VN Reading Club March 2016: Ayakashibito

[rahrah 32]

http://i.imgur.com/b2sZHZi.png

 

A record low people of 15 voted!!! But hopefully all 15 of you are actually committed to reading the visual novel. Ayakashibito won the vote with 8 of the votes.

 

 

Ayakashibito:

https://vndb.org/v646

 

 

In face of human technological advancement during the Meiji Restoration, the youkai of Japan were forced to make a hard decision:

1) To remain as youkai and watch over the land

2) To return to the netherworld

3) To give up their power and status as youkai and live amongst humans.

 

While there were some that chose otherwise, the majority of the youkai decided it was best to become human. It was tough, but as time passed these youkai were able to blend in with the human world and live peacefully amongst them.

 

However, blood is thicker than water. The offspring of these youkai displayed the powerful abilities of their ancestors in times of great anxiety, often manifesting in horrible and dangerous ways, and were labeled by society as monsters.

Officially their condition was named "Acquired Systemic Special Heredity variety Syndrome", or "ASSHS" for short and treated as a non-contagious illness, but the common people began to refer to them as Jinyous (half-youkai) nevertheless.

 

Of these Jinyous, most were sent to Kamizawa City: an isolated urban area walled off from the rest of Japan to keep all the Jinyous together and away from the human population. However, the ones that were deemed especially dangerous were sent to a medical facility on an uncharted island near the shores of Japan where they would be under constant surveillance.

 

Takabe Ryouichi was one of those who were sent to said island at the age of five. This is a story about him along with the girl called Suzu, his only friend on the island, escaping to Kamizawa city to live a normal life. What they didn’t expect was that Suzu carried a secret that attracted much unwanted attention…

 

You got 4 days to download the game and finish up last month's novel Noble Works.

 

Discuss all the lovely things you have about the visual novel here. Who is the real waifu. Please use spoiler tags as necessary.

[Acrobot 11]

Well sat down and got about an hour or so in, I like the way the story sets itself up so far. Not feeling the soundtrack though I must admit, had to turn it down. Can't say much about the characters this early in but Suzu seems interesting enough. Hope you don't mind a lot of little short posts as I'm going to have to read this one is small bits as I find the time.

[rahrah 32]

Well sat down and got about an hour or so in, I like the way the story sets itself up so far. Not feeling the soundtrack though I must admit, had to turn it down. Can't say much about the characters this early in but Suzu seems interesting enough. Hope you don't mind a lot of little short posts as I'm going to have to read this one is small bits as I find the time.

 

I played about a half hour myself but I agree that the soundtrack seems very meh so far. I was definitely expecting something better.

 

And feel free to make as many short posts as you'd like!

[Cynicade 13]

I'm more annoyed by the tiny resolution than the bland soundtrack. At least the music can be change.

[rahrah 32]

I'm more annoyed by the tiny resolution than the bland soundtrack. At least the music can be change.

 

I'm so used to visual novels with small resolutions that its no bother to me.

[Cynicade 13]

I'm so used to visual novels with small resolutions that its no bother to me.

 

It is the eye strain that bothers me. I'm already a bit near-sighted from reading it for about an hour.

[Acrobot 11]

It is a game that shows its age but the story so far I have no complaints about.

[SomeGuy 10]

I got in and played for about an hour and I see what you mean about the soundtrack. It isn't bad, it's just that it's not that good either. It also seems to have a lot of action in it compared to many of the VNs I've read (not that I've read much VNs). The small size of the window also kind of bothers me but putting it into fullscreen fixes that issue. So far, it seems quite promising.

[SolemnHat 10]

Just found out that another user has a similar name to my other account so I created a new one so as to not confuse anyone or cause any trouble. So I wanted to let you guys know I'll be posting on this account instead. (My old account's name was "SomeGuy", which was very similar to the name of someone else named "Some guy")

[rahrah 32]

Just found out that another user has a similar name to my other account so I created a new one so as to not confuse anyone or cause any trouble. So I wanted to let you guys know I'll be posting on this account instead. (My old account's name was "SomeGuy", which was very similar to the name of someone else named "Some guy")

 

Haha very odd coincidence.

 

I'm going to try to read a bit more tonight. Haven't read anymore since I last posted.

[jasonthe13 12]

i like the story

 

1 of the ost is kinda nice for me

[SolemnHat 10]

Minor spoilers (not really):

 

 

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

No of course not, it's totally normal. There's absolutely nothing absurd about that.

[Acrobot 11]

It's beginning to frustrate me at this point. There is so much backstory going on that it feels like the story is just not getting anywhere. There's nothing wrong with any of it as such but there is just way too much of it for my tastes.

 

 

Gotten through the story about how suzu's mother died and the two of them joining the student council so I'm hoping most of the backstory is out of the way now.

 

[Acrobot 11]

Either a major plot spoiler or just a dumb thought I had.

 

 

Playing along and something just clicked. At the little welcome to the student council party and suddenly realized that the brother and sister on the council, Touko and Shuugen, are gonna wind up being the same person aren't they?

 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Acrobot

[Acrobot 11]

The story has started to pick up now that I've gotten through most of the backstory though still more of that coming later on I suppose.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/lEgDmL3.png

 

 

Well called that one and I'm guessing there is going to be a really awkward scene down the road because of this.

 

[SolemnHat 10]

There isn't really anything awkward down the road, the people in the student council know about it anyway and the MC kinda just accepts it. Not sure what would happen if you went down Touko's route though. I'm only a bit into Tonya's route and to be honest you don't much of Touko, mainly it's just Shuugen.

[Acrobot 11]

There isn't really anything awkward down the road, the people in the student council know about it anyway and the MC kinda just accepts it. Not sure what would happen if you went down Touko's route though. I'm only a bit into Tonya's route and to be honest you don't much of Touko, mainly it's just Shuugen.

 

 

Well I'm doing Touko's route first, and I got to think there's a awkward conversation after a sex scene in there somewhere. And I know it won't happen but what if she transformed during?

 

[Acrobot 11]

Managed to finish Touko's route, and for the most part it was an enjoyable read. Without going into spoilers, there were a number of dangling plot threads that annoyed me though I imagine playing the other routes would clear most of those up.

[SolemnHat 10]

Just finished both Tonya and Touko's routes. And I have to say, Touko's route seems a lot more "serious" than Tonya's route (in a good way). However, Tonya's route was a lot funnier and it was kinda touching (just a bit). Unfortunately, no major plot details were revealed in Tonya's route but I heard that Kaoru's route has a lot of backstory to it so I might start her route if I have the time.

Edited March 18, 2016 by SolemnHat

[Acrobot 11]

Almost done with Kaoru's route and I'm enjoying it a bit more than I did Touko's route. You get a lot more of what's going on with Dominion and the search for the MC so those characters don't simply fall out of the story until the end. Keeps the story from dragging down as much. The only complaint I would have is that it goes back over the same ground (why she betrayed the MC) more times than it really needed to I'd say.

 

Been saving the Tonya route for last as she seems the most intriguing character of the bunch. Thinking it will be the one I enjoy the most, though will have to be really good as I'm enjoying Kaoru's route quite a lot so far.

 

 

Given the fact that she's the only one of the characters that is given a scene (the early scene in the diner) before the MC and Suzu meet her, I'm guessing a lot more is going on with her than meets the eye. Plus the inevitable sparks with her and Suzu for humor along the way, should be an enjoyable read I'm guessing.

 

 

Oh and it's gotten awfully lonely in this thread lately. Would have posted more but was waiting for others to chime in.

[Acrobot 11]

Finished up Karou's route and overall I enjoyed it much more than Touko's route. Even with my minor complaints all and all I really enjoyed the route with the back and forth between the two points of view.

 

 

Though for me it suffers from the same issue in that one of the main villain's the game sets up early simply doesn't appear. In Touko's route no mention is made as to what happens with Chuu ,and Ten is taken out easily by the new character introduced. In Karou's route Chuu simply surrenders and Ten never appears at the end so both are still alive. Presume the same will happen in Tonya's route as well leaving all the dangling plot threads for Suzu's route.

 

[SolemnHat 10]

Yeah, in Tonya's route Chuu and Ten aren't mentioned at all. To be honest, the whole route has more to do with her problems than anything else (you'll get what I mean when you read the route).

Edited March 21, 2016 by SolemnHat

[Acrobot 11]

Started on Tonya's route already and going to try to finish it up quickly if possible, going to be hard to find time for it after the next few days.

 

 

It's enjoyable for as much as I've read so far though the 'brother' isn't nearly as funny to me as they thought he would be I imagine. Also I'm guessing the one unknown character that still shows in the system tab is going to be Tonya's sister? Good bet that won't work out all that well for Tonya.

 

[Acrobot 11]

Enjoyed Tonya's route all and all, though I think I still enjoyed Karou's route a bit more.

[jasonthe13 12]

Tonya has a weird....creepy face for me in her route....completely ruin her character for me lol...