Archive for the Yuri Game Category


Yuri Game: Sapphism no Gensou, Guest Review by Mara

October 10th, 2009

Brain is a bit melty today, so it is with great relief pleasure that I welcome Guest Reviewer Mara for today’s post! And even better, because as you know I don’t game and have no interest in games, Visual Novels or anything similar. So what a genuine pleasure to be able to provide you all with a review of the Sapphism no Gensou game that came out a few years ago and is undeniably Yuri. Take it away Mara!

Personally I do not comprehend the thinking behind same sex schools. Most of all I disagree with the argument that they somehow protect their students from something. But to each their own.

The school from Sapphism no Gensou on the other hand, I get. Not content with the usual standards of security a private school, the H.B. Polestar is a giant ship that sails an undisclosed course across the ocean to provide the best and most luxurious education for the daughters of the elite. Think a floating Ashford academy and you will not be far off. This is the absurd and fun setting of Sapphism no Gensou a visual novel by Lair-soft who since have done nothing else of note although they have kept with the theme of an unusual setting in nearly all their games.

This game’s unusual setting is home to a powerfully diverse cast, and not just diverse in the usual visual novel model of: ‘girl for every taste so we maximise sales’ way. The main character Anri, some sort of experimental fusion of Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) and Tamaki (Ouran Host Club), deserves mention for not only being out but also deliberately going to this closed-off all-girl school so that she has the highest possible number of girls to hit on. Such openness and self-confidence are refreshing in a female main character in general, much less a Yuri main character. So much so that I overlook Anri’s massive ageism as a required character flaw (she gets over it anyway).

Anri is not alone in this story – besides the three main heroines, who are for the most part the dullest characters; there is Anri’s pre-existing, pre-Iono harem. These characters deserve an article all to themselves mainly because half of them are completely bonkers. For example there is Nicolle, the long-fringed daughter of an Italian mafia don who talks machine gun fast and has a serious gambling ‘interest’. Kanae, Anri’s sempai and incredible computation genius, who is addicted to coffee and goes into withdrawal if she misses her regular fix. Anne Shirley, the daughter of a Columbian drug lord, who constantly offers the rest of the cast giant fistfuls of ‘medicine’ and talks to spirits invisible to everyone but her, and the player.

I could go on forever.

For the most part the entire cast is made up of fantastically far out individuals with suitably silly dialogue; each scene with them is a treat. It is a good thing that the supporting cast is so amazing, as the three main heroines about which the three main story routes revolve are the dullest cookie cutter characters that could hope to disappoint you. This is almost appropriate though because the main story is utter crap.

Simply put, the writers seemed to have deliberately picked the only form of a closed circle mystery that could completely turn one’s stomach. A series of sexual assaults have been committed on board the H.B. Polestar and in this all female environment immediately the out lesbian is inaccurately labelled as the suspect. So much so that the onboard authorities decide to expel Anri regardless of her guilt so that they can escape charges of incompetence themselves. If this summery so far has not made you throw up then let me close it by saying that we are treated to one of the assaults as the opening scene of the game in an act of Somme-level idiocy by the designers.

This half of the story is so at odds with the pleasant atmosphere of the other half that I am truly convinced that Sapphism no Gensou was written by two completely separate groups who then shuffled their scripts together before sending it off to the producer. It is a real shame because this game does have some greatness that is not totally obscured by the crap that makes up the rest.

Luckily, the idiots who wrote the rape half of the game were fired for the special DVD edition of Sapphism no Gensou. This version comes with a whole game’s worth of extra short stories and scenes that expand on the all of the characters with further disregard for being disgusting in preference for being silly. All the characters get at least one including the main character and the old lady who founded the H.B. Polestar.

If you are a complete collector like myself then you should buy the DVD version of Sapphism no Gensou as the extras make it more than worth it. However I cannot recommend such a game generally when there are other, better, Yuri visual novels out there.

Art – 7
Story – For the main story: 3 For everything else: 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 10 (a massive neon 10 advertising a swimsuit maid cafe)

Overall – 8

I truly liked this game but I cannot recommend it to others for the same reason I would say that you should not become friends with a racist just to borrow their car.

Thank you Mara for reminding me just why my aversion is something to treasure and nurture, rather than get over. lol And thank you for today’s review! As I’ve said many times, if you, dear reader have a Yuri game you’d like to review, please contact me. Legitimately purchased copies only, no downloaded or pirated games, please.





Yuri Reviews: Yuri Card Games?

January 5th, 2006

Really? Yuri card games? Well…sort of. ^_^ Today’s card game review was brought to you primarily through the generosity of Touko_no_doriru-san, whose gifts still make me happy, every time I take them out and read/look at/listen to them. So, let’s see…9 months later, I still thank you!

There are many and various fan made games based on parody and original series. H-games, dating sims, fighting games, etc. These two card games are also fan/artist created and you’ve probably seen some of the art without knowing where it came from.

First, let me introduce you to Seeraa Fuku o Anata ni…:

What makes this card deck so notable is that the art is by the same artist who does Transistor ni Venus and a bunch of other Yuri stories. Each card is a drawing of a different school uniform, with each school identified for ease of “fuku spotting.” For instance, I randomly pulled the “Seisshin Shoujo Gakuin” uniform, which looks to be a natty light blue and a striped blue and white summer blouse.

No actual *Yuri* except on the cover there, but it’s got that “six degrees of Yuri” thing going, since the artist is so very much a Yuri mangaka. Yuri by inference, shall we say. And lots of goofy uniform fun if you’re into that kind of thing.

Next up we have the reasonably well-known Mari-un-Zero:

Now THIS is a notable deck. The game is, like the one above, basically UnoTM-like. But the art is all done by artists you know and many pictures you’ve seen on Yuri picture boards live here in bright color. The four suits are the three rose families and a “brown” suit with other non-rose characters. Shizuka, Mami, Tsutako, etc. Many of these pictures are Yuri, or Yuri-esque and most of them are brilliant. For fun, I’m including two here, so you can see what I mean:

The first is probably a picture you’ve seen around. The artist is Shoutarou Tanaka and I’m sure some wonderful reader will jump right in with his website URL, since I don’t have it to hand. I included the second because this particular large-eyed picture of Kanako is drawn by Miyabi Fujieda, author and artist of Iono-sama Fanatics. Cute, huh? ^_^

Mari-un-Zero is a popular fan work and has lots and lots of lovely pictures. I always feel guilty about opening the box and taking the cards out to look at them though! ^_^

Lastly, I wanted to share with you something that is really not Yuri at all, but it is timely. One of the popular diversions for many centuries at New Years in Japan was a game called Hyakunin Isshu. In short, each card has one half of the first line of a Heian period poem. The second halves of the lines are laid out on the floor between two people and when the first line is read all hell breaks loose as the contestants try to obtain the second half. The one with the most cards and least brusies wins, presumably. We actually did a modernized, westernized version of this game for Onna! and we expect to the next time, as well. It was fun and popular – even if the verses were too hard for most of the contestants. (Which is a rant for another time, because I picked verses which are very famous…sigh…)

Anyway, as New Year’s Day has just passed, and as every time I saw anyone playing this game on TV in Japan it was women, AND as we know how much sexual tension competition breeds (coughBattleAthletescough,) I thought it might be fun to show you what a deck of Hyakunin Isshu cards looks like. This is my deck, btw – not a picture I found online. Last time I was at Sanseido bookstore in Edgewater, NJ, they had decks and decks for sale – even deluxe models with CDs with someone reading the verses. Lots of kimonoed fun, trust me. The women who played this on TV when we watched were *vicious.* It was a scream.

At any rate, whether or not “Yuri” per se, lots of beautiful girls and women, some great art and fun card games for all. ^_^