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Nemesis
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Posts posted by Nemesis
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17 hours ago, adamstan said:
Giga's parent company - Entergram/TGL stays in business, so there should be no problem with older titles. It just means no new games under GIGA brand I guess.
Nope. If you go to Giga's official site:
http://www.web-giga.com/close/「戯画」ブランド商品の販売終了 2023年3月31日（金） ※パッケージ商品およびダウンロード販売商品も全て同日終了となります。 最後にお手元に残したいお客様におかれましては、販売終了日までにご購入いただけますと幸いです。
They stop selling everything at March 31, 2023.
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Asairo is a heavy emotional read, so I need a break from time to time. I read Jesus 13th in between those times.
きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
It started out slow, but once it picks up, it really picks up. I really like how expressive the characters are.
The art and background CGs are beautiful. Add to that Shumon's writing combined with the music and it creates a mystical atmosphere.
The story is mainly about the bonds between people. This is what real kotodama tsukai is about. I'll stop here as the less I say about Asairo the better.
ジーザス13th －喪失われた学園－
It is very Xuse-like game. It has strong world building and a very chuuni atmosphere.
It had interesting buildup, but then it just ends. It feels like the game is just unfinished. A bit of wasted potential, and the animated h-scenes were rather mediocre.
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9 hours ago, Clephas said:
I played the Baldr series up to the point where they for some reason decided to make the last game a piece of crap (both battle system and story). I still don't get why they destroyed the traditions of the series to create a mindless game obviously designed for mobile phones rather than pc or consoles.
Giga has been showing signs of collapse for a while now. The over-production of the 'kiss' series, which was never that popular even amongst romance VN lovers, was another sign of this. In addition, Giga's development costs were always excessive for the genre, which probably made it worse due to the borderline nature of sales of VNs.
Harvest Overray was decent, but after that I came to the conclusion that Giga was incapable of producing anything truly superlative outside of the Baldr series. This was confirmed by my first attempt to play a game from the 'kiss' series, which was a total kusoge.
Which Baldr game are you talking about so I can avoid it?
I'm going to get all the giga games that I'm interested in before they shutdown.
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Even if I have read over 100 VN's, that was done over 10+ years.
Really, it's just finding time to read 1-2h per day. Just repeat that everyday for 10 years, and you eventually read 100+ VN's. It's rare to actually find someone who has read 100+ VN's over a few years unless they are a NEET.
It might be a bit harder depending on your social responsibilities, but it's about making time for yourself and building a schedule around it. I can pretty much turn on a VN anytime I want after work. Just read at your own pace, it's not a race.
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The obvious ones would be other things written by Scaji: Tsui no Sora, H20, Sakura no Uta.
Others are Oretsuba, Cross Channel (don't touch the translations), and Muramasa.
They are all on the harder side of Japanese except for H2O, so I'll leave it up to your own discretion.
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きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
Prose-wise it is good as can be expected from Shumon Yuu. The dialogue and characters seem interesting so far. The dialogue is quite subtle, hinting at a lot of things without outright saying it. I also like the humour so far.
Conversation can start from something mundane and turn into something interesting What is hypocrisy? What is the difference between 善 and 偽善?
We'll see where it goes with the story for now as I still have no idea what the hints are for right now.
Ok the hints have gotten big enough that I can guess some of the things that happened. Poor Araragi.
ランス02改 反逆の少女たち
Rance 02 just feels like a very mediocre RPG. There is nothing unique about the gameplay or the story at all, and I honestly can't find anything to praise it for. It is still I would say worth playing for the introduction of a lot of characters which will play a bigger role later in the series. It's interesting to see Rance character design being younger.
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I have lots of suggestions, but majority of them would be untranslated, so I'll just mention the translated ones.
Setoguchi and Scaji generally handle similar themes so you are likely to like Setoguchi's works too. Check out whichever one of his games that are translated.
If you like the seeing things from many perspective part of Subahibi, you can checkout Umineko.
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This is actually I feel a good example of A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs. Different communities gave different meaning to the same word, and shows how language is a shared concept rather than having some universal meaning.
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The character designs do seem moe, so if we go by the Japanese take on it, then yes it is.
20 hours ago, Zakamutt said:I think it's good to raise awareness, it just gets the autistic juices flowing when someone says it's wrong rather than different. I certainly hope that someone reading in Japanese would be familiar with how the 'moe' game awards just pick any old thing, so there's good opportunity to realize something's different, but I guess if you're reading a dodgy interview tl with no cultural tl notes you might get confused somewhere.
I think you are giving translators and readers too much credit. Translators might not even be aware of the gap in knowledge unless they are an active part of the English VN community. It certainly confused me at first when people talked about moege in the English community. Let alone the average reader doing research on their own when most of that info is only available in Japanese.
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18 hours ago, Zakamutt said:
They don't have the same implications / nuances, so that doesn't work. Also people know what I'm talking about anyway which is all that matters. And as the Japanese usage of the term is as explained useless, we're not losing anything.
I wasn't expecting to change people's usage of the word anyways.
I think it is a good idea that we are at least aware that the word is being used differently between the two different communities, especially when reading interviews from the JVN industry.
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Then just use the English equivalent for what you want to say if the Japanese term doesn't describe what you want to say. In this case, there is a perfectly good term for Slice of Life games which is Slice of Life. No need to reinvent the wheel.
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One of the things I've noticed while being here for a while is how the English community uses the term moege wrongly. So I've opened up this topic to discuss what is moege. Moege or 萌えゲー is a term that originates from moe/萌え and ge/ゲー (game).
What is moe?
Let's start with a definition of moe first. A quick google search would lead you to wikipedia which gives you this:
Wikipedia) - Moe (萌え, Japanese pronunciation: [mo.e] (listen)), sometimes romanized as moé, is a Japanese word that refers to feelings of strong affection mainly towards characters in anime, manga, video games, and other media directed at the otaku market. Moe, however, has also gained usage to refer to feelings of affection towards any subject.
Searching in Japanese gives you similar results, so it's a common enough definition that we can agree with.
JA wiki - 萌え（もえ）とは、日本のサブカルチャーにおけるスラングで、主にアニメ・ゲーム・アイドルなどにおける、キャラクター・人物などへの強い愛着心・情熱・欲望などの気持ちをいう俗語[1]。意味についての確かな定義はなく、対象に対して抱くさまざまな好意の感情を表す[1]。キャラクター・人物の特徴に使われることも多く（「眼鏡―」・「メイド―」）、それらは、「萌え属性」「萌え要素」と呼称される。なお、「萌える」の本来の意味は「発芽」「芽吹く」と同義である。
The Moe Manifesto
So let us delve deeper into this, let us take a look into "The Moe Manifesto" written by Patrick W. Galbraith who interviewed various people involved in the otaku industry regarding moe and how it has evolved over time.
"Moe is a response to fictional characters, and when we talk about moe we are necessarily talking about how people interact with fictional characters" (pg 7)
Then the book goes into interviews with various people. For the most part they do say the same thing about moe with various clarity on the definition, while the older people in the industry seem to view it as a weird phenomena.
First let's talk about what Maeda Jun says:
PG: What is your approach to writing scenarios for bishoujo games?
MJ: Writers are divided into two types: there are those that begin with the characters and build a story around them, and there are those that begin with the story and then build the characters. I fall into the latter category. This is an industry based on moe characters and creating them is the premise of a lot of works, but I am the type of person who puts a lot of emphasis on story. If the characters are good but there are no story, then the player won't be moved. It's a real waste. So, I start with the story, and that will determine the setting and situations that the characters move through until they reach a climax that moves the player. (pgs. 101-102)
PG: What does the word moe mean to you?
MJ: It's a reason to live. If it were to be taken away, many people would no longer be able to survive.
PG: Why do you think that moe is so important to many people today?
MJ: Many people feel insecure. You go to school, but you might not be able to get a job, and even if you do it might not be a full-time position. Without a stable income, it's hard to start a family. There is a general move toward isolation. People don't have a direction or a purpose. That is why I said moe is a reason to live. Once people find something meaningful to them, they pursue it. Manga, anime, games, or whatever it may be provides a reason to live and a passion that can be shared with others. Otaku gather on video-sharing sites such as Nico Nico Douga and massive bulletin boards such as 2channel. This is an age where people struggle to live together. This is why fans are passionate and outspoken, and that energy fuels the moe boom. With so many people taking manga, anime, and games seriously, it has become impossible to deny the importance of moe. (pgs. 106-107)
Next, let's take a look at interview with Honda Toru, author of Denpa Otoko.
PG: What does the word moe mean to you?
HT: It's a feeling like love, but a sort of bittersweet love. It's like falling in love for the first time. The other part of moe is a feeling of calm (iyashi). You look at a cute character and your heart is at ease. Moe is the warmth and solace that cannot be found in human society...(pg. 119)
PG: Would you say that moe is about physical attraction to characters?
HT: I don't think moe is just about physical attraction. People who pursue moe are looking for something deeper...There were the crying games (nakige) released by Key. As the name suggests, crying games are all about emotion, not physical attraction. Despite what some people might think, these games are something like romance novels. It's the relationships that are moe.(pg. 124)
Things are now getting close to what I'm trying to say. Nakiges and lots of other things are considered moeges. One last interview with Higashimaru Hikaru, a founding member of the Moe Studies Research Circle. I think he gives the most precise definition.
PG: What does moe mean to you?
HH: Moe is a special affection for a character, or, to be precise, the emotional reaction of a human being toward a fictional character. (pg. 138)
What is a moege?
So now that we know what is moe, we can now go on to define what is a moege.
A quick google search gives me this:
https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1363733378
The question asks what is the difference between eroge, galge, bishoujoge, and moege.
ギャルゲーの定義としては魅力的な女性が登場するゲームで特に恋愛アドベンチャーゲーム以外でもRPGやアクションゲームなどにオタクが好きそうな絵柄の美少女が登場すればギャルゲーとなります。
萌ゲーも上記の定義に当てはまるもので、これもオタクが喜びそうな絵柄で客層を釣ったゲームのことですね。
Galge's definition is a game where cute girls appear. Especially romance adventure games(VN), RPG, and action games with girls that have character designs that appeal to otaku.
The above definition also applies to moege, games that hook players by having character designs that appeal to otaku.
Another definition, I found is this, which I think is better:
https://imidas.jp/genre/detail/L-128-0025.html
「萌え」は一般的に、架空世界の登場人物（美少女キャラクター等）に対する恋愛に似た男性的感情の芽生え、などと定義される。「燃える」と書かずに「萌える」と当て字を書くのは、パソコン通信の草の根ネットやインターネット掲示板などの、固有の文化から生まれたからとされている。ゲームソフトのなかには、プレイヤーにこの「萌え」の感情を起こすことを狙ったものがあり、それらを総称して萌えゲーと呼ぶ。ただしこれらは露骨な性表現がされたアダルトソフトとは一線を画し、個人のフェティシズムにゆだねられた独自のジャンルを確立している。
For video games, the games which aim to instill feelings of moe towards the player are what are called moeges.
So, essentially any game which try to make you attach to a character either emotionally or visually are moege's. So by definition, all charage, galge, bishoujoge and nakige are all moege. Which if we simplify further goes back to the first result in google search which just says that any game with cute character designs are moege. I hope this has served to deepen your understanding of moe.
So yes, Subahibi, and the majority of VN's are actually moege's. In fact, Subahibi even managed to win the moege award in 2010. This is way different than how this term is used in the English community to refer to feel good SoL games with no story.
But if we take its original Japanese definition, then yes moeges are kamiges as majority of VN's are moeges, so it is just really repeating a tautology.
I hope that people have a better understanding of moe and moege going forward. Any thoughts, comments and feedback?
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I finished Kisaragi Gold Star and Rance 01 this week. I also started Asairo, but still at the beginning so not much to say yet.
キサラギGOLD★STAR
Prose-wise it's fairly simple, but character dialogue is decently written. It is far from Niijima's best work though as the story itself is fairly plain. The writing gets fairly bad in the specific parts though, by that I mean lack of detail in the girl's talents. When writing about Kendou, art, piano, or singing, it shows the writer's lack of knowledge, avoiding writing any details. It's fairly bad in Tsubasa's part.
SpoilerThey were making our MC, a complete amateur in piano learn to perform a song in 4 days. Lol, are they trying to give the guy a trauma that he won't forget for the rest of his life? But somehow, it all works out.
Saya route started ok, but the drama is very cringe. And the True route is well not that good. It was rather incomplete and just kind of ended. Overall, it's a a slightly above average moege.
ランス01 光をもとめて
I've started my journey in Rance by starting at the beginning. Technically, I played Sengoku before, but I want to start from the beginning.
This game gives me a good start for what the Rance world is like. Rance World is pretty fucked up, lol. I can now kinda see where he's coming from, because everyone else is really fucked up and you can't help but be influenced growing in that kind of environment. It still doesn't make Rance any less of an asshole, but it is what keeps it entertaining. Rance is a very extreme version of the badass macho guy of 80's and 90's tropes.
Music is meh, but art is pretty good. Gameplay is rather simple and mediocre, but entertaining enough considering it's a remake of a 1989 game.
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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.
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How do you define what is a hobby?
Dictionary gives me this definition: an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.
So to me, VN's will always be a hobby as I don't think there is any money to be made from it. It will never become my main occupation.
But it's a lifetime hobby. I have pretty much dedicated a good portion of my life to it, and is currently my main enjoyment in life.
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Black Sheep Town has a couple off screen sex, and 1 on-screen one. It works ok, because it's a minor part of the story and it's not a romantic story. The art is not that good anyway. Plus, the writer makes up for it with his writing in everything else,
It can work, but you'd be disadvantaging yourself for no reason. The visual part is a big part of what separates this medium from normal novels.
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I mostly don't reread things as my backlog is infinitely growing. I might reread some scenes I like or some H-scenes, but not the whole VN.
So far I have only reread 1 VN from beginning to finish and that is Cross Channel. I first read it in English, but I wasn't satisfied with the translation, so I reread it in Japanese. There might be a couple other VN's I might reread in Japanese, because there are a lot of things you really miss in English. Those are not as high priority as reading completely new VN's though.
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Spoiler
I don't think that part has been explained lore-wise yet. It's just been said that the Twlight Beach is outside of time and space. But for example, Mercurius also came from outside of Satanael's law and replaced him as the new God. I think Pantheon was supposed to explore things outside the reach of the throne owner.
As for the battle of the three, it was all manipulated by Rea, which is what makes Rea route so great. Having Mercurius plans which he crafted for billions of years repeated many times over being destroyed by a powerless girl.
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2 hours ago, Malik said:
Thanks first for answering with this impressive comment.
So we now have Reinhard as mercurius's "desire to die" is Marie also similar to him? Was she born just for him to fall in love for her and wanting destruction from her? And why do they look alike so much (Marie/Reinhard)
Also there's something quiet interesting too in ren/machina so basically they have some of mercurius's soul like (wanting to die, all of it to end) and for ren cherishing the ephemeral so did mercurius pick them just because they were soldiers and they were interesting because they reminded him of certain part of himself or any other reason
So maybe in the end Masada wanted to show us that only the cast of a work gets praised for being the cast and the author is always getting left in the dark as a shade of himself even though all of this came from him.
One last question does mercurius also planned the battle of three colours? And what was the significance of the ball scene with the rea ending 1?
No, Marie is a god born in a place outside of Mercurius' law. Marie and Reinhard don't look alike at all and are unrelated outside of hair-color.
I wouldn't think too hard about what Masada wanted to show us. Rather than trying to convey a message, I find Dies Irae is more of a wish-fulfillment/pure entertainment dedicated to Chuunis.
I don't remember which scene is the battle of three colors?
SpoilerRea ending is essentially Rea completely wrecking Mercurius' script by creating a 3-way battle between Mercurius, Reinhard, and Ren. The ball served as a way to give grandfather-grand-daughter time between Renihard and Rea.
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Spoiler
Mercurius is the 4th God of the Shinza throne. This means that his law permeate every corner of the multiverse and he can recreate the multiverse according to his own will. His law is 永劫回帰 - eternal recurrence, This law means that he can restart things at any time. Due to his law he has restarted the multiverse lots of times and hence can predict everything that will happen. This is part of the dejavu that everyone feels under his law. His main goal is to create a new god to take his place as he has gotten bored of seeing the same things over and over and wants to see something new. This is why he masterminded everything to try and make Marie as the new God of the Shinza throne.
Looks like Clephas posted before me. I'm not sure what else to discuss other than that.
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Started Kisaragai Gold Star as a fall season game. Maybe I'll also start a halloween themed game.
キサラギGOLD★STAR
It's a rather lighthearted charage with some mystery surrounding their past with everyone possessing a mysterious glowing bracelet. The music is pretty good. So far it's a fairly funny and relaxing game. The story is a normal protagonist surrounded by talented childhood friends, and their shenanigenans together. So all the heroines are all osananajimi charas with exception of his sister. We'll see where it goes from here.
I went for Ichika route first, because I liked her voice actor the most. Then, I went for Mikoto route after.
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No one's talking about it, because no one is watching it, lol.
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There are some pretty good shows this season:
Golden Kamuy - glad to see this amazing series is back with more Hinna. Probably best show of the season for me.
Yojouhan Time Machine Blues - A short OVA, but seeing that Yojouhan Shinwa is one of my favorite animes, I have rather high expectations for it.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury - it's an AU gundam universe, we'll see whether it gets good.
Tensei shitara Ken Deshita - one of the better isekai novels gets an adaptation.
Akiba Meido Sensou - I originally wasn't planning on watching this, but it was recommended to me. Lol, it's a story about crime syndicates in maid cafes. Really hilarious show by PA works. I didn't see that last time I went to Akiba. Maybe, next time I'll be on the lookout and see if I can spot them in action.
Poputepipikku 2nd Season - it's about what you'd expect, more of the same thing. Meme in anime form.
MLA S2 - is as shitty as ever as an adaptation. Do yourself a favor and skip this. Only good thing is Jam Project singing the OP.
Fumetsu no Anata S2 - so far only 1 episode is out, but good for fans of the show. No new OP though. I like the OP, but getting new OP's is also one of the things I look forward to. -
What are you playing?
in Visual Novel Talk
Posted
Finished Asairo.
きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
Waka seems to have a peculiar focus on kindness. According to Sasamaru, kindness is something innate, people are born with, and depending on the circumstances, it can be brought out or hidden from sight. According to Hiyo and Araragi, kindness is something that's passed on from person to person. Harutsuge says that kindness is something that only comes with pain. Kindness without pain is only spoiling someone. 「だから"優しくする"って事と"甘やかす"って事は違う。似ているけど決定的に違う。」 Araragi is more of a selfless kindness that prioritizes the group over herself.
「優しさなど枯れてしえまえばいい」
葉が赤色に牛われるものを"紅葉"
葉が黄色に牛われるものを"黄葉"
葉が褐色に牛われるものを"褐葉"
これはそれぞれが泣いた結果。
この涙を総称して、"紅葉"と呼ぶ。
Just like how trees lose their leaves to survive, we shed tears to be able to move forward.
Everything written by Shumon Yuu is overflowing with Wa(和). I'm glad to have experienced this piece of art that represents Fall and 紅葉. It lacks the analytical thinking of Scaji, but it's pretty much saying the same thing in a more poetic point of view. Pain comes with happiness and kindness. Pain is needed for us to be able to distinguish happiness from everything else. I think I've said too much already, this is best experienced for yourself.