Well now seemed like a great excuse to dive into this story. For whatever reason I really didn't get around to it in the past. But now I've got my copy and can see what will happen!
Just a little ways into the game, but definitely getting a feel for what kind of crazy ride this is going to be! Just looking at the flow chart makes it clear how much time I'll be able to spend diving down alternative choices. The character designs and visuals look great. Did an amazing job giving everything a nice update.
But with that in mind will totally use this to keep my progress and thoughts recorded!
Spoiler for Story Thoughts:
Spoiler for Day 1:
Honestly not a bad start. I'll include the prologue here just to keep it simple. In that sense it was quite the cool moment seeing Aoko again after...just finishing reading the VN she was part of! Kind of interesting to see what kind of impact she made on Shiki's life in a short period of time. One small incident in what must be a crazy life she's been living!
Shiki seems like a solid protagonist. Quite a condition he has with those eyes. Can tell already there's a lot going on with him and his family. Will be interesting to see how much I can get from the stories we have available. Since this is obviously one part of a larger whole.
Ciel is stealing the show early! An absolutely cute and lovely senpai! The irony and comparison to make with Mash is fun though obviously Ciel came way earlier. She just seems like a really entertaining girl. There's of course going to be something crazy going on with her. But first impressions are fantastic. I'm a bit worried for Arcueid with Ciel getting so many chances to stand out before she even shows up! I've seen everyone else on the box cover at this point.
Akiha is really nice. You can tell she's being both the professional head of the family and under that a sweet younger sister. She refused to let things stand and have her precious brother be treated like he was any longer. Obviously things weren't bad with the branch family. But soon as her father kicked the bucket she was on top of getting him home. Clearly she only waited as long as she did because she had to battle the family first to make it happen.
Spoiler for Day2:
Ummm that "Professor" is an oddball. I'm sure she'll be important in some ways. But definitely the type I'd avoid like the plague.
New teacher is a bit...interesting as well. No surprise she's got the class split down the gender line! Curious to see how things play out with her. And now she's seducing people. Yeah, something definitely up there! No idea what she was going for there. Serial killer? Testing to see if he's a vampire? I haven't a clue. But whether she knows about his eyes or not, going for the glasses definitely put him onguard. Bad idea or not...how I can ignore her talking about a presumably dead teacher in such a way? Considering she did something to make Shiki wander around late at night she's definitely up to no good. Saved by the weird girl that throws cellphones around .
Ciel remains super cute. No downsides there! Well not sure I could gobble up as much curry-related foods as her, but she's enjoyable.
That night got creepy though. No idea what to make of it. But it's clearly not a good sign for Shiki.
Spoiler for First Path/Arcueid Route:
Spoiler for Day 3:
Start of Day 3 and yet the presumably main heroine of the story still hasn't shown up! Really saving her for after building everything up I guess. Or I completely missed the chances to meet her . On the other hand I've probably found Ciel every time it's been an option .
Arihiko is a good guy. Good on him for keeping an eye on his friend and stepping in fast when things were going to take an ugly turn in class. He may be an idiot. But he's not a bad guy.
Ok. Well I found her! And holy smokes her mere existence basically fried Shiki's brain! Love and hate the backwards dialogue showing how utterly crazed he is in that moment!
Also forgive my terminology here. But...holy shit! What the heck just happened!? When did I start following a psycho killer around on their next murder! I mean geeze! Just ring the bell, walk in, and suddenly she's in pieces on the floor! I mean yeah somehow she's going to walk that off! But holy crap! Just what!?
Also guess I didn't have to worry so much about branching paths. I can only pick one option for the "dream vs reality" thing. So that should pretty much decide the Arcueid vs Ciel routes. Kind of interesting that Arcueid is all about rejecting what just happened as a dream while presumably the Ciel route is about calling it reality.
Spoiler for Day4:
Ok, let's see how this goes! No surprise that his head is in a messed up place. Presumably someone picked him up, cleaned him off, and left him in that park to be found. Presumably Arcueid since I'm not sure who else would even show up in that situation. No surprise he could possibly lie to himself without any evidence that he did anything to be sure of it. I liked the honest concern from the maids and Akiha.
But reality is reality. I don't blame him for both freaking out and running away like a maniac. I mean...who wouldn't? If I went psycho and killed someone only for them to suddenly...be there I'd go a bit loopy too! Thankfully she's smiling though . Also I like to say now that she's not in pieces on the floor it's much easier to appreciate her lovely design . Amazing red eyes, lovely fashion sense, and great voice work. Very cheerful all things considered! I guess if I could pull myself together after being chopped up into pieces I'd be pretty chill about various things! Honestly she's one of the friendliest "murder" victims I've ever met . Never seen someone so cutely complain about the pain of reviving herself. Obviously it was a horrible sight. I'm still able to visualize the pieces...but she keeps the tone light with how cute she is while chatting!
Honestly getting roped in on helping her out is fairly cheap compensation for what happened. Although I would love an explanation on why he inexplicably wanted to kill her in the first place!
These two have nice chemistry. There's good back and forth, the mood is pretty silly at times, but it all works. Arcueid has a wonderful amount of charisma. Also no wonder she doesn't show up until this point since she really takes over the whole thing once she does.
Great bit of horror and drama with Vlov showing up. Guy just turned up and killed a couple hundred people in one go. Good bit of action from Shiki. I figured heading out was a bad call that would have gotten him killed, but it worked out. Shiki found his will to fight and held on even in a brutal situation. It makes me wonder though if there's more to him than expected. His attack on Arcueid was elite and I don't buy that this monster that was chewing people up just bit his arm a little and didn't actually do much harm. Maybe he's actually got some decent healing ability? Either way he did his best. And Arcueid did her best to back him up when presumably the major threat showed up. They lucked out with the sun. But sadly a lot of other people didn't...
Edit: On a smaller note I am going back to check out a few dead ends. Should be obvious that leaving Arcueid by herself wouldn't be a good move. So I missed that one easily. Game even gave us a couple attempts to go back and avoid the dead end. Curious about the mysterious girl. Her belief that Shiki would be dead in a few hours...was on point.
Spoiler for Day 5:
"No way. I was your first? But you seemed so used to it!" Ok, I salute the freaking inuendo here. We're talking about him cutting her into tiny pieces. Their interactions are ridiculously cute even with all the horror and terror involved in all this. It balances things out.
This whole day went to the max in terms of craziness. The fight itself was intense and the actual damage was insane. Kind of used in Fate for things to stay really low and under the radar so just having this guy show up and unleash Armageddon on a city was kind of jarring! Cheap jerk going from boiling people to ashes to his "main" ability being ice! A hellish opponent for Shiki anyways since humans aren't really great at dealing with either of those extremes! I do wonder if Shiki will still qualify as human after all this though. It sure sounded like Arcueid was using bits of Vlov or what was left of him to help put Shiki back together. Skeletal damage wasn't anything she could do anything about but everything else seemed to be fair game!
I loved the fight. Arcueid was stunning in her anti-fire mode! To say she was hot wouldn't even be a pun! But things got plenty crazy once Shiki entered the picture. Slashing away at the attacks coming at him was great. And the finishing blow was perfection. Loved the strategy of sending him in the air and tying him down to the rock so he wouldn't fall off too early. It was a risky approach, but it worked!
Also ended up with my first death of this thing. Can imagine a couple other places I might have died, but still a bit curious. I suppose charging into a flaming pit was a bad move . But I kind of figured the plan would work out before getting melted. Oops! That's a sad dead end. Not even acknowledged while turning to mush!
Spoiler for Day 6 (Arcueid):
Apparently I wasn't even on her route yet . Kind of figured it was already her route. Though I guess it makes sense. Defeating Vlov set a lot of things into motion and any given route can kind of build up on that experience.
Spoiler for Day 7 (Arcueid):
Now we're moving. Yeah, no way Shiki can look the other way. He couldn't get through a day without daydreaming about this girl. So might as well team up with her again to take on the threat still out there. Even if it's a risky thing to use his eyes too much.
No regrets on the discussion route that put Arcueid back in that hot dress again . Even if it wasn't the best tactical choice against Vlov's real power, I don't mind. I'm with Shiki on just enjoying the view! Even if Arcueid showing up created all sorts of havoc for Shiki's normal life...such is! At least things are back to being good between them. Arcueid is a sweet bundle of joy when she gets going .
Spoiler for Day 10 (Blood Red Moon - Arcueid):
Not that Days 8 and 9 were uneventful, but I was mostly playing the Switch on the move so couldn't really catalogue my thoughts while doing that. It was interesting having Shiki deal with a mysterious attacker and the teacher ending up being some church executor. That was a surprise. I kind of expected someone that's been missing honestly since Arcueid appeared, but this is fine . I also didn't expect the last choice to be so big. I did play around a bit back and forth just because I was curious. But since I chose to listen to Akiha this time first I'll let this one play out to whatever end. Hopefully this works out!
Anyways. Gotta say having Arcueid show up to start the day isn't a bad way to make a choice feel like a good one . Also got to do what I honestly wanted which was not make poor Akiha worry sick. Crawling into the streets the day after being brutally attacked just didn't seem like a good plan. Better to just skip out one night and deal with the consequences. And those are...a date!?
The date was great. Loved her date look and these two were having a great time. It's a bit of a frustrating thing seeing Shiki be so unaware or willfully trying to deny reality. There's no confusion on why she was mad about him standing her up. She's freaking in love with you dude! At least they had a great time.
Things got messier in the evening. That's mostly Shiki's fault though. He's in love but he doesn't want to acknowledge her as a vampire and non-human entity. So he keeps pushing her when she's clearly on the verge of losing her cool. And she pretty much does lose it! Without interference that'd be it! Noel may be a pig, but she was important to keep Shiki and Arcueid apart until she calmed down. That kid may be a brat, but he is pretty sharp. And credit to him for getting Shiki to calm down. It was a means of determining whether Shiki was secretly Roa. Which is fair to wonder since we've seen him have those insane "gotta cut Arcueid into pieces" moments. That easily could have been Roa inside of him urging him to kill his greatest foe. Though now I'm pretty sure the kid he "killed" was Roa. Now whether he didn't really die or whether he somehow merged with Shiki I'm not sure. But will trust that Shiki is mostly fine.
And hey...my next dead end! Woo! Second time I've died! At least these Ciel chats are cute. And honestly they are the only time I get to see her during this route! Completely tossed from this story! Can't wait to see her route. But how I was supposed to know some psycho (probably Roa) would kill me in the school!? It seemed like a decent chance that she'd be there! Well guess I won't go there twice!
Edit: Didn’t want to make a day 9 post just for this. But did get the dead end there. Pretty blatantly stating to leave the family secrets alone until the sequel. Ciel can’t help with it and Arcueid can’t. So will have to wait until another route. Darn you mummy man!
Spoiler for Day 10 Waning Moon:
So yeah...this could be a short one. Honestly Shiki looks like a mess. I'm curious if he'll actually make it several days or if he just dies part way through this chapter. I'm shocked that just going to see Arcueid that one night demolished him so completely. Forget any cute dates...
Also I love how Hisui alternates from truly emotional worry that is easy to hear to trying to be cold and distant. She hasn't appeared as much as of late, but I'm curious about her route that I won't get to experience for a while. What's worrying is that he's not referring to her as Hisui but as "the servant." He's so broken he can't perceive who she is.
Wow this was odd. I'm surprised they let this dead end choice play out for a while before Shiki died. Even giving it an unique chapter title. I thought it would be a much longer bad route. But instead it was just...kind of sad. Was the girl he met at the house actually Hisui? Was Akiha actually pissed at him ignoring her pleas and going out after dark? How did Arcueid respond to him going missing?
What happened? All I can tell was that Shiki was brought home, taken upstairs, down the wrong wing that he didn't have permission for...and then was locked up. Was that Hisui? I could see her being pretty pissed and same for Akiha. But Akiha isn't a bad girl. I can't imagine she'd do anything horrible. But who knows. Shiki may have truly broken his body and just died regardless.
Spoiler for Day 11 (Blood Red Moon - Arcueid):
Wait a second. Shiki and the others don't even remember Ciel!? The heck!? I thought she was suspiciously absent, but she's just plain gone. At this point I have to imagine she is the other Executor that was being mentioned. For some reason she was sent away even though this is hardly a minor incident going on here. But sounds like all memory of her was somehow erased from people's minds when she left? I suppose with magic anything is on the table, but geeze. Shiki on some level could resist it since he mentioned her indirectly a few times. But when he actually thought about it...he had no idea.
Oh never mind, there she is! I guess she wasn't outright booted out. But even meeting her again Shiki can't recall her name or anything else. But on some level he does still know. At the very least she knows him and even knowing what he's getting himself into she'll give her thoughts and advice. I'm sure she's had quite a bit going on outside of what we could see from Arcueid's route.
True Ancestors are truly a tragic thing in that sense. They have to use a monstrous amount of their power to just hold back from drinking blood. Their full strength is almost an illusion because they can't normally use it. But if they do then there's no going back and no way to put a cap back on that. Something that took most of their strength to suppress can never be suppressed again when they would then need even more power to resist. And that's why what happened to Arcueid is a true disaster. Shiki really screwed her over in that sense. She was able to recover from the injury but the bigger issue was recovering enough strength to get a cap on her impulses. And she still had to fight guys like Vlov and Roa's minions. It's just too much. Used like a living weapon, aimed at threats and limited to that alone. A cruel fate. Only after being attacked by Shiki has she even been allowed to live at all.
I really hope she's right about being able to take care of things without relying on Shiki. Since I presume other arcs will severely limit her presence as Shiki does deal with other things!
But hey, at least he did get his night with Arcueid ! Obviously toned things down enough to get across that they definitely had sex while cutting out the sex scene itself. At least I presume there was one. We are talking early Type Moon when they were really all for getting those into the VNs. No shock she left after though. Arcueid knows that as things stand she'll attack Shiki and drain his blood. She can't stay close even if she wants to.
Spoiler for Day 12 (Blood Red Moon - Arcueid):
Kind of too bad she didn't stay close since Shiki pretty well got taken out by Roa! No shock of course that this played out. I already saw the dead end when checking out the school. I already knew that guy was lurking around. Seems like he wasn't fully himself though. The Shiki that he was taking over was fighting back. Probably out of rage at the MC for "killing him". I'm still not sure what exactly went down. Why did the MC kill that Shiki? Was it because Roa was reincarnating as him? Seems possible. But if so it seems a bit much that he lost his rage after stabbing Shiki instead of directing it to Roa. At the very least Shiki not being the blood relative of Akiha makes sense. She has a route after all! And while some might say that true incest is fine for fiction I did kind of think they'd find a way to make it ok for something to go down between Shiki and Akiha. Though I wonder why Shiki was brought there. A body double? Did the father realize his son was going to be overwritten by Roa and needed a replacement?
Either way Ciel was allowed a dynamic rescue . She's getting a surprising amount of focus at the very end of this one. Making up for lost time! Interesting that she's sure that Akiha could save Shiki. Seems possible since she's part of that family so she must have secrets and powers. Whatever happened with OG Shiki, our Shiki was hospitalized and nearly died as well. Saying Akiha somehow helped save him seems possible.
Spoiler for Day 13 (Blood Red Moon - Arcueid):
Weird to say...but now I'm really looking forward to the next routes that need to be remade. Kind of want to see what the Akiha route involves . Really nice voice actress and her character seems truly easy to feel for. Her brother "went insane", her other childhood friend was brutally injured, and she had to take over as the family head. Even keeping that lie that Shiki was her brother going. Maybe worried if she revealed everything he'd feel no connection left to her and never be seen again. At the very least Shiki's origins are a serious mystery. A kid destined to have such insanely powerful eyes...Who was he before all this? What are his origins? Will Ciel's part hold some answers or is that something for the future arcs to reveal? Hard to say.
The battle with Roa was pretty darn good. Sad that Arcueid didn't get a good win and honestly we never really saw her shine at her best in this route (short of a bizarre twist). But she gave her absolute best and did all she could to reduce Roa to next to nothing. Sadly there was just enough for him to recover . It makes sense. She was at her limit and just didn't have the raw power to win. But she didn't want to risk the one she loved fighting or being in danger. Of course...sadly after she died (in a beautifully tragic scene) Shiki really did step up and cleaned up! Roa underestimated him. I suppose Roa's type of immortality and life left him unable to fully tap into the eyes he gained. He couldn't see the death of objects and his views of the death of people was shaky. He could at best cut at their life itself, but not touch their death. But Shiki could and apparently he became so OP that cutting the ground actually killed Roa's legs that were standing on it! And by that point nothing to do but finish him off.
I did enjoy that Ciel still actually came in to save the day at the end! It was pretty cute how she handled being the one to "kill Roa". I'm sure on some level she just wanted to keep Shiki out of this. She'd take all the credit and Shiki could stay away from all this.
Spoiler for Day 14 (Blood Red Moon - Arcueid):
I see. So that's how it ends. Well I'm honestly happier than with the idea of Arcueid dying like that. At least killing Roa that way allowed her to come back and go back to sleep. It's not an ideal solution or ending for sure. But I suppose for this world and setting ideals aren't always possible...Could have gone worse. I suspect with a different choice a few days back it would have ended worse. I'm glad these two even got one last chat.
Some random thoughts though. Curious about Yumizuka disappearing at a certain point early in the story. Went back to have that chat with her in the classroom and I'm left all the more worried about her. Shiki wasn't that close to her sadly and thus her going missing didn't really rattle him. He just wrote it off as her being sick...every single time he was in class. Safe to say something terrible happened. But I'm not sure what. Maybe there was a choice where Shiki finds out about her probably dying (god I hope she wasn't the girl who's perspective we got during that underground death scene). Maybe she'll be part of Ciel's route? Possibly for the other routes, but either way I feel bad since she is fairly cute.
Honestly I'd say Arcueid's route was quite good. It was solid and had some good emotional beats to it. In that sense I'm curious to see how Ciel's route will compare. I might check out the presumably bad ending before that. But I'll be up for a change too. But first will just say I did like Arcueid. As lovely a vampire as you'll see anywhere. Seeing her really experience joy, love, and struggle was enjoyable. Things didn't go smoothly at all times, but the dynamic was extremely sweet.
Spoiler for Second Path (Ciel Route):
Spoiler for Day 3 (Ciel Route):
Ok, here we go. Can finally go with the secondary option that was locked off before. No surprise that a Shiki that can't ignore what he just did would just shut down from the horror and guilt. I mean he chopped someone up like they were nothing and saw body parts all in a heap. That'd horrify any sane person. All the more so since someone sane shouldn't be doing that!
At least we do get Ciel finding him and understandably being worried and shocked over it! Pretty much dragging him to her place just to get this broken guy out of the rain! I like the time spent on this. A Shiki that is broken and horrified by himself and a sweet senpai that is doing all she can to keep him from killing himself. Even his glasses coming off and being horrified to look at the lines on Ciel's body didn't stop her from being there. Of course we know Ciel isn't exactly normal so she may have a good idea about Shiki's eyes for all I know. If they are looking out for Roa then Shiki probably at this point was a suspect. Keeping a close eye on him isn't too unbelievable. But I want to think it's just who Ciel is in the end. She can't just send him out to freeze to death without doing all she can. Even if she isn't sure what exactly went on with him.
And Ciel in her sleepwear is super cute so...yeah . I'm not sure if she's waiting for Shiki to fall asleep before heading out to report on him or not. But I'm not sure if she's that worried about being "attacked" in her sleep . Fair enough. She's definitely more than technically a girl. I like her stance on atonement and all that. It's not a bad way to view things. Can't erase wrongs while atoning. But the act of atonement and the impact it has on the individual has value. And there is a huge gap between those that atone and those that don't even try to.
Spoiler for Day 4:
What a cheerful morning! Not bad waking up in Ciel's bed. Even though I presume soon the story will veer back to the usual Day 4 route.
Good god Chiel! Oh sure tell Akiha that her brother is spending the night out with a teenage girl in her room! Wow! I'm surprised Akiha didn't send an army to that place to get Shiki in the middle of the night! Oh my god how cute is Ciel though!? Look at her appearing so depressed at the idea that she wasn't a satisfactory host! How is she both this cute and a secret badass!? And it was all a fakeout!? That sneaky...adorable...sneaky...girl! I suppose yeah telling Arihiko to tell that lie was the best way to avoid his family blowing up on him. Although that means Akihiko knows Shiki spent the night with her!
Spoiler for Day 5:
Not sure if I could try this option before or if I was just too cautious and didn't want to. But here I am underground and so far...not dead. Surprisingly. Also what the heck Noel! Having already gone through Arcueid's route I'm left staring at this pig with disbelief. She's a freaking Church Executor. Show some darn guts and step up! I know wandering into a vampire's lair isn't fun stuff. But if she's faking it she's doing a really good job of looking pathetic!
Ok, so she's getting serious here. Now I am curious. Looking to the flow chart it does veer well over to probably the Ciel side. So maybe yeah in the original route Shiki doesn't find Noel and dies underground. Actually I'm going to pause and find out...(Yep, just replayed it and that didn't end well! One more death and trip to see Ciel Sensei!) One fun thing is that this really is a dead end to hit early since Ciel pretty blatantly hints that you need to visit this place to get on the Ciel route. If I didn't try it I'd probably have been stumbling around pointlessly trying to figure out how to get on her route! But I also like the explanation. Why are the guards so pissed on Arcueid's route but not Ciel's route? Because Ciel was snooping around and creating tension. But on her route...well she was busy taking care of a broken down kouhai and couldn't go snooping around that night! Makes perfect sense. I do feel bad though. Ciel is giving great tips and I only saw it after already pretty much getting on her route. And wow I'm already on her route! Didn't think I'd get there via the saves letting me know until after Vlov was defeated. But this makes sense. Defeating him with the same heroine isn't necessarily ideal for the story. Not like Vlov is even really Arcueid's target anyways so beating him with Ciel (presuming that happens) would line up.
Anyways, so not looking promising for Noel. But gotta try to save her. Even if she is a bit of a pain at times . And...right into another dead end! I kind of ran with the aggressive music and went for it. I mean it seemed sensible. Once Vlov understood what was going on getting another hit on him would be a pain beyond belief. But...yeah kind of forgot about the freezing power. Suppose that wasn't a great plan on my part .
I honestly didn't think the girl on the alter was Ciel. Since...she didn't look like her! I've been tricked! On the positive side she's apparently fireproof which is pretty awesome . Kind of thing that Arcueid rebuilt her body to handle and honestly it seems like she's taking it even more casually. But like with Arcueid it's not understanding his powers that is the biggest threat. Defeating him while he's just using fire is the best call. But in both cases wearing him down seemed like a good call. Especially for Arcueid who was weakened when she fought him.
And...another dead end. Geeze I'm getting good at picking these . Well I had a bad feeling about it, but come on. I can't make my first choice in that situation be focusing on Noel of all people instead of Ciel. Gotta chase the better girl . Even Ciel Sensei agrees with me! It was the perfect choice! And don't worry Ciel. Saving Noel isn't going to put me on her route! Have already seen her pros and cons in the last one! Oh geeze, calm down Ciel! No need to pretty much say you'll murder Noel if she crosses the line with Shiki! Or that Shiki will have some first time offender apologizing to do! Will say I am loving these segments. Especially seeing Noel freaking out in the background!
Oh boy. I'm not loving the tension with Arcueid. This isn't her route, anything could happen here! Plus I don't love making promises before knowing what the deal is! I sure hope this isn't going to be problematic. At least I don't want it to involve having to take down Arcueid or something. Don't need that on my mind!
Honestly it was a grueling wait to pick up from that thought. Thankfully it wasn't so bad. Arcueid obviously has a history with Ciel and isn't a fan. I get it. As was seen in Arcueid's route the feeling is clearly mutual. Shiki is important so she'll do what she can to protect him, but...everything outside of that is a bit...Well she wouldn't want to willingly admit to anything. Obviously we saw how far Arcueid will go to protect others along with Shiki. But Shiki doesn't know about it so I get him getting frustrated. In the end though, she still helped. Wasn't willing to fight side by side with Ciel or literally go down to bail her out. But she did protect Shiki and the city from Vlov's power. That's more than enough. She's still great. And I'm more hopeful that things will mostly be ok with her. May be a few headbutting moments but I think it'll be ok.
I didn't realize from the first route how much of a badass Ciel is though! Holy crap! Geeze! Absolute monster in her own right with some crazy gear to go along with it! No wonder she was able to fight in those freezing temperatures against Vlov and kept up with him for over an hour! It just wasn't the perfect scenario. And honestly in more ideal circumstances she probably doesn't need Shiki's help. But she did all she could with what she had.
Kind of like that she got the killing blow too. With how weakened Arcueid was in her route it's no wonder Shiki really needed to deliver the finishing blow with Arcueid offering only as much support as she could muster. But here Ciel and Shiki were fighting as well as they could as a tandem. Shiki just looked too deep and saw too much. Able to glimpsed into Vlov's very being. No wonder the guy got so pissed and focused too much on him. Shiki did his part though and I like Ciel doing hers to make sure the fight ended.
I still don't love that Mario kid, but at least he's not an outright antagonist yet. Honestly I still don't like his attitude and I'm fine with Ciel keeping special vampire goods away from him. He's got his own troubles, but I just see him as a brat seeking to expand his power. Sympathize with his uncomfortable background (especially that creepy cardinal), but I don't like him more than I have to.
Spoiler for Day 6:
RIP Roa! Wow Arcueid didn't waste anytime making sure the antagonist of Ciel's route wasn't going to be the same as hers! It's one of those shocking turns that makes total sense. Arcueid really had to dig deep against Vlov. Shiki did a lot, but she took a ton of damage from that surprise ice power of his and protecting the city. This time she just used a bit of energy to keep Vlov's power from annihilating everything. That left plenty in the tank. She was still not at her best thanks to getting killed by Shiki. But that just meant she was going to waste less time. And Roa wasn't at his best either. Without getting his revenge on Shiki he wasn't necessarily complete yet.
On that note...RIP other Shiki! Roa won't be as dead in Ciel's route as he is in Arcueid's route. Though it's a bit worrying. Arcueid is looking pretty shaky and Mario isn't wrong to say that without Roa truly dying she won't be able to keep her impulses in check. But she can't do that. Honestly I'm really worried for Arcueid. She could go off the cliff in a hurry in terms of mental stability. Is there any way to at least let her leave this arc in decent shape? I'm not sure. But this doesn't seem like a good change in her...
Spoiler for Day 7:
Well it is a bit of a worrying situation. Was happy to chat with Ciel. Though even she seemed to not have a good read on how Arcueid has been acting. Probably since hitting her limit, Shiki killing her, and everything else really did heavily impact her personality. Still there was a lot of cute in the reactions in this day. Like Ciel getting pressed hard for that homemade lunch that apparently wasn't going smoothly for her. Does make me wonder when Shiki will drop the bomb about his eyes? For now Ciel is working off the assumption that he has some super knife but honestly outside of looking cool I don't think it's supernatural.
While having the same chat with Arcueid would normally be cute...it's actually terrifying this time around. Because...what the heck is she talking about? She already killed Roa! Did she blank out? Never mind...apparently it was just worded really awkwardly. She is still aware that she killed Roa and is just working on cleaning up after that. Maybe I'm just a bit too paranoid. I don't want anything bad to happen with Arcueid, but it feels like it could easily happen.
Never mind...Arcueid may be losing it after all. Originally she was more than willing even in a weakened state to rush into a fight. But this time she pretty much set Shiki up and let him do all the fighting himself. That's just not like her. She can talk it up after the fact, but it's just beyond questionable. For one...it wasn't the case of leaving her to do all the work while he stood back. He did all the work. And honestly no matter what state she's in I can't imagine a sane Arcueid just throwing Shiki to the wolves for a test or to get a kick out of seeing him kill. While inviting him along is something she didn't even do in her route. There she was sane enough to know it'd be a bad idea. But now she doesn't seem to quite have the same mental brakes. I don't think she's evil and still hope things don't go too far. But I'm worried...
Oh joy...and there's Ciel! As worrying as that is...my biggest concern is not being able to take pictures of her posing like that! God Ciel is a treasure! Wow. But yeah another good little chat with Mario. He tried to get her pissed off, but she ended up turning that on him pretty easily. Apparently his brother was a quiet but decent guy. Which I suppose made him a bit of a black sheep in his family. And wow Ciel isn't the type to mess around either. Props to Mario. He managed to have his very existence threatened by now only Arcueid but Ciel on back to back nights . He's really good at nearly getting himself killed! And love how Ciel quietly put him in a terrifying vulnerable situation. Don't mess with her if you want to live! Those cold eyes speak volumes!
I'm glad she didn't forget that Noel was bitten. Honestly she has some value, but I can get wanting her re-assigned. She's just not able to keep up with Ciel. It'll get her killed or she'll get in Ciel's way. Either way...re-assignment is probably for the best. Besides not like Noel wants to do that job forever either.
Spoiler for Day 8:
Oh, I'm getting a bad feeling. I'm getting a very bad feeling. Figured the metamorphosis thing was more about Arcueid, but maybe it's more Shiki. I mean...maybe the chat with Hisui without putting on his glasses is possible. But walking through the halls without even realizing!? I'm worried he's going to break down without realizing it.
And yes Shiki, she has realized what's up with Arcueid already and she is indeed pissed!
Thankfully the day ended pretty well. Ciel got pissed a few times (this seems a common thing for Shiki and the main women in his life right now), but everything worked out. She knows about his eyes and clearly cares about him. So it should be pretty safe on that front. I'm still worried about Arcueid. But I don't think she's gone evil or anything. Her feelings for Shiki are still very much there even in this route. It's just a bit worrying at times.
It really is awkward when some talk like Roa isn't dead. Although I suppose technically if he's killed normally he isn't really dead and will come back. But Mario seems fine with not admitting that he knows that Arcueid already killed him. But even more unsettling is both Noel's sadistic side and her worries. The cruelty to both those vampires and the girl that wasn't one yet was unsettling. There was simply no need for that torture session. And I get in general not wanting to live in some hidden convent. But clearly she's more concerned about something she needs to hide. Too bad for her both Ciel and Mario are plenty concerned over the state of her body after being bitten by Vlov. She's not getting out of that...well not without crossing some lines that could make her an antagonist for this story...
Spoiler for Day 9:
I'm not feeling any better about Shiki's state. I mean he's even getting to breakfast without putting his glasses on. Walking around while staring at the lines is just becoming more regular for him. And that's not a good sign. Doesn't seem to remember shattering the mirror the other day either...
Honestly Shiki seems to be going kind of insane. While I get being entranced by Ciel...he's just going overboard. It's just bizarre and definitely worrying. Something isn't right upstairs! Which makes his argument with Ciel hard to read. Honestly in general I could see him getting a bit upset. Since especially in her route Arcueid isn't nearly so bad. And honestly this is the kind of argument he has with others anyways. But it's more worrying here since Arcueid and even Shiki's mental states aren't reliable right now. And to a degree Ciel is right. If Arcueid was in her normal state of mind she wouldn't be having Shiki fight at all. Normally he'd have to be pushing to let her have him help. But this time she's been pushing for him to assist and leaving him to fight. This is one time when the relationship between them is a bit toxic and dangerous. And it's having clear negative effects on Shiki.
Of course Ciel is losing her cool as well though on a more normal scale. Honestly beyond the title kind of screaming it, I have expect a legit showdown with Ciel and Arcueid. Though that might be a good thing if it's this early. Would still allow a third threat to force them to get along. Something they'd both rather die than do, but they might have to. True enough that they are far more alike than they want to admit and their inability to see that is a worrying thing. At least the argument with Ciel and Shiki was kind of a normal level. Not a good thing of course for them to be arguing but there's definitely hope for cooler heads to prevail later on.
Also I'm glad Shiki's intelligence...didn't improve through this. Sure he doesn't know how bad things might be with Noel, but geeze...show some slight hesitation! Well at least he didn't die...
And thank god. Somehow having them argue like a couple of girls gunning for the same guy is actually quite calming! It's a silly level of rivalry that might not lead to the end times! Well...probably not. They do seem keen to at least try killing each other a little! Maybe a bit more than a little...even in a death match Arcueid really is herself. She knows in general what Ciel can do but can't comprehend that she might need to be armed with her crazy gear in order to have it to fight her with! But I suppose for someone who's main weapon is her claws and things she can create out of thin air the concept of not having one's arsenal at them with all times is out of her mental space!
Thank goodness threatening Arcueid with hating her was enough. She's a bit of a wild card in that she might kill someone without thinking about the consequences. But if you hit her with the consequences first she'll snap back. At least she isn't quite as far gone as I thought she was. Dangerous, but potentially able to bring her back. Sadly the argument with Ciel after was less fun. Probably thanks to decisions I made earlier. But I didn't love the cute back and forth turning into her cutting her own throat! Bit much to make a point!
Spoiler for Day 10:
Never...trust...Noel! That absolute psycho! Yeah, I have worries about Shiki. Especially after Roa was killed earlier. But I certainly don't plan on agreeing with that lunatic's torture segments. Put her down if necessary, I won't lose sleep over it!
At least talking to Ciel worked out. Managed to butter her up again and things are ok. It's a real challenge though on this route. Keeping things from going too far isn't simple!
And once...all the swears to Noel. Absolute trash. I don't know if she could have been saved if she actually got checked out right after the Vlov fight or not, but she certainly didn't help herself by ignoring her condition. Maybe Ciel and Mario should have pushed much harder for her to be checked out, but oh well. And all her sadism and cruelty to vampires while turning into one herself? Absolute hypocrite. Also Noel it isn't because Ciel is strong and you are weak. It's because Ciel rocks and you are a scumbag.
I did expect this considering the vague spiders in the background at times and...that Professor being absolutely insane. But you know...still something to see her actually show her true colours. I did get a laugh though that Noel is so pathetic that she couldn't even turn into a vampire. She doesn't even have the talent for it of the creatures she's been killing all this time! Noel had a freaking cold and was convinced she was turning into a vampire ! Oh my god that's so utterly pathetic .
Oh god...Noel turned into an evil loli!? I have so many thoughts on this . Well I mean maybe she has. We didn't see her, but the younger voice and setup for all this makes sense. Ciel's biggest screwup presumably came at the cost of Noel's hometown. And she's been unable to move on from her childhood ever since.
Spoiler for Day 11:
Pretty sure I've screwed up. Especially seeing the syringe that Noel was taking in that crater. But might as well keep going until the story tells me otherwise! But I mean being a bit of a jerk to Hisui isn't a good sign at all. She's too good a girl to deserve that. Yeah, I'm not liking how charming he's being either. Especially with noticing Akiha's loveliness. I mean sure she is lovely. But this Shiki doesn't know they aren't blood related siblings so it's a bit worrying.
Oh hey, Yumizuka is alive! Cool! I hope she's 100% ok. But is her situation going to be saved for the sequel? Well she did reveal some things. I mean she saw someone that looked like Shiki, called their name, but it wasn't Shiki? Well I mean good odds it was Roa. But did he attack her or something?
Ok...Shiki or Roa or whatever...I think the chair is dead! You can let it go dude! Well at least he didn't attack Hisui...Oh I guess Noel finished her power-up? Oh great she's presumably a red-haired powerful loli then? Now I'm thinking of Shana even though she wasn't a vampire. Made it to Rank 6 eh? Handled 4 of the 6 vials. Not bad...well bad, but impressive in a way. A definite bad end though. I mean Noel is on a rampage and Roa presumably reborn in Shiki. Nothing good at any turn!
Well...help me out Ciel Sensei! I'm a bit uneasy about some of the Arcueid talk, but suppose I'll face that as it comes. I'm going to be fast forwarding a lot for a while! Back to Day 9!
Back now! You know I kind of thought most of this day would be changed since I didn't take the shot. But...most of that terrible stuff did happen. Not great. But I guess the limit on preventing Roa from fully taking hold and just almost doing it was that paper thin a margin. But it's sadly pretty darn close to being the worst case. Shiki is being taken over. Sadly Roa was able to poke away at him.
Spoiler for Day 13:
12 was pretty short and I'm pretty much just in constant read mode so will just combine it all here. Holy crap. It's unfair how much stronger this route is than Arcueid's route. The absolute unfurling of Shiki's mind is kind of terrifying. Even more when he lost his glasses, was destroying the room (but thankfully not the floor) and having to chase away Hisui to keep her safe. He's falling apart and it's not a good sign at all!
This game knows how to build up the tension too. Shiki doing everything he could to lock everyone out. Then attacking Kohaku when she made her move inside. Honestly it had me panicking that she would be killed and drained. Maybe it was a bad ending I hadn't anticipated! Regardless her fate is still unknown so I'm crossing my fingers. But god...this will be quite the one to explain later if Shiki can survive this.
Also it's all so horrifying. Shiki got out of it in Arcueid's route by the perfect circumstances. Arcueid didn't get to him too fast. Shiki ended up being the one to truly kill him so he couldn't possess Shiki after. And it makes sense that Ciel came in to get the finishing blow. She needed it. Both for her own sake and...for closure. Why it happened I'm still not sure since it only happened to her. But regardless...it did. And she was left unable to die until Roa was truly killed. Thankfully she didn't immediately die in Aruceid's route so I presume all it did was remove her permanent immortality.
Just awful. Ciel pushed herself so hard to make things as easy on Shiki as possible. So that she wouldn't simply walk away from having killed him. Pushing him to the brink, encouraging him to fight, and definitely letting him get a hit in for the double KO.
Never mind about the last Ciel Sensei moment! Here we go again! I kind of figured going with the glasses off thing was a fair call. Oops. Somehow I figured it would work out. Not sure why though. Wha...wha...wha!? What am I looking at here!? Eco-Arc!?
It's a tough one for Ciel. She really wants it to be made a bit easier. To be hated will let her go down more simply. That double kill is really what she wants...Or at least it is what she thinks she deserves.
Glad things worked out with Ciel. She managed to let out all her true feelings and it was a truly sweet moment with her and Shiki. Deciding to try and survive and find a way to stop Roa. It was beautiful. And I do think the romance with these two was excellent. I feel so bad for her that everything was made so difficult!
Sadly Noel of course had to ruin the moment! That evil loli! Pain in the rear to the end that one! Even as a loli she's only slightly more tolerable! Of course the only hope she had against Ciel was mental attacks and sadly she did have the edge there. Ciel was already worn out emotionally from fighting Shiki. Having Noel blast her with the past like that was just too much. Of course that's why she attacked when she did. I have to wonder if Ciel's death with Shiki was unsatisfying for her then? Although kind of scary to imagine that psycho left to go crazy on her own. Arcueid might still be hanging around but it's a bit iffy to count on her in that state...
Another Ciel Sensei moment. Oh come on! there's no way that killing Noel in that moment was a bad call! Shiki couldn't last forever in that fight. Dragging it out forever was just asking for trouble. And she made it really easy by being really bad at this! Poor Ciel hasn't been free for these dead ends for a while thanks to her situation! Though I guess they are right that it isn't the worst dead end. Kind of beautiful and bittersweet. Roa is dead thanks to Shiki using Ciel's weapon to take himself out, Noel is dead (as she should be), and Ciel will eventually pull through. She won't be happy when she wakes up but...And I guess they are right. Shiki isn't in major danger since again...Noel sucks at this. He can drag it out for a bit longer. Though what would even change? Ciel doesn't seem to wake up and didn't see Arcueid ready to swoop in...
Well surprisingly things went pretty well. Shiki did endure long enough even with embarrassing Noel by holding back on her. Ciel showed up and cleaned house pretty easily. Noel simply never had the ability to do much more than she did. Even pushing her soul to the very limit this was the maximum power she could attain. Not enough to score a win against Ciel at full power. Her origins are worthy of pity, but not who she became. And yeah she didn't care about who Roa would kill in the future or even going after Roa himself. All she cared about was who died in the past and the person he used to do it. Her rage against Ciel was utterly pointless. She knew Roa was the one that did the killing and Ciel was just a passenger. And yet it was easier to get mad at her so she clung to that.
A bit more interesting and terrifyingly entertaining was Arcueid! Holy crap! I think Mario was a foolish kid but he really got what he deserved there. He took Arcueid lightly and paid for it. Yes in part it is because her "malfunction" is beyond expectation. But he knew something was off about her. He marched all those people into a killing field. Credit I suppose for asking questions and being baffled by her instead of crying out in horror at how she mangled him. He found a way I suppose.
I've been tempted to get it, but the fact it's only half the story bothers me. Yeah, I know each route has an ending, but the experience isn't complete without all of them. At least that's how it was in the original.
And there has been zero news on part 2 being worked on. It's already been three years.
I've been tempted to get it, but the fact it's only half the story bothers me. Yeah, I know each route has an ending, but the experience isn't complete without all of them. At least that's how it was in the original.
And there has been zero news on part 2 being worked on. It's already been three years.
Sadly I won't be able to offer much in that sense since this will be my first run through the story. It's felt pretty substantial to this point, but won't even begin to be able to say for sure until I clear the first route and dive into the second. At least I can say it looks good, nice little visual flourishes in the scenes that need it (very much makes me think of the nice touches in Mahoyo), and the voice acting is very much on point .
I totally get all that bothering you though. I'm going to feel bothered since even just going through the early stuff has me really liking all the other characters on the box. A shame I'll be left hanging on finding out what's going on with them for who knows how long.
For me I just figured if I'm going to check this out after all this time it seemed like a good way to do so. Plus with how quickly the physical copy of Mahoyo went out of stock it was a "now or never" kind of thing if I want to actually own it without going through ebay or something.
Sadly I won't be able to offer much in that sense since this will be my first run through the story. It's felt pretty substantial to this point, but won't even begin to be able to say for sure until I clear the first route and dive into the second. At least I can say it looks good, nice little visual flourishes in the scenes that need it (very much makes me think of the nice touches in Mahoyo), and the voice acting is very much on point .
I totally get all that bothering you though. I'm going to feel bothered since even just going through the early stuff has me really liking all the other characters on the box. A shame I'll be left hanging on finding out what's going on with them for who knows how long.
For me I just figured if I'm going to check this out after all this time it seemed like a good way to do so. Plus with how quickly the physical copy of Mahoyo went out of stock it was a "now or never" kind of thing if I want to actually own it without going through ebay or something.
You could always play the original if you really want to know, although I'm sure the remake will throw in a few additional twists here and there.
I ended up buying it yesterday, I figured it'd be better than risk getting spoiled even if I've played the original. My first impression was that it got one hell of a glow up. The Tohno mansion looks gorgeous. Obviously, Takeuchi improved too, but it's really the backgrounds that impress me.
Quite a few new characters in this remake, curious to see what they'll do with them.
Nasuverse gets more convoluted the bigger it gets and the longer it goes on, because they also update it with the new ideas they come up with. The remake basically follows the same beats of the original story and characters starting out, but it revamps a lot of the lore including about the vampires. Then one of the vampires who was essential for a part of the character story got nuked off screen and replaced with someone else who came out of nowhere, which throws curve balls.
And that's one of the lighter changes. We're not going into how the Ciel Route went from 0 to 200 real quick by the end compared to the original.
I basically just go with multiverse theory here. The original one is its own setting and this one is its own.
I'm figuring it will be around 2030 that a PC release will have happened and that the price will finally be fair. But at least I know it'll happen. The original still resonates with me. Really hope whatever they change-up this time works.
It is more than just additional changes.
The mushroom out right changed a whole a lot of things.
Some fundamental setting got revamped as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twi
Yeah, like...
Nasuverse gets more convoluted the bigger it gets and the longer it goes on, because they also update it with the new ideas they come up with. The remake basically follows the same beats of the original story and characters starting out, but it revamps a lot of the lore including about the vampires. Then one of the vampires who was essential for a part of the character story got nuked off screen and replaced with someone else who came out of nowhere, which throws curve balls.
And that's one of the lighter changes. We're not going into how the Ciel Route went from 0 to 200 real quick by the end compared to the original.
I basically just go with multiverse theory here. The original one is its own setting and this one is its own.
I'm only on day 6, but I was very surprised they changed the "mid-boss" and implied the old one got killed, presumably by Arcueid a little before the story started. I was disappointed at first but the new fight is really awesome.
Maybe it's the voice acting but Arcueid also seems a metric ton cuter than in the original.
Anyway, I still think playing the original would give you a good idea what's going on with the remaining heroines.
Spoiler for Big original Tsukihime spoiler:
Mostly Kohaku being the real antagonist and masterminding everything. Pretty sure that hasn't changed.
The Arcueid was really good, but not much was changed. The Ciel route, however, was on a completely different level from the original.
Spoiler for Ciel route spoilers including extra ending:
I was pretty shocked when Arcueid hunted down and killed Roa on day 6. I actually don't quite understand why she was so much more obsessed with Shiki in this route, even before he became Roa's new host. Is it the jealousy she felt toward Ciel that made her feelings overflow? This of course culminated in the absolutely bonkers extra ending where she uses her full power. Having her wearing the old skirt was a nice touch.
Ciel seemed a lot more lovely to me this time around, but I can't claim to remember her original route well. Noel was an interesting additional adversary, since she turned out to be much more than just Ciel's disciple.
The normal ending was really unexpected for me because I think this is the first time a Type Moon heroine dies in her own route. Felt a bit like the reverse of Heaven's feel ending.
The extra ending was basically the happy ending. Even Arcueid survived, though no harem this time.
Visuals, music, and VAs were fantastic. Around half-way through, while thinking of how great Ikumi Hasegawa was for Arcueid, I realized that back when the game was realeased she hadn't had her big break yet. Really good find.
I really loved the game, but I have to say I wish I had waited until the release of part 2 because I can't wait for it now. I didn't expect there would be so many new characters introduced. The only one with a complete arc was Noel, all the others remain completely shrouded in mystery. I can only hope part 2 will be announced soon and will get a worldwide release, otherwise I'm just going to forget a lot of stuff.
The Arcueid was really good, but not much was changed. The Ciel route, however, was on a completely different level from the original.
Spoiler for Ciel route spoilers including extra ending:
I was pretty shocked when Arcueid hunted down and killed Roa on day 6. I actually don't quite understand why she was so much more obsessed with Shiki in this route, even before he became Roa's new host. Is it the jealousy she felt toward Ciel that made her feelings overflow? This of course culminated in the absolutely bonkers extra ending where she uses her full power. Having her wearing the old skirt was a nice touch.
Ciel seemed a lot more lovely to me this time around, but I can't claim to remember her original route well. Noel was an interesting additional adversary, since she turned out to be much more than just Ciel's disciple.
The normal ending was really unexpected for me because I think this is the first time a Type Moon heroine dies in her own route. Felt a bit like the reverse of Heaven's feel ending.
The extra ending was basically the happy ending. Even Arcueid survived, though no harem this time.
Visuals, music, and VAs were fantastic. Around half-way through, while thinking of how great Ikumi Hasegawa was for Arcueid, I realized that back when the game was realeased she hadn't had her big break yet. Really good find.
I really loved the game, but I have to say I wish I had waited until the release of part 2 because I can't wait for it now. I didn't expect there would be so many new characters introduced. The only one with a complete arc was Noel, all the others remain completely shrouded in mystery. I can only hope part 2 will be announced soon and will get a worldwide release, otherwise I'm just going to forget a lot of stuff.
Holy smokes, nice job! Goes to show what a snail pace I'm on. I'm still not done with Arcueid .
I'm with you on them really making a great find for Arcueid all the way back then. Perfect choice.
Honestly curious how many of the characters are new ones. But considering when Tsukihime was first made I can kind of guess at how many were thrown in to truly flesh out the setting and story. Noel has been a good one so far. And I'm with you in that I also think the visuals, voice acting, and music have been excellent. It's such a polished experience.
In some ways glad I've still got some of Arcueid and all of Ciel's routes to deal with. Since I probably will be left pulling out my hair wanting some part 2/sequel news here!
Took me 31 hours to 100% it FYI. I was using a guide to get the bad ends the first time around, I like it better this way personally. Playing blindly doesn't really appeal to me, plus I always lose motivation to do the side content as soon as I'm done with the main story in video games, which is why I always make sure to finish everything before. And I do read pretty fast, I would probably go insane trying to play a VN on auto read.
But that's just me. I know some people like to take their time. Nothing wrong with that obviously. Enjoy the game! Very curious to hear your thoughts about Ciel's route.
Took me 31 hours to 100% it FYI. I was using a guide to get the bad ends the first time around, I like it better this way personally. Playing blindly doesn't really appeal to me, plus I always lose motivation to do the side content as soon as I'm done with the main story in video games, which is why I always make sure to finish everything before. And I do read pretty fast, I would probably go insane trying to play a VN on auto read.
But that's just me. I know some people like to take their time. Nothing wrong with that obviously. Enjoy the game! Very curious to hear your thoughts about Ciel's route.
That makes sense. I do get the feeling. When I'm done with a story I'm usually...really done with it. I am actually worried I won't have the motivation for side stuff after. But I do want to just go through this pretty blind and see what my choices form as a narrative.
Honestly if I could whittle down my current anime list I'd get through this faster . But oh well. I am excited to see Ciel's route. She really grabbed me in those first few days when she was in the story and I'm curious to see how things will go with her. But will enjoy the rest of Arcueid while I'm with her route.
I really recommend doing the bad ends because some of them have big clues regarding what's going on behind the scenes. The Ciel-sensei segments are also a ton of fun.
2023-07-03, 22:50
IT Support
. 
.
. Also got to do what I honestly wanted which was not make poor Akiha worry sick. Crawling into the streets the day after being brutally attacked just didn't seem like a good plan. Better to just skip out one night and deal with the consequences. And those are...a date!?
. Fair enough. She's definitely more than technically a girl. I like her stance on atonement and all that. It's not a bad way to view things. Can't erase wrongs while atoning. But the act of atonement and the impact it has on the individual has value. And there is a huge gap between those that atone and those that don't even try to.
