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2020-12-16

Teaser ~ Date ~ Kanon Mini-Review

 

Title: Teaser ~ Date ~ Kanon
Release date: 2020-12-12
Developer & publisher: FullBluff Studio

"Teaser ~ Date ~ Kanon" is a short and sweet NTR themed one-shot kinetic novel. I say "one-shot", as it is literally a teaser encompassing a single date between our protagonist Hiro, and his girlfriend Kanon. The developer released it as part of their learning how to create visual novels, and the game ends ambiguously, with a "To be continued..?" message at the end. However, I have to say, I liked the game enough I hope the developer will go on with the VN making and will release a proper continuation wit the same characters.

That said, the plot of TDK is very simple: Hiro is waiting for his girlfriend Kanon, who is very late to show up. Once she finally arrives, they go on a date, but midway through the date Kanon starts acting really weird. There is no secret that Kanon is cheating on Hiro, as that is the very premise of the game, but it does some things differently than others, that makes it worth checking out.
Meet the ojousama.
First of all, TDK belongs to the subgenre of NTR-A, which means all sex in it is entirely consensual. I am usually not keen on NTR-A, and prefer the B variant, as I like my NTR a bit meaner, with the girl at least initially somewhat forced into the situation, but the game did what it sought to do very solidly, subverting a few expectations.

First of all, the developer calls TDK a "Mystery NTR", because the protagonist never finds out about the cheating. Now, that seems like a total disservice to the netorare genre, but the game excels at teasing, showing more and more explicit glimpses of the heroine's infidelity, without crossing the R rating until the very end. This teasing of the player is very exciting, and the discreet sex we imagine is just heating our imagination. The foreshadowed analogy we see in the game, where the whole experience of protagonist's obliviousness is likened to the plot of the movie he sees in the cinema, is very apt. Moreover, Kanon is not some innocent floozy just cheating on her boyfriend - she is the instigator of the whole scenario, and in the complete subversion, the guy she is cheating with is an innocent and wronged party.
At least she is not going "Predator".
Kanon is a frivolous and spoiled ojousama, who is seemingly wont to get whatever she desires, and if she desires a truckload of cocks, the universe better provide or face her wrath! The clincher is, from what we see in the game, she seemingly actually loves and cares about Hiro, it's just that she is an insatiable nymphomaniac, and Hiro simply cannot provide all that she wants. Which actually makes her very likeable, and easy to understand - after all, sluts always make the best girlfriends.

Hiro is a bit of a mixed bag, as while his obliviousness is pretty believable, the conclusions he draws from his girlfriend's weird behaviour are pretty daft, and the fact that he still stutters while saying "period", is pretty laughable. What is he, eight years old? Because no one over that age would be embarrassed about menses. I also felt, he was not as well fleshed out as I would have liked, but the short length of the game didn't allow to get into the character depth.
Finally, a payoff.
I really hope we will see the same characters in a longer expanded work, once the developer get used to the Ren'Py engine. TDK took me about 1:20 h to beat and is completely linear, which is not a problem for what is basically a teaser. That said, it still weighs over 3 GB, as the developer made the mistake of rendering the graphics in 4K, which is an overkill for basically any visual novel.

Yes, "Teaser ~ Date ~ Kanon" is yet another 3D rendered game, and this time the developer used Honey Select as the rendering engine, which, I admit, I'm not a fan of. I'm much more partial to Daz, as among other drawbacks, it's impossible to render any male character that doesn't look like a retard in HS. Probably for that very reason, we only very briefly see the protagonist in a darkened theatre, and never see Kanon's lover from the front.

To finish this mini review, TDK is a pretty well made NTR short with a compelling scenario, likable heroine, and no villain to speak of.

Links of Interest

 
Final Verdict: 70%

1 comment:

  1. That was a nice review! Thank you for taking the time to review my VN. I like your review because it helped me realize my flaws and hits! Thank you! I hope you review my future Visual Novels with the same objectivity!

    ReplyDelete