and it was fucking fantastic. this is just me expressing my thoughts and experience here, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

so i first learned about this series from the anime adaptation. granted, now that i look back after finishing the first game and compare it to the first season of the anime, it's downright different. the anime made it so that it would fit nicely with meikyuu, but by doing that it lost the "charm" that the kajitsu vn has (to be more specific, how yuuji chooses one girl to save). but the first time i watched the anime, it was pretty okay. not good, but okay.

now moving on the contents of the vn, i actually didn't expect it to be really long. keep in mind that this is the first vn i'd actually play, and at first i thought "this is too much," and actually stopped playing it after like a week. and then a month later, i picked it up again, only to realize i was only a few scene away from the choices. truly a shame in my part. so i actually didn't just follow the routes order that the game gave (because i didn't know it would be makina-amane-sachi-michiru-yumiko, i thought it would be one scene where they give you 5 choices at once and let you choose). i let my friend make my own order and she chose amane-sachi-michiru-makina-yumiko. i would say my route order works fine.

anyway, all the routes are really fun to read. even the common route. angelic howl is by far the best flashback in the game (cocoon of caprice might be better, still in the after stories), sachi's route is pure wholesome and the whole childhood friends things is so sweet. surprisingly (no actually), michiru's route is the only route i've cried to, and it's on meowmel's death. i would say it's mostly because i've had something similar like that before, but it still is very heart wrenching. seed of the world tree is also good, especially towards the end. the fact that shooting irisu kiyoka resulted in the bad ending doesn't sit right with me at all. like the woman's just being a bitch even when she's held at gunpoint. pissed me off so much.

yumiko's route however... would be my favorite. i've always set my eyes on her ever since watching the anime adaptation, since you know, (she looked like senjougahara and i'm a senjougahara believer) but i just really love her character and her character design. like i agree, her route's not as "dark" and as "deep" as the other four routes, but i think what makes me really like yumiko's route is the fact that yuuji and yumiko is almost similar in a sense, like the whole loner aspect and everything. can't help but to think she's the most suitable partner for yuuji. and yes, some might argue her route don't really make sense with the whole bicycle chase scene, like how could yuuji cycled that fast, but i think that is what makes the route way more impactful. might just be biased here (i think i am) but yumiko's route is really good. her h-scenes are also the best, both in the "make sense" category and the "spicy" category. when a male and a female lives together as fugitives for a year, with one already having feelings for the other, things would surely go the way it did. and don't get me started on the amusement park scene. 11/10. seeing yumiko smiling when she's riding the carousel with yuuji just warms my heart so much. i even finished her route in one night, not even sleeping, so you should get the idea at how much i love yumiko and her route.

not to say i hate the other girls. sachi's one hell of a friend i want to have in my life, just because she's really quick on the uptake and because she's a maid. at first i don't remember like michiru all that much, but after finishing her route, you could say my love for her 📈. makina and michiru together is like the best comedy duo you could have on the entire planet, never stopped laughing when they're both together on the screen. and who would resist a red haired bimbo with big boobs and excellent in the kitchen?

the ost are amazing too. both the background soundtrack and the ending themes are really good you'd think it was originally made for the anime and not for a visual novel. though i would say my favorite ost is tunafish beautiful. it's just a really beautiful song. i think anyone agrees with me on this one.

in conclusion, it's a really good vn. definitely worth the one month i spent (including the first week i played before stopping halfway). h-scenes are also good, though would be better if the way they entered the h-scenes are more "smooth". because sometimes it does feel like they just throw the h-scenes for the sake of it being an eroge. the mosaics don't really bother me too much, although i would understand if other people was upset about it. definitely looking forward to meikyuu and rakuen.

tldr; amazing vn, routes are all amazing, takes one month for me to complete, characters are all amazing, ost are all amazing, yumiko best woman for me.

fav character: yumiko, fav route: yumiko, fav flashback: amane, fav ending: sachi, fav ending theme & end screen: of course michiru, can't resist SKIP, fav ost: tunafish beautiful, fav h-scene: yumiko 3rd h-scene, fav cg: yumiko and yuuji in the carousel and sachi's winking (edit: forgot turkey)

if you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)