Apology Letter to AoKana Fans

I'm sorry everyone when I said the EXTRAs were just sprite milking Aokana. I wasn't familiar with their game.


This score 4/5 is a semblance and to show people one thing: I literally started this game with no expectations, kind of forced myself to play to see if it was really good out of slight, minimal curiosity. Even though Misaki is a character I'm not very interested in within the Aokana world (she ranks behind Asuka and Rika for me), sprite surprised me and brought simply the best production in the history of VNs.

What I mean by this is that when something is genuinely good, there is no "right moment" to start; it'll be good the moment you begin, as long as you keep an open mind and trust the author. 5 fucking years, I didn't even care about the existence of Aokana or sprite anymore. And now this.

I am absolutely certain that there is no other VN as of the date I'm writing this, 29/05/2024, with the artistic quality and care that this entry has, even though I am a big fan of toneworks' art. I usually like to write funnier and simpler reviews but damn, this is a masterclass in writing.

First of all, it's with small details that a well-written work is created.


THIS

IS

FUCKING

SPORT.

THIS IS WHY HUMANITY LOVES SPORT.

I don't even remember when was the last time I was such euphoric and that a VN gave me so many emotions.

The way the sport is treated, how the characters rival each other, it's truly from someone who understands what they're writing about. For example, the pre and post-games provocations scenes in Chapter 3 is FANTASTIC. That is VERY WELL written. It's part of the sport and the whole context created for that scene is phenomenal. This is something that is currently happening at the bodybuilding Olympia. It's a very similar scene that I immediately connected with. Random mention but yeah, it's an example. Even though sport isn't a genre I really like, the way Aokana does it is mesmerizing. In a genre that all seems the same, Aokana does it differently.
The characters in Aokana, and now specifically Misaki, being well-developed doesn’t surprise me. It has always been this way. I like how they are well characterized and used at just the right moment. In this same Chapter 3, the scene where Asuka appears to stop Mayu from provocating Misaki (look at how incredible it is that a 2-minute scene can say so much—honestly, this was the best scene in the VN for me), just having Asuka there to defuse the situation, the way she is portrayed so decisively and like a hero/heroine (it wasn't the first time she did it), you look and think, "Heh, just as expected from her, that’s Asuka."
The fact Masaya didn't stop was just showing how chad all this is, because he and the author KNOWS HOW SPORT WORKS. Players put their hearts on the line in these matches.
"I think that we should move beyond the mind games and compete fair and square, but that doesn't mean I think they're cowardly or unfair. If you think they'll gain the advantage, then you'll take it."
And the matches are the best thing in this title, as I said, congratulations sprite, you were dead, and came out of the blue to create the best-produced VN of our time so far.

AND FUCK YEAH I ALWAYS SAW THAT THE SOUNDTRACKS OF THIS GAME HAD THE POTENTIAL TO VOCALS, AND THEY FUCKING DID IT TO MOST OF THEM LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS ISSSSSSSSSIOP JOFIREJIORFJWEQIPFJWIOEGJIPOEJGIPOSDAJIPFGJSIPOAGJIPOSJ
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ok now make an asuka extra so I can say it's kinography
WHY THE HELL THE TWO BEST GIRLS THE DUDES HAVEN'T MADE IT YET
no, actually, make all extras you want, sprite. Please make that extra you said you cancelled, that girl is hot.

But honestly, Aokana will probably never get a 5/5 from me. Despite having an extremely creative sport and solid, well-developed characters, I am not a fan of its simple idea of keeping all the worldbuilding confined to a regional championship. There are numerous mentions and ideas about how far the world of Aokana could go with the development of an international career for the characters or a coming-of-age story related to it.

In conclusion, in the story it set out to tell, focusing on its characters, I believe Aokana reached 100% of its potential in what the author wanted to achieve. However, as a title and from my personal perspective, I'd say it utilized only 50%, half of all the capacity and potential it had.

However, I take this as a happy ending.
AoKana Extra2 revives the series once and for all and shows that it is still capable of going far beyond the sky.

This was far
far
far
far above my expectations.

Please make more sequels I'm not joking

Inui Saki not having a route is one of the biggest mistakes I've ever seen in this medium by far, but you has still time to do it. I can even sacrifice an Asuka route just for her. Do it.

"I'm happy, but more than that, I'm exhausted.
I'm delighted, but more than that, I'm jealous.
I'm over the moon, but more than that, I'm so, so proud of Misaki."

I think the pros are obvious. Pretty much anything related to flying circus is quite solid, even great. Any development related to Misaki and FC was nice If kind of expected. I would say the better parts of the flying circus stuff was seeing other characters get the limelight that sorely needed some serious moments. And of course, the presentation by Sprite and filmic novel is top notch. I liked a bunch of the remixed tracks of original BGM.

Sadly the one thing that makes me not think extra two is nearly as hype as other people think... Is that Misaki unfortunately is still really annoying with her joking style in basically any slice of life or romance scene. While I enjoyed her flying circus stuff just fine, I pretty much dreaded anything where she's just let loose with her jokes cuz they are not my thing at all and I just every time she talks I always think " Man, I would much prefer going out with any of the three other main heroines: wholesome Mary Sue Asuka, the subdued but stable Rika, and even Mashiro (as long as shegets her development from her route and extra one)

That said, the flying circus stuff is definitely great enough to at least give this a low 8 out of 10. Just fix that overrated Misaki personality please!

This is basically everything I wanted out of Aokana + so much more. Misaki was already fantastic in her route of the base game and this just brings her character to another level. How they handle everything pertaining to the spirit of competition was phenomenal. I don't consume much sports media but this has made me want to because oml it's so good. The cg quality is also a huge step up from the original and there are SO much banger vocal tracks here. And saving the best praise for last the FC matches go fucking insane, they were already great in OG but in here they're on an entirely different level, there was not one FC match here that didn't have me on the edge of my seat.

Even things I didn't care for much in the orignal I found myself adoring here, biggest example being the romance which I thought was cringe in the original, but here? That's some good shit. The SoL segments are also great which is nice considering I didn't care much for the SoL past common route in base game. It may sound like I'm shitting on the base game a LOT here but I still like that shit a lot, it's just that this is on an entirely different level of quality.

We stan Misaki