Doujin game: Himawari
Himawari is a Science fiction ADV doujin game by blank-note that was released at the end of 2007 during the winter comiket.
I originally bought the game during the last comiket but I threw it in the pile of doujin games that I’ll never actually get around to because the game description of “ADV game about living with loli aliens” made it sound like a chara moe game which isn’t my kind of thing.
But after seeing raving review after raving review for the past 5 months, to the point where one blog said it was as good as Higurashi or Tsukihime, I decided I had to try the game out.
The game takes place in 2050 and the protagonist is Hinata Youichi who had lost all his memories having been the only survivor in a space plane crash that happened 2 years ago. He meets this girl with mysterious powers called Aries who crash lands on Earth in a space craft, losing all her memories too in the crash landing.
The quality of the game is excellent, although the event CGs are slightly lacking, it’s definitely not of inferior quality as a whole even when compared to the commercial games that are out in the market being sold for 8 times the selling price.
The story is constructed in the way that is as if the writer threw a bunch of puzzle pieces scattered across the ground and keeps the reader interested as he slowly puts the pieces together piece by piece to reveal the entire picture, as opposed to having a huge surprise near the end like in Sharin no kuni.
I originally felt disappointed when I reached the end and saw the first ending feeling that it was only average, but the 2nd playthrough completely changed my thoughts on the game, and next I knew it I couldn’t stop reading till I completely finished the game.
Apparently the game has been repeatedly selling out in the doujin stores and they had to keep ordering new stock, which is kindaaa rare for doujin stuff. Maybe Himawari will become the new doujin boom! But that’s a really really big maybe.
I’d definitely recommend the game to people who’re hungry for games that have strong scenarios, and at only 1000 yen and approximately 20 hours to finish the game, it’s pretty easy to pick it up for a quick go.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
My, that does look good for a doujin game.
May 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
That does look impressive for a doujin game, the character designs are surprisingly good. Too bad there’s not likely to be an English version…
May 17th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I’ll have to check this out after I finish with 11eyes and feel like it.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Thanks for the write up. I’d never catch stuff like this otherwise.
Granted I still have plenty of backlog myself but if I ever find it in my travels I might just have to check it out.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
20 HOURS? I THINK I CAN MANAGE TO SQUEEZE THAT IN BETWEEN WORK, GTA4, AND SLEEP.
May 17th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Who would have thought that this doujin game would have the same name as an anime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari!
I thought they were releated, but they aren’t.
There should be a disclaimer telling people that the two aren’t related.
May 18th, 2008 at 12:03 am
20 hours?
May 18th, 2008 at 2:36 am
I wonder which group is going to translate this game.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:55 am
>>>soloista
I’ve been translating the game for the past couple of months. (All by myself) I’ll have the game fully translated by August or September. Now all i have to do is make a website for my one man band team.
This will be my first release!
May 18th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I can vouch for the awesomeness of this title. Himawari is something special.
Also there’s a sequel/prequel (actually both =p) in the works!
May 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
>>BLyn
Good luck with the translation! Send me a mail when you’ve got everything going and I’ll post about it, I’m pretty disconnected with these things so I probably won’t notice anything till many months later unless somebody tells me about it.
>>Asceai
Man I wish the Cosmos april fools joke would turn out to be real, but the staff diary sounds so much like they’re working on a completely different project! I hope they’re lying.
May 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
@ BLyn — you wouldn’t happen to have a few sample pics from your translation? Would be great to add them to this post:
http://www.animekon.com/news-550-Himawari-Eroge-Translation.html
May 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
>>BlackAdder
It hasn’t got quite the same name, the anime has an exclamation mark after it, and it’s an anime besides.
No, what’s confusing is that it has the exact same name as ANOTHER visual novel, a title called Himawari by Studio Regrips released in 2002. Of course, that’s very hard to find nowadays. =p
May 18th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
2050? I hope homes look a little more advanced in that year then they do in the indoor pictures shown.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:07 am
>>TheBigGSN5
For the most part, the technology is pretty much similar to modern times here. The main thing is that the Earth in which the story is set has had quite a different progression through history, so a lot of things are not as you’d expect for 2048/2050.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
ooo character designs are cute and it sounds interesting. If it is ever translated from moonspeak I will surely give it a try.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Thanks for the clarification, Asceai.