Spoilerific Afterthoughts on Summer Pockets

Posted on June 11, 2020 by BishounenP

I went into Summer Pockets having basically no experience with Key. Previously, I’d seen the anime for Clannad, Angel Beats!, Charlotte, played Planetarian, and read a good chunk of the Angel Beats common route. I did have a general idea of what made a Key game a Key game, but hadn’t properly experienced it myself. So, for all intents and purposes, this was truly my first Key game.

I’ve read a variety of VNs, from 20 minute long EVNs to 50+ hour JVNs, from murder mystery to nakige to moege, so you can say I’ve been around. I’ve always found myself particularly interested in the “mysterious island” setting; it never gets old for me. Going into Summer Pockets, I didn’t really know what was waiting for me, aside from my general idea of what a Key game was.

So, with all that aside, here we go. Full spoilers ahead!

Right off the bat, I was charmed by the opening narration with the immediate choice of who Hairi metaphorically was. I thought it was a one-off choice, but soon learned that everyone would be referring to it. Who was this mysterious old lady that was going around gossipping to everyone? I remember scrolling back to see if he had actually said it out loud, and convinced myself that she had heard his thoughts somehow. After completing the game, it’s possible she did, but I’m not sure. I’ll file that in my ‘headcanon’ folder.

Soon after, I met The Boys. I wasn’t particularly into Ryouichi immediately, but he grew on me the next scene I saw him in. Tenzen was basically love at first sight. I remember from Charlotte (which overall I think is pretty bad but had good moments) that there was a male side character that was probably a similar character, maybe more of a mixture of Ryouichi and Tenzen together than anything else. That being said, I love when VN protag’s male friends are more than just a throwaway character, when they have their own goals and aspirations, when they exist to do more than just Help Protag Get Girl. Tenzen and Ryouichi’s motivations throughout the game always felt natural, and the friendship between the three never felt artificial.

Summary of my whole experience with Summer Pockets

Misc

The table tennis minigame charmed me immediately, especially once I noticed that Hairi’s special skills were based on your first choice in the game. I never got sick of collecting titles for table tennis, as it meant I got to spend more time with Tenzen. I can’t wait for Reflection Blue and table tennis doubles!

I’ve only spent a little time playing Islamon, and while I do think it’s cute and a little fun, collecting all the Islamon and going through the battles without a “skip to next day” button is starting to grate on me.

I love Hairi as a protagonist, I never found him bland or uninteresting. What I will say, however, is that the jokes sexualizing Umi fell very flat with me. Once I obtained Umi’s panties in Islamon, I was a little creeped out, which turned into disgust upon Hairi having a dream where he was “going at it” with her. That’s your daughter (I know he doesn’t know that at that point in time, but the writer knows it), don’t be gross Hairi.

Onto the heroines. The order I played was Shiroha -> Ao -> Kamome -> Mugi so I will talk about them in this order.

Shiroha

I never got the impression that this VN had a main heroine, though in retrospect, it was more obvious. I tend to dislike main heroines in VNs, but I must say that I quite like Shiroha. Her route itself (pre-Alka) was nothing special overall, good but not great. However, it was fun as hell to play through. When I say that I didn’t think her route was special, I moreso mean the actual ‘plot’ involved in it. What I enjoyed in particular was the slow, natural-feeling development of her relationship with Hairi, and how everyone in The Gang came together to help prevent Shiroha from dying. I also liked learning more about Ryouichi in this route, and how he came to accept Hairi’s feelings for Shiroha in a way that felt real.

The underwater battle with Kobato in this route was a golden moment. I really hope Hairi is voiced during this in Reflection Blue. My favorite part of this route was at the very end, when Hairi yells on the boat that he loves Shiroha, and they proceed to have a dramatic parting of ways with their feelings for each other acknowledged only to be cut short by the boat turning around.

As for the true routes, seeing Shiroha naturally (I keep saying this word) fall into the role of mother for Umi would have probably annoyed me in any other VN, but in this, it just felt right.

Though I will say that I expected something along these lines, due to a friend asking me beforehand if I wanted to be a mother and how I felt about children in general. So maybe it didn’t hit me as hard as it would have otherwise.

Ahhhhh, Ao. I was ready to move straight into her route after Shiroha’s due to the lack of Mugi & Kamome appearing in Shiroha’s route at all, so I wanted to go onto the heroine I already knew a little bit. When looking at this game initially, I thought Ao had the prettiest design, probably because it looked the most different from the other heroines. I read a lot of reviews before that said Ao was best girl, her route was best by far, so my expectations were higher.

What is probably an emotional moment for many did not quite hit me the same way.

Unfortunately, I think due to my expectations being so high, something here didn’t click with me. I enjoyed this route the most during the butterfly-hunting segments. The lore in this route is absolutely phenomenal. Everything else… Meh. I didn’t have much to say during the “sad parts” because I just wasn’t particularly hooked. Oh, I would be remiss to mention as well that seeing Hairi go faceless greatly irritated. It took me out of the moment on more than one occasion, especially since this isn’t an eroge, and Hairi usually has a face.

Kamome

My girl! Upon meeting her in the game, I was enamored. GOTH WAIFU! GOTH WAIFU! I struggled choosing between doing her or Mugi third, as I could already tell I would love Kamome’s route and it is my natural instinct to save best for last. I went with her anyway due to my friend insisting that Mugi’s route felt good as a finale, and I agree.

Kamome’s route was filled with twists and turns, and I loved all of them. I don’t really know what I can say here, but as someone who has always loved to read, the twist of their adventure being based on a book was awesome and meaningful to me. I loved meeting her mother and convincing her to let Hairi assist in making the adventure a reality, and the wholesome bit at the end with all the kids coming on the adventure with him.

Also, thanks to Alka/Pocket, #kamomelives go team

Mugi

Mugyu~ Mugi, as a heroine, is okay. I liked her a lot at first, but I personally never really felt like her chemistry with Hairi was anything special. What was special was the dynamic between Hairi, Shizuku, and Mugi. I assume Key would never actually do this, and this might feel controversial tbh, but it almost felt like a poly relationship. At times, it also felt like Shizuku and Hairi were Mugi’s parents.

My girlfriend, her girlfriend, and me (not pictured)

The reveal of Mugi’s photo was an incredible moment. The intensity that Hairi felt when he saw it, and immediately knew that he needed to hide it. Man, what a good way to do a plot reveal. Hairi getting spirited away into the lighthouse with Tsumugi-chan and their whole conversation… I can’t really put into words how much I loved this segment other than saying it was a golden 10/10 scene for me.

Alka/Pocket

I already touched a bit on this previously, so I’ll only say a little bit here. I loved everyone coming together to make Umi’s summer special. I appreciate that Nanami was left open for interpretation, and I appreciate everyone’s own personal interpretations here, but my personal idea and the explanation that feels right for me personally is that Nanami, like Mugi, is some kind of spirit that Umi was able to project herself back into.

One of the most important and key (lol) parts of this route to me were when Umi was showing baby Shiroha her future memories, and showing all the different possibilities from each route. It felt so good to finally see the idea that a heroine of a VN can be happy even if she doesn’t end up with the protagonist. Too often in VNs, it feels like a woman’s happiness is tied to being with the right man. I know that Shiroha can be happy even without being with Hairi, and I am personally so grateful to Key for showcasing this.

Sisterly Bliss ~Don’t Let Mom Find Out~

Posted on October 23, 2018 by BishounenP

*Warning: This review will have spoilers!*

Every great once in a while, I stumble across a VN that I want to read solely based on its title. I’ve read my fair share of incest stories, from Kana ~Imouto~ to a variety of random manga that I stumbled upon. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly into it, but rather I find the stories intriguing in a sense. Seeing that this was a short VN, I decided to pick it up.

My first impression of this VN was that it was gonna be Yet Another Incest Story in which the sisters would fall in love, tell everyone they know, and then everyone would accept this taboo without a single doubt. While I do appreciate fantasy in stories, I relish realism even more. I love when a writer can convey a realistic experience that I could see happening in the real world. Sisterly Bliss was able to do just that for me—in the good endings.

I’ll take a moment to first discuss the bad endings, both of which really threw me for a loop. These bad endings are obtained by having the feelings of one of the girls be entirely one-sided. In Ichika’s bad end, she goes full yandere and kills her parents because they would never accept their romantic relationship and forces Futaba into a BDSM petplay relationship, locking her up in their room with a chain. I found this interesting because I didn’t expect anything like this from what I thought to be just a silly yurige. And then in Futaba’s bad end, because she won’t accept that Ichika has rejected their relationship, she presents Ichika with a “special surprise”—a swift knife to the chest.

Alas, the good endings are much less interesting than the bad ends, but they still end on a good note. The girls have sex like crazy and the H scenes are pretty decent—my favorite one is where they have sex on an actual paddle boat and end up tipping it too much and getting literally wet.

And, contrary to my earlier concerns, they never end up telling anyone about their taboo relationship. At least, now here, not now, not in the story. I liked this! No matter how much they love each other, incest is still taboo and seen as weird and even disgusting to most people. It’s nice to see an incest story that finally acknowledges this reality (I’m looking at you, OreImo.)

All in all, I’d say this short VN (less than 4 hours) was worth the read. The art is adorable (though the anatomy in the H scenes can be a bit off on occasion) and the relationship between the two is sugary sweet. The twins are very loving and sweet, and it’s fun to experience the story through both of their eyes. I’d definitely recommend it on sale.

First Impressions of Fureraba -Friend to Lover-

Posted on October 21, 2018 by BishounenP

In the VN community, you’ll sometimes stumble upon people who refuse to read anything that “doesn’t have a plot”—people who refuse to read anything that could be classified as a charage or moege. They’ll say that they wouldn’t be able to enjoy a VN that focuses entirely on romance.

I was one of these people.

I first started rethinking my earlier prejudice against the moege genre after I played Princess Evangile and its fandisc, however, I still had some qualms with the main routes (i.e. they were boring.) I thought maybe this was just the one moege that really clicked with me. However, Fureraba has been an utter joy from the entirety of the first route I’ve played through, to the route I’m currently progressing on.

I tried it out on a whim, but I was drawn in by the comedy displayed in the prologue. The heroines all stood out to me as people I could see myself meeting, be it Rina, the protagonist’s friend, who he is always jokingly fighting with (which was reminiscent of my own friendships), or Himari, the girl he knew as a kid but drifted apart from over the years. There was also Hiiragi, a fiery redhead (I’m allowed to say this because I am also a redhead) who was trying to make a connection outside of school before the protagonist accidentally face-planted into her underwear—I normally hate this but I love the way they played it off here—and with a little more hijinks she became hostile towards him, and later dropped a line which accurately describes the way I see most moege protagonists.

And then, the prologue ended, and I was able to choose to approach a girl. I realized that I hadn’t even MET one of the four heroines, Misaki. I thought, how am I supposed to know if I like her if I hadn’t even met her yet? Looking back, that might be the entire point of not having met her yet. Since the protagonist is actively looking for a girlfriend, what better way to prove that he’s trying than to have him approach a girl he doesn’t know entirely?

Minor spoilers ahead:

Funnily enough, you have to attempt to approach her three times before you can even see her face. This is all due to the fact that her classmates and even her teachers have made a ton of ridiculous assumptions about her; thinking that she’s the daughter of a councilman, has a fiancé, is a genius, etc., so they all try to keep you from approaching her because they don’t think you’re good enough for her. In the end, she’s the one who approaches you, by pure coincidence of you dropping your wallet and her picking it up. You discover she’s nothing more than a regular girl who just wants to make real connections with other people. She has no friends because everyone puts her on a pedestal.

This is a consistent theme in Misaki’s route. I really appreciated the scene where she gets upset with the protagonist for treating her like she is some pure angel that shouldn’t be touched. She’s a normal girl with normal feelings who wants to be treated with respect, but also as an equal. You don’t see characters like that very often.

I’m currently making my way through the rest of the routes. I’m working my way through the childhood friend route, and so far I am greatly enjoying the way the VN is handling it. There’s a lot of awkward tensions between the protagonist and Himari because while they grew up together, they drifted apart over the years and are just now rekindling their friendship. There’s also a scene where she casually lets it drop that she had a crush on the protagonist when they were kids, and that’s the part that really sparks his romantic interest in her.

I also love the dynamic their mothers have as long-time besties. They’re constantly teasing Himari and the protagonist about getting married one day, and those scenes are absolutely hilarious. Honestly, the dialogue in this VN is what makes it a winner.

I’m very glad I picked this up; it’s really clicked with me and I’m never bored reading it. I’m thrilled to play the rest of the routes, as the girls I’ve saved for last seem really special. If you’re looking for a good, funny moege, I’d definitely recommend you pick this one up.

The Problem with Seiyuu Danshi!

Posted on October 11, 2018 by BishounenP

I am both an aspiring VN dev and a longtime otome/BL game fan. I’ve played dozens of indie EVNs as well and involved myself in the community. So, it pains me to write a negative review about an indie EVN that I’ve looked forward to for a long time.

I’ll just get right into it: Seiyuu Danshi! is a bad game.

Meyaoi Games made around $40,000 back in 2016 on Kickstarter, which was an astonishingly 800% of their initial $5,000 goal. Back then, it looked like it was gonna be something special. So, when it released just the other day, I got it immediately and started playing.

But my expectations were immediately thrashed by the low quality of the writing.

Not only is the English awkward in nearly every line of the game, but the whole time it felt to me like the writers were obsessed with trying (and failing very badly) to make me think this was a translated Japanese visual novel rather than an OELVN.

From the title itself being Seiyuu Danshi! (why not just name it Voice Actor Boys?), to the names of all the characters, to the protagonist nicknaming everyone in some Japanese manner (Toru-chi, Tocchan, etc), to uninspired references to anime, it was made very clear to me that this was a game trying to be something it wasn’t.

Along with this, the game is filled with ultra-generic characters and dates that you’ve seen a million times elsewhere. You go to an amusement park later on with your boy, which was a $39,000 stretch goal. Are you treated to any special CGs or fun interactions on this expensive date? Nope! You just go, choose between a few rides, and read some dull dialogue about them going and having fun.

And maybe *I’m* missing something, because you can change the underwear of the protagonist as well as buy a whole bunch of clothes for him but he never actually wears it outside of the dress-up screen (and in the context of clothes, he doesn’t even put THOSE on). The clothes seem to simply be there for a boost in love points from your chosen boy, but you can just wear the same thing every time and he responds the same way every time.

I vaguely remember there being one comment from Toru about the protagonist’s underwear choice, but I’ve only ever seen it when I put it on him in the first place.

However, I pressed on, because from the screenshots on their itch.io page it seemed like the main focus of the game was on the gameplay rather than the writing. Much of the advertising seems to be aimed at the pornographic aspect of the game. In their list of features, they specifically talk up the “interactive gameplay” during the pornographic content along with collectible costumes and toys to use.

But Seiyuu Danshi! falls flat even there. Not only does it take months (see: several hours) of grinding in-game to even get a boyfriend in the first place, the H content in this game feels like it’s missing something. Sure, you can buy an assortment of costumes and sex toys to use on your boy, but it always seems to culminate in the same end-scene, which is
my biggest problem with the H content: chibi porn.

That’s right, after you go through “Foreplay Mode” where you manually pleasure your boy, you get treated to a mildly animated visual of your boy and the protagonist having sex. As chibis. There is also a chibi blowjob scene and a chibi masturbation scene. Maybe someone out there finds this attractive, but I sure as hell don’t.

The game costs more than $30, because the game has “100+ hours of content!” Meyaoi Games needs to realize that longer doesn’t equal better, especially when much of that time is spent doing basically nothing. Seiyuu Danshi! doesn’t have a story to tell, and the pornographic content is lacking. Therefore, I would give this one a hard pass.

Speed Dating for Ghosts

Posted on September 16, 2018 by BishounenP

Speed Dating for Ghosts is an unusual visual novel that I expected to just be a silly and quirky ride, such as Hatoful Boyfriend. However, this one took me on an emotional ride.

What I always appreciate most in VNs is when they really make you care about a character, and this one manages to do so with nearly every ghost you meet within a matter of minutes (as opposed to hours).

I don’t want to say any spoilers, as it’s not a very long VN (less than two hours) and the little stories that are thrown your way are wonderful and beautiful. It’s a game that really makes you think.

I will say however that though it has “Speed Dating” in the title, I only found one character that you actually get romantic with. Everyone else you go on a little adventure with and get to know them, a little about their lives before passing a way, robbing a bank, etc. You know, normal ghost stuff.

I highly recommend you check this out.
You can purchase it on Itch.io or on Steam.

Link

Us Lovely Corpses is a lovely game about Alejandra de Rosa, a witch, going to a mansion to stop a rose monster from destroying her friend. I don’t want to say too much about this game, so as to avoid spoilers, but it has a beautiful message and a wonderful metaphor.

If you struggle with depression or thoughts of suicide, this game may be hard for you to play. I do, but it resonated very strongly with me and felt deeply personal and emotional.

Us Lovely Corpses by d Marie

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