Making*Lovers Reviews

This game is truly one of a kind. Given that rom coms have saturated all forms of media, Making Lovers has everything you can expect, from balls to the walls writing, ungodly amounts of self-awareness, and more importantly, a premise that makes for a promising, unique romance anime adaptation. There are a total of 5 girls in this game and after reading through other steam reviews, I'm surprised how there's a girl for everyone out there, you can see people discuss who best girl in the community hub and that just shows how different they are from one another. In terms of basic descriptions, you have the mature, caring weather lady; quirky, awkward gamer girl; hardworking model who just wants to relax and vent; doting brocon step sister who has surprisingly good chemistry with the MC and everyone's favorite- Karen, grounded yet lovely flower lady who always gets back up on her feet despite her circumstances. Like I said, there's a girl for everyone and the overwhelmingly positive reviews can attest this. Karen's route alone should be adapted into an anime. Romances between two mature, working adults, rare enough. As I grow older, I find myself getting tired of the high school romance trope, because I have simply outgrown the target demographic range. Their relationship is not only based on believable circumstances that adults face, but is also mutually supportive and for a lack of a better word, magical. Karen, due to unexpected circumstances, finds herself caught in transition between jobs and was homeless for a while. That was when Kazumi noticed her wearing the same pair of broken heels and carrying the same suitcase after a while. Realizing that she wasn't really going on an overseas business trip like she claimed, he offers her his bed and never once belittles Karen or mocks her situation. He remains respectful throughout their supposedly temporary cohabitation arrangement, while stubbornly sticking to his principles of not letting his fellow college classmate go homeless. Karen, the equally stubborn and self-respecting woman that she is, also never exploits Kazumi's kindness, she makes concrete plans on when to move out as soon as her first florist paycheck arrives. She never once pities herself or complains about how hard her situation is as a woman, she is independent yet returns the same respect that Kazumi has shown. Yet despite having mutual respect, they bicker all the damn time and it's very satisfying to read. Their chemistry works so well throughout the entire route and you'd wonder why they didn't get together sooner and that's what elevates this route up there. Karen's route highlights one of the most realistic stages in one's life: graduating into adulthood. In of one of their heart-to-heart discussions, Karen laments how she was a bit infuriated by Kazumi's laidbackness towards his own future when they first met in college. Despite studying the same degree, they had vastly different ideas of their futures and she admitted to looking down on Kazumi for his simpleminded laziness. However, upon graduating and landing her first job, Karen realized how unflattering society can be towards fresh grads. Reality is often disappointing and her self-viewed superiority ultimately left her scammed by a roommate and rendered helpless when faced with eviction. You don't just have these conversations with people you don't view as close, nor do you have these moments as a young high schooler (at least I hope not). The moments where you look back and realize how trivial our insecurities were compared to the actual real shit that we're all dealing with, day by day. Sharing these intimate thoughts with a romantic partner in a respectful exchange, is all the reason why I love this route. I also love how only Karen route is given a mini-arc where she has pour her soul into a flower arrangement competition. Not only is it her passion as a design major, but it once again presents as an opportunity for Karen to prove herself. Despite him not into competitions, Kazumi remains supportive and understanding how much it meant to her. The best part is how Karen was able to win because of how her loving relationship with Kazumi has inspired her work and ultimately gave her a W. These two, by being in a wholesome relationship, have not just won a goddamn flower arrangement competition, but my heart as well.

Making Lovers is one of the most popular and highly recommended visual novels among the comedy genre. It is famous for its gimmick of having an entirely adult cast, instead of the overused high school setting. And yet when I tried it myself, I found myself disappointed. Even though the adult cast is the main selling point, the fact that they're adults is heavily underutilized. Actual adult topics, like finding apartments and starting a family, are barely talked about. (In fact, it almost feels like the writers forgot to address these topics at all, and threw in a few lines at the last moment to pay lip service to these ideas.) The only adult topic that's discussed in any kind of depth is work, and even that feels shallow when the protagonist is apparently a superhuman that can get accepted into, and do well in, any job he wants. The main focus of this VN is its absurd over-the-top humor. To be more exact, you'll be subject to a relentless barrage of dirty jokes from start to finish. Every single member of the cast, including the side characters, and even the protagonist's parents, apparently have the humor of a 12 year old boy that just learned about puberty. Despite the cast being all adults, they often act considerably less mature than the high schoolers in other VNs. (That's why I called the adult cast a "gimmick".) (At least the humor style is consistent. If you find yourself not enjoying the "humor", you might as well drop this VN. Don't be like me and stubbornly drag yourself to the finish line.) Another thing that's unique is that the common route is much shorter. As a result, the MC and chosen heroine start going on dates even though they barely know each other. While that's certainly unique, it leads to pacing issues. Every route is similar in that the first 1/3 is where the MC and chosen heroine fall in love, then they spend the next 2/3 of the story as an established couple. The first 1/3 happens way too fast, to the point where I don't see any of the heroines as a girlfriend. Then the remaining 2/3 ends up being a bunch of filler with nothing really happening. As a result, I struggled to enjoy any part of the story. Another gimmick of this VN is that you can choose your date locations. Like most other gimmicks in VNs, this only impacts some dialogue and doesn't affect the overall story. There's even a minor quality-of-life issue. For some reason, there's no save button, so to save your progress, you need to click Config -> Save. (Just... why?) While I appreciate the dev's attempt at innovating, this VN flopped really hard for me in its execution. This is a reminder that even when something is popular and highly recommended, you still need to be careful.