Crystalline, a visual novel available on Steam, is a fun isekai / romance / adventure story. Crystalline is the first visual novel I’ve ever tried, so I have nothing with which to compare it, but I found it charming. From what I can tell, it is typical of the visual novel genre, straddling the intersection… Read More Crystalline: A Visual Novel Review
It’s been a little while since I’ve talked about JRPGs, so with the new year upon us, it seems fitting to take a glance at the JRPGs of 2017 that I played. For all that it was a less than pleasant year in other respects, it also proved to be a pretty stellar year in… Read More 2017 JRPG Roundup
Hey everyone, Kaze here sneaking back onto this blog with a very special and exciting post! As some of you know, I’m a big fan of the Narcissu series and have written on the stories numerous times because of its inclusion of Christian faith in a very respectful, thoughtful, and accurate manner alongside serious, meaningful… Read More Interview with Tomo Kataoka
Hatoful Boyfriend is quite possibly my favorite visual novel, not that I’ve played/read enough for that statement to mean much. At first, it appears to be a dating sim featuring pigeon love interests, but it’s both a lot more ridiculous and a lot deeper than that. And darker. And bloodier. And sweeter. And… well, you… Read More 12 Days of Otaku Christmas, Day 2: Hatoful Boyfriend
One of our favorite yearly traditions at Beneath the Tangles is our “12 Days of Christmas Anime” series. In the past, our staff has put together twelve posts about Christmas anime episodes. This year, we’re doing things a little different: we’ve expanded our scope to include not only anime, but also manga, visual novels, JRPGs,… Read More 12 Days of Otaku Christmas
According to my admittedly rather fallible memory, few anime in the last few years have frustrated me as much as Girlish Number, but I can’t help but feel that this is a good sense of frustration. I’m not angry because the anime is terrible, or even because I wish the characters were written differently, but… Read More Letters from the Editor: I’m Part of the Problem
Hey everyone, we have some super exciting news today. As you could guess from the title, we are having a Narcissu Anthology season pass giveaway! For those unaware, we of Beneath the Tangles (well, at least Japes and I) are big fans of Narcissu for its respectful inclusion of Christian faith in its stories that present… Read More We’re Giving Away 10 Narcissu Anthology Season Passes!
As evidenced by its placement on our Visual Novel Recommendations Page, it’s no secret that we love Planetarian at Beneath the Tangles. Now that we’ve finally received the highly-anticipated 5-episode ONA adaptation, JP (Japesland), Casey (CutsceneAddict), and Kaze are very excited to present and discuss some of our thoughts as to what makes this unique narrative so compelling, especially from… Read More TangleCast 18: Finding God in Planetarian
This week, JP (Japesland) and Kaze blabber on for days about Rewrite, one of Key’s most recent and most phenomenal visual novel works and a source of excitement for the summer anime season this year. What makes it so great? Why is it a must-read for anyone interested in spirituality or religion, especially Christians? What should… Read More TangleCast 13: Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite!
This week on The TangleCast, JP (Japesland) and Kaze discuss Girls Beyond the Wasteland (Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu), a rather mediocre anime hyped for its unique take on the visual novel production process. How does it stand up to our two most critical reviewers? Listen in to find out. As always, every episode of The TangleCast will be covering a… Read More TangleCast 4: Girls Beyond the Wasteland