Aha, looks like Heisei Democracy called me a good authority about Nagisa no… Now I feel the need to write a little something…

Anyways, preface: Since I’m still working on Narcissu Side 2nd, I’ve only had the time to clear one, of 4 scenarios. When I finish that project I’ll finally have time to clear it, along with a stack of other games…

Anyways, Nagisano is Cotton Software’s 3rd game, after Natsumegu and Reconquista. It’s a bright happy game set in the summer like Natsumegu. Unlike Natsumegu, it’s set in the country, deeeeep in the country, cell phones barely work there.

Going really really fast, the general premise is that you (you have a name, I just can’t remember it atm, it’s been 2 weeks), as a student in an advanced school, you’re obsessed only about studying. Then, during Golden Week, your parents dump you in the middle of the middle of nowhere, probably hoping you’d find more to life than studying. Long story short, in the little country town, you meet 4 girls, and comedy and romance happen.

Characterwise, the 4 main heroines are:

Natsuo – The pink-haired Ponkotsu of the game. Woo. Also voiced by regular Natsuno Koori, she’s not nearly as unremarkable a character as Yukako was in Natsumegu. Works at a beach house, waits on tables wearing a bikini + apron. Generally clumsy in that cute ponkotsu way. — Currently I’ve only finished her scenario.

Chika – Sub-machine gun talking little girl, generally loud and hopelessly energetic, generally gets whapped alot for what she says. Voiced by, uh, Aoumi Aqua…. um, well, anyways, she’s a newcomer to the Cotton seiyuu list, but many people will find her voice very familiar. — Her scenario was written by Kio Nachi, and is said to be especially good, though I’ll have to see for myself eventually.

Aoi – Aoyama Yukari once again gets cast into a tsundere role. Not that we’re complaining. This time, she plays a extremely tomboyish girl who’s trying to reinvent herself as being a lady in front of a total stranger to the town (you). In general, she’s not very good at it, and watching her try so very hard at it is hilarious. Perhaps her most famous line is loudly shouting “Good Fuck!” when she really meant to say “Good Luck!”

Mimori – The playfully sexy, overly well endowed onee-san type. Everyone, including me, was figuring longtime onee-san character veteran Maki Izumi would get this character, but surprisingly she’s voiced by Matsuda Risa. I’m too used to hearing her voice as a shy, hesitant, panicking iincho, so hearing her cool playful voice is somewhat refreshing. In anycase, she likes making trouble for the fun of it. Loves swimming to the point of wearing her school swimsuit under her uniform all the time.

For sub characters, we have…

Satomi – Aoi’s younger sister, very strange girl. Often speaks in a deadpan voice, but is obsessed with fish, and things related to the sea. Works at the fish market. Voiced by… well it’s not on the web site, but Shibahara Nozomi, who did Shina in Reconquista.

Incidentally, Satomi is the star of Cotton’s C73 gag item, where she sings and enka (traditional Japanese ballad) as well as hosts a short fake radio show.

Iincho – Also voiced by Shibahara Nozomi, she appears now and again and comes from the school you go to back in the city, seems to like you, but doesn’t seem to stand a chance against the four heroines. If there’s a PS2 version, she’s likely to get a scenario I’ll bet.

Kadokawa – Not the publisher, the token friend. All games need a token male friend. He’s almost as bad as Natsumegu’s Shigeo, in fact, they have the same voice actor. Always saying lewd things or in general being a sleaze, in a comical way.

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Some final thoughts:

Nagisano on average feels better, more smooth and polished, than Cotton’s previous two games. For one thing, Natsumegu’s RES (Random Event System) has been revamped, so on the map, lots of events pop up, and there’s supposedly more than enough to go through all the girls without repeating. Natsumegu only had enough events for about 1.5-2 playthroughs without repeats.

The characters are also more balanced, unlike previous ones which had really nice characters and somewhat okay characters. I’ll have to see how the scenarios are to be sure though. But it’s certainly harder to pick one to go with since they’ve all got charming points.

Musically, top notch as usual, but that’s expected of them. In the demo, they recycled a number of BGM from Natsumegu, but thankfully all those were properly replaced with new BGM. People had been afraid they really were going to recycle tracks.

What’s also great is that characters in the other games also make very brief cameo appearances here or there. In just one scenario, I’ve seen Shigeo appear, hitting on girls of course, and one of the protagonists in Reconquista, with Momiji. I’m sure here or there, they pop up again once in awhile.

Anyways, when I actually finish the game, I guess I’ll write something more detailed up… though scrolling back, this is pretty long already…