First short impressions of the year! No time to waste let's get right to it:
あにまる☆ぱにっく (Rune-Finished, Shiori-75%) : You know, when I saw the synopsis I had a hard time believing this was an 18+ game. I have seen a fair share of childish plots and characters but this one would probably make it to the top (
Galette pedo stuff excluded). You have a dumb clumsy evil cat breaking a crystal of wishes, and a group of young girls transforming into magical heroines, complete with nostalgic sailor moon animation style stuff (except the naked bodies are not blurred out). They are helped and supported by a overworked bunny-like fairy and a very mature and dependable protagonist in their quest to restore world peace (and find love in the process). There is a saying that "Simple is Best", and I feel this game took it at heart. While it is true the game is devoid of really complicated issues which makes it a little bland, there's also a distinct lack of sore points that makes it an okay, not really interesting but not unpleasant, kind of read.
The character themselves, when I started, all felt strangely childish. The little sister may be only one year younger than the protagonist, she acts so shy and reserved that she really seems much, much younger. She's cute, don't get me wrong, but she's very much in the "we must protect" zone and not in the "see her as a woman" one. Her friend is loud and playful but I can't say I liked her character very much. I usually like this genki archetype but she, again, felt too much like a child that I'm comfortable with. The kind and dependable classmate is okay, pushing herself for others while harboring self doubts about herself. She is in a way the mirror of the protagonist, and her route plays very much on that. And finally we have Rune, the genius stray cat who does as she pleases, when she pleases, with whatever she pleases. One of her current interests happens to be teasing the protagonist, and oh boy does she not hold back one bit on it. Her route pretty much consists of him being teased to death, realizing his feelings, and then desperately attempt to approach and catch her. I liked it, as I usually do with routes that involve protagonists putting in some serious effort to get the girl they want to even notice them, and later on help her with her problems. Very cute.
I'll say one thing though, the ecchi scenes that I read through were clashing pretty hard with the rest of the tone of the game, with some borderline stuff I really wasn't expecting in this sort of moege. Maybe it was just due to Rune's fickle and overly curious character. If you're not okay with rape (from one side or the other) or even drugged sex, better be prepared. The culmination of that I felt is in Rune's after story ecchi scene, with a kind of play I really am not a fan of, pushed to extremes I really would have preferred not seeing. Even skipping through it was really off-putting, and put a few very deep dents in the otherwise nice image I had of the protagonist until then. Unless you're really desperate I'd say it's best to avoid reading it altogether.
I'll probably stop here because Shiori's route isn't that engaging, and I'm not feeling anything at all for the sister/friend duo.
自爆カノジョ : It's a nice simple romance, that is recounted in flashback form so the reason/events that led to the character going out together are left unexplained until almost the end of the game. There's nothing overly dramatic, and the main appeal is the heroine's particular personality : she acts extremely assertive and cool when she's in the presence of others, but lets out all of her steam and embarrassment when she's alone in her room. I like assertive characters, be that in protagonist or heroine form, and it was nice to follow her along as she teases the protagonist and makes him blush by either words or actions, only to silently (or not) scream later at her own boldness. The protagonist in this one was a bit more of a mixed bag, too worried and focused on trying to make the heroine blush and lose her cool, instead of just enjoying being with her. Well, as he mostly fumbles in his attempts, it does set up the scene for some gleeful critical counterattacks from the heroine, so in the end that's fine. For most of the game the only situations he manages to partially 'win' is during sex, of which there is quite a lot of (12 scenes), but he usually fails to notice anyway. This somewhat changes as the game approaches its conclusion, which wasn't the most welcome development for me, but good for the couple I guess.
Collar x Malice (Mineo) : I have only completed one route (out of 5), but I'll say that this game is a very pleasant read so far. I started very worried, and to be frank, if KK hadn't mentioned that the protagonist would seems weak at first but reveal herself later then I probably wouldn't have gone past the common route (Chapter0). The setup has everything against her, being a (forced) new member of a group of super elite, very talented, very handsome, older investigators faced with a very disturbing case, while she has nothing really to bring to the table. In fact, her most noteworthy achievement is... to have been kidnapped and targeted by the terrorist organization the group is hunting very early in the story. After that, she is given the runaround by the five ikemen, some teasing her, some insulting her, some just ignoring her, but none of them (or maybe one, but route locked!) showing any real interest for her. It doesn't help that she is overall rather shy and easily flustered, stumbling on words or just walking down the street.
Despite the game making sure we know she's a top marksman, even her job position at the very bottom of the ladder of the police force doesn't help put her in a very positive light : she mostly answers phone calls and collects statements rather than do interesting work or investigate. I would have thought that a game targeted at girls would paint its female characters in a bit more of a role model or aspirational position, rather than a traditionalist view of women as subordinates or support in society. No women superiors leading anything here, the (handsome) men are in charge, and having a few assistants and rank-and-file girls in what remains a very masculine institution like law enforcement was maybe already considered bold enough. I guess the norms are accepted from both sides of the equation (at least in Japan), which I felt was a little sad. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it though, and there's simply just not much interest for the female characters anyway, just as I generally don't have much interest for male characters (protagonist included) in chara/moeges. At least the protagonist has a face, the art isn't afraid to show her in the various CGs, and the limited female support cast has both voices and sprites which is nice.
But if our girl has one thing going for her, it's her tenacity and stubbornness. She has to, to even spark a glimpse of interest among our group of brooding heroes, and even the most friendly and less obviously "superior" Mineo takes a lot of insistence to even acknowledge her presence or usefulness. The romantic part of the novel is very cute as she multiples her approaches (deliberate or not) and just won't take no for an answer. She is mostly the one who takes the initiative in the relationship, first as friends, then partners, all the way to lovers, and this despite Mineo's attachment to traditional sexist values of what a man and a woman's places are in society. I wouldn't have thought this trait to be particularly attractive to a girl but I suppose it must be. Thankfully he is most of the time adorable in his pure, almost childlike reactions to her advances and as a subject of teasing from the rest of the group. I think he's a good fit for our heroine.
As I've wrote before I like protagonists that are willing to go to great lengths to get what they want, and I have a lot of sympathy for the protagonist of this story for how she handled the romantic aspect. I have to admit though, that I am disappointed, after finishing Mineo's route, that she ultimately doesn't really play a very central role in the actual investigation and resolution of the crimes. Most of the time she would just... be there, making tea, providing morale support, or simply happen to be in the right place in the right time. At best she would play the assistant, bouncing off ideas to characters who have already it all figured out. It never really felt as she was in control of the events around her, that she was able to really see through the case and formulate her own plan of action. She also needed rescuing a tad bit too much for my liking, be that from simple blunders or very serious situations. I realize there has to be scenes in which the heroes flamboyantly rush to her rescue and swoop her away princess-style, but these felt a bit too fabricated for me.
We'll see how this trend goes in the other routes. If anything the romance aspect is very pleasant to follow, especially as I expect she'll need to do a lot of work to be recognized by some of the more colorful members of the cast.
)>Kei>Shiraishi and last but not least the hidden route Aiji (my favorite
). Now, I totally agree with your critism when it comes to Hoshino since in Mineo's route there isn't much she does other than well like playing the support character I guess, and believe me...she is a really good MC for an otome game compared to the other ones I ever tried, and I played pretty much everything lol. Though I'm glad you didn't dislike it! The plot/game gets darker and darker (especially the bad endings) as the route line goes, which is quite fun actually. And I think you're going to enjoy Aiji's route the best, and maybe for the second Shiraishi's. :)
