Waking up in a future without technology would be a shock. Even more when society lived under a constant threat until 100 days ago. Kunado Chronicles is an exciting story of special powers, a very different culture, and trying to move toward a better future.
Purchasing the full adult version from Johren or applying the free 18+ patch is highly advised for this visual novel. The default Steam version cuts out an entire route and more. Full details can be found in our guide.
The Man from the Past
“The battle for the fate of humanity ended 100 days ago”. Kunado Chronicles opens with a great hook. This certainly doesn’t mean all battles are over yet, but it does set the tone. It’s a time of change. One that the protagonist is going to be a major part of.
The protagonist, later named Shin, has woken up from cryogenic sleep without memory of who he is. Despite this, he does remember about a world over 1,000 years ago. He’d be forgiven for not realizing this is the future though. The land he wakes up in looks more like ancient Japan.
During his time asleep, metal creatures called the Tekki invaded. They have the ability to corrupt metal with their presence and attack any humans who get too close or any areas with too many people. This led to the collapse of society and the loss of all but the most basic technology. They can’t have more than 1,000 people in a village, travel far, or even use nails to build houses.
Shin’s role is to use his knowledge of the past and give them hope for the future.
It’s a very interesting setting that grabbed me right away. What was even more interesting was how things evolved due to this history.
A Utilitarian Culture
Kunado Chronicles places lots of focus on worldbuilding and it pays off well. The most notable was how the culture is presented.
This is an extremely harsh world. People can easily be killed and if too many are born, the Tekki will come and wipe them out. This has led to a culture that avoids individuality to the point that almost everyone wears a mask to signify their replaceability.
Under such conditions, people cannot pursue their own interests or growth. Jobs are assigned based on suitability, food is dispensed as needed, and even family units are a thing of the past due to frequent death. Power is everything in this world and on top of that, many of the residents are quick to consider lethal action if they feel there’s a threat.
Shin tries to change society in ways that will make people happier. I liked how this was handled. Kunado Chronicles takes time to explain why the current societal issues exist and justify them as meeting a need, rather than just having Shin be horrified and introduce his way as better. It’s interesting to see him trying to adjust to how things are in this new world.
Powers and Enemies
An even more obvious difference from the world of 1,000 years ago is that now most of the residents have special powers. Super-strength, control over the elements, healing, and more – most have one such power.
When Shin wakes up, he finds that he’s been given the power of Kotodama, described as ‘the Miraculous Power of Words’ – something that may be familiar to anyone who played Purple Software’s other title, Amatsusumi. Kotodama lets him command not only people, but even the world. Commanding something to untie or adding strength is easily within reach — a skilled user can even create something from nothing.
This too has affected society, with the strongest ruling over them and protecting them from the Tekki, but in turn able to order their subjects to do anything they want. The current ruler Haruhime and the previous one were both born with the power of Kotodama, thought to be the strongest.
We soon find out that even if the past danger is currently out of the way, there is still plenty of danger. Kunado Chronicles ramps up the tension often by introducing threats and mixing in exciting battle scenes. I felt that these were particularly well-written, especially compared to many battles in other visual novels that don’t capture the action well.
Plot and Perversion
The tone of Kunado Chronicles is quite serious when it comes to the setting and plot. It still takes time to mix in some of the standard visual novel humor though, with the occasional moment of over-the-top violence and Shin being a pervert. The latter comes as quite a surprise to other characters, as in this world, women tend to be the sexual aggressors. I was glad to see that this didn’t take center-stage as it does with some visual novels, as a small amount of it added to the experience, but it wouldn’t have fit the tone to overdo it.
On the more serious side, it involves manipulative plots, serious conversations about civilization-building, and ways to solve major issues. Along the way, there are also moments of romance, primarily after the common route. Behind this all lies the mystery of Shin’s revival and his connection to the Tekki, which felt like the main attraction of this visual novel.
Kunado Chronicles took me about 17 hours to complete as a relatively fast reader, so it’s not overly long. It felt like it took the time it needed on all points, without missing anything or dragging it out.
Unusual Romance Routes
I was a little surprised at how Kunado Chronicles handles routes. You can find the full details of how it works in our guide, but in short; you play the common route and automatically end up on one character’s route for several hours. You can then choose to stay on her route or branch off into another for a few more hours. The same choice happens again later.
It felt quite disconcerting at first. I was in mid-romance with one character, then essentially dumped her for someone else. In a way, I’d like to see more of this in other visual novels, as it falls outside the standard of straightforward relationships where a player chooses one heroine and pursues her after the common route. Still, it might not feel the greatest.
While romance routes are the structure used, most still contain important story moments. I felt Kunado Chronicles is more about the plot than the romance, though Yuri’s route was an exception.
Yuri – The Serious Guard
Of the three routes in Kunado Chronicles, Yuri’s is the most romance-focused. She has a rather serious personality and comes across as harsh, but easily flustered. What’s more, she starts off hating you for reasons you don’t find out about until later, but forced to be your guard.
What I enjoyed most about her character is the focus on growth and individuality. She slowly changes from one of the masked people with no sense of individuality to someone able to have her own opinions, and desires. The growth she experiences is the most notable of any of the characters.
One critique I have is that a scene in the epilogue didn’t really feel like it fit into Yuri’s route, but it’s a minor issue.
Akane and Aoi – The Elemental Twins
Akane and Aoi are twins who’ve been powerful since birth. Fittingly, the time spent with them has some of the most exciting battles. Both are quite excitable, energetic, and aggressive. Akane stands out as somewhat dense at times, but caring about people, while Aoi is more sensible and mostly only cares about her sister. They have some rather cute moments with Shin, despite their overwhelming strength. I liked seeing them relax over time and change from hostile to protective.
The twins’ route has some interesting moments. While there isn’t as much character growth as Yuri, Akane has the challenge of deciding what she wants and why and Aoi about her individuality. This is something new to both of them.
Haruhime – The Kotodama Ruler
Haruhime seems extremely kind on the surface, and she genuinely is. Despite that, she’s every bit the ruler and willing to dirty her hands as needed. Having taken over Natsuhime’s role, she has a strong sense of responsibility. I particularly enjoyed some of the unexpected contrasts that she presented. She can be happily professing how she believes in you and cutely chomping away at a riceball one moment, then willing to strike you down if needed the next.
The Haruhime route felt like it was barely about Haruhime at times, but more about her family and filling in gaps in the plot. In exchange, she does take center stage during a lot of the plot.
It nicely ties loose ends up and gives a satisfying conclusion to Kunado Chronicles, so I suggest Haruhime’s route be played last.
Adult Scenes
As mentioned above, if you are playing the Steam version, then Akane and Aoi’s route will not be available without the patch. The adult scenes are also omitted. You can read more about this in our guide. The adult scenes themselves are not plot-relevant, but they do fit in with the worldbuilding. Population control and the need to breed more people who are likely to have strong powers is a topic that comes up, and this links into them and the points made after the act happens.
Sex in Kunado Chronicles is relatively vanilla in terms of actions, though it does have a few unusual additions. Characters being restricted and the use of powers are included, along with some mild fetishes such as using feet in one instance. More generally, women take the lead in this world and can be more sexually aggressive at times. Yuri is a prime example of this being extremely forward in her adult scenes, while surprisingly Akane gets embarrassed easily and is encouraged by Aoi. Haruhime also takes the role of the more proactive partner, though to a lesser extent than Yuri.
After Story scenes are available for the twins, Haruhime, and two characters without routes. Yuri does not have any after story scenes, but instead has more time spent on the H scenes in her own route, which makes sense as it’s more romance focused. These start to appear as soon as you choose Yuri, and continue throughout her route. In other routes, it feels slower and more spread out.
Adult scenes use mosaic censorship, as is standard for Shiravune releases.
Localization
While I can’t comment on translation accuracy, I can make a few notes about the English version.
Speaking generally, it does seem to have taken some liberties for style. For example, it translates まかせなさい (makasenasai) as ‘Leave it to double trouble’ rather than something simple like ‘Leave it to us’. Another part seemed to add in referring to one of the twins as ‘Little Girl’, when the original seemed to not include that (はいそのとりです/hai, sono tori desu as ‘Yes. That is correct, little girl). I can’t really comment with much conviction here as my Japanese level isn’t high, but this would fit in with Shiravune‘s style from other titles. Either way, it reads well in English and there’s nothing that stands out here, but I know this topic is a hot one for many visual novel fans.
What I can write about with more confidence are the English elements. I generally found it well-written in an interesting style and easy to read. There were several typos or the occasional incorrect term used (ex. Kurokami instead of Kotodama), but it was fairly infrequent.
Graphics, Sound, and Systems
I generally felt that the CGs and sprites of Kunado Chronicles looked great. I’d particularly praise the battle CGs and those of some of the dramatic moments. The super-deformed CGs had some very cute designs too.
A few minor things did look odd to me. The view in one of the variations of one of Haruhime’s CGs made her neck look extremely unusual. A couple of the expressions on sprites looked out of place too (the pouting Haruhime especially). A couple of animated backgrounds that I’m told were in the original are now static. Nothing major, but worth pointing out.
The music worked brilliantly to help draw me in. Some in particular tried to replicate traditional Japanese music when setting the scene. Other tracks worked well to add to the tension of battles. It uses a wide range of background music to good effect. Voicing was great too, with voices fitting the characters well.
Settings have all the basics, without much more. With that said, one to note is the textbox style. By default, it’s set to ‘Active’. This has textboxes that change size and position depending on the amount of text and who is speaking. I thought it helped to keep me engaged and it represented the situation better than a standard textbox at the bottom of the screen. But if you prefer, the standard is an option too. An unfortunate omission is the ability to change anything about the user interface at the top. Apparently this was in the original.
Verdict
Kunado Chronicles is certainly worth buying if you enjoy more of a focus on story and setting over romance. It takes an interesting world and builds it up well. Using this to then weave a plot with excitement and intrigue, the story dragged me in.
KUNADO CHRONICLES IS RECOMMENDED
If you are looking for another visual novel featuring the same Kotodama power, you may enjoy Amatsusumi. If you’re looking for something more comedy romance focused, KamiYaba: Destiny On A Dicey Deadline may be a good choice. We have also covered a wide variety of visual novels both original to English and localized from Japanese, which you can check out here.
Many thanks go to Shiravune for a PC review code for this title.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.