[OverDrive] KiraKira Visual Novel Review

Since figurines just don't arrive fast enough... or rather, I don't buy enough to keep the blog updated regularly, I decided to start reviewing something else. Although most of the people I know tells me if I'm doing a Japanese hobby blog, why not review anime? Well, that takes alot of effort... I don't know if I can make myself do it. However, visual novels are long, and unlike an episode, they are also less frequent. So I don't have to write too much. Also, I don't know how to upload those pictures which has a screen capture every so many seconds.

So without further ado, let us begin.

Where should I begin... how about at where you can find it? This wasn't a fan sub like some other ones you might have played. You can find it at MangaGamer. There is an all age version, and also an adult (NSFW) version. I played the adult version and I have no idea what changed in the all age version. Therefore, you could say what I played was an eroge.

The Game cover

However I prefer the story over the hentai scenes (H-scenes for short). These scenes are mainly the "making love" part in somebody's life, and any sort of teasing or preparation before that... I want to try to keep this post as family friendly as possible so I am trying to avoid using some words... But as you can see, its very difficult.

I am sure that the MangaGamer site provided a good synposis of what this visual novel was about. But I will write that in my own words, it might be a bit of a spoiler though, so please skip the following paragraph if you feel put off at playing this game after being spoiled.

*Takes a deep breath*
You are a male student at Oubi Academy, a school that provide a very laid back atmosphere for students, one such that promote self learning and self motivation. Your name is Shikanosuke Maejima. You belong to the second literature club at the school as a "ghost member" (one who never shows up). At the start of the game, you break up with your existing girl friend after (undiscussed) disputes and is hurt badly. You work at a restaurant and save up your money for a trip to travel the world because you do not have any thing you wish to spend money on. However, on one of the days of work, you meet a short girl who also wore an Oubi Academy uniform. Her name is Shiino Kirari. She mentions that the club was going to be disassembled at the end of the year because of lack of members and activities (Also, there is a first literature club). Feeling sad, you attend one of the meetings and met the other 2 girls in this story, Kashiwara Sarina and Isurugi Chie. Sarina is a rich girl who has a very refined and calm personality. She is also very quiet and does not tend to speak her mind. She also suffers from an uncurable disease. On the other hand Chie has been Maejima's childhood friend for many years. Unlike Sarina, she likes to tease Maejima for all the little things he does. She has a dark history with her family (ie. Divorce). The plot began not too long after the start of the game, when Maejima tried to stop a dispute in the restaurant and gets knocked out. He was then given 2 tickets to a STAR GENERATION live concert which he went with Shiino. That was the start of the road to being a punk and rock band. It was first suggested by Shiino at the club as a final performance at the cultural festival. However, it was miraculously successful and they decided to go on a Japan tour by car. During this journey you begin to trigger flags and eventually falls in love with one of the 3 girls (amongst other possible "bad" ends).

Main character, Shikanosuke Maejima

Energetic but poor student, Shiino Kirari

Childhood friend, Isurugi Chie

Rich "Ojou-sama", Kashiwara Sarina

But that is the story. Although possibly poorly worded, I believe that should be sufficient without too much spoiler to ruin the game. As for me, I played the route of Kashiwara Sarina because I was taken back by her sweet and calm voice. Normally, I only play the route of the character I want to get to know. Playing twice is ok too (like I did Fate Stay Night), however, many early scenes are recycled even though some choices changed. So I generally dislike playing twice.

Ratings:
Plot: I thought it was very well done. The story could possibly sound real, there are no magic or anything like that. It was something you can relate to. Even if you're not a rocker. The story was also very engaging, it talked about something I personally did not think of, it was "You have to go out and enjoy the world while you're young". I think alot of people, and me included tend to stick closely to education and refusing to take a trip for fun. In this story the 4 friends took matters into their own hands and took a journey. They borrowed a car from another friend, gather up the money they saved and went to wherever they want to go. That is not something I could possibly have done. And I can probably speak for most people that they wouldn't either. I have too many problems with that plan, "What if I got lost", "What do I go if I ran out of money?", "What if...". But in the game, the characters didn't worry about it, "If something goes wrong, we'll think about it then!". Thats the kind of attitude I think not many people have. They had fun on the trip, and although this isn't real (Its just a game), I am envious of them. To me, that gave the story a much bigger impact. The plot was also humourous. I was mainly laughing at the main character and his unhappy reponse to all the bad things that happened to him. The main one being, he had to crossdress as a girl for the duration of the tour. I wasn't really into the "trap" (#3 on urban dictionary) but the pictures of him as a girl looked very real. It was overall really good. But I had wished that the people that they met during the tour who befriended them would come back and make a final grand appearance. It didn't happen. Therefore, the ending was generally boring. It was a happy ending, and I greatly enjoyed the last little bit in Kashiwara's route. However, the last scene right up until the credits, did not go into the couple's future. There was no epilogue either (Unlike Clannad).
4/5

Characters: I probably talked way too much in the plot section so I'll keep the rest simple. The characters were all very loveable with each of them having a story which you would not know unless you were on their root (not 100% sure, I only played 1 route). But I think the general theme of this story behind each character was their families. Sarina had a very sad family member suicide incident. Chie had a family face divorce. Shiino was in a very poor family. The communication between them were also natural and did not feel bizarre.
5/5

Translation: Since I have no idea what visual novels should be ranked by, I'll write about something like their translation. It was generally not bad. The quality though felt like that from a fan sub. As in some of the sentences, I know what it means (because I have a little bit of Japanese understanding), however the subtitles says something different. The problem is not the wording, but information is missing. Also there were a few words that came up again and again. I don't know if its a subtitle problem or maybe the Japanese was written with alot of repetition. "Smiled bitterly" was used alot. I seriously mean ALOT. "Drag" was used alot too to describe Maejima in female clothes.
3/5

CG/HCG: Because this is family friendly, I can't say much at all. But after playing through Sarina's route. I encountered 2 H-scenes with said character as well as 1 H-scene with one of the side characters encountered during the Japan tour. I will assume the other routes would be similar. The CG looks fine, I didn't have anything to dislike or specifically enjoyed. The drawing seemed consistent unlike animes.
4/5

Kirari as vocal and Sarina as guitarist

Overall: I would recommend people to read this visual novel. It is quite long, I didn't time it but I kept thinking it was over, but it wasn't. I find generally visual novels takes a long time to finish. So if you don't have alot of spare time, maybe you wouldn't be interested. But I enjoyed the story and had a great laugh while reading it.
4/5
Maybe after this, I might consider reading more visual novels. If you know a good one, hit me up with a synposis and its name. Thanks!

Image source: MangaGamer