Do I think Nukitashi 2 is good? Definitely. Do I think it's really good? Yes, potentially a top 10 VN. Do I think it's better than the original? Not quite, but I can absolutely see the hype though.

When NUKITASHI 2 is at It's best I would say definitely has a case of being better than the original in certain aspects.

The main positive I would give of Nukitashi 2 over 1 is that the comedy as a whole is somehow even funnier. Since there's a lot more slice of life, they just focus more on the jokes and they are even more over the top with more specific unique memorable moments than even the original which i already thought was really funny.

Pretty much anything related to NLNS (characters AND the routes) were consistently great for me. To me these characters and their interactions are the life blood and why I love the original so much. The personalities are as great as ever and a few even get more development than I expected.

One unique thing about NUKITASHI 2 is that it actually covered LGBT themes, all four letters, in a surprisingly kind of nuanced way, actually delving into the psychology of said characters, as opposed to just being lazy representation or Weeb pandering fetishism. The main issue that makes it just kind of nuanced is that all the deep dives into their personalities eventually devolves into eroge fan service. Still, it's the most that I got personally invested into fictional LGBT characters which is saying a lot.

I think the main thing people are hyped for is the main sequel portion. It's a kind of weird parallel world Isekai similar to Higurashi Rei, Steins Gate, ReZero, etc. This parallel world isekai takes place after the true route of NUKITASHI 1, with the possibility (so many potential alternate timelines now) that Junnosuke did NOT get with Fumino. I wasn't a fan of this Isekai being a bad excuse to almost overwrite the true end of the original. Many times throughout this route I just thought it was just a forced way to give the "Big Three" a reason to have routes. This sequel route isn't all bad though. In fact I would say "objectively" It's actually quite solid, having good buildup, serious themes, good comedy and fight scenes. I just think some of the enjoyment was brought down by the premise in how it relates to the first game as I just talked about.

Speaking of the big 3, I'm guessing another reason why people hype the sequel because they actually get routes. While I wasn't a fan of the Isekai premise, I do at least commend the effort of Junnosuke actually having camaraderie and interactions with these three in the sequel route so the big 3 routes could at least make sense.

Sadly, I was disappointed in the big three and their routes. Rei already had her backstory in the original so there's only so much they could do with her in the sequel. That said, Her route was certainly the best of the 3, with some very solid moments, but kinda felt like it won by default. Touka got a little more backstory and depth but they also added a few more comedy gimmicks to her which I thought were hit or miss, and I was kinda disappointed in how they developed her. I never liked Ikuko and outside of learning her backstory her and her route did not make me like her more. In fact My feelings on Ikuko are even more mixed after her route.

To go on a positive note, I will say that Junnosuke is at his absolute best in NUKITASHI 2. Since every timeline is after he gets major development he gets to have great influence in the main theme of "understanding", and can switch off between the humorous man and the straight man pretty well, and in general is much less of a douchebag than in the original.

But I also REALLY liked all the after story routes related to the NLNS girls. They were all really hilarious and/or wholesome and were easily the highlight of the VN for me. I also quite liked Asane's (unlockable) route since she's hilarious, probably my favorite little sister character in VNs now.

Overall I would say I still quite like NUKITASHI 2, but it has a bunch of inconsistent flaws that make me not like this much as the original. That said, I'd say it's definitely worth reading, especially if you like the comedy, want to see an alternate version on the original NUKITASHI's plot, want to see fandisc style after stories for the original 4 heroines, and/or you want to see routes for Touka, Rei, Ikuko, and/or Asane.

I would grade NUKITASHI 2 a 9/10, because it had wholesome and unique storytelling themes, fun action whenever it showed up, but most importantly might actually be the funniest visual novel I've read to date.

Especially Misaki, who might now be THE funniest character in visual novels for me, almost any time she was on screen I was guaranteed to be dying laughing.

Speaking of, Character Ranking:

Misaki >> Hinami > Asane > Fumino > Nanase >> Rei > Touka >> Ikuko

PS

I had the privilege of doing a full PAID software QA run of NUKITASHI 2. Heavily grateful I got to do it at least once for an official VN release, especially for the sequel to one of my top three favorite visual novels of all time.

I actually read the English fantranslation of the original Rewrite, way back in 2015. It was a very solid read. This visual novel was written by KEY who has done stories like Clannad, Little Busters, and Summer Pockets (all on Steam). However the story will be quite a bit different compared to those three. You'll also notice that the title says "Rewrite *Plus*". There were some changes like giving a few characters sprites and voice acting compared to the original, as well as a slightly rewritten ending and additional CGs. However, the vast majority of the experience will be the same as the original.

For those who haven't read the story yet, it has a pretty interesting mix of genres. The common route is similar to many other story/romance oriented visual novels. It will have a good amount of slice of life scenes, fun comedy skits, most of it taking place in the main characters' high school. This part of the game is mostly grounded focuses on the humorous traits of the characters like Kotarou getting into trouble, Kotori's goofiness, Yoshino's 'outlaw' personality, Sizuru's literal minded-ness, Chihaya'a... lack of thinking, Lucia's anger, and Akane trolling everyone.

The common route also has a recurring minigame segment called "Mappie". It's essentially just a way to interact with characters and the environment, and get the main characters' thoughts. This segment will matter more when you complete the main story, otherwise this is mostly just a unique way to show the interaction and movement the characters' make sometimes.

The common route section is loooonng. If you don't mind the slice of life comedy and character jokes, this might not be an issue for you. However, for people hoping to get to the meat of the story, you might be waiting a while. This visual novel is quite long in general. That said, it'll be very obvious when the common route ends. Also the common route does not have many choices, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which ones to choose to get on a specific character route.

Once the common route ends, you'll have the ability to access 5 separate character routes, and this is where the story gets MUCH more serious and where more of the genre variation happens. Each route has varying amounts of fantasy action, so the setting that's been built up in the common route will matter much more. While there is drama, typical of other KEY works, it style is a bit darker and more depressing than other KEY works. Depending on the route, there will be some very interesting in-game politics related to warring groups. There is also a bit of philosophical and psychological themes, which makes the characters you got to know in common route a lot deeper than you'd expect.

While the 5 character routes all share these same attributes, these 5 routes were actually written by 3 different writers. 1 route was written by Ryuukishi07 of Higurashi, Umineko, and Iwaihime fame (all can be found on Steam). 2 routes were written by Romeo Tanaka who wrote Cross Channel which you can also find on Steam. Some people may not notice, but if you look hard enough you'll see the narrative style differences between the 5 routes. Depending on your perspective, it can either provide a good variety of storytelling, or can have jarring/inconsistent themes throughout the visual novel.

While you can technically read the 5 character routes in any order, my personal recommendation is to go: Kotori > Chihaya > Lucia > Sizuru > Akane. It's mostly important to do Kotori's first to learn the setting the best, and Akane's last since it connects to the true route the most. The other 3 could be done in any order.

After the 5 character routes are complete, there are a few routes that will slowly be unlocked. These routes sum up and combine the themes from the first 5 routes into one true ending. I personally quite liked this 'true' route since it has some very unique and thrilling storytelling, but some have criticized it due to the main 5 heroines not appearing for a long period of time.

As far as the characters go, I'd say they are overall quite likable, possibly being my favorite part of the VN. Kotarou is very proactive protagonist. He can be a bit on the spazzy side, but he's definitely the type of guy that will get things done when he needs to. Kotori is his childhood friend. She is very goofy and funny all around, with some hilarious Engrish jokes, but she has some surprising depth you find in her route. Chihaya is a kind of blunt tsundere-ish character, but is very honest and pure. Akane is the leader of the group's club, and loves to mess with people, but has a problem with any physical activity. Lucia is the token tsundere character. She is a very serious class president and a clean-freak, and gets angry with the protagonist anytime he does anything perverted. Sizuru is the protagonist's very quiet underclassman. While very reserved, she is also very nice, but also extremely literal-minded. There are whole lot of other minor characters with very notable and fun personalities.

As far as presentation goes, Rewrite is decent, but does also slightly show its age compared to more modern VNs. The original Rewrite was released back in 2011 in Japan. The graphics look nice, though have its own specific KEY flair, some people criticize the characters' very big eyes. Menu options get the job done, there have all the necessary audio, text, and textbox options most people need. The music is easily the best part of the presentation. There are great action-oriented songs, calm slice of life songs, emotional songs, comedic songs, etc.

For those who have read the original Rewrite and are interested in Rewrite+'s changes, it includes:

* Inoue getting a sprite
* Some more voiced lines for a handful of previously unvoiced ones (example Kotori's mom)
* No character route locking. You can do any of the main 5 ones from the getgo
* More CGs were added to the Terra route
* The way ending of Terra route was slightly rewritten

Also for this release Sekai Project had to edit 3 sexually suggestive CGs to increase the chances of the title making it onto Steam. Rewrite+ had more suggestive versions of CGs added in Japanese version, but Sekai used the less suggestive CGs that were used in the original Rewrite.

On a personal level, I think Rewrite's storytelling was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of route quality, which prevents it from being one of my all time favorite visual novels. That said, I still think it's a very solid read with some unique storytelling, so I would give it a shot as long as you're interested in something with slice of life, fantasy action, and/or psychological character development.

PS Kotori best girl. Shake it now baby now~

I'm sure many people jumping into this review are previous readers of Hoshizora no Memoria (same developer) and want to know how similar Iroseka is. To briefly get it out of the way I would say the two are mostly not the same. There's definitely no Chinami equivalent in Iroseka so you won't be called Onii-chan 10,000 times before you're done with the story. And the drama style, setting, and themes are a lot different.



Despite most of the characters being high school age, which is kind of to be expected of most visual novels, this is NOT a slice of life high school story at all. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that at most the major characters are shown at school like 20% of the time. Iroseka mixes this minor high school aspect with a supernatural setting with parallel worlds. These parallel worlds specifically are a huge part of Iroseka's story as the main character will have many personal reasons for having to travel to or deal with these different areas. I'm not going to get into detail in order to not get into spoilers but I thought the way they integrated the supernatural stuff was quite well done. It helps give Iroseka a unique identity but while still having a huge focus on relatable psychological character drama. I also liked how they slowly built up the powers that Yuuma, the main character, and his ghost girl partner Shinku, are capable of as the story progresses.



I am NOT exaggerating when I say depressing. Even as early as towards the end of the common route, you're going to see some stories that delve into pretty heavy subject matter, including but not limited to: lost memories, loneliness, depression, revenge, suicide, terminal diseases, extreme self-sacrifice, physical abuse, trafficking, the dark side of traditions, etc. If any of these sound like potential triggers for you, I would recommend not reading this visual novel. That said, I think the way that Iroseka delves into these subject matter is pretty tasteful. You are not going to see stupidly thrown in edgy H scenes for shock value like some eroge fall into. Quite the opposite. In fact, the visual novel goes heavily into the psychology of each character's mindset as the stuff they have gone through and I think the way that it's both presented and how the characters develop from these situations are quite good and what really got me to quite like a good amount of this visual novel.



I've always adored the art style of visual novels by developer “favorite” for their bright colors, very distinct character designs, and really good CGs. But I would say the absolute best thing about the presentation in Iroseka is actually the music. The composer Shinobu composes background music for basically every favorite visual novel including Hoshimemo, Iroseka and the currently untranslated Sakura Moyu. But the real stick outs are the emotional songs. As stated earlier, there are some moments in Iroseka that are quite emotional and the excellent background music helps the emotional scenes become even more enjoyable and immersive.


As stated earlier, this is a visual novel with a pretty big emphasis on the supernatural and parallel world elements, so there's going to be a lot of stuff that needs to be explained. And the writer definitely wants to make sure to describe the many worlds and characters you will meet, including many minor characters’ backstories. To give an example in my favorite girl Kana's route, a good portion of the beginning of her route is giving a whole hour flashback of a side character that is only tangentially related to Kana. This flashback IS incredibly important for the themes of the story, so I definitely did not mind this as well as a lot of the exposition of the supernatural stuff by the dorm daddy, Shigure. They are definitely important to know and I was personally interested in what they had to say. But if you're not a fan of exposition and backstory heavy stories you could maybe think twice before picking up this title. But I thought the author did a good job of not getting too long-winded and a lot of these scenes actually really helped me get into the world and the characters and story even more than I already was.


Iroseka has a commonly used locked true route structure. Meaning you have to read the 4 ‘side’ heroine routes before you unlock the true route. Kana’s is generally considered the best side route and has become one of my personal favorite nakige style routes in isolation. The other side routes are much more hit or miss. Kyou’s has a big plot element that isn’t resolved, Tsukasa’s is way too short despite having an interesting concept, and Mio’s is decent, but just doesn’t hit as hard as I think it should. Basically, I think that the core message and themes of each route are actually pretty good, it's just the amount of care and time given to developing them varies.

As for the true route itself, many people cite it as THE reason to read the visual novel and I can certainly see why. It has very memorable emotional nakige moments and some crazy reveals that happen as early as 15 minutes into the route. However, I have much more mixed feelings about the true route than expected. Similar to the other four routes, I think the core message and themes are actually pretty good, but the issues I have with the true route can be boiled down to 3 things: 1)The plot trying too hard be a supernatural nakige that’s TOO creative 2) A few characters’ actions and stories not making much sense or are just flat out-stupid 3) Some reveals recontextualizing certain aspects of the side routes in a negative way, especially Kana’s where if you noticed I said her route is one my favorites “in insolation”.

Apparently a lot of the flaws I have with the Iroseka get fixed in the currently untranslated sequel, Irotoridoi no Hikari or The Colorful Light. People I’ve talked to cite this sequel as extremely important for filling in a lot of the gaps and details Sekai skipped in order to tell its relatively simpler emotional narrative. So if you are interested and like Iroseka and want to see more, be sure to monetarily support THIS original localization of The Colorful World.



As I stated earlier, this visual novel has comedy that's very reminiscent of the mid to late 2000s anime harem style comedy. Expect a lot of pervert jokes including but not limited to accidentally walking into a girl changing, girls calling the main guy a pervert when he didn't do anything, or making fun of a supposed fetish that protagonist clearly does not have such as being a lolicon, being into femboys, etc. I've never liked this humor and there are many times where I had to take a break because I was getting really mad whenever these scenes popped up, especially when they happen after pretty important emotional scenes.

That said, the absolute worst offender is the protagonist's mentor “Suzu". The writer just tries to write her off as a “tease" character but The fact that she's a lazy immature person for much of the story is quite annoying. Anytime she makes a mistake, she always tries to dump the blame on the main character Yuuma, or worse try to do things that get him in a situation for the other girls to get unfairly angry at him.


Great emotional moments, interesting setting, solid psychological drama, hit or miss route execution and bad comedy.

8/10.