ωstar’s Bishoujo Mangekyou Ch3 has been delayed once more to March 27th.

The dragon queen Julia won the VenusBlood -Hypno- chara poll and will get a dakimakura. Also victorious was Union Quartet‘s Silveria.

The first volume of the manga adaptation of YuzuSoft’s upcoming title Sanoba Witch will be on shelves on March 23rd. The Daemon Busters visual fan book comes out on February 17th for ￥2800.

Zannen na Ore-tachi no Seishun Jijou‘s complete sound album will be released on February 27th for ￥2500, while the PRETTY×CATION2 OST comes out a few days before the game’s release on April 22nd, priced at ￥3200.

5pb. has announced a combined port for LOVELY×CATION1&2, scheduled for May 21st.

There’s another mobage coming out this spring called Hatsukoi no Uta and it features a promising cast of characters. At least the system isn’t just another card battle game. It’ll be available for both the iOS and Android.

Cospatio has a renewal version of Feena’s dress from Yoake. It won’t cost you a fortune – only ￥82,080.

I really should get back to playing eroge. Been busy doing other stuff for the past month, so there’s a backlog starting to build up (Nekopara, Nostalgia, some trials). Chocola and Vanilla are waiting for me!

The user-voted winner of the Moe Game Award 2014 is… sprite’s Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm! Chuable Soft’s Ano Harewataru Sora Yori Takaku and SILKY’S PLUS Wasabi’s Nanairo Reincarnation round out the top 3. The top 40 titles have been nominated for the awards, to be announced in April.

Nounai Kanojo’s Namaiki! has been delayed to May 29th, while release dates have been set for the following:

Re;Lord: Episode 2 – May 29th
Sakura no Uta – July 24th

The favourite unit in VenusBlood -HYPNO- is Shinigami-chan! There’s nothing planned in terms of goods for her.

There will be a 4-disc D.C. Super Best album coming out on May 13th, featuring all your favourite songs from the D.C. series! The Amakano soundtrack will be released on April 24th. It contains a full versions of the OP and ED, along with 14 BGMs.

The visual fan book for Hoshiori will be on shelves on April 25th.

Broccoli’s 1/8 scale figures of Fate/kaleid liner‘s Prisma☆Illya The Beast ver. (October, ￥9800) and DRACU-RIOT!‘s Miu (June, ￥12,000) are both provocative in their own ways. Which would you choose?

After much delay, I’ve finished Nekopara Vol.1! Chocola and Vanilla are both great, but I’ve grown to really love Vanilla! I’m so glad I’m a horny pastry puffer with catpanions! I can’t wait till the next volume! Now it’s on to the much darker Natsu no Iro no Nostalgia…

Galette‘s next title will be the loli-licious Lollipop Factory. It’s scheduled for June 26th. Other new titles announced this week include:

Chien – Yakusoku Love Harem
feng – Kanojo no Seiiki Imouto Yukana-hen
IRODORI – Ouka Sabaki
Princess Sugar – Hime-sama Love Life!

Release dates have been set for the following titles:

Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 – April 24th
Pure×Connect – May 29th

A pair of illustration collections are coming out in March. Whirlpool artist Tenmaso’s “Tenbatsu” comes out on March 26th, followed by “Illuchination”, containing Lucie’s works at Studio Ryokucha, which will be on shelves March 30th. Both are priced at ￥2800.

The third volume of SystemSoft Alpha & unicorn-a’s Vocal Collection hits the shelves on March 27th. It’ll feature a dozen OP and ED songs from their releases.

DragonToy has a 1/6 scale castoff figure of Fault!!‘s Ai coming out this June for ￥13,800.

You can order a dakimakura of Otokana‘s Kanade for ￥10,800. It comes with a soine voice drama!

Natsu no Iro no Nostalgia ended up being a decent story about facing and overcoming one’s troubles and traumas, even if all the horror elements and shock factors were unnecessary. Miu is so devoted to her oniichan!

The results for Getchu’s bishoujo game awards 2014 are in, and the top 3 are Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou 2, Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm and Ano Harewataru Sora Yori Takaku! Tsuriotsu2 also took best scenario, while Luna was the top character for the third year running. My pick Anzu ended up finishing 9th. Sakigake⇛Generation! won another award for best graphics for Clochette after Pricolle last year. Other winners are: Hoshiori Yume Mirai (music), Tenbin no La DEA. (system), AstralAir no Shiroki Towa (OP) and Koinaka (ero). Congrats to all the winners!

EffordomSoft may have bit the dust, but that hasn’t stopped the staff at AkabeiSoft3 to make a similar game: Seikishi Melty☆Lovers. I guess you can’t do any worse than Juukishi. Other titles announced this week include:

ALcot – LOVEREC.
AXL – Ayakashi Contract (May 29th)
Bug System – Sukui no Serenade
Lass – Mayoeru Futari to Sekai no Subete LOVE HEAVEN 300% (May 29th)
Prometheus – Koi to Mahou to Kanrinin (May 29th)
Triangle – Sacred Lineage

Chien’s Yakusoku Love Harem has been scheduled for July 24th.

The Chrono Clock chara poll runs until March 25th. I’ll be voting for Miu ^^

Visual fan books for Yakimochi Stream and Unmei Senjou no φ will both be on shelves on March 27th.

The following figures are available for preorder:

FLARE – 1/7 scale Roselinde (Shining Blade, July, ￥17,000)
Orchid Seed – 1/6 scale Super Sonico cheergirl ver. -Sun*kissed- (July, ￥12,000)

Fellow eroge reviewer Marebito-san is running the Second Eroge Reviewer Ranking until March 20th. It polls seasoned eroge bloggers and reviewers for their favourite games (not necessarily the ones they would recommend to others). It was last held in 2011 and is now also open to foreign sites. If you’re actively blogging or on review sites for at least a year, have played over 40 titles while reviewing at least 10 of them, and have been in the genre for over 2 years, then let Marebito-san know of your eligibility. I’ve already put in my top 3 and I can’t wait to see the results!

Splitting my time between playing Tearstilla and working on the March post (along with playing trials). Whirlpool’s games are pretty much fluff. I really liked the trial for Hanasaki, so I can’t wait for the full release in a month!

There’ll be more of Kotone and Shiho in PeasSoft’s Koisuru Shimai no Sextet PLUS. It is scheduled for July 31st with additional ecchi content for the most popular twins. Sister sex! Sister sex!

PENDULUM has been delayed once again, this time to an unspecified date this spring. The following titles have been also been delayed:

Sumire – May 29th
Ichibun no Ni Koigokoro – June 26th

Kogado Studio’s Hakuisei Aijou Izonshou for the PSV has been set for April 30th.

Aquamarine’s 1/7 scale figure of Fate/Apocrypha‘s Saber of “Red” -Mordred- will ship in May for ￥11,000.

A pair of Koihime dakimakuras are available for preorder from Tokuma Shoten: Aisha and Karin.

I’ve spent the past couple days going through a huge backlog of March trials. Anekouji Naoko to Giniro no Shinigami felt almost like Minakoi with its comedy and pacing, while Low-Rise!!! was entertaining with lots of mini systems. I didn’t think I’d enjoy Shirogane×Spirits!, but it’s not too bad. The game that probably went up my personal rankings the most would be Panical Confusion. All the heroines are cute and lucky sukebe moments. Gotta love magic!

The much-anticipated March chara-ge treasure trove is finally here! Enjoy winter in FrontWing’s Yuki Koi Melt or look forward to spring in SAGA PLANETS’ Hanasaki Work Spring!. Be loved by older girls in Minato Carnival’s Anekouji Naoko to Giniro no Shinigami or take care of SLG idols in HamHamSoft’s LOW-RISE!!!. See the future in Insync’s Mousou Complete! or see the traces of the past in Applique’s Hana no No ni Saku Utakata no. Hau~ There’s so many bishoujos to take home!

As all good things come to an end, so must winter, forcing us to deal with everything from allergies to rising CPU temperatures. A shame the only medication I know of to make bad eroge seem better requires you be three years older than the games themselves.

11gatsu no Arcadia

Company: LevoL
Game site: 11月のアルカディア
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the first game by LevoL, a sister brand of OVERDRIVE. Ruiseitou is a solitary island in the southern sea far away from the main island. The beautiful ocean which surrounds the island and the charm of its historic Western-style streets draw in many visitors. In October, the streets are decorated in Halloween decorations in preparation for Kidai Gakuen’s founding festival.

There is a jewel kept at the school which can grant any wish. Every year at the festival when the ‘orb’ is displayed to the general public, there are many plans to steal it. However, all attempts have been thwarted by voluntary security groups of townspeople and students. Takuto is the leader of one of these groups, who all have special powers bestowed upon them by the jewel’s magic. Together with his trusted friends, he protects the jewel and the festival.

However, this year is different. His role as the leader is only a façade; he is only awaiting his chance to steal the jewel for himself. He had planned for this moment for three years, in order to resurrect his late imouto.

He’s taking responsibility for indirectly causing his imouto’s death when he used his ability ‘time return’, which sets back the clock three days. Sure, it sucks to betray your friends, but this is your imouto we’re talking about here. I’d forgive him at a drop of a hat. The game is fully voiced, with betrayal and bonds as the prevailing themes. The story is a bit childish due to the Halloween setting even though they try to make it serious. However, I still wouldn’t mind trying it. Nono’s pretty cute :3

You know how to make a good security system for some kind of critically important artifact? Let some random kids protect it. A fail proof plan indeed. Of course the decision on who should protect the deus ex machina button comes after questioning why it exists in the first place. After all aside from isolating the setting there is no need for it to be on an island, aside from lack of imagination there is no need for students to be involved anywhere, and aside from writers I wouldn’t trust to hold a pen the right way up there is no reason for a wish granting rock. The real shame here is not how this game is poorly written or conceived from the deepest pits of incompetent hell, but rather that there are some ideas that really could have made for a decent game buried in there. A protagonist who is a hidden antagonist, seeking to betray everyone else, an imouto who is dead from the start and unable to annoy anyone ever again, and … well that’s about it really. All they had to do was change the setting a little bit to avoid the painful focus on high school kids, along with any and all special abilities and wish granting compressed dirt being thrown into the ero trashcan. Make it a museum or some kind of gallery or anything else, the protagonist can do it for money or if you really needed to have the tie in with siblings suffering from life deficiency, he can be doing it for the sake of getting her a new ritzy ashtray. As a side note this new fad of using sister brands to cash in on reputation without risk to the main brand as a method to churn out masses of cheap games is getting really old.

Golden Marriage -Jewel Days-

Company: ensemble
Game site: Golden Marriage -Jewel Days-
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Golden Marriage, featuring after stories for all six heroines (Marika included). There’s also two extra episodes, including one with alcohol. There’s plenty of new situations, in wedding dresses, swimsuits or yukata. Marriage isn’t your life’s goal; it’s a new beginning! Enjoy your sweet honeymoon!

Golden girls in wedding gowns.

Zettai Seifuku☆Gakuen Kessha Panyanyanda!! -Dopyutto Suikou, Shikiyoku Kaijin Itazura Jisshuu Ero Sakusen!-

Company: softhouse-seal GRANDEE
Game site: ぜったい征服☆学園結社パニャニャンダー!! ―ドピュっと遂行、色欲怪人イタズラ実習エロ作戦！―
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
‘Good’ and ‘evil’ are like water and oil, constantly battling against each other. Both good and evil corporations strive to create the best goods and offer the lowest prices to the public. People have acknowledged ‘evil’ as being essential to the development of society, and in fact, evil corporations are viewed as being great places to work at. The world is now full of evil corporations, schools, convenience stores and television stations. There’s a saying that evil doesn’t prosper, but that’s exactly the world we live in now.

There are many tales about the legendary evildoer. She is said to have lived myriads of years as a youkai. She is said to have sunk the lost continent of Mu. She is said to have defeated a ferocious dinosaur which had awakened from a deep slumber with her bare hands.

Shiki heard about this from the evil news program and wanted to become a legendary evildoer one day too. However, even though he was born to two ‘evil’ parents, he had a critical obstacle blocking him from the path of evil: he was a ‘good person’ at heart. He can’t draw eyebrows on a puppy out of pity. He can’t cross a road while it’s red even if there is no traffic. No matter how small the evil deed, he has not been successful even once.

One day, he heard a rumour that the legendary evildoer whom he greatly admired had become the principal at a school training students to be evil. He decided to transfer into Evil Panyanyanda Akugyou Gakuen to rid his uselessness in doing evil and learn from the very best.

Each of the six heroines embody one of the Seven Sins, with the protagonist representing Lust. All of them can transform into skimpy outfits and gain special powers to fight against the powers of good. The main ‘antagonist’ appears to some idol soldier of justice. It’s just what you would expect from softhouse-seal GRANDEE, with a silly plot, lots of H and some animation. The game uses speech bubbles, which is sometimes confusing if you’re not sure who’s speaking. Greedy Saku is adorable and the proud Ouka is amusing, especially when she toys with the firecracker Himeko.

Oh, you wanted to know what Panyanyanda means? It supposedly means ‘do your best’ in Laotian.

Maybe this is just my lack of inner accountant, but I have a hard time thinking of any corporation that would not be classified as “Evil”. Way to fall flat on your face from the start, at least give us something more believable, even magical girls seem to be realistic when lined up next to the concept of “Good” corporations. Sadly if it was not made by one of the Softhouse seal groups I may have been inclined to play it just for how the concept itself makes fun of the standard eroge protagonist. Unfortunately I don’t expect the writing or comedy to be all that well done, there may be some fun moments especially in the early parts of the game but it will end up just being H content and random silliness before long, losing all sense of why it should be fun in the first place.

Softhouse-seal games never made any sense.

They make perfect sense, just not to the upper brain.

Yuki Koi Melt

Company: フロントウイング (FrontWing)
Game site: ゆきこいめると
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
It’s been only three months since Miharu moved to the snowy town of Yubane, where he was greeted with first true taste of winter. Since he’s sensitive to cold, he greatly hates winter and patiently waits for spring like a hibernating bear. However, he was unfortunately targeted by the school’s top weirdo Usagi. She wanted him to join the mysterious ‘Winter Club’. It was a club to enjoy and love winter.

There were four members: his classmate Taruhi who’s also not good with the cold weather, the ultimate trouble maker ‘Hurricane’ Kanon, everyone’s onee-san (and heater) Shizuri, and the winter-loving aptly-named Yuki. They invited him to join them at the club’s exclusive dormitory, the former ryokan Tougenkyou. They continued to invite him no matter how many times he refused, so he asked them why they wanted him to join so much.

“Because it’ll be much more fun with you.”

I just experienced the coldest February in 115 years, with the monthly average temperature being -16.8°C. There were days when I wouldn’t want to go outside, so I know how Miharu feels. However, if there were a bunch of bishoujos asking me to join them, I’d gladly do so!

This is the third game in FrontWing’s Hentai Girl series. I love Nanaca Mai’s art and they even got Duca to sing the OP. I thought it was a good idea to change the setting a bit since Innocent Girl was pretty much a clone of Pure Girl. Thankfully, the perversion levels haven’t dropped one bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the trial with its comedy and warm fuzzy moments (almost making me like winter… almost). Taruhi is so cute! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

But don’t touch Taruhi’s nekomimi! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!

Haaaa… It is not that hard to simply not suck. Look plenty of games have done it before, there are examples everywhere to choose from. So many issues here that scream bad writing and poorly thought out plot, setting, and characters. Lets start with what is probably the single most common pitfall when creating a high school based eroge story. Club setting, this is a no no, clubs are fine as a secondary theme, but must have some purpose and a reason for the protagonist to either be there or be recruited in the first place. The instant a club becomes the central theme or driving purpose behind an eroge the process of having the characters meet each other then develop throughout the game is not only cheapened, but rendered virtually non existent. It simply becomes a case of “Throw them all together in some small room then copy paste standard routes on it”. But wait, there’s more this time. Frontwing goes the extra mile in treating the reader with utmost contempt by making the club itself as nonsensical as the reason this girls only tree house club wants the protagonist to be their sole bastion of manhood. At least if all other men had been killed off by the eroge god that the incompetent Frontwing writers sacrificed their younger sisters to the heroines insistence in including our reptilian protagonist might have made sense. But no, we get a game where a room of four stereotypical but all pretty in their own ways girls worship a thermometer reading a lower number and wish to induct the protagonist as the new high priest of their cult, thus serving and servicing him in the name of their dread god winter.

PS. I love winter, and now that it is getting warmer for all of us in the northern hemisphere I feel like crying.

Your tears would’ve froze here.

At least they would be tears of joy.

LOW-RISE!!!

Company: はむはむソフト (HamHamSoft)
Game site: ろーらいず!!!
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Riku left his job of 3 years to enjoy an extended break. One day, his aunt called to ask him to become a producer at her new idol production studio. He did not show much interest at the idea, but she suggested that he come watch a mini concert by one of her idols on the rooftop stage of a department store. There he saw his cousin Rin, who he had loved like his own imouto, giving it her all in a spirited yet amateurish performance. Afterwards, he was named as her producer. With the addition of his clumsy imouto Nono and her energetic classmate Kogiri, the SLG (semi-little girl) idol unit “Low-rise!!” was formed!

The follow-up to HamHamSoft’s SLG paradise LO-angle!! is a SLG idol production! It is up to you to guide them to stardom! It is up to you to support their mental and physical growth! It is up to you to protect their innocence! Viva SLG!

It was great that the trial had some special content, while showcasing the many mini systems that are present in the game, such as the schedule system, yokoshima (evil) system, topic mode, choosing work for the idols, listening to radio talk segments, etc. You can also alter dialogue during H scenes based on what you say during normal chat with them. The innocence is overflowing from these three SLG! My favourite has to be the natural leader Rin/Rinne! I love when they’re not honest with their feelings ^o^

A game named for a new classification of the barren female chest regions that require a new type of bra to be invented in order to properly support the nearly concave shapes seen here. As far as the actual game is concerned it is the typical idol game, where you take some random girls then blah blah happens then when they are famous enough you dive into their pants to revel in the superiority complex that you have boldly gone where many of the 2d men in the fictional game wish to be to escape the sad real life of white knighting message boards while surrounded by hundreds of dollars of merchandise bought in the hope the real life idols will love you for it. Personally though I would only play this if there was a mini game which allowed you to fire bags filled with silicon from an air cannon at the H scene fodder lolicon bait sorely in need of some additional padding.

Shirogane×Spirits!

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: シロガネ×スピリッツ！
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Touji came to Kamishiro upon the last request of his late grandfather and iaido master. When he exited the station, he saw a single schoolgirl with a sword amidst a defeated mob of opponents. This was part of “Kamishiro Battle Live”, an annual media-sponsored battle event between the eight schools with the victor gaining control of the city. Setsuna brought him to Oubu Gakuen and recommended him to the student council. Impressed with his iaido technique, the student council leader invited him to join, but he had no desire to fight. However, when she told him that he would be able to live in the student council’s exclusive dormitory, he immediately changed his mind. Thus, the curtain has lifted on this fierce and fun battle stage with unique allies and opponents.

This reminds me greatly of Majikoi, with both versions of moe (cute and hot-blooded). There’s a lot of characters from rival schools, each with their own battle style and eccentricities. I wonder if there’ll be H scenes for them all (after you defeat them… oh wait, this isn’t a RPG). It’s specifically geared towards those who love balloons, gap moe and hot-blooded battles. I really don’t like this kind of seifuku; it looks hideous. Please stop with the oppai bags and the excessive bouncing in the OP.

So if the Giga A team represents the only real success they have ever had, ya know the Baldr series. How far down the alphabet is this team I have to wonder. Sadly the world may never know as I can’t imagine many actually bothering to play the game, especially not to completion. At least our protagonist has something that can be called a skill or something, he can pull a sword out of a sheath, congratulations on being useless even as a county fair attraction. Of course with any eroge set in a high school, the students that attend said school are the omnipotent rulers of the universe, or at least the small town that contains their school. Being given power rivaled only by Roman emperors and North Korean dictators because stay in school kids. Too bad actual politics doesn’t work around beating each other up, there are quite a few world leaders I would pay to give a good punch in the face followed by a few kicks to the nether regions.

Panical Confusion

Company: エスクード (Escu:de)
Game site: パニカル・コンフュージョン
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Magic has been passed down for generations in the Magicians’ Village, where it has remained closely guarded. However, one day, a girl Honoka who yearned for the outside world ran away. The village elders feared that the existence of magic would be made public, so they ordered fellow magic disciple Kenji to bring her back, by force if necessary.

He found her at Kimishiro Gakuen in Takagahara, happily living the normal school life which she had wanted. Even though he was hesitant upon seeing her happy for once, he decided to take her home in the interests of the village and confronted her on the school’s rooftop. However, his classmates Ayame and Nanaho were caught in the magic barrier that they put up. When Kenji tried to protect them from Honoka’s attacks, there was a sudden explosion. It appeared that a spell was cast upon them all, making them get into all sorts of naughty situations! Honoka and Kenji agreed to remain until they figure out how to lift the spell.

Escu:de’s games usually have interesting systems and plenty of ‘lucky sukebe’ situations. This time, they cut straight to the chase and just show you plenty of oppai and pantsu from the get-go. I’d love to be in his situation. All three of the main heroines are pretty and attractive, and he even has an imaginary imouto-like loli Teo who has been with him since he was a child. She’s also the tsukkomi to his boke. Magic is truly a wonderful thing!

I know our English language must seem as silly to Japanese people as some of their language does to us, but please learn the words you use for your titles at least, I’m begging you, for the love of all the poor little children who may be misled into thinking that is actual English. So a game where magic makes anything possible, especially ero situations it would seem. Since no effort was put into anything save CG in this game I sure hope that CG set is worth it.

Oh yes, it’ll be totally worth it. So so worth it… Mmm…

Mirai Kanojo

Company: PULLTOP LATTE
Game site: ミライカノジョ
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Takaya had started going out with a girl who he had been interested in for quite some time and was looking forward to enjoying a lovey-dovey relationship. But then another girl showed up, who was the same girl from another time (whether it be from the future, past or as another form in the present)!?

“Which of us do you like!?”

How could he choose between them? They were both his dearest lover and possessed different charms. But of course there’s only one answer…

“I’ll go out with both of you!”

This was the beginning of a strange love triangle.

I guess it’s still a regular relationship since it’s technically the same girl. The trial focused on the main heroine(s) Koyuki and Yuugiri. I’ll always choose the younger version: oppai isn’t everything!! Koyuki’s like an adorable puppy that you want to treasure and spoil. There’s some hints of a more serious side to the time slips, with his disappearance resulting in a bad end on the first playthrough. The restarting from the beginning is a bit of a chore since the skip function doesn’t seem to be implemented properly. There’s three artists working on this game and the differences in the character designs are quite evident. I also found the choice of music during H scenes to be quite odd (too upbeat). In such a packed month, I think there are better options unless you’re itching for 3P.

Why? This is perhaps the only thought that comes to mind when I gaze upon this creation. No attempt at some kind of deeper story, just oh hey there have another of the same girl who is slightly different. Could just as easily make another heroine with different traits and same thing save the extra guilt from two timing. Hell if future girl came to the past she would already know what was going to happen and why would she want to 3p with her old boyfriend and her younger self? Not to mention why would past girl even be interested in going to the future to meet someone she wasn’t involved with yet. Okay fine, maybe I am over thinking a game that is not even trying to have any significance beyond multiplayer mode. But lets be fair here, if they weren’t going to try in the first place why even bother with the time travel bits, make them twins or some such and throw the protagonist into the estrogen filled gladiatorial pit of eroge heroines.

Hana no No ni Saku Utakata no

Company: あっぷりけ (Applique)
Game site: 花の野に咲くうたかたの
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Michitaka is able to see the marks left by others. The paths they’ve followed and the objects they’ve touched are all tinged with colours that are unique to each individual. Even though it is useful at times, it is mostly a troublesome ability.

Before his second year, his father asked him if he wished to live by himself at the old-fashioned Ouka-sou, which was managed by his cousins. Since he had always wanted to live alone, he jumped at the chance. However, when he arrived with great excitement, he was welcomed by the silver-haired Ouka. He did not notice any colours emanating from her.

“I am what you call… a ghost”

Together with his cousins, osananajimi and various senpai and kouhai from his school, the most unforgettable days have begun this spring.

Illustrator Odawara Hakone and scenario writer Kizuki have hooked up once more for this armchair detective story with supernatural elements. I have high expectations from this, considering their successes in Sinsemilla and Concerto Note. However, I’m not totally sure after playing the trial.

Is Ouka actually a ghost? I guess so, but that hardly matters. She represents the keen detective who solves the problems that Michitaka encounters. You could say that the protagonist is merely Watson, albeit with a convenient ability gained from an accident, which is reminiscent of recent games. However, he doesn’t actually end up solving the seemingly innocuous mysteries (disappearing chalk, abandoned kitties). I also didn’t like the fact that even though Michitaka has this great ability, we don’t actually see it, we just get told about it. Combined with the long dialogues, it makes for a rather boring read.

Most of the heroines have a mature feel, as there’s a lack of younger characters (with the exception of kouhai Ryouko, voiced by none other than Agumi Oto). I don’t particularly mind it, as it fits the feel of the game. I’ll see how the reviews are for the game before I decide it’s worth my time.

And lo, have the planets have aligned and cast upon the world the terrible coincidence that is my agreement with Micchi. Too complicated a setting and themes to properly deal with each, not enough significance or real character building to make the reader feel invested. I like to often point out how most companies are able to make two good games the second being better than the first, while the third marks the point of decline. Here we see the trend in action, while the game may not be awful it is definitely not going to live up to its older siblings, much like imoutos, the younger they are the more failure they are made of.

Hey! Objection!

And just what may I ask are you objecting to?

Your insinuation that imoutos are failures. Many of them are much more capable than the hetare protagonists we see nowadays.

More perverted too.

Hanasaki Work Spring!

Company: SAGA PLANETS
Game site: 花咲ワークスプリング！
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
In the midst of spring, the season of first encounters and love, Yuuma was content to waste his time away. However, these dog days began to change with his chance meeting with the mysterious Inori, the Yuki-onna of Suzugaoka Gakuen. Soon after, he was invited by Ayano to the ‘ghost club’, which is actually not related to the occult, but rather a gathering place for people with regrets. He was made the new leader of the club despite his reluctance.

Before long, he was surrounded by peculiar girls left and right: cool lone wolf Inori, carefree repeater Ayano, smitten kouhai Hikari, and pushy ‘bro’ Wakaba. Who will he end up in this irreplaceable youth story?

Nonoka is like a more level-headed Sana. I’m so happy that Agumi Oto gets to voice another imouto!

Hanasaki seems to be much less story-oriented, but it sure pulls off the chara-ge mode perfectly. It was already my top pick this month and the trial made me even more hyped for it. True angels Nonoka and Hikari were already on my radar long long time ago, but Wakaba and Ayano also appealed to me with their personalities. I wonder about Inori’s past and I want to break down the barriers that she had put up around herself.

But first, I’m giving my route virginity to Nonoka!! Yes, she must have a route! She is the ultimate angel! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Another game this month where the theme is “Protagonist gets dragged into the sanctuary of a group of pretty girls for the sake of H scenes.” also known as a club based game. That said at least this one is less focused on the story and more on the characters, it is just that when they put so little effort into developing the background for the characters how much will their development and routes be worth? Maybe if you have not played too many games, this may be enjoyable, otherwise you will have read everything being offered here many many times before. Thanks to that the sole factor in determining how good or bad the game will be is the quality of the writing really. Unfortunately it is hard to put much faith in the writing of a game with only the barest skeleton of content.

Anekouji Naoko to Giniro no Shinigami

Company: みなとカーニバル (Minato Carnival)
Game site: 姉小路直子と銀色の死神
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
The baby-faced Shinkurou is loved by those who are older than him. His older sister Naoko says that she doesn’t want to spoil him, but that’s basically what she does. She was determined to make him a proper adult. However, the Finnish transfer student Kirsti, also known as the “Silver God of Death”, took an interest in him, which further worried Naoko. His surroundings quickly descended into a riot…

So, this is what happens in another universe where instead of me fighting over kouhais and imoutos, the older girls are trying to get a piece of your otouto. This is definitely a comedy (similar to Majikoi) primed for those who love onee-san and senpai charas. As a bonus, it’s penned by prominent writers Ou Jackson and Takahiro. There’s only two main heroines and tons of subcharas, so does that mean we’ll get a ton of append discs like Majikoi again? I wouldn’t mind routes for the sheep and hamster, although I don’t want one for Mai Pantsu. The fully-animated OP is impressive, although I always find idols in games to be kinda pointless unless it’s the main plotline.

Could have been done better, but well, you can never really trust Minato. When you think its terrible things turn out surprisingly well, and when you are expecting something good they turn out surprisingly bad. That said I disagree about the idol themes, they should always be secondary and mostly single character or route focused to give the game variety without the problems associated with the idol games. In the end I have honestly have a difficult time judging this one, it looks like it could be a bit of lighthearted fun along the lines of Majikoi, but could also be really terrible. Sadly it is one of those you need to play through to or at least close to the end to be sure of, so I’ll be busy sacrificing my younger sister to the eroge gods in the hope of a good game to play. Otherwise I pray things do not go the way Micchi suggested, with lots of addons. Please do not let that crap catch on. DLC in the gaming industry is annoying enough as is.

Walkure Runabout!

Company: ロゼブル (Rosebleu)
Game site: 戦乙女（わるきゅーれ）らんなばうとっ！
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
Three years ago, Yuuki was summoned to another world, Dinia, which was being attacked by the forces of the demon lord. Even though he was merely a normal student, he gained great powers and they soon called him the ‘great wise man’. After helping the hero Scana take down the demon lord, he was been unable to return to his own world. They had fallen in love during the difficult journey and promised to marry each other, but they were separated due to the underhanded scheme of some corrupt nobles. For his great achievement, he was ultimately rewarded with only disappointment and despair.

After getting revenge against the nobles, he longed for the lost school days as a normal student. He wanted to just spend relaxing days with his friends. If he couldn’t return to Japan, then at least he wanted to experience it here. With that wish, he found himself standing in front of the school gates.

He was excited to start his new school life, but his homeroom teacher was the kingdom’s second price Hylen, while the first princess who had summoned him to this world, Flowra, was one of his classmates. One by one, people who he partied with or met along his journey appeared by his side once more. Then, Scana re-appeared before him, declaring that she would give everything to him while kissing him in front of everyone.

There’s nothing more to say about the story; it is what it is. What’s most interesting about Rosebleu’s latest title is its pricing structure. It costs 6800 yen to buy the base game with common route, Scana and Aika routes. Flora and Ruby’s routes are available for download on release day for 1000 yen each. Append discs for subheroines may be available for download at later dates. So basically, the price ends up being the same, but you have the option to purchase less than the full game (if you’re strapped for cash or don’t care for certain characters that aren’t base heroines). It makes sense from a financial perspective, but I worry that it’ll have an adverse effect on the game quality as it means the routes could be more independent than they typically are in eroge.

Rosebleu is a company where their results depend entirely on the monthly budget alloted for their drug supply. Either they come up with something nonsensical and somehow make it work, or they come up with something nonsensical and it turns out as bad as it sounds. This time I am inclined to believe their budget was small and this game falls under the latter category. Mainly because of how forcibly everything is dragged back into a school for no reason other than the protagonist is lame. “Hey guys, lets make up some fantasy setting along the lines of the most popular LN trends right now, then yank on the chain and drag it all right back to a high school, what do you think??”, questioned entirely too sober employee A. “It may just be the shakes and headache talking, but I think that’s a great idea, besides no one can think of anything else to make so lets just make that game.” replies entirely too sober employee B. Thus the game was made by people cut off from their magical powers by the evil Maou of the accounting department. Meanwhile said Maou hordes all the magic for themselves to come up with new marketing schemes to profit from. In this case you get Lego the eroge, only pay for the blocks you want to use. Please someone train Rosebleu to be a good corporation that treats its divisions fairly, giving them all the magic they need to do their jobs right. Fight for the sake of our brave Heros, so they may defeat the evil accounting Maou and use the magic supply for the sake of good!

But you said there are no good corporations…

Where magic and wishes are concerned, anything is possible.

Sengokuhime 6 ~Tenka Kakusei, Shingetsu no Kirameki~

Company: げーせん18 (Gesen18)
Game site: 戦極姫6 ～天下覚醒、新月の煌き～
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the latest game in Gesen18’s Sengokuhime SLG series. Oda Nobunaga headed to the capital to fight against the Azai and Asakura clans. Houjou Ujiyasu planned to take down the forces led by the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan and claim all of Kantou. Takeda Shingen decided to exile his father Nobutora and take over control of the Takeda clan for himself. Masamune Date set forth to unite the Hokuriku region which had grown increasingly discordant. These famous warriors, along with other clan heads, were supported by two men: the wise strategist Amagi Souma, and the master swordsman Sakaki Tsukasa.

I honestly can’t tell the difference between the games in this series. They all employ a similar system with a lot of characters. I assume that the mechanics have been improved with each game, but I just don’t see the appeal. Pass.

You already know if you are a fan of these games or not so have fun or not.

Bishoujo Mangekyou -Kami ga Tsukuritamouta Shoujotachi-

Company: ωstar
Game site: 美少女万華鏡 -神が造りたもうた少女たち-
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. This is the third chapter in ωstar’s Bishoujo Mangekyou series. The golden age of humans on Earth had long ended. Mad scientist Ryuunosuke lives alone in a tower located in a place like the end of the world. He seeks friends in this abandoned place and used magic-like science from ancient civilizations to create two maid robots, Alice and Dorothy, in his ideal forms.

I know you just want the Happoubi Jin ero.

Artwork is the only reason people play these games, so all else is irrelevant. The artist is probably the best if not one of the best working in the industry right now though, so even just as reference material it could be worth a look for anyone who enjoys that “Anime” style of art.

Mousou Complete!

Company: Insync
Game site: 妄想コンプリート！
Release date: March 27, 2015
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This is the debut title by Insync. Seiji sees precognitive dreams from time to time. However, since it’s usually only fragments, he doesn’t pay much attention to them and just lives a normal life. One day, he saw a strange dream in which he was very intimate with a girl who he had never seen before. They were both naked and doing what lovers do. When he awoke the next morning, he was puzzled and wondered if it was a sign from the future. He had never dreamt about someone he had not seen before, so he dismissed it as only a delusion to avoid any weird expectations.

He got dressed, walked to school with his imouto Mari, entered his classroom and greeted his classmates. It was the start to another normal day at school… or so he thought. There was a new transfer student in his class, Elica, and she was the girl in his dreams. While he was still stunned, her gaze fell upon him.

“Ahhhh!!! N-No way… You must be joking…!?”

It seems that a strange love story has suddenly begun, with Seiji squarely in the middle of it.

I love the art by Azumi Kazuki! I wanna take Mia home! I originally wanted Mari too, but it sounds like she’s on helium and I don’t like her denpa sounds. This seems to be your standard love comedy and the writer Kobayashi Kouji came from Ex-iT (the patching problems in the latest games weren’t really his fault), so I won’t really expect too much.

Nothing like starting out with the ending. Honestly a pretty weak concept whether it be comedic, charage, or standard eroge. Do try harder next time, maybe with a gimmick you didn’t buy from the eroge template bargain bin.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Hanasaki Work Spring!
2. Panical Confusion
3. Yuki Koi Melt

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Anekouji Naoko to Giniro no Shinigami
2. Bishoujo Mangekyou -Kami ga Tsukuritamouta Shoujotachi-
3. Hanasaki Work Spring! – Because it might not be awful… and I needed a third.

I can’t wait for spring! #hikaributts

I can’t wait for next winter! #BBQsheepV2.0

ensemble’s Otome ga Kanaderu Koi no Aria ~Kimi ni Sasageru Encore~ is planned for June 26th. Chara poll winner Kei will get a route in this fandisc. So far they’ve open got a PV up.

Liar-soft has also revealed the name of their next title: Fairy Tale Requiem. The website opens next week.

Release dates have been set for the following:

Love Love♥Princess – June 26th
Sukui no Serenade – June 26th

The chara poll for Anekouji Naoko to Giniro no Shinigami is underway and will end on March 19th. Vote for the sheep or the hamster!

The rest of the characters in Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan have been revealed. The only new characters are Shanfu and Karin’s cousin, Eika.

You have until May 31st to preorder the dakimakura of Koisex‘s Kotone.

There’s still another two weeks until #hikaributts, so I’m getting a head start on April trials after finishing Tearstilla, which had nice characters, although neither the story nor character development was deep at all. First up is Chrono Clock and I’m already smitten by ultra-shy kouhai Miu >w<

It’s also White Day tomorrow, so there’s plenty of voice clips and wallpapers available.

Marmalade is making a sequel PRIMAL×HEARTS2, due out on August 28th. It takes place 6 years after the original, with the same dual student councils setting, but the cast will be totally new. The protagonist is subchara Michi’s little brother.

Other new titles announced this week include:

Abogado Powers – Seven Piece!
MOONSTONE Honey – Ojou-sama to Himitsu no Otome (June 26th)
ORANGE YELL – Sakura Nikagetsu (July 31st)

Possibly inspired by key and minori, WHITESOFT has turned to crowdfunding site Shooting Star to raise money for a package version of their upcoming Samoto Fuuri-only fandisc Nekonade Distortion Renai Jishou no Dead End, which comes out on May 29th. They’ve already passed their target within a week, so it appears to be quite a success. Will we see more of such projects in the future?

Release dates have been announced for the following:

LOVEREC. – Jun 26th
Magical☆Dears – June 26th
Fairytale Requiem – July 24th
Maboroshi no Dystopia – July 24th

Insync’s Mousou Complete! has been delayed once more to May 29th.

Kara no Shoujo‘s Touko was voted as #1 in Innocent Grey’s 10th anniversary chara poll. This comes as expected from the main heroine of their most well-known title.

Grisaia spinoff Idol Mahou Shoujo Chiruchiru☆Michiru is coming to the PSV! It’s planned for a June 25th release. There’s also a sequel GAL☆GUN Double Peace set for this summer for the PSV and PS4. Keep shooting for love!

The visual fan book for Natsu no Iro no Nostalgia will be on shelves on April 24th.

The following figures were announced this week:

ALTER – 1/6 scale Saber Extra swimsuit ver. (Fate/Extra, August, ￥10,800)
Daiki Kougyou – 1/6 scale Bertille (Walroma, September, ￥18,500)
Kotobukiya – 1/8 scale Anzu (im@s cg, August, ￥6800)

Dakimakuras are available for preorder for Onikin‘s Ayuka and Nostalgia‘s Misaki.

I played a trio of RPG trials this week: Evenicle, Kami no Rhapsody and Kagura Kaentan. Evenicle was the most attractive to me out of them. It had plenty of comedy and ecchi, wasn’t hard to learn the system, and made me want to play the full game. I’d easily rank it as one of my top picks for the month.

There’s still a week till #hikaributts, so I’m gonna waste some time playing KamiEx while trying to recover from this awful cold.

Iris‘ next title will be Chicchakunai mon! ~School Bus de Omukae Chu Chu♥~. Yellow school buses have never been so popular.

Tanuki Soft’s Shoujo Ramune has been delayed to July 24th., while release dates have been set for the following:

Neyuki no Genei – June 26th
Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o New Gene! – June 26th

The PSV port for GIGA’s Harvest OverRay has been set for June 25th.

The following new figures are available for preorder this week:

FREEing – 1/4 scale Perceval (Eiyuu＊Senki, August, ￥22,037)
Medicom Toy – 1/8 scale Ruler/Jeanne d’Arc (Fate/Apocrypha, January, ￥11,610)

The top 3 in the Second Eroge Reviewer Ranking hosted by Marebito-san were Subahibi, Hoshimemo and Suika. The favourite makers were ALICESOFT, elf, Nitro+ and UnisonShift Blossom. I had a great time listening to it last weekend. All 6 hours of it.

Hanasaki is out! I was thinking of doing Nonoka first, but it seems like she’s locked from the beginning, so Hikari it is! #hikaributts

Did you know that it’s been almost 9 years since D.C.II came out? Well, CIRCUS is going back to its best title to provide a canon link between the second and third games, D.C.II Dearest Marriage. BaseSon’s Koihime series also makes a comeback with the first chapter of the retelling Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan. On the RPG front, there’s titles from the usual suspects: ALICESOFT’s Evenicle and Eushully’s Kami no Rhapsody. For something that doesn’t turn back the clock, Purple Software’s Chrono Clock promises to be a good read.

So, April fools joke this year is, that there is no April fools joke, ha, ha. Although compared to most months these days there are a few games that might be worth playing, which says a lot. Always nice to see companies like Circus and BaseSon give up on trying and just whore their characters out over and over.

FLOWERS -Le volume sur été- (Natsu-hen)

Company: Innocent Grey
Game site: FLOWERS -Le volume sur ete- （夏篇）
Release date: April 17, 2015
Comments:
This is the all-ages sequel to FLOWERS -Le volume sur printemps-. In the season of first meetings, a girl with a wounded heart, Suou, found a friend and lover who would accept her, Mayuri. However, Mayuri left the school without telling her the reason. Suou was in denial about her loss, and fellow bookworm Erika was gravely worried and looked for a way to heal Suou’s broken heart.

With the early arrival of summer, a girl Chidori transferred into the school. She approached Erika by chance and told her that she was a coward. It was the worst first meeting for the two who would end up being twinned by ‘Amitié’.

I didn’t play the first title as it didn’t really appeal to me. If you don’t mind a serious yuri-ge, then it might be worth looking at this series.

Not a fan of yuri or yaoi games, the intent seems to be shouting “I’m made of yuri, come play me!” rather than trying to make the content worthwhile. Pretty much the same here only with a rather shallow attempt at drama, I will have to pass yet again, sorry girls.

D.C.II Dearest Marriage

Company: CIRCUS
Game site: D.C.II Dearest Marriage～ダ・カーポII～ディアレストマリッジ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This game follows Otome’s route in D.C.II and is composed of 3 parts. “Graduation days” takes place during Yoshiyuki’s final year at Kazami Gakuen and shows the last fun-filled days for their close circle of friends, culminating with the graduation party. “Married life” details Yoshiyuki and Otome’s daily lovey-dovey lives after his proposal on his graduation day. “Dear to…” makes the link between this canon route to D.C.III.

If I had to choose between one of the Asakura sisters, there’s no question that it’d be Yume. She’s such a better heroine than Otome. D.C.II is the best game in the D.C. series, but I’m not finding myself wanting to play this game as soon as it comes out. Maybe I’ll check it out for Yume and Nanaka, but… ugh Otome. Why Otome? =_=

Oh who am I kidding, I’ll probably end up playing it anyway since I’m a D.C. fan.

Ha, haha, ahahahahahahahahaha. So much for the end of Da Capo II. Circus has gone back to their roots, farming D.C.II till the soil is barren and dry. I guess D.C.III as expected was not quite good enough to be worth farming in the same way. Although to me the best part of this whole mess is that Otome wins. Now I get to point and laugh at Yume becuase no one likes her.

I don’t like you. You don’t get to comment on D.C. again.

PRETTY×CATION2

Company: hibiki works
Game site: PRETTY×CATION2
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the latest game in hibiki works’ CATION series. Spring is the season of new beginnings. Your parents have left you to work abroad in France and you move to the lakeside town of Sakimiya, where your mother once lived. While it is a great for those who love the outdoors, it is much less convenient than living in the city and you don’t feel comfortable at all.

Passing by the harbour, a woman who was fishing strikes up a chat with you. She tells you that falling in love is like fishing: you have to cast out into the unknown and it requires assertiveness and patience. She suggests that since you’re new in town, it’s a good time to try something new, like love.

Where do you start when you don’t have any experience? Will you be able to change yourself and find your dearest lover in this town? Full of both anxiety and excitement, you feel that your first love will soon begin.

The system is the same as the other 3 games, including the ‘lovely call’, ‘sympathy system’, H scene bonuses based on stats, ‘lovely shot’, ‘walking talk’, and use of the CHAIN messenger. Of course, you can change the protagonist’s name from the default (Ogawa Nagare). They’ve also incorporated the E-mote system into the ADV scenes. Append scenarios have been planned for every month after its release.

After playing P×C, I’ve realized that there’s basically no reason to play these games unless you like the heroine a lot since there’s practically no overarching story to speak of. It’s just a bunch of somewhat disconnected scenes that you need to work for. I didn’t mind playing for Sakura and Nozomi last time, but while Honami is nice, Shimakaze Azusa doesn’t hold the same appeal. The use of the E-mote system is a great idea, although there’s no way to adjust the bounciness.

So to sum matters up, the game is about a protagonist is encouraged by an off duty prostitute doing her best to land a catch. Then H scenes ensue.

Natsuiro Recipe

Company: PULLTOP Air
Game site: なついろレシピ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This heartful story is the first title by PULLTOP Air. Takefumi lost his mother when he was small, and he hasn’t kept in touch with his father who lives abroad. Unlike his peers, he’s a simple and honest fellow who lives true to himself.

One day, he received a letter addressed to his father from a girl Yuzu who called herself his daughter. Her grandmother had passed away a month ago. She didn’t know how to live by herself and thus, pleaded for his help. Takefumi thought that if he became her guardian, then it would solve many of her problems. Even though he was perplexed at the sudden appearance of an imouto, he did not hesitate a second in helping her.

He headed to the mountain village Shiratama-mura where he was greeted by Yuzu. Just like that, they became siblings. Even though it was awkward at first, their sibling bond gradually deepened as they lived under one roof. Yuzu wished to re-open her grandmother’s restaurant, and together they develop their own true ‘home cooking’.

We call it ‘food porn’ in the West and it’s meshi-tero (culinary terrorism) in Japan, but essentially it’s the same thing. In addition to having delicious bishoujos, there’s also delicious food. I have to admit I’m a ‘hana yori dango’ person, so that sweet red bean donut up there is making me drool. Of course, if my imouto makes delicious food for me, that’s even better. Or we could make it together!

As for the story, I don’t expect too much coming from Takashima Eiji (C@F!, Witch’s Garden) and Orihata Keisuke (1/7 no Mahoutsukai, Koiken). I’ll be happy if it’s just an iyashi-kei game with lots of food. In fact, I didn’t particularly like the pacing in the trial; it was kinda boring and the jokes weren’t funny. I guess it might appeal to you if you like girls who can’t cook.

May I opt out of the bland, tasteless heroines and instead go on the succulent, delicious, much more nutritious, and fulfilling food route?

If I am honest about the game itself however, the main problem with it is the convenience factor of the absent parents as well as any other family. As the setup is pretty much identical to Natsu no Ame, I have to compare how one game deals with how a new, previously unknown entry to the family affects everyone, while the other just says “Here have a little sister as our gift to you”. Adding in the food theme is little more than a shallow gimmick for the game.

Evenicle

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: イブニクル
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The creator of the world, the Holy Mother Eve, gave two commandments: one must not kill another human, and one must only have one partner for life. However, knights are exempted from the latter divine rule, so that they can produce powerful offspring to fight against monsters. Somewhere in the land, there was a young man Asterisk who wished to marry the beautiful twin sisters who raised him. He decided that he will become a knight and get lots of wives! Thus, he set out on his journey with great enthusiasm and ambition.

The system is the same as the one in Rance Quest, although the game feels more like Dorapeko. It’s an open world RPG and is actually pretty fun to play and doesn’t require much skill. There’s plenty of female monsters to capture as well (they become items which boost your stats). It’s perfect for a time waster. The heroines are cute and fawn all over the protagonist (maybe a little too easy, but this is a harem game after all). The story is pretty predicable, but funny nevertheless. I really enjoyed the trial and look forward to playing the full game! Riche is a cutie ><b

I guess at least the protagonist is honest about wanting to catch them all. Even if that is the sole motivation for the character and indeed the entire game.

Verethragna ~Seisen no Duelist~

Company: アストロノーツ・シリウス (Astronauts Sirius)
Game site: ウルスラグナ ～征戦のデュエリスト～
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The trading card game Verethragna is a game created by the world’s largest game company Link World. Players summon and fight with gods and demons, heroes and monsters summoned from other worlds. It has become extremely popular, with people of all ages addicted to it.

Tatsumi, the head of a zaibatsu, was trapped by the Kokuryou Gakuen’s chairwoman Metsheila into a hidden duel tournament. He suffered a horrible defeat and was bounded from leaving. She sent a challenge to his son, Akira, telling him to fight to the top of the duelist ladder at the school if he wished to exact revenge for his father. Accepting her challenge, he enrolled as a student at the school.

One day, when he accidentally wandered into the woods behind the school, he encountered unidentifiable monsters. However, he was saved by a card of Kiskill, the dark armor-wearing goddess of darkness. He fought up the ranks with her by his side, was selected as one of the 21 knights (ritter) and aimed to become the ‘duel kaizer’. What is the Metsheila’s intention and what is the truth behind Verethragna and the other worlds?

This time it’s a card battle RPG instead of labyrinth ‘tower defence’. Will you become the duel kaizer? I still haven’t finished the last card game… Damn angels…

I am aware that cards make for an easily marketable hook when making a childrens series to ensure extra money comes in from their parents. However with an 18+ targeted demographic the schoolyard gameplay thing has got to go. Maybe I am just bitter about my hatred for almost every card game in existence but I still maintain that an RNG simulator does not a fun game make.

The card battle system isn’t bad, incorporating elements from Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!. I just don’t think it’s the best choice for this month.

I get the concept, I just feel its been a poor choice since we have evolved as a species beyond using paper for everything.

Now you can buy electronic trading cards!

Which defeats the point of card games in the first place.

Chrono Clock

Company: パープルソフトウェア (Purple Software)
Game site: クロノクロック
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
Rei is the son of the head of the major corporation Sawatari Group. He owns a watch passed down from his grandfather which grants him the ability to turn back time by five minutes, with an hour cooldown time. However, he doesn’t plan to use it for saving the world or anything big like that. Instead, he uses it to make his daily school life more interesting and fulfilling. In particular, he wants to get a girlfriend and made a list of cute girls to confess to. Since he could use his ability to turn back time if he was rejected, he would be able to confess without any risk.

One day after school, he watched as a girl fell from the roof. He hurriedly turned back time and went to the roof, interrupting the first-year Miu’s confession to his best friend Shuuji. She is an extremely timid girl with an unlucky constitution, but she was able to summon up the courage to confess her feelings. Her straightforwardness, despite lacking the power of the watch to help her, left a deep impression on him. Thus, he decided to help her confess once more. It was the beginning of a strange love triangle and the sowing of the seeds of courage for Rei’s own confession.

The story is a nice mix of serious and silly moments. Yes, there’s the time rewind ability, but it’s not overused like other games where such an ability appears. Purple Software games usually are decent, and I have the feeling that this one will be memorable too. I liked the prologue (covered by the trial), as well as all the heroines. Well, Makoto is a bit scary at times, but I’d gladly go out with any of the others. I also want to know more about the time goddess Chrono (Kuro). The OP is quite soothing; I’ve listened to it quite a few times already.

I WANT TO TAKE MIU HOME!!! She’s extremely smart and had skipped a couple grades. However, she’s still a child emotionally, so she seems to always be in a fluster. I just wanna hug her… and take her home!!! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Amusing that a story including time travel is actually more down to earth than usual. By Purplesoft standards this is about as close to a generic game as it gets. Which is the problem with it, the usual appeal of their games is missing. Traditionally the concept behind Purplesoft games tends to be interesting enough to make up for some of the lower quality writing, development of the story, and characters. I hope they are able to pull off a more generic story, even with the time travel bit being a major problem, especially the casual nature of it, how tempting it must be for the writers to use it as a deus ex machina.

Sorcery Jokers

Company: 3rdEye
Game site: ソーサリージョーカーズ
Release date: April 24, 2015 Delayed to June 26, 2015
Comments:
One day, magic suddenly was born. It was not only known by people, but it was also recognized by the current government. Now, it is used as an energy resource and has permeated many other fields. This story is about six people who live in a world where magic exists whose fates are intertwined.

The fourth hot-blooded battle title from 3rdEye features dual protagonists in the caster (magician) Haruto and the outcast Senri. The conflict is predominantly between the magicians recognized by the school/state and those who are not (outcasts). Besides the slight changes in the setting, we should expect pretty much the same. If you like this sort of thing, go for it. They seem to be good at it.

Way too chunni for me as much as I enjoy varied settings and things, I hate over the top chunni. Never helps to have multiple protagonists either, I cannot recall any game successfully pulling that off. Two points of view makes it too difficult to bond with the characters.

Puramai Wars

Company: ASa Project
Game site: プラマイウォーズ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
“Modesty, fairness and grace”: That’s the motto by which Chihaya and his sisters Kyouko and Mei were brought up with by their strict father. Their family was well-respected in the neighbourhood; You could say they’re the ideal family. Due to an unexpected event, they ended up sharing a house with the family of one of their parents’ co-workers. Chihaya heard that there were three beautiful sisters and was looking forward to living together with them, but it turns out that their nature is totally opposite of their family!

I love ASa Project for their gags (mostly dirty jokes), so I’m definitely playing this. Let’s see how many weird faces they can make this time. The trial was great and I want more Mei and Minori~

For a simple comedic title I am glad to see a game that isn’t trying to be pretentious about its origin or purpose. There is nothing wrong at all with making any type of game, just don’t try to hide what it really is behind cheesy gimmicks or tarted up H content. No one likes being lied to, and that counts for marketing too. No need to add some random theme in an attempt to spice up or cover up the high school romance comedy. For a fun lighter game this is definitely my pick for the month.

The conniving Tomoe is perfect for you.

Hey, I like prim and proper too.

Kami no Rhapsody

Company: エウシュリー (Eushully)
Game site: 神のラプソディ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The great plains of Kvarna spreads out from the border between the western part and the central plains of the Raulbash continent. This was the territory of the demi-humans who have resided here peacefully for thousands of years.

One time, the ‘Kami no Kaido’, the ruler of the southeastern plains who is close to God, declared that he would train a successor to inherit his immense power and knowledge. With those words, he opened the gates to the holy land, ‘Shrine of the End’ (Tsui no Goshi). The successor candidates were bestowed the privilege to explore the previously-sealed area and various abilities by the Kami no Kaido, to overcome the severe trials that lay before them.

Youths from all races and religions heeded this call and gathered together, including the young researcher Erballade who left his hometown to seek wisdom and the unknown. There will only be one successor. With honour, wisdom, power and wealth, along with the expectations of their hometowns, a fierce competition is about to begin.

It’s a good thing that Golden Week is a few weeks after the release date since you’ll probably still be playing it at that point. There’s almost 100 hex-grid battle maps with many different objectives in this SRPG. As usual, you can train and strengthen your units, while befriending enemies. There are skill medals which you can acquire from treasures, and the weapons all are based on musical instruments. Even if it’s your first time, the tutorial does a good job of explaining the system. You can also modify the difficulty level. It was pretty fun to play, so if I have time to waste, I might consider playing it a bit.

It has been awhile since I felt even a little tempted to play any game with more than a click the option level of gameplay in it, but here I am considering it. I suppose the stars have aligned and I feel like giving these style of games another shot for a new year or something. Standard rules still apply though, don’t expect too much in the way of story, nor gameplay both will definitely take a hit from the hybridization. Still waiting for someone to put together a worthwhile story first then fill it in with enjoyable if simple gameplay. Someday I have faith a person will come along and figure out this simple recipe.

Kagura Kaentan

Company: でぼの巣製作所 (Debonosu)
Game site: 神楽花莚譚
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This roguelike RPG is the latest game in Debonosu’s Kagura series. This world is different from the the human world. There are youkai who normally hide in the shadows or sunlight, but can harm humans. Mikoto and Ryouka are two mikos under the tutelage of the goddess Sakatome-sama, and they are tasked with exterminating the youkai. They travel across the land as part of their training. One day, they arrived at a history-laden old town upon the request of Satsuki and Takayo, who informed them of strange events occurring around the town. That evening, Takayo was kidnapped by the youkai and the mikos headed to the land of the youkai to save her.

You get to choose between the short-range or mid-range mikos as your main character. It’s not truly roguelike with perma-death (since you can reload before each randomly-generated map), and it looks quite look their past games. You can play with the keyboard, mouse or controller. There’s also some weird faces on the sprites. The gameplay is not that interesting. I’d choose the ALICESOFT or Eushully game over this any day.

I’m with Micchi here, not much to expect in the way of story nor gameplay. Even more there are plenty of better titles along the same lines this month.

System

Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Bansenjin

Company: light
Game site: 相州戦神館學園 万仙陣
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This follows the grand ending in Hachimyoujin, where Yoshiya doesn’t confess to anyone. Yoshiya’s group are now in their second year at Senshinkan Gakuen, joined by new students Nobuaki and Shizuno. There were a few more hiccups along the way, but every day is full of laughs and smiles. No one thought that it would change, but while devoting all their time preparing for the culture festival, they happened upon a secret of the school and were confronted with a nightmare which eroded reality. They didn’t have any special abilities to combat these strange occurrences, but then their inner elements awakened and the wheel of dreams begin to turn once more.

The school banter is fine, but chuuni is not my cup of tea. Pass.

Pretty lame and already a continuation so standard fandisk rules apply here.

Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 ~Otome Enran☆Sangokushi Engi[Shoku]~

Company: BaseSon
Game site: 真・恋姫†英雄譚1 ～乙女艶乱☆三国志演義［蜀］～
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the first of three low priced sequels to the Koihime series, focusing on the Shoku generals. It is only available via download (DMM). It appears to occur in an alternate timeline from Shin Koihime Musou or Moeshouden. The main heroines are Aisha, Sei and Sui, although there are also new characters, such as Sui’s imoutos Ruo and Sou. With a NEXTON-PASSPORT, you can also enjoy an H scene append for Touka and Renka.

Hawawa! I’m thrilled that there’s more Koihime. The art has gotten a much needed boost, making Shuri and Hinari more adorable than ever! While I’m not expecting too much of a story, I’m glad that I get to romance in the three kingdoms again.

It is nice to see BaseSon finally shrink the heronine pool for a game instead of expanding to near infinity. Also nice of them to focus on the three best girls. What always plagued these games was the overwhelming amount of heroines which left all of their stories feeling quite lacking in the development department. That said though it does feel like everything since Koihime has not turned out as they wished so going back and trying to milk what has worked in the past. 

Walkure Romanze Re:tell II

Company: Ricotta
Game site: ワルキューレロマンツェ Re:tell II
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the second mini fandisc for Walkure Romanze, featuring Celia and Akane. It is only available via download (DMM). More fandiscs and I have the feeling there’s two more to come…

The world of DLC and micropayments is sweeping eroge as well it seems. As I loathe this game I hope they make something else soon so I don’t have to see it pop up during these summaries anymore.

Micchi’s Top 4 for This Month

1. Chrono Clock
2. Evenicle
3. Puramai Wars
4. Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 ~Otome Enran☆Sangokushi Engi[Shoku]~

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Chrono Clock
2. Puramai Wars
3. Kami no Rhapsody

Yume, Nanaka and Mahiru are so much better than Otome.

It would seem as though the creators of all those characters know the truth about their creations. Otome wins. Oh, Nanaka is an acceptable answer too. Yume still has her dreams, where she can live beyond the reaches of her crushed hopes after crying herself to sleep at night. Sadly she will eventually wake up to realize she wasn’t good enough to be chosen and start anew another day in her lifetime of regrets and melancholy days. April fools you little wench!

T___T

FAVORITE is making an after fandisc for Shinku! Akai Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai will be devoted solely to our adorable hotcake-loving translucent magician, with a whispering voice drama and a Shinku stuffed doll as planned bonuses. I can’t wait for this! ^^

Like in past years, key announced a new work on April Fool’s Day. This year it is Harmonia, with only a PV up.

Other new titles announced this week include:

ALcot Honey Comb – Kimi no Tonari de Koi Shiteru! ~The respective happiness~
Chuable Soft – Sugar+Spice3
HOOKSOFT – PriministAr Mini FD Senri&Kayano ver.

3rdEye’s Sorcery Jokers has been delayed to June 26th.

Misaki won the Chrono Clock chara poll. ば～っかじゃないの！？ The Silverio Vendetta chara poll has started up and will run until April 19th.

The Amakano soundtrack CD and AKABEiSOFT2&Sisters vocal collection will both be on shelves on April 24th. The Shining Resonance collection of visual materials comes out on April 27th.

New figures available for preorder are:

GSC – nendoroid Rin (im@s cg, July, ￥3426)
WING – 1/7 scale Muramasa bunny ver. (Muramasa, July, ￥12,744)

I took a day off on Monday to finish Hanasaki Work Spring! in one go. It was pretty long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! The story wasn’t as deep as Natsunagi, Hatsusaku or Karumaruka, but as a chara-ge, it did its job. While Ayano’s was the strongest route, Hikari and Nonoka are angels~ ^___^ Long live #hikaributts!

It seems like there’s not much news this week or maybe everyone’s just busy with a certain loli goddess with a blue string…

Release dates have been set for the following:

Akai Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai – July 24th
Sakura Nikagetsu – July 24th

PULLTOP Air’s Natsuiro Recipe has been delayed to May 29th.

The “Watanabe Akio Artworks 1″ book comes out on April 24th, featuring 148 pages of illustrations from Grisaia. It’s priced at ￥2500.

The next installment of Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen for the PS4/PS3/PSV is planned for September 24th.

New figures announced this week include:

Kotobukiya – 1/8 scale Kanako (im@s cg, September, ￥7800)
ORCA TOYS – 1/6 scale Tamaki miwaku no twister game ver.HIYAKEATO (TH2, June, ￥13,800)

I’ve spent the past couple days being a lucky sukebe in Panicon. It feels odd playing an Escu:de title that doesn’t have some whacky mini game (the clothes come off on their own!), but Honoka and Teo are so cute that I don’t care about anything else.

Clochette‘s next title won’t be all balloons! The main illustrator working on Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence! will be Sesena Yau (Timepiece Ensemble, Diamic Days). Other new titles announced this week include:

FrontWing – Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Yori
Gummy Soft – Tenkiame (August 28th)

The top finishers in Softhouse-seal GRANDEE’s dakimakura poll for characters illustrated by 2-G are Aki (Zettai Zecchou☆Seiki no Daihatsumei!!), Sara (Zettai Junshu☆Kyousei Kozukuri Kyokashou!!), Charlotte (Zettai Ryouiki☆Sex Royale!!) and Moa (Tensei Kunitori Sex Gassen!!).

SAGA PLANETS has started up a dakimakura poll for Hanasaki until April 23rd. Vote for your favourite outfit for each character (back side). The front side is always the school uniform, except for Nonoka (normal clothes).

Yahho~ Sakura’s birthday is coming up on May 18th. Why not celebrate with her by getting her CD? It only costs ￥2200. The Hanasaki complete soundtrack will be on shelves on June 26th for ￥2500. For ￥2000 more, you can also get a tapestry!

New figures announced this week include:

Max Factory – figma Uzuki Cinderella project ver. (im@s cg, September, ￥5,370)
Milestone – 1/6 scale Natsuha strawberry decoration ver. (Monobeno, July, ￥12,500)

Get your Daito LINE stamps here. C’mon c’mon.

Character1 is just around the corner, so there’s plenty of dakimakura available soon, including Koihime‘s Sui, Amakano‘s Sayuki, Panicon‘s Honoka, Omokage Railback‘s Juri, Clover Day’s‘ Anzu, and a new loli heroine from Lose’s next game. There’s also a big Nonoka summer bath towel!

Panicon was so immensely shallow. Honoka is probably the only reason you should play it. I’m just playing the last few routes in KamiEx, as well as some May trials. Spica in Love Equation is adorable! I’ll gladly help her change every morning!

Webclap responses:

Hi!
Hi there! :D

The winners of the Moe Game Award 2014 have been announced! Flying high in first place is sprite’s Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm, followed by Chuable Soft’s rocket manic Ano Harewataru Sora Yori Takaku and SILKY’s PLUS Wasabi’s spirit mystery Nanairo Reincarnation. Aokana was also voted as the top game by users.

Individual winners are as follows:

Scenario – Ano Harewataru Sora Yori Takaku, Kimi no Tonari de Koi Shiteru! (ALcot Honey Comb)
Character design – Clover Day’s (ALcot), Reminiscence Re:Collect (Tigre)
Game design – VenusBlood -HYPNO- (dualtail), Gigai no Alruna (Debonosu)
Pure love – Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou 2 (Navel), MeltyMoment (HOOKSOFT)
Ero (pink) – Sakigake⇒Generation (Clochette), PRIMAL×HEARTS (Marmalade), Amakano (Azarashi Soft)
Ero (black) – Kuro no Kyoushitsu (BISHOP)
Fetish – Oniichan, Migite no Shiyou o Kinshi Shimasu! (Galette)
Fire – Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Hachimyoujin (light), BALDR SKY ZERO 2 (GIGA)
Long play – Tenbin no La DEA. (Eushully)
Song – Dekinai Watashi ga, Kurikaesu (AkabeiSoft3), HapyMaher Fragmentation Dream (Purple Software)
BGM – AstralAir no Shiroki Towa (FAVORITE)
Fandisc – ChuSinGura46+1 Bushi no Kodou (Inre)
Promotion – Yakimochi Stream (MadoSoft)
3D – Kono Oozora ni, Tsubasa o Hirogete SNOW PRESENTS (PULLTOP)

Low price – Walkure Romanze Re:tell (Ricotta)
Topic – Kanojo no Seiiki (feng)
New brand – Doushite, Sonna ni Kuroi Kami ga Suki nano? (FIRE WORKS), Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai (Uguisu Kagura)

New titles announced this week include:

Debonosu – Ayakashi Sange
Digital Cute – Tincle★Twinkle Festival!
D.O. – Nanairo＊Clip
La’cryma – Kadenz fermata//Akkord:fortissimo (July 31st)
Lump of Sugar – Tayutama 2

key’s Angel Beats! -1st beat- has been delayed to June 26th, while release dates have been set for the following:

PENDULUM – June 26th
Koinaka lovers – August 21st
Traveling Stars – August 28th

Chara polls have begun for Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 (until May 1st), Panyanyanda (until May 8th) and Hananono (until May 11th).

light has started up a crowdfunding project for an anime adaptation for Dies irae. They’re aiming for over 3 million yen. It’s all or nothing.

NanaWind’s ALIA’s CARNIVAL is getting a PSV port.

The Minakoi visual fan book and OST are both coming out on May 15th. The Silverio Vendetta OST and Hanasaki soundtrack CD will be on shelves on May 29th and June 26th, respectively. Fans of Shimotsuki Haruka will be delighted to hear there’s a compilation of her best PC game songs coming out on August 5th.

New figures available for pre-order include:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Aliasse (Senjou no Valkyria 2, September, ￥19,800)
Orca Toys – 1/6 scale Muramasa race queen ver. blue (Muramasa, September, ￥13,800)
Phat! – 1/8 scale Makoto (im@s, September, ￥8400)
Q-six – 1/5.5 scale Natsuha (Monobeno, July, ￥12,800)
VERTEX – 1/7 scale Celia (Walroma, October, ￥18,000)

Dakimakuras are coming out for Aokana‘s Asuka, P×C‘s Chitose, Walroma‘s Celia, Himegoto Union‘s Nanoka, Koikano‘s Mayu, Amakoi‘s Tsuyuri and Anastesia, 11gatsu‘s Fuuka, Golden Marriage‘s Touko and Marika, Sakigen‘s Ririko, and Mayosube‘s Otoha and Suzuran. Enjoy!

I did nothing but eat poutine and play Evenicle this weekend. I have no regrets.

New AMUSE CRAFT Us:track has revealed a sneak peek at their debut title, Koi×ShinAi Kanojo (Koi-Kakeru Shin-Ai Kanojo). It is scheduled for October 30th, featuring 4 scenario writers (including Niijima Yuu) and 3 illustrators (including Shiratama). The brand focuses on love stories with high production values. The trailer looks promising to me, so I’ll sure be following their progress.

SMILE has announced their next title: Boku to Koisuru Ponkotsu Akuma., coming out on September 25th.

Release dates have been set for the following:

Ayakashi Sange – August 28th
Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Yori – September 18th

MadoSoft has started up a chara poll for their upcoming game to be revealed June 19th. Go pink!

A pair of eroge song compilations will be on shelves in the next couple months: “Barbarian On The Groove Works Collection 5th” on May 29th, followed by “GWAVE 2014 2nd Favorite” on June 26th.

Lots of PSV adaptations have been announced, including Natsumegu (July 30th), Tsuriotsu, Amamiso, Himawari and Majokoi.

Phat! has 1/8 scale figures coming out in August for im@s‘ Yayoi and Iori, priced at around 7300 yen.

YuzuSoft has some new mobage Kako☆Tama coming out after YuzuPara. The site’s kinda broken at the moment, but they plan to hold a beta test for Android in mid-May.

Dakimakuras are available for Himawari to Koi no Kioku‘s Akane, Sora from Chelsea Soft’s first game (illustrated by Miyasaka Miyu), Kagura Kaentan‘s Mikoto and Ryouka, Love Equation‘s Mion, Sextet‘s Kotone and Chiikano‘s Shione. LevoL has also announced that they will make dakimakuras for the rest of the 11gatsu heroines, after Fuuka.

May post is on hold since I’m busy playing Evenicle. I’m almost at the end, so I hope to get it done by the upcoming weekend.

Release dates have been set for the following:

Kenseiki Alpha Ride – August 28th
Hime-sama Love Life! – September 18th

Saku won the 2nd Panyanyanda chara poll. She’s so greedy and hoarding all the top spots! Partial results have come out for the Eiyuutan dakimakura chara poll. Aisha and Sei are most likely in the top 3, but who will join them since Sui’s in 7th? Hinari? Karin again?

TG Smart had shown 3 image visuals for Lose’s upcoming game and now there’s a character first impression poll. The final results will affect the number of H scenes each character gets in the game (although based on Monobeno and all the append discs, it’s likely there won’t be a shortage for everyone). You have until May 20th to make your interests known. No, my top pick isn’t the 114cm girl, but the 158cm one.

Innocent Grey is taking preorders for 10th anniversary chara poll second-place finisher Yura (Cartagra) until June 22nd.

I ended up pouring almost 80 hours into Evenicle and I was very satisfied with everything, from the story and character antics, to the gameplay and treasure trove of achievements. I hope that there’ll be a sequel. Now on to Puramai while writing on the side. Minori is the first target!

The Dies irae anime project 30 million yen crowdfunding goal was reached in less than a day. They’ve reached 48 million yen pledged and 34 million yen collected. Well, that didn’t take long.

The following titles have been delayed:

Maple Colors HHH – June 26th
Koi to Mahou to Kanrinin – July 24th

Christopher topped the Silverio Vendetta chara poll. ALICESOFT has started up a chara poll for Evenicle (which likely will get a sequel based on the recent blog entry). It closes on May 25th.

The Ama Koi Syrups visual fan book will be on shelves on June 25th for ￥2800, while the Akio Watanabe Artworks 2 (Grisaia) comes out on May 29th for ￥2500.

The 2-disc second Ryo Mizutsuki vocal collection featuring songs from various UnisonShift titles will be out on June 26th for ￥3000.

New figures have been announced for the following:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Black Heart (Neptunia, October, ￥14,800)
Kotobukiya – 1/8 scale Chieri (im@s cg, October, ￥7800)

Toy’sHeart is making onaholes for each of the LxC2 heroines. Eroge and onahole collaboration: a marriage made in heaven.

The Hanasaki dakimakura costume poll results are out! Most of the winning outfits are the more common ones for each character, including Nonoka’s middle school uniform.

dualtail is making a dakimakura of VenusBlood -HYPNO-‘s Lize. Preorders will be taken during the month of June.

Puramai was decent, but I prefered ASa Project’s previous works. Minori and Mei are quality imoutos though. Now I’m playing Eiyuutan 1, Chrono Clock and the newly released mobage Hatsukoi no Uta all at the same time. Hibiki is so adorable ><b I hope I can meet her more often!

I love sappy love stories and SMEE’s PURE×CONNECT shouldn’t disappoint in this month of games where most protagonists are transferring into new schools. Imagination runs wild in Lump of Sugar’s Rensou Relation, Insync’s Mousou Complete! and PeasSoft’s Chuunibyou na Kanojo no Love Equation. For NekoNekoSoft fans, Sumire promises to reacquaint you with your favourite heroines from the past 15 years.

After a few surprisingly good months it is only fair that in exchange we get a bit of a slow month. Not much here but the standard sampling of eroge. While few may be horrifyingly bad, most are well below the normal standards. Here’s hoping that next month is more pleasant.

Hyakugojuunenme no Mahoutsukai

Circle: PINK CHUCHU
Game site: 百五十年目の魔法使い
Release date: May 3, 2015
Comments:
This is the debut title for Mikeou’s doujin circle, PINK CHUCHU. The 150 year old northern capital of Lilac City is home to over 1.9 million people. Katsura returned to this city with his mother Midori after many years and reunited with the three Hoshioki sisters: the dependable Rira, the cool Nadeshiko, and the doting Marika. He transferred into their school, Lilybell Gakuen, then his father explained that their family are magicians who protect Lilac City. However, he must choose one of the Hoshioki girls to serve as an ‘intermediary’ who bestows magic upon him.

Another doujin title from a prominent artist after Sayori’s Nekopara, although this one had been in the works for quite some time. It feels less polished, with amateurish music. The first trial wasn’t voiced except for the cat, although the seiyuus on-board are pretty good (Haruka Sora, Mizukiri Keito, Arisugawa Miyabi). Luckily, they’ve changed the awful orange text. It’s short, so might be decent filler in between games.

Every so often it takes a doujin game to show us the value in the modern system we have going for eroge. Much like a guilt trip commercial for starving children that need to be eaten for a mere twenty five cents a day, they exist to show us how good we have it despite how bad most of it is. The point of this being that normally I get to complain about first world problems, such as the writing sucks, the story is written by and for special people with extra chromosomes, or it’s about magical girls. Then along comes a doujin game that just can’t feel complete without a few pounds of acid flowing through your veins to help along the realization of how lucky you are when reading the repetitive tripe that our grown up corporate machines churn off their assembly lines. So when a doujin company tries to grow up and go through their coming of age ritual, ya know the painful experience of releasing their first game where people can actually bitch about them because it is now officially their job, I expect them to make an attempt to prove they are worthy of adulthood and understand that the bar for minimum standards is set a little bit higher than a carnival merry go round.

And so long rant more or less over the game itself, the point i was trying to get at and make after a lengthy intro? Try harder company named after the worst character in Xenogears. Yes I could complain about the usual problems, because those definitely exist too. For example the story and setting are contrived to get the character in heroines panties, the characters already have off screen emotional investment prior to the game starting and so on. It is just, well they haven’t even reached that starting line yet, so sadly I personally don’t give them permission to ride the big kid roller coaster till they are a little more grown up.

Magical girls are first world problems?

Magical girls are World problems.

ALIA’s CARNIVAL! Flowering＊Sky

Company: NanaWind
Game site: ALIA’s CARNIVAL！ Flowering＊Sky
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
This is the sequel to ALIA’s CARNIVAL!. Spring turned to summer at Sakumodai Gakuen, which is home to the future science curriculum and self-governed by students who possess ‘arcane’ abilities. As usual, Ren is giving it his all in his quest for ALIA, enjoying his school life with his group of friends.

One day, a strange girl Inori appeared, proclaiming that she is a messenger from the student council. After that, his surroundings began to gradually change. What kind of story awaits him?

Not only does this game explain the mystery from the previous game in the grand route, but it also features ichaicha stories for each heroine (plus a story for Shiho) and an episode where they all travel to Yuyukana‘s Aojima. I didn’t play either game, so pass.

The best thing about sequels and fandisks is how nothing really needs to be said when it was all covered with the original game.

Re;Lord Episode 2 ~Cologne no Majo to Kuroneko~

Company: エスクード (Escu:de)
Game site: Re；Lord 第二章 ～ケルンの魔女と黒猫～
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
This is the second episode in the Re;Lord series. After freeing Helfault from the witch Erika, Wilfred continued his quest to reclaim Groeson by attacking Cologne, held by the witch Iris. It is a vast tranquil grassy plain with the country’s fifth-largest body of water, the popular tourist spot Bebra Lake, and has a flourishing fishing industry. However, the residents had all been turned into crow familiars, spirits and imps. He didn’t know the motive behind the witch’s actions, but he attacked nevertheless in order to take back his land. At the same time, the military received news of Erika’s defeat to a mere student and dispatched a hunting unit to suppress the witch in Cologne.

Consider the abrupt ending in the first game, maybe it is worth waiting for the third and probably final episode (there are 3 witches after all) to come out before marathoning them. The battle system has been powered up and it should be pretty fun. Escu:de just isn’t Escu:de without clothes stripping. You can even strip the cute familiars! Now that’s attention to detail!

I just answered this, scroll up one game and re read that, thanks.

Story intro

love,VAMPIRE FLOWERS

Company: COSMIC CUTE
Game site: love，VAMPIRE FLOWERS
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
Nagami Gakuen is a former girls-only boarding school in the outskirts of Nagasaki. Hart is the only boy in the gardening club, joining the flower-loving Kureha, reliable leader Rie and tomboyish Christina. They water the flowers, take care of the greenhouse, transplant the flowers every now and then, and bring flowers and fruits as presents to the adjacent hospital.

The chapel that they call the club room, the gardens and greenhouse, and pretty uniforms were not all that they had inherited from the horticultural classes which were abolished with the introduction of co-education. They also carried on their volunteer activities at the school. Recently, there are rumours of a suspicious person in the school grounds, so they have been tasked with finding and expelling them.

However, Kureha, who had known Hart since she was a small child, asked him if that suspicious person is actually him. That’s because he is secretly a ‘vampire’.

Hart’s not the kind of vampire you have heard lots about. He doesn’t need to sleep and he doesn’t suck blood. However, he needs vitality, which requires him to choose a ‘flower’ (wahl der blume). This is a point that the writer makes sure that you understand… because the first 8 chapters in the trial are pretty much him being undecided until forced to choose one of the girls. It’s mindnumbingly boring. I found the art too shallow and the writing too repetitive with constantly-changing viewpoints and uninteresting characters. The shortcuts also don’t seem to work and the BGMs don’t loop nicely. I have no idea what they want to do with this game, but I know I want nothing to do with it.

If ever anyone wondered what it would look like to put three separate games into a blender, here is your result, and it is certainly as unpleasant as one would expect. It is hard to decide which theme they handled worse, the lame vampire, the small club, or the completely random problem solving. Essentially this game does little aside from making others look good by comparison. If you are going to fail, at least stick to one thing so you can properly fail it. It is always better for a failure to end in an explosion than a wimper.

Ayakashi Contract

Company: アクセル (AXL)
Game site: あやかしコントラクト
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
Due to his parents’ constant work transfers, Yukiya hasn’t been able to make any close friends. This time, he opposed following his parents overseas and decided to live with his uncle’s family in the rural Housenshu-chou and transfer into the school there. After a long train ride, he lost his way in the forest and was helped by a great spirit called the Guardian of the Forest. The next morning, he found the tanuki youkai Shouji by his side, pressing him to fulfill his promised contract of helping solve the spirits’ worries.

Yukiya could see the spirits from then on, causing his first impressions at his new school to be failures. He was viewed as a weird guy who talked with himself, and pushed down the class rep Midori when trying to prevent the spirits’ pranks. As time passed, he adapted to the rural life and gained the friends whom he had wished for: powerless miko Tsumugi, supernatural-sensing Minagi, youkai hunter Haruka, doting cousin Anna, and even the highly responsible Midori.

However, the recent redevelopment in the area have endangered the forest where the spirits are living. Will they be able to protect the forest? This is a heartwarming story about a town where humans and spirits co-exist.

The trial was better than their past ones, with the usual comedy and exaggerated facial expressions, but all of AXL’s fantasy setting ADVs have kinda melded into one for me. In a few months, I will probably remember this one as ‘the one with the cute mascots’. Love the yaeba on Anna!

There was a manga which started out almost the exact same way, Inukami? Inakami? Something like that. Anyway the game could do with a little more depth, a sense of mystery to the setting perhaps to draw the reader in. As is with everything rather front loaded what you see is pretty much what you get. All that can be hoped for is that at least the ride is a pleasant one.

Sumire

Company: ねこねこソフト (NekoNekoSoft)
Game site: すみれ
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
There is a mock school on the Internet for those who love galge and eroge, nicknamed “Galge Gakuen”. The protagonist used to be really into it, but now he only logs in as “Ken-chan” to be with his two friends, the self-proclaimed girls’ school student “Pink” and the indecent talk-loving “Tae”. They used to be no more than friends who loved galge, but now their hobbies and conversations extend beyond just that.

One day, a new student entered the school. Since her actions and speech was like a moe character, they gave her the nickname “Moe”. With the cheerful Moe in the mix, their circle of friends had grown to four. However, they were still only online friends. It was frowned upon to ask about their real lives and it was an unspoken rule to not touch this subject.

Then, Ken-chan happened to meet Moe by chance in real life. He pretended that nothing happened in order to protect the relationship that their group had online. But he met her again once more soon thereafter: this time as her home tutor, and she as his new imouto from his father’s remarriage.

This is NekoNekoSoft’s 15th anniversary work, using characters from all their past games as avatars in this game blending reality and imagination. “Ken-chan” is the protagonist from Mizuiro. Sumire would especially appeal to those who have played NekoNekoSoft’s previous games, as I have (Mizuiro, Sorairo, Yukiiro). Does that mean we can have scenes where all the imouto charas are together!? Anyways, their ‘school’ is more like an online community (glorified chat room) and I’m sure that most people understand the distinction between real life and the internet. Just look at MMOs and all the female avatars. I think the story has potential and the seiyuus are nice (Maki Izumi, Natsuno Koori, Uehara Aoi), so I’ll be checking this out if I have time.

At least the blender is deliberate this time. Still just a game for fans of the company, not something made to stand on its own merit, so I’m going to treat it as a fan disk and assume the people are already know their opinion one way or another.

Note the crossover parts are kinda random, although still enjoyable. They feel like a promotion for their past games.

Natsuiro Recipe

Company: PULLTOP Air
Game site: なついろレシピ
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from April. This heartful story is the first title by PULLTOP Air. Takefumi lost his mother when he was small, and he hasn’t kept in touch with his father who lives abroad. Unlike his peers, he’s a simple and honest fellow who lives true to himself.

One day, he received a letter addressed to his father from a girl Yuzu who called herself his daughter. Her grandmother had passed away a month ago. She didn’t know how to live by herself and thus, pleaded for his help. Takefumi thought that if he became her guardian, then it would solve many of her problems. Even though he was perplexed at the sudden appearance of an imouto, he did not hesitate a second in helping her.

He headed to the mountain village Shiratama-mura where he was greeted by Yuzu. Just like that, they became siblings. Even though it was awkward at first, their sibling bond gradually deepened as they lived under one roof. Yuzu wished to re-open her grandmother’s restaurant, and together they develop their own true ‘home cooking’.

We call it ‘food porn’ in the West and it’s meshi-tero (culinary terrorism) in Japan, but essentially it’s the same thing. In addition to having delicious bishoujos, there’s also delicious food. I have to admit I’m a ‘hana yori dango’ person, so that sweet red bean donut up there is making me drool. Of course, if my imouto makes delicious food for me, that’s even better. Or we could make it together!

As for the story, I don’t expect too much coming from Takashima Eiji (C@F!, Witch’s Garden) and Orihata Keisuke (1/7 no Mahoutsukai, Koiken). I’ll be happy if it’s just an iyashi-kei game with lots of food. In fact, I didn’t particularly like the pacing in the trial; it was kinda boring and the jokes weren’t funny. I guess it might appeal to you if you like girls who can’t cook.

May I opt out of the bland, tasteless heroines and instead go on the succulent, delicious, much more nutritious, and fulfilling food route?

If I am honest about the game itself however, the main problem with it is the convenience factor of the absent parents as well as any other family. As the setup is pretty much identical to Natsu no Ame, I have to compare how one game deals with how a new, previously unknown entry to the family affects everyone, while the other just says “Here have a little sister as our gift to you”. Adding in the food theme is little more than a shallow gimmick for the game.

Namaiki!

Company: 脳内彼女 (Nounai Kanojo)
Game site: な妹き！
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
The Mikanagi family is a noble family which has recently fallen on hard times. One day, the family elder demanded that Asuma have sex with one of his imoutos in order to continue the blood lineage which has been passed on for generations. However, he opposed it in order to protect his imoutos’ futures and left the house to live alone.

Three years later, he returned after hearing about the death of the elder. However, his cute imoutos have now grown beyond what he had imagined. While he wished to slowly deepen his bonds with them after being away for so long, they seemed to be at the rebellious age and were no longer doting upon him.

He would do anything to return to the relationship they once had, but he tried a little too hard and awakened their ‘onii-chan love’. They constantly made advances towards him. Will he be able to protect his virginity?

But isn’t onii-chan’s virginity reserved for his imouto? There’s plenty of verbal humiliation and ‘punishment’, so this is probably great for do-Ms. They’re all cheeky to some degree, but I like the uzakawaii aspiring idol Hina the most.

I’m not sure if all of you know this, but Nounai Kanojo wasn’t always known for preggo traps. They did a lot of imouto-ge and I’ve played some of them myself. While they’re not among the best, they’re not too shabby either. This might be worth a look. If nothing else, it’ll change your view of sock puppets.

I see nothing.

No wonder you always ignore your imoutos!

What imoutos?

PURE×CONNECT

Company: SMEE
Game site: ピュア×コネクト
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
Hayato has yearned for a heart-throbbing romance for a long time, but instead is bored wasting away time every day. He wishes to fall in love like in an eroge, but everyone around him just makes fun of him for it. But that’s what every guy wants, right? Is it really so wrong to want such a relationship?

In the middle of November, a small chance appeared when he was asked to work part-time at the popular bakery restaurant, La Pivoine. Finding himself in a situation he never imagined being in, he thought to break free of his current norm. He agreed to work there and acquainted himself with the staff: Sora, his osananajimi who has no interest in falling in love; Shiho, the store manager whose lover is her job; Moemi, the moodmaker part-timer who treasures her family over all; Arisa, his kouhai who hasn’t found her ideal partner; and, Ayumi, his cousin who is still early for love.

Finally, he takes the first steps towards his own love.

I’ve been looking forward to SMEE’s next game for some time and this one feels just like LoverAble, with a good balance of romance and comedy. Similar to their past games, there’s plenty of texting and outfit changes. You can also choose between doing the confession or being confessed to. The protagonist is an university student, but still super hetare. He also has an imouto Karina, who isn’t all too smart. I really enjoyed the trial, especially angel ‘Anal Breaker’ Ayumi and the ass sisters, so this is definitely at the top of my list for this month.

A standard job setting romance title. Ignoring the story seems to be the only option as there is none to speak of, thus the game will stand or fall on characters and writing. Obviously this makes it more of a Micchi game, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hope the game turns out well. It is never bad to have more relaxing games that are simply fun and enjoyable to play.

Chuunibyou na Kanojo no Love Equation

Company: PeasSoft
Game site: 中二病な彼女の恋愛方程式（ラブイクエイション）
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
One day in June nearing the arrival of summer, Ryuuichi transferred into Seishin Gakuen and moved into the former girls’ dormitory Fushigi-sou. He heard that he would be the first male to live there and imagined a new life full of girls. However, when he opened the door, he was greeted with a line-up of peculiar individuals: the complete chuuni Aoi and her self-proclaimed sidekick Momo, the dark witch Mion, and Spica who supposedly came from space. The only normal one out of the bunch was Chisato, but it’s not as if their oddities didn’t have their own charms.

However, his room was unfortunately flooded and he was forced to temporarily sleep on a sofa in the common area. Combined with his aptitude for walking in on girls changing or in the washroom, it seemed that his time there wouldn’t last for long. What will be his destiny living under the same roof with chuuni girls?

I’m usually not keen on chuuni titles, but this is chuuni light, focusing more on gags. GOD DRAGON probably has a chuuni side too and they’ll help him awaken to it. I do plan on playing this for one reason only: Spica! She’s very cute and my pace; I’d gladly play along and spoil her to the world’s end. Gotta save the world from being destroyed, after all.

Peassoft really likes to take one character trait and run with it for every heroine in their games. Which I feel is one of the major contributors to making their games rather lackluster. Just as you can’t summon Captain Planet with five hearts (well maybe five imouto hearts…), the value can be greater or less than the sum of its parts. Just by making all your heroines one type does not mean everyone who likes that character trait will be all over your game. Diversity makes each character and trait feel more special and unique. By contrast when they are all the same thing its like rummaging through the bargain bin of overstocked low quality goods. Sure there is a lot but I prefer my quality over quantity any day.

Let our powers combine, Imouto Heart!

Nekonade Distortion Renai Jishou no Dead End

Company: WHITESOFT
Game site: 猫撫ディストーション 恋愛事象のデッドエンド
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
This is a crowdfunded fandisc for Nekonade Distortion. One day, Tatsuki’s osananajimi Yuzu turned into his imouto “Kotoko”. When he went to his mother Shikiko for advice, she was “Kotoko” as well. Then his older sister Yui showed up in front of him… as “Kotoko”. Everyone that he knew had turned into “Kotoko” on the inside.

What exactly had happened!? What should I do!?

“Nii-san, this is the DEAD END world.”
“Soon, you will become me as well.”

Samoto Fuuri voices everyone. That’s really all you need to know.

I am amazed this rather awful game was worthy not only of a fan disk, but of a crowd funded one.

Mayoeru Futari to Sekai no Subete LOVE HEAVEN 300%

Company: Lass
Game site: 迷える2人とセカイのすべて LOVE HEAVEN 300％
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
This is a mini fandisc for Mayosube with routes for character poll winners Nana and Touka. In Nana’s route, Nana comes to live with him when all the other girls (and Subaru) go on vacation under the guise of recovering from their rejections. Touka’s route is a mix of seven stories, both serious and ecchi. There’s even one where she becomes a loli! The H scenes are 300% more ero! 300% more ero!

Fandisk with a whole lot of nope from me.

Mousou Complete!

Company: Insync
Game site: 妄想コンプリート！
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This is the debut title by Insync. Seiji sees precognitive dreams from time to time. However, since it’s usually only fragments, he doesn’t pay much attention to them and just lives a normal life. One day, he saw a strange dream in which he was very intimate with a girl who he had never seen before. They were both naked and doing what lovers do. When he awoke the next morning, he was puzzled and wondered if it was a sign from the future. He had never dreamt about someone he had not seen before, so he dismissed it as only a delusion to avoid any weird expectations.

He got dressed, walked to school with his imouto Mari, entered his classroom and greeted his classmates. It was the start to another normal day at school… or so he thought. There was a new transfer student in his class, Elica, and she was the girl in his dreams. While he was still stunned, her gaze fell upon him.

“Ahhhh!!! N-No way… You must be joking…!?”

It seems that a strange love story has suddenly begun, with Seiji squarely in the middle of it.

I love the art by Azumi Kazuki! I wanna take Mia home! I originally wanted Mari too, but it sounds like she’s on helium and I don’t like her denpa sounds. This seems to be your standard love comedy and the writer Kobayashi Kouji came from Ex-iT (the patching problems in the latest games weren’t really his fault), so I won’t really expect too much.

Nothing like starting out with the ending. Honestly a pretty weak concept whether it be comedic, charage, or standard eroge. Do try harder next time, maybe with a gimmick you didn’t buy from the eroge template bargain bin.

Koitama

Company: Glacé
Game site: 恋魂
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:

“Be pure, honest, strong-willed and wise!”

Those are the ideals that Aika forced upon the students at the special correctional institute Shindou Gakuen, forbidding love and depriving their freedom in the name of justice. While the ideal sounds great, in reality, the students are completely enslaved by the superhuman-like elite group, “Love Pentagon”.

Ren is flawlessly handsome, extremely sharp and remarkably strong. However, he has one vital flaw: he is weak to girls. He would fall to their charms, be swayed by their tears, and tricked by their lies. The Kedouin family head ordered him to attend Shindou Gakuen to overcome this problem. Will he be able to pass the correctional curriculum and be rewarded with his destined partner, Aika?

It is a struggle between the domineering upper caste and the suppressed masses. Have no fear! Our hero will overthrow the bourgeoisie and then have his way with them! In the meantime, enjoy your S girls. None of the three scenario writers (Kaminokeza, Ki-tan, Aobadai) have written any good stories. To be honest, the trial was boring with an annoyingly forced setup. I won’t be wasting my time with this.

If I am purely honest and share my wisdom, this game is poorly made. To start with the setting is awkward and makes little sense. Could have just had it been a strict school in a rural area to reach the desired effect without the “Love Pentagon” silliness. Next there is the story, or rather the meandering series of events that results in eventual H scenes. With no real direction save get the girl, there is little to develop the characters around. Last there are the characters, heroines being typically conveinently associated, however what is worse this time is the protagonist. It feels like they tried to combine two types of protagonist and failed at both. One being capable the other completely no good as a person. Sure, it is great to have human like flaws and not be too useless. The problem is that he is less of a character and more just an object to enable the setting, story, and heroines to exist. Which is a problem not only because he is the lens through which the reader views the story, but also because it weakens all other aspects that are constructed around his existence.

Rensou Relation

Company: Lump of Sugar
Game site: 恋想リレーション
Release date: May 29, 2015
Comments:
Shinnosuke failed to get into the same school as his best friend Ryou, but he was still positive about his chances in the entrance exams. It’s sad to not with Ryou, but it’s not like they won’t see each other again. Maybe he’ll end up meeting some new friends… possibly a really cute girl!

However, he still hadn’t received a letter of acceptance after the exam result announcement period was over. His cousin Yuuko was worried about his future and he was beginning to have doubts himself. Then, his homeroom teacher called him and told him to take an interview at Amami Gakuen, a new school in Shiroha which is extremely popular. It would be very difficult for Shinnosuke to be accepted there, but it just so happened that a space opened up in the special quota for local students. Taking advantage of this chance, what lies ahead for him? Nothing is impossible!

Lump of Sugar games have been rife with gimmicks lately. This time, it uses a similar system as Furuiro called ‘Hirameita!’, where you have to gather words (max of 3 at any given time). Depending on which words you have, different choices become available at branch points. The protagonist is delusional and a total perv. The trial was relatively short, but nothing really stood out from it, other than that Maji-senpai is really annoying. The system ring is a bit too big for my liking and the flow chart is somewhat useful. I have reservations about the ‘Hirameita!’ system; I feel like it’ll become a chore after a while. The twin cousins are nice, but still probably not enough to make me want to play this.

Lump of Sugar has not made a solid game in ages and it shows when they stray further and further from what can be considered well made. Their plots are shabby nonsense, their gimmicks are just irritations, their writing is bland and shows zero understanding of the chosen subject matter, and their characters rarely change significantly. As much as I complain about Circus and their milking of Da Capo, I understand both the business decision to do so, as well as why people keep buying it. Many games end with a feeling of wishing there was more content about how things turned out after, or following up with different scenarios that were left hanging. It is only when things like poker games start being made that I wish I could backhand the people in charge. In contrast, Lump of Sugar just making new bad games, often very similar underneath the new skin is so much worse than extending a series till people lose interest in your characters.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. PURE×CONNECT
2. Sumire
3. Chuunibyou na Kanojo no Love Equation

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Personally I,
2. Liked April better
3. Than May

Bunny and Kitty went on a picnic together.
Up the mountain they go, they go~
On the mountain, they could smell the scent of their favourite milk.
“Where is it? Where is it?” Bunny hopped around while searching for the milk.
“It smells good around here, Bunny” purred Kitty.
“You’re right! Hopping around here makes the smell grow stronger. Let’s hop higher and higher!”
So, Bunny and Kitty hopped until they found the tasty milk, then they enjoyed it together.

THE END

And so Micchi was never heard from again. Some say he was abducted by the police, others that he kidnapped a little girl he named “Imouto” and ran off, but whatever the truth, he shall live on in our hearts.

ALICESOFT continues its remake of the Rance series with Rance 03 -Leazas Kanraku-, scheduled for August 28th. Other new titles announced this week include:

ensemble – Koisuru Kimochi no Kasanekata
GIGA – Renai Phase
Glacé – Amanosora Retrospect (September 25th)
Windmill – Unlucky Re:Birth/Reverse (October 30th)

The second volume of Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan is planned for August 28th. It’s focused on the Gi faction, with main stories for Karin, Shunran/Shuuran and Keifa. I’m most interested in Keifa’s maternity life. Release dates have also been set for the following:

Imouto no Seiiki – July 31st
Tincle★Twinkle Festival! – September 25th

LOSE’s first impression poll for their next game has wrapped up. While the results haven’t been announced yet, they’ve made available a slightly risqué wallpaper and also started up another poll for cosplay outfits. You can submit one entry per character. Wouldn’t 148cm look great in a tennis outfit?

The winner of the Eiyuutan (Shoku) dakimakura poll is Sei! My fav Hinari finished second. The Puramai Wars chara poll has started up and runs till June 6th.

An anime adaptation has been announced for âge’s Schwarzesmarken, while the manga adaptation of Sanoba Witch has hit the shelves today.

The Aokana vocal and sound collection comes out on May 29th, while the Shoujo Activity OST has been delayed two weeks to June 12th.

SILKY’S PLUS’ hit title Nanairo Reincarnation will be ported to the PSV. It comes out on September 17th. There’s gonna be lots of censoring needed.

GSC has a nendoroid of im@s cg‘s Uzuki coming out in September. The price is ￥3611 plus taxes.

The first Hanasaki dakimakura, for Inori, begins preorders on May 28th.

Even though Eiyuutan 1 focuses on Shoku, there’s also plenty of Gi charas that show up and even has H scenes with Karin and Shia. Other characters are often mentioned. It was decent, mainly made for fans of the series. Chrono Clock is next up on the docket, although I’ll be starting the June trials this week too.

feng has announced a change for the seiyuu for the main heroine in their upcoming title Imouto no Seiiki. Yukana’s seiyuu, Yoshizumi Haruna (better known as Nitta Emi), has withdrawn due to illness. As you may already know, she took a break a few months ago due to vocal cord polyps, possibly due to overwork. It was determined that the voicing of H scenes had a greater strain than expected, so she decided to stop halfway through recording. No replacement has been decided at this moment.

âge’s Schwarzesmarken Kouketsu no Monshou has been set for September 18th. It is the first of the two games planned for the light novel series in the Muv-luv franchise.

The following titles have been delayed:

Ecchi de Hentai! Yakimochi Ojou-sama!! – July 24th
Ichibun no Ni Koigokoro – August 28th

It’s no surprise that main heroine Ouka topped the Hananono chara poll. There’s a couple commemorative wallpapers for download.

Debonosu has put up their debut title Kagura Dochuuki up on Steam Greenlight. The catch is that it will be censored, which seems to be viewed negatively.

The Ayakashi Sange soundtrack will come out on the same day as the game, August 28th. It is priced at ￥3500.

Both the PSV ports for Amamiso and Himawari have been set for an August 27th release.

PeasSoft has started up pre-orders for the dakimakura of Love Equation‘s Mion and Spica.

The May append for PRETTY×CATION2 is up for download.

Are you ready for Anal Breaker Ayumi? I know I am! I’ll be starting PURE×CONNECT this weekend and playing it along with Chrono Clock.