The Japanese market of erotic videogames is a real jungle, not only because it’s utterly ruthless but for the absolutely incredible quantity of b-games available.
A big problem with this situation, in my opinion, is that many good erogames, especially if released by little software houses, “vanish” amidst this chaos, becoming just a footnote in (erogame) history, and often in favor of games with more funds than substance.
Because I’m a paladin of lost causes :lol: , this time I want to give you a review centered around one of those “footnotes”, Hanakyuu, the last b-game released by MEGAMI, a producer with a long history, but apparently disappeared from the market like many other Japanese software houses.
Ironically, Hanakyuu is a cute game, but I would not be surprised at all if someone told me that Hanakyuu itself was the cause of MEGAMI’s final ruin…
Short introduction:
The main character is Toshiaki Uemura, a typical university student living alone in the big city (but with the support of his family at home). Unlike the university nerds tipically infesting the erogame genre, Toshiaki is just a normal guy, although blessed (in my opinion, at least!) with a cute and devoted girlfriend named Sumomo, a younger student in the same university.
Hanakyuu’s story begins in Christmas night, when Toshiaki and Sumomo fulfill physically their love for the first time. Their future seems now firmly set, but something incredible looms…
The next morning, while Toshiaki and Sumomo are on the way to their university (in Japan, Christmas isn’t a holiday), an unknown woman, Mayumi, approaches Toshiaki with an unusual request: “Do you want to care for this flower seed?”. Apparently, Mayumi is searching a trusted volunteer for giving him the responsability of sowing and rearing an undescript seed.
Mayumi is cheerful and outgoing, but somewhat cryptic, and Toshiaki is very suspicious of her motives. However, following Sumomo’s advice, he accepts her offer, sealing at the same time his own fate, because, the next evening, an amazed Toshiaki discovers that the flower has already sprouted! Even more incredibly, the flower grows to gigantic proportions and blooms a few hours later, releasing… a young girl!!!
After coping somehow with this situation (the girl has initially the mentality of a newborn child, but soon she reveals unbelievable learning capabilities), Toshiaki decides immediately to look for Mayumi and, the next day, he manages to find her.
Mayumi, always cheerful and nice, doesn’t seem surprised at all, but her story is fable-like and cryptical (no Spoilers here: read the Japanese synopsis for that. Let’s just say that the “flowergirl” IS NOT an Human being and the fulfillment of her destiny is of pivotal importance for the world at large).
Half-convinced and lacking other alternatives -besides, his “rearing service” will last only two months-, Toshiaki decides to care for the young girl, naming her Botan (“Peony”).
However, this choice instantly turns Toshiaki’s normal life into something very abnormal, and our poor hero must now cope daily with Botan’s upbringing (and her UNUSUAL feeding necessities), with Sumomo’s shock (first) and jealousy (later), with Mayumi’s (interested? And why?) “help”, and last but not least, with the sudden appearance in the area around his home of a mysterious (and hostile) girl. A girl named Sumire (“Violet”)…
Storyline:
Conventional but nice, Hanakyuu’s storyline makes a good job in telling the vicissitudes of a normal guy thrusted into an impossible situation, and I’ve appreciated both the general overtone of the story (light and very amusing) and the much more serious (and a bit sad) conclusion, where you will discover if your chosen girl(s) can fulfill (t)he(i)r destiny because of your selfless efforts, or if your base/selfish desires will triumph instead…
Unfortunately, Hanakyuu’s storyline contains a larger-than-normal quantity of Dark Scenarios for an erogame of its type, and, worse, a good part of this material clashes with the general overtone of the game itself (especially the Harem ending, truly an Evil Thing and totally out of place both in spirit and letter). I strongly suspect that the original storyline was different, and that MEGAMI later opted for an “injection of Darkness” in a desperate attempt at increasing the sales…
I’m only guessing, of course, but it’s a fact that Hanakyuu’s nice story is partly “corrupted”, truly a pity for a game so cute.
Graphics:
Perhaps because I’m an avid manga reader, I’ve appreciated the comics-like feel of Hanakyuu’s graphics, but the general Quality Level is not particularly high. On the other hand, it is not particularly low, either.
Average Quality, in short, even if, fortunately, Hanakyuu includes many super-deformed CG’s, truly amusing and which surely raise the game rating of the Graphics section.
Sounds:
All Right. The musics are appropriate/fairly good, and the voices (only the four girls are dubbed) vary from fairly good (Mayumi and Sumomo) to very good (Botan and Sumire). On a side note, because the Game Menu is dubbed, you can find tiny samples of the various voices even in the Demo game, which is “mute” otherwise (you need to restart the Demo four times for all the voice samples, however).
Bonus:
Hanakyuu is full of Endings, too many to count for my chronic laziness (this walkthrough lists most of them, not all -even the Demo Game has one!-). Only two True/Good Endings exist, however, but they aren’t so difficult to get if you are always nice and considerate during play.
Besides the many Endings, Hanakyuu boasts the usual CG/Music/Scenario Galleries and two disappointing omake.
The first is a series of 12 flimsy, toilet-paper-like cards, which include a partial and unflattering 2004 calendar (7 months only, and no, this isn’t a production error. I suppose you need to buy other Hanakyuu copies if you want the complete “collection” -in your dreams, MEGAMI…-) and 7 Hanakyuu-themed promotional yonkoma (4-cartoons comics) drawed in the same super-deformed style described in my Graphics Section. Cute and amusing, it’s a shame to find these yonkoma enclosed within those pathetic cards.
Much worse is the second “omake”, however: Alpha-ROM (ver. 2.0), one of the more irritating pieces of sh… SOFTWARE for anti-copy protection available on the market. BLEARGH. Console yourselves with the fact that you need the game CD only for game installation…
Final considerations:
Basically, Hanakyuu is an erotic fable tragically corrupted by the hardships of Real Life. The “tainted” storyline, the relatively bland graphics, the various “bonuses” and the Game Patch (see below) are all signs of bad/desperate moves from MEGAMI’s part, in my opinion, and I consider the sudden disappearance (just a few months after Hanakyuu’s release) of this software house definitive proof of my theories.
Don’t get me wrong, however. Hanakyuu remains a fairly good game, particularly suitable for novice b-gamers and, because the written text/style is clear, varied and -truly a nice touch!- enhanced with furigana, even for students of Japanese language. The fact that at least an Internet site still preserves the Demos and the Game Patch is ulterior proof of Hanakyuu’s value (Demos and Patches usually vanish with the producer. Sakigake is a fine example of this “rule”).
The real problem with Hanakyuu, defects included, is that 8800 Yen + taxes is a price TOO high, especially considering the number of superior b-games that the Japanese market offers. But if you can find used copies, or, even better, unsold copies at bargain prices (see my Shopping Suggestions, below), Hanakyuu would become surely a nice addition to your erotic collection.
MEGAMI Home Page (EDIT: MEGAMI is no more, but http://www.archive.org/web/web.php has archived the old site):
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.megami.co.jp/
Getchu - Hanakyuu Page:
http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=43222
Tights World - Hanakyuu Page (Bargain Sale! Only two copies left! EDIT: Sold Out, sorry):
http://www.tights.jp/shop/cgi-bin/tkxcg … D=00000023
Hanakyuu Demo Movies (Simple but very nice. 30.6 MB’s -Low Resolution- or 61.3 MB’s -High Resolution-):
http://drabbit.net/dl/megami/hanaq_demo320.mpg
http://drabbit.net/dl/megami/hanaq_demo640.mpg
Hanakyuu Demo Game (87.2 MB’s):
http://drabbit.net/dl/megami/hanaq_trial2.zip
Hanakyuu Demo Game - Lesser Version (34.2 MB’s - Download this only if you have a slow Internet connection, because is a strongly edited version of the official Demo):
http://drabbit.net/dl/megami/hanaq_trial01_1.zip
Hanakyuu Game Patch (The Game Patch is tiny -285 KB’s- BUT ABSOLUTELY VITAL!!! Without it, the game crashes every time you start a particular -and fundamental!- episode of the story. Truly a disastrous oversight from MEGAMI’s part… ):
http://drabbit.net/dl/megami/hana_p.zip
Baldo’s Shopping Suggestions:
For your Japanese erogame shopping necessities, http://www.himeyashop.com/ is the best choice. But when you need to find old and/or out of production b-games like Hanakyuu, try using http://www.akibado.com/ 's services (or, if you believe in online auctions, go here instead).
Fast and efficient (EDIT: No, wait. Read THIS. You’ve been warned!), Akibado can even search for you the specific erogames that you wish (sometimes with great results/bargain prices), although their services aren’t cheap. Therefore, try searching in the Japanese Net for bargain sales beforehand, comparing prices and availability, and only later go to Akibado (the use of deputy services like Akibado is generally more easy and safe than attempting direct contact with Japanese shops, for various reasons. Even J-List itself has built up its fortune because of this).
For example, when I decided to buy Hanakyuu (and another out of production b-game -maybe my next review, if Real Life permits-), I immediately began an Internet search and, with Luck’s blessing, I managed to locate 3 (2, now -EDIT: Sold Out, sorry-) unsold copies of Hanakyuu on bargain sale at Tights World, a fetish shop located in the Chiyoda district of Tokio. Because this shop accepts only bank payments (common and easy for Japanese customers, costly and unpractical for gaijin like me), I was obviously in need of Akibado’s services.
Therefore, I compiled one of its Search & Estimate forms, including the Internet address of Hanakyuu’s bargain sale, but NOT including the address of the 8800Yen+Taxes sellers of the other game (I was curious to see Akibado’s proposed price). The answer/final price:
Hanakyuu: 3129 Yen
The second erogame - used copy: 5980 Yen (Although knowing of at least a seller with new/unsold copies on sale, I’ve accepted this offer 1)for reducing the Handling Fee and 2)because Japanese videogamers are famous for selling used videogames in perfect conditions -I hope that this isn’t just a rumor. Maybe other BBS members, like Spectator Beholder and Unicorn, can say more about this-).
Handling fee: 2000 Yen
Domestic shipping: 1515 Yen
EMS shipping: 2600 Yen
Exchange Rates: 1 Euro = 133.71 Yen
I hope that these notes can be useful.