I would like to start this by saying that I am not often one for moe and kawaii stuff but there are those Japanese products that compel you to make exceptions. The first volume in, what may be the beginning of something really awesome, the Neko Para series is one of them. While perusing through the Dealer’s Room recently at Anime USA, I came upon this game at one of my friend’s booths, Collector’s Anime. Considering the fact that it was sold as a Steam card, it seemed the perfect addition to my collection. After figuring out that non-Steam OS games and Linux don’t mix, I bought the Regular Edition and settled in to play, for how long I didn’t know.

Our hero, the aspiring pastry chef Kashou, is starting out on his own as a newly-minted shop owner after leaving his family behind to pursue his love of baking. That is until he discovers two of his family’s catgirls, the cheerful Chocola and the reserved Vanilla, have stowed away for the ride. Stuck with the madness of opening his new establishment while trying come to terms with being a new guardian to two catgirls, a hilarious and heartfelt story follows. All the while, he comes to realize what he lost when he tried to strike out on his own. From the first click to the last on the dialog box, the outstanding writing and storyline give the reader an immersive experience to the point where you can truly feel as if you have become Kashou-sama, seeing it through his own three dimensional sight, not a 2D computer screen. To add to this incredible interactive experience is a combination of sight and sound that conveys the mood as good as your favorite anime. The still graphics and animations are spectacular, very well mimicking live action movement to the point where one’s eyes can be easily tricked (yes, even the H scenes, you perverts). The character’s are drawn with remarkable realism right down to the “chest bounciness” of the catgirls, which can be adjusted to the player’s tastes and actuated at any time. The soundtrack astoundingly conveys the mood in a style reminiscent of the easy listening music of the late 1990s and early 2000s with the usual Japanese audio motifs. However, the most interesting feature to Neko Para is the character voice acting, which is even more immersive to the viewer than the written dialogue. I don’t care how tough of a man you are, when Chocola cries, you are going to get choked up. Shigure’s sugary sweet voice gives an added dimension to her love and devotion for her Nii-sama as well as her own cuteness. Furthermore, the tones and emphasis lend themselves perfectly to the animation and action in each and every scene.

Though a very finely polished visual novel, there are a few points that must be noted. This is a kawaii/moe game, which means the female characters are portrayed in a youthfully cute manner. This can wonder into near lollicon territory. If you are not comfortable with such things, beware. Furthermore, those who can not understand the Japanese tongue-in-cheek incest humor, you should bear this warning in mind. While I could expound more on these ideas, I think these things are better left to otaku-produced YouTube videos than a review article.

For those who do like moe and kawaii visual novels and can appreciate a really interesting story of a young man’s struggles with love, dreams, and family, I suggest you take a bite out of the story of La Soleil in Neko Para. You’ll find yourself staring at your screen as intently as a cat to a feather lure and leaving you so elated you simply just want to purr. Meow!

I have seen many visual novels from Japan over the years. Many are your typical fan service and late night novelty type whose story line is written as such that you end up laughing at that alone. Then, on an unrelated search for another visual novel rendered in a usable format for my computer, I found Sakura Swim Club, the latest chapter in the Sakura series from Winged Cloud. I thought I was going to get a Friday night jolly for cheap. It’s now been a week and a half and I can’t seem to not crank it up over and over again.

To begin with, the story of Kaede, our playable and unseen hero, from apathetic student to accomplished athlete through the help of the moody but secretly sweet Mieko and the cool yet troubled Hiromi is something that grabs you by the belt buckle and by the heart strings. The writing sucks you in through the screen into the story environment so well that you can almost smell the chlorine and hear the lapping of the water against the tile. The characters are well defined with a great deal of development from beginning to end. To add to this ambiance is a soundtrack that is simply astounding and subliminally evokes a strong mood in one’s mind with every scene. The driving metal track during the argument scene between Hiromi and Mieko conveys the fury of the two women struggling for Kaede’s affections while the cacophony of the awkward track leaves the viewer at a loss not too dissimilar to our hero. More than that, the general background tracks give the experience a very aquatic feel from calm to exhilarated. Though the artwork is much what would be expected of such a semi-animated game, it’s very well done and the scene stills convey the action in such a way that it seems to be better than if it had been fully animated.

The only potential downside is, despite an impressive set of sound effects, there is no character voice content. It should be noted that with the combined stimulation of all the other elements, your imagination seems to be able to synthesize the voices quite well internally. However, it would have been a better visual novel to have had some voice acting for the characters. There is, of course, the inevitable dichotomy between the Steam-sanitized version and the full-on R18 version of the game. While you can play without the H scenes, why bother if you can’t fully experience the passion of this aquatic trio and the romantic bond they build? I’d rather feel the love.

If you’re looking for a non-yaoi swimming club story, then you should really give this visual novel a few laps. It has everything you want from the casual viewer to the most discerning, school swimsuit-obsessed weeboo. If you like high school drama and romantic comedy with a happy ending, in more ways than one, then you should dive into Sakura Swim Club.

UPDATE: A new voice pack was released earlier this year. The voices for our two heroes, Mieko and Hiromi, are fantastic. The dialogue is well structured with the proper pauses and inflections. That said Mieko’s voice is a bit sharp, which can be an issue if you’re playing while listening through headphones. However, they are the only voices in this game. It would have been interesting to know what Kaede’s father sounded like or the teacher of Kaede’s class. Considering the popularity of the game, I suspect we might hear their voices soon enough.

I found myself once more in a delicate situation only a veteran fanboy could find himself in, working a convention while keeping his eyes glued to a smartphone screen waiting on a product to go online. I was working my usual media gig at MAGFest while anxiously watching the Denpasoft website. Almost four months earlier, I had done the first volume of Neko Para and was absolutely astounded. Then I found out that a sequel was in the works and glued myself to the Neko Works Twitter for the next several weeks. After a long wait, it was finally here. Then came the call that almost spoiled it. A media gig for MAGFest on the day of the release. Thankfully, I was able to finish work and get signal the minute it went up. I bought it posthaste, hoping for another great weekend of visual novel nirvana. I got home and loaded it up…and I’m still in awe all these days later.

We once again find our hero, Kashou Minaduki, running his bakery, La Soleil, with his beloved catpanions, Chocola and Vanilla, along with the rest of the Minaduki family catgirls and his adorable yet terrifyingly obsessed little sister, Shigure. With the growing popularity of the bakery, Kashou has now come to rely upon the astounding managerial acumen of the oldest catgirl, Azuki, and the great physical strength of the younger catgirl, Coconut, to keep his business booming. Unfortunately, these two sister’s are constantly at each other’s throats over the most trivial of matters, much to everyone else’s chagrin. When Chocola and Vanilla have to leave town to retake their Bell tests, Kashou is left holding the cat-filled bag of trouble between these two. After a number of heartwarming and dramatic scenes, leading up to a climatic fight and runaway, these two sister’s finally realize that their familial bond is deeper than they realize. Thereafter, Kashou sees these two in an entirely different light and becomes closer to them. Then, with the help of his devoted, if overzealous, twin catpanions, he engages in a full-fledged romantic relationship with the two of them. The story ends with Kashou more bonded to his catgirls than ever before and a future much more assured than when we last left him.

I will start by saying that Neko Works and Sekai Project have once again given us a winner. To start with, the graphics are much improved from the first volume and the rendering of the animations is more refined and smoother with no discernible distortion. They really took the time to make sure that every movement and transition was as fluid as water. Of special note, the new “talking head” feature during certain dialogue sessions is both a novel and excellent addition the game and gives it a sort of old school video game motif that really appeals. The artwork is even better than the previous installments with better color and texture, giving us an even more lifelike appearance. The very good 3D-like experience of Volume 1 has been made vastly more realistic with the addition of more facial expressions and body language, making you feel as if you are Kashou-san. Combined with the “pet” function (first introduced in Volume 0), I really feel like I’m holding Coconut’s hands to reassure her of her abilities and I really am tussling Azuki’s hair in praise of her good work. Adding to the sensory experience is the improved audio and sound effects. Neko Works has retained much of the original soundtrack but the new tracks, especially the new theme song,, Dokidoki Kokoro Flavor, add even deeper mood and spirit to the experience. Combined with a well written script, containing a ton of cat-based puns and, what I best describe as, catcabulary as well as the stellar voice cast from the earlier games, you have a truly immersive experience that does one better on the previous volumes of this outstanding series.

Moving on the the story itself, I am glad to say that this was so worth the wait. I must confess this was especially true of the elements involving Coconut. She was and remains my favorite character of the series thus far, so to have her as one of the central characters was very much one of my biggest motivations for owning the game. What I got was more than I bargained for though, from her Supergirl-esque rescue of Milk to her self-esteem issues to her struggles to express her feelings for Kashou (thankfully solved by the ever cheerful and effervescent Chocola), I truly embarked on an emotional roller coaster. In particular, I really felt the profound drama of the fight between Coconut and Azuki in the shop that one night. I must confess that when Coconut cried while talking to Kashou and Azuki,my heartstrings were being painfully pulled. I don’t care how tough a guy you think you are, you are going to get in touch with your sensitive side there. Also, seeing Azuki’s two-sided personality, the tough, sarcastically-armored girl with miles of heart underneath, was something that I found strangely relatable and touching. However, the romantic interludes and moods in both acts made me feel the deep love of the characters in my own mind and that was the one attribute that was constantly thought about as I played the game. Overall, the storyline and character development was spectacular and quite fascinating.

There are two points though that must be addressed. First, the story ends rather abruptly after Kashou and Azuki spend the evening together, which was a bit of a letdown for me. I wanted there to be another scene where the two new catpanions bond more with Kashou or a dramatic scene to give an extra thrill, like the final chapters of the first volume. Sadly, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, albeit a positive one with Cinnamon and Maple hinting at what is to come. That said, I think it was over too soon. Finally, there is a matter involving one of the H scenes, a warning to the viewers. The scene involving Kashou, Vanilla, and Azuki is quite an intense one and may be disturbing to some players. For those of us who have been around the block a bit, we understand what is going on but it may be shocking to the uninitiated. Player discretion is advised but, I reckon, rarely heeded. I’m not sure whether it’s something to consider in future installments but it certainly raised a flag in my mind, though not exactly a red one.

These factors not withstanding, I found the game to be a great experience and I enjoyed every moment playing it. It was one hell of a wait but I have been left feeling it was more than worth it. Now, I certainly hope that Neko Works is hard at work on Volume 3 and I expect to see it later this year. If it doesn’t happen, I for one will be profoundly hissed. This being said, Neko Para Volume 2 is the cat’s ass and will leaving you perpetually purring. Meow!!!

CHECK OUT THE REVIEW OF VOLUME 1: https://www.blackflagspecialk.com/2016/03/nekonomics-brought-to-life-a-review-of-neko-para-volume-1-sekai-projectneko-works/