When the bishoujo game KiraKira was first announced by MangaGamer, little did I know just how enriching the story was going to be. Although it didn’t sound any more appealing or original than Kyoto Animation’s K-On, it wasn’t until after going to Anime Expo 2009 and getting a buy one-free get one-free that I decided to try it out. I was absolutely absorbed by its surprising mix of comedy, drama and heartfelt moments in what I would consider to be the second best commercially released bishoujo game in English of all time. Right behind the legendary Ever 17.
So when MangaGamer finally announced on their blog that they would be releasing the fandisk known as KiraKira: Curtain Call, I just knew that I had to download it. Would it live up to my highly held expectations after playing through the original? Yes and no. Why the ambiguous answer you ask? Simply because it’s divided into two different parts, both taking place several years or so after the original.
The first part introduces players to a new hot-blooded character named Souta Honda who loves two things in this world: rock music and his childhood friend Yui Hoshimoto. In an attempt to impress her, he forms a band in order to become “brighter than the sun.” Unfortunately, this arc falls rather flat on its face compared to the drama in the original mostly due to a cast of generic characters with a very unappealing lead. If you have a tendency of disliking characters who do nothing more than carry-on about how much they want something then, then by all means avoid this like the plague. The sole bright side of this arc: Shikanouske’s sister Yuko; who is the only character worth mentioning and would have made for a much better leading lady. Another thing of note is that this arc does contain several minor adult situations, so for those of you who find such material offensive look elsewhere or wait for an all-age release.
The second part is where the game really shines and is the only reason worth purchasing the game for. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t last long enough. As a direct sequel to the original, the story revolves around the preparations for a large concert celebrating the 5th anniversary of Murakami’s group Happy Cycle Mania. Similar to any band drama you would hear on VH1, the group begins to lose its inspiration after five years as the members slowly begin to drift apart from one another. Bringing in a good deal of humanity regarding how frail our relationships with one another are, goals change while life leads the cast of both the original and Curtain Call in all sorts of different directions culminating in one final ‘hurrah’ to help deliver the meaning of rock. Pardon my jest, but with all of my favorites showed up, I couldn’t help but unleash my inner fanboy at the outset.
Your enjoyment of the game will be largely based on two things. Number one, how attached you become to the main character Souta and number two, whether or not you’re willing to stick things out to get to the true meat of the story. However, at half the price of the original I can only recommend it to people who absolutely loved the original; although chances are that if you’re reading this then you’ve already taken the qualifying Japanese rock tour with db2. The choices that you can make in the game don’t affect the outcome of anything in the story and with just a single ending, the entire playthrough lasts somewhere between ten to fifteen hours. Character designer Shinji Katakura makes his return after working on the original, so you can expect his usual strong quality and aesthetics while j-punk group Milktub provides the musical direction for the game.
Pros:
- The translation is very strong, awesome job Koryuu!
- The second half of the game was great, and it was nice seeing cameos by the original db2 team.
- Strong aesthetics as always.
Cons:
- The entire first half left a sour taste in my mouth, especially concerning the character development.
For more information on the game, please visit MangaGamer’s official KiraKira: Curtain Call website (18+).
------Tags: KiraKira, MangaGamer, review
