If you suck enough copium the translation being noticeably bad adds to the general vibe of disorientation this VN is going for. Miki Miki channel better tho

CROSS†CHANNEL is a very good visual novel game with a beautiful story.
The graphics are nice and the soundtrack is Chill and relaxing... I don't usually play this kind of game but the MoeNovel games are really great!!! I highly recommend it. 💗💗💗

Curry pan!!!!!!!

Sometimes, one can reflect upon the concept of medium, and without any hesitation the preferable one to impart deep teachings and stories will always be the book. Because the book has got a long story; countless people used books to express their feelings and expose to the world their philosophical thoughts.

All considered, this can be a logical way of thinking: since it's one of the most ancient medium and its story is related to, basically, the major part of the human thinking, the book is certainly a perfect way to express complex concepts.

However nice and well wrapped up they may be, books can even be weapons. At the same time a book can be an immense love letter or a declaration of hate; I think that such is the core of CROSS†CHANNEL. While not being an effective book, this Visual Novel is heavily oriented on the nuances of the language and the understanding of the deep references internal and external to the work itself.

CROSS†CHANNEL is, in fact, the only Visual Novel I've read which can be paragoned to a massive philosophical book about the true sense of being an human and the depth of the interpersonal relationships. Let's start with the characters...


The characters of CROSS†CHANNEL are, without doubt, complex and well developed. For each week, a singular character's story is presented and then "resolved" (partly) only in the last sections of the story. Probably, the most interesting girls of the entire cast are Youko and Nanaka.

The first, Youko, isn't well developed in the first sections of the story, but when the ending comes near, she plays a vital role to the plot. She is, at the end, a traitor. She is the epitome of a weak person: Youko wasn't able to commit an heavily sinful act, murder, to escape her dire situation, so she made someone else do that for her. That someone wasn't needed to be a particular person, that individual had the only characteristic to be close to her. In fact she choose Taichi, and lied, making him think that two different people where effectively able to become one single thing. The contrast in her actions and in her behaviour made her one of the most interesting characters in the whole VN.


The second is Nanaka. A misterious character. Something about her is off, but it's clear that her connection with Taichi is deep. Despite the final plot twist, her true identity is not made clear. Even her story isn't explicitated; while it seems to be a downside, such a lack of information is, in my opinion, a good thing. If the true past of Nanaka was told, Taichi would be completely exposed: but, this story doesn't tell what seems to be vital information for a precise purpose. Because, in this VN, the reader is bound to the vision of the main character, so the truths presented are often distorted and not always reliable. That's a charm of CROSS†CHANNEL, and Nanaka literally impersonate it.

The other characters are good but not great: the friendship element is vital and well developed, but some characters simply aren't made to be memorable.

Now, to the main topic. Since the start of this masterpiece, I was stricken by the behaviour of the main character. Kurosu Taichi. It's clear that he's not a completely normal person, his adaptation coefficient is soon revealed to be over eighty and his perverted behaviour hinders an obscure, malicious, side. Even so, Taichi seems to be, to the core, a specimen: he is, since the start, heavily characterized, and his true emotions, while not laid bare until the very end, are functional to the story. He is the perfect main character for this tale, in a way I've never seen before in any other VN. The story spins around him, and he's never out of place.

That's right, since CROSS†CHANNEL is, firstly, a story about Taichi and his interations with the other people. Will he try to make others life better? Or will he try to ruin the people around him? Can a person like him, subjugated by self-hate, live alone for all eternity?

These are the superficial questions that a reader may have during the reading. But, in my opinion, the story itself is not even about Taichi.


Then, what is the story really about?

CROSS†CHANNEL wants to depict an impossible situation, the existence of a world outside the "real" one which can still hold contact (somehow) with the latter. All of this is just an allegory. The repeated world is, in fact, Taichi's inner world. It's the manifestation of his sorrow and of his deep emotional world. The atmosphere is oniric, sometimes it's unclear if the reality Taichi sees is a dream or not. Every information in the repeated world is distorted by the view of the main character and given to the readers in that form; in fact, speaking of truth in CROSS†CHANNEL is a really dire affair.

What can be analyzed, are the numerous references and hidden critiques of the author toward the modern society. I remember a part about how literate men wheren't able to conform in society and had to isolate themselves in order to write a true "masterpiece". Maybe Tanaka tought that while writing CROSS†CHANNEL; he wanted to write the masterpiece of a new form of media. He naturally included H-scenes and perverted acts, but they aren't clearly the main point.

The VN insists on the concept of solitude and promotes the connection between people while exposing the "bad" ways to form such connections; these topics aren't related to the sole Taichi, but to the other characters as well. Touko and Kiri needed to be dependent to someone else in order to fully know themselves. Youko betrayed Taichi due to her impotence, and she felt alone, after having a spontaneous contact with someone else. Miki felt aggressive impulses, even when with other people, she felt alone and uninterested in their lives. The list goes on.

But, at the same time, the VN instill the fact that, after all, Taichi's decision was right. He did well, deciding to be alone in the world. A man that known such dephts of the sin, can't be cured anyhow. That's the sad truth of CROSS†CHANNEL. And even the ones who exited the loop, aren't really happy. They are still longing for connections, while struggling to respect each other, but that's not always possible for them. Their problems are still there, and the only things Taichi did, was sacrifice himself in order to save the others from his presence.

So, the truth of CROSS†CHANNEL is a much darker and deeper one, than the superficial vision one can have of the epilogue. The final sentence, "Until the day this sky is no more", express this dark meaning very well. Taichi will continue his struggles, he will build over and over the same antenna, repeat over and over the same actions, the same weeks... All in order to give a message.

One day, Taichi's sky will be no more. His broadcasts will stop. But the world, the real world will go on despite that. For inertia.

That's the meaning of CROSS†CHANNEL. See you next week.

A game that holds its cards too long, and plays them perfectly.

I initially encountered this game through an article that was recommending VNs similar to Steins;Gate. The character designs immediately stuck out to me, and I was hooked; Having intentionally avoided the plot synopsis aside from a brief(er) description, I bought the game and decided to give it a shot.

I'll jump to the side for a second and say it's a shame that this game hasn't a proper translation. I dove down the rabbit hole of the various translations that exist (*cough* The infamous character who holds the top review on Steam *cough*) after playing through the game. The game is rife with spelling errors and grammatical inconsistencies, but please don't let that stop you from experiencing what's inside this stories 1.5G worth of space. The story isn't whole in this translation, there's a lot of context, story beats, jokes and deeper meanings that either could not be properly extrapolated or were just missed by amateur translators.

So my best suggestion would be to get familiar, very familiar, with Japanese and then come back.

Though I say that, I still recommend it. It's a gripping story of the human condition, and our indomitable spirits. It's a story that showcases mental illness and trauma in their raw, nasty and toxic forms, but it also shows growth, it shows the ability to overcome your nature, your desires, your trauma and it shows that, at the end of the day, we're only human after all.

The protagonist is flawed. Deeply. Incredibly so. Through no fault of his own he was cast into an expansive void rife with chaos, and because of a series of unfortunate events ended up in the hands of wicked people, who did wicked things.

I think that every character can be related to in one way or the other. I found myself in tears over every one of them, even you Sakuraba. The soundtrack as well is fantastic. 'Signal' is by far my favorite in the OST; It's haunting melodies and use of voice as an instrument made me immediately add it to my daily playlist.

If you have or suffer from mental illness, you will feel a connection to the characters and the story.

Much love.

Cross†Channel is one of the best visual novels ever. It's a deeply philosophical work that attempts to define what just what a "person" and "humanity" is. However, this translation does not do it justice. I don't know who thought it was okay to release this in this state. Shame on MoeNovel for butchering this beautiful work.

Taichi is one day going to become an outstanding groomer. The whole story basically centers around the protagonist being a massive pervert who is trying his best to build relationships with girls. The jokes may rub some people the wrong way, while others will be over the moon. Otherwise, the story isn't that bad, it's a little rough around the edges but there are many enjoyable twists and turns. At first, the plot may seem very generic, though the more you read it, the better it becomes.

I don't know how to feel about the artworks. In comparison to the other VNs, made by the same developer, they look kind of mid. I appreciate the devs went for a softer approach, however, I just can't push myself to like the way the artworks turned out to be. Maybe more sharpness and increased saturation could do the trick.

One of the weaker VNs from MoeNovel for sure, on the other hand, as long as you dive in open-minded and lower your expectations, you might end up having a good time.

Cross Channel gives me a mixed reaction. This game is a top tier visual novel which showcases each character's personality well. However, the steam translation is pretty much horrible and there is a lot of junk, even if I was able to understand the story. It was a little hard to get into it, I took 2 years on and off to complete it. I enjoyed this visual novel thoroughly but just hate how the translation is literal junk. I still recommend this to anyone who loves visual novels and is patient enough to power through the translations. Definitely worth my time.

STORY
Is focused on a - rather perverted to say the least, so buyer beware - male protagonist, and his school friends, who somehow end up being the only ones alive in their worlds.

Lots of choices to make, but unless the correct ones are selected the story loops over and over, giving it a Groundhog Day feel.

There is also further - and quite substantial - stories unlocked once the main story is completed, focusing in the point of view of other characters.

The store page states the game has 20 hours of story, though I feel that is easily an understatement, and should be at least double that.

Overall, the story is well written, if not particularly super memorable, with the tone of the story is mostly funny, with quite a few laugh out loud moments, with some rather sad and shocking twists along the way. The main issue is that it can feel repetitive at times.

VISUALS
Characters are still and while well drawn, feel relatively simple and monochromatic between each other. This is more than compensated by the sheer variety of CGs available in the game.

SOUND
The game has an airy and diverse soundtrack that sets well the tone of the story. Good voice overs as well.

VERDICT
Given the novel's low price and overall solid content, the game is certainly well worth its full price and a worthwhile addition to a otaku's library. 9/10

A really beautiful story.

Difficult to read. Really difficult to read. The first half of the game is intentionally misleading and disorienting. You read many scenes that seem identical to each other, over and over again, as your grasp for any semblance of change, meaning, or enjoyment from them. I was constantly wondering if I was on the correct story route for most of the game, unsure of where I even was when I occasionally checked a guide to find my bearings. It was draining to read.

While there isn't much in the way of concrete hard-scifi explanations for the mysteries of the story, there are enough hints to help point you in the direction of an answer. But the heart of the story is the heart of all its characters, especially the heart of the protagonist, Taichi Kurosu. At the beginning of my play-through, I strongly disliked him as a protagonist and narrator. But by the end, I found him to be one of the most complex, engaging, endearing and sympathetic characters I've ever read.

As the game nears its end, more and more of the pieces slide together until the whole starts coming into view. And what a beautiful thing it is. So many things that seemed inconsequential all start making sense. Every little detail ties together, the emotional core and message to the reader resonate and ripple throughout every facet of the story. The final ending is already one of my favorite endings I've read. I doubt I will forget about this game anytime soon.

Despite all its flaws, or maybe because of them, I feel this game deserves a 10/10.

See you next week.