Sunrider: First Arrival Review

Considering the influence space operas and mecha anime have had on Western culture, I am legitimately surprised it doesn’t make up a large portion of the English Visual Novel community. Some would argue, truthfully, that the majority of EVN audience now is female, so their projects skew towards them. However, if I remember my youth correctly, girls loved Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop and Gundam Wing (I was more of a UC fan boy) just as much, if not more, than the fan boys I ran with at the time. And while those series set a ridiculously high bar for anyone to follow, it remains one of the most imaginative fields an author can write about.

So, considering my love for the subgenres, it will come as no surprise to you that I was excited by the announcements last year of new mecha and space drama EVNs to join the Rising Angels and Touhou Mecha series. That excitement tempered some when I saw some of the planned merchandise for Love in Space’s Sunrider. The group has down more explicit work in the past and it was clear once the body pillows rolled out that the game was going to have its share of fanservice, which I probably should’ve figured considering this is moe girls fighting in space. Now, that in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. While I am more prudish than many others in this community, I don’t mind boobs as long as they don’t take away from the larger story. With that in mind, let’s take a look at Sunrider: First Arrival and see if it reaches for the stars…or the skirts…

Oh and I’ll be discussing a few things that are spoilers. You have been warned.

Sekai Project To Bring Sunrider Space Opera To Steam

The Sekai Project is making big moves into the EVN community. Not only have they added several new Japanese titles to their catalog, but today they announced a partnership with Love in Space to bring their first project, Sunrider: First Arrival, to Steam. Here is the full press release:

Sekai Project and Love in Space are proud to announce “Sunrider: First Arrival” will join Japanese visual novels “fault milestone one,” “WORLD END ECONOMiCA,” and “Narcissu 1st & 2nd” on Sekai Project’s Steam lineup.  After publishing freeware indie visual novel Narcissu on Steam, Sekai Project is no stranger to bringing free visual novels to fans across the world.  This collaboration will bring Sunrider to Steam’s 75 million user base and promote indie visual novels throughout the world.

Sunrider: First Arrival is the first installment of the Sunrider trilogy. Join Captain Kayto Shields of the starship Sunrider and his crew on their adventure through the stars.  Command a squadron of elite mecha pilots in tense turn based battles to find victory.  Exploit every tactical advantage in battles against overwhelming odds.  Interact with the ship’s crew and explore a rich galaxy filled with lore between battles.

Sekai Project is a start-up based in Los Angeles with the single goal of getting greater exposure to indie creators.  Recently raising over $90,000 to localize “WORLD END ECONOMiCA” on Kickstarter, Sekai Project is currently raising funds to localize and improve Japanese indie visual novel “fault milestone one.”  Both projects will be published on Steam upon completion.

Love in Space is an indie visual novel development team based in San Diego. After raising over $44,000 on Kickstarter to bring Sunrider to the world, the team has successfully released the first installment of the Sunrider saga.  The team’s mission is to create a giant space opera visual novel with an epic story and massive space battles.

Sekai Project and Love in Space are excited to collaborate to bring Sunrider to Steam.  Together, they hope fans from across the English speaking world will soon be able to play many more visual novels on Steam and beyond.