Nemesis

Oretachi ni Tsubasa Wa Nai
Black Sheep Town
Ever17

With SakuToki physicals coming in, I'll put in the rest of my merchandise that I just got:

From the same maker FAVORITE: Irosekai and Sakura, Moyu are generally considered the better works. So you can try that when you get the chance.

Just finished up Kizuato (specifically the original win 95/98 version) Liked it overall, and thought it was a pretty significant improvement over Shizuku as a whole -     Music was really good - I was a bit worried that the soundtrack would be a disappointment compared to Shizuku due to Orito Shinji leaving Leaf, but ended up really liking the music. Also, like with with Shizuku, I really like the aesthetic that the original version of the game has, with the digitized photos as backgrounds etc.. Just looking at screenshots of the remakes, they definitely don't quite have the same charm or atmosphere.  
Anyways really looking forward to continue playing through the Leaf library. Next up will be To Heart which I'm definitely excited to play, even if just because of how historically important it is for the genre. (well technically Saorin to Issho is up next, but that's a fandisc so I'm sure it won't take me long to knock out).

Got a few Japanese novels lately

Just finished White ~Setsunasa no Kakera~ recently.
 
This was NekoNeko Soft's debut game and, although I did enjoy it overall, most of the routes were definitely a bit underwhelming/unpolished. The biggest problem being that the actual routes are way too short (and some of the characters get introduced pretty late in the common route)
That being said, it was a pretty solid effort considering it was their first original/commercial game + 2 of the routes (Hadzuki and Chinami) were actually REALLY good imo.
It's very clear the developers were inspired by early Key games (or rather early games by the Key staff, since One was published by Tactics game), particularly One ~Kagayaku Kisetsu he~ and, although not all routes accomplish this, White is clearly meant to be a Nakige in that vein. 
(+ there's some pretty clear One references sprinkled throughout)

"And, that scene where the [main character] just disappears while blind senpai is holding ice cream"
Anyways, some brief thoughts on each route.
Izumi
Mikana
Madoka
Hadzuki
Chinami
The other "fun" thing about this game was getting it to work right. Installing it and getting it to run + using DXWnd's Winmm.dll to play the music without the disc wasn't a big deal but... for whatever reason it loading the character sprites REALLY slow, so there was like a 3 second delay every time an expression changed.
Did a little research and found out this was a common issue with older nScripter games that use CD-DA audio, so I ended up grabbing a newer version of the nscr.exe and learned how to manually modify/create a new Dat file to go with it so... now I know how to do that if I ever play another nScripter game that uses CD-DA audio.
But anyways yeah, good game overall. I'm looking to play more of NekoNeko Soft's library (and by extension Team Nana's games) eventually. Already bought their second title GinIro, which is apparently a pretty legendary Utsuge, so I'll probably get to that some time this year.

Yesterday I finished Tsui no Stella (it took me 19 hours)
I don't think I could add much to @Nemesis's review, but I mostly agree with it
I loved it. It was great story about being (or becoming) human and relationships.
Also, as one of the reviewers already pointed out, フィリア's name could be transliterated in two ways - and both are meaningful. One is the "canon" Philia - because that's the greek word for "love" Jude named her after. But it could be also romanized as Filia, which is latin word for "daughter". Nice little touch.
I've read only two Tanaka Romeo's works so far (YMK and Kazoku Keikaku - and both only in English) - but his style is visible in this VN. At the same time, he fit pretty well into the KEY formula Indeed this story was an emotional ride, with many teary moments.
8.5/10, definitely recommend I see KEY plans to release official translation this year - I hope it goes smoothly, so more people could enjoy this great story. Since the setting is pretty universal (not explicitly Japanese) - there shouldn't be too many things prone to getting lost in translation.

Nice, let me know your thoughts when you finish it.

Whole bunch of stuff I just got and added to my ever-growing backlist. Combination of two orders actually: Pretty much all the all-ages stuff is from Surugaya.com (Surugaya's overseas website), and then all the eroge were from Surugaya's japanese store (+ forwarding service). 
Leaf stuff. Got both the 18+ and All-Ages/Playstation versions of ToHeart, 2 Leaf Fandiscs + the ToHeart (PSX) Famitsu guide. Normally I just go for the all-ages versions of games if available, but apparently the versions ToHeart are pretty different so, due to that + since it's a pretty historically relevant game, decided to get both. I was thinking about getting the ToHeart PSE (The PC port of the PSX version) to keep everything on the same platform, but I guess PSE uses the original PC version's OST instead of the PSX versions so... went with the PSX version. I'm going through Leaf's stuff in release order, so plan to play Kizuato before I touch any of this, but definitely looking forward to playing ToHeart.
Tactics/Key stuff: Dousei and Moon (renewal ver.) + volumes 1-5 of the Air Drama CD.
D.O. Games: Kazoku Keikaku and Kana Imouto PSP special editions + full voice version of Crescendo. Kana is a game I've been interested in getting for the better part of a decade, Kazoku Keikaku got my attention since Wakamoto Norio is in it, and then Crescendo was sort of spur-of-the-moment.
 
C's Ware: The Lost One, EVE ZERO and EVE TFA. Played Eve Burst error last year and absolutely loved it, so definitely wanted to continue the series. Also got 2 of the Burst Error Drama CDs (I believe there's 3 total/one more I'll have to track down)
NekoNeko Soft: White and Gin'Iro. I found out about Gin'Iro when searching for Utsuge, read good things about it + saw that it had music by MANYO so decided to get it. Figured since it was the 2nd game by NekoNeko Soft, it didn't feel right not also to get the first so I grabbed White as well.
AliceSoft: Ikusa Miko. This one was just kind of a random pick-up. I generally like raising sims and it was cheap + was a little surprised to find that AliceSoft actually made an all-ages game, so figured I'd grab it (You gotta buy in bulk from Surugaya's international shop if you want to make the shipping worth it so I always end up grabbing at least a few filler items lol)
KID: Filling in the gaps in my collection of MemoOff 1st and 2nd CharaSong Cds, a Tentama bonus disc of some sort (not 100% sure what it is yet edit: it's just a bunch of wallpapers and screensavers), Ever17 Drama CD + Soundtrack + CharacterSong singles (Haven't played Ever17 yet but it's next up on my KID game queue). Then the two remaining MemoOff 2nd heroine fanbooks I'm missing (Tsubame Sensei and Shizuru) + Tentama and Close to Fanbooks.
Aoishiro Drama CD. Haven't actually played Aoishiro yet (in fact I haven't even bought a copy of the game itself yet...) but I REALLY REALLY loved AkaiIto (and it's a Yurige either way) so it's something I absolutely plan to buy eventually. Drama CD is ready on standby for whenever I eventually get and play through the game lol
Misc CD's/goods: Tsundere Karuta and Tsundere Hyakunin Isshu, featuring Kugimiya Rie. Can't believe these exist, but I had to buy them the moment I spotted them. Don't think I'll ever actually find myself getting friends together to play Karuta, but definitely worth it for what amounts to a Kugyu Voice CD lol
Also got Kogado Studio's "Kiwami Karuta", the voice CD on this one featuring Takahashi Chiaki (presumably in character as Sukunesama from Solfege?)
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray box: An Anime I've been planning to watch for the longest time. Honestly as a big Mizuki Nana fan, and a Yuri fan, this is something that I probably should have watched a long time ago
Various trash V-Cinema/Original Videos: Hiroshima Yakuza Sensou 1-4 (starring Ozawa Hitoshi), Hiroshima Yakuza Sensou Gaiden 1-2 (starring Endo Kenichi) and Hakuryu 1-2 (starring the actor Hakuryu as the titular character Hakuryu).
Box set for Morning Musume。's 72nd single. This was the reason I needed to use a forwarding service in the first place, and gave me an excuse to do some additional shopping at Surugaya's Japanese shop.

Lol, Kugumiya Rie Karuta set.

None of them because what you do is MTL

I finished Yubikiri Konyaku Lolita, honestly coming right after the fantastic Soushisouai this is a step down. I liked Suzu better when she was this strange kid at the memorial service arranging dolls, not fitting into her surroundings. After growing up she became a bit boring (comparing her to other heroines in the series like Kotae and Mihato). Likewise the whole setup of the protagonist's past relationship doesn't really go anywhere, and then the game ends shortly after. I didn't feel anything like the profound impact of Mako's speech in the previous game. But it's still a decent short story and the H is good as always.
Suzuka and her dolls

Finished Hello Lady and started Tsui no Sora Remake.

ハロー・レディ！
Saku route - The main mysteries are finally answered. But the answers are a trainwreck. The story is lacking a core, like the author is not sure what he wants to tell.
There's some Gundam, Doraemon, Index, and Oreimo reference added in too.
Overall, it's a fun game. But rather lacking in the story and writing.

終ノ空 remake
Chapter 1: Yukito Minakami - We get introduced to our protagonist, Minakami Yukito, and his childhood friend Wakatsuki Kotomi. There are a lot of recurring characters like a teacher that looks good for a bike model, Otonashi Ayana, Takashima Zakuro etc.
When they get to school, they hear rumours of
. Then, we get Yukito reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason before he gets interrupted by Otonashi-san quoting Tractacus' last line "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." This is pretty much Scaji giving his own lecture on philosophy and criticizing Kant for talking metaphysical nonsense.
This entire work is pretty much a lecture from Scaji-sensei. After that, he introduced a bunch of Nietzsche concepts, although he doesn't quote directly. People can't be satisfied with a boring, peaceful life when they have no goal. They need stimulation even if it leads to fear and anxiety. Mamiya's famous speech is slightly different from Subahibi in that it's filled with Nietzsche concepts about how social orders are lies filled to control us like livestock compared to speech about the concept of death in Subahibi. How the concept of good and evil were created to create social caste so that people can feel superior to others by being "good." Morals are decided by the concept of self-interest, but we like to pretend that they are some universal truth that we discovered.
Yukito wonders about the meaninglessness of life. Death comes to all equally, so what meaning is there in living when we are all fated to die? There are people who accept their fate and live quietly until they die, but there are also others who struggle against their fate and try to find meaning in their life. To do that, they have to break out of the norms of society. Then, he argues that just being alive is a blessing by itself even if we are cursed to die.
Chapter 2: Kotomi Wakatsuki - Nothing new here except we get to see things from a different perspective.
Chapter 3: Zakuro Takashima -
This work just reminded me of how much of a genius Scaji is.

Finished Hello Lady and started Tsui no Sora Remake.

ハロー・レディ！
Saku route - The main mysteries are finally answered. But the answers are a trainwreck. The story is lacking a core, like the author is not sure what he wants to tell.
There's some Gundam, Doraemon, Index, and Oreimo reference added in too.
Overall, it's a fun game. But rather lacking in the story and writing.

終ノ空 remake
Chapter 1: Yukito Minakami - We get introduced to our protagonist, Minakami Yukito, and his childhood friend Wakatsuki Kotomi. There are a lot of recurring characters like a teacher that looks good for a bike model, Otonashi Ayana, Takashima Zakuro etc.
When they get to school, they hear rumours of
. Then, we get Yukito reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason before he gets interrupted by Otonashi-san quoting Tractacus' last line "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." This is pretty much Scaji giving his own lecture on philosophy and criticizing Kant for talking metaphysical nonsense.
This entire work is pretty much a lecture from Scaji-sensei. After that, he introduced a bunch of Nietzsche concepts, although he doesn't quote directly. People can't be satisfied with a boring, peaceful life when they have no goal. They need stimulation even if it leads to fear and anxiety. Mamiya's famous speech is slightly different from Subahibi in that it's filled with Nietzsche concepts about how social orders are lies filled to control us like livestock compared to speech about the concept of death in Subahibi. How the concept of good and evil were created to create social caste so that people can feel superior to others by being "good." Morals are decided by the concept of self-interest, but we like to pretend that they are some universal truth that we discovered.
Yukito wonders about the meaninglessness of life. Death comes to all equally, so what meaning is there in living when we are all fated to die? There are people who accept their fate and live quietly until they die, but there are also others who struggle against their fate and try to find meaning in their life. To do that, they have to break out of the norms of society. Then, he argues that just being alive is a blessing by itself even if we are cursed to die.
Chapter 2: Kotomi Wakatsuki - Nothing new here except we get to see things from a different perspective.
Chapter 3: Zakuro Takashima -
This work just reminded me of how much of a genius Scaji is.

My top ten VN soundtracks
Evolimit
Komorebi no Nostalgica
Hapymaher
Silverio Series 
Akeiro Kaikitan
Ikusa Megami Zero
Draculius
Kitto, Todoku Sumiwataru Asairo Yori Mo
Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary 
Devils Devel Concept
 

Finished Rance 03 and started reading Hello Lady!.
Overall, Rance was a fun game with an ok story and good world-building.
 

ハロー・レディ！
First impression is the art is way too generic for me. I don't like it at all. MC on the other hand seems interesting.
Lol, so much Jojo references though. Hume is the school chairman. The students here are too sheltered for people who don't hesitate to attack people with lethal force.
Eru giving a big speech on supporting eroge industry by buying physical Limited Editions.
Tama Route - kind of meh. The writing is rather mediocre. It has some interesting concepts, but it just seems like writer is not good enough to execute them.
Sorako's route
Eru - She is a hilarious character. I think her and Narita have good chemistry. ボケボケコンビだね。
 

i had this Barbie Spacesuit costume lying about from back around 2017 or so;



so I figured i'd try out extensively reworking it from a MATTEL Barbie-sized Spacesuit,
to something that could naturally fit an OBITSU 26cm. -based girl like TMoHS' Yuki Nagato here;
https://haruhi.fandom.com/wiki/Yuki_Nagato
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya




 
This all really roots back to my early-childhood... when my parents strongly encouraged me to develop interest in the NASA program and such.
Mom had taped 1986's "SPACE CAMP" for me off of HBO or something... and i had watched it rather often.
In Fact, it was, to me, something along the lines of of what THE LION KING had ended up becoming to my Little Sister in the mid-90's;



Further, my Folks had gotten me this "YOUNG ASTRONAUTS" Cabbage Patch Kid doll still earlier on yet... say 1986/1987-ish?

I figured I'd post some of my collections here for now if anyone is interested:

 
















These are the same pictures I shared in discord. I have a couple other things, but too lazy to dig them all up to take a picture.

Finished Asairo.

きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
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.

Baldr Bringer.  Baldr Bringer's story is virtually nonexistent, and the combat is awful and slow-paced (the attraction of the Baldr series battle systems' was how fast-paced it was).  
Senkou no Clarias (the last gameplay game by Giga's Team Baldrhead) was interesting... until it wasn't.  The combat system was clunky and poorly designed, though not as poorly as Baldr Bringer's.

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.

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.

so guys what Vns are like like Subahibi?, its simply mindblowing for me, how deep the story is, and how good Subahibi plot is. like this is the first novel im replaying so i can understand everything. even thought at the start everything seemed like nosense, once the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place it was a amazing ride!
 
i know this probably has been asked a thousand times already, but i gotta ask again....

got hold of an ex-library copy in superb shape for next to nothing a few years back;
 

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.
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.