a twist of otome

Image from Wikipedia

Umm, haha, okay, sorry, I just can't get over Gerald Ko's song, We Are Legend. You know, the one I first heard 8 days ago on the visual novel A2 ~ a due ~ by Arowana, Nellie, and Azure on LSF.  Hahaha. I just super-duper loved that game, and this theme song. I think it suits the story well. Look at these lyrics:

We are Legend 

Gerald Ko

This is the second visual novel I've downloaded from the Google Play Store, and I have to say, if all visual novels are as good as this, then my phone's 12GB memory will surely be filled with VNs.

It's been years since rocker girl Sona Song last talked to her father, a famous classical music conductor. So she's shocked, and a bit annoyed, when he leaves his orchestra to her after he dies. Though Sona just wants to slack off, she's soon visited by Yin Le Hao, her father's musical protégé from China. Hao doesn't speak any English, but he's determined to whip the orchestra into shape no matter what. 

A2 ~a due~ is a story about music. Music and everything that comes with it.

I am shamefully guilty of not downloading this when I first saw it. :( I am so sorry! It's just that, even though I love music, "rock" is not my style (unless you count Tokio Hotel as rock hahaha) and in the LSF screenshot, it showed that Sona is... a "tough" (literally) girl type, so I guess I kinda overlooked the fun factor in this. 



And you know what guys? Don't repeat my mistake. ^^

The story is one of the best stories I've ever read. I mean it. And I mean this in a non-romantic way. Hahaha. If S-Morishita's A Troll's Fairy Tale was one of the best romantic VNs ever for me, then this one is... well... I don't know what to call it yet, but it's really, truly good. The story is captivating, and it made great use of the musical references and Chinese dialogue (yes, it contains Chinese! <3 It's a language-lover's dream come true) that made it shine so much brighter than diamonds in my eyes.

At first, it started out pretty slow, but when Ye Lin Hao, the Chinese cutie in glasses, appeared, things started getting interesting.

(Warning! Spoilers ahead!)

Hi! I'm back, after quite a long time of not posting anything. Sorry about that.

Anyway, last night I downloaded this cute little visual novel at the Google Play Store, and it's entitled Witch Spell. :)


Thoughts:
- Story: Cute and fluffy. Even though it was quite short, I found myself smiling many times over the protagonist's quirks and general clumsiness. She was actually quite adorable. And I like her friend, as well. :)

However, the pace is a bit too fast for my liking. Like, they've only known each other for... what, a few minutes? Hours? And they were already "meant to be". It was as if the plot was moving for the characters, and not the other way around. Personally I like it better when visual novels are character-driven. ^^ That's not to say that this game doesn't have lovable characters! Quite the opposite actually. ^^ I found myself groaning at the protag's failures, but I can't help but share her sentiments. :) And I find Jin very adorable.

- Art: Simply fantastic. Especially the CGs! Oh my, they're really good. I took a few screenshots, but they're still on my phone, so I'm going to have to upload them some other time.

Anyway, I admire the artist for these works. They're just... so awesome you know. :) The art is done professionally, the GUI is clean, and I appreciate the chibis, which are so super duper cute. <3

- Music: Kevin McLeod music I believe, and it's also written in the credits. Teehee. Some people may not like the music selection because, I have to admit, they're pretty common nowadays, but I don't really mind. I think Mr. McLeod is a talented guy and I like his music.

- Err.... Technicalities: Okay, I don't know what to call this part so... haha, let's leave it at this.

Anyway, although the story is cute and all, I can't help but mention that sometimes the dialogue was a bit awkward. I'm a native Filipino speaker, and some jokes here are funny in my language, but not in English. I guess that's what makes it awkward.

(Example. The use of sarcasm, in Vice Ganda style, is quite funny when in Filipino, but not in English. At least, for me. "Hindi, hindi, wala ako dito, picture lang ako." The sarcastic reply, "No, I'm not here. I'm just a picture." sounds a bit... strange to me.)

Also, I didn't appreciate the "informal" speak, with loads of punctuation and stuff. It's not exactly a bad thing, it's more like a personal taste. :) I used to be a school paper editor before, and although in general, I'm not exactly strict when it comes to grammar and punctuation, I guess old habits die hard.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this game. :) The story is cute and I could actually relate to the protagonist well, and the dialogues were quite sweet. :) The scenes are also very good, and did I mention the art? It's absolutely fantastic. You won't be disappointed with the story either. ^^

I hope you guys try it out. It's available on Google Play Store, like I said. :)