Visual novel roundup - some other stuff I've played

 Yup, here it is, a few days later than the blog's 10th anniversary - a small roundup of more VN stuff I played /replayed recently. 

Yume Miru Kusuri

A leftover of the days when I was still subscribed to the Jast USA newsletter, before the company's owner produced a crude, sad joke on one of Italy'd deadliest tragedies. Go you, boy. 

Cringe aside, this is the only visual novel I ever bought from the site, and with good reason. I'm not sure if it's still practice or not, and I have no interest in finding out, but back then you had to log into the site to play. Yup, pseudo-DMR for a visual novel. 

And it's not even that great of a visual novel - or, at the very least, not one that lives up to the hype. Three supposedly thought-provoking, 'today kids' problems' routes that mostly fall flat on their face. Aeka's is a cringe bullying revenge story we've already seen a million times before, and in much better versions; Mizuki's is the usual 'first world problems' fest that really stretched believeability to its extremes; Necoco's catgirl route is still not much but by far the best, as well as the only route that has anything to do with the novel's title. 

Art is good, but dialogue is cringe and the H is the usual, high pitched J-whine I just can't stand. Not reccomended.

Ori, Ochi, Onoe / River Trap

Back in the days when I prowled (strictly as a lurker) LemmaSoft's forums, Mikey and his ATP Projects were a household name, mostly by sheer volume of releases - take a look at their itch.io if you don't believe me. I was an avid, but wary consumer: as you may know by now, I'm a big fan of minimal production values and 'great deeds done with zero funds' projects, so I didn't mind too much that a lot of their projects were very short and very, very barebone: the stories were good, and often tackled stuff other VNs didn't want to bother with - adult problems, established sexual relationships, etc. Still I did feel like a lot of their products could have benefitted more cooking and, after a couple too many duds, I simply didn't bother anymore.

Here are my two favorites of that bygone era. Ori, Ochi, Onoe  is, once you get to the meat of it, a rather far fetched pseudo-magical-realism story that could have sat in The Twilight Zone's lighter episodes; still, its sheer production values go above and beyond most novels of the era, while retaining that indie feel I appreciate. Special mention to ButtercupSaiyan's art and Renesis' music, some of the best I've heard in any VN (finally no fucking piano, thank you). Extra points for characters that bang right from the start, and no threesome route. 

River Trap also has the same Twilight Zone-ish feel to it but, mostly thanks to its simpler, dirtier at style slathered in blue, manages to get a far creepier mood across. This one does feature a threesome, though an appropriately creepy one I can only applaud; the barebone, atmospheric music really gets across that feeling of dread and existential despair the three main characters seem to thrive upon. I once had to make a short film for a college course and, before settling on another idea, I actually did entertain turning this one into a script. Oh well. 

My so-called future girlfriend

Meh. Middling Korean comedy romance about a girl time travelling to rekindle love with her future boyfriend / current unlikeable slob of a man. Seriously, some day VN writers will understand we don't need the protagonist to be the lowest common denominator in order to symphatize with them. Story goes through the motions, art is serviceable but nothing special. A bit overpriced at four bucks, but occasionally it goes on sale so it might be worth a shot. 

Blankspace

This one does actually feature some puzzles / actual gameplay, but I'd still call it a VN at its core. Dude trapped in a mysterious room with a mysterious girl and no way out might sound like a Zero Escape setup, but here the mood is far more relaxed and there are pretty much no horror elements, unless you consider spooooooky ghosts (that the protagonists considers getting it on with) horror. The puzzles are rather simple and not always telegraphed as well as they could, but overall you should have no problems getting to the end of a disappointingly commonplace ending. Shame, production values were nice and the co-protagonist is a true babe. Better luck next time.

Yes, why, I shall help you indeed.

Next shipment from Japan is due in a few days, when we shall be back to regular doujinshi programming. Stay tuned. 

Visual Novel Roundup

 As my interest towards Doom and Warcraft wanes, I have sort of come around to one of my original video game (if you can call them that...) passions: visual novels. 

Out of the loop for a while, I had to do a bit of digging in order to see what was up nowadays when it came to the sort of stuff I like: indie, short, possibly free visual novels, either Japanese or OEL, with that touch of the 'amateurish' (in the best possible way) underground feel I sort of enjoy in... all media, really.

Sadly, it seems like the good ol' days (yes, I'm old) are gone: insani is out of commission for the most part (no substantial updates since 2006 or so, save for a re-upload of their Nscripter, and a very useful dev journal), a lot of the blogs I used to follow are gone for good (as in, they are so gone I can't even provide a link), and the usual soulless conglomerates, even more soulless than I remembered them to be, dominate the news. At least the Lemma Soft forums are still alive and kicking, and one can always fall upon the always up to date VNDB to search for new and upcoming works. 

Then, of course, there is Steam. While certainly not a VN haven (unless you like 3d pig ugly dating simsm no offense to pigs), there are a lot of interesting games to pick up, mostly in English but with the occasional Japanese entry. So, here is what I've been playing (or sometimes, re-playing) lately. I have paid for all of them where possible, and I am skipping a couple things that I haven't finished yet, or were too tiny or disappointing to form an opinion on them.

Clannad

Yup, we start with a replay. I have to say, not as solid as I remembered it to be, overall. Very, very meandering, and the big swathes of slapstick comedy only go so far. Kyou's route is still the best, and really the only one worth playing all the way. A relic of its age, really, love it or leave it. I will reccomend the anime adaptation, however, if you're one of three people who never watched it - it's really, really good.

Planetarian

Even less polished than Clannad and, because of this, with a bit more staying power, at least for me. I mean, by today's production values (I played it right after Yume Miru Kusuri) it could almost pass for an indie work. It really has that early-2000 feel that I cherish, the story is sappy but counterbalanced by a healthy helping of postapocalyptic cynicism, and the beefy UI only adds mostalgia points. 

Katawa Shoujo

Probably the litmus between mainstream and indie, I actually followed this one's development as it happened, so extra nostalgia points. I even have one of the doujinshi the Japanese branch of 4LS published. High production values (though I think it could have done with a bit more homogeneity in the artwork department), great story (again, not all equally well developed, I never really vibed with Rin's and Emi's but no biggie), and a rabid following waiting for them to make a sequel they'll never make. I occasionally pop back into the development forums  just for kicks and to remind me of that one time I did 0 to 10k with Emi. Good ol' salad days. Anyway, reccomended if you haven't played it. 

Voices from the Sea

OELVN by Zeiva Inc., makers of a lot of very solid games I will check out in the future. A very short visual novel about a disgruntled boy and his friendship with... the sea. How literally, you'll find out on your own. The art and colors are just amazing, really hit that aqua laden sweet spot I just love. There are a few oddities: some visual gags feel a bit out of place, but fortunately they are relegated to the extras, so no big deal. Good enough to actually get me to shell a few bucks for the plus version, and I don't do that sort of stuff lightly - I am very, very stingy with gaming money. Great music too. Reccomended.

SeaBed

Also my Steam theme, in case you were wondering (oh, by the way, I am 'thelokk' on Steam, friend me and say hi!). A very well known title in the yuri genre by Paleontology, who apparently made it and then fell off the face of the earth - same old story, really. Plays with time warps, abstract deep dives into the memories and consciousness of the two likeable, relatable co-protagonists, and keeps the yuri tasty and classy. A bit sparse in CGs, but there is a lot of dialogue and it's fairly long too - big bang for the buck, in my book. Available for Switch as a physical release too. Reccomended.

Sounds of her love

The first entry I would reccomend with reservations - there is a part two by makers ds-sans in the works, with much higher production values and a more developed story - so you might want to check this out so as not to fall off the loop, but it's a bit of a hit and miss to be honest. It starts with a very interesting premise - the romance between two half Japanese, half Welsh youngsters living in Japan - but gets sidetracked into the usual teasy, 'can't you just explain yourselves?!?!' shenanigans I have little patience for. The protagonist plays harp, yet she isn't shown once doing so... and so on. It's not bad, just underdeveloped and clearly created on little to no budget. Some very mild ecchi. Still reccomended if on sale, but the main course is yet to come.

Selene - Apoptosis

For some reason, purely horror VNs don't seem to be so popular with OEL developers - most of their indie horror energy seems to be channeled into the lb/Omori format of the adventure game. Selene is the exception, as it deep dives into horror headfirst, both visual and psychological. As you unravel (or maybe really don't...) the mystery of who the mysterious cat (or catgirl?) persecuting the two different narrators is, you will encounter copious amounts of blood, suggestive adult imagery (especially if using the hentai patch), one or two yanderes, and unlock a series of short analog horror-like skits that seem to develop part their own story, part the VN's lore. Highly reccomended.

REFLEXIA (prototype version)

Short meta-piece by mahoumaiden, one of the people behind another batshit insane VN that I still have to complete so will comment upon in a later post. If you've ever wondered what a VN romanceable protagonist thinks of you, this is the novel where you find out. The visuals are astounding, stark and simple yet incredibly effective at conveying the 'let's get to the core of this' attitude of the writing, both funny and terse - maybe a tiiiiny bit dragging towards the end, but not by much. Also very funny, and the short loopy music adds to the atmosphere. Highly reccomended. 

moe era

A Russian visual novel (VNs seem to still be inordinately popular among Russian geeks, just like it was a decade ago) which sports probably the most original story of all those reviewed in this post. The twist is the perfect 'I saw it coming, but actually I didn't' stuff that, as a card carrying mystery fan, I just love. The novel-within-the-novel is hella creepy and, while the themes moe era handles could be considered quite heavy, there is plenty of humor - and, sometime, fanservice - to keep the reader away from eccessive gloom. Excellent production values, Sima best girl. Reccomended.

Missed messages

A millennial would probably argue this one needs trigger warnings, but I happen to think trigger warnings are for frail snowflakes - no one faced stuff by avoiding it, ever. So yeah, just be warned that this novel deals with very heavy topics, although it does so with just the right amount of seriousness and. when appropriate, lightheartendness. You will reconsider how important your hot goth gf is to you. Probably visually the best of anything I'm reviewing today, Angela He's tract has some of that European bande dessinée vibe that I absolutely love. Warrants multiple replays for all of the endings. Highly reccomended. 

Looking up, I see only a ceiling

Not a visual novel in the strictest sense, as you do input to move across environments old adventure-game style and there is a free roam mode after first completion, but you still click through text so whatever. Very charming art style, sort of a lo-fi take on the same pastel-y aesthetic of the previous reviewed work. The story is simple and a bit opaque, but the game is brief enough you don't feel shortchanged. Probably a good pick if you like your games to be something more than window after window of dialogue. Still reccomended.

Kidnapped girl

Ah, don't you love fanmade ero patches too? XD anyway, what's with Russia and edgy protagonists? this one here is a psychopath bent on torturing a classmate... or is he? will he change his mind just in time. Troy Holman's relatively short, charming work is sparse in assets (just a handful of sprites and backgrounds) but gets maximum mileage out of them, helped to this regard by an excellent OST, one of the best I've heard in any indie OELVN. The story starts pretty dark but don't be fooled, even the bad ending is not that bad. Reccomended.

Find love or die trying

Mostly a one-person work by Auden Cho-Wong, and you wouldn't be able to tell -- I wouldn't say production values are quite game studio level, but they get pretty damn close. Loads of CGs and sprites, a variety of backgrounds, fantastic OST and a Hunger-Games-but-it's-love story that actually offers a couple plot twists, rare fare in the genre. Five heroines to 'choose' from.. but do you really get to choose? what's their say in the matter, and what's yours anyway? play to find out. The most developed plot in an indie-ish work I have come across in a while, checks all the boxes. Highly reccomended.

This is it, for now. Next round, I'll review what I still have to finish, and reccomend a couple of very obscure things some 

夢想少女 by 宇一 (2019)

 Artbook time! and a very nice one it is, by another far from unknown illustrator - 宇一 (Uiti) can count on more than 100k followers on Twitter , has just published a new, non-dōjin artbook, and is generally one of those illustrators you will often find featured on daily Pixiv collections. They sport an increasingly common visual take on the bishōjo pinup genre, which sets aside the shiny, plastic-like sheen of anime-inspired visuals for a more daring, blocky visual language based around bold colors mutuated from 2000s' vector art. It reminds me a fair bit of Hirotaka Tanaka, in fact.

 夢想少女 (Reverie Girl) is a full color, 18 pages booklet collection of pinups by Uiti, centered around the concept of bautiful girls and daydreams / dreams imagery. Girls dancing with moon and stars, sailing over seas of crystal, bizzarre animals come together to create prime Pixiv material. Uiti's style is one I really dig: extremely clean, at times almost geometric in design, with little interest in backgrounds which are often abstract even when they are the center of the image's theme. There is definitely quite a bit of pop-like Murakami  / Satoshi Kon visual inspiration, although the themes themselves are not a particularly large departure from your typical 'cool anime illustration' floating around the internet. This is all about style, and sometimes that's all you need. 

BALMY DAYS by Hiten

 One could say that shoujo illustrations are a dime a dozen in the doujinshi world, and they'd be right - which is why I am saving all the dimes I find, 'cause I simply can't get enough of that. Young, idealized women are the sort of blank canvas subject that can accomodate more or less any art style, which is why they are such a popular subject in my opinion - there will also always be a market for them in Japanese otaku media, which I guess is another reason why the subject is pervasive, and pretty much all you'll find on Pixiv nowadays. Not that I'm complaining...

While I usually focus on smaller, obscure creators, this time around I'll present a doujinshi by someone who has made it big. Hiten is a Taiwanese illustrator who, in the rags-to-riches story so typical of the doujin  world, started out self-published and has now a massive following on all platforms, and a recently (relatively, April 2023) released artbook. It's very easy to see how they could make it so big: they have that super-polished, highly skilled, perhaps slightly generic style that just screams 'light novel cover art' or 'small run elite rice brand packaging'. Not that I know if they did the latter, but they surely did the former, and their art can be found on the cover of generic light dross sorry, I meant hits like Gimai Seikatsu and 三角の距離は限りないゼロ.

What I have here today is a self-published collection from 2022, very short at barely 16 pages but full color, stapled spine but immaculately designed (Hiten hired an external, some Tadano Yukiko, for the job). It features both two-pages spreads, as well as single page pinups with a rough sketch on the opposite page. The subject is invariably, you guessed it, pretty girls in the cool, largely pastel fashion straight out of LARME, though there are a few touches of neon here and there. All rather chaste, we are far removed from fanservice and such, yet the generic beauty of the figures, matched with the graphical skill of Hiten, is certainly the main (the only) attraction point. 

One could argue that the artist's style is as generic as they come: there is little flair or the famous 'oddity in beauty' professed by Edgar Alla Poe - the images as a whole form a sort of Arcadian blob of aurea mediocritas that shows little personality, but an extremely high degree of skill. I'll admit, I like my visual arts a bit more peppered, but that comes down to personal preference. It's visually perfect - in the end, a bit too perfect for my taste I guess.  

"Lost Dungeon" by 一幡 公平 (Ichiman Kohei) (2010l

 While I have never engaged more than a modicum in urban archaeology or ruins exploration (though one of such few times was also the only time in my life I was given a tour of a police station...) I have always been an armchair fan those who dauntlessly explore long-forgotten locales of human history, now returned to nature. There are, of course, degrees of craziness to it: while I enjoy stuff like Insiders Project, I also don't mind those who take a softer approach to the field, fully remaining within the legitimacy of law.

I have reviewed in the past a dōjin publication by Ichiman Kohei, released through their dōjin circle ヘリオトロープ (Heliotrope), though a somewhat unusual one, as it didn't focus on urban / modern ruins, but rather on moody traditional Japan alleys.  This time, however, we have a collection of photographs that squarely focuses on one of the many subcultural interests of Japan's otakuness: military history and, by adjacency, military ruins. 

Tomogashima Island, today a very popular natural park attracting both domestic and foreign tourism, is best known for its Meiji- era military fortifications, now entirely abandoned. The cannon batteries are, apparently, particularly well preserved, and the only example of their kind in all of Japan. I go by reading and hearsay, as I've never been to Tomogashima personally.

Ichiman offers, in a A5-sized, full color, 16 pages booklet an overview of their photographic exploration of the fortifications, all according to the typical style of Heliotrope: little historical insight, but a lot of very pleasing eye candy. Far from documentary exactness, all pictures are heavily edited, saturated and tinkered with, so as to turn the rather prosaic historical ruins into a sort of otherworldly, fairy-like kingdom where Ghibli characters wouldn't feel out of place (as a side note, I wish there was more scholarship studying the undeniable link between Miyazaki and his interest in history and war). Through a Hamilton-style, slightly out of focus lens, the brick batteries and barbicans take a sort of magical appearance, something out of a daydream. 

Sadly, seems like Ichiman has fallen off the radar (or changed pen name) a while ago, so all I can leave you with is a dormant blog and the usual secondhand links, should you want to get your hands on some of their stuff - which, by the way, seems to be rather rare and coveted, judging from prices.  

DBP60: Eldritch Voyage

 The new Doomer Boards Project is out, this time exploring ancient East Asian ruins and forsaken tombs. I have no less than three maps in this one - I really liked both the concept and the texture selection provided, so I went the extra mile. I also made a MIDI for one of the maps, something I'll hopefully do more often in coming projects.

There was some interesting tech at play this time as well. The respack used a series of animated, dithered bleeding midtextures to simulate deep water, a la kdikdizd. I'm usually not a fan of engine-exploiting tech, but I did get some mileage out of the effect. 

Also a very good skybox. Thelokk deep lore: skyboxes are the most important part of a Doom map, and usually the main factor whether I choose to partecipate in a project.

MAP10: 'Ossuarium Endoterre' - yup, a jab at the weakest map in one of my least favorite 'big' megawads, Ancient Aliens It's all in good fun. Tried for a more open-ended, early Sunlust-like layout, where you can access almost everything right from the start. Encouraged by MrZzul's feedback I also tried a more creative application of a secret key, which triggers a small but fun secret fight. One other secret is a tribute to a certain Sunlust map... map can be broken in one unintended way (the danger of copy pasting sectors) which I will eventually fix.

MAP12: "Sunken Garden" - a more 'traditional' map, at least from my point of view. Started as a take on 'Tricks and Traps', which is why you see all keyed doors right at the start, and the exit too. You revisit the central room a number of times, each one with more enemy spawns. There are a couple 'trick' fights, including a fraggable spidermama and some coreographed cybie infighting. 

It's a very dark map, like most of my maps. I tend to work a lot in the 128-160 range, which I really like but occasionally hampers gameplay. Something to think about for the future.

The map is dedicated to Matt Weirmaa, one of my buddies when I was over in Minnesota who I learned has recently passed away. 

MAP14: "Eldritch Voyage" - my first credits map for a DBP, it's a quick and fun BFG smap (not really my kind of map, and something I rarely make) followed by a short credits sequence. Nothing crazy but it wraps up nicely the wad I think. Every participant has a decoration, chosen randomly except for one. I'll let you guess which one. 

"Isaura Sciopera" (WMI 2020)

 

“Gli dei della città, secondo alcuni, abitano nella profondità, nel lago nero

che nutre le vene sotterranee. Secondo altri gli dei abitano nei secchi che risalgono

appesi alla fune quando appaiono fuori della vera

dei pozzi, nelle carrucole che girano...'

Italo Calvino, Le Città Invisibili

Parte di me sapeva che, sul palco, col megafono in mano, la sfida più grande sarebbe stata resistere al folle pensiero che ascoltarmi fosse, da parte loro, un atto dovuto. La stessa parte di me sapeva anche che, in fondo, era un atto dovuto. Mi avevano scelto. I cittadini mi avevano scelto. La città mi aveva scelto.

Io avrei salvato Isaura.

Presi il megafono in mano. In passato quelle mani avevano mosso mattoni, spinto persone, retto il peso di armi da fuoco. Quella sensazione, però, sapevo che non l'avrei mai dimenticata. Quello strumento che, quando fischiò accendendolo, sarebbe diventato la voce dell'autorità, trasformando le parole di uno nelle parole di tutti.

«Io sono un cittadino» esordii, la mia voce gracchiante amplificata, distorta, resa grottesca dallo strumento tra le mie mani, «come ciascuno di voi. In quanto tale, spero di esprimere l'opinione della maggior parte di noi – se non addirittura di tutti noi – dicendo che questo abominio non ha posto tra le strade di Isaura Sopra.»

Voltai leggermente il torso, estendendo un braccio verso lo Sviluppo alle mie spalle. Una minoranza diceva che, essendo esso già stato approvato e costruito, la nostra protesta non avesse alcun significato, come se una malattia dovesse essere accettata solo perché essa ha già compromesso un organismo. Era una delle posizioni contro cui mi ero più fortemente espresso nei mesi precedenti; tuttavia, in quel momento, capii per lo meno le radici di tale disfattismo.

La torre di pietra, cemento e flogisto sarebbe potuta essere una città in sé. Poggiata su un terrapieno che aveva divorato uno dei parchi più antichi del quartiere, incombeva sopra i tetti spioventi di Isaura Sopra, restringendosi un livello dopo l'altro fino a diventare una guglia al quarantacinquesimo piano. Intrichi di piante ne adornavano i terrapieni, e scrosci d'acqua cadevano da canali incisi nelle pareti, diventando prima rivoli, poi piscine e laghi artificiali.

In contrasto al fuligginoso mattone, umido di muschio, che era la norma tra le case di Isaura Sopra; o comparato alle botteghe scolpite nel fungo vivo di Isaura Sotto; lo Sviluppo era di una bellezza da lasciare senza fiato. Una bellezza pulita, liscia, senza rughe e senza pancetta. La bellezza imbalsamata del futuro fatto cadavere e vestito in abiti sontuosi.

Vidi, sui più vicini delle migliaia di volti di fronte a me, che eravamo sulla stessa pagina. Per noi, che respiravamo le spore di quei funghi e sedevamo sopra quel muschio ogni giorno della nostra vita, la sciocca promessa dello Sviluppo era un guscio vuoto. Potevo continuare.

«La sua costruzione ha giocato contro gli stessi signori che l'hanno pianificato, perché mostra fino in fondo la loro incapacità di comprendere cosa voglia dire essere cittadini per coloro che di giorno dormono tra i tetti di Isaura Sopra, e di notte vivono e commerciano nelle gallerie di Isaura Sotto.» Puntai un indice verso la folla. «La nostra è un'arte e una scienza; formata e certo, trasformata di generazione in generazione. Ma sempre e comunque da noi. È nel corso del nostro vivere con gli altri e tra gli altri, sopra e sotto la crosta delle strade di Isaura, che il cambiamento decide se avvenire o no.»

Una voce anonima, una tra tante – eppure, ricordai a me stesso, comunque un cittadino né più né meno di me – urlò.

«È troppo tardi!»

Me lo aspettavo. Lo sapevo dall'inizio che, nei loro piani,costruire lo Sviluppo sarebbe stato l'unico passo necessario a renderlo inevitabile. Una volta che esso fosse, sarebbe diventato una realtà urbana innegabile.

«Se perdessimo Isaura» gridai nel mio strumento di metallo, «sarebbe forse troppo tardi? Non diremmo che la città siamo noi, come io ho sempre creduto, e come sento proclamare con fierezza, giorno dopo giorno, ogni volta che con voi intraprendo l'esodo dalle luci di Isaura Sopra, al caldo abbraccio sotterraneo di Isaura Sotto?»

«Nessuno mai negherebbe questa verità. Ciò che facciamo, lo facciamo solo per il vostro progresso.»

Mille facce, e la mia con loro, si voltarono a cercare la fonte di quella voce, chiara e perentoria anche senza megafono; in realtà, sapevamo già tutti dove trovarla. Alle porte dello Sviluppo, in piedi sul terrapieno, Arcangelo si presentava a noi in tutto il suo gusto e personalità – completo talmente perfetto che sembrava gli fosse cresciuto addosso come una seconda pelle; taglio alla moda del quartiere straniero da cui veniva; anche dalla nostra posizione inferiore potevamo immaginare il luccichio della luce sulle sue scarpe a specchio. Non faceva più alcuno sforzo per nascondere le ali, piumate e multicolori, che veleggiavano come tendaggi preziosi dietro di lui. Eravamo al di là della mistificazione.

Arcangelo continuò. «La biologia, la medicina, la storia ci costringono a volte a fare un salto nel buio. Ma non dobbiamo essere soli in questo – non dovete per forza essere soli. Attraverso questo nostro dono, e i molti altri che lo seguiranno, miglioreremo il vostro standard di vita, rendendolo più salubre, sicuro, e conduttivo a una vita piena e soddisfacente.»

Mi sorprese che il silenzio che seguì le parole di Arcangelo non facesse collassare lo Sviluppo, sprofondando l'intero quartiere insieme a esso. Intorno a me e a noi, circondando la piazza, i tetti di Isaura Sopra sembravano biasimarci per il nostro immobilismo, per il nostro accettare supini che il tanto di altri devastasse poco che ci apparteneva.

Mi bastò, però, chiudere gli occhi per un istante e guardare in faccia il cittadino che meglio conoscevo, per sapere cosa dire.

«Qualcuno mi spieghi perché Leonina, quartiere delle Bianche Vele, dovrebbe avere il potere di decidere come noi di Isaura, quartiere del Sopra e del Sotto, dovremmo vivere. Con quale arroganza» e stavo già praticamente urlando, «si permettono, loro che non sono noi né desiderano veramente diventarlo, di scrivere la nostra storia al nostro posto?»

Un inizio di applauso fu decapitato da una risata – di scherno, tuttavia comunque cristallina e ammaliante – alle mie spalle. Le ali di Arcangelo vibrarono, come mosse da un nuovo, più forte vento.

«Non ci aspettavamo che il nostro regalo per voi, dei quartieri inferiori, fosse accettato senza alcuna riserva» disse, «tuttavia, siamo a una impasse.» Alzò una mano verso la torre alle sue spalle. «Lo Sviluppo già è.»

Sorrisi di una tale ingenuità. Quell'ultima prova di forza era la loro capitolazione, di Arcangelo e di tutti coloro che si nascondevano dietro il suo nome. Mi chiesi se, nella sua mente, sapesse di avere appena ammesso la sconfitta della loro arrogante impresa.

«Finché non vi saremo dentro noi, lo Sviluppo non sarà mai Isaura, né sopra né Sotto» dissi, dando le spalle a quella nullità alata e rivolgendomi invece a coloro che, per mia e loro scelta, erano come me. «Se ciò accadrà sarà deciso da noi e solo da noi-»

Il quartiere stesso, la città stessa sembravano aspettare, in muto silenzio, che io pronunciassi quella parola, finale.

«- con una votazione.»

Arcangelo urlò. Le sue ali si contorsero e vibrarono come diapason rotti, prima di portare la sua figura accartocciata, umiliata, lontano da noi – forse verso le vele di Leonina, forse dentro l'inferno che aveva partorito lo Sviluppo, quella torre mitologica, violenza alla nostra realtà quotidiana. Mentre si allontanava, le sue ali non sembravano più così multicolori.

Scesi dal palco, abbandonando il megafono a terra. Non mi serviva più, perché stavo tornando tra di loro. Tra la mia gente. Mi avrebbero capito, anche se avessi solo sussurrato.

Alzai gli occhi al cielo – ormai era sera. In file, a gruppetti, da soli, ci avviammo verso le antiche scale che ci avrebbero condotti, come sempre, a Isaura Sotto. Dietro di noi, abbandonato, lo Sviluppo tremò nella luce morente del tramonto e svanì nel nulla.

日々 by もぐこん

 日々 (Everyday) is a collection of short, self contained manga stories by もぐこん, a rather obscure auteur who is part of that Garo-inspired galaxy of what we would call "alt-comic" creators, mostly nowadays publishing in web format and, occasionally, small run or self published hard copy. These authors tend to share a lot of similar traits - a jaggy, purposefully amateurish, sort of 'unclean' tract, meant to suggest an alt vibe compared to mainstream manga; very rigid layouts, reminescent of Western comic books; a focus on 'realistic' life stories, usually with a touch of the grim. 

もぐこん shares all of these traits, and they are in full display in this 2021 self published collection. Ten stories of varying length and complexity, shifting back an forth between the realistic and the fantastic: we range from a binoculars-armed shinigami after its next pray, to the ambling of two friends attending a wedding in Maui, through a girl assembling a giant paper plane and a couple darker pieces where, though with little gore, death rears its ugly head. As mentioned, Japanese alternative comics like one could find in Ikki or the more experimental pages of Aternoon are the main reference point, and  もぐこん's sometimes shaky grasp of anatomy and image composition comes across as more of a conscious stylistic choice, rather than amateurishness. It's an acquired taste, and certainly one as far removed from anime-dependant manga as one can get - while we don't come nowhere close to the Nishioka Kyodai's abstraction, we are still talking non-mainstream through and through. 

If this sounds like something that'd be up your alley, you're in luck - もぐこん has one of their stories translated in Glacier Bay Books'  Glaeolia 1 anthology, collecting some of the best in Japan's alt manga scene. I hear it was out of print until a while ago, and even the reprint is now pretty much gone. At 30$ just for shipping, I still managed to get my hands on volumes III only myself... 

DBP59: Zeppelin Armada

 New Doom map is out! I am a cotributor to Doomer Boards' DBP (Doomer Boards Project) and the lastest project, 'Zeppelin Armada', has just released. I am map15, "At Last, Exiled" - a fast romp through a blimp... and a few books. Don't miss out. 

Award and first book deal

 So yeah, this happened.

I went to Rome a weekend ago, to pick up the "Giovanni Pace" Special Jury award, courtesy of Dark Zone. 

Along with the prize comes a book deal. Yup, you heard it right. After almost a decade of anthologies and national award, I am finally going pro with a reputable publishing house, signing a contract that (theoretically, we know how indie publishing is) contemplates paying me. Unreal, I know.

My debut novel, Berenice, is scheduled to release in late 2024. Stay tuned for more info. 

LSDをキメて金閣寺に行こう by めそぎみみそぎ

 Imagine going on a cultural trip because you saw one of Kyoto's landmarks while tripping on LSD. 

Yeah, that's pretty much the long and short of LSDをキメて金閣寺に行こう (Let's go to the Kinkakuji on LSD) by circle めそぎみみそぎ, a relatively recent release compared to what I usually review - from November 2022, specifically. A 28 pages, B&W short manga, released for Comitia 142 and available on the artist's Booth page, it tells the happenings of two young women's first experience with LSD: in the most traditional of setups, the 'straight woman' tsukkomi babysits her silly boke friend who has decided to finally trip balls. In between a bad trip and getting lambasted by music, the tripper delves into her personal obsession with the Kinkakuji and its famous burning  to the point that she and her friend decide that the best way to find closure on the experience is to... go visit the Kinkakuji, complete with silly 'I love Kyoto' shirts. 

So yeah, unusual episode aside (especially from Japan, who has always had a rather complex relationship with drugs and drug abuse) we are in full silly territory, basically a stoner take on the most typical manzai comedy moment, plus a few hints of yuri - after all, the tripper comes down from the bad trip by getting her face eaten by her friend. The tract is rather simply and approximative, though I suspect that has more to do with seeking that Garo - style visuals, rather than incompetence. 

Overall nothing groundbreaking, but an unusual small treat, especially taking the topic into account. Reminded me a bit of Toume Kei's Deviances.

From today on, this blog / website / 2010s relic will expand its focus. As I have come to the conclusion that none of my single interests are broad enough in audience to warrant their own platform, going forward The Random Museum will be not just about doujinshi and the occasional art / pop culture link, but more generally all sorts of stuff that interests me.

Let's start with a new one. For those who don't know - all of you, I assume - a relatively recent interest of mine has been classic Doom modding. I did play the game way back in the day in the ballpark of its release, but lost interest to Quake 1996-something, only to find to my surprise that in the year 2021 people were still making maps for it. I had to jump on the bandwagon, of course. 

I mostly map in the limit removing / Boom - mbf21 format, mostly focusing on difficult maps and IWAD textures. I was nominated as a promising newcomer in the 2022 Cacowards, and my megawad The Box of a Thousand Demons got a honorable mention.

I participate in the bi-monthly DBP events, and you can find me on Discord should you want to contact me. I also have a entry on the Doom Wiki page. 

"Garden" by 憂

Arcadia is a short illustration dōjinshi by 憂 (literally 'gloom') from that once upon a time known as 2008 - jesus, was it really fifteen years ago, and I was just fresh out of university?

Anyway, 24 pages in full color, printed on rather fancy matte paper and with a foldable cover - a very nice package overall, very well curated. Aside from illustration titles and a few contact info on the last page there is no text at all in this dōjinshi, which focuses solely on full page, 'finished' illustration pieces of themes from fairy tales - a rather prominent theme among Japanese illustrators, whose fascination with Western tales seems to know no exhaustion. We range from Thumbelina, through Gretel, to less strictly fairytale-like subjects, such as more general Romantic / PreRaphaelite pseudo-Arthurian pieces, and a couple of figures from Greek history and art- sort of strange to see Sappho next to Red Riding Hood, but it works, so no complaints.

憂 does not employ a strictly traditional 'manga' or 'anime' style, although there is certainly some of that in the DNA of their slender, doe-eyed pinups: rather, this is mixed with visual references that call back to the PreRaphaelites, Norther european illustrators such as Jon Bauer and Arthur Rackam, and that general undercurrent of Westward-looking 'romantic' dollhouse aesthetics that runs from the less punkish strands of Visual Kei, into stuff like Rozen Maiden and Tsukiji Nao's manga. Dreamy, pastel-colored, horror vacui powered scenes from Arcadia which show, if there was any need, that the East romanticizes the West as much as the other way around. 

Corbelleria by Romantic Fool

Ahh, the good, old early 2000 memes. Back then I still used to lurk 4chan's /jp/ and unsavory places as such, and I would occasionally come across yet another Damaged Goods , invariable accompanied by pics spam of a character know as 'Bikko', upon which denizens of /jp/ and GuroChan would spin endless fanfictions, of bot savory and NSFW varieties. 

This was long before my interest in dōjinshi and before I learned some basic Japanese, a time when I mostly still focused on anime and manga in translation. This filtering of nearly unknown, minor characters such as Bikko fed my characteristic crave for obscure cultural detritus (remember, you are reading a blog about SFW, original content fanart from Japan, after all) and invariably enticed me to look for more. 

The good news: in spite of mystification by part of /jp/'s frequenters, Bikko does actually have a source: she is a character by dōjinshi circle Romantic Fool, a nickname for illustrator Yoshida On. She is an amputee, plays guitar in a rock band, smokes cherry cigarettes and is overall your typical yankee girl, with a dash of that 'social reject Japan doesn't want you to know about' thing going on. 

Bad news: the dōjinshi that feature her are, for the most part, expensive collector items - the very first one, Kesson Shōjo, is pretty much impossible to find. Stillm mostly out of curiosity and nostalgia, I was set on owning a tiny piece of Bikko history, and so here we have Corbelleria by Romantic Fool. 

A flimsy 20 b&w pages, save for the cover, only the first story features Bikko- chan, an 8-page slice of life showing her engaged in daily life activities: eating cheap yakiniku, arguing with her bandmates, gathering some wisdom from a burly Buddhist priest. Short and sort of unsubstantial but hey, finally it's Bikko straight from the source.

The second, even shorter story is a group of schoolgirls messing around in your typical shopping arcade, nothing special.

So yeah, as you can tell there isn't much to this booklet. It's really short and, while Yoshida On has a very nice, clean tract that belies professional work, this is more of a 'short burst of my own thing' packaged for publication. Still it is, in its own way, a tiny fragment of the history of Japanese pop culture in the West, therefore something I simply needed to have. Still satisfied, and Bikko is sort of cute in her own, messy way.