Sakura Spirit Review

Thank You Winged Cloud.

The rest of this review is going to make that statement seem insincere, but I truly want to thank Winged Cloud for finally revealing who they really are. Honestly, we all should have known after seeing this lovely piece of promotional work for Pyrite Heart…then subsequently playing Pyrite Heart. But, with the Kickstarter for The Guardian Spell, some saw it as proof that WC (there has never been a more accurate abbreviation was a simple, ragtag troupe dedicated to providing sugary comfort food to the otome masses. And if that’s ALL they did, I’m sure many would still defend them today. But here we are and, as my Aunt likes to say, the truth has revealed itself. WC is all about one thing: fanservice. Regardless of your gender, they want to be your first stop for the finest in otaku wank material and not much else. Wait… does that mean they have come to closest to achieving gender equality in gaming? Screw it; let’s talk Sakura Spirit.

To be fair to the group, when Sakura Spirit was announced, no one was expecting The Shawshank Redemption with fox girls. No one ever pretended that was going to be anything more than an ecchi title in a similar vein to nearly every bad anime I’ve challenged myself to live-tweet in the past year (save for the endless black hole that is Brother’s Conflict). Because of this, I did something that I have never done before and will never do again: I lowered my expectations. I told myself that it was fine if it didn’t have the best story, or characters, or anything I usually find worthwhile about gaming as a whole. I figured that as long as I could enjoy it ironically and find some humor in the abundance of ways WC would undoubtedly find to show off their over-curvy females, I would just laugh along and rate it all accordingly.

That line of thought lasted approximately three minutes in game.

I will be very upfront with you; this game has gotten me in a ‘vendetta’ kind of mood. This is going to be a long one, but it is vital to get it all out, not just for the sake of my personal health, but also to make it clear just how this game managed to defy reality and not clear the low bar I had for it. There will be some spoilers here but, if that is something that honestly concerns you, may I remind you of the promotional art of this game?

Strap yourselves in folks. This is Sakura Spirit…may God have mercy on our souls.

Sakura Spirit Delayed

As originally announced on MangaGamer, the Sekai Project’s first original English Visual Novel, titled Sakura Spirit, has been delayed. The fantasy ecchi title was originally slated for release a few weeks ago and We have reached out to Raymond Qian, chief executive of the Sekai Project, for details and was told that the creators of the game wanted to add more content to it. For the record, the developer of Sakura Spirit is Winged Cloud: creators of Pyrite Heart and The Guardian’s Spell. Qian has sad he will have more details on a new release date, as well as other projects the Sekai Project is working on at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California later on this week.

We will keep you posted with any new information that comes from AX.

 

ABOUT SAKURA SPIRIT

Rising Judo Star, Gushiken Takahiro, was about to have the match that would make or break his career in two weeks: a championship match where the winner is then signed up to be a young national athlete for Japan. He was very determined to win, in order to fulfill his dreams of finally representing his country for a sport he loves so much.

He was prepared and ready, but that doesn’t stop him from being nervous for his upcoming battle. With the suggestion of his friends and classmates, he goes to a shrine that was rumored to grant any wish or prayer. He poured all the coins from his already full coin bank into the offering box and made his prayer. After praying, he becomes dizzy and nauseous and eventually faints. When he woke up, he was already in an ancient place he didn’t recognize.

While searching for a way back to his village, he stumbles upon two girl wielding swords chasing after two… foxgirls? He questions his brain at first, but then follows them, only to be caught in on their shenanigans as well.

Who are these girls and are they involved on Takahiro’s arrival to this new world? Will he ever get back to his home place and timeline just in time for his match? Or will he be stuck there forever?

 

Pyrite Heart Review

You’d think I would’ve found a more elegant way to go about this by now.

I’ve tried writing this intro three times now and I have yet to properly get across what I want to say. I don’t consider completely inept but this game just confounds me. I may not be, and may never be, a die-hard anime or manga fan and I am certainly not the target audience for 70% of visual novels, but in the same vein I like to think that we can all agree on some basics that have become the foundation of this very website. That foundation is what separates all fiction across all genres between good and bad; regardless of personal preferences.

Which brings me to Pyrite Heart.

Released within spitting distance of the celebration of the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Pyrite Heart is a title that is slowly infecting the larger EVN community. I’ve personally been flooded not only with requests to play the game, but also nominations for it in the 2013 Best Ofs with only a few days of exposure to its name. But popular response doesn’t answer the question that is the keystone of this site, ‘Is it good?’

Strap on a helmet amigos, because we’re not all making it back from this one.