MINORU'S BLOG

You want a post about Kara no Shoujo 2? Here, have this post about Kara no Shoujo 2.
Quote from vndb:

Prewar-era Japan.
Deep in the snowy mountains of northwestern Japan, there exists a settlement called Hitogata, the Village of Dolls. On the night of the festival honoring the clay idol Hinna-sama, a girl is murdered.
The villagers all blame Hinna-sama's curse. One outside the faith has joined in the festival of Hinna-sama, and brought the painful death of the curse down upon themself. 

October, Showa 32.
Two years have passed since Touko Kuchiki's abduction from her hospital room.
Reiji Tokisaka's younger sister saves a man who had tried to commit suicide.
He, too, is the most recent victim of "Hinna-sama's curse"——
As the country moves ever closer toward war, Reiji Tokisaka begins his investigation, clinging desperately to the hope that Touko can be saved——
And at the same time, a strange religious group said to have dissolved six years ago begins to move again, to put a certain plan into motion——
The curse will be carried out, whether by the gods or by human hands.

Holyshit, Kara no Shoujo is back! Expect more despair and cute girls getting torn apart!

It is implied that the sequel takes place after True End of the first game. You know how that one ended right? It is confirmed that once again we will be assumed the role of Reiji. Some characters will make comeback as well.

So here's what I expect from the sequel:
1. Touko.
2. More bizzare murders.
3. More suffering. Guaranteed.
4. More asshole antagonists. You know I genuinely hated the antagonists from the first one with every litre of my blood. I expect the same if not more from this.
5. Touko. The one and only perfect waifu material.
6. Everyone's and their grandmas' favorite imouto Yukari is alive at the end of game. Who am I kidding.
7. English release. This is the most important. Although I can try (and of course failed) to read the japanese version with the help of software and a little piece of my brain cell, the experience is just not the same as reading the english one because of more understanding.
8. Did I mention Touko already?

The release date for Kara no Shoujo 2 is February 8th 2013. Let's hope the world won't end at December because I need to read this. For the time beings, have these teaser pictures.

My face after finishing Alternative

Wow. That was my first reaction after finishing Muv-Luv Alternative, thus completing the Muv-Luv trilogy. I feel like I just experienced one of the most epic tale ever told in visual novel medium. Everything about Alternative was just exceptional. It really lives up to the expectations.

If you've never heard about the franchise, let me tell you briefly about it. The main story consists of three titles: Muv-Luv Extra, Muv-Luv Unlimited, and Muv-Luv Alternative. Extra narrates the life story of normal high school boy Takeru Shirogane. It's just a typical harem story full of its hijinks and cliches. His life turned 180 degree in Unlimited, after he somehow ended up in alternate world where there exist aliens called BETA which raped (har har!) the humanity so hard. For more info about these two titles read my Muv-Luv review.

It's safe to say that the purpose of Extra and Unlimited are just to set up the settings and characters for Alternative. The story of Alternative was built with Unlimited as its base. In Alternative, Takeru found out that he was thrown back to the beginning of Unlimited but he retained his memories of the events happened in Unlimited. He then tried to prevent what happened in the ending of Unlimited. But it was easier said than done.

The exact moment when everything just went tumbling down

The first half of Alternative was some sort of new game plus for Takeru as he was already familiar with all of the events plus he kept his trained body so he never got in the trouble again. The story almost same as the first half of Unlimited but with minor changes. At one point, the story changed into a new direction. New events kept coming and coming. And boy were they horribly depressing.

Yes, as expected, Muv-Luv Alternative has this depressing tone all over it. Well maybe it's not as grimdark as let's say Saya no Uta but it's still depressing nonetheless. While Extra is funny, Unlimited has heavier atmosphere but still lighthearted, Alternative has this sense of helplessness. You can't do anything with its story. You just keep watching horrible things happen and happen again but you can't stop it. For me most of this feeling came after experiencing the infamous PTSD arc.

The amount of mecha actions and battle scenes were satisfying. I once said that I was disappointed with the lack of real battle in Unlimited. Fortunately Alternative paid it off with its incredibly animated mecha battles.  Honestly I've never been a mecha fan in my life. But after playing Muv-Luv I can't deny that those TSF designs were sexy as hell. Especially the Takemikazuchis.

The soundtracks are superb. They're very high quality orchestra music. I still got a goosebump everytime I listen to the OST. Well I am listening to them as I type this and it makes me pumped up as hell. I love them especially the battle themes (there are bunch of them). Also, the OP was done by JAM Project and it's gar as hell. I never skipped the OP once in all my playtime.

"However, by that point you'll have been torn to pieces."

Well, before this post gets too long I'll let it finish with a word of encouragement for you to read Muv-Luv as soon as possible. Especially if you're a fan of science and giant robots. Honestly I'm not even a fan of both but I still enjoy it like a motherfucking ice cream on a hot summer day. I give Muv-Luv Alternative a perfect 10/10 for all the effort it gave to entertain me in the best possible way. Thank you age for this amazing visual novel and thank you Amaterasu for translating it. I'll never forget the experience of reading the Muv-Luv trilogy.

(Man, I don't know what the fuck I was writing. Please forgive me since I wrote this draft at 2 AM)

Sooo yeah, I kinda finished this visual novel this morning and want to give my two cents about it a bit (or call it half-assed review if you wish).

I was hearing one or two good things about this title a few years ago but I did not try it until a few days ago. Only recently did I get interested in it again with the recent Total Eclipse anime. There's also sudden influx of Muv-Luv threads on /a/ from time to time so I decided to give it a go. (Yeah yeah I know, jumping the bandwagon)

This VN consists of two part, Muv-Luv Extra and Muv-Luv Unlimited. You play as Shirogane Takeru, your average main character guy. The Extra part is similar to countless harem eroge. Its setting is normal Japan. There's your osananajimi, sudden love interest, and school life comedy. Muv-Luv Unlimited is, however, set in post-apocalyptic Japan where Alien race pretty much destroyed half of Earth population. There's mecha and some cool shit.

Muv-Luv Extra plays exactly like a normal visual novel do. You have to choose one of  five available heroines. There's nothing sensational about its plot or whatsoever. It just feels okay I guess. The characters are pretty funny (although some are pretty annoying). The romance part was done alright. After you finish with two main heroines route (Meiya and Sumika) you unlocked the second part of Muv-Luv, Unlimited.

In Muv-Luv Unlimited, you wake up one day and realize something is wrong. You get out of your house and find a crapsack world. Turned out the humankind is in the middle of crisis, an alien race called BETA invaded the Earth and destroyed everything in their path. Takeru found out his shool has turned into a military base and all his friends are well-trained soldiers. In short, this is an alternative world which revolves around a hypotetical question "what happens when you put standard harem VN casts into a post-apocalyptic world?"

I find Unlimited to be pretty cool thought it's kinda dragged a bit in some parts. Here you can find cute girls wearing military uniform, eating snakes in wild jungle, sniping with anti-material rifle, and guess what, riding a robot! Yes, the scientists in Unlimited world invented mecha called TSF to fight the BETA. Well, one of the biggest disappointing part is that you don't actually fight the BETA in Unlimited. Unlimited is a world/setting builder part of the Muv-Luv series, while Extra is characters introduction part. The real meat is the sequel which I intend to play next, Muv-Luv Alternative.

To be honest, if you really don't have much time at hand but still want to get into Muv-Luv you can skip Extra and Unlimited altogether and just read through Alternative. Still, almost everyone say that you need to read Extra and Unlimited first if you want to get full experience in Alternative.

Anyway, I can't wait to read Alternative and get all those feels or whatnot (I heard it's pretty depressing). For Muv-Luv itself, I give it a 8.

So I'm in holiday and I thought that these are good times to start working through my countless backlogs. These include anime, manga and video games backlog. These are several of them that I already completed.

Anime
Black Lagoon (and sequels)
Honestly I've never watch the anime before. It doesn't really matter since I've already read the manga hundred times. Still, seeing those run 'n gun sequences are one of the thing you cannot miss if you are a fan of action genre. My favorite arc is the one that involving the twins.
Rating:
Black Lagoon: 9/10
The Second Barrage: 9/10
Roberta's Blood Trail: 8/10

Texhnolyze
Bloody hell. This must be one of the most depressing anime I've ever watched. Literally everyone dies in the end. Whoops, sorry to spoil you. I like the atmosphere of this show. The dark town of Lux, the sewer, the "Outside World", those places really feels alive to me. This anime is definitely need to be rewatched someday.
Rating: 9/10

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
It's one of those anime that you can't really find its weakness. Everything feels perfectly fine. Intense action, smart conversation, amazing characters, you name it. However I gave it a 9 out of 10, just because I'm an ass. Sure, it is a perfect anime but not my favorite so I can't give it a full score.
Rating: 9/10

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Bide your time... And hold out hope! Another one that close to being perfect. Once I start watching it I'm always on the edge of my seat. The Count is a fascinating character. He's so manipulative that I always feel he's going to be a great villain in other anime. I haven't read the original story ye but I'm planning to do so (after I'm done with Les Miserables).
Rating: 9/10

Kaiji
ざわ‥ ざわ‥
Rating: 8/10 (for losing his ear and fingers)

Moyashimon
You can call it some kind of preparation before watching the second season. But honestly I can't really say that it's that great. Sure it's a nice comedy and there are cute microbes here and there (I mean, microbes! Cute!) but that's all it can offer.
Rating: 8/10 (I was going to give it a 7 but a plus for the cute tranny.

Diebuster
Not really much to say here since I'm still on episode 2.

Crest of the Stars
Idem with above. I already fall in love with the setting of this one though.

Manga
Akame ga Kill
It's pretty fun to read. Typical shonen stuff except it comes with some violent twist. The characters are OK. Still ongoing currently at chapter 26.

Cute girl killing each other: The Manga

Dowman Sayman
He's a great mangaka that I've yet to known until recently. One of his famous work is Voynich Hotel. Currently reading that. Also, finished his other work called Nickelodeon Red. It's weird stuff but I love it. His style reminds me of Kumeta (of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei fame).

Inio Asano
I'm also re-reading some of Inio Asano's stuff like Solanin and Hikari no Machi. Still great as always. Especially Nijigahara Holograph. I cannot bring myself to re-read Punpun though, that's too hard for my mind and soul ;_;

Video Games
Hitman Blood Money
Man, this game kicks so much ass. That final mission in funeral was really awesome. Too bad some of the missions were too easy (the one in house with pool also the wedding) while the other were just plain great. My favorite way to kill? Pushing some old guy off the balcony.
Score: 9/10

Merry Christmas to you too, 47

Bioshock
Would you kindly stop praising Bioschock so much? Hell, I wouldn't. Because it deserves the praise. Definitely one of the most immersive FPS to date since Half Life 2. Also, the final boss fight was one of my most memorable moment in video game. Where else you can find a game that let little girls help you fight the boss?
Score: 9/10

The Walking Dead Episode 2
RIP Mark (and his leg). I won't miss you since I don't even know you well.
Score: 8/10

Crysis
Currently playing this shit. It's fun (obviously), great looking (even for today standard), and the most important you can explore anywhere on the map. The only downside is the boring mission. "Player, go to the place I marked with X on the map!" "Player, infiltrate the enemy base but don't make too much noise!" No fuck you, I won't listen to you. I'm gonna bomb the hell outta the place, I hope you fine with that.
Score: 8/10

Visual Novel
Not much to write here, I'm only planning to read Muvluv but still can't find the right time to do it.

Hello guys, long time no see, etc etc. These several weeks had been some sort of hell for me, I didn't have any passion to write anything nor did I find something interesting to blog. However those days are finally over and I've sorted some things and I hope I can start writing again.

Yesterday I heard Witch-Hunt released the English patch for the trial version of Ryukishi07's new work Rose Guns Days. You can't really call me a die-hard fan of R07 but I do enjoy all of the stuffs he wrote. I also a bit curious with Rose Guns Days so I decided to give it a try.

The story is pretty straightforward: set in 1947, after Japan losing WWII because of natural disaster. American and Chinese are everywhere, since they are "helping" the Japones. The main character Leo are searching for job when he stumbles upon a young lady in trouble. He helps her and she offers him a job to become her bodyguard. (Well, it's not exactly like that but you get the point)

To sum up my impression after reading the trial: it was definitely interesting. The main character Leo is quite likeable. He's like a bastard child of Spike Siegel and Dante. The rest of the casts are so far so good too. I still cannot predict where the story is going but I can see its potential. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that this visual novel has some sort of mini game where you "attack and defend" in a fight. Not very entertaining, I say. Fortunately the mini game doesn't last long (only one or two minutes).

That's what I want to believe

I've been putting up this visual novel on hold for too long. I remember I've never passed that gruesome scene during the first minute. However several days ago, somehow I did manage to read it till finished.


Depressing. That's probably the closest word to describe my opinion about Saya no Uta. Word after word, scene by scene passed, I felt like a sword had been plunged into my heart, leaving a large hole in my chest. The tragedy that appeared only got worse and worse as the game goes on. When you got the gist about what happened behind all the tragedies, it was at that time Saya no Uta began to strike hard. Really hard.

The story is about a guy who, because of an accident, had to undergo a brain surgery to save his life. However his perception of the world began to change after the surgery. The world he saw was a bloody world (literally) and the people looked and talked like a monster to him. He almost driven to suicide but one day he met a beautiful girl named Saya, among the flesh-covered walls.


As you may see, this is not a nice and fluffy fairy tale. This is a tragic story, filled with blood and tears. I'm sure the content is able to make a normal person shivers. Yes, there are gore, rape, murder and among others, cannibalism. If one of those words makes you cringe then probably you should stay away from this VN.

As a visual novel, Saya no Uta is a rather brief one. It only took me about a day to finish it. During the story I counted a grand total 4 choices available which means you only meet two branching plots. For the ending, well, none of them can be called 'happy'. There are 3 endings and every one of them is quite memorable for me. They were those type of ending that made my mind went blank, and I felt an emptyness in my heart.


Overall, Saya no Uta is an excellent visual novel. It was able to stir my mood up and down (mostly down). It, however, hadn't able to top Kara no Shoujo which left me a very bad aftertaste and made me feel down for the rest of week. And don't even get me started on Yume Miru Kusuri. But still, Saya no Uta is one little gem that you shouldn't miss. I heard its fan-translated patch is getting licensed by JAST, but I'm sure you still can find it somewhere on the interwebz. Not that I support piracy though.

I rarely talk about visual novel but when I do I prefer to talk about Katawa Shoujo. After 5 years in the making, it's finally out. Go download it now. It costs you nothing! Thank you very much Four Leaf Studios for your hard work, you guys rock!

As you may know, these several days I've been fascinated by this visual novel titled Kara no Shoujo. Kara no Shoujo is a really great visual novel that can be considered as the best eroge I've ever played thus I feel like writing a full-length review to this wonderful piece of eroge. Also, SPOILER WARNING!! A few things will surely get spoilered here. I can't avoid that, so if you planning to play this game soon read this review at your own risk.

Kara no Shoujo is created by Innocent Grey, an eroge company which has an unusual taste when it comes to their games theme. Their works usually involved with murder, gore, and violence which are totally different from mainstream eroge that generally only focused in romance genre. They already have several products that contain murder mystery theme, some of them are Cartagra (Which shares some characters with Kara no Shoujo), Caucasus and of course Kara no Shoujo.

Kara no Shoujo is maybe the most famous of all Innocent Grey works. It originally released in Japan only in 2008. Sometimes later, a fan translation came up with a translation (duh) of Kara no Shoujo but apparently the translation patch was taken later due to complain from Innocent Grey. Fortunately MangaGamer, a famous visual novel publisher in US which is famous for their Kira Kira and Higurashi English release; collaborated with the fan translation and promised to bring Kara no Shoujo to English speaking audience. It was finally released in full English in 6/29.

As I mentioned earlier, Kara no Shoujo has darker elements compared to your everyday eroge. it contains gore and violence, coupled with several H-scenes thus making this visual novel targeted to 18+ audience and of course, they must have a strong stomach. When I said gore and violence I don't mean a weak guro stuff. Here is an example of the gore aspect in Kara no Shoujo: in a murder that happened earlier in the game, a girl was killed brutally by cutting her arm, twisting her neck backward, then the killer proceed to removing her uterus and placing a crushed black egg shell in her abdomen. You're still here? Good. That is only one of many horrifying scenes in this game. You should probably be prepared if you want to play this game badly.

One thing that makes me interested in playing Kara no Shoujo is the whole detective story premise. I am a sucker for detective stories. I really love deducting and speculating in a mystery genre. The fact that Kara no Shoujo main character is a private detective made me eagerly waiting to play this game. As for the gore aspect, I'm actually not really into guro. I probably don't have any balls to play this game if I were to play this game, like two years ago. But recently I've read some guro manga by Shintaro Kago and Uziga Waita, so now my body is more than ready. The violence in this visual novel is a walk in the park compared by those manga but let's leave this matter for another time.

Story
The story takes place in Tokyo, Japan several years after WWII. More accurately March 1956, ten years after Japan's defeat in the war. You played as Tokisaka Reiji an ex-cop who is now working as a private detective. One day, he meets a mysterious girl in a park who asked him "Mr. Detective, I have a job request for you. I want you to find my true self." Confused by the sudden strange request, he had no choice but to accept it. Then later his old police friend Uozumi comes up and asks him if he interested in solving a murder case that happened recently. In this murder case, the victim is killed in a gruesomely way and the body parts are dismembered. This case reminds Reiji of an almost similar unsolved case six years ago which he had lost his fiancee in that incident. So he accepts the challenge and they works together to solve the case.

Another job request comes up, now from a vice principal of Ouba Girls Academy. This is the prestigious all girls school where Reiji's little sister attends to and the vice principal is concerned about two students that mysteriously vanished. He wants Reiji to investigate the disappearance of those two and asks him to be a temporary teacher so he can investigate the case easier. There in Ouba Girls Academy he meets the girl once again. Kuchiki Toko, his first client who asked him to find her true self.

But the body count continues to rise. And now he must acts quickly before another murder happens.

There you have the synoptic. Barely even tell anything about the game. One sure thing is the story is told in a mature way. The fact that the protagonist is somewhere in his thirty doesn't help. It's refreshing to see the world in a rather adult way. I'm bored with the usual teen angst and emo bullshit in eroge. That being said even though this is obviously an eroge, the main objective is not to hook up with you favorite girl instead you must solve the case so there won't be another victim. Sure, there are some H-scenes for you fappers but that's not the main selling point of Kara no Shoujo.

Despite the story is set in 1956, there are some modern vibes here and there. I'm not sure why Japan doesn't look like a country that just lost in WWII. The Ouba Girls Academy uniform seems pretty western-ish. And there is also a western-style cafe which has maids and stuffs. If you told me the story happened in 90's I'd believe it. The only thing they lacked are, you know, cell phone and TV.

The plot is surely deep and intricate as well as dark and disturbing. And that is even an understatement, because the complexity of the storyline will get much more as you proceed toward the ending. All the loose thread will eventually get clearer once you know the truth. The quality of the writing and translation is brilliant. This is one of the best story I've ever read and that says a lot. There are also some references to old literature work such as Dante's Divine Comedy. Also don't forget the suspense is always there. As the body count increased you'll realized that you must be the one who stop this madness once and for all.

Death in this visual novel is inevitable. Just deal with it. There was a time when you feel like you could save a certain person if you pick a right choice. Sure, in some parts. But in general, the death of the characters is pretty much written in stone thus you can't save them no matter what path you've taken. It makes me went to full zetsubou mode the first time I discovered one of my favorite heroine died in a horrible way. I punched my room wall in fury, cursing whoever wrote this tragic story that makes me raging pretty hard. Until I realized that I will move on with it, hoping there will be a happy ending waiting for me at the end of the game. And boy am I wrong. Really wrong.

There are several endings, particularly four normal endings. And of course, there are also bunch of bad endings, which are very easy to get if you don't pay attention to the case. There is one true ending, but I can't say that this is a happy ending though. I won't spoil it further but it's safe to describe the true ending as bittersweet ending. However don't let that fact makes you avoid playing Kara no Shoujo. The endings, even the bad ones are very well-written. Some particular bad ends could make your mouth hanging in shock, but as well leave you some food for thought. The normal and true endings, needless to say is very beautiful. It just 'that' beautiful it makes me glad I'm alive to read a memorable story like this one. There is one particular ending (the 3rd one) that literally moved me to tears. Not only because it's sad but also because it made me emotionally involved with the ending.

Okay I think it's enough for story. Now move to the gameplay.

Gameplay
The general gameplay is obviously similar to the usual visual novel. You read walls of text and at certain point you have given several choices and you must choose one to proceed.

Gameplay aspects that disguises Kara no Shoujo from the usual eroge are 'investigation' and 'inference'. Investigation is where you are in a location (usually crime scene) and you have to search for clues so you can solve the case. The investigation part reminds me of Ace Attorney series. But you must be noted that sometimes there are hidden clues and if you can't find it you'll mostly ended up in bad ending route. Be careful.

Inference is the part when Reiji collects all the facts that you've gathered and then he starts asking some questions and you must choose the right answer based on the facts. Sometimes you have to choose from person lists or evidence list too. In the beginning it seems easy enough, because you can randomly choose the answer until you find the right choice (try and error, like Ace Attorney series). But in later part, once you choose a wrong answer Reiji will believe that is the right answer thus moving on with the next question. That is really dangerous because you don't even know that you are falling into bad end pit. So yeah, it is wise to always have a walkthrough in your hand at least for replaying or reaching certain CGs.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell that Reiji has a notebook that you can access by clicking the icon. The notebook is you reliable source of data. It consists of collections of character, evidence, facts, calender, map, and character relation chart. The notebook is very useful so you have to carefully check it from time to time. If Reiji find a new clue or person the notebook will be updated automatically. Be sure to always read your notebook because it's th only thing that help you solve the cases.

You have a freedom to choose what to do in a day. You'll be given two chances to visit places that scattered around the map. In some place you can find a new fact, but in other place you also can know better about a person so you have to choose wisely what to do with your limited steps.

Now we move to the characters.

Characters
Kara no Shoujo has a wide array cast of characters. There are roughly about 30 characters in it. Surprisingly, almost all of them has a connection with the case. The characterization is varying, from genki type, yamato nadeshiko type to psychotic and mischievous type. Thank God there is no bloody tsundere in here.

Despite the game has a dark storyline sometime there are lighter scene in which the interaction between characters are fleshed out. I like the slice of life tone when interacting with Yukari and Tojiko, for example. I also love the calm tone when interacting with Kyoko and Hatsune in Moon World Cafe.

The characters are all unique and everyone has attractive charm. My favorite character maybe different from yours. Every player maybe has a different favorite heroine. It also can't be helped that the fate of a character make us sympathize with him or her.

These are some of the characters and my impression of them.

The main protagonist. Somehow Reiji has a cool aura emited from him. I can't help but feel like I should cheer him up because he had a very tragic past in which his lover Yukiko killed in the murder case 6 years ago known as Rokushiki Case. Fortunately he is not a weak protagonist. He is matured and can be reliable at times. He also has a nice sense of humor which is always welcomed by me.

The mysterious girl who asked Reiji to find her true self. She is the main heroine in this game.She talks in boyish tone. She is the most fascinating character in this game. I love her 'a bit naughty' attitude. She also had some mysterious (and maybe tragic as well) past. Despite her lively personality she actually has health problems. She loves art and Reiji often find her painting in the school or park. Well I can rant as much as I like because Toko is my favorite girl in this visual novel but maybe that's more than enough.

Reiji's little sister. She's calm and has a very lovable personality. She takes care of the housework of Tokisaka family (their parent are dead). She's so perfect. Definitely waifu tier girl. She loves her brother as much as she loves... insects. Yeah insects. As in snails and grasshoppers. She even named one of her snails 'Fernando'. Awesome imouto.

Yukari's best friend. She's a genki type girl. She is a newbie writer and apparently one of her novel will be published soon. She has a bright cheerful personality which makes her one of the most beloved character. Reiji often teases her by calling her name Tojiko instead of Tsuzuriko because it's hard to pronounced. Even though she seems to be a blockhead type she is actually an intelectual character. She helped Reiji in one case, but still she is a high school girl.

The student council president. As you see, she is oujosama type and she is a bit arrogant. She is very strict to school rules. She acts cold toward Reiji because she believes that student and male teacher interaction is forbidden.

The owner of Moon World cafe which Reiji frequently visit. She is also Reiji's osananajimi. Her coffee is Reiji's favorite drink. Her husband died in accident years ago (not related to the murder case). Even though she is usually calm and level-headed she can be acts childlish at times when Reiji is around.

The new employee at Moon World cafe. Cute girl that is a bit klutz. She is one important character during Cartagra, another game by Innocent Grey.

Reiji's buddy from old days at the police station. He's still in the police after Reiji ragequit. He often works with Reiji even though Reiji is not a police anymore. They often throw insult each other but apparently he is Reiji's best friend that can be trusted. Looks like he's in love with Kyoko, but she doesn't notice.

There are other characters but I'm too tired (or rather lazy) to include them here. So let's move on to another segment: presentation.

Artwork and Music
The artwork... oh my gosh. This has to be one of the best eroge artwork out there. I can play this game only for the art. Sugina Miki's art is really something. Consider me a fan of him/her now. To be honest the very first reason I'm interested in Kara no Shoujo was when I saw its amazing character artworks at MangaGamer site. I am a bishoujo fan you know, so it should be goes without saying.

Let's see, the character design is realistic. Their hairs have realistic colors. So there is no 'that girl with pink/blue/purple hair' or 'the man whose hair is so sharp that can be used to cut a fruit'. The girls design, no all the characters design is very beautiful. I can stare at those CGs with passion for hours. And the background is very detailed too. One of my favorite is Moon World cafe which has a very highly detail background. I don't think I should mention the H-scenes as well, do I?

The soundtrack of this one can be considered as a top notch. The music that played in the main screen is rather calm, has a nostalgic feel. I find myself humming the title screen theme as I do something else. The soundtrack does a good job in setting the appropriate mood for each scenes. It made me feel emotionally involved with the scenes. Honestly during one of the ending (that I mention earlier) while the soundtrack "Azure Bird" played in the background I almost cried. And I couldn't help but felt anxiety as the scary tone played because I knew someone will die horribly. It just that good. The ED song is great as well, it was sung by Haruka Shimotsuki so you already know its quality.

Conclusion
Conclusion: PLAY THIS EROGE ASAP. This is definitely the best eroge I've ever played and no, this isn't babby's first eroge. I've played bunch of visual novels before and none of them has story that can glued me to the screen for hours like this one (well G Senjou no Maou and Yume Miru Kusuri come close). Kara no Shoujo is one of those few visual novels that can make me feel sad, fear, rage and joy. In one scene I can't help but smile at Tojiko's ridiculousness and in another scene I was left in state of shock because the killer's mad attitude. Absoulutely wonderful. I probably won't forget the experience of playing this eroge for a long time. I'm looking forward to more Innocent Grey works in the future.

More Screenshots
Afterwords
There, the review of Kara no Shoujo. Over 9000 hours in Notepad (yeah, I used Notepad to write a blog post). Wow I can't believe I typed nearly 3000 words in a few hours (I really need to take a break).Forgive me for any grammar mistake I made in this review. And last, there's an interesting news for you (and me) Kara no Shoujo fans. Apparently Innocent Grey is working on a new eroge that many believe it as Kara no Shoujo 2. So here I am hoping it will continue to bring the brilliant story of its prequel. Okay, that's all folks! Thank you very much for reading this long-ass review till the end! Now I'm afraid I have to bid you farewell, until next time/post!

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