melo4496

... it's been a while since my feelings on a VN have been as complex as my feelings for this one are.  I say 'feelings' because this VN has massive emotional impact... not as much as Hapymaher, but nonetheless a lot of emotional impact. 
To be blunt, Makoto is nothing like Hapymaher's protagonist, so if you were hoping for more of his 'consumed by sorrow and despair but still living my life' personality, sorry, no luck here.  Makoto is... a blank slate.  I don't say this in a bad way.  For better or worse, Makoto has lived his life in an isolated village where people literally don't talk any more than is absolutely necessary, lest they accidentally compel one another with their power, 'kotodama'.  Makoto has a fiance named Mana (and no, not that kind of lukewarm, 'distant fiance' sort of thing you see in some VNs, since they actually get down to business), and a rather nice, slow life in that village... However, he yearns for the outside world, where people can talk to people without restrictions.
He escapes from the village and collapses from hunger in a small town four days later, where he is saved by the first of four heroines, Kokoro.  From there the story begins, as he makes the journey from an innocent 'kami' to a real human being with all the baggage that comes along with it. 
A lot of the most interesting parts of this game come from the fact that he naturally doesn't understand much about the outside world.  Makoto's innocent, unstained viewpoint, combined with his natural kindness and willingness to embrace new experiences, feel surprisingly refreshing.  Things other 'normal' protagonists would worry over don't even occur to him, and he is so laid back he makes the drugged hippies of US in the sixties seem tense.  While he does change as part of the story, his personal 'lens', through which he sees the world, remains remarkably clean throughout... not to mention the guy has absolutely no sense of sexual morality (in other words, his idea of sexual morality is 'don't use his power to compel people to have sex with him').

The first of the heroines, Kokoro, is a shojo manga addict who has fantasies about immoral relations with older brothers.  She is a natural at unconsciously grasping the hearts of others around her without trying, and she is pretty much the picture of a heroine who 'exists to be loved by everyone'.

The second heroine, Kyouko, is a miko that can see dead people (yes, I went there).  She has huge self-esteem problems and is more than a little weird... for one thing, her reaction to Makoto is one of the more unique heroine reactions to a protagonist I've encountered over the years... for another, she is abnormally self-derogatory in both action and word.

Mana... is the protagonist's fiance from the village.  She is pretty much apathetic about other people, unless they have the decency to provide her with food (from her point of view, people who give her food move up from 'stone in the road' to 'slightly adorable insect' in most cases).  She is a bit of an S, when it comes to Makoto, and Makoto is pretty much her reason for living.  Because of a careless use of kotodama by another member of the village, she is always cold and in her eyes, it is always snowing.

Hotaru... is the true heroine of this story.  Cheerful and active, not to mention highly intelligent and perceptive... she is actually a fairly attractive heroine from the start.  However, she has less initial impact than Mana or Kokoro, for reasons that are fairly apparent.  Since that is by design, I actually am not complaining about this, though.
Now, to get to the downside of this game... it uses the G-senjou 'ladder' story structure, wherein the story progresses arcs where you choose to either pursue the heroine associated with that arc to an ending or move on with the main story.  I can say that the path endings for the non-true heroines were actually pretty good, but having played the true path, they are comparatively low-impact.  A lot of this is the fact that the major events of their 'paths' are in the arcs they branched off from, so little is added by their endings save for more sex and some minor tying up of loose ends. 
To get back to the main game... the true path is the impact I was talking about.  The main arcs were all emotional, so I guess you can say that the other heroines' 'paths' were also emotional, but, as I mentioned above, there is a definite sense that very little was added by choosing one of the other heroines.  Hotaru's path is easily the most powerful 'arc'.  In fact, it is so emotional and powerful that there are two ends for it.  The first one (which you are required to watch first) is... sad, to say the least.  It isn't a bad ending, but it is a sad one.  I know I cried.  For the second ending... well, let's just say it is a good one and leave it at that.
Overall, my viewpoint on this game is... just as mixed as I said above.  My conclusions on the G-Senjou story structure are unchanged in the least.  I still believe that all VNs that use that story structure should be changed to kinetic novels, just so I don't have to deal with heroine endings that are neglected by the creators of the stories themselves.  While all stories with true heroines inevitably put a much larger emphasis on the true heroine, the way this story structure trivializes the other heroines is really irritating, especially when they are good heroines, like these were.  However, if you take the arcs, characters, and the true endings separate from that source of irritation, it is a great VN.  It just happens to use the single worst VN story structure in existence.  Indeed, that story structure and the inevitable realities it brings along with it are the only thing that kept me from naming this as a kamige. 
PS: I will erase any and all comments that spoil anything in the last arc.  I say this because this is the type of VN that can only be enjoyed to the fullest once, not the type that merely changes flavor with each playthrough, like Devils Devil Concept.  Anyone who spoils this VN should have their skin sliced open, drawn back, then have salt rubbed into the exposed flesh. 
... *Clephas drools and goes off to make BBQ*

Before I go into this VN, I should probably bring up a few facts I’ve noticed about Yuzusoft VNs in general.   First, while most Yuzusoft VNs have a central story that is vital to the heroine paths as well as the common route, the degree to which that central plot effects the heroine paths varies pretty wildly.  In some cases – such as with Nicola in Dracu-riot – the effects of the main plot are almost nonexistent, and in others – such as Miu’s from the same VN – the effects are dramatic and integral to the progression of the heroine’s own story.  Another aspect is consistency… or rather, the degree to which heroine paths are consistent with one another.  Generally speaking, Yuzusoft games don’t strive for absolute consistency.  One reason is because most charage writers (and Yuzusoft writers are mostly charage writers) are not nearly as good at managing the numerous ‘threads’ of their stories as a chuunige writer has to be.  To be blunt, Yuzusoft games tend to eliminate the need for consistency as much as possible, limiting ‘contact points’ between the heroine routes wherever they can.  Unfortunately, there are always minor details that slip through the net, so you can’t really expect perfect consistency in any charage. 
Another aspect of Yuzusoft VNs is that they still utilize the concept of ‘heroine salvation’.  The idea that a heroine needs to be ‘saved’ by the protagonist on some level used to be integral to virtually all VNs that tried to charge the emotions of the reader, but it fell out of use over time as the emphasis shifted from story to characterization in most cases.  Yuzusoft is somewhat ‘old-fashioned’ this way, as they focus strongly both on the actual ‘stories’ of the heroine paths as well as the characterization aspects.  As a result, for those of us who get emotionally invested in the characters, the inability to ‘save’ the heroines you didn’t choose is always a bit… troubling, lol. 
I know that sounds weird coming from a self-proclaimed pragmatist like me, but that is one of the few areas in which VNs are still mostly games, rather than just reading material.  The act of ‘choosing’ a heroine inevitably invests you just a little bit emotionally in the heroines, barring a kusoge experience, lol.
Yet another thing to keep in mind about Yuzusoft games is that the company, even after all these years, is still experimenting with the ratio of ichaicha (lovey-dovey flirtation in the girlfriend/boyfriend part, such as dating, visiting one another’s houses, h-scenes, etc) to the actual story and character development.  Most of their games tend to have long (in terms of text) dating/lovey-dovey/sex periods, which can be unbelievably annoying in a VN with a good story, lol. 
Last of all, Yuzusoft games tend to have longer heroine routes on average than most moe-VNs.  I’d say by about one and a half to two times, depending on the other developer.
Now, having gotten that over with, enjoy my comments on this VN, as I plan to go into more detail than usual.
PS: I don’t intend to bother with the two sub-heroines, Ruka and Koharu.
Common Route
 
The beginning of the VN is somewhat fantastical, and with a little effort, they could have easily turned this into a light chuunige (I’m actually wondering why they didn’t, considering how suited many members of the cast are for that type of VN).  One of the most fortunate aspects of this game is the fact that very little time is spent dwelling on school life… in fact, it is probably the least relevant portion of the game, outside of the character setting of ‘gakusei’.  In my experience, the more reliant a VN is on school life for character development and story progression, the less likely it is to be interesting from beginning to end.
The basic story is that the protagonist, having drawn the sword from the stone (lol) by breaking it off at the hilt (viva, self-repairing holy weapons!  Haha), ends up engaged to and living with the himemiko, one Tomotake Yoshino.  He’s also together with a bodiless loli who presents herself as the guardian of the sword calling him her master, and a ninja who does all the cooking and cleaning around the shrine. Apparently, in order to cleanse the taint left by an ancient curse on Yoshino’s family and prevent disaster, he has to help them fight dog-monsters in the mountains around the town, so that their taint doesn’t build up enough to cause natural disasters and other tragedies.  The common route is consumed by the quest to free the Tomotake bloodline from the ancient curse and the characters’ travails in the process.
For better or worse, the central story of the VN is nearly completely resolved in the common route, leaving the heroine routes for those heroines’ personal issues.  This does mean that the tie-in to the central background story in the heroine routes is weaker than in some of Yuzusoft’s other games, such as Dracu-riot.  However, the common route itself is actually one of the better ones I’ve seen from this company, and I enjoyed the process immensely.  The downside is that the transition feels a bit awkward, sadly.
Murasame
 
Murasame is the overseer of the holy sword Murasamemaru, and Senren Banka’s resident loli.  In a lot of ways, she embodies the archetype of the ‘outsider/exile from life as we know it’ heroine archetype that has popped up occasionally in VNs like this one.  Favorite, in particular, is a company that loves this heroine archetype, utilizing it for the true heroine of every one of their games, and a disproportionate number of the heroines of this archetype are lolis (somewhere around two-thirds, starting with Ilyasviel from FSN).  This is probably because a childlike heroine who suffers from that kind of isolation is more likely to strike at our hearts.  She started out as a common village girl, and when a sacrifice was needed to become the guardian of the sword, she gave up her humanity to stay with the blade (this isn’t really a spoiler, since they tell you this early on and it is in the character profile, lol). 
Murasame comes across as your typical ‘loli who hates being treated like a child’ most of the time, but her speech and manner in more serious scenes shows at least some of her experience… and her path rakes her over the hot coals of her own personal darkness and insecurity.  Hers is a path that is all about salvation through love, and it is one that can’t help but resonate with romantics in general.  I should know… I cried several times in the course of this path.
I honestly felt that this path represents Yuzusoft at its best, and for this path alone I would have been willing to play the game… and I’m not even a lolicon. 
Mako
 
Mako… is the descendent of a ninja family that serves Yoshino’s family (Yoshino being the white-haired hime+miko heroine).  While she is deadly serious about her duty to protect and serve Yoshino, her personality is generally friendly, cheerful, and easygoing.  She is also more than a little… motherly in the sense that she loves to take care of people.  This tends to express itself in the common route through her devotion to never letting Yoshino or her father do anything around the house outside of their duties as a priest and miko at a Shinto shrine (and Yoshino’s duties as the sole descendent of her mother’s family line).
To be honest, her path is significantly more boring than Murasame’s, in that her personal worries are ‘classic’ worries from the archetypical ‘raised to serve’ heroine who is suddenly free to do what she wants, along with the fantasy worries unique to her path.  It is still a good path, even touching at times.  However, since they fell back on what amounts to a ‘normal’ love story with a half-humorous twist, things were significantly less interesting from my point of view.
 That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its high points… but most of those are toward the end or involve the fantasy elements.  I’m sure the people who adore the junai (pure romance) that is the staple of most VNs will lap it up like their favorite flavor of ice cream, but for someone like me who has been fed that stuff until he feels like a foie gras goose…
Yoshino
 
The structure of Yoshino’s path is something of an exception, looking at charage with a serious element in general.  Most of the time, the serious element is focused at the end of the path, with the ichaicha part making up the early parts of the path, during and immediately after the formation of the relationship.  In this case, the dramatic part happens immediately after the formation of the relationship… and the rest is essentially endless ichaicha and sex.  The path has impact, but I honestly thought that the latter part of the path dragged on.  However, the ending is pretty touching, and I was honestly happy for them afterwards.
Overall
 
Yes, I have no plans to play Rena’s path immediately.  To be honest, just two paths in this game takes up ten hours, and with the common route, this game could easily hit thirty hours if I played all the paths… and I don’t have the energy for dealing with an airhead heroine right now.
Overall, this VN is one of the better Yuzusoft games I’ve played (considering that I’ve yet to encounter a Yuzusoft game that wasn’t at least worth consideration for a VN of the Month, this is a definite compliment).  It definitely beats out Sanoba Witch, both in terms of raw quality overall and in terms of the design of the setting in particular.  While the game itself doesn’t escape a lot of the clichés of the fantasy charage with story sub-genre, it carries them out well enough that I didn’t find that irritating.  The biggest downside of  the game is the downside to just about all of Yuzusoft’s games… the ichaicha is far too extended and there is usually a lot of runaround before they get to the point. 
PS: By far, Murasame's path is the best... which probably means I should have played it last.  For better or worse, after seeing Murasame's path, it felt like a betrayal not to choose her over the others, simply because of her situation, lol.

... exactly how many times have I mentioned that I'm busy lately...?  Seriously.  I'm in the middle of VN withdrawal for the first time in over three years... and I'm realizing how addicted I am.  I'd be perfectly happy to play a kusoge for the second time, at the moment... if I had the time.  The best I can do these days is drop in for a few minutes and maybe a quick post or two. 
Considering that I originally started this style of work because it made me enough money in a short enough period of time to both support me and my habits (gaming, anime, books, and importing VNs) while leaving me time to actually enjoy them...  Unfortunately, my choice seems to be backfiring for the second time in five years.  If anything, this time is worse, because I actually failed to deliver for the first time in the last decade. 
Anyway, enough complaints...
While I have the time, I'm going to list up the VNs I plan to read from July's releases, when they are released:
Tsumikui (maybe, and only maybe because it is an otomege, and good otomege are rarer than kamige charage)
Ojousama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu
Senren Banka (obviously)
Muramasa: Shokuzai Hen (new Muramasa content? Whoohoo!)
Aristear Remain
Floral Flowlove (Saga Planets' games since Hatsuyuki Sakura have been much weaker... but I'll probably still give it a chance)
Amatsutsumi (Purple Software has been on a roll with most of their releases in recent years... so I'm definitely playing this one)
Kimi to Yumemishi (new company... hopefully it will be interesting)

Well, this is the first June's releases I've dug into, and it was an... interesting experience. 
This VN is a thematic trap protagonist VN that is fully voiced.  I say it is 'thematic' because all the heroines share the same general quality/direction... to be specific, they are all from the 'ponkotsu ojousama' sub-archetype.  Rich girls who are cute and generally nice to look at... and have an overwhelmingly high number of seeming irredeemable flaws. 
Kazari, the VN's main heroine, is perhaps the most obvious of the three...  from the very first.  For about ninety-percent of the people who play this VN, the first scene of this will decide whether you immediately drop the VN or continue on.  In fact, Kazari is the reason why I think the ratings on vndb tend to be either near the top or the bottom of the scale.  While the protagonist resigns himself to her... eccentricities, I seriously considered dropping this VN during the first scene of the game.
Yuzu... is a more classic type.  She looks like a yamato nadeshiko (ideal of the Japanese woman leftover from the pre-war era) on the surface, but underneath she is a glutton with an inordinate fondness for the smelliest foods on the planet who will eat just about anything (in massive amounts). 
Hinata is a straight-out chuunibyou heroine.  The only difference between her and the other chuunibyou heroines who have been produced en masse in the last few years is that she is also an ojousama, lol.
The protagonist in this VN is the best type of trap protagonist... the one who can do just about anything and everything better than everyone else around him.  The fact that he settles into the role of taking care of the three girls like a sharp-tongued mother figure who nonetheless spoils them rotten is the biggest ongoing joke of the game in my mind.  That he is fully-voiced means that this is one of those rare VNs where you have that element of characterization to add to the protagonist.  Otherwise, he is your classic trap protagonist, who is girlier than the heroines but wants to think he is manly, lol.
This VN's paths aren't terribly unique... except in the case of Kazari, where the actual path to her and the protagonist becoming lovers takes some really queer turns.  However, taken for what they are, they are definitely at the higher levels for their types.  This is your classic charage setup, where all drama is relatively minor and resolved in a way that doesn't leave a bad aftertaste behind.  It is executed well enough that it doesn't feel like the writers wasted my time, but not so well that this will be one of the VNs I remember permanently, lol.
Overall, when it comes down to it, this is just a thematic charage with some added elements (such as a fully-voiced protagonist and some weird heroines) that make it rise above the other ones like it out there.  However, it is amusing and generally enjoyable... if you can get past Kazari's personal habits.

First, I'll give you a quick run-down on this game... it is a game by 3rd Eye, a company known mostly for producing chuunige that are more moe-influenced than is the norm. This game is actually more of a mystery/chuuni/action/conspiracy type than a 'pure' chuunige. The world in which it is based is a future where, ten years before the story began, magic appeared on the scene. Large numbers of people became capable of using magic, and a new branch of science was built up solely for the purpose of utilizing magic as new energy source. The result of this is a society that is somewhat divided between the magical 'haves' and 'have-nots', though that isn't the focus of the story, despite what you might otherwise anticipate.

The protagonists

Senri


Senri is your classic 'bad-ass antihero protagonist'. He is clever, intelligent, and overall highly capable, with a razor-sharp mind and battle instincts that would put a Navy Seal to shame and make Golgo 13 look incompetent. His cold-blooded pursuit of his own interests, which are very opaque through most of the VN, is his primary defining feature... Oh, and he lies... a lot. He makes the protagonist of Sharin no Kuni seem honest.

Haruto

Haruto is a somewhat less beloved type of protagonist in chuunige... basically a 'justice freak' combined with being 'a young man driven against his will by the tides of fate'. He is a natural optimist and a believer in fairness above all. Unfortunately, he also has that bad habit a lot of similar chuunige protagonists have... of sticking his nose into situations he doesn't really need to get involved in. He grows a great deal during the course of the VN (as is typical of this type, if the writers don't suck), and by the end his viewpoint on the world has... been sharpened a great deal by experience. He is more likeable than a lot of similar protagonists, but it still isn't a type I prefer.

The Heroines

Fiona


Fiona, at first glance, seems to be your classic clutzy/innocent nun-type heroine. She works as a nun at a run-down church in the city's... less reputable area and is well-loved by the delinquents who frequent the church. However, she, like most of the characters in this game, is hiding a lot of secrets... She is one of Senri's two heroines.

Noa

An innocent, pure-hearted girl who is seen mostly as a ghost throughout the first part of the game. She has a really unique way of speaking, born partially from Senri's half-hearted efforts at education (mostly through handing her magazines and letting her watch AVs). To be honest, in the reading of this VN, interpreting her weird speech patterns was a bit difficult at first (she cuts apart words and puts them together in weird ways). She is the second of Senri's two heroines.

Asahi

Asahi is... a bit weird. Her personality itself is quite straightforward and honest, and she hates lies and general dishonesty with a passion. However, she is also compassionate to a fault and unwavering in the pursuit of her goals. Unfortunately - at least so it seems at first - there are a few loose screws rolling around in that head of hers. Even more so than Haruto, she is an eternal an unrepentant optimist and probably the single most trustworthy individual in the entire VN.

Riku


Riku is, throughout the VN, perhaps the least expressive individual other than Senri himself. She almost never displays her emotions on her face, and she has an almost unnatural tendency to think objectively about anything and everything, including herself. That the writer managed to grant her so much depth without making her a protagonist was an impressive feat in and of itself... and one of the reasons why her interactions with Haruto and Asahi are so amusing. She really is almost as detached as she seems most of the time, which is one of the reasons it hits so hard when she does become emotional.

The VN

Sorcery Jokers is definitely VN of the Month material. I'll say that right off the bat. The depth of the story and characters is incomparable with previous games by this company, and while it falls slightly short of a kamige, it is nonetheless something worth taking note of. Normally, I can't stand dual protagonists, as many have heard me mention. I hated Subahibi for that, amongst a number of other sins, and one of the biggest reasons it took me so long to play I/O was because I don't like going into VNs with multiple protags.

Fortunately, I managed to get past that, simply because the differing approaches to the story were the only thing that made it possible to grasp something even approaching the whole of the story as it happened. A single perspective wouldn't have done a bit of good as an approach to this VN's story, simply because there are too many things happening at too many different points for a single perspective to handle.

The VN's structure is basically that of a kinetic novel, with the illusion of choice through a flow chart (for the first chapter, at least) where you pick and choose which events you want to see next (though you have to see them all anyway). To be honest, I could have done without the flow chart entirely... flow charts in general are an irritation more than a help, especially if they are made a central part of progressing the story. That said, as the actual switching around mostly ends after the first chapter, it isn't really a big deal (though it does make me wonder why they had a flow chart at all).

The story's mystery and conspiracy elements feel a lot like peeling an onion, as there are layers within layers within layers. What you thought was the root of things turns out to be just another layer, more than once. As things come together near the end, the knowledge you've gained through the character perspectives deepens the experience nicely, making this one of the few part-mystery VNs I've played in recent years that I didn't immediately have 'read' relatively early on.

That isn't to say there aren't points where the VN stumbles. Haruto, because of his role as the 'kid chuunige protag', is the game's Achilles Heel, as all protagonists of the type with his kind of temperament tend to be. However, his growth is enough to offset the cookie-cutter aspects of his character enough that I approved of his role... in the end. Asahi also threatens to tilt the balance of the VN into the realm of the silly a lot early on, simply because of her 'weirdness'. However, because that silliness is a vital ingredient in her growth as a character, it can't really said to be a true weakness, though it can be irritating at times.

The endings are all branches off of the true end, one for each heroine (Noa or Fiona with Senri, and Asahi or Riku with Haruto). I had no problems with the epilogues for Noa or Fiona... but I thought that Haruto had devolved a lot in his heroine epilogues, which kind of brought me back to why I didn't like him in the first place.

Overall, I felt that this VN is one of the more solid chuunige made in the last few years, especially in the sense of 'balance'. Silverio Vendetta, while it is a lot more exhilarating, also had the difficulty of disproportionately focusing the writer's attention on Vendetta, which weakened the other two paths greatly. Bansenjin suffers from reusing an uninspiring cast and being relatively boring throughout most of its length. In terms of a constant sense of tension and in terms of pacing of events, this VN definitely is the winner of Chuunige VN of the Year so far, though it isn't chuuni-crack in the sense that Silverio was. I'm actually quite proud of the fact that this company has evolved so much since its somewhat... unimpressive beginnings (Bloody Rondo), and I'm glad I stuck with the company. It is always nice to be surprised pleasantly by a VN.

... I'm going to be blunt.  It has been a while (think 2014) since any company has produced a nakige that compares to this one.  The characters, their backgrounds, their personalities, and the setting all come together to form a story of deep affection, pain, and tears that had me crying more than a dozen times throughout the VN.
In terms of heroines, this VN's imoutos are the best.  Shinobu is the twisted, obsessive half-yandere, super-capable imouto who adores her niisan (with good reason).  Tsubasa is the honest, affectionate, straightforward imouto who is incapable of hiding anything.  While the other two heroines kind of pale compared to those two, their routes are another story entirely.
I'm going to be straight... there are no bad or under-developed paths in this VN.  The characters' emotional and real-life (to them) struggles are intense, engrossing, and emotional.  Neneko's and Yuuka's paths are cases of the 'paths surpassing the heroines', a phenomenon that has become sadly rare in recent years, as writing quality has fallen drastically in the charage 'genre'. 
Technically, Tsubasa's is the true route, but none of the routes were neglected in favor of hers, though I could have wished for an epilogue based a few years later for Shinobu's path (a matter of personal taste).  This is a mark of the skill of the writer and the person who designed the scenario, as the fact is that in most cases where there is a true or central heroine, the other heroines tend to be neglected, at least in my experience.
The protagonist in this story will probably get mixed reactions out of people, if only because he is a bit angsty, especially when issues of parents come up.  He has good reason, as he is a victim of child abuse (he doesn't hide this, and it is revealed within the first half-hour of reading).  At heart, he is a good person, but he is very exclusive in the people he cares about and insanely protective of those chosen few.  His obsession with his role as a big brother causes some big problems in Shinobu's route, but that is mostly because he is very hard-headed and straight-laced... the type of guy who makes a vow to himself and never breaks it, even in the particulars.
Story-wise... this is classic non-Key nakige fare.  The protagonist deals with his own issues (to varying degrees) while doing his best for the heroines, the troubles and drama along the way designed to drag the tears out of you, though it all ends happily eventually.  I was particularly touched by the healing that occurs in the protagonist in Tsubasa and Neneko's endings (through different methods), and I, for once, wasn't frustrated with the protagonist and heroine's struggles in Shinobu's path. 
None of the characters' struggles felt forced or unnatural, the way many charage make them seem, which was impressive in and of itself.
Overall, this is a first-class addition to anyone's nakige collection, and it is definitely going to be stiff competition for my VN of the Month for May.  I wept, I laughed, and I suffered along with the characters and out of sympathy for them.  I come out of this VN glad that I played it, a rare experience for a person who is as jaded as I am when it comes to VNs.

…Wow.  After the disappointments of last month, it is so nice to encounter such a great VN on my first one of the month this one.  Sakura no Mori Dreamers is a horror/mystery nakige based in a medium-sized Japanese town.  It is primarily focused on the protagonist, Shinji, and his quest to discover the killer of his first love, Madoka.  However, if you ask me if this is a story of revenge in the vein of Hello, Lady, that isn’t the case.

Shinji is one of those rarest of things in a VN protagonist these days… a young man with a strong will and who is actually intelligent enough to figure out the best way to act in most situations.  That isn’t to say he is some paragon of the avenger archetype… if anything, he is a normal guy… but he has encountered enough loss in his life that it is pretty easy to empathize with him and his reactions to tense situations lack the frustrating aspects you see in a lot of VN protagonists.

Madoka, his deceased girlfriend, plays a vital role in the story, with the prologue thoroughly introducing her and the relationships between the protagonist and his adopted family (his parents are deceased).  To be honest, the sense of loss at the end of the prologue is devastating, even though you know – since every single summary on the web reveals it to you – what is going to happen.

In terms of structure, about thirty-percent of this VN is slice-of-life, with the rest being raw plot.  Most of the story is told as part of the ‘common route’, which makes up about 80% of the VN.  In fact, the main conflict is resolved in the common route, so afterward it moves from the protagonist’s own personal conflict to that of the heroines… with the exception of Kureha’s path, which becomes something of an extension of the common route near the end.

This VN really touches on the darker side of human nature, with multiple psychopathic killers involved.  There is a lot of semi-guro imagery in this VN (like pencils sticking out of the eye of a rotting corpse, a half-pancaked schoolgirl, etc).  As such, I can’t recommend it for the faint of heart, especially since it is pretty frequent in the common route.  

The protagonist and friends dive into the dreams of killers in this VN and eliminate the evil spirits waiting there… but that part of the VN is actually relatively small in comparison to the ‘background’ that gets formed around each major incident and its human cause.  The fantasy-horror element is vital to the story, but it tends to take a backseat in two of the four heroine routes (Mahoro and Hatsune’s routes), whereas it is more vital to the other two (Kureha and Mifuyu’s). 

In all honestly, it is quite possible to be perfectly satisfied with this VN after playing only Kureha’s route, which is why I think it should have been locked until you finished the others.  There is a definite sensation of ‘true route flavor’ to her route, and I made the mistake of playing it first.  That doesn’t mean that the other routes were neglected, but it is the only route where the common route’s main storyline is continued.

Hatsune’s route is probably the mildest… it is basically your classic nakige route with a few minor twists born of the fantasy element.  Mahoro’s route is quite similar in this respect.  However, Mifuyu’s route is seriously dark at times… primarily because Mifuyu is carrying a bit more baggage than the other two heroines, lol.

Overall, this VN is one of the better ones this year so far.  For some reason, this seems to be the year for fantasy-horror VNs (with Tokyo Necro and Akeiro Kaikitan both standing out like burning flagpoles).  There are some issues with the setting that prevent it from being a kamige – the evil spirits are a bit too… opaque as an existence, even at the end – but it is definitely worth playing and a solid candidate for May’s VN of the Month.

I actually finished this VN and this post before I went to sleep, but since I lost internet access due to a freak lightning strike (curse you, oh Lady of Storms!), I haven’t been able to get online to take care of things.  This VN took me roughly twenty-one hours over the course of five days, but a lot of that was because, until the internet got knocked out, I was working like crazy to meet some short-term deadlines.  Moreover, the loss of internet access completely screwed up my work schedule (while also hurrying my play schedule), which I’d re-geared since my doctor pronounced me semi-recovered. 

Anyway, I’ve already started Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru.  For those who are wondering… the VN is absolutely nothing like what I expected so far, in a good way, lol.  *smiles enigmatically*

I got asked what I was doing for this blog this month just today, by several people (probably because this is the longest time I've gone without posting since I started this blog). So... I suppose I'll go ahead and tell you.
First, the two titles I'm reading on request (though I was planning on doing one anyway). 
Sakura no Mori Dreamers (reading now)
Ruri no Ie (yes, it is not exactly something I would normally bother with, but he was insistent... sort of like with Maggot Baits)
The rest of the releases this month I'm considering playing:
Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni naru
Seiken Tsukai no Proposition (by a new company, might suck, might  not)
Natsuiro Kokoro Log (this is by Hearts, a company infamous for producing kusoge, lol)
Tarareba (by Aries, that makes decent to horrible charage)
 
Personally, from what I've played, if they don't screw it up, I think Sakura no Mori Dreamers will probably end up being the best.  However, my past experiences with Moonstone's rare attempts to be serious tell me that that feeling isn't really trustworthy.  Clear started out good but went downhill with terrifying speed, for instance.  Their single best game is Maji Suki, and that was seven years ago...  though Natsu no Iro no Nostalgia was pretty good, for Moonstone.

Haruka
Haruka is the traditional 'older woman' heroine that used to be included in just about every VN, as a token to those who preferred that type. Of course, they don't come out and say how much older she is, but considering that she was in her teens when Tsumugi was a toddler...

Anyway, she is a spiritualist/youkai hunter who comes to the town with the intention of hunting down a man-eater that is supposedly hidden in the populace. She gets wrapped up in the events of the main story in the common route and ends up settling in the town (and incidentally falling in love with Yukiya).

She has some serious emotional scars, and overcoming those is a big part of her path. In this case, most of the obstacles that tend to be put in the path of her type of heroine and a younger protagonist don't exist, so don't expect much trouble from the outside about their romance. Rather, this path centers around her work, her personal traumas, and how she overcomes them with Yukiya's help. Like Minagi's path in the previous post, her path's ending is quite excellent and extends several years after the actual ending of the story, which left me feeling satisfied, needless to say.

Anna
Anna is the protagonist's younger cousin (who of course calls him oniichan, lol). She is a bright, energetic young girl with an eternal smile. Her path tends more toward the mundane, with a focus on rejuvenating the town through her and the protagonist's activities. The drama in her path is less tear-worthy than Minagi's or Haruka's, but in exchange you get a really hilarious scene in which the path's antagonist gets his just-desserts.

Perhaps the funniest part about this path is the clashes between her father and Yukiya, though, lol. Similar to the other paths, it touches on events well-along the line after the endings, when Yukiya and Anna have settled down and begun living their non-student lives. Not only that, but it ends on a really sweet (cute-sweet, not cool-sweet) note that I'm sure soft-VN lovers will like.

Midori

Midori is the mayor's daughter and the story's serious, straight-laced heroine (of the 'iinchou' type). She is the most negative toward the youkai of all the heroines, and her start with the protagonist is about what you could expect with a lucky-sukebe event and a straight-laced girl, lol. The actual path is focused on the need - and it is present - to balance the needs of the forest and the youkai that live there with those of the people of the town. This search for a middle path is the source of most of the drama in the story, and it leads to some tense moments. Similar to Anna's path, this one isn't really tear-worthy, but it has enough laughs and normal emotional ups and downs to satisfy most readers.

Her path goes the least distance from the end of the story and is thus the least fulfilling, from the perspective of those who love after-stories.

Tsumugi

Tsumugi is your typical 'wannabe' spiritualist. You know the type that you see in various anime/manga/VNs that love the occult and want to get involved with it but have absolutely no talent for it, right? Well, she's the typical one of that type.

Similar to Haruka's path, this has a focus on the spiritualist side of things, and there is plenty of foreshadowing for those who are used to the typical patterns of VNs in modern fantasy settings. That said, it is carried out well, and the characters, setting, and events are all used to paint a really good picture. You'll probably cry at several points near the middle of her path, and the ending is quite satisfying (and adorable, lol). Like all the paths but Midori's in this VN, the after-story is quite satisfying and emotionally fulfilling.

Overall

The word that comes to mind with this VN is 'complete'. It is fairly rare to come across a VN that a company obviously has no intention of fandiscing to death or even hinting at some sort of side-story addition. This VN is designed to be one complete set of heroine stories, and it does everything it sets out to do about as well as you ever see. Those who like fantasy mixed with romance but without the intense violence of a chuunige will like this VN, as will those who like nakige.

This is also my current prime candidate for VN of the Month (though Sumire would have been worthy if this hadn't been around). I know that most people will go 'eeeh, but I thought you disliked this kind of obvious moe-appeal VN?!' However, the fact is that any VN genre can be pleasurable if it is done as well as this one was.

Before I start this, I should probably explain the company known as AXL to the newbies. AXL, which is known for Shugotate, as well as a number of other high-quality VNs, is an 'old-hand' company that was started pretty soon after the turn of the century. They developed an extremely beautiful art style, as well as a penchant for high-quality fantasy and romance stories. The thing most people will notice upon playing any two AXL games is that the art-style is exactly the same... it still possesses somewhat thicker lines than is the norm for VNs nowadays, and the actual character faces and poses tend to be reused heavily between games. The saving grace of this is that the actual quality of the original art is so high that it still looks pretty today, so you find that you don't really mind, for the most part.

Common
The common route of this game is a lot closer to what you would have seen in their best games, in that it is heavy on the story and the character development. From the very beginning, you are encouraged to enjoy the protagonist breaking out of his shell and developing a relationship with the heroines, the youkai, and his new male friends. The youkai, looking like adorable stuffed toys for the most part, are mostly comedy elements, and the protagonist's relationship with the tanuki Shouji is perhaps one of the most consistently amusing aspects of it all.

There is a definite serious element to the story (AXL doesn't believe in completely drama-free main stories, apparently), but that makes for much better character development during the common route. It certainly made the heroine choice about something more than who had the biggest breasts or the cutest nose! lol (this was nice after the somewhat... disappointing heroines that resided in most of the VNs I've read so far from May)

Minagi
I'm regretting, in some ways, choosing Minagi first. Why? Because I can't imagine a better heroine to have picked for the main/true one, haha. Minagi is the VN's 'fushigi-chan', a girl who prefers the forest to school and who avoids others' company like the plague. However, underneath her lonely mask, there lies an incredibly adorable girl that is unbelievably easy to love.

Her actual route is actually one that would not have been out of place as a true one, in another VN. Right from the beginning, straight through the end, you are learning more and more about the setting, about Minagi, and about how she and the protagonist are related to it all. The drama that takes up the last part of her route is particularly fitting for a canon/true/main heroine, and I honestly think it was worth it to play this, even if just for this route. Most importantly, the ending/epilogue actually goes into detail about what happens to the heroine and protagonist afterward, concluding better than five years after the events in the main story.

If I had to classify this game so far, I'd have to put it in the 'nakige' category, simply because of how deeply emotional it gets at vital moments and the fact that I spent most of the ending and epilogue crying (in a good way).

After trying both of them, I dropped Anata o Otoko ni Shiteageru and Sankai, for similar reasons.  However, this leaves me with two VNs that have varying levels of interest from the community to play... Island by Frontwing and Wagamama High Spec by Madosoft.
Madosoft... produces thematic VNs, rather than your standard charage.  They pick a theme and unify all the heroines into that type.  This tends to have pretty awful results so far (both Yakimochi and Namaiki were kusoge, though they were fairly popular with the fans of older-style moege), so I'm honestly not hopeful for the VN. 
Island... I plan to give it a chance, and I'm honestly hopeful for it, after reading up on it.

First, I should comment on Misaki's route...
As is to be expected of a true route in a VN with as much story as this one, Misaki's route is incomparable in both length and content to the other three routes.  In terms of emotional impact, it literally leaves the other routes in the dust, while finishing off the other heroines' issues almost as if they were a mere aside, lol.  That said, not all the emotions associated with this route are positive... there are some seriously heartbreaking moments throughout the story, including a parting that will absolutely destroy anyone who liked the rest of the VN.  The ending is definitely a tear-jerker, and I found myself crying like a baby for it.
Now, for the wrap-up...
Sound-wise, this VN has great music... though the music doesn't have the kind of dominant force that you see in some VNs like Hapymaher.  Rather, it has many unique BGMs that are utilized well to enhance the atmosphere of the story.  Since this is a sign of good game design in general, I thought it was worth mentioning.
Visually... it is an Applique game.  Applique's style is pretty close to the mainstream, and most people who play mainstream charage will probably be comfortable with it.
Now... for the overall story.  I'm going to be blunt... if one were to wrap all the routes into the Misaki route (with their details included to some degree) and turn it into a kinetic novel, this VN would have been much better.  The protagonist's dependency is a bit exasperating at times, as well.  The way they did the common route - and in particular the issue with how it ends - leaves much to be desired, and Koharu's route feels out of place compared to the other three.  What pushes this VN onto the level of VN of the Month quality is the quality of its prose and the Misaki route.  While this won't beat Akeiro for March's VN of the Month, it is still one worth remembering.

First, I should say that this starts out like a first-class nakige in classic non-Key style (which means no loli heroines with weird speech patterns and less than six heroines total, lol).  I generally am fond of Applique for giving me Tasogare no Sinsemilla and the Arcology series, but when they screw up, it is usually in a way that should have been blatantly obvious as they were doing it.
The protagonist and his daughter (yes, his daughter) are a great combo, and their past is one of one bit of tragedy and despair after another.  The protagonist's personality is one I can definitely enjoy vicariously, and Millia (his daughter) strikes a perfect balance between 'genki' and 'emotionally scarred'.  The choice of an 'onsen town' as the main setting was excellent, and things were really looking hopeful...
...until the common route ended immediately after you dig into the protagonist's past.  Now, I'm all for tearful revelations and the like... but someone with the protagonist's past doesn't just come out and spill the beans only a few weeks after getting to know a bunch of people.  That was unrealistic based on his personal setting, to say the least.  Worse, the other characters' reaction to it was... weak.   Making it worse is that, while you've gotten to know Misaki (the supposed true heroine) a little bit when the split occurs, you've barely scratched the surface with the other heroines.  In other words... I went into my first path not caring one bit about the heroine I was supposedly going after. 
It was like seeing someone setting up a beautiful stained-glass mosaic... and then filling the last few pieces with concrete.  To be honest, the haste with which they progressed the last third of the common route is game-breaking for me precisely because the protagonist and his past are looming in the background.  Based on this alone, I can say this isn't going to beat Akeiro, though I thought it might compete for VN of the Month when I first started it. 
I might just update this post if I decide to drop this one...  I'm going to finish the path I'm on, and if I don't feel satisfied, I'm dropping it.
Edit: Based on my experiences in Honoka's path, I'm going to continue playing, but the problems with the common route and its pacing still apply.

For those of you who didn’t already know, this VN is based in the same setting as Nanairo Reincarnation and by the same company.  Nanairo Reincarnation was my VN of the Year 2014, and it is a VN that has remained strong in memory ever since.

This VN has a much stronger ‘horror’ influence than Nanairo, which tended to be more of a nakige for much of its length.  The protagonist, Yashiro, is a young guy who was born particularly vulnerable to spiritual influences while not having the ability to see ghosts or spirits… meaning he is basically a walking target for stuff like that.  At the beginning of the story, he finds out he is cursed by the ‘Ghost of the Old School Building’, one of the ‘seven mysteries’ of his school.  This curse is fairly simple… it tries to get him to kill himself by jumping off the roof of the school building.

A lot of the common parts of this VN focus around dealing with the mysteries and trying to discover a way to put the ghosts to rest, and in that sense it is almost identical to Nanairo… except that the protagonist, while central to the story, is essentially a ‘normal guy’ who got caught up in the mess involving ghosts and spirits.  The protagonist from Nanairo makes several appearances in the VN, as do his ‘family’ members, and it is based about two years after the original story.  There is definitely enough influence from the original that I have to recommend you play Nanairo first.

This VN… tends toward an aura of sorrow, for much of its length.  The moments of fear are there, but they tend to be less common than ones of sorrow/grief.  There are a total of six heroines in the VN (five if you count Riri and Ruka as a single heroine), with three major arcs…

The first arc is the Velvet Arc, which has the twin kami (Riri and Ruka) path splitting off midway.  Riri and Ruka’s ending… leaves a really strong impression, to say the least.   Technically, they are sub-heroines, but their ending is in no way neglected, either for detail or emotional value.  If there is a significant difference from the main part of the arc (Velvet’s path), it is that it is somewhat shorter and less dramatic.  Still, I cried for a half hour after it was over.  Those who liked the red-head from Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa’s ending will like this one.  Velvet’s ending… is closer to what I would call a ‘bittersweet romance’ path.  Velvet has serious psychological problems, all wrapped up in her past (I won’t spoil it), and dealing with those issues is the main focus of her path.

The second arc is the Older Women Arc, which contains Misato’s and Youko’s path.  I’ll be straight… play Youko’s path first.  If you play Misato’s path before Youko’s, it will destroy you utterly, whereas it is merely saddening when you play Youko’s first.  Honestly, since I like that type of ending, I really did like how Youko’s path turned out, but it isn’t really a romance path (neither was Ruka’s and Riri’s).  Misato and Youko’s paths branch off from one another dramatically very late on (from a story perspective), and Misato’s path follows a far less dramatic and painful road to the end, one that is closer to what romance fans would like. 

The third and last arc is the True Arc.  This path contains Kana’s and the True ending.  Kana’s path… is probably the most normal of all the paths, at least until the endgame.  To be honest, Kana’s path is the reason why I won’t be calling this one a kamige, though it isn’t horrible.  It is just… difficult to empathize with Kana (by the time I got to her path, I just considered her Idiot Friend #2, so I couldn’t see her as a romantic partner, even through the protagonist’s eyes).  Nonetheless, as paths go in a general sense, it was still pretty high quality. However, where this arc shines is, of course, the True path.  The True ending is… really heart-breaking.  What you might or might not have figured out from the clues about the mysteries behind what is going on at the school are brought to light in full form, and the issues that were generally laid to rest outside of the protagonist’s control or in a way that didn’t reveal the whole mystery were brought to a head in the protagonist’s personal viewpoint.  I cried for the True path.  I seriously cried.  If you don’t cry after you see what there is to see in this path, you probably should go to a psychologist.

A few other comments before I go to my overall wrap-up.  My favorite heroine in this VN was undeniably Velvet, both because of my tastes in heroines (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you know her secrets), and because I just really, really liked her ending.  The protagonist’s degree of personal growth – and even his personality or outlook on life – will often be changed dramatically during the course of the paths, and this is one of the reasons I would love to give the kamige stamp to this one, despite the fact that it doesn’t quite reach Nanairo’s level. 

Overall, this is definitely one of those VNs I’ll still be recommending to people five years from now, along with Nanairo.  It is a bit guro at times (at about the same level as Nanairo there), and the protagonist is a bit too typical of protagonists in the kind of situation he ends up in at times.  However, as long as you can get past these issues (or actively enjoy them) this is a great VN to play.  I will say that I really wished they would have done another adult protagonist, like Makoto from Nanairo.  I don’t really see the need to go back to student protagonists, but I guess that is just an inevitability when companies are under the kind of pressure of tradition these are.  I am seriously looking forward to more works from this company and this writer in the future, and this one is a solid (almost inevitable) VN of the Month candidate.

First, let me state that 2015 is the flat-out worst year for VNs I've seen out of the last six.  There was a lot of upward and downward flow hovering around the line known as 'mediocre' or 'average', but there were - saying it straight out - no kamige and few titles that really stood out from the crowd.  It is definitely the worst year since I started VN of the Month, just two years and five months (or so) ago. 
Unlike in 2013 or 2014, there are not a lot of titles I really even seriously considered to be in the running for this spot, even in a vague sort of way.  While there were a few titles that jumped out at me toward the end of the year, I wouldn't have even seriously considered them in either of the two previous years.  Heck, my top three titles this year wouldn't have even made it into the top twelve last year or the year before.  That is how bad it was.
In 2013, the winner was Hapymaher by Purple Soft, its unbelievably high-quality soundtrack, art, presentation, and storytelling barely edging past Komorebi no Nostalgica for the win.  While both games could pull both my emotions and intellect into play, Hapymaher's musical presentation gave it an overwhelming edge on that front, making it the winner.
2014 was also a hard choice... but in the end, it came down to Nanairo Reincarnation, the only VN that year that I honestly had no reservations about.  Semiramis no Tenbin, Hello Lady, and a few others were runners-up that year (in fact, 2014 was an amazingly good year), but in terms of complete overall quality and appeal, they couldn't match Nanairo.
Unfortunately, 2015 just doesn't have any candidates that match those.  Silverio Vendetta was immensely fun for me, but it has flaws in its structure that disqualify it, in addition to having way too niche  an appeal.  While I did praise it, Kyuuketsu Hime no Libra (which - as most of us know - has been Kickstarted for translation) just doesn't make it to the level I demand from VN of the Year Candidates.  Sakura no Uta, for all that it does have its moments, has a deeply flawed overall flow and a lot of technical issues with the story presentation.  Soreyori no Prologue was an interesting experience, despite being typically Minori (meaning sincerely annoying at several major points), but it wasn't a game I could seriously consider for VN of the Year.  Natsuiro Recipe is probably the best 'iyashikei' product made in the last three years, but it isn't something I could honestly consider for raw quality.  Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence had the typically high levels of overall quality I associate with Clochette (despite the boob fetish), but again, it wasn't quite there.  Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Yori was an immensely fun ride, but - like Silverio Vendetta - was both deeply flawed and too niche in appeal to seriously be considered.
So what was I left to consider, really?
Basically it came down to Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier, a surprise entry in the last part of the year that tries to replicate, at least in part, the magic of Chuushingura (the VN, not the movie or the various books), except with a lot more bloodshed and in a steampunk version of the political and military conflict surrounding what led up to the Meiji Restoration.  Now, at first I was tempted to think that I was jumping to conclusions, because it was so fresh in my mind... so I let almost two months pass before I made my decision, while I went about the task of reviving my memories of various VNs I played during the year.
It really was odd what came back to me during that time... Sakura Nikagetsu was one of the more memorable ones (definitely not VN of the Year material, but it was immensely amusing), as was Rakuen no Shugosha (a cheap kinetic utsuge in a total anti/non-anime style), and Sorcery Jokers (the most technically sound of the straight-out chuunige that came out during the year).  I honestly had to reject the former two outright, simply because their visuals make them a no-go for ninety percent of the people I know, no matter how much fun or how high quality a psychological experience they might be.  Sorcery Jokers was actually a lot harder to dismiss, when it came down to it.  In terms of scale, I was really tempted to say it could compete with Kikan Bakumatsu... but if asked which left a better impression, I would have instantly said Kikan Bakumatsu.
To be honest, either title would have been a compromise.  Neither is as good as any of the best VNs from the last four or five years.  They are definitely good, as in being worthy of being listed as VNs to remember.  However, I definitely wouldn't have put them up as candidates in another year.
For the idiots who kept asking me if I'd say yes to Bansenjin *spits on the floor*  even Masada pisses on his own feet sometimes (too much of an attempt to recreate the success of the Shinza series).
 

Introduction:
 
When it comes to reading VN's in Japanese, required skills can be grouped into four areas: Vocab, grammar, basic parsing skill, and kanji skill. In this post, for each area I'm going to explain:
-what knowing skills in the area are good for
-how you might study them
-how much you'll need to start reading.
I'll also give some related tips.
 
The requirements mentioned below are a conservative estimate. I've known people who've jumped in to playing VN's with less or much less, but I'm giving a safe estimate. A level which at most people, without any special knack for learning languages through immersion, should be able to gain traction. If you learn this much before starting an easyish VN, the amount you are completely lost should be significantly less than the percentage you are able to pick up and improve from.
 
This is not a comprehensive how-to guide by any means. Just an informative post.
 
------------------
 
1. Vocab
 
Knowing enough vocab to study your grammar resource without being bogged down by vocab:
-About 30 verbs and 50 other words for Genki 1/ Tae kim Basic.
-By the time you get to Genki 2/Tae Kim Essential you'll want a good set of verbs (about 100), and maybe about 300 total vocabulary.
-~600 words about how much you'll want to be able to study N3 grammar without getting bogged down in vocab.
 
Having enough vocab to start your first VN:
-I recommend over 1000, but anywhere from 800-1300 is good. I remember trying Clannad with only 800, and I felt like ramming my head into a wall. It's also important to pick an easy title. It will still feel hard no matter what, but an easy title will be much more helpful and rewarding to play. You also must just translation aggregator and ITH. They are the reason why Visual Novels are the best medium for learning Japanese out of anime/books/movies/drama/etc.
 
Vocab Lists:
There's a dedicated verb list here: http://nihongoichiban.com/2012/08/13/list-of-all-verbs-for-the-jlpt-n4/
Verbs are helpful to learn, because they are often the most important part of the sentence AND you need to to have stuff to conjugate.
In general JLPT-based vocab list is here: http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt5/vocab/
 
Regarding English definitions:
Be mentally open and flexible. If the english definition doesn't quite add up, don't try and think about it too hard. Focus instead on associating the word with the situations where you see it.
For example, you might be confused by the word 都合 and it's unhelpful definition J-E definition, but if you seen 都合がいい used in a situation where you know it means "is convenient for me" from context then remember that occurence. There might be (there are, in fact), other usages of the word 都合, but that doesn't hurt you in anyway. The next time you see 都合 you can pair it against this meaning and see if that makes any sense.
 
2. Grammar Skills
 
With N5+N4 grammar you will be barely able to start making your way through a VN. Without N4, you will have quite limited gains in the long term from reading visual novels. (Equivalent to Genki 1+2.)
-Required to be able to play VN's
 
With N3 grammar, everything will feel a lot clearer, the amount of grammar you'll understand will exceed 60%. (Equiv. to Intermediate approach to Integrated Japanese). Highly recommended to study this before or soon after you start your first VN.
 
N2 grammar further cuts the amount of unknown grammar you face in three.
 
N1 is kind of like a bonus that gives you a lot of uncommon or formal expressions. It's NOT comprehensive at all, in terms of covered all Japanese phrases. From my experience, some of the phrases you learn in here show up often in novels (ばかり、んばかり), others quite less. Good to know, though
 
Expressions not covered in JLPT
There are a lot of patterns and phrases not covered in JLPT that you will see in typical native reading material. Examples (社長に議長, phrases like なんだと！？ Xってなんだ？　ですって！？　～てくれないかな。 オレって、なんてバカなんだ ) Not to worry, many of them can be picked up as you go. For the rest, once you get settled into reading, you can start noting down those phrases you don't get and google them or ask other people.
 
Imabi for grammar
You can also try studying from http://www.imabi.net/. It's a phenomenal reference, it's just goes into tons of depth, too much. I think there's 2 or 3 times as much information there is covered by JLPT up to JLPT 1. As such it's going to be overwhelming for a beginner and is much better suited as a reference for intermediate or advanced learners.
 
3. Basic Parsing Skill
 
Knowing the different types of words (Covered by doing a vocab list of about 100 verbs, and then the JLPT 5 list. You also have to have done or be doing Tae Kim's Basic Guide, since he explains what na-adj's, i-adj's, and other word types are, etc.).
-(nouns, suru-verbs/nouns, verbs, na-adj's, i-adj's, adverbs, temporal adverbs)
-Required to be able to play VN's.
 
Knowing the basic sentence structure and how words can modify each other and fit in a sentence.: (adjectives modifying nouns, verbs).
The knowledge is covered by Tae Kim Basic + a mix of Essential Grammar and Genki 1/2. I personally find Tae Kim's explanation good even though the learning curve is steep and his lessons aren't good for review like Genki books are. He tries to convey to you the big picture.
-Required to be able to play VN's.
 
Being able to breakdown sentences and spot the different types of words based on their position.
-you can practice this by reading bits of text in your genki textbook, but more likely, the first time you really gain this skill is going to be the first month in which you read a visual novel with TA. Heavily practiced during your first month or two of reading VN's.
 
4. Kanji Skill:
 
Learning to spots radicals in kanji (could be covered by doing the 214 radicals, about 1 month. You could also do this ongoing basis, learning how to spot the radicals that make up a kanji, for the words you learn.)
-not needed to read VN's with TL aggregator, but extremely helpful for learning new words which have new kanji.
 
Learning to remember kanji, ie. start recognizing when words share the same kanji. (it is a long ongoing gradual process. You can start doing this with the vocab you learn once you are comfortable learning vocab. You can also pick out words you see in vn's and check whether they use the same kanji by typing them out (example 朝（あさ）　and　朝食（ちょうしょく）　use the same kanji.). Oh course, to be able to easily produce the kanji you want to compare you need to remember how to spell a word that contains it (in this case 朝). So, as your vocab expands, you'll be able to compare more kanji. Note that to be able to do this comparing you must be able to spot radicals in kanji (previous level skill).
-moderately helpful for learning vocabs. The same way remembering radicals helps learning with kanji: if you know the kanji clearly, you can remember a word just by the two kanji it uses, which is very precise and doesn't take a lot of mental bandwidth. It also means that you will much more rarely confuse words which have similiar looking kanji.
 
The following two skills are for more advanced, they won't be particularly useful until much later. You might not notice the problems they solve until later as well. I include them mainly for completeness.
Learning on-yomi for many of the Jyouyou kanji (start when you are intermediate-advanced, a medium-long process)
-helpful for exactly what it is, reading kanji words and compounds correctly.
-don't need to worry about this. From learning vocab you might pick up some of the common ones, but there's no need to pursue this actively for a while.
 
Learning kanji meaning: (start when you are advanced, and can use a J-J dictionary)
-suffixes like 府、省、性、症, as well normal kanji whose different meanings apply to clusters of words.
-helpful for kanji compounds which won't directly show up in dictionaries
-helpful for developing a native level understanding of vocabulary (not everything can be learned by exposure). A lot of literary words are fairly influenced by their kanji meanings, though sometimes consulting the word differentiation explanations can be more helpful.
 
 
 
One last topic...
 
On learning enough grammar and jumping into works too difficult for you.
Reading a VN isn't the best way to learn basic sentence structure. However, it's a great way to reinforce grammar points you've learned. It's also a great way to get an understanding of conversational patterns you won't find in textbooks or JLPT. But you won't have the presence of mind to pay attention to that if you are bogged down by not knowing basic grammar.
There are benefits for venturing early into native material or difficult vn's, but you wouldn't give a grade two student Tolkien, or even Harry Potter to improve their English. All the fancy prose and unusual concept would distract you from the more immediately useful things like, say: basic sentence structure.
There are works which are the right level, and there are VN's which you really want to read. For the best experience, it's best to find some combination of the two.
 
------------------
 
Ok that's all for now. Feel free to ask any questions: I didn't really go into the details of how to study, instead focusing on the, well, skills involved. But it's also hard to remember what it's like for someone just starting out. I remember parts of studying very clearly, but I forget the thousands of things I used to be puzzled through varying stages of understanding but now take for granted.
The process was all I could think about for the longest time. Now I don't give it much thought, it's just a regular part of my life, reading and a bit of studying. It's not bad idea, to just find a type of study that you know is helpful, stop thinking about all the right ways and wrong ways and magic tricks which don't exist, and just do it, for a while. Regularly. For a month or three.

In this post I'll attempt to introduce JWPce (for those who don't know what it is)
(* = refer to JWPce User Manual)

JWPce

JWPce (Japanese Word Processor for Windows) by Glenn Rosenthal is a program designed for English speakers who are studying Japanese.



Now, JWPce has BUNCH of functions (13 others) but I'm only going to talk about the DICTIONARY FUNCTION.


Upon searching a word, the dictionary will give you the word in Kanji, the word in Hiragana and the meaning of the word.




The dictionary is not limited to Japanese to English.
Press Ctrl A to search from English to Japanese. (To return to Japanese to English, Ctrl K)






How to use the Dictionary for Learning Japanese through Visual Novels

Rains told me about this program. lol
This is what I'm using to read Raw VNs. (I'm not an expert yet)

After opening the program, press F6.



On the left side, you'll see buttons such as Search, Sort... Click Options.




A window will appear. Look on the left side and check Track Clipboard. Then OK.



Say you have a hooked Japanese sentence on the ITH.





Upon highlighting a word (in the ITH) that you do not know, the dictionary will automatically search that word.



This is the result of the procedure I described above.



If you look at the upper right side of the dictionary, you'll see four stuff you can check or uncheck.



These things are used to limit the search. A matter of one's preference.

Personally, I check them all so that only the needed meanings are shown and the search is fast (but there are disadvantages too).



Basically, you will be reading the text on the ITH which means that parsing (identifying words, particles, etc.) is done by you.

In case no matches are found, a warning is triggered and the default warning sound is annoying. Sound can be made tolerable by changing your Windows theme.

JWPce uses EDICT, ENAMDICT, and other dictionaries (you can add others) at the same time.*

It also has a USER DICTIONARY - a personalized dictionary you can make.*


Note:

☆ JWPce is free under the terms of GNU General Public License Link to download
☆ No romaji in this program. Go learn Kana first.
☆ Radical Look-up (F5) is useful for Kanjis you can't hook
☆ Again, to make the warning sound quite acceptable in the ears, I suggest changing your theme.
☆ There are times when the program crashes. This is because of certain words (it can't search). I suggest moving to the next line of the game and open the program again.

☆ To recognize the kanji more (make it bigger) or for more details about a certain kanji, point the mouse to the kanji (on the dictionary), right click then click Get info.




☆ I suggest reading the User Manual (atleast the section about dictionary)
☆ Some things I said are based only on my observations. Stuff may vary.
☆ credit to rainsismyfav for introducing me to JWPce / ITH method


I will answer questions I can / am willing to answer.
Also please correct me for false information I might have stated.

See you around.

In this post I'll attempt to introduce JWPce (for those who don't know what it is)
(* = refer to JWPce User Manual)

JWPce

JWPce (Japanese Word Processor for Windows) by Glenn Rosenthal is a program designed for English speakers who are studying Japanese.



Now, JWPce has BUNCH of functions (13 others) but I'm only going to talk about the DICTIONARY FUNCTION.


Upon searching a word, the dictionary will give you the word in Kanji, the word in Hiragana and the meaning of the word.




The dictionary is not limited to Japanese to English.
Press Ctrl A to search from English to Japanese. (To return to Japanese to English, Ctrl K)






How to use the Dictionary for Learning Japanese through Visual Novels

Rains told me about this program. lol
This is what I'm using to read Raw VNs. (I'm not an expert yet)

After opening the program, press F6.



On the left side, you'll see buttons such as Search, Sort... Click Options.




A window will appear. Look on the left side and check Track Clipboard. Then OK.



Say you have a hooked Japanese sentence on the ITH.





Upon highlighting a word (in the ITH) that you do not know, the dictionary will automatically search that word.



This is the result of the procedure I described above.



If you look at the upper right side of the dictionary, you'll see four stuff you can check or uncheck.



These things are used to limit the search. A matter of one's preference.

Personally, I check them all so that only the needed meanings are shown and the search is fast (but there are disadvantages too).



Basically, you will be reading the text on the ITH which means that parsing (identifying words, particles, etc.) is done by you.

In case no matches are found, a warning is triggered and the default warning sound is annoying. Sound can be made tolerable by changing your Windows theme.

JWPce uses EDICT, ENAMDICT, and other dictionaries (you can add others) at the same time.*

It also has a USER DICTIONARY - a personalized dictionary you can make.*


Note:

☆ JWPce is free under the terms of GNU General Public License Link to download
☆ No romaji in this program. Go learn Kana first.
☆ Radical Look-up (F5) is useful for Kanjis you can't hook
☆ Again, to make the warning sound quite acceptable in the ears, I suggest changing your theme.
☆ There are times when the program crashes. This is because of certain words (it can't search). I suggest moving to the next line of the game and open the program again.

☆ To recognize the kanji more (make it bigger) or for more details about a certain kanji, point the mouse to the kanji (on the dictionary), right click then click Get info.




☆ I suggest reading the User Manual (atleast the section about dictionary)
☆ Some things I said are based only on my observations. Stuff may vary.
☆ credit to rainsismyfav for introducing me to JWPce / ITH method


I will answer questions I can / am willing to answer.
Also please correct me for false information I might have stated.

See you around.

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia

In this post I'll attempt to introduce JWPce (for those who don't know what it is)
(* = refer to JWPce User Manual)

JWPce

JWPce (Japanese Word Processor for Windows) by Glenn Rosenthal is a program designed for English speakers who are studying Japanese.



Now, JWPce has BUNCH of functions (13 others) but I'm only going to talk about the DICTIONARY FUNCTION.


Upon searching a word, the dictionary will give you the word in Kanji, the word in Hiragana and the meaning of the word.




The dictionary is not limited to Japanese to English.
Press Ctrl A to search from English to Japanese. (To return to Japanese to English, Ctrl K)






How to use the Dictionary for Learning Japanese through Visual Novels

Rains told me about this program. lol
This is what I'm using to read Raw VNs. (I'm not an expert yet)

After opening the program, press F6.



On the left side, you'll see buttons such as Search, Sort... Click Options.




A window will appear. Look on the left side and check Track Clipboard. Then OK.



Say you have a hooked Japanese sentence on the ITH.





Upon highlighting a word (in the ITH) that you do not know, the dictionary will automatically search that word.



This is the result of the procedure I described above.



If you look at the upper right side of the dictionary, you'll see four stuff you can check or uncheck.



These things are used to limit the search. A matter of one's preference.

Personally, I check them all so that only the needed meanings are shown and the search is fast (but there are disadvantages too).



Basically, you will be reading the text on the ITH which means that parsing (identifying words, particles, etc.) is done by you.

In case no matches are found, a warning is triggered and the default warning sound is annoying. Sound can be made tolerable by changing your Windows theme.

JWPce uses EDICT, ENAMDICT, and other dictionaries (you can add others) at the same time.*

It also has a USER DICTIONARY - a personalized dictionary you can make.*


Note:

☆ JWPce is free under the terms of GNU General Public License Link to download
☆ No romaji in this program. Go learn Kana first.
☆ Radical Look-up (F5) is useful for Kanjis you can't hook
☆ Again, to make the warning sound quite acceptable in the ears, I suggest changing your theme.
☆ There are times when the program crashes. This is because of certain words (it can't search). I suggest moving to the next line of the game and open the program again.

☆ To recognize the kanji more (make it bigger) or for more details about a certain kanji, point the mouse to the kanji (on the dictionary), right click then click Get info.




☆ I suggest reading the User Manual (atleast the section about dictionary)
☆ Some things I said are based only on my observations. Stuff may vary.
☆ credit to rainsismyfav for introducing me to JWPce / ITH method


I will answer questions I can / am willing to answer.
Also please correct me for false information I might have stated.

See you around.

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia

A year has already passed since I started, so I decided to write something about the things I did and some things I have learned.
 

I did say a year but actually, I informally began from the time I started watching anime. What I did was to listen attentively to the lines of the characters while associating them to the subtitle and to the scene. Doing this, I learned basic grammar and basic vocabulary.
 
The formal endeavor started on Sept. 10, 2014. I learned kana and some 300 basic kanji through writing. I doubt someone will do this but still, I do not recommend to do the same as writing takes a lot of time and it doesn't help that much in reading. Reading can only be learned by doing the actual reading. (But doing something others cannot, is always fun.)
 
I came to fuwa, met rains, then found a good news. Learning japanese can be done while reading visual novels.
 
After 3.5 months, I decided to read my first raw vn since I already learned basic grammar, basic vocab, kana, and some 300 kanji.
 

 
My first game was a moege. I started with this type of game because I heard around the forums that moege is the easiest type of game. But it was not easy.
 
I'm a perfectionist so I worked hard to understand every single line, while reading it several times aloud, until I can speak it fluently. Darn perfectionist. Because of this method, a month has already passed yet I haven't even reached the 1st choice. Something has to change.
 

 
I changed my approach. This time, I just move on after getting the gist, while keeping in mind to guess how the repeating word is read, before looking it up in the dictionary. It's faster and is a lot more fun than what I was doing before.
 

 

I didn't completely comprehend everything but I still knew what's going on, thanks to the support from several factors:
 
a. context of the scene
b. background music
c. characters' facial expression & gestures
d. characters' tone & nuance.
 
These things are very important, as it fills the stuff I didn't get from reading.
 

 
The first game was specially tough. The key is not to give up. As much as possible, one should avoid reading two or more games at the same time and concentrate on a single vn. Avoid reading a vn then dropping it, then continue to repeat the cycle. Finishing a VN completely, gives motivation to read more. Also, one should not rely too much on Jparser. Atleast have a dictionary program for support. These are my suggestions for guys who are planning to read raw vns.
 
My goal is to enjoy visual novels without tools.
 
My initial impression when I was starting was, before attempting to read VNs, I should have a good grasp of the 2136 Jouyou Kanji first. This is a common misconception. Having solid basic grammar is the "go signal". Grammar acts like a backbone/outline/foundation in understanding Japanese.
 

 
As for kanji, grinding them one by one, is not as enjoyable & effective as remembering them in VNs wherein kanji is used in actual words.
 
For some words, I start by identifying them as a "unit" and not as "assembled parts". For example, the word 自動販売機 (jidouhanbaiki / vending machine). I think of this as【自動販売機】and not as 自+動+販+売+機. The first and the last characters are my main focus. Through its repeated appearance, I slowly recognized the characters "inside" the word and their respective order. Then eventually learned their on-yomi as well. 自 is "ji", 動 is "dou", 販 is "han",etc.
 

 
Also, I found the hiraganas that succeed the kanji of a word very useful in remembering the words. I'll just call them "hiraganas" here.
 
Say I'm not sure what the word 確かめる means and how it is read. But I can read the hiragana part so it will look like this in my mind. 〇かめる
 
"Now, I don't know any other word with 'kameru' as its 'hiraganas' aside from 'tashikameru'. I'm not sure though if that's correct. Hmm. *checks the dictionary* Oh yeah, it is 'tashikameru'."
 
Due to it's constant appearance in the lines, I started to associate the appearance of 確 with かめる and with it's corresponding reading and meaning. Then eventually recognized 確かめる reflexively. It also told me that 確 is "tashi", therefore, 確かに is "tashikani".
 
I believe that Repetition is key to learning any skill. Maji.
 

 
About 2 months ago, I began watching anime again but this time, without subs. Watching raw anime improves my vocab and it gives me satisfaction and enjoyment more than those with subs, since there is no distraction.
 
Now, I'm going to give few comments about the airing anime series this season that I am watching, which I arranged according to difficulty from how I see them.
 
Easy to understand
 
1. Danchigai - 3.5 mins / episode. A really soothing series.
2. Ore Monogatari - 好きだ！
3. Gakkou Gurashi! - Cute girls doing cute things, in a not so cute situation.
4. Prison School - Funniest thing on earth.
5. Ao Haru x Kikanjuu - Has similar premise as Ouran HSHC. This one though is action.
6. Charlotte - story by Jun Maeda (Key). Charlotte's episode 7 is one of the best episodes I have ever watched. Started to get quite complex on episode 8.
 
Not so easy
 
7. Shokugeki no Souma - Best anime. The cooking terms are not easy.
8. Ushio to Tora - Youkai terms. I normally hate noisy songs but I love this series' OP. Has a tsundere.
9. GATE - Military. Honestly I have no idea what's going on with the plot aside from the obvious.
 

 
Well, that's the end of this.
Screenshots from Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia