I wish that all anime that has even the slightest tinge of romance would have a visual novel as well. Getting to pick the kind of ending you want is the best. I hated the ending of the Shuffle! anime. Shuffle! visual novel is what the anime series is based on. I watched the anime first years ago before I played this visual novel. You get a totally different ending in the anime than the visual novel. In the visual novel you get to pick the ending you want. After watching the anime and playing the visual novel I have to say the visual novel is better hands down.
The star of the story is Rin. He is your typical high school teen with a few exceptions. His parents died along with his best friend’s mom in a car accident when they were eight years old. Since then he has been living with his best friend and her dad. His best friend is a girl named Kaede. Their life was pretty much mundane until two new families moved right next door to them. Then he goes to school and finds out there are two new transfer students. He also finds out that the new transfer students are princesses who transferred to his school just for him. They both have feelings for him. Rin has no idea who they are and doesn’t remember ever meeting them.
Lisanthus is the princess of the God realm and Nerine the princess of the demon realm. They both met Rin when they were all eight years old. They both spent entire day with him seperately and have been in love since then. Ontop of that Kaede is in love with him too. In the world of Shuffle! gods and demons can live in the human realm as long as they wish. The portal connecting all three realms was opened on and off over the years. In the timeline the portal was closed for the last 3 years. It was just recently opened permanently. At the school Rin attends it is normal for gods, demons, and humans to coexist. There are even some students who are half human and half god or half demon. The gods and demons look very similar to humans except the ears. Demons have very pointy long ears.The gods ears are not as long and are not as pointy.
There is also one more girl who has her eyes set on Rin. Asa, who is his senior, likes him as well. She doesn’t come out right and say it though. She flirts with him every chance she gets. An example of the type of flirting she does with him is in the game she has to change at his house one day. She then tells him to feel free to peep on her changing. In the very beginning of the game she sees Rin and Kaede walking to school together. She then kicks him in the back out of jealousy. Then to make up for it she grabs his arm and presses her chest into his arm. It becomes apparent that each girl expresses their feelings for him in different ways because of their different personalities. Asa has a tomboy, playful, at times hyper personality. Kaede’s personality is similar to Hinata from Naruto. She doesn’t come out right and admit her feelings for Rin either but she expresses it by being devoted to him. She cooks for him, cleans, and goes above and beyond for him.
Rin offers to help her many times but she always refuses. Lisanthus, also known as Sia, has a fiesty personality with a short temper. Nerine has a great singing voice, and has more of a shy personality as well. She isn’t as shy when it comes to expressing her feelings for Rin like Kaede. Each girl has their own secret that Rin will help them through if you choose their route. My favorite route was Kaede’s. There were many sweet and romantic moments between her and Rin which I loved. I think my favorite scene is when he carries Kaede home from the market and calls her his beloved princess. Kaede’s route was romantic, sweet, and innocent. You don’t see any of that in the anime. Rin shows no romantic feelings for Kaede at all in the anime.
I felt that you see a different side to Rin in the visual novel. He is kind to everyone, and thoughtful. When playing the visual novel you can see why many girls fall for him. I also felt that the anime was too dramatic. I loved that visual novel kept things light and fun. I also liked that the routes weren’t complicated or super long. You can get through one route in a day or 2. I do think that there should have been more choices. There should have been more chances to choose what Rin says to the girls. It would have been great to choose where Rin hangs out too. I liked that each character has the same voice as in the anime. It wasn’t just reading dialogue with no sound. The graphics are bright and colorful. Same character designs as the anime. I felt that there should have been more variety in the backgrounds.
I am very pleased with the Shuffle! visual novel. I liked it way better than the anime. I felt that the anime was a huge disapointment. The version that is released on steam is basically the all-ages release that came out on the ps2. I preferred this version because it focuses more on the routes and the sweet side of the story. It’s a breath of fresh air when it comes to Visual Novels on Steam. There are also 2 more routes you can unlock as well. Making that a total of 7 routes. If you are a fan of the series or hated the anime like I did the visual novel is for you. It’s fun to play, has a lot more romance, has good romance, and a good story. It is everything the anime should have been.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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