Sunday, January 29, 2017

Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium- - Review

月影の鎖 ―狂爛モラトリアム―
Game: [Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium-]
Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: PS Vita.
Release date: 2016-12-21

 The FD of Getsuei no Kusari Sakuran Paranoia, since the original game was
anything but the typical otome game don't expect a lot of fluff from this.
Its still keeps the serious theme the original had so if you're in the mood
for something realistc/mature these games are an excellent choice but
I do not recommend playing this without the original since its a fandisk.
Nor can I recommend playing both right after the other even if this is short it still can give you
much despair, it didn't bother me but it may others to the point they might drop it.

I didn't particularly care for the OP movie this time, I only like watched it once or twice and then skipped it.
But yeah if you still don't get it, this FD mainly exists for Mamoru and the newly added
scenario for the Toudou brothers you may need new glasses. 😥

This vita port of Kyouran Moratorium really is what you'd call a definitive version
as it adds a new scenario with two guys Toudou Itsuki and Toudou Miyabi, they're brothers
and this made it a bit more worthwhile than the PSP version because of that.
Especially for the price and Takuyo's games tend to be slighly more expensive...
Sadly these two are completely new and don't appear anywhere outside of their own scenario
yeah you read that right they do not even appear in the other newly added IF scenario.
Anyway... the original features of the FD make it seem pretty short, the another stories are 
slightly longer than the good afters which are around 30 minutes at most. 
Mamoru's route was maybe 5-6 hours so together thats give or take 10 hours.
But if you add in Hanayagi IF story and the Toudou brothers routes....
that would make the length at around 25-30 hours, btw tour of koukashi is just a side dish.
If you have a lot of free time in the weekend you may just finish it very fast but if you
spread it out due to the despair getting to you then yeah it may take you a week or more.
Personally I finished this within 2-4 days... 
Also if you actually got this game I really recommend you to end this game with
the tour of koukashi as its the most fun and entertaining thing this fandisc has to offer.
 The part where Hibiki went on about the Dango got to me... 😂😂😂


Despite the added content it was still a short FD but after Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri
any other fandisk in general is short.😂
The seiyuu did a good job especially Naruse Makoto, thats one you do not hear often
and also Kanna Nobutoshi and Satou Takuya... they also had such a good performance!

TL;DR
I recommend this if you enjoyed the original, don't bother if you didn't since its more of the same.
It gets an 8/10 from me, same score as I gave the original, all of the good afters
 were great and the another stories weren't bad except maybe Satoya's.
The rest of the content was worth it too except Hanayagi IF story... which I personally didn't care for but that my own opinion.

My play order of the content was decided by personal preference which is:
Mamoru > Nozomu > Hibiki >Satoya > Wataru  > Hanayagi IF > Itsuki > Miyabi > Tour of Koukashi.

I'll try writing a little more in general compared to the original games post but it won't be much.
I will drop out a lot though don't expect much,, I do not have the time and energy for that
and I seriously doubt many people even care about this series and if you do please do support
Takuyo by buying the games since they're such a small company to begin with. 
There's also this Hanayagi IF thing, everyone gets new sprites its a sort of omake IF story
so you get another route with either of the 5 original guys, for now let's just get on with
Mamoru's new route and the another and good after stories of the main boys.



Ooigawa Mamoru.
CV: Miura Hiroaki.
Lucky bastard...
 Takes place after the normal end in the first game, they go to the festival
and when Mamoru is out to buy some Taiyaki, Megumi gets bumps into Wataru
who takes her to a spot where they can easily reunite, the two have their moment in a quiet place.
 The romance was passable? Mamoru would often not be there since he's busy being a reporter.
Its not like he was never there, the two got plenty of moments...
Like in town Megumi would run into Satoya saying he's studying hard and that he's grateful that she's
so kind or whatever she runs into one of the boys every day, Nozomu tells her to rely on them more.
Other than that Megumi would also go over her feelings since she is romancing her own brother
and she still wants to protect the restaurant since its a precious place for her but what if people found out? 
Mamoru hugged Megumi at the port to comfort her because he thought she was struggeling
over what happened at the Beniichi, later Nozomu and Satoya realize she loves her brother
and tell Megumi there is nothing wrong with that and everyone helps her out since
the townsfolk found out and they went ew incest, cue harassment. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
In the end everything is fine, Mamoru takes Megumi with him on his travels.
Mamoru is pretty much the best onii-sama one can wish for, sadly because of him
being such a great supportive character I can't really see him romantically with Megumi.
To me this route kinda lost half of its meaning... but I still prefer the Aijou end of the Izon one.
Sorry but I don't really remember much about his another or good after so I'll just leave it at this.
They look so cute together... okay maybe I can change my mind.
 ~Hanayagi IF~ 
The whole Hanayagi IF scenario happens because Megumi and Mamoru have misunderstanding
over becoming a real family, so she ends up distancing herself by working  at the 
Koukarou's restaurant instead of Tsuki no Hotori. cue Megumi's own emotional turmoil....
to the point in some characters route here she wants to commit suicide. >_>
They still exchange letters though but Mamoru be like why am I at fault?
 In the end he realizes what he's doing wrong and goes over to Koukarou to bring her back. 
Ok thnx this was super necessary, but it did give us some more insight on Mamoru's feelings.
 -
Mamoru's bonus CG.
~
Haruna Nozomu.
CV: Naruse Makoto.
Cero C... uhuh are you sure about that.
Nozomu is a difficult character, which is why I did him next.
 The another story focused one of his Izon ends and what a hot mess this guy is beneath his calm composure.
 He wants to take responsibility for taking Megumi's smile away... anything is good as long as she
wants him even if it means deep down she's unhappy on the other side Megumi wants him
 to look at her she'll go as far as hurt him to do it, he doesn't want to tell her the truth since he thinks
she'll break down, but does it when she pressures him in short he's a terrible human being who
sees joy in someone who's just as pitiful, Nozomu wanted to make Megumi depend on him
 from the moment they met and trap her in a cage without her ever knowing
the truth so she'd only need him and no one else.
Megumi thinks he's pathetic but can't help but be atttracted to him... (lmao same)
and well they did the do, I mean come on... its implied at this point. 
In the good after story they come back to the island after a long time as a break from work...
Mamoru isn't there since he's traveling, the house is pretty dusty and they reflect on how much
they've grown and how Nozomu finally has a place he can call home and he's glad she fell for him
and chose to leave the island with him, Nozomu also apologizes for the bad stuff back then, which
leads Megumi to snuggle up and call him cute which makes him say that description doesn't fit guys, lol.
Uh so yeah this guy is pathetic but he did want her to be happy at some point, I still prefer his
Aijou end because they genuinely came to love each other but I can't say no to the Izon another story... huehuehue. 😏
~Hanayagi IF~
In the IF story, Nozomu just wants Megumi's heart all to himself... but this is a lie.
He wanted all of it so her heart was just step one anyway by now you should know the truth 
about this guy and what a mess he is and some of actions are contradictory but he really loves her.
When he finds out what she's running from he still helps her... so yeah this guy ain't so bad.
At the good end he's sorta jealous that part of her heart belongs to her brother 
but still wants to have a family with Megumi. 😚
In the other end Megumi tries to take her own life but Nozomu ends up cutting her hair...
he says he won't leave her alone too... ugh this end was to depressing. 😭-
Nozomu's bonus CG.
~
 Kagurazaka Hibiki.
CV: Shingaki Tarusuke.
 The another story continues from the Izon end where Megumi gets rejected.
Mamoru and Megumi run into Hibiki in the bamboo forest, Mamoru thought he was a ghost, lol.
Everything rolls from there and the next day Mamoru asks a favor to Hibiki to help Megumi out
at the restaurant, he also tries to sing a lullaby to get her to relax, at first he can't get it right. 😂
 Everything is daijoubu and works out and in the end he kisses her, later they continue to meet in the forest.
The good after takes place during those 3 years because what else could they write after that?
 One night Megumi doesn't feel well since she got pregnant... she had trouble telling Hibiki.
Will it be a boy or a girl? they have to think of a name... which ended up being Sanehide.
Hibiki will do more work since he doesn't want Megumi to exhaust herself too, d'awww.
The another story was quite light considering its from an Izon end, I appreciate it.
His good after, was nice since it expand on some events during those 3 years
 but yeah we all know how its going to end... its nice we got to see the happiest times.
Overall his episodes were enjoyable, I always liked the mature nature of Hibiki's best end.
In the IF story he helps Megumi deal with her problems and makes her go back to tsuki no hotori.
Hibiki's bonus CG.
~
Mochizuki Satoya.
CV: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu
His another story has them meet up in a different manner and may seem to have a good start
when she is first arrives at Koukarou but it only gets worse and worse as it goes on.
Satoya works so hard, he has trouble eating all the food Megumi made for him
but still eats it only to collapse leaning against a wall in the room later. T~T
megumi keeps visiting Koukarou just for him and gets a plant from Ayame
which makes Satoya recall bad memories the two talk about their past together.
Megumi decides to keep working hard at her store and he supports her decision etc.
Sadly shit happens and Megumi moves to Koukarou permanently since she can't see him otherwise
Satoya shows his true self to Megumi and will become her light, all this was too depressing to me.
The good after was a lot better of course, its been years since he finally returned to her.
Both of them have changed for the better, like Nozomu's after they both grew up.
Koukarou has changed for the better, Sae left the island for the main land and passes a gift via Satoya to Megumi.
 Satoya gets flustered that all he got megumi is okashi/sweets so he wants to buy a real gift too. 😊
 I don't think his another story was necessary... I think it was the worst so far.
The good after on the other hand while short wrapped up some stuff nicely, Satoya's a cute.
 I like him alot so he didn't deserve getting screwed over in the another story, also
in his IF route was depressing in more ways than one, pls save this boy. T_T
He still helps Megumi in the end so it all good...?  I suppose... I don't even feel like mentioning it.
Satoya's bonus CG.
~
Inoguchi Wataru.
CV: Asanuma Shintarou.
 His another route takes place before the original game started.
At that point they're just acquaintances and they keep running into each other and help each other.
Megumi learns about how Wataru is a good guy in general for helping the elderly carry luggage
 and about  how he couldn't protect his own mother, in turn Wataru learns Megumi owns a store.
One night when she almost closed the store Wataru helps her when she still had something to do outside.
Wataru sees how Megumi looks like she's struggeling when she looks at the sea and tells her to talk
about her problems to someone anyone even him, Wataru keeps visiting her store & she opens up.
Wataru can't forget how sad, fragile and lonely Megumi looked at the port that day it reminded him
 of his mother and just can't forget about Megumi, he came to love her but couldn't confess all this time.One night Mamoru comes in tired and he wonders why there's such an ikemen in the store, Wataru
introduces himself and Mamoru slips out to the back while saying Wataru should enjoy himself. 😂
When Wataru leaves, Mamoru comes back and notices he left something behind, Megumi chases after
Wataru to deliver it, he invites her to walk with him for a bit, Megumi feels at ease with him but wonders if she's a burden to him and thanks him for saving her in the end Wataru confesses to her.
Wataru asks Megumi to wait for him till he can be there for her. T~T.
His good after was ok, ah married couple life, Megumi supports Wataru
with his new job all while still running her store even tho she lives with him now.
I'm not sure about his another but it makes me more biased towards him but not sure were it fits in.
The good after was really sweet and I enjoyed both stories also what is up with the special decoriations on his bonus CG? they already made me more biased towards him and now there is this too.
~IF~
 In the IF story, he realizes that when Megumi laughs she's crying inside...
and as usual tries to help her in his own way, Wataru doesn't want to do anything that hurts her. 
Sadly he ents up leaving in the good end and well... I don't even wanna mention the bad one.
-

Wataru's bonus CG.
 ~

Toudou brothers common route
So one night when Megumi is alone in the bamboo forest near a river looking at lanterns floating
 in it and sending one off herself for her mother, however Megumi over hears two men
and they find out she heard them... they won't just let her go, they ask who the hell she is.
Though they both wonder why she didn't run away like a normal person would do
don't worry they are harmless... under normal circumstances they wouldn't hurt a fly.
This is how Megumi gets entangled into what is their business to help the island.
I'll try and digest a little but I won't bother to be detailed, there's a lot of stuff
like internal monologue and more dropped.

Toudou Itsuki.
CV: Kanna Nobutoshi.
 He's... Miyabi's younger bro, he does anything he says without questioning it.
Itsuki doesn't really talk when not necessary, so one night she visits Koukarou...
Megumi over hears Itsuki coughing profusely... so when Itsuki sees her, he forces her to stay quiet
and asks what the hell she's doing here, meanwhile Satoya asks himself where she has gone off to.😅
He lets her leave but nothing else happened, she continues to interact with him.
When he offers her tea in another meeting he starts coughing again, Itsuki tells Megumi
 its none of her business when she sees a bottle she wonders if it medicine but it is poison instead.
He tests her into picking it up... temps her and he mentions how her bro might get mad etc.
After this the two start to converse more... uh leasurely,  at one point he fixes her obi.
Miyabi tells Megumi, Itsuki has always been weak since childhood also
its not like he's not looking out for him but he just gives him the space he thinks he needs.
In truth Itsuki is afraid of dragging Miyabi down like in the past and being a bother
so thats why he stays quiet about his condition even if it gets worse, his brother is everything
to him and he doesn't want to lose him so Itsuki tries his hardest to live up to his expectations.
When Megumi is at the port she sees him look off into the distance...and since he's a gentleman he
walks her home, oh and he's a bad cook... (lol) well its not like he needs to with Megumi around.
Some cranky onsengai folks followed them and when Itsuki goes after them, sadly
another mob attacked Megumi to the point she had a minor concussion?
Oh FFS these people will NEVER stop will they?
Itsuki promises to not let her alone since she suffered quite a heavy blow from them so he asks if she
still knows her name, his and her home before asking if she can stand and takes her to his own home.
Miyabi comes in before long and well hears the story of her being targeted... they explain it to Mamoru.
Miyabi makes Itsuki, Megumi's personal attendant/bodyguard (lol whatever) because of her injuries.
 The two grow a lot closer due to these circumstances... and Itsuki can be honest with her.
Oh well Itsuki envies Megumi for being so honest about her relationship with Mamoru.
Oh and Miyabi starts to notice Itsuki's behavior isn't like himself and notices he's in love.
The townspeople get itchy like in the original game and things escalate so Itsuki goes outside against
Satoya and the others warning, Itsuki tells the Toudou family will  uhm stop meddling on the island
and also tells them to leave Megumi alone since she's done nothing wrong.
When Megumi meets Itsuki alone at night he mentions how beautiful the moon looks now.
He tells her how weak of a human he is, trying hard to not slow his brother down
but it all changed when he met Megumi and Itsuki confesses in his own way.
In the dependency end, Megumi leaves with Itsuki... the two go far away
and they have a pretend wedding along the way, he uses his cloak as the veil.
Since its a dependency end its not a happy end in any way...
Ugh the townspeople are still freaking terrible but atleast Itsuki is actually a nice guy?
They are both sorta similair so it was nice they found each other, the romance was believable.  
I didn't mention it in the post but I loved the thing regarding the origami's...
it portrayed  the brothers relationship pretty well.
Nobutoshi-san did an excellent job voicing him, I don't hear him much but I can tell that much.
~
Toudou Miyabi.
CV: Satou Takuya.
 Za big boss president of the Toudou family.
He keeps a bird called... Aincierukenfa uh yeah let's just call it Ain, since not even Megumi could spell it.
Anyway Miyabi compliments her cooking when they visit tsuki no hotori so he keeps coming back.
Miyabi isn't an easy guy to get along with, he has his goals/dreams/ideals of what he wants.
He goes with her to the festival even tho he only really likes the food she makes...
Some woman points out they are like a couple and well Miyabi takes Megumi's hand.
Later on Miyabi bluntly says Megumi is a pain in the butt, lol.
Miyabi is annoyed at how Megumi can't think for herself, he snaps and goes on a rant
of why she should and that how the times are changing and that she should think carefully
about the future of the restaurant even if it means straying from family teachings or whatever.
Nozomu later tells her its better to distance herself from the Toudou brothers...
Since nothing good will come of it, not sure if he did it out of concern considering his character.
Megumi does not heed his warning and well Miyabi ends up helping her out with stuff.
Megumi ends up visiting him later by bringing lunch and she over hears him sleep talking
how he'll protect his bro... (after playing Itsuki I know for real Miyabi cares about him so much)
This cranky dude ain't so bad..
 Indeed he's not so bad, he tells Megumi more than once to stop hesitating
and do whats right for her own or Hotaru's sake and stop running from the issues at hand.
 Sadly... things took a turn for the worst aka the usual despair and so Miyabi finds the
 pain in the ass woman known as Megumi alone on a rainy day when she had given up...
Megumi tells him what happened while their clothes dry up and by then its already night.
I'm sorry I called you a cranky dude.
Later Nozomu shows up unable to understanding that she has chosen the brothers side...
Ain, Miyabi's bird shows up and and startles him and Megumi starts to explain, lol.
Miyabi explains how he believes he's really doing the right thing and apologizes
for getting the wrong impression of Megumi, later when she is about to rush to Hibiki
Satoya grabs her and tells her to stay out of sight, cuz it would be bad if other people spotted her.
This all is pretty much game me a dejavu from the main game, Miyabi just laughs and throws money
around cuz he has enough of the townsfok and their shit it made him senile.(lol not really)
I just love summing it up like that and at this point I do not care, gomen.
Lmao same.
Later Miyabi relaxes at Koukarou and drinks all the sake, he wants  Megumi to join
but she's underage so she only gets to have tea. (lmao who even cares at this point)
Hibiki takes care of the rest since he's smart and knows whats best. (lol)
Idk they just ichaicha and they get hitched in the end.
(Why is he the only one with an actual marriage end, lol it actually
has something to do with his background but i'm too lazy to go into it)
Miyabi can't even believe how much Megumi has changed when
he first met her he could never have imagined the future they have now.
Lmao this is too good to be true going by getsuei no kusari standards.
In the dependency end shit goes wrong as I expected, Miyabi crashes at Megumi's place
and he confesses his feelings b4 leaving but yeah this is dependency so well... its not ending well
they can't be together and the future's as grim as ever.
The look on Megumi's face is the same as me while sitting through most of both games.
Aye... this dude is okay, like I said he's not easy to be around and he may not show it but he cares.
Also those damn townsfolk were extra terrible in this route. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
 I didn't really like the overall plot but it ok... i was laughing as hard as Miyabi at the good end.
I'm glad its over... I'll always prefer the good ends in this series, even if Miyabi's is2gud2betrue.
~





Another story enjoyment:
Wataru > Hibiki > Nozomu > Mamoru  > Satoya.
Yeah ok we really needed Satoya to get screwed over once more. ( ´_ゝ`)
Good after enjoyment:
Wataru > Satoya > Nozomu > Mamoru > Hibiki.
Hibiki's wasn't bad however its a situation that wasn't necessary to be told but still nice to read.

IF story enjoyment:
Nozomu > Mamoru > Hibiki > Wataru / Satoya.
I only sat through Nozomu's and Mamoru's I sped through the rest 
because the scenario was getting on my nerves.
Favorite character:
Wataru > Satoya > Itsuki > Hibiki > Mamoru > Nozomu > Miyabi.
I liked everyone in some way so the order doesn't really matter.


Final Thoughts
 Other than not being able to see Mamoru as a love interest which was the main point of attraction
in the first place its imo a good port with zero bugs and additions to make the purchase more
worthwhile compared to what I read about how barebones the PSP version was.
Like I said back then I don't think a FD/sequel was truly necessary, esp if it just means
more despair instead of relaxing scenes what I have come to expect of most fandisks
but there's no use in complaining about that since this isn't your typical otome game to begin with.
 I guess playing this FD right after such a pure game as Harukanaru 6 GR was a good decision...
yeaaah i'm looking at you Nozomu(~_~;), some of the another route like Satoya's was still
depressing to sit through but it wasn't that long nor did it drag itself out so it all good in the end.
As for the Hanayagi IF story I mostly just sat through it on auto mode... I didn't really care. 😞
The two new routes are pretty good though it doesn't stray from the original story it still follows it
for the most part atleast, Ayame? Noa? Fukami? sadly they make no direct appearance here.
They never voiced the townspeople here either... so more dull narration. -_-
As for the new boys I preferred Itsuki's route over Miyabi's I'm sorry but I just do...
got nothing against marriage ends but for this type of game Itsuki's felt better.

8/10
If you liked the original but haven't bought this yet now is a good time to do so
but if you didn't like it then nope I cannot recommend this game its just more of the same.
Getsuei no Kusari truly needs an acquired taste to be appreciated, its not like the typical
 otome game and if you like black and bitter coffee chances are you'll enjoy this series more.
The FD adds a bit of sugar but its not much... so yeah if you can stand that then by all means.😗
I honestly get the feeling Takuyo just had to add more content because just doing a straight port with
less content wouldn't have been profitable for such a small company often outshined by others in the same business.
I'm glad to have supported Takuyo by buying this game, I enjoyed most of it so I hope they stick
around to make a new game because I like their works! also I hope Shinigami to Shoujo 
gets a vita port but after all this time I doubt it and wouldn't be mad if it didn't happen.

1 comment:

  1. Getsuei no Kusari isn't really my cup of tea but glad to hear
    the port is more worth it in terms of content than its psp counter part.

    ReplyDelete