People seem to have conflicting opinions on Aoi Tori, for me it's a question of expectations and comparisons. In short, I had higher than usual expectations, because Amatsutsumi (shared setting) was pretty good, and Hapymaher (same dev) has excellent themes. I came out of this one a bit disappointed, and I feel like Aoi Tori is missing in the identity department. It's still a decent VN, but personally it's bordering on mixed bag.
Positive:
- Lots of time with main cast - That's the greatest strength of Aoi Tori. The characters are above average, and the scenes are completely focused on the main cast. You are bound to grow used to, or even like them.
- Lots of supernatural, mythology, religion - Including a devil character that offers non-sensical deals, that don't involve souls for some reason. "Her" interventions are the source of much needed lightheartedness, to a story that is taking itself too seriously.
- Nice voice acting - In particular the vampire, and the devil.
- Some nice imagery, and bits of wisdom - Mostly taken from external sources, but it's there.
Neutral:
- Many hours of 18+ content - Aoi Tori has a lot of H-scenes, and they are LONG - Hundreds and hundreds of clicks long, hours of it that give competition to a lengthier NUKIGE - You can read this for the H-scenes, but they don't have the tag diversity, originality or overall production values, to support this duration. It gets repetitive very fast, and at some point it was all: "Aaah, Haaa, Hyah, Mwah and Fwah's".
Negative:
- A number of things: The protagonist is more annoying than usual (savior complex is not entertaining); Not enough time in the common route, to get to know some characters; Lack of direction/sense in the heroine routes; Weak comedy/slice of life; Unwarranted pretension of the writing; Plot devices that make daytime TV look good; There are no plot holes, because everything is allowed; The ending segment was very repetitive, and more.
Score: Aoi Tori is a 6/10, and I'm basing some of that on production values, or I would go lower. Personally, reading this was a huge waste of time, and one of the biggest VN disappointments, in recent years. If someone wants to read a story, where the writer just allows itself to do whatever it wants, bound by no rules, that someone is not me. Try it if you like very long (Vanilla) H-Scenes.
Positive:
- Lots of time with main cast - That's the greatest strength of Aoi Tori. The characters are above average, and the scenes are completely focused on the main cast. You are bound to grow used to, or even like them.
- Lots of supernatural, mythology, religion - Including a devil character that offers non-sensical deals, that don't involve souls for some reason. "Her" interventions are the source of much needed lightheartedness, to a story that is taking itself too seriously.
- Nice voice acting - In particular the vampire, and the devil.
- Some nice imagery, and bits of wisdom - Mostly taken from external sources, but it's there.
Neutral:
- Many hours of 18+ content - Aoi Tori has a lot of H-scenes, and they are LONG - Hundreds and hundreds of clicks long, hours of it that give competition to a lengthier NUKIGE - You can read this for the H-scenes, but they don't have the tag diversity, originality or overall production values, to support this duration. It gets repetitive very fast, and at some point it was all: "Aaah, Haaa, Hyah, Mwah and Fwah's".
Negative:
- A number of things: The protagonist is more annoying than usual (savior complex is not entertaining); Not enough time in the common route, to get to know some characters; Lack of direction/sense in the heroine routes; Weak comedy/slice of life; Unwarranted pretension of the writing; Plot devices that make daytime TV look good; There are no plot holes, because everything is allowed; The ending segment was very repetitive, and more.
Score: Aoi Tori is a 6/10, and I'm basing some of that on production values, or I would go lower. Personally, reading this was a huge waste of time, and one of the biggest VN disappointments, in recent years. If someone wants to read a story, where the writer just allows itself to do whatever it wants, bound by no rules, that someone is not me. Try it if you like very long (Vanilla) H-Scenes.