(i've only played mayuri's route and i don't have much intention of playing rikka's route so this review is ONLY for mayuri's route).
i don't read many vns but i was drawn to this series when browsing jast usa's games on steam and it stuck out like a sore thumb. i decided to give it a go after reading sayonara o oshiete as i felt it would be a nice palette cleanser and it had ballet and very pretty illustrations so i was pretty interested in giving it a go despite the fact that i don't tend to enjoy slice of life stories.
after finishing, i can confidently say it's not what i expected at all. i thought it would just be an overly cutesy story with no real conflict, but i couldn't be more wrong.
i think because i related to mayuri, suoh, and erika a lot the depictions of internal struggles and internalised homophobia really resonated with me and touched me. it had a very respectful and delicate way of presenting mental illness while also not stepping on eggshells. i found that the religious aspects of the story (with the girls being enrolled at a catholic school despite being agnostic or atheist) were very well done. it never felt forced or unnatural and i fully expected there to be moments where they'd opt for the "christianity = homophobia" stereotype but it was never black and white and i think they definitely handled it very well.
in short: (for the most part) the characters are all very vivid with very likeable personalities and relatable struggles, the illustrations are absolutely stunning, the writing is elegant and very beautiful despite a few spelling errors (which i assume is just an issue with the english translation having bugs with words that include "...nj" in them). the music is pretty, but i found myself muting it fairly early on because it got fairly repetitive and i felt a lot of the song choices didn't really match the mood of a lot of the scenes.
the reason i can only give this 4.5/5 is because there are a few minor issues as mentioned before and i personally REALLY could not stand rikka's character at all which did become a problem since she is one of the main characters and a temporary protagonist during one of the later chapters.
i am very excited to play the rest of the games and overall i'm happy i found this series
i don't read many vns but i was drawn to this series when browsing jast usa's games on steam and it stuck out like a sore thumb. i decided to give it a go after reading sayonara o oshiete as i felt it would be a nice palette cleanser and it had ballet and very pretty illustrations so i was pretty interested in giving it a go despite the fact that i don't tend to enjoy slice of life stories.
after finishing, i can confidently say it's not what i expected at all. i thought it would just be an overly cutesy story with no real conflict, but i couldn't be more wrong.
i think because i related to mayuri, suoh, and erika a lot the depictions of internal struggles and internalised homophobia really resonated with me and touched me. it had a very respectful and delicate way of presenting mental illness while also not stepping on eggshells. i found that the religious aspects of the story (with the girls being enrolled at a catholic school despite being agnostic or atheist) were very well done. it never felt forced or unnatural and i fully expected there to be moments where they'd opt for the "christianity = homophobia" stereotype but it was never black and white and i think they definitely handled it very well.
in short: (for the most part) the characters are all very vivid with very likeable personalities and relatable struggles, the illustrations are absolutely stunning, the writing is elegant and very beautiful despite a few spelling errors (which i assume is just an issue with the english translation having bugs with words that include "...nj" in them). the music is pretty, but i found myself muting it fairly early on because it got fairly repetitive and i felt a lot of the song choices didn't really match the mood of a lot of the scenes.
the reason i can only give this 4.5/5 is because there are a few minor issues as mentioned before and i personally REALLY could not stand rikka's character at all which did become a problem since she is one of the main characters and a temporary protagonist during one of the later chapters.
i am very excited to play the rest of the games and overall i'm happy i found this series
Nice start, good pacing and easy to get through, nothing much else to say as its the first installment of 4. Ig if I had anything to say, it would be about the mystery solving aspect, some clues don't get mentioned in the build up or require you to have knowledge on specific literature or flowers, would've made that aspect more fun to solve if it wasn't exactly like that
other than the mystery sections being a little bs and some translation errors/typos here and there it's quite a comfy experience, would recommend to fans of SoL and yuri.
Had some amazing plot points that didn't live up to their full potential, and the true ending was a real let down.
The localization done by Jast USA was also sub-par, having typos, words without spaces between them, a very large issue where what someone said was copied to the next sentence at a very vital and emotional scene, and also had white subtitles on a white background just a little further, luckily the log feature was able to help here though.
I am skeptical to continue the series after the true ending, and the localization errors done by Jast USA.
The localization done by Jast USA was also sub-par, having typos, words without spaces between them, a very large issue where what someone said was copied to the next sentence at a very vital and emotional scene, and also had white subtitles on a white background just a little further, luckily the log feature was able to help here though.
I am skeptical to continue the series after the true ending, and the localization errors done by Jast USA.
Only played the mayuri (true) route.
I liked the characters but overall found it pretty boring, mostly because it lacked any depth, and I hated the ending.
I'm a big fan of yuri, but I can't say I enjoyed this.
I will try the sequel, as it's better received.
I liked the characters but overall found it pretty boring, mostly because it lacked any depth, and I hated the ending.
I'm a big fan of yuri, but I can't say I enjoyed this.
I will try the sequel, as it's better received.
This game expects me to know every piece of classic literature front to back like it's the most obvious thing in the world. I'm not going to read Wuthering Heights in my free time, I'm playing a lesbian visual novel ffs. Also the Js are kinda fucked up and eat like half of the letter before it.
It's cute tho. I love how flirty all the characters are. Rikka deserved better.
It's cute tho. I love how flirty all the characters are. Rikka deserved better.
suoh disaster gay. I can relate
this is my black panther