For those interested in anime and fighting games, you may have heard of Aquapazza. Many have probably not heard of this niche 2D arcade fighter however. It is the latest game developed by Examu, which created the 2D fighter series, Arcana Heart. Aquapazza takes its playable characters from Aquaplus’ visual novel studio, Leaf. With a cast full of dating sim characters, the moves in this fighting game can be quite interesting to watch.

The PS3 version of Aquapazza will include at least four more characters (two playable, two assist) than the arcade edition. The home console port will contain a story mode, online play, score attack, a gallery, and an improved training mode. While no exact release date has been determined as of yet, Famitsu is expecting a release some time in June of 2012.

Source: andriasang

Reviewing all things forbidden, Sayuri is back once again for another R-18 special (underage readers may leave now)! Today’s review is about an eroge called Sugar’s Delight developed by a recently formed visual novel doujinshi group called Neko Soft. By the way, it is free to download! The visual novel contains pure girl-on-girl yuri action. K’yaaaaah! Aren’t you excited for such a heart racing subject? What? What’s with the look you’re giving me?! Anyways, I will note that this review will be as SFW as possible.

Hey everyone! Today's article is written by a guest, our very good friend Gao. He is the guest writer for the day.

Saya no Uta, literally “The Song of Saya”, is an H visual novel released on December the 26th, 2003 by Nitroplus that can only be described as horribly grotesque yet stunningly beautiful. (Read on for the rest of the review!)

Visual novels are a great thing, but if you live on the other side of the Pacific they can be hard to acquire. Luckily there's companies out there that are translating them. MangaGamer, until recently, has been selling titles as digital downloads. But what about fans who want more?

Today, MangaGamer has announced that they're teaming up with Hendane to start physical distribution of their titles. After a successful trial with all-ages offerings of 07th Expansion's Higurashi: When They Cry and OVERDRIVE's Kira Kira, they are going to expand their hard copy offerings. According to a statement released by them, they'll start off with Da Capo.

We are pleased to expand our hard copy offerings with a limited edition printing of D.C. ~Da Capo~, an 18+ visual novel from CIRCUS packed with romance and a smash hit in Japan.

Printed by MangaGamer and distributed to customers and retailers by Hendane, the Limited Edition of Da Capo will feature a DRM-free copy of the game, a soundtrack CD, and a 24-page artbook, rivaling the original Japanese release.

Will VNs finally become mainstream here? Not likely, but at least fans will be able to get something they can touch and most importantly read now. Are there any titles you're looking forward to seeing here? Let us know in the comments below.

If you’re into visual novels, then you just might be in luck! MangaGamer has recently announced that they’re having a giveaway for the visual novel Da Capo 2. All you got to do is retweet this and follow MangaGamer on Twitter. You can also enter through Facebook by liking this wallpost, leaving a comment on it, and liking their Facebook page too. Depending on how many followers their Twitter gets, MangaGamer will select two winners if they reach 1,000 followers. Be sure to let any visual novel fans you know to follow them if you wish to increase your and their chances of winning.

The winners from the Facebook and Twitter giveaway will be announced on December 23^rd.

Yume Miru Kusuri (A Drug That Makes You Dream) is an 18+ visual novel game by Ruf. The game is translated and edited by Peach Princess. The plot involves three girls dealing with unique and harsh dilemmas. It is believed that the writers were trying to explore themes relevant to high school students in Japan.

Yume Miru Kusuri’s gameplay, like most visual novels, is reading through the story and making decisions at certain points in the plot which will influence which girl you will end up with. It also decides whether or not you will get a good ending or a bad one.

The protagonist is Kouhei Kagami. He’s somewhat of loner and talks to few classmates but is rather plain and dull. He’s pretty much an average, stereotypical, Japanese high school student with no real goals or ambitions in life.

The three heroines of the game are Aeka, Mizuki, and Nekoko. From a look at the opening of the game, you can easily guess what problems they are going through. Aeka is a transfer student being bullied quite harshly at school. Mizuki, the student council president, is a girl who’s trying to find reason for her existence and Nekoko's a very strange girl who calls herself a fairy and has a problem with drugs.

Of course, the game has its fair share of characters, but the only two worth mentioning are Kouhei’s co-worker, Hirofumi Tsubaki, and his younger sister, Aya. Kouhei usually teases and gets into fights with Aya, but she still supports him through the game. Hirofumi is an interesting homosexual that likes to hit on Kouhei. When Kouhei is troubled, Hirofumi often gives him great advice.

The artwork in the game is rather nice, with great shading and coloring. One thing I especially liked is how they drew the eyes of characters. Character designs fit with their personalities well and the HCG is not bad. The music is above average as it fits quite with every part of the story. A small gripe might be the sound of quick saving when you’re in an intense scene, but that doesn’t really take away from the game at all. The options interface is standard, but I did like the little bonus of being able to choose from many in-game fonts for display. The voice actors through out the game do a excellent job because you can really feel the emotion in their voices. They portray their characters very well and dialogue sounds smooth and not forced.

Now let’s get down to business where the game truly shines, the story. The player will grow very fond of each character over the course of the plot. I found myself not very interested in Mizuki and Nekoko, but the plot development made me grow more attached to them. The game is quite the emotional roller coaster that manages to make you feel immersed into the events taking place. The good endings of each character had me reminiscing of all the events that took place. It made me glad that I was able to meet and go through it all with the chosen girl. As for the bad endings, they’re quite sad and you wouldn’t wish for them to happen to our protagonist, Kouhei.

Overall, I would rank this a S-tier visual novel because of its captivating story that had me doing around ten hour sessions to clear each route in one sitting. The game does its job since I can relate to the problems in the game quite well. Fans of this genre will be sure to love this game. Yume Miru Kusuri gets a 10/10.

You can buy Yume Miru Kusuri from play-asia.com or jlist.com.

On a side note, Aeka = HNNNNNNNNNNNNNG.