January 2020 Eroge Releases

Happy new year! It’s another light start with only a half dozen games. The highlight is Cabbage Soft’s kemonomimi café title Amairo Chocolata, drawn by Shiratama and Korie Riko. DESSERT SOFT’s Kami-sama no Shippo ~Etogami-sama-tachi no Ongaeshi~ features the twelve zodiac animals, so most likely at least one of them will appeal to you. Maybe the rat? It’s the Year of the Rat after all!

Happy new year. Though sadly not off to a great start for the year for eroge. Nothing this month is much more than decent, though one or two may be worth playing depending on your tastes. Just don’t expect anything to be too memorable a month later.

Amairo Chocolata

Company: きゃべつそふと (Cabbage Soft)
Game site: あまいろショコラータ
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
Yuzuki came to the town of Yuunagi as the leaves were starting to change colour. The first person he met was a cute cat-eared waitress, who was handing out pamphlets on the street.

“T-This is Cafe Setaria. Please come in!”

When he was led into the cafe by the waitress Chieri, the other girls there also had animal ears. Seeing his wondering look, they worriedly asked him:

“Could it be… that you could see these ears?”

They explained that they were actually hybrid beasts whose ears and tails cannot be seen by normal humans. After learning about their secret, he started working at the cafe with them, while being both shocked and impressed at the differences between them and humans.

Very similar to Recette’s Shugaten! and seemingly even more fluffy and healing. Don’t expect much of a story. Of course I’m interested in café settings, nekomimi and art by Shiratama and Korie Riko. The adorable Chieri is voiced by Fujisaki Usa. Hau omochikaeri~!

The saddest part of this is how bored I am getting towards cat ears in cafes. I get that animal ears in general are a popular and cute gimmick, that much is fine as no one dislikes the idea itself. However! Turning various types of ears into a gimmick so overused it may as well be a high school to hide an otherwise lackluster eroge is disappointing at best. I say this often but while there is nothing wrong with the generic and overused themes they still need to be managed and written well to pull it off. Just copy pasting a generic cafe setting with little more than some cat ears to spice it up just doesn’t do enough to be worth it. Even when the focus is on the characters in a charage there is a limit to how interesting any heroine can be when no effort is put into the story and setting that develops her as a character. This doesn’t mean there needs to be some labyrinthine story of emotional and dramatic ups and downs to be acceptable either. Rather just give us an eroge where the makers care enough to put some effort into more than attempting to market a shiny gimmicky sticker pasted on a piece of brown cardboard setting with a story sloppily written in crayon.

Oni Ama -Watashi ni Amaete, Onii-chan-

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: おにあま -わたしに甘えて、お兄ちゃん-
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
The protagonist had found a job in the city, but the overload of work made him tired of his daily life. One day, his childhood friend Akane came to stay with him for a week while doing an internship at a nearby kindergarten as part of her nursery school studies. However, his room is a complete mess since even though he lives by himself, he is inept at everything in the home, such as cleaning, cooking and doing laundry.

“As thanks for letting me stay here, I’ll take of you for this week!
You can depend on me, onii-chan!”

It’s nice knowing you will always have an imouto osananajimi around to take care of you.

Imoujimi maid the ero. Would have been a better more accurate title in my opinion.

PV

Saleté

Company: Soiree
Game site: サルテ
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
“Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”

There is a stage in the afterlife at the end of the blood and despair, madness and resentment.
On this stage devoid of an audience and cheers, Saleté performs “The Past” as directed by the Clown.

It is to find the reason for her death.
It is to return to the world of the living once more.

The prepared play is one of contempt and derision, where struggle and humiliation are inevitable.
Behold, this is the comedy of Saleté.

Soiree’s debut title is a dark nukige with guro elements. Is there really going to be a happy ending to this or will it just be a parade of unfortunate and inevitable events? Not my cup of tea, but it might be a different pick for others.

I am perfectly fine with dark games no matter how violent or sexual they are. What I dislike is pretentious edge forced down my throat under the guise of being dark. Nitro+ fell into this particular pit, piles of garbage hiding under edgy violence and darker themes. Of course Nitro+ is rather tame when it comes to darker games but they are also a good example of what not to do. Don’t try to sell us over dramatic nonsense with some blood as if that alone makes it artistic, or dare I even suggest it, good. In this case my impression of the game is a whiny emo teen dressed all in black poorly acting out a shakespearian tragedy while cutting themselves on stage. A comedy unintended. 

Kamikura Hina no Himitsu ~Gohoubi wa Watashi no Karada♪~

Company: アストロノーツ・コメット (Astronauts Comet)
Game site: 上倉雛のヒミツ ～ごほうびは私のカラダ♪～
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
Makoto is on the university swimming team, but he can’t seem to better his time. He discussed with his coach and the reliable club leader, and they determined that it wasn’t a physical or mental problem. However, they were unable to figure out the underlying cause.

An important swim meet was fast approaching and he was feeling the pressure that he would be a burden for the team. However, he was not alone; his senpai and club manager Hina was always there to cheer him on. She knew about the anguish that he was going through and wanted to help him somehow. She took advice from many people and thought hard about a surefire plan, and…

“I’ll let you touch my breasts if you clock a good time♪”

Makoto was taken aback by the half-joking proposal, but agreed to it since he was running out of options. What will be the end result and what will happen to their relationship after this wild idea?

It’s nice to have some extra incentive to reach your goals. That’s why we have club managers, right? The trial itself doesn’t waste time getting to H scenes. I felt like the pacing was off and the story was forced.

The idea itself is more or less fine and could even be endearing if done well. Some teasing, leading to them coming closer and the usual developments for that sort of story. This however feels cheap. Everything from his arbitrary doggy paddle stagnation to sudden boob groping is just awkward and clearly done simply to justify rapid transition into H content. Boring and pointless.

Kami-sama no Shippo ~Etogami-sama-tachi no Ongaeshi~

Company: DESSERT Soft
Game site: 神様のしっぽ ～干支神さまたちの恩返し～
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
In the remote village of Tenbu, watched over by the gods, lies a shrine where the twelve zodiac signs are enshrined. Akinari is a young man who had been taken in by the Asatsuki family that currently runs the shrine when he was a baby. He secretly possesses a mysterious ability: he can understand what animals say. Since he likes animals more than others, he used this power to enjoy his life every day.

However, his everyday life changed one day after he casually inserted a precious orb into a mysterious stone slab in the shrine’s storehouse. The statues of the twelve zodiac signs suddenly vanished, and were seemingly replaced by twelve girls, the Etogami. They began living together after an unexpected turn of events, and he became good friends with them due to his innate love for animals.

Renge, his childhood friend and the sole daughter of the Asatsuki household, wished for everyone to gather around dining table, which was too big for just the two of them. Akinari always wanted to have family to call his own, so he decided to welcome the twelve of them as family. This is the beginning of a wondrous fairy tale with the twelve zodiac signs.

The first thing that came to mind was the guardian angel anime Tenshi no Shippo. My favourite back then was the parakeet Tsubasa, and I similarly am interested in the chibi bird sensei Misora. They even have the same green hair colour! My impression from the trial was that it’s difficult to tell a deep story with such a huge cast of heroines, but they do all have their own appeals. The writing is a bit rough around the edges, but I do get a sense of the ‘family bonds’ that the story wishes to convey. Also, I’ve never imagined Romeo and Juliet as two star-crossed birds.

At least the animal ears feel like they reflect the setting and story better than Amairo Chocolata. Instead of using it for a gimmicky appeal it is more a central concept around which everything else revolves. That said though, I agree with Micchi in that there are too many heroines to do a proper story. To do this right would either be a massive undertaking sufficient for two games or need to be broken up in some way. Be it two games with six heroines each, or removing a few heroines by separating the setting, such as other shrines around the country or something. I don’t dislike this one, and is probably the best pick of the month, I just dislike feeling that the characters I like aren’t developed enough due to so many others needing their share of the limelight. 

Ren’ai, Karichaimashita Emi & Hasumi Mini After Story

Company: ASa Project
Game site: 恋愛、借りちゃいました 絵未＆八純 ミニアフターストーリー
Release date: January 31, 2020
Comments:
This is the second mini fandisc for Ren’ai, Karichaimashita, featuring Emi and Hasumi. There is also an extra story based on what happens after you choose neither of them. It should be pretty short if similar to the first fandisc, but hey it’s only 2800 yen.

Fandisk the return.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Amairo Chocolata
2. Kami-sama no Shippo ~Kanshi Kami-sama-tachi no Ongaeshi~
3. Ren’ai, Karichaimashita Emi & Hasumi Mini After Story

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Kami-sama no Shippo ~Etogami-sama-tachi no Ongaeshi~
2. I tried.
   
3. Ren’ai, Karichaimashita Emi & Hasumi Mini After Story

I want to pet the fluffy tail…

Beware what it’s attached to.