Welcome to the first Nook News of July! This week is visual novels only and covers the announcements of Anime Expo 2023 and more. We’re bringing it to you a day early, but please make sure to click the notification button to hear about our regular weekly updates on Monday.
MangaGamer
MangaGamer announced several new titles at Anime Expo.
Hana Awase New Moon by Enterbrain! & WoGa, an otome title.
Spanning across time and realities, Hana Awase is the story of a young woman drawn into the web of the game kasen, played with hanafuda cards. Through playing, she comes to meet five mysterious men, all of whom are elite players and all of whom guard secrets that hold the power to alter her world irreparably.
DEAD DAYS by CLOCKUP, with a scenario from the writer of Maggot Baits.
Four strangers died that day. Now they live again, forced to hunt down specters just to keep their new bodies charged with the energy now fueling their second chance at life. Any joy they may have had at living again is soon stifled by the dispassionate employer that treats them as disposable combatants with no concern for the unnatural libido and arousal caused by their new bodies’ reaction to stressors. Can these ordinary people estranged from violence cope with the murder they must now inflict to survive and endure the flames of lust now burning within? Will they ever truly return to their normal lives, or will their return remain a superficial farce?
Beat Valkyrie Ixseal by Alicesoft, the latest in the series.
Oudou Tsuguhiko is a student who believes he is the reincarnation of the Demon King, and is waiting for the time when he can fully regain his powers. When that time comes, he is attacked by the valkyrie Ixseal, and further betrayed by his Demonic Chancellor Bezel, who steals six of his powers and leaves him only with lust. Ixseal learns that the Wargrim, Bezel’s army, have isolated her from the heavens and her source of power, so she teams up with Tsuguhiko to fight back against them. He is able to power her up so she can fight again, but only by tapping into his power of lust–which she’s going to have to play a part in if they have any hopes of winning!
Welcome to a Sexy, Open World! by MOONSTONE, an isekai adventure.
When the young Sejima Seiya tries to rescue a dog, the passing truck winds up sending him straight into a completely different world! In this brand new world, Seiya finds himself caught up in an ancient prophecy that someone from another world will arrive to give birth to the legendary heroes that will end the wars plaguing the lands. What is Seiya to do as key women from every major nation in this new world start accosting him for his baby batter in an attempt to ensure their nation holds the most influence over the heroes destined to be born?! Worse yet – even if Seiya wanted to avoid becoming a stud, it turns out that if he doesn’t create a child to bind his presence in this new world, then he’ll be pushed out of it and sent back to the moment of that fateful accident! Luckily for the unwitting father of heroes, coming to this world has given him the power to know when a woman is at her peak fertility!
JAST
JAST made several new announcements and updated us on some existing projects at their panel. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we don’t have any images or official descriptions from JAST, so information is limited.
Announcements
Goblins on the March: Breed All Humans (Shingun Goblin Gundan ~Jinrui-sou Naedoko-ka Sakusen~) by CHAOS-R.
Described as a “smaller game” where you play as a goblin with a goblin army, with the goal to breed all humans (and possibly elves).
Yomegami: My Sweet Goddess! by Alcot.
Described as a moe game, by the same developer as My Girlfriend is the President and Onigokko.
Yamizone Liberator (Yamizome Liberator -Yamiochi Yuusha to Ochiru Senki-) by Escu:de.
Described as a game with “dubious consent”, where the girls are corrupted. It has a scheduling feature with RPG battles. Sequel to Yamizone Revenger.
Mojika: Truth Rears Its Ugly Head (Minikui Mojika no Ko) by Nitro+.
The concept is that you play as an ugly, bullied schoolboy, who ends up with the ability to read minds. It turns people’s thoughts into text. It was noted that it’s shorter than most Nitro+ games and “gets kind of rapey”.
Djibril (Makai Tenshi Djibril) by Frontwing.
It’s from a “classic series” with several OVAs. VNDB lists it as a 2004 title.
Sisters: Last Day of Summer (sisters ~Natsu no Saigo no Hi~) by Jellyfish.
A fully animated title, in a manner “similar to School Days”. Described as “immersive and atmospheric”, taking place in the countryside. They noted that there were a lot of technical challenges due to the format and engine, but they are “basically over” and they expect a 2023 release.
They also mentioned doing work on original game projects with people in Japan.
Updates:
Gears of Dragoon: Fragments of a New Era by ninetail – Announced in 2022. Expected to be available “Septemberish”, as long as VenusBlood Gaia is out first. This has a VNDB page, but was described as a JRPG.
Tokyo Hero Project by Alcot. Translated entirely by Peter Payne and 25% edited.
Django, Sumaga, Katahane and Machine Child. JAST apologized for the massive delays on these. Machine Child isn’t released in Japan yet, so it is completely out of their hands.
Peter noted that they’d not seen fandiscs selling as well as they’d like in the past.
Thanks to superange128 for streaming this panel. The information and quotes above are from the panel members.
Other Visual Novel Announcements
While MangaGamer and JAST had the most news, some other announcements did take place this week.
- The console remake of Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon was announced as planned for an official English release in 2024.
- Hira Hira Hihiru’s Steam page was launched.
- Amairo Chocolate 2 has been released.
- Sugar Sweet Temptation was announced as releasing on July 28, 2023, after previously missing release dates.
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- has been announced by Idea Factory for Winter 2023 (Unofficially, they said this may be Jan/Feb 2024 according to a contact who asked them at Anime Expo).
- Sympathy Kiss, an otome visual novel has been announced by Idea Factory for early 2024.
- Archetype Arcadia, a sci-fi visual novel was announced for 24th October, 2023.
- Neko Night is available on other platforms, but coming to Steam
- Speakeasy’s Kickstarter has launched.
- Love Shore has released.
- Chronno Jotter has been released in English.
- Otome Jam and Josei Jam have concluded.
- A new episode is being worked on for Guilty Paradise.
- Red Ops, a Yaoi visual novel is almost funded on KickStarter with a short time left to support it
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.
