content warning
i will start out by saying that this game and any other games of its nature are very difficult to recommend to people simply because of the content in them, so a huge content warning beforehand for:
- rape & sexual violence
- child exploitation
- animal abuse
- incest
- beastiality
- pedophilia
- gore
- necrophilia
i also want to say that this game in no way tries to romanticise any of those themes whatsoever and paints them in a very negative light. all the erotic scenes are fan disservice and exist to be unsettling while moving the story forward.
context
i haven't read many visual novels and prior to reading sayonara o oshiete i'd just finished reading saya no uta and my friend said he really enjoyed sayooshi. i'm not the best at reading and this game as of writing this still doesn't have an official english release, but the fan translation i read was very good.
spoiler free summary
the protagonist is a young teacher trainee suffering from repetitive nightmares of an angel being assaulted by a monster as he starts his teacher training at an all girls school. every day he wakes up in a dazed state and tries to get through each day of his training, but he keeps thinking about the dreams he's having and one of the girls at the school shares an uncanny resemblance to the angel in his dreams. he meets 4 other girls that seem to never leave the school in the late hours of the evening, and they all remind him of different aspects of his own childhood.
characters
every character in sayooshi is so perfectly written and individual, making them very easy to get attached to. this may be a coincidence, but as i was reading for the first time i found that each of the characters reminded me a lot of alice in wonderland characters.
koyori reminded me of the cheshire cat a lot, being very playful and seemingly absent minded, while also talking in a very mysterious way, subtly trying to help the protagonist while also teasing him. she directly reflects the protagonist's confusion and lack of self awareness and mocks him while doing so. i really loved koyori's scenes the most because of how much they broke the 4th wall. talking to her made me feel like i was going insane, but after finishing each route it all came together and made sense.
miyuki's blunt and pompous personality reminded me of the caterpillar a lot, as she seems to always want to be right and indirectly helps the protagonist by telling him random facts from books found in the library.
and as for nozomi, her loneliness and desire to disappear reminded me of alice's curiosity and affinity for a world outside of our own. the way nozomi talks to the protagonist seems like she's masking her loneliness by acting like a grown up, similar to how alice initially looks down upon adults.
the characters all have a way of making the reader doubt reality. whether it's through the whimsical ways they interact with the protagonist, or how they don't seem to be aware of each others' existence. they are all very likeable and individual from each other, which when compared to saya no uta, i only found myself getting attached to saya herself.
because of the nature of this game, the protagonist obviously is not a good person in the slightest and does some of the most unspeakable things imaginable. but his day to day hysteria and monotony is written in such a way where you do feel for him. his struggles are for the most part all very common and relatable. this doesn't make any of the things he does any less unacceptable, but it does make the overall experience feel a lot more conflicting, as you are lead to feel for this man who acts out terrible things.
visuals
something i feel a lot more qualified to critique and talk about are the illustrations and interface design. but there's really nothing to complain about. everything is so beautiful and tinted in a deep sunset hue. the characters are illustrated perfectly, reflecting each of their unique personalities flawlessly. the art style can definitely invoke a sense of nostalgia in anyone, regardless of whether they've read sayooshi before or not, since the art in some ways is dated and hasn't aged the best from the early 2000s anime style that was popular at the time. but, i find it incredibly charming, and the way the illustrator drew the faces gives them a sense of emptiness and distance from the reader.
the interface design is incredibly beautiful and intricate too, i sometimes find myself wanting to boot up the game just to look at the menus and cg gallery. it's definitely one of the most stylistic games i've ever played
music
if you don't plan on reading sayooshi i definitely recommend listening to the soundtrack. each piece is so full of complex emotion and pretty melodies. especially when it comes to each character's theme, the songs sound like how i picture each character's personalities to sound. i honestly wish the soundtrack cd wasn't so expensive because i need it in my life đđ
closing thoughts
if you can stomach the extreme subject matter, i cannot recommend sayonara o oshiete enough. it's one of the most immersive stories i've ever read and probably ever will read. i felt like i was spiralling into madness along side the protagonist the entire time i was reading it and i wish it wasn't over. i forgot to mention also that the voice acting is amazing and so perfectly cast, i can't imagine any of the characters sounding any different.
my only critique is that mental illness is such an integral part of sayonara o oshiete, but in some areas it does feel as though the protagonist's mental illness is being demonised. on my first playthrough i got a bad ending which felt a little offensive, but i understand that the game is rather old now, so i don't expect it to be a perfect representation for mental illness.
tldr: it's a very fun and disturbing experience overall and it made me cry a few times, would recommend.
i will start out by saying that this game and any other games of its nature are very difficult to recommend to people simply because of the content in them, so a huge content warning beforehand for:
- rape & sexual violence
- child exploitation
- animal abuse
- incest
- beastiality
- pedophilia
- gore
- necrophilia
i also want to say that this game in no way tries to romanticise any of those themes whatsoever and paints them in a very negative light. all the erotic scenes are fan disservice and exist to be unsettling while moving the story forward.
context
i haven't read many visual novels and prior to reading sayonara o oshiete i'd just finished reading saya no uta and my friend said he really enjoyed sayooshi. i'm not the best at reading and this game as of writing this still doesn't have an official english release, but the fan translation i read was very good.
spoiler free summary
the protagonist is a young teacher trainee suffering from repetitive nightmares of an angel being assaulted by a monster as he starts his teacher training at an all girls school. every day he wakes up in a dazed state and tries to get through each day of his training, but he keeps thinking about the dreams he's having and one of the girls at the school shares an uncanny resemblance to the angel in his dreams. he meets 4 other girls that seem to never leave the school in the late hours of the evening, and they all remind him of different aspects of his own childhood.
characters
every character in sayooshi is so perfectly written and individual, making them very easy to get attached to. this may be a coincidence, but as i was reading for the first time i found that each of the characters reminded me a lot of alice in wonderland characters.
koyori reminded me of the cheshire cat a lot, being very playful and seemingly absent minded, while also talking in a very mysterious way, subtly trying to help the protagonist while also teasing him. she directly reflects the protagonist's confusion and lack of self awareness and mocks him while doing so. i really loved koyori's scenes the most because of how much they broke the 4th wall. talking to her made me feel like i was going insane, but after finishing each route it all came together and made sense.
miyuki's blunt and pompous personality reminded me of the caterpillar a lot, as she seems to always want to be right and indirectly helps the protagonist by telling him random facts from books found in the library.
and as for nozomi, her loneliness and desire to disappear reminded me of alice's curiosity and affinity for a world outside of our own. the way nozomi talks to the protagonist seems like she's masking her loneliness by acting like a grown up, similar to how alice initially looks down upon adults.
the characters all have a way of making the reader doubt reality. whether it's through the whimsical ways they interact with the protagonist, or how they don't seem to be aware of each others' existence. they are all very likeable and individual from each other, which when compared to saya no uta, i only found myself getting attached to saya herself.
because of the nature of this game, the protagonist obviously is not a good person in the slightest and does some of the most unspeakable things imaginable. but his day to day hysteria and monotony is written in such a way where you do feel for him. his struggles are for the most part all very common and relatable. this doesn't make any of the things he does any less unacceptable, but it does make the overall experience feel a lot more conflicting, as you are lead to feel for this man who acts out terrible things.
visuals
something i feel a lot more qualified to critique and talk about are the illustrations and interface design. but there's really nothing to complain about. everything is so beautiful and tinted in a deep sunset hue. the characters are illustrated perfectly, reflecting each of their unique personalities flawlessly. the art style can definitely invoke a sense of nostalgia in anyone, regardless of whether they've read sayooshi before or not, since the art in some ways is dated and hasn't aged the best from the early 2000s anime style that was popular at the time. but, i find it incredibly charming, and the way the illustrator drew the faces gives them a sense of emptiness and distance from the reader.
the interface design is incredibly beautiful and intricate too, i sometimes find myself wanting to boot up the game just to look at the menus and cg gallery. it's definitely one of the most stylistic games i've ever played
music
if you don't plan on reading sayooshi i definitely recommend listening to the soundtrack. each piece is so full of complex emotion and pretty melodies. especially when it comes to each character's theme, the songs sound like how i picture each character's personalities to sound. i honestly wish the soundtrack cd wasn't so expensive because i need it in my life đđ
closing thoughts
if you can stomach the extreme subject matter, i cannot recommend sayonara o oshiete enough. it's one of the most immersive stories i've ever read and probably ever will read. i felt like i was spiralling into madness along side the protagonist the entire time i was reading it and i wish it wasn't over. i forgot to mention also that the voice acting is amazing and so perfectly cast, i can't imagine any of the characters sounding any different.
my only critique is that mental illness is such an integral part of sayonara o oshiete, but in some areas it does feel as though the protagonist's mental illness is being demonised. on my first playthrough i got a bad ending which felt a little offensive, but i understand that the game is rather old now, so i don't expect it to be a perfect representation for mental illness.
tldr: it's a very fun and disturbing experience overall and it made me cry a few times, would recommend.
i finally finished every route and i don't even know what to write
huuuuh it has interesting things but bit too boring for me
music slaps tho
music slaps tho
This review contains spoilers
By necessity, this post will discuss heavy topics such as mental illness, trauma, sexual abuse, rape, incest, animal abuse, and self-harm. This behemoth also contains spoilers for SayoOshi, tread carefully.
It's very rare that I find a game as grotesquely beautiful as Sayonara o Oshiete ~Comment te Dire Adieu~. Released by Craftwork in 2003 to lukewarm reception that developed into a cult-like following, SayoOshi is considered one of the "Denpa Trifecta." This trio of "main" denpa games that almost any denpa fan will point to as inspiring many of the other games includes SayoOshi, Tsui No Sora, and Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou.
For the sake of people reading this who have no idea what the heck a denpa is, denpa as a genre is probably best defined using the following three points:
1.) The protagonist is unreliable, and often mentally ill, in some way, shape, or form.
2.) The world around the protagonist seems to be going mad, for reasons the protagonist is trying to figure out.
3.) The plot itself involves the protagonist losing it more and more throughout the plot, though the protagonist often isn't particularly stable or grounded to begin with.
It's probably my favorite subgenre of visual novels. When it's done well, I think it's the most satisfying to see everything come together. And SayoOshi is done really well, in my opinion.
Many other people would disagree with my assessment, especially when it comes to the ending and how mental illness is depicted. I hope, in this long-winded review, I can get my own views on it across. I doubt I'll change anyone's minds, but at the very least, I hope this is somewhat enjoyable to read.
I believe SayoOshi is, at its core, a story about weighing your own guilt with what you're obligated to do, and how being obligated to do things out of guilt and because others tell you to will always lead to destruction, both of yourself and those around you. It's about cycles of abuse and trauma eating people from the inside out. It's not a story about overcoming trauma, or personal hardships. It's a game about how trauma can change people, oftentimes for the worse.
For many, the whole twist about Hirosuke, our nameable protagonist, being in a university hospital for having multiple uninterrupted breaks from reality is a cop-out, even if it was heavily foreshadowed from the beginning. And I can understand that. Even at release, the whole "the protagonist is actually just insane" plot twist was overplayed. But genuinely, I think it pulls it off, especially when it comes to balancing out the relationships and dynamics.
Some visual novels are meant to have a core message of "keep going even when it hurts, even when you feel yourself breaking into a million little pieces," and SayoOshi stands in stark contrast to that. Part of Hirosuke's whole problem is that he continued persevering out of obligation and guilt, without feeling he could reach out for help. He views himself as a deeply horrible human being, and I can't say I disagree much with that assessment. He's hurt insects and cats on purpose. He stole his sister's panties on multiple occasions as a teenager. He can only seem to love something if it's broken.
However, behind the horrible human being, you see all these systems that absolutely failed him. His family failed him. No one saw his concerning pattern of behavior as a child and thought to get him help. There were no attempts to get him help other than shaming him as a group activity, and we can see that made him scared to reach out. Even if his parents had done something, or tried to, the mental health system in Japan is already horrible, and mental health issues tend to be highly stigmatized. As far as we can tell, there were no genuine attempts to try and help him. Almost everyone significant in his life failed him, and this continues on and on until the only way he feels he can cope with his guilt, with his intrusive thoughts, is to bottle it up and create an escapist fantasy.
This isn't me defending him as a person, this is me defending him as a character, as well as the decision to make Hirosuke like this. To drive home the point that he's been failed by most major systems in his life, and that there were so many points where someone could helped him and instead no one did, leading to guilt feeding into obligation feeding into guilt feeding into obligation, and so on, and so forth.
Hirosuke feels guilt for his actions. He doesn't want to be like this. Even at his worst, you can see his hesitation, his trepidation, and again, his guilt. I don't think he's happy hurting other people. But, at the same time, he can't stop anymore. And the loss of control leads into guilt, which makes him feel obligated to continue, which feeds into a destructive cycle.
I think, also, it's interesting to view this cycle with Semina and Tonae. It's a much more subtle cycle for both of them, but still quite interesting.
Semina is the older sister. She was always the one meant to look after Hirosuke, especially because of the gender dynamics at play. But because Hirosuke was "off", and because she was often pushed aside for him, even as a child, she never liked him. Then, Hirosuke hits puberty and takes an interest in her. He steals her underwear, and naturally, she likes him even less and becomes more cruel to him. Meanwhile, her parents are still heavily pressuring her to become a teacher. She gets into her first choice of university, and becomes a teacher like their parents wanted. Hirosuke fails the tests twice. She tries to comfort him out of guilt and out of obligation as his older sister, and this makes things worse because he thinks she's pitying him instead of genuinely wanting to help him. Again, she's been horrible to him until now. This makes sense.
Next, he finally loses it. By this point, their parents are dead, and she's the only one left for him. Obviously, she feels guilty and obligated to take care of him. So, she tries a bunch of things to snap him out of his fantasy. None of them work. Eventually, she takes him to Tonae, at the end of her rope trying to fulfill her duty as his older sister. She visits him every day. But visiting him every day, when he's become deeply misogynistic and gynophobic, does far more harm than good, especially when she's already burnt out from taking care of him and prone to snapping at him. Despite it, he seems to be making at least a little progress before he walks in on Semina and Tonae talking, causing him to completely lose faith in his doctor and beginning another spiral.
At almost every point, Semina's actions are driven by both her sense of duty as his elder sister and as his only living relative, and her guilt for being mean to him, for being unable to find a doctor that can help him, and for not doing, or being, enough. She feels guilty after she snaps at him, and she feels more guilty when Tonae points out that her being near him so often likely made things worse for him, instead of better.
Tonae is the doctor, but she's also Semina's high school friend. They were in the swim club together, and Semina saved her from drowning. Tonae already essentially owes her life to Semina. Thus, when Semina asks her to try and help Hirosuke leave his delusion, of course Tonae agrees. How could she not? That's the person who saved her life! Of course she's going to agree to try and take on his case. Thus, the cycle of guilt and obligation begin again.
Hirosuke is gynophobic. Because she feels she needs to save him, for her own savior, she ends up trying to posit herself as a motherly figure to him. This seems to work well enough for a bit, considering we can see him opening up to her. However, if she pushes back too hard against his delusion, he'll completely lose trust in her, meaning she has to try and ask more roundabout questions to try and ascertain what's going on with him, meaning progress isn't particularly fast. Our first major setback comes when he feels comfortable enough to talk about the nightmare, and Mutsuki, the subject of his nightmare, walks in. This leads to him having a panic attack, and her realizing that the angel in his nightmares is Mutsuki. Unfortunately, she's unable to calm him down after that, since he's on the verge of a spiral. He finally trusts her again after a little bit, is ready to try and talk to her about his nightmares, and walks into her office... only to see Semina with her, thus fully sowing the seeds of distrust that only continue to grow throughout the rest of the game.
Tonae becomes desprate to try and save him. She can feel him clamming up after the progress she made, and so, guilt and obligation combine once again to give her the wonderful idea to try and snap him out of it using sex. Obviously, this doesn't work, given that, once again, Hirosuke has a very complicated relationship with sex and women. (Also see: the power dynamic difference, and the fact Hirosuke is literally unable to consent in a way that matters due to his delusions.)
Tonae feels so indebted to Semina and so duty-bound to help her patient that she takes drastic measures that likely didn't need to be taken in order to try and help Hirosuke, but these measures only make the situation worse. Thus, compounding her guilt, and her obligations, into another destructive spiral.
I don't think it's fair to claim that Sayonara O Oshiete does an asspull of an ending, especially considering the fact the foreshadowing wasn't super subtle, at least to me. I don't think it came out of left field, I think it built up beautifully, especially as we watch these traumas and spirals intersect and hurt everyone involved even more. It was genuinely almost painful to read at times, seeing the cycle everyone had trapped themselves in. My god, was it worth every minute.
I think also, with the concept of spirals and cycles in mind, the actual format works really well. Some of the text just hits different on a second play through without skipping! That doesn't mean I don't have my gripes with it, just that I think it works well.
I don't know how to describe how it resonated with me. I've tried, and tried, but I just can't. I think it's one of those stories you have to experience for yourself to truly understand.
Now, onto things that aren't the plot!
The art is some of the most visually interesting and beautiful art I've ever seen. The usage of color, the compositions themselves, and the art style all meld so well together. It's stunning, visceral, and still maintains a dreamlike aspect to it. I hesitate to call it a treat for the eyes, considering how grotesque it can get, but it's one of the prettiest visual novels I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The art holds up really well, even two decades later.
The music was also very good. None of the tracks were too long or too short, and it was interesting, hearing auditory foreshadowing for some of the characters. However, I do wish there was more of it. It could have benefited from having more music tracks.
The sound design with regards to voices was... just okay. It was fine. There were some standout moments, but even for it's time, it seemed a bit low-quality. There weren't many sound effects, but I did like how the school bell got progressively more messed up.
Overall, I rate this a 9/10 or a 4.5/5. If you have the stomach for it, you should try it.
It's very rare that I find a game as grotesquely beautiful as Sayonara o Oshiete ~Comment te Dire Adieu~. Released by Craftwork in 2003 to lukewarm reception that developed into a cult-like following, SayoOshi is considered one of the "Denpa Trifecta." This trio of "main" denpa games that almost any denpa fan will point to as inspiring many of the other games includes SayoOshi, Tsui No Sora, and Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou.
For the sake of people reading this who have no idea what the heck a denpa is, denpa as a genre is probably best defined using the following three points:
1.) The protagonist is unreliable, and often mentally ill, in some way, shape, or form.
2.) The world around the protagonist seems to be going mad, for reasons the protagonist is trying to figure out.
3.) The plot itself involves the protagonist losing it more and more throughout the plot, though the protagonist often isn't particularly stable or grounded to begin with.
It's probably my favorite subgenre of visual novels. When it's done well, I think it's the most satisfying to see everything come together. And SayoOshi is done really well, in my opinion.
Many other people would disagree with my assessment, especially when it comes to the ending and how mental illness is depicted. I hope, in this long-winded review, I can get my own views on it across. I doubt I'll change anyone's minds, but at the very least, I hope this is somewhat enjoyable to read.
I believe SayoOshi is, at its core, a story about weighing your own guilt with what you're obligated to do, and how being obligated to do things out of guilt and because others tell you to will always lead to destruction, both of yourself and those around you. It's about cycles of abuse and trauma eating people from the inside out. It's not a story about overcoming trauma, or personal hardships. It's a game about how trauma can change people, oftentimes for the worse.
For many, the whole twist about Hirosuke, our nameable protagonist, being in a university hospital for having multiple uninterrupted breaks from reality is a cop-out, even if it was heavily foreshadowed from the beginning. And I can understand that. Even at release, the whole "the protagonist is actually just insane" plot twist was overplayed. But genuinely, I think it pulls it off, especially when it comes to balancing out the relationships and dynamics.
Some visual novels are meant to have a core message of "keep going even when it hurts, even when you feel yourself breaking into a million little pieces," and SayoOshi stands in stark contrast to that. Part of Hirosuke's whole problem is that he continued persevering out of obligation and guilt, without feeling he could reach out for help. He views himself as a deeply horrible human being, and I can't say I disagree much with that assessment. He's hurt insects and cats on purpose. He stole his sister's panties on multiple occasions as a teenager. He can only seem to love something if it's broken.
However, behind the horrible human being, you see all these systems that absolutely failed him. His family failed him. No one saw his concerning pattern of behavior as a child and thought to get him help. There were no attempts to get him help other than shaming him as a group activity, and we can see that made him scared to reach out. Even if his parents had done something, or tried to, the mental health system in Japan is already horrible, and mental health issues tend to be highly stigmatized. As far as we can tell, there were no genuine attempts to try and help him. Almost everyone significant in his life failed him, and this continues on and on until the only way he feels he can cope with his guilt, with his intrusive thoughts, is to bottle it up and create an escapist fantasy.
This isn't me defending him as a person, this is me defending him as a character, as well as the decision to make Hirosuke like this. To drive home the point that he's been failed by most major systems in his life, and that there were so many points where someone could helped him and instead no one did, leading to guilt feeding into obligation feeding into guilt feeding into obligation, and so on, and so forth.
Hirosuke feels guilt for his actions. He doesn't want to be like this. Even at his worst, you can see his hesitation, his trepidation, and again, his guilt. I don't think he's happy hurting other people. But, at the same time, he can't stop anymore. And the loss of control leads into guilt, which makes him feel obligated to continue, which feeds into a destructive cycle.
I think, also, it's interesting to view this cycle with Semina and Tonae. It's a much more subtle cycle for both of them, but still quite interesting.
Semina is the older sister. She was always the one meant to look after Hirosuke, especially because of the gender dynamics at play. But because Hirosuke was "off", and because she was often pushed aside for him, even as a child, she never liked him. Then, Hirosuke hits puberty and takes an interest in her. He steals her underwear, and naturally, she likes him even less and becomes more cruel to him. Meanwhile, her parents are still heavily pressuring her to become a teacher. She gets into her first choice of university, and becomes a teacher like their parents wanted. Hirosuke fails the tests twice. She tries to comfort him out of guilt and out of obligation as his older sister, and this makes things worse because he thinks she's pitying him instead of genuinely wanting to help him. Again, she's been horrible to him until now. This makes sense.
Next, he finally loses it. By this point, their parents are dead, and she's the only one left for him. Obviously, she feels guilty and obligated to take care of him. So, she tries a bunch of things to snap him out of his fantasy. None of them work. Eventually, she takes him to Tonae, at the end of her rope trying to fulfill her duty as his older sister. She visits him every day. But visiting him every day, when he's become deeply misogynistic and gynophobic, does far more harm than good, especially when she's already burnt out from taking care of him and prone to snapping at him. Despite it, he seems to be making at least a little progress before he walks in on Semina and Tonae talking, causing him to completely lose faith in his doctor and beginning another spiral.
At almost every point, Semina's actions are driven by both her sense of duty as his elder sister and as his only living relative, and her guilt for being mean to him, for being unable to find a doctor that can help him, and for not doing, or being, enough. She feels guilty after she snaps at him, and she feels more guilty when Tonae points out that her being near him so often likely made things worse for him, instead of better.
Tonae is the doctor, but she's also Semina's high school friend. They were in the swim club together, and Semina saved her from drowning. Tonae already essentially owes her life to Semina. Thus, when Semina asks her to try and help Hirosuke leave his delusion, of course Tonae agrees. How could she not? That's the person who saved her life! Of course she's going to agree to try and take on his case. Thus, the cycle of guilt and obligation begin again.
Hirosuke is gynophobic. Because she feels she needs to save him, for her own savior, she ends up trying to posit herself as a motherly figure to him. This seems to work well enough for a bit, considering we can see him opening up to her. However, if she pushes back too hard against his delusion, he'll completely lose trust in her, meaning she has to try and ask more roundabout questions to try and ascertain what's going on with him, meaning progress isn't particularly fast. Our first major setback comes when he feels comfortable enough to talk about the nightmare, and Mutsuki, the subject of his nightmare, walks in. This leads to him having a panic attack, and her realizing that the angel in his nightmares is Mutsuki. Unfortunately, she's unable to calm him down after that, since he's on the verge of a spiral. He finally trusts her again after a little bit, is ready to try and talk to her about his nightmares, and walks into her office... only to see Semina with her, thus fully sowing the seeds of distrust that only continue to grow throughout the rest of the game.
Tonae becomes desprate to try and save him. She can feel him clamming up after the progress she made, and so, guilt and obligation combine once again to give her the wonderful idea to try and snap him out of it using sex. Obviously, this doesn't work, given that, once again, Hirosuke has a very complicated relationship with sex and women. (Also see: the power dynamic difference, and the fact Hirosuke is literally unable to consent in a way that matters due to his delusions.)
Tonae feels so indebted to Semina and so duty-bound to help her patient that she takes drastic measures that likely didn't need to be taken in order to try and help Hirosuke, but these measures only make the situation worse. Thus, compounding her guilt, and her obligations, into another destructive spiral.
I don't think it's fair to claim that Sayonara O Oshiete does an asspull of an ending, especially considering the fact the foreshadowing wasn't super subtle, at least to me. I don't think it came out of left field, I think it built up beautifully, especially as we watch these traumas and spirals intersect and hurt everyone involved even more. It was genuinely almost painful to read at times, seeing the cycle everyone had trapped themselves in. My god, was it worth every minute.
I think also, with the concept of spirals and cycles in mind, the actual format works really well. Some of the text just hits different on a second play through without skipping! That doesn't mean I don't have my gripes with it, just that I think it works well.
I don't know how to describe how it resonated with me. I've tried, and tried, but I just can't. I think it's one of those stories you have to experience for yourself to truly understand.
Now, onto things that aren't the plot!
The art is some of the most visually interesting and beautiful art I've ever seen. The usage of color, the compositions themselves, and the art style all meld so well together. It's stunning, visceral, and still maintains a dreamlike aspect to it. I hesitate to call it a treat for the eyes, considering how grotesque it can get, but it's one of the prettiest visual novels I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The art holds up really well, even two decades later.
The music was also very good. None of the tracks were too long or too short, and it was interesting, hearing auditory foreshadowing for some of the characters. However, I do wish there was more of it. It could have benefited from having more music tracks.
The sound design with regards to voices was... just okay. It was fine. There were some standout moments, but even for it's time, it seemed a bit low-quality. There weren't many sound effects, but I did like how the school bell got progressively more messed up.
Overall, I rate this a 9/10 or a 4.5/5. If you have the stomach for it, you should try it.
playing this in Spanish was a challenge
In many ways the reputation of this game exceeds it, that isn't to say it is overrated but rather that I think many will be disappointed when this game is finally translated into English.
Sayooshi is one of the main "denpa" games but it lacks many of the elements people associate the genre with. Most people that will actually play this game will be able to tell "what is or isn't real" and there are not that many moments of "absolute madness" in the game. The H-scenes are super short. There are no real moments of long text dumps based on a pseudoscience or philosophy thing the author read a wikipedia article about. There is no real mystery angle to it (most people will be able to guess the main twist almost immediately if they are familiar with this line of game). It isn't all that fucked up either, but then again people consider Saya and motherfucking Muramasa to be "extreme" so perhaps that is up to the reader to decide.
Regardless of what the game is not, much more importantly, this game is very very unfinished. The main story is under ten hours in length even if you read it very slowly and this is one of the few games where I thought "That's it, seriously?" after the credits started rolling. Still, the game is well worth playing as long as you keep in mind that it is very unfinished and don't really expect something along the lines of the other denpa stuff that is popular. I loved it overall and would rather not talk about the story (if you can call it that) and everything else as I feel this is one of the things most people should get into "blind". You either get it or you don't, that's all there is to it. Sayooshi also has what is possibly one of the best game OSTs I have heard. It's a classic for a reason, as long as you know what to expect. Also I like Jisatsu 101 more still.
Sayooshi is one of the main "denpa" games but it lacks many of the elements people associate the genre with. Most people that will actually play this game will be able to tell "what is or isn't real" and there are not that many moments of "absolute madness" in the game. The H-scenes are super short. There are no real moments of long text dumps based on a pseudoscience or philosophy thing the author read a wikipedia article about. There is no real mystery angle to it (most people will be able to guess the main twist almost immediately if they are familiar with this line of game). It isn't all that fucked up either, but then again people consider Saya and motherfucking Muramasa to be "extreme" so perhaps that is up to the reader to decide.
Regardless of what the game is not, much more importantly, this game is very very unfinished. The main story is under ten hours in length even if you read it very slowly and this is one of the few games where I thought "That's it, seriously?" after the credits started rolling. Still, the game is well worth playing as long as you keep in mind that it is very unfinished and don't really expect something along the lines of the other denpa stuff that is popular. I loved it overall and would rather not talk about the story (if you can call it that) and everything else as I feel this is one of the things most people should get into "blind". You either get it or you don't, that's all there is to it. Sayooshi also has what is possibly one of the best game OSTs I have heard. It's a classic for a reason, as long as you know what to expect. Also I like Jisatsu 101 more still.
Sayonara o Oshiete es el mejor representante de lo que es y como hacer una obra denpa. Fue una de las primeras VNs del gĂ©nero y uno de los referentes junto a Tsui No Sora y a diferencia de este Ășltimo que necesito de un remake para sentirse a la altura de los ultimos años, con Sayonara se sigue sintiendo atemporal.
Recomiendo leerlo? Complicado... Digo, indudablemente es una excelente obra Denpa y se ha convertido en mi segunda VN denpa favorita, pero no lo recomendarĂa para alguien que nunca ha tocado una VN denpa anteriormente, puesto que probablemente el lector se sentirĂĄ abrumado o confundido por la manera en que se narra la historia la cual es diferente a la que normalmente VNs convencionales suelen narrar y desarrollar la historia. AdemĂĄs de que hay escenas que puede que sean difĂcil de digerir para alguien normal (NO es una VN de terror ni estarĂĄs asustado en ningĂșn momento, pero sĂ hay escenas y CG fuertes).
Ahora bien, si ya has leĂdo otras obras Denpa, entonces si, totalmente lo recomiendo, ya que lo considero un must read y a este punto ya deberĂas de estar acostumbrado a las cosas que suelen mostrar y la manera de narrar tan confusa de las obras de este gĂ©nero la cual hace que tĂș tengas que interpretar las cosas que suceden a tu manera debido a que casi nada es explĂcito, todo es muy ambiguo.
Mencion honorĂfica a la banda sonora que es excelente y a los memes andantes de Chaos;gate team el cual es cierto que ni puede comprobar si su traducciĂłn tiene sentido con la obra, ya que no pueden leer una vn de 11 horas, pero aun asĂ siento que reciben mĂĄs odio del que deberĂan. Sin ellos muchas vns que ni siquiera tenĂan traducciĂłn al inglĂ©s las podrĂamos leer. Detesto las localizaciones y genuinamente siento que chaos;gate hace un mejor trabajo al traducir literalmente lĂnea por lĂnea del japonĂ©s sin inventarse diĂĄlogos (ignorando sus fallos ortogrĂĄficos y palabras sacadas del traductor google).
Recomiendo leerlo? Complicado... Digo, indudablemente es una excelente obra Denpa y se ha convertido en mi segunda VN denpa favorita, pero no lo recomendarĂa para alguien que nunca ha tocado una VN denpa anteriormente, puesto que probablemente el lector se sentirĂĄ abrumado o confundido por la manera en que se narra la historia la cual es diferente a la que normalmente VNs convencionales suelen narrar y desarrollar la historia. AdemĂĄs de que hay escenas que puede que sean difĂcil de digerir para alguien normal (NO es una VN de terror ni estarĂĄs asustado en ningĂșn momento, pero sĂ hay escenas y CG fuertes).
Ahora bien, si ya has leĂdo otras obras Denpa, entonces si, totalmente lo recomiendo, ya que lo considero un must read y a este punto ya deberĂas de estar acostumbrado a las cosas que suelen mostrar y la manera de narrar tan confusa de las obras de este gĂ©nero la cual hace que tĂș tengas que interpretar las cosas que suceden a tu manera debido a que casi nada es explĂcito, todo es muy ambiguo.
Mencion honorĂfica a la banda sonora que es excelente y a los memes andantes de Chaos;gate team el cual es cierto que ni puede comprobar si su traducciĂłn tiene sentido con la obra, ya que no pueden leer una vn de 11 horas, pero aun asĂ siento que reciben mĂĄs odio del que deberĂan. Sin ellos muchas vns que ni siquiera tenĂan traducciĂłn al inglĂ©s las podrĂamos leer. Detesto las localizaciones y genuinamente siento que chaos;gate hace un mejor trabajo al traducir literalmente lĂnea por lĂnea del japonĂ©s sin inventarse diĂĄlogos (ignorando sus fallos ortogrĂĄficos y palabras sacadas del traductor google).
These denpa games are literally what zero pussy does to a mf đ
o maior problema desse jogo Ă© que eu nĂŁo sei se ele quer que eu bata uma ou se ele quer que eu disserte sobre o que tĂĄ rolando
incredibly boring but i'll probably get back to it
Today
This is both tje most objectionable and least recommendable game I've played and top of that it has a really bad ending. It's one of my fav games I've played this year.
What can I say? Modern living sucks and makes us go insane âïž
Y2K would of been a blessing.
What can I say? Modern living sucks and makes us go insane âïž
Y2K would of been a blessing.
If you have any denpa experience, you know what this is. Kind of underwhelming in that it went exactly as I expected after the first hour or so. At least it's short.
Positives are that the music and visual atmosphere are well done and serve the plot well. Just enjoy it for what it is and don't expect too much, especially given its status in the VN community.
Positives are that the music and visual atmosphere are well done and serve the plot well. Just enjoy it for what it is and don't expect too much, especially given its status in the VN community.
i would give my left kidney for this game to be officially & properly translated to english
Letâs delve into the madness.
I finished this game months ago but I still find myself thinking about it almost every single day.
The art, atmosphere, soundtrack, rambling narration, all those sad little glimpses you get into the "lives" of girls like Mutsuki and Nozomi, the bitter hate it seemingly has for the contemporary workplace, the off-kilter sense of humor it randomly hits you with seemingly just to catch you off guard.
I love all of it even in spite of the insane twist that belittles everything I just said I loved about. Laughing at it's backhanded ending just made me love it more. After all the time I spent in this game's wildly upsetting world, I would've been disappointed to have had it leave me satisfied.
The art, atmosphere, soundtrack, rambling narration, all those sad little glimpses you get into the "lives" of girls like Mutsuki and Nozomi, the bitter hate it seemingly has for the contemporary workplace, the off-kilter sense of humor it randomly hits you with seemingly just to catch you off guard.
I love all of it even in spite of the insane twist that belittles everything I just said I loved about. Laughing at it's backhanded ending just made me love it more. After all the time I spent in this game's wildly upsetting world, I would've been disappointed to have had it leave me satisfied.
mahiru sweep
Ringing in the new year with completing my first foray into the denpa genre at a friendâs recommendation. Best read very late at night.
A sickly orange twilight is our backdrop to an acute, albeit harshly dated, portrayal of mental fragility and staggering acts of sudden violence. Itâs no secret sayooshi is a hard to read title, I required frequent day long breaks in order to get to the core of the presented narrative, but itâs not something I regret at all. What lies beneath a veneer of sadistic fantasy is a story ripe for engaging critical analysis.
Outside of intentionally repetitive script which proved quite effective for both emphasis and flow, the rawness of the prose often stopped me in my tracks. Living in the protagonistâs head for the period of my playtime had me thinking of both his and othersâ dialogue long after closing the game; the writing is gripping, the reader hanging off of every word as scenes end, leaving them with some final mysterious phrase which would only be elaborated on in another route.
The artwork is infectious in style, with the sharply pointed noses and almost melting eyes growing on me instantly. Paired with the warm reddish overlay layers and hauntingly stark 3DCG pre-rendered backgrounds, sayooshi establishes an iconic, instantly memorable presentation which is respected and referenced to this day. I especially enjoy the very much alive cult following and fanartist community this title keeps well after 20 years, a testament to its impact.
Upon first thinking the soundtrack merely did its job as background noise, before I knew it I was listening to the tracks outside of the game. Simple synth notes and drum samples make up evocative musical themes for every cast member, along with their use often adding to horrific juxtapositions in mood. My favourite tracks ended up being the smoky âFeignantâ and the meandering, dreamlike âInmobilite et Tourbillonâ; the sound of an attempt to return to normalcy.
I donât feel comfortable giving a rating, but I encourage those able to stomach more extreme scenes and seeking an entirely unique psychological horror experience to dive in.
ăăăăăăȘăâŠ
A sickly orange twilight is our backdrop to an acute, albeit harshly dated, portrayal of mental fragility and staggering acts of sudden violence. Itâs no secret sayooshi is a hard to read title, I required frequent day long breaks in order to get to the core of the presented narrative, but itâs not something I regret at all. What lies beneath a veneer of sadistic fantasy is a story ripe for engaging critical analysis.
Outside of intentionally repetitive script which proved quite effective for both emphasis and flow, the rawness of the prose often stopped me in my tracks. Living in the protagonistâs head for the period of my playtime had me thinking of both his and othersâ dialogue long after closing the game; the writing is gripping, the reader hanging off of every word as scenes end, leaving them with some final mysterious phrase which would only be elaborated on in another route.
The artwork is infectious in style, with the sharply pointed noses and almost melting eyes growing on me instantly. Paired with the warm reddish overlay layers and hauntingly stark 3DCG pre-rendered backgrounds, sayooshi establishes an iconic, instantly memorable presentation which is respected and referenced to this day. I especially enjoy the very much alive cult following and fanartist community this title keeps well after 20 years, a testament to its impact.
Upon first thinking the soundtrack merely did its job as background noise, before I knew it I was listening to the tracks outside of the game. Simple synth notes and drum samples make up evocative musical themes for every cast member, along with their use often adding to horrific juxtapositions in mood. My favourite tracks ended up being the smoky âFeignantâ and the meandering, dreamlike âInmobilite et Tourbillonâ; the sound of an attempt to return to normalcy.
I donât feel comfortable giving a rating, but I encourage those able to stomach more extreme scenes and seeking an entirely unique psychological horror experience to dive in.
ăăăăăăȘăâŠ