My gawd, those accursed dasaku pirates have finally grabbed my precious ass and stowed away in their cargo hold! I am currently setting sail toward their prison and if you wish to find the cave I am imprisoned in it is somewhere called http://verbalrubbish.oniichannoecchi.com. I am setting up my poor remnants of my belongings as we speak. So until we meet again on the black waters of death!

So I recently read Yukan’s entries of the “Top Studios” and was interested by the furious exchange between 21st Century Digital Boy and TJ Han. Other than providing company history and epic lulz, I dwelled at their comments of the “debate” about Kyo-Ani. Why does this company receive so much hate even though their shows are so popular? Is it because they lack creativity and pander to the otakus with moe characters? Is their fame overshadowing other companies deserving attention and that causes their fans to rage with contempt? I decided to take a look at the issues of success, creativity, and popularity in the eyes of a visual novel reader. I made this decision because Kyo-Ani collaborates with Key to create anime adaptations of Kanon and Clannad which contributes much of their continued success. I will compare with previous game adaptations and reveal my own opinions on why they did not succeed as well. But I will also make judgments based on a viewer who has not read the visual novel too to give balance to my views.

I think a big part that a visual novel reader likes to see in an anime adaptation is for it to be faithful to the game, and not only that, but to keep as much of the original material from the game as possible. Now I’m fully aware that this is an impossible feat considering time constraints. Also, the nature of visual novels usually have more than one story route. So an adaption must make cuts, but it is important not to cut too much that it will detract from the overall experience. However it must also stay entertaining and understandable for a person who has not read the visual novel.

One show that has made this flaw is Tsukihime Lunar Legends. The biggest problem with this anime is that it is only thirteen episodes long. That is insufficient compared to how lengthy the game really is. There are many cuts to not only plot points but also character traits. We don’t get to see the fun, playful side of Arcueid or the tsuntsun behavior of Akiha. The pacing is also lackluster as there are tons of dialogue for long periods of time, huge explanations of vampire lore and the fight scenes were very short. To an anime viewer who has not seen Tsukihime, it will be very boring and confusing. What I can easily say is that Tsukihime the anime does not show much appeal to either reader or nonreader.

So what about an anime that has a large number of episodes to cover the material? How about Da Capo? This anime series had two seasons with over twenty episodes each. However, Da Capo’s problem is completely the opposite of Tsukihime. It was long, slow, and extremely boring. It certainly has the number of episodes to cover the plot of the game, but it was peppered with anime originals which bear no impact to the advancement of the story. If there were episodes that did advance the plot, they would move as slow as molasses. I do not want to watch Junichi be stupidly dense and do nothing as Kotori and Yume pout at each other for an entire season. This is not what I consider entertaining for either reader or nonreader.

So let’s look at an anime that did strike a balance, Fate/Stay Night. This anime kept a reasonable pace throughout its run with the battles, exposition, plot advancement, and character development. To me as a visual novel reader, this anime has proven that it does stay true to the original story and it made good cuts so I almost feel that this is Fate/Stay Night. I say almost because I am still bitter about that one scene replacing HAWT Saber SEXXORZ with a freaking 3D dragon. But in my view as a person first watching this show, it is not too outstanding. There are long periods of time where the characters sit around the table and do nothing but explain about the Holy Grail War. This scene may work in a visual novel, but it is a slog to listen to for an entire episode. I want to see action and things moving in an ACTION series, not a discussion of history. So overall, Fate/Stay Night satisfies my view as a reader, but not as a nonreader.

And now we finally reach to Kyoto Animation’s Kanon and Clannad. I personally think that these two are probably the best visual novel adaptations I have seen. Both Kanon and Clannad cover ALL the routes of their respective visual novel. But not only do they cover them all faithfully, but they are weaved together to keep the viewer engaged and entertained. The transitions between each individual character routes are fluid and the cuts they made do not detract from the overall experience. Kyo-Ani can produce an anime that is able to stay true to Key’s original works and invoke the same humor and emotional impact. In other words, it appeals to both the visual novel reader, and the nonreader. This can also be attributed to their popularity because Kyo-Ani has successfully garnered the attention of two different interest groups.

All right I’ve covered why Kyo-Ani is popular and successful, but what about creativity? The studio has not made a single original series ever since their debut. Aren’t they only creative at showing awesome camera shots of moe characters in burumas? Although that is a valid argument, Kyo-Ani’s creativity is on a much more subtle level. While they do not have crazy color palettes and fantastical imagery like SHAFT, where Kyo-Ani reveals its own originality is in the episode direction and edits.

Take for example, the stranded island episode in Suzumiya Haruhi. There is a scene where Haruhi solves and explains the murder mystery and it could just have several camera pans with a bunch of talking heads like in Fate/Stay Night. Instead they throw in black-and-white flashbacks along with Phoenix Wright references. That is something not often seen and it is a creative way of telling the scene. Another example is the episode of Tomoyo’s tennis match in Clannad. This episode serves as a sign, saying that Kyou and Tomoyo’s routes are shafted. This is understandable since both routes pull Tomoya in romantically. And how do they pull off this major cut? It is by showing the close relationship between the two titular characters throughout the entire series. When Nagisa became sick, Tomoya turned melancholic. When she returns, he showed silent joy. Tomoyo, Kyou, and Ryou realize this and step back, knowing that Nagisa is the one for him. This segment was not in the visual novel at all and was a complete anime original by Kyo-Ani. The insert song Kyo-Ani included was also a nice touch to the mood. I could also mention about the studio’s own style of imagery like the last scenes in the first episode of Clannad’s After Story, but it is much better to actually see it and make your own judgments instead of me talking about it.

So am I just a raving fanboy out to defend his favorite studio? No, I do not buy any of their merchandise, never memorized the Haruhi dance by heart, and I hate Lucky Star. Does it deserve to be one of the best animation studios of its time? That is really up to the viewer. But whether it deserves the hate or not, Kyoto Animation has proven itself that it takes their adaptations seriously and with great care. And that alone deserves respect.

To all my eroge readers, no I have not changed this to an anime blog. I will still rave about the latest eroge releases and continue posting pr0n. I doubt any mainstream anime watchers actually visit this blog, but I do watch anime and I do have my own thoughts on certain topics about it. I guess I want to pretentiously act intelligent and say something serious once in a while.

And so after many delays, I finally finish my raving professional review of Tayutama. This is probably one of the few eroges that I completed one-hundred percent. Was it that good or was I that insane?

Tayutama is Lump of Sugar’s latest offering in 2008. They only made two earlier works which are Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka Todoku Ano Sora Ni, but from my experience they have been excellent. So I waited with great anticipation and wondered if this title will live up to my expectations.

Tayutama is about a boy named Yuuri Mito, the son of a local shrine. While his father wants him to become the successor, he wishes to break away from the family tradition. As he is returning back home, he spots a funny looking thingamabob floating in front of his face. Because of his bloodline, he is sensitive to the spirits of nature and now there is a sudden upsurge in the vicinity. Deciding to check out the source, he heads over to an old monument along with his osananajimi Ameri, and his best bud, Sankuro. Unfortunately an accident with Ameri and a motorcycle sets the entire forest on fire, releasing all the spirits like Pandora’s box.

Now in a crapload of trouble, Yuuri reluctantly turns to Norio Wakamoto his father for aid and it eventually leads him to calling upon the forest god. After doing the necessary rituals he succeeds but because of certain conditions and his previous mishap, she cannot aid him in vanquishing the other spirits and must reincarnate into a child form to rejuvenate her energy. Until then, she is in Yuuri’s care. Looking back at the plot summary, I realize just how ridiculous the entire thing is but the way the story is presented is much better than it seems.

Mito Mashiro (CV: Noriko Rikumaru) is the deity entrusted to Yuuri. She holds old-fashioned traditions and believes in the ideals of being the perfect wife. But don’t think she is a pushover as she absolutely refuses to be married to a weak husband and will beat him up train him for the upcoming trials he must face. Since she has been asleep for hundreds of years, she knows nothing about the current age and new discoveries excites her like the cell phone and the encyclopedia. Even though Mashiro is naive about the current world, she gives a comforting ear and sage advice to Yuuri whenever he is in trouble whether in battle or in his relationships. She can also be very affectionate when she is in the mood. Just thinking about it is giving me MOE SEIZURES!

Kawai Ameri (CV: Simoda Asami)  is Yuu’s osananajimi. She has a fun-loving personality and together with Sankuro, they are a close trio of friends. Yuuri used to have feelings for Ameri but for reasons unexplained, she moved to a different junior high school and never contacted him. Yuuri thought she never had feelings for him and when he gave up they meet again in high school. They regained their friendship but it has never went beyond that. Yuuri and Ameri really like to throw verbal jabs at each other and have a brutally honest understanding between them. The only thing that Yuuri doesn’t know is the truth of Ameri’s feelings.

Takanashi Yumina (CV: Kaori Mizuhashi) used to be Yuuri’s distant cousin but their connection broke when his mother died. Since then she has been adopted under a different name and is attending the same school as Mifuyu (see below). However, Yumina still holds him in high regard and calls him “oniisama”. She does not have much self-confidence and automatically believes in the worst possible outcome in almost any situation. This will make her hysterically ramble into a state of tears, sometimes going completely off the original topic. I guess you can call her an unofficial osananajimi. And yes, for reasons too complicated to explain right away, she does split into three during one ero-scene.

Kisaragi Mifuyu (CV: Shizuka Itou) is an ojousama attending a prestigious, all-girl high school situated next to the common, mixed gender school Yuuri attends. Consequently, that is also where most of the education funds go to. Mifuyu is confident, self-assured and thoroughly grounded in reality. So when Yuuri points out that recent accidents have been caused by supernatural phenomenon she can’t help but look at him in disbelief or he is some crazy madman. Mifuyu also develops a bit of a sadistic characteristic should Yuuri pursue her if you know what I mean.

As always with Lump of Sugar titles, the artwork is stunning. The artist, Moekibara Fumitake, shows off his magic touch with fappable alluring bishoujos. The presentation is a step up from usual eroges. Switching between menus reveal quick portfolios of the heroines with a quick “snap”. The characters’ facial expressions zoom in on the screen in half-sized boxes with “exclamation points” over their heads just like Persona 3. The music is not ground-breaking fantastic, but it is very good and fits the mood. I personally liked the regular school theme with it’s techno-beat and piano solo. (Okay I admit it. I like techno and piano so give me a break.) There is also a vocal rendition for each heroine’s theme song sung by the seiyuus themselves in the music box under the extras section which was a nice treat. Each heroine has four ero-scenes and they can range from tender lovemaking to dark ravaging to the outright bizarre. It certainly brings a variety to people with different tastes. One ero-scene had Yuuri walking into the next room, suprising Mashiro with a passionate kiss while she was undressing herself and leading her to the bath to make joyful noises together. Yet another one with Ameri had him go wild with adult gizmos and drove her to the brink of insanity from the stimulation. Whether she enjoyed it or not she won’t say, at least not in front of Yuuri’s face.

While the story of Tayutama is very entertaining and has it’s emotional twists and turns, it is also rather linear. I found myself skipping through much of the story because I have seen it already except for the ero-scenes, but that is only for the very lengthy trunk. The branches of each heroine are not very long but they are also not very short and each one is a good read. Personally I enjoyed Lump of Sugar’s previous titles more, but overall I am satisfied with Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity and it is a worthy addition to be added among their small but prominent number of titles.

Another obligatory picture of Mashiro because she is obviously superior compared to the rest of the cast.

That is some killer aura there.

I found out about Concerto Note after it has been announced for release and I have already snatched it up. Hey, it’s got Kresnik’s fingerprints all over it!

This eroge was produced by Applique-Soft, (why do so many companies have “soft” in it’s name?) and this is only it’s second release. The characters are attractive to look at and it there is quite a number of famous seiyuus voicing them, or at least ones that I’m familiar with. These include: Kuwashima Rino, Hiroko Taguchi, Haruka Nagami, Miru, Kazane, and Yui Sakakibara. Though I think the biggest reasons why I picked this eroge was because it possibly has Kuwashima Rino voicing as a cooldere/tsundere osananajimi and Kazane voicing as a maid. Yes, I am a shallow person and I’m not afraid to show it!

It just so happens that Rino’s character, Kannagi Rito, has a lot of cool and a sprinkle of tsun but not much dere. If she does, than she is hiding it very well. She does care about him as a friend, but that seems to be all. I’m guessing later on if I choose to go on her route it may turn out differently but it is certainly a surprising change. So far, I have reached to the introduction of Tama and will continue on with this odd development.

NONDERE OSANANAJIMI?!? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?

Well I did say last time that I am still struggling around with these newfangled options in Daibanchou and after much random clicking and scouring the net for clues, I mostly got the hang of the district chapter. I won’t deny the fact that I stink at micromanagement but I am becoming somewhat capable after a few dozen tries of experimentation. The district chapter pits you between two factions, a bunch of big, black-suited guys and a biker gang with hair that could stab people. What I unwittingly didn’t realize was that defeating one of the factions determines the route I will proceed on. I originally wanted to go on Senna’s route but I slaughtered the biker gang leader and that makes me locked on Kunagi’s route instead. I also haven’t saved in a while so that’s the route I’m going on after all. I swear it wasn’t on purpose Hemi!

Though to be frank, I’m pretty sure I knew this information before, but maybe I just unconsciously wanted to beat up the bike gang leader in the first place for a variety of reasons.

A. His subordinates are lustful scumbags. Under blackmail, they ravaged the hot milf, Senpuuji Kyouko, and were about to assault Kongoumaru Aya before I massacred them.

B. He attacked my base first.

C. His bishounen-like face irritates me. Hell even his name, Idagawa Ren, sounds bishounen.

D. He doesn’t ride a motorcycle even though he is the leader of a motorcycle gang.

E. The other faction leader, Kongoumaru Sanzou, wears an old-fashioned telephone dial for a belt buckle and that’s cool. It’s probably the only reason why I spared his life.

By the way, I’m just too lazy to take actual screenshots of the characters since ninety-nine percent of the CG’s are ero and so I’m blatantly ripping them off of Alicesoft wiki. If you actually know crap about this game or any other from Alicesoft, than by all means help contribute. Hooray for shameless plugging!

Now I need to seriously contemplate on whether I want this freak in my party.

I'm not stealing Kunagi away! HONEST!

So while on mirc I thought I might as well install Daibanchou since Hemisphere keeps raving about how awesome it is and fanboying over Kunagi, in other words, his usual spiel. After finishing through the school chapter, I have to say that it is awesome. I sure as hell didn’t know what I was doing, but with Hemi’s rabid ramblings I was able to somehow trudge through in victory. Honestly, I’m not sure if I would do a ramble review about this since Hemisphere already did, unless you guys want to see me go off in another fanboying tirade.

This does require a bit of a learning curve and especially for someone who does not know what any of the options initially do. I’m still trying to figure out what all these buttons do and now they’re giving me BP (monies) to manage and I must find MOAR buttons on how to distribute the darn thing. I feel like I’m playing Civilization when I’d rather be playing Age of Empires, or “powering up” Kannagi and Sanae, or both.

Would I rather be doing this?

Or this?

However, I will not be so easily deterred and will pressing on Kunagi’s butto-er, I mean figuring out the rest of the gameplay and will triumph over this tall obstacle! Under the flag of ero-ero, I will persevere!