Typical Reviews

[h1] Good art, but the storyline is an exercise in frustration [/h1] I would not recommend purchasing this visual novel, especially at full price as completing the story for me was an uncharacteristic act of masochism. I will elucidate further below with many spoilers, so continue at your own risk. [spoiler] The main criticism I have is that the characters are narcissists, manipulative and controlling of not just other people, but also their 'friends'. The dynamic truly exemplifies 'With friends like these, who needs enemies'; where the major 'twist' of the story being that the friends manipulated the main character into the scenario that is the crux of the story. It is clear from the beginning, even to the protagonist, that Suzuki probably never would have accepted her feelings sincerely, merely played with them and yet Kagari, (the 'best friend') pushed her into trying to confess. Suzuki is known as a playboy, yet the protagonist is so arrogant to think that she can change him (whether this is Kagari's influence is unclear). It is baffling that she is further surprised when he ACTS like a playboy, flirting and touching her sensually without her consent when she is dating Subaru. He manipulates the protagonist with this hot and cold, mock innocenct act of obliviousness towards her feelings, and also manipulates the rest of the school. He carefully calculates his activities, being on the council to look good for future prospects, to get sex from the Council president and play with her feelings and to use as a scapegoat for responsibilities he agrees to with his group of friends; he even admits he only joined this art school to give his dad the middle finger. Later, he eventually shows growth by admitting these flaws, but shows no behaviour about changing these toxic traits; a pattern that is seen in all four of the main characters. Subaru is touted as a bad-tempered but stalwart friend, yet he is shown to be just as manipulative. He deliberately gets in the way of the protagonist's confession and worst of all, takes silence as consent. He shows further problems with failing to get the protagonist's consent when they are dating, touching inappropriately, leaving 'marks' on her body in an act of possession as though she is property, and controlling her behaviour with anger and aggression. Kagari is described by the protagonist as her best and only female friend. She is openly controlling and manipulative, showing no remorse for this behaviour or her frequent temper tantrums. She treats the protagonist more akin to a doll or a pet than a friend who should be her equal, controlling what she wears, openly criticising her behaviour and appearance. Worst of all, Kagari explains these behaviours as 'helping' the protagonist, exuding a vibe of charity and pity. The most infuriating part of the storyline is the protagonist. The story being told through their perspective allows the audience to understand her view of the world and it is truly twisted. Perhaps from her friends' manipulation, perhaps just her own inherent ideals, the protagonist is pessimistic, self-pitying, strangely aggressive and incredibly misogynistic. Whilst being all these toxic things, her ideals and view of the world also manages to be incredibly hollow and vapid, with dashes of hypocrisy. She is insecure about her own appearance (probably because of Kagari as well as previous bullying) yet judges others appearance, evidenced by her thoughts towards Sergei and how disgusted she is by the 'vixens' that chase Suzuki, though she is actively doing the same thing. Every female in the game is associated with negative thoughts from the protagonist with little evidence of deserving these kind of thoughts or harsh judgement, even Kagari can't escape some of the protagonist's negative judgement particularly in the beginning introduction of her in the novel. The protagonist seems to have internal unnecessary aggression towards Subaru, assuming every thing he does has malignant intentions even without evidence and it brings into question why they are friends in the first place if she thinks so lowly of him. However the protagonist's worst trait is lack of proactivity. This is passed off as social anxiety but this anxiety only appears when suitable for the plot. There also seems to be a misunderstanding of anxiety and peer pressure, I cannot imagine anxiety causing someone to go along in a relationship she doesn't want for over a month. Her indecisiveness was a key factor in the game's illusion of choice, where the player's choices do not matter for a big portion of the novel; and are more frustrating than if the player hadn't been given a choice at all. [/spoiler] There are further problematic storyline design choices, in that there are a few situations of racism and contradictions like the protagonist being super clumsy, but also a karate prodigy; worst of all, the characters have minimal personal growth as people. I do wonder who the intended audience is for the visual novel, as the characters ages are not stated, yet they participate in raunchy activities; whilst also showing extremely immature behaviour and views of the world. It is also a possibility that nuances got lost in translation as portions of the story felt unnatural in their wording, so this is something to be kept in mind.