How to raise a Wolf Girl

Steam Review

To be posted.

Review

How to Raise a Wolf Girl is a fairly new VN that has recently hit the Steam Marketplace. The anime is visually appealing and has quite a few well put together music tracks that make the game feel pretty good. I am going to be upfront though and state here that while I did greatly enjoy this VN there are a few things that I think need to be addressed. And I have heard rumors that the issues that were in this VN will actually be addressed at some point so I have hope. 

The game revolves around the male protag named Shuji that lives in a rural community away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities. He lives with his younger sister and his grandfather. He is also friends with the protag's main love interest Kana. He is a down to earth guy with a large heart of gold, in fact Kana tells him all the time that his large heart is too large for its own good. Shuji as the protag has a very open mind and tends to view things as a combination of a realist and dreamer. It is a delicate balance but one he actually pulls off pretty well. I would say his character development is pretty decent if a bit slow at times.

Kana is the daughter of the township leader. She is also very open and very direct in her approach to everything. She isn't afraid to push things to get her way and her father is wrapped around her finger even if he never comes out and admits it. She is Shuji's close friend since childhood and has proclaimed over and over that they are either dating, eloping, or getting married. Of course, Shuji denies all of this but their history isn't just the 'kids' that grew up story you think. 

The truth is that Kana and Shuji have had several sexual experiences with one another though they do not talk about it as it is greatly looked down upon due to them not even officially dating yet. 

Kana is a bit of a loose cannon and this can lead to Shuji being in trouble a great deal because she is, in essence, the counter to him and tends to be very intimidating. 

One day while Shuji and Kana are out in the mountains they come across a hunters cage that has a wolf girl in it. A girl with ears and a tail like that of a wolf. Deciding to take a chance they rescue her and take her home. What follows are events that are intriguing, spiritual, and uplifting. There are also some sad moments but for the most part the VN is geared more to being a slightly comedic VN with some other types of genres added in. 

So normally here I would be discussing this next girl like a love interest to Shuji and in a way she is and in a way she is not. So before I get into that let's talk about Ihori a bit. Ihori for all intense purposes is a wolf girl. How do you ask? Long short is she went missing at a young age and to ensure her survival the spirit of the woods made her one of his retainers which embued her with some of his traits and talent. Which also led to her developing the wolf ears and tail.

Ihori while pretty much human lacks some basic skills such as the ability to talk properly, she also has an issue with being a bit more...animal-like in certain ways. This includes using the bathroom outside and not really liking certain clothing...primarily she doesn't like panties. Though later we figure out it's because of her tail she can't wear them like they should be worn and it is very uncomfortable for her.  

Ihori is very cheerful and happy go lucky to a fault. She is extremely smart and can learn quickly. She is dedicated to Shuji in the purest of ways. She tends to sneak into his bed at night and tends to be sad when he isn't around but is extremely happy when he is. She also enjoys being with Kana and the rest of Shuji's family.

In most Visual Novels like this one, you would expect that there would be multiple choices that would determine how things proceed through the game. And there are choices so you wouldn't be wrong there, but the choices you make only change a handful of texts and does nothing to actually change a 'path' that you can go on to get a certain ending. Instead, the ending of this VN is the only one so no matter what you choose to do you will always get the same ending. 

Furthermore the idea of 'love interest' is only somewhat true. Kana is pretty much your only 'true' love interest as far as the Visual Novel hints at. This is of course done through the fact that if you have the 18+ free download, Kana and Shuji have couple of H-Scene's that end with him in some form or fashion confessing that he is in love with Kana. 

Now that said I won't deny that there is something going on between him and Ihori but there were no H-Scene's which left me quite disappointed. There is also a third girl that comes in later that could at some point even be a love interest if that was the direction they wanted to go. However, the Visual Novel ends very abruptly and leaves the person playing it asking many questions...which in my experience isn't a good way to leave things. 

So despite the good marks on visuals, music, story and plot...the fact that the character development is slow and the fact that the VN has no 'paths' so dialogue really changes nothing along with the abrupt ending makes one wonder...is this really the end of this VN? 

There are several that are saying they are expecting an update at some point that will add more to the story and even maybe add 'paths' the player can take to get the girl that they want Shuji to be with. Now, none of this has been confirmed by the company that has produced the game nor the distributor at this time and many times you will not hear about an update this soon after a game has launched. I think we shall wait and see how this goes.

All that said I still recommend this VN as a good buy to add to your collection of VN's. I think you will be swept away by the story and enjoy the game for what it is even if it does lack some of the things we have all come to expect from most VN's.