[relentlessflame]

So, a little (edit: okay, not so little) post about Windmill's Tsunagaru★Bangle. It's definitely in the running for my favourite game of the year.

Tsunagaru★Bangle is just a ton of fun -- it's colourful, vibrant, full of energy, funny, and just enjoyable. Even in the serious parts, it never gets too serious, but still pulls you in thanks to its fun cast and nice storyline. All in all, I'd say it's a little more "H" than Happiness in both the PG-13 and "18+" parts, but like I said, they keep everything light and fun. And Yuka's the cutest little bundle of energy I've seen in... well, a very long time.

Spoiler for Plot Intro, Characters:

Plot Intro:
Kouta Narumi has always loved exploring, and one day, as he's exploring the Queen Emmy (the ship that's also their school), he bumps into a girl with long brown hair dropping from the ceiling! After watching her curious and dangerous-seeming behaviour for a bit, he realizes that she's an adventure-lover too! So, they decide to partner together in search of treasure. Donning her sketchbook that she uses to map out her adventures, and a key passed down from her late grandfather, they search the ship and eventually stumble upon a secret room. Using the key to open the door, they go inside and discover a treasure map; they can barely contain their excitement! The girl realizes that her grandfather must have wanted her to find this map, and wonders what they'll find... but the chime rings, and it's time for everyone to go home. As they head out, they realize that they're both very similar; they've both been exploring on their own for a long time, and it's the first time they've ever met someone they had so much in common with. They thank each other for the really fun time spent together, and head home. Only later he realizes that they were so into it that they forgot to ask each other their names!

The next day at school, there's a new transfer student, and sure enough, it's Kouta's exploring partner! She's Yuka Ichinose and, along with Kouta's somewhat-unwilling scaredy-cat childhood friend Maho Mochizuki and their mischievous fun-loving friend and classmate Juri Yunagi, they set off in search of Yuka's grandfather's treasure, and soon find their fates bound together in more ways than one. The "heart-connecting" adventure game, Tsunagaru★Bangle!


Main Characters (for reference)
Kouta Narumi:
The story's protagonist. He's always looking for adventure, and when he's not exploring around school or town, you might find him hanging out at his "secret base" (a treehouse in the forest). A bit impulsive but pretty well-grounded. Maho's childhood friend.


Yuka Ichinose:
The story's "lead heroine", whose fateful encounter with Kouta sets everything in motion. Like Kouta, she loves to explore, and since arriving in town she can always be found exploring the town with her trusty map searching for secrets and treasures. Very energetic and easily excitable, she'll jump at any opportunity to try something new, different, and fun. Seems to have lived a bit of a lonely life until now, and lacks a lot of experiences everyone else would consider "normal". Her exuberance and kindness allow her to make friends easily, even if they are somewhat amazed by her incredible naivety.

Loves: Exploring, Adventure, New Experiences, her late grandfather
Hates: Large animals (like bears...)
Reminds me of: (A super-hyper version of) Suzu from Nagasarete Airantou


Maho Mochizuki:
Kouta's very-well-endowed childhood friend. She more than obviously has a "thing" for him, but can't bring herself to confess. Although she's an excellent cook, she's a bit of a scaredy-cat; while getting dragged along on Kouta and Yuka's little adventures, she just can't wait for it to be all over! Often teased by Juri not only for her breasts, but for having a bit of a perverted and overly-active imagination, especially when it comes to Kouta!

Loves: Cooking, Cute things, Kouta
Hates: Anything scary or dangerous
Reminds me of: (A more eccentric/excitable version of) Koko from D.C. II


Juri Yunagi:
Maho's best friend, and long-time classmate of both her and Kouta. Although she comes from a relatively well-to-do family, she's no princess; she enjoys causing mischief, teasing people, and doing things that seem fun or interesting. Anyone easily-embarrassed will soon find themselves a target of Juri's special brand of teasing, especially Maho and "Tsunocchi" (Shizuku). Despite all that, though, she's clever, resourceful, and good judge of people, and is able to offer wise advice in times of need. Her research and computer skills prove helpful. Her playful, mischievous nature hides her mature femininity.

Loves: Teasing people, Taking photos of Maho
Hates: Being bored?
Reminds me of: Akane from D.C. II/Jun from Happiness


Shizuku Tsunomiya:
A second year student, but also the school's director?! She's the daughter of a wealthy family, and is always accompanied by her loyal, personal maid, Itsuki. Most remarkable for her rather... diminuative stature in every dimension... everyone can't help but find her cute as a button. This annoys her greatly, though, as she's a prideful well-to-do lady, and you had better not forget it! Though short-tempered and set in her ways, she immediately turns in to "deredere mode" when drinking milk or eating Itsuki's famous hotcakes. She also finds herself fighting against Kouta, Yuka and the others in their magical treasure hunt.

Loves: Milk, Itsuki's hotcakes
Hates: Being treated as a child
Reminds me of: Nagi from Hayate no Gotoku/Ibuki from Happiness


Itsuki Fujikura:
Shizuku's loyal, personal maid that accompanies her wherever she goes. Seems to be "practically perfect in every way"; kind, courteous, resourceful, and good at everything she does. Possibly so loyal to Shizuku simply because she finds her so very cute. Often carries a large bag on her back with various items (often magical or destructive) of use to Shizuku. Stays level-headed in times of conflict or trouble... except if Shizuku's threatened or in danger... in which case, you'd better watch out!

Loves: Shizuku
Hates: Anything that hurts Shizuku or puts her in danger
Reminds me of: Maria from Hayate no Gotoku/Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess

Spoiler for More thoughts about the game (no major spoilers):

Like I said on the frontend, what struck me the most about this game is how full of energy it was. Everything just screams fun and excitement, even excessively so at times. This is definitely everything I hoped for and more from the writers who brought us (the also excellent) Happiness!

I think it would be fair to say that, because of the light-hearted nature, the whole game feels less "mature" than a lot of other titles on the market. The characters, for the most part, act a little young for their age; they still have a lot of naivety and "childhood wonder" about the world around them. The world seems like a fun and exciting place, and that's exactly the feeling I'm sure the writers hoped to convey. I suppose that some might be turned off by the "silliness" and "childishness" of it all (if they prefer stories to be more weighty and serious), but I didn't mind. This is the first game I've tackled after Clear (which got pretty serious and weighty), so I liked the change of pace.

One of the differences between this and Happiness is that the game's plot is centered on interactions between the whole cast. Most of the game is spent with the whole crew together, rather than segmenting off into individual paths too early on. I felt like this may have been a lesson/change inspired by the Happiness anime, that often remixed game events (or wrote new events) to feature the whole crew together. But this is, of course, also true to the game's main themes of friendship and connectedness. It's also worth pointing out that, with the stronger focus on the 5 main heroines, there aren't very many other sub-characters to speak of. This again contributes to a tighter, more "connected"-feeling story.

I also mentioned in the opening comments that I thought this game was a bit more "H" than Happiness. This is pretty obvious early on, as they don't waste any time to give you a number of fanservice CGs, and have some very suggestive conversations (including one scene, after they got the bangles, where Maho's um... in the bath by herself, and she's washing herself, and... did I mention she has a bit of a dirty mind? Yeah, that's when they discovered that... oops, thanks to the bangle, they can hear each other telepathically now... what exactly were you doing in there, Maho? ) Most of the dirty jokes are breast jokes, mostly centered around Maho of course (too easy to tease!). Another famous joke is the "oppai ramen" shop (where the quality of the food is tied to your bust size, and the master yells out "oppai, oppai!") - it's totally silly, but I always found myself laughing. The game also does have more sex scenes than Happiness, and they're longer too; of course, you can always Ctrl your way through them quickly (except for the occasional mid-scene choice...)

Production-wise, the game continues the excellence of Happiness. At first I was a bit taken aback by the change in character designer, but it didn't take long for me to appreciate and even like the graphics and character designs in the game. Graphically, I would say that everything looks excellent: characters, backgrounds, CGs, and the SD parts. The engine and presentation continues to improve on everything demonstrated in Happiness -- lots of movement, displacement effects, a huge variety of character poses that change with nearly every spoken line, and even the occasional DirectX effects (blurs, 3D movement, a 3D background in one scene, etc.) OdiakeS's music continues the tradition from Happiness, with a good variety of tracks to suit all the moods of the story. For the most part, I felt the music was used well, though there were a few spots in the story where I found myself thinking "oh, they should have changed to a different song here" (but that has nothing to do with the composer). I also enjoyed both the OP and ED songs. And in terms of sound effects, this too continues like Happiness, with a huge variety of sound effects used throughout. So, all in all, I didn't find anything major to complain about production-wise; a solid production.

And now a comment about Yuka's path. Again, in spoilers, though I won't spoil any specific game events (beyond what can be inferred).

Spoiler for Thoughts on Yuka's path (no specific spoilers):

I really loved this story a lot. From the moment Yuka and Kouta first met, there's such a strong sense of connection between the two of them -- it's like meeting your soulmate. They became instant friends with an almost childlike sense of innocence and wonder. Their instant and intimate closeness threw everyone else for a loop; long before they even realized that they loved each other, the connection was unmistakable. It was pretty funny (but also telling) the first time Yuka realized (was told) that her closeness to Kouta made her seem to others like his girlfriend -- it was almost like she hadn't even thought of him as a "Boy" (with a capital B) until then, just a partner and close friend. For Yuka, who had lived such a lonely life except for her contact with her beloved grandfather, the way she lit up during every moment spent with Kouta was just... way too much (in a good, moe~~~ sort of way). When they finally realized that they were in love with each other in the story, I had this remarkable sense of "this is the way it should be". They're just so "made for each other"... it's such a strong sense of destiny that I almost don't want to go back and play any of the other paths now! Yuka deserves to be with her partner forever, damn it! That feeling doesn't often happen for me, whether it's in games, anime, manga, or whatever. Maybe that's both a blessing and a curse for the game; sometimes the main couple can be too perfect -- so much so that it takes away from the potential to see the other girls as equal heroines. Not that the other girls aren't likeable, but Kouta and Yuka are a match made in heaven. They may be the "bakaapuru" ("baka couple"), but they're pretty tough to beat. That being said, for me personally, this path alone was worth the price of admission.

Okay, one more closing thought/in-joke:

Spoiler for Little tidbit to watch for (minor non-critical spoiler):

One of the big "in-jokes" in the game is the fact that there's this giant bear that comes to Kouta's secret base/treehouse. At first, no one believes he exists despite Kouta's insistance, until they see him for himself. And of course, the main funny thing about it is that the otherwise fearless Yuka finds herself completely terrified of this giant bear (while the otherwise fearful Maho thinks he's as cute as can be, and gets hearts all around her). The bear is used as an in-joke in a number of ways, but the main one is is probably what you'd expect of a bear...

• Shizuku always wears a brooch with a bear logo on it
• When Shizuku comes to visit the treehouse, the bear can't leave her alone (much to Shizuku's chagrin). Maho: "You really love children, don't you Mr. Bear..."
• The program's icon is of Yuka's terrified "I see Mr. Bear" face. What are they try to say?!

So that's Tsunagaru★Bangle (at least so far). If it sounds like something you might enjoy, then I recommend it. It seems there's a used copy available at PaletWeb, and it's available (though a bit over-priced as usual) at HimeyaShop (NSFW!! Though they do have a Flash movie of the OP/promo video up there too, it seems).