Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru – Best girl gets the best game

You may have heard of, or even played, Le Fruit de la Grisaia, the first game of a trilogy of visual novels recently kickstarted by Sekai Project for a release in English. While we are still waiting for the release of the next two games, there’s actually another game to check out right now, as the first stretch goal of the Kickstarter also allowed for the localization of the series’ comedic spin-off game, Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru. Where the main games are run-of-the-mill “dating sims” where a male protagonist get to meet a number of extra-ordinary girls and pursue their individual story and romance one by one, this spin-off takes one of these heroines, Michiru, and makes her the protagonist of a linear, comedic story taking place in a alternate universe where she sings as an idol and fights evil as a magical girl.

I’m pretty sure this game was originally announced in Japan as an April’s Fool… or maybe presenting it as an April’s Fool was the April’s Fool? In any case, the game was actually developed and released in two parts, but considering its origin and its ridiculous premise, it would be easy to take this game as a joke itself. I hesitated buying it myself, even though I’m a Michiru fan, and even when it was at half the price on Steam. Little did I know that it would become one of my favorite visual novel ever! Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru is surprisingly one of the most solid Japanese visual novel I’ve played, mostly because it possess qualities I’ve stopped expecting from games of this scene: a great accessibility, along with a unified story direction and a sincere love for its main characters.

The Menagerie – The problem is not in your pants

I don’t play as many western visual novels as I should. I buy the ones that look interesting to me, download them, and then let them take the virtual dust. But when I came across the release of the Menagerie demo, I immediately had to play it. I don’t exactly remember why but I’m not gonna lie, it probably had to do with it being a hentai game, partially at least. And because I always explain any jargon, hentai is porn, and visual novels are games centered on reading a textual story, usually accompanied with pictures and sound.

I remember being pretty impressed with the demo’s gorgeous art style, the dynamism of the story, and the welcome clarity of its choices. It made me very interested in the studio behind it, Lupiesoft, and I played all their games available at the time. Though to be exact, most were still demos at the time, plus their very first game that they had made during a jam: a rough early version of what would become the prologue chapter of Toko. By the way, their website linked above hasn’t been updated in a while and doesn’t even list Menagerie’s full release. I think they were really busy with said full release (and probably Toko’s too) and kind of forgot about the website.

The Menagerie takes place in a fantasy world shared with Dizzy Hearts (which isn’t a porn game), one of Lupiesoft two big projects in development along with Toko, where one half of the land is in perpetual night while it’s always day time in the other half. The eponymous Menagerie is a sort of brothel hidden under a palace called the Sail in the sunny side of the world, where elven nobles enjoy the sexual company of races from all over the world. For some, it’s a prison, for others, it’s a paradise. Our Drachene heroine, Rao-ji, is not sure. She was born here and has never seen the sunlight. But it’s time for her to decide what she wants, and with who she wants it.

Full disclosure: I’m a donator on Lupiesoft’s Patreon. I bought my own copy of the game at full price.

All the pictures in this post are relatively safe.