イハナシの魔女

the usage of real life photos without any context over several dozens of characters is unnerving, there's alot of characters getting introduced without any drawings, so basically you'll only see an empty background while this 2 people progressing the story.
but nonetheless its a good "love story", a bit deus ex machina type of story, where all of the problems are solved "magically", but a love story needs a good ending so its a fitting one at that.

Basically, it is a masterpiece in manipulating my emotions -- in a good way. It starts out like most slow burn romances but when it picks up the pace, it picks it up masterfully and in a way that keeps you in your seats. I was basically on the verge of tears by the end and I am for sure experiencing dopamine withdrawals from the fact that there is not more content after the ending. Sadly the post-post-credit pdf is RM21.75 and isn't translated so unless they translate that I'll be left with a Lilun and Nishime shaped hole in my heart. </3

generally solid for what it is, easy recommend, especially on sale.

the art is surprisingly good, simple and coherent with a totally original style. it is easily my favourite aspect of this game. i would have greatly appreciated more than one pose/outfit per character, some situations really would have benefitted. the music is great too, fits well and is catchy.

the writing is hit or miss, it fluctuates between not taking itself seriously enough and being a bit too personal - that is to say that if the story is for you i think you will really like it, if not, it may be a struggle to trudge through some sections. some parts later on are genuinely quite sweet and well worth the slog.

i think the main story is overall a bit weak and overdone, and some of the character choices are odd or disappointing. higa quickly goes from perhaps the most interesting character to my least favourite in a matter of about 10 minutes, and kaneshiro is always forced and never fits into any scenes. (he should have just been cut out completely if you ask me. his voice is really annoying too) lilun, on the other hand, is always great, and gets better as you go. i haven't gone through for a second readthrough yet, but i imagine lilun would only get better on subsequent reads. akari is also very good, though she could have been utilised better. the side characters are generally okay, kiriko is great, yoshii? (i think is her name) is cute, and, uh.. that's about it. every other side character is kind of boring, but they are side characters, so who really cares.

overall there is enough novelty here for me to consider this visual novel worth reading for pretty much anybody. it is interesting enough and handled well for the most part, and, like i said above, i am certain that some people will truly love this story. its hard to explain without spoiling anything, so just read it yourself.


akari and kiriko are great character wise, but their stories lack any real consequences, literally, in the case of kiriko as she doesnt even stay bald. the first arc feels utterly meaningless until much much later on, and even then it still doesnt really matter. everything is just sort of swept under the rug and treated as if it didnt even happen, then akari's parents just wave her off as if its totally fine for her to go. i get what they were going for, but it just doesnt work. its the same with the stuff near the end of lilun's arc where the osatos are just seemingly okay with lilun destroying the world because.. they dont want to hurt her feelings by kidnapping her..? am i missing something? she is going to DESTROY THE WORLD is she not? anyway, akari never calls hikaru from tokyo and that is thoroughly disappointing.

like i mentioned above, higa is very cute at first, but her story unfolds in a really lame way. the idol stuff is silly and way too convenient and coincidental, and the fake grandma stuff being used to mask the real grandma stuff (why does it need to be masked anyway?) is just weird. there is just too much going on in higa's story, it could have used some editing. the part i really dislike is how higa is revealed to be a paladin (?????????why????) and then literally nothing comes of it. higa doesnt need to be from the other world, it doesnt add anything to the story, all it does is ruin her character.

lilun's story is where the best stuff is (thankfully, as it is the main route) but it is also the route where you have to slog through the most exposition, world building lore dumps, nobuko/shinji stuff, etc.. it can be a real drag just to have hikaru fuck everything up once again. hikaru is a serious loser, by the way. can we stop it with the visual novels where the main guy is a loser? i like the blindness stuff, im fine with that, but the fact that he hides in the bathroom and stuff like that is just pathetic. i know that you're planning to reverse it by having him break the curse, yeah yeah, whatever.. there are other ways to write a story, you dont always have to have a garbage protagonist that FINALLY pulls through at the very end, then BOOM cut to credits. anyway, since i guess im ranting now, the magic system is also disappointing. it just isn't interesting, and it sucks that lilun just happens to have cleaning spells and stuff like that. again, things are so wishywashy that i cant tell if the writer is taking things seriously or is trying to add some levity. the end result is me rolling my eyes as lilun drycleans her clothes with magic and then goes to her 9-5 as a receptionist. again, same problem, why does lilun get a job? isnt she on a mission? i get that it gets clouded as she falls for hikaru, but her motivation early on feels empty. instead of hunting the demon she works in the sugarcane field or sits at a desk all day? i dont buy it. if i have to suspend my disbelief for simple things like this it takes away a lot of the potential magic of the story. it winds up feeling oddly mundane like hikaru is rooming with an international student or something, but the author doesnt lean into that side of things either so lilun just winds up completely sidelined for all of akari & higa's routes, it sucks. you have to wait until a good 60% through lilun's route until the author actually gives her some nice scenes with hikaru. thankfully they are in fact pretty good, its just such a slog man.. so disappointing. lilun just completely gives up on her family out of nowhere too! it makes no sense. why dont they try to find the cave again or something? there are so many threads that dont get a fulfilling end..

lilun: A (would be S if hikaru wasnt a bitch and she was actually permitted to be cute)
akari: A
early higa: S
paladin higa: F
kiriko: B

willpower and love can get very far, even between worlds too
dont judge it with its island plot cause its even more than what it seen too
with every island story troupe done right and hits hard near the end too
i cant wait for more from this dev!
its nice

An average boy means a not-so average girl, and his life is changed forever.

The game starts out a bit slow-paced gradually introducing elements and characters that play a large part in the ending of the game. The characters are charming though I do wish some of them got more screen-time as the rest of the cast.

The game doesn't have the highest budget as, characters outside of the main cast are unvoiced.
The # of overall CGs, though few in number, are used great times and are all very beautiful.

The culmination of all the elements of the story come together extremely well and make for a very emotional game, particularly, in the last half of the game.

I will definitely be keeping my eyes on Fragaria's upcoming games, hopefully with an english translation.

I'm not too familiar with Light novels and got some clunky usage of the game system like saving loading auto ,... but I love this art style and I got hooked to the settings and the flow of this story.
I'll get the extra content once it's translated (I hope).

เป็นเกมที่เนื้อเรื่องเชื่อมโยงเนื้อหาและsettingของโลกได้ดีมากๆ เล่นไปแรกๆคุณจะสัมผัสความยิ่งใหญ่ของเนื้อเรื่องได้ระดับนึง พอเล่นไปสักพัก ความยิ่งใหญ่และความเป็นไปได้ของเนื้อเรื่องจะพุ่งสูงทะยานฟ้าจนคุณแทบตามไม่ทัน สำหรับผม มันคือเกมที่เข้ามาอยู่ในใจของผมแล้วเรียบร้อย ต้องยอมรับว่าเกมเขาวางเนื้อเรื่องไว้ดีจริงๆ แต่เกมมันลากยาวมากก โดยเฉพาะตอนท้ายๆนี่ลากยาวเป็นเส้นสปาเก๊ตตี้เลย 20/10 ครับ