Japanese Reading Report: 09 November 2025

Veil

ファタモルガーナの館

Sadly I wasn't able to play much of this in the week. It's been a fairly busy week and I didn't fit the game in during my commute because I was reading 『「選択肢」の選択史』(and later Veil) at that time... I'm still trying to figure out the best way to balance immersion with my work schedule.

The main plot point to note so far is just that Michel eventually fell to one of his lowest points and then met Morgana for the first time. She offered to curse anyone for him, but he refused. A long time passed, but he continued to refuse her. It seems like she's slowly wearing down his endurance, though.
At one point, Michel attempted to escape the house, but the light of the sun seemed to burn his arm, so he rushed back inside and shut the door. Morgana explained that it's partially a reaction that's inside his head, not a real physical reaction. And wouldn't you know it, he had no physical burns on his skin.

少女革命ウテナ

I really enjoyed what I watched this week, though I am considering dropping my "peak" appraisal given the current arc (cars) feels a bit weak compared to the first two.

The "Black Rose" arc was easily my favourite part of the anime. I absolutely loved every part of it. It leverages the established cast and expands on their relationships apart from Utena and Himemiya (except when relevant). The Black Rose represents a lack of change, or stasis, which puts it at odds with Utena and Himemiya's 革命の力, so it feels like a very classic "light and dark" struggle. Most of the Black Rose users were true side characters, and their respective episodes did a good job fleshing out their struggles. The Wakaba, Shiori, and Kozue episodes all stood out to me. Aesthetically I also just loved how the weapons drawn from each victim was different and expressed some subtle part of their personality.
I sort of think the reused assets in this anime are a concession for making the rest of the show beautiful, but the repeated parts of this arc were also really great. The elevator rides into the depths exploring their negative emotions, culminating in the sudden arrival at the crematorium and subsequent possession, and then their newly-emboldened aggression towards their victim — it was all extremely good. It also made me think about the lack of consent in the action. The Black Rose takes advantage of powerless people by giving them a false sense of power that enables them to harm the people they love.
The only change I would make in a dream scenario would be extending the episodes by 10 or 20 minutes. I think some characters rushed their emotional nadir a bit too quickly, and the sword fight with Utena at the end of each episode was often too short for my taste. A bit more time for both ends of the story would have been nice. Ah well...

On a side note, basically every Nanami episode has been absolutely perfect. I particularly liked the episode of her with the egg I watched towards the end of the week. Perfect. No notes.

「選択肢」の選択史

This week I read about スマガスペシャル, a spinoff of スマガ sort of follows from the original game, but also sort of doesn't. The author, Vio, talked about how the game part of novel games (visual novels) can be emphasised more when the story becomes less relevant. スマガスペシャル apparently has quite a lot of minigames to keep the concept fresh.

I also read the section on Steins;Gate. Vio didn't write the whole game, but he was involved somewhat in its creation. One of the big themes in this chapter was about micro-choices and macro-choices. In Steins;Gate, there are sort of two major "endings" your decisions lean towards — dystopian government or WW3 — but there are also many small decisions that alter small parts of the story, and particularly within the core friend group. Vio also referred to the survival of "Heroine A" or "Heroine B" in this way, implying that neither was really the "correct" decision. From what I've heard of the game, I assumed that only one character's survival is considered "canon", but Vio seems to annoyed at fans who grapple for "canon" anyway, so he probably doesn't care.

Veil

I picked this up after hearing that the series uses entirely handwritten Japanese in dialogue. I feel like my ability to recognise characters is pretty good, but I tend to ignore small, handwritten Japanese in margins, so I thought I should force myself to get over my aversion.

The story is okay, but I wish it was more traditional. It's a romance between a blind woman and a stoic, soft-spoken sort of guy. I'd describe it as a real "woman's fantasy", but it definitely has something for any reader. Unfortunately the "chapters" are plentiful and short, meaning there isn't much arcing to the story. The prologue and longer chapters are definitely the best parts.

The manga is also in full colour, and the art is gorgeous. I'd definitely recommend it if you could find a physical version, or if you just want to ogle some beautiful Eastern-Europeans, or if you want to test your ability to read Japanese with the least friendly "font" available.