Zalor

One thing I've noticed about the best Japanese VN companies is that they manage to keep all elements of their VNs at a high level or at least an aesthetically pleasing level.  Visual elements are pleasing (though the Japanese baseline is much, much higher due to a near-standardization of the art quality in commercial vns, than the Western one), music direction is still a thing (you know, the thing that vanished after the PSX era from regular games, due to the arrival of voice acting), and voice-acting is even more refined (for the most part, though there are exceptions) than what you see in anime.  
The area where the Japanese stumble is writing.  Due to the 'crutch' of voiced dialogue, there is a tendency for many writers to try to tell most of the story with dialogue and sprite poses.  However, that is like using only black and white when you have a full color palette available.  If there was one thing that struck me immediately playing my first VNs, it was the sheer impact of combining first-class narration with the other elements of a visual novel (as well as coordinating those elements).  Heck, I've even encountered games where the appropriate use of music, narrative, and voices have carried the game past lower quality artwork to startling heights (Devils Devel Concept being a premier example) that only get better the more times you play it.  
When everything is high level, however, you wouldn't believe the degree to which it blows you away... the first time I played Dies Irae (In Japanese) it destroyed me completely.  Everything about it quite simply was so different from what I'd experienced previously, while using many of the same elements.  Bradyon Veda did something similar to me, as did Sakura, Moyu and Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo yori mo,.  To put it simply, there are works out there that utilize the full 'palette' of what the medium is capable of.  However, I can tell you that very few companies would have the wherewithal to gather the talent that can create such games.  
First, writers with that kind of sheer brilliance are rare.  Second, companies that might gather such writers would not be able to handle them, because each one needs different things to work at 100%.  Third, maintaining all the other parts of a game (Art, VA, Music, and direction) at the same high level even if you have the writing staff has got to be a serious pain in the rear.  
To be blunt, Visual novels have a lot of moving parts, and just throwing extra people at it doesn't usually work (very few games with multiple main scenario writers or artists have turned out well, though assistants sometimes work out fine).  In retrospect, is is amazing that I can name double digits worth of games that have drawn on every element of the medium to its fullest, considering what a pain it must have been to put it all together.

I've mostly given up on anyone in Japan utilizing the medium properly.  The ones who do don't seem to prosper (Light for instance) or are entirely reliant on a single genius (Caramel Box, Propeller before it disbanded after two failures in a row without Higashide).  I think the reason for this is that the medium got defined really early on as an ero and romance focused medium, due to the twin dominance of the moege and nukige genres.  While there are a number of VNs out there that qualify as true literature, it takes someone with a lot of patience to find them in the first place.  
I don't have the knowledge to speak definitively about the Western market, however.
Edit: Part of the reason the Japanese market is so awful is that Japanese find it difficult to ignore preconceptions.  It took even longer than it did here for otakus to stop being treated as second-class citizens, and even now, that prejudice is pretty strong in some quarters (particularly the over-sixty generations).  This tendency to simply believe the preconceptions created by others' words and initial impressions have led to mostly people interested in ero and idealized romances to take an interest in consumer visual novels in Japan, meaning that a greater majority of the games are made to satisfy that type of consumer.  The market is currently contracting (yes it is contracting) and as a result, a disproportionate number of games escape the 'moege' label than in previous years.  However, this is simply because the makers who cater to people who want actual plots or something else in their visual novels still have about the same number of consumers, not because there are a great many more such in an absolute sense.  In time, this shift might result in more serious works gaining an advantage, but that is only if the moege/nukige genres don't bounce back.

The art really was the draw for me, but after reading around 10 - 15 minutes of it I have to say I was kind of confused as well. Glad I wasn't the only one since I thought maybe I was just stupid. I think it has a problem where the art is nice, and for a different story it could have worked perfectly, but in Unfamiliar Work it felt like the art and writing were in conflict with each other. Not helping each other out which is the relationship art, writing and audio should have in a VN. 
I guess I'll have to try Eislyn's Apocalypse next. 

Indeed, Unfamiliar Work looks very different, which is something to appreciate, but I'm still not sure what that story was about.
I'll be curious about your impressions of Eislyn's Apocalypse when you get to it. Zakamutt lately accused me of overhyping stuff in my game jam articles and I can't say he's totally wrong. Just the fact that you confront it with very amateurish entries can make a game that is just decent look like something really impressive or make you ignore some flaws... Which I don't think is a massive problem, as these posts are more about selecting noteworthy games from the sea of random weirdness, but if someone has really high standards they might expect a lot more than a game jam title can reasonably deliver. :>

I love it when a VN actually make proper usage of having multiple endings by expanding on different things with each different route. That sentence alone convinced me to check out Eislyn’s Apocalypse. 
Also the honorable mention, Unfamiliar Work, looks to have quite an interesting art style. At least based off of the sample art on the itch.io page. 

The sound of a train indiscriminately moving, carrying you through the ride was the perfect metaphor. Its calming and comfortable, but there is a recognition that you aren't in control. It captured the themes of this story so well.
My high school was close to a subway station, and in some classrooms I could space out and just watch the trains pass by. It often reminded me of this VN, as it just furthered the relevance of the ka-chunk sound to my own HS experience. Just like you it seems, I can really only look at this visual novel with the lens of nostalgia now. I've boarded off the train years ago. Existential anxiety has a different flavor now.

I can still remember the sound of the train going ka-chunk ka-chunk ka-chunk vividly. That feeling connected to that sound never really disappeared even years later. The reaction to living passively, making your live feel like a never ending boring train ride.
I still get that feeling from time to time. I think when life feels to calm, easy and repetitive. It feels like I am on the train again. Back in high-school again. ka-chunk ka-chunk. Just different scenery. Mostly, for me the ka-chunk has been replaced with new kinds of existential anxiety as I got older. More manageable anyway, early life was more soul crushing imo. 
Tried playing the vn again a few months ago. But I couldn't get into it again. Partly because as you said I think. That kind of life is somewhat past us now. Also I'd note. I think that yume miru is a lot better than Catcher in the Rye. Which I read about same time. When I was about 19 years old as well. haha.

There is actually an ending if you choose to be complacent. Its not considered a good ending, but its not exactly a bad one either. It does do a good job of putting everything into perspective though. So you may appreciate that.
While I do think YMK is a really good all around VN. I really just wanted to highlight why I subjectively like it so much in this post. Perhaps in the future I might do a more objective and analytical post about it. But I'm not sure.

Great interview. It was quite interesting to read and you asked good questions. I look forward to reading your next interview

Thanks for placing this VN on my radar! Looks very interesting. I like short VNs for not wasting so much time and getting to the point. So I will definitely give it a shot when I'm in the mood for something really dark. I don't know why, but you description of this VN is giving me some slight Saya no Uta vibes. 

As my vet uncle once said... 'The best way to learn a new language is in bed with one of the local girls.'

It's not a slump. You're simply changing like we all do. Despite my wilingness to learn japanese and general fondness for vn's, I found myself incapable to play them on a regular basis and I can't really force myself to do so either. I'm kind of still slowly plowing through my backlog (currently on 魔物娘の館　彗星館異形録 ～人魚の章～ ), but it's not really enjoyable when you force yourself to do things, that used to bring joy in the past. Just... I don't know - it's not like my interest in vn's vained or anything, I'd say the opposite, but I simply don't feel like playing all the games I wanted to. Maybe it's because I'm more focused on creating something of my own nowadays. Maybe because I have a decent job that finally allowed me to afford things I could only dream of a couple years ago; that aside, there's life and various obligations to consider as well. Sadly, reading and playing vn's remains time consuming. I'm not the kind of person to waste a couple days worth of time on a silly moege, I might not even enjoy that much.
At times... we just need a longer break.

I'm going to be blunt when I say cultural appropriation is in itself a ridiculous concept for anyone born in the US, where cultural appropriation is in itself our culture.  So please, don't go crazy on that one...

Dude, I will say I disagree with you, but Im very very glad to find someone like you. In my opinion, all elements of a work of fiction must be treated equally. Writing can be just as powerful as art or cause the same amount of damage, if bad, imo. I also watched that video but what opened my mind about the subject was this post. Before reading that, I also thought that story and characters> everything else. But then, I started searching and studying more and I finally realize art, soundtrack, animation, voice acting, etc. can all bring emotions and be intelectually stimulating just like story and characters.
It makes me sick seeing people saying stuff like: "I dont care about art" because that is not an opinion, that is a lie. People 'think' they dont care about art because they never studied how it is used and thus do not realize its impact. Those people tend to think good art is just being pretty and therefore it is easier to make than a good story. Now even if I disagree that writing is inferior to art or soundtrack, it makes me really glad to see people like you, at least to balance the amount of overrate writing gets from the community.

Thank you! I was introduced to Deemo by a friend of mine who was in my beginner level piano class during my last year of High School. Back then I didn't have a smart phone, but when I did get one during the summer of that year, Deemo was the first app I downloaded. Its truly a beautiful game, and V.K克 is probably my favorite as well. Wings of Piano was the first song I heard from Deemo, and it is still my favorite song. 

I love it when the visuals or audio style of the VN complement it or define it's own unique identity (doesn't have to be a unique style). From my experience as well, VN's that utilize the audio and visual aspects draw me in a lot quicker than normal novels. This is even if the base story or depiction is comparable.
As I found out from Subahibi, Dempa's not really my thing, but maybe I'll come back to this VN. Even though I kinda know what is happening in the VN, somehow getting a hint as how to interpret the (what would normally be) madness makes the VN a more agreeable read. I quite like the observations you made: they're clear and relevant, interesting, and not presuming.

Instead of reading this I could be learning Japanese...
But in all honesty, learning to read Japanese is easier than you would think (mostly thanks to ITH and translation aggregator). I've been self studying for a bit over a year and I can finally read untranslated VNs decently well so long as I have those tools aiding me. Now speaking the language is where I truly struggle. Just like how you learn to read by reading, you learn to speak by speaking (and my speaking practice is comparatively much lower). I am convinced that within 1 - 2 years of self studying with an emphasize on reading, you will be able to read untranslated VNs. But if you want to speak and communicate in the language, that's where classes come in handy (and why I'm in a class now). Also, vice-versa. Classes won't really help much with reading, you're better off self studying if you want to read Japanese stuff.  

Just because you failed doesn't mean others can't do it. I'm reading untranslated stuff quite well after a year of learning.

Kelebek1 is probably the only active member who has never changed his profile from the default avatar.

It's weird how this (of everything you said) is what most interests me about the VN. I like seeing the teacher/mentor archetype in VNs and anime, especially when it's done well, and it seems like you're saying it is. 
 
However:
When you say "merely passable" how does that compare to the 'everyday' scenes in the more modern Key titles? If the school scenes are more like the ones in G-Senjou I could probably tolerate it though.
 
 
This kind of strikes home for me. Recently I graduated from HS, and the last couple of weeks with my group of friends was weird. (It was a lot like a VN). Everything was like it always was, but we all knew (but rarely spoke) about the impending graduation. It was like we didn't want to think about that big inevitable change that would end the monotonous cycle we grew accustomed to. So in this sense, I can understand the characters wanting to protect their everyday lives. It stems from a fear of involuntary change (I would guess, as I haven't read the VN). 

Wow, thanks for sharing this. I honestly had no idea before this recognition post.  

I just read your article on the lewdgamer website. I completely agree that censoring a nukige is stupid and does not deserve to be rewarded with a purchase. That's just as dumb as buying a porno where all the sex scenes were cut out. Which in my view is just as dumb as watching an ecchi anime (you might as well go with full blown hentai). But I think Steam's censorship polices can be good for VNs in the long term. Thanks to the censorship policies story based VNs are starting to sell better than nukige focused ones (I think that's what you alluded to in the article). 
 
With Steam as a tool to expand the market, we can reasonably hope to see more story based VNs get localized. And hopefully even see higher quality OELVNs get developed. 

Lol, you remember that. My current avatar is an in-between size of my original one, and the big one I used for no longer than an hour. It took slight experimentation, but I ultimately found the perfect size! I feel Eternals deserve the right to find the perfect aspect ratio. Even for us, perfection can take some time to find. ;P   

@ Tiago who cares if its zoomed in or out!! by variation i mean like an entirely new pose, etc. though if you really want nitpicky we can add an "Absolute Eternal" class

@ Dice 

I just read your article on the lewdgamer website. I completely agree that censoring a nukige is stupid and does not deserve to be rewarded with a purchase. That's just as dumb as buying a porno where all the sex scenes were cut out. Which in my view is just as dumb as watching an ecchi anime (you might as well go with full blown hentai). But I think Steam's censorship polices can be good for VNs in the long term. Thanks to the censorship policies story based VNs are starting to sell better than nukige focused ones (I think that's what you alluded to in the article). 
 
With Steam as a tool to expand the market, we can reasonably hope to see more story based VNs get localized. And hopefully even see higher quality OELVNs get developed.