[izmosmolnar]

So hm... Seeing that Mangagamer (some NSFW pictures in the link. woo they finally changed their mascot) released it's new Visual Novel called Kira-Kira (VNDB link) a few days ago, I was interested in opinions whether it's worth it's price to buy (36,95 Euro)
I couldn't find any opinion about the japanese version here either, hence the new topic.
Some game information:

Spoiler for Game + character information, plot summary etc. spoiler for saving space.:

Spoiler for game facts:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Kira-kira (キラ☆キラ, Kira-Kira?) is a Japanese Adult Game created by OVERDRIVE the Japanese software brand. Kira-Kira has Media franchiseed with Apparel, Manga, Goods, Music Instruments. An official English translation was released download-only in June 2009.

Spoiler for plot summary written by Mangagamer:

Originally Posted by Plot summary by Mangagamer:

Shikanosuke Maejima is a student at Oubi Academy, a school of a missionary nature. He doesn't visit his club. He doesn't put much effort into his studies. All he really does is show up at his part time job. In short, his life could be better.

All this changes when he meets Kirari Shiino at work. Kirari is a strange girl, and soon Shikanosuke finds himself joining a punk band. This is where the story begins.

The members of the band are Shikanosuke, Kirari, Shikanosuke's childhood friend Chie Isurugi, and a rich yet sickly girl by the name of Sarina Kashiwara. The four of them are members of the Second Literature Club, which has little in the way of active members and which is scheduled to be canceled. The band is their way of saying farewell to their club.

Though ill-prepared for the challenge ahead, the members go through eccentric training, and eventually succeed in rocking Oubi Academy's cultural festival with their debut performance.

And that should have been it. The members should have been satisfied, and they should have returned to their normal school lives.

However, their final performance at a local music theater ends up as a hit on the Internet, and they receive requests from theaters far and wide who want them to come and perform.

What now? Exams are coming up, and the families are opposed to the band.

But none of that matters!

The four of them embark on a trip through Japan, armed with their makeshift musical instruments and aboard a rickety van that could come apart at any moment. It is to be their final project as academy students.

Oh and Mangagamer failed to mention something important which I'm gonna put in the main hero's character information

Spoiler for Character informations:

Spoiler for Kirari Shiino:

Kirari is the vocalist of the band.
She meets Shikanosuke when she begins work at the restaurant where he works.
Her family is very poor, and she works mornings and evenings to make ends meet. However, her cheerful, spontaneous attitude normally masks this hardship. Her permanently wild hair and her bright smile are her trademark features.

Spoiler for Sarina Kashiwara:

Sarina is the guitarist.
She comes from a wealthy family that is funding the academy. Because of her weak constitution and her grandfather's strict upbringing, she has precious few friends in school. Her character is refined and her demeanor is quiet, but she possesses a strong will.
She is close to Kirari, whom she considers an irreplaceable friend.

Spoiler for Chie Isurugi:

Chie is Shikanosuke's childhood friend. She plays the drums.
Because she had to repeat a grade due to family circumstances, she is a year older than Shikanosuke. She is also the president of the Second Literature Club, which Shikanosuke and Sarina are part of. Possibly because of what she has had to go through, Chie is mature and thoughtful, and acts as the sense of reason of the band. However, she also keeps a tight leash on herself, disguising her laid-back and timid nature.

Spoiler for Shikanosuke Maejima:

Shikanosuke is the hero of this story. He plays the bass.
Initially he has no interest in band activities, but a turn of events causes him to join in anyway.
A former member of the tennis club, he had to leave that club because of certain issues. Shortly after that his girlfriend dumped him, and he now lives a dejected life.

Spoiler for minor spoiler about him:

Only the girls know that he is actually male, but he has to perform as a girl during the concerts and such for some reason.

Spoiler for HQ Opening movie (there's no need to click on the HQ icon):

So is there any one here who played either the english or the japanese version? I'm wondering how long are the character routes, is the humor similar to the funny Edelweiss (seeing that the creator is the same japanese company), how did you liked the story, how interesting you found the character-routes, and other sort of impressions-opinions.
If you played the english version I'm also interested to know the quality of the translation, as Edelweiss was "not quite good" in that regard (I think it was quite confusing for a non-english native like me).
The plot summary (and some charactertraits too) looks kinda like how I imagined K-On to be (except the protagonist's circumstances obviously).

Edit2: English demo version here or here.