Ecchi Visual Novel Review: Catch Canvas!

Written by Jin0uga, edited by Otaku Apologist and Flamecaster

Catch Canvas, developed and published by Unwonted Studios. Available uncensored on Nutaku.net for $10.00. Uncensored genitalia. For PC Windows operating systems. Play as a male or female, and woo three snarky, but sexy girls by teaching them art in a cabin by the sea. It’s like a vacation, but less lonely, with cleavage and plump butts to admire to your heart’s content. A short and simple visual novel that will have you fapping and fawning over the ending of your favorite girl.

Catch Canvas is a budget title, which shows in the production values. It’s more focused on ecchi romance over porn.

STORY

Your adventure begins when you arrive at your uncle’s cabin. As the nameless main character, your main purpose for being dragged into the middle of nowhere is to study under your uncle. He is a world-renowned artist, and you want to leech off his skills to become the best in the business. It is a respectable goal as no one wants to be a starving artist that dies on the streets.

You arrive, fully prepared to be run into the ground under his tutelage. Instead of finding a middle-aged pervert, you come across three girls who are also your uncle’s understudies. Instead of telling you what to do, like a sane person would, your uncle leaves you a note. He wants you to whip the three girls into shape by the time he gets back. It will be no easy feat, two weeks are all you’re given to turn them into great artists.

With your dream on the line, you have no choice but to complete your uncle’s tasks. Faced with three girls, each with their own crazy personalities and reluctance to work, you have a long way to go before you’re rolling in dough and getting laid.

The plot plays out like a slice of life anime. Each day brings with it ridiculous obstacles, like for example, one girl putting up a fight and refusing to do any work. One of the girls is basically an emo introvert who can’t do anything unless she’s alone. If you love pointless, mildly romantic fluff, this visual novel will have you marinating balls deep in enjoyment.

The story touches some serious topics, like bullying and low self-esteem, but they’re never fully explored. It’s usually a quick mention, followed by a stupidly easy solution. The resolution of these problems is flimsy at best as they usually ‘go away’ when the main character delivers a tongue lashing. Zero points for realism. It’s still good that they introduced some conflict at least, so there can be drama that keeps the story from getting too stale.

One thing I disliked is the overuse of anime tropes. Some jokes are funny, but they get repetitive. For example, when the main character sees a girl naked, or in revealing positions, they get nosebleeds. It happens many times throughout and gets old quick. Luckily, the short length of the visual novel plays in its favor, it keeps the jokes tolerable.

CHARACTERS

The main character is a skillful artist. Nothing else is known about their family matters or their past, which is usually the case for these sorts of visual novels. Thankfully, the main character still remains likable, and fun to observe. Depending on the gender you chose, you get dialogue with different pronouns. Major events in the story remain the same, with the exception of some lines and references to your genitalia. The hentai scenes are also similar, descriptions change according to what you’re packing.

Dawn is the shy introvert. She’s a prodigy in art but has obvious issues that keep coming out due to her personality. In addition to hating human interaction, she’s also a gigantic pervert. Gender does not matter to this resident emo bisexual. She peeps on the other residents of the cabin when they bathe and is not above stealing their underwear for sniffing. Anime fappers might be able to relate to her.

Estelle is the confident sexpot who oozes sensuality. She’s frequently described as a gyaru, a kind of girl characterized by colored hair, decorated nails, and the use of heavy makeup. She acts like a bitch at first but hides a gentle and loving personality under her brash exterior. Estelle is the sanest among the three girls, my personal favorite.

Finally, Nao is a crazy otaku weeb, who wants to become an ero-mangaka despite possessing zero talent for it. Constantly referring to herself as ‘Nacchan’ and flirting shamelessly with the main character, Nao is the constant source of laughs due to her habit of spouting rubbish and lazing around. She’s the most hilarious out of the three potential love interests.

GRAPHICS

Catch Canvas has an anime art-style, and true to its name, the CGs and character sprites have a ‘soft’ hand-drawn look, like it was drawn on a canvas. It lacks the sharpness of the usual anime visual novels and reminds me of pastel paintings. It’s easy on the eyes. This is a personal preference, but I found this style a nice breath of fresh air. Each character looks unique, with their own different traits like Nao’s absurdly pink hair, or Estelle’s lengthy, brown locks that curl out at her elbow.

There isn’t much variation in the girls’ outfits. Confined to the cabin for the majority of the visual novel, they wear the same outfits throughout its length. Dawn with her conservative sweater and skirt combo, Estelle with her bikini top and booty shorts, and Nao with her blouse and pinafore. The only time the girls get different clothes is when they’re at the beach.

The color palette for Catch Canvas comprises of mostly dull, pastel colors. In dialog scenes, the colors on the characters don’t pop, which makes the background stand out more. Shadows aren’t very visible, bordering on non-existent. Background CGs use a much brighter palette, like the slick, warm brown of the wood panels in the cabin, in contrast to the soft, cotton candy pink of Nao’s hair. One thing I liked about the art is the detailed backgrounds. You can easily make out the intricate details, objects like clocks, books, and furniture.

Unfortunately, Catch Canvas doesn’t have enough background CGs. It is a shame because the ones that are present are of extremely high quality. It felt to me, like the developers cut costs. Scenes that describe you in the bathroom, for example, can show you in the living room. When Dawn peeks on the main character in the shower, the interior of the bathroom is never shown, only Dawn’s face, and the door. It breaks the immersion.

SOUND EFFECTS AND VOICE ACTING (SFX)

There is no voice acting. The dialogue for each girl comes across well, so it’s not a problem. However, there is a disturbing lack of sound effects. For a visual novel that costs ten bucks, I honestly expected more. Simple actions like shutting the door, footsteps, and a noise of surprise when a character gets surprised, should at least have a simple sound effect. This is a pretty basic aspect which helps immerse the player, but the developers neglected to even add any.

MUSIC

The music for Catch Canvas is good stuff. It feels like the budget for sound effects went into the music. The soundtrack consists of upbeat songs, most of them instrumental. A song that’s purely piano plays during scenes where the main character is deep in thought. It helps to create a comforting atmosphere and gets me relaxed. This song is also used when the girls reveal things about themselves, like Dawn talking about her introversion.

For scenes heavy on character interaction, you get a song that has a mix of drums, flutes and string instruments. It’s cheery and sets the mood for whatever hilarity Nao, or the girls come up with. This track plays very often, but it’s catchy and never gets too repetitive. Another song that plays during similar moments, is a gentle-sounding track that has a mix of pianos and guitars. It’s a song that simultaneously sounds playful and relaxing.

There are two songs which are not purely instrumental. The first is the song which plays in the opening screen of the visual novel. It’s heavily synthesized, with a heavy dose of drums. It’s a great opener for the game as it feels very welcoming. The second is a song that plays during hentai scenes, it has a gentle feeling to it like a lover’s caress.

GAMEPLAY

Catch Canvas is a visual novel. You click the textbox to ‘turn’ the page. During some scenes, you’re given branching dialogue options to choose from. These do not affect the outcome of the events. To get the ending of a girl, you need to choose from three options during the final leg of the visual novel. Make sure to save so you can go back to experience all endings.

HENTAI

The hentai scenes are only present in each girl’s ending. Unlike the easy lays of other, more raunchy visual novels, the main character only gets laid at the end of the story. This makes the sex scenes quite romantic, your hard work is finally rewarded with wet, dripping pussy after two weeks of teaching art to a bunch of bimbos. What is disappointing is that there is only one CG per sex scene. Most of the dirty details are conveyed with the writing.

A scene begins with some light banter between your character, and the girl of your choice. The sex is mostly vanilla, but descriptions are vivid and descriptive. Depending on the gender you chose, you’ll either get to finger the girls to orgasm or slam your hard member up their sopping vaginas. The romantic mood and intimacy of the hentai scenes was great. Despite the lack of CGs and sound effects, it was easy to get off fapping to them. The lack of kinky sex or animal-like fucking will probably upset some fappers, but if you like romance, this game delivers.

CONCLUDING WORDS

The story is standard fodder, but the character interactions and endings are rewarding. The ecchi scenes are plenty, and feel twice the juicier because of the emotional plot that lets you develop feelings for the characters. If you want to feel fuzzy inside while beating your meat, play this game today. Download Catch Canvas now.