#visualnovels

[suzuran777]

Slow Damage: Clean Dishes Epilogue 2 Summary

It has been a while, but the Clean Dishes drama CD was finally released earlier this month! I really liked it, so I decided to play some more of the epilogues. This one focuses on the relationship between Ruu and Kimika. Be aware that it does spoil the game's good ending.

This story takes place after the Hare’s Nest incident in which Kimika kidnapped Shiro and tried to use a bomb to kill both of them, believing that death was the only answer. Baku saved Shiro and Kimika was arrested. Shortly after this arrest, Ruu had trouble believing that the culprit was Kimika, but somewhere deep in his heart he knew it was really him. Even though Kimika usually smiled brightly, a tremendous darkness was hidden behind that smile.

"I wish I had realized sooner..."

The epilogue then skips to a flashback. Back then, Ruu worked for a car repair shop. While working there, he often came into contact with a man he absolutely despised, who would purposely torment the weak for his own entertainment. Because of his connections, he was never punished for his actions. One day when he witnessed one of his coworkers being harassed in the bathrooms, Ruu couldn’t handle it anymore and punched this man in the face. The man was not seriously injured, but as a result of this Ruu lost his job. He didn't regret punching the man, but he couldn't accept that he got fired for defending his coworker.

"At that time, I came across a recruitment ad online, from Sara-ya.”

At first, Ruu was a bit confused what exactly they meant with 'cleaning a room a person died in'. The location of the company was also not ideal, Shinkoumi is a place notorious for being unsafe. Of course, he could have picked a different job, but for some reason he decided to send an email to them. The work at Sara-ya was exactly what he expected, and it took some time getting used to it. However, in terms of human relationships, everyone was friendly and comfortable with each other.

"After a long time, when I was no longer called a rookie, I decided to team up with Kimika."

"I don't mean this in a strange way, but as a work partner and a human being, I liked Kimika."

Kimika was a cheerful, fun-loving person, who also had a serious side when they were working together. They would often meet up before and after work too, to talk and to eat together. Kimika used to be a hairdresser before he joined Sara-ya and mentioned that he enjoyed making people beautiful, almost as if a person is 'reborn' after getting a new haircut. Kimika mentioned that he wished he could be reborn too, but back then Ruu did not really understand the meaning of these words. Looking back at it now, Ruu realizes that there were so many hints that something was not right...

Some time after this, Kimika called him in the middle of the night. At first, Ruu thought someone called the wrong number, but after listening closely he realized it was Kimika's voice, wishing for his own death. After this, Ruu learned that Kimika was taken to the hospital after overdosing on sleeping pills. Ruu realizes that Kimika probably called him as a final cry for help.

The story then switches to Kimika's perspective. A bright and cheerful person, that is how people would describe him, which was not wrong, because that is what he pretended to be. Of course, it was not all lies, Kimika truly wished he could be happy. He grew up with three older sisters who were all very beautiful and talented. Compared to them, Kimika was a very ordinary person. Because his sisters were always praised, they were never punished when they used Kimika as a slave or toy, even sexually assaulting him sometimes. Back then Kimika didn't know it was bad, he was just happy that they would spend any time with him.

When he was 11 years old, his oldest sister vanished. A month later, her body was found in the mountains. A suicide note was found near her body, apologizing for not being able to meet her parents' expectations. One year later, his second sister passed away after repeatedly overdosing on sleeping pills. Kimika's family stopped talking to each other, unable to deal with the situation. Shortly after this, the third sister also disappeared. The police eventually found her alive, however, she seemed like a completely different person after joining a religious group. She didn't talk to her parents and brother anymore and locked herself up in her room every day. One day, she texted Kimika to come to her room.

"When I entered the room, my sister was standing on a chair with a belt around her neck, tied to the curtain rod."

She smiled and asked Kimika to remove the chair, explaining that she wanted to die so she could be reborn. Kimika, unable to deny her wish, did what his sister wanted. Kimika started wondering what would happen after death and if they would really be reborn. His sisters were very talented and had no other reason to die, so he assumed it must be true.

"Just like the other two, I wonder if death isn't something they fear, but something they yearn for. If possible, I want to be reborn too."

After graduating high school, he studied to become a hairdresser and eventually moved to Shinkoumi, mostly because he wanted to get away from his parents' house. Shinkoumi was a place where nobody would come after him. Even though he tried to distance himself from his past, he always felt like he couldn't truly be happy. Being alone made him very uncomfortable, so he would often stay with (sex) friends or even strangers. One day one of his friends half-jokingly sent him the Sara-ya recruitment ad, but Kimika, still obsessed with the concept of people taking their own lives, became interested in the job. This is where he met Ruu, and later Shiro and Baku. He was a bit excited to meet someone like Shiro who also wanted to die. Kimika also wanted to openly talk about death like Shiro did, so he decided to create a social media account. Before he knew it, he made many friends online who all shared the same mindset as him, agreeing death is the only way to escape from suffering. This is when Hare's Nest was created.

Members of Hare’s Nest focused on overcoming their fear of death and would usually report their daily accomplishments. Kimika tried to do the same and was proud of his group members. Eventually, the first individuals in the group started taking their own lives. Until then, Hare's Nest was mostly a private group, but after the first two suicides it started attracting attention online. After that, the number of deaths gradually increased and the criticism from outside groups grew. At that time, Kimika thought death was the only way to end suffering and didn’t understand what he was doing wrong. He also realized that Shiro joined the group and was surprised when he openly shared these details with him. Kimika decided that it must be fate, finally he would be able to die together with someone.

After that it switches back to Ruu's perspective. Shortly after the Hare's Nest incident, Kimika was sentenced to two years in prison. The sentence was shorter than expected because there was no evidence of intimidation or a detailed planning of the attack. Another reason for this was probably because Kimika's lawyer worked for the Takasato-gumi. It was Eiji who introduced them to each other. Ruu frequently visited Kimika in prison, but during the first visits Kimika did not look him in the eye and barely spoke to him. He didn't understand why Ruu kept visiting him, after all he was a criminal who encouraged people to take their lives and who almost killed one of their friends. He also didn’t understand why Ruu still cared about him, they were only work partners after all. To Ruu however, Kimika was never just a work partner, but someone he genuinely considered a friend. Ruu regrets not noticing Kimika's loneliness and still wants to be with Kimika after he gets released from prison. Kimika still has a hard time trusting others because of his childhood, but somewhere deep in his heart he wants to trust him. Ruu hopes that some day, him and Kimika will be able to laugh together again, just like they used to.

_____________________________________________

Some extra notes

The name of the group is simply called Hare’s Nest because Kimika has a pet rabbit.

His username online is Himalaya, referring to the Himalayan rabbit, said to be the oldest rabbit breed. His own rabbit is also a Himalayan rabbit.

Members of Hare’s Nest calls themselves ‘leveret’, a term used to describe a young hare. If you’ve read the Clean Dishes manga you probably also know it’s the name of the manga…!

The drama CD is a continuation of this, so definitely listen to that if you can! Especially if you like Ruu and Kimima as a pairing. ;)

[tricitymonsters]

Atlas makes the best edits istg.

[kurus-vn-paradise]

🩸Slow Damage🩸a VN that is an artpiece in itself

IT WAS WONDERFUL 😍 THANK YOU FOR THS EXPERIENCE, NITROPLUS, for creating this dark, absolutely stunning and beautiful Visual Novel 💖💖💖💖 I AM OVERWHELMED

[harrowedworld]

Dear algorithm, please connect me with people who like:

🩸 Vampires

🩸 Supernatural Creatures

🩸 Horror Games

🩸 RPGs

🩸 Visual Novels (Non-traditional)

🩸 Gothic Horror

🩸 Games like Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines (One of the inspirations)

🩸 Indie Games (just players please)

Harrowed World is a gothic horror setting where the supernatural really exists.

Vampire RPG Video Game and Visual Novels in development now!

[sketchbook-magic]

I just 100%ed a horror game that has been on YouTube but not many people are playing it so I wanted to share it here on my blog because it's honestly a great game and needs more attention! The game is called "Do NOT Take This Cat Home", it's a horror visual novel with 40 endings you can collect. You basically find a cat in an alleyway and take it home with you only to get trapped in an endless loop of nightmares created by the cat. The cat itself is absolutely adorable, there are a few good jumpscares but 98% of the game is jumpscare free so if you have a heart condition or something it won't bother you too much but still be careful. It does have flashing lights and stuff so people with epilepsy be VERY CAREFUL with the game, but in some sequences there are options to remove the flashes. The game is available on itch.io for free or if you want to support the creator, you can choose your own price but it is optional. It's honestly going to be my hyperfixation for the month. Fanart will be imminent!

[fictifgames]

Sending you some Miguel-flavored Sunday vibes ❤️

[hijodelagua]

Just released! The soundtrack from "Checkmate! My Shogi Club President can't be this Cute!"

Listen to it here:

And download the game for free at:

[6knotty6thotty6]

Golden X Forsburn

Yesterday, GoldenToast145 (Twitch), was playing Lovers of Aether on stream and was absolutely in love with Forsburn. She begged chat to draw fan art of her and him, so I took at shot at it.

[nightcarving]

Meet Julian, the daredevil who lives for the thrills of life.

[suzuran777]

Upcoming BL game: Ooe (Adelta)

Last week Adelta posted some information about their newest game, Ooe (大穢)! The R18 visual novel is scheduled to be released fall 2023 (now changed to June 2024!), though they’re also planning on releasing some other Ooe-related projects like an all-ages TRPG (tabletop role-playing game) version of the game and a digital format novel.

Story 30th year of the Showa era (1955), detective Oosaki travels to an abandoned fishing village located on the remote island of Ooejima, located south of Tokyo. After receiving a strange request from his client, he attends the commemoration of an actress who passed away three years ago, on his behalf. During his stay on the island a series of strange events happen. The ship that is supposed to pick them up never arrives, no one has heard anything from the event organizer, and there seems to be an unexplainable hatred and fear among the other people who gathered on the island. Stranded on this ominous island, ten people unravel the mystery of their shared past and the death of the actress, whose name is also "Ooe".

The game focuses on the ''Closed circle mystery'' element that can often be found in detective fiction. The chaotic atmosphere peculiar to post-war Japan will also be noticeable in this story. The genre is ‘’Mystery x Detective x Japanese horror’’, but according to the official blog posts it won’t have any ghosts or extremely gorey content. This is also the first Adelta game which will have a top protagonist! (and everyone is 'straight’ supposedly, which probably just means they're usually not into men but only fall for Oosaki lol). 

All nine attendees, who are also all murderers, will have their own routes, although some routes might be shorter than the others (4 full main routes). The servant who dies at the beginning of the game (I think this refers to Funeno) will also have his own route. When one route is cleared, more choices will be added to the game and more routes will unlock. Some newer blog updates also showed that there’s actually a 10th route? Which probably unlocks after clearing all of the other routes (I suspect it's Daiba). It’s also confirmed that the first route is Ariake, so maybe it will follow a similar pattern as the previous Adelta games in which you can only play the routes in a certain order!

Main characters Every character's personality seems to be inspired by the Buddhist fundamental earthly desires (workings of life that are believed to cause one psychological/physical suffering and impede the quest for enlightenment). I looked up the kanji that were used in the image below and added some translations/definitions of each term. I am not super familiar with these terms, so please let me know if there are any mistakes of course!

Oosaki (大崎) - Protagonist: A calm and collected young detective. He’s very tall and therefore people who meet him for the first time often assume he’s unfriendly, but in reality he's quite nice and just has a serious personality.

Ariake (有明) -  Disregard (Anapatrapya 無愧): A mortician who likes helping out those in need. After injuring his dominant hand, he has been receiving a lot of help from others and keeps thanking them. I initially translated his mental factor as “shamelessness” too but then I noticed Shijoumae has a similar one. I suspect that in this case it means having no shame even while doing something bad, and that he will try to justify it in some way...

Shimbashi (新橋) -  Stinginess/greed (Mātsarya 慳): A screenwriter who has a weird way of speaking, somehow combining overly polite speach and insults. He’s very proud of himself, also a germaphobe.

Hinode (日出) -  Resentment  (Krodha 忿): A junior high school student who travelled to the island on behalf of his mother. It seems like he doesn't talk. Uses a crutch to walk, though it's not really explained yet why.

Shijoumae (市場前) -  Shamelessness (Āhrīkya 無慚): A gentle and polite surgeon, who is also specialized in treating burn victims. In this case the factor of “shamelessness” seems to represent someone who does not accept criticism from others and is not ashamed of their own mistakes.

Shiodome (汐留) -  Restlesness (Auddhatya 掉挙): An energetic folkorist who can’t leave anything left unexplained. He’s researching the folklore and history of the island.

Funeno (船野) -  Sleepiness (Middha 睡眠): A servant who runs the two abandoned inns on the island. He’s so kindhearted that even the butterflies on the island seem to like him. He only fears Oosaki...

Toyosu (豊洲) -  Regret (Kaukritya 悪作): A soft-spoken monk, who always has a gentle air around him. Doesn’t quite understand why he was invited to the ceremony, as he has no connections to the Ooe family.

Takeshiba (竹芝) -  Lethargy (Styāna 惛沈): A magician who speaks in Kansai dialect. He often seems quite nervous and avoids any form of conflict.

Aomi (青海) -  Envy (Īrṣyā 嫉): A quiet music teacher who doesn’t talk a lot. When he does speak, it’s limited to short sentences only.

Side characters

Daiba Shizuma (台場静馬): Oosaki’s client who has a similar appearance as him. I’m not sure if he will remain as just a side character in the game because he’s the only one who also has red eyes, while so far all side characters have black eyes. He also has his own short story in the extra booklet... I wonder if he’s a secret route? He has way too much official art too. 

Shinagawa Zakuro (品川柘榴): A junior detective who’s always tired.

Shinkiba (新木場): Manager of the detective agency, likes reading books

(Image sources: [1] [2] Characters and illustrations belong to Adelta.)

By the way, in a previous blog post it was mentioned that 大穢 will be used to refer to the 18+ BL visual novel version of the game which will be released first, and  大江 for the all-ages TRPG version, though both seem to have the same reading. Most older pictures still use 大江 but I think this decision to change the kanji was only made later.

Some fun facts: all of the characters except Oosaki are named after the stations of the Yurikamome Line. One of the blog posts mentions that since there are a lot of characters, the writer wanted to make it easy for people to remember their names, so they called them after train stations near Tokyo Big Sight (the location where Comiket is held twice a year). It seems like Oosaki and the side characters Shinagawa and Shinkiba are called after stations on the Rinkai line? But they did mention that these names weren't chosen for any plot-related reasons.

So far it also seems like some characters share their first names with characters from existing novels. Shiodome's first name is Michio, which is also the name of a quite relevant character in Kotou no Oni. Daiba's first name is Shizuma which seems to be referencing a character in the Inugami Curse, and Funeno's first name is Kureichirou, which is also the name of one of the main characters of Dogra Magra (the novel you might remember from Hashihime!).

As usual the writer uses a lot of literature as inspiration, this time it was mentioned that the story was inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Edogawa Ranpo's Kotou no Oni and a few other stories inspired by real-life incidents (Anatahan, Higarigoke and the Mount Hakkoda incidents). They also seem to be referencing Inugami Curse or The inugami Family, so that's a small reading list for those who want to read something that could possibly be referenced in the game!

The official Adelta Twitter account frequently posts new updates about the game, so I recommend turning notifications on! They post a lot of background illustrations, CG previews, lineart, sketches etc. If you want even more information, I also purchase BL magazine Cool-B. Adelta always publishes a little bit of extra information in there, for example a ''madness'' scale ranking each character from 1 -5 (5 being the worst) so it's definitely worth checking out if you want to know more about this game.

[tricitymonsters]

Hey! I decided it was probably a good idea to get a mailing list going for people who want occasional game updates!  I am only going to be sending emails for Major Updates so if patreon and discord aren’t your thing, signing up for the mailing list will keep you in the loop without a lot of social labor on your part.

[kurus-vn-paradise]

🧠 NAGITO #3💅 🤍 ❤️‍🔥 (*Danganronpa 2 Visual Novel) 🧠

JUST NAGITO 💥 😗

[harrowedworld]

Dear algorithm, please connect me with people who like:

🩸 Vampires 🩸 Supernatural Creatures 🩸 Horror Games 🩸 RPGs (Video Games) 🩸 Visual Novels (Non-traditional) 🩸 Gothic Horror 🩸 Games like Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines (One of the inspirations) 🩸 Indie Games (just players please) 🩸 Immersive Settings

Got a Vampire Visual Novel launching this year! Vampire RPG Video Game also in development!

Looking for active interested followers, thank you.

[fictifgames]

What do you think you would see in Miguel's search history?

[ninagal-game]

College Kings

[6knotty6thotty6]

Golden x Forsburn

Two more pieces of Lovers of Aether fan art I made last night. GoldenToast145 (Twitch) announced that the ship between her and Forsburn is now canon, so I figured I may as well further commemorate that.