Category: Visual Novels

Visual Novel Logos Part 1: . . . sad bloggers in snow . . .

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This all started with a random observation. Narutaki and I were looking over what shows we wanted to sample from the new season of anime. While researching one title we had not heard of we went to the series’ homepage and I instantly knew the anime was based on a visual novel from nothing more than the title treatment. This sparked the realization that there was a common design theme in visual novel logos with similar content. I then researched over 200 visual novel logos to assess the commonalities in design.

In a rare, though interesting turn, we take a look at the logos of visual novels purely from the point of view of design. Even though the famous saying is “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” you can actually tell a lot from them! This is less of a conversation and more of an observation. Unfortunately, we can’t for the life of us remember what that show was that started this whole thing! But thank you show, wherever you are.

The first major group we discovered is centered around “crying girl games.” Crying girl games, as exemplified by Key games, usually send the player through an emotional roller coaster and are famous for getting their audience to cry during the most tragic scenes. First take a look at all the crying girl game logos we have at the top. They usually have thin blue letters sometimes with black or green as an accent. There is usually some type of subtitle included. There is usually an item in the background, feathers were particularly popular but other light symbols or abstract shapes were used as well. Overall I feel this design aesthetic is trying to invoke that same feeling of the beauty that can be found in sadness and loss that the game attempt to do. The logo for Wind: A Breath of Heart is an exemplary example if this aesthetic style.

Oh, you can click that image up and there and you will see a bunch more logos to examine. The first thing that hits me is the color palette and an almost exclusive use of the color blue, of course often associated with sadness, as the primary and then green coming up sometimes. The type is rendered in thin, clean strokes with a tendency towards flourish or script styles. While the color palette is rather gender neutral, the type seems distinctly feminine but possibly in an innocent form. I also included the three most popular Key game properties to show some differences. Take the Kanon logo, with its use of pink it really stands out and it also looks much more childish. The Air logo falls close to the others in its field. Then the Clannad logo, while still holding on to the thin strokes falls much more to modern and minimal, practically giving away nothing about itself in its design. The feeling of these logos evoke to me is whismy, softness, and a hint of melancholy.

I am curious if other people agree with our observations or have other good examples to add to our case files. And this is only the first in the series! Please look forward to our next visual novel logo article.

Visual Novel Logos: Part 2 Part 3

Ongoing Investigations: Case #051

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In preparation for seeing Frederik Schodt at Otakon, Narutaki and I decided to read The Astro Boy Essays. The title might say The Astro Boy Essays but this book is just as much a detailed look at Osamu Tezuka as it is a look at Astro Boy. The essays cover the production of Astro Boy as both an anime and manga, its effects on Japanese anime and manga, as well as on Japanese culture in general. The book also covers how Astro Boy was localized in the United States. Throughout Frederik Schodt gives us a look at the man himself, Tezuka. I now realize that many of the smart people who I consider well-versed on Osamu Tezuka are merely stating what they know from this book. My only criticism is that at times this is obviously a collection of essays written over the years. This means that some parts will be redundant as he has a tendency to repeat certain aspects in one essay to the next because all the essays were originally stand alone pieces. Still it is one of the definitive pieces on Osamu Tezuka and one of his most beloved and well-known creations. It is a must read for anyone interested in anime and manga’s history and one of its greatest contributors.

YAY! I got my copy of The Astro Boy Essays signed! After recently reading Dreamland Japan also by Schodt, which showcased a bit of Schodt’s friendship with Tezuka through his interpreting for him in the United States, I needed to pick up this collection of essays as well. Astro Boy and Tezuka are highlighted in his previous books, and some of the tidbits are the same, but the thinking of Tezuka and his own interactions with his creation are fully fleshed out in The Astro Boy Essays. It is written in a conversational manner and not bogged down with so many dates, facts, and figures as to come off dry. This is apparent in all of Schodt’s works and is the reason it is so accessible and a joy to read. The Astro Boy Essays also helped me appreciate that so much of the Tezuka library is finally being published in English. While I have not read much of the original Astro Boy manga, I soon will be. This was an all around quick but informative read that is necessary for anyone who appreciates the history of anime and manga.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #046

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I picked up one of the blind box Gundam 00 Calendar Characters and got lucky! My pick turned out to be Allelujah for May/Children’s Day. There are 12 figures total, one for each month, so each meister has 3 figures. As you can see Allelujah is in his flight suit here, but each of the others has a different outfit. Some look more fun than others. They also come with two accessories related to their month/holiday. Though since the pose and heads are basically the same across the board I don’t have the desire to collect them all. But it is certainly worth having my favorite of. He is quite cute and tiny, and easily worth my $6.

Suikoden Tierkreis is a fine return to form for the Suikoden series even if this is a side story. After some lackluster entries, I am glad to see a very solid renewal of the franchise. Suikoden Tierkreis involves parallel worlds and destiny vs. free will. I won’t claim that it is high literature but it competently handles pretty weighty topics in a competent and entertaining manner which can often be hard for video games. The story starts after some friends who are part of a small village defense force find a book that revels the memories they have are lies. A new organization that believes everything is predestined seek to make a single world where everyone believes as they do. So this rag tag team must rally together to defeat this fanatical organization. I really like that your main allies, the Magedom, are almost as nasty as your enemies in the Order of the One True Way. One of the biggest strengths with 108 recruitable characters is you will always like at least one or two characters. However, many charters don’t get detailed character development. The main charters is sort of the generic plucky never give up shonen hero but at least he has a personality beyond silent protagonist everyone likes for no given reason. The main cast is all enjoyable so you don’t have to cling to side characters in the game. The game play is the standard turn-based RPG battles. Without a doubt the two biggest flaws are the encounter rate and the voice acting. The random encounter rate is really high which makes exploration a pain. Also, there are only one or two decent voice actors making it overall quite bad. Unfortunately, there is a lot of voice acting. I tend to play it on my commute on the subway so it often does not matter but when I do hear it I tend to skip.

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