Review of MUSICUS!
| Subject | MUSICUS! MUSICUS! - Steam Edition |
| By | Helpfulness: 0 Vote: 9swordfish96 on 2024-10-01 |
| Review | I consider to be fundamentally a story asking “what is music” and “What can music do?”,a theme which shows up in everything about the VN; the story, the characters the choices. It has one of the most powerful beginning of the VNs I’ve read. It feels like you know how it’s going to go; guy gets charmed by rock, gets to know and get tutored by retired indie star and then I’d expect a debut and starting a new band. But instead his tutor commits suicide an event which colors the whole VN It’s honestly one of the more shocking moments I’ve read just for how abruptly it just happens. The NVL format is used to it’s full effect here with characters regularly going on monologues on their philosophy something that’s more striking when it’s given to you all at once rather than line by line. It is charming how everyone has their own philosophy which they’ll elucidate with minute long monologues, adding depth to their character. Sure it’s not quite natural but it fits the casually philosophical tone the VN goes for. It’s hard to pin down Kei as a protagonist. He has a calm facade yet a cold passion within. As the reader seeing things from his viewpoint, it’s only gradually we come to realize how detached he is. There’s several things about it that feels a bit truer to life than other stories. Characters fade in and out (and as a result the cast of the whole VN is huge) as they stop having an impact on Kei’s life. None of the endings are super conclusive but they all carry that feeling of “and life goes on”.Condoms exist. In addition, even if it is in the end about the rise of a band, it it doesn’t take that romantic a view about what it means to a member of the indie rock scene (or so I assume). Most rockers are middle/upper class and mooching off relatives since they’re essentially doing a full time job for peanuts if that. If you’re working as a musician, it’s not some artful calling but a job where you have to balance the books. I suppose it underlines the struggle the band faces to the top. The OST isn’t actually an immediate standout compared to tracks from other VNs which are pretty obvious about the emotion they’re evoking but it actually grows on me the more I hear it. It has that unique sort of imperfect live sound while still sounding good While I liked most of the characters, Kaneda was a bit too annoying on top of being present in all routes as well? Sure the overly pathetic arrogant character who shows hints of an inferiority complex is fine but did they need to make him such a selfish moocher and a bit of a sex pest on top of that too? Reminds me of the worst housemates I’ve had. The bad end is a surprisingly chilling portrayal of a dream just not working out with Kei stagnating, and gradually burning out into a husk of a person in part due to devoting himself to music. It’s not just a cut sort ending when you failed to get on any of the routes but something that actually has something to say in its own right. Ozaki’s went in a pretty different direction by having a route about actually amateur music and focusing on the life where Kei didn’t give it all up to music. I guess I had a better appreciation of Kei giving up music is since the first end I got was the bad end where following your dreams is shown to not always be a good thing. I liked the cast of people living on the edge of society and their mundane struggles. The romance is a complete afterthought though Kosaka’s is a pretty thoughtful but short route about music, death and legacy. It’s interesting how unromantic it is to the point where I wasn’t even sure if she and the protagonist were together at the end. Mikazuki’s is definitely the main star. All the other routes are worthy in the own right but they feel a bit like getting off the train early (or in the case of the bad end it’s more like the train derails and crashes). She herself is a fascinating character being a raging emotional and slightly silly character with some interesting philosophical views and someone who best contrasts the relatively subdued and emotionless Kei. The route itself isn’t exactly a concrete story but feels more like the journey of the band over the years, with quite a few scenes essentially summarized to fit the years long narrative in I wouldn’t have necessarily pegged this as Overdrive’s final works but it’s a fitting one acting as a worthy final entry to their oeuvre of music related VNs. |
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