Cafe Stella the Reapers' Butterflies is a Visual Novel released on March 25th 2022 and was published by NekoNyan Ltd. and developed by YUZUSOFT. At the time of this blog the current Steam rating of this game is pretty high with Recent Reviews listed as "Very Positive" and All Reviews listed as 'Overwhelmingly Positive' with over 1K reviews.
Cafe Stella the Reapers' Butterflies follows the story of Takamine Kousei, a college student that lives an average and uneventful life. However, that all changes when one day he tragically dies in an accident. Despite that however that is not how the story ends, through unusual circumstances Takamine is taken back to the day of the accident and given a second chance.
Takamine is as you can imagine confused and taken aback by this sudden change of perspectives going from person bloodied and dead on the sidewalk to being back to his room the morning of the accident. And it is here that the story really starts to pick up steam.
Sumizome Nozomi is Takamine's childhood friend and the first girl that is introduced, in Anime Lore this would make her best girl, though as we all know this is a Visual Novel so you get to decide that course luckily...not that I have anything against her or anything.
Nozomi is a very cheerful, kind, and straightforward girl and though she is younger than Takamine, because of their long time friendship since childhood she is more blunt than normal around him. This makes their dialogue sometimes read like a comedy skit though it adds a lot of comedy to the VN as a whole.
Her family owns a shinto shrine as well as other business ventures such as a set of apartments that Takamine resides in. Nozomi helps her parents with the shrine work from time to time but spends most of her time doing the normal Highschool girl routine of school work and study.
While you meet Nozomi pretty much from the word go, her role doesn't really take shape till later in the storyline.
After the accident Takamine will later meet a new girl and this one will play a bit of a more vital role...at least for him.
Akizuki Kanna introduces herself to Takamine after they have a run in when Takamine meets Kanna's long time friend and partner who just happens to be a talking cat.
Kanna is a death goddess or Reaper who has lived for over 100 years. Due to her many years of living she has a great amount of difficulty operating modern-day technology, instruments, tools, and her worldly knowledge is at about the level of a grandma.
Even though she has lived for over a century she is a very down to earth person, she's friendly and easy to get along with and at times can be teasing of Takamine.
As a Reaper, Kanna has the job of collecting soul fragments and souls that she then sends back to God. She has the ability to see things that the normal person can't, though Takamine has the ability to see them too thanks to the accident that technically killed him.
After meeting with Kanna who has him accompany her to a small unopened Cafe when they first meet he is then introduced to another possible love interest, one that he knows of but doesn't really know.
Natsume Shiki is a fellow college student that attends the same University that Takamine attends, she also has the nick name the 'Solo Sniper', due to her cold calculating persona that involves her never going out with any of the guys that ask her out.
Though that is what people think of her, despite her cool and calm appearance the truth is she simply has trouble expressing her emotions.
Natsume is rather innocent and with the slightest mention of anything sexual she will blush ear to ear.
Natsume is also the proprietor of the Cafe and it was her idea to start the business venture. She at first has a very skewed image of what she wants with the Cafe, but with Takamine's help her dreams of opening a flourishing Cafe comes true.
Natsume also has a secret that if you choose her route she will tell you...and it is something that connects Takamine to her in a way that none of the other girls have.
Takamine agrees to help with working at the Cafe as part of his agreement to help Kanna and her partner with the soul reaping issues. One of the things he does to help out is seek out hired help. After getting Nozomi to help out he is introduced to a friend of Nozomi's that as you guessed can also become a love interests.
Hiuchidani Mei is a spirited young girl that is full of energy. She is straightforward and her personality type would make you think she would never tell a lie at all. She has some trouble processing complicated things and so she prefers to keep things simple and easy to understand.
Mei has a very childish side to her and she loves stuffed animals and pretty much everything that is cute. She also enjoys being pampered which is why she hates doing chores at home, and yet she is a hard worker at the Cafe.
Mei also has a hidden talent that should you choose her as your interest, she will show you and it is one that is actually pretty nice.
She used to attend the same school as Nozomi but several years ago she left that school and started going to an all girl school which leads to some interesting ideas and concepts that she speaks with the other girls that makes some interesting dialogue.
Finally, Takamine seeks out someone that can help the Cafe via the kitchen and in doing so he is directed to a slightly older woman that actually lives in his apartment complex and he goes to school with her younger brother.
Shioyama Suzune's route is unique as it has to be unlocked by completing another girls route. Suzune's route is also pretty short compared to the other girls which is kind of sad as I actually did like her route pretty well.
Suzune is the Cafe's patissiere and is the older sister of Hiroto who's is Takamine best friend in collge. She has a friendly, candid personality, but can also be rather lazy. Due to her lazy streak she doesn't tend to take care of her apartment and lives by herself.
Suzune takes her work at the Cafe however very seriously and isn't one to slack off. Her dedication to the art of pastry's makes her very particular about her sweets and she stays true to her methods when it comes to making them. However because of this trait she tends to butt heads with those that disagree with her methods and ways.
Takamine through the story gets close with each of the girls and though you eventually will want to pick one or the other his very helping nature helps all the girls in some form or fashion.
Overall, the story is very well written. I enjoy the dialogue between the characters as they do a good job at keeping the story moving while also adding comedy to the situation. Art wise the VN is well drawn and meets the quality you should come to expect from NekoNyan. The music is also well composed though honestly I don't usually listen to the in game music when playing but from what little I did hear I could see that it went well with the scenes and the VN as a whole.
As that is a new game that just came out a few months ago it is priced a little higher than most. On Steam Marketplace it is priced at $34.99 which is high for a Visual Novel under normal circumstances. However, I can see that with the nice artwork, music, and the 18+DLC that you can get I can see why the price is high. I personally think that it is well worth it.
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