventional spins on anime art... Like Steins;Gate for example. The point being, I'm a weeb, I like anime-style things and most people that will ever look at a visual novel for more than 5 seconds are either like me or Japanese.
From their very beginnings, Japanese VNs had a pretty strong connections to anime and they are made primarily for Japanese readers, who seem to be pretty conservative with their tastes. Non-JP VNs are made primarily for weebs, often very explicitly copying Japanese media to appeal to Western otaku. While writing about VNs I always advocated for non-JP devs to avoid being copycats, but mostly in the sense of creating their own narratives and experimenting with style. I don't think rejecting anime art is needed that much, the thing you should probably try to avoid is being generic and uninspired, which a lot of VNs (from all sources) are. Plus VNs, no matter who makes them, are currently offering very thin profit margins, sadly making anything more than mild experimentation quite a big risk. You can make a non-anime one, but unless you absolutely nail the presentation, it might very easily appeal to no one – the weebs or JP otakus won't like the departure from what they usually enjoy and the broader audience still won't find your "waifu power point presentation" interesting enough to check out. Thus, I don't think VNs can really free themselves from anime art, or have much reason to do so. They won't get meainstream any time soon, considering they didn't already and the younger generations generally have the attention spans of gerbils.

Yesterday I finished Loopers. 
What can I say - it's pretty typical KEY story in a short format, with all pros and cons that come with it.
I loved it - but I'm easily moved, and I like KEY formula, so the fact that this VN adheres to it didn't bother me at all I think the fairy tale prologue sets the mood perfectly, and it tells what this story actually is, allowing to adjust expectations.

Because I have to admit, seeing the premise and R07 as main writer, it's easy to expect more, and then get disappointed - which can be seen in some reviews.
I think it's a similar case like with ATRI and PARQUET - the setting isn't the main point, it's just a stage to tell a story. And while surely R07 added his own flavor to it, especially in the early chapters, this is still unmistakably KEY story. Needless to say, it fulfilled its "nakige" mission, making my eyes teary many times.
I think the closest to this from the "big" KEY VNs would be Little Busters - there are some clearly visible parallels. But at the same time it isn't just "LB! abridged"
I think this was first VN I read that in addition to voiced MC featured third person narration. That was nice, made it more "novel-like" I guess
Art is nice, music and voices too, although the voices have too much of dynamic range - some shouted lines are waaaay to loud.
To sum it up - YMMV, but for me it was 8/10.
If you're not tired of the KEY formula yet, want another dose, but don't have time for behemots such as Clannad or Summer Pockets - go for it

There's English translation available in Switch version, and unofficial patch that ports this translation to the PC version. There's also multi-language Steam version in the works, but no release date yet
I played Japanese PC version, so I cannot say much about TL quality. Reportedly there are some errors, but it's not bad.

Oh, well, I personally like all kinds of artstyles, although if you'd ask me for my favourites, they'd likely turn out to not be non-anime, but more stylized/unconventional spins on anime art... Like Steins;Gate for example. The point being, I'm a weeb, I like anime-style things and most people that will ever look at a visual novel for more than 5 seconds are either like me or Japanese.
From their very beginnings, Japanese VNs had a pretty strong connections to anime and they are made primarily for Japanese readers, who seem to be pretty conservative with their tastes. Non-JP VNs are made primarily for weebs, often very explicitly copying Japanese media to appeal to Western otaku. While writing about VNs I always advocated for non-JP devs to avoid being copycats, but mostly in the sense of creating their own narratives and experimenting with style. I don't think rejecting anime art is needed that much, the thing you should probably try to avoid is being generic and uninspired, which a lot of VNs (from all sources) are. Plus VNs, no matter who makes them, are currently offering very thin profit margins, sadly making anything more than mild experimentation quite a big risk. You can make a non-anime one, but unless you absolutely nail the presentation, it might very easily appeal to no one – the weebs or JP otakus won't like the departure from what they usually enjoy and the broader audience still won't find your "waifu power point presentation" interesting enough to check out. Thus, I don't think VNs can really free themselves from anime art, or have much reason to do so. They won't get meainstream any time soon, considering they didn't already and the younger generations generally have the attention spans of gerbils.

Oh, well, I personally like all kinds of artstyles, although if you'd ask me for my favourites, they'd likely turn out to not be non-anime, but more stylized/unconventional spins on anime art... Like Steins;Gate for example. The point being, I'm a weeb, I like anime-style things and most people that will ever look at a visual novel for more than 5 seconds are either like me or Japanese.
From their very beginnings, Japanese VNs had a pretty strong connections to anime and they are made primarily for Japanese readers, who seem to be pretty conservative with their tastes. Non-JP VNs are made primarily for weebs, often very explicitly copying Japanese media to appeal to Western otaku. While writing about VNs I always advocated for non-JP devs to avoid being copycats, but mostly in the sense of creating their own narratives and experimenting with style. I don't think rejecting anime art is needed that much, the thing you should probably try to avoid is being generic and uninspired, which a lot of VNs (from all sources) are. Plus VNs, no matter who makes them, are currently offering very thin profit margins, sadly making anything more than mild experimentation quite a big risk. You can make a non-anime one, but unless you absolutely nail the presentation, it might very easily appeal to no one – the weebs or JP otakus won't like the departure from what they usually enjoy and the broader audience still won't find your "waifu power point presentation" interesting enough to check out. Thus, I don't think VNs can really free themselves from anime art, or have much reason to do so. They won't get meainstream any time soon, considering they didn't already and the younger generations generally have the attention spans of gerbils.

I know nearly all visual novels are in anime sytle. And most of the people including me love that.
But there are other drawing styles used in games on Steam like;
Sixtieth Kilometer, Earth's Center Of Gravity, Monster Camp, The Pillar Of Earth etc.
What do you guys think of those drawing styles?
 

I go by ArsSanctum, but you can call me Ars for short.

I'm a rookie dev who recently released the first part of an ambitious, original VN titled "The Nameless Braves: Heaven". What I've effectively released thus far is part one of part one, so to speak. Episode 1 of 4 for Book 1 of 3, haha.

New to this site but not new to VNs - I've been reading them since I first discovered Fate/Stay Night way back in 2010 or so.

Excited to join the community

Is it legal to praise Crunchyroll on the internet? Not only is their library in my region steadily improving, they also cut the subscription costs heavily for regions without access to their full catalogue. I don't feel bad about giving them money for the first time in years... 
Anyway, got through some fun stuff lately! Continuing with Studio Ghibli, I've seen the legendary My Neighbour Totoro and while I understand it's a kids' movie, boy was it not for me in any way. It was mostly just two small girls screeching in headacke-inducing manner and a tiny bit of whimsical fantasy stuff that didn't amount to much overall. A beautiful thing visually-speaking and the main themes were nice, but while I'm very tolerant to narrative emptiness, this movie was a narrative void for most of the time and managed to tire me out in record time (it's actually short, especially if you exclude the OP and ED songs, but did so little in its runtime it was kind of sad...). 6,5/10?
On the other hand, Princess Mononoke is a genuine masterpiece. Miyazaki definitely has his taste for environmentalist messages, but I really loved how it was delivered here, without demonizing either side or providing some overly-convenient resolution. It's also way more focused and intense than all of the Ghibli films I've seen so far, beautifully balancing the personal journey of Ashitaka and the grand conflict he's trying to mediate in. The environments and music are also spectacular, obviously not on Spirited Away or Hawl's Castle levels of refinement, but incredible for its time. With no nostalgia for Ghibli movies, this is the one that fully convinced me that Miyazaki's fame is not just all hype - basically flawless, considering what can be done with this formula. 10/10
Coming back to modern stuff, I've dug out an obscure fantasy show that really fits my tastes... At least in theory. Banished from the Hero's Party is basically all ingredients I love mixed in a very sloppy fashion. A story of two outcasts once involved in the god-chosen hero's quest to save the world, but now pushed aside and trying to find a place for themselves at the fringes of the civilized world. The protagonist is Hero's older brother, who fell behind the rest for the party in martial prowess and was convinced to leave, faking his death. On his exile he's reunited with a Princess of a militaristic kingdom, who once fought alongside the hero's party, but was forced to leave her country due to a succession dispute, becoming an adventurer. Determined to leave their pasts behind and create a new, quiet life, they try to settle down, but their pasts slowly catch up to them...
The whole thing is mostly a slow-burn romance story set in a fantasy world with bullshit RPG rules... But in abstraction, I love pretty much every idea and major plot element behind it. It even manages to build up and resolve a really complex conflict around the hero within 13 episodes, without really feeling rushed or creating too many obvious plotholes. It's just... Not that well written on scene-to-scene basis. The dialogue is clunky, the romance overly juvenile for who the main characters are... It just always slips away from being that perfect chill fantasy series I'm always looking for. Still, it's IMO quite underrated - 7/10.
Than, Moonlit Fantasy is such a weird, contradictory spin on isekai. Basically a combination of Konosuba (a protagonist rudely dismissed by a Goddess and cursed to be a pariah among other humans) and the Slime anime (building a nation of non-humans on the fringes of civilized world), but one that transforms from near pure comedy at first to VERY REAL at the end of the season. It might seem weird/impossible to justify on paper, but it's a really interesting form of story progression. The protagonist's journey starts whimsical and chaotic, with his incredible powers kind of auto-piloting him through various challenges... But than, as he gains influence and builds a domain of his own, he's tragically reminded of the responsibilities he bears. It all begins as a farce, as it looks ridiculous and random from his perspective, but the show is shockingly consistent in building up towards something, unlike most cheap isekais that kind of just flow pointlessly - it matures in tone as the protagonist himself is forced to mature to build a future for himself and those that rely on him.
I thought it would just be a parody series after the first episode, but the story turned out quite solid by the end and I'm really interested in what the second season is going to show, as the foundation set here is really good and the source material seems highly-rated. 8/10 

I think this is from a Western tour of some sorts? It seems like Yagami is one of those rare Japanese musicians that worked with Western producers and toured outside of Japan early on... And maybe I'm off, but it's hard for me to see a reason anyone would televise this, it's probably some kind of VHS or Laserdisc rip? It just circulates without context on YouTube. 

Honestly... All those games will run on a potato, anything with 3050ti should be able to max them out. On the other hand, if you're actually aiming for a 14 inch model, you're going to pay a pretty high premium for potability. Same goes for OLED screen... Especially with anime-style games, which probably won't benefit that much from the better contrast/deeper blacks.
And to be honest, I only see OLED laptops with glossy coatings, even when they do not have touchscreens. That sounds awful for a gaming machine, but maybe I'm missing something? I surely wouldn't pay a premium for a non-matte screen, but also I never even considered an OLED monitor or laptop before.

Looks like Junko Yagami is one hell of a live performer. :3

The first episode of Yofukashi no Uta was pretty much all I was hoping for. It's quirky, with a bit of Monogatari vibes, but way less horny and more cute/comedic. The dynamic between the protagonist and Nazuna is really fun and Nazuna herself is kind of an adorable dork behind the "cool vampire" facade. Plus the whole affirmation of the night theme... Lovely. ^^
Also, a possibly interesting note for @Mr Poltroon... The protagonist starts as more or less aromantic (very explicitly stating he "doesn't understand that stuff"), not sure how this changes later on, but I wouldn't expect real romance to show up very soon. :3

Call me a hipster, but I'm often quite amazed with how good indie JP music can be, up to most obscure artists... At least when it goes to electronic pop, they seem to be in a league of their own. ^^

Finally, after 12 weeks of daily work, the translation is officially complete as of today, June 27. But all of that will have to be edited later on this summer. In the meantime, image editing will commence immediately, starting with the UI images, of which there's 33 individual images that have text that needs to be translated/edited. Then there are a bunch of other background CGs with text that have to be done, too. I'm not sure how long the images will take.
Also, thanks to nReus for offering to translate and typset the OP/EDs. I wasn't originally planning on doing them since I've never done that sort of typsetting before, so I'm really thankful that the patch will have that little bit extra bonus. Also, it's crazy that we had coincidentally started translating the game independently of each other at almost exactly the same time, but I appreciate being allowed to translate the entire game on my own. nReus has also kindly offered to help me edit some of the images, so hopefully that will speed things up a little on that front.

Hey, I've got to watch a few interesting ones while dying from the absolute insane heat that came to Poland right now.
Finally, I've started catching up on Studio Ghibli movies, starting with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. Was pretty surprised with how whimsical and meandering Miyazaki's movies can be – it's a very different vibe than what I'm used to with serialized anime and movies that tie into those. There's a lot of beauty and wonder in those worlds, but not necessarily much "worldbuilding" or solid plotlines. More symbolism/alegorical stuff than just stories, which I guess put those two closer to classic fairy tales than to what anime usually is today. Also, it was interesting to see what a harrowing anti-war movie Howl's Castle was, with the motiff of chaotic lashing out against the injustice of it all. Easy to see how it was inspired by the Iraq War, I remember quite well the feeling of horror and powerlessness while my country jumped into the US' bandwagon back then. What seems a bit weird to me is to see how many people miss the fact that the whole story feeds into those themes, the absurdity of war and saving your own humanity in the face of conflict you are powerless to stop. Both movies are 9/10 for me, masterpieces mostly in the visuals/craftsmanship department, with actual storylines being on the weaker side, but overall very compelling.
Than, going back to trash-tier stuff... Wataten. The "creepy lolicon onee-san crushes on a 10-year old girl" show. I skipped on it when it aired, as the concept seemed irredeemable, but then saw relatively positive reviews, and... Well, it's not that bad, to be honest. It's definitely a show about a lolicon, and she is very much a creep, but the way the series handles the underage characters is surprisingly not lolicon bait. Pretty much devoid of fanservice and constantly calling out how inappropriate the main character's behavior is. The comedy it also quite solid, with gags being creative and not becoming overly formulaic throughout the season. Honestly, it's way better than it had any right to be. Still a bit creepy though and labeling it as yuri kind of made it feel worse than it was (there is some very subtle subtext between the girls, but the "main" romance is so one-sided and farcical, the categorization hardly applies). 7,5/10?
And ending with something recent, Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!... Is actually a decent gag comedy, that got me curious for receiving absolutely HOSTILE reception at first. It seems if someone doesn't like this kind of humour, it really rubs them the wrong way. It's a story about a dark elven "healer" who forms a party with a trash-tier warrior to mercilessly troll both him and everyone they meet along the way. It's kind of dumb, but also kind of brilliant – a pairing of a Don Kichot-like loser high on heroic tales and a borderline-malicious weirdo, in a world that mostly moved past the conflicts they could be useful for. Monsters just mind their own business, quests are trivial, and Karla, the "healer", usually seems to be the most dangerous thing around. Apparently "useless" at first, over time she's shows to be pretty powerful with different kinds of magic, including healing spells. She just can't be bothered to use any of it properly... Because where's the fun in that? Overall, a decent, absurd gag comedy with a tendency to subvert fantasy tropes in a fun way. 7/10

I'm so happy Snowy Ryujin TL decide to translate Snow, since it's one of VN I want to get translated and now I can finally play it in English. 
I'm so happy I could cry 🥺
I'm going to play Snow but sadly I'm not sure I can buy it since I'm from Norway in Europe and I don't know where to buy it.
Who else it's looking forward to play Snow? 
Who it's your favorite character? 
Do you like this type of VN?