Kira☆Kira

[Draneor]

Essential Information

Publisher: Overdrive
Localization: MangaGamer
Where to Buy It: You can buy it here for €36.95
Where to Find the Demo: Here

Since Kira☆Kira is chapter based, I guess we'll create a separate thread for each route, as Something suggested and one for the first chapter.

[Draneor]

Well, that was pretty enjoyable. To be honest, I almost dropped the game when Shikanosuke asked Tonoya to see their performance--I was certain he was going to say they were terrible and should quit. But he didn't--he actually turned out to be a pretty cool if nerdy guy. Murakami is also totally awesome and the complete opposite of how he looks. Best friend character ever! Atsui Haato!

But it's really the fact that this game is so darn funny that's drew me into it. I don't think I've laughed harder for a long time than I did after hearing a sick, oujou-type character say "It was a very nice fuckin' tea. Thank you very much, fuck." Particularly, since it came out of nowhere and the delivery was just perfect. The other characters were perfectly punk too.

And the trap. I am ashamed to say that I never saw it coming. Especially that Kirari would be so passionate about it. Or when Murakami said he thought they might be connected by fate, since they were both going to cross dress for the festival. There's certainly a little bit of chemistry there (although please, please do not show it). Then there are the music jokes, like the pop music club saying any music that appears on Oricon is trash because the bands sold out to corporate labels. I definitely knew people like that at uni.

In addition, Overdrive did an excellent job creating the feeling of a live concert with only still CGs, sound effects, and text. Given how frugal they were with special effects until that moment, I was pleasantly surprised. And the outfits were perfect!

The only part I didn't like is the POT flashback. I'm assuming that Shikanosuke's anxiety attacks will be a plot point further on, in which case it might redeem itself. As of right now, it just seemed out of place and not really relevant.

Chie is probably my favorite girl so far; I'm weak to osananajimi. Also, I like her personality. Kirari, on the other hand would annoy me if she were by herself, but she definitely fits well with the rest of the cast so I don't mind her. Sarina doesn't really seem too interesting to me so far, but she certainly looked good in the nun's outfit and provided some of the best jokes.

I am sad, though, that we never got to hear Murakami's encouragement charm. Hopefully we'll get to hear it later.

[something]

If we're keeping the subject lines accurate, I don't think we need to spoiler tag everything, to be honest. Just like, anything super important that'd really spoil a huge twist for someone who is skimming down in flat or whatever (and nothing like that really happens in Chapter 1). Like, say, Kirari is actually an alien assassin drone from the Alpha Centauri system tasked with exterminating life on earth! ...or something like that. Or maybe the character-specific scenes that occur if you make certain choices. Usually you can tell when those end and you get back on the regular path. Plus if it's all tagged then people don't know if any of it can be read so it's the same as avoiding the whole post, heh.

Well, that was pretty enjoyable. To be honest, I almost dropped the game when Shikanosuke asked Tonoya to see their performance--I was certain he was going to say they were terrible and should quit.

I think I remember you saying something about not liking a certain plot development (this was awhile ago, in PM, before I even started the demo) and I couldn't figure out what it was when I started reading. Was this it? I thought maybe you didn't like the copious amount of foul language in the "learning to be more punk" section but you actually liked that quite a lot. Then I thought maybe it was the crossdressing but I never remembered you be at all anti-trap either. So I was definitely confused.

But he didn't--he actually turned out to be a pretty cool if nerdy guy.

And oh my god he talks slooooooooooooowly. I could wait out most of the characters' full lines in my first playthrough, but if I listened to all his lines in full I still wouldn't be done. I think my favorite Tonoya scene in Chapter 1 is when the (totally not as cool as Afterschool Tea Time!) keion-bu are trashing him for knowing nothing about music, while simultaneously talking about how cool Star Generation is. And he just stands there and plays dumb, while Chie-nee laughs. Heh.

Murakami is also totally awesome and the complete opposite of how he looks. Best friend character ever! Atsui Haato!

Yes! At first I thought Murakami was going to be goofy and forgettable but he's really gotten to be one of my favorites. I ended up liking him even more the first playthrough than Sarina, one of the main girls. And that's not due to disliking her either. His personality is this hilarious mix of serious and irresponsible, passionate and naive, and I just love how hardcore he is about everything - even if it's something he just learned about for the first time ten minutes earlier.

But it's really the fact that this game is so darn funny that's drew me into it. I don't think I've laughed harder for a long time than I did after hearing a sick, oujou-type character say "It was a very nice fuckin' tea. Thank you very much, fuck." Particularly, since it came out of nowhere and the delivery was just perfect. The other characters were perfectly punk too.

That was glorious, but I think it's the bit near the end when they all reflect on how it's gone for them that I liked the best:

Sh: "Well, we went through a lot but it really wasn't that tough after all."
K: "That's right, my mom as crying but that's all."
Sa: "Yes, my grandfather almost took me to a psychologist."
C: "I just can't trust others anymore, but that's it."
Sh: "In my case I was told not to come back to work for a month but that's about it. I was told never to come back to school, though. But I'm going anyway. Fuck!"

That and big-font Kirari telling the restaurant owner to FUCK OFF! XD ("Both of us in unison." ). The whole section was utterly bizarre, and hilarious.

And the trap. I am ashamed to say that I never saw it coming.

Heh, I'd been spoiled on that, although after seeing a certain CG (way way before I'd ever considered buying this) I kind of had to get spoiled in order to confirm the game didn't contain futanari, which would have been a dealbreaker. Obviously, the image was wrongly tagged.

Especially that Kirari would be so passionate about it.

I think that's when I truly fell in love with her. She was just soooo cute any time that topic came up. That and I love any shot where she's doing that arms up, leaning back pose. And the pouty face! Oh Kirari <3

In addition, Overdrive did an excellent job creating the feeling of a live concert with only still CGs, sound effects, and text. Given how frugal they were with special effects until that moment, I was pleasantly surprised. And the outfits were perfect!

Playing a bit of Shuffle (which has lots of little text tweaks) while going through this, I agree that there wasn't much done with the text. A couple font size increases, but that's about it. There have been a lot of sound effects though. Sometimes I had an issue with those for repeating on too short a loop, which was a problem if it was a bit annoying sounding and the scene was 10 minutes long... On the other hand they did some interesting things with timing and more often than not managed to transition nicely between different effects and BGM tracks when you hit a line that triggered a change.

And then the actual concert? Fantastic! Oh man I just loved that. More on that in another post tomorrow where I'll mention some of my favorite Chapter 1 scenes.

The only part I didn't like is the POT flashback. I'm assuming that Shikanosuke's anxiety attacks will be a plot point further on, in which case it might redeem itself. As of right now, it just seemed out of place and not really relevant.

Man that thing went on long. I didn't much mind because it was a pleasant surprise to get such detailed and intimate backstory on the protagonist (heck it was a surprise to see his face clearly on multiple occasions too). What I like is that Kira Kira sets out to make the protagonist more of a character, rather than it just being "you", the reader. I know that self involvement is part of the appeal in some ways, but if I'm going to have minimal impact on the course of the story anyway, I'd rather the protagonist whose eyes I'm looking through be as well developed as the girls, if possible. But... yeah, it could have been shorter.

Although I'm always amazed how fast these long, long scenes go by when skipping through on a replay. Although I'm not skipping through as much as I should. When I see certain scenes, I keep stopping to read them again. So after another two hours of playing, I'm only just now coming to the start of the culture festival.

There's honestly only been one Sarina-specific detail so far in this chapter, that being whether you talk to her in the practice studio. And it has no short term effect on the plot although obviously it'll add up with other choices and get you on her route wherever the route split point is. I'm actually not sure where it was in my first playthrough, to be honest. I have a general idea of where it would have had to happen, but not exactly.

Chie is probably my favorite girl so far; I'm weak to osananajimi. Also, I like her personality. Kirari, on the other hand would annoy me if she were by herself, but she definitely fits well with the rest of the cast so I don't mind her. Sarina doesn't really seem too interesting to me so far, but she certainly looked good in the nun's outfit and provided some of the best jokes.

I was the same way during my first playthrough of Chapter 1, though probably more unconditionally positive towards Kirari since she won me over quickly. Chie-nee was the most "interesting" character, with the best personality and probably the best seiyuu. She has some great banter with Shikanosuke too. But Kirari was by far the cutest for me from the start. I just love that kind of character, which is why I usually end up liking the lead females the best. Sarina is unquestionably the weakest of the three. It's like if Mugi-chan hadn't been able to play the keyboard after all and took on guitar. And were straight. And sickly. And a lot less interesting. And, uh, not Mugi-chan. ... Still! I don't dislike her at all, and I really think her route could be interesting, although that depends how much the drag out what I assume will be a lot of arguing with her grandfather about social status not mattering and so on. We'll see.

I don't think I can get to it tonight (argh, it's midnight again, and I already took today off from work because of being up too last last night playing this!), but tomorrow I'll finish Chapter 1 again and post a little more. There were a couple things you didn't mention that I wanted to talk about.

[something]

Just finished Chapter 1 again. The actual ending performance is still awesome the second time around.

Let's see, a couple things I didn't mention or mentioned briefly in the previous post:

Miyuki and Mai! - The second years are so lovable (and cute!) because they're so irreverent. They just love poking fun at Shikanosuke, although I'm sad that they get *so* few lines. There were plenty more places in Chapter 1 where these two could have popped up, but alas. Oh and I just crack up at how they refuse to tell you which of them is which.

The guerrilla live - I thought the writing was really good here, especially Shikanosuke talking about how they must be traumatizing children and ruining people's dinners. It's a great moment in the development of their "no future/be punk" attitude as they really give it their all despite being scared out of their minds and expecting to be arrested and kicked out of school. And then that great, great line: "This isn't a performance, it's terrorism." Hah. I got a laugh out of the truth behind that whole setup too. Oh Tonoya.

Kirari looooves crossdressing boys - I brought this up briefly earlier but I thought this made for a lot of her cutest moments in Chapter 1. Whether she was pouting about "Shikako" being cuter than she was, or "ooh-ahh"ing at his transformation, or being/[acting?] sad and asking to hold his hand, or having a total mood swing and totally shooting down Shikanosuke's arguments against crossdressing, I just loved it all. Even if I had intended to do a different girl's route initially, these scenes and the one I mention next would have made me change my mind and go with Kirari instead.

The birthday party! - Oh man, in some ways Kirari's reaction was exaggeratedly happy, but like I cared! I teared up a few times during that scene to see how genuinely overjoyed and grateful she was, and how much everyone else cared about her. She even got Murakami and Sarina all emotional too. You really are a good, good girl, Kirari! <3

Oubi Gakuen Live - The lead-up to this was great with Sarina's "Eat shit, that's all" line. Pretty, polite, "proper" girl speaking in a gentle voice with her hands folded in coming straight out with that line? Win. Then there's the costumes (Miyuki and Mai must have wanted to see Sarina sideboob badly), more of the keion-bu ignorantly taunting Tonoya, Shikanosuke and Murakami's plotting, Yagihara's odd pep talk, and finally the event itself. As you noted Overdrive really did a nice job using still images to convey a sense of energy and emotion that totally sold the live. Some of the same techniques are reused later and you can tell you've seen those shots before, but it never really stops being effective. I especially liked going through this scene the second time, because I listened to the CD version of "Let's Jump!" a few dozen times between finishing the first playthrough and now. It was great to hear it again.

No other Sarina-specific moments came up through the rest of this chapter. Choices have been pretty rare thus far in general, as the story plays out a its own pace. And what choices there are don't change anything regarding the course of Chapter 1, so effects will have to be later.

[Draneor]

Originally Posted by something

If we're keeping the subject lines accurate, I don't think we need to spoiler tag everything, to be honest. Just like, anything super important that'd really spoil a huge twist for someone who is skimming down in flat or whatever (and nothing like that really happens in Chapter 1).

Fair enough. I'll guess we'll just have to play it by ear in this and any future threads. Some games may need more caution than others. I tend to be much less concerned about spoilers than others, apart from certain franchises.

Originally Posted by something

Then I thought maybe it was the crossdressing but I never remembered you be at all anti-trap either.

I like traps, but not trap sex. So I could never play a game like OtoBoku. I guess that's hypocritical? As for what I heard, I'll guess I'll find out eventually if it's in there. If so, there's always the ctrl key.

Originally Posted by something

And oh my god he talks slooooooooooooowly. I could wait out most of the characters' full lines in my first playthrough, but if I listened to all his lines in full I still wouldn't be done.

After playing a game written by Nasu, just about anyone seems quick. Even Tonoya. But if I hadn't, yeah. He does drag on.

Originally Posted by something

His personality is this hilarious mix of serious and irresponsible, passionate and naive, and I just love how hardcore he is about everything - even if it's something he just learned about for the first time ten minutes earlier.

Heh. It's quite the contrast with how he looks too. He's more of a comical type "best friend" character, but I think he does it rather well. And he's not an idiot, unlike some.

Originally Posted by something

I think that's when I truly fell in love with her. She was just soooo cute any time that topic came up.

She's totally a Yaoi fan girl. Although, knowing her, I doubt she even knows what it is. I guess it's just instinctual!

Originally Posted by something

On the other hand they did some interesting things with timing and more often than not managed to transition nicely between different effects and BGM tracks when you hit a line that triggered a change.

I've really enjoyed how Overdrive has used the CGs, even if I think the CGs themselves are slightly below par. The transitions though? Nicely done.

Originally Posted by something

What I like is that Kira Kira sets out to make the protagonist more of a character, rather than it just being "you", the reader. I know that self involvement is part of the appeal in some ways, but if I'm going to have minimal impact on the course of the story anyway, I'd rather the protagonist whose eyes I'm looking through be as well developed as the girls, if possible.

Well, that really wasn't my reason for disliking it. KiraKira is a NVL so I'd expected there to a strong male lead, and, on a personal note, I wouldn't want to pretend to be Shikanosuke. My main complaint is that the tone of the scene didn't fit well with the rest of the chapter. Now, Setoguchichi Renya may use the events in that scene for something in a later chapter--and I hope he does. But if that's it, I don't really see the point. I'd rather not have backstory just to have one.

Originally Posted by something

Chie-nee was the most "interesting" character, with the best personality and probably the best seiyuu. [...] It's like if Mugi-chan hadn't been able to play the keyboard after all and took on guitar. And were straight. And sickly. And a lot less interesting. And, uh, not Mugi-chan. ...

I absolutely agree about Chie's seiyuu--I've been meaning to look her up as her voice sounds really familiar. And Mugi without Mugi vision is boring.

[something]

Originally Posted by Draneor

After playing a game written by Nasu, just about anyone seems quick. Even Tonoya. But if I hadn't, yeah. He does drag on.

Slower-speaking than Tonoya? I kind of fear that if I ever get to play a Nasuverse game, heh.

She's totally a Yaoi fan girl. Although, knowing her, I doubt she even knows what it is. I guess it's just instinctual!

Heh, probably not, given her amazed reaction when they peeped on the two students having sex. On the other hand, they didn't play her off as anything like the surprised, embarrassed pseudo-prude that I'd anticipate seeing in that scene if this were an anime. She was actually sort of getting into it. There was still a bit of naivete there, but she didn't recoil from it either. I rather liked that, and it prevented the scene from otherwise just being a "hey guys I swear I didn't forget about the sex, see?" moment. =P

I've really enjoyed how Overdrive has used the CGs, even if I think the CGs themselves are slightly below par. The transitions though? Nicely done.

I really do like the character designs, so any scene where we see the characters standing in their set poses and talking I found quite enjoyable. But yes some of the actual CGs aren't that great. Not bad, really, but could have been better.

I absolutely agree about Chie's seiyuu--I've been meaning to look her up as her voice sounds really familiar. And Mugi without Mugi vision is boring.

Just checked wikipedia and saw 瑞沢 渓 (Mizusawa Kei), however she's in the PS2 version, and I believe it's saying that the PC version seiyuu are "private". Of course it could be the same person just hiding it, but I haven't heard the PS2 version. Don't have time to look much more into it right now though. Sure the info is out there somewhere.

[Draneor]

So it wasn't my imagination that I was raising all the wrong flags... Yeah. That was scary, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Time to re-load and pick the other choice.

[Draneor]

This is a really long chapter. I've been playing it for four nights straight and I'm still not done.

So Murakami actually found the bass in the trash. That's pretty funny.
Sadly, that's pretty much it for him this chapter.

I have to admit that Sarina gained points with me when she tossed her cell phone out the window. It broke her character's mold, I think.

Chie and Shikanosuke's conversation on the roof of the van was one of the more realistic conversations I've seen between childhood friends. This game definitely needs more Chie.

Shika-chan male admirer from two years ago continues to stalk him. Kirari, of course, likes it. Love should conquer all I suppose. But then, she picks up one of her own--and a rather creepy one. Fortunately, he doesn't stay around for long. On the other hand, Shika-chan also got invited over to the apartment of a club owner, who just happens to be gay. You dodged a bullet there, Shika-chan. Kirari then ends up picking up two yakuza admirers, but they turned out to be pretty nice guys and even give her a guitar. I hope she ends up using it later.

I really can't decide if Kirari acts like an animal or a child. Maybe both? In any case, I'm getting more used to her personality. I think I liked her the best when she broke down.

The concerts continue to be the best parts of this game. I think I like "君の元へ*" more than "Let's Jump" but not as much as O.H.B.I. I liked how the second club owner was an asshole, the third concert turned into a disaster, and the van broke down in a rain storm. These failures give the game a sense of realism. A perfect tour would be rather boring.

The beach concert was really good. I never realized that a girl band in swimsuits is really hot. At first, I wondered why this doesn't happen more often. Then, well, Sarina had her accident. I guess that explains why you don't see girl guitarists in bikinis. Also, wouldn't the sand destroy the instruments and equipment?

During the conversation later that night, Sarina seems pretty calm about the fact that she could die at any moment and yet I also felt that her strong will keeps her alive. She's acknowledged her fate but at the same time she won't accept it--even if she was supposed to die before she was ten.The way she nonchalantly told Shika-chan she liked him and then kissed him was pretty cool. She certainly appears confident. On the other hand, Shika-chan reacted like an idiot. And he's the one with experience. I realize she's rich and hot, but come on. When a girl says she likes you, you don't leave her hanging like that.^^U

To be continued...

[something]

Originally Posted by Draneor

So it wasn't my imagination that I was raising all the wrong flags... Yeah. That was scary, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Time to re-load and pick the other choice.

Hahah, ah yes, the Bad End. What can even be said about it... I'm sure Kirari would love that.

[something]

Originally Posted by Draneor

This is a really long chapter. I've been playing it for four nights straight and I'm still not done.

Just glancing briefly at your post you're ahead of me. I still haven't reached the route split point (which is apparently after the optional Tomo sex scene?) because like before, I meant to skip through it but wound up reading 80% of it all over again... Chapter 2 is just way too fun. I left off at the point where they'd just had a great concert at Music Farm and "Shikako" is about to puke "her" guts out. I should be able to skip the whole Yashiro bit though and save some time.

So a couple observations on Chapter 2 still before the route split:

- Fireworks and festival - I'm finding it hard not to make all the Kirari choices! Well not that there have been many, the only character specific choice so far in Chapter 2 is who you play a game with at the festival. I already read through all three of those during my first playthough. Sarari's is the least interesting of them, while Chie's was the most amusing. Still, during the fireworks scene were Kirari says she likes Shikanosuke the best... ah! I wanted to tell her I liked her the best too, but no can do. They all look great in their yukata too, and I love the "Us guys look normal. Period." line.

- More Murakami! - speaking of that fireworks scene, Murakami was totally in top form. His hilariously frank man-to-man heart-to-heart talk was just too much. But all he gets is a pity pick from Sarina! I also thought it was interesting that they actually had Tonoya say who he liked. It's not a surprise it's Chie-nee, but I wonder if that becomes an issue if you pursue her route... I can't see Tonoya seriously pursuing her, but who knows? Maybe since she's into him too, she'll be conflicted. Guess we'll find out eventually.

- Shika-chan's first kiss was with a guy while crossdressing. Unsurprisingly, Kirari loves the idea even if it's just a flashback.

- I thought did a good job depicting the d2b's struggles balancing school and the band. It's a pretty huge decision they're making, after all. Giving up time to study for tests that could determine the course of the rest of their lives? Not something you do lightly.

- On a side note, I'm sad that Shikanosuke's sister isn't an actual drawn character. =(

- Chie-nee driving the deathmobile! The initial drive down to Nagoya was such a fun part of the story for me. It really does feel like they can do *anything*, as they drive and drive down the freeway surrounded by mountains and forests and, it seems, freedom. The bit at the rest stop with the live performance and the unagi debate ended up being one of my favorite scenes of the story. And of course it's all following up Sarina's epic escape from her home! =D Yes, the cell phone bit was inspired. major points to Sarina there.

- The after party interview questions were the first ones where I didn't feel like it was obvious which answer was "right". On the first one, the aggressive answer one gets her riled up but the passive passive one leaves Shikanosuke thinking he answered wrongly... The second question is easier (one choice made her want to punch me, so I figured the other choice was the obvious one) but I'm wondering what exactly would constitute a perfect playthrough here. Guess I'll find out.

There's a couple good things coming up in Chapter 2 that I've already seen (before the split), and then I have all the Sarina-specific post-split things to see for the first time. Can't wait. Tempted to get back on it right now, actually... but I need to get Haruhi and a few other things in tonight still.