Finally caught up with everything that’s happened over the past month while I’ve been in Japan. Thanks to all that commented on the posts in my absence and hope you’re enjoying the first batch of January games. I’ve got my eyes on Sugar Style and Sakura, Moyu..

Recently announced new releases include:

ALICESOFT – Haha Ranman (April 26th)
Campus – Koioto Se Piace (April 26th)
CLOCKUP – DEAD DAYS
DESSERT Soft – Heroine wa Tomodachi Desu ka? Koibito Desu ka? Soretomo Tomefure Desu ka? (May 31st)
Fluorite – Missing-X-Link ~Ten no Yurikago, Togi no Hana~ (April 26th)
Parasol – Renran Spirichu (May 31st)
SILKY’s PLUS – Kanzume Shoujo no Shuumatsu Sekai (April 26th)

hibiki is releasing a compilation of the CATION series, aptly called ALL×CATION. It is planned for April 26th.

Release dates have been set for the following:

Kudan no Folklore – April 26th
Uchi no Koibito – April 26th
D.C.4 – May 31st
E School Life – May 31st
Tamayura Mirai – May 31st

The following titles have been delayed:

Sakura, Moyu. – January 31st
Nekogami-sama to, Nanatsuboshi – February 22nd
Itsuka no Memorajo – February 28th
Swallowtail – February 28th
Sakurairo, Mau Koro ni – March 29th

Kanade topped the Kotonatsu chara poll, while the Parallelogram chara poll runs until January 31st.

Pre-orders have started for the following figures:

ALTER – 1/8 scale Saber/Arthur Pendragon (FGO, October, ￥17,200)
Aquamarine – 1/7 scale Saber/Altria Pendragon [Lily] (FGO, July, ￥14,800)
FREEing – Chocola swimsuit ver. (Nekopara, December, ￥4200)
GSC – 1/7 scale Shielder/Mash Kyrielight: Heroic Spirit Formal Dress ver. (FGO, February 2020, ￥9074)
Kadokawa – 1/7 scale Kurisu and Mayuri (Steins;Gate, October, ￥29,160)
Kotobukiya – Cu-poche Lancer/Elizabeth Bathory (FGO, June, ￥5800)
PLUM – 1/7 scale Arisu [Only My Flag]+ (Deremas, April, ￥13,800)

FAVORITE and Sol Press have started up a Kickstarter campaign for a Irotoridori no Sekai localization. It starts on February 4th.

It was announced at C95 that Nekopara will be getting a TV anime series! Woohoo! The PS4/Switch port of Nekopara Vol.2 will be coming out this February.

Dakimakuras are available for pre-order for Deep One‘s Konoka, Maid in WitchLife‘s Alisa, Yuel and Liliana, and Uchi no Koibito‘s Chika and Yuri.

The FAVORITE 15th Anniversary Special Live has been set for June 15th at Hulic Hall Tokyo.

If you’re a SAGA PLANETS fan, be sure to check out the SAGA PLANETS shop at Animate Akihabara. It runs until March 10th. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some Nonoka goods…

C95 was a success as I got almost everything I was planning to get. There were around 570k people who showed up over the three days! I got a lot of im@s doujins, especially for my tantous Miho and Nanami. I’m also very happy that there’s still Sana merchandise coming out ten years later. Of course I got everything.

tone work’s’ Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou has been set for June 28th.

The following titles have been delayed:

Itsuka no Memorajo – March 15th
Aoi Sora no Camus – March 29th
Tasogare no Folklore – April 26th
Tonari ni Kanojo no Iru Shiawase ~Summer Surprise~ – April 26th
Raillore no Ryakudatsusha – May 31st

Pre-orders have started for the following figures:

Alphamax – 1/7 scale Sora kimono ver. (Yosuga, August, ￥16,800)
ALTER – 1/7 scale Asuka “Idol” Fragment ver. (Deremas, October, ￥21,800)
Aniplex – 1/7 scale Lancer/Ereshkigal (FGO, January, ￥19,000)
Aquamarine – 1/7 scale Alter Ego/Okita Souji [Alter] (FGO, September, ￥19,800)
FREEing – Cinnamon swimsuit ver. (Nekopara, January, ￥4200)
FREEing – Maple swimsuit ver. (Nekopara, January, ￥4200)
FREEing – Vanilla swimsuit ver. (Nekopara, December, ￥4200)
Licorne – 1/8 scale Mika Tulip ver. (Deremas, September, ￥14,800)
Max Factory – figma Master/Female Protagonist (FGO, August, ￥6296)

You might’ve noticed that WonFes 2019 Winter happened yesterday, so there’s more than just the figures above in the pipeline. I’m particularly interested in all the im@s figures (Momoko-senpai!).

The Aikagi H OVA will come out on April 26th.

Dakimakuras are coming out for LOVELY×CATION‘s Sera, and Sakukoi‘s Ouka.

I’ve only just started feeling that I’ve caught back up on everything since the trip… Hopefully I’ll be done with February post soon!

Webclap responses:

Hi!

At Crunching Koalas we are publishing Cinders, a mature take on the story of Cinderella, next week on Nintendo Switch – would you be interested in taking a look at a non-anime visual novel? Let us know and we could provide you with a code (for now we have EU and AU codes, we should get US codes by tomorrow).

Here is the game’s page: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/cinders-switch by Jakub

Thanks for your message. I don’t have a Switch, nor does this website cover non-anime VNs (in fact, even non-Japanese), so I’ll pass. I’ll keep the info here for others if they are interested. Good luck on your releases!

The Getchu bishoujo game awards 2018 have been announced and the grand winner is key’s Summer Pockets! They also took home the awards for best scenario, music and OP. ALICESOFT’s Rance 10 and YuzuSoft’s RIDDLE JOKER rounded out the top 3 overall. Rance 10 also won best system, while RIDDLE JOKER had best graphics, as well as the top character – imouto Nanami! Finally, Atelier Kaguya BARE&BUNNY’s Love×Holic ~Miwaku no Otome to Hakudaku Kankei~ won the ero category. Qruppo’s Nukige Mitai na Shima ni Sunderu Watashi wa Dou Surya Ii Desu ka? and Cabbage Soft’s Amazing Grace both had good reviews, so they are also worth checking out.

New titles announced this week include:

AkabeiSoft2 – Bosei Kanojo 2 ~Chisei Houkai-hen~ (April 26th)
ensemble SWEET – Otome KishiIma Sugu Watashi o Dakishimete (April 26th)
Ge-sen 18 – Dai Sengo Muramasa -Majin Kakusei- (April 26th)

There’s only one new figure available for pre-order and it’s no surprise that it’s another FGO figure. Max Factory’s figma of Avenger/Jeanne d’Arc [Alter] Shinjuku ver. will be out in September for ￥7,222.

SAGA PLANETS has opened up a Kinkoi collaboration cafe at Cafe ASAN in Akihabara until February 24th. The food doesn’t look too bad.

Just two weeks left till Evenicle 2!

Has it really been that long since Happiness! and SHUFFLE! came out? Windmill’s Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration and Navel’s SPIRAL!! are apparently sequels, even though there are major differences. If you’re in the mood for RPGS, the much anticipated Evenicle 2 from ALICESOFT is here, along with Astronauts Sirius’ Guildmaster. feng’s Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru, featuring art by karory, has finally went master-up after countless years, while SAGA PLANETS has made their first fandisc in a while with Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a pretty good month.

Not a particularly impressive month. We have a choice between spiritual successors, RPGs, fandisks, and single heroine games. I guess there is Feng’s new game, but frankly I wouldn’t get my hopes up for it. Who knows though, in the end anything can happen and maybe, just maybe one or even better more than one of the games will turn out being something truly special. 

Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration

Company: ういんどみるOasis (Windmill Oasis)
Game site: はぴねす！2 Sakura Celebration
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
It was the year of the cherry blossom, when the flowers bloom longer than usual. This only happens once every 10 years in the town of Misaki, and the spring festival Shikinensai was much larger and livelier. Just like the blossoming flowers, many feelings from the past return to the forefront.

“Seeing nii-san’s smile after two years… yup, this is where I should be”
“I know… he isn’t really like that. So this year I’ll surely … the real him”
“I wonder… if I can do it. No, I must. To regain that relationship…”
“Everything should be perfectly in place. I definitely won’t let it happen again… like that time…”
“It’s been ten years since I’ve returned here. Maybe I’ll meet him again?
It would be nice if I did…”

Their feelings intermingle like the flower petals fluttering in the sky and are the catalyst for the start of a new tale that begins now.

Even though there is a 2 in the title, this is not a sequel to the original Happiness! game. However, there will be a sense of nostalgia for those that played the first game that came out 13 years ago, with plenty of similar events (the trial starts just before Valentine’s Day) and names. It has a stellar cast of seiyuu (Agumi Oto and Naruse Mia are back!) and the usual Ko~cha art. But will the story hold up to the name that still brings back good memories for many? I would like there to be a more direct link to the past game, similar to D.C., but maybe this will turn out alright.

Just a title using some recognition to win a bit of goodwill from the consumer for what would otherwise be a generic eroge experience. I wouldn’t expect too much from this one as without a legitimate link to claim it as a number 2 the title should be disregarded entirely. Just evaluate it as is without any further expectations and at least you shouldn’t be too let down.

Aibeya

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: アイベヤ
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:

“Starting from tomorrow, you’ll be staying at Aki’s place”

After Kouta’s mother suddenly said that, he ended up living with his childhood friend Aki. Being together with her all the time, he developed some feelings for her. However, he did not know if it was ‘love’.

“Then, how about we try being lovers?”

A trial period as lovers under the same roof. Are they just childhood friends, or something else…?

The latest in Azarashi Soft’s series of low-priced single-heroine games. He actually stays with her only for two weeks while his house conveniently undergoes a full renovation, but that’s enough time for them to become lovers through some ‘accidents’. This time the art is by Oryou, which is incentive enough for many, including me, to check it out.

The only solution to childhood friends being friend-zoned is to imprison the protagonist and remove all other route options it would seem.

Evenicle 2

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: イブニクル2
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the sequel to Evenicle. There is an illness spreading through the world called the ‘hero disease’ where using magic will result in early death. People skilled in combat fought with monsters aware of their shortening lifespan. They fought to eliminate as many monsters as possible to protect their families and friends.

In this tragic world appeared a young man, Alex, who was blessed with a legendary healing ability. His body fluids can cure any ailment without physical trauma. He set out to save the girls suffering from the ‘hero disease’.

I loved the first game, so I’ll definitely be playing this. A simple enjoyable RPG with a good dose of comedy mixed in. There’s a trial out that’s over 1 GB, but I’m holding off to enjoy the full experience when it comes out. You can bet I’ll be spending more time I should capturing monsters.

I would be more interested without the contrived reasoning behind the protagonists copious H scenery. When I can’t feel myself caring about what I am reading all that is left is whether or not the gameplay is good… Not a place any eroge wants to be as their gameplay has only ever been mediocre at its absolute best. I’ll stick to playing a normal RPG if in the mood as at least then I have gameplay as well as a story to read.

Guildmaster

Company: アストロノーツ・シリウス (Astronauts Sirius)
Game site: ギルドマスター
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
The adventurer’s guild “Amakakeru Oyou” is based in a pub on the outskirts of Dantor, a former Dwarven mining town located on the foot of the mountain and the gateway to a labyrinth that attracts ambitious adventurers. The guild is run by the pub owner Neil and his daughter Lusit and was one of many guilds that controlled the wave of adventurers descending upon the town seeking to get rich quick. However, it had been running at a loss lately due to the departure of competent adventurers and the rise of a powerful rival guild “Kokuyou no Tora”.

Then last month, a notice revoking their business licence was delivered to the guild. Since the town only allows guilds with licences to operate, it was only a matter of time before the guild would have to close. In order to regain their licence, they will have to show some tangible results within a few months.

It was at this time that the guild’s breadwinner Edgar had his strength taken by a mysterious monster while exploring the labyrinth. He could not continue as an adventurer any longer, and the remaining guild members used this incident as an excuse to leave. Soon, Edgar remained as the sole adventurer belonging to the guild.

Lusit took this opportunity to suggest that Edgar become the new master of the guild. Her father was getting old, and if a skilled and famous warrior like Edgar took the reins, it might attract young adventurers to the guild. Edgar still had some lingering regrets as an adventurer, but after considering his current physical state and desire to pay back the guild, he accepted her offer and became the new guildmaster of “Amakakeru Oyou”.

This is your orthodox dungeon exploration RPG; you form a party, accept a quest to enter the dungeon, then complete your mission for rewards to grow the guild. It’s a cyclical process that takes time – time which I will be spending on Evenicle 2.

I have the feeling Astronauts Sirius survives solely on their rather unique art style. Their games tend to leave a lot to be desired otherwise afterall. I don’t dislike the game nor the company it just feels too bland to have any real value in playing through the game sadly enough. I do wish Astronauts Sirius the best and am rooting for them as they are slowly improving game by game.

Which brings me to a rather painful endorsement. Of the two offerings this month Evenicle 2 is probably the better choice. If only because stupid is still more entertaining than bland.

Clichés and H aren’t a bad thing. That’s why Evenicle was so popular.

I would be fine if it was just a normal cliche for a comedy game. The problem I have is when they use some mechanic built into the setting and characters where the protagonist is basically forced to sleep with the heroines because he is special in some way. It is just plain lazy to go about things in that way. Not to mention it destroys the story and cheapens the comedy. There are too many better options to accept such things on a professional level. There is nothing wrong with a focus on H scenes as the primary content, but at least put some effort into them. Even more so when it is the primary focus. As is, may as well just play a proper RPG with an HCG slideshow on another screen for a better result.

Nekogami-sama to, Nanatsuboshi -Imouto no Ane-

Company: SWEET&TEA
Game site: ネコ神さまと、ななつぼし -妹の姉-
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January.

“Good morning, onee-chan!”

Reiji was happily greeted by his beloved imouto Erika who had bright blonde hair and cat ears. Yes, even though he is 100% male, he is also her older sister. Her cat ears are also very much real and can appear and disappear on a whim. It became like this due to a little complicated reason, but he accepted it without changing his ways. However, this should not be normal – she should be calling him ‘onii-chan’ and she shouldn’t have cat ears. He thought that if he would be able to do something about his own problems, then she would be also be freed from her current state.

Onee-chan…?? All this is because of the Fujisaki Usa-voiced nekomimi girl Fuuko. She saved her in the past, and some of her power remained inside Reiji. No matter how it happened, I don’t mind the nekomimi though. But I’m definitely a male, not an onee-chan! What is this conflicted feeling…. I love Suimya’s art and it is an imouto-ge after all (just one heroine), so maybe I’ll check it out after all.

The title spoke the word! the forbidden word that sends our Micchi into a berserk lust.

Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-

Company: SAGA PLANETS
Game site: 金色ラブリッチェ-Golden Time-
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Kin’iro Loveriche, taking place three months after Ourou transferred into Noble Gakuen, around Christmas and New Year’s. There are after stories for each of the heroines, as well as routes for sub-heroines Ayaka and Mina.

It’s been a while since SAGA PLANETS made a fandisc, but there’s plenty of interest for this one. I wish they made one for Hanasaki or Natsunagi though…

Fandisk in the end.

Toshiue Kanojo no Amayaka Dousei

Company: とこはな (Tokohana)
Game site: 年上彼女のあまやか同棲
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
Ryuunosuke started living by himself this summer while preparing for his entrance exams. He saw a woman in the street who was helping a mother and their child, and he was so captivated by her beauty that he also offered his help. They parted ways afterwards, but he found out later that Hinaki was actually the daughter of his next door neighbour and also his senpai at his school of choice.

He was delighted to have someone suiting his tastes so close to him. Moreover, she also became his private tutor to help bring up his grades. It was like a dream and he was motivated to pass his exam, but then one day she suddenly made a surprising request.

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

It was because she wanted a pretend boyfriend due to certain circumstances, but he readily agreed since he already had feelings for her. An older woman that became first his private tutor, and now his girlfriend. Thus begins their exciting and intimate co-habitation life.

Maybe Zen is into the onee-san types. Pass.

There’s no maybe about it. Zen IS into onee-san types. Which pretty much sums up all that can be said about the game itself. As that’s all that there is to it, either you like the heroine type or don’t. Which means everyone should be into this game as onee-san types are always better than the alternative imouto or kouhai.

No need to fight. There’s a game for me and a game for you.

Very true. If we both liked the little sister heroines imagine the bloodbath…

Boku no Mirai wa Koi to Kakin to. ~Charge to the Future~

Company: Sonora
Game site:
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the first game by Sonora. Kyouya finally earned enough from his part-time job at the convenience store to buy the smartphone that he had yearned for. He immediately downloaded lots of apps on to it, but they were all ‘free (with in-app purchases)’. When he began to play them, he couldn’t get far before being forced to pay to unlock more content. He had worked so hard just to get his smartphone, so he resolved to not spend a dime more and set out on a mission to find an app that was truly free.

Finally, he came upon “CUFFS Story’s”, a social game RPG set in the real world using AR (augmented reality) which had been rapidly gaining popularity. He could enjoy the game fully without spending any money on it and he became completely absorbed in it. Before long, he was part of a guild and found out at an offline meeting that they were all from the same school. The bonds that had been formed online turned into ones in reality.

As you might have guessed, Sonora is a sister brand of CUFFS. If eroge can’t beat mobage/social games/gacha games, might as well make one that mimics one. However, it still remains an eroge at its core, and no matter how flashy the gacha animations are, they are just superficial and don’t seem to contribute to the plot. Now, they might throw in a plot twist later in the game, but I’m already knee-deep in gacha games to play a mock one… (although that didn’t stop me from pulling repeatedly during the trial…)

If only more people were like the protagonist we wouldn’t have to deal with all the online gambling or annoying game mechanics built around it. So I applaud you Kyouya, even while I feel your game is boring, pointless, and has more or less been done before.

Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru

Company: feng
Game site: 夢と色でできている
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
Ai and his childhood friends used to play together as part of the ‘World Defence Club’. But one day it disbanded and one of the girls changed schools, so they gradually lost touch with one another.

Now the girl who had left, Hiiro, returned and their circle of friends came together once more. However, this time their club name was the ‘Shrine Gate Defence Club’. They give advice to students for relationships, even though they themselves did not have any experience in romance. As they participate in the club activities, they started to think about falling in love too.

Oh, it’s been at least five years since feng made a game with multiple heroines. And it’s drawn by karory and written by Nakahiro as well! The tale of childhood friends coming back together isn’t exactly new, but with this staff it should turn out decent enough. I’m debating whether or not I want to play the game just for the imouto Ren. She was very cute in the trial (calls you nii-san at school and onii-chan at home).

Go back to single heroine games Feng. You were better at that. It has been ages since I trusted Feng enough to pull of a full scale eroge. Seems they felt the same about themselves as well with all the single heroine focus. So when they come back after a long hiatus we get a generic club activity eroge. An established company really should know better.

This game had been in the works for many years, so it probably will turn out alright. Feng’s production values are not as high as Windmill or even Navel, but it’s hard to fault them for going back to a school setting since it’s what they’re good at.

SPIRAL!!

Company: Navel
Game site: SPIRAL!!
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
Chrome is an agent for the Divine Intelligence Agency who had just finished a difficult infiltration mission when he was suddenly called in by his boss for a new task. When he was told that it was concerning the royals, he wondered what dangerous job it would be this time, so he couldn’t believe his ears when he heard what it was.

“Eh? It’s just attending a school…?”
“Correct. They want you to enrol as a student in the human school specified in the file I just gave you. As a human, of course.”

It seems that recently the princess of the God realm was thinking about studying in the human world, so they wanted him to do some investigation in advance. He had hoped to take a much-needed break this summer, but he had no choice but to accept the mission.

Similar to Happiness! 2, this sequel seemingly doesn’t have much relation to its predecessor. It is Navel’s 15th anniversary of SHUFFLE!, but the staff is different and so is the school. Gods, humans and demons still co-exist, but I don’t see any demons in the character list. In fact, all of the heroines are human. I do like the Fujisaki Usa-voiced pure kouhai Mizuki though. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Shuffle was probably the only decent game Navel has ever made. Why would I say that when by the standards of today it was not really anything special? Simply because it wasn’t pretentious about what it was nor what it tried to be. Sure the setting wasn’t all that well thought out but it also didn’t have too major a conflict as the story was never particularly serious. This is where Navel fell off on their later games. Too much focus on story with writers who could only write about characters. Trying too hard to be something you aren’t will never end up with good results.

Now for Spiral. If we compare it spiritually to Shuffle I can only say it’s horribly lacking. The heroines just aren’t as interesting or varied. Without the characters to back it up there just isn’t anything here worth the read sadly. Maybe one day Navel will get struck by lightning and have an epiphany. Till then I can only sigh at what could have been.

Amamane

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: アママネ
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
Even though Seiichi was better at baseball than everyone else, he was unable to perform at his peak during games due to his nerves. He trained hard by himself to get over his stage fright, but it only resulted in him overworking himself and collapsing on the scorching grounds. His kouhai Satsuki held him in her arms and told him:

“I’ll become your girlfriend and your manager and support you fully so that this will never happen again!”

Thus, she started helping him with everything, from his practices to his private life. Naturally that includes lap pillows and homemade bentos, but sometimes also having sex.

“You’re too harsh on yourself, senpai. So I’ll pamper you in return♪”

Seiichi was happy for her affection, but he wished to give it his all during training.　Satsuki believed in his true strength, but she wished for him to be happier.　Their youthtime match starts now!

So now you get to choose between osananjimi, onee-san type and kouhai among the single-heroine games this month! I do like the sports setting (even if they will likely just gloss over it), so either this or Aibeya would be my choice for a quick play.

So moral of the story is Kouhai can only win when she throws her body at the protagonist before an onee-san can even meet him. Sounds reasonable enough to me.

PV

Swallowtail -Ano Hi, Ao o Koete-

Company: NIKO
Game site: スワローテイル -あの日、青を超えて-
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January.

“On the day of the festival, let’s go steal a mask from a stall”

Shou’s girlfriend Yuuna suddenly said those words on the day before the festival. She was the type who would come up with outrageous ideas all the time, but at that time he was particularly looking forward to it. She was a capricious girl who wouldn’t get close to people, but since he was worried about her, he couldn’t just let her be and before he knew, he had fallen in love with her.

“I don’t want a bought mask. I want a stolen one”

He unwillingly went along with her on that fateful day and carried out their plan. But the sight of her running into the crowd was the last he saw of her.

Three years later, Shou had left his hometown to attend university in Tokyo and was now going out with his childhood friend Rie. Even though it’s a busy time for them with seminars having started, he fully enjoys his days studying with her. One month before the start of this year’s festival, he received a message on his phone with no sender.

“On the day of the festival, let’s go steal a mask from a stall”

Their frozen time together has resumed once more…

This scenario is more intriguing than the MORE brands’ usual fare. If your ex-girlfriend was encouraging you to commit crimes and then ditched you, then returns when you get settled with a new girl, I’d suggest you don’t pay attention to her again! Nothing good will come out of it! But what is good here is the impressive seiyuu cast, including Kusuhara Yui (not balloons!), Akino Hana, Suzuya Maya, Ayumi Sara, and many more. I’ll probably still pass though since it’s a strong month.

I have to agree with Micchi that when a crazy ex comes back it is best to draw a line with her and hold it with your life. What makes it worse is the protagonist is already in a relationship when crazy girl comes back. Would have been one thing if he was just thinking about it as he was attracted to her, like say Hatsukoi Sankaime. But when things are basically over at the start the protagonist is going to be an asshole in every choice but his current girlfriend.

Micchi’s Top 5 for This Month

1. Evenicle 2
2. Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration
3. SPIRAL!!
4. Aibeya
5. Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Toshiue Kanojo no Amayaka Dousei
2. Guildmaster – Yes I said Evenicle was a better choice objectively. I just subjectively disagree.
3. Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-

I’m ready to save those saving the world!

*Swoons* Don’t worry Onii-chan I’ll be the one to save you instead of the world~

Lump of Sugar revealed that next title, Wakaba-iro no Quartet, and it’s already master up!? Other new releases announced this week include:

ASa Project – Ren’ai, Karichaimashita
Kogado Studios – Yumeutsutsu Re:Master (June 13th)
Lass Pixy – Kakeochi (April 26th)
Momoiro Pocket – Custom cute ~Ore to Kanojo no Ikusei Battle!~ (April 26th)
Prekano – Aikano ~Yukizora no Triangle (May 31st)

Release dates have been set for the following:

DEAD DAYS – June 28th
Shin Koihime†Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taibou – July 26th

The Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou vocal collection will come out on the same day as the game, June 28th, for ￥2800.

The full FLOWER series will be out on the PS4 on March 7th.

New figures available for pre-order include:

ALTER – 1/8 scale Velvet (Tales of Berseria, November, ￥18,800)
Kenelephant – Caster Shinwa Reisou (Fate/EXTRA CCC, July, ￥13,800)

Go get this PRIMIL-illustrated Anzu dakimakura from Clover Day’s right now! You have till April 5th.

minori has bit the dust, citing a disconnect between what they aspire to make and the games that they’re now producing. While the news was surprising, I do personally feel that their recent games have not been of the same quality of their past ones. Sometimes you have to introduce elements in your games just for them to sell, and the market has somewhat changed in that regard. It doesn’t impact MangaGamer’s localization of their games, although the fate of the Supipara fundraiser is still up in the air. I honestly forgot about that ever existing. All the best to the staff and their future endeavours.

Recently announced titles include the following:

Alumi Soft – Wanko no Yomeiri ~Arata na Nihon no Shippo~ (June 28th)
Astronauts Sirius – Chaos Dominus
ensemble – Otome ga Musubu Tsukiyo no Kirameki Fullmoon Days
Tinkle Position – Onii-chan, Asa Made Gyutte Shite! Yoru Made Motto Ecchi Shite! (June 28th)

Heliodor’s Ryuusei World Actor has been set for July 26th, while the following titles have been delayed:

Dai Sengo Muramasa – May 31st
Study§Steady – July 26th

It was awfully close, but Sol Press’s kickstarter for FAVORITE’s Irotoridori no Sekai was successful! Look forward to the hotcakes!

The ports for Mekuiro (PS4), Hello Lady! (PS4/PSV), and your diary (PS4/PSV) will all be coming out on June 27th.

The Switch port for Summer Pockets is planned for June 20th. There’s also a visual fan book in the works. The Grisaia: Phantom Trigger art book vol.5 will be out on April 26th for ￥1500.

The first of three PCS figures is ready with Licorne’s 1/8 scale figure of Deremas‘s Kyoko Love Letter ver. out this November for ￥14,800. Other new figures available for pre-order include:

alphamax – 1/7 scale Jeanne d’Arc JK blazer ver. (Fate/extella, October, ￥13,800)
GSC – nendoroid Foreigner/Abigail Williams (FGO, August, ￥4815)
GSC – 1/7 scale Super Sonico Libra ver. (May 2020, ￥13,704)
KAITENDOH – 1/6 scale Narika standing pose ver. (Haruka, June, ￥17,800)
kneed – 1/8 scale Takane Elegant Moment ver. (im@s ML, September, ￥15,556)
Max Factory – figma Saber Alter 2.0 (Fate, November, ￥7222)
MegaHouse – Rider/Ozymandias (FGO, September, ￥21,384)
Vertex – 1/7 scale Marion swimsuit ver. (Shining Resonance, May, ￥13,000)

The dakimakura for ISLAND‘s Rinne has come out for ￥12,000. There’s also one available for pre-order for Koihana‘s Saki.

You might’ve noticed that Holyseal has been down. Their server has died and it doesn’t seem like they’re too motivated to keep it going. I’ve been mainly using Getchu and official sites to download trials.

Do you believe in angels? Maybe you might meet one in Whirlpool’s pieces/Wataridori no Somnium. For something a little more normal, how about GIGA’s Aonatsu Line or PULLTOP’s Sakurairo, Mau Koro ni? Purple Software also has a title that revolves around a mysterious social game called Realive. The story might remind you of another game where an app suddenly appears on your smartphone…

Another month has come and gone. Emphasis on the gone this time. A few interesting games this month though nothing revolutionary. Unless you count elves raping orcs that is.

Itsuka no Memorajo ~Kotonoha Amrilato~

Company: SukeraSparo
Game site: いつかのメモラージョ ～ことのはアムリラート～
Release date: March 15, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This all-ages game elaborates on their previous title Kotonoha Amrilato, focusing on Rin, Ruka and Rei. There is a backstory, as well as an additional story. It’s pretty cheap for those that want more from the story.

Continuation and stuff I guess.

ALPHA NIGHTHAWK

Company: ライアーソフト (Liar-soft)
Game site: ALPHA NIGHTHAWK
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
A giant beautiful rose, called Consuelo by humans, blooms in the night sky 300,000 km away from Earth. Its dark red tentacles extended towards Earth once in a blue moon in the form of ‘thorns’ that have the power of destroying entire cities should they strike the world. The STX Space Force created the ‘battle sheep’ mobile suit as the last line of defence against the Consuelo. It draws its power from the mental energy of its pilot.

However, their efforts were in vain as a thorn struck Tokyo, devastating the surrounding area. The thorn took root and sprouted a smaller Consuelo, which attacked the people nearby and spread its sphere of terror. It was decided that the area be sealed from the outside, even though there were some that were not able to escape and were trapped inside, subject to the threat of attacks as they went about their daily lives.

One lone man continued to fight in the sealed area. His name was Ichizou, a former colonel in the STX Space Force and one of its finest pilots who was admired by all. Why did he remain even after the other soldiers had fled?

“I am responsible for the rose! As long as I am human, my fighting spirit will continue to burn! Forever and ever!”

This new title from Liar-soft is illustrated and written by Nanahoshi Dentou. The SF aspect makes it more interesting to me, but be warned that there’s furry in there.

Of course it is tentacles trying to rape the Earth. Honestly the whole thing feels a little like DMC, and more specifically DMC 5. Which if done intentionally I can only applaud their timing of the release. In fact it feels as though they took the idea to copy DMC then just filled in the blanks with random terms to describe anything that could give this away. When something new had to be added they just used the first thing they saw. I imagine their meeting would go something along the lines of:

“So we know DMC5 is coming out soon and we are going to copy the idea. Grab your dictionaries and pick out random words we can use.”

“But Boss, we can’t just use demons right?”

“Good point Employee A, we need something fresh so people won’t notice!”

“Boss! I have an idea! The rose bush outside has inspired me! Lets have an alien rose bush be our demons! With tentacles! Thorny tentacles!”

“Brilliant Employee B! Anyone else have some good ideas?”

“I do Boss! I have this Gundam model on my desk, so how about we use mecha instead of demon transformations?”

“I like the way you think Employee C! No one will expect a Science Fiction setting to be based off of demons…”

“Oh Boss me too! You see I’m actually a furry so instead of having friendly demons lets have furries, this would let the game appeal to all my furry friends and increase sales while giving me an excuse to partake of high quality furry art!”

“I’m not one to judge people Employee F, especially when it’s an idea that helps cover our tracks and increase our sales. A raise for you good sir.”

Essentially what I am trying to say is, the core setting idea feels very suspiciously copy pasted. Where they go from there is up to them of course as there’s no way it could be exactly the same through the entire story. At least I sure hope not. Unfortunately protagonist seems less about over the top snarky cheese and more of a chuuni Monkey D Nakama.

Too much effort put into the gimmicky side of things sums it up rather nicely. Sure that may be a tradition of Liar and Rail, but just being slightly less pretentious would lessen the need for exposition with more focus on story and characters. Which in turn would make their games more fun to read, as the main problem I have is just ending up kind of bored despite liking a lot of aspects other than the writing itself.

pieces/Wataridori no Somnium

Company: Whirlpool
Game site: pieces/渡り鳥のソムニウム
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
There’s an odd folklore in Mittebel where an angel sings a lullaby each morning to fall asleep and this wakes up the townspeople each day. But it is not only angels that have strange dreams. Tsubame can enter the dreams of others by thinking of them. He doesn’t know when he obtained this ability, but he spends most of the day sleeping as a result of seeing others’ dreams.

One day, he saw a girl by the window of an old mansion and was taken by her beauty. Wishing to know more about her, he tried his best to use his ability on her, but failed to do so. The girl Yua revealed that she also had the same mysterious ability to see others’ dreams. However, she was unable to choose which dreams to see, and only sees nightmares each night. As a result of the constant nightmares, she grew to avoid sleeping at all.

A girl who doesn’t sleep and a boy who wishes to continue to sleep. When their dreams cross, the legend of the past starts once more.

Games about dreams aren’t too common. The last one I can recall would be Hapymaher, but Whirlpool games are generally more focused on the characters than the story. Of course, the reason why I have my eye on this is kouhai and self-proclaimed ‘everyone’s imouto’ Alice who looks like Sana. She has dreams of being an idol but is tone-deaf just like Kana. Hau omochikaeri~!

While Whirlpool does focus on characters as Micchi pointed out they do try to vary things up a lot. Which is both good and bad. Sometimes I want them to focus a bit more on the ideas for their setting and characters, but then other times I wish they would focus less on everything other than the characters. Bit of a mixed bag that tends to leave me feeling rather unsatisfied either way. In this case I could go either way as it depends how things play out. Personally I hope for a mild and somewhat fun yet simple story about mixing reality and dreams, blurring the lines between them. At least then I would be entertained enough while reading assuming the characters themselves were interesting enough.

And as a side note it’s okay Alice, that’s what autotune is for.

Sakurairo, Mau Koro ni

Company: PULLTOP
Game site: さくらいろ、舞うころに
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Shinya returned to Japan after five years abroad and met the second-year student Mina, who asked him to be part of the graduation ceremony planning committee. She had been appointed as the planning committee leader, and her eyes sparkled as she expressed her wish to hold a memorable graduation ceremony to send off all those who had helped her. She always tried her best for everyone, although her ideals and efforts often led to nowhere.

Since he had been living overseas for so long, he didn’t know what to do as he had never experienced a graduation ceremony. He was joined in the committee by Chloe, Rin and Mariko, each of whom were there under varying circumstances. Even though they were initially reluctant to participate, they were gradually won over by Mina’s passion and kindness. Before long, this feeling soon spread throughout the school.

It feels like an ensemble game, with many scenario writers (one for each route) and a long list of sub-characters. Graduation is a sentimental moment in our lives and a suitable theme for an eroge. What better way to make memories than get a girlfriend and have sex, right?

Perhaps my biggest issue with most eroge protagonists lies in how they have no real desires, goals, or personalities of their own. Everything is simply handed to them and they go along with it. Sometimes this is achieved by building it into a setting where the girls are forced to sleep with the protagonist for whatever reason the writers can come up with. While others the heroines or other characters drag the protagonist into whatever the central theme is against his will only for him to slowly end up invested in their goals and or bodies.

Now this doesn’t apply to all eroge but certainly does for most. What bothers me most about it is the laziness on both the writers part and the consumers part. Letting the writing staff get away with easy templates by continuing to accept things just creates more mediocre eroge. In this particular case Pulltop should have had Shinya already be part of the school and slowly bring things together through a gradual build up. Not just throw everyone together in a sad excuse for sexy times.

Protagonists for chara-ges certain fit the bill, probably not so much for other genres.

Even for other genres they often are just caught up in things and go along with the flow. Almost never do protagonists take a decisive or at least proactive role. Another way to put it is the settings shape and enslave the characters rather than the characters defining the setting. Makes them feel like puppets without any thoughts or direction of their own. Or though I hate to use this term, supremely “Beta” type characters.

Love Commu

Company: ましゅまろそふと (Marshmallow Soft)
Game site: らぶこみゅ
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
This is the first game by Marshmallow Soft, a sub-brand of Candy Soft.

“Sensei, please teach us how to love properly♪”

Love communication studies was added as part of the compulsory curriculum. After graduating from university with a degree in ‘love commu studies’, Tatsuyuki was placed as a teacher at the ojou-sama school Aogahama Girls’ Academy. As part of his position, he is permitted to have relationships with his students. He entered the school with excitement and discovered that the girls all had slightly skewed views of love! Of course, their grades in love commu studies were not great and they had to take supplementary lessons.

It is up to him to show them the proper way to love, so that they can become respectable adults. However, while he knew a lot about relationships, he had not actually experienced it himself! Would a virgin like him be able to teach the girls and show them the right way to love? Actually, what does that even mean!?

Students at girls’ only schools often have skewed views. Actually, now that I think about it, why did a guy get appointed as a teacher at a girls’ school and be allowed to have relationships with his students? Some things can only happen in eroge…

So Micchi questions a male teacher at a girls school and the relationship part of it, fine, I get that. But why not also question the very idea of “Love communication studies” as the very foundation of this pointless waste of time? Lets be honest here it is impossible to care about this story. All it amounts to is you play a teacher whose job it is to take your pick from the ojou-sama bakery and eat them. Nothing else to it. Aside from being a clone of that uhh Shomin Sample I think it was called series. As such I would have appreciated it more with a simplified setup. There is no need for the love communication garbage, nor the permission to seduce the students. Just teacher plus school. He can teach whatever while the extra drama from student teacher relationships would spice up the story and characters a little. It’s not hard guys so try harder. As for this attempt well little more than a CG set with sound effects, treat it as such and you won’t go wrong.

Aonatsu Line

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: アオナツライン
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Tatsumi and his childhood friends Miki and Chihiro talked every day about what they would do during the upcoming summer vacation. By chance, they befriended the overly-honest ojou-sama Yui, who transferred to their school since she admired the co-education system, as well as kouhai Kotone, who had failed to make lasting friendships after trying too hard to fit in. This new group of five friends (?) began to plan for a memorable bittersweet summer vacation that happens only once in a lifetime.

I love the art and feel of the game. However, I’m still uneasy about the quality of the writing. I hope it doesn’t turn into another Hatsukoi 1/1.

Yet another bland Giga game. From my perspective It really feels like there is one of these roughly every month. Which kind of makes sense as they all blend together and are probably mostly copy pasted from each other.

Boku to Joi no Shinsatsu Nisshi

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: ボクと彼女（女医）の診察日誌
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
This is the sequel to Boku to Nurse no Kenshuu Nisshi. Takuya just finished medical school and started as an intern at the hospital. The preceptor who was assigned to him was his senpai that he looked up to, Ryou. He had strived to follow in her footsteps, but she was always a couple steps ahead. Reunited with his childhood friend Mio and subject to Ryou’s temptations, how will he proceed against the obstacles that he should overcome?

She’s kind of a sadist against male patients. Just letting you know if you’re into that stuff. Pass.

Yep. I’ll take one Ryou please. That said I prefer M to S. Sadists somewhat conflict with my own inclinations… 

Maid-san no Iru Kurashi

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: メイドさんのいる暮らし
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Every day Yuuma does the same routine, travelling between his home and work. There were no opportunities to meet someone and fall in love, and only loneliness awaited him when he came home from work.

One snowy day in early January, Yuuma found an older girl in a maid uniform collapsed in front of his house. Her name was Eve and she told him that from that day she would be there to comfort him from the stress of daily life.

It sounds like those mama games where they pamper and spoil you, except it’s a maid. Personally, I’d just want an imouto to cheer me up.

I mean sure, who doesn’t want a slightly older well proportioned pretty maid falling from the sky to take care of them? I mean besides Micchi, he’s weird.

Realive

Company: パープルソフトウェア (Purple Software)
Game site: リアライブ
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Chihaya didn’t recall much of the accident in his past and spent carefree days despite being bossed around by his osananjimi Satsuki. He heard a rumour about a social game called ‘Alive’, which no one could confirm the existence of. He didn’t give it much thought and continued on with his life. But then one day, he noticed that there was an app on his smartphone that wasn’t there before: ‘Alive’. He didn’t know that it was the key that would greatly change his fate and those of the persons around him.

This sounds awfully like Cocoro@Function!. Well, I did like that game and this one is written by Nakahiro, so I’ll play this too. Is it just me or is Purple Software edging closer to Clochette territory?

Once upon a time Purple soft competed with Giga as to who could release the most crap faster. Then Purple made a halfway decent game and now I almost forgot they existed. Feels like it has been so long since they made a game. Popularity has not worked all that well for Purple as a company though sadly. Working hard at making lightning strike twice has pushed their effort in all the wrong directions sadly. Focusing too hard on trying to create mysterious gimmicks rather than a good story. So I can’t help but wonder if the company will regress back to mass fodder or manage to pull out another hit due to a visit from the RNG fairy.

Clochette territory? Godrealm?

Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro Fandisc -Gosanke da yo! Zen’in Shuugou-

Company: ALcot
Game site: 将軍様はお年頃 ふぁんでぃすく -御三家だヨ！ 全員集合-
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro, with after stories for the four heroines, plus a route for new heroine Mitsukuni.

Fandisk the beginning.

Aoi Sora no Camus

Company: KAI
Game site: 青い空のカミュ
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Rin and Hotaru were friends who attended the same school located in a river valley. After shopping in town, they boarded a train to go home but overslept. When Rin woke up, they were already at the last stop, the village where Hotaru lived. Since she had missed her stop considerably, she decided to stay over at Hotaru’s place for the night. However, she soon noticed that something was amiss. Even though it was only 8pm, there was no one else around…

While I like the look and premise of the game, I know that KAI games ultimately end up in tentacle rape, so I’m not gonna look any further here.

I mean to be fair, what use do tentacles have besides rape? I can’t think of anything to be honest. Just look at Alpha Nighthawk. Can’t fault them for using tentacles as intended.

Shirokoi Sakura＊Gram

Company: NanaWind
Game site: 白恋サクラ＊グラム
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Haruoto Alice＊Gram, containing after stories for each of the five heroines. The main story concerns the arrival of new character Lilyetto and her proclamation of dissolving the Tasogare-bu. There’s also a route for sub-heroine Kozue, a side story where they visit the ALIA’s CARNIVAL! school, and a fantasy story where they end up in another world. This fandisc has many other goodies (short stories and gags), so you’ll be getting your money’s worth of balloons.

Fandisk returns.

Hentai Elf Shimai to Majime Orc

Company: WAFFLE
Game site: 変態エルフ姉妹と真面目オーク
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
Mishra and Eimi were two perverted elf sisters who wanted to be raped by orcs. Deep in the remote forest, they found the last orc in the world and aggressively seduced him by all means. However, he had pledged to not assault anyone to atone for the rape of the elves in a past war. Moreover, he was cursed with a spell that would kill him if he ejaculates to an elf.

If he falls for their temptations, he would surely die. That is unless he could make them climax before him. Will he be able to follow his vow and protect his life?

Normally I don’t include nukige, but how can I not add this one with such an amazing plot!? This is based off an ero doujin series by Tomokichi. I’m cheering for you, Mr. Orc!

Sigh, Japan. Not really complaining but it is funny how there are basically two things Japan loves to do. One is establish a template then get stuck in a rut of repeatedly copy pasting it. The other is to turn black to white and completely flip a template or well flip anything really once they feel it gets a little boring. Welcome to the flip of Orc rape.

Koi wa Sotto Saku Hana no You ni ~Futari wa Eien ni Yorisotteiku~

Company: ensemble
Game site: 恋はそっと咲く花のように ～二人は永遠に寄り添っていく～
Release date: March 29, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Koi wa Sotto Saku Hana no You ni, with after stories for each of the six heroines. I like the fact that ensemble makes fandiscs for their games without fail.

Finale of the fandisk trilogy this month.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. pieces/Wataridori no Somnium
2. Aonatsu Line
3. Realive

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Boku to Joi no Shinsatsu Nisshi
2. Realive
3. pieces/Wataridori no Somnium
4. ALPHA NIGHTHAWK

Can’t trust those elves.

Getting to be you can’t trust anyone these days. Poor orc.

Another veteran of the eroge industry, light, has announced that they have disbanded as of the end of March. This means the likely end of the Dies irae series, but Campus will move to AkabeiSoft2 and the fate of the Silverio series is still up in the air.

New titles announced this week include:

HamHamSoft – Yuki no Yoru, Ore wa Imouto o Hadaka ni Suru
IRODORI – Hakkenden

Momoiro Pocket’s debut title Custom cute has been delayed to May 31st, while release dates have been set for the following:

Otome ga Musubu Tsukiyo no Kirameki Fullmoon Days – June 28th
Nukige Mitai na Shima ni Sunderu Watashi wa Dou Surya Ii Desu ka? 2 – July 26th
Ren’ai, Karichaimashita – July 26th

New figures available for pre-order include:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Chie party time gold ver. (Deremas, December, ￥14,800)
AMAKUNI – 1/7 scale Caster/Nitocris (FGO, October/November, ￥17,900)
Insight – 1/5 scale Ema swimsuit ver. (Harumina, June, ￥19,224)
quesQ – 1/7 scale Saber/Elisabeth Bathory [Brave] (FGO, December, ￥18,800)

The crowdfunded Kud Wafter anime has been delayed a year to September 2020 and its director has also changed from Yamakawa Yoshinobu to Suzuki Kentarou.

The dakimakura for Koihana‘s chara poll first-place finisher Saki will be out on May 31st. Pre-orders close on May 7th.

Recently announced titles include the following:

Cabbit – Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori
Escu:de – Hime to Aiyoku no Sacrifice (July 26th)
Whirlpool – NEKO-NIN exHeart 3 (July 26th)

Citrus’s Tasogare no Folclore has been delayed to June 28th.

HOOKSOFT is making a “Music and Happiness Pack” for Sugar＊Style, which will include a mini fandisc with after stories for the heroines. The 4-CD Sakura, Moyu. music collection will be on shelves on April 29th for ￥6264.

The Raspberry Cube Switch/PS4 port is planned for August 29th.

New figures available for pre-order include:

GSC – 1/7 scale Saber/Altria Pendragon: Heroic Spirit Formal Dress ver. (FGO, July 2020, ￥10,000)
Phat! – 1/7 scale Super Sonico: Senran Kagura PBS ver. (Senran Kagura, January, ￥15,800)
Q-six – 1/6 scale Sumi navy blue sukumizu ver. / white sukumizu ver. (Monobeno, October, ￥12,800)
UNION:CREATIVE – Gilgamesh (Fate, September, ￥11,000)
WAVE – 1/7 scale [Little Hero] Hikaru (Deremas, July, ￥13,800)

Dakimakuras are coming out for Ototsuki‘s Nagisa, Koihime‘s Miu, Amakano SS‘s Yuzuka, Aibeya‘s Aki, pieces‘s Yua, UQ AAA‘s Selphy and Tia, Sakura, Moyu.‘s Kuro, Yorikure‘s Momiji, Sorceress＊Alive!‘s Yuumi, and Amazing Grace‘s Sakuya.

The Cinderella Girls general election has started up again! Please spare a few votes for our favourite fish idol Nanami! Thanks resu~!

The last month of releases in the Heisei era can be seen as the direction that eroge is headed. Most of the titles are low-priced single-heroine games, such as Palette’s 9-nine- Haruiro Harukoi Harunokaze and Campus’s Koioto Se Piace. Frontwing’s Grisaia: Phantom Trigger series is up to volume 5.5 and 6. There are still some intriguing titles like Minato Carnival’s Waka-sama no Zasuru Sekai and SILKY’s PLUS’s Kanzume Shoujo no Shuumatsu Sekai. The next month seems a bit more solid, so enjoy this small batch before moving on to bigger and possibly better things.

Note: Zen hasn’t added his comments yet since I basically left him with no time to do so, so you might see the post updated at a later time. Sorry for the delay and look forward to the May post!

9-nine- Haruiro Harukoi Harunokaze

Company: ぱれっと (Palette)
Game site: 9-nine-はるいろはるこいはるのかぜ
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the third game in Palette’s 9-nine- series. Shiromitsugawa was a nondescript university town until a large earthquake damaged the sacred treasure of the local shrine and mysterious objects called ‘artifacts’ started appearing from a parallel world, granting special powers to those who possessed them.

Kakeru, his classmate Miyako, and imouto Sora invested the petrification incidents and discovered that the culprit was the owner of the ‘evil eye’ artifact. Along the way, they came across a rival group of artifact users who called themselves Rigveda, and one of its members was his senpai that he sees every morning, Haruka.

The 9-nine series has been getting more interesting and that’s pretty good for a low-priced game when compared with offerings from other studios. Palette senpai chars are my weak spot.

Missing-X-Link ~Ten no Yurikago, Togi no Hana~

Company: Fluorite
Game site: Missing-X-Link ～天のゆりかご、伽の花～
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Each country aspired to unify the world, but they fell out with each other due to lack of compromising, to the extent that they required military forces. The ‘Edited’ are genetically-modified children designed to be superior, but with fleeting lives, who are considered cursed. There was a quantum computer that was built to create a better future, but its ability to think for itself was taken away, making it just a repository of knowledge.

Shougo lost his beloved older sister Yuuhi to a military satellite that was supposed to maintain peace. One day, a sentient female robot, the third generation automata Himefurou, appeared before Shougo.

“I will love you, unconditionally and forever.”

Then she kissed him on the lips, triggering the ‘Cross Link’ ability that allows humans and automata to share their hearts and minds and thereby restarting his frozen time.

This is Fluorite’s second title after Sorceress*Alive! earlier this year, albeit with a new writer Yukimarusen. The story seems like a typical sci-fi drama. In the second part, a girl that looks like Yuuhi comes to Shougo for some reason. I don’t really care much for automata, so I’ll pass.

Tonari ni Kanojo no Iru Shiawase ~Summer Surprise~

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: となりに彼女のいる幸せ ～Summer Surprise～
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the third game in Prekano’s low-price Tonakai series. On a hot day reminiscent of summer vacation, Koume was hanging out as usual at her osananajimi Gorou’s place. Over the course of the summer, their sugar-sweet relationship unexpectedly turns into burning love.

An imouto-like osananajimi with a sharp tongue? Ya, sign me up! (Hikuwa~)

PV

Aikagi 2

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: アイカギ2
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Satoru was looking forward to a wonderful start to the school term in his new class, but he was suddenly called out by his homeroom teacher after school. He was worried that he did something wrong, however it was about his osananajimi Ayano who had started living by herself but had not shown up at all since the beginning of the term.

He went to check up on her at the behest of his teacher and found her obsessively playing games and having completely forgotten about school. Obviously she was scolded by her mother, who would allow her to continue living by herself only if she met two criteria: she must get at least a 90 on the upcoming test for all subjects, and she must not be late for anything anymore.

She was crushed by this hopeless situation and turned to him for help. Even though he thought that it was her own fault, he felt some pity for her and agreed to lend a hand. She asked him to live with her, waking her up every morning and helping her study. This was the beginning of his cohabitation life with a slovenly otaku osananajimi.

She’s gonna have trouble with that first criteria. Anyways, it’s Haruka Sora. You know if you want her or not.

Kakeochi

Company: Lass Pixy
Game site: カケオチ
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Mitsumi received a short message from his osananajimi Kaguya, who was a year younger than him. When she revealed that she had been set up for an arranged marriage, he regretted not taking action in advancing their relationship. He believes that they share the same feelings and had been satisfied the way things were, but now with the girl who he loves crying before him, he had to immediately make a decision…

Make that first move! Ojou-samas usually aren’t your osananajimis!

Kudan no Folklore

Company: SukeraSparo
Game site: クダンノフォークロア
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
This is an all-ages yuri title by SukeraSparo. There’s a folklore (urban legend) that spread across the town about ‘Kudan’, who is said to be a woman without a right wrist and in a mourning dress with a black veil covering her face. It is said that misfortune will come to those who cast their eyes on her within seven days.

Sixteen year old Sakuya met the cooking class instructor Touko by strange coincidence and the faint feelings between them began to grow stronger. However, their peaceful days were shattered when ‘Kudan’ had Touko in her sights. As the days passed, Sakuya tried her best to protect Touko by any means and found out about a club at her school that studied folklore. Together with the occult research club leader Koto, she embarks on a challenge to protect the one she loves from the unknown folklore.

Another yuri-ge with a mysterious feel to it, like FLOWERS.

Grisaia: Phantom Trigger Vol.6 & 5.5

Company: フロントウイング (Frontwing)
Game site: グリザイア ファントムトリガー 第6＆5.5巻セット
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the latest two (1.5?) volumes in Frontwing’s Grisaia: Phantom Trigger series. They seem to be focused on Shiori and Aoi this time.

Otome KishiIma Sugu Watashi o Dakishimete

Company: ensemble SWEET
Game site: 乙女騎士いますぐ私を抱きしめて
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Ayato lived together with his twin older sister Saaya in Germany. Saaya had always admired Japan and dreamed of one day attending school there. So, when she got the opportunity to study abroad in Japan, he gave her his full support and was happy for her when she was accepted.

However, she had a frail constitution and became sick before she could travel. It would take a while for her to recover completely, so he decided to pretend to be her and go in her place so that the offer to study abroad would not be rescinded. Afterwards he realized that he did not completely think things through, as the school that he would now be attending is an ojou-sama school and that he would need to dress up as a girl!

In the latest cross-dressing game by the ensemble brand, they’ve decided to go with multiple artists, including Lucie, previously from Studio Ryokucha. The art seems a bit off in my eyes, and while they have a good list of seiyuus, including Akino Hana and Kusuhara Yui, some of them seem mis-casted. You might want to play the trial or common route to see if you like it first.

Uchi no Koibito

Company: Argonauts
Game site: 家の恋人
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the final game of Argonauts’ Uchikano trilogy. Keisuke started working this year and is satisfied with his life, since he found a job in his desired field, even though it’s for a small company. However, despite the motivation and satisfaction of living alone for the first time, he did feel a bit tired from it and wondered if he should find a girlfriend.

Then one day, he happened to hurt his arm, and two beautiful girls Chika and Yuri ended up living together with him. They were quite kind despite their flashy looks, and took good care of him with getting through his daily routine. They had a dream which he also shared, and they gradually became closer to each other.

I want more of his imouto Riho instead.

Kanzume Shoujo no Shuumatsu Sekai

Company: シルキーズプラス (SILKY’s PLUS)
Game site: 缶詰少女ノ終末世界
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
One day in early summer, Masataka took shelter from the torrential rain at the convenience store. While he waited for the rain to stop in the dine-in area, he noticed the girl beside him open a can of miso-flavoured mackerel and started to eat it. He was bewildered as she calmly walked out into the downpour while still eating it. Her eccentricity left a memory, and the next time he came across her, he asked her why she was eating the canned mackerel. In a long-winded response, she explained that it was in preparation for the end of the world. She was one of the ‘preppers’ and this was their story of how they faced the end of the world.

A pretty odd subject that might not be up everyone’s alley. There’s also a lot of dirty jokes in the trial. If you liked the Sumikko Soft games (Natsukumo, Akiyume), you’d be happy to know that Watanabe Ryouichi is in charge of the story. While I like Ichiri’s art, I think I’ll pass on this one. It seems a bit too crazy for me.

Bosei Kanojo 2 ~Chisei Houkai-hen~

Company: あかべぇそふとつぅ (AkabeiSoft2)
Game site: 母性カノジョ2 -知性 崩壊編-
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Souji lost his mother at a young age and has been studying hard to get into medical school. However, little did he know that he was getting worn out while doing his best to meet his father’s expectations.

One day, his cousin Iyo came to study with him during the summer break. One thing led to another and he began to question why he was trying so hard. He began to dote on her as he recalled those precious memories that he had forgotten.

Not really a fan of these mother-like heroine games. You can even choose to call her ‘okaa-san’ or ‘mama’….

Haha Ranman

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: 母爛漫
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Mayuko’s husband was assassinated shortly after she married, causing her to lose her will to live and plotting to commit suicide. However, she was saved by Isamu, who had also lost his parents to murder. Sensing a common link, she took him home from the orphanage as her foster son.

Ten years later, Isamu had grown up to be a young man. Mayuko had help from her brother-in-law and psychiatrist Takafumi, but she was silently suffering seeing the visage of her late husband every day. One day, Isamu met a pretty girl in front of the shrine who warned him that Mayuko will die soon if her spirit continues to deteriorate. There is one way to save her, but he was shocked to find out it would require him to have sex with her.

Now she’s not even pretending to be your mom, you’re actually gonna do it with your (foster) mom!

PV

Koioto Se Piace

Company: Campus
Game site: 恋音セ・ピアーチェ
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Shinya heard the sound of someone playing the guitar poorly while returning home and followed them to Hana, who was happily giving an amateurish performance in the park. After initially mistaking that he was hitting on her, she told him that she started playing the guitar because she attended his band’s show. She implored him to teach her how to play the guitar, but actually he was the drummer in the band. So their musical drama begins on the wrong note.

Hana is a cute lovable idiot mascot. Give me more of her! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Waka-sama no Zasuru Sekai

Company: みなとカーニバル (Minato Carnival)
Game site: 和香様の座する世界
Release date: April 26, 2019
Comments:
Ryouga lived in the old capital of Hakura and was about to eaten by an ancient goddess that appeared before him. Fortunately he was able to get out of trouble by offering to cook delicious food for the goddess Waka and became her servant and caretaker. She was full of curiosity in her new surroundings and he was completely at her mercy.

One day, monsters started to appear in the world and he asked her to help exterminate them to reduce the number of victims. She agreed, mainly because she enjoyed her time in current Japan. Soon her imouto Ruruha and other gods also showed up and their destiny started to move.

Takahiro and Tanaka Romeo worked on this (for the first time in a couple years), so it’s likely to be good. It feels a bit like Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, with the daily life feel with a supernatural feel. Good production values all around, so it’s worth trying out.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. 9-nine- Haruiro Harukoi Harunokaze
2. Koioto Se Piace
3. Tonari ni Kanojo no Iru Shiawase ~Summer Surprise~

The third game in Casket’s Iegami Nyoubou series has been announced: Iegami Nyoubou ~Koisuru Inaba wa Kinpatsu Usagi~. It is planned for June 28th.

Release dates have been set for the following:

LOVE³ – July 26th
Yuki no Yoru, Ore wa Imouto o Hadaka ni Suru – July 26th
Wakaba-iro no Quartet – August 30th

3rdEye’s Raillore no Ryakudatsusha has been delayed to July 26th

“Symphony Sounds Generation 2017”, a collection of 16 popular OPs from 2017, will be on shelves on May 31st for ￥3000.

The PS4/PSV port for Making＊Lovers will be out on July 25th.

New figures available for pre-order include:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Scáthach sashi ugatsu bunny ver. (FGO, December, ￥13,800)
Kotobukiya – 1/7 scale Assassin/Mysterious Heroine X (FGO, October, ￥13,800)
native – 1/7 scale Uesugi Kenshin (Rance 10, August, ￥18,900)

The ticket applications have started for PASTA!2 -PALETTE PREMIUM FESTA- on September 16th.

Dakimakuras are coming out for Mirai Radio‘s Kaguya, Mizuki and Akina, Parallelogram‘s Hotaru, Tsuriotsu‘s Luna, Raspberry Cube‘s Mikoto, and Shogun-sama‘s Muneharu.

Nanami is 6th Cool in the mid-election rankings! Please keep voting for her!

Recently announced titles include:

Applique – Cross Concerto (September 27th)
Campus – Ama Ane (August 30th)

The following titles have been delayed:

Custom cute – June 28th
Kokorone=Pendulum! – July 26th
Wanko no Yomeiri ~Arata na Nihon no Shippo~ – July 26th

Yume topped the FAVORITE 15th anniversary heroine election, just beating Shinku. Aisha won the latest Koihime chara poll and will be featured on an A1 tapestry. The Kanzume chara poll has started up and will run until June 7th.

The Making＊Lovers PS4/PSV port is out July 25th.

Pre-orders have started for the following figures:

ALTER – 1/8 scale Caster/Merlin (FGO, April, ￥22,500)
ALTER – 1/7 scale Syuko Blue Horizon ver. (Deremas, February, ￥16,800)
EMONTOYS – 1/7 scale Super Sonico China dress ver. (Super Sonico, October, ￥12,800)
Max Factory – figma Saber/Miyamoto Musashi (FGO, October, ￥8000)
Q-six – 1/5 scale Akiko (Sisters, November, ￥16,800)

Congrats to Nanami for getting 5th cool and 14th overall! We’ll try even harder next year!!

Webclap responses:

I’ve always heard about Sister Princess for its legendary status as a sort of ground zero for old-school siscon out there, but had almost no actual contact with it. Have you ever played the series, Micchi? What do you think about it if so? Recommendable? by Tenzo

While I didn’t play the original game when it came out, I did watch the anime series. It is definitely a very important game for imouto lovers. I can’t say for certain that was when I started liking imoutos, but Kaho and Karen were my favourites and I’ve liked those types of imoutos ever since. I would recommend checking out the series at least (anime was meh).

While CIRCUS is releasing D.C.4 ~Da Capo 4~, the more anticipated titles this month are Yumemiru’s Girls Book Maker -Shiawase no Libretto- and Azurite’s Tamayura Mirai. Even though the Clochette game was delayed a couple months, there’s still a lot of balloons left this month. If you want both balloons and flat chests, Parasol’s Renran Spirichu will satisfy your needs.

Definitely a Micchi month. Filled with charage and not much else, so go into May thinking about which heroine you want rather than the story you want to read.

D.C.4 ~Da Capo 4~

Company: CIRCUS
Game site: D.C.4 ～ダ・カーポ4～
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
This all-ages title is the latest major game in the D.C. series. Those who live on the island of Kagamijima are used to the sight of the ‘large cherry blossom that floats in the sky’ rising out of the middle of the mirror-like lake. Such beautiful scenery had been the lone draw for the island, but lately a new sightseeing spot was born with the opening of a theme park based on Wonderland. The main character and humanoid AI Alice charms everyone with her lovely smile, while artificial faeries dance around the island like fireflies.

Ichito, a young man with an incomplete fairy tale-like skill.
Nino, his mischievous imouto who won’t show her true side to anyone else.
Sorane, his neighbour that loves the siblings a lot and helps them out all the time.
Hiyori, his trouble-making classmate who has a surprisingly good record in helping people fall in love.
Shiina, a taciturn transfer student with a sharp tongue.
Suginami, his buddy who’s always aware of the latest mysteries.
Then there was Arisu, an ojou-sama with the same name as the protagonist from Wonderland.

As the sakura petals flutter and artificial faeries dance, a tender love story begins on the island closest to the sky.

It’s the dawn of a new era and D.C. is still going on strong. However, this one doesn’t take place in Hatsunejima, nor does it have much connection to the first three games, so it really feels more like an extension of D.S. instead. The characters are all cute, which is great for a chara-ge, but I’m worried at the long list of writers and artists. Was D.C.II really the pinnacle of the series?

I do agree with Micchi’s worries about the D.C. series as a whole. The magic has been lost with the end of D.C.II. Cute characters are something almost every single eroge has. What made D.C.II special beyond the constant milking of characters was really the writing. When one looks at the setting as a whole it is hard to deny the concept was rather stupid and all over the place. That said though they did a good job of trying to make each character interesting in their own unique way. Then continuing with that theme for 20 more games… Still interesting and unique is better than something that feels generic with no real heart or soul to it as a work. Sadly this is the case with most ongoing series or even entire companies, or at least those who are successful. The first game tends to be rather rough but paves the way, the second finishes everything they wanted to do with the first thus ends up being the best, while everything after is just a trip downhill.

Now I’m not saying D.C.4 will be terrible. In fact were it just about any other eroge trying this kind of setting and plot I would make a point of calling them on how stupid it was. In the case of D.C. however that much is expected at this point so I take no offense. The one and only way to judge any D.C. game is by the characters it presents us with. Which is where D.C.4 starts to feel like a let down. Each of the new heroines feels like a rather cheap and uninteresting knock off of the D.C.II heroines. For example Nino would be Yume, Sorane would be Otome, Hiyori would be Nanaka, Shiina would be Minatsu, Others probably too but I only remember so many characters from that game. They may not be exact copies but the general design is rather similar, so it just gives the feeling of trying too hard to continue D.C.II. Strangely enough I rather hope Circus will get it right with their next attempt, maybe first by cutting down on the excess staff.

Mid-route OP

Grand theme movie

E School Life

Company: HOOKSOFT
Game site: Eスクールライフ
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
Ryoutarou had been forced to live and study overseas for the past six years due to his parents’ work. He confided to his childhood friend Tooru, who was living in Japan, that he hated it.

“I’m surrounded by the guys in the class and can’t even get a chance to talk to the girls…. I don’t want my teenage years to end like this!!”

Tooru sympathized with Ryoutarou upon hearing his difficulty with the language barrier and desire to return to Japan, and talked with his parents about the possibility of bringing him back. After convincing his parents, Ryoutarou was able to return and live in a room share with Tooru. He was thrilled to be back on native soil, but more importantly, that he will be able to talk with girls! He’ll be able to fall in love at his new school!

“Why did you plan on doing when you came back to Japan?”
“Of course fall in love! I want girl friends!”

There’s no magic in this school, it’s your standard school-setting eroge through and through. Pick the heroine you like, get to know them better and fall in love. HOOKSOFT does these relatively well, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can also choose whether they are fully- or half-naked during H scenes.

Nothing special. Which I don’t mind by itself, just wish they put more effort into the setting and the protagonist’s motivation. Treat it as a token charage, all about the heroines and nothing else. At least when compared to D.C.4 I would choose this one.

Aikano ~Yukizora no Triangle~

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: アイカノ ～雪空のトライアングル～
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
The former track and field club member Shun attended school with his childhood friend Shizuri and close friend Koharu. However, they had just one more year together before they graduate and possibly go their separate ways.

Both girls had feelings for him and decided to confess to him on Valentine’s Day while they still had a chance. It so happened that he was asked to meet them at different places at the same time. How will he respond to their confessions and what will become of their uneven triangle relationship?

I would definitely choose the spunky classmate Koharu who is great at making friends, but has difficulty when it comes to love. Who would you choose? I think I already know who Zen would choose.

Simple enough, more of the usual protagonist does nothing has girls fall into is lap for him to choose from eroge. Only there’s not really any choice as Shizuri is clearly superior. Which is an opinion I am sure comes to a surprise to everyone, especially Micchi.

PV

Girls Book Maker -Shiawase no Libretto-

Company: ユメミル (Yumemiru)
Game site: ガールズ・ブック・メイカー -幸せのリブレット-
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
This is the first game by Yumemiru, a sub-brand of Nexton. Eito was in his school’s small library when suddenly there was a bright flash of light. When he opened his eyes, he found himself transported to a grand otherworldly library. The chief librarian Historia told him that the stories from all times and places were archived and managed here. If the collection of books were to be damaged, then those stories would vanish from the real world.

“How would you like to work as a custodian of this library?”

He was an avid reader and readily accepted the offer since he would always have access to every book in the world. Thus, as a librarian tasked with protecting the grand library, together with the mysterious girl Tale who had lost her memories, he entered the story world where many encounters with heroes and villains await.

You have the important task of travelling through different stories and exterminating the bugs that threaten to chew through the books. In return, you’ll get happy endings with the heroines. There are 9 worlds and 21 heroines in total. It’s like the ultimate self-insert game. I do like the overall art style (even with a long list of artists) and there’s a ton of seiyuus for all the characters. You’re bound to find a story that you’ll like. Of course, there’s a grand finale too after going through all the stories. I hope you’re ready for a lot of reading!

In all honesty I actually like the idea here. Surprising though that may be coming from me. So let me also state I feel they did not make the best use of a good concept. Put more effort into the protagonist first, instead of just having him drop into dumb luck library as the starting point. After that make the first game more of a framework with maybe one book or story to it. Afterwards the company is free to make new eroge of any type and add them to this library. The problem with it as is would be the lack of emphasis on each book and heroine, there are just too many for a single release. If each was a complete game that plugs into a piece of a whole then it would make a lot more sense. Not to mention more likely to be good. As is it is running into the Koihime problem of too much to focus on for any of it to be satisfying.

There are a lot more episodic games these days so rather than try to stuff it all into one, break it up and make each a piece worth reading. Just as ambitious in scale, only more spread out. Sure there are pros and cons to both methods but I personally feel you should do things right or not at all. Even more so when it is a first game backed by a large company to establish a solid fanbase as they want to make more eroge and money from said eroge in the future anyway.

Tamayura Mirai

Company: Azurite
Game site: タマユラミライ
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
Humans and non-humans once lived together in the town of Fukano, and thus it is full of mysterious stories about mysterious beings. Mutsuki is a young magician who uses his powers to resolve strange incidents caused by the youkai, to maintain the harmony between humans and non-humans.

Then Yukina arrived in the town in search for something that she had lost. She had spiritual powers that exceeded his own and was able to see the otherworldly beings. By associating with her, before long even the incident in which he gained his magic was brought back to light.

Kusuhara Yui and Anzu Mitsu. Azurite’s latest offering seems more of a chara-ge than a scenario-based one, but the seiyuus are enough to interest me. Especially Anzu Mitsu as the short onee-chan Shiro. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Either you like the heroines enough to ignore the everything else, or move along and forget about it. Story is little more than a token attempt to add some spice to the heroines. So as long as you treat it as a charage and don’t expect anything more than a typical route for your chosen heroine this should be a fairly safe if boring one.

Dai Sengo Muramasa -Majin Kakusei-

Company: げーせん18 (Gesen18)
Game site: 大戦御村正 -魔人覚醒-
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
This story is centered upon Sanada Yukiaki, the descendent of Sanada Yukimura, who fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the exquisite sword Muramasa with matching wave-shaped hamon on either side, said to be incomparable in performance. It is regarded as a ‘demonic sword’ that hungers for blood, compelling its owner to kill.

It’s yet another SLG based on World War II with your usual factions and giant tits. Pass.

The Gesen18 game in WWII. 

Heroine wa Tomodachi Desu ka? Koibito Desu ka? Soretomo Tomefure Desu ka?

Company: DESSERT Soft
Game site: 彼女（ヒロイン）は友達ですか？恋人ですか？それともトメフレですか？
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
This is the debut title for DESSERT Soft, a sister brand of CandySoft. Eager to break free from his solitary life and lose his virginity, Yuki signed up for a system akin to open compensated dating that was set up to combat this societal problem. To his surprise, his doorbell rang just half a minute later and was shocked when the girl who showed up was his class idol Sakurako, who he admired greatly. She gladly agreed to be lovey-dovey with him in return for a place to stay and free food.

However, their outwardly wholesome partnership got off to a rocky start since neither had any experience in love nor staying over with the other sex. They invited other girls to the lessen the awkwardness when they are alone together, and gradually began to like their relationship amidst the lively days.

The story is written by Juuzen, who worked on ASa Project titles. However, I don’t like how all the heroines have unhealthy chest sizes. I can’t look at that.

Premise is laughable. But not as laughable as the completely ridiculous chest sizes. 

Renran Spirichu

Company: Parasol
Game site: 恋嵐スピリッチュ
Release date: May 31, 2019
Comments:
A new school building was constructed for the centenary of a famous private humanities school. However, it was soon besieged by many strange incidents attributed to spirits, such as ghosts uploading selfies of themselves by the pool on social networks or anatomical models using their organs to masturbate. Most of these only caused slight distress to the students and teachers, but the administration was concerned about the problem of rooms which would trap people until they had sex. They would not permit illicit sexual relationships on school grounds at any time, and tasked the student council to deal with the issue.

As the head of the student council, Muneyoshi enlisted the help of exorcists, who came in the middle of the moon-lit night. The two girls were cute and childlike, but with large bosoms on their tiny frame.

“Spiritual power is proportional to the size of one’s chest.
So, we are the strongest exorcists ever!”

He had no idea what they were talking about. All he could think about was ‘loli with big boobs’…

This must be a baka-ge, right? Their breast sizes even change throughout the game! If you just treat it as a silly harem game with Mikeou art, then it might be worth your time. It does have an imouto after all; Mizuho is good at all housework except cooking.

Nothing one can say about this one is worse than what it says about itself. Just read that summary over again if you doubt me.

Micchi’s Top 4 for This Month

1. Girls Book Maker -Shiawase no Libretto-
2. Tamayura Mirai
3. D.C.4 ~Da Capo 4~
4. Renran Spirichu

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. E School Life
2. Aikano ~Yukizora no Triangle~
3. Girls Book Maker -Shiawase no Libretto-

A decent start to the new era.

In a world of charage Micchi is king.

Nexton and SofthouseChara are teaming up for a Karin-centric Koihime title called Suzukuri Karin-chan. It is planned for winter this year. I wonder if there will similar titles for the other factions.

Other recently announced new titles include:

Astronauts Comet – Shiina Maho no Himitsu (July 26th)
Cabbit – Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori (August 30th)
MOONSTONE Cherry – Sex Open World e Youkoso! (September 27th)
Sonora – Onaji Class no Idol-san. (September 27th)

Frontwing’s LocaLove Densha×Doukyuusei has been set for August 30th.

The Takano Yuki illustration book will be on shelves on July 30th for ￥3000, while the LocaLove Densha×Doukyuusei art book (￥1500) is out on August 30th, the same day as the game.

The Tsukikana vocal collection will be released on June 28th for ￥2593.

Cabbage Soft’s Amazing Grace will be ported over to the PS4 later this year. The PS4/PSV port for Mell Kiss has been set for September 26th.

Dakimakuras are available for pre-order for Ototsuki‘s Nagisa and Ama Ane‘s Alice.

Pre-orders have started for the following figures:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Kanade mystic dawn ver. (Deremas, April, ￥16,800)
FREEing – 1/4 scale Scáthach sashi ugatsu bunny ver. (FGO, April, ￥25,000)
GSC – nendoroid Ann Takamaki phantom thief ver. (Persona 5, November, ￥4909)
GSC – nendoroid Saber/Altria Pendragon [Alter] Shinjuku ver. (FGO, November, ￥4182)
Myethos – 1/8 scale Archer/Gilgamesh (FGO, October, ￥13,704)
native – 1/4 scale Azuki (Nekopara, May, ￥27,000)
ORANGE ROUGE – 1/8 scale Romani Archaman (FGO, February, ￥12,727)
Phat! – 1/7 scale Tamamo no Mae police FOX ver. (Fate/EXTELLA Link, April, ￥15,800)

New titles announced this week include:

August – Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki -Hana Akari- (September 27th)
bootUP! – Mitsu Ane (September 27th)
HOOKSOFT – Docchi no i ga Suki desu ka? (November 29th)
rootnuko – LIKE×LOVE ~Totsukawa Hikaru~ (August 30th)
SILKY’s PLUS – Kimagure Temptation (September 27th)

Azarashi Soft is releasing character song CDs for Amakano‘s three heroines Sayuki, Mizuki and Koharu. Each CD is priced at ￥2100 and will be out on August 30th.

Pre-orders have started for Pulchra’s 1/8 scale figure of Fate/EXTELLA‘s Gilgamesh. It’s priced at ￥15,800 and ships in December.

The Eiyuu＊Senki WW (DMM) browser game pre-registration has started! It should open later this summer.

Denkigai Matsuri 2019 Summer has been set for August 8th at Belle Salle Takadanobaba. It’s the same location as past years and from personal experience, it’s quite good.

Wrapping up June post and playing some trials. I’m always ready for more imoutos.

Summer is upon us, but where are the summer games? The closest is probably tone work’s nostalgic drama Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou. Navel’s sister brand Citrus debuts with Tasogare no Folclore, while CLOCKUP’s DEAD DAYS offers a different genre for those interested. Meanwhile, I’ll be a responsible onii-chan taking care of my imoutos in Tinkle Position’s fandisc Onii-chan, Asa Made Gyutte Shite! Yoru Made Motto Ecchi Shite!.

Summer is upon us, but where are the games?* Three actual titles four if you count nukige, rest are all fandisks or all ages yuri. More of a backlog month for most of us, which I personally do not mind at all as my backlog stretches far past the horizon.

Yumeutsutsu Re:Master

Company: 工画堂スタジオ (Kogado Studio)
Game site: 夢現Re：Master
Release date: June 13, 2019
Comments:
This is an all-ages title from Kogado Studio. Ai didn’t have much interest in games, but her dear imouto Kokoro loved them. Even though she thought of herself as a boring person and had no particular life goals, she enjoyed the time that they spent together. She thought that they would be together forever, but they were soon separated due to their parent’s marital discord.

Later she followed her sister to the capital to work at Eureka Soft, where Kokoro was working as a game director working on a remake of “Yumeutsutsu ~Nie to Majo to Sekai no Izukuwari”, a game that she once loved. By helping her finish making the game, will Ai be able to bridge the gap that has since separated them?

Originally planned for release on the PSV/PS4/Switch/PC/Steam in Japanese, English and Chinese in early February, there have been some setbacks, resulting in only the Japanese version being released four months late. However, they do have some info on their game site in English and Chinese, if you wish to see the full story (which I paraphrased since it’s pretty long). It reminds me of other games that delve into what happens behind the scenes in the industry (game design, seiyuus, etc) like mintCUBE’s Ninki Seiyuu no Tsukurikata.

Seems rather boring to me personally. Maybe that is because I have no interest in glorifying the production of eroge in general. Of course it could also be due to having zero interest in the characters and their lives. Couple this with the emphasis on broad appeal that dulls some of the appeal and I’m not expecting much here.

Promotion movie

DEAD DAYS

Company: CLOCKUP
Game site: DEAD DAYS
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
A group of strangers awoke in an unfamiliar place. Each of them should have been dead, but they were given more time to live. In exchange, they must seek out and kill the departed souls in the world. However, they were subject to a side effect of an extreme sex drive and the fear of not knowing when their extra lifespan will run out.

CLOCKUP does a good job of creating the atmosphere and making games that stand out from other companies. It’s just not my type of game, so pass. Very unique OP though.

Weird ero version of Bleach. 

Sugar*Style Music and Happiness Pack

Company: SMEE
Game site: Sugar*Style Music and Happiness Pack
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This pack includes the original soundtrack for Sugar*Style, as well as a fandisc with after stories for the heroines. The after stories are only around 30% longer than the mini fandiscs that had been released, so don’t expect too much.

Fandisk.

Onii-chan, Asa Made Gyutte Shite! Yoru Made Motto Ecchi Shite!

Company: Tinkle Position
Game site: お兄ちゃん、朝までずっとギュッてして！ 夜までもっとエッチして！
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Onii-chan, Asa Made Zutto Gyutte Shite!, taking place between Christmas and New Year’s. Ichaicha in the day, ecchi at night, and hugging all the time. It’s an after story for the harem end. Gotta love your imoutos well!

Nope.

Custom cute ~Ore to Kanojo no Ikusei Battle!~

Company: ももいろPocket (Momoiro Pocket)
Game site: カスタムcute ～俺と彼女の育成バトル！～
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This is the first game by Momoiro Pocket. Takuma leads a lonely school life and craves to fall in love. There are a few girls who provide him with moral support, but they’re all not his type. Desperate to break free from the monotonous days, he decided to change them to his ideal. However, he will have to overcome their own ideals first!

It’s a basically nukige with a mini game where you have to select the correct items to unlock the H scenes you want, to customize it to your liking. If you lose to them, then they get to have their way with you, you M. The system uses Live2D, but it’s not that polished. Everyone on the staff is basically new to the industry, so I guess I’ll give them some slack. It’s just a nukige after all.

Sort of interesting concept going on with the clash of ideals, shame it wasn’t used with an actual story and characters.

Tasogare no Folclore

Company: Citrus
Game site: 黄昏のフォルクローレ
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This is the first title by Citrus, a sister brand of Navel. Arima, the son of a doctor, lived in the capital of a nation that had been founded a few decades ago and which had undergone remarkable development. When his father succumbed suddenly to illness, he was left without any family. Fortunately, he was taken in by the noble Otobe family to work as the attendant for their lone daughter Supika, who had a frail constitution.

They were moved away from the main residence to a villa with a few other servants to escape from the scheming that swirled around the family and to spend their days happily. However, the calmness only lasts when the sun shines; When night falls, you could hear the sound of her life ticking away. Why was he chosen to be her attendant?

“Well, there’s no way around it, right? You’re the only one that I can eat”

The story is written by Morisaki Ryouto, who also worked on Hapymaher, and Supika is voiced by Haruka Sora. It’s only a mid-priced game, with a mysterious and nostalgic Taisho era feel to it. Might be worth checking out for the story alone.

I am honestly not sure how I should judge this one. Mainly due to the Navel connection. That alone makes me hesitant and rather wary of any eroge related to that particular waste plant. On the other hand taken by its own merits there is nothing here that guarantees walking into a train wreck. As my default response for those that could go either way I’ll just say the writing is what will make or break it, lets hope it turns out well.

Otome ga Musubu Tsukiyo no Kirameki Fullmoon Days

Company: ensemble
Game site: 乙女が結ぶ月夜の煌めき Fullmoon Days
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Ototsuki, with after stories for each of the five heroines. This is pretty much standard for ensemble games nowadays.

Fandisk.

Iegami Nyoubou ~Koisuru Inaba wa Kinpatsu Usagi~

Company: Casket
Game site: 家神女房-イエガミニョウボウ- ～恋する因幡は金髪うさぎ～
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
This is the third game in Casket’s low-priced Iegami Nyoubou series. Tetsuya had a traumatic past in love, so he decided to move to the village of Toshimasu in the countryside. Here where there were only around a hundred elderly persons, he should be able to enjoy a slow life free from love troubles.

However, when he followed the village custom of moving into a new house, a blonde-haired girl named Inaba appeared before him, calling herself the “Hare of Inaba”.

“You will meet your soulmate in a year. In the name of the Hare of Inaba, I will definitely make you fall in love!”

So that’s how the ‘God of Marriage’ Inaba unexpectedly began living together with him. As he spent time with her, he began to notice her feelings for him….

He’s pretty inept at love, so it’s fortunate that he has such a cute bunny helping him out. I like bunnies and I like sharks (Kawahagi-chan looks like Sabaori-kun…), so I might just check this out for fun.

Just a typical single heroine charage type of game. Nothing particularly good nor bad, so should make for a relaxing and stress free read and a good choice for cooling down after something more dramatic or intense.

Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou

Company: tone work’s
Game site: 月の彼方で逢いましょう
Release date: June 28, 2019
Comments:
The girls during that summer in their second year were more whimsical, enigmatic and beautiful than anyone else. It was a time of first love and bittersweet memories. Those days are now regretfully gone.

Before Kanata knew it, he was 25 years old and working as a salaryman. He looked back upon those days like they were a dream. With a sense of longing, he turned on the smartphone that he used while he was still in school and sent a message to himself: “I’m regretting it now”.

It was a message to his past self. Feelings that shouldn’t be able to be transmitted. However, his smartphone vibrated in response: “What’s the matter all of a sudden?”. It was a message from his past self.

You don’t appreciate what’s gone until much later and we’re seeing more of these nostalgia/regret themes as the eroge player age increases. tone work’s has turned it around since their debut title, consistently churning out atmospheric games with decent character development. There’s a bit of SF elements (Steins;Gate?), but it’s not a huge factor in the game. I’ve definitely got my eye on Seira for obvious reasons.

Basis for the entire plot here is mostly a gimmick, take away the future phone and you have a generic charage. Essentially the only difference is in initial motivation for the protagonist which amounts to little. Doesn’t mean the game will be bad, but don’t expect anything more than an average eroge at its core. At best we can hope for a well written and charming experience. 

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou
2. Iegami Nyoubou ~Koisuru Inaba wa Kinpatsu Usagi~
3. Onii-chan, Asa Made Gyutte Shite! Yoru Made Motto Ecchi Shite!

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Tsuki no Kanata de Aimashou
2. Iegami Nyoubou ~Koisuru Inaba wa Kinpatsu Usagi~
3. Tasogare no Folclore

Don’t be full of regret later. Go trigger those flags now.

Would be nice if there were flags to trigger.

Attention Nekopara fans! Nekopara Vol.4 ~Neko to Patissier no Noel~ is in the works (Shigure???) and the anime page is also up. The world premiere will be held at Anime Expo on July 6th. There’s also an anime neko romance simulation mobile game in the works by Yostar, Nekoparaiten!! It’s coming next year… ready your wallets!

Other new titles announced this week include:

Gesen18 – Shin Sengokuhime (September 27th)
ninetail – Soushin no Ars Magna(November 22nd)

Alumi Soft’s Wanko no Yomeiri ~Arata na Nihon no Shippo~ has been delayed to August 30th.

Tinkle Position has announced that there will be a H anime adaptation for Onigyu by Mary Jane!

Licorne has made a 1/8 scale figure of Deremas‘s Miho!! The Love Letter ver. will be out next April for ￥14,800. I’m definitely getting it! Preorders have also started for the following figures:

ALTER – 1/7 scale Rider/Altria Pendragon [Alter] (FGO, August 2020, ￥14,800)
AMAKUNI – 1/7 scale Tae (Persona 5, February, ￥15,800)
amie×ALTAiR – 1/8 scale Caster/Merlin (FGO, April, ￥24,750)
ORANGE ROUGE – nendoroid Avenger/King of the Cavern Edmond Dantès (FGO, November, ￥4091)

The Amazing Grace PS4 port has been set for September 26th.

AQUAPLUS has also unveiled another mobage: Utawarerumono Lost Flag. Mobage is the present.

I will be away in Japan until July 23rd. The weekly news will resume at the end of the month! Cya!

A couple highly anticipated sequels are coming out in time for the summer: Qruppo’s Nukige Mitai na Shima ni Sunderu Watashi wa Dou Surya Ii Desu ka? 2 and BaseSon’s Shin Koihime†Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taibou. ASa Project continues their slapstick comedies with Ren’ai, Karichaimashita, while Heliodor’s Ryuusei World Actor is a promising debut title. Clochette, Marmalade and 3rdEye also have games out this month, so there’s lots to choose from!

A rather odd month for me honestly. Mainly because I may not be especially excited over any title yet things are generally positive this month. There may be some questionable choices in titles but none that are absolutely guaranteed to be terrible. Feels weird to actually have hope despite eroge showing some of the usual warning signs. So lets all hope my negativity is just being bitter and jaded towards the industry and everything turns out for the better…

Kokorone=Pendulum!

Company: クロシェット (Clochette)
Game site: ココロネ＝ペンデュラム！
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
Around 30 years ago, superpowers known as ‘magia’ started appearing in Japan. Soujirou recently gained the ability to read other people’s minds. Normally these powers would awaken in people over the course of a few days, but for him, it took a full two years. Furthermore, he isn’t able to control his ability well and it gives him headaches from time to time. With the intention of getting rid of it, he decided to enroll in Shizuka-no-Umi Gakuen in Saema, a leading academic research city where magia users (sourcers) gathered.

However, he was caught up in an incident on his first day and saw a fellow magia sourcer for the first time. The girl Sumika used her power which can heal even the most serious illnesses, and he was so captivated by her that he wished to become just like her. Thus, he started to learn how to properly use his magia with fellow students Chihaya, Leeruu, Tsumuri and his imouto Nazuna, the most powerful magia sourcer in the school.

Seems very similar to Kamikaze☆Explorer!, together with the imouto and token loli among balloons. It’s always fun to play Clochette games due to the vibrant colours and comedy, and that’s the feeling I got from playing the trial. It starts with them investigating mysteries around the school, but I’m sure there’s something much bigger (related to the initial incident and battle). I want to spend more time with Tsumurin! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Very typical Clochette game. Essentially just disregard the story and focus on the characters like any charage. Truthfully they should probably tone down on the random magic in their stories as it can be distracting and pointless. Would much rather they focus more on the characters and comedy that they are much better at writing. Ah well this is still just a simple good natured eroge like all their titles, nothing special, yet nothing truly bad either.

Study§Steady

Company: ま～まれぇど (Marmalade)
Game site: スタディ§ステディ
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
Her first lesson about love started when she met you.
As you two spend time together, she gradually changes herself to match your type.

Perhaps she might call you by another name. Just by doing that, what had been normal conversations up till now would surely feel somehow more special. Hearing these whispers of love every day, whether with others or alone, will make you love her more and more.

Perhaps she might change her hairstyle. Surely it’s her way of mustering up the courage to appeal to you. How you will respond to her feelings is up to you.

Before long you will become true lovers. This is what they call ‘going steady’.

Returning from school together while holding hands.
An unexpected time alone in the classroom after school.
Exchanging presents during Christmas.
Welcoming the new year together at the temple.

Such a love story only for you is surely out there…

It’s a bit hard to gauge how the game will go since there’s no trial out, but I wonder if it’ll be kinda like hibiki’s CATION series where you can customize many aspects of each route. The characters and graphics look good to me. I want a kouhai like Mai-chan!

Their heart is in the right place with this title but these types always bite off more than they can chew. The real problem lies in the writing, there are just too many variables to cover well so it ends up making everything feel more bland as a result. I personally would rather have a more focused and well written heroine route as this makes it easier to empathize with the characters. Hard to find a point to a dress up sim if it dulls the attraction of the heroine.

Of course this is all under the assumption that their implied meaning is as such. Should it turn out to be a normal route or just minor clothing choice changes with no real significant differences to actually change accordingly then I would instead be annoyed at their emphasis on such a minor thing as something significant enough to establish an entire eroge around.

So poor story or sly marketing pick your poison.

Raillore no Ryakudatsusha

Company: 3rdEye
Game site: レイルロアの略奪者
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
A century or more from now, all humans have acquired superpowers in this new world. These powers are such a commonplace that those who do not possess them are viewed as outcasts. Civilization has greatly declined during this time of change with the human population greatly reduced and nature reclaiming lands which had been developed.

The town of Raillore, with brick dwellings reminiscent of the Middle Ages, is surrounded by forests and rivers and blessed with fertile soil. Since the concept of countries has vanished, it is self-governed by an order of knights who fight crime to protect the townspeople.

One time, it was confirmed that there were people called ‘errors’ with unknown powers known as ‘moments’ which bring about strange phenomena. These events caused fear to the masses and it was up to the order of knights to deal with the situation after it was determined that the errors suddenly appeared due to an illness.

Just like Korolum above, there’s a battle scene at the beginning. I do like the dynamic presentation and a more interesting protagonist than your usual eroge one (what’s five destroyed buildings when you’ve caught the target?). That being said, I’ll pass on playing it, but it does look promising for those who are into battles and that kinda stuff.

What strikes me the most is the completely unnecessary setting. This could just as easily been a different world or your standard new world plot. By forcibly warping an existing setting in such an awkward manner I can’t help but have reservations towards the plot they came up with. A unique world has less common sense restraining it whereas things like lack of countries are just unbelievable regardless of their reasons. Whereas should this have taken place in a completely foreign location the common sense may have taken a different turn due to a different development. This is of course also avoiding the random superpower convenience. As much as I truly enjoy reading something where there is more substance to the romance than just arbitrary and generic high school students hook up, I am just as sick of how little effort is put into such titles. Most just end up with some random gimmick an almost copy paste low grade manga or light novel story and a few ero scenes. Take that as you will, but I do hope to eventually see some more critique in this direction so some more effort will be spent on what matters.

Shukusei no Girlfriend 3

Company: mirai
Game site: 宿星のガールフレンド 3 -the destiny star of girlfriend-
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the third and final game in mirai’s Shukusei no Girlfriend series. Japan has entered a new era, but Seiji’s life still remained the same. The only recent change has been Maja’s transfer to his class last winter.

However, one night he was attacked and had his life force drained by his underclassman Kanoko. She was actually a magic girl who protects people from monsters, but then why did she attack him? Did it have something to do with her family being attacked by monsters in the past?

It was decided by the magic girl society that Kanoko will stay together with him while they determine the cause of the unnatural changes to her body. Normally she is quite calm and collected, but living with her opened his eyes to another side of her. What will become of their time together full of unexpected intimate incidents?

Suck me dry, my dear kouhai.

It’s magical girl garbage. Other than that I can’t say the art is very impressive. If you like the series continue otherwise probably not for you unless magical girls are something you actually like.

Shin Koihime†Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taibou

Company: BaseSon
Game site: 真・恋姫†夢想-革命- 劉旗の大望
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the third and last game in BaseSon’s Koihime -Kakumei- series, expanding on the events from Shin Koihime†Musou and focusing on the Shoku faction. It has truly come full circle back to Kazuto’s first meeting with Touka, Aisha and Rinrin. There’s 34 heroines that you can pursue (up from 23 in the original). Just give me the Hawawa and Awawa strategists.

By this point I don’t think Micchi or I need to say anything other than “Koihime game” and everyone will get it.

Wonder if they’ll make something else now that the series is (temporarily) over.

They will either attempt something different and depending on how its received move on from there, or just start another Koihime series. Of course if they choose a new project and it goes poorly they will likely revert back to Koihime again.

Yuki no Yoru, Ore wa Imouto o Hadaka ni Suru.

Company: はむはむソフト (HamHam Soft)
Game site: 雪の夜、俺は妹を裸にする。
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:

“Onii-chan. Please leave me here in this home…”

Shingo left his hometown in the countryside to live alone in the city. Then during the winter break, his imouto Yuki, whom he thought he had left behind, travelled all the way from afar to live with him. His cousin Sae who visits him often for private lessons sensed the arrival of another girl.

What was Yuki’s reason for coming? What actions will Sae take?
Before he knew it, he laid his hands on their bodies….

Hmm… I understand that it’s an imouto nukige, but a bit more love and romance would be better… I can’t stand protagonists that force themselves on their imoutos.

Just do the right thing Shingo and leave her there properly. That is imouto characters’ natural habitat. At their home, far far away from you.

Shiina Maho no Himitsu ~Name wa H de Omoitsukimasu~

Company: アストロノーツ・コメット (Astronauts Comet)
Game site: 椎名真穂のヒミツ ～ネームはHで思いつきます～
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
With beautiful flowing black hair and good looks, on top of a calm personality and polite speech, Maho is a well-raised lady no matter how you look at it. However, behind that exterior lies a true side that no one could have imagined: she is actually a avid ero doujin author!

Koutarou ended up moving into the apartment that she managed and quickly discovered the secret that she had tried to cover up at all costs. She was horrified that her secret was out, but contrary to her expectations, he accepted and supported her dream of being a creator. So, she made a once-in-a-lifetime request to him in order to produce the most amazing work:

“Could you provide me with erotic reference materials?”

Thus, he was recruited to help with countless ‘material gathering sessions’. How will the ero manga that they worked on together turn out?

There must be a lot of aspiring ero doujin artists out there since there’s a couple games with the same theme. Who knew material gathering sessions would be so involved? There’s no trial nor CV listed for Maho yet, so maybe it’ll be delayed.

Overused concept. As much as the heroine is to my liking I can’t get behind the ero excuse. Put more effort into developing your characters, especially if there is only one. If you just want to make a nukige why even bother, simplify it more so we don’t have to deal with some cheap porn script. Else at least make it absurd and funny.

Update: the trial came out, but I don’t have time to play it.

NEKO-NIN exHeart 3

Company: Whirlpool
Game site: 猫忍えくすはーと 3
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the third game in Whirlpool’s NEKO-NIN exHeart series. It’s been a few months since the cute nekomimi ninjas Yura and Tama came from Fuuma Village to serve the protagonist. Ritsu and Maya have joined them since and their time together have become even more happy and lively. But as expected, a wind of change is in the air.

“I am the next leader of the Saikashu, the successor of Magoichi…. Saika Himari!”

The haughty girl was accompanied by two attendants. What is her objective and what is the Saikashu? The third act has started for this modern ninja cat drama.

More nyannyan time.

Yup, this is still ongoing.

So is Nekopara. Welcome to the catgirl future.

I mean catgirls are fine and all, but i prefer the Nekopara method. By including the random ninja stuff I can’t help but feel they are trying to be too gimmicky with Nekonin. Would be fine if it was a single character, but there are too many of them.

So that means you’ll be playing Vol.4 with me, right?

If I can ever get around to volumes one through three sure.

Nukige Mitai na Shima ni Sunderu Watashi wa Dou Surya Ii Desu ka? 2

Company: Qruppo
Game site: 抜きゲーみたいな島に住んでる貧乳はどうすりゃいいですか？2
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the sequel to Nukitashi and it also includes after stories for the main heroines. After Junnosuke was victorious in the Pervert War, saving Seiran Island and establishing a new set of laws, he was celebrated as a hero along with his comrades. He enjoyed peaceful days with his NLNS friends while reminiscing about their past fierce battles and thought that it would continue forever.

That was until one day he heard about a certain onahole from a friend on Onatter, a social network site where gentlemanly perverts gathered. This onahole’s sensation was so amazing that he stroked faster than the speed of light, causing him to be enveloped in a bright light and brought into another world, along with the SS Big Three, who just happened to be there at that time.

This parallel world was a dream paradise where he had absolute authority as the feared SS deputy leader known as the ‘Sex Emperor’. The pervert laws were still the ones from before the war. Will he be able to safely return to his world? A new battle begins with the SS Big Three…

I lost it at masturbating faster than the speed of light. Nukitashi is really an enjoyable surreal experience. All hail the Sex Emperor!

This is how you do a nukige. Random nonsense with no **** given. No one cares about the story so just make it absurd and silly as possible, at least it is then good for a laugh between the H scenes.

Ryuusei World Actor

Company: Heliodor
Game site: 流星ワールドアクター
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the first title by Heliodor. In the Seventh Commonwealth, there exists the 13th Police Division which is full of troublemakers and misfits. Ruka is a skilled detective who was reassigned to this division due to his problematic conduct and for being responsible for a terrible incident in the past. He is a lone wolf, but he was assigned a new partner, the rookie elf detective Claris. They aren’t on the same wavelength, but they will have to work together to protect the princess Mell who is fleeing a coup d’état.

My first thought when I opened up the trial was Cowboy Bebop, with the music and setting. The story is promising with Kinugasa Shougo (Reminiscence, Akatsuki no Goei) at the helm, and it’s nice to see Akanashi Yuu (Imaimo) return as well. It’s one of my top picks this month due to an unique protagonist, developed characters and especially delightful banter between them which makes you want to keep playing. And because you get a fairy that lives in your pocket.

Setup is generic, virtually a copy paste template plot. Especially the characters, quite lacking from the start with the usual lone wolf paired with rookie having to protect some VIP. If it wasn’t a protection mission it would be some investigation no one else wanted that leads down some rabbit hole for the sake of story. That said it does give a fairly well put together vibe. If generic starting point is what it takes for them to write something good I’ll take it. I don’t inherently dislike rehashing a well worn theme as long as it is well done. I am at least hopeful this time so I will at least end up adding this to the backlog.

Ren’ai, Karichaimashita

Company: ASa Project
Game site: 恋愛、借りちゃいました
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
Due to family circumstances, Yuki believes that money will bring happiness to his dear imouto Tsuki and as a result works late every night doing part-time jobs. He had planned to become a working member of society after graduating, but one day his imouto told him that if he wasn’t going to continue his studies, then she wouldn’t either and instead join the workforce. Yuki would not allow his imouto to suffer that hardship.

He hastily signed up as a ‘temporary rent-able individual’ to raise money for going to school. It’s unbelievable fishy, but it was the best option that he had. For some reason, he was asked by his classmate to pretend to be her boyfriend…. Furthermore, other girls asked him to be their lover, friend and onii-chan!?

How will his fake relationships with these girls that started from money pan out?

I love ASaPro games; you can jump in and enjoy them at any time. I can already envision the problems that will befall Yuki as he’s being rented out to so many girls at once. Did you know that human rental services are actually a thing in Japan? I wonder how much an imouto costs…

Maybe he should just sell that useless little sister of his to Micchi. Win, win, win. He gets rid of the leech, earns some money from it in the process, and Micchi gets his dream come true.

I agree with Micchi about Asa Project games that they are one of the easiest to read. Light hearted charage that make a good starting point for a first game for those unfamiliar with eroge. Stories may not be great but they don’t need to be. The lack of complexity is in exchange for an emphasis on comedy and characters, worth it in my book. They may never be my or perhaps many other peoples favorite eroge, but they never seem to fall below average, with most turning out well.

LOVE³ -Love Cube-

Circle: NEKO WORK H
Game site: LOVE³－ラヴキューブ－
Release date: July 26, 2019
Comments:
This is the first title by doujin circle NEKO WORK H. Ichinari is an aspiring ero manga artist who considered abandoning his dream of turning pro since he couldn’t even pay his rent. His editor Akira, who always looks after him, recommended him to be an assistant to a renowned manga artist.

He accepted the position believing that it was his final chance, and it turned out that his boss was his childhood friend Iori, with whom he had promised to become manga artists together. Also, Iori’s other assistant was the very popular doujin author Nodoka, who he had taught how to draw while she was his kouhai at the manga club during high school.

They were surprised but happy at the sudden reunion, and a certain god that listened to their wishes soon brought their ‘fates’ even closer. It was the beginning of a sudden life together writing ero manga.

The second ero manga game this month. Admit it, you’re just playing for the (moving) Ishikei art.

Write what you know then ero-glorify it and you have an eroge I suppose.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Ren’ai, Karichaimashita
2. Ryuusei World Actor
3. Study§Steady

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Ryuusei World Actor
2. Ren’ai, Karichaimashita
3. Shin Koihime†Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taibou

Selling onii-chan services here.

I have a sister I’m willing to sell if you are interested.

Nothing much to see here, just a bunch of onee-chans and kemonomimi girls. Lump of Sugar’s Wakaba-iro no Quartet is probably the best pick for the month. Go enjoy the outdoors while it’s hot!

Short month without too much of interest sadly. I would normally be happy to see a month of older sisters and animal eared girls but I would rather they have more meaning to their existence other than archetype gimmick appeal.

LIKE×LOVE ~Totsukawa Hikaru~

Company: rootnuko
Game site: LIKE×LOVE ～十津川 光～
Release date: August 30, 2019
Comments:
Entering the local prep school Hoshimi Gakuen, Koyomi met Hikaru, who has the top grades in the school and is liked by everyone in the class thanks to her bright personality. He found it difficult to approach her, but that all changed one day when he saw her admiring the sunset while taking pictures with her camera. Seeing her so absorbed in her hobby made him even more attracted to her. This chapter of their youth will be full of ‘like’ and ‘love’.

rootnuko is the latest company to make low-priced single-heroine games. Not really my type, so pass.

The low risk moderate reward low priced games with a single heroine are definitely popular these days.

Nothing very special here. So as applies to these games it is all about whether you want to play this heroine’s route. I for one will actually be playing this game, or at least adding it to the backlog. As the heroine is definitely my type and sometimes simple is best, as it is much harder to screw up.

LocaLove Densha×Doukyuusei

Company: フロントウイング (Frontwing)
Game site: ろけらぶ -Location Love- 電車×同級生
Release date: August 30, 2019
Comments:
This is the second title in Frontwing’s LocaLove series. Ever since Ichitarou started living with his relatives, his ten minute walk to school has become an hour-long commute by local train. He was fed up with it, but there was a silver lining: he gets to spend his commute with his beautiful classmate Nio, who he secretly admires. She was difficult to approach and acted indifferent every time he would try talking to her, but that gradually changed one day after he helped her when she collapsed on a bench on the station platform.

“You don’t have to be so formal”

Just like the train they were on, their relationship rapidly moved forward. However, she would not accept being his girlfriend, even as she denies it while blushing profusely.

The train will always reach its destination. Will the same be true for their relationship?

By virtue of being in the right place at the right time, you get a ‘girlfriend’ that’s seemingly out of your league. Well, I guess this isn’t too farfetched. Not sure if the people on the train would be happy being next to lovebirds for the entire ride though…

As far as eroge companies go none garner as much hate from me as Frontwing. While something like Lump of Sugar is bad for similar reasons they are much less deliberate in why they screw things up. Can’t blame a crazy person for being crazy right? So while silly they are also endearing in a weird way. Frontwing on the other hand is quite clearly lucid, just stupid and incapable of writing without killing the pacing.

So imagine my surprise when I feel at a loss on where to vent my hatred this time. Sure there is nothing particularly good to say but can’t really say much bad about it either. Now that is hardly an endorsement as in all likelihood they will find some way to screw this up in the writing. Just at the moment this is little more than speculation, so I could be wrong. Without being able to definitively point out why this could be terrible other than my lack of trust in Frontwing makes me sad.

Wanko no Yomeiri ~Arata na Nihon no Shippo~

Company: あるみそふと (Alumi Soft)
Game site: わんこの嫁入り～新たな二本のしっぽ～
Release date: August 30, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc to Wanko no Yomeiri. Days after Touya married the dog-eared divine messengers Koharu and Azuki, the shrine cafe “Inu no Shippo” had become quite popular and they enjoyed their time together passionately. However, two new divine messengers Fubuki and Kaede came to monitor them one day. What will become of their private lives?

It’s gonna get a lot more interesting of course! Maybe some 5P? How wan-derful!

Fandisk.

Ama Ane -My Sweet Sister-

Company: Campus
Game site: アマアネ -My Sweet Sister-
Release date: August 30, 2019
Comments:
Yuuta was at the airport waiting to welcome his older sister Alice. He had only met her for a few days when his mother remarried overseas three years ago and haven’t had the chance to see her again since then, but they still got along rather well since they frequently chatted on the phone and e-mailed each other.

“I’m here to be your bride♪”

He had been expecting an enjoyable life with his cute sister, but was overwhelmed by the sudden marriage proclamation and pampering beyond his imagination.

“I’ll clean your ears, so rest on my lap~”
“Dinner’s ready. Here, open up~♪”
“Finished your studies? Hehe, have some headpats as a reward”

The sweet days have begun with an older sister who wants to be a bride.

He’s gonna be so spoiled and a more useless protagonist than ever. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Everything here is fine, assuming you like the heroine anyway. That is till the bride garbage comes into play. This is like a grown adult playing tee ball with a beach ball, lining up taking the perfect swing and somehow manages to miss everything fall flat on their face and give themselves a concussion with the bat. The. Entire. Point. Is. The. Buildup. Without any sense of development all the icha-icha moments that come later are entirely pointless because the attachment to the characters isn’t there. This is even more so with sibling type characters as how they slowly overcome the barriers helps pull them closer together is what makes them endearing to the reader. All these scenes where the older sister spoils her little brother are completely pointless after ruining the development. Moving from ambiguity to reality is what makes such a heroine fun.

Wakaba-iro no Quartet

Company: Lump of Sugar
Game site: 若葉色のカルテット
Release date: August 30, 2019
Comments:
Yuuto lives in the town of Totsuda, which is surrounded by the mountains and the sea. One day, his kouhai Hiyori stalked him around the school and dorm Wakaba-sou, finally confronting him and declaring:

“I love you! So… how about I become your maid!?”

At the same time, he met the animal-eared Sofia, a princess from the Kingdom of Elidrone who had transferred to his school. She was surprisingly friendly with everyone considering her status, but she seemed to look at him differently:

“Hey… I… think you’re the one. I truly believe it, ok?”

Both the maid girl and animal-eared princess had their own secrets. Their actions started to change his surroundings, which also dragged in his pet cat Ai and childhood friend Miyako.

Fluffy kemonomimi chara-ge. Fujisaki Usa voicing pet loli cat. Sounds like a recipe for success.

Lump of Shi..uuuugar is doing their usual. When in doubt revert to Tayutama. The previous attempt at reviving this dead horse to beat some more being less than satisfactory has apparently led them in a new direction. Keep the ears, change the names. Unfortunately the main issue with Lump of Sugar, their stories being completely batshit insane seems to be left unaddressed. I want to hope there may be some improvement since this is clearly more of a charage than their usual, however I can’t help but feel the writers are still high on crazy pills. There is no real point to any of it. Animal ears there because they are cute. Girls just like him because there’s some Cthulu telling them to or something. Maid because that’s cute too right?

I really don’t know what to make of them anymore. Tayutama was their best game as most people would probably agree, yet Lump of Sugar still hasn’t figured out why despite so many attempts. Reason being their setting and characters were coherent. So while the story may have been rather far from your standard high school romance it made sense in its own context. Everything else I have read from them is just all over the place with their plot having no real connection to their setting or the laws they themselves establish. When even a simple romance ends up convoluted it really dulls the appeal.

This applies to many eroge in general, changing the rules of the universe the story is set in whenever you feel like it is not a plot twist. In fact it seems it’s not just the plot twist angle they get wrong either, the same applies when they expand the scope of the protagonist. Any story centered around an expanding Universe where the protagonist sees the world in a new light tends to suffer from similar issues. Instead of building on the foundation to lend a sense of growth there is a tendency to just throw everything previously in the trash to make everything feel new.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Wakaba-iro no Quartet
2. Wanko no Yomeiri ~Arata na Nihon no Shippo~
3. Ama Ane -My Sweet Sister-

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. LIKE×LOVE ~Totsukawa Hikaru~
2. Blank.
3. Ama Ane -My Sweet Sister- Because despite everything I still like them Onee sans..

It’s raining cats and dogs.

Quick! Call the pound!

Recently announced new titles include:

BUG SYSTEM – Manakashi no Yuri wa Akaku Somaru (November 29th)
Catwalk – Yuusha to Odore! ~Bocchi no Ore ga Isekai Shoukan Sarete Bishoujo-tachi to Gakuen Saikyou Party o Kumimashita~ (October 25th)
CRYSTALiA – Shiraha Kirameku Koi Shirabe
GIGA – Ai Kiss (October 25th)
Lass Pixy – Little Sick Girls ~Osananajimi no Koibito~ (September 27th)

Baseson’s Suzukari Karin-chan has been set for December 20th, while the following titles have been delayed:

Study§Steady – September 27th
Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori – October 25th
Raillore no Ryakudatsusha – October 25th

Sol Press will be doing the localization for a trio of Windmill titles: Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration, Witch’s Garden, and Hyper→Highspeed→Genius.

The LocaLove Densha×Doukyuusei art book will be out on the same day as the game, August 30th.

The second H OVA for Hime-sama LOVE Life! by PoRO Petit will be sold on August 30th for ￥3800.

The PS4/PSV port for Aerial Life has been set for October 24th.

New figures available for pre-order include:

CharaAni – 1/7 scale Syoko -Mush Up★Voltage- (Deremas, December, ￥18,150)
FREEing – 1/4 scale Archer/Gilgamesh (FGO, June, ￥26,000)
Funny Knights – 1/7 scale Hibiki Tsutawaru Omoi ver. (Million Live!, October, ￥13,800)
GSC – nendoroid Avenger/Jeanne d’Arc [Alter] Shinjuku ver. (FGO, January, ￥4545)
HIDE – 1/8 scale Kotoha Hana-tachi no Shukufuku ver. (Million Live!, February, ￥23,500)
Max Factory – figma Shinji and Sakura (Fate, March, ￥11,000)
Medicos – 1/7 scale Rider/Mordred (FGO, December, ￥13,800)
PULCHRA – 1/6 scale Hachiroku swimsuit ver. (Maitetsu, December, ￥13,800)
Revolve – 1/7 scale Rin (battle ver.) (FGO, April, ￥17,380)
WAVE – 1/7 scale [Summer☆Usamin] Nana (Deremas, October, ￥14,800)

The third Shirokoi Sakura＊Gram append disc, featuring Yaya, is now available for download.

Beta service has started up for DMM browser game Eiyuu＊Senki WW.

JAM AKIHABARA is hosting a collaboration cafe for Raspberry Cube from August 5th to 18th.

Dakimakuras are coming out for Mamatoto‘s Arvy, SHUFFLE!‘s Kaede, Shukugar‘s Kanoko, Waka-sama‘s Waka, Spirichu‘s Itose, NEKO-NIN‘s Shino, Senmomo‘s Elsa, Yoakena‘s Cynthia, Grasesta‘s Ekthel and Fleurety, Shirokoi‘s Yuuri, Wakaba-iro‘s Hiyori, Kagura Reimeiki‘s Yayoi, Men at Work! 3‘s Phyllis, Castle Fantasia‘s Ciruela, Koihime‘s Sei, Amakano‘s Ruiko, GBM‘s Tale, Tamayura Mirai‘s Shiro, Raspberry Cube‘s Yuu, Wagahigh‘s Karen, Harumina‘s Yoriko, UQ AAA‘s Silveria, Hoshimemo‘s Yume, and Sakura, Moyu.‘s Kuro.

Remember that if you want to donate to the Kyoto Animation arson recovery fund, you can do so directly via the official bank account set up by the studio. Rest in peace.

It’s hot this summer. Make sure you stay hydrated!