Written by D.R. Manor, edited by Otaku Apologist

I’m 17 chapters into Princess Evangile. It’s a hentai visual novel made by MOONSTONE. The localization was published by MangaGamer on May 27, 2015. Available for Windows operating systems. Download for $45.00 at Nutaku’s digital store and MangaGamer’s store. The game has full Japanese voice acting and uncensored genitalia.

There’s a lot of good things about this game, but recently, the bad stuff has been popping up too. I appreciate that the game gives the characters ample time to develop before their routes even start. The characters are dynamic and interesting from the get-go. Each girl has chapters focusing entirely on them and their relationship with Masaya.

I talked about Ritsuko’s story line in my last post. The other girls’ stories have been equally entertaining, except for maybe Rise’s. Her story was tied into the prologue which set up the game’s premise. Ruriko had a good chapter about her learning the meaning of love. Konomi’s story focused on her growing to accept his presence at the academy.

There’s a major plot line involving an incident called “the Tsurugigaoka Mitsurugi Shrine Attempted Murder-Arson”. Masaya and Rise were present in the incident during their childhood. What makes this part of the story of particular interest is how it shaped Masaya’s character. His indecisive personality for example seems to be a result of his trauma from that incident.

MOOSTONE’s writers portrayed Masaya’s PTSD well. Even the sight of a candle’s flame freaks him out. He has horrifying nightmares. He loses his mind at the sight of a knife. At one point, he even gets violent and starts beating the crap out of a trespasser. As Masaya grows self-aware of his problem, he makes it his mission to overcome it.

One problem with this game is that the choices are pointless. Aside from picking which route you want to play, the choices are meaningless. Picking a different choice won’t even give you a different scene.

The much-hyped Premier Judgement is also annoying. There’s a lot of build-up to it. There’s surveys every week circulating around the school, which Masaya’s fellow students write into, to evaluate his character. The girls have no consistency in their voting patterns, and incident after incident sways the votes. The poor guy faces expulsion two times, both times the result decided by a schoolwide vote. The problem with the Premier Judgement is that you don’t get to see it. It’s just glanced over and forgotten and the game moves on.

The most red-pilled event in the game was when the student council president, Marika, accused Masaya of attempted rape. It’s a blatant false rape accusation, and she’s damn close to getting Masaya expelled without zero evidence. Everyone is suddenly against the man despite no facts or evidence. The most infuriating part is that almost nobody at the school doubts Marika’s word. Like a heartless succubus, she leverages her social status and acting skills to destroy a man’s reputation. It’s exactly like the false rape accusations of Christine Blasey Ford that almost wrecked Brett Kavanaugh’s supreme court nomination.

The game has been an enjoyable ride, plagued only by minor problems. The male protagonist’s traumatic past has been the most interesting part of the story. It’s the characters that make the experience enjoyable. Especially Ritsuko’s and Ayaka’s character introductions were great. Their sisterly bond leads to a lot of heartwarming scenes. The other girls have been cute too, despite some of being evil misandrist shit-tier bitches. There’s a devil behind that smile, watch out.

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