I'm not really the biggest Visual Novel reader. Most of the VN's I read are well known staples in the genre, like Tsukihime, Muv-Luv, Ever 17, and Steins;Gate. The main issue with Visual Novels for gamers is that they are essentially not games, but more like interactive books. If you want to delve into them, you have to change how you see them.
The appeal of reading VNs because they are VNs is not really the best way to approach it. If you like reading, it is a plus; If you like X genre (let's say mystery), you will probably really like novels like Raging Loop, or if you are into horror, Saya no Uta is for you. For all it is worth it, we don't play Visual Novels, despite their origins from bampresto's Famicom series. They are available in gaming format because they were the medium that allowed it to flourish with its interactivity. Of course its anime roots will generally present the anime industry tropes with it which can be a hinder to most readers. If you are an anime fan like me, not so much.
Atri falls into this weird in between liking slice-of-life anime and being intrigued by the once more nuances over the future of Artificial Inteligence and its relation to how we humans see us in the future of robotics, involving linguistics, machine learning, debated extensively in sci-fi, specially Asimov's works like I-robot. But Atri deals with such themes down the line, allowing a more similar experience to Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko's mono-no-aware slice of life plot. It is not too observational like YKK, as its main heroine, Atri, is under a way tighter timeplot, whereas YKK is more akin to an Android being a witness to human's era end (which reminds me of Robin William's Bicentennial Man). In a same vein, It also has a similar plot-device to Planetarian, which is a must read!
Atri is a cheerful robot with intricate ways of acting as a human, being almost impossible to tell she is a robot. She has some memory issues, and Main character, which is not a shallow self-insert character, mind you, while being under an existential depressive crisis gets more and more affectionated to her as she assists him in his daily routine. Though she will leave him in mere 45 days, according to herself. Under this circumstances, the plots develops its peaks and valleys.
I won't bother you with the details, but the game developed by Frontwing and Makura (枕) and written by Asuta Konno (from if my heart had wings) is such an emotional and relaxing ride that even with the eventful 7:3 rule (70% chill with its last 30% plot drama), you can just relax with its incredible piano soundtrack - composed by Fuminori Matsumoto, which is what keeps me coming back even after beating the main 3 routes - cheerful characters and simple but intriguing setting of a future where lands are once again being covered back by the sea, leading to a humanitarian crisis. The backgrounds are astonishing, reminiscing maybe even Myst's silicon graphic lonely feels mixed with sharp beautiful renders and drawings.
This shares the same concepts with YKK of people trying their hardest to adapt to this new normal as they powerlessly are seeing the twilight of human's era. And I love it. The way humans still thrive and reminisce their culture (which is now under water and part of what drives some subplots related to submarine exploration and salvaging) is one of the highlights for me
One of its subplots is the reactivation an almost abandoned school in an small island that has no teachers (anymore) and is fighting to keep functioning with less and less kids interested in attending it -whilst japan's government is trying their hardest to move this island' population to mainland Japan- as a way to show human's resiliance and resistance to abandoning their land, which we can make a parallel to Journey's song 'Faith in the Heartland'. It is like a metaphor to life itself and its changes throughout its course. Alas, Atri does deal with such themes, even if sometimes superficially. The romance, human crisis, Natsuki's internal conflicts over bearing the future of humankind, the island, his grandmother's secret projects; everything blends into a very memorable 45-day journey.
Also, mind you. If the picture below kinda puts you off, as Atri is a loli-robot and MC being already in its 20s, I'd suggest you not reading, as its neutral relationship from him becomes more and more romantic as you reach its climax. Funnilly enough, it is also where it works the reflection over existencialism sits, so I think you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
Atri recently received an anime adaptation. I won't spoilt it but I can tell you that it complements the game, as its ending diverts from the original ones. Also, a manga is also being published and a Nendoroid is bound to be released by Goodsmile company. A relaxing summer like scifi experience which I won't forget. Do give it a read. Don't miss out. And by the way, I made an Atri cosplay available on the PSO2 section.
To finish it off, I have to say that this visual novel also allows for double subtitles, allowing Japanese foreign language students to have the japanese and another language at the same time while reading. This was lowkey a feature that I loved, as I fall into this definition, as it helped me boost the learning of a lot of N5 words. Still overwhelming though. Atri - my dear moment - is readily available on STEAM, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch's e-shop. Do also check Atri's gallery on Zerochan!
GrayFoxRJ
Comentarios