Mid-Video Update - Not Late Edition
Added 2024-10-21 20:36:06 +0000 UTCMeowdy all, and welcome to the mid-video update -- that other time to give life and channel updates besides the Patreon segment! On the life front at least, things have been pretty quiet and cozy now that I'm back in my apartment alongside my husband! But on the channel front... well, if you follow my Twitter, you probably know what I'm gonna talk about.
My intention for this upcoming video was to cover Shiniyuku Kimi 2, the sequel to a game which I covered long ago, and continues to be one of my favorite eroge ever written. UNFORTUNATELY, this video is canned, because Shiniyuku 2 ended up being one of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had with eroge. I cannot express the level of frustration and exhaustion I had going through it, only amplified when I was told by friends that it gets so much worse as it goes on.
So, cutting my losses, I decided to scrap that video entirely and find something else in a hurry. I know some people would love to hear me tear into a game, but I can't bring myself to do so in good faith. It's mentally exhausting to talk about stuff I hate, the game really doesn't have much to go into, and I worry it would rake in views because of how edgy and dark it is.
The last thing I want is for this channel to become known off of a deeply negative video, because that feels like the polar opposite of what I'm trying to do here: highlight captivating and interesting titles that go against what people expect from the genre, as well as historic and interesting titles. Shiniyuku 2 isn't any of those things, it's just... bad, with the kind of spectacle that edgy teens show each other in school for shock value. It sucks, man.
But you know what doesn't suck? The things, that I... plan to cover... and stuff!
November: The Taisho-era works of Utsuro Akuta. For the unfamiliar, which I figure is just about everyone, this is Boku wa Tenshi Janai yo and Canary -- both of which are basically plays in visual novel form, exploring different parts of Taisho Japan society. I initially intended just to cover BokuTen, as some friends recommended it as an interesting exploration of sexuality in the Taisho era... and then I played the vaguely related Canary and had the time of my life. These games are some pog ass shit, and I am SO excited to talk about them! Script is in progress, pre-production is done.
December: I left it up to vote, and y'all chose the game about gay toxic spider lady yuri: Atlach-Nacha. Feels like the pick people were gonna go for no matter what in retrospect, but I was really surprised to see Totono of all games get beat out by it in particular. Y'all REALLY want that gay stuff, huh?
January: This is one I'm not totally decided on, but the candidiates right now are Demons Roots, Tsui no Sora 1999, and To-Heart. I'm gonna vibe it out because I'm not sure what I'll feel like covering in terms of size, scope, and Vibes that month, but those are all up there for me.
THE LIST: IT HUNGERS. As always, feel free to suggest games to cover, and I'll add them if they're of interest! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WF_2ADCa5UY63yygiElEyGr35UPCf-jfGivuHAeaiqs/edit?gid=0#gid=0
And that's it for now! As always, feel free to leave a comment or send a DM on this platform to ask me questions for the next Patreon segment.
Until next time! o/
Comments
Sucks that Shiniyuku Kimi 2 didn’t work out :/ I was excited for it but if it was so disappointing I understand not wanting to do a video. It’s much more enjoyable watching a video you made on a VN you personally enjoyed.
ParasyteGhoul
2024-11-01 03:40:16 +0000 UTCI’m glad and surprised to see slow damage on the list! I think aside from the story analysis possibilities, the conversation about vns and localization could be explored through slow damage specifically. Its localization is kinda notorious in the bl scene for how much it fumbles its own material, and opinions are very divided so u often hear the same talking points from both sides. That’s why I love to hear the opinions from people who can actually read the jp ver, what they got from the characters, and compare it to my own experience playing the en ver, seeing what matches up or not. Regardless of how u cover it I’m excited to watch that video whenever it comes about!
Potato Bug
2024-10-30 07:25:43 +0000 UTCHlep, just finished the Bishoujo Mangekyo video (been taking a break due to irl stuff), and saw that you said you might consider a Higurashi video. Considering that, would you potentially be interested in looking at other 07th Expansion works? Yes I recently read Umineko and that's another beast but omgggggggggg. Edit: I think I should say I think Umineko did something to my brain but I'm not sure what entirely yet. New hyperfixation unlocked at the very least (also, more gender!)
deltawata
2024-10-30 01:40:34 +0000 UTCTo-Heart would be interesting since you've already covered Leaf's previous two works, and it would be nice to cover something more light hearted. A possible addition to the list is Zeta (and its sequel Nirvana), developed by Will, published by Tonkin House.
cuba200611
2024-10-29 00:08:30 +0000 UTCseconded (also nice icon)
maddie hunter
2024-10-27 04:46:12 +0000 UTCoooooooof, i was really looking forward to shiniyuku kimi 2 as well... i'm sorry to hear it was terrible. bit of an out-of-the-box suggestion, but maybe you could do a video on the one & only super sonico? like her history, or the games and media that's been produced with her as the centerpiece
maddie hunter
2024-10-27 04:45:43 +0000 UTCMy heart belongs to Demons Roots, but Atlach is already a dark yuri so To Heart might be a nice change of pace.
Zerytle
2024-10-24 20:03:42 +0000 UTCI've brought it up, but I'd still absolutely adore seeing you explore Hashihime of the Old Booktown, especially considering how one character ends up handled in it! Though I'd get if it's not your fair (and it has... lows)
shrike
2024-10-24 00:56:14 +0000 UTCDAMN. You’ve always hugely praised Ban’ya, so I can definitely see why you’d be this disappointed. Edgy guro for sake of edgy guro seems like the easiest pitfall to fall into. Personally, I also expected there could be racism (as in “look how exotically exotic this exotic princess from an exotic land is”). But some of these things sound so weird and avoidable? The few happy tracks of Manakashi’s OST already get boring really fast within the scope of their own game (and this is coming from a person who only got 2 endings), and the OST on the whole sounds nothing like something you’d expect from a fantasy game focused on a knight and a princess. And who mashes 2 soundtracks from 2 different games and reuses them for a 3rd one anyway? I wonder whether the team was extremely understaffed, underpaid, exploited, exhausted and struggling with strict deadlines, or just simply no one gave a shit.
mallard duck says quack
2024-10-22 17:36:27 +0000 UTCThe most apparent issue with it for me is the characterization, in that there... really isn't much. The main duo of the brave knight and the innocent princess don't develop beyond their very base personalities, and feel like almost parodies of the characters Ban'ya typically writes -- the knight is dedicated to a comedic and nonsensical degree to her duties, and the princess is repeatedly framed as utterly incompetent and worthless as a person, somebody who needs someone else to tell her everything she has to do or she'll just fuck up and die. It's... almost insulting, to see Ban'ya going from writing smart and resilient women, or at least engagingly incompetent, to bumbling oafs that exist ONLY to get tortured, cry about how bad they are at things and how they need everyone to figure things out for them, and look pretty while doing so. Structurally as well the game is a complete mess. It tries to have a broad scope and wide world, but it feels even more limited than the single manor which Shiniyuku 1 took place in because it bombs at providing the illusion of scale that games like Extravaganza accomplished effortlessly. Scenes also come and go out of nowhere due to the very CYOA psuedo-RPG structure, so the whole plot feels as if it jumps back and forth constantly in a way that's... not disorientating, but very hashed together and makes the already scarce lack of character development even more apparent. Besides that, the entire experience feels cheaply put together. The art is nice as always but that's about it -- the music is reused from Manakashi and Shiniyuku 1 often poorly, the game engine has bizarre performance issues, the scripting varies wildly in quality, the font is cheesy and hard to read at times, and so on... it's just Not Good (tm)
Noelle Aman
2024-10-22 11:25:42 +0000 UTCMakes sense. This genre is already very stigmatised, so maybe it is indeed better to focus on highlighting the best games and challenging the misconceptions. Would you mind summarising in a few more sentences, though, what makes Shiniyuku 2 horrible to such a devastating degree?
mallard duck says quack
2024-10-22 11:11:52 +0000 UTCMinagoroshi no Otome is coming very soon and seems to be something very interesting. It's made by Metalogiq, and Dead End Aegis is already on your list so...
SilentNyle
2024-10-22 09:11:45 +0000 UTCI think To Heart would work best as a late January or early February video because of Valentine's Day. As for suggestions for the list, I was just reminded of the artist Tony Taka the other day, and I thought you could cover one of the VNs he was an artist on as a vehicle to profile his career. It's possible that Genmukan or France Shoujo could tick off the "captivating and interesting titles that go against what people expect from the genre" criteria but I cannot vouch for those titles personally. Other titles I can think of as possible candidates for the list include Amy's Fantasies, Cartaga ~ Tsuki Kurui no Yamai, Kuro no Danshou: The Literary Fragement, Game S.S.D.S. ~ Setsuna no Akogare, Metal Slader Glory (developed by HAL Laboratory), Mugen Yasoukyoku/Nocturnal Illusion, Policenauts (a Kojima game), Saya no Uta, Silent Möbius: Case Titanic (developed by Gainax), Snatcher (another Kojima game), Three Sisters' Story, the Toushin Toshi series (related to Rance), Utawarerumono, YU-NO, and Zanmataisei Demonbane.
Peter Tushar
2024-10-22 04:00:14 +0000 UTCHoping for Tsui or Toheart in January
Victoria Vela
2024-10-22 01:55:57 +0000 UTCMe when you say you won’t cover Shiniyuku Kimi 2 because it sucks: 👁️👄👁️. Also me when you say you might cover Tsui no Sora: 🤓. By the way have you watched that awful Tsui no Sora ova? I tried to track down the studio that made it but I ended up in a dead end. Still don’t know how that got made.
Habibi
2024-10-21 21:40:24 +0000 UTCUnfortunate that Shiniyuku 2 ended up being a lost cause. It would be lovely to see some more otome title reviews from you if any catch your interest, the more dynamic the heroine, the better
Chlob
2024-10-21 20:43:12 +0000 UTCPlease cover Bigaku: Yurika & Asuna for February.
Lael Hochberg
2024-10-21 20:38:53 +0000 UTC
