Yandere Translations

Here is a review of Gunjou no Sora wo Koete (群青の空を越えて), made by light.

Overall score: 7/10

Plot summary:

In the near future. The students in the Kanto (eastern Japan) region declares independence and Japan enters a civil war!

The main character, Hagino Yashiro is a pilot cadet belonging to the Tsukuba air wing of the Kanto army. The enemy he is fighting is the Kansai army (former Japanese power), who is against Kanto’s independence. Yashiro and his friends enjoy the short, but brilliant days of their youth in the aviation school. They eventually head out to their respective battlefields with who they want to protect engraved in their minds. One goes into air-traffic control, one goes into ground force, and Yashiro flies his aircraft. However, with the support from the US, the Kansai army’s offense grows stronger by the day, and the situation gets worse and worse…….

*Play time: About 25 hours total.

Characters:

Hagino Yashiro: Main character. Cool and a bit cynical.
Mizuki Wakana: Main heroine. Ponytail. Kind and strong.
Kusakabe Kanako: The young energetic type. Depressing route.
Shibusawa Miki: Teacher. Older sister type.
Sawamura Yuki: Camerawoman. Strong, older type.
Osada Keiko: Glasses. Stubborn, plain type.

Story: 7/10

The game has a very detailed setting with lots of economic and political theories blended into the game. People who love these stuff would probably love it, but I kinda skimmed over it enough to understand the basic concept since I don’t really enjoy that stuff. I said that the story concentrates on military and politics, but it’s strong enough to make you read it even if you’re not into those stuff.

The genre and the cover make you think there’s a lot of fighting and action, but there really isn’t that much action in this game. This game revolves more around human relationships and drama, which are very well written. Characters are very solid and they each have their reasons of fighting. However, the slice of life scenes aren’t that interesting.

The story is realistic (relative to other eroges) and there really aren’t any convenient stuff happening. The main character isn’t a hero or anything either (He gets shot down in more than half the routes, after all). Well, I guess that the fact he doesn’t die in any of the crashes is convenient… Anyway, the story really gets depressing in some routes (Kanako route especially).

The biggest problem I had for the game was that it (the final route) ended in the middle of the climax, and it kept the players hanging. It does a similar thing in other routes too.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphic isn’t moe, but I think it fits the atmosphere of the game. I really love the coloring. There’s about the right amount of CGs for this game, but there is an obvious lack of standing sprites for each characters. Some characters don’t even have sprites where others lack the spirites and don’t even show up on the screen in special circumstances or appear out of context (like the text says one clothes while the sprite shows another).

Music: 7/10

I really like the music in this game. Most of the music tend to be sad or depressing, but they really do create the atmosphere of the game. They don’t stand out, but really help bring out the scenes. The few upbeat music in this game are awesome, and I really love the one that plays during the school scenes. The opening song is pretty good, but I don’t really like the ending song.

System: 6/10

The usual Light system. From the title screen, it has CG mode, music mode, and scene mode (sex + special scenes).
From the config menu, it has auto message, message speed, skip functions, effect speed, sound/BGM/voice volumes, individual character voice on/off, and screen mode.
It has the basic functions, but there are some scenes where the text flows at a set speed which I found annoying.

Ero: 5/10

The Hscenes change quality with the girls. For example, Wakana Hscenes show variety and it even has a CG where she’s holding a condom, while Kanako’s Hscene is condensed into one and is pretty crappy. Most of the scenes really bring out their intimacy and are very well done. The art actually went well with the Hscenes.

Overall: 7/10

This is a good game full of human drama. The military, politics, and theories would really add to the experience if you love that stuff. I liked the drama and the people’s interactions, but couldn’t get myself to enjoy the theory and the politics aspect of it.

Recommended for: People who like detailed setting, people who love military/politic stuff, people who want a rather realistic story.
Not recommended for: People who want action, people who hate depressing stories, people who want simple stories, people who want the protag to be a “hero”.