If My Heart Had Wings Reviews

Last of the "coming of age" trilogy VN stories would be If My Heart Had Wings, Asta Konno's most famous work and after reading it, i can definitely say it is his best work till date. Synopsis: Aoi returned to his hometown of Kazegaura where a gentle breeze blows through the streets, having lost his direction in life. On the hill lined with windmills, he met a wheelchair-ridden girl Kotori and watched the gliders overhead in awe. With his childhood friend Ageha in tow, they resurrect the soaring club in order to fulfill a childhood dream: to fly on a glider. What i like: This was prob my fav out of the 3 coming of age stories created by Konno Asta, the common route is one of my favourite, fleshing out the dynamics between all the characters while telling a story about living and working towards a dream, through the medium of aviation. The technicalities and explanations given for how gliders fly is well said and easily understandable to newbies like myself, and the story is very well paced, managing its slice of life portion with its serious moments. The Heroine routes were the most consistent with its quality, most of them being very well written and showing the conflict the heroines go through and learning to face their insecurities and troubles. Kotori, personally having my fav route moved me with her dedication and passion to fly and not let her disabilities decide her dream for her and i was rooting for her all the way to finally fly above the clouds, which when it happened in the climatic finale, i shed a tear as it was such an emotional celebration to her route. Amane also having one of the best comedic but also dramatic routes, which dives into her backstory of the Soaring Club and her relationship with Isuka, giving more context on the overall story and tying up loose ends. What i dislike: Mainly my spite but i swear, Ageha route is one of the most frustrating routes i have read ever and i genuinely did not enjoy my time reading it if im being very honest. I get what they were trying to go with, and it is unique to a heroine route but it just gets damn annoying and the ending did not changed that, so yea if not for ageha route, this would be genuinely a 10/10 series. Also, the translation is kinda fcked, idm since my brain can autocorrect the words and there are patches for proper translation so its not that big of an issue but still. Production/Quality of Work: The Cg of the glider flying were very well done, showing the adrenaline rush of lifting off and all the turns that Aoi does when piloting. I also liked that they used 3D CGI to show animated scenes of the glider flying and while its not the best CGI, it is a valiant attempt and i respect them for trying it out and not looking like Berserk (2016) LMAO. Overall, this is prob my fav Moege VN i have read, or it is tied with Aokana which is funny considering both tackle the theme of flying but in different context. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to get into Moege VN or like coming of age stories. 9.5/10