Rose Guns Days is set in an alternate world history where Japan loses World War II because of a natural disaster. Facing occupation by the American and Chinese armies and assorted mafia groups, Japanese people are thus on the verge of becoming a minority in their own country. The nightclub Primavera, owned by Rose Haibara, attempts to improve quality-of-life and preserve Japanese culture and in the process becomes an organized crime syndicate.
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This review contains spoilers
I just finished Season 3, and just want to say: GABRIEL FUCK YOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU (you're so cool tho)
banGGEGGGGERRRR
Look I adore WTC, Higurashi is a classic, Umineko is peak fiction, where the fuck is Cioncia Phase 2, etc
But god the charm of this VN wins me over bad, all of the characters are fun or interesting in their own little ways, the alt history bent of the story is fascinating, with tons of twists and turns, and a weird clicking mini-game to emulate fighting to boot. I felt the ending should have been a little stronger? though it does wrap itself up nicely at least if not tragically. I might edit this review later as it's been literal years since I read it, but I remember it being a really good time.
But god the charm of this VN wins me over bad, all of the characters are fun or interesting in their own little ways, the alt history bent of the story is fascinating, with tons of twists and turns, and a weird clicking mini-game to emulate fighting to boot. I felt the ending should have been a little stronger? though it does wrap itself up nicely at least if not tragically. I might edit this review later as it's been literal years since I read it, but I remember it being a really good time.
good time
Awesome cast, incredible emotional peaks, full of unexpected twists... 1948 is a middling blemish on this otherwise incredibly enjoyable story.
This review contains spoilers
RGD has a very interesting premise and setting with its post-war Japan being encroached upon by America and China. The cast is generally likable with good designs, especially Leo and Caleb who are exceedingly charismatic. The story never reaches the heights of Higurashi or Umineko, but it's solid with at least one very cool moment per season like the final showdowns with Alfred and Caleb. RGD also unfortunately displays Ryukishi's bad writing habits that I first noticed in Ciconia. He has a tendency to get laser-focused on a concept and repeat it ad-nauseam. This is especially apparent with the Soy Sauce War and job trucks in season 3. Season 3 in general was a massive dip in enjoyment for me with Leo and Caleb being replaced by the much less charismatic Wang and Wandering Dogs, the focus on the aforementioned Soy Sauce War/job trucks, and the slow pacing with it being the longest of the 4 seasons. The focus on Primavera trying to win the cultural and economical wars of post-war japan is a perfectly understandable concept, but unfortunately it's just not fun to read about and the focus on soy sauce in particular just feels juvenile and petty. Overall though it's nice seeing the characters from Primavera grow and follow different paths, ultimately leading to the conflicts in season 4. Season 4 (and the ending of season 3 leading into it) is where RGD finally becomes consistently engaging with notable deaths raising the stakes, good new additions to the cast in Keith, Alan and Yuki, and well-paced doses of the action, betrayal and tragedy that suit a mafia story. It's just a shame it took until the last season for it to reach that level of quality. The music is good enough, there's a few standout tracks but it's generally much weaker than the stellar set that is the umineko soundtrack or the atmospheric and heartbreaking higurashi soundtrack. The art was nice and an interesting switchup from the usual silly yet charming ryukishi portraits. The cut-ins for the fights were especially cool and really added to the impact. Overall, RGD has its ups and downs like any VN but it never really justifies the time investment until the last 10 hours or so. It's solid and I wouldn't tell someone not to read it, but it probably wouldn't come up if I was giving out recommendations.