[Review] Valdana - The Fall

 

We're doing something slightly different today. While the Dorei Cafe is focused first and foremost on Japanese media, I did say in the past that sometimes I may cover something of Western make. This is the case today with Valdana - The Fall, Western Erotic Game that draws heavy inspiration from Kangoku Senkan.

In part, that inspiration is why I chose it to be the first Western game talked about here. It mixes those roots with some aspects of mind control and body modification that I really enjoy so in a way it feels really tailored to my tastes. Another factor is that it uses Honey Select 2 for its graphics - which means that visually, the game is still closer to what we're used to in Japanese works (at least for those of us who play 3D erogames). I know what you want to say. "Using Illusion games for graphics is about the cheapest way to go about making a game". While I don't disagree, this game is completely free and has never been part of any crowdfunded "drip feed for 10 years" project that this kind of game is associated with. Rather, developer Tjord made a habit of releasing feature-complete games and only having optional payment on Itch as a means of monetization. Honestly, if I were to ever try making an erogame and provided I couldn't pay an artist, I'd go with Illusion assets too, so I won't be throwing stones at this particular glass ceiling. And I have played stuff made by Japanese people using 3D Custom Girl back in the day, it's not like this is a Western-only phenomenon, so if anyone happens to be on a high horse, please get down so we can talk porn games. Who knows, you may be positively surprised.

Basic Premise

Valdana takes place in the far future where making developed faster than light travel and colonized the galaxy, though Earth itself was lost. Mankind has since broken down into two major factions, the Alliance of Free Planets, which champions democracy and the progressive values of old Earth under a centralized government, and the Confederacy of Nova Terra (whose citizens are called Neo-Terrans, just like in KS), which is aristocratic in nature and a firm believer in concepts like racial superiority and social Darwinism, as well as being strongly patriarchal, with females being seen as having more of a role as breeders than as active members in politics or military - though that does vary depending on the faction in question. That's one of the cool things about this game, the inner workings of the Alliance and Confederacy are explored enough the player can get a sense of depth for the geopolitics of the world, something that the New Solars and Neo Terrans of KS lacked, in my opinion. 

Amidst this war, there are several neutral planets and systems not allied to either faction. One of them, Valdana, is led by Queen Victorica, also known by the monicker of The Blaze Queen, who is known for her military prowess (having deposed her tyrannical brother 10 years ago) and enjoys overwhelming popularity among the masses and military, with only some members of the aristocracy being nominal opposition to her. Scheming against the queen is our protagonist, Fritz Villers, Archbishop of the Loptr Church, a corrupt institution that serves as a front for a slaver ring and enjoyed power and prestige during previous Kings' rules, but now languishes with its business reduced to smuggling goods between Nova Terra and local nobles while pretending to support the Queen (an act she doesn't buy). Ever since Victorica rose to the throne, Valdana has been showing more and more support to the Alliance, much to the dismay of Villers and the aristocracy, and has also provoked the Neo-Terrans into mounting an attack on Valdana, with the archbishop serving as a contact/spy, as he'd rather see Valdana under Confederate rule than under the banner of the Alliance that goes against his own values.

Villers isn't just a passive pawn in the political game though, his true goal is using equipment he smuggled to the Cathedral basement to brainwash Victorica into his sex slave and seize power over Valdana.

What's the Appeal?

To me, the biggest appeal of this game is how satisfying it feels to corrupt the heroines. There are 6 of them: the aforementioned Queen Victorica de Valdana, her daughter, the strong-willed princess and ace pilot Yuria, the loyal and stoic aide to the queen Yoon-ah Moon, the no-nonsense and capable battleship commander Audrey Denvers, the envoy from the Alliance Fleet Cassandra Picard (yes, that is her surname), also known as the Slaver Hunter for her implacable pursuit and dismantling of slaver rings across the galaxy, and the enemy admiral, the cocky and prideful Neo-Terran noblewoman Samira Latef Hammoudi. They all have distinct, strong personalities that made me look forward to seeing each of them get degraded into lowly slaves, the same sentiment KS heroines often inspired in me. They're capable, fierce, and written in a way that they represent a credible threat and challenge for the protagonist to overcome, especially since the protagonist has to rely on his wits most of the time. I think many nukige make things too easy for the villainous protagonist, and while some girls fall easier than others, in general, that is not the feeling here. They're worthy targets.

Left to right: Victorica, Yuria, Yoona, Audrey, Cassandra, Samira.

Another thing I really like about this game is that it has a setting that feels lived-in. It's not original, by any means - in fact, it wears its references on its sleeve -, but besides the world's background being well explored, character motivations, backstories and interactions all feel real and like these characters do have shared histories and relationships. Moreover, not everything revolves around sex. It might sound weird to praise this in an erotic game, but what I mean is that it feels like the sexual and non-sexual elements of the story feel symbiotic, one builds off the other, instead of the plot feeling like an excuse or something that is tacked on for the sake of sex. Feels like a political power struggle that would happen regardless of the whole sex slave angle. Conversely, things go in the direction they go because a slaver ring is involved and because the protagonist has the interests and proclivities he has. One side props up the other which is something you rarely see in other Western Erotic Games of the same ilk or even in most Nukige really. I appreciate that. 

Another thing that appeals to me is that, unlike Kangoku Senkan where the brainwashing process lasts the whole game and has no outside visual cues, here the women are turned one by one and used as agents against their former allies, and subtle but effective changes in their wardrobe and style reflect their changed allegiance. I live for this kind of thing. 

That's what I meant by saying this game mixes its KS roots with corruption and body modification elements that I like. I'll talk more about it in the spoiler section, but the game has two routes and each features its own type of brainwashing and body modification. And it doesn't stop at subtle changes either, some girls get a more extreme makeover depending on their role in the story and the protagonist's intentions with her. For a taste of that, take a look at how the same character turns out in each route.

I do have to bring up a negative though: there are grammar and spelling mistakes aplenty. They're minor errors, nothing that gets in the way of reading comprehension, but they happen often. And that's bound to bother people. English is a second language to me so I'm not really upset by these mistakes, but the fact I caught them as often as I did speaks to their frequency. It's a sad blemish on a game that still, despite that, has the writing as its strongest suit.

Another issue I should mention, Honey Select 2 is rather outdated, and the output of whatever machine developer Tjord is running doesn't give the best results for things like hair, so some textures may look a bit weird. There are fan-made upscaling modes that mitigate the issue, and at the game's native resolution (which is smaller than the full pictures pulled from the game's files) even the base game looks fine, in my opinion. Clipping is a more noticeable issue to which there is no solution, and again, something that will vary from person to person how willing to overlook they are. For me, both graphical issues are minor enough that they don't bother me. I've seen my share of monstrosities both in 2D and 3D to know how much effort went into the making of this game and I don't want to diss it because of the limitations Honey Select has. You're welcome to be the judge of the game's visuals by the images I'm using to illustrate this article, some which are game screenshots and some that are from the game files because my dumbass forgot to take enough screenshots - should be obvious which is which by the presence or lack of a UI. As a side note, I'm not using visual improvement mods for the purposes of this review.

Recommending my favorite Miel games, because why not?

I recently played Miel's newest title, Tomodachi no Kyonyuu Mama wa Zenbu Ore no Mono!, and since it really surpassed my expectations, I wanted to talk about it. But I've always had trouble with how to approach writing about Miel: not only most of their titles are too similar, meaning reviewing one would mean I'd have nothing to say about others - essentially locking myself out of reviewing more -, but even my favorites are so simple and straightforward there's not a lot to be said about them. But then I realized that was something I could take advantage of - since I don't need many lines to get my thoughts on each game out, they're perfect for a list format.

I started trying to make a top 10, but soon realized that wouldn't work either - my own biases made me choose games that were way too similar for the top spots, which is counterproductive to my goal of not being too repetitive. Moreover, I felt like ordering the games was a completely arbitrary process influenced strongly by both recency bias and nostalgia, in a list that was already very biased by taste. So I decided to group the games by category - that allowed me to talk more freely about the games while drawing attention to what I thought was the highlight of each one. And since I wasn't constrained by a top 10 format, I ended up with 12 recommendations. A number of them have been translated to English by Cherry Kiss games, and I'll put the localized title in parentheses when a translation exist.

Common points among most games

Almost all Miel harem games follow a similar formula - a protagonist that is hated, mocked or simply ignored by women around him gets in a position where he can rape them, makes them submit to him after one dicking (something called sokuochi, instant fall, something that will figure on a future Hentai Glossary post), becoming his adoring slaves. So the first few scenes of the game are dedicated to conquering the harem while the rest is putting it to good use. The sex scenes can get pretty hardcore, but the tone is kept light-hearted all the way, with the focus being on the absolute devotion the slaves experience.

Some games break this mold but they'll show up as their own category and be explained then.

Fantasy Harem

Let's start with the most popular type of Miel game. Honestly, I mean to get them out of the way first, as it's what most will probably be familiar with already. 

The Fantasy titles usually have some magic explanation for the protagonist's suddenly being able to turn the tables - from contracts with evil artifacts and beings, to cheat skills, to simply being summoned as the only male in a female-only world where they're unable to resist a man. As for the protagonist's origins, the majority of the titles feature the stock Isekai premise of someone being summoned or reincarnated in a parallel world, but there are a number of titles with a MC native to the fantasy land as well.

Riruka's experiments went horribly right

One highlight of this category is Isekai Haramase Harem Party (localized in English as Harem Hunter: Sex-Ray Vision). After dying from overwork, the protagonist is reincarnated in a fantasy world, but he didn't get any of the perks that usually come with it - no special powers, no godly guidance, no cheat skills, and so he's basically an ordinary guy. He still tries to become an adventurer, but he's just a pushover who gets made fun of by the others. He gets tricked by Riruka, the mage of a prominent all-female party, into helping her with an experiment, which was actually just testing dangerous potions and drugs on him, However, this has the unforeseen effect of granting him the ability to see the sexual weak points of people. It's like seeing their stats, but instead, he sees what kinks and weak spots they have buried deep into their bodies and psyches, and takes advantage of that to bring them to their knees. It's as good an excuse as any for sokuochi antics and has more thought put into it than simple "power of the dick" scenarios, and making every girl revolve around a specific fetish helps make them distinct even after mindbreak - something other Miel games struggle with. My favorite is definitely Moa, the Priestess who develops into a huge exhibitionist.

Besides the four main party members the protagonist conquers (made up of the aforementioned mage and priestess, a beast folk swordswoman, and an elf archer), there's also 3 side heroines the party encounters during their questing and the protagonist brings to their knees: a dark elf thief, a demon girl and a stuck up princess. It adds a nice variety to the scenes.

Another game I really like of the fantasy selection is Dekachichi Muchishiri BBA Kishidan (or Hot & Steamy Knights) where the protagonist is the only male in a female-only world and has already built an empire (this game is a thinly veiled sequel of Bakunyuu Himekishi wa Haramase Onaho, but the connections are only references), but a shipwreck leaves him stranded on unfamiliar territory protected by a troupe of 4 mature knights. Deciding to take them one after the other and rebuild his kingdom, he goes after them, plays them against each other, and so on. It got some really good moments like the Priestess Martina renouncing her faith to devote herself to cock or how the enslaved knights will set up traps and fight their former companions for the protagonist, but other than that, it's the standard fare - only with Akagi Rio's artwork instead of Ishii Akira. The artwork alone makes this one worth it honestly, it's the best art and scenarios among the Miel games with Akagi's art.

Lastly, I'd be remiss not to mention Elf Tanezuke Bokujou (Elf Breeding Farm), a game with only elf heroines getting enslaved and treated like livestock (but without pet play and actual pig or cow cosplay involved for the most part. It's more in the sense that Elves are a race of cattle themselves, which gets my seal of approval). The premise rings similar to Haramase Harem Party as the protagonist is subjected to Dark Elf's Melvy's experiments, but ends up overwhelming her. It turns out elves, being a long-lived and chaste race, are extremely weak to pleasure and even stuff like the smell of semen. So the protagonist pushes forward against the extremely prejudiced Elves and puts them in their place as his personal breeding stock, from their knights and princesses to their ancient queen Iris. This one got really good character designs (Ishii does some really delicious Elves) and lots of bondage scenes, it's sole sticking out point to me is that the girls are naked the entire time after being enslaved. It helps drive the point that they're lower than humans, but I always look forward to perverted clothing in Miel games. Plus, the lack of secondary heroines or scenes with one-scene extras takes away from the feeling of "becoming the ruler of the Elvish country" the game has going for it. Some titles later in this post will make what I mean by this a bit more clear.

Iris, the purple-haired elf in the top right image, is my favorite among the many elves Ishii Akira designed over the years.

That's about it for the fantasy harem titles. While they're the most popular in Miel's catalog, they're not my favorites. I tend to prefer modern settings. That is not to say I dislike the Fantasy titles, I do like them. But to me, Miel is at its best when it's doing...

Modern-day Harem

Basically the same structure as the fantasy games but taking place in a contemporary setting, I find them to be more varied when it comes to both the games' themes and the looks of the heroines - I find that a lot of the time, the fantasy Miel games are limited by the stock races/classes and by having the main clothing be very similar-looking armor. In that sense, a modern setting allows for more freedom as far as the designs go, and that's why I like them better. On the other hand, the scenarios are much less varied - almost all modern-day Miel games take place in a setting where male fertility rates have plummeted and the birth rates are at an all-time low. There comes along the protagonist who not only can get hard but has an abnormally large member that can churn out ridiculous amounts of semen, and all the girls are his for the taking - sometimes by law, sometimes in spite of it. Hentai logic through and through.

First, let's start with the game that motivated this post. Tomodachi no Kyonyuu Mama wa Zenbu Ore no Mono! was released on March 22, 2024. The protagonist grew up with an inferiority complex about his dick thinking it was below average because of his childhood friends always telling tall tales about theirs when in reality he's incredibly well-endowed - at one point he says his dick is "just" the size of a PET bottle and that he can "only" cum about 30 times a day. He also constantly fantasizes about these friends' mothers, who are all hot women from different walks of life - a businesswoman, a teacher, his neighbor who helps look out for him (the MC's parents are out of the picture), a refined and proper stay-at-home mom, and a former delinquent who now works retail, and thinks that if he had a big dick he would make them his, as polygamy is allowed for men who have outstanding fertility. Then, when the very strict teacher (and one of the aforementioned mothers) Atsuko catches him having an erection in class and decides to discipline his spirit through a judo lesson after school, the protagonist ends up with his pants down due to a poorly executed grapple and the truth about his dick is out, giving him the confidence to rape the teacher right in front of him and, when she submits, proceed with the harem plan he always dreamed about.

This is by all accounts a stock Miel plot. What makes it special is that scene-to-scene writing and the girls' voice acting are really good. It's one of their games that gets the "degrading strong women into slaves" the best, and little moments like the one who used to be the most dedicated housewife complaining that her husband and son get in the way of her serving her Master and that she wants get rid of them already are the cherry on top. The protagonist is also deliciously cruel to them - something that isn't rare for Miel protagonists, one of their selling points being the whole erohidoi ("lewd and twisted") nature of the content, but I feel this goes a step beyond with setups like the protagonist spanking them while they prostrate themselves and then choosing the two who had the nicest screams to be "rewarded" by sucking his dick and lick his ass while making pig sounds. The chosen girls also happen to be the tough former delinquent and cold businesswomen who were the hardest characters for him to approach and rape at the beginning.

Those little moments make Miel games stand out for me and this one is full of them. And this game has some of the best blowjob sounds I've ever heard in an eroge, the voice actresses and directing really deserve some praise here. The writing does help with the girls losing themselves in the act instead of talking while giving head, giving an impression they're really ruled by their female instincts - the protagonist jokingly thinks in one scene that they're so single-mindedly dedicated to the act it's almost like they forgot how to speak. Good stuff.

The netori is the cherry on top with staples like the "sex while on the phone with the husband" scene having good twists like every lovey-dovey line she says having a double meaning and being actually directed at the protagonist's dick. The protagonist chooses to not have his slaves divorce the husbands right away because he wants to enjoy the thrill of cheating for a while, and that leads to some fun moments, especially with how ready the girls are to just drop their families including their sons as soon as he gives the order.

I'm going to stop myself from gushing about the game right now, being something I just played and is fresh in the memory, it's unfair to compare to others I haven't played for years. Stuff like this is why I didn't want to make a top 10. But still, I do feel that the writing is above average by Miel's standards. The art by Maki Daikichi can look a bit off at times, but nothing major.

Anyway, moving on.

Hentai Glossary I to J

It's been a while since we have one of these. I had a bit of writer's block plus at one point I lost half my progress on it, which really doesn't help my motivation. But enough excuses. Let's get to it.

For those unfamiliar, Hentai Glossary is a series of posts where I go through some terminology that shows up around Japanese erotic media, some specific to the power fantasy-related themes we talk about here, and some more generalist ones. If you missed the previous posts, click here to see the index with the entries already covered.

Inmon (淫紋)/Lewd Crest/Magic Tattoo

Sometimes also called a Lust Crest, it's a tattoo that affects the victim's sexual desire. Usually magic in nature, but sometimes you see technological versions in sci-fi settings.

The victim is almost always female, and the tattoo is almost always heart-shaped and placed on the pelvic region, with barcode designs, uterus designs, and elements like devil tails and wings also being common (the latter when the tattoo is demonic in origin). Sometimes the tattoo will mix two or more of these elements for a more unique design.

As for the effects, there are usually two types. The most common is a tattoo that is placed against the will of the heroine and raises her libido and sexual sensitivity against her will, being used as a tool for corruption and sexual training. The more sexual actions are done the stronger the sensations get until it completely erodes the resistance and reason of the heroine making her a slave to the pleasure and to the one who branded her with the crest. With this type, it's common for the crest to glow when active (sometimes only for the reader's benefit) or even change shapes and colors as it "matures" and further corrupts the heroine, like in the example to the right, from Ore Isekai de Mahou Tsukai ni Naru.

As for the less common type, the tattoo still has the power of enhancing sexual sensations and binding the victim to her master, but it only shows up after her corruption has been completed, as definitive, visible proof of its success.

Basically, the imprinting of a Lewd Crest is either the first or the final step of the corruption process, with rare in-between. It can be accompanied by physical changes (especially if its magical or demonic in nature), but that's not a rule.

Top Row: Kangokujo; Isekai Choroine wa, Itomo Kantan ni Otosareru
Bottom Row: Soutai Akki Altena Lune; Ochi Shirube ~Sousakan, Inmon Kaikan ni Otsu~

JAV

JAV is an acronym for "Japanese Adult Video", and it is just that, live-action porn produced in Japan.

I can't really think of much to say that isn't entirely subjective, and maybe a post about what I like about JAV when compared to Western porn may be in order sometime (at which point I'll edit this to direct you there), but there's a different atmosphere to them, especially when we're talking about fetish porn.

The most notable thing about JAV to a non-Japanese audience is the censorship. Due to Japanese law, genitalia in JAVs are censored, usually through pixelation. I'm not particularly bothered by it, but it's a huge point of contention to some and keeps some people from being able to enjoy JAV entirely.

JAVs are cataloged by production number, which we also call JAV code, which is usually made of a series of letters followed by a series of numbers. The amount of letters and numbers varies according to the producer, but it's usually 4 letters and 3 numbers for non-VR productions (cataloging for those works is slightly different and I never bothered to learn as I don't have a VR device). So for example, EXPL-042 for the 42th title released by the Example company.

Jikan Teishi (時間停止)/Time Stop

Jikan Teishi -Toki yo Tomare-

The ability to stop time and do lewd things while time is stopped. Sometimes also called 時姦 (Jikan), a portmanteau of 時間 (Jikan, Time) and 強姦 (Gokan, Rape). Other common terms associated with the genre are Jikan yo Tomare or Toki yo Tomare, both also meaning "Stop Time". And yes, that is a Jojo reference.

There are some variations on how it works, sometimes the girl's body is completely unreactive, like a doll's, and sometimes it does react to stimuli like pleasure and pain, but isn't conscious of it. Then, once time starts flowing again, all those sensations hit the brain at once causing an extreme reaction.

A complete lack of agency on the part of the heroine and complete control by the user of the time-stop power is also part of the appeal.

There are many works focused solely on time stop, but it also can show up as an element in one scene or two of works that feature supernatural powers or mind control (as it can used for a kind of "fake time stop" where the victim is merely hypnotized into being frozen in time).

Left Column: Gakuen de Jikan yo Tomare; Time Stop Fantasia
Right Column: Jikan Teishi Wakarase

Joshi Gakusei (女子学生)/Schoolgirl

Literally meaning "Female Student", Joshi Gakusei is a schoolgirl.

Fetishizing school uniforms is a thing pretty much everywhere, but in Japan, maybe due to how prevalent school settings are in media and how romanticized school life is in Japanese culture, appreciation for schoolgirls as both something non-sexual and culturally resonant and as a sexual fetish seems to be more common than in other places, at least from an outsider looking in.

The most common type of schoolgirl showing up in hentai is the Joshikousei (女子高生), High School Girl, often abbreviated as JK, with Joshichuugakusei (女子中学生), Middle School Girl, sometimes abbreviated as JC also being common.

High Schools and Middle School uniforms are a bit interchangeable, having several styles, the most well-known in the West being the sailor-fuku, inspired by old naval uniforms, but modern uniforms have a blazer and ribbon tie instead, and in drawn media we have all kinds of stylish uniforms that wouldn't be a thing in a real-life school.

Joshishougakusei, (女子小学生), Elementary School Girl, abbreviated as JS, is also a thing, but since we're focusing on uniforms as a visual marker of a schoolgirl, it's a rare sight as many artists avoid portraying cliché elementary school uniform staples like randoseru backpacks and yellow hats, as often something too blatant won't be carried on retail sites even in Japan.

Top Row: Ura Kyoushi; Seidorei Gakuen 2
Bottom Row: DSKBJCS - Dosukebe Juices; Saimin Tengoku (Hypnosis Heaven)

Joushiki Kaihen (常識改変)/Common Sense Alteration

It's a type of mental control where a person or group of people's perception of what is and isn't normal is altered. Sometimes also called Joushiki Henkan (常識変換, Common Sense Conversion).

Usually comes in two flavors: either one character or group of character's common sense is altered over the course of the story for a more traditional corruption/mind control story, or everyone in a given location has their common sense completely changed from the start and the work will focus on showing the "new normal" in action.

As for what kinds of changes, it can be anything, from students believing that a vibrator is part of their school uniform, to a magical girl believing the correct way to defeat villains is through using her pussy of justice to drain the evildoer's dick, to women in a company believing that not only the restrooms are co-ed, but that it's the responsibility of the female employees to provide sexual relief to the males when they go together. 

Common sense change can be the process or ending result of the brainwashing process of the main characters of a story, or it can be used for bigger orgies with many characters. If there's a character that isn't affected, usually by the end of the story, they will. The appeal and tone may also vary, from some focusing on seeing characters act in an abnormal and perverted way like it's normal to do so, while others may focus on the hopelessness of a character trusted into a situation where everyone started acting crazy and she may be next. Like the broader mind control genre itself, Common Sense Change is a tool that can be used in many ways.

Top Row: Kyonyuu Gal MC Kousai; Kousoku o Omoidoori ni Kakikaerareru Techou o Te ni Ireta
Bottom Row: Saimin Gakuen 1-nensei, Ijirare Fukushuu Saimin
Rightmost image: YUITA-MA

Jukujo (熟女)/MILF

Jukujo means mature woman, usually referring to women between 30 and 50 years old.

In hentai, that will usually translate to plump bodies with huge breasts and thick thighs. The breasts will have some noticeable sag to them, which is something many artists drawing younger girls neglect, how much sag will vary depending on the artist, as will how plump the women will look. Noticeable makeup and full lips are also more common than in drawings of younger girls.

Of course, a lot of that depends on the art style, and many artists may draw younger girls with those characteristics as well, but you'll rarely find something carrying the label of "mature" without at least some of those characteristics.

I'm picking MILF as a suitable equivalent instead of the more literal "Mature Woman" because I think it gets the image across much more clearly, regardless of whether or not the woman has children (which seems to be becoming increasingly irrelevant in labeling someone a MILF as well, anyway).

Top Row: Hitozuma Kyoushi wa Moto Mahou Shoujo; Ochiru Hitozuma; Kyonyuu Princess Saimin
Bottom Row: Dekachichi Muchishiri BBA Kishidan; Netorare Jukubo Natsuko; Omae no Kaa-chan Ikutoki no Kao Sugee Busu da zo

And that concludes today's entries into the Hentai Glossary. Next post will hopefully not take as long as this one, as it has a few subjects I've been looking forward to covering for a while.

I'd also like to remind the readers that the glossary is open to suggestions. If you have a term you want to see here, comment. Even if its letter is already behind, it can always be added in an addendum post.

Eroge Review: Isekai Choroine wa, Itomo Kantan ni Otosareru ~Are, Boku no Kanojo... Netorarechaimashita?~

異世界チョロインは、いとも簡単に堕とされる ～あれ、ボクの彼女…寝取られちゃいました？～
Developer: Appetite
Release Date: 2024/02/09 [Digital], 2024/02/22 [Physical] (Japan)
Platform: PC (Windows)
Scenario: Gessu
Artist: Inoue Nanaki
Language: Japanese
Censorship: Mosaics 
Price: 1,540 JPY (approx. 10 USD)
VNDB page
ErogameScape page

Introduction

One of the games I brought up in my post about games releasing in the first trimester, it ended up being the first (and for now only) I played due to both its short length and because I was genuinely curious.

The premise is simple: the protagonist was summoned to a parallel world, given a bunch of cheat skills and tasked with defeating the Demon King. He assembles a party of powerful female heroines and after a long journey, defeats the demon. Your standard isekai premise. After the Demon King's defeat,  Sarge Masklind, a princess imbued with divine power hailing from the Kingdom the protagonist was summoned in, confesses her love for him, and the two promise to be together forever.

However, just when the Hero thought he would have a life of relaxing and enjoying a slow life in the now peaceful parallel world, a ray of light transports him back to his room in the human world, with almost no time having passed. The silver lining is that Sarge, who was hugging him, came with him. He initially tries to tell himself that this is enough for him to be happy, but being back to the human world and without his cheat skills causes the protagonist to relapse into the extremely antisocial behavior he had before, refusing to leave home and sleeping almost all the time, and being very rude to Sarge. He tells her to go out and get food for them, figuring that a beautiful girl like her would have no trouble getting help in the nearby shopping street. 

The thing is Sarge is stupid. She's innocent to a level that just isn't normal, both about mundane things and especially about sexual things. And despite their shared vows, she and the protagonist have not gone beyond kissing and holding hands. So, as the title of the game should make it obvious, Sarge's escapades to procure food for the shut-in moron of a Hero leads her to encounters with other men and get corrupted by them.

The thing that makes this game stand out is that there are 3 corruption paths where Sarge can become a party-loving kuro gyaru, a foreigner-obsessed prostitute, or even be found out by remnants of the Demon King's army and transformed into a demon.

The fork between the three routes is the protagonist waking up to one of these three images after neglecting Sarge for weeks.

The idea is that she's "painted in the colors" of the men she falls victim to, in both a figurative and literal sense, as it involves body modifications of both mundane (tanning, tattoos, breast implants) and magical (body modification, brainwashing). The "Choroine" in the title is a portmanteau of the words "choroi", which in slang means an easy or dumb woman, and heroine. Shinomiya Hina, Sarge's voice actress, joked that it's a pretty cruel title but a fitting one for what happens to her character. 

It's also why the corruption can happen so fast even when no magic is at play - Sarge has a very high libido despite her ignorance about sex. In the prologue scene when she first kisses the protagonist, she would absolutely have kept going right then and there if the protagonist didn't chicken out thinking it was "too much stimulation for a virgin like him" and that they should take things slowly. So a combination of that naturally high sex drive and her innocence and curiosity leads to her being tricked into sexual relationships fast.

As a side note, while this is a netorare game, I found it absolutely impossible to feel bad for the protagonist. I usually don't, anyway, but the Hero feels written to be despised and not sympathized with. Japanese reviews I read seem to echo that sentiment. So despite the setup it may not be for fans of more hardcore "identify with the cucked guy" netorare. But it's right up my alley of "appreciating twisted corruption", especially the demon route.

Another thing I should note is that, given this is an Appetite game, the routes are very short - there's an introduction scene, one flashback scene showing the princess' first encounter with the man who led her astray, a sex scene playing out right after the introduction that serves the role of destroying the protagonist's hope of returning Sarge to her former self, and a scene after a time skip where Sarge has changed even further, to the point of becoming almost unrecognizable.

There is also a fourth route that is unlocked after seeing the first 3 endings, but I will discuss it later.

I think for the pricetag this is enough content, but the routes can still feel short, especially if you like one scenario over the others. But to discuss further, let's go into spoiler territory. As usual, skip to the conclusion if you just want to read the final thoughts.

Spoiler Talk

So, the production team made no secret that the game was conceived around the demon route and the others are expansions, and it shows. Not only does it have a slightly different structure, but it's also the one that doesn't need to stretch my disbelief about how dumb Sarge can be. The fourth route I mentioned above also functions almost like its continuation. In the fourth route, Sarge shows up alone, as "something that can't be called human anymore", a form even more demonic than at the end of the Demon route, and she implies in dialogue that she has gone through the experiences of the three routes ("met lots of men and got tainted by them"), but she's on her own now. Other than this re-introduction, everything could easily take place in a fork of the Demon route. I will talk briefly about each route and its contents in the suggested playing order.

Pick your flavor of Sarge

[News] Kyousei Shihai - Character profiles and first CG previews

 A couple weeks ago I reported Bishop announced a new game, Kyousei Shihai, and promised to bring more information soon. Very soon after I made that post new information did came out but I decided to wait a while before reporting to see if more stuff came out. It didn't, so today I bring the translated character profiles and a look at the first scene previews of each one.

As a refresher, Kyousei Shihai is about a health teacher who gets the power to manipulate people's chi energy after a near-death experience and is particularly good at using it for lewd purposes. He played around with his power too much on his previous job and got fired, but luckily for him, the nature of his sexual abuse was kept under wraps. He tried to lay low on his new job, but eventually got a threatening letter saying that if he didn't get the job by the end of the semester, the truth would come out. He tries to guess who is threatening him, uses his powers on the most likely candidate (the first heroine listed below), finds out he guessed wrong, and decides that, since he's fucked anyway, he might as well wing it and try to enjoy things to the fullest before he's busted and possibly jailed.

With that in mind, he turns his sight to these five lovely schoolgirls.

Suou Miyuri

3rd Year
Height: 162cm
B/W/H: 90 (F-cup)/59/88cm
Artist: Mizushima Oonari

A mature-looking beauty who possesses unshakable self-confidence, almost like a queen.

Despite that, she acts with kindness towards others, with elegance to spare. Because her parents are investors in the school, she enjoys a high social standing on campus, being highly respected by teachers and students alike.

However, towards the protagonist alone she doesn't hide her animosity, going as far as leveraging her influence to try to drive him out of school. 

My impressions: I'm always a fan of the haughty, overconfident ones. The preview doesn't go into why she hates the protagonist so much, but I'm guessing it's just because he's a lecherous character. As I mentioned the protagonist thought she was the one threatening him, but it turns out it wasn't. Still, her fate is sealed. The scene preview brings attention to her clitoris size and sensitivity, but it's early to tell if that will be the focus of her route. I personally hope so, would be funny seeing the queen bee of the school brought to her knees through clit teasing.

Kousaka Sarasa

1st Year
Height: 160cm
B/W/H: 91cm (F-cup)/60/90cm
Artist: Kinmedai Pink

A girl with devilish charm who captivates men with voluptuous beauty unbefitting of her age.

Although she is slender as a model, she's also developed in the right places, having a coquettish figure that mixes loveliness and sexiness and makes her very popular with the boys at school.

As she's well aware of her good looks and is used to being pampered by men, she came to see the opposite sex as inferior.

In addition to that, she's a prodigy who can generally do things better than most people, but due to a lack of interest, she puts no effort into things, choosing to live lazily instead.

Conversely, she also has an earnest side that devotes herself entirely to things that she does find interesting.

My impressions: Last part threw me for a curveball. Wasn't expecting the wagamama type girl to also be secretly smart. I guess it plays in that since she has always been catered to due to her good looks, she doesn't feel like she has to put any effort? Often these profiles are weirdly put together (like how it goes "she's slim but also big boobs and ass") so we'll see, I guess. I do like that the heroine with the fullest figure is also the youngest, that's a fun subversion. 

Hard to say what her route will focus on, the preview is a lactation scene, but this isn't unique to her as we will soon see. Since in Bishop games either only one girl has lactation or they all have, I'm assuming that one of the protagonist's chi powers is inducing lactation.

Kanno Iori

3rd Year
Height: 156cm
B/W/H: 88 (E-cup)/57/89cm
Artist: Yoshino Keiko

The Student Council President who is innocent and naive despite her appearance.

She's energetic and pours that energy into everything she does, plus she's courageous and just.

Since she took office, the school regulations have been changed three times due to her putting on pressure.

She is known to rush into problems with a reckless attitude, but due to her good nature and spirit, she manages to get through somehow.

Following her heart for better or worse, while she rushes headfirst into things she decided to do, she can be a pushover when dealing with things she has no interest in.

My impressions: A reckless and immature Student council president isn't something you see every day. I'm interested. And Yoshino Keiko drew some of the best CG for Bishop's previous game (Shinshoku), so I'm looking forward to seeing them working with them again. And with a very different character type. I think this is the girl I'm looking forward to the most. Her preview scene also features lactation, so it's hard to discern whether that will be the main focus or not, but it is worth noting that the text puts more of a focus on it than on Sarasa's scene.

Asatsuki Yuuhi

2nd Year
Height: 152cm
B/W/H: 87 (E-cup)/56/85cm
Artist: Kurono Tomoaki

The star of the track and field club, to which the protagonist serves as the advisor teacher.

Although she appears quiet and emotionless, she just has trouble expressing her feelings and is actually the type who acts before she thinks.

A clumsy meathead of a girl who gets so absorbed by track and field events that neglects nearly everything else.

Due to her intense training, she's always hungry, so she became somewhat attached to the protagonist due to him giving her candy every once in a while. 

My impressions: I'm usually not a fan of expressionless girls in this kind of game, as I prefer a change between two extremes of emotions. But she sounds fun. She strikes me as a character who would be among my favorites if she was in a non-H anime, I just love this kind of gap moe. I think the protagonist's power will help her break the expressionless thing pretty fast, given the preview scene seems to be an early one and she is already showing both fear and pleasure. The scene also features some pissing, which I think Bishop games use well as a tool for humiliation.

I didn't expect to be as interested in Yuuhi as I am, honestly, especially since I'm not a huge fan of Tomoaki's artwork (what is in the previews looks good though). I hope the writing of her route lives up to expectations.

Matsubayashi Rumi

2nd Year
Height: 157cm
B/W/H: 85 (D-cup)/57/88cm
Artist: Mizushima Oonari

A Health Committee member who gives off a frail and meek vibe.

Since she often went to the Nurse's office due to small injuries, she ended up growing closer to the protagonist.

During her repeated treatments, the protagonist continued to shower her in Lewd Chi, and even though it wasn't done through the proper method, it increased the sensitivity of her whole body and made it more susceptible to sexual arousal.

As he starts acting on his desires after the incident with Miyuri, he finds Rumi's almost constant presence in the Nurse's office inconvenient, so instead he rapes her and forces the girl to become his accomplice.

My impressions: An assistant. Sort of. Only time will tell whether she will have a reduced role and shorter route as Bishop assistants tend to do, but the fact she only gets raped after the first girl and is turned into the protagonist's accomplice on the fly is interesting. She's not his slave, but if the preview scene is anything to go by, there's not a lot of resistance in there, as she gets really enthusiastic about sex with the protagonist even though it's her first time, and is left a complete mess mumbling about how good it feels. As usual, pink-haired Bishop girls are lewd.

That said, if any of the girls is the culprit behind the mysterious letter, I think it's gotta be her. Some of the wording in her profile as well as her being the closest to the protagonist and the person in the new school he's been using his powers on the most makes her a prime suspect. Maybe she's not as weak-willed and obedient as she seems at first. However, I doubt any resistance will last past the first few sex scenes, especially if she, as past assistant-type characters, has fewer scenes than the others.

So this is what information we have on Kyousei Shihai as well as some of my thoughts and speculations. Don't expect to see this game again very soon around here, as I plan to update again only when the features page on the official site (which is not open yet) is fully updated, which tends to happen one month or so before release, so sometime in late April. Then I'll be able to bring more detailed info on the game and take a proper guess at its length and content. As well as bring lots more of previews.

[JAV Review] Brainwashing Ring Series

 

I mentioned this series on passing in a previous post, and I think it's a good pick for a review since it has just two entries and they have some pretty significant differences.

Sennou Ring, or Brainwashing Ring, is a series by SOD, as most mind control JAV I'll be discussing in the future, really, both by a matter of taste - their directors tend to make the kind of mind control movies I enjoy -, and due to SOD being such a centralizing company in the current JAV market some accuse it of monopoly. But that discussion is neither here nor now.

The mind control aspect of this series, the titular Brainwashing Rings, are actually metal collars with a heart-shaped light attached to them that lights up when the collar is first activated, and are controlled via a controller app on the owner's smartphone. I have never seen collars referred to as rings in Japanese before, so no idea what's going on with that naming convention. Once attached, the collar "erodes" the victim's personality and puts them in a trance state ready to receive orders, but completely rewriting the conscious personality takes more work - what exactly differs between the two entries, so I'll go into specifics in the reviews proper. There's two states of control, a doll-like trance (which in the first move has blue eyes and is called "Blue of Puppet Training")  and the fully brainwashing, slave personality with red eyes ("Red of Obedient Slavery"). There are also other functions that I'll describe in more detail as they become relevant in the movies, as their usage diverges a bit between movies.

And now that the core concept has been explained, let's get into the specifics of each film.

Sennou Ring ni Shinshokusareteiku Konkatsu Josei-tachi "Watashi-tachi, Unmei no Danna-sama Goshujin-sama ni Deaemashita"

The Marriage-seeking Women Corrupted by the Brainwashing Ring "We Met Our Predestined Husband Master"
Production Number/"JAV code": SDDE-671
Release date: 2022/04/21
Maker: SOD Create
Label: SENZ
Director: Dazai Chinpo (太宰珍歩)
Actresses: Yuuki Nono (結城のの), (Kobayakawa Reiko (小早川怜子), Misono Waka (美園和花)
Runtime: 125 minutes

The JAV opens with two office ladies working, played by Yuuki Nono (who I learned while working on this post has since retired from JAV to work as a regular talent, a jump not many can make. Good for her!) and Misono Waka. Like most JAV, the characters share their actresses' names, so unless I specify I'm talking about the actress, I'm referring to the character. Hopefully, that doesn't get confusing.

The focus of this first part is squarely on Nono, who is the main female lead, or rather, the main target of the soon-to-be-introduced male protagonist. While she works, she thinks about how from a young age she adopted a mentality that women can succeed in the workplace not just as well as men, but better, and with that mindset she applied to a first-rate company and has been outdoing her male co-workers for a while. She also admires her senpai, Waka, for also being a high-ranking woman in the company, but Waka doesn't share Nono's distaste for men and in fact, wants to marry. However, her standards are high (she wants someone of a higher social standing than her, nice, from a good family, etc), and from Nono's very biased and sapphic perspective, Waka is a goddess and there must be almost no men worthy of her, aside from a few CEOs out there. At the same time, she also thinks to herself that if she was born a man, she would definitely be able to make Waka happy. Of course, given the kind of porn this is, Waka is going to get knocked down a peg from her lofty ambitions and Nono is going to get a bit of a paradigm shift, so to say.

Nono (left) and Waka (right)

Waka frequently participates in activities and services meant to introduce people who want to marry, a very East Asian thing as far as I know that sometimes raises some eyebrows in the West. I really don't find it too dissimilar from using dating apps to search for partners, just with another focus. Nono accompanies Waka in many of those, as is not uncommon to attend such things in group, even though she obviously has no intention of getting married. This is what leads them to Kobayakawa Reiko, who works at a company that offers this kind of matchmaking service, and she's able to quickly discern what kind of image they want to send out to potential suitors. However, while they were there, Waka and Nono caught the eye of Watanabe, a member of the board of directors of the matchmaking service's parent company, who forces Reiko's hand into arranging a meeting between him and the two women, much to her dismay. It goes as well as you'd expect, with the two women laughing off Watanabe's attempts at flirting and leaving after verbally humiliating him.

The old man returns the next day to Reiko's meeting room and says that she'll become a sacrifice for him to get those women back, taking a Brainwashing Ring out of his bag and clasping it around her neck. Reiko is first forced to stay awake but unable to move her body while Watanabe explores it with his hands and tongue. Reiko Kobayakawa is a great erotic actress and has lots of experience with mind-control movies, so she's able to sell the idea she can't move very well by combining stiff body language and very wide-eyed, slightly exaggerated expressions. When Watanabe switches gears to the Puppet Training mode, her expressionless act is also flawless, only showing reactions when it's appropriate, like when Watanabe turns the character's tongue into a second clitoris and stimulates it with his fingers and later penis. The shots of Reiko with her mouth agape and drool trailing off her tongue when he takes her from behind are just great.

Reiko's training scene is pretty lengthy and involves more than just these 4 positions, but these get the idea across

Then it goes to the usual song and dance of, after playing/training Reiko enough, Watanabe reawakens her consciousness just to tell her that her brainwashing will be complete when he cums inside her, much to her despair. As you might have noticed, this is all standard fare for mind control JAV, and there's nothing so far that makes the use of the titular Brainwashing Ring special or any different from countless mind control app stories or even SOD's own Sennou Drill series. This first one does play things safer, but it gets more interesting when we get to Waka. So I'll fast forward to that.

Waka is tricked by Reiko (who now wears heavy makeup and a much sexier office lady outfit) into reluctantly putting on the collar herself, after Reiko vomits a speech about its technology helping measure a series of things about the wearer and provide data for better matching up in the future, in a very fast and monotone way. It's pretty stupid in a funny way, and once again Kobayakawa kills it with the "robot" acting.

When Watanabe arrives, we see Reiko perk up  (we see throughout the movie that a mindless, expressionless state is the "idle" state of the brainwashed slaves when they're not in the presence of their master, and the monotone, robotic way she was acting is how they follow instructions while idling) and go back into her "onahole Reiko" personality established when her brainwashing was concluded in the previous scene, very polite towards Watanabe, very eager and always begging for rewards and attention, but also never questioning his dismissals or orders to wait, just a slave who knows her place and fulfills her master's wishes with a smile on her face. Beautiful thing to see.

And I said that things get more interesting because, while Waka is in puppet mode, Reiko helps Watanabe "puppeteer" her around. Reiko undresses her, Reiko makes her lower herself and get up as Watanabe demands, Reiko even moves Waka's head during the blowjob scene and helps her body keep the bouncing rhythm. Reiko knows exactly how her master likes it and she's helping ingrain that in the new girl's training.

There's something deliciously twisted about having brainwashed slaves help train the new targets that I just can't get enough of

Waka's consciousness is still woken up for the final stretch when Watanabe cums inside her, and awakens her new slave personality as well. Also, during this scene we learn that Watanabe's main target is Nono, and Waka was just a stepping stone, but now that he got a go with her he decided she's a pretty good woman and worth keeping as a pet too. Good for her..?

Since I gushed about Kobayakawa Reiko's acting a lot, I'd be remiss to not mention Misono Waka also does a really good job, particularly in the mindless scenes. And if this sounds like faint praise ("oh, she's good at playing an empty doll, such good acting lmao"), it's not. It's hard to actually get the mindless, "lights are on but no one's home" act well, as anyone who watched enough mind-control porn (or even mind-control scenes in regular stuff) can easily attest. So props to her. Her acting falters in that her character's slave personality lacks the maniacal devotion Reiko conveys (Waka's range seems more limited), despite being supposed to. So when they're together on the same scene trying to butter the main lead up, the gap between them becomes really apparent.

Back to the movie, now that Waka is also under his control Watanabe moves in for the kill, first sending her to work (dressed in a really hot outfit) and dropping by later, acting very lovey-dovey and having Waka call him "master" under Nono's earshot. She also says that they were wrong about marriage consultation, that it wasn't meant for them to be picky about their partners, but for women like them to be chosen as merchandise. Here's the payoff for her high standards.

There's also a blowjob and paizuri scene in this part as Waka extracts the "sauce" to season her lunch with. She later erotically eats the cum-covered sausages in front of Nono. This JAV has these little moments I just find hilarious.

Obviously disturbed by what happened, Nono follows Waka and finds she and Reiko servicing Watanabe wearing the clothes on the movie's cover. She tries to call the police but Reiko pins her from the back while Waka snaps the Brainwashing Ring around her neck.

After rewarding his two slaves for their good work with a little kissy, it's time to work on Nono. There's the standard "your tongue is as sensitive as your clitolis" scene all the girls got, but then we get something more unique. Using the phone app that controls the collars, Watanabe transfers Nono's mind to Reiko's body so she can watch him play around with her body. Kobayakawa gets to display some more of her range by mimicking Yuuki Nono's mannerisms and voice tone, it's pretty fun. Pretty interesting scene, but also sort of goes nowhere after this, as the training resumes as normal. Keep a pin on that for the next part of the review.

It's still a good training scene, with both Reiko and Waka assisting Watanabe

Brainwashing Ring does a really good job of building up Nono's character, so it's incredibly satisfying to see her finally fall and become a lowly slave along with the other two. The closing scenes of the movie aren't anything out of the ordinary - four-way kisses, triple blowjobs, body worship and "one girl gets fucked, the others kiss and lick the guy's nipples" stuff, with every girl getting her turn but the focus being Nono, of course. So while not my favorite scene of the movie by a long shot, the sense of satisfaction it left me with helps elevate it. Lots of mind control JAV like to throw shitty twists right at the end and while that doesn't sour the experience, it can be eye-rolling. So it's nice watching one just wind down with a victory lap after the main target has finally been conquered.

If I have to point out a fault in the last third of the movie is that Nono's crush on Waka should have been brought to the forefront at some point to really twist the knife. I feel more could have been done to both drive in her despair and to further accentuate her change once she gives in. There is an attempt at that, as Nono keeps crying out for Waka when she's conscious in her training scene (and Waka is the one to collar her and later, at Watanabe's request, the one to use the collar's control to briefly give Nono's her mind back before it's gone forever), but that just reinforces my opinion that they could have done more with it. Still, in the greater scope of the picture, it doesn't really matter, as the focus is on Nono's fall.

All in all a really good mind-control movie that I appreciate even more after a rewatch. I'll say right now this is the better of the two, both in quality of content and, at least in my opinion, choice of actresses. If you're looking for a recommendation of a good mind-control JAV to watch, this is it.

Pros:

• Tight script with setups and payoffs, the girls' respective training scenes feel consistent without feeling repetitive.
• Good sex scenes all around, but especially good group sex scenes
• Good acting from all 3 actresses helps sell all stages of the brainwashing proccess
• Excellent use of costume, makeup and acting to make sure the characters give a different impression before and after their brainwashing

Cons:

• Lighting and camera placement can make some of said excellent costumes harder to appreciate before they come off. The "corrupted OL" looks in particular suffer from this. And yes this is horribly biased.
• They could have done more with Nono's feelings for Waka
• The step-by-step of the training is pretty standard SOD mind control fare, and that can be a turn off to some.

Score: 9/10

Sennou Ring no Shinshokusareteiku Uta no Onee-san-tachi! Saa. Minna. Onee-san-tachi to Issho ni Ochinpo no Taisou no Jikan Dayo~

The Young TV Singers Corrupted by the Brainwashing Ring! Come On, Everyone. It's Time for a Dick Workout with Big Sis~
Production Number/"JAV code": SDDE-699
Release date: 2023/06/27
Maker: SOD Create
Label: SENZ
Director: Dazai Chinpo (太宰珍歩)
Actresses: Miyazawa Chiharu (宮沢ちはる), Yuuki Rino (結城りの), Sunohara Miki (春原未来)
Runtime: 127 minutes