Category: Analysis

The serious side of semi-serious

Analysis

Style and Aesthetics in ef – a fairy tale of the two

Sorry, this was the best screencap I could find.

Aside from its infamous anime adaptations by Shaft, ef – a fairly tale of the two is known primarily for one thing: aesthetic appeal. As NNL’s staff have joked, the game is indeed very pretty and shiny. It’s visually stunning in every possible way, surpassing even Wind – a breath of heart, which was astounding compared to other 2002 eroge releases (take a look at this vs Da Capo or even Utawarerumono). With designs by Naru Nanao and backgrounds by someone who apparently knows how Makoto Shinkai does his thing, it’s no wonder that the game is a beauty.

However, as video games have taught me, it’s important to remember that the aesthetics of ef aren’t just the icing on the cake. In addition to its high-quality art is a unique stylistic approach to the visual novel medium that has a notable impact on the presentation of the narrative.

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Analysis

Playing with Pathos; Narcissean Tragedy

Narcissu holds quite a reputation among English-speaking visual novel fans – it was the first encounter with non-branching VNs for many of us, and its particular brand of tragedy is significantly different from what we might remember from the Key anime adaptations. From the time of the translation’s release to now, it’s become an icon of heart-wrenching storytelling that every newbie stumbles into and invariably sheds tears at. I played the first game back when I was first introduced to the medium, but after reading through the second story a few years later, I found a few key points that differentiate the franchise from the other tales of terminal illness that are only superficially similar.

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Analysis

In Defense of Furudo Erika

[kl]

So, Erika might not be the most popular character in Umineko no Naku Koro ni. I can understand that. I suppose the shippers will always fawn over the servants and their respective pairings, or Battler’s and Beatrice’s mysterious bond. Pitting her against the entire When They Cry universe, she’s destined to lose to the classic niipah~, even if such thoughts are wrong.

Even so, Erika Furudo was the first character aside from Battler and Beato to make a strong impression on me, and she quickly earned herself Waifu Status for the WTC universe. The girl is worthy of more than people give her credit for, and here’s why.

(While this post contains spoilers, it has nothing to do with Umineko’s plot and it doesn’t matter if you agree with me. Think of it as a fanboy analysis.)

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Analysis

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru and Ryukishi07’s Sly Narrative

[kl]

Good old seakitties. It’s been the talk of the internet for years, the reason why half of the English-speaking community patrols Witch Hunt’s site, waiting for the progress counter to increase by one percent. I’ve tackled the story before; to summarize, my initial impression was that the Ushiromiya family had to overcome their hardship in order to break free of Beatrice’s curse, and my theory after the question arcs was that magic was more relevant for its thematic significance as a metaphor than as an opponent to logic. I’m glad to know that some portions of my original line of thinking still hold true: “without love, it cannot be seen”, which has been at the back of my mind since the beginning. Now that the Golden Witch has gone through her End and Dawn, it’s time to put my brain to the test and see if I can make sense of the strokes on this piece of art that only appear to be abstract from up close.

(This post contains spoilers from ep 1-6 of the visual novel)

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Analysis

Liar Game and Game Theory

One of the miracles of shounen manga is the fact that they can be about anything. It’s one thing to make a shounen series for every sport on the planet – the eroge scene can compete in that regard – but it’s no new discovery that shounen extends far beyond its traditional premises, arguably a bit too far. You could probably dig up a shounen about Gunpla building or babysitting and they’d still be as over-the-top as the rest of the genre, and proud of it.

Following this train of thought, it took me a while before I started looking at Liar Game as, quite simply, a shounen about Game Theory.

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Analysis

My Heart, Your Soul, Our Beats

[onodera]

It’s difficult to not talk about Jun Maeda’s Angel Beats. Despite coming from a writer whose most famous works target a relatively niche audience, it’s a fact that Angel Beats is a high-quality production, likely high-budget as well, and it’s earned the attention of most of anime fandom – for better or worse. The show may not have topped Key’s visual novel adaptations in terms of popularity or praise, but it marks an interesting departure from Maeda’s traditional style while staying true to the sentimental storytelling that makes Key what it is. It goes without saying that I’m a fan, but I believe that Angel Beats is particularly noteworthy: not because it trumps the nakige classics, but because it’s a solid drama that helped me identify an aspect of Key’s appeal that I was unable to isolate during the various visual novel adaptations.

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