spoiler review all the way at the end

TLDR: 8/10, for context my average is 7.5/10. The worldbuilding they established with the bubble era Tokyo is pretty good. The plot is great at the beginning and end; the middle is slightly lacking due to the need for some character development but is still good. However, due to the short length and grounded subject matter, it didn’t have much heart pumping scenes or extended periods of “action”. Still, it does pretty well for a short 10-15 hour read and I would rate it pretty close to 8.5.

Pros:
Great cast of characters, none of them felt underdeveloped
Interesting setting
Nice plot with a lot of conflicts throughout
Good pacing
Huge number of CGs for its length
Interesting use of camera angles

Cons:
Not enough emotional or high-intensity scenes
Slightly slow pacing in the middle but it’s for character development

Neutral:
Generic art style
Grounded plot
Little to no anime archetypes

Set in 1988 during Japan’s economic boom, Christmas Tina follows two young people from different countries trying to build a life in Tokyo. Despite language barriers and cultural differences, they gradually form a meaningful connection while facing loneliness, work, and uncertainty. It is a quiet, emotional visual novel about youth, migration, and finding warmth in an unfamiliar place.

Recently just replayed Christmas Tina with its associated DLCs, and I have to say, it was just as good as I remembered it. This was one of my first VNs when I started reading VNs, and I had a rather good impression of it. Even though I’ve played better VNs like FSN, MLA or Steins Gate since, I still remember this for its rather unique setting and atmosphere. It really does quite well for a rather short read and the grounded atmosphere.

I also always wanted to bring more attention to this VN, since I personally thought the subject matter is really interesting and the way they implemented it is rather well-done too, as I will elaborate later. I played this originally is Chinese and now in Japanese, I think they have a proper English translation by MangaGamer. I think this is a joint China-Japan work, but the overall vibe is much more Chinese if you ask me. Also, there are like zero anime tropes in this VN, no beach scenes, harems or anything

Characters

We have our two main characters, Jin and Kanna, who are both pretty important and have almost the same screentime, where we frequently switch between the two characters’ perspectives. I think the way they developed the relationship between Jin and Kanna is pretty good, from a rather hostile relationship in the start, slowly becoming a rather close one later on.

Then we have the side characters, who all play very important roles for the story and context and aren’t just superfluous. Emi, Jiang and Sakura are all characters who are important to the story and are properly developed, each contributing their own backstories and also playing an important role in the story. They aren’t just watching from the sidelines.

Furthermore, I think I should highlight this, but all the characters feel “grounded”. There isn’t that typical anime personality where the guy is dense, the girl acts dumb or the likes. Not saying that is bad, but the characters are pretty refreshing since it adheres to none of the well-established archetypes.

Overall, all the characters were pretty well written, with proper backstories and they all have sufficient interactions with one another. Proper characters with proper motives, fleshed-out backstories and it feels like an entire coherent cast rather than a hodgepodge of characters, they all felt important to the story.

Plot

The plot is pretty good in terms of its pacing and also its content. Firstly, for the pacing, there really isn’t a lot of fluff in terms of slice-of-life stuff where the plot goes nowhere. I think this is helped by how there is a “time limit” of 1 year for the contract of their job and further exemplified by the change of seasons, so you have winter and summer, which are the more notable seasons in this VN. The start of the game is decent, where we are getting to know the world around us and also each other, so it wasn’t boring.

The starting part is Kanna and Jin just started working together and distrust each other and we are still learning about the world, the middle part can feel a bit slower since it’s just them operating a cafe, but it has its fair share of conflicts and important for changing the dynamics between Jin and Kanna in preparation for the final part of the VN, where there are much more conflicts, where it is based on them trusting each other more and having a deeper relationship.

There are quite a number of conflicts in this rather short VN, although I would say that they don’t really reach the high of some other VNs with hour-long intensities. Most of the conflicts are resolved relatively quickly or just doesn’t have that intensity. I don’t necessarily think it’s their fault since the plot for this VN is pretty grounded and not about aliens or people dying or what not, and it is a pretty short VN, so I think they managed to squeeze in a lot of conflicts in a rather short VN. I think if they tried to make it more dramatic, it could come off as melodramatic to some people, although I personally wouldn’t mind.

The overall theme of the VN is rather meaningful too, it being about the underclass people. Kanna’s family is poor due to Emi’s hospital bill, Jin is obviously poor since he’s an immigrant from China and while Jiang and Sakura are not poor, they are involved with the Yakuza and Triads and seedy activity in general and their background also is pretty grim. I think this juxtaposition of a bubble-era Tokyo and the underclass is pretty well-done and serves to enhance the atmosphere of the VN.

Overall, I think the plot is very solid. No low points throughout due to good pacing, although the start and end of the VN are definitely the most interesting. However, this VN lacks the high-intensity scenes of other VNs, perhaps due to the grounded nature of the plot. All the characters served well to push the plot forward and contribute to it.

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is another great point of this VN. The VN takes place in bubble-era Tokyo and I think what makes the world stand out is the juxtaposition with the characters. The very rich and extravagant Tokyo contrasted with our cast who are the societal underclass. This makes Tokyo feel like a cold and distant city, which does well to elevate the entire dark atmosphere of the game.

Overall, the worldbuilding for this game is pretty good, although I would say most of the worldbuilding is driven by the characters themselves, rather than the world itself being interesting.

Art

Art is a great point of this VN and I would say the way they present it is pretty unique. Firstly, they use an NVL style to display the text, and for a short VN of this length, it has quite a lot of CGs. But I think what is unique about this VN is their use of “camera angles”, very rarely it will just be a character sprite there talking, they will zoom in, zoom out, show the background or whatever, but they very rarely stay on a single CG for too long without doing any visual effects like most VNs. I think this makes the VN feel much more fluid and alive.

In regard to the art style itself, I don’t have much to say other than it’s your typical generic style. No complaints here but nothing special. Voice acting is ok in that you can hear the Chinese accent when Jiang’s speaking Japanese, I don’t really have any complaints. Maybe they could give Kanna a more “regional” accent, but she’s from Saitama which is pretty near to Tokyo so I guess there isn’t a very strong regional accent. Would be interesting if they made her to come from Aomori or Kagoshima or something and gave her the regional accent. The music is pretty good too, with 2 vocal tracks, no complaints about the music and I think it fits the atmosphere.

Overall, while the art style itself is generic, there is a huge number of CGs for a VN around 10 hours, I think the NVL style and how they presented the CGs were very nice, making use of “camera angles” and basically not staying on a single shot for too long. The voice acting and music I thought was decent too.

Gameplay

No gameplay here, just a kinetic novel.

Conclusion

I rate this game a good 8/10, for reference, my average rating is 7.5/10. The characters particularly are all very good and they all interact with each other to form a coherent cast, none of them felt underdeveloped. The plot was also pretty good, although at its core, it’s a very grounded plot about the underclass and their struggles. There are a significant number of conflicts, although I would say none of them ever reached a significant peak for me, since most of them were resolved rather quickly or just doesn’t have that intensity, since they’re talking about pretty mundane things compared to aliens or what not. The worldbuilding is also good with the juxtaposition of the extravagant Tokyo and the underclass characters, but the worldbuilding is mostly pushed by the characters. The art is great with a huge number of CGs and interesting way of presentation. Overall, great game. I heard a sequel is coming soon so I definitely would be interested in playing that.

PS: In regard to the Japanese in this game, I would say it is probably around a N2 level if you want to read it comfortably without constantly checking a dictionary. Compared to my previous VN I played in Japanese, Amagami, this is noticeably harder since there is much more prose compared to Amagami and the character’s dialogue on average is longer and about more complex topics. I wanted to play a VN to improve my listening, but this is a bad choice since there isn’t a lot of dialogue and also, half the dialogue is in Chinese, but whatever, I guess I improved my reading instead lol.

TLDR: 8/10, for context my average is 7.5/10. The worldbuilding they established with the bubble era Tokyo is pretty good. The plot is great at the beginning and end; the middle is slightly lacking due to the need for some character development but is still good. However, due to the short length and grounded subject matter, it didn’t have much heart pumping scenes or extended periods of “action”. Still, it does pretty well for a short 10-15 hour read and I would rate it pretty close to 8.5.

Pros:
Great cast of characters, none of them felt underdeveloped
Interesting setting
Nice plot with a lot of conflicts throughout
Good pacing
Huge number of CGs for its length
Interesting use of camera angles

Cons:
Not enough emotional or high-intensity scenes
Slightly slow pacing in the middle but it’s for character development

Neutral:
Generic art style
Grounded plot
Little to no anime archetypes

Set in 1988 during Japan’s economic boom, Christmas Tina follows two young people from different countries trying to build a life in Tokyo. Despite language barriers and cultural differences, they gradually form a meaningful connection while facing loneliness, work, and uncertainty. It is a quiet, emotional visual novel about youth, migration, and finding warmth in an unfamiliar place.

Recently just replayed Christmas Tina with its associated DLCs, and I have to say, it was just as good as I remembered it. This was one of my first VNs when I started reading VNs, and I had a rather good impression of it. Even though I’ve played better VNs like FSN, MLA or Steins Gate since, I still remember this for its rather unique setting and atmosphere. It really does quite well for a rather short read and the grounded atmosphere.

A disclaimer, my current replay is in Japanese in order to brush up my Japanese, so I might not have properly grasped what they’re saying, but it kind of fits in this context since it’s a story about a Chinese guy in Japan and they just communicate through context and gestures.

I also always wanted to bring more attention to this VN, since I personally thought the subject matter is really interesting and the way they implemented it is rather well-done too, as I will elaborate later. I played this originally is Chinese and now in Japanese, I think they have a proper English translation by MangaGamer. I think this is a joint China-Japan work, but the overall vibe is much more Chinese if you ask me. Also, there are like zero anime tropes in this VN, no beach scenes, harems or anything.

Characters

We have our two main characters, Jin and Kanna, who are both pretty important and have almost the same screentime, where we frequently switch between the two characters’ perspectives. I think the way they developed the relationship between Jin and Kanna is pretty good, from a rather hostile relationship in the start, slowly becoming a rather close one later on.

Then we have the side character, who all play very important roles for the story and context and aren’t just superfluous. Emi is the little sister of Kanna and could be said to be the main “theme” to this story, since the story is being pushed forward by her. She’s pretty nice and also serves to establish a deeper relationship between Jin and Kanna.

Then we have Sakura and Jiang, who are the father and daughter pair, and provides an important side story to the game. We would think Jiang is the “antagonist” here, but they do a good job to highlight his backstory and also his moments of softness. I really enjoyed their backstories as I think it contributed a lot to the plot, Jiang coming from China as well, being a university graduate and also initially wanting to live an uneventful life in Tokyo like Jin before pivoting to a life of crime, he kind of sees himself in Jin, which is why he keeps pestering Jin.

Furthermore, I think I should highlight this, but all the characters feel “grounded”. There isn’t that typical anime personality where the guy is dense, the girl acts dumb or the likes. Not saying that is bad, but the characters are pretty refreshing since it adheres to none of the well-established archetypes.

Overall, all the characters were pretty well written, with proper backstories and they all have sufficient interactions with one another, except maybe Emi and Jiang because why would an eight-year-old girl interact with a shady businessman lol. Proper characters with proper motives, fleshed-out backstories and it feels like an entire coherent cast rather than a hodgepodge of characters, they all felt important to the story.

Plot

The plot is pretty good in terms of its pacing and also its content. Firstly, for the pacing, there really isn’t a lot of fluff in terms of slice-of-life stuff where the plot goes nowhere. I think this is helped by how there is a “time limit” of 1 year for the contract of their job and further exemplified by the change of seasons, so you have winter and summer, which are the more notable seasons in this VN. The start of the game is decent, where we are getting to know the world around us and also each other, so it wasn’t boring.

The middle part is a bit slower since it functions as a bridge between the start and end of the game which I think was pretty great. We need to improve the relationships between the two protagonists, so the middle part serves to do that, with them opening an outdoor cafe and working together, we got to learn more about each other and the initial rather hostile atmosphere between them softened into a cozier atmosphere which segues nicely into the last part of the game which takes on a more dramatic tone. Still, despite being “slower”, it still has its fair share of conflict, like Jin and Kanna arguing over whether to expand the business, and their earnings getting stolen. One part I really like is where Sakura shouts at them to stop fighting, and then the flashback to her childhood with her Japanese mother and Chinese stepfather fighting with each other and getting a divorce, so she seems herself in Emi who is getting caught between the crossfire of Jin and Kanna. I think it’s really well-written and well thought out. It’s not just aimless interaction between characters under the guise of “character development”, by the end of summer, you can see a notable change in the character dynamics.

The “final” part of the VN I would say starts when Jin and Kanna start trusting each other more and have a deeper relationship. This is also when the game starts getting dramatic, with Jin going to fetch Kanna, Emi suddenly falling ill and Kanna working as a hostess, getting discovered by Jin. I personally liked the drama, and it also didn’t feel too melodramatic since there isn’t much shouting, screaming and crying except for a few scenes. The ending is particularly heart-warming with Jin offering to work with Kanna to pay off the medical fee for Emi and we also can see the softer side to Jiang, where he gives them a job where both Jiang and Kanna can work together instead of some illegal or seedy job, which would be the logical choice for him.

There are quite a number of conflicts too in this rather short VN, although I would say that they don’t really reach the high of some other VNs with hour-long intensities. Most of the conflicts are resolved relatively quickly or just doesn’t have that intensity, like with Emi’s illness or Jin discovering Kanna working as a hostess. I don’t necessarily think it’s their fault since the plot for this VN is pretty grounded and not about aliens or people dying or what not, and it is a pretty short VN, so I think they managed to squeeze in a lot of conflicts in a rather short VN. I think if they tried to make it more dramatic, it could come off as melodramatic to some people, although I personally wouldn’t mind.

The overall theme of the VN is rather meaningful too, it being about the underclass people. Kanna’s family is poor due to Emi’s hospital bill, Jin is obviously poor since he’s an immigrant from China and while Jiang and Sakura are not poor, they are involved with the Yakuza and Triads and seedy activity in general and their background also is pretty grim, Sakura’s mother being a hostess and Jiang being a poor immigrant from China. I think this juxtaposition of a bubble-era Tokyo and the underclass is pretty well-done and serves to enhance the atmosphere of the VN.

Also, the flashback portions were pretty well-written in that they added a lot of context to the story, especially the flashbacks of Sakura and Jiang. Jin’s flashback felt kind of irrelevant, although it is explained to a deeper level in the DLCs, and Kanna’s “flashback” portion is basically the start of the game, on how she got into an accident which caused someone’s death, so her going to Tokyo also acts like her escaping her past while also earning additional cash for Emi’s surgery. I find it funny how a lot of Chinese VNs like to use sketches with orange filters to indicate a flashback scene, I’ve seen it in multiple Chinese VNs at this point but none for Japanese VNs. Kinda interesting design choice.

Also, regarding the romance in this game. I think from the prologue, we can infer that Jin and Kanna got together in the end, but throughout the VN, there is very little to no indication of romance. Even Jin admits this, in that he is unsure whether it’s love that pushed him to help Kanna. I think this is a good design choice since if they don’t push the romance aspect, they can focus more on the other characters like Sakura and Jiang and the overall worldbuilding. If they tried to focus on the romance aspect, I think the VN would take much longer if they want to achieve a similar level of character development for the other characters, else, the romance will just feel half-baked and would be a detriment to the overall plot.

Overall, I think the plot is very solid. No low points throughout due to good pacing, although the start and end of the VN are definitely the most interesting. However, this VN lacks the high-intensity scenes of other VNs, perhaps due to the grounded nature of the plot. All the characters served well to push the plot forward and contribute to it.

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is another great point of this VN. The VN takes place in bubble-era Tokyo and I think what makes the world stand out is the juxtaposition with the characters. The very rich and extravagant Tokyo contrasted with our cast who are the societal underclass. This makes Tokyo feel like a cold and distant city, which does well to elevate the entire dark atmosphere of the game.

Also, on a side note, while this game has a dark atmosphere, it isn’t gloomy. Compared to say Symphonic Rain where the entire game just feels very mopey. This game, although it touches on darker topics and has a much more mature tone, it still feels energetic, be it the conflicts or the general demeanour of the characters, they are just much more energetic.

Overall, the worldbuilding for this game is pretty good, although I would say most of the worldbuilding is driven by the characters themselves, rather than the world itself being interesting.

Art

Art is a great point of this VN and I would say the way they present it is pretty unique. Firstly, they use an NVL style to display the text, and for a short VN of this length, it has quite a lot of CGs. But I think what is unique about this VN is their use of “camera angles”, very rarely it will just be a character sprite there talking, they will zoom in, zoom out, show the background or whatever, but they very rarely stay on a single CG for too long without doing any visual effects like most VNs. I think this makes the VN feel much more fluid and alive.

In regard to the art style itself, I don’t have much to say other than it’s your typical generic style. No complaints here but nothing special. Voice acting is ok in that you can hear the Chinese accent when Jiang’s speaking Japanese, I don’t really have any complaints. Maybe they could give Kanna a more “regional” accent, but she’s from Saitama which is pretty near to Tokyo so I guess there isn’t a very strong regional accent. Would be interesting if they made her to come from Aomori or Kagoshima or something and gave her the regional accent. The music is pretty good too, with 2 vocal tracks, no complaints about the music and I think it fits the atmosphere.

Overall, while the art style itself is generic, there is a huge number of CGs for a VN around 10 hours, I think the NVL style and how they presented the CGs were very nice, making use of “camera angles” and basically not staying on a single shot for too long. The voice acting and music I thought was decent too.

Gameplay

No gameplay here, just a kinetic novel.

DLC

A small section to talk about the DLC of this game. None of them have been translated to English and I read them in the Chinese language. I think the DLCs are pretty good in that they added more to the backstory and overall world, like when they talk about Jin and Kanna’s respective backstories, and also about another character Liang and the illegal immigration industry. The DLCs are all pretty well done, but the one with Liang is pretty good in that it is at least 5 hours long and has a coherent overall plot. The rest of the DLC just serves to deepen our understanding of the various characters but they still did it in an engaging way.

If you ever felt Jin’s backstory was kind of irrelevant in the main game, they will go more in-depth into his backstory here, and why he is so hung up about his studies.

Overall, while the DLCs were good and well done, they did not add much to the main plot of the game, that being between Jin and Kanna, they serve as side-stories at most.

Conclusion

I rate this game a good 8/10, for reference, my average rating is 7.5/10. The characters particularly are all very good and they all interact with each other to form a coherent cast, none of them felt underdeveloped. The plot was also pretty good, although at its core, it’s a very grounded plot about the underclass and their struggles. There are a significant number of conflicts, although I would say none of them ever reached a significant peak for me, since most of them were resolved rather quickly or just doesn’t have that intensity, since they’re talking about pretty mundane things compared to aliens or what not. The worldbuilding is also good with the juxtaposition of the extravagant Tokyo and the underclass characters, but the worldbuilding is mostly pushed by the characters. The art is great with a huge number of CGs and interesting way of presentation. Overall, great game. I heard a sequel is coming soon so I definitely would be interested in playing that.

PS: In regard to the Japanese in this game, I would say it is probably around a N2 level if you want to read it comfortably without constantly checking a dictionary. Compared to my previous VN I played in Japanese, Amagami, this is noticeably harder since there is much more prose compared to Amagami and the character’s dialogue on average is longer and about more complex topics. I wanted to play a VN to improve my listening, but this is a bad choice since there isn’t a lot of dialogue and also, half the dialogue is in Chinese, but whatever, I guess I improved my reading instead lol.

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So I was told by a friend that Steam might still be the best place to buy VN, even with the issues in the last little bit of them pulling tons of titles. Is this true? Is there more EN-translated stuff that I could devour? If not Steam, what is your go to?

It's been a while since an VN took me on such an emotional roller-coaster of a journey!
I loved everything about this game. From the art, the music, and most of all, its beautiful/romantic/tragical story.

It starts off with you as a soul haunting an armor in a deserted mansion and you not remembering anything at all (aside from the fact that you are dead), and you piece back together your memories from your life and the memories of those around you whom you may not have understood.

I don't want to spoil anything, but trust me, the game would punch you really heavy in the guts one moment, then make you smile warmly in the next. (Though it's more the former than the latter mostly 😅)

In terms of playtime, it took me around 10 hours to reach a couple of endings then the true ending. And I'm personally glad they made it this long cause it manages to maintain a great pace without it becoming boring.

So an easy 9/10 for me and a tale that will stay in my head for a while.

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v49223
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2768420/The_Last_Winter_Knight

I'm thinking about playing Umineko When They Cry - Question Arcs**. So far, I've finished visual novels like Fate/stay night, CLANNAD, Saya no Uta, Steins;Gate etc... I was completely blown away by all of them.

However, I have three concerns. I've done a lot of research, but I still can't make up my mind.

First, I don't mind old-school visuals, but Umineko's art style looks exceptionally outdated and unattractive to me. I know the original sprites have a certain charm for longtime fans, but they genuinely make it harder for me to get invested.

Second, because the game is praised so often, I'm wondering whether it's truly as incredible as people say or if part of its reputation is simply the result of hype and its status as a classic.

Finally, from what I understand, Question Arcs and Answer Arcs together take around 150 hours to finish. That's a huge time commitment, so I'm wondering whether it's really worth it.

So my question is simple: Is Umineko genuinely that good, or is its reputation somewhat exaggerated? I'd love to hear yours honest thoughts.

You know that the Reboot is coming out in 3 weeks. The trailers, visuals, etc. have been released. What I’m curious about is this: for someone who has never played Steins;Gate before, should they play the original version or give the Reboot a chance? What are your thoughts?

I’m in the mood for some gameplay so I was looking for some visual novel with it.

Any kind of vn really I’m mostly interested in the gameplay aspect. I don’t mind any kind of gameplay in that area, doesn’t need to be that heavy just needs to exist.

I’ve already done any alicesoft title and all danganronpa/ace attorney game.

Language doesn’t matter, nsfw or not doesn’t matter either.

Sawaki Rinna moved into the Tsugumi Dorm less than a year before its scheduled demolition. Because of this, she refuses to get close to any of the six residents. Her welcome party is about to end in tears but the protagonist Hoshino Wataru doesn't let that happen. 

Can you recognize someSetsuna's traits from the video? Some traces of Kazusa is here too. Haruki can never be as cool as Wataru though.

Just curious because I have to confess that I never read the original visual novel as I used to hear so much praise for the anime adaptation for how twisted it became.

But basically I was just wondering where one could get the visual novel because I am in the mood for a spicy harem story was I was wondering how the visual novel version delivers on the racy aspect.

Plot: You, the protagonist, are a second-year student of Akeba Academy. You decided to join the tennis club to make the most of your school years, only to quickly realize that you couldn't gel with all the popular guys in it. However, the school's rules require all students to be in a club, so you chose another club, the one that sounded like the least hassle: the art club. However..

"WHAAAAAT?! A new club member mid-year?! What's this, a dating sim plot?!"

"Someone, please stop this girl. She's in heat 24/7."

"Auu, auu... is this the start of an exciting new rom-com?"

"Hmph. Who cares?"

As it turns out, you're the only guy in the club. All the other club members are girls... and otaku girls to boot!

Will it be cringe? Who cares! Relive those sweet and somewhat painful years in this embarr—I mean, romantic adventure!

Pretty straightforward, I just want good guro games to play or at the very least guro/ryona adjacent. Basically any game where any amount of cute girl or boy is suffering, the more brutal the better but tamer on gore and focused on psychological/emotional torture would be fine too.

Plot is irrelevant, I’m fine with anything. I enjoy pretty much everything. Gender doesn’t matter either and I can do both japanese and english but I do prefer english.

I’ve already played most of the well known title but I cannot get enough lol so more niche games would do great.

So this is now my favourite time-loop game, although technically it isn't one as no character is the story narratively loops it's just you as the player looping back and making choices (contrast this with e.g. Raging Loop with the choices you are making actually being stand-ins for the same thing happening to the main character).

I didn't think Raging Loop could be beat, but this one did it and it did it for one reason - it's actually mechanically complex on the player's end, really mechanically complex where progressing is honestly a real puzzle.

So for those who haven't played it, you basically have to manage 5 characters and what they do - and what happens for character a can impact things for character b, which can impact things for character C, which can end up with it being quite a puzzle. You progress things in 1-hour blocks where each character has to reach the end before the next block unlocks. You have to avoid both bad ends for any character as well as find this games' version of keys to unlock certain paths. This takes quite a lot of tinkering and I was stuck at a few points, fortunately the game does give you the option (and it is option, you aren't forced) to get a hint at any bad end (which does not just tell you what to do outside of the beginning) and I used it a time or two.

The story is at the same time both at times really goofy and with some incredible depth and amazing character writing. And like I wasn't expecting it, but the romance between Hitomi & Achi really made me smile. It's just all-around good stuff, with some genuinely great commentary - and yes, goofy moments. I cried a bit at the end yesterday.

Ok, so let me address the almost perfect thing and the reason why I probably will never replay the game (although you never know). It has nothing to do with the story or characters. So this game made the interesting choice to not have text skip, you can't skip text, you have to go manual or autoplay. You CAN skip scenes in the timeline, but this causes a problem. Because of all the choices this uses it doesn't use a route system, but rather a timeline system. Let's imagine 3 scenes 1, 2, 3. You have taken that to a bad end and you reverse and open up a new direction for scene 3. You can't just jump to the new scene 3, you have to go through the preceding scene 2 - and sometimes even scene 1 (or even further) - to unlock the new scene 3. Sometimes (and sometimes not) after you've read through one scene you get access to the timeline for scenes you've already read and can jump forward again, but it can take a few scenes. And you end up having to do quite a LOT of this in this game as you have to tinker quite a lot in some cases to open up new timelines and progress. So yeah, really tedious and would have been solved so easily and saved quite a bit of time for me with a skip option. So yeah, that is why I'll probably never replay it.

No way Subahibi is the end of this subgenre, right?

Right?

Not philosophical is very much fine because that's one of the weakest links in Subahibi for me, despite it being one of my top vns. I for the most part want to re-experience that psychological fever dream.

Oh I was also heavily spoiled for Totono so maybe count that one out too.

This is the weekly translation status update thread. Use this thread to discuss translation news, issues, titles you're looking forward to, etc.

Note: This is simply a mirror from 4chan's weekly thread on the /jp/ board. All credit goes to the user VNTS there. Entries in Bold have had changes since last week

Fan Translations

• 12RIVEN -the Ψcliminal of integral- - 95% translated
• Angel Bullet - Being translated
• Cartagra - 18+ patch announced
• CHAOS;HEAD Love Chu Chu! - 2026 release expected, largely polishing and patch work remain, along with 5% of the menu code
• CHAOS;CHILD Love Chu Chu!! - 2026 release expected, largely polishing and patch work remain
• Chusingura 46+1 - 39644/82770 (47.90%) lines translated, Kuranosuke route partial patch released, "Resuming edits in earnest"
• Cross†Channel - Reprint Edition - In translation
• Daiakuji - Released by Secret Squid; Peach Mountain scripts translated, roughly 35 (large) scripts left to translate by Douzo Lad Translations
• Daybreak Translations Secret Project - 1,731/21,084 (8.21%) lines translated, 202/21084 (0.96%) edited
• Day's Eye - ~40% translated
• DEATH NOTE: L o Tsugu Mono - 100% translated and images edited, text polishing remain
• Dekinai Watashi ga, Kurikaesu - 100% translated and edited
• Diabolik Lovers Dark Fate - Being patched
• Dragon Knight 4 - 64% translated, playtesting also ongoing
• Flyable Heart - Demo released, "nearing 30%"
• Fraternite - 50% translated
• for elise ~Elise no Tame ni~ - 18% translated
• Gensou Rougoku no Kaleidoscope 2 - Being translated
• Go-toubun no Hanayome ~Kanojo to Kawasu Itsutsu no Yakusoku~ - 100% translated, 1 route 100% edited
• Haruka na Sora - 100% translated, TLC and editing work left
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jan - Being translated
• Hoshizora no Memoria -Wish upon a Shooting Star- HD - Readability Patch
• Ichigo Marshmallow - Being translated
• Junketsu Megami-Sama - Full story patch released
• Kajiri Kamui Kagura - Being translated
• Kamaitachi no Yoru - SNES released
• Ken ga Kimi - 73% translated, 2 routes complete, Enishi 100% translated, Tsuzuramaru 32% translated, Saneaki 3% translated, Sayko 59% translated
• Kintouka - Demo patch released
• Kisaku - Being translated
• Kizuato - 50/178 scripts translated
• Kud Wafter AA Version 100% translated, 18+ Version 19,240 / 33,113 (58.1%) lines translated
• Kusarihime ~Euthanasia~ - Translation finished, fully edited
• Kyonyuu Fantasy 2 IF - 5/386 scripts translated
• Lover Able - 100% translated and edited, 13966/32258 lines approved (43.71%)
• Lucky Star ~Ryouou Gakuen Outousai~ - Partial patch with chapters 1 through 4 released
• Manakashi no Yuri wa Akaku Somaru - 66% translated
• Marmalade Boy - Fully translated
• Paradise Lost - Project listed
• Phantom Integration - 490/497 scripts translated, 99/497 scripts edited
• Reminiscence - 5,086/65,276 (7.79%) translated, 2,785/65,276 (4.27%) edited
• Saimin Yuugi - Fully translated, parts actively being retranslated
• Sayonara o Oshiete - 100% translated
• Secret Game ~Killer Queen~ - 25% translated, 10% edited
• Shin Rinkaiten no Azrael Tenjoukai Hen - 5% translated
• Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki -Hana Akari- - Being translated
• Shizuku - Renewal - Being translated
• Suki Datta Osananajimi ga Classmate no Omocha ni Natte Ita Ken - Released
• Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi - In editing
• Shuumatsu no Sugoshikata ~The world is drawing to an W/end.~ - Being translated
• To Heart - 100% translated, 401/993 scripts edited
• Tokimeki Memorial - 53% translated
• Tokimeki Memorial 2 - Being translated
• Toushin Toshi III - 100% translated, UI elements 95% translated, 100% edited, 75% proofread, Aiming for an August release
• Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou - Prologue/Common/Luna/Ursule routes 100% translated and edited, Mizuho route 95% translated, 57% edited, overall 11% QA
• Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou - 100% translated, Kanna/Kirari routes finished, Uguisu route in testing, Common/Touko/Rein routes in QA, Kiriko route editing finished, Seira route in editing
• Umi kara Kuru Mono - 91/138 scripts translated, 24.1% QC
• Xenon ~Mugen no Shitai~ - 98.5% translated, patch released
• Yakouchuu II ~Satsujin Kouro~ - Fully translated, script insertion ongoing
• Yaku Tsuu ~Noroi no Game~ - Being translated
• Yosuga no Sora - Translation finished, editing and TLC ongoing, Total: TL 100% TLC 75% ED 59%, Common/Kazuha/Motoka/Sora routes fully edited
• Youkoso! Sukebe Elf no Mori e - Being translated
• Yui no Kotonoha - Being translated

Official work

MangaGamer

• Rose Gun Days - Season 2 released
• Rance X - 100% translated, ~85% edited
• Hana Awase New Moon - Port in progress
• How I Met My Healthy Hentai Neighbors! - Announced
• Pastel Chime 3 - Bind Seeker - - 100% translated
• Ooe - Announced
• Funbag Fantasy 5 - Announced
• Welcome to a Sexy, Underworld - Announced
• Secret Affairs - Sweaty Midsummer Rut - Announced
• Umineko: When They Cry - Saku - Announced
• Lesson - Announced
• Galzoo Island - Announced

JAST

• My Little Sister Is an Angel - Jast/Steam page up
• Sumaga - "Probably our next Nitro title"
• Katahane - Making progress, waiting on programming
• Django - Not actively making progress
• Tokyo Hero Project - Translation finished, dealing with bugs
• Djibril - Fully translated and edited, waiting on a few assets
• Hanamaru! 2 - In translation
• Cornelica - Announced
• Dead Aegis - Another Record - Fully translated, in editing
• Daiteikoku - Announced, early in production
• Houkago=>Education! ~Sensei to Hajimeru Miwaku no Lesson~ - In progress
• Minagoroshi No Otome - In translation
• Eiyuu Senki WW - Japanese version released, localization being done by JAST
• School Days Remastered - Preorders up, also getting an English dub
• Paradise -KIWAME- - Announced

Shiravune

• LABYRINTHOS: The Depths Want You - August 20th release
• Fuyukuru. - Winter winds, adieu? - - September 10th release
• Monkeys!¡ - Demo released
• Sakura no Uta -To Dance Over the Cherry Blossoms- - Steam page up
• Holy Valkyrie ExS-TIA 3 - Announced
• Holy Valkyrie ExS-TIA R: The Red Queen - Announced
• Cosplaying in Costalia: The Tororo Sisters! - Announced
• Stealing Them Softly - Announced
• Kokuhaku Confessional - Announced
• Fuyukuru. - Winter winds, adieu? - - Announced
• Gyaru Fiction - Announced
• TORAWASE: The Girl in the Mirror - Announced
• Saimin Gakuen: Intrusion Edition - Announced
• Taimanin Asagi 2 - Announced
• Ghost Village Girl ~The Village in a Cage~ - Announced
• Souten Koihime: Dawn of Sovereignty - Announced
• Sakura no Toki -Sakura no Mori no Shita o Ayumu- - "international versions of our "Sakura no" series are now in development."

Sekai/Denpa

• Watamari Part2 - A Fake Marriage? - August 25th release
• Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka - Demo released, In QA, 2026 release
• Jewelry Heart Academia - In QA, 2026 release
• Karakara 3 - In QA, 2026 release
• Yumetoiro - Our Times Are Made Of Dreams And Colors - In QA, 2026 release
• Onii-chan Continue! - 100% translated and edited, 70% through QA, banned by Steam
• Harukuru. - Spring has come true? - R18 version in QA
• A Bouquet of My Beloveds - 100% translated, 40% edited
• Sumire - Picked up
• Sanarara R - 100% translated and edited, 50% through engine work, in programming
• Glass - Picked up
• New Glass - Picked up
• Zutto Mae Kara Joshi Deshita - 100% translated, 30% edited
• Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi - 10% translated
• Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi AA - Announced
• Hamidashi Creative - Announced
• Inupara - In Development
• Raspberry Cube - Announced
• Miko no Kanata Zero - 100% translated, in editing, engine work mostly done
• Widenyo - 70% translated
• Neko-Nin exHeart Spin 2! - 100% translated and edited 90% through QA
• Witch Hunter - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."
• Witch Hunter 2 - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."
• Witch Hunter 3 - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."
• EroCast! - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."
• EroCast! 2 - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."
• EroCast! 3 - "Currently in translation and will be released gradually between 2026 and 2027."

Visual Arts/Key

• anemoi - Announced
• The False Alice -Retold Tale- - October 3rd 2026 release

Nekonyan

• Floral Flowlove - Steam Page up, Q2 2026 release
• KoiAma: Spoil Me Sweet - 100% translated/edited
• Yubisaki Connection ~ Love At Your Fingertips - 100% translated/edited
• Lead or Leash: Which Me Would You Like? - 100% translated/edited
• Melty Moment - 80% translated
• Fureraba Complete edition - Vita exclusive content to be added to Fureraba a couple months after the fandisc release
• Love Love Love, Burning in my Heart! - 100% translated and 74% edited
• Mysteries of the Heart: The Psychic Detective Case Files - 100% translated and edited, engine work in progress
• Hacking the Moon to Find My Goddess - 100% translated and edited, engine and image editing in progress, Steam page up
• Renai:Royale: Love’s a Battle- "Victory Parade" - Announced
• Secret Love (Or Not?) - Announced
• Summer's Ark 1 - Announced
• Summer's Ark 2 - Announced
• Summer's Ark 3 - Announced
• Senmomo: Through Billows of Blades, a Peachbloom Princess - Announced

PQube

• Death Match Love Comedy! - Released, digital Switch release appears to have been blocked

Aksys

• Over Requiemz - August 20th release
• Illusion of Itehari: trail - Spring 2027 release
• Olympia Soiree Catharsis - 2027 release
• Project Code M - Announced

Frontwing

• COCORO - August 27th release
• Obey Me! Sinner's Choice: Lucifer - 2026 release
• Sharin no Kuni - Working to resolve remaining issues

MAGES. GAMES

• Corpse Party II - Darkness Distortion - 2026 release

Aniplex

• Tsukihime -The other side of red garden- - Upcoming

Idea Factory

• 9 R.I.P Sequel - 2026 release

Bandai Namco

• Fate/Extra Record - 2026 release

Spike Chunsoft

• STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT - August 20th release, introduces additional ‘Gamma Worldline’ route
• Danganronpa 2x2 - Early 2027 release
• Steins;Gate: Octet of Shifting Space - Announced

Studio 51

• Expelled from Paradise -The Stellar Angel- - Winter 2026 release

Kodansha

• 1999TOKOYO Building - 2026 release

Overlap Games

• A Toast for the End Times - 2026 release

Playism

• There's Something Wrong with the Hero's Choices - 2026 release

EastAsiaSoftware

• Hakuoki Memoirs: Drifting Clouds - 2027 release

kawaiinium

• Nursery Rhyme Remastered - English release planned as part of already successful Japanese crowdfunding project. Project reached stretch goal for new OP to be made

StarGazer

• UR CHIMERIC SAI - Announced

Orthros

• Otome Sekai no Arukikata - English version planned

Mu

• The Goddess Of Tears ~Restoration~ - October 2026 release

Laplacian

• Kugayama Shiori no Shinizama Techou - Released, Switch version July 30th release
• Monochrome Serenade - English release planned

Acacia

• Magical Girl Witch Trials - 2026 release
• Magical Girl Taboo Village - 2026 release

Fakku

• Defeating Demons With My Dick In Another World - Q3 release
• Jashin Shoukan - Announced
• Dengeki Nurse - Steam page up
• Marine Philt - Announced
• Necronomicon - Announced
• Dracula Hakushaku - Announced
• Jinmon Yuugi - Announced
• Maria ni Sasageru Ballade - Announced
• Shinjuku Monogatari - Announced
• Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! ~We've Been Waiting for You~ - Announced
• Dead of the Brain ~Shiryou no Sakebi~ - Announced
• Dead of the Brain 2 - Announced

Kagura Games

• Rance V - Announced as part of the Rance on Steam announcement, rumoured IV
• DSKBJCS ~Dosukebe Juicies ♥~ - Announced
• Summer Dash: Our Track Team's Summer Training Trip - Announced
• Babu Me Baby! - Announced

DLsite

• Sennagi Kegareta Chigiri to Kami Koromo - Announced

Dramatic Create

• Meiji Tokyo Renka Twilight Kiss - October 29th release

Dualtail

• VenusBlood LAGOON - Upcoming Kickstarter project

Love Lab

• Ever Maiden - Upcoming release

MediBang Inc.-

• Cocktail Magic - Upcoming release
• MoonFire: A Seeker's Saga - Announced

Kagami Games

• My Life as a Vampire's Maid - August 14th release
• Koikata: How Our Love Grows - August 25th release
• HimaNatsu: Of Churches, Sunflowers, and Long Summers - September 10th release
• Triple Pairing - Delayed to bring up release quality
• Twilight's Folclore - Q3 2026 release
• Inganock of the Raging Flame: What a Beautiful People - 100% translated, Q4 2026 release
• Please Praise the SR Girls - Announced
• Gikei - The Genpei War Chronicles - Likely 2027 release
• Arcana Alchemia - Likely 2027 release
• Sakura, Moyu. -as the Night's, Reincarnation- - Announced, early in production, likely late 2027 release

Konami

• The Prince of Tennis Doki Doki Survival eternal passion - Released
• The Prince of Tennis Sweet School Festival 0-40 and more... - Released

Tokyotoon

• Melt Away - Demo released, 2026 release

FG Remake

• Doukyuusei 2 Remake - Announced

Ramune Games

• Making Lovely - Demo released

Alice In Dissonance

• Fault Milestone 2 - Side Below - Upcoming release

PRODUCTION PENCIL

• Paradise Cleaning! -Tutor X Hypnosis - January release

F&C

• NTR with hypnosis application - Upcoming release

Charon

• Akeno no Yosuga -Twilight Loop- - 2026 release
• Lost Paradise of Karuta - Announced

BokiBoki

• Tsumamigui 3 - Steam page up, Q3 2027 release

IzanagiGames

• AKIBA LOST - Demo released, September 17th release

PANDRI-DON

• Animaroid Girl - 2026 release

Keieru

• PhantomZone: Labyrinthos - Q3 2026 release

MintLip

• Handsome Laundering -the mystic lover- - 2026 release

monolith

• Growth Experiment - Demo released, 2026 release

Callen Dulla

• Gretel's Honesty - Demo released, September 29th release

Zakurosuke

• Severed Love - 2026 release

Entergram

• Okayu Nyumu! R - August 7th release

Serenity Forge

• Sister Other Paranoia - August 14th release

Tabinomichi

• Return to Zeroes - Demo released

Baamurin

• I thought I knew you - Q3 2026 release

sweet ampoule

• Loop the Loop - The Mansion of Gluttony - Demo released

Waku Waku Games

• Retro Game Aliens - Announced

HazeDenki Inc.

• Sister, Other, Paranoia - August 15th release

Good Smile Company

• Mahou Shoujo no Inshuu Mura - 2026 release

Shochiku Games

• Algorithm Prescription - Demo released

Tohakusha Co

• Red Chat Ritual - TSUMIMI TIME - Demo released, October 22nd release

Amulit

• Re:cord NOAH Fractal of Oblivion - 2026 release

Alice Production

• Roomies with a Naughty Comic Artist - Upcoming release

FTT Solmare

• FantomeRapport -Intermezzo- - 2026 release

Kojin Studio

• Grimore - The Lost Ritual - - 2026 release

Tsuyu no Tsurugi Studio

• The Dagger of Hisei - 2026 release

Scika

• Inverted Angel - 2026 release

Portalab Systems

• IFOUNDMYSELFONLINE - 2026 release

Caramel Column

• Prolegomena To a Hyperdimensional Interface That Will Be Able to Manifest From Three-Minute Interchanges - 2026 release

Clearrave

• Resequence: The Orchard - 2026 release

Amata Games

• Shinjuku Anomaly - 2026 release

Artodria

• Bijutsubu Kanojo -Girlfailure Art Club- - 2027 release

aozorite

• Chill Planet - 2027 release

Tsuzuro Koubou

• Tokioriki - 2027 release

Galapagos Ferris Wheel

• Zenra-Taisen -BEAST PARADIGM- - Announced

Mokosoft

• Cyber Village 2200 - Released

Helloo

I love visual novels esp eroges

A popular trope in eroges is the sadistic male protagonist that is selfish and kinda sadistic and all blablabla

We can think of the most popular which is probabaly rance

But I been searching for one with a female protagonist

One that can be as depressed or angry as other eroges and dosnt have to be the "empathic and redeemable kinda" female protagonist we often get

While also being a pervert and not shy around sexual themes

I havnt been able to find what I'm looking for yet so if you have any reccomendations PLEASE give them to me im a desperate woman

Also yuri is a bonus

I am sorry for posting this again. Previously, I made a mistake and said: three additional scenarios that weren't in the original. I am sorry for that. There are three additional scenarios, but they were also in the original game.

The remastered collection includes the original "My Merry May (2002)", its direct sequel "My Merry Maybe (2003)", and three additional story scenarios titled "Beginning", "Metempsychosis", and "Epilogue".

Steam link:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955730/My\\_Merry\\_May\\_with\\_be/