A legitimate hard sci-fi visual novel that’s somewhat marred down by too much slice of life instead of mystery solving.
Release: 2012 (Sumikko Soft)
Writers: Watanabe Ryouichi (Aokana)
Japanese difficulty: Medium
English: None
Ratings: VNDB (7.73), EGS (8.04)
I never took a particular notice of Watanabe Ryouichi as he was basically writing dumb moe VNs and nukige, but then he came out with the Spring is Coming (はるまで、くるる), which is a diamond hard sci-fi mystery visual novel set in a very bizarre future.
I really didn’t think I’d ever say something like this about a work which starts with a dozen of sex scenes, including bisexual orgies, but it’s one of the smartest pieces of fiction I have ever read. A truly profound understanding of modern evolutionary biology and particle physics is used to construct a mind-blowing future, the exploration of which alone makes this VN among the best I’ve read.
Unfortunately, the odd obsession with light-hearted romance and sexual jokes somewhat undermine the otherwise very intelligent nature of this work. It is truly a shame that only a couple of mysteries are actually explored within the plot, while the majority of the more complex ideas are only explained to you through stale expository dialogue near the end. You’ll spend most of your actual reading time on slice of life situations with characters who, while nice, are nowhere near as interesting as the setting and its mysteries.
Also, while some of the points, like overabundant sex, are tied to rigid scientific ideas, it nonetheless feels like the concept had to be a bit forced to fit into visual novel conventions.
Even though Haru Made, Kururu tends to focus on things which aren’t its actual forte, namely characters and romance, its scientific speculations are awesome enough to completely blow your mind regardless of how actually stale their adaptation was. Heck, one could write a plotless essay on them and it would still be an absolutely exciting trip.
Definitely recommended for fans of intelligent speculative fiction and people who like science in general.
Is Watanabe Ryouichi going to be the Stephen Baxter of visual novels? It seems we finally have a real hard sci-fi master in this medium, which makes me REALLY happy.
| Positive: | Negative: |
| Likable, interesting characters, especially Fuyune and Shizuka | Disappointing character designs |
| Mind-blowing ideas based on legitimate hard science | Story focuses on light-hearted romance instead of the mind-blowing ideas |
| Thought-provoking on the future of our species | |
| Thought-provoking on the mysteries of the universe | |
| Fairly titillating ero scenes |
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