BLVN info & reviews

This post will probably be pretty long because I spent too much time looking at magazines and the official website... but I'll start with a bit of backstory for those who aren't familiar with the company! CORE was the Boys’ Love game label of visual novel publisher Orbit, who also made other adult games. In 2001 they released the CORE OFFICIAL CD-ROM SPECIAL which was a promotional disc to advertise projects they were working on, as well as their first game EverLoyalty ~Eien no Chuusei~. This was a short 18+ rated knight x knight BL game. This disc also had wallpapers of the company's web series Sei Crest Academy (聖クレスト学園) which launched in June 2001. Not much of this was archived, but it looked like it was an interactive web project which fans could also contribute to by submitting ideas and character designs. New stories would often be published on the website, as well as illustrations they received from fans. The official drawings were drawn by Drain Cherry (who now goes by Amamiya Poran) and Jinjahime, who also did the art for the EverLoyalty game. This project isn't on VNDB as it's not a visual novel, so it's a project not many people remember, but I thought it would be fun to mention! You can still explore some parts of the website through the Wayback Machine here, though a lot of the images don't work anymore.

Torus Zero The third project that was promoted on this disc was a game called Torus Zero ~ Dare ga Neko o Koroshita ka ~ (Torus Zero - Who Killed the Cat) illustrated by Carnelian, which will be the main focus of this blog post. I will be referring to the game as Torus Zero, but some images on the official website also called it 0-Torus as you can see below. Most of the early images on this website (from around 2001) seem to be of a character who's usually referred to as Priest (神父 shinpu) who was later revealed to be called Void, but after a while they started adding more information about the protagonist and the main characters that would appear in the story. The images below are some of the first pictures that were uploaded on the official website.

The story focuses on protagonist Riku, who one day wakes up in the back alley of a mysterious city illuminated by a blue moon. Even though he has some memories of his past, he doesn't remember how he ended up here. The website also had a few short stories which seem to serve as an introduction to what kind of world the characters live in. The first one is a conversation between the priest (Void) and someone who's simply referred to as ''Duke'' about the gods of this world, which was a bit difficult to understand without additional context. The second one is about the day Riku was found in the back alley and how he met a character called Arya, and the third one focuses on Riku's day job in this new city.

Riku is an irregularity in this world as he's the only human and most of the other characters that are introduced on the website have animal traits. The website also introduces a couple of other characters such as Arya, the first character Riku meets, who is implied to be some kind of god from another world. There's also Sera (a tiger boy), Shiu (a winged man who I believe is a crow), Rain (a police officer from the dragon tribe) and Yagiya (a member of the wolf tribe). Not all of the images on the old website were archived, so the picture below is from the first issue of magazine Binetsu Ouji published in 2002 (scans were found on the internet archive). I also added their names in romaji so it's easier to know which character I'm talking about. The website mentions that Riku is the ''bringer of chaos'' and that the Priest (Void) has taken an interest in him because of that, so it's also hinted that it's not exactly a good thing that he ended up in this world. It's implied that there are many different worlds in this game's universe and that Riku was sent to this one on purpose to trigger a certain event, though we don't know the details.

The area of the city they live in is characterized by high levels of poverty and public safety is also a concern. Many of its residents struggle to earn money and some even turn to prostitution as a means of earning a living. Both Sera and Arya work at a brothel, though Sera's doing it because he needs money to survive, while Arya just likes messing with humans. After Arya finds Riku in the alleyway and decides to help him, Riku gets a job as a cleaner, as he now also needs to find a way to survive in the city.

The website also mentions some side characters who didn't have any illustrations on the website, such as the fox woman who owns the brothel some of the characters work at and a goddess who created the ''blue moon''. Around mid 2002, the old website closed, but the information was moved to a different website which opened shortly afterwards. The new website added some more information, such as a side character called Nono who's a rabbit boy, and a picture of Rain's new character design without his hat.

This new website was regularly updated until late 2002, before its contents were moved to yet another website, which makes it a bit difficult to track the timeline of events. Not much information from 2003 was archived, but in 2004 Fanatica was announced, another boys’ love game that ended up being released that same year. Fanatica is a game I’ve also written a review about, which focuses on protagonist Arshile, who also suffers from amnesia and has no memory of his past (just like Riku). Despite this similarity, the plot is completely different though, as it takes place on a cruise ship in Europe and focuses on Arshile's mysterous past and his family lineage.

Interestingly, one of the characters who was on the Torus Zero website (Arya) also appears in this game. He shows up whenever you run into endings you've already seen before, kind of breaking the fourth wall because he gives you hints how to get new endings. Once the final good ending is unlocked, the flowchart shows that this ending leads to “0-Torus,” which implies that the stories of Fanatica and Torus Zero were connected in some kind of way. An interview with Carnelian published in Cool-B issue 3 further confirms this, as Carnelian stated that it was important to release Fanatica first in order to make the plot of Torus Zero as enjoyable as possible. By the way, this isn't the first time Arya appeared in a game, as he was also a side character in ROOT's adult game Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito which was released in 2002.

Around this time in 2004-2005, the website was still regularly updated and it was revealed that some characters from Fanatica would also make appearances in the game. Riku and Arya were also featured on the covers of B’s-Log Volume 2 and Cool-B Volume 4. B’s-Log in particular often showcased detailed illustrations of the characters and sometimes also included large posters of the characters. I couldn't really find a lot of information about the game in Cool-B because shortly after volume 4 was released, their new game Messiah was announced and the company mostly focused on advertising this game instead.

In 2005, the layout of the website was changed once again and they also remade all of the Torus Zero character sprites. Some characters look pretty different, as Rain doesn't wear the big hat anymore and Sera now has tiger ears. They also added new side characters, of which two resemble Liwen and Souha from Fanatica. Plot-wise, it seemed like the game would focus on Riku’s journey to discover why he was brought to this world, though it was still a bit vague how the other characters would be involved in this. I'm also not sure how many of these characters were supposed to have their own routes, though they did confirm that you would see the whole story from Riku's perspective rather than switching between multiple characters in their other game Fanatica.

Around mid 2005, the website stated that the game was scheduled to be released in 2006, though for the scenario writer section on the website was left blank. Shortly afterwards they suddenly announced that the age rating would be changed to ''all ages'' (which is... a bit odd because multiple of the main characters work at a brothel?). It looks like they based this decision on the feedback they received after they released Fanatica. They explained that 18+ ratings could potentially scare customers away because other forms of BL media such as manga do not have age ratings (which is still true nowadays), so they feared that the 18+ warning would make people assume the game was ''extremely explicit'' rather than story-driven. It's kind of interesting to read this so many years later because I really don't think the 18+ warning would scare away any adult BL fan away nowadays, though I'm not sure if this was different in 2005.

In the end they made the decision to focus on 2 different types of BL games: Story-driven games for a wider audience and 18+ rated games that focused on eroticism. A year after this announcement, they released the BL game Messiah, which is also an 18+ rated game. I think Messiah was pretty succesful as it also got a fandisc in 2008 and it's a game many people are familiar with. The idea to make all-ages games wasn't completely scrapped either as they also released a 12+ rated remake of Fanatica for the PS2 called Gin no Eclipse. Even though I do like the new artwork they did for this game, I think the story of the original 18+ version of the game was better... There were hardly any BL elements at all in this remake which was a bit disappointing!

As for Torus Zero, they stopped updating the website shortly after they announced the change of the age rating. I tried to find an official statement about the game’s cancellation, but I couldn't find anything on their website. I did find a comment by Carnelian (the game's artist and director) in Cool-B issue 114 in which it was mentioned that the game was never released “due to various circumstances” so I do think it's safe to say this game will never be released. Carnelian was also in charge of a lot of other non-BL games, so it would also not surprise me if she simply became too busy with other projects, and I honestly can't blame her for it.

Torus Zero always stood out to me because it had so much official art and they published information about it for many years. Some of the magazines I own even came with huge posters of the characters. Most of the other cancelled games I talked about on this blog didn't even have official websites and were cancelled pretty early into their development process. Even though the game was never released, I still enjoy looking at all the artwork as I'm a big fan of Carnelian's art! I also saved a lot of official artwork that I couldn't really fit anywhere else in this blog post, so you can check these out below (you can also find some more scans here).

Even though CORE stopped making BL games after the release of Messiah's fandisc, Orbit's new BL branch Procyon has been actively working on their new title Tokyo Gentou which also features human and non-human characters. According to one of the Cool-B interviews, some of the ideas that will be used in Tokyo Gentou were ideas Carnelian has had for a long time, so perhaps some ideas she originally had for Torus Zero were used in this game too. Tokyo Gentou is scheduled to be released this year, so I definitely plan on playing that when it's released! I'm just happy we're getting a new Carnelian BL game because it's not something I ever imagined happening again.

Lastly, I've recently added some new titles to my old blog post about cancelled BL visual novels and updated some of the information, so if you're interested you can check that out here! I'm always facinated by these cancelled projects so I will probably continue to update it if I find anything new.

Even though I won't be mentioning any spoilers about what happens in the game and the endings, I will discuss a few details, such as how many endings this game has and how long it took me to complete. If you want to play it without knowing these details, it's better to skip this blog post! Right now the game is only available in Japanese and can be purchased from the Jast store, Booth and DLsite. It was initially available on Steam as well, but the page unfortunately got removed (perhaps because of the age rating), which is why I really wanted to promote this game as they are probably missing out on sales because of this. It's also being translated into other languages, which will hopefully be released soon!

The game has 2 different endings, though you will always get the same one during your first playthrough, so you don't have to worry too much about the choices you make. There are also 11 unlockable in-game text files that explain some extra lore and backstory, so I do recommend collecting all of these. After purchasing the game, there should be a document called ''hints'' in your game folder, which explains how to get all of them. Funny enough I only noticed this after finishing my first ending, but luckily I had a lot of save files, so I didn't have to do too much backtracking! It took me about 4 hours to finish it without a guide, though that was before I got all of the text files and CGs. Some of the CGs can be easily missed, so if I find more information how to get them I'll post it here.

The gameplay combines point-and-click and visual novel elements, so it wasn't too difficult to reach the ending. In the creator's previous game, Saihate Eki, you controlled the characters with your mouse or keyboard for most of the game, so the gameplay feels quite different this time around. It also has a lot of unique gameplay elements and when you're stuck, you sometimes have to be a bit creative to figure out how exactly to progress. This was usually not too difficult and I had a lot of fun figuring it out. Luckily the official website also has a guide, so if you really can't figure it out I recommend using that! The ''hints'' file I mentioned earlier also tells you how to get the other ending.

While Viv's previous game is more of a ''bromance'' game according to their own tweets, This Game Is Not Real is rated 18+ and has 18+ scenes between both of the main characters. If you're familiar with Viv's works you might also know most of their pairings aren't exactly lovey-dovey with each other, so expect a darker BL story. I'm a big fan of dark BL stories and horror games though, so I really enjoyed the dynamic between both characters. If you're unsure if this is the game for you, the official website also has a list of warnings (such as self harm, violence, suicide and more). The artstyle is very cute though, so even the gory scenes did not look too explicit in my opinion.

Another thing I really loved about this game is that it starts in a very casual way and you work together with the main character to fix his game. Slowly you discover more about what kind of person he is, which is how you're eventually introduced to the second main character of the game, who happens to share the same first name as him. I think the pacing was really good and a lot of thought was put into every scene. I also absolutely love the artstyle and the atmosphere of the game, and even though I do also love Saihate Eki, it's clear how much the creator's work has improved since then. I think we need more depressing BL horror games, so I am really looking forward to what Viv creates in the future.

The images I used in this blog post were also published on the official website and on DLsite, so I hope it's okay to post them here! This is a pretty short blog post because I can't say too much about the game without spoiling it, but I recommend checking it out!

Main characters The game will focus one one main couple, Reo (the one with the black haired hair) and Rune, though it will have quite some side characters who will be relevant to the story. Reo lost his parents when he was a child and grew up in a facility. He works for the organization C・U・S・P who eliminate all hostile Nyx. Even though his job prohibits him from interacting with even non-hostile Nyx, he stars living together with Rune after being saved by him. It is still unknown what exactly happened, but Rune initially wanted to turn Reo into his meal rather than saving him. That night, the two of them formed some kind of ''contract'' together. Nyx look similar to humans, but their behavior is very instinctual, which can often lead to hostility. This is one of the reasons why they are only allowed to live in a special part of the city called Arcadia. Nyx are born from ores that suddenly started appearing after the mining incident 30 years ago and some of them take on the appearance of humans.

Side characters Next are two other characters who are both members of the C・U・S・P, the organization Reo also works for. The first character is Sakuto, a 20 year old soldier who's in the same unit as Reo. He's a bit of an elite and depending on who he's talking to, his attitude can get overbearing. He's a bit jealous of Reo because he knows Reo is more skilled than him and sees him as his rival. The second character is Kazuki, a 35 year old engineer (he honestly looks much younger). He's the only person within the organization who knows that Reo is living together with Rune. The organization tracks down hostile Nyx who are referred to as Bounders and eliminates them. Unlike peaceful Nyx, Bounders are more similar to animals and they can't control their behavior, resulting in them killing humans and eating them.

Another reason why Nyx are so dangerous to humans is that they sometimes emit a blue beam of light which crystallizes and kills humans. For this reason the C・U・S・P exclusively recruits humans like Reo who are immune to the crystallization, although they seem to be rare. Many of the organization's employees have been in tragic accidents before in which their family or friends were killed, as direct exposure to the light seems to be the only way to find out if one is immune to it. In Cool-B they also published a short story about Reo's past and how he witnessed the death of his family.

The second group of side characters who they've introduced to us so far all who work for a diner owned by a character called Elisia, who tries to protect Nyx and teaches them how to read and to write. Elisia is human, but owns a diner located in Arcadia which welcomes both Nyx and humans and is often referred to as ''mama'' by the others. The second floor of the diner seems to offer more intimate services as the Nyx who work there don't necesarilly need to eat humans to survive, but I guess they still need some kind of human DNA to keep their humanoid forms...? Though Rune isn't allowed to visit the second floor as he only just emerged from the crystals and the others want him to find a suitable partner instead.

One of the Nyx who works at the diner is a girl called Zoe who's the sisterly type. After finding out Rune started living with Reo, she immediately supported this decision. The second diner employee we're introduced to is Nicole, a friendly and reserved Nyx who's trying to get better at reading and writing. It seems like some Nyx such as Zoe have a dream of ''becoming human'' so I'm curious if they really can, as the newest CoreB covers shows Rune with dragon-like horns, wings and a tail, but others like Zoe look exactly like a human in the promotional pictures.

According to the official account, there will be even more characters, though these will be revealed later. Even though the game was promoted as a ''sweet romance between the two main characters'' some of the advertisements they published in the first issue of Cool-B Kiwami seems to suggest that the plot might get darker too. One example I can think of is that they published (what I assume is) a conversation between Rune and Reo, in which Rune tells him not to worry, and that he will protect Reo and this world. Afterwards Rune seemingly vanishes, and the final line translates to "a cruel and loving eternal farewell", so I am really curious what will happen in this game. There also seems to be some kind of villain character who's hostile towards Rune, though they haven't published much information about him. Carnelian's other BL games were also rather dark, so I'm really curious.

The estimated release date is still 2026, so I hope it will be released this year! They've been posting more information on their Twitter account lately which you can find here. So far I really like the character designs and the CGs they've published so far. I hope they will launch their website soon so everyone can see them, as I'm trying to not spoil too much in this post. The CG below is a picture they're currently using as header on Twitter/X which was also published in Cool-B magazine, but all credit goes to the artist Carnelian and the developer Procyon!

Similar to previous Chiral Night events, this event will also feature songs from past Nitro+CHiRAL works, such as Togainu no Chi, Lamento, sweet pool, and DRAMAtical Murder! The voice actors of Slow Damage's main cast will also be present. This will be the first big Chiral Night event in over ten years, as the last major event was THE CHiRal NIGHT Dive Into Dmmd, which took place in 2013. They also organized two smaller events, which were the CHiRAL LIVE x Slow Damage event in 2022 and the Chiral Night pre-event which took place today. For more details about the ticket prices please check the official website! Lottery applications have already started, though for now it's only through ePlus.

Artists ARKTA, Anna Evans Golden Folks, Itou Kanako, VERTUEUX, Kimura Seiji, KiRi, GOATBED, THE ANDS, Watanabe Kazuhiro

Ariake B: No choices, just play the game until you get an ending. Ariake A: Reload the game a bit before the 18+ scene happens and select 触れない Shimbashi: 誘う (Shimbashi silhouette) Aomi: かける (Aomi silhouette) Takeshiba: 乗らない (Takeshiba silhouette) Shiodome B: 終わりたい (Shiodome silhouette) Shijoumae: 止められない (Shijoumae silhouette) Shiodome A: 引き留める (Oosaki silhouette) Toyosu: 沈黙 (Shinkiba silhouette) This route has a lot of optional choices but once you've read all the dialogue options just press 終了to progress. Hinode: 他の参列者の御斎 (Dining room map) Funeno: 守り添う (Funeno silhouette) Daiba: 信じる (In the car)

Now available ↓

Suito wa Hakumei (水都は薄明) Developer: HolicWorks Release date: January 30th, 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter, DLsite A new 18+ Holicworks title about a city which is permanently enveloped in twilight. The story focuses on protagonist Mahora who’s a member of the Special Security Guards (Yonomori) who are tasked to kill the demons that suddenly started appearing in the city.

Chuki Chuki Eroriiman/Love Love Sexy Salaryman Developer: MadaLabo/MadaKubo Release date: May 2026 Links: VNDB, Ci-en, Twitter New 18+ BL game by MadaLabo, which was originally teased in 2022. According to their blog posts this will be a more light-hearted game compared their previous works (Hadaka Shitsuji and Kanja S no Kyuusai) and focuses on only 2 main characters. Like usual, the protagonist will be the top. This game is available in both Japanese and English!

DRAMAtical Murder re:code (Nintendo Switch) Developer: NITRO CHiRAL Release date: December 25th, 2025 Links: VNDB, Nintendo store This is the 15+ rated version of the game that was originally released on the PSvita in 2014. The 18+ scenes were censored/modified to fit the age rating, but it does have a new route which focuses on the character Mizuki. Note that it’s only available in the Japanese Nintendo store, so you might need a Japanese Nintendo gift card to purchase it. It also only has Japanese language options.

Ani Asobi (兄遊び) Developer: Tennenouji Release date: December 12th, 2025 Links: VNDB, Twitter, DLsite A short new game by Tennenouji which focuses on two brothers. This isn’t really a story-focused game but more of an interactive 18+ game. I recommend checking the DLsite website for more details as almost all of the game’s images are nsfw lol.

Tsuitou (終灯) Developer: Studio Shirafune Release date: January 12th, 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter, Booth, Website A short doujin BL visual novel based on Edogawa Ranpo's "The Demon of the Lonely Island". You can download this game for free on Booth. In a recent blog update they also mentioned that they are working on a new game, though they haven't released much information yet so I will probably add this later when we know more about it.

Hen'ai Necromanticism (偏愛ネクロマンチシズム) Developer: Aikawa Nemu Release date: February 27th, 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter, DLsite, Website 18+ rated doujin BL game about a tale connecting humans and vampires, taking place in modern day Tokyo. You can download this game for free on DLsite.

Norn's Dine Developer: HIC* Release date: 2025 (first release), 2026 (update patch) Links: VNDB, Steam, Website 18+ BL game that focuses on protagonist Asahi who inherited his grandmother's restaurant ''Norn's Dine'' where he uses his skill as a cook to create a wide variety of dishes for his customers every day. The game has 4 different routes, but 4 additional routes are still scheduled to be released as a DLC. Other than Japanese, this game's also available in English and Chinese.

Ariki Taride Gudonna Boku ni Okuru Monogatari (ありきたりで愚鈍な僕に贈る物語) Developer: Pamme Patale Release date: February 2026 Links: VNDB, Booth Fully voiced 18+ doujin BL game by creator Pamme Pattale. It focuses on protagonist Yuto is a model student who grew up with overly strict parents who always expected him to be a ''good boy''. After noticing the unrequited love he has for his teachr, a young man named Hikari who only Yuto can see for some reason, starts talking to him and teases him.

Kami no Na o Musunde (神の名を結んで) Developer: Haruto Sakata Release date: May 3rd 2026. Links: VNDB, Twitter, Novelgame A free all-ages BL game about a boy that is rumored to be the Grim Reaper, and a boy who always stays by his side. You can download this game on their novelgame page now!

Upcoming releases ↓

Tokyo Gentou/ Tokyo Phantasmagoria (東京幻燈) Developer: Procyon (new BL branch of Orbit/CORE) Release date: 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter New 18+ BL game project by Procyon. The story of this game takes place in a future in which humans live together with different lifeforms, who started appearing after a certain incident in 1996. The artist is Carnelian who's known for other 18+ BLVN titles such as Messiah and Fanatica. Their official Twitter account was still active this month, so I hope we will get more details about the release date soon!

This Game Is Not Real. Developer: Viv Release date: Late May 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website, Booth Not a visual novel, but an 18+ rated doujin game advertised as 'the worst BL game ever' about two obsessive game creators. It's made by Viv who also created the horror adventure game Saihate Eki. Unfortunately it got removed from Steam because of the age rating, but right now you can pre-order it on other websites such as DLsite & Booth (you might need a VPN to access the DLsite page).

Shinso no Yamai (深窓の病) Developer: Tedopoyo Release date: 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter Focuses on the characters Hiwana and Yayo who get lost in a dream world. An exploration-type game which also has BL elements. Like most of the creator's games, this one will also have darker themes.

Haitai Kaisei (胚胎回生) Developer: Tedopoyo Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter This game is connected to Boku no Saiai no which is another doujin game with BL elements and features the same characters. The age rating is 15+. Because of Tumblr's 30 image per post limit I can't add a preview image for this one, but you can check the VNDB page to see what the characters look like!

Sayonara Junsei, Mata Kite Seishun (さよなら純青、またきて青春) Developer: Nenaico Release date: 2026 Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website 18+ BL game by doujin group Nenaico. This game focuses on the protagonist Kazuya, who understands the pain of losing someone all too well. In his daily life, he has learned to appreciate the normal life he’s living. However, in doing so, he has ignored the lingering feelings of regret deep in his heart. His life begins to change after he stumbles upon the October issue of the Literature Club’s magazine, Hanaikada. The writer and artist have also created an all-ages BL game in 2019 called Narisokonai no Yosuga.

Yuushuu no Mahoutsukai (幽囚の魔法使い) Developer: Samezaki Release date: 2027 Links: VNDB, Twitter, Booth, Steam A doujin BL game that explores the bond between master and apprentice. It focuses on protagonist Amon, who's devoting himself to his studies at the Academy of Magic. One day, he receives the news that he will become the apprentice of famous magician Lucio Lofocale, who Amon has looked up to since he was a kid. However, on his way there, he gets caught in a storm and ends up shipwrecked on an abandoned island. By chance he ends up on the island where his new master lives, though something about this situation feels strange... The trial version of this game was recently released in April and I thought it was really interesting! The creator described the relationship between the characters as ''tragic'' so even though the game seems light-hearted at first, I recommend playing until the very end of the trial version.

Tomare Miyo (とまれ見よ) Developer: Ayama Team Release date: 2027 Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website 18+ doujin BL game which focuses on the frustrations, regrets and love in the afterlife. This developer has released 2 other BL doujin games in the past called Ore no ○ Yasumi and Yonin no Hanayome. The developer frequently posts updates on their Twitter account, so I recommend following that for more information.

Kanraku Prison (陥落プリズン) Developer: Ritomo Release date: Undecided Links: Twitter R15 rated BL doujin game in which the protagonist is sentenced to 100 years in prison, but escapes within 7 days after flattering the prison guards. The release date is currently unknown but the creator posts about the game pretty often on their Twitter account.

Kikai Densen (奇怪伝染) Developer: Kikyudo Release date: Undecided Links: VNDB, Twitter 18+ Mystery x BL novel game project by doujin group Kikyudo. The story focuses on honor student Seiji who takes out his daily frustrations on his classmate Toshiyuki. As a result of the bullying, Toshiyuki decides to end his own life. He however returns as some kind of supernatural being and decides to make Seiji's life a living hell. It was advertised as a ''male ryona'' game (a game in which the character is subject to physical/psychological abuse) so it's already confirmed that it will include dark themes. You can follow their Twitter account for updates, though they haven't been active since July 2025.

OUROBOROS if: CRAZY FOR YOU Developer: saiaku_exe Release date: Undecided Links: Twitter, Steam A doujin BL game by saiaku_exe. The protagonist, Chuni, suddenly gets trapped in the world of a gal game and is trying to find his way out. ''If I ignore all the heroines in this game and focus only on my childhood friend (boy) Mayumu, I should be able to return to my original world.'' The official Twitter page is still frequently updated.

Shinokemono (シノケモノ) Developer: RainEnd Release date: Undecided Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website 18+ doujin BL game which focuses on yokai and a world between the living and the death. This project was announced in 2023 and the website sometimes gets updated, but because it's made by a small team they mentioned that they're working on it at their own pace. Last time they updated their social media was in 2025.

Dear Dish Developer: Le:tec:Le Release date: Undecided (Possibly 2026 now) Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website Dark mystery 18+ BL game which focuses on protagonist Jack, whose brother mysteriously disappeared along with half of the village's children on the night of the harvest festival. Seven years later, he's about to find out more about what exactly happened that night. In March 2026 their official Twitter account posted that the production of the game was about 50% complete, so they are still actively working on it.

Psychic Eclipse code:green Developer: C-Garden NEXT-B Release date: Undecided Links: VNDB, Twitter A sequel of the original Psychic Eclipse game which was released in 2021. The story takes place in a world in which humans developed psychic abilities and most of the world is controlled by an AI network called Polaris. At the end of 2024, they announced that the release of the game would be postponed in order to further improve the quality of the game. They haven't announced a new release date, but they do still update their Twitter account occasionally.

Projects of which the status is currently unknown ↓

Love it Hunter! (ラビットハンター) Developer: Equal Life Laboratory Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter, Website A futuristic biopunk 18+ BL game in which humanity was saved by new technological developments while on the verge of extinction. A trial version of the game was released in 2021 which did seem promising, but their social media account has not posted any updates since April 2024.

Cage -Remake- Developer: LOVE&DESTROY Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter, Blog A complete remake of the 18+ BL games CAGE OPEN and CAGE CLOSE. In these games, protagonist Konno is forced to play a mysterious “game” together with 8 other participants. Two years ago they announced the hiatus of one of the writers and they haven't really posted anything since then. This project was crowdfunded, so I do hope it will get released one day.

Caricature Camera Developer: LOVE&DESTROY Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter, Blog New 18+ LOVE&DESTROY title that I was thinking of adding to my cancelled BL game list, though officially the project is on hold according to a blog post from several years ago. The story focuses on protagonist Shinobu Kamo, who receives a job offer from a mysterious person after recently losing his job.

Akechi to Iu Otoko - A Danshaku-tei Satsujin Jiken (明智と謂ふ男 A男爵邸殺人事件) Developer: HolicWorks Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Animate New Holicworks project which was supposed to be a collaboration with Animate Games. I decided to include this but I'm not sure if it's really BL because the original announcement didn't mention it. It's still promoted on the Animate Games website but they haven't posted new information ever since its original announcement in 2022.

Kaeriji no Hana (還り路の花) Developer: Afflatus Release date: Unknown Links: Twitter, Website 18+ doujin game project set in modern day Tokyo. Protagonist Kanda Sakaki loses his job and has no choice but to move back to his family home. One day he meets four men, and together they end up walking down a path filled with resentment. Last year it was announced that development is currently suspended, but they hope to return to the project some day.

FANTASTICS＊TRANS―MaguKare― (マグカレ) Developer: Tonleiter Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter, Official blog, Website 18+ BL game in which most of the characters are creatures who live in an aquarium. The last update on their social media was in 2023, so it's uncertain if they are still working on this project. They did release a side story which could be purchased at Comiket which they also sold on their Booth page in 2022.

FANTASTICS＊TRANS―Herbaria Darling― (ハーバリアダーリン) Developer: Tonleiter Release date: Unknown Links: VNDB, Twitter, Official blog, Website 18+ BL game from the same series as MaguKare, though in this game all of the characters are creatures who live in a botanical garden. If you recognize the art style, it's drawn by the same artist who did the art for Tokyo Onmyouji and the scenario writer is also the same! Just like MaguKare, it's uncertain if they are still working on this game because it has been a few years since they've posted any updates.

This game has 4 routes and I think the best order is probably Hozumi -> Haru -> Touka -> Souma. Some routes have 2 different paths which leads to completely different endings and scenarios, so for the full experience I definitely recommend playing them all. I also recommend patching the game first before playing as it fixes some issues with certain sprites not showing up. You can download the patch here! If you can't access the website due to the region lock you can use a free VPN since the file size of the patch is pretty small. A guide of the game can be found here.

Story and characters This game focuses on Mahora who’s a member of the Special Security Guards or "Yonomori" who’s tasked to kill demons. Within the Yonomori there are 3 different divisions who all have their own tasks. The First and Second Divisions mostly do research and don't usually battle the demons, as they're considered valuable people who they don't want to lose. The Third Division on the other hand is a group where the more ‘problematic’ and reckless individuals go. According to Mahora, they’re basically disposable soldiers and the other divisions don’t care if they get injured or die. A lot of people join the third division mostly because they want to take revenge on demons that killed their friends and family.

The town where the story takes place is also interesting, as it’s a city where morning and daytime don’t exist, so the sky always looks like it’s evening/nighttime. This is something the characters don’t question at all, so it must have been like that for a long time. It also rains almost every day and sunny days are extremely rare. Based on the backgrounds and some of the backstory, I’m going to assume the story takes place somewhere during the Meiji period, though it's mostly a fantasy setting. Other than demons and humans, the game also has a third kind of creature who are commonly referred to as Tosenbo. In-game they look like giant bird-like creatures who are harmless, but sometimes they do block the paths in town because of their size.

This game has several important characters, but the ones you're introduced to first are Mahora's coworkers Hozumi, Suzuri and their leader Ibu. There's also Mikage, who's part of the first division and sometimes shows up to talk to Ibu. Mahora also meets Touka pretty early on into the game when he visits one of his favorite confectionary stores.

Before joining the military, Mahora worked at a kimono shop. One day the Third Division leader Ibu invited Mahora to join the Third Division as they were still looking for new people, despite him having no prior battle experience. At first I thought this would get explained more, but I think the Third Division is just constantly recruiting new people because they keep dying in battle… Mahora also lives together with a demon called Shuu, who unlike the other demons isn’t hostile. He has been living with him for a long time and can’t exactly recall how many years it has been, but it has pretty much become normal for him. Of course he can’t let too many people know about this, especially not because he works as a demon hunter.

One day while just walking around town Mahora suddenly gets attacked by a demon called Yae who wants Mahora to summon Shuu. He grabs his neck and threatens to kill him, but then a mysterious man called Haru saves him. After Haru brings Mahora home, Haru explains that he was raised by Tosenbo and that he’s able to use some of their abilities because of that. Haru doesn't want to explain much about himself though because he doesn't trust the Yonomori (fair).

Hozumi route This is the first route I recommend playing as it serves as a good introduction to the setting of the game and what kind of work the Yonomori do. Members of the Third Division usually work in pairs, and Mahora is partnered with Hozumi, who is quite the troublemaker. Before Mahora became his partner, his partner was a friend of them called Suzuri, but Hozumi accidentally injured him during a mission. One of the reasons he often gets into trouble is that he tends to make decisions on his own without listening to his partner, something Mahora is still getting used to as well. This route mainly focuses on the two of them investigating the Tosenbo around town, along with exploring Hozumi's own backstory. Suzuri also appears frequently in this route and does have his own endings, though the true ending of this route is Hozumi's. His route has two different paths and I think it's important to play both of them to get the full story. At first I wasn't sure what to expect from him because he's very stubborn, but he does get better at communicating later.

Haru route In this route Mahora gets closer to Haru and invites him to stay at his place, as Haru seems to be living in an abandoned shrine instead of a proper house… (which he admittedly doesn't seem to mind though). Because Haru was raised by the Tosenbo, he isn’t fazed by Shuu’s existence, as he can sense that Shuu has no malicious intent despite being a demon. Haru's arguments with Shuu were pretty funny because both of them have a pretty childish personality at times. This route mainly focuses on Haru’s backstory and why he wasn't raised by humans. I think this route also had some of the better looking CGs, I just wish his sprite art was as cute as the CG art... I think if I had to choose a favorite character in this game though it would probably be Haru.

Touka route Touka is described as a good-looking guy who’s well known around town for his flashy appearance. He helps out at a restaurant called Seikaro, though I did spend a long time wondering what he even does as he isn't often seen doing any work?? Mahora seems to wonder this too and at one point even assumes that Touka sells his body, though this turns out to be a misunderstanding. After Mahora spends some time with Touka, rumors quickly spread around town that Mahora is sleeping with him, even before they show any romantic interest in each other. This route also has two different branches and one of them heavily focuses on the side character Ibu, who is the commander of the Third Division. Even though Touka isn’t a member of the Yonomori, he’s friends with Ibu and they often talk to each other. In this route Souma's also often mentioned, who's a mysterious character Ibu seems to be quite interested in.

Souma route Very early into the game it's explained that Souma is someone Mahora remembers from the past, as they spent some time together when they were kids. He usually avoids going into town as he's known as ''the cursed child''. He's also connected to the demon Yae who attacks Mahora early into the game. Souma's route is locked and unlocks after you get all of the other good endings. In this route we finally learn the truth about the demons and also the whole mystery surrounding the town in general. I liked seeing more of Yae as he's surprisingly funny and he wish he had his own route, but (...small spoiler?) he does have his own ending and 18+ scene. We also learn a lot more about the demon Shuu who Mahora has been living with.

Final thoughts I played this game without guide so I was a bit lost sometimes until I realized each character has multiple route branches, so definitely keep that in mind and try playing them all for the full story. I think this game had its pros and its cons, but let's start with the pros. The game is pretty long (about 40 hours) which I do enjoy, as a lot of games I've played recently could be finished within just one or two days. It was about 35 USD on DLsite, but I did use some of their coupons which made it a bit cheaper. One thing I liked about the story is how involved all of the side characters are. The relationships they have with each other feel very realistic. I especially liked Commander Ibu and the demons Shuu and Yae. The only downside of this is that I sometimes ended up liking the side characters more than the main characters and wished they had their own routes. That said, Holicworks games do sometimes make this possible in their fandiscs, as I’ve seen with BeniTen and Taisho Mebiusline, though I'm not sure if this game will get any. I also think it’s important to play all of the endings, because even the ones I initially missed added a lot of information that isn’t mentioned anywhere else in the game, such as Yae’s backstory in one of Souma's other endings.

Unfortunately, the game’s lead artist was changed and I think multiple new artists replaced them. This is noticeable in the CGs, as the art style varies quite a bit throughout the game. I think Haru and Souma received some of the best-looking CGs, which were also fairly consistent, while Hozumi’s and Touka’s routes sometimes had some pretty noticeable art inconsistencies. I also think it would have maybe been a bit more interesting to include some of the main lore in the earlier routes, as those mostly focuses on the characters' personal issues rather than the fact that there's demons everywhere in town. You also never really see Shuu's reaction to Mahora getting together with the love interests, which is a bit strange because Shuu lives with Mahora, so it's not like he can keep this a secret lol? I sometimes also felt like Mahora could have gotten a bit more character development. In-game his only hobby is buying sweets and even though that's pretty cute, I think it gets a bit old after 40 hours of gameplay (but maybe that's just me). Lastly, there's also some typos and audio bugs that have not been patched out yet, but because I'm seeing Japanese fans mention the same issues, I'm hoping they can patch this!

This is a bit of a shorter game because it only focuses on two main characters, so it took me about 15 hours to finish it, which is similar to the playtime of Parade's second game Room No.9. There are 5 different endings which were all pretty easy to get as there's not a lot of choices in this game, and I think some choices also aren't available during the first couple of playthroughs, so you don't really need a guide for this one.

Kento grew up in a harsh environment and as a result of that, he ended up in a juvenile detention center twice. After turning 20 and entering adulthood, he finally decided to turn his life around and find a job. However, one day while riding his motorcycle, he collides with a car and is hospitalized with serious injuries. Because of this past and his bad relationship with his family, he doesn't have any friends and family to rely on, which is why Yoshino, the man who owns the car he collided with, decides to help him. At first Kento's attitude towards him is bad and he doesn't understand why he keeps visiting him, but this quickly changes when he spends more time with Yoshino. After he's discharged from the hospital, Yoshino allows him to stay at his house until his injuries are healed.

The first part of this game mostly focuses on Kento's recovery, but there's a lot of timeskips so the pacing of the game doesn't feel slow at all. This game also has quite a lot of 18+ scenes now I think about it, but it doesn't feel like these scenes were just randomly thrown in there. When a BL game has too many random 18+ scenes I tend to get a little bored, but that wasn't the case luckily. In general I was just really interested in seeing how they'd eventually grow close enough to do those things together, especially because Yoshino's such a serious character and not the type to play around with other men, and I think Kento wouldn't either. I think as usual they're supposed to be ''straight'' lol, though Kento does have some dialogue in which he's also doubting this.

The sexual depictions in the game are mostly consensual, but like any Parade game, this one also deals with heavy themes such as abuse, rape, and suicide, which is also mentioned on the official website. The descriptions are sometimes very detailed, so just be aware of this before you play, though if you've played any of Parade's games in the past you'll probably be fine. Even though it deals with a lot of serious topics, there's plenty of cute scenes too. I really liked how Yoshino has two cats called Gomashio and Lulu, and at first Kento isn't sure how to react to the cats as he's not used to them, but later it's pretty cute to see him playing with them. I expected his personality to be a bit different honestly because he's pretty rude in the first 15 minutes of the game, but he really just wants to learn new things and make up for any mistakes he has made in the past. Because of his upbringing, Kento never learned many of the basic skills people his age usually know, for example how to properly clean the house and how to cook, so Yoshino decides to teach him all of that. When the game was announced I was a bit surprised that the protagonist was a muscular guy, because all of Parade's previous protagonists are (kind of?) skinny guys. I think this is also a reason why many people got interested in their games, as it used to be quite rare for BL visual novels to have a top protagonist in general, especially one that would top muscular older guys. Looking back at this though, I can kind of understand it now, because Kento's much younger than Yoshino, and throughout the game you also learn that Kento has a pretty innocent personality and Yoshino's the older one who's teaching him all kinds of things. So in the end he's not too different than the other Parade's protagonists, maybe only his appearance.

Yoshino's character was a bit mysterious to me at first, because I also wondered why he wanted to help Kento, which is mostly explained later in the game. He seems really stoic and serious at first and I understood that because he's a teacher, caring for someone is something that's also natural for him I guess, but letting someone live in your house and helping them bathe etc. obviously isn't something a regular teacher would just do for someone. I can't say much more because I don't want to spoil his backstory, but I do think it was incredibly well written and I finished this game in two days because I couldn't stop playing. Some parts of this game did remind me a little bit of their first game No Thank You!!, because even though the plot isn't similar, I guess the general atmosphere and build-up kind of is. For example in both games most of the other main characters seem to be living a pretty stable life when you're introduced to them, though later you learn that many of them have a darker backstory and are facing all kinds of challenges in life. In lesson you also don't learn a lot about Yoshino until later in the game, and there's many things about the story I really couldn't have predicted, which makes it a really good game in my opinion. The artist of this game is Nikaidou Shino who also did the art for Room No.9 and Lkyt. and I love their artstyle, so I certainly wasn't disappointed and all the CGs looked great. By the way, I always find it funny that there's a button to turn the body hair off, but if more people can enjoy the game that way I'm all for it.

Probably a bit of a vague review because I am trying so hard to not mention what happens later in the game, but I just wanted to say that I loved it! If you're interested in purchasing this game yourself, it's currently only available on Fanza which you do need a VPN for, but after that it was pretty easy to purchase. Also important, make sure to update Soft Denchi as it might give you an error while opening the game if you're running an older version of it (or if you don't have the software yet). Since MangaGamer localized all of Parade's previous games, I also think it's very likely that this game will get localized eventually. The game is not too long so maybe the localization also won't take too long? Who knows...! If you're not sure if you will like it or not you can also try the trial version, which can be downloaded on the official website now!

As far as I know there's no recommended route order, so I played the game in the following order: Ivan > Giulio > Luchino > Bernardo. This game has a lot of choices, so I used this guide which was created by the fan translator of the game who also got to translate the official version!

The story of this game takes place in the United States during the 1930s, which I know almost nothing about, but I thought it was an interesting setting! Gian is known for his great luck such as his many succesful prison escapes, which is also how he earned the nickname ''lucky dog''. However, because he is on friendly terms with the guards his life is pretty easy and he's not in a hurry to get out this time. This changes when he receives a letter ordering him to break the other CR:5 members out of prison.

I thought it was kind of funny that Gian's the uke in this game, yet while they're still in prison there's multiple scenes in which he tops, such as the visitor and also one of the prison guards. I think that's really something you only see in older BL games, but I can appreciate it. All four routes kind of follow a similar pattern, and after the prison break you end up in the city of Daivan where you'll choose which character you'll team up with. I also thought it was fun how the game shows which route you're on, as well as the status screen which you can see below, so you can kind of keep track which routes you finished and which ones still have endings you haven't played yet.

Characters The first route I played was Ivan's route who's easily my favorite character because he's just too funny. He's a total tsundere who also gets flustered when Gian acts flirty with Bernardo. He swears a lot and it was really amusing hearing the voice actor say stuff like ''fuck'' and ''shit'' in English. One of my favorite scenes is this conversation they have with the whole group shortly after his 18+ scene in which he kind of threatens Gian to ''fuck him again'' and everyone's looking at him like ''huh, again?'' and Ivan just looks so embarrassed... Their relationship is strangely cute because even though Ivan doesn't directly admit he likes Gian or anything, he kind of immediately acts like they're already in a relationship and suddenly kisses Gian. When Gian asks him why he did that, Ivan claims that's what ''pals do''. I need to play the fandisc Badegg after this because I want to see more interactions between these two...

After finishing Ivan's route I played Giulio's route. He's the quiet type who doesn't talk much, though he shouldn't be underestimated as he went to prison for murder and is also a skilled killer, which is why his nickname is ''mad dog''. He also has an obsession with dead bodies which, well... you'll see when you play his route. He's a sweet character but he does have some interesting hobbies. Even though Gian thinks it's the first time they met, Giulio sometimes acts like he has known him for even longer. His relationship with his grandfather also seems complicated as he easily gets ordered around and will not do anything against his wishes, although he could obviously beat him in a fight if he wanted to, so I was curious to learn more about that. I have played his route before years ago so I still remembered a few details of it, but still a very good route!

The third route I played was Luchino's route, which mostly focuses on his past and the death of his wife and daughter. He also doesn't seem to trust the boss of CR:5 whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Luchino is a playboy who loves women, but I was surprised how easily he ended up with Gian lol. This is something I like about this game because they don't really seem to be bothered by the fact that their partner is a man, so there's not a lot of dialogue that focuses on that kind of drama either. That one scene in which they dress up like police officers is probably one of the funniest scenes in the entire game because it's so dumb (in a good way). I really liked him together with Gian as a pairing and will definitely be checking out any extra content that focuses on them too.

The final route I played was Bernardo's route, who's someone Gian has known for a long time and they're pretty close to each other. They often jokingly flirt with each other and use nicknames such as ''darling'' and ''honey'', though they haven't done anything more than that (until you play his route of course). Bernardo takes care of all kinds of communications between the groups within the city so he's usually in his room answering phone calls and doesn't always tell Gian the truth about everything. Even though he isn't the type of character I would usually like, I enjoyed his interactions with Gian a lot.

Thoughts and impressions Luckydog1 is one of these games that always received positive reviews from Japanese fans and also always ranked high in BL magazine polls. It was originally released in 2009, but the game has gotten a number of spinoff games and a fandisc (Luckydog1+Badegg). I'm curious if they will also localize Badegg some day, but maybe I'll just play it in Japanese. Of course because this is an older game, the artstyle is also a bit different from games that would be released nowadays, but honestly I don't really mind and I think it has a certain kind of charm to it. Yura's artstyle has changed a lot throughout the years, so it is kind of fun to compare the CGs from this game to some of the more recent Luckydog1 art. I also really liked this game's humor and Gian often has the funniest lines imaginable. Of course it has serious scenes too, but combining humor with pretty dark elements such as non-con and murder seems to be a common theme in Yura's games. So I think that as long as you're okay with these kinds of themes, I recommend checking it out yourself!

The English localization also didn't disappoint, and the translation often matched the spoken dialogue in the game pretty well. I imagine some of the jokes in the game were a little difficult to translate (not to mention all of the unique insults...) as Japanese and English are very different languages, but I think it was handled well. I also like how they kept some of the the Italian terms, which I sometimes had to look up, but I had fun doing a little research as this wasn't a topic I ever learned much about before. I read the interview with the translator which MangaGamer published the other day which you can read here, which I recommend reading as there's a lot of interesting information. They also seem happy to answer any questions about translation choices, so if you have questions I think you can always just ask them. It also helps that they have been fan translating this game for many years and are obviously very passionate about it, and I think most people in the fandom have come across their translations at some point!