2472: minori

As I’ve noted previously, I’m going to do a full write-up on minori’s kinetic novel Supipara Chapter 1 (localised by MangaGamer — if you feel like picking it up, doing so through that affiliate link gets me a few very welcome cents) at some point in the very near future over on MoeGamer, but I have to finish reading it first!

In the meantime, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate what developer minori has done with Supipara and, I believe, with their other works, which I’m yet to familiarise myself with, but which I have bumped right up the list after getting about halfway through Supipara.

Most visual novels fall into one of two categories.

Novel types fill the screen with a text box and narrate everything, just like a regular novel, and images appear in the background behind the text box — usually a combination of unique images for the situation, and character sprites to depict who is present or talking. Good examples of this approach include Kana Little Sister and Kira-Kira!, both of which are highly recommended if you want some compelling, character-driven stories that will make you cry your eyes out on numerous occasions.

Adventure types look more “gamey” in that they have a smaller text window, usually at the bottom of the screen, and for the most part they unfold from first-person perspective, with characters looking “out of the screen” at you, or, more accurately, at the protagonist. Particularly important scenes are marked by “event” images that eschew the usual perspective in favour of a unique image to depict what is going on. In adults-only visual novels, the sex scenes fall into this category, but they’re also used to highlight important events in character development too.

minori’s approach is closer to the adventure type, but with a much less game-like aesthetic, more carefully crafted and directed to appear almost more like an animated movie than a typical visual novel.

Your typical adventure type visual novel doesn’t tend to shift the perspective around too much. Characters all stand in front of the protagonist, regardless of whether they’re talking to him or to each other, and they all look “out” of the screen. In Supipara, meanwhile, there’s a much more dynamic approach to presentation: we get different perspectives and camera angles, mostly reflecting the protagonist looking in different directions, much as you would when interacting with real groups of people, but also to highlight important moments in conversations.

Perhaps most notably, minori isn’t afraid to show the back of characters’ heads, which isn’t something you’d think is particularly unusual until you notice quite how much they do it. Only then does it dawn on you that no, this doesn’t normally happen; the player-protagonist is normally the centre of attention, even if they aren’t being directly addressed, and it’s a little strange to see characters turning away from you to address other people.

This adds an interesting twist to the aesthetic at times, allowing you to feel like you’re “standing with” a character while another addresses the pair of you. At other times, it is used to make it feel like you’re walking along behind a character, or that they’ve turned to leave. It’s a very effective touch that makes a big difference to the overall presentation.

And that presentation is overall absolutely stunning. Supipara is without a doubt one of the most gorgeous visual novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and its art is animated, too. Characters blink, mouths move, poses change in the middle of utterances. It gives the whole work a huge amount of personality and makes it enormously compelling. The characters are already well-written, but seeing them acting more “human” than simple static sprites helps make them even more adorable.

As for the story, well, I won’t spoil anything for now — at least partly because I haven’t yet finished it! — but it’s an interesting blend between light-hearted high school slice of life and some stranger, supernatural goings-on. It has a very pleasant tone to it with some wonderful characters and a gorgeous setting that I want to spend the rest of my life in. And irritatingly catchy music.

Full write-up coming soon on MoeGamer, but in the meantime, pick up Supipara with confidence — both because it’s a great visual novel in its own right, but also because doing so helps fund the rest of the series’ development and localisation!