So yeah, shipment from Japan, which was supposed to be here like a month ago - finally arrived, and it managed to dodge customs too! Used to get very lucky with that, then had a very bad streak in which every single order would get taxed. Good to see a return to the good ol' days.
Pretty decent haul too, as also got a CD (Subarashii Sekai by Eufonius, who happen to be one of my favorite JP bands, scandals or not) and this thing here:
Now, I've heard some pretty dreadful things about this one - mostly, that it's basically a Zaregoto fanfiction tacked on to just sort of milk the main series on its publishing anniversary. Certainly it's been a while since Nisio got me excited at all, so expectations are not very high. I do have to say that I find the very concept of Ii-chan having a daughter rather preposterous, but meh. We'll see.
And here goes the first dōjinshi, and it's a curious one too. You might be familiary with CYOA books: whole series of novels where the text would be cut and scrambled in paragraph, and choices ('if you do this go to page 11, if you do that go to page 12) would create a sort of written visual novel. They used to be all the rage in the 90s, now they're sort of a historical relic of times past but I used to be hooked on stuff like Lone Wolf and GrailQuest.
黒田何時子と私 ("Ichiko Kuroda and me") is a short, 16 pages only, publication by ぱへかへ (circle name of Kazuto Izumi, mostly famous for the manga Binbou Shimai Monogatari, which was also turned into an anime. Here is their Booth in case you have a good proxy). It functions exactly as a CYOA book: every few scenes you are presented with a choice, which sends you to a specific page for a certain finale.
The story is a super-simple take on the VN trope: you find yourself in the bedroom of your childhood friend / neighbor / love interest Ichiko. Will you wake her up to go to school, or jut let her sleep? make your choice, and go to the appropriate ending, or continuation - where, following different choices, she might play hooky to go to the seaside with you; trick you into drinking habanero coffee (not sure if that's actually a thing) and maybe even show you her pantsu if you really get lucky.
As one can imagine, given the medium and length, the concept is barely scratched: there are only a handful of choices, and no real 'branching' to speak of. Still, I find the idea of a CYOA dōjinshi really charming, and Izumi's sometimes simple, but clean looking and attractive tract makes this one a pleasant surprise that doesn't overstay its welcome. Good stuff.
Also, please enjoy my Xmassy tablecloth on the 20th of January. Yay.
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