Zalor

I understand that while eroge fans are mostly a peaceful species, they will kill if spoiled to something. And I also understand the fear of being spoiled to something. I honestly believe PhantomZwei to be a talented reviewer who can give you the necessarily information about a game without including spoilers, (I just wish he would upload more often). I think his videos do nothing but help the VN community and definitely should not be viewed as toxic. I'm not particularly happy with my link being taken down because it didn't contain spoilers, (unless you count first impression character summaries to be spoilers. Which they are not!). I could understand if it did contain spoilers, but I don't feel I violated any rule that deserved it to be taken down.

Wow, everyone here (except me) seems to hate reviews, I'm definitely not linking one ever again; lesson learned. In my defense though, I only recommend reviews that don't have spoilers past the first couple of hours of game play. PhantomZwei is really the only person on YouTube who is known for reviewing Visual Novels; so by raising awareness of his videos I feel like I'm raising awareness for Visual Novels in the west. I honesty first started playing Visual Novels because I saw his Kanon review, and he convinced me to play it, (since I loved the anime). So I still truly believe a good reviewer, (as I believe him to be) can convince people who haven't played VNs to give them a chance. I didn't mean to spark up controversy at all.

Yeah, but you have the advantage of knowing Japanese. So you can expose yourself to more VNs, and thus have a higher chance of finding better ones. Clephas, can you surgically remove the part of your brain that knows Japanese and give it to me :P/> I didn't mean any bad intent by linking the video. I personally always look at reviews so then I get a feeling of whether I really want to play a game or not. Although, I can also see how a review could he harmful, either by getting your expectations to high, or being exposed to flaws before even playing the game. I linked the video for people like me who like to know more about the game before they play it. But definitely don't watch it if you don't mind playing a game without knowing much about it beforehand.

I don't think there is any team working on translating this game. Meaning two things. 1) People that are capable and willing to translate the game will have to find each other, and form a team, (this process alone could take a while). 2) After they form a team It will take a while for the game to get translated, and by a while I mean years. So I regret to inform you but unless you learn to speak Japanese, or by some stroke of luck a group of translators do take up the project; you may never get a chance to play the game in a language you understand. That's one of the sad parts about being a western eroge fan, we only get 10% of what Japan has. But your getting Ever 17 anyway, so just enjoy that for now.

Lol, I've been meaning to play Every 17 for over a year now. Since so many people are recommending it I suppose I might as well link you to a review of it on YouTube.

Granted. But it can only go back in time and the earliest you can travel to is one hundred million years ago. (Have fun with dinosaurs chasing you). I wish my spring break would never end.

Clannad is very good, but it's also really long. If you're up for it definitely give Clannad a shot. However, I would recommend saving Clannad for a bit later, and starting off with Katawa Shoujo. Katawa Shoujo is a great gate way drug, I mean VN.

Yume Miru Kusuri was one of the first VN's I played. All I have to say about it is that Aeka's route really got to me. Anyway, Welcome! Its always nice to know the Visual Novel community is growing.

Don't worry when Prince William dies and I inherit his land and fortune I'll buy you a Maid Cafe.

Lol, I already was painfully aware of the answer before I even asked it. I was just hoping that maybe I was wrong, (unfortunately it turns out I was right).

Well I'm glad you don't disagree that Akagi is badass. In all honesty the only reason why I brought Akagi up in the first place was because I don't understand how an anime that takes a very dark and realistic approach to life and death gambling, can be less popular than a show that is lighthearted and not nearly as serious. I didn't really mean to debate about who would win in a game, I just don't understand why Saki is more popular.

You're probably right, but Akagi The Genius Who Descended Into Darkness is number 6 on my top ten anime list because of Akagi as a character. I couldn't consider myself a fan if I didn't defend his bad assness. This is a question of Loyalty, not Rationality! I might actually have to watch Saki to further debate with you, but I'll try my best for now . Anyway, you said so yourself the one thing that could help you win is if you can nullify other people's powers, and Akagi would be able to do that. I'm not sure if you watched Akagi, but it is often questioned whether Akagi is the devil incarnate. Akagi has devil like luck, along with always knowing what people will do. Akagi will psychologically deconstruct Saki, or any other character that he plays Mahjong with, and will not only read their movements but will manipulate them as well. Also as I mentioned previously Akagi's hands usually, "look like he made a pact with the devil" so he already has luck on his side. I'm not sure how high stakes Saki got, but Akagi won't even play against someone unless they are essentially betting their life. No body who plays against Akagi comes back the same person. On a side note: I would be really interested in Saki if they did gamble with incredibly high stakes, the reason Saki turned me off was because the art and the atmosphere of the show didn't strike me as serious enough.

I'm not too happy with the recent trend of Ecchi and moe anime either. But yeah animation has definitely improved ALOT. While I think for the most part that quality in terms of story telling is currently at a down trend in anime, I have to give them credit for very fluid animation. That said, I also miss the hand drawn art style of 90's anime. While Berserk's animation and movement pales in comparison with more contemporary works, Berserk still has the most beautiful art I've ever seen done in an any anime. I second this. Ryoji, I would love to read about what you have to say about the impact anime has had on you, and culture in general. There aren't many people that live in the West that can say they've been an anime fan since the 80's. Which is why since you are one of the few people, it would be very interesting to hear what you have to say considering all your experience.

Really nice to hear from an anime veteran like yourself. I'm certain that 30 years from now I'll still be watching anime as well. And wow has anime changed from when you first were introduced to it. How has it been following anime and all of it's changes these past decades? What are your thoughts on all the changes? Lol, I made the same kind of deal with my sister. Angel Beats was the only anime my sister watched that I didn't watch, and for the past year I keep telling her it's on my to watch list, but I kept on deciding to watch something else instead. I really do want to watch it, but for the past year I have only really been in the mood for seinen anime. But in all honesty I think after a whole year I'm finally in the mood to watch it. I'm serious to, this or next week me and Angel Beats are going to spend some quality time together. Seinen is my favorite anime genre as well. My mind was blown when I first watched Berserk. Prior to Berserk I only had watched Kyoto Animation animes, and light hearted stuff like Lucky Start and Pani Poni Dash (which are all really good as well). But witnessing Berserk paralleled the experience of first watching Kanon. It was like a second conversion to full fledged Otakudom.

My favorite epic quote is by Johan Liebert from Monster. My other favorite epic quote is by Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. My all time Favorite funny quote is by Kenji Harima from School Rumble: "Thank god I was born stupid." This line never ceases to crack me up.

As the title says, how and when did you realize anime was important to you. I personally have been watching anime since I was 3 or 4, (Thanks Pokemon :)/>). I also enjoyed Naruto and Inuyasha when I was an elementary school student, (although I don't like either of them now). Anime has pretty much always been in my life, but it wasn't until the second half of 7th grade that I realized anime was more to me then just another form of mere entertainment. I remember specifically the day I entered the land of Otakudom and would become a permanent resident. My knee was injured that day and I was unable to go to school. Both my parents left for work so I had the house to myself. I spent some time playing video games to entertain myself, but I wasn't really in the mood to play them that day. So being bored and looking for something to preoccupy me, I went on the computer. At this point I already had been watching anime online for months, if not even a year. But it was mostly just stuff like One piece, Naruto and other mainstream shows. However, I was already starting to get bored of those shows. So while I was sitting in front of the computer screen and thinking of what to watch, I remembered I watched some video about Kanon 2006 on YouTube a couple days previous. While sitting in front of the screen I remembered thinking back to when I watched the video and thinking it was interesting, so I decided to watch the anime. Seeing as I had a lot of free time that day, and nothing better to do I watched 8 episodes or so, (which was actually a lot for me back then). I remembered being hooked to that anime for the rest of that week. During that week Kanon was pretty much my main focus. At school I would think about the characters, and events that happened in the most recent Kanon episode I watched; while at home I watched as many episodes as I could before my mom got back home, and I had to start my homework (which was usually 4 episodes). I also remembered crying at the end of both The fact that Kanon got me emotionally involved enough to cry (twice!) was what got me to realize that anime was truly a unique story telling medium. Kanon got me to realize that unlike T.V, anime focused on telling a story, not just amusing me with crappy jokes like most T.V shows did. After Kanon I went through a whole faze where I was obsessed with Kyoto Animation animes. After my Kyoto Ani phase I started researching about any anime that I thought might interest me, and then watching that. After I finished the series I would then repeat the process.

I usually only play several VN's a year. I have to be in a particular mood to want to start one. Anyway, I'm currently playing Tsukihime. Haven't gotten too far yet, but it's definitely interesting so far. (Also huge thanks to Ryoji for helping me fix up some technical issues so I could play it).

Agreed. I didn't really appreciate Evangelion until I saw it a second time. The first viewing can be kind of a mind fuck, (especially if you walk into it expecting it to be a conventional anime). The second viewing is where you start picking up on stuff, and really appreciating its brilliance.

You got me there. I honestly can say that I don't think their was one girl in the whole Akagi anime, and probably the manga series as well. Although, I didn't really mind because I was to distracted by Akagi mentally raping people to really care if their were girls or not. That is where I call Bullshit. Now I admit I dropped Saki after only 2 episodes, but Akagi is the physical embodiment of Gambling itself. That is why he is so enigmatic, and that is why he never loses. Now Saki may be a really good player, but Akagi will still mentally troll, and rape her like he did with This is what will happen to Saki if she faces Akagi: I looked it up just now and it seems awesome, thanks for the suggestion. :)/>/> That is pretty hot. NO! I mustn't get distracted by cuteness, and suggestive material! Akagi is still the ultimate Mahjong anime! Even if it doesn't have cute girls.

Why is Saki always the anime mentioned on the topic of Mahjong, but not the superior anime Akagi, (at least in my opinion it's superior). Anyway, I tried playing a single player version and play against bots. I usually get my ass kicked, but I have improved a bit. But I haven't played it in over half a year now. I would much rather watch Akagi do some crazy ass shit in Mahjong, than I would play it.

Actually I agree that it would be a really cool idea if a developer did it as an Easter egg for their VN. However as for mere rumors, due to the internet and the amount of walkthroughs out for for every VN it would be very easy to refute a rumor that claims specific choices will lead to "...". I know there are people who will try every combination, and they will end up proving a theory with no backbone to it wrong. But back to your point about developers adding an Easter egg, that is a kick-ass idea.

I think that the lack of popularity for VNs, (at least in the west) are preventing rumors from being created and spread. A lot of the games you mentioned are pretty popular so it's a lot easier for rumors to spread among the large and vocal fan base. Although now that I've pondered it for a bit the "Nice Boat" meme for Schools Days comes to mind, but I'm not sure if that really counts.

Can I call one, like have it on reserve but maybe not activate it for a week later? If so could I please have the first one. Anyway this is a really nice thing your doing, thanks for sharing them.

Thanks for fixing it for me. I originally contemplated using spoiler tags, but I concluded that I didn't mention anything that was technically a spoiler. For example I didn't mention how Since I only mentioned character analysis and not actual events I thought it was okay to leave them out. But I suppose it never hurts to have them there.

I don't think I'll convince you to like it, since it is impossible to persuade someone to change their personal taste; but I can tell you why I thought it was a brilliant series. To start off, what I really liked about the series were the characters, (especially Shinji, even though most people hate him). That is what I loved about Evangelion, how it was about people, and while on the exterior they may seem very different, deep down in their subconscious they are actually very similar. That is the briefest answer I can provide. If you want I could write an essay for you. :P/>