Criminal Border 2nd Offence (sold as Liminal Border Part II on Steam) is the second episode in Purple Software’s four-part crime drama visual novel. The English translation comes courtesy of Shiravune. If you’re thinking of picking up Criminal Border, you should start with Criminal Border 1st Offence. This review may contain spoilers for the first episode, so please be cautious. As Criminal Border 2nd Offence is an eroge, there will also be discussion of sexual content and themes that some may find uncomfortable.
A Life Of Crime
Criminal Border 2nd Offence picks up directly after the events of Criminal Border 1st Offence. Our protagonist, Ninomae Itsuki, and his new friends are in a tough spot after being pressed into service by the Umon-kai, a Yakuza group. Saddled with a twenty million yen debt, the group of students has no choice but to expand their business selling the “digital drug” that Itsuki accidentally created in the first episode.
Whilst the “digital drug” served an important role in the first episode, as it dragged Itsuki into the criminal underworld, it takes something of a backseat in 2nd Offence. It’s certainly still important to the narrative, but it’s now more of a single tool in the toolbox. The second episode does a good job of tempering the impact of the “digital drug” by expanding on some issues raised in the first episode with distribution, marketing, and pricing. That might sound a bit dull, but the script does a much better job of exploring those issues than I can in this review. The impact of these issues is the important part; by introducing them to the story it prevents the “digital drug” from becoming a magic bullet. I appreciated that the narrative had this grounded approach to an idea as unusual as a digital aphrodisiac, it helps keep tensions high as the story presses deeper into the criminal underworld.
Criminal Border 2nd Offence brings the Umon-kai into focus. Whilst they were a simmering threat in the first episode, now they’re the most prominent threat to Itsuki and his friends. The story touches on some interesting ideas as it explores the Yakuza, and crime more broadly. Itsuki and company, in order to pay off their debt, expand their business by opening a club that offers escort services, and access to the “digital drug”, a brothel basically. Much like the first episode, we see the cast dragged into increasingly murky moral waters. I enjoyed this narrative direction a lot. You want to see Itsuki and his friends escape from this dangerous world they’ve fallen into, but just to survive they have to descend further and further. It’s really compelling.
What Do You Know, Kotoko?
As part of its episodic release format, each episode of Criminal Border shifts the focus to a different heroine. This was an idea I was somewhat wary of, but Criminal Border 2nd Offence has won me over. This time around Kotoko is the episode’s heroine, and as the daughter of the Umon-kai’s boss, she’s a perfect fit. The first episode ended with Itsuki’s bold declaration that he would “conquer” Kotoko, and bring her on side as an ally against the Umon-kai. The second episode somewhat disabuses him of that notion, introducing new complexity to Kotoko’s character and presenting Itsuki with some serious obstacles.
Kotoko’s position in the story is interesting. She’s a similar age to the rest of the cast, and she has some goofy charm – like her terrible sense of direction and the clash between her image as a Yakuza heiress and her strong sense of justice. Despite these elements though, it’s difficult to trust her. She appears to be in a radically different position to Itsuki and his friends. While they were dragged into Japan’s underworld, Kotoko was born into it. As the daughter of the Umon-kai’s boss, she’s in a much more powerful position than she realizes, and so her friendly engagement with Itsuki comes across as sinister at times. The script does a great job of maintaining a feeling of uncertainty. Throughout 2nd Offence I was anxiously questioning Kotoko and her motives. How much does she know? Will she help the cast escape the Umon-kai? Can she even do anything to help?
I’m not going to spoil the answers to any of these questions of course. I will say though that the story does a great job unraveling the layers of Kotoko’s personality and position. Whilst the circumstances of her involvement with crime are different, there are a lot of echoes of Itsuki and his friend’s experiences. Kotoko isn’t a victim of the Umon-kai in the traditional sense, but she is still a victim. She was born into crime, and even though her father wants her to lead a clean life, she’s trapped. Just by virtue of being his daughter, she is permanently associated with the Yakuza. Her father, trying to push her into polite society, refuses to acknowledge that he doomed her to this life before she was even born.
Kotoko isn’t necessarily aware of all of this though. She’s adopted a vision of the Yakuza as an honorable, just, and necessary evil. She doesn’t see her father and his associates as monsters but as men with an unpleasant duty. This naivety makes interactions between Kotoko and Itsuki quite abrasive at first. Kotoko is living in this delusion, while Itsuki and the people he loves are fighting for their lives against the organization she reveres. Despite this, Itsuki has no choice but to try and build a relationship with her. It’s fertile ground for some exciting character and relationship development, and Criminal Border 2nd Offence makes decent use of it. The character writing is excellent overall, but unfortunately the relationship between Itsuki and Kotoko is a bit lackluster.
It’s difficult to talk about the relationship aspect of Criminal Border 2nd Offence without spoiling a specific event in the story. I’m going to try though. The relationship between Itsuki and Kotoko could have been more interesting, given that it starts in a very different way when compared to Itsuki and Hina’s relationship. There’s an inherent conflict that has to be resolved between Itsuki and Kotoko, and both characters need to grow to reach that resolution. Unfortunately, the story takes an odd, unnecessary turn. An event occurs in the latter half of the story that pushes Kotoko and Itsuki’s relationship forward, but it barely makes sense. Kotoko’s reaction to the event is bizarrely underdone, and the event contradicts a good deal of Itsuki’s character development. It was frustrating that 2nd Offence fumbled an otherwise interesting narrative arc. It doesn’t ruin the story, at least for me, but I do feel it is a mistake the narrative can only make once. I hope future episodes can avoid this pitfall. To me, it came across as the story trying to force its way into a darker tone without the appropriate build-up.
Naivety In Focus
In my review of Criminal Border 1st Offence, I described the first episode as “the naivety arc”. I talked a fair bit about the escalating nature of criminality, and how that is a great foundation for character-driven storytelling. I’m happy to say that Criminal Border 2nd Offence pays off on that premise well. Whilst in the first episode that tense, slow descent into darkness was a prominent undertone, the second episode brings it into focus and has the characters confront it head-on.
The story leaves no room for naivety. Itsuki and his friends are aware of the dangerous situation they’ve found themselves in at the beginning of the second episode, and by the end they’re forced to confront just how much worse things can get. The tension running through the narrative bubbles over, and the scene is set for a real thrill ride in the third episode. I was glad to see that 2nd Offence doesn’t pull back from the stakes of the first episode, but rather continues to escalate. It feels like the writers have a clear vision of where the story is heading, which gives me more confidence in the episodes to come.
It’s Tatsu Time
Returning to my hesitation with moving focus to a new heroine, part of my concern was that we would see characters who played important roles in the first episode disappear, or be used as tools to progress Kotoko’s story. Luckily, this does not happen. Hina is a present and powerful force in the story, and whilst her relationship with Itsuki remains mostly static, we get to see how their existing dynamic interacts with the addition of Kotoko. Hina’s actions and her reactions to events feel natural, largely due to the great work done developing her character in the first episode.
Resident best boy Tatsu remains front and center in the story too. As the leader of DREAD, a gang operating under the Umon-kai, he still has plenty to do in the story. His friendship with Itsuki is now well established, and Criminal Border 2nd Offence builds on it further. Tatsu is still a good foil for Itsuki, but the differences between them are now less conflicting. They work together well, and there’s a lot of understanding and trust built between them. Scenes with Tatsu always felt like a brief respite from the tension of the story, with Tatsu serving as a reliable friend and injecting a fair bit of humor into the script.
Strike Three
Criminal Border 3rd Offence is already out in Japan, and I eagerly await its translation. Given I’m writing this before 2nd Offence even releases, I’m aware I’ll have to wait quite some time, but I’m pretty convinced now that it will be worth it. The third episode will focus on Meryl as the heroine, Kotoko’s kuudere bodyguard. Criminal Border 2nd Offence develops Meryl just enough to draw interest, without giving away any of the mystery surrounding her. We learn bits and pieces about her, and we get a better idea of where her true allegiances lie, but it’s impossible to predict what role she’ll take on in the story based on that.
Coming out of Criminal Border 2nd Offence, the predominant thought in my mind was: “What is going on with Meryl?” There are myriad questions surrounding her, and I can’t wait to find out more. The story ends with a compelling setup for her arc, and when combined with the little hints and insights we get into her character in the second episode it’s a perfect foundation for what’s to come. I think it’s worthy of ample praise that Criminal Border has so far been able to set up each next episode so strongly, without pulling out cheap cliffhangers. The narrative naturally drives the player’s interest to exactly where it needs to be to build hype for the next release. I love it.
Unchanging Scenery
One difficulty of reviewing episodic releases is how to cover elements which do not change. My thoughts on Criminal Border 2nd Offence’s art are largely unchanged from my thoughts on 1st Offence. I will say though that my belief in the atypical art style being a better fit for Criminal Border’s more serious, grounded narrative tone has only been further reinforced. Criminal Border’s visual style is one of my favorites in the medium at this point. I love the grittier, more grounded adaptation of traditional anime visuals and character designs. I already said it in my first review, but it bears repeating: these characters are bursting with personality, whilst still feeling like normal people.
The fantastic visuals carry over into Criminal Border 2nd Offence’s eroge elements too. Just like the first episode, Criminal Border 2nd Offence is an eroge where sex is an important part of the narrative. If you buy the game on Steam as “Liminal Border Part II”, then you’ll need to apply an R18 patch to get the full experience. If you buy the game on a platform like JAST, you won’t need a patch, but across all platforms mosaic censorship is retained. There are five fully-voiced h-scenes in Criminal Border 2nd Offence, each utilizing multiple CGs. The content is a fair bit less vanilla than the first episode. There are h-scenes with elements of non-consent, light sadomasochism, and of course (digital) drug use.
Another unchanging element from the first episode are the audio elements of Criminal Border 2nd Offence. The soundtrack is unchanged and continues to be fairly effectively utilized throughout the story. There is still an issue with laidback scenes not having great-fitting music, but the soundtrack still shines when the tension ratchets up. And to be honest there just aren’t as many laidback scenes in the second episode anyway. Once again Criminal Border 2nd Offence has full Japanese voice acting, with the exception of the protagonist. The voice acting continues to impress across the board. I mentioned Kotoko’s voice actress feeling a little flat in the first episode, and I’m pleased to say that issue is resolved here. Kotoko has a lot more time to shine here, and her VA delivers nicely. We also get to hear more from her father and some of the other members of the Umon-kai, who all have some strong voice work behind them.
Verdict
Criminal Border 2nd Offence paid off on the excitement I had coming in from the first episode and built even more excitement ahead of the third entry. The story does a great job of delving deeper into the core themes of Criminal Border. Kotoko serves as an interesting heroine, with the unfortunate caveat that her relationship with Itsuki stumbles and doesn’t live up to its potential. I can’t wait for Criminal Border 3rd Offence. I feel more confident in my recommendation for the series now that there are two solid releases available. If you don’t mind hopping into an episodic narrative before it’s fully released or you’re reading this when it is, then Criminal Border is a great choice for your next visual novel.
CRIMINAL BORDER 2ND OFFENCE IS RECOMMENDED
Purchase: JAST USA
Looking for another visual novel? You should check out our review of Nie No Hakoniwa – Dollhouse Of Offerings. Alternatively, if you’re looking for another eroge, you can check out Nukitashi 2.
Thank you to Shiravune for providing a Steam review code for Criminal Border 2nd Offence.
A man described by critics as “pretty normal” and “memorable in the abstract”. He has committed his life to the consumption of anime and games, against the advice and wishes of his family and friends. Now writing about his passions, hopefully for your enjoyment.
