--+ the escapade of over-the-top degeneracy!
When getting into the Yami No Koe you do not exactly expect an piece of art that will re-new it's meaning and question the meaning of everything we have built upon so far, a timeless classic that will stand against the test of time and will be held up against literary classics such as The African Trilogy or something of the sort, no, not at all- Infact, Yami No Koe is nothing like that, but yet it did so much for the eroge industry and breaking social norms despite being a very "B-tier" franchise.
Infact, if there is a word I could describe Yami No Koe as, it's an "escape."
Videogames are most often the time, escapism- We struggle and go through hardships in our society, may it be our education, work and etcetera the flow of time is here to shove our face in the toilet repeatedly as we swallow and gulp the crude & filth contents from the toiletwater- It's a process we have all been in, and thus we escape. We seek entertainment to take our mind off things, and we seek to enlighten ourselves with art to re-ignite farther purpose in our daily lives to keep going.
Now, allow me to take you back to another time, over 2 decades ago, in 2001, Cyc was born, and releasing it's first visual novel- Yami No Koe.
I'll keep it rather short here as this is a review of Yami No Koe II, and not Yami No Koe in itself.
But mind you, this is a mind-boggling release at the time, especially as people felt more expressive more than ever- Technology, people, and the way we even speak or communicate to one and another was none of the same as something back in the XXth century, where even trying to discuss things such as sexual orientation would make you sound mad.
But times had changed, and they're still changing now- and will change forever more, while deviations from the "sexual norm" was always a thing, it only just became more vocal and will only become more vocal as time pursues.
Not everyone is fond of this, however. Not at all, this sparks a extremely strong debate- and a debate that will last for an extremely long time.
Is it truly okay to be different? Is it fine to be "weird"? Should I follow this "norm"?
And so Yami No Koe was born, this was a eroge visual novel that is now considered as a true classic in the eroge genre- Taking you aboard an Island that is unlike anything else- where everything becomes clear as glass and unwraps throughout the most perverse acts and degeneracy, feelings for one and another expose themselves, it's ridiculous, it's absurd, and it's incredibly stylised in it's simplicity- This is Yami No Koe.
Izumi Ban'ya's prose is known to be extremely simple, (Yami No Koe was one of my first JP VNs lol) but that isn't a bad thing at all, infact it's incredible how he's able to talk about so much interesting thematics and express so much feeling with his simple wordplay.
Yami No Koe II only expands on that concept, this time in an only more pervert, crazier and more mindbogglingly degenerate work ; this time it is no longer an island, infact, we're aiming for education itself; right in the centre of an highschool ; Sayoko (The Cuntiest Woman Alive) once again does it, and only expands on Yami No Koe, it doesn't feel like a sequel per se, it feels like an extension, and that extension is possibly where this series peaked for me (Yami No Koe Zero I am really fond of, however.)
If you've not noticed yet, this series is free, it's ridiculous in it's exhibitionism as a videogame, it's as if it decides all it's clothes away, taking off it's panties and decides to do a dance choreography of it's freedom as a visual novel, you can't help but be confused- Yet you want to join in this trance. It's a dance where no one is different, where we are all able to be truly ourselves. There is no judgement in Yami No Koe, and Yami No Koe II only expands on that concept.
The fact that this series is so incredibly easy to read just makes it so much better, it's so simple, it makes everything simple.
The narrative itself, while great and not mind-blowing, is fun, and had me clenching my bed a few times with an ridiculous grip, I had invested myself so much into it, and when it was all over- I cried.
The dance was over, this trance that made me feel all sorts of emotions, this visual novel that made me learn that...
It doesn't matter if we are odd or "queer".
And so, unrealisingly, then it hit me ; the spectacle ended. It was all over, la fin.
I realised swayed, twirled, spun with with lust, perversion with all my impurities exposed to this world ; things that I were so afraid showing off, my "insecurities" were exposed during this choreography, and I didn't even notice anything, it just felt terribly awkward afterwards how much things this visual novel made me feel.
But if it did make me feel one thing,
It made me feel free, and while it can be a bit clunky, is still a product that not only expanded on the word "videogame escapism", but also rended it far more degenerate.
This is why, that whenever I hear the word "eroge", I think of Yami No Koe, and specifically, Yami No Koe II, as this game is the definitive edition of that word in my eyes.
Thank you for holding me, Black Cyc and never letting go throughout the entirety of this novel.