Please be aware that my Thoughts contains spoilers!
Finished while airing:
[x] [x]
Kotoura-san | Little Busters! | Sasami-san@Ganbaranai | Tamako Market
(Kinda lazy to finish LB! and I don't feel like drawing a Sasami chibi OTL LB! will definitely be given more love (actually, it is in my sketchbook) during the summer as I'm planning to start preparing for my LB! fanbook in a few-several months)
Thoughts:Kotoura-san:
(will comment after finishing)
Little Busters!:
(will comment after finishing)
Sasami-san@Ganbaranai:
(will comment after finishing)
Tamako Market:
(will comment after finishing)
Finished this season:
Chuunibyou
Thoughts:Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai!:
To be frank, I disliked the chuunibyou part of the story. It made me really hard to like to like Rikka and Dekomori. However, I managed to plow through the chuunibyou and got to the "dramatic/climax" of the story. That was somewhat of a miss for me as well, although it's most likely a miss from all the drama I've experienced from key. I liked dere Rikka x Yuuta and the Reality Ensues trope when Rikka decided to retain/gain her childish/chuunibyou personality after her dad died when she was little. I'm not too fond of the ending as Rikka returned to her chuunibyou side T__T.. I honestly found Rikka's fragile/broken state to be more appealing (ok, not that way, I mean that I like shy/reserved characters over childish/goofy characters /ironically, Haruka and Mio's my favorite LB! charas) and Yuuta could have spent his time healing her.
LB! reference, anyone?
Overall, it may seem like I'm bashing this series but in truth, it was an enjoyable series to watch. (I'm one of those people that like to nick-pick specific parts I don't like)Vn finished this season:
Cross†Channel
Thoughts:Cross†Channel (copy & paste from my .txt file with all of my thoughts)
An enjoyable vn. It was different from the previous vns I have read as it deals witih psychological and extreme violence; it's the darkest vn I have read to date. It was different as well as this was more character driven.
As horrible and disgusting people are, some of them are actually altruistic. They are just unable to control themselves sometimes.
(long wall of text)
Characters
As usual, I like all the characters in the cast. Taichi... is a pervert but the latter segments helped me to love him. Misato is a nice character. Touko's a tsundere so I love her XD Kiri... I LOVED her character during the 1st 3 weeks but I hated her after that, except after and during her mini route. Miki is a fragile flower and makes a nice combo with Taichi. Youko's yandere trait scares me but the fact that she was actually self sufficient got me attatched to her. Sakuraba... is gay and obsessed with curry bread but he's a smart and kindhearted inside. Tomoki has his problems with Misato but he, again, makes a nice combo with Taichi.
Music
The lonely piano pieces stick out of the OST. It's well fitting and suits the overall tone of Cross Channel. The pieces are chilling to listen to. Very fitting.
Routes
I have a generally mixed feelings about the routes in Cross Channel. The 1st week confused me but I soon learned that these first routes are more of a prolouge and give hints about Taichi. I did not enjoy some of Taichi's actions, like making Kiri his sex slave (exaggeration) after the reveal. The prolouge (Week1-5) took a while to pick the interest though. It took about the 3rd week to get excited reading this, although the 1st two weeks weren't difficult to read through. Then the decision to return everyone home. I knew from there that Taichi would break eventually as he would be alone by himself. Mini routes! I believe that Sakuraba should have been the 1st mini route done. It was unexpectedly short and a bit lacking. I loved Misato and Kiri's mini routes the most. Misato and Taichi reminded me of Kyousuke and Riki (repectively) during Refrain (LB!). Not all loose threads from there were cleaned up but it was satisfying enough. Kiri's route was basically Kiri's route without Taichi taking advantage of her. Mostly rehash but nevertheless, I loved it. Miki's route was average, it didn't feel like Taichi solved a significant problem. Touko's was above average -- the parting between her and Taichi was heartwrenching. Youko's was rather scary. Now that I think about it, I liked Youko's as well. Taichi not being able to solve some of the girl's problems is a fridge moment though. They have psychological problems, and it's extremely difficult to get over that.
So route ranking: Kiri > Misato > Youko > Touko > Miki > Hiro. The last two routes (Week 7 + Epilouge) were heartwrenching.
Final Thoughts
I'm pretty depressed that Taichi's stuck in that world.. And him building the tower every week to attempt to contact everyone.. very tear jerking. ;__; Tower of Friends.. that was just freaking scary OTL