Review of Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort
| Subject | Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort |
| By | Helpfulness: 3 Vote: 8echseeker on 2020-09-08 last updated on 2021-03-20 |
| Review | Copy-pasted from my posts with some corrections and additions Story (Prologue + Common Route) The main protagonist, Oozai Soutarou, is a college student trying to earn enough money in order to keep up with his living expenses and continue his education. However, at the beginning, he was woken up by what he himself said as “a deafening shriek” from his kouhai, Kouzaki Umi. Basically, they met at a mixer due to having been invited by mutual friends, interacted with each other, she got drunk, and he carried her home. Don’t worry, nothing sexual happened besides Soutarou’s hand happening to have touched Umi’s boob while they were asleep. Afterwards, they talked for a few months (according to a timeskip), a few things happened, and they end up working in a luxurious summer resort managed by Umi’s childhood friend, Kariu Nagisa (but not without Umi asking Soutarou to pretend to be her boyfriend since the resort only accepts female employees). And so, with a high paying summer job in a place where the employees are mostly female, Soutarou’s opportunity for big money and romance has been opened for him… Not a bad start to a moege, wouldn’t you say? The common route from then on introduced the characters (particularly the heroines) and, depending on the choices made, sets up a potential romance for a heroine’s respective route. So, it’s mainly used for giving us first impressions of the characters in order to give us reasons to proceed further, which, in itself, is not a bad thing. If anything, it may as well be one of the most important criteria for any common route and for that, this one is passable. Sure, there were more interactions with Umi rather than the other heroines initially (which would make her route a more natural progression course), but there were enough moments with the others that help transition to their routes smoothly. At least, in my opinion. Characters Oozai Soutarou: The main protagonist. Again, he’s a college student working multiple jobs in order to sustain his own lifestyle until he was given the opportunity to work in the resort. He had a somewhat ambivalent view of life as a result of his parents’ divorce and was initially not keen on interacting with others. As a protagonist, he’s okay. He had a good head on his shoulders most of the time and tends to crack an occasional sadistic joke after having softened up at the resort. Though, there were a few moments of him being dumb for no apparent reason, which thankfully are far in between, but they are still noticeable. Kouzaki Umi (voiced by Hanataba Bouquet): Arguably the main heroine in this VN, she is Soutarou’s kouhai by one year (at least I think so) who pegged him as a pervert due to reasons I’ve already mentioned up above only to warm up to him after having spoken with him for some time and a big favor he did for her. (not much of a surprise really) And, I’ll admit, she is really cute as a character albeit with some small tsundere tendencies. (and I mean really small) So, I don’t really have much to complain about her. Kitsuki Riho (voiced by Natsuno Koori): The kind, airheaded and clumsy ojousama. She values hard work over most of everything else, so she would beat herself up over whatever mistakes she makes in her work. Also, she would become petrified as a result of absolute fear. (which was kinda amusing the first time and thankfully, that wasn’t abundant to the point of feeling repetitive) Other than that, she can be rather quirky (particularly with her speech patterns) and has quite possibly the most physical contact with Soutarou out of anyone else. (pretty much from holding on to him due to her innate clumsiness) I kinda have a soft spot for her (not just for her body mind you) and after having went through her route, I ended up really liking her in the end. Tsukumi Sango (voiced by Fujisaki Usa): the energetic loli of the bunch. She is usually the brightest one in every interaction she partakes in. And, she almost always hangs out with her best friend Konami due to them currently attending the same high school. And, that’s pretty much about it. I don’t necessarily hate her even though I am not into lolis in the first place. She does have some cute and quirky moments here and there, but again, there’s really not much to her. And, let’s just say that her route didn’t really help much. Maki Shiori (voiced by Momose Poko): A shy girl who worked longer than the other employees. Initially she would blurt out a euphemism whenever she is done talking to Soutarou and Umi (fake relationship after all), even though she would always blush afterwards. And, due to having worked there the longest, she knows Nagisa much more than most others do. One scene did allude to her being a painter and her character is much more expanded upon in her own route. Definitely a likeable character, especially when her own route helped her case by quite a bit. Kariu Nagisa (voiced by Kawashima Rino): The resort manager. A kind, caring, and mature woman, especially towards her employees, she would speak sternly whenever she feels that she needs to. She was said to have started drinking recently, though she gets drunk very easily and turns into a “maiden” almost right away. And, she has a lot to deal with in terms of work as seen by her room’s appearance. This is touched upon in her route, which is unlocked after having completed some other route the first time. I was somewhat surprised that the VN managed to work in a few cute moments with her since I initially pegged her as a typical, motherly, sexy office lady, but I am not complaining. I will say that I ended up really liking her after having finished her route. Kaku Konami (voiced by Miru): The overly shy childhood friend of Sango, she has difficulty speaking to other people other than her best friend. Not much to say about her. She is a more prominent character in Sango’s route. Amagase Wataru (voiced by Horikawa Shinobu): The only male employee in the resort until Soutarou arrived. He works as the main cook and is a total narcissist (which is probably why Nagisa had no qualms in hiring him). Quite possibly the person who knows the most about Nagisa than others do. He does end up giving Soutarou some advice in a few routes. Yoake Yuuhi (voiced by Mizuki): Another employee in the resort. She is the hot-headed tomboy who hates to lose to anyone else and is in love with Nagisa. (Needless to say, she has no actual route to speak of) Of course, she constantly accuses Soutarou of wooing Nagisa in spite of the “relationship” he has with Umi. And, that’s about it. Story (Routes) Umi: It was okay. The beginning was really cute and the ending was nice, but the middle was hard to sit through. I mean, damn, this route pulled a few glaring asspulls all for the sake of abrupt forced drama and it heavily suffered for it. (that god-forsaken report and Umi's uncharacteristic blunder... enough said) I know they're trying to develop her (and Soutarou's) character, but to me, it just came out of nowhere, went nowhere, and it didn't work. Thankfully, this route had enough cute moments (like the confession scene in the beginning and the pillow talks they had. I mean come on, those were really cute.) to make it tolerable and in the end, this route turned out okay. But, let’s face it, the drama is pretty bad in this one. Riho: Played through this first and I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised by this. In fact, I probably loved this route way more than I should. Sure, the first two H-scenes caught me off guard by the fact that they came up rather fast, but most of everything else managed to make this route for me. If anything, it did make me want to read The Little Prince and I kinda liked that it tried to work the story’s moral into the route. In my opinion, it worked to its advantage. (After having fallen in love with Soutarou, Riho realizes that he had become the most precious person in his life and if she keeps working towards her virtually impossible goal, she’ll most likely lose him forever. Sure, she wants her life back, but she doesn’t want Soutarou out of her life.) What I mainly liked about this route besides its cute and amusing moments is that it knows that life can be very harsh at times and it managed to ease me into the conflict without the need to suddenly decide to outright force it. (Her sickness as a result of overworking was enough to make me question why she felt the need to do so.) And, in the end, I understood everything about Riho and her circumstances. (That unsubtle lightning noise after having found out that her family is bankrupt says everything. lol) Again, I liked that this VN acknowledges how unfair life can be. (My impression is that nobody (including Soutarou) can tell Riho how she should live her life without repercussions. She has to make this decision herself.) But, at the same time, there will always be glimmers of hope for happiness in life, especially when holding on to the thing or person that is the most precious. (I think the scene with the shooting stars says a lot and even if it is rather cheesy, it’s still a very nice and uplifting moment.) So yeah, I loved this route. Sango: I don’t hate this route. I don’t think there is anything in there that is particularly offensive. But, holy cow did this route commit the sin of showing very little amount of romantic moments and a big wallop of drama. I mean, how can I get invested in this when I care very little about the characters due to the interactions (friendly or romantic) being practically nonexistent!? At least Umi’s route had a good amount of cute and romantic interactions even though the drama in that route sucked! *sigh* So yeah, needless to say, I consider this route to be the worst of the bunch. Again, I don’t hate it. It’s just pretty depressing. Also, I heard at one point that Sango's conflict could work without romance at all and that gave me a bit of an idea: why not have Sango's conflict replace the bad drama in Umi's route and just remove Sango's route altogether? I mean, Sango's conflict was teased in Umi's route. So, why not have that conflict exist in Umi's route and then have Soutarou and Umi try to solve her problem together? That would enforce the idea of the resort's "healing" aspect and everyone leaving the island with precious memories since they would not want anything sour to stick around for everyone. I could see that working pretty well! But oh well, it is what it is. Shiori: I liked her route! It managed to have enough romantic interactions that allowed me to care for her and even though the drama was not that original like I said before, it still managed to have the right execution in order for it to work to the route’s advantage. (Again, it acknowledged the harshness of life like Riho’s route did. It just did so in a different angle.) Though, I might put it below Riho’s route because I’ll admit that some details just fly over my head, even if I read it a second time. Maybe the writing in this one is just not so good. But, this route made for a good reminder of the fact that this VN is, well, a visual novel. By that, I mean that it can tell the story through its own aesthetics and I gotta say, sometimes a story is better shown more rather than told. I think this is one of the many proofs that this is the case. A picture is worth a thousand words after all. (I think the sunrise at the end of the conflict says a lot. I don’t think that anything I say will do it justice. Also, looking at Shiori’s painting in the ending, the painting of all the characters actually shows Soutarou’s face... with eyes! Actual eyes!) Again, even if the drama is not the best, it’s still worth it for the sweet romance and the nicely done execution in the end. Nagisa: Hmm... How to put this... Well, first off, this route is good. Not great. In fact, it’s obviously not the best route. But, it had what it needed and everything turned out well in the end. I mean, if I were to note a few highlights, it would be the fun banters between Soutarou and Nagisa... and Nagisa herself. I mean, how does her route manage to work in cute moments for a sexy office lady like her!? Anyway, the conflict is not the best, but it’s tolerable. (It’s basically one of the conflicts in Umi’s route that addresses Nagisa’s concerns about the resort, only it was handled better here in my opinion.) But, again, the constant bantering was quite fun and the romance worked because of it. (I’ll admit... that “Kyaaa! You said I am young!” moment got me smiling. I even got a save file just to repeat that moment whenever I feel like it... What’s wrong with me?) Damn I love this woman! So, in the end, it was a fun trip. Visuals I mean, this is made by a branch of Pulltop, a company responsible for a beautiful looking VN, Konosora, but I am still impressed by the quality of those visuals. If anyone were to play through this just for the visuals alone, then I wouldn’t be surprised. It looked really good. The backgrounds really showcased the resort setting, the character designs are nice, and the CGs illustrate certain events really well. Gotta hand it to the designers for putting all that detail in the visuals. Sound If I were to credit this VN for anything other than the visuals, it would be the music. I mean hot damn, this soundtrack is really good. The array of a few genres it featured fit perfectly with the setting and most of them sound really nice. Some of these tracks are jazz, which I am very much a fan of. The OP and ED are great too. Also, of course, the voice acting is really good as well. Sure, there are some talented seiyuus that were already well known in the first place, but I have to hand it to their performances for voicing the right emotions and highlighting their respective characters. Verdict Phew. That ended up being way more expansive than I intended it to be. But still, as a VN that is clearly meant for providing nice and cute material for the sake of making its audience smile and relax, I’d say that it succeeded in doing so. Again, I might be overestimating this VN, but it did way more to me than I thought it would. It is certainly, as I called it in one of my posts, a simply warm excursion. |
| 3 points |