Hanasaki Work Spring
So far this
VN takes the form of a straight-out high-quality charage, with some
nakige elements. The protagonist, Yuuma, is like the ultimate lazy
guy... so much so that he researched ergonomics solely so he could
create the ultimate pillow for sleeping in class.
The heroines are Ayano - the much-older senpai who is a genius but has been held back more than any other person in the history of the school -, Inori - a lone-wolf girl who hates people who ask her personal questions -, Wakaba - the protagonist's best female friend, who acts more like a guy than a girl-, and Hikari - the 'traditional' normal girl who fell in love with the protagonist at first sight.
Common
The common route is surprisingly short, with the story splitting off relatively quickly after a set if meaningless formalities in the form of 'choices' (choosing girls off a map for their scenes is a horrible way of picking your path). That said, it is generally amusing, and it does serve the purpose of introducing you to the characters without taking up three quarters of the game like many charage do.
Inori
Inori's path was pretty emotional, at least partly because the protagonist and her are complete opposites in nature, while being similar in certain aspects. I did find it a bit irritating how the protagonist took forever to figure out he was in love with her and the way Inori spent so much time fighting her own realization. However, the actual relationship and path were good - though I did find it really, really predictable when it came to the drama. Fortunately, it manages to avoid the crime of being a series of endless ichaicha scenes, limiting it to a few events and one serious date.
Once again - like many charage paths - I felt seriously dissatisfied with the epilogue, due both to its short length and lack of content.
Kuon Ayano
Aaah... to be blunt, Ayano's path blows Inori's out of the water in some ways, if only because the sheer impact of her unusual approach to being the protagonist's lover can't help but make you rofl. Let's just say - as they do in the game - that Ayano is the 'best woman to make your wife but the worst as a woman'. There was almost no date time in this route, though there was plenty of ichaicha... fortunately, it was immensely humorous, so I didn't feel the need to puke sand. The drama in the route is kind of contrived (though it is sort of interesting), but overall it results in a really nice 'happy ending', so all's well that ends well.
Speaking of endings... this one's path epilogue was much better than Inori's, if only because it shows them a year later, rather than the next day.
Soramori Wakaba
Wakaba is one of the two idiot friends of the protagonist, an obvious replacement for the usual osananajimi heroine. To be honest, her route made me a bit exasperated at first. For one thing, the way they get into the relationship is... sigh-worthy, and not in a good way. A combination of the 'whoops, we crossed the line' and 'friends>lovers transition's traditional hesitation' tropes. I was kind of hoping for them to use her background setting in the formation of the relationship, but they went in the other, less interesting, predictable direction, lol.
Incidentally, I realize I'm a bit of a buzzkill on romance, but VN romance is frequently exasperating. It starts out cute, then falls ever downwards from there.
Probably the best part of this route, at least for me, was the flashbacks about their first meeting, since it shows off some of the protagonist's better aspects. This route is fairly comedic, as a whole... mostly because Wakaba herself is a comedic relief character (one of the baka-trio) from the very beginning. The drama is very... light. The problem is that it comes out of nowhere, and even though they explain where it is coming from afterward, it still feels awkward and unnatural. For that reason, I can't really give this path a passing grade, lol.
Some extra comments
This is about Saga Planets and their apparent new way of doing things... to be honest, I feel like they are wasting all that was good about their early games with Karumaruka and this one. To be blunt, Saga Planets is at its best when it is making you cry, though making you laugh isn't a bad thing. Unfortunately, these last two games have managed to fail utterly at this very simple task. Moreover, this obsession with the faceless protagonist is getting a bit old, considering how much money this company puts into its games... Hatsuyuki Sakura benefited from the extreme emotionalism that previously defined this company the most, in my opinion, but Natsuyume Nagisa also had a huge helping of this, which is what makes those two the best games by this company. I hate it when companies stop doing what they do best...
Kotobuki Hikari
Hikari is the most apparently 'normal' of the heroines that have routes splitting off from the common route. She is in love with the protagonist from the beginning, so them getting together is mostly a matter of the protagonist getting over his self-derision. Her route's drama is intensely personal, though it isn't a relationship problem... The route itself has a lot more ichaicha than any of the other routes, so I felt like puking sand several times during it... but for people who like that kind of thing, it is an ideal route.
Hanasaki Nonoka
The protagonist's little sister by marriage, an adorable girl who is referred to as a ダメ人間製造機 or a machine that makes men worthless, due to her tendency to spoil her older brother rotten. To be honest, since her route is listed as an afterthought, I thought it really would be... but it was easily the most emotionally touching of the routes so far. At least part of this was the fact that so much of her route is written from her point of view, rather than just the protagonist's with a few parts at key points. The route starts a year after the events in the common route, and it assumes that the protagonist didn't choose any of the four main heroines. Like many imouto routes, this one's drama is in the actual formation of the relationship, rather than after it.
In terms of the ending, this one is the most satisfying so far, if only because Nonoka gets developed at least a little bit throughout the rest of the VN, including the other heroine routes...
Koutsuki Kanna
Kanna is Wakaba's maid. She is a bit two-faced... or three. First is her 'gentle-mannered maid' persona, second is her yuri-yuri 'I love Wakaba' persona... and last of all is the delinquent, rough-talking side she only seems to show to the protagonist. Her path was the most surprising of the heroine paths, which was a good thing in some ways. I'd expected a more conventional plot path, but this was a good change, considering how predictable the other paths tended to be.
True Path
It isn't so much of a path as a means of giving closure to the protagonist's own personal issues without the intervention of a heroine and H. Precisely because of that, this blasts all the other routes combined out of the water in terms of emotional impact... but it also highlights how completely Saga Planets failed to bring forth its usual flair with the heroines. Nonetheless, this also gives the best ending in the game, with them showing the heroines and the protagonist quite a bit after the story is over and describing in detail what the protagonist, at least, is doing with his life and his attitude toward it.
The heroines are Ayano - the much-older senpai who is a genius but has been held back more than any other person in the history of the school -, Inori - a lone-wolf girl who hates people who ask her personal questions -, Wakaba - the protagonist's best female friend, who acts more like a guy than a girl-, and Hikari - the 'traditional' normal girl who fell in love with the protagonist at first sight.
Common
The common route is surprisingly short, with the story splitting off relatively quickly after a set if meaningless formalities in the form of 'choices' (choosing girls off a map for their scenes is a horrible way of picking your path). That said, it is generally amusing, and it does serve the purpose of introducing you to the characters without taking up three quarters of the game like many charage do.
Inori
Inori's path was pretty emotional, at least partly because the protagonist and her are complete opposites in nature, while being similar in certain aspects. I did find it a bit irritating how the protagonist took forever to figure out he was in love with her and the way Inori spent so much time fighting her own realization. However, the actual relationship and path were good - though I did find it really, really predictable when it came to the drama. Fortunately, it manages to avoid the crime of being a series of endless ichaicha scenes, limiting it to a few events and one serious date.
Once again - like many charage paths - I felt seriously dissatisfied with the epilogue, due both to its short length and lack of content.
Kuon Ayano
Aaah... to be blunt, Ayano's path blows Inori's out of the water in some ways, if only because the sheer impact of her unusual approach to being the protagonist's lover can't help but make you rofl. Let's just say - as they do in the game - that Ayano is the 'best woman to make your wife but the worst as a woman'. There was almost no date time in this route, though there was plenty of ichaicha... fortunately, it was immensely humorous, so I didn't feel the need to puke sand. The drama in the route is kind of contrived (though it is sort of interesting), but overall it results in a really nice 'happy ending', so all's well that ends well.
Speaking of endings... this one's path epilogue was much better than Inori's, if only because it shows them a year later, rather than the next day.
Soramori Wakaba
Wakaba is one of the two idiot friends of the protagonist, an obvious replacement for the usual osananajimi heroine. To be honest, her route made me a bit exasperated at first. For one thing, the way they get into the relationship is... sigh-worthy, and not in a good way. A combination of the 'whoops, we crossed the line' and 'friends>lovers transition's traditional hesitation' tropes. I was kind of hoping for them to use her background setting in the formation of the relationship, but they went in the other, less interesting, predictable direction, lol.
Incidentally, I realize I'm a bit of a buzzkill on romance, but VN romance is frequently exasperating. It starts out cute, then falls ever downwards from there.
Probably the best part of this route, at least for me, was the flashbacks about their first meeting, since it shows off some of the protagonist's better aspects. This route is fairly comedic, as a whole... mostly because Wakaba herself is a comedic relief character (one of the baka-trio) from the very beginning. The drama is very... light. The problem is that it comes out of nowhere, and even though they explain where it is coming from afterward, it still feels awkward and unnatural. For that reason, I can't really give this path a passing grade, lol.
Some extra comments
This is about Saga Planets and their apparent new way of doing things... to be honest, I feel like they are wasting all that was good about their early games with Karumaruka and this one. To be blunt, Saga Planets is at its best when it is making you cry, though making you laugh isn't a bad thing. Unfortunately, these last two games have managed to fail utterly at this very simple task. Moreover, this obsession with the faceless protagonist is getting a bit old, considering how much money this company puts into its games... Hatsuyuki Sakura benefited from the extreme emotionalism that previously defined this company the most, in my opinion, but Natsuyume Nagisa also had a huge helping of this, which is what makes those two the best games by this company. I hate it when companies stop doing what they do best...
Kotobuki Hikari
Hikari is the most apparently 'normal' of the heroines that have routes splitting off from the common route. She is in love with the protagonist from the beginning, so them getting together is mostly a matter of the protagonist getting over his self-derision. Her route's drama is intensely personal, though it isn't a relationship problem... The route itself has a lot more ichaicha than any of the other routes, so I felt like puking sand several times during it... but for people who like that kind of thing, it is an ideal route.
Hanasaki Nonoka
The protagonist's little sister by marriage, an adorable girl who is referred to as a ダメ人間製造機 or a machine that makes men worthless, due to her tendency to spoil her older brother rotten. To be honest, since her route is listed as an afterthought, I thought it really would be... but it was easily the most emotionally touching of the routes so far. At least part of this was the fact that so much of her route is written from her point of view, rather than just the protagonist's with a few parts at key points. The route starts a year after the events in the common route, and it assumes that the protagonist didn't choose any of the four main heroines. Like many imouto routes, this one's drama is in the actual formation of the relationship, rather than after it.
In terms of the ending, this one is the most satisfying so far, if only because Nonoka gets developed at least a little bit throughout the rest of the VN, including the other heroine routes...
Koutsuki Kanna
Kanna is Wakaba's maid. She is a bit two-faced... or three. First is her 'gentle-mannered maid' persona, second is her yuri-yuri 'I love Wakaba' persona... and last of all is the delinquent, rough-talking side she only seems to show to the protagonist. Her path was the most surprising of the heroine paths, which was a good thing in some ways. I'd expected a more conventional plot path, but this was a good change, considering how predictable the other paths tended to be.
True Path
It isn't so much of a path as a means of giving closure to the protagonist's own personal issues without the intervention of a heroine and H. Precisely because of that, this blasts all the other routes combined out of the water in terms of emotional impact... but it also highlights how completely Saga Planets failed to bring forth its usual flair with the heroines. Nonetheless, this also gives the best ending in the game, with them showing the heroines and the protagonist quite a bit after the story is over and describing in detail what the protagonist, at least, is doing with his life and his attitude toward it.
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