VN of the Month May 2000 - Purepure

Quite a bland month with few games. There aren't masterpieces this month, but I still need to choose the game of the month that I would record on video. So I need to choose something without gameplay elements, too much insult and not too evident plot. The only game that suits my demands is Purepure, and thus it's the game of the month that deserves a video playthrough.

1. Costume☆Paradise ~Cinderella Rhapsody~ こすちゅうむ☆パラダイス ～シンデレラ狂想曲～ [000512] Rhapsody A huge entertainment theme park "Cinderella" is build on an island in Tokyo Bay aimed to "fulfill all people's dreams". Hero is a medical college student who works here as a part-time emploee. The hourly is sky high, but he is required to cosplay along with the girls. He overcomes  embarrassment and starts to pay attention to the cute girls around him. It's mostly a comedy. It's possible to chase pure love or step the devil path. Not particularly interesting, but quite unique and memorable.

2. Marionette Company 2 Chu! マリオネットカンパニー 2 [000518] Micro Cabin 1 In the game, you play a student in a high school - I believe you're supposed to be the same guy from part 1, as you keep on having memories of the Marionette from the original game. One day, you stumble upon a pair of abandoned marionettes, one called Marine and the other called Maria. You take Marine under your care while a rival and all-together obnoxious classmate called Arese takes Maria under hers'. Arese is under the impression that marionettes are nothing more than robots with a heart made of computer circuits, but your experience with part 1, where you apparently managed to raise the original marionette to near human form, has you convinced otherwise, and you intend to prove Arese wrong. Finally focus has been shifted from training to adventure in sequel. We mostly run around getting the elements from shops or elsewhere, from those elements we gather upgrade parts. We choose the parts ourselves, so can tune up marionette appearance. It's basically a galge now with lots of events triggered by upgrades. There is not just one girl now, but it's possible to target other ones. Duration has been cut from 6 months in prequel to just one month.

3. Kakuriyo no Mon 幽世ノ門 ～かくりよのもん～ [000519] Air Plants In the ancient times gods created three worlds and gates between them separating human world from ghost worlds. Yagami has no parents and lives with his grandfather. He comes from an ancient demon hunter birth-line who have guarded the gates between the worlds for as long as the world existed. Yagami is one of five guardians of different elements - he is the the master of fire. After meeting one girl his live starts to change rapidly. At least there is some story. So I started it. This is mostly a comedy. It starts with the hero, girl Moe and a bodyguard come to skyscraper and they start to explore it room by room finding all kinds of crazy cults inside the rooms (including H events there). When they get to one of the top floors eventually there's some master that teaches us about five elements and which element offsets what. Well, I've spent over half an hour there and still can't make through it, so it's a drop. I've looked at the screen of this pentagram already, drawn it myself, nothing really helps - there must be a time limit which is not shown. Anyway, game has serious system flaws. First, there is autoplay, but it kind of stops after scene sequence and I have to click manually on. There is voicing in the first scene, but actually no voicing on. Sound levels are non-adjustable and bgm roars like mad luckily ending in some 30 seconds each time. Game is a comedy, but up to that point I did not find jokes and situations funny at all. As it's reported in the only review found battles are same torturing further on - enemies attributes change constantly over time and you need to counter it with the right element within time limit each time. What a bothersome game. First playthrough time is only two hours.

4. Oni no Sumu Sakura 鬼ノ棲ム桜 [000519] AnotherRoom The university college mystery research group tries to recreate the events of a legend that happened 300 years ago. At that time young priest arrived at "Touchou Shrine" and was a witness of 60 villagers massacre from the hands of a demon. That priest managed to defeat the demon in the end.  The research club has a bullied member who's going to have his revenge this night. As the bells ring only red moon envelops the screams of the girls. Only unstoppable desire and murderous intent governs this night so that the legend gets repainted. The synopsis is not your usual nukige stuff, so I need to elaborate. It's pretty much a nukige, but with killings. And it is such, because the scenario is really bad - the outline is drawn vaguely and pretty much nothing is explained - like why or how the character was bullied. The content is thin as it basically follows the same pattern of insult - kill each time.

5. Shinobi no Hana ~Kunoichi Shimai no Chousen~ 忍ノ華 ～くノ一姉妹の挑戦～ [000519] Aqua House Main character is an unsuccessful detective who struggles to catch a gangster girl. One evening he hears a rumor that the legendary thief is going to rob the art museum at night. When he arrives at the destination he finds there the Kaito group of female ninja who accumulate wealth to revive the ninjutsu art. The mystery gradually deepens. And another bakage. There is also dungeon crawl and combat. Full-voice. Despite the relatively big number of girls, there is only one happy ending with the main heroine. Last boss is undefeatable without applying the patch. The content lacks the impact compared to other notable bakage of the same time.

6. Shoujo Circus 少女サーカス [000519] Evolution Main character lived with his mother who just died. At her funeral he gets a letter from his disappeared father inviting to join a small circus team. Hero joins the team and admires the cute girls there. However, a few days later father collapses from overwork and hero has to run the circus till his father recovers. Can he manage this difficult task? Since cover and synopsis are neutral enough, let's talk about the content. It's a SIM - you need to earn as much money as possible, and quite ero-tilt with nasty pictured H events.

7. Start [000519] Bell-Da Daydreaming about his childhood girl at work gets a frypan on his head from the same girl. Thus starts this girl chase game. He can go after 5 girls, while bringing up stats that the girls like. Most girls know/love him from before, he just have to get close to them to find out. Hope he can start a new life with the girl he loves. Ugh, Bell-Da is known for a long history of producing ero-centered works and this one is not really an exception. At least there is a rasing SIM part here.

8. Seikai no Monshou 星界の紋章 [000525] Bandai Namco Entertainment 1 Linn Jinto's life changes forever when the Humankind Empire Abh takes over his home planet of Martine without firing a single shot. He is soon sent off to study the Abh language and culture and to prepare himself for his future as a nobleman — a future he never dreamed of. Or wanted. Now, Jinto is entering the next phase of his training, and he is about to meet his first Abh, the lovely Lafiel. But Jinto is about to learn that she is more than she appears to be. And together they will have to fight for their very lives. Anime was popular enough, but releasing the game on PS as a space strategy was doubtful at the least. 67 different space battles! There are two main routes and three endings overall.

9. St. Luminous Jogakuin 聖ルミナス女学院 [000525] Xing Entertainment 1 A dating sim adaptation of the 1998 original anime by Genco. When his grandfather dies, Kaihei inherits the post of chairman at an eccentric private girl's school which emphasizes the personal freedom of its students. But he arrives to find that one of the students has gone missing. As he investigates Melina's disappearance more students vanish, strange events occur and his position is placed under increasing pressure from teachers and parents. Hero puts lots of hidden cameras and cross-dresses to find out the source of girls disappearances, but it's a ps1 game, so it's gonna be clean. Conversation card system is introduced with only three cards possible to be used per encounter. We also manage money since we're given a budged of 30 million yen and we're constantly pestered to spend money on various projects. It looks like the game is built on anime success alone.

10. Avaron [000526] Zone 1 The hero's name is Adalk. One day, his mother dies, telling him that he had been adopted - he was found as a little baby in the town's streets, with a strange symbol engraved on his clothes. Adalk is determined to find out the truth about himself. But first of all he needs some money, so he begins to work as a mercenary, receiving quests from town inhabitants. Before long he hooks up with some pretty girls, each with her own agenda, who will accompany him on his travels. Avaron is a re-vamped version of Youjo Ranbu 2. It has the same graphics, music, and gameplay system. The story was somewhat altered and expanded; the characters join your party more easily and give more information about themselves. Compared to "Youjo Ranbu 2", "Avaron" has more dialogues, but no voice acting. Cut scenes were re-done, with more full-screen pictures. During battles, party members' attacks are now displayed as anime-style pictures of the characters performing the attack, instead of the simple graphical effects of "Youjo Ranbu 2". There's nothing really to talk about since it's mostly graphical renewal.

11. Cartagran -Shoujo Shuryouki- CARTAGRAN －少女狩猟機－ [000526] Soleil Hundreds of years have passed since humankind was destroyed by "Aka" beasts that appeared out of nowhere Dr. Georg and his assistant Alicia are living alone and conducting research of producing "new human beings" that would be able to  eradicate the monsters. But shortly before the prototype "Mizuki" is completed, the lab is attacked by a powerful armed group. Mizuki is going on a journey  in search of a powerful monster to extract the necessary organ to save his creators and future humankind... Game is low-cost and pretty mysterious. There aren't any normal reviews around and comments only say it's unsatisfactory. We play as Mizuki. There are five episodes and multiple endings. There are fights in first person dungeon crawl way. There is HP pool and commands that need to be chosen within time limit. Scenario is quite awful and unenjoyable. Systems are very bad. There are quite many insult elements throughout the game. Still the character design and cool protagonist make me curious...

12. Hello Again [000526] Active Togo Heiji is a problem kid who is suddenly transferred to a special school where children with superpowers are brought up. What will be his school life like there? Genre is moege. Game takes 3 weeks and about 3 hours to beat for the first time while consequent playthroughs only take one hour. It's mostly a comedy work and text is ok. There are 6 heroines and 6 endings. Second half of the game has more serious approach and some drama development. Heroines are likable and CG are good, though rather few.

13. Kitamakura Hakase no Yuuutsu 北麻鞍博士の憂鬱 [000526] Project-μ At the end of the 20th century humanity is facing an unprecedented crisis, however most of people are unaware of it. Main character Dr. Kurashira has a genius mind, but he is treated as mad scientist, because he knows the truth of the world... He tracks down school girls who possesses excellent genes in order to pass them to the future generation. But will girls cooperate? As you could have guessed, it's stalking and insulting girls for the sake of humankind. Overall length for all scenarios is just around four hours. There are five characters for H events - an android assistant, three girls and a boy. But it' s a gag comedy and there are a lot of ironical descriptions scattered around. So nice debut work overall, will look forward to their following releases.

14. Natural 2 -DUO- Natural2 -DUO- [000526] Fairytale 1 Twin sisters, Chisato and Kuu, lost their parents, and they were adopted by an old man. Then they met Shoma. Shoma was living with his grandfather because his parents were going to get divorced. Chisato was a tomboy, while Kuu was a crybaby. They both liked Shoma. 10 years have passed since then. Shoma gave up his dream to become a violinist and worked as an editor of a music magazine office. To hear the grandfather’s death, he went to the house and he had a reunion with the two girls who had become beautiful women... It's a galge without story. Text is surprisingly good and there is no inconvenience while reading. There are raising SIM elements incorporated. There's both pure love route and devil route for heroines. Pure love part feels a bit short overall. Devil part results in turning the partner into a slave and there is no happy ending after that (which is good imho). Overall feeling that it's an ero-centered work, but not necessarily a nukige.

15. Purepure ピュアピュア [000526] Ange On the moonless night the hero stumbles upon a strange girl. She speaks of herself as master of ceremonies that was kicked out due to being useless. She ends up living with the hero. What's there behind her past? Work is mainly a comedy with some serious resolution in the second half. There is no voicing. Quality of the game is quite low.

16. S.N.O.W [000526] Xuse The hero is a producer. His close friend dies and hero decides to take over his project and promote new idol band "SNOW". However, members of this band are all problem children. Will the project be a success? General route dill band disband takes 5 hours and individual routes afterwards only 30 minutes each. There is a training SIM part in the common route. The final concert before breaking up is well done. There is a happy ending for each heroine, but there are bad endings as well. Game is full-voiced except for protagonist. H element is weak, just one scene for each. Pink hair girl calls the hero onii-chan and turns out to be his real sister eventually.

17. Soyokaze no Uta ~Breeze Passed Us By~ 微風の詩 ～Breeze passed us by～ [000526] Tomato Hero is on the last summer vacation in his school life and he still does not have a girlfriend. Pull yourself together, gather savings, learn girls tastes and forward you go! It's all in the synopsis. It's a common SIM. There is just one savepoint. It's not clear at what time girls get to which location so lots of research needed. Money is scarce and travelling around the town costs money so it's easy to find yourself unable to return home. It's realistic, but too troublesome. It becomes monotonous fast. I thought those kinds of games were left in the 1990s.

18. Last Scene ~Boku ga Kimi ni Dekiru Koto~ Last Scene ～僕が君にできること～ [000529] Maika Our guy became a doctor in order to try to find a cure for his girlfriend's disease. Now that he is a doctor, he found out that she only has seven days to live. Will he try to find a cure with some nurses' help, spend time with her at a seaside hotel, or resort to drastic measures? Lots of animation is promised but animated sequences are few. There is just one save which is inconvenient for multiple endings and there are some 24 endings. There are endings for each taste and at least 7 of them are good. Overall impression is ok, but there are quite many dark routes.

BLOCKED

1. Gansha de Go! 顔射でGO! [000512] WhiteBear Adult cumshot shooting game where it's possible even to shoot down a UFO and get a secret photo for that. Nukige

2. Pin-Up ピンナップ [000512] Hyperspace Three girls live in a house with the main character. They were captured separately, but remain in the house by their own will. They walk in underwear all days long provoking main character to inventively use lots of items scattered around the house to insult them.  Nukige

3. Ryoujoku Bus Tour 凌辱バスツアー [000518] Zero It's a bus tour and what started as a cheerful adventure in a few hours turned in a fierce manhunt.  Nukige

4. Paradox ~Hakai no Rasen~ Ｐａｒａｄｏｘ ～破戒の螺旋～ [000519] Deep Zone Main character lost his parents early and now lives with his sister. He starts to see his sister as a woman, and to extinguish this feeling he starts to attack and insult other girls. Where will that bring him? Can a broken heart be cured? Nukige

5. Yobai Mania 夜這いマニア [000519] Waffle Choose one of three male characters and infiltrate a mansion. Avoid the traps and guards to pave the way to the cutest girls of the town. Nukige

6. Hida 秘打 [000524] Dennou Club A software to learn blind typing skills. Isn't it easier to master blind typing when sight concentrated on girls on display? There is a practice scenario 『くの一くるみ、がんばるもん！』 and a full difficulty scenario 『勇者スカーレット、大地に立つ』. Nukige

7. Atelier アトリエ [000526] Miyabi Main character aims to become the best oil painter of nude models. With time he realizes he does not have enough talent and stops drawing. Half a year later he is called by his professor and urged to draw a painting for the art exhibition a month later. To do that hero needs to relax and follow his desires. Nukige

8. Ningyou no Hako 人形の匣 [000526] Pias Maria arrives at a certain mansion seeking her brother-in-law Makoto sold there for debts. The mansion owner is a powerful figure with connections in both financial and political circles. There is a ritual of adulthood held in the mansion after which person becomes a mindless doll. The same fate seems to have befallen upon Makoto brother. Maria is going to have her adulthood ceremony soon, and all the mysteries should uncover at that time...  The story is available first only from Maria point of view, and them from Makoto point of view as well. Nukige

9. Scandal スキャンダル [000526] Kurumi A wealthy mansion owner dies one day. Police sees it as an accident, but insurance company demands an additional thorough investigation. Main character is an investigator who arrives at the mansion to get wife and daughters testimonies and to assess the situation with his own eyes during two weeks period. Hidden murderous intentions, conspiracy, astounding propensity and numerous traps await him. Can he find out the truth? Nukige

10. Tenshi no Kobako 天使のこばこ [000526] light Fandisc of White Angel game. Contains wallpapers, event CG, sprites CG, short stories for heroines and a mini game 「いちごのお料理バンザイ！」. Fandisc

11. Unmei no Furiko ~Pendulum of Fate~ 運命の振り子 ～Pendulum of Fate～ [000526] iMAGE CLUB A casual town built around a coeducational school. Main character lines in the shrine on the outskirts of the town. There is a poorly known Norther Europe prophecy that this weekend a great danger should befall upon the world. Will hero be able to save the humanity or the Earth is doomed? Nukige

12. CROSS script CROSS script [0005] Ritz software There are two popular male idol rivals. Choose one of them and and enjoy five stories that happened to each of them while remembering to keep stats high to win the competition .  Yaoi

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