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I like the color palette used in that artwork, it conveys the mood of the game really well. Those pink petals on the otherwise gray landscape also remind me of the emotions I felt when reading Tokyo Necro, that even in a messed up world people still strive for beauty in life through connections and ideals.

You say it was just on a whim, but during my stay on the internet I've made dozens of names for myself and I don't remember putting so much thought into it. My username on MAL is simply me emphasizing my love towards Kiseki's Shizuna. That and I also find it very fitting for a profile dedicated to her.

Yes, that part with Haojun blaming everything on Taoluo's blindness to Ruili's feelings indeed happened, although the way I see it, all involved were shifting the blame among one another without ever trying to resolve the issue through communication. Easier said than done, however, considering social implications of that situation as well as intricacies of human nature — I doubt that Haojun, for one, could be satisfied even with all three of them sharing their true feelings among themselves. As long as he loved Ruili, heartache was the only thing in store for him.
I suppose when you get disgraced, killed, cut into pieces and then revived in a mechanical body, social pressure stops being as relevant and you can discard all expectations everyone around you and your family has of you.
From the cynical perspective one might argue that Ruili had a better life than most other people of her time since I'm sure that average dwellers of a Cyberpunk setting don't have a very fulfilling life and most likely face hardships on the daily basis, but if you're unhappy there's not much that can be done about it. Knowing that someone has it worse than you won't help you.

What's interesting is that at first Haojun appears to be a bit narcissistic and power-hungry and some of his actions don't make much sense in that paradigm (like what you've already mentioned - him not kidnapping Ruili when he had a change to), but after the reader discovers what drove him to this state everything starts making sense. That's another side of what makes the ending so good — the puzzle finally becoming complete.

Depending on how you look at the whole thing, everyone can be categorized as a villain since all three of them dragged a lot of other people into deadly situations, including those who have nothing to do with them, but personally I don't like that sort of black and white categorization in the first place.

That makes me interested in you reading it too, I wonder what your opinion on the seiyuu chosen for the remake is going to be.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the backstory of your username?

Funny that you mention Kikokugai's reception, because after finishing it I tried searching something about it and the first link Google gave me was a Reddit thread where OP was claiming it was the most disappointing VN he has ever read (I got baited by that title and decided to read it). It made me realize some people either don't understand what they are reading or aren't good with empathy because he complained about the ending and stated that what Haojun did was "for reasons untold" even though his motivations were in the open — he did it out of love for Ruili. It remined me of how Bin Wei Xin couldn't comprehend Haojun's actions. So in an ironic way, such opinions only strengthen what is being told in the story.

Well, "logically speaking" the tragedy could have been avoided if Ruili ignored her true feelings and accepted her duty as Haojun's arranged wife, but humans aren't that simple and the complexity of one's soul was explored and presented magnificently. Ultimately, all three of them were motivated by love for someone else and all in all I ended up pitying Haojun the most. His feelings weren't in any way inferior to Ruili's or Taoluo's, but they had no place in the heart of his beloved, and whereas Taoluo and Ruili united at the very end, Haojun was cast into oblivion.

It's interesting that, at least from my experience, the most unusual and unexpected things happen in visual novels rather than anime or video-games, probably because their market is niche and developers can allow themselves to explore pretty much anything (although with how payment processors have been clamping down on sites like DLsite, Pixiv and others it might be coming to an end).

Oh, right. One thing I wanted to add about remake is that devs managed to keep the sexual scenes. They were short and there was nothing explicit in them, but it was still much better compared to being cut out like they never existed.

I'm here to report that I've completed Kikokugai.

A brief summary:
- The unique mix of the traditional Chinese martial arts and cyberpunk setting was nice to see.
- The pacing was great.
- Really enjoyed philosophical and technological themes brought up during the story, especially in regards to the sense of oneself and human relationships.
- The ending was unexpected in a good way - a cherry on top of already good story that will make the whole experience much more memorable.

TY for accepting. 👍

I played Ys I & Ys II, loved both games, but I'm yet to proceed further. Now that I think about it, maybe I'll continue this series after finishing Kikokugai!

As of now, there are four arcs in Trails.

Liberl arc
Trails in the Sky
Trails in the Sky SC
Trails in the Sky the 3rd

Crossbell arc
Trails from Zero
Trails to Azure

Erebonia arc
Trails of Cold Steel
Trails of Cold Steel II
Trails of Cold Steel III
Trails of Cold Steel IV
Hajimari no Kiseki

Calvard arc
Kuro no Kiseki
Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin

They all follow the same plotline, so it is the best to play them in order starting from the first Trails in the Sky game to avoid getting spoiled and experiencing it as it was intended, however, given that each arc has its own main characters and its own local story, it is also possible to enjoy them independently. For example, some people can be put off by old graphics and jump straight to newer games, although seeing as you are a fan of visual novels, outdated graphics shouldn't be an issue. Still, if you decide to go this route, just don't play Hajimari before the Crossbell arc.

Yes, there are many VAs I like, but she's among the top-5 most impactful ones for me, although ironically the role that made me appreciate her the most was fairly minor one, it was in Kiseki/Trails series (don't know if you played it or not). As for Kikokugai, it certainly has that unique Nitroplus feeling to it and translation seems to be decent as well.

Hey, I started reading Kikokugai yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear Tamura Yukari in Ruili.

Your Welcome Let's Be Friends

You're welcome!

Likewise thanks for accepting my FR request. (⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

Thanks for accepting, I liked your profile so I wanted to add you to my friends :)

Actually, I like watching old anime, and the fact that it is only 13 episodes makes me interested in watching it. There is a dubbed version, but I prefer Japanese. You have interesting taste. I think you might like Mushishi if you like the supernatural and mystery genre

Hey, I was planning to watch Strange Dawn do you recommend watching it?

Half the internet is blocked where I'm currently at, but I'm not sure why vndb is. I could probably use a vpn to access it, though, but they are going extinct here.
Voice acting is a huge reason to go with the remake. A shame there's no "the best of both worlds" option.