Sakura no Uta -Sakura no Mori no Ue o Mau-
released on Oct 23, 2015
Spring. After the death of his father - a world-famous artist - left him without any living relatives, protagonist Kusanagi Naoya is put under the care of his friend Natsume Kei's family. There, his homeroom teacher Natsume Ai, and Kei's younger sister - the actress Natsume Shizuku - await him in turn. And with the arrival of the new school term, Misakura Rin - Naoya's childhood friend who transferred long ago - reappears right before him. Beyond the veil of cherry blossom petals blown by the wind - almost like their promised reunion -- Feelings pile up with the passage of time: once the torrent of emotions comes rushing down, what is the spectacle that awaits? A complete re-imagining of the stalled Sakura no Uta project by SCA-Ji, the writer of Subarashiki Hibi.
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Learnt a language for this shit x21
read in spanish, plan to reread in japanese eventually, but putting that aside, my biggest problems id say about this visual novel, is that it has some pretty terrible pacing problems. however other than that it has some really great emotionally impactful moments especially for the final 3 chapters. ill be looking forward to reading toki, really hope it lives up to my expectations!
Should I read Sakura no Uta?
1. Do I like art as a general concept and see it to be this higher aim in life, rather than esteeming only great works of art themselves? Would I be able to relate to life of a loser rich kid, who does art and can't live up to his extremely skilled father's legacy? Do I think I have more connection to art than other people do?
2. Do I particularly like the usual visual novel type of storytelling, where I go through countless hours of SoL and become familiar to the characters before any drama/action happens? In this case, am I willing to put up with 30 hours of some of the most tedious and horrible SoL and worst jokes ever penned in the history of literature? (Even many of its fans say the first half is skip-worthy tier content that is only redeemed by the second half. And CLANNAD comparisons are more spot on than you think.)
3. Does a big portion of my enjoyment come from how works of art are presented and their external aspects, such as the art style, the atmosphere, the music, the prose, etc? If yes, would I like to read a version of SubaHibi where blue sky is substituted with a sakura theme?
4. Do I enjoy wordplays and am I going to be reading it in Japanese?
5. Do I particularly like lesbians?
These are the main questions.
Just... don't hope for any of the creativity you saw in the author's previous game at all in this. This is made for the art, the atmosphere, the music, and the wordplays. The story is just an afterthought.
SubaHibi's a focused artistic statement and this is just autofiction. The reason why it takes so much time with horrible and tedious SoL in the first place is because the author knows he doesn't have the material for a compelling story, so he instead sets the reader's expectations low with countless wasted hours. It is also the same reason the MC isn't voiced. However, if you're not the type of person to read it for its story, you're probably going to like the story very much too.
If narrative is your first priority, I would recommend MUSICUS over this. The presentation is deliberately bland, but it incorporates the same themes in a more gripping way, and it even has these very unique things called "consistency" and "a proper ending." Setoguchi Renya and SCAJI both create art for artists, as well as share a fundamentally pessimistic worldview, but Setoguchi is a more skillful storyteller.
SubaHibi and SakuUta share the same relation as Mahoyo and Tsukihime - in both cases, the former establishes an all around mastery, while the latter has one aspect of the former which it concentrates. One is restrained and exquisite, while the other is free form and highly fun. Though I don't think this is nearly as well written as Tsukihime is. Basically, this is SCAJI at his most SCAJI. Which means that if SubaHibi is one of your all-time favorites, you need to read this.
Expect to see this game let a lot of people down once it is translated to English. Extremely drawn out, horribly arranged. Just frustrating. Most of this game (80% at a generous estimate) is just unlikeable garbage. The story is downright ridiculous at points. I think many people will be surprised by the content. Honestly it's oddly close to CLANNAD...
5 no's from me. I MTL'd this though, so opinions may differ. (Though I got permission from a Japanese dude for that.)
1. Do I like art as a general concept and see it to be this higher aim in life, rather than esteeming only great works of art themselves? Would I be able to relate to life of a loser rich kid, who does art and can't live up to his extremely skilled father's legacy? Do I think I have more connection to art than other people do?
2. Do I particularly like the usual visual novel type of storytelling, where I go through countless hours of SoL and become familiar to the characters before any drama/action happens? In this case, am I willing to put up with 30 hours of some of the most tedious and horrible SoL and worst jokes ever penned in the history of literature? (Even many of its fans say the first half is skip-worthy tier content that is only redeemed by the second half. And CLANNAD comparisons are more spot on than you think.)
3. Does a big portion of my enjoyment come from how works of art are presented and their external aspects, such as the art style, the atmosphere, the music, the prose, etc? If yes, would I like to read a version of SubaHibi where blue sky is substituted with a sakura theme?
4. Do I enjoy wordplays and am I going to be reading it in Japanese?
5. Do I particularly like lesbians?
These are the main questions.
Just... don't hope for any of the creativity you saw in the author's previous game at all in this. This is made for the art, the atmosphere, the music, and the wordplays. The story is just an afterthought.
SubaHibi's a focused artistic statement and this is just autofiction. The reason why it takes so much time with horrible and tedious SoL in the first place is because the author knows he doesn't have the material for a compelling story, so he instead sets the reader's expectations low with countless wasted hours. It is also the same reason the MC isn't voiced. However, if you're not the type of person to read it for its story, you're probably going to like the story very much too.
If narrative is your first priority, I would recommend MUSICUS over this. The presentation is deliberately bland, but it incorporates the same themes in a more gripping way, and it even has these very unique things called "consistency" and "a proper ending." Setoguchi Renya and SCAJI both create art for artists, as well as share a fundamentally pessimistic worldview, but Setoguchi is a more skillful storyteller.
SubaHibi and SakuUta share the same relation as Mahoyo and Tsukihime - in both cases, the former establishes an all around mastery, while the latter has one aspect of the former which it concentrates. One is restrained and exquisite, while the other is free form and highly fun. Though I don't think this is nearly as well written as Tsukihime is. Basically, this is SCAJI at his most SCAJI. Which means that if SubaHibi is one of your all-time favorites, you need to read this.
Expect to see this game let a lot of people down once it is translated to English. Extremely drawn out, horribly arranged. Just frustrating. Most of this game (80% at a generous estimate) is just unlikeable garbage. The story is downright ridiculous at points. I think many people will be surprised by the content. Honestly it's oddly close to CLANNAD...
5 no's from me. I MTL'd this though, so opinions may differ. (Though I got permission from a Japanese dude for that.)
MTL'd, I plan to reread in future when I become proficient enough in JP
Mid
Precuela de la obra maestra