Sharin No Kuni

So I just finished this VN a while ago. My impression is... well, it's not bad, but I don't really understand why everyone on the internet loves it so much? I didn't dislike it, but I thought G-Senjou was better.

Sachi was my favorite of the heroines, mostly because I identified with her way more than I probably should. Ririko was amazing as well. I found Natsumi boring and Touka just flat-out annoyed me. Isono was my favorite character in the whole game by far.

The thing that bothers me is that the end of Touka's chapter seems to look the other way with child abuse. That's the way I read it, at least. Spoilering just in case... it seems to me that Touka claimed Kyouko had never abused her, when Kyouko very obviously had— she flies off the handle at little things, and the burn she gave Touka was clearly deliberate. Touka seemed to think that her mother hurting her was her own fault. That's not a healthy outlook, especially given Kyouko's unstable personality. And yet her chapter ends and everything is totally fine without any lingering repercussions. Uh, what? Am I missing something here? The game tries to tell me that Kyouko is a good mother when everything it shows me is of Kyouko being a terrible mother. I don't get it.

...Sorry for getting all tl;dr there, but it baffles me that no one else seems to have read it this way, and I wanted to have a serious discussion somewhere with people who didn't have a problem with that or interpreted it differently.

On a positive note, though, I loved chapter 5. The Ririko and Isono combination was absolutely epic, and the whole bit with everyone teaming up and rebelling was great.

Got Sachi's ending, and I'm not sure yet if I want to skip through a bunch of scenes to get the others.

It seems like a recurring theme in Akabei Soft's games that a mother's love for her child is a powerful thing, and extremely important, but doesn't preclude being a fucked up parent.

I was kind of put out in Touka's route too. What seemed like the obvious solution in the first half to me was for Kenichi to tell Kyouko "either you shape up as a parent or I'll see to it that you don't get an exemption from the PAQT." The entire point of the PAQT is supposed to be to ensure that a parental figure with so much power over their child is properly qualified, and Kyouko clearly isn't.

It's not that Touka doesn't know that Kyouko was abusive towards her, or the game wants you to think she was a good mother, but that Touka loves Kyouko in spite of her faults, and doesn't want harm to come to her, or for her feelings to be hurt. The trouble is that Kyouko pretty much makes use of this to emotionally blackmail Touka so she won't have to take the PAQT. I thought it was an interesting source of conflict, and a novel take on the mother/daughter dynamic, but it kind of fails to make sense when there's just no reason for Kenichi to put up with that shit.

I rate Sharin No Kuni as my favorite VN, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I really enjoyed exactly what so many people complained about in it, the long and slow paced Slice of Life segments. It's got a really interesting Alternate Society setting, and I liked the comedy and character building with the various oblique references you can use to pick out details of their society. Everything starts out seeming kind of alien, and gradually becomes familiar, without the use of infodumping. I think G-Senjou No Maou had a stronger ending, but a less interesting lead and setting, so I didn't enjoy the first 80% or so as much.

edited 22nd Dec '12 7:14:36 PM by Desertopa

Well, Kenichi is pretty emotionally unhealthy himself.

And yeah, I identify with Sachi a lot as well in some respects. It's... kind of uncomfortable, really.

See, I could tell that the "Touka loves Kyouko in spite of her faults" thing was what the game was going for, but the way it was presented made it seem like she was oblivious to Kyouko's faults. At least, that's how it came across to me, and a friend I know who also played it got the same impression. It may just be YMMV on interpretation... or my friend and I have just spent too much time comparing the Kyouko/Touka dynamic to the Rosa/Maria dynamic in Umineko. I agree about the whole PAQT thing, though.

And while I liked G-Senjou better than Sharin, I can definitely see why one might not like G-Senjou as much. In my case I just connected with G-Senjou's characters more.

Yeah, I'm with you on that. When I was playing Sachi's chapter I actually had to stop in the middle to convince myself that nothing was wrong with me because I saw so much of myself in her. That's probably a sign of good writing... I think.

the semi sequel,Kourin no Machi(it's just set in the same universe with a new cast of characters)is getting translated.

I've heard that it's kind of mediocre. Who picked it up?

http://kourintranslation.wordpress.com/

yeah,I also heard it's not that great compared to Sharin(looseboy didn't write it either.)but I'm still interested to check it out,plus I heard there's a plot twist related to Sharin.

I just started this.

Man, the main character of Sharin No Kuni is a jerk.

Still, the bluntness of the work introduces the characters, unlike Hoshizora no Memoria (which I also just started) where everything is just so fluffy I'm beginning to feel it has no substance.

The best I can say about it is that it works. It's far from the best execution though and I'm not convinced the tone of the work has even been considered. Serious characters seem to be awkwardly clashing with a generic slice of life feel? Not sure how seriously I should be taking this AU crime stuff. Need I say it's absurd?

Who should I aim for first anyway? Or is this a walkthrough case?

edited 9th Aug '13 1:35:13 AM by UltimatelySubjective

The story is linear with no real branches. Just be nice to everyone and then go for whoever you like when the choice presents itself. You may want to keep your options open until the end if you don't like any of the three girls instead of settling for Touka or Sachi since there's two other possible choices that can be made. Sorta.

I'm not sure I'd say Kenichi is a jerk, in any case. He's one of my favorite VN protagonists by a pretty wide margin.

Oh, and I'd suggest you not worry too much about the framing device in regards to the obligations.

edited 8th Aug '13 7:35:06 PM by Arha

kenichi's not really a jerk per say...

and g-senjou no maou's protagonist is a thousand times worse regardless.

I'm sure he pulls through for the people important to him. In fact that's already established. But that doesn't make him a nice person, and he's actually already admitted he's not.

The banter can fall over the line to plain meanness in my opinion. I also don't like the way he places himself above everyone else.

I'm currently contrasting him with the protagonist of that other work I mentioned who doesn't cross the line for me because the girl seems to be playing too or at least in on the joke. And to be fair has a terribly annoying voice.

And I am avoiding G-Senjou no Maou precisely because I feel I wouldn't get on well with the protagonist.

edited 9th Aug '13 1:33:01 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I don't find either one bad at all. Kenichi in particular is no worse than Tomoya from Clannad.

Don't avoid G-Senjou. DON'T DO IT

And yes, no avoiding my favorite VN. I'd say it's significantly better than Sharin no Kuni.

Well, well, it appears we disagree.

But regarding G-Senjou no Maou, I have considered reading it, but can't find any compelling reasons to do so.

What makes it good?

the only things i can think of are its music and main heroine...

aside from that... dunno.

I like the story it tells. The main heroine is excellent as is Azai Gonzou. The music is pretty good and it's quite funny at times. I have no real complaints about it apart from the subheroine routes, which aren't important in the first place.

I enjoyed most of G-Senjou No Maou less than Sharin No Kuni, but I still rate it as one of my top V Ns on the strength of its ending.

Those seem an awful lot like things opinion will vary wildly in though.

In specific, the exact flavour of character types and setting will be what you use to make the choice whether you have an interest in the work. It's more a matter of opinion. I've read about the characters and the story and... Not the sort of thing I'd usually care to read?

Having a good ending usually makes for a better argument the formula was successful though, I'll grant you that.

All in all, still not convinced. Sharin No Kuni will probably take me a long time to finish as it is, because I have to say I'm not really sympathising with the scenario or characters.

edited 12th Aug '13 5:18:09 AM by UltimatelySubjective

Arha, you bastard. I bet you knew I'd like the third/fourth act! So I should probably say it was a fair call as a recommendation.

Much of my criticism would be about details that are actually the point. All my annoyance... Is fuel for the final part.

That said, there's still criticisms I can make.

I almost quit, but just made it through because Nataumi's route ended surprisingly quickly and things changed.

So I would criticise the pacing (but it's a fine line since other people would have way higher tolerance than me).

I still don't like any characters, and feel their issues are not really worth being played large with the flawed device of the setting.

The world building isn't anything to speak of. Making the real world a piece of fiction in their world is basically a crutch for the writing.

I might have even liked the chapter format of the game, but I just found it clunkier than a regular route system. The epilogues are all unfortunately brief too.

Probably the best thing is how insightful Sharin no Kuni occasionally appears to be about human psychology, however given that I still didn't empathise with the main character it's only that and the energy of the last arc that save it.