This is an 18+ visual novel with a free optional patch provided by the developers that unlocks ~90% of the game.

*holds out two pills, one in each hand*

You have two choices:

You take the blue pill and ignore the patch. You're the starring role in Yuki Minakami's Fluffy Yuri Adventures, a short-and-sweet tale of 4 girls' romantic antics that's sure to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

You take the red pill and install the patch. You stay in Wonderland and see how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Strange and unusual things begin to occur. A larger picture unfolds into a disturbing reality. Your mind spirals into a pit of despair. As you slowly realize you know nothing, you question everything. You are assaulted by a torrent of explicit and uncomfortable subjects including intense bullying, suicide, torture, sexual assault, drug use and dismemberment. The things you once thought true are shattered over and over as you plunge deeper into a bizarre mystery filled to the brim with utter insanity.

Dare to take the red pill.

(in case it wasn't clear, this VN has a lot of disturbing/sexual content and is not for the faint of heart)

All a woman needs in life are cigarettes, a roof, and a frilly dress, right?

I’ve been sitting on this review for a few months. I have a love/hate relationship with this game and a lot of opinions about it. Subarashiki Hibi is considered by many to be a masterpiece. I found it to be far from it, a schizophrenic mess whose positives are scattered throughout, but whose negatives come from the very meat of the novel. As this is a philosophical eroge, that meat is philosophy and porn. This bipolar contrast between highbrow and lowbrow has its appeal. “Infinite ejaculation” could be an apt metaphor for it.

The problem with both is more in the way they’re used. The philosophy was the main selling point for me, and the failure to resonate in that aspect was especially disappointing. Some people will give you a list of books you should read before you dig into SubaHibi. There’s no need. Everything is discussed, explained, in terms of Wittgenstein, digested, spit and watered down. And really, a work of fiction should stand on its own, it shouldn’t need other works to explain it.

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So what is it about philosophy that didn’t quite work? There’s an air of artificiality about it, it doesn’t come out organically, more like it’s super(im)posed onto the world of novel. I get that this could be intentional as most of it is exposed (and it’s blatant exposition, at times very clunky) through Otonashi Ayana, a character who provides meta(physical) commentary, deals omens, foreshadowing, talks about death a lot, and its antithesis, wonderful everyday (life everlasting), and is a sort of ‘supernatural’ character. She feels like an angel of death, or a gateway to another world. So I guess, since she’s kind of ‘artificial’ to this world, so are the wise words she spouts. She speaks in monotone and has an offbeat, deadpan sense of humor, and is generally a very intriguing character. So philosophical monologue from her mouth has a repetitive, hypnotic quality that is esthetically compelling.

In the mouths of other characters philosophical exposition becomes very obvious, jarring and as subtle as a sledgehammer. But how does this tie to the story and themes? That’s where it's most disappointing. Intellectually, I understand how it ties, but it just doesn’t resonate emotionally. Example: extreme suffering/bullying and a message of ‘live happily’/wonderful everyday. One has a visceral/raw emotional punch and the other in comparison feels like an exercise in intellectualism. It fails to sooth the wounds and to serve as a meaningful and deep message, because it pales in front of this juggernaut of suffering that the game spent so much time on building (perhaps the most time), indulging even and exploiting your emotional reactions to the point that it made you numb. In a medium of art, emotional always trumps intellectual. These ideas of knowing and not knowing death, of specie aeterni and wonderful everyday, are very powerful on their own, but they can be tacked on any story with no significant change.

Very early in the novel I had a hunch about solipsism and expected a more metaphysical, ambiguous approach, actually exactly what Ayana talks about in End Sky II. But why was it so unsatisfying in the end? Because in the meantime the game took a more concrete, psychological route and went full on with it, all with explanations of all the mysteries. And then in the end it said ‘scratch that’. This perfectly shows how disjointed the VN is in theme and message. The author is kind of trying to tie the general and philosophical with personal and psychological. Sometimes he succeeds like with the End Sky metaphor. The very end of the VN is powerful especially what I think is the awakening of the soul, staring at the blue sky, wondering about its colour, wondering about the limit of the world. It’s like a glimpse into a transcending consciousness before it snaps out of it and goes about wonderful everyday, again.

So there is greatness here, but it's buried under so much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that it’s unable to shine. The game has that postmodern love for citations of other work without retaining the original context, but is more interested in how it can use them like ready-made pieces for its collage. After many months I think of this game more favourably now. But there is still one thing that is just wrong

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The porn. The weird fixation of VNs they can’t seem to move beyond. I’m talking about those h-scenes that are just tacked on artificially. You will usually hear about some exceptions where the whole game would be destroyed without them (censorshiiiip, my porn!). This is supposedly one such exception. Well, yes and no. It’s true that a lot of extreme stuff that happens here is sexual in nature. The game pulls no punches in testing the capacity of readers for angst and suffering with no catharsis. But the author made the choice to make all that sexual and he made the choice to indulge in it. That’s the sin of this game.

Those ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up h-scenes are integral, but they are the problem. It’s not because they’re explicit; it’s because they made suffering into porn. It’s exploitation. The game makes you leer at the victim. I get that artists sometimes want to make you feel dirty and voyeuristic, to induce you with the sense of guilt and uneasiness, but that’s also an excuse to indulge in sick fantasies. If you really want to make your audience uneasy why not make it from the victim’s perspective. It feels like this game wants to be edgy, but not too edgy. It still has to follow eroge rules, meaning whatever happens, the female body has to be displayed before our gaze.* It's posing as something radical, but is just an excuse to check the list of fetishes.* Even when we’re in the head of a victim and it's hard to watch, what happens is that the scene lasts so long and is conforming more and more to the porn rules that we forget we’re supposed to be watching someone suffer. It becomes just a regular hentai at that point and the victim is thoroughly objectified. That’s unacceptable and it defeats the point. Unless the point was porn all along and bullying was just an excuse. That kind of dishonesty is really hard to forgive and is offensive.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1846422732
Let’s see some positives. Where this vn excels is psychedelic ♥♥♥♥. The real ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ starts with Takuji’s chapter. Unlike Yuki, who remained kind of underdrawn, Takuji is excellently written. The author writes victims better, especially their disintegration, vanishing as a person into nothingness, descent into madness. He uses morphing perceptions, associations, mirroring and hypnotic repetition to great effect. It foreshadows and mirrors Takashima’s chapter in a sort of shared pain.* This is the part of VN where it feels like there’s one main bad end route with good ends being on secondary routes branching from it. The most cathartic is Kimika ending. This could be the whole novel in itself considering the length and finality. Really, Takuji’s chapter with that secondary ending is a well rounded story, almost perfect.

All that said, the whole VN has a lot of problems, but I can’t not recommend it. It’s a very ambitious work. What it does right, it does extremely good. Although it fails to unify all of its ideas and is a disjointed mess that can’t overcome its eroge expectations – it still has a lot of layers inviting you to peel them off, to find more meaning. I’m severely critical of it, but I can’t shake the feeling there’s a potential for greatness here. It’s worth experiencing its fractured psyche, but with full awareness of all its problematic ♥♥♥♥.

This is the toughest review I will ever write. In fact, I won't bother to even try to treat this like a real review.

One of my dearest friends and I read this roughly at the same time and talked about it a great deal. I feel like if I hadn't had that experience, my opinion might not be so high. But as I jokingly told her, "This is absolutely the hardest 10 rating I have ever given anything on VNDB, and I do it under extreme duress and with great protest." She laughed at me and told me it was a pure 10. She's apparently in possession of a much higher constitution than I am, and I'm the one that binges true crime documentaries.

I won't be detailing what this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of a story is actually about. I don't know if I could even if I tried. If you want more details about what's in store, I am sure you can find the very same reviews I read that lead me to both buy this, and dread opening it at the same time. And procrastinate reading it at all.

When my friend challenged me to finally break the seal, I then stared at the screen blankly for god knows how long, in revulsion every time I found the strength to continue. The only thing higher than the existential dread of the writing was my own existential dread in pressing the enter key.

I will be very blunt. If you don't think you can stomach it, don't even try. If you aren't willing to patch this game, all you get is the prologue. If you don't patch it, there's not enough content or payoff to warrant buying it. If you do patch it, you get everything. No half measures here and no punches pulled.

This game is depraved, savage and absolutely revolting in all ways. it contains hard bullying, extreme duress, psychological torture, gore, violent sexual assault and... even worse. Its a putrefying garbage dump buffet of the worst things mankind has to offer. It also has a lot of really unsettling and eerie unreality sequences. Basically if you can handle all this kind of stuff in fiction and it interests you, give it a try. This really is a one of kind experience, and there are sections filled with poignancy and beauty. If it feels like it might be too much, just walk away. I'd be lying if I put on a front and said it didn't traumatize me.

Not as badly or long lasting as Muv-Luv Alternative or Baldr Sky, but in a totally different way that was highly uncomfortable and unpleasant. Its also worth noting that some of the worst scenes drag on so long that it feels like the author is deliberately trying to wear the reader down completely.

So dear reader, I am sure you have to be wondering why in the world I gave this a thumbs up, and even more so, how did it receive a coveted 10 out of 10? Because it is an uncategorical masterpiece *somehow*. There's nothing redeeming here. The characters are distant and detached from the reader, the setting is unremarkable, the plot is incorrigible, the events are horrific.

But I don't think I will ever experience anything like it again. To try to put this in a way that makes even a bit of sense without spoiling it. Its a story but its not a *story*. Its an illustration, a demonstration and an experiment.

My friend and I, are really big into long winded debates and the sort of psychobabble that would probably bore most people to tears. Hours long philosophical discussions and the posing of theoretical psychological questions have kept us up both up far past our bedtimes more times than I can count.

But for all our studying and debating, neither of us could even put a dent in Wittgenstein's material because he's so brilliant that he makes no sense and yet so b-a-t ♥♥♥♥ insane that he has to be right about something. But I thought I'd go to my grave not understanding a damn word he ever wrote.

...Except I now fully grasp not just the basics of Wittgenstein's analytical school of thought...

................I actually *get* the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus!!!!!

If that doesn't make it clear that Wonderful Everyday is absolutely brilliant, I don't know what else to say. I tried to reread TL-P for the hundredth time after finishing Wonderful Everyday and it actually made sense. And irrelevant or not I have to vent and admit my friend one-upped me here too because her native language is German. So she can experience the philosophical holy grail of "what the actual F is this" untranslated.

Was it worth the trauma, desperate need for eye and brain bleach, and the loss of my own sanity to get there?

It might not be worth it for everyone but it was absolutely worth it for me. It cracked the seal on the hardest text I have ever tried to digest, and provided my friend and I several weeks worth of discussion.

Lastly, appreciate your own Wonderful Everyday. It is those boring, mundane and banal days of peace, the times we shrug off as uninteresting, that truly matter. The Wonderful Everyday is the ultimate victory. It took so much agony and turmoil to claim your days of peace. Learn to love every dull moment there is no cause for either meaningless -or- meaningful suffering.

...The only mystery that remains now, is how something this vile also manages to have so much soul.... and beautifully illustrate how truly fortunate we are during the times there is no pain.

SLIGHT SPOILERS

This is a game about loving and living life despite suffering.

At times, I felt very frustrated with the game, and at others, I felt elated that I could read it.

Nonetheless, this isn't a game I can recommend to anyone. If you want to play Subarashiki Hibi, then go in with little expectations. People call this a kamige, which is why you're probably scoping reviews, but it doesn't really hit that for me.

The more you expect from Subahibi, the less satisfied you will probably be. In all honesty, the more philosophy you know the more you will like this game. There are portions I was glad to understand and references I recognized. And of course, the more eroge you read the more you'll appreciate it within the context of eroge.

I'm not one of those people who know that much about philosophy, and I do not read that many eroge. I've studied bits of Descartes, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Locke and, a bit of Wittgenstein. I think it is important at least to glance through Wittgenstein's life history and probably the main parts of the Tractatus. This game is really a response to a lot of philosophers but especially him. Others may recommend you read Cyrano but the game talks extensively about it so despite reading it I don't find that it was necessary to read the play.

Some of these reviews say that the explicit suffering makes this game work but I disagree entirely. It really does go too far sometimes and feels like shock factor (like the one CG that was removed for this release).

I love this game because of how it captures Takuji's mindset, but at the same time a lot of the ero scenes turned me off entirely. Many of the sex scenes feel rather pointless like most eroge with a plot. Zakuro was also my favorite character in the whole game (besides the obvious Yuki and Kimika) and how her journey was depicted struck a chord in me.

Overall, I liked the game. I liked what it had to say and how it did it besides some of the ero choices (noncon sucks and the incest actually detracts from its main message for me and it probably needs an editor).

But I can't recommend it. I can't recommend it to anyone. If by the end you want to play this game after reading all of this, then go ahead. It's an experience, but it's not one for everyone.

I miss the characters too. I miss that feeling of going, "Wow sure do wanna read some Subahibi and sink into that mindset and story." I read it late at night often, and there's definitely a void there and I'm not sure what to fill with it!

But I can't recommend you this game. You choose to play this game of your own volition, not because you hear it's good or you hear me say that I don't recommend it. In the end, you will make that choice to say, "I want to buy and play Subarashiki Hibi."

Everyone will experience Subahibi in their own way. And it lends knowledge and lets you see things in a different light you'd never considered. I will definitely see Subahibi in my life now and forever. It is genuinely a special game and depicts a vivacious and beautiful and mercuric minds well.

But that is all I can say.

Live your life wonderfully and cherish it.

If you're the type of person who was able to find this game, you will like this game. Today, the world ended.

An avalanche of schizo brainrot so awful yet intense and infectious that it loops back into becoming modern, truly philosophical art, dialogue so awful it's as if written by someone who has somehow lived through life with negative physical contact with another human being, yet still somehow managed to convey and evoke such raw and tangible emotions, you will experience sadness, despair, second hand embarrassment, some glimmer of happiness, but most of all fear, you will know true fear, and then you will know that fear comes in many forms, fear is the devil, fear is the mind killer, fear is a shapeless monster that clouds the mind and beckons the worst possible outcome. Now I am become mahou shojou riruru, the observer of all worlds.

kinda cool so far

really cool so far (10 hours in)

a little traumatizing (24 hours in)

my philosophy on life has been permanently altered (60 hours in)

life is a horror i will cherish nonetheless

this happened to my buddy chris

How to be is superior to what to be