Virtue's Last Reward Game Review~

Yahalloooo~ ^O^

So for anyone who is a fan of the Zero Escape game series (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward), you'll probably be aware of the fact that Zero Time Dilemma, the third and final instalment in the series, is getting released in June this year! :D
I decided to replay the two previous games to remind myself of the events that happened and after finishing Virtue's Last Reward and thinking about what might occur in the third game, I thought that I'd probably want to review the third game eventually. After coming to that realisation, I then realised another thing which was that I had reviewed the first game (999) but I hadn't reviewed VLR.
..999 is short for Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and VLR is short for Virtue's Last Reward in case...you didn't realise...that... ^^;
Originally, I had thought to myself I wouldn't review VLR because, compared to 999, it would be a lot harder since VLR is much longer, has more elements included in the story and the gameplay, a huuuuge amount of information you gather as you progress and numerous endings (9 character endings including the true ending, 11 bad endings, 6 non-standard game overs and 2 endings that occur after the true ending).
But even so, if I was going to review ZTD (Zero Time Dilemma), it made sense to also review VLR so then...I'd have reviewed the complete collection, I guess? :,)

So, to sum up, I'm going to be reviewing Virtue's Last Reward! :)
..got there eventually ^^;

And if you're curious, here is my review for Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors:
999 Game Review by SerahNyan (ME!)

--SPOILER WARNING--

I'm going to try my hardest not to spoil the game for anyone who hasn't played it yet and wants to, but that's going to be quite hard. So just to clarify to the people who have played it, I've missed out certain things for that very reason; I don't want to spoil it for the people who haven't played it yet :3

..but no solid promises, so...you have been warned :,)

~   ~   ~

[ Virtue's Last Reward (VLR) 

Developed for the 3DS and PS Vita game systems ]

Plot Outline~

You assume the role of Sigma who is a 22 year old college student.

On the 25th of December 2028 at 2am, he is getting back into his car after finishing a paper for college due that day. Once he gets in and clips in his seatbelt, he puts the key in and turns it only for his car to protest in return. After trying a few more times it becomes clear that his car isn't going to start and while Sigma is busy verbally assaulting his car, it suddenly starts to fill with white smoke. He begins struggling to get out only to find he has been locked in and as his consciousness starts fading, he notices a strange figure through his rearview mirror and gets a quick glance at a person wearing a black cloak and a gas mask before completely passing out.

When he awakens he finds himself in a elevator with a strange watch attached to his left wrist that, through some effort, cannot be removed. However there is someone else with him in the elevator. A girl, in fact, called Phi.

It turns out that Phi knows Sigma's name to which surprises and slightly annoys him since he's almost positive he's never met her before and after going back-and-forth with her for a while, a CGI rabbit appears on a small screen in the elevator telling them that if they don't escape soon, the elevator will drop and ultimately kill them.

Seeing as they have no other choice, they start investigating the room. After obtaining the key that will let them out, they proceed to escape to find that they weren't in an elevator but instead in a small box shaped room that was in an even larger room that resembled an abandoned warehouse. 

After meeting 7 other people (Luna, K, Tenmyouji, Quark, Alice, Clover, and Dio), the CGI rabbit that was in their room appears again and reveals that he is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) called Zero III and that they had all been brought to this place to play...

THE NONARY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME: Ambidex Edition!

..Or just plain old "Ambidex Game" if you're not an annoying little CGI rabbit ^^;

After being told they were captured by a person called Zero, having the rules explained and the function of the bracelets explained to them, they group up and go off to investigate their first rooms.

Let the game begin! Have a nice tragedy!

..players of the game will understand that ;D

Recurring Themes~

There are a couple of recurring themes in this game that I want to briefly go over before going into the actual game in more detail.

If you are absolutely set on not wanting to read any spoilers if you haven't played the game, then maybe skip this part even though what I'm about to say you find out anyway; you don't have to dig around for this information, it just comes up in the game.

Okay, so;

Radical-6

This is a disease that is heavily featured in the game, it literally comes up in each and every ending :,) ..sometimes to the point where it actually gets annoying after, maybe...the second time >A<;

Basically this disease affects a person's perception of time. Meaning that a person infected with Radical-6 perceives time at about √6 of the normal rate which increases the mental processing rate. In other words, for every 2.45 seconds that pass in real time, a person infected with Radical-6 would process this as 1 second. This is why people with Radical-6 view things happening as if they were being fast-forward which you actually get to see happening in one route.

The most frightening symptom of this virus is eventually getting the urge to commit suicide. Because of the slowed processing rate, the brain is taking in more information than it can keep up with and will start to gradually shut down. This is the most fatal symptom as this can't be stopped if there is no one around to help.

While investigating the facility, you will come across or be shown a newspaper article about Radical-6 that claims it turned into a World wide pandemic with an estimated death toll of over 100,000 people. This confuses everyone as if such a huge pandemic happened...wouldn't they have heard about it?

Free The Soul

"Free the...Soul? What's that? Some kinda hippie shoe company?"

That line was spoken by Dio and I personally just think it's SO funny while at the same time, I could give him the most "are-you-actually-shitting-me-right-now" glare :,)

..only people who have played the game will get why I think that :,D

But anyway! Free The Soul is one of those really creepy religious cult things that believe the world can be saved if it's purified.

I can't go into too much detail here, but Free The Soul is lead by a person who calls himself Brother and he believes that it's possible to bring around a new and uncorrupted World even if it means killing all of humanity. Most people consider this group of people terrorists, and if you are sane...you will think so too :,)

Myrmidons

The Myrmidons are part of Free The Soul but they are considered the more elite members of the group. For a Myrmidon, you have to be raised with the teachings of Free The Soul from birth and then after that, they have to be chosen to join the ranks of the elite few. 

Myrmidons believe that if you follow Brother's teachings from birth, you will be reborn as a new human form and only these few will be able to live in a new World without war and starvation.

Antimatter Bombs

Now, it's possible you find the bombs pretty close to the start of the game if you choose the path that leads you in that direction, however...I'll still be careful about what I say because this could lead to big spoilers :,)

But the bombs are only found in a route that leads up to the true ending and they heavily affect the plot and lead to us finding out more about specific characters. Basically, the bombs are put there to explode the facility everyone is trapped in if something else doesn't happen . . .

BUT! HANG ON! THAT ISN'T A SPOILER!

BECAUSE! Why else would bombs be there, right? Also one character straight up says it anyway when they are found, so...yea. Not technically a spoiler :,)

Gameplay/style and specifics of the game~

Virtue's Last Reward is a Visual Novel type of game which basically means it involves a lot of reading and very little action on your part as the player.

But what sets VLR separate from most other Visual Novels is that this game gives you the chance to actually interact with the game and by that I mean as the game progresses, you will find yourself in different rooms that you will have to explore and complete puzzles in order to escape.

Also, another key point that visual novels tend to include, is that you get to make different choices as the game moves along. Unlike 999, these choices don't affect the story, they only affect which path you'll take. I mentioned before about escaping from different rooms, yes? So before you find yourself in that situation, the game requires you to choose what door to go through and this will determine what room you end up in.

So to sum up a little of what I've just said, this game is split into two different types of gameplay. You have;

The Escape part;

This is where you end up trapped in a room of some description and you need to locate items, combined them (if necessary) and solve puzzles in order to earn your escape.

The Novel part;

This is basically just reading through the dialogue that makes up the majority of the game. You don't have to make any choices that affect the game, just deciding what door to go through.

Sometimes Sigma (who you play as) may be required to make a choice that affects the path you are playing through but usually when this happens, you will have seen what you need to do, so that doesn't make what you need to pick too hard to figure out.

So now we have all that figured out, the next part is working out how we get through said doors and into these rooms.

I mentioned at the start that Sigma had a bracelet on his wrist, didn't I? 

Well as it turns out, every player has one on. And it's these bracelets that allow you to get through these doors.

Each bracelet has a colour, number, and a pair or solo assignment on it.

For example, this bracelet is red with a number 3 and a pair assignment on it.

The 3 shows the amount of Bracelet Points (BP) you have, but I'll explain more about that later.

As for the colour and the pair assignment, I'll explain that now.

So.

Each bracelet has a colour and these colours compliment each other. So, for example, there will be two red pair bracelets (obviously, since pair means two) and also a red solo. These solo and pair assignments group up together in groups of 3 and pass through a door.

Also you see the two buttons on the side of the bracelet? Well if you press those, the bracelet will show how much time is left before the doors open. There is usually a time limit here so while waiting for the doors to open, a large story segment will take place. 

Once you have the bracelet schematics figured out, you then move onto the doors.

I've been calling them doors up until now, but they actually have a more official name which is Chromatic Doors (CD).

In the facility the players have been trapped in, there are three sets of Chromatic Doors.

The first set are magenta, yellow and cyan.

The second set are red, green and blue.

And the final set are white (you only pass through these in...three routes, I believe?)

I'll use the first set of Chromatic Doors as an example to show you how pairing up works. 

I mentioned that the colours on the bracelets compliment each other, and this is how they do that:

- Magenta Door

  Red pair + Blue solo

  Blue pair + Red solo

  Green pair + Green solo

- Yellow Door

  Green pair + Red solo

  Red pair + Green solo

  Blue pair + Blue solo

- Cyan Door

  Blue pair + Green solo

  Green pair + Blue solo

  Red pair + Red solo

So I'm sure you can see how the bracelet pairs work now.

Say for example, the Red pair and Red solo decided to go through the Cyan Door, then that would mean that the Blue pair and Blue solo would go through the Yellow Door and the Green pair and Green solo would go through the Magenta Door. And it works the same way; all first pairs go through their doors and all second pairs go through their doors.

I also said that there are different coloured Chromatic Doors.

So when it's time for the players to go through the second set of Chromatic Doors which are Red, Green and Blue, the colours on the players bracelets would be magenta, yellow and cyan and when the players reach the final set of Chromatic Doors which are the White ones (..can't really change the colour of the font to match that XD) then the players bracelet colours would be magenta pair, yellow pair, cyan pair, red solo, blue solo and green solo. And each time you would pair up accordingly so the colours would compliment each other. 

HOW the bracelet colours change I'll explain a bit later.

So once everyone has decided which colours go through which doors, they can pass through them. The Chromatic Doors only stay open for 9 seconds and, once again, that's something I'll explain later :,)

Now that we've passed through our Chromatic Door, it's time to begin the Escape part of the game.

I briefly mentioned earlier about the Escape part of the game and how this is when you're trapped in a room and you need to solve puzzles and find clues to earn your escape, well...yea. That's pretty much it :,)

Personally, I found the puzzles in VLR much more challenging than the puzzles in 999 which I remember saying in my review were pretty tough! But these puzzles...

THESE. PUZZLES.

There was one in particular puzzle that really wound me up so much that by the time I'd completed it, I'd probably pulled out half of the hair in my head :,)

The room I was in was the Treatment Centre and it was a lock on the door styled like the game Mastermind which, roughly, is where you have to guess the exact combination of something?? And that's how the puzzle of this door was set out. You'd type in a bunch of numbers, click check and if you guessed the correct numbers but they weren't in the right place, an icon would say BLOW and if you guessed the correct numbers and they were in the correct place, and icon would say HIT. And basically you'd keep going like that until you guessed right, but you only had 10 tries and if you exhausted those...the puzzle would reset itself .-. 

I'll tell you right now...I spent ages on that. Ages, ages, ages! And it still gets me every time I play it :,)

So depending on how sharp your puzzle solving skills are, some of these puzzles may stump you. I mean, there are cheats to help you (I recommend the site Thonky) but if you want to do them yourself, then be prepared for a hard time in some rooms.

The main goal of these rooms is to obviously escape and to do that, you need to find an Escape Password. Once you've done that, there will be a Safe in the room which you then enter the password into. Within every safe you will always get a key (to unlock the exit door), Key Cards with either the Sun, Moon or Star symbols on them (I'll explain why they are necessary later) and a map (you won't get a map going through the White Doors since there are only two floors in the whole facility and the second set of Chromatic Doors share the same floor as the White ones).

To explain that a little better, there is the A Floor (Above) and the B Floor (Below).

As well as the things I already mentioned, there may be a few other things in the safe that contribute to endings or another part of the story.

Once you've unlocked the safe and used the key to open the exit door, a story segment starts and that continues until you reach an ending or find yourself in another puzzle situation.

Now, as well as finding an Escape Password, you can also find a Secret File Password.

The Secret File Password, when entered into the safe, will provide you with a file that gives you a bunch of information regarding the game, items found in the game, certain characters, mysteries in the game etc. 

BUT! If you complete an Escape Puzzle in Easy Mode, you only get a Silver File which doesn't contain as much information as a Gold File which you get from completing an Escape Puzzle in Hard Mode. 

If you want to change the difficulty level of a room, you can click on the MENU button in the bottom left corner and change to Easy or Hard.

[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]

After the first escape in the elevator room, you will automatically start a room in Hard Mode and if you do want to switch to Easy Mode, you won't be able to switch back. So I suggest completing a room in Hard Mode since the only difference in Easy Mode is that you get more hints and really if you think hard and rational, the puzzles aren't too tricky. But then again, there are always cheats ;D

Also in the MENU section, you can save your game here and view the Archives which is were the Secret Files you found will be kept under the heading Secret. Here you can also find in game tips that cover controls and that sort of thing under the heading HELP, you also keep the Safe Passwords here so you can just check back whenever you need to enter them and they are under the heading Password. Also throughout the game, you'll see images of certain objects and things like that, and they are saved and stored in the Archives under the heading File. There is also a handy little option called Memo which allows you to jot down anything you notice that may help you with another puzzle. This also saves you from having to remember things, instead you just write them down. The Memo option only has space for two different memos though, so if you need to delete one to create another, make sure you don't need it anymore!

Another important feature in the MENU section is Flow which shows you a graph that displays the paths you can follow and what path you are currently on.

I took this screenshot from my PS Vita to give you an idea.
See how you have the novel sections, escape sections and also the Chromatic Door sections.
Before you get confused at how often you go through the green, red and blue doors, you don't go into the same room twice.
For example, the red door on the left side of the chart will be a different room to the red door in the middle section of the chart. Basically, you visit every room at least once in this game.
Another reason why this Flow chart is so important is because once you finish a character ending, you then automatically go back to the chart after saving and you then choose what part you want to play through next and where you start from. The fact that you kind of...jump between different sections of the graph actually contributes to a very important part of the game.
Also throughout the game, in certain routes, you may encounter a Lock Situation which basically means you will need to visit another part of the story to pick up information you will need to continue on with the section of the story you are locked out of.
For example, one lock situation (actually, a few lock situations) requires you to know the passwords to turn off the bombs that are counting down. If you haven't received the password in another route, you won't be able to continue with that path until you have.
I mentioned about the different endings you can get and I happened to find a useful table that tells you the ideal order in which to play through these endings and, because I'm SO nice, I'm going to share it with you guys! :3

1. Clover Ending (Y, b, a)
2. Dio (M, b, b)
3. Tenmouji (Y, a, B, a, a)
4. Alice (C, a, b)
5. Sigma (C, b, G, a)
6. Quark (Y, a, R, a)
7. K (M, a, B, b)
8. Luna (M, a, G, a, a)
9. Phi #1 (C, b, R, b)
10. Phi #2 (C, b, R, a)

(Y=Yellow, M=Magenta, C=Cyan, B=Blue, G=Green, R=Red) 
(The colours above are referring to the Chromatic Door colours)
(a=ally, b=betray)

Following the ending order like this will reveal less and you'll find out things in a more ideal order. Also with this, you only encounter one lock situation, so that's all good! :D

Now, back to the game and what happens once you escape from the room you were locked in.
While going through the safe after unlocking it, I mentioned that you find things called Key Cards. Well, you need these Key Cards to play something called the Ambidex Game (AB Game).
The elevator-like rooms you started in are actually what you use to play the Ambidex Game. Once you've obtained the Key Cards you need, you swipe them through a lock on the AB Room and you can enter to play the AB Game.
(The Key Cards that you need change three times which is why you need to go into more rooms and find each one).
I will quickly explain the difference between the Nonary Game and the Ambidex Game.
The difference is that there is no difference :,)
The Nonary Game refers to the whole entire thing, like going into difference rooms and completing the puzzles...all that stuff. The Ambidex Game is just something you do in between all that to earn BP which I mentioned earlier means Bracelet Points.
Also, Nonary means 9 in a sense and the number 9 is another thing that appears a lot. For example, like I said, it's the amount of time the Chromatic Doors stay open. The number 9 also features on an important door that I'll explain later :,)
First I'll talk about the Ambidex Game and then why you need BP.
So when you go through a Chromatic Door, a pair (two people) and a solo (one person) group up to do so. Once you've completed your room and come out and it's time to play the AB Game, the pair will be playing against the solo and vice versa.
A common thing repeated in the game is that the pair share a destiny which I think is kinda linked into the ending of the game, but that'll take forever to explain and pretty much everything would get revealed if I went into that :,)
But I digress ^^;
The AB Rooms are in the main warehouse room you start in and there are 6 of them, so (since a pair "share a destiny") they will enter one room together and the solo will enter their own room. So, all in all, 3 pairs and 3 solos. Basic math even I can do :,)
There is a machine in the AB Room that was there when you woke up at the beginning and when you enter the room, the machine displays a message telling you to press the START button and then once you do, the polling period will begin and the AB Doors won't unlock until the polling period is over.
This is a game of betrayal.
You need to choose whether you want to ally with the person you went through the Chromatic Doors with, or betray them.
Personally, I prefer to ally but only when I know for sure that person is going to ally. Otherwise choosing betray seems like the more logical choice.
..Wow. I'd probably be hated as much as Dio ^^;
And depending on what you choose to vote, you will gain or loose BP.

This chart shows what happens when you make your choice and when your opponent makes theirs.
So...say you chose to betray, but your partner chose to ally...
Then you would gain 3 BP and they would loose 2 BP.
Pretty easy to understand, yes?
More often than not, Sigma has a huge debate with himself about what to choose and blah blah it can go on for a while :,)
But once you've made your choice, you then look to the screen again...

...and press Ally or Betray.

Once you've put in your vote and exited the AB Room, there is a projection screen in the big warehouse room that will display the results.

And based on what you chose, points will be added on or subtracted.
(If you're wondering why everyone has 3 BP, that's just because everyone automatically started with that amount).
Also remember how I said pairs share a destiny? Well that includes the points too. So if you choose to betray (like what Sigma did in this round), both members of the pair will receive 3 points.
When everyone has finished their argument about why they were betrayed (..every. time.) the AB Room Doors will shut and the pair and solo assignments and colours on everyone's bracelets will change.
So...say Sigma was a Red Pair to start with, he could be changed to a Cyan Solo or something like that. This means that whenever you go into a new room, you'll be with at least one new person.

Now onto why everyone needs BP.
I mentioned that the number 9 features on an important door. The reason that door is so important is because it's the door to FREEDOM!
..in a sense ^^;
The Number 9 Door is how you escape from the facility.

You play the AB Game to earn BP and it just so happens that the goal number of BP you are aiming for is 9. If you can get 9 BP, you can pull the lever next to the large door and leave.
This is essentially winning the game!
..also the Number 9 Door only opens once, so if you don't have 9 BP when someone else who does opens it, you'll be trapped forever! ;A;
But that doesn't mean you win the game as soon as you get 9 BP. As long as the person who has 9 BP doesn't open the Number 9 Door, the game will carry on.
Oh yes... There is one more thing I have yet to mention.
The bracelets and how to remove them.
Well, uh.. *cough* There are two ways;

1. You escape from the facility.
    Once you are outside, your bracelet unlocks and falls off.
2. You die.
    Basically what it says on the tin.
..There is also a cheat way to get them off, but I'll leave that for Luna to explain :,)

This relates back to the AB Game.
If, for example, you were betrayed in the first round of the AB Game you would end up with 1 BP.
If you are stupid enough to ally someone with 1 BP and get betrayed by them, you would have -1 BP. Once your bracelet reaches 0 or lower BP, you'll get penalised and die.
But... How?
Well. In the underside of your bracelets, there are four sets of needles.
..even though this picture only shows two.. ^^;

And if your BP reaches 0 or below, the needles will inject you with Soporil β (Beta) which is an anaesthetic. It'll spread throughout the body and the participant who was injected will eventually fall asleep. After the Soporil has been injected, 9 minutes later (..of course) the bracelets will inject another substance called Tubocurarine which is a muscle relaxant that will eventually shut down the respiratory system killing the person through asphyxiation.
How pleasant! 

I just have one final thing now I want to talk about before moving onto the rest to the review.
I've briefly gone over the different endings and stuff, but after completing Phi's End/True End, you have the possibility to unlock two Secret Endings ("End or Beginning" and "Another Time") which are definitely worth seeing. They are really short, maybe about 30 minutes altogether? 
But anyway! To unlock them, you need to have completed all the rooms in Hard Mode. And if you did switch to Easy Mode at one point, then all you need to do is go to your Flow Chart and click on the room you completed in Easy Mode and skip to there.
Once you've done that, just switch the difficulty to Hard and go to the safe and unlock it.
Seriously, it's that easy! Because you already earned the password while playing through in Easy Mode and the level of difficulty doesn't change the password, so just re-enter the same password in Hard Mode and BOOM! You've done it! :D
Then you can see the two extra endings! :3
Also if you play this game on the PS Vita system like I did, you can also earn Trophies.
But honestly they are so easy to get. All you have to do is see all the character endings, complete all the rooms in Hard Mode, earn all the files...basically everything that you will eventually do in the game, you get a trophy for :,) 
So...yea! Real easy to earn the trophies :3

....aaaaaaand, I think that's everything!
..pheewf ; ___ ; That was all really hard to cover >A<

Characters~

And, as always, in reviews this is MY favourite part! I just love talking about the characters! :D

. . .

Name; Sigma
Age; 22 .  .  . (Don't let appearances fool you, though...)
Occupation; College Student
Seiyuu; Kousuke Toriumi (only in the ONA)

I just want to ask WHY the Zero Escape character designers have to make the main characters so attractive? I mean, first there was Junpei and now Sigma? ..seriously ;A;
..look at dem beefy arms doe! XD
Sigma is one of my favourite characters :,)
Quite often (more so when partnered up with girls) he's really perverted and can slip sexual innuendos into almost every conversation and I literally love it! :,D 
Aside from that...he's actually a really nice, honest and kind person which puts him at a disadvantage when playing the AB Game as he mostly votes ally since he trusts quite easily. 
He also has a great memory! O:
OH! Probably the best thing about Sigma is that he has this "cat-tic" which causes him to talk like a cat when talking about cats :,) it's hard to explain...just play the game and you'll see :,)

Name; Phi
Age; 20
Occupation; Unknown
Seiyuu; Chiaki Omigawa 

Phi is probably-- actually, she is the most mysterious character in the game. You literally learn nothing about her, so I'm hoping her background and everything like that will be revealed in the third game.

But as a person, I guess she is okay? I mean, I like her...but at the same time, I'm wary :,)

She takes on the leader (I guess you could say) role of the group and has no problem being demanding and forceful. In general she's quite cold, curt and mechanical...but not really mean. I guess you could say she's "hot and cold" so she can be compassionate and kind one moment and then be cold and unfeeling the next. All in all though, I don't think she's a bad person. She wants to help everyone escape really, so that's at least proof that deep down, she's likely a good person overall :,)

Name; Luna

Age; Unknown

Occupation: [ I won't say because SPOILERS ]

Seiyuu; Mamiko Noto 

Luna is an angel. She is seriously the one person you can genuinely trust, no matter what.

She's best described as being a pacifist and rarely gets angry, I think the one time she ever gets slightly angered is once towards Dio, which...is understandable. I mean, it's Dio.

Her character ending is also heart-breaking. Every time it gets to me ; ___ ;

..my precious Luna </3

She also always votes ally when playing the AB Game and will feel devastated if someone betrays her. Unfortunately to see a few endings, you have to betray her which is actually super hard to do ;;;

Luna is a little introverted as she is often shown as being shy and timid and also uncomfortable if a lot of attention is focused on her. However, she is also caring, gentle, humble and modest. 

While unrelated, she also has a medical license which allows her to use equipment often found in the Infirmary (a room you'll explore) and she possesses a high level of intelligence.

Name; K

Age; [ I feel it's best not to say ]

Occupation: [ I feel it's best not to say ]

Seiyuu; Daisuke Ono ♥

..yea, this isn't a joke. I'm dead serious :,)

There is a reason for this suit...armour...thing but to say what would be a massive spoiler! >A<

One of the first things you find out about K is that he has amnesia. People are reluctant to believe that because of his appearance, but he's telling the truth :,)

K is pretty intelligent and is probably one of the most unpredictable people in the AB Game as he chooses ally and betray somewhat evenly, I think. He also usually thinks before he acts, but can still make irrational decisions and...strange ones, at that.

I'm referring to the scene in the Rec Room. Sigma and Alice are disturbed by it...but I think it's freaking hilarious! :,D

This is really all I can say about K, though > < I think because of his amnesia, there isn't much to his personality other than what I've already said.

Name; Tenmyouji

Age; 68

Occupation; Rubbish Collector (..goals, am I right? XD)

Seiyuu; The Late Rokurou Naya

First of all, this isn't Tenmyouji's first Nonary Game. That's all I'll say about that :,)

Sadly...I'm not his biggest fan ;;; I mean, I like him because, well...it's him. But it's so sad to see how much his personality has changed..

Tenmyouji is very bitter, stern and doesn't trust others easily. The only person he is seen to trust completely in the Nonary Game is Quark and that's because they've been together for a very long time. He was strict when raising Quark, but that's only because he wanted to be sure Quark would be okay when he was no longer around to care for him. So actually, depending on the person involved, Tenmyouji can be caring in his own ways :,)

Also, like Luna, his ending was another that made me cry like a baby! D;

Name; Quark

Age; 10

Occupation; Rubbish Collector with Tenmyouji

Seiyuu; Rie Kugimiya 

Quark is a little cutie :3 

He's probably on par with Luna that he is one of the more nicer participants. Given the situation he's in, he somehow remains cheerful and optimistic and he also cares for the other participants. He sometimes makes jokes and tends to stay very calm and collected; I'd say he's quite mature for a 10 year old :3

He's also really polite and often addresses the other participants as "Mr." or "Ms." which shows that he also respects them :3

Name; Alice

Age; Unknown

Occupation; ..that's confidential ^^;

Seiyuu; Atsuko Tanaka 

There is always a character in the Zero Escape games that dresses...somewhat extravagantly which is the nice way of putting it :,)

In 999 you have Lotus, then obviously Alice in VLR and Mira in ZTD.. I'm not sure why :,)

I think overall, Alice is my least favourite character .-. Even after playing through her ending and understanding more about her and why she does certain things, I still can't like her ;; I mean, I dislike her less...but it doesn't change the fact she isn't the nicest person ever, you know?

I mean, don't get me wrong! She does care about people; especially those close to her like Clover and she has their best interests in mind. But what we mostly see is her arrogant, cold and holier-than-thou attitude. That's why, in a way, I like her ending because it shows her being vulnerable and actually having emotions :,)

She's also good at maths. That's when I usually space out because I'm...not ^^;

Name; Clover

Age; 19

Occupation; ..that's confidential ^^;

Seiyuu; Yukari Tamura (I LOVE Yukarin! *v*)

She was my favourite character in 999 and she's still my favourite character in VLR ♥

Poor Clover.. *sniff* This is her third Nonary Game now ; ___ ; Yet she still manages to mostly keep her calm which, I think, is due to the fact Alice is with her (they're colleagues at work) and in the second one (999) her brother was with her...most of the time > <

In 999, Clover was very cheerful, bubbly and bright! But after she survives that Nonary Game, she becomes less bubbly and more down-to-earth. She's still very cheerful and bright, but has more of a serious side which I think is due to the job she has. Clover doesn't trust many people easily, other than Alice (she only opens up to Sigma in her ending) and when certain things happen to Alice, she immediately assumes everyone was in on it and closes herself off from them even more.

But generally she is quite compassionate and cares about the people close to her and even cares for the other participants. She's also hella cute and kinda naive and maybe a liiittle bit of an airhead. I just LOVE her! ^O^

Though her ending. It's really quite disturbing.. > < but still brilliant? Idk :,)

Name; Dio .  .  .

Age; Unknown

Occupation; [ SUPER MASSIVE HUGE SPOILER ]

Seiyuu; Yoshimasa Hosoya (I LOVE Hosoyan ♥) 

Dio, Dio, Dio...

First of all, I know how much of a dick this guy is...

BUT I LOVE HIM! ..I hate him, though ;;;

I hate him. BUT I LOVE HIM! ;3;

I think the fact Hosoyan voices him largely contributes to my liking him, but I really do! He's one of those characters you know you should hate, but you can't help but love :,)

..which I do! ; ___ ;

But Dio. Let's make a list, shall we? :,)

He's selfish, rude, uncompassionate, uncooperative, manipulative and...basically just mean!

Dio also always picks betray when playing the AB Game, basically he wants out and doesn't care if anyone goes with him :,) 

I don't think he's all bad though since when he plays against Luna, he votes ally because he sees her as "beautiful" which I think is pretty cute ^v^

He also swears a butt load which always makes me laugh and the way he phrases some things is just brilliant :,) 

It's been counted and is stated that he drops the "F" bomb 39 times throughout the game! :,D

Name; Zero III

Age; doesn't have one. It's an AI.

Occupation; Running the AB Game, I guess?

Seiyuu; Tarako

Zero III is a rabbit (..clearly) AI that gives the participants information and tips regarding the game and it's rules (though he doesn't tell them everything). After a while, Zero III gets given the title Zero Jr. so the participants can distinguish between the AI and the Zero who brought them all there who they also end up calling Zero Sr.

Zero III is also very, very, very, very...very annoying. While humorous...mostly annoying :,)

It...he(?) is kinda sadistic, psychotic and also enjoys poking fun at the other participants and trying to provoke them. Dio is the one who mostly gets annoyed by this :,)

Zero III also gives everyone a nickname :,)

- Sigma (Siggy)

- Phi (Phido)

- Luna (Moony)

- K (Potassium)

- Tenmyouji (Tenmyoldy)

- Quark (Quirk)

- Alice (Alas)

- Clover (Cleaver)

- Dio (B.O.)

. . .

Third Game~

I've mentioned a few times that there is going to be a sequel to Virtue's Last Reward which will be Zero Time Dilemma and since Virtue's Last Reward was released in 2012...you can imagine how long everyone has been waiting for this third and final sequel ; ___ ;

It's been a long time coming and it's finally getting released THIS FREAKING MONTH on the 28th! :D it's majorly exciting! :3

I get so hyped whenever I look at this! *^*

..but I also get so depressed ;;; I mean, look at the crack between Junpei and Akane on the right side of the cover? I hope that doesn't symbolise anything because if it does, I'm never going to get the Junpei x Akane happy end I want so badly </3

I mean, I want one happy end when everything works out for everyone, and I want Akane and Junpei to be included in that everyone D;

Zero Time Dilemma is going to be SO good, though! :D

It's set in between Virtue's Last Reward and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. I won't say too much as this will give away some things revealed in VLR, but it's set in the Mars Mission Test Site in Nevada Desert where Radical-6 was released. Phi, Sigma, Junpei and Akane are all there and it's mostly set around the idea of preventing Radical-6 escaping from the Test Site which is what ultimately leads to Virtue's Last Reward. I hope they have that ending as well because I really want to see that!

If you're interested, this is a trailer for it! 

Zero Time Dilemma trailer (ENG).

I'm personally going to play this game in the Japanese version, I just used the English trailer since the Japanese one doesn't have subtitles.

ALSO! Kotaro Uchikoshi (the creator of the Zero Escape games) said himself that he designed Zero Time Dilemma with the idea in mind that people who haven't played the games yet can get into them using this game as their first. So while some references to things revealed in previous games may not make full sense, you can play this game first and still enjoy it which I think is really awesome!

So watching this trailer doesn't really mean you'll be spoiling anything for yourself :)

Something else that's really cool is this!

9 Minutes of ZERO TIME DILEMMA (ENG).

You get a sneak peek of an area in the game! *v*

Again, nothing in here counts as a spoiler; it's something that fans of the game know is going to happen and as I said before, this game is also designed for people who haven't played any prequels, so if that's you, it's still fine for you to watch this :D

Also...I'm dying here ;~;

I had NO reason to play the game in English until I heard Sigma's voice. Matthew Mercer.

He voiced my hubby in Tales of Xillia (Alvin) and MYFUCKINGGOD! When Sigma spoke, my nose spurted blood! :,) I'm SO mad!! Because the Japanese version has voice actors I love SO much, and I also love Matthew Mercer. ..I guess what I'll do is play the game more than once (which I was planning to do anyway) in different settings... but ghaaaaad!! ;;;

Another thing is that Zero Time Dilemma is designed to be more like 999 in terms of themes and stuff since 999 was pretty dark.. So I'm also looking forward to that! :D

The trailer shows so much blood and death.. It's going to be so fantastic!! :,)

A quick note! The image I used is for the PS Vita game cover, but it's also getting a 3DS release :)

My Thoughts~

I really love this game. It's surprising that a game as long as VLR never gets boring no matter how many times you play it :,) I mean, if I had to choose out of VLR and 999, I would still say 999 is my favourite, but I still really love and enjoy Virtue's Last Reward.

The characters are all really great (..most of the time) and it was really cool to see Clover and Tenmyouji again, especially since I love Clover :3 

The endings this game created are simply brilliant! ..maybe not so much the bad endings since they're mostly the same, just a few things change which reminds me!! Does it bother anyone else that whenever Sigma gets 9 BP and tries to escape, everyone loses their SHIT and will literally kill him if it means they can stop him leaving but if someone else tries to escape, they just stand there like..

 "Oh no. This is bad. What do we do..?"

..seriously? .-.

It's SO stupid!! :,D

I'm like where'd that freaking energy go when you all tried to stop Sigma escaping? It's ridiculous :,)

But anyway!

The character endings are really amazing! I like that you also find a bit more out about that character whose ending it is; it kinda makes it all the more special :3 

Definitely Luna and Tenmyouji's endings get me the most </3 that's real and raw emotion right there ;;;

This game also has a seriously good soundtrack! Some real intense tracks that really set the mood. Especially the music you get for each escape and also the music when shit is going down! OMG! >//<

The music that gets played during Luna's ending is really sad and moving.. Basically each piece of music fits so well with the scene it's used in; forgive my lack of vocabulary, but it's amazing! :,)

The art style is okay. The CGI animation was definitely a change from 999, but it wasn't great. Most of the time it worked well, especially with the background and the rooms they were in; it made them feel more...realistic. The still art scenes were pretty good as well :) the only major tic I have with the art style is occasionally when characters are talking (this happens mostly with Tenmyouji), their teeth will dislocate from their mouths :,) so when their mouths are moving, their teeth are moving separately which looks so weird :,) also when there is a scene with a lot of movement in it, the animation isn't very fluid and looks more...rocky, I guess you could say? But that's my only major issue. I do like how the breathing of the characters was animated, meaning their chests move and stuff. I thought that was a nice touch :3

I spoke a bit at the start about recurring themes? Well, the Radical-6 one gets a bit much.

Like, Quark for example. Not really a spoiler because it always happens, but he gets diagnosed with Radical-6 in every single route!! At first, you're like..

 "Oh my god, no! Quark! Please save Quark!"

But then after a while, you're like..

 "Oh, Quark has Radical-6? Well, yea. Okay, what else is new?"

That whole scene when he collapses, gets diagnosed, goes bat-shit cray and then sleeps gets boring after a while :,) 

But it's relevant, so...

Also (another 999 comparison) is that VLR doesn't provide moments where you get to choose things. I think I mentioned this briefly, but in 999, you get the opportunity sometimes to choose responses to things characters will say to you, but in VLR you only get to choose what room you want to go in. Which isn't...great since I liked that aspect in 999. That could have been carried over...

But I know in Zero Time Dilemma, the choices you get will fucking kill you to make (or someone else) so...I'm sure I'll hate that at some point :,D

And the science lessons :,)

Seriously! Especially in Phi's route, she doesn't half know how to bloody talk :,D

That didn't annoy me as much as it confused me. I could honestly hear my brain fizzling away as more and more science was pushed down my throat like ARGH! STOP ALREADY! ; ___ ;

But all joking aside... ^^;

This game truly is a masterpiece! It's so well thought out and you can tell how much time was spent on making the story as clever and gripping as possible! I definitely can't fault that in any way.

My Overall Score~

For this section, I'm going to score out of 10 on each main feature :)

So, we have..

- Graphics: 9/10 (mostly because the CGI didn't always flow well, but still looked good)

- Music: 10/10

- Character Design: 9/10 (really detailed but didn't follow through as well into the game)

- Puzzles: 10/10 (really freaking difficult, but awesome!)

- Content: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Other than what I already said, I really can't find any faults in this game.

It's no lie when I say the Zero Escape games are my favourite game series; I really mean it!

Virtue's Last Reward is seriously one of the most thought out games I've ever come across. So much time, effort and dedication was put into it that it oozes out of the game console :,)

I personally find it baffling how something so smart can be created, you know?

If you're someone who hasn't played Virtue's Last Reward or even Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors...you are really missing out on something so incredible!

Picking up these games and playing them will be your best decision ;D

..so go and do it NOW! :,)

~   ~   ~

So that was my crazy long Virtue's Last Reward Review :,)

If you read the whole thing...well freaking done! 

That was one of the reasons why I was hesitant to review this game because I knew how long it would be, but now that I've completed it...I feel quite proud of myself! :,)

Just a little note to the people who have played this game, I am aware of the things I missed out. I know there was a whole mess of crap I didn't mention and I did that purely for the people who haven't played this yet and happened across this review. When I review games, I like them to be as spoiler free as possible in case someone wants to read about something before actually playing it; just to get an opinion on whether someone thinks something is good or not, you know?

Plus if I had decided to review every single little detail...I don't think this review would have ever ended! :,)

But I'll stop now because it can't get any longer! ;A;

If you have any questions regarding the game, please leave a comment below and I will try my best to reply with as much detail as possible :3

If you made it this far, then once again CONGRATULATIONS! *^*

And thank you for reading! ^v^

BYESIES~! c:

                          xoxo~

Junpei x Akane Fanfiction~

Yahalloooo~

Since Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (the third game in the Zero Escape series) is coming out in June, I decided to replay the two previous games (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward) to refresh my memory of all the events that happened.
After finishing 999, it hit me all over again how heartbreaking the love between Junpei and Akane is ;;; at the end when Junpei emerges out of Building Q in Nevada Desert and hears Akane say his name, I just burst into tears </3
It's like...all those two ever wanted was just to live a life together! ;A; Akane even straight out said that in Virtue's Last Reward!

So, that's what I'm doing today! :3
I'm going to attempt to write a fanfiction (it'll be a fairly short one) between Junpei and Akane.
But it'll be a completely different timeline I just thought of. Like, not a single Nonary Game happens. The 18 children never went missing, Akane never made a second Nonary Game or even a third one! None of that was necessary and they were just normal people living in a normal world.

I hope I'm able to do this idea justice and I also hope, if you love and ship Junpei x Akane as much as me, you're able to enjoy this story, too :3
Also, I just want to say that this probably won't really be a fanfiction or...at least not the type of fanfiction most people are familiar with :,) 
This will really just be more of a short story, but it makes more sense to call it a fanfiction as..
Akane x Junpei Short Story
doesn't really sound...right? I guess? :,)
Either way, I hope you can still enjoy it! c:

~   ~   ~

Finally.
It's summer break!
A light feeling washed over me as I flipped the lid of my suitcase shut and zipped it up.
With literally nothing else to do, I had decided to go back home for the summer and visit my parents. I thought they'd be happy to see me since I rarely visited them during term time, but of course they saw this as an opportunity to ask me to run a quick errand before I actually got home.
Figures.
Not that I really expected anything less. I guess if I was going to be using my old bedroom for a few months, they'd be expecting me to pull my weight and do stuff for them. I suppose I should be thankful that all they wanted me to do this time was a bit of shopping.
I sighed as I stepped out of my apartment and locked the door. I'd managed to save up enough money to cover the rent for my apartment while I was away, so I slipped that money into the door of the complex owner and made my way to the train station.
As I walked along the path, I realised it was a lot busier than I expected. Since summer break had started a week ago, I thought most people would be home by now but I guess I was wrong. The only reason I hadn't returned home when break started was because I had a few more assignments to finish and I figured there'd be too many distractions at home, so I'd decided to get them done before I left.
The train station, compared to the bustle of the streets, was surprisingly sparse which made it easier for me to get through the gates and onto the correct platform without accidentally bumping into an agitated salary man or two. I checked the time and according to the board, my train was five minutes ahead of schedule.
 "What a stroke of luck!"
And, as the board had stated, my train arrived earlier than it's original time and I was able to board and arrive back in my home town without anything going horribly wrong.
I decided I didn't really want to carry my suitcase around the supermarket with me, so I popped by my house beforehand to drop it off there. Judging by the fact no cars were presents, my parents must have been at work.
I unlocked the door and stepped in. It was kind of weird, but whenever I came home from college, the house always felt kind of...strange. Like it wasn't mine anymore. Like I was just some sort of house guest, which...I guess maybe I was.
I stepped lazily up the stairs and opened the door to my bedroom.
 "Heh... I guess my mum wouldn't stop cleaning it even when I wasn't here."
My room was not how I left it at all. The last time I left, I remember leaving clothes flung on an unmade bed and papers and books sprawled out across my desk. But what greeted me was the exact opposite. A perfectly made bed; not a single crease in the sheets and a clutter free desk with a single pen holder and a picture frame.
My heart stumbled over itself suddenly.
I dropped my suitcase listlessly in front of my wardrobe and walked over to my desk. I slowly reached down and picked up the photo frame as if I was afraid more than the lightest touch would break it.
I stared down at it.
 "Akane..."
The photo was of me and my childhood friend, Akane. I remember her mother had taken this picture on the last day of elementary school. Akane's parents were sending her to a different school than me, so we were both pretty upset that we'd be separated. So we'd asked her mother to take a picture of us that we could keep.
The location of the photo was in front of Akane's house. The name Kurashiki was printed onto a plaque that had been attached to the wall surrounding the front of the house. The front door was slightly ajar and the gate leading up to it had been left open as well. Akane and I were stood just underneath the plaque that showed her last name. She was wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt with a white collar poking out over the top accompanied with a black skirt and knee-length brown boots. Her brown hair had been neatly pushed out of her face with a black hair band. She looked really cute. I, on the other hand, wore a pair of scruffy jeans with a white and blue striped shirt over a long-sleeved red top. My own brown hair was equally messy as my appearance. Next to Akane, I looked terrible. But I was still showing a toothy grin while Akane smiled sweetly with her head leaning slightly towards mine.
I'd never told Akane this, but she had always been more than just a friend from my childhood. But I guess it would be weird for a child to say that...I mean, how would a child even respond to such a bold confession?
I laughed silently as I placed the photo frame back on my desk. I'd almost forgotten I needed to go to the supermarket, so I fished my wallet out from the front pocket of my suitcase and left home as quickly as I'd arrived.

When I arrived at the supermarket, I was relieved to see that it was almost as empty as the train station had been. This would mean I'd be able to get finished and get home without taking too long. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and brought up the message with the shopping list my mum had sent me:

1. Bread 
2. Milk
3. Eggs
4. Noodles
5. Rice
6. Chicken
7. Onions
8. Carrots
9. Apples
10. Green Tea

I chuckled at the fact she'd numbered everything. I wonder if she knew that wasn't exactly necessary...? I mean, it's not like I couldn't count.
And this seemed simple enough.
 "Why couldn't she get this on her way home from work?"
But regardless of whether or not she could, I ventured further into the supermarket to retrieve the things on her list.
Everything she had requested had been in stock, so I tossed each item (apart from the eggs which I placed) into the basket I'd picked out, paid for everything and walked out of the supermarket.
 "Done and done." I thought to myself as I lifted my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun that had emerged while I was shopping.
I rolled the sleeves of my shirt up to my elbows and carried on walking home.
As I turned the corner onto my street, I stopped in my tracks.
Someone was walking towards me. Someone I had least expected to see.
Her brown hair floated gently passed her shoulders and down her back. Her face was exactly how I remembered it, but more beautiful if that was possible. And her body was framed perfectly in a long purple dress she wore over a black top along with a pair of brown boots.
. . .
W-Wait! Why was I looking at her body?! I haven't seen her since elementary school! I shouldn't be looking at her body! That's just--
 "Oh my gosh! Is that you, Jumpy?"
I froze in a panicked stance as her quiet voice broke into my thoughts.
She was stood a few feet away from me; surprise plain on her face.
 "Kanny-- Ah! I mean, Akane!" I shouted as I straightened myself up.
She lifted a small hand to her mouth and giggled.
 "I knew it! It is you, Jumpy!" She danced towards me.
I took an involuntary step back as she stopped far too close to me. "And you can call me Kanny, you know. We're childhood friends, after all!"
 "Y-Yes...but I haven't seen you in so long, it felt weird to just suddenly call you that."
She blushed. "I don't mind!"
I gulped and steadied my composure. Get a hold of yourself, Junpei!
 "So how have--"
 "So what are you--"
We'd both tried to speak at the same time. Akane giggled as I awkwardly laughed and scratched the side of my head.
 "You first, Jumpy." She smiled.
 "Oh! Err... How have you been?" I finished the sentence I had tried to begin.
 "Hehe~ I've been very well, thank you! My summer break from college started last week and, even though I still live at home, I thought I'd try walking around and find something to do." She giggled.
I blinked at her. "So...you're just walking around with no purpose?"
 "Yep!" She beamed at me.
Was she always like this...?
 "What about you, Jumpy? What are you doing here?" She asked.
 "Oh! Well, yeah... My summer break started too, so I thought I'd come home and visit my parents."
 "Oh that's so sweet of you, Jumpy!" Akane looked at me, admirably.
 "N-Not really..." I waved my hands dismissively. "I only came back because I really had nothing else to do..."
 "Oh..." She looked down. "But still, you're here! And that's exciting!" She blushed as she smiled and looked at me expectantly.
Wait...was she waiting for something? Did she want something? What's that look for? Why is she looking at me like that?!
After a few moments, that smile turned into a pout. "You haven't changed, Jumpy." She looked away with a look of disapproval on her face.
I leaned forward so I could peek at her. "Did I do something wrong?"
 "Nope! That's the problem, you didn't do anything!" She said with the pout still firmly set on her face.
 "Then why are you angry?" I asked.
 "I'm not angry!" She retorted.
 "Liar. You clearly are." I nudged her arm with my finger.
 "Ugh! Forget it, Jumpy!" She spun around to face me, still pouting.
 "You haven't changed much, either." I laughed at her expression.
She looked at me for a while and her face softened again.
 "So how long are you here for?" She asked.
 "A few months, I think. I probably won't go back until I need to, not like there's anything for me to do there..."
 "So..." She blushed and looked down while awkwardly fidgeting with her hands. "Does that mean...you don't have a girlfriend?"
 "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Where the hell did that come from?!" I felt my face redden.
 "I can't be curious?" She asked as she raised her face up to look at me.
Her eyes were soft and looked...watery. As if she might start crying.
What the hell?! That look is going to kill me...
I sighed in defeat and let my head fall. "No, I don't have a girlfriend."
Akane giggled. "Me either."
I raised an eyebrow at her response. "You mean you don't have a boyfriend?" I corrected her.
 "Oh no!" She smiled. "I don't have a girlfriend...but I have eighteen boyfriends!"
?!
 "...times zero..."
...?
 "Yeah, I guess I just haven't met Mr. Right yet..." She blushed.
Yep. She really is trying to kill me...
She giggled again. "You should see your face, Jumpy!"
I looked away, embarrassed. "Can you...quit teasing me already?"
She just smiled in response.
Damn. Why does she have to be so cute?
She cocked her head at me. Was my expression giving away too much?
I took a deep breath, raised my shoulders and faced her straight on.
 "Jumpy?"
 "Aka--I mean, Kanny."
Her face turned bright red.
 "Since I have nothing much to do here and since it also looks like you don't either...why don't we...hang out...together...sometime..." I started off confidently, but trailed off.
Akane had always been more than just a friend from my childhood.
I knew that, though I'm pretty sure she didn't.
If I wanted to see her again, I needed to do something about it. And I sure as hell wasn't about to let her ask. I needed to be the man here. I'm not the cheeky kid she knew from elementary school...or at least I hoped I wasn't. According to her I hadn't changed much.
I scratched the side of my nose trying my best to act nonchalant.
 "No thank you, Jumpy. I don't want to." She said blankly.
My head snapped up at her response and at the same time, my heart sank into my stomach.
Wh-WHAT?!
Then she smiled again. "I was only kidding."
 "Seriously, Akane..." I let my head fall into my hands. "What the hell?"
 "Aw, you stopped calling me Kanny..."
 "Yeah, well after you just did that, I don't really feel like it anymore!" I made to walk by her, but she reached out and grabbed my arm.
 "Really, Jumpy! I promise! I was only kidding! I've wanted to see you again ever since the last day of elementary school! I'll go anywhere you want with you, I promise!"
She was looking at me with pleading eyes and I was at sort of a loss.
 "Then...good." I pulled my arm free and rest my hand on her shoulder.
. . .
Wait, what do I say now? I've never asked a girl out before...
I glanced at Akane who was just smiling at me again. Clearly her brain wasn't trying to figure this out, so I guess it was down to me. Come on, Junpei! Be the man here!
 "I can...come and get you in the afternoon and we could...go somewhere to eat...or something..." Again, I trailed off but Akane didn't seem to notice.
 "That sounds great, Jumpy! I really, really can't wait!"
Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she turned around and ran away but not before waving at me before she turned the corner.
I stood there for a moment after she left.
 "Geez..." I rubbed the back of my head. "Was she always such a handful?"
I honestly couldn't remember. But I'll probably find out.
In fact, I hope I get to find out a lot more things about Akane.
I hope I get to learn many new things about Akane.
I also...hope I get to see her many more times after tomorrow.

~   ~   ~

I hope you enjoyed my short story/fanfiction about Junpei and Akane <3
Right now, my greatest HOPE is that Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma has at least one ending when everything ends happily and everyone gets to live happy lives and Junpei and Akane can live happily together ;;;
If there is no such ending...my heart will forever be broken </3

Anyway!
Thank you for reading and have a great day! ^O^

BYESIES~! c:
                         xoxo~

A cute edit I made of Junpei and Akane <3

Seasonal Anime Tag~

☆ Winter Anime Tag ☆

Yahalloooo~

Like I said when I did my last seasonal anime tag, I'm here again to do another one! (＾▽＾)
As I'm sure you've already seen, this season was the Winter season and it was full of really awesome series, really good series and...maybe some series that I thought really sucked ;;;
I did watch quite a few though, so... This tag will be a full one indeed! XD
So let's get staaaarted~~ ♪

[ Remember, of course, that the answers to these questions are all my opinion. So don't get all freaky if I dislike something you like ]

~   ~   ~

List of Winter Series I watched;

- Active Raid: Kidou Kyoushuushitsu Dai Hakkei
- Ajin
- Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season (recommend)
- Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (TV) 2nd Season (recommend)
- Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
- Boku dake ga Inai Machi (recommend)
- Bubuki Buranki
- Dagashi Kashi
- Dimension W
- Divine Gate
- Durarara!!x2 Ketsu (recommend)
- Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season (recommend)
- Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (recommend)
- HaruChika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru (recommend)
- Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows 
  (it's 4 episodes of 7 minutes, but I recommend it)
- Kono Danshi, Mahou ga Oshigoto Desu.
- Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
- Luck & Logic
- Musaigen no Phantom World
- Norn9: Norn+Nonet (I don't recommend the anime, but I recommend the otome game!)
- Oshiete! Galko-chan (recommend)
- Prince of Stride: Alternative (recommend)
- Sekkou Boys
- Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu
- Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (recommend)

List of Winter Movies I watched;

- Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai 
- Sarsuberi: Miss Hokusai (recommend)

List of Winter OVAs I watched;

- Akagami no Shirayuki-hime: Nandemonai Takaramono, Kono Page OVA
- Prison School OVA
- Shinmai Maou no Testament Burst OVA

List of Winter Specials I watched;

- Hai to Gensou no Grimgar Special
- Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen - Owaranai Seraph - Nagoya Kessen-hen Special

1. What was the best anime?
The best anime was, without a doubt, Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased).

This anime has already been given the title of "Best anime of 2016" and it aired in...
January?! XD
But honestly, as someone who watched it and enjoyed it very much, I can see that title holding out through the year :,)
The story follows Satoru who has an unexplained power called Revival which means he will randomly be sent several minutes back in time to try and stop accidents from happening. 
When his mother is murdered, Revival occurs again but this time it takes Satoru all the way back to 1988 when he was a child in Primary School. 
He realises that the murder of his mother may be related to the murders of children that happened while he was little and Kayo Hinazaki, who was also victim to this, is alive again and he uses this opportunity to make things right and stop the abductions and killings while protecting those he cares about in the future.

This really is such a great anime! *ω* if you are thinking about watching this and haven't, you definitely should! It's just.. ugH! BEYOND awesome!! ; v ;

[ my rating: 10/10 on MAL ]

2. What was the worst anime?
There are a couple I can think of...but I think the worst (ofc, in my opinion) was Ajin.

I was reluctant to watch this anime in the first place :,) ..in fact in the end, I was convinced to watch this purely because Mamoru Miyano voiced Nagai Kei and Yoshimasa Hosoya voiced Kaito who...actually hasn't been in the anime for several episodes now >. >
This anime follows Nagai Kei who is one of few people in the World who is an Ajin which means he has the ability to never die and can sort of...create a weird black creature?? I don't even know >^<;
Anyway! When he discovers this ability, Kaito is the only one who helps him avoid people who want to capture him for money or capture him to experiment on him. Basically this anime is about Kei struggling to deal with his life after his Ajin ability was discovered...

To me, this anime is just painfully dull and boring ;;; elements of it really don't make sense and the only good thing about this anime is the ending song because of Mamo-chan's beautiful voice ; ω ;
So...yea. I reeeeally don't recommend this anime ;<

[ my rating: 4/10 on MAL ]

3. What was your favourite anime?
My favourite anime was definitely Durarara!!x2 Ketsu!

Durarara!!x2 Ketsu is the final sequel in the Durarara!! series...
Sorry! But, give me a moment to cry for a bit ;;;
I was so excited to see this finale, but so sad about it ending! D; 
..two very conflicting feelings, huh? :,)
So by this point in the story, things in Ikebukuro are in complete and total chaos! XD 
Celty's in trouble, Shinra's in trouble, Anri's in trouble, Kida's in trouble, Ryugamine's in trouble, Shizou's in trouble, Izaya's in trouble, Dotachin's still in trouble-- 
Basically, everyone is in trouble :,D 
And it somehow all gets put right in the end... Well, as right as things can be in Ikebukuro :,)

Durarara!! is my favourite anime series EVER! (´∀｀)♡
And even though I really was sad about it ending, this really was SUCH a awesome way to end it! *ω* each episode was so exciting and when one ended, I wanted the next one immediately! >O<
I'm going to miss these insane characters with everything I have ;;; 
So...I think it's time I rewatch this series right this second, huh? XD

[ my rating: 10/10 on MAL ]

4. What was your favourite OP. song?
This was really hard to answer, actually :,)
I can think of a couple I really love...but I'm still drawn to the most amazing one! ;D
So the answer is Genesis (Dimension W).

Genesis - Dimension W OP.

Literally the second I heard this song...I was hooked! (✧∀✧)
Before I'd start the episode, I'd listen to it a billion times and even after the episode finished, I'd listen to it another billion times :,) I still listen to it NOW! Like, all the time! ; ω ;
This song is a drug, not even kidding! *O*

ALSO! Do you know HOW FREAKING BADLY I wanna see OnoD (Daisuke Ono who voices Kyouma (main character)) to do Kyouma's little funky dance in the OP.?! ;A;
When will that day happen?!?! DX

5. What was your favourite ED. song?
This was a fairly easy question to answer EVEN THOUGH the song I'm about to say took me a long time to realise how awesome is was X,DD
Be My Steady (Prince of Stride: Alternative).

Be My Steady - Prince of Stride: Alternative ED.

Idk WHY it took me so long to love this song, but I really do love it now! *ω*
It's so cool and ASDFGHJKL and stuff! ♡
I also reeeeally want the Prince of Stride otome game to get a translated version! I want that MORE THAN ANYTHING right now! ;O;

6. Who was your favourite character?
This took me a while to think of someone, but once I thought of the character...it seemed like such an OBVIOUS answer! ^ω^
I'm choosing Shirayuki (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season).

Shirayuki is such a lovely girl ; v ;
For once thing, she's beautiful! ♡ it's no wonder Zen loves her too! ;3
But she's also one of the most genuine female characters I've ever seen! ^O^ she's really sweet, kind, bright, determined, she can speak her own mind with ease and she is very caring towards other people /).(\ She's also a herbalist, so she's knowledgeable about medicine! 
..what else do you need in a girl?! X,3
Her and Zen also make the most adorable couple EVER! <3

7. Who was your least favourite character?
When I started thinking about this question, the answer came to me almost straight away! O:
I'm going with Kei Nagai (Ajin).

At first, I really pitied him ;;; ..in a way, I guess I still do?? 
But more than that, he just really pisses me off now >^<;
At the beginning, yea, I admit I really felt bad for him ;< it's not his fault he's an Ajin, after all! And during all that awful torture scene, I just wanted to run in and save him! ;A;
But now?
He's horrible, cruel, emotionally detached and just hella bratty! >. >
I can understand why that maybe the torture caused him to behave this way, but still! I really don't like how he has changed to the way he is ;;; I mean, another Ajin seeks him out because Satou (I won't even go there) planned to do this crazy shit and this guy wanted to stop him. But Kei completely ignored him (even after seeing for himself what Satou is capable of), poisoned his food and he's now keeping him trapped in an abandoned lorry?
Hey dude, like what the fuck?! > <;
I just hate him :,)

~   ~   ~

So that was my Winter Anime Tag!
I know I was kind of early with this since a few series haven't finished yet, but I had answers to everything, so I thought I'd do the tag now :,3

I hope you enjoyed reading and if you're interested, here is a link to my MAL account :3
MyAnimeList - Serahnyan

Thank you for reading and have a great day! n.n

BYESIES~! c:
                         xoxo~

A little bloggy thingy :3

Yahalloooo~

I was just sitting here thinking..
 "I want to write, write, wriiiite!" so I decided to write a blog!
...cool story, bro! ^^"

So anyway! :3
A few minutes ago-- actually, more like over an hour ago now, I finished Nagi no Asukara which is an anime series that I have wanted to watch for such a long time now ;;;
I don't know why it took me so long to start it...I think maybe because I was watching 30 currently airing series at the moment and didn't want to add to that EVEN THOUGH I finished Nagi no Asukara within four days :,) ..whoops! ^^;
This anime was amazing, though! ♡ I rated it a 9/10 on MAL and I will tell you why I didn't give it a 10, so... 

-- beware of spoilers! >ω< --

...we know Hikari x Manaka and Tsumugu x Chisaki?

Something that bothered me was at the start of the anime, it was greatly hinted that Manaka had feelings for Tsumugu and also that Tsumugu had feelings for Manaka. But every now and then, Chisaki would have little moments with Tsumugu even though she was in love with Hikari and Kaname was in love with...her...wait, hang on!

Hikari loves Manaka

Kaname loves Chisaki

Chisaki loves Hikari

Tsumugu loves Chisaki

Manaka ??? Tsumugu

Tsumugu ??? Manaka

Manaka ??? Hikari

There. Maybe that helps a bit?

By the way, I used ??? even though there is more than that, but if I was to go into that explanation, this blog would never end :,)

ANYWAY!

Blah, blah, blah.. So basically everyone loves everyone! X,D

And after the five year time skip, Chisaki was living with Tsumugu because Kaname, Hikari and Manaka had fallen into the ocean and ended up hibernating with everyone else in Shioshishio. During these five years, Tsumugu and Chisaki had fallen in love with each other (though neither of them really knew that) and it just bothered me SO much because I had in my head Tsumugu x Manaka, so when this started, I was like WHAAAAAAAAAT?! >. >

When it became clear that Hikari was in love with Manaka, I thought..

 "Oh, okay! So I bet Kaname will be there for Chisaki and they'll be together.."

But nooooooooope! Tsu-mug-u.. >^<;

But by the end of the series, I found it easier to accept Chisaki and Tsumugu.

Maybe because his confession to her was so sweet and lovely and also the flashbacks over their years together really just...ugh, yea. Got to me ;ω;

Although I really did feel so bad for Kaname </3 my precious little Kaname.. He pains me SO much! ;;; Especially when Sayu-chan (another character) confessed to him, he started crying and saying that he didn't think anyone would be waiting for him while he was hibernating.. 

Holy HELL, I was literally sobbing like a baby! TT____TT

Now about Hikari and Manaka :,3 even before the time skip, it was easy to see Hikari's feelings towards Manaka (..I mean, his confession and him hugging her was a pretty big giveaway!) so I couldn't wait to see more cute moments between them once they came out of hibernation... Which is why I was pretty sad when it was revealed that Manaka could no longer love since that ability to had been taken from her, but I still loved watching Hikari try SO hard for her! Yes! They are perfect for each other! ♡

So...to sum up! XD

In the end, I was happy with Chisaki x Tsumugu and Manaka x Hikari *ω*

..though I would have really liked something more solid between them.. noo, not in a dirty way! >^<; 

I meant a more solid confirmation they were together :c

It would have been nice to see Manaka and Hikari holding hands instead of just sat looking at the sky and maybe have Tsumugu and Chisaki hug each other??? But nope. Pretty much every ship was left open to the interpretation of the viewer which I don't like >. > I like it when everything is closed up nice and properly :,)

So... ya' :3 that's why I rated it 9/10 instead of 10/10 c:

..I'm sorry that was probably VERY confusing to everyone who hasn't seen the anime series ^^"

OMG YES! *O*

Another super awesome amazing brilliant freaking COOL thing happened!!! *v*

For anyone who has known me a while or who reads my blogs, you will know how much I love the Zero Escape game series! I love 999, VLR and I've been waiting for Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma the third and final instalment in the series ;;;

And...last night (it was night for my time, anyway) A TRAILER FOR THE GAME WAS RELEASED ALONG WITH A BUNCH OF NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE GAME!! *ω*

Zero Time Dilemma Trailer [ ENGLISH ver. ]

But I know for a FACT I will be playing the game in Japanese because of the A-MAZ-ING voice cast and also I prefer Japanese dialogue to English anyway :,)
[ side note ] LOOK AT ALL THAT BLOOD! BLOOD AND DEATH! OMFG! It's going to be so amazing! ; v ;

Zero Time Dilemma Trailer [ JAPANESE ver. ]

Here is the voice cast! *ω*

Just... HNNNNNNNNG!! *v*

Miyukichi, OnoD, Sugita, Akira, Maaya AND Tattsun?!?! ♡

Also this website is worth a read!! ..I'm getting SO excited rn.. >/ / /<

Zero Time Dilemma Details Its Decision Game Story And Key Characters

ANDANDAND! Look at these screenshots from the gaaaaaaame!! ♡ω♡

And (last load of information, I promise!) from the Operation Bluebird facebook fanpage about different aspects of the game! ^ω^

Operation Bluebird: Information about the game and the system HERE!

Lastly, enjoy the Zero Time Dilemma Official Artwork! *ω*

The release date, 28th of June, is BURNED into my brain! 

You guys...unless you're fans of the game, just won't get how excited I am! ; v ;

I literally want to set fire to everything, break everything, cry on everything and just...DIE on everything omfgomFGOMFG!! *flaaaaaails arms around* >//O//<

I...think I'll stop this blog here before it gets any longer(ish) :,)

I hope this blog was somewhat entertaining and I'm sorry that the whole Nagi no Asukara rant was kinda confusing ^^"

Aaaaaanyway! :3

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a good or have had a good day~! ^ω^

BYESIES~! c:

                          xoxo~