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Review of Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no

SubjectHaruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no
Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no - Regular Edition
ByHelpfulness: 18
Vote: 7
shiny on 2020-09-01
ReviewKanishino is not an moege. It's two moeges wrapped in one, essentially.

The game starts with the protagonist, Tsukasa, starting his first day as a teacher at an ojousama school in the boonies. Right off the bat, he is presented with a choice - in which of the school's two dormitories will he stay? The main school dormitory, where the bona fide high class rich girls live? Or the branch school dorm, occupated by daughters of new money, once-great but struggling families and all the rest?

This choice locks the player into one of two completely separate sets of heroines penned, each handled by a different writer, with minimal interaction between the two dorms. They are the main school students (Miyabi, Tonoko, Shino routes, written by Takehaya) or the branch school group (Misaki, Yuuna, Sumika routes, written by Marutani). Right at the start, the differences between the two writers - in writing, tone, characterization, even the pacing of the sex scenes - will hit you like a jackhammer so it's just better to know this in advance, since overall it doesn't detract from the quality - you'll just inevitably end up liking one heroine set over the other.

Takehaya's routes are mostly slow-burn romance focusing solely on the protag & the heroine, with minimal interference from other characters; very few sex scenes; touching rather than funny. On the other hand Marutani works with an extended cast (including several lovable characters who never get a CG, like Ooichou) whose relationships _apart_ from the protagonist form the core of the plot; lots of gags; an avalanche of sex scenes (at least for one character); and some polarizing plot twists.

Overall though, the game maintains a high standard as an exemplary moege - the heroines are cute, as they should be. You are lured in by that cuteness to learn about the problem they bear that Tsukasa will inevitably deal with. It's the Kanon/AIR principle of comedy in the first half to tearful drama in the second half, done with care. It won't win over anyone who finds cute girls doing cute things the perfect cure for insomnia, but it's a treat for fans of the genre.

By the way, about the seiyuus: if you ever need a crash course on the most popular eroge seiyuus of the 00's, just play this game, it's got it all: Agumi Oto's signature genki little sister voice, Hokuto Minami's high pitched loli, Samoto Fuuri's soft-spoken whispery voice... They all deliver stellar, memorable performances. Special shoutout goes to Imuraya Honoka as Sumika - her slightly husky voice was a treat to listen to & gave her character a surprising edge, it's such a shame she doesn't appear in newer titles much.

The music was fine, at times it sounded a bit cheap and obviously synth-like but there still were a few standout tracks. OP "Kaze no Rhythm" gets a special mention for being a gorgeous 6/8-meter song. Can't say anything bad about the visual side either, the number of event CGs & sprites was adequate and even though the game is ~15 years old at this point, Fujiwara Warawara's art has aged very gracefully... Except maybe for Lieda, whose face always felt off to me compared to the other characters.

Kanishino is a solid moege that knows it audience and delivers, with some quirks. Nothing surprising about this game, but sometimes that's a good thing.
18 points