Siscon Sister of the Week

 

This weeks Siscon Sister of the Week is Nanami Arihara from the Visual Novel developed by YUZUSOFT and published by NekoNyan Ltd. called Riddle Joker. 

While she's not technically the protagonists biological sister (through blood relations). However, they have been raised as brother and sister since both were young. Their father, a man that runs a special organization that uses gifted and talented children and adults with unique powers called Astral Abilities, has always treated them as siblings.

Nanami is a kind sweet girl that excels at every aspect of housework. Personality wise she's placid and subdued. She is shy and reserved, especially when meeting new people, but once she warms up to a person she can be rather friendly.

Being paired with her older brother (Satoru) as his 'Support' and 'Operator' gives them a lot of time together both on field assignments and when they are not working for their father's organization. 

Over time the two begin to bond in much deeper ways than just as siblings and at first they try to keep it a secret from their friends and their father. However, as all secret's do at times, they tend to get found out. Their friends are fine with it knowing they are not blood related, and their father seen it coming a mile away, though he is slightly taken aback by it at first. 

Riddle Joker is a very interesting VN that takes a unique look at a world where due to a unique event the creation of the 'Astral Particle' gives a great deal of people unique powers, and no two powers are exactly the same. I recommend this to anyone interested in a nice thriller VN.

Cafe Stella and the Reaper's Butterflies

 

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.

My Fair Princess

 

My Fair Princess sounds like something that someone like I would play as far as visual novels go. However, I had seen a few good reviews on this one and after thinking about adding more to my growing collection...don't judge me...I decided to go ahead and add this to my ever growing list of Visual Novels, with quiet a few still not played through. I also saw where Denpasoft had the 18+ DLC patch and went to get it, however, I was disappointed as that even though it showed it they showed out of stock. I still don't understand how a digital copy of something can be out of stock, but whatever. Eventually I found another site to get the DLC and I am glad I did.

My only real gripe this early on is the ratios. Sadly in fullscreen mode it causes some distortions on my other monitor it was not designed for the larger and more powerful monitors. But you can make it work, at least I did. I was surprised that there wasn't that many errors in spelling or missing or misplaced text either, that tells me the translation team did a good job. Musically, it wasn't bad, though anymore I just turn the music off and listen to my own radio on Spotify or Youtube Music...I find you can put your own music to these things and make it better, at least I feel like it does.

My Fair Princess takes place at the world-renowned Ryokufuuin Academy where only the famous and wealth kids can go...or at least that was until Satoshi (our MC in this story) begins to attend. Satoshi isn't rich or famous, he's just a normal low income high school teen that goes to school and works to help support his mother, four sisters, and a sheep...yeah I said what you think I said, I said sheep.

So how does a guy that lives off bargains, recycling, and doing odd jobs for food or other things other than money? Satoshi is extremely intelligent and was able to get into the Academy on an academic scholarship which pays for all of his tuition. Because of this he's able to attend the best school on the island and doesn't have to worry about paying for it, which is good because there is no way they could.

Satoshi has a dream of becoming a doctor like his father was and to reopen his fathers clinic, not only that but he's also hoping to use his knowledge in medicine to one day create a cure for the disease that has plagued his mother for years. Satoshi is very family focused and oriented and places his family above all others including himself. 

Satoshi is quick to realize that he's the black sheep of the school though thanks to a minor misunderstanding in which his last name is the same as one of the wealthiest families in Japan people assume that he's the heir to their Conglomerate. As such the other students treat him as though he's one of them and he does everything he can to hid the fact they are wrong. That said, there is one guy that became his best friend almost instantly when they met and he knows the truth.

The first girl you meet is at a party held at the school, she calls you out to dance with her at the party after seeing you in the corner of the room. While Satoshi knows the basics of dancing he's not the best at it, and he only goes to the formals at school because its required to at least attend for a while.

Maiki Hoshikawa is the daughter of two world renown actors that travel the world. As such she has been raised to be a prim and proper lady and taught how to act in high society. Because of her upbringing however she can be a bit naïve and can come off as being full of herself. However over time Satoshi and her become friends and he begins to realize that behind the glitz, clamor, and refined exterior, she is actually a lonely girl that seeks affection from her parents.

While attempting to leave the party he hears a voice in a room in the hall that he's leaving through and decides to investigate. He runs into Kana Takamine while she is running through versus in a play. She realizes that he's there and calls him out to finish the last verses of the play and he does without hesitation.

Kana Takamine is for better or worst the one that stands at the top of the hierarchy due to her being the wealthiest person in school. Being the daughter of the CEO of the Takamine Conglomerate which is the worlds leading financial group, has allowed her to also take the top spot in school as the schools student body representative.

Kana has a cool demeanor, couple that with her grown up attitude she is seen as the embodiment of prestige and wealth. However all that glitz and glamor has taken its toll, the rumor is that no one has ever seen her smile...not once.

After the party the next day Satoshi upon arriving at school is reunited with the one girl that has taken him under her wing and treated like a friend and brother since he started. 

Ayame Enatsu is the daughter of a world renowned manga author and is interested in drawing manga as well. She is Satoshi's upperclassmen and is extremely kind. She also holds Satoshi very close to her heart. I ended up actually doing her route first, but that is another post.

Ayame is also the student body's second hand woman to Kana and spends her free time helping Kana take care of the duties of the school. While there are others that are above her in the social standings she has earned the respect and friendship of Kana and so Kana trusts her completely.

Satoshi then decides to check in on a friend of his that he met not long after coming to the school. She's a bit of an odd ball but that is only because she's true genius scientist, the kind that comes around maybe once a century. 

Hitomi Miyazono is an underclassman of Satoshi and has her own lab at the school where she spends the greater majority of her time at. She is a robotics engineer as well as studies and develops AI systems. She has created the worlds first complete functional maid-robot Chole. 

Satoshi and Hitomi have a routine where they will meet at his classroom before homeroom and talk, if she doesn't show up by a certain time he's to go to the lab and get her which he does often. Hitomi looks up to and admires Satoshi greatly and dedicates time to helping him should he need it, honestly she would do just about anything for him.

At the behest of Satoshi she created what she calls the 'Mage Club' which is a school club dedicated to the occult such as fortune telling and the like. Satoshi did it to help Hitomi to get friends, as a genius she's treated pretty different from everyone else, though Satoshi treats her normally. 

Lastly we are later introduced to Rin. Rin Washio has two sides, the one she shows at school and the one that she shows on stage as a pop idol. Rin is in the same class as Satoshi and is under the care of Satoshi's friend who happens to be the son of the agency that holds Rin's contract, so technically he's her manager unofficially. 

Rin while at school is viewed by the other students as a pain and a handful. Due to her family circumstances Rin has developed an attitude which makes her impulsive, blunt, and a bit hot blooded. This also makes her keep her distance from the rest of her classmates. Usually she is always by herself and seen alone.

All that said, when Rin is on stage though that's when the other side of her shines. She can woo crowds with her charming smile, cute outfits and charm, and make people sway with an angelic voice. It is this complete transformation that confuses Satoshi the most but its not like he's going to say anything about it.

The story of these girls who end up becoming friends with Satoshi becomes complicated later when they find out the truth about his circumstances. In an event in which the girls knowing he's hiding something decides to follow him. As such they find him living in the low income section of the island and living pretty much just above poverty. 

When they find this out Satoshi believes that they will ditch him and his stay at the academy is over, however he's surprised when they all agree that they don't care about his living arrangements, his caring attitude and kindness overrides everything else.

I won't go into great detail on other things that happen, but pending on the girl you choose your story will follow a pretty normal path until you get the girl you want. Then the VN focuses mostly on that relationship. 

I hope you will consider checking this one out, its a bit dated but even so I can say it was a good find and one that I am glad I decided to get.

Amatarasu Riddle Star - Madori's Route

 

Of the five primary routes of Amatarasu, I truly feel that Madori's route got kind of shafted in a few ways. I feel the route took a great deal away from the MC and her interactions and I feel that compared to a couple of the others it wasn't as long. The only one that I think was shorter in play time to Madori's was Ai's. 

While I do think that they took a way from the story slightly with Madori's route they did at least explain a few things that you witness during the standard route. I am not saying that her route is bad story wise, I just think they could have done a little better with the overall feel and length of the story.

Madori is based off the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland. This is actually a really good comparison. Those of you that know the story of the Mad Hatter will agree that Madori's personality does match his quiet well. The reason for this is based on her history and how it developed her mental state as well as how she views people in general.

She seems very friendly and kind and tends to pick on the MC quiet often, however the reality of her state is that she is simply putting on a mask. While she seems nice and kind she is actually doing what she can to keep people at arm length away from her while living the lie of being something she isn't.

As the MC's and he relationship continues to evolve he begins to pick up on these subtle differences between her true feelings and those that she creates to be seen the way she wants to be seen. It is also during this time that the MC begins to realize that something is different about Madori on a different level.

As their relationship changes from one of physical passion to one where Madori begins to see her walls crumble things start to fall apart around the two, and I do mean literally. It is during this time you meet a omnipresent being that takes the form a small hat that Madori keeps on her at all times. 

Boshi is an agent of a realm that keeps the balance between all worlds and attempts to maintain such balance from going out of control. While it doesn't happen often it can happen and it is up to Boshi to ensure that should it come down to it he is required to separate the two worlds by force before both worlds are destroyed.

Boshi however can not do this on his own so he relies on others to help investigate disturbances around the area to ensure that the two worlds do not become unbalanced. It is later that you find out that Boshi has visited this same town and place at an earlier time and that Boshi was forced to separate the worlds to prevent a collapse of both worlds.

As the relationship with Madori and the MC reaches a climax it becomes apparent that the worlds are attempting to collapse and it is up to Boshi who's been with Madori for a long time now to make a choice to either use his powers to converge the worlds or to separate them, either way there is a price to pay for it and Boshi pays the price.

Despite the sacrifice made by Boshi he does end up being allowed to return to their world and once again becomes part of Madori's life. However this time so is the MC. The MC explains that as their relationship grew, the walls around her heart would slowly crumble and eventually the once false face she showed others would eventually go away.

Madori has several more H-Scenes I feel than the others but that isn't a bad thing considering her story is shorter than most of the others. While I did enjoy her story I do think they tried overly hard to create her character to be a bit off kilter than the rest of them. I also found that there was a lot of back and fourth between them that could have been reduced...then again that would have just made the playthrough shorter.

All in all I still enjoyed this route and enjoyed seeing the big mountains she had as well...yes despite her short stature she had some big ol titties that a Man of Culture like myself can really enjoy.

Madori's Free Money Shot

Orwell -Keeping an eye on You-

 

Orwell Keeping an Eye on You, is a unique experience to say the least. Orwell is a new government security program that has the power to survey the online presence of every person in The Nation. With the ability to monitor all forms of personal communications and able to gain access to any computer, Orwell finds and decides which pieces of information should be passed on to the security forces and which should be rejected.

This is where you come in, as an Investigator hired secretly by The Nation's Security Forces it is your job to use Orwell to investigate the lives of citizens and to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Thanks to Orwell you have full access to information from the internet, personal communications, and private files. Be warned however, the information that you supply will have consequences.

You were selected from thousands of candidates to become Orwell's first human researcher. When a terrorist attack on The Nation's capital of Bonton takes place, you and Orwell are immediately put to the test. You start with a single person of interests, and soon you will be using your access to Orwell to help the Security Forces build out and profile a network of potential culprits.

Thanks to the Orwell System you are able to investigate the digital lives of citizens searching through web pages, social media posts, dating site profiles, news articles and blogs to help track down the terrors suspects. Using the unique sub systems of the Orwell System you can go as far as to gain access to citizens cell phones and computers, giving you access to read personal emails, listen in on chat communications, hack their PC's, pull medical files, and make connections based on these.

As the investigator and Orwell's counter part, it is up to you to determine what information is relevant. The information you provide will be sent to the Security Forces and they will act upon it. You get to decide what they see and don't, which influences how suspects are perceived. 

It is up to you and Orwell to find the terrorist that bombed Bonton to keep the citizens of The Nation safe, knowing that Orwell is watching over them.

The game's story is well written and enjoyable the artwork actually goes well with the concept of this game so even though its not like top of the line graphics I still found it really well done. The audio is crisp and clean and while I do wish they had more actually voice overs instead of making you read all of it but that isn't bad really. 

I would recommend this game and while its not a normal adult style game that I play it is still listed as mature due to adult language and some of the situations but overall its not really all that bad.