NowItsAngeTime
Overall it was pretty good. Had a pretty nice down to earth feel to it. Outside a little of the 'lewd' humor and Tesshin outbursts being cringe, the character felt like people you could meet IRL while still having some moege-isms.
I liked learning about different aspects of the Japanese voice acting industry in common route and each of the 3 heroine routes.
Yukako's was more on the aspect of taking care of your personal health. Konatsu's was more of quickly adapting and learning if you're a 'golden rookie' as well as dealing with bitchy coworkers. Itsumi was all about perseverance and trying new things when in a rut.
All the main characters were pretty likable which was nice. The romance was decent enough, mostly integrated with the personal development of the main heroines, though it did the confession -> instant sex thing. Also I was kinda uncomfortable with Konatsu route being full on blood incest.
Don't have too much else to say on overall thoughts, just a solid, fun, and informative time.
My favorite girl and route was probably Itsumi? She had the most 'underdog' story and I liked her development most, though as said above all 3 were p good.
I liked learning about different aspects of the Japanese voice acting industry in common route and each of the 3 heroine routes.
Yukako's was more on the aspect of taking care of your personal health. Konatsu's was more of quickly adapting and learning if you're a 'golden rookie' as well as dealing with bitchy coworkers. Itsumi was all about perseverance and trying new things when in a rut.
All the main characters were pretty likable which was nice. The romance was decent enough, mostly integrated with the personal development of the main heroines, though it did the confession -> instant sex thing. Also I was kinda uncomfortable with Konatsu route being full on blood incest.
Don't have too much else to say on overall thoughts, just a solid, fun, and informative time.
My favorite girl and route was probably Itsumi? She had the most 'underdog' story and I liked her development most, though as said above all 3 were p good.
I only read Ayame's route. I hated most of the humor, too much "MC bullying", especially from Aoi and Yuki's side but Mahiru wasn't particularly good either.
The plot structure was unique but also obnoxious. Skits were nice, and branch endings are interesting but Cupid Flower stuff just adding SoL scenes but you could only see AFTER you completed the main route ending was stupid.
I was not a fan of the execution of supernatural stuff. Should've been removed.
I loved Ayame's personality and humor. However her route drama was just meh rushed nakige stuff.
Chiho and Rinka not getting screentime until after you complete a route or 2 is stupid.
Also Eri and Maya not getting routes while Yuki, Mahiru, and 2 randos do is one of the biggest VN scams. Makes sense why ChuableSoft died.
The plot structure was unique but also obnoxious. Skits were nice, and branch endings are interesting but Cupid Flower stuff just adding SoL scenes but you could only see AFTER you completed the main route ending was stupid.
I was not a fan of the execution of supernatural stuff. Should've been removed.
I loved Ayame's personality and humor. However her route drama was just meh rushed nakige stuff.
Chiho and Rinka not getting screentime until after you complete a route or 2 is stupid.
Also Eri and Maya not getting routes while Yuki, Mahiru, and 2 randos do is one of the biggest VN scams. Makes sense why ChuableSoft died.
2019
This is a basically a comfy slice of life version of the slightly uncommon "peasant MC in a rich high school" setting. While there is some melodrama it's generally resolved pretty quickly.
There's also a big focus on family in every route which I thought was nice to see, especially MC's family who's not only around, but a big part of his life (even his dead dad).
All characters were decently likable (except Ryuuji), but none really stood out and were pretty archetypal.
I liked the school play in common route but the blackmail was really odd. Also, Kana's "true" route randomly including sci-fi was really dumb, I like to pretend it doesn't exist.
Girls:
Ayame > Hitomi > Maiki > Kana > Rin
Routes:
Rin > Ayame > Hitomi >> Maiki >>> Kana 'true'
There's also a big focus on family in every route which I thought was nice to see, especially MC's family who's not only around, but a big part of his life (even his dead dad).
All characters were decently likable (except Ryuuji), but none really stood out and were pretty archetypal.
I liked the school play in common route but the blackmail was really odd. Also, Kana's "true" route randomly including sci-fi was really dumb, I like to pretend it doesn't exist.
Girls:
Ayame > Hitomi > Maiki > Kana > Rin
Routes:
Rin > Ayame > Hitomi >> Maiki >>> Kana 'true'
2016
I actually read the English fantranslation of the original Rewrite, way back in 2015. It was a very solid read. This visual novel was written by KEY who has done stories like Clannad, Little Busters, and Summer Pockets (all on Steam). However the story will be quite a bit different compared to those three. You'll also notice the Steam release is "Rewrite Plus". There were some changes like giving a few characters sprites and voice acting compared to the original, as well as a slightly rewritten ending and additional CGs. However, the vast majority of the experience will be the same as the original.
For those who haven't read the story yet, it has a pretty interesting mix of genres. The common route is similar to many other story/romance oriented visual novels. It will have a good amount of slice of life scenes, fun comedy skits, most of it taking place in the main characters' high school. This part of the game is mostly grounded focuses on the humorous traits of the characters like Kotarou getting into trouble, Kotori's goofiness, Yoshino's 'outlaw' personality, Sizuru's literal minded-ness, Chihaya'a... lack of thinking, Lucia's anger, and Akane trolling everyone.
The common route also has a recurring minigame segment called "Mappie". It's essentially just a way to interact with characters and the environment, and get the main characters' thoughts. This segment will matter more when you complete the main story, otherwise this is mostly just a unique way to show the interaction and movement the characters' make sometimes.
The common route section is loooonng. If you don't mind the slice of life comedy and character jokes, this might not be an issue for you. However, for people hoping to get to the meat of the story, you might be waiting a while. This visual novel is quite long in general. That said, it'll be very obvious when the common route ends. Also the common route does not have many choices, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which ones to choose to get on a specific character route.
Once the common route ends, you'll have the ability to access 5 separate character routes, and this is where the story gets MUCH more serious and where more of the genre variation happens. Each route has varying amounts of fantasy action, so the setting that's been built up in the common route will matter much more. While there is drama, typical of other KEY works, it style is a bit darker and more depressing than other KEY works. Depending on the route, there will be some very interesting in-game politics related to warring groups. There is also a bit of philosophical and psychological themes, which makes the characters you got to know in common route a lot deeper than you'd expect.
While the 5 character routes all share these same attributes, these 5 routes were actually written by 3 different writers. 1 route was written by Ryuukishi07 of Higurashi, Umineko, and Iwaihime fame (all can be found on Steam). 2 routes were written by Romeo Tanaka who wrote Cross Channel which you can also find on Steam. Some people may not notice, but if you look hard enough you'll see the narrative style differences between the 5 routes. Depending on your perspective, it can either provide a good variety of storytelling, or can have jarring/inconsistent themes throughout the visual novel.
While you can technically read the 5 character routes in any order, my personal recommendation is to go: Kotori > Chihaya > Lucia > Sizuru > Akane. It's mostly important to do Kotori's first to learn the setting the best, and Akane's last since it connects to the true route the most. The other 3 could be done in any order.
After the 5 character routes are complete, there are a few routes that will slowly be unlocked. These routes sum up and combine the themes from the first 5 routes into one true ending. I personally quite liked this 'true' route since it has some very unique and thrilling storytelling, but some have criticized it due to the main 5 heroines not appearing for a long period of time.
As far as the characters go, I'd say they are overall quite likable, possibly being my favorite part of the VN. Kotarou is very proactive protagonist. He can be a bit on the spazzy side, but he's definitely the type of guy that will get things done when he needs to. Kotori is his childhood friend. She is very goofy and funny all around, with some hilarious Engrish jokes, but she has some surprising depth you find in her route. Chihaya is a kind of blunt tsundere-ish character, but is very honest and pure. Akane is the leader of the group's club, and loves to mess with people, but has a problem with any physical activity. Lucia is the token tsundere character. She is a very serious class president and a clean-freak, and gets angry with the protagonist anytime he does anything perverted. Sizuru is the protagonist's very quiet underclassman. While very reserved, she is also very nice, but also extremely literal-minded. There are whole lot of other minor characters with very notable and fun personalities.
As far as presentation goes, Rewrite is decent, but does also slightly show its age compared to more modern VNs. The original Rewrite was released back in 2011 in Japan. The graphics look nice, though have its own specific KEY flair, some people criticize the characters' very big eyes. Menu options get the job done, there have all the necessary audio, text, and textbox options most people need. The music is easily the best part of the presentation. There are great action-oriented songs, calm slice of life songs, emotional songs, comedic songs, etc.
For those who have read the original Rewrite and are interested in Rewrite+'s changes, it includes:
Inoue getting a sprite
Some more voiced lines for a handful of previously unvoiced ones (example Kotori's mom)
No character route locking. You can do any of the main 5 ones from the getgo
More CGs were added to the Terra route
* The way ending of Terra route was slightly rewritten
Also for this release Sekai Project had to edit 3 sexually suggestive CGs to increase the chances of the title making it onto Steam. Rewrite+ had more suggestive versions of CGs added in Japanese version, but Sekai used the less suggestive CGs that were used in the original Rewrite.
On a personal level, I think Rewrite's storytelling was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of route quality, which prevents it from being one of my all time favorite visual novels. That said, I still think it's a very solid read with some unique storytelling, so I would give it a shot as long as you're interested in something with slice of life, fantasy action, and/or psychological character development.
PS Kotori best girl. Shake it now baby now~
For those who haven't read the story yet, it has a pretty interesting mix of genres. The common route is similar to many other story/romance oriented visual novels. It will have a good amount of slice of life scenes, fun comedy skits, most of it taking place in the main characters' high school. This part of the game is mostly grounded focuses on the humorous traits of the characters like Kotarou getting into trouble, Kotori's goofiness, Yoshino's 'outlaw' personality, Sizuru's literal minded-ness, Chihaya'a... lack of thinking, Lucia's anger, and Akane trolling everyone.
The common route also has a recurring minigame segment called "Mappie". It's essentially just a way to interact with characters and the environment, and get the main characters' thoughts. This segment will matter more when you complete the main story, otherwise this is mostly just a unique way to show the interaction and movement the characters' make sometimes.
The common route section is loooonng. If you don't mind the slice of life comedy and character jokes, this might not be an issue for you. However, for people hoping to get to the meat of the story, you might be waiting a while. This visual novel is quite long in general. That said, it'll be very obvious when the common route ends. Also the common route does not have many choices, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which ones to choose to get on a specific character route.
Once the common route ends, you'll have the ability to access 5 separate character routes, and this is where the story gets MUCH more serious and where more of the genre variation happens. Each route has varying amounts of fantasy action, so the setting that's been built up in the common route will matter much more. While there is drama, typical of other KEY works, it style is a bit darker and more depressing than other KEY works. Depending on the route, there will be some very interesting in-game politics related to warring groups. There is also a bit of philosophical and psychological themes, which makes the characters you got to know in common route a lot deeper than you'd expect.
While the 5 character routes all share these same attributes, these 5 routes were actually written by 3 different writers. 1 route was written by Ryuukishi07 of Higurashi, Umineko, and Iwaihime fame (all can be found on Steam). 2 routes were written by Romeo Tanaka who wrote Cross Channel which you can also find on Steam. Some people may not notice, but if you look hard enough you'll see the narrative style differences between the 5 routes. Depending on your perspective, it can either provide a good variety of storytelling, or can have jarring/inconsistent themes throughout the visual novel.
While you can technically read the 5 character routes in any order, my personal recommendation is to go: Kotori > Chihaya > Lucia > Sizuru > Akane. It's mostly important to do Kotori's first to learn the setting the best, and Akane's last since it connects to the true route the most. The other 3 could be done in any order.
After the 5 character routes are complete, there are a few routes that will slowly be unlocked. These routes sum up and combine the themes from the first 5 routes into one true ending. I personally quite liked this 'true' route since it has some very unique and thrilling storytelling, but some have criticized it due to the main 5 heroines not appearing for a long period of time.
As far as the characters go, I'd say they are overall quite likable, possibly being my favorite part of the VN. Kotarou is very proactive protagonist. He can be a bit on the spazzy side, but he's definitely the type of guy that will get things done when he needs to. Kotori is his childhood friend. She is very goofy and funny all around, with some hilarious Engrish jokes, but she has some surprising depth you find in her route. Chihaya is a kind of blunt tsundere-ish character, but is very honest and pure. Akane is the leader of the group's club, and loves to mess with people, but has a problem with any physical activity. Lucia is the token tsundere character. She is a very serious class president and a clean-freak, and gets angry with the protagonist anytime he does anything perverted. Sizuru is the protagonist's very quiet underclassman. While very reserved, she is also very nice, but also extremely literal-minded. There are whole lot of other minor characters with very notable and fun personalities.
As far as presentation goes, Rewrite is decent, but does also slightly show its age compared to more modern VNs. The original Rewrite was released back in 2011 in Japan. The graphics look nice, though have its own specific KEY flair, some people criticize the characters' very big eyes. Menu options get the job done, there have all the necessary audio, text, and textbox options most people need. The music is easily the best part of the presentation. There are great action-oriented songs, calm slice of life songs, emotional songs, comedic songs, etc.
For those who have read the original Rewrite and are interested in Rewrite+'s changes, it includes:
Inoue getting a sprite
Some more voiced lines for a handful of previously unvoiced ones (example Kotori's mom)
No character route locking. You can do any of the main 5 ones from the getgo
More CGs were added to the Terra route
* The way ending of Terra route was slightly rewritten
Also for this release Sekai Project had to edit 3 sexually suggestive CGs to increase the chances of the title making it onto Steam. Rewrite+ had more suggestive versions of CGs added in Japanese version, but Sekai used the less suggestive CGs that were used in the original Rewrite.
On a personal level, I think Rewrite's storytelling was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of route quality, which prevents it from being one of my all time favorite visual novels. That said, I still think it's a very solid read with some unique storytelling, so I would give it a shot as long as you're interested in something with slice of life, fantasy action, and/or psychological character development.
PS Kotori best girl. Shake it now baby now~
Is Full Metal Daemon Muramasa as """kamige""" as people say? I'd say not quite. Is it overall worth reading? I'd say so.
There's quite a number of reviews on this site already, so I'll just try to focus on my personal pros/cons while trying my best not to spoil too much (I personally think marking a whole review as spoilers ruins the point unless you just specifically make reviews to have discussions with people who also read it)
++The Major Characters Are Quite Good
Pretty much have no complaints here. The protagonist is very unique, cool, while still being deep with solid character development. The main heroines all have very different and likable or interesting personalities and bring something to the plot, even outside their routes. Even a lot of the recurring and one-time characters are interesting too.
++Surprisingly Good Comedy
A part of what makes the characters and their banter good is the surprisingly well done naturally put in jokes. There's a mix of sarcasm, goofiness, and occasional typical anime-ish gags. It's done just enough so things don't get too dark and simultaneously doesn't take away from any seriousness that's happening in the moment.
++Pretty good Thought-Provoking Themes
The most stick out thing compared to other Nitro+ VNs, and even some other story-based visual novels. You will get interesting themes related to killing, revenge, politics, love, faith, etc. And it covers both the good and bad sides of both without getting too preachy on either argument for the most part.
++Fairly Unique and Interesting Common Route
There's not too many common routes that have chapter systems (in fact in terms of English translations only Bokuten has a well done chaptered common route). I like the way it was structured, having different characters in chapter with similar but not fully re-used themes. And they're all eventually plot relevant for routes. Also the Affection System is pretty interesting, not what you'd expect to see in a VN like this, but makes perfect sense to have.
++Nemesis and Demon Routes
Nemesis and Demon routes were definitely the standout consistently good routes for me. The featured heroines were my favorite girls, and I thought the routes just always had interesting stuff happen with solid endings.
+-Art/Music/Presentation
Muramasa's art and music are... fine I guess? They get the job done but overall don't particularly wow or disgust me. The UI having vertical textboxes is very weird, but you do get used to. I don't understand why it'll just randomly switch to regular ADV for particular scenes. The best thing about the presentation is Muramasa having the surprisingly rare "Quick Skip" text feature. This VN is very long so having the ability to skip through the choices quickly is very helpful.
+-The Fight Scenes
I'm not really a fan of action scenes in most visual novels. A lot of the fights have really ghetto animated sprite moving and/or relying too much on still CGs. I do think Muramasa is a bit better than most, mostly cuz you'll get much more of a PoV experience than usual. However, it does have an issue where some fights go on a bit long cuz the author clearly was masturbating while imparting his samurai knowledge.
+-Length and Pacing
This visual novel is looooooooooooooooonnnnnng. The character and text count is one of the highest out there. Even as a fairly fast reader it still took me 60 hours, and some of the slower readers took easily over 100. This visual novel gets very detailed on many of its scenes. On a personal level, this made the thought provoking, plot twist, and some drama scenes pretty good since we got more lines. Unfortunately whenever there were random info dumps, or when there minor characters talking about random stuff, or when there are large war scenes with a lot of characters the pacing gets really bad for me and it became drag to read these parts.
--Occasional Preachiness
This is mostly a problem I have with Hero route, but sometimes this visual novel goes a little hard on the KILLING IS ACTUALLY BAD OKAY GUYS. The Hero route has this weird issue where they tried to have this dual argument related to Heroes and Killing and pretending to act 'fair' on both sides of the argument but still very clearly preferring the the KILLING BAD in the actual execution. Thankfully the other routes were a lot more honest/interesting about the theme.
--Typical Edgey Nitro+ Rape Scenes
If you for some reason haven't a read a Nitro+ visual novel, always expect at least 1 or 2 rape scenes. And oooh boy this VN certainly has a handful of them. Personally I think maybe 1-2 of them have story relevance and kind of fit the story. The others imo are clearly just Nitro+ going "we need more token edgey rape, let's throw it in here cuz why not?".
--Bad occasional "gameplay" moments
There are a few parts in the story that get heavily slowed down because of these randomly added "point and click adventure" puzzles forced on you. A few of them require a lot of moving around using choices, and it can be really annoying to navigate. There are little bits of dialogue during it but for the most part it just felt really unnecessary to have. There's also another dumb puzzle clearly meant for math nerds that most people wouldn't be able to solve properly without consulting a guide. Thankfully there weren't too many of these but the ones that were there, were frustrating to do to say the least.
--Conqueror Route plot twists
Easily the biggest flaw I have with the VN, to the point I almost docked the visual novel a whole point for it. So the first half of Conqueror Route to me was good, potentially great even.
However, there was one twist that THAT bad and a few others that did not help.
+++ Conclusion
Muramasa is a fun and thought provoking read, with some decent action scenes and good characters. It has flaws that prevent it from being consistently enjoyable, but I'd overall recommend reading it as long as you're ok with a darker and longer story than usual.
PS Kanae is best girl.
There's quite a number of reviews on this site already, so I'll just try to focus on my personal pros/cons while trying my best not to spoil too much (I personally think marking a whole review as spoilers ruins the point unless you just specifically make reviews to have discussions with people who also read it)
++The Major Characters Are Quite Good
Pretty much have no complaints here. The protagonist is very unique, cool, while still being deep with solid character development. The main heroines all have very different and likable or interesting personalities and bring something to the plot, even outside their routes. Even a lot of the recurring and one-time characters are interesting too.
++Surprisingly Good Comedy
A part of what makes the characters and their banter good is the surprisingly well done naturally put in jokes. There's a mix of sarcasm, goofiness, and occasional typical anime-ish gags. It's done just enough so things don't get too dark and simultaneously doesn't take away from any seriousness that's happening in the moment.
++Pretty good Thought-Provoking Themes
The most stick out thing compared to other Nitro+ VNs, and even some other story-based visual novels. You will get interesting themes related to killing, revenge, politics, love, faith, etc. And it covers both the good and bad sides of both without getting too preachy on either argument for the most part.
++Fairly Unique and Interesting Common Route
There's not too many common routes that have chapter systems (in fact in terms of English translations only Bokuten has a well done chaptered common route). I like the way it was structured, having different characters in chapter with similar but not fully re-used themes. And they're all eventually plot relevant for routes. Also the Affection System is pretty interesting, not what you'd expect to see in a VN like this, but makes perfect sense to have.
++Nemesis and Demon Routes
Nemesis and Demon routes were definitely the standout consistently good routes for me. The featured heroines were my favorite girls, and I thought the routes just always had interesting stuff happen with solid endings.
+-Art/Music/Presentation
Muramasa's art and music are... fine I guess? They get the job done but overall don't particularly wow or disgust me. The UI having vertical textboxes is very weird, but you do get used to. I don't understand why it'll just randomly switch to regular ADV for particular scenes. The best thing about the presentation is Muramasa having the surprisingly rare "Quick Skip" text feature. This VN is very long so having the ability to skip through the choices quickly is very helpful.
+-The Fight Scenes
I'm not really a fan of action scenes in most visual novels. A lot of the fights have really ghetto animated sprite moving and/or relying too much on still CGs. I do think Muramasa is a bit better than most, mostly cuz you'll get much more of a PoV experience than usual. However, it does have an issue where some fights go on a bit long cuz the author clearly was masturbating while imparting his samurai knowledge.
+-Length and Pacing
This visual novel is looooooooooooooooonnnnnng. The character and text count is one of the highest out there. Even as a fairly fast reader it still took me 60 hours, and some of the slower readers took easily over 100. This visual novel gets very detailed on many of its scenes. On a personal level, this made the thought provoking, plot twist, and some drama scenes pretty good since we got more lines. Unfortunately whenever there were random info dumps, or when there minor characters talking about random stuff, or when there are large war scenes with a lot of characters the pacing gets really bad for me and it became drag to read these parts.
--Occasional Preachiness
This is mostly a problem I have with Hero route, but sometimes this visual novel goes a little hard on the KILLING IS ACTUALLY BAD OKAY GUYS. The Hero route has this weird issue where they tried to have this dual argument related to Heroes and Killing and pretending to act 'fair' on both sides of the argument but still very clearly preferring the the KILLING BAD in the actual execution. Thankfully the other routes were a lot more honest/interesting about the theme.
--Typical Edgey Nitro+ Rape Scenes
If you for some reason haven't a read a Nitro+ visual novel, always expect at least 1 or 2 rape scenes. And oooh boy this VN certainly has a handful of them. Personally I think maybe 1-2 of them have story relevance and kind of fit the story. The others imo are clearly just Nitro+ going "we need more token edgey rape, let's throw it in here cuz why not?".
--Bad occasional "gameplay" moments
There are a few parts in the story that get heavily slowed down because of these randomly added "point and click adventure" puzzles forced on you. A few of them require a lot of moving around using choices, and it can be really annoying to navigate. There are little bits of dialogue during it but for the most part it just felt really unnecessary to have. There's also another dumb puzzle clearly meant for math nerds that most people wouldn't be able to solve properly without consulting a guide. Thankfully there weren't too many of these but the ones that were there, were frustrating to do to say the least.
--Conqueror Route plot twists
Easily the biggest flaw I have with the VN, to the point I almost docked the visual novel a whole point for it. So the first half of Conqueror Route to me was good, potentially great even.
However, there was one twist that THAT bad and a few others that did not help.
+++ Conclusion
Muramasa is a fun and thought provoking read, with some decent action scenes and good characters. It has flaws that prevent it from being consistently enjoyable, but I'd overall recommend reading it as long as you're ok with a darker and longer story than usual.
PS Kanae is best girl.
It was pretty fun for a shorter VN, possibly my favorite short-ish visual novel? In a way it felt like Making Lovers-lite, with adult age couple going through moege-ish dialogue, just a bit more down to earth and less goofy humor.
Chihiro herself was nice and had decent enough depth for someone in a moege, though it being a moege meant this part of her wasn't analyzed as much as like a charage would, but it was still enough to make her character stick out.
Oddly it felt nukige-ish more at the beginning due to the friends with benefits sex at teh beginning, and funnily enough the sex actually calmed down over time as the writing felt like it wanted to be more of a moege.
Overall would def recommend especially if you want more adult age slice of life and/or friends with benefits.
Chihiro herself was nice and had decent enough depth for someone in a moege, though it being a moege meant this part of her wasn't analyzed as much as like a charage would, but it was still enough to make her character stick out.
Oddly it felt nukige-ish more at the beginning due to the friends with benefits sex at teh beginning, and funnily enough the sex actually calmed down over time as the writing felt like it wanted to be more of a moege.
Overall would def recommend especially if you want more adult age slice of life and/or friends with benefits.
I liked Lost Memories a lot more than Code Embyro but I didn't think it was amazing either. It kinda felt like more like a fandisc than a true sequel since the plot wasn't as heavy.
That said I thought the first half was interesting because it actually featured a younger version of a Blazblue character from CP and gave her development. I just didn't like how a like 1/3 of the content was just watching a recap of the first game's true route events.
The second half of the game wasn't bad since most of the main cast were a bit more likable than they were in Code Embryo. As said above this part wasn't super plot heavy but I did like where things ended up by the end.
There were also a bunch of random nice heartwarming moments throughout that increased its score over Code Embryo.
That said I thought the first half was interesting because it actually featured a younger version of a Blazblue character from CP and gave her development. I just didn't like how a like 1/3 of the content was just watching a recap of the first game's true route events.
The second half of the game wasn't bad since most of the main cast were a bit more likable than they were in Code Embryo. As said above this part wasn't super plot heavy but I did like where things ended up by the end.
There were also a bunch of random nice heartwarming moments throughout that increased its score over Code Embryo.
2013
Code Embryo was a struggle to get through. I was planning on going through every route but I just didn't really like or care about the main characters outside Es enough to get enough motivation to go through them all. Thankfully Es was both my favorite character and she had the true route so that was fine.
The characters were definitely the biggest flaw. Touya is one of the wimpiest most annoying MCs I've read in a VN in a long time. He was basically a worse version of Shirou (at least Shirou was funny sometimes and could fight) from Fate. Mei was a bitch, Hinata was more boring than the average nice girl (and I usually like these types), the villains were all forgettable, boring or lame. Kuon and Elise were ok I guess.
The story wasn't particularly exciting either. The Toi system was an annoying way to get on routes. As said above, I actually did like Es even if she was kind of a Saber clone, she had decent enough development, personality and fun scenes. She basically carried most of the reason I gave the VN the score I did. There were some moments the others had I guess.
The characters were definitely the biggest flaw. Touya is one of the wimpiest most annoying MCs I've read in a VN in a long time. He was basically a worse version of Shirou (at least Shirou was funny sometimes and could fight) from Fate. Mei was a bitch, Hinata was more boring than the average nice girl (and I usually like these types), the villains were all forgettable, boring or lame. Kuon and Elise were ok I guess.
The story wasn't particularly exciting either. The Toi system was an annoying way to get on routes. As said above, I actually did like Es even if she was kind of a Saber clone, she had decent enough development, personality and fun scenes. She basically carried most of the reason I gave the VN the score I did. There were some moments the others had I guess.
Even though Tsujidou has a different main scenario water from MajiKoi, it's clear the writer of Tsujidou was very heavily inspired by MajiKoi. They even put a bunch of references to Kawakami and Kuki in the VN.
The humor style and overall tone of the VN is similar. Really silly gag based humor with a penchant of going over the top even with character designs as well as having similar types of music.
All the main girls are super powerful and most of the guys are whatever power wise minus a few. While it's somewhat more grounded since it's delinquent based instead of using samurai weapons it's clear that the girls are crazy powerful especially compared to how they look
Lots of silly choices for humor purposes
While there is romance, it's not gonna be consistently focused on it all the time and while light hearted there's still decent/memorable enough drama and character development
While not as many there's still quite a number of recurring minor/side characters that are fairly important in each route
Some kinda similar character archetypes (like the older sister is like a mix of Momoyo bullying and Miyako yandere-isms)
Lots of silly bad/alternate ends
They both like their REALLY long H scenes and ones that can be inappropriately timed, possibly even moreso than MajiKoi. Also the obsession with sticking finger in the asshole.
Of course there are differences from MajiKoi that make Tsujidou stand out on its own
A bit more grounded setting: delinquents and gangs in regular schools as opposed to the more formal schools based on creating fighters and having tournaments.
While the humor style is similar they dont cut and paste jokes from MajiKoi. It has some really funny unique jokes of its own. I still crack up most of the time when there's those cut-in death glares in humorous moments.
The main character is a little more standard fare as the 'nice guy' who doesnt like fighting as opposed to Yamato whos prides himself as a tactician and stuff.
Only 3 main routes. There's also no unlockable/true route but when you read the VN and look at the title it'll be obvious who's basically the true route
The whole friendship thing/big group of friends thing that was in MajiKoi isn't nearly as pronounced in Tsujidou. There are still shades of friendship stuff but not as much. The closest thing you get are some of the delinquent groups which kinda work like that but not really.
The main thing that stuck out to me was the part where the routes branch and how unique the situation is compared to most VNs. I won't spoil what it is and it isn't SUPER mindblowing but it was really interesting how it was done and how it leads to the other routes.
So obviously there's no guarantee you'll like this if you liked MajiKoi or even vice versa. That said, in my personal opinion if you're really thirsty for more MajiKoi, you could consider reading this while waiting patiently for other Majikoi TLs.
The humor style and overall tone of the VN is similar. Really silly gag based humor with a penchant of going over the top even with character designs as well as having similar types of music.
All the main girls are super powerful and most of the guys are whatever power wise minus a few. While it's somewhat more grounded since it's delinquent based instead of using samurai weapons it's clear that the girls are crazy powerful especially compared to how they look
Lots of silly choices for humor purposes
While there is romance, it's not gonna be consistently focused on it all the time and while light hearted there's still decent/memorable enough drama and character development
While not as many there's still quite a number of recurring minor/side characters that are fairly important in each route
Some kinda similar character archetypes (like the older sister is like a mix of Momoyo bullying and Miyako yandere-isms)
Lots of silly bad/alternate ends
They both like their REALLY long H scenes and ones that can be inappropriately timed, possibly even moreso than MajiKoi. Also the obsession with sticking finger in the asshole.
Of course there are differences from MajiKoi that make Tsujidou stand out on its own
A bit more grounded setting: delinquents and gangs in regular schools as opposed to the more formal schools based on creating fighters and having tournaments.
While the humor style is similar they dont cut and paste jokes from MajiKoi. It has some really funny unique jokes of its own. I still crack up most of the time when there's those cut-in death glares in humorous moments.
The main character is a little more standard fare as the 'nice guy' who doesnt like fighting as opposed to Yamato whos prides himself as a tactician and stuff.
Only 3 main routes. There's also no unlockable/true route but when you read the VN and look at the title it'll be obvious who's basically the true route
The whole friendship thing/big group of friends thing that was in MajiKoi isn't nearly as pronounced in Tsujidou. There are still shades of friendship stuff but not as much. The closest thing you get are some of the delinquent groups which kinda work like that but not really.
The main thing that stuck out to me was the part where the routes branch and how unique the situation is compared to most VNs. I won't spoil what it is and it isn't SUPER mindblowing but it was really interesting how it was done and how it leads to the other routes.
So obviously there's no guarantee you'll like this if you liked MajiKoi or even vice versa. That said, in my personal opinion if you're really thirsty for more MajiKoi, you could consider reading this while waiting patiently for other Majikoi TLs.
2016
Hmmm... It's definitley not bad, in fact if I'd say it's good, but not great. While it had a decent setting and decently likable characters, I don't think it really did much to stick out, especially compared to the other 2 Yuzusoft titles I read before (Dracu Riot and Sanoba/Sabbat).
I can see why people thought the common route could be seen as peak. It almost feels like that could have been it's own short VN on its own. I wouldn't say it's that much better than the routes, but at the very least it's better than the weaker ones due to interesting enough plot and a little character development.
I think it's interesting that people think this VN's route/character quality is balanced... cuz I think it's the opposite in comparison to say Sanoba. In Sanoba I really liked a few characters/routes pretty evenly. While in Senren I did overall like all the characters similar to Sanoba, the character quality disparity was a bit more pronounced.
Similarly, while the routes are all fine... none except Lena and mayyybe Murasame's were great to me. Yoshino and Mako did cover some interesting development but overall felt too dragged out and boring by the end. Koharu and Roka were good but way too short.
It does seem Yuzusoft has gotten a little better about not overusing the "calling MC a pervert for things not necessarily his fault" thing. But Senren still did it enough to annoy me, and they usually bunch it together towards the end of routes (except in Lena, and Koharu + Roka routes, thank god!).
Masaomi is slightly above average MC. One of things Yuzusoft has done well so far, made likable enough MCs. Though I think they played up Masaomi's density a bit much sometimes.
Side charas were likable enough. Sanoba's stuck out a lot more to me though.
I need to bring up this point again, but the "humor" in unnecessarily calling MC a pervert especially in a hypocritical way has something that's really annoyed me in every Yuzusoft title. Senren softened up a little on it but the fact that almost every route (besides Lena/Koharu/Roka) eventually spammed this 'joke' towards the end of each route kind of ruins how each route ends for me, especially thats usually when the good stuff hapens. Thats why it seems like some routes are lower than they should be. It's unfortunate since Yuzusoft generally has good, even great humor at times but then usually has to resort to this because?????????????? This point is pretty much the main thing holding me back from being one of the many Yuzusoft shills honestly. Now I'm kinda hesitant of how I read later Yuzusoft since this humor tends to get me angry.
Character rankings:
Lena > Koharu >> Yoshino > Murasame > Roka > Mako
Route rankings:
Lena > Murasame > Roka > Mako > Koharu > Yoshino
Good enough and had a few standout things (mostly Lena related) but not something I'd overtly recommend in general.
I can see why people thought the common route could be seen as peak. It almost feels like that could have been it's own short VN on its own. I wouldn't say it's that much better than the routes, but at the very least it's better than the weaker ones due to interesting enough plot and a little character development.
I think it's interesting that people think this VN's route/character quality is balanced... cuz I think it's the opposite in comparison to say Sanoba. In Sanoba I really liked a few characters/routes pretty evenly. While in Senren I did overall like all the characters similar to Sanoba, the character quality disparity was a bit more pronounced.
Similarly, while the routes are all fine... none except Lena and mayyybe Murasame's were great to me. Yoshino and Mako did cover some interesting development but overall felt too dragged out and boring by the end. Koharu and Roka were good but way too short.
It does seem Yuzusoft has gotten a little better about not overusing the "calling MC a pervert for things not necessarily his fault" thing. But Senren still did it enough to annoy me, and they usually bunch it together towards the end of routes (except in Lena, and Koharu + Roka routes, thank god!).
Masaomi is slightly above average MC. One of things Yuzusoft has done well so far, made likable enough MCs. Though I think they played up Masaomi's density a bit much sometimes.
Side charas were likable enough. Sanoba's stuck out a lot more to me though.
I need to bring up this point again, but the "humor" in unnecessarily calling MC a pervert especially in a hypocritical way has something that's really annoyed me in every Yuzusoft title. Senren softened up a little on it but the fact that almost every route (besides Lena/Koharu/Roka) eventually spammed this 'joke' towards the end of each route kind of ruins how each route ends for me, especially thats usually when the good stuff hapens. Thats why it seems like some routes are lower than they should be. It's unfortunate since Yuzusoft generally has good, even great humor at times but then usually has to resort to this because?????????????? This point is pretty much the main thing holding me back from being one of the many Yuzusoft shills honestly. Now I'm kinda hesitant of how I read later Yuzusoft since this humor tends to get me angry.
Character rankings:
Lena > Koharu >> Yoshino > Murasame > Roka > Mako
Route rankings:
Lena > Murasame > Roka > Mako > Koharu > Yoshino
Good enough and had a few standout things (mostly Lena related) but not something I'd overtly recommend in general.
2015
Overall, I really liked it! As far as the routes as a whole, I liked how they covered very different themes. I also liked all the datable heroines were basically nice girls in different ways.
Shuuji is a solid protag with growth I liked. Way better than the annoying simp I thought he was gonna turn out to be. Side characters weren't too bad. Cool dad character, cool bro characters, kinda funny teacher, a few other interesting ones.
I actually quite liked the OST. Catchy SoL and memorable feels stuff. Most of the humor was hilarious.
Sadly, Yuzusoft has this annoying thing where the heroines (especially Meguru here UGH) constantly call protagonist a pervert when he didn't do anything as "humor" and that alone prevented me considering a 9
Shuuji is a solid protag with growth I liked. Way better than the annoying simp I thought he was gonna turn out to be. Side characters weren't too bad. Cool dad character, cool bro characters, kinda funny teacher, a few other interesting ones.
I actually quite liked the OST. Catchy SoL and memorable feels stuff. Most of the humor was hilarious.
Sadly, Yuzusoft has this annoying thing where the heroines (especially Meguru here UGH) constantly call protagonist a pervert when he didn't do anything as "humor" and that alone prevented me considering a 9
2019
Overall I liked it. It had a fun setting, great character banter, interesting mysteries, and generally decent character development.
As many have said, easily the biggest flaw of the VN is that all the heroine route endings are 'open-ended'. Best way I can describe it without spoilers is that there are conflicts resolved, usually just the romance and some kind of "mini-boss". But the bigger conflict at large is definitely unresolved and the VN overtly highlights that. Thankfully there is a sequel being developed but it's unfortunate whatever circumstances led to incomplete routes had to happen.
Only other flaw is the romance in each route is slightly rushed. You can kinda see the attraction before they get together but they do the 'classic' confession right before/during a sex scene. I guess at least Ruka at least didn't lose his personality during H-scenes like others.
Rankings are something like:
Characters:
Chiffon > Claris > Mell = Komachi.
Chiffon fits my weirdo waifu while having nice fight scenes. Everyone else is decent.
Routes:
Claris > Mell = Komachi > Chiffon
Claris had the most story relevant twists, though all of them had decent relevations. Chiffon's route wasn't bad, but the other routes had more plot from the getgo while hers was a bit more slice of life-y starting out. I don't mind slice of life, and Chiffon humor is good, but just oddly sticks out when the other 3 have more plot.
Sadly with Blade & Dagger it looks like these routes are gonna be unfinished like what the author usually does but at least we'll get Ryouko and Fuyumi routes.
As many have said, easily the biggest flaw of the VN is that all the heroine route endings are 'open-ended'. Best way I can describe it without spoilers is that there are conflicts resolved, usually just the romance and some kind of "mini-boss". But the bigger conflict at large is definitely unresolved and the VN overtly highlights that. Thankfully there is a sequel being developed but it's unfortunate whatever circumstances led to incomplete routes had to happen.
Only other flaw is the romance in each route is slightly rushed. You can kinda see the attraction before they get together but they do the 'classic' confession right before/during a sex scene. I guess at least Ruka at least didn't lose his personality during H-scenes like others.
Rankings are something like:
Characters:
Chiffon > Claris > Mell = Komachi.
Chiffon fits my weirdo waifu while having nice fight scenes. Everyone else is decent.
Routes:
Claris > Mell = Komachi > Chiffon
Claris had the most story relevant twists, though all of them had decent relevations. Chiffon's route wasn't bad, but the other routes had more plot from the getgo while hers was a bit more slice of life-y starting out. I don't mind slice of life, and Chiffon humor is good, but just oddly sticks out when the other 3 have more plot.
Sadly with Blade & Dagger it looks like these routes are gonna be unfinished like what the author usually does but at least we'll get Ryouko and Fuyumi routes.
Really solid. Pretty interesting the whole through way through. Has some pacing issues, mostly flashback related. I liked all the main characters by the end. They all ended up being a lot more interesting than first expected, I actually thought they would keep some relatively undeveloped but the way system worked made it so they did. Best girl was probably Mashiro by the end but it's pretty close with all the girls besides Yuuri.
I liked the choice system in theory but without a walkthrough it can be frustrating to figure out how to do them properly, especially with the bazillion of choices in this VN. If they were to do this style of choices again, I think they should either heavily limit the amount of them, or mix them into regular choices.
I liked the choice system in theory but without a walkthrough it can be frustrating to figure out how to do them properly, especially with the bazillion of choices in this VN. If they were to do this style of choices again, I think they should either heavily limit the amount of them, or mix them into regular choices.
Overall it was pretty.. ok, about what you expect out of a fandisc.
Pros
Every heroine was likable
Konomi's route was hilarious and I'm glad I saved her for last. She always says the darndest things and that's why she's great.
Ruriko was the most deserving of an original route considering how much she and Masaya talked in the original so good to see her finally get one
H-scenes were solid as usual
Cons
The structure of the new routes were very repetitive related to Grande Vote
Tamie's premise for the romance was really really dumb
Mitsuki's romance felt too out of character
Outside Konomi's route, all were decent/ok enough but none of them did anything particularly interesting. Drama and character development were incredibly minimal in both the new routes and sequels
Pros
Every heroine was likable
Konomi's route was hilarious and I'm glad I saved her for last. She always says the darndest things and that's why she's great.
Ruriko was the most deserving of an original route considering how much she and Masaya talked in the original so good to see her finally get one
H-scenes were solid as usual
Cons
The structure of the new routes were very repetitive related to Grande Vote
Tamie's premise for the romance was really really dumb
Mitsuki's romance felt too out of character
Outside Konomi's route, all were decent/ok enough but none of them did anything particularly interesting. Drama and character development were incredibly minimal in both the new routes and sequels
2011
It reminded me of Hoshizora no Memoria except just replacing the astronomy theme with an all-girls Catholic theme. They both have similarly long common routes with good character development in it, the character routes had simple but good development as well, the romance in all routes were pretty good and both had this feel-good nature I wish more slice of life VNs had.
I don't want to compare the two too much but I just wanted to note that I felt a similar feel when reading them.
As for what I generally liked/disliked about the VN.
What I liked:
The Chapter format. Almost felt like I was watching a 26 episode omnibus format anime and it was easy to keep track of how far I actually was in a route.
Majority of the characters were at least fairly likable
Most of the comedy was good (especially Konomi and her hilarious misunderstandings)
Confessions and/or start of relationships actually start fairly early in routes which is nice.
As said above I thought the VN had a good balance of romance, comedy, slice of life, drama, character development and feel-good scenes
The setting and overall theme. There aren't too many anime/VNs that take place in a fancy Catholic High School (only other one I can think of Maria-sama ga Miteru anime). I liked the theme of that it's not always good to stick to your ways and it's good to be progressive. I also liked seeing Masaya and crew actually having to work to get the school body's approval. Harem protags don't always have the immediate charm for literally every girl.
As someone who's Catholic and has gone to Catholic elementary+middle+high school it was nice to see actual research done as far as referencing Bible Chapters and stuff. Surprised they didn't go to Church often though.
Most of the character oriented drama was actually pretty good, as long as there was no over the top moments.
Light-hearted series that don't force too much comedy are almost always a plus in my book.
What I was kinda iffy on:
The routes kind of had the same predictable structure: Feelings become a bit more obvious before the Track Meet, roughly around the Track Meet is when the couple gets together, H scenes, Hanging Out, Big Conflict around Chapter 21-24, Conflict solved by Chapter 25-26, possibly H scenes in between. Thankfully the characters and development were good enough to make up for it but I wish they were just a bit less predictable with how things played out (especially since the results of each event they try to raise Masaya's approval has almost the same results).
Some of the ways conflicts were fixed were in some of the most ridiculous cheesy ways. Some of them were done was amusing enough to make up for how over the top these moments were. A bit more... realism and not overly optimistic tone would have been nice.
Absolutely 0 bro characters. I guess I'm used to things like MajiKoi and KEY VNs where there is always at least that one bro character. Thankfully as said above most of the characters were likable enough to make up for this, but when even Masaya himself occasionally gets sad he has no real bros around you know something is wrong.
H-scenes. They weren't bad but none were particularly amazing.
What I didn't really like:
The headmistress but this seems like it was intentional. I feel like what she did/has done isn't quite enough to make me feel too bad for her in the few routes where her problems are addressed.
A little bit of the comedy wasn't so good. It was mostly the little tsundere hitting and scenes where girls get obviously jealous in a somewhat violent way. Thankfully they weren't TOO often (especially compared to other harem series)
Only 4 routes. I get they wanted to stick with the love triangle format (2 childhood love interests and 2 sisters) but Ruriko not getting a route is a big offender. Konomi kinda sorta but at least her and the other main girls not getting one makes a little more sense. Thankfully W Happiness came out in English so this flaw isn't so bad.
As for character opinions...
Major Character Opinions:
Masaya - Decent enough MC. Sometimes it was hard to tell how ignorant he was of the other's feelings or just pretending he didn't notice. Otherwise, likable enough but nothing special. I feel like he could have gotten just a bit more distinctive personality traits outside being modest and nice. Him actually being in shape was kinda cool though.
Rise - I was kinda sorta disappointed in Rise at the end but I still liked her. I thought within the first like 30 minutes or so in the VN when meeting her she would easily be my favorite since she was friendly but with cool progressive and take action type of personality. I thought that she didn't as much development as the rest of the main heroines. In fact, her sometimes taking part of unnecessary tsundere hitting was pretty lame so it kinda was almost like negative development at some points. That said I like her personality as a whole and she's definitely still likable.
Chiho - I liked Chiho quite a bit in her own route. Childhood friend romance is usually interesting to me (unless they just flat out suck) and the way they progressed it and talked about it in their own route was cool. Doing things like them competing in a track meet, and general interactions were nice. I also liked the little bit of drama done in Rise's route which to me was pretty realistic and wasn't just solved with over the top shenanigans. The problem I had was her outside her route and Rise's route. Outside the little development she got in the common route, I feel like she didn't particularly stick out as a character. All she ends up doing is just agreeing with everyone or having the occasional tsundere (hitting) moment. I guess her not really caring about the club as she feels like she could is brought up but not too often.
Ritsuko - I was actually kinda surprised how much I liked her. Usually the quiet/emotionless girl usually isn't the type of character I like a lot (but not necessarily dislike). However she felt more realistic than the usual type (most tend to just be the emotionless snarker or just almost never talking period). She almost felt like a mix of a shy girl and emotionless hard worker. I liked seeing the struggles she had with the expectations people had and her concern with her sister and mother. I thought she had pretty good development all throughout the common route and her route development was good too. She also ends up having decent roles in other routes.
Ayaka - She's a pretty fun character. I like her shift from only doing what she felt like to actually having a big role in helping things go along. Her tease-y personality is amusing too. Her route was solid.
Supporting Character Opinions:
Ruriko - As said earlier, it makes no sense that she had no route in the main VN. She's one of the few who was 100% supportive of Masaya in the beginning. Her innuendos were usually really funny but she calmed down a bit later on which I was kinda disappointed on.
Tamie - She was fun and her role is actually semi-important but unfortunately she doesn't appear/develop nearly as often as she should. I feel like W Happiness has the highest chances of improving her character even more in her route.
Marika - Especially with the development in the common route she has possibly even more potential to be better in her W Happiness route. Makes sense that she didn't have a main route though.
Mitsuki - Least favorite of the most recurring characters but at least the end of the common route made her at least not bad. I have no idea how they are going to make her route since she's the only one who showed almost no romantic interest in Masaya.
Konomi - Easily the most hilarious character in the game. Even after common route development (which was actually pretty good) she still provided excellent comedy with her crazy ideas and just the darndnest things she says period. I'm actually really excited for her W Happiness route since it seems like it has lots of potential to be a really fun main heroine.
My Overall Opinion:
A Solid VN that I don't regret finishing.
None of the routes or main characters were anything groundbreaking or amazing but they were all pretty good at least. I feel like almost everything it did was a least above average compared to the usual VN. Cutting down a bit on the over the top/overly optimistic methods to solving problems would have helped a bit.
Random Other Thoughts
I was taking random screenshots of random amusing moments but for some reason saying DO IT often stuck out more than it should have. I watched that Shia video way too much...
I like this quote I found on Steam:
"This game about all-girl's schools will do for gender segregation what Martin Luther King Jr did for racism, except a lot more efficiently."
I don't want to compare the two too much but I just wanted to note that I felt a similar feel when reading them.
As for what I generally liked/disliked about the VN.
What I liked:
The Chapter format. Almost felt like I was watching a 26 episode omnibus format anime and it was easy to keep track of how far I actually was in a route.
Majority of the characters were at least fairly likable
Most of the comedy was good (especially Konomi and her hilarious misunderstandings)
Confessions and/or start of relationships actually start fairly early in routes which is nice.
As said above I thought the VN had a good balance of romance, comedy, slice of life, drama, character development and feel-good scenes
The setting and overall theme. There aren't too many anime/VNs that take place in a fancy Catholic High School (only other one I can think of Maria-sama ga Miteru anime). I liked the theme of that it's not always good to stick to your ways and it's good to be progressive. I also liked seeing Masaya and crew actually having to work to get the school body's approval. Harem protags don't always have the immediate charm for literally every girl.
As someone who's Catholic and has gone to Catholic elementary+middle+high school it was nice to see actual research done as far as referencing Bible Chapters and stuff. Surprised they didn't go to Church often though.
Most of the character oriented drama was actually pretty good, as long as there was no over the top moments.
Light-hearted series that don't force too much comedy are almost always a plus in my book.
What I was kinda iffy on:
The routes kind of had the same predictable structure: Feelings become a bit more obvious before the Track Meet, roughly around the Track Meet is when the couple gets together, H scenes, Hanging Out, Big Conflict around Chapter 21-24, Conflict solved by Chapter 25-26, possibly H scenes in between. Thankfully the characters and development were good enough to make up for it but I wish they were just a bit less predictable with how things played out (especially since the results of each event they try to raise Masaya's approval has almost the same results).
Some of the ways conflicts were fixed were in some of the most ridiculous cheesy ways. Some of them were done was amusing enough to make up for how over the top these moments were. A bit more... realism and not overly optimistic tone would have been nice.
Absolutely 0 bro characters. I guess I'm used to things like MajiKoi and KEY VNs where there is always at least that one bro character. Thankfully as said above most of the characters were likable enough to make up for this, but when even Masaya himself occasionally gets sad he has no real bros around you know something is wrong.
H-scenes. They weren't bad but none were particularly amazing.
What I didn't really like:
The headmistress but this seems like it was intentional. I feel like what she did/has done isn't quite enough to make me feel too bad for her in the few routes where her problems are addressed.
A little bit of the comedy wasn't so good. It was mostly the little tsundere hitting and scenes where girls get obviously jealous in a somewhat violent way. Thankfully they weren't TOO often (especially compared to other harem series)
Only 4 routes. I get they wanted to stick with the love triangle format (2 childhood love interests and 2 sisters) but Ruriko not getting a route is a big offender. Konomi kinda sorta but at least her and the other main girls not getting one makes a little more sense. Thankfully W Happiness came out in English so this flaw isn't so bad.
As for character opinions...
Major Character Opinions:
Masaya - Decent enough MC. Sometimes it was hard to tell how ignorant he was of the other's feelings or just pretending he didn't notice. Otherwise, likable enough but nothing special. I feel like he could have gotten just a bit more distinctive personality traits outside being modest and nice. Him actually being in shape was kinda cool though.
Rise - I was kinda sorta disappointed in Rise at the end but I still liked her. I thought within the first like 30 minutes or so in the VN when meeting her she would easily be my favorite since she was friendly but with cool progressive and take action type of personality. I thought that she didn't as much development as the rest of the main heroines. In fact, her sometimes taking part of unnecessary tsundere hitting was pretty lame so it kinda was almost like negative development at some points. That said I like her personality as a whole and she's definitely still likable.
Chiho - I liked Chiho quite a bit in her own route. Childhood friend romance is usually interesting to me (unless they just flat out suck) and the way they progressed it and talked about it in their own route was cool. Doing things like them competing in a track meet, and general interactions were nice. I also liked the little bit of drama done in Rise's route which to me was pretty realistic and wasn't just solved with over the top shenanigans. The problem I had was her outside her route and Rise's route. Outside the little development she got in the common route, I feel like she didn't particularly stick out as a character. All she ends up doing is just agreeing with everyone or having the occasional tsundere (hitting) moment. I guess her not really caring about the club as she feels like she could is brought up but not too often.
Ritsuko - I was actually kinda surprised how much I liked her. Usually the quiet/emotionless girl usually isn't the type of character I like a lot (but not necessarily dislike). However she felt more realistic than the usual type (most tend to just be the emotionless snarker or just almost never talking period). She almost felt like a mix of a shy girl and emotionless hard worker. I liked seeing the struggles she had with the expectations people had and her concern with her sister and mother. I thought she had pretty good development all throughout the common route and her route development was good too. She also ends up having decent roles in other routes.
Ayaka - She's a pretty fun character. I like her shift from only doing what she felt like to actually having a big role in helping things go along. Her tease-y personality is amusing too. Her route was solid.
Supporting Character Opinions:
Ruriko - As said earlier, it makes no sense that she had no route in the main VN. She's one of the few who was 100% supportive of Masaya in the beginning. Her innuendos were usually really funny but she calmed down a bit later on which I was kinda disappointed on.
Tamie - She was fun and her role is actually semi-important but unfortunately she doesn't appear/develop nearly as often as she should. I feel like W Happiness has the highest chances of improving her character even more in her route.
Marika - Especially with the development in the common route she has possibly even more potential to be better in her W Happiness route. Makes sense that she didn't have a main route though.
Mitsuki - Least favorite of the most recurring characters but at least the end of the common route made her at least not bad. I have no idea how they are going to make her route since she's the only one who showed almost no romantic interest in Masaya.
Konomi - Easily the most hilarious character in the game. Even after common route development (which was actually pretty good) she still provided excellent comedy with her crazy ideas and just the darndnest things she says period. I'm actually really excited for her W Happiness route since it seems like it has lots of potential to be a really fun main heroine.
My Overall Opinion:
A Solid VN that I don't regret finishing.
None of the routes or main characters were anything groundbreaking or amazing but they were all pretty good at least. I feel like almost everything it did was a least above average compared to the usual VN. Cutting down a bit on the over the top/overly optimistic methods to solving problems would have helped a bit.
Random Other Thoughts
I was taking random screenshots of random amusing moments but for some reason saying DO IT often stuck out more than it should have. I watched that Shia video way too much...
I like this quote I found on Steam:
"This game about all-girl's schools will do for gender segregation what Martin Luther King Jr did for racism, except a lot more efficiently."