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Subarashiki Hibi

Vndb

 


 

Just finished Subarashiki Hibi. I'm speechless, I honestly don't know what to say.

 

11/10, best VN, end of post

 

No, but really, I was blown away. At first, I wasn't entirely sure how the endings worked, so I only got one - I was pretty happy with it, seemed like a fair way of ending it, but I still felt like something was missing. After all that I've went through with this VN, I knew it wouldn't be that simple... and I was right. I reached that ending, and... I don't even know if my mind still existts, but it surely isn't in one piece anymore!

 

This is a gem amongst VNs, and I think everyone should read it. Even if you can't read Japanese, just wait for the English patch and read it then. Sure, this isn't a story for everyone, and the unusual amount of h-scenes doesn't help that either, but I would have to be absolutely crazy to hold that against it. Even if you despise h-content from the bottom of your heart, just know that they all do play their part in the story, and if they were to be removed, large parts of the story would have to go with it, and that'd be a huge shame.

 

If I had to compare this VN to anything, I'd probably put it next to Umineko no naku koro ni. It might not look like that at first, but it does share quite some parallels with it - saying which would obviously be a spoiler, but if you enjoyed Umineko, and are a fan of stories that require you to think instead of spoon-feeding you every single detail, you have absolutely no excuses for skipping this one. That, and it wouldn't be much of an overstatement if I said the OST is on a similar level - it's probably only the second VN after Umineko where I can say I really like every single track on the soundtrack.

 

In short, Subarashiki Hibi is an amazing visual novel that anyone who likes good stories should read eventually. 

 

I'm so amazed that I don't even feel like starting anything else.

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Just finished Subarashiki Hibi. I'm speechless, I honestly don't know what to say.

 

11/10, best VN, end of post

 

No, but really, I was blown away. At first, I wasn't entirely sure how the endings worked, so I only got one - I was pretty happy with it, seemed like a fair way of ending it, but I still felt like something was missing. After all that I've went through with this VN, I knew it wouldn't be that simple... and I was right. I reached that ending, and... I don't even know if my mind still existts, but it surely isn't in one piece anymore!

 

This is a gem amongst VNs, and I think everyone should read it. Even if you can't read Japanese, just wait for the English patch and read it then. Sure, this isn't a story for everyone, and the unusual amount of h-scenes doesn't help that either, but I would have to be absolutely crazy to hold that against it. Even if you despise h-content from the bottom of your heart, just know that they all do play their part in the story, and if they were to be removed, large parts of the story would have to go with it, and that'd be a huge shame.

 

If I had to compare this VN to anything, I'd probably put it next to Umineko no naku koro ni. It might not look like that at first, but it does share quite some parallels with it - saying which would obviously be a spoiler, but if you enjoyed Umineko, and are a fan of stories that require you to think instead of spoon-feeding you every single detail, you have absolutely no excuses for skipping this one. That, and it wouldn't be much of an overstatement if I said the OST is on a similar level - it's probably only the second VN after Umineko where I can say I really like every single track on the soundtrack.

 

In short, Subarashiki Hibi is an amazing visual novel that anyone who likes good stories should read eventually. 

 

I'm so amazed that I don't even feel like starting anything else.

 

I'm really glad that you found it to be as amazing as I did when I finished it. <3 SubaHibi is a miracle of the universe. Also, I have a few questions for you.

Okay, so from what you said in that post makes me think you maybe read through the Wonderful Everyday ending, and then the Hill of Sunflowers ending? I mean, that choice in Jabberwocky I at the bath scene is what leads you to which ending, but I want to say just in-case... that there's a third and unlockable choice after going through both endings. Have you already seen the third and final ending perhaps?

Regarding the story:

Honestly, Subarashiki Hibi is probably one of the greatest stories I've ever read. Sca-ji is truly a genius for even having come up with all the stuff contained within, and it made me instantly want to follow him on his Twitter and read the further awesome things he had to say there. Though the thing that makes SubaHibi so great in my eyes, is just how much more there is to the story than simply what's already there. After my first read of the VN I thought it "the greatest story in eroge", but after I came to more and more conclusions in my next few re-readings I thought it "the greatest story in media". (this just makes me obsessed though xD) After all, Sca-ji intended the story to have more things to piece together or interpret for the readers... kind of like how Umineko was.

Which leads me to my next question (if you don't mind me asking :>)... What are all these parallels SubaHibi has to Umineko that you speak of? I want to know. :o (I definitely do see how they're both similar, but not really specific details. Although I haven't last read Umineko in years so I'm probably forgetting a lot here...)

One final thing:

「くすくす……」

Joking~ (*‿*✿)

 

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Just finished Subarashiki Hibi. I'm speechless, I honestly don't know what to say.

 

11/10, best VN, end of post

 

No, but really, I was blown away. At first, I wasn't entirely sure how the endings worked, so I only got one - I was pretty happy with it, seemed like a fair way of ending it, but I still felt like something was missing. After all that I've went through with this VN, I knew it wouldn't be that simple... and I was right. I reached that ending, and... I don't even know if my mind still existts, but it surely isn't in one piece anymore!

 

This is a gem amongst VNs, and I think everyone should read it. Even if you can't read Japanese, just wait for the English patch and read it then. Sure, this isn't a story for everyone, and the unusual amount of h-scenes doesn't help that either, but I would have to be absolutely crazy to hold that against it. Even if you despise h-content from the bottom of your heart, just know that they all do play their part in the story, and if they were to be removed, large parts of the story would have to go with it, and that'd be a huge shame.

 

If I had to compare this VN to anything, I'd probably put it next to Umineko no naku koro ni. It might not look like that at first, but it does share quite some parallels with it - saying which would obviously be a spoiler, but if you enjoyed Umineko, and are a fan of stories that require you to think instead of spoon-feeding you every single detail, you have absolutely no excuses for skipping this one. That, and it wouldn't be much of an overstatement if I said the OST is on a similar level - it's probably only the second VN after Umineko where I can say I really like every single track on the soundtrack.

 

In short, Subarashiki Hibi is an amazing visual novel that anyone who likes good stories should read eventually. 

 

I'm so amazed that I don't even feel like starting anything else.

Dammit, Umineko is my favorite VN and you really make me want to read it now. btw I hope the characters are utterly twisted.

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I'm really glad that you found it to be as amazing as I did when I finished it. <3 SubaHibi is a miracle of the universe. Also, I have a few questions for you.

Okay, so from what you said in that post makes me think you maybe read through the Wonderful Everyday ending, and then the Hill of Sunflowers ending? I mean, that choice in Jabberwocky I at the bath scene is what leads you to which ending, but I want to say just in-case... that there's a third and unlockable choice after going through both endings. Have you already seen the third and final ending perhaps?

Regarding the story:

Honestly, Subarashiki Hibi is probably one of the greatest stories I've ever read. Sca-ji is truly a genius for even having come up with all the stuff contained within, and it made me instantly want to follow him on his Twitter and read the further awesome things he had to say there. Though the thing that makes SubaHibi so great in my eyes, is just how much more there is to the story than simply what's already there. After my first read of the VN I thought it "the greatest story in eroge", but after I came to more and more conclusions in my next few re-readings I thought it "the greatest story in media". (this just makes me obsessed though xD) After all, Sca-ji intended the story to have more things to piece together or interpret for the readers... kind of like how Umineko was.

Which leads me to my next question (if you don't mind me asking :>)... What are all these parallels SubaHibi has to Umineko that you speak of? I want to know. :o (I definitely do see how they're both similar, but not really specific details. Although I haven't last read Umineko in years so I'm probably forgetting a lot here...)

One final thing:

「くすくす……」

Joking~ (*‿*✿)

 

About SubaHibi

I was doing my usual routine of first choice > repeat > second choice, so the first ending I've actually gotten was the Hill of Sunflowers ending. I've liked it, but it also felt too similar to the alternative endings in its atmosphere, so I went online and looked up a guide. I think I wouldn't have figured out you have to go back to Jabberwocky 1 otherwise. ^^; So yes, I've seen 終ノ空2, and that was exactly what blew my mind so much.The VN's prologue was on my mind the entire time I was reading, so it really got me when it was finally mentioned, since I thought it never would be. And the way it was ended up in the true Ayana fashion, with just giving you a few of the things you wanted to hear and leaving you to "pick"... brilliant. It honestly made me come up with many crazy theories and they all seem equally believable, but just like it was mentioned in the ending, it's not too hard to explain anything you want in the way you like... I can definitely see myself re-reading this again. :) The story is not only amazing in how much foreshadowing, details and tiny pieces there are carefully placed everywhere that fit together once you see the full picture, but like you said, what actually isn't there makes it even better. Even after finishing the VN, I honestly feel like I've only just started, and that's an incredible achievement in my eyes.

 

As for the Umineko parallels, I might be stretching it a bit, but just like Umineko presents you with the fantasy and mystery side and never really forces one at you, SubaHibi arguably does the same with the supernatural and science/reasoning. Like Yuki, for example, you can either believe that she's a soul in Tomosane's body, or that she's just a mde up personality, etc.That's also closely tied to how the ending is handled, though SubaHibi takes it much further with these last few lines. :D

I was really impressed by Sca-Ji's work. Writing a story this complicated and well thought out is one thing, but intertwining in so many literature references and parallels from a very wide range of fields and countries is something I've never seen done this well before. Has he written any other VNs? I might have to start stalking him as well. :D

 

Dammit, Umineko is my favorite VN and you really make me want to read it now. btw I hope the characters are utterly twisted.

Believe me, you might get more than you're asking for in that regard. :D

 

The feedback Subarashiki Hibi gets is so ridiculously good, I want to read it so badly, wish I knew Japanese. ;-----;

The patch is coming~! Hopefully it's good ^^;

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Just finished Subarashiki Hibi. I'm speechless, I honestly don't know what to say.

 

11/10, best VN, end of post

 

No, but really, I was blown away. At first, I wasn't entirely sure how the endings worked, so I only got one - I was pretty happy with it, seemed like a fair way of ending it, but I still felt like something was missing. After all that I've went through with this VN, I knew it wouldn't be that simple... and I was right. I reached that ending, and... I don't even know if my mind still existts, but it surely isn't in one piece anymore!

 

This is a gem amongst VNs, and I think everyone should read it. Even if you can't read Japanese, just wait for the English patch and read it then. Sure, this isn't a story for everyone, and the unusual amount of h-scenes doesn't help that either, but I would have to be absolutely crazy to hold that against it. Even if you despise h-content from the bottom of your heart, just know that they all do play their part in the story, and if they were to be removed, large parts of the story would have to go with it, and that'd be a huge shame.

 

If I had to compare this VN to anything, I'd probably put it next to Umineko no naku koro ni. It might not look like that at first, but it does share quite some parallels with it - saying which would obviously be a spoiler, but if you enjoyed Umineko, and are a fan of stories that require you to think instead of spoon-feeding you every single detail, you have absolutely no excuses for skipping this one. That, and it wouldn't be much of an overstatement if I said the OST is on a similar level - it's probably only the second VN after Umineko where I can say I really like every single track on the soundtrack.

 

In short, Subarashiki Hibi is an amazing visual novel that anyone who likes good stories should read eventually. 

 

I'm so amazed that I don't even feel like starting anything else.

Glad you liked it so much as well ;D

Another joining the Subafanclub~~

 

I honestly stopped reading vn's for like months afterwards. I just couldn't get into anything else afterwards. Suba was just so good.

Hopefully the eng translation will be done something next year for people who can't read it in jp.

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Mod magic! I'm gonna start trying to apply something we discussed about with the board mods: make dedicated threads or merge with existing one some of the discussion that occurs in "What are you playing" (about the full game, the "while playing" thoughts are the purpose of that thread after all).

 

So have fun, I'll bump this thread when I'll have read SubaHibi, everybody hypes it so much I end up being quite excited about it!

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Oh hey, this place is pretty cool~
 

About SubaHibi

I was doing my usual routine of first choice > repeat > second choice, so the first ending I've actually gotten was the Hill of Sunflowers ending. I've liked it, but it also felt too similar to the alternative endings in its atmosphere, so I went online and looked up a guide. I think I wouldn't have figured out you have to go back to Jabberwocky 1 otherwise. ^^; So yes, I've seen 終ノ空2, and that was exactly what blew my mind so much.The VN's prologue was on my mind the entire time I was reading, so it really got me when it was finally mentioned, since I thought it never would be. And the way it was ended up in the true Ayana fashion, with just giving you a few of the things you wanted to hear and leaving you to "pick"... brilliant. It honestly made me come up with many crazy theories and they all seem equally believable, but just like it was mentioned in the ending, it's not too hard to explain anything you want in the way you like... I can definitely see myself re-reading this again. :) The story is not only amazing in how much foreshadowing, details and tiny pieces there are carefully placed everywhere that fit together once you see the full picture, but like you said, what actually isn't there makes it even better. Even after finishing the VN, I honestly feel like I've only just started, and that's an incredible achievement in my eyes.

 

As for the Umineko parallels, I might be stretching it a bit, but just like Umineko presents you with the fantasy and mystery side and never really forces one at you, SubaHibi arguably does the same with the supernatural and science/reasoning. Like Yuki, for example, you can either believe that she's a soul in Tomosane's body, or that she's just a mde up personality, etc.That's also closely tied to how the ending is handled, though SubaHibi takes it much further with these last few lines. :D

I was really impressed by Sca-Ji's work. Writing a story this complicated and well thought out is one thing, but intertwining in so many literature references and parallels from a very wide range of fields and countries is something I've never seen done this well before. Has he written any other VNs? I might have to start stalking him as well. :D

 

Believe me, you might get more than you're asking for in that regard. :D

 
 

The patch is coming~! Hopefully it's good ^^;

 

SubaHibi:

Tsui no Sora II is an absolutely crazy and mindblowing ending, being the final. It's my favorite part, and Ayana is my favorite character because of it. All of those 1-7 Hypothesis' Ayana provides are certainly what makes it intriguing, as it's like SubaHibi's own "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (Ludwig Wittgenstein). In the Tractatus, Wittgenstein wrote out 7 Propositions to his philosophy on logic and language in accordance to the human mind, whereas Ayana copies that here in SubaHibi to present 7 Hypothesis' to the story. That is just simply amazing if you ask me. Not only that, but these Hypothesis' follow the same formula as Wittgenstein's Propositions, with the last one making the most sense as a general big-picture understanding to everything before. So "7. All existence is one soul." is as such.



However, I thought at that time that Tsui no Sora II and Rabbit-Hole I only answered the What?'s and not really the Why?'s. Even past self-interpretation, I figure Sca-ji had very specific intentions on his ideas for the story that are not really explicitly outlined in the words of the story, but only in the... "melody". He calls SubaHibi "A Tale of Melody and Words", after all. I've tried to figure out what those ideas are, or I guess, 'interpret' them to my own understanding. xD And I've been writing a little blog or something on it ever since, but it's still "in-the-making" since I still can't seem to work it all out in my head clearly. My most recent huge revelation was in figuring out the meaning behind the Gondola Ride in RH1, but that's pretty much it. I'm probably just being stupid here by not writing it, because writing things is kind of what gets you thinking the most. Sca-ji even said on Twitter somewhere, that he "didn't even really understand the themes to SubaHibi ("To live happily!") until much later in writing the story." The ideas just came to him like as such, so maybe I should just follow suit...

Regarding the Umineko parallels... now I see. Yes Umineko's whole basis was the whole "fantasy vs. science" deal with explaining the mysteries, and near the end of SubaHibi, it's kind of the same just not as grandiose or something. But I guess I see even more parallels with it now, as well. o.O They are both such amazing works being such discussable ones at that. Another big reason why I like both VNs so much is just how much you can write/talk about it with others so often, given the mysteries and being about explaining them. The ideal story to read and talk about.



Sca-ji's currently writing his next work (although it's been stalled since even before SubaHibi's creation), Sakura no Uta. He says supposedly that it'll be "better than Subarashiki Hibi." U-uhh... let's not get too ahead of yourself Sca-ji, but... how can you top SubaHibi?! xD Jokes aside, he probably has something up his sleeve from what the information on the official website has to say. There's also... something else... but let's not get into that because it's really bad, an ancient relic of the long-forgotten age that should stay forgotten.

Oh yes, I've been wondering about the English patch for a while before... and I ended up asking a whole bunch of people who've read the leaked patch then read it myself to find out if it was any good or not. I can safely say that it's quality, (only with the occasional typo instead of a mistranslation... which is even outside proper editing, QCing, and whatnot) and all the others who've read it said so, as well. SubaHibi isn't really that hard to translate to begin with, and the translator has relatively high level English to boot. The simplistic but poetic text is getting some good treatment afaik, with only maybe the last chapter possibly suffering... that's where the writing gets more complicated after all.
 

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Oh hey, this place is pretty cool~

 

 

SubaHibi:

Tsui no Sora II is an absolutely crazy and mindblowing ending, being the final. It's my favorite part, and Ayana is my favorite character because of it. All of those 1-7 Hypothesis' Ayana provides are certainly what makes it intriguing, as it's like SubaHibi's own "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (Ludwig Wittgenstein). In the Tractatus, Wittgenstein wrote out 7 Propositions to his philosophy on logic and language in accordance to the human mind, whereas Ayana copies that here in SubaHibi to present 7 Hypothesis' to the story. That is just simply amazing if you ask me. Not only that, but these Hypothesis' follow the same formula as Wittgenstein's Propositions, with the last one making the most sense as a general big-picture understanding to everything before. So "7. All existence is one soul." is as such.

However, I thought at that time that Tsui no Sora II and Rabbit-Hole I only answered the What?'s and not really the Why?'s. Even past self-interpretation, I figure Sca-ji had very specific intentions on his ideas for the story that are not really explicitly outlined in the words of the story, but only in the... "melody". He calls SubaHibi "A Tale of Melody and Words", after all. I've tried to figure out what those ideas are, or I guess, 'interpret' them to my own understanding. xD And I've been writing a little blog or something on it ever since, but it's still "in-the-making" since I still can't seem to work it all out in my head clearly. My most recent huge revelation was in figuring out the meaning behind the Gondola Ride in RH1, but that's pretty much it. I'm probably just being stupid here by not writing it, because writing things is kind of what gets you thinking the most. Sca-ji even said on Twitter somewhere, that he "didn't even really understand the themes to SubaHibi ("To live happily!") until much later in writing the story." The ideas just came to him like as such, so maybe I should just follow suit...

Regarding the Umineko parallels... now I see. Yes Umineko's whole basis was the whole "fantasy vs. science" deal with explaining the mysteries, and near the end of SubaHibi, it's kind of the same just not as grandiose or something. But I guess I see even more parallels with it now, as well. o.O They are both such amazing works being such discussable ones at that. Another big reason why I like both VNs so much is just how much you can write/talk about it with others so often, given the mysteries and being about explaining them. The ideal story to read and talk about.

Sca-ji's currently writing his next work (although it's been stalled since even before SubaHibi's creation), Sakura no Uta. He says supposedly that it'll be "better than Subarashiki Hibi." U-uhh... let's not get too ahead of yourself Sca-ji, but... how can you top SubaHibi?! xD Jokes aside, he probably has something up his sleeve from what the information on the official website has to say. There's also... something else... but let's not get into that because it's really bad, an ancient relic of the long-forgotten age that should stay forgotten.

Oh yes, I've been wondering about the English patch for a while before... and I ended up asking a whole bunch of people who've read the leaked patch then read it myself to find out if it was any good or not. I can safely say that it's quality, (only with the occasional typo instead of a mistranslation... which is even outside proper editing, QCing, and whatnot) and all the others who've read it said so, as well. SubaHibi isn't really that hard to translate to begin with, and the translator has relatively high level English to boot. The simplistic but poetic text is getting some good treatment afaik, with only maybe the last chapter possibly suffering... that's where the writing gets more complicated after all.

 

Oh, I didn't know that! That makes everything even better, wow... it also explains why the track is called like that. :D I also thought that the seventh theory would make the most sense of them all, although maybe that is also because of how drastically it would change the perspective of the entire story. It must be very interesting re-reading the entire VN with those ideas in mind.

 

And I agree with you completely, it's not so hard to twist the explanations enough until you get the "What/How", but it's probably quite simple to lose the "heart", the finer details and vaguer meanings behind the story that way - another thing very similar to Umineko, where you could twist the facts to get a perfectly reasonable mystery, but you'd essentially be ignoring a lot of what the story really has to offer, the "magic/fantasy" side of things. Although it was much more explicit in Umineko, it feels kind of applicable to SubaHibi as well. :)

 

I really think I will have to read SubaHibi at least once more to arrange everything in my head, because Ayana pretty much scrambled everything up with just a few sentences at the end. What perhaps confused me even more than her whole speech were the possible implications at the very end of that scene... but after going through that I suppose the whole story is like that. ^^; I'm especially looking forward to re-reading Down the Rabbit Hole 1 with the intention of fitting it into the story, mainly with the terms and themes that come up with it... a lot of it was in the Gondolla from what I remember (Tsui no Sora, the date of 20. 7.), but I bet there are tons of things that I forgot, too, since the VN quite sneakily diverts your attention from it up until the very end as if it never mattered in the first place. :D

 

Hm, seems like I will be stalking Sakura no Uta now! Are those sneaky cameos in the pictures, or do some of the characters just unintentionally look similar? :D I'm also doubtful if it's even possible for Sca-ji to top himself, but if he does... dear god, we will spend the rest of our lives analysing his works. :D

 

And very nice to hear about the English part, as many people as possible should be able to enjoy this masterpiece.

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Oh hey, this place is pretty cool~

 

 

SubaHibi:

Tsui no Sora II is an absolutely crazy and mindblowing ending, being the final. It's my favorite part, and Ayana is my favorite character because of it. All of those 1-7 Hypothesis' Ayana provides are certainly what makes it intriguing, as it's like SubaHibi's own "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (Ludwig Wittgenstein). In the Tractatus, Wittgenstein wrote out 7 Propositions to his philosophy on logic and language in accordance to the human mind, whereas Ayana copies that here in SubaHibi to present 7 Hypothesis' to the story. That is just simply amazing if you ask me. Not only that, but these Hypothesis' follow the same formula as Wittgenstein's Propositions, with the last one making the most sense as a general big-picture understanding to everything before. So "7. All existence is one soul." is as such.

However, I thought at that time that Tsui no Sora II and Rabbit-Hole I only answered the What?'s and not really the Why?'s. Even past self-interpretation, I figure Sca-ji had very specific intentions on his ideas for the story that are not really explicitly outlined in the words of the story, but only in the... "melody". He calls SubaHibi "A Tale of Melody and Words", after all. I've tried to figure out what those ideas are, or I guess, 'interpret' them to my own understanding. xD And I've been writing a little blog or something on it ever since, but it's still "in-the-making" since I still can't seem to work it all out in my head clearly. My most recent huge revelation was in figuring out the meaning behind the Gondola Ride in RH1, but that's pretty much it. I'm probably just being stupid here by not writing it, because writing things is kind of what gets you thinking the most. Sca-ji even said on Twitter somewhere, that he "didn't even really understand the themes to SubaHibi ("To live happily!") until much later in writing the story." The ideas just came to him like as such, so maybe I should just follow suit...

Regarding the Umineko parallels... now I see. Yes Umineko's whole basis was the whole "fantasy vs. science" deal with explaining the mysteries, and near the end of SubaHibi, it's kind of the same just not as grandiose or something. But I guess I see even more parallels with it now, as well. o.O They are both such amazing works being such discussable ones at that. Another big reason why I like both VNs so much is just how much you can write/talk about it with others so often, given the mysteries and being about explaining them. The ideal story to read and talk about.

Sca-ji's currently writing his next work (although it's been stalled since even before SubaHibi's creation), Sakura no Uta. He says supposedly that it'll be "better than Subarashiki Hibi." U-uhh... let's not get too ahead of yourself Sca-ji, but... how can you top SubaHibi?! xD Jokes aside, he probably has something up his sleeve from what the information on the official website has to say. There's also... something else... but let's not get into that because it's really bad, an ancient relic of the long-forgotten age that should stay forgotten.

Oh yes, I've been wondering about the English patch for a while before... and I ended up asking a whole bunch of people who've read the leaked patch then read it myself to find out if it was any good or not. I can safely say that it's quality, (only with the occasional typo instead of a mistranslation... which is even outside proper editing, QCing, and whatnot) and all the others who've read it said so, as well. SubaHibi isn't really that hard to translate to begin with, and the translator has relatively high level English to boot. The simplistic but poetic text is getting some good treatment afaik, with only maybe the last chapter possibly suffering... that's where the writing gets more complicated after all.

 

 

Looking forwards to sakura no Uta as well. Didn't know sca-ji said it will be better than Suba haha. Maan, if it's actually that. I am somewhat scared xD

I am interesting what kind of direction the game will go. Considering the old Tsui no sora laid the groundwork for subahibi. It might take another direction, I wonder.. I want to read it now dammit haha.

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Subahibi is pretty special, I really like how it takes an otherwise unapproachable to the layman philosophy (Wittgeinsteins tract and the overall theme of "The limit of our perspective, is the limit of our world." ) and makes it a rather enjoyable story.

My main gripes with the game sorta hamper my enjoyment of it alot, though, and that's mostly the pacing. Rabbit Hole 1 is a riot to read after you play the game up to TnS2, but it was pretty slow up until the end of it for the most part, and I can't say I was really fond of the (what I thought was) rather unfunny yuri slice of life. Rabbit Hole 2 is a bit more solid in this regard but it still took awhile for me to really care, and again, I found it alot more interesting to read the 2nd time through as opposed to the first time. I honestly think I just don't care about Yuki's perspective, to be totally honest. I find Tomosane and Takuji to be alot more relevant and alot more involved, Yuki was way better as a heroie on-screen as opposed to a protag.

Invention is probably my favorite part of the story, because it is just.. madness. Another thing I like about subahibi, and this especially rings true for invention, is that it's really.. hard to tell how much of it was real and how much wasn't. It really has this feeling of being :within: the supernatural as opposed to being directly involved with the supernatural, if that makes sense. Also, the Cow ending (appropriately dubbed) with Kimika is probably my favorite end in the game. Just magical. A great moment. I wish Kimika wasn't so uninvolved though, she really seems she's just in the game for fun, she doesn't really do anything much.

My biggest gripe with the game comes down to Zakuro though, besides her painfully bad voice acting I just find her gratuitously boring and Insects is probably the lowest point of subahibi because of it. Every time she was on the screen in the other parts of the story I had to fight down the urge to ctrl, she's just so.. nothing. Her whole situation in Insects is just so overblown that I couldn't take it seriously.

Kinda makes it sound like I hate the game, but apart from the pacing/zakuro I find Subahibi to a really special story. It has some pacing issues but I don't think theres enough in the game that mostly everyone will find :something: to take away from it.

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commonly dubbed the encyclopedia of visual novels, you'll find all sorts of themes and content ranging from school slice of life to bloody magical battles, from pure love romance to yaoi rape and bestiality...

 

been almost two years since i read it, i generally hate denpa but this is an exception, i like its unique and well paced narrative, not the best but high up.

 

and it smokes sayo教, 101, and its pathetic predecessor

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Isnt the first part/episode being translated on Fuwanovel or is that the whole thing? :)

It does look good.

There is an English patch for the first arc as far as I know - they're actually almost done with the whole translation already, but you can read the prologue arc first if you want, it's pretty stand-alone.

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There is an English patch for the first arc as far as I know - they're actually almost done with the whole translation already, but you can read the prologue arc first if you want, it's pretty stand-alone.

 

I cannot wait until Subarashiki Hibi is fully translated so that some of my friends can experience the story too. It's all they can talk about lately, haha...

It's a pretty good idea to check out the current partial patch now so you can determine whether you like the style or not before going into the rest of the story later. This is because SubaHibi is generally a "love-it or hate-it" experience, so who knows whether you'll like it or not unless you experience a little bit of the material. The prologue is indeed quite stand-alone.. I wonder if maybe that's the purpose of that partial patch in the first place?

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Read one of the books that comes up in SubaHibi. Specifically a play. "Cyrano De Bergerac". I fell in love with this play. It was so good, the wit the comedy, the romance, characters, the panache. I did not expect the play to be this good. I expect others to enjoy it as well if they try it out. It's a good old play that brought tears to my eyes in the end.

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Read one of the books that comes up in SubaHibi. Specifically a play. "Cyrano De Bergerac". I fell in love with this play. It was so good, the wit the comedy, the romance, characters, the panache. I did not expect the play to be this good. I expect others to enjoy it as well if they try it out. It's a good old play that brought tears to my eyes in the end.

That play was used so well in the story, I might have to read it eventually as well. ;_; SubaHibi mainly just really got me interested in actually reading some of the philosophy books, instead of just dully learning about philosophy itself like I did up until now.

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  • 2 years later...

Going to bump this, since well, I was thinking about starting a similar topic. 

This VN completely defied all my expectations. It is one of those works of fiction that I can wholeheartedly still recommend despite some of its flaws. Or rather, I should say that despite its flaws, I still see it as near perfection. The way I see the VN, is that it is divided in two significant parts. There is the part of the VN that is a story, and then there is the part that is a philosophical work.

More specifically, I think that these chapters: Down the Rabbit Hole 2, It's My Own Invention, Looking-Glass Insects, Jabberwocky, Which Dreamed it, Jabberwocky 2, and the first two epilogues to be a complete story. The VN very well could have been just these parts, and it would have been a damn good VN. A 9/10 for sure. And yet, what makes it a true masterpiece, is the inclusion of Down the Rabbit Hole 1 + End Sky 2 + plus all the scenes with Ayana spread throughout the other chapters. It's the inclusion of these parts, that forces the reader to be in conversation with the story. It forces us to not just be the casual observers of this tale, but to really think about what is going on.

Many people interpret that Ayana's character is a stand in for the Sca-ji himself. And indeed, if that is so, End Sky 2 was like having a conversation with the author right after having the finished the story. Except, at the end of that conversation, he decided to add one small detail that got you completely confused again.

It's like Sca-ji wanted to throw his two cents on the concepts of solipsism and other philosophies, and decided to create a whole VN as his thesis. And by using fiction to express these concepts, and forcing the reader to see the story not as a story but as a world of its own, it gets us to see the relevance of said philosophies. In anycase, the more I am writing, the more I am realizing I should probably write up a blog post instead. So I will probably do that in the near future. Regardless, I can now see why so many exalt this VN as one of the best in the medium, and I am now one of those people exalting it. 

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  • 10 months later...

Just finished Subahibi.  There are a lot of things I liked about this VN.  The music, the imagery, the plot, the characters, etc. I do have some complaints though:

1. This is the first time that h-scenes and fan service annoyed me in a VN. I think it's because it defied my expectations massively.  I have to strongly disagree with the OP, because I think most of the h-scenes and ecchi scenes actually don't contribute to the plot at all.  I'm not even talking about any of the disturbing scenes. Besides those, there are tons of ecchi scenes, panty shots, and gratuitous h-scenes. There is even this:

Spoiler

A pretty typical sexual relationship with a sister (typical for an eroge VN, that is <_<). Was this necessary? Hisaki is adorable of course, but why did it need to get sexual?


2. Subahibi also has some dark comedy in places where it really broke immersion for me. I do like comedy in VNs, but there was some really odd uses of comedy in Subahibi. For example (from Insects):

Spoiler

WTF is with that scene with the goofy looking dancing half-naked "God" after that incredibly dark rape and mind-break of Zakuro???   Under normal circumstances I would have laughed, but this happens right after what I think is the most disturbing series of events in the entire VN.  It was very immersion breaking for me, as if SCA-Di was playing a joke on the reader. I almost want to say that it's self-indulgent on his part.

Or this (from Invention):

Spoiler

The depiction of Kamika as she got closer to Takuji is incredibly light-hearted. Constant panty shots, moe, and silliness, despite the incredibly dark circumstances of drug use and manipulation.  What was the point of this? Maybe this type of juxtaposition is SCA-Di's style, but it felt dissonant to me, and ended up detaching me from Kamika's story. And actually, I think Kamika's story is quite good in terms of plot.

 

Complaints aside, I thought the endings were good and satisfying.  I will say this though, despite what people might say, the game definitely does seem to have a "true ending". The reason I say this is because there are certain mysteries that are completely unaddressed unless you go with this particular ending. Specifically:

Spoiler

Only "End Sky II" really gives an explanation of Ayana and chapter 1. Does that make it the true ending? It seems like it does.

 

Edited by PiggiesGoMoo
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