RenAi Blogger Released!

[Hinano]

After 4 months my game's complete
http://www.minaidehazukashii.com/hinano ... -released/

Visit for download links and such. Enjoy!

[Ellie]

Nicely done! I'll post more here once I complete some other endings, but on my first playthru I got Hinano's. The other characters were interesting, so when I get back from work I'll give some other endings a whirl. =3 The character art was very sweet, and the cgs were great too. While the characters did fit pretty neatly into their cliched categories, it didn't make the game unenjoyable. Hahaha...Since I live in NYC, I enjoyed this game a lot, because I got all the references, and I've been to the places appearing in the game. It's nice to see a game taking place in a familiar location. (Heh, I squeed a bit when given the option to go to Kinokuniya...xD)
Some things bothered me a bit, namely, how extrodinarily short the classes were...I know they couldn't really be long, but I think maybe a line like, "the class went on, and eventually the teacher said..."
Because the teacher said one line, after the protagonist arrived, and then the protagonist said, "with that the class was over." A small thing, but it did bother me slightly. Again, nice job, and I'll give a fuller review once I finish some of the other endings~

[Anvil Factory]

Nice to see this has been released! I actually frequent your blog and some of the others', so I got some/most of the jokes.

Impz's "Oh my" expression just made me laugh so hard, hahaha.

The "bad" choice for your path made me pause for a second and contemplate whether you cheated on JP in the "good" choice. If this game was SRS BSNS, then that'd just open up a love triangle storyline. Soooo I guess I'll just pretend then that Chase was teleported to a parallel world the instant he made a choice. In a game with School Days-style stabbing, anything's possible! Well, that and yaoi paddles, but that's more fact than fiction.

I wanted to have the chance to read your blog from Chase's point of view.

It's easier than I expected, but it's nice to not have to try 1000 times to get the ending you want. You probably know that well since you play otome games and whatnot. Anyway, I thought you did a really good job, especially since it's your first OELVN. I've known about RenPy for years and still haven't made a game, so I seriously need to get rolling.

Oh yeah, I spotted a mistake. Or at least, I think it's a mistake. It doesn't affect gameplay, though I find it kind of odd.

The option to email Jen shows up even when you haven't run into her on Japan Day. I don't think she gives him her address unless that happens, so...is Chase a stalker?

[DaFool]

My only disappointment was

Impz didn't have a full scenario

Also didn't know

JP was the fiancee, whoa.

All in all, a nice game with lots of bells and whistles, a bit cliched, but that was expected. As mentioned already, the best part is how self-explanatory the choices and routes are.

When I first downloaded the game there were only 20+ comments and NO reviews, now... You're like the "Dan Kim" who will catapult Ren'Py, thank you!

[Hinano]

thanks for playing it guys
there's already 10 reviews up from fellow bloggers and some people have been inspired to make games so I hope my game helped pave the way!

[PyTom]

Hinano, you may want to attach the files to the first post here. This way, you won't be stuck with a slow download.

You're like the "Dan Kim" who will catapult Ren'Py, thank you!

Well, the difference is Hinano actually finished the thing.

[F.I.A]

Congratulations on your first release.

Pros
- Interesting variety of characteristics for the girls.
- Straightforward choices without any murderous path hunting.
- It is indeed interesting to know that the characters featured are from respective bloggers.
- Glasses is a plus in my book.
- It is scary when I find myself understanding some of the jokes extracted from some anime.

Cons
- The game is somewhat short, but I can understand that for a first game.
- The first date with most girls does not seem to matter much for the route you are aiming(And like someone pointed out, without going to the Green Tea Party, you should not have Jen's email to be able to contact her for NYAF.)
- That about Natsuko being underage sure raised an eyebrow. Especially with her mother's 'opposition' in one of the bad routes.
- Unfortunately, this game includes quite a handful of licensed musics. Unless the rules will have a change, this game will not be able to make it into renai.us...

The mysterious
- I am yet to understand what does the "1237NQRWACEBDFW" at the bottom of the screen supposed to mean.
- Had exhausted most choices, but I am wondering if there is any secret ending?

[gekiganwing]

Hey Hinano, hey Hinano. I downloaded Renai Blogger for Mac, and it worked just fine. It made a slightly hot and dull weekend better.

It took me a few minutes to realize that several of the characters were based on real people... or at least their online personae. And then I noticed that several more individuals from the Anime Nano community contributed art, quality assurance, or feedback. A neat collaboration, really... and one full of in-jokes.

Yeah, for a story about a guy who's new to anime fandom, this game had more than a few shout-outs and obscure asides. I guess it presents his adventures in the bewildering world of today's nerds. Here's a partial list of inside references (since I probably missed/forgot a few):

- BL fandom
- traps
- Junjou Romantica
- yaoi paddles
- Inukami
- shoujo
- screening rooms
- acting (dangerously) immature at cons
- spending needlessly at cons
- doujin, H and otherwise
- Comiket
- artist alley
- ridiculous lines/delays
- people who have lousy hygiene
- the relatively large numbers of congoers who are under 18
- 4channers/lolitards/pedobear/"I see what you did there"
- con dances
- masquerades and skits
- Caramelldansen, as well as songs from Haruhi Suzumiya and Sumomomo
- cosplay: working on costumes; Hatsune Miku, Nanoha, and Soul Eater; walking around awkwardly; ones which are much too large
- things which make the Nanoha series distinct
- Pocky
- blog ranting
- karaoke
- becoming an overweight fan
- scenes which half-resembled shoujo (press girl against wall while confessing) and half-resembled bishoujo (male character's face obscured)
- the Nice Boat ending of School Days

There wasn't a whole lot about Narutards and Bleachtards. Mind you, those individuals don't tend to get much of a voice on Anime Nano...

Also, smoked cheese was not a character.

All said, this was an amusing, somewhat flattering portrait of fandom circa 2008. Perhaps in a few years things'll look different. (Just five years ago, licenses were popping up left and right, and there was barely any officially translated BL manga besides Banana Fish. And ten years ago, the VHS era was ending, girls were quite rare at anime cons, and I was watching subbed series for the first time.)

There were a few typos, but I enjoyed the writing. The male POV was rather believable.

One question: how did Natsuko get her name? The character didn't seem to be East Asian at all. Maybe if I knew Nyachan's blog, then I'd understand...

It's a bit of a shame that JP Meyer's cameo was offscreen.

An aside: within the last few months, I had the chance to attend a comics con and then a small anime con. The former had plenty of adults (though many were male, overweight, and probably unattached). It severely lacked the positive things which fangirls bring. The latter had plenty of fangirls (most of whom were probably under 23). It severely lacked the positive things which adults bring.

That's all. Nyoron~~

[Samu-kun]

Mmm... I think that I've finally gotten 100% of this game completed, atleast judging by the CG gallery. I totally missed the School Days reference though. Where was that? ._.

Also, like FIA, I truly have no clue what the strange sequence of numbers and letters at the bottom of the screen is supposed to do. ._.

The order of the girls I got was CJ, Hinano, Jen, and Natsuko.

I overestimated the length of the game and messed up CJ's final choice. I thought there would be more content, so I decided to take things slow by apologizing to her first. After I figured out that the game pretty much over after the anime con, I had a much easier time figuring out which choices to make.

I'm kind of confused over why everyone was making such a big fuss about the protagonist dating Natsuko. Considering that he's in his first year of college, that would make him about 18, making just a two year difference between him and Natsuko. ._.; Sure, it's a tad strange for a college freshmen to be dating a junior, but it's probably not weird enough to get that kind of a freakout from her mom. XD...

For some reason, this game kind of reminded me of Real Life: A Bishoujo Adventure. XD

[Samu-kun]

...also, what is up with this game and glasses!? Everywhere I turn, there are glasses! Glasses, glasses, glasses! @_@

[musical74]

mikey had a hand in it! I mean, mikey's got glasses in almost all his games so..... He probably DIDN'T have a hand in it, just know that mikey likes glasses

[Hinano]

regarding the numbers...those are subway lines in NYC.

As far as the protagonist - he's 20 years old. He's not a freshman in college, he's a transfer from Ohio - so he's already spend 2 years in college. Hope that clears things up

Also if you guys could post comments on the blog thread it's easier for me to respond *attempts to type in the captcha code again * @@;

[PyTom]

Also if you guys could post comments on the blog thread it's easier for me to respond *attempts to type in the captcha code again * @@;

I'll note that if you log in, the captcha goes away.

[NotABot55]

A pleasant surprise, this was! If this game could make one of the animeblogger.net regulars go moe for himself, maybe a future entry will do the same for one of the LSF regs? Now if this thing were fully voiced....

I'm wondering, does it count as "zettai ryouiki" if it shows when sitting but not standing?

[Midnighticequeen]

I think this game was really awesome work for, especially for your first game. You did a wonderful job and I got nothing but respect and high hopes for you.

-I loved the opening, I'm glad it should all the girls, a bit of there personalities, a warning etc.
-I adore the way you customized the menu screen, it looks awesome
-The music and sound effects went along nicely with the story.
-I got the ending for CJ, Jan, and Natsuko, but somehow I didn't meet Hinano yet, so I'll have to go back and try again
-Got most of the endings, I think, but I still got a few things to fill up in the CG gallery
- I liked the girls, they all had something nice and sweet about them

Keep up the good work!