Japanese Reading Report: 08 September 2024

This week was mid-semester break so I had a little bit more spare time than I'd usually have. With that said I read and watched the following:

エロゲー文化研究概論

Another amusing pair of games mentioned this week were サクラ大戦 and 学園ソドム. The former is apparently known for its timed reactions during dialogue where failure to react is itself an outcome. As the author mentions, 学園ソドム had the same feature apparently one year earlier. A studio that had a big influence on the eroge (and regular game) scene in the late 90s was Leaf. Not only did they coin the term Visual Novel (largely because the other accepted term at the time, Sound Novel, was strictly a Chunsoft trademark), their game 雫 (Shizuku) was apparently the first to include a "true ending". 雫 and 痕 (Kizuato) were also notable in the book for both having quite serious main plots where the post-game allowed players to experience a series of much more playful and humorous vignettes with all of the characters -- a kind of reward for all your hard work.
There was also little bits and pieces about the start of studio Key and their VN "Kanon" which this book refers to as the first 泣きゲー (tearjerker game). Apparently Key are well known for VNs in this subgenre. Some of the personal voice in this book is very amusing. The author basically says that while it's a 泣きゲー, there are erotic scenes so it's not unlikely that players were able to "enjoy themselves" during them. They then go on to say there were probably some people who were able to appreciate both elements of the game simultaneously and "leak" from both ends.

コードギアス反逆のルルーシュＲ２

So much happened that it's hard to comment on it all. Countless events set the stage for countless twists -- some of which I predicted and some I didn't. The combat was great but didn't overstay its welcome. Character deaths were well done, and the ending felt like a good pay off for everything Lelouch built up.
Overall I really liked it, though I have to admit the more time passes the less memorable everything feels. Ironically my mind still goes back to arguably the worst scenes in the show. The times Lelouch was extremely stupid or couldn't prevent tragedy weigh in my memories more than the times he was a mastermind.

同級生

I played a little bit of this game after mentioning my curiosity about the genre in last week's report. My biggest surprise was just how funny the game is. The main character/pov character is totally shameless. Even if you were intending to play as a gentleman every line is written with a level of self awareness that I find amusing. A line I thought was particularly funny was when I visited the school and watched some students doing athletics. I "talked" to a girl doing high jump and she said it was rude to talk to her before she had landed. The MC then responds that he'll wait for her to land before talking further. It defies all sense of time. I noticed the game was full of scenes like that.
I also found it interesting that the most passive story I felt the game wanted to take me on was romancing くるみ, a girl who is in a relationship with your best friend. As with so many dives into genre firsts I am just surprised how innovative the writing and gameplay feels.

アマガミ

This was mentioned in a guide as a good beginner dating simulation. The characters looked cute so why not try it out? Once again I was surprised by the sharp writing, and once again the character is not as much of a blank slate as I'd expect. The MC *voice* is very prominent. He has a history with several characters so it feels simultaneously like a game where the goal is dating and learning more about the main character. I found it interesting that the tutorial (introduced textually as your friend giving you his tips on landing a girl) has suggestions for how to engage with the overall story. It suggests focusing on just one girl at a time and trying to see your story with her through to the end. I decided to pursue 森島 since she seems like an interesting character. In my first meeting she mistook me for someone else and rejected me before I was even able to get a word in. As I got to know her better it became clear that she's the kind of person who is mythologised by people but who is actually just a messy human being deep down (if you can believe it). The game occasionally forces you into events that progress your relationship with other characters. I became acquainted to 梨穂子, the childhood-friend, honest, and sweet girl. During time that I wasn't able to spend with 森島 I would spend it with 梨穂子. After about a week (in-game calendar) my relationship with 森島 was getting worse and worse. I had filled out her affection meter but events with her weren't increasing the limit so conversations were going nowhere. Meanwhile my relationship with 梨穂子 steadily progressed and my heart felt like it was being split in two. After a huge mistake with 森島 which locked out half a dozen of her event spaces there was a day where my only option was to spend time with 梨穂子. Ultimately the gameplay helped make the decision for me by advancing my relationship 梨穂子 to the next stage while 森島 moved into the friend zone.

I've really enjoyed my experience so far. I've been committed to playing the game without any save scumming or time travel just as was suggested in the above article. I think if I had taken back my bad decisions my experience with 森島 wouldn't feel half as impactful. Weirdly, even just having the knowledge that it's all gone awry and using that knowledge to pivot into a relationship with 梨穂子 feels a little bit of a let down. I sort of wish the game revealed a little bit less so that I could make decisions based on my intuition rather than following the "gameplay" flow. That minor wrinkle aside, the game has been a joy.

SCHOOL DAYS

I watched this in a single sitting. I found the story fairly enjoyable. The anxiety and shyness of 誠's first love experiences were very relatable. 誠, 世界, and 桂 were all characters whose stories I felt personally invested in, though there was a point where it sort of tips into absurdity and events are just a bit *too* perfectly set up. I'm trying to avoid speaking too much on specifics since there are elements of the show best experienced blind, but I could really feel the heartache of several characters as the story ebbed and flowed.

四月は君の嘘

Continuing my journey to watch romance anime, this is another that came highly recommended. I have to say any time music is a principle element of a story it usually doesn't add much value for me. かをり is a very entertaining character. I definitely get a sense of a sort of 君の膵臓をたべたい-type dynamic between the two leads.