SKSK団
Erotic Visual Novel, 2022
Gachi-Natsu, which I understand means “King of Summer” or something in Japanese, is marketed as a game, but it is only a game in the sense that I have to manually press to get to the next dialogue box to or set the dialogue boxes to progress at a preferred speed.
This is because there is no gameplay element here, as it is just a very raunchy story with no way for the player to decide the actions of the characters involved. Well, no gameplay unless one counts whatever… play… the player may be doing when things get exciting, I suppose.
This one is about four weeks in the lives of 19-year old Ryota Hibiki and his live-in tutor A-Tushy, er, Atsushi Kenzaki.
What happens is that Ryota failed the entrance exam to get into some university, so his concerned parents hire a tutor for him behind his back.
As it turns out, Atsushi is a super serious and dedicated tutor that is also super built and always horny.
It’s not long before the tutor puts Ryota under strict tutelage to improve his grades and, as a free extra, to train the virginal Ryota to be the best top ever.
Yes, this is an interesting subversion in the sense that the bigger, more muscular fellow is the thirsty bottom this time around, although it is still faithful to the trope that the top has the bigger pee-pee. Let’s put it this way: Ryota thingy reaches down almost to his knees on a good day.
This “game”, if I can even call it that, is divided into chapter, which each chapter culminating in a special scene that invariably involves acts comparable to exploding fire hydrants. These explosions erupt across the entire body, onto the face, and more. In other words, another day that ends with a “Y” in bara land.
Seriously, why is this even marketed as a game? It’s a digital pornographic comic, basically, and the fire hydrant moments are all lovingly kept in the gallery the moment they are “unlocked” (that is, when the player has reached the scene), and clicking on the respective moment in the gallery allows the player to, er, relive that happy moment over and over.
Not that I am complaining, mind you. The artwork is gorgeous, and as much as I hate to admit it, Ryota is exactly my type when it comes to hot nerdy types: cute boyish face with glasses and a body to die for. Also, for a nerdy-type, he’s not very intelligent—Atsushi is the brain here, which is a nice change from the usual tropes.
Atsushi is such a horny, hungry hippo-bottom-us that I can’t help but to adore him. That guy is up for all kinds of naughty antics, and he also has the most adorable hair ever.
However, Ryota gets on my nerves for the most part of this thing. He’s the quintessential lazy sod for the bulk of this “game”: he doesn’t want to study or do anything to improve himself; he’d rather whine and complain a lot before resigning himself to being a failure.
Also, he complains about everything and anything, often for the flimsiest of reasons, such as when Atsushi compliments him about being better in the sexy time department.
This guy is such a wet rag that I end up putting the text scrolling speed at maximum and am still annoyed because his constant killjoy dialogues are still slow enough for me to read and get every word. Worse, since he’s a top, nobody is going to put anything into his mouth to shut him up.
However, in the final act, things take a turn for the better, when these two lads show some character development.
Sure, they aren’t groundbreaking: Atsushi has never really dated anyone, he just hooks up for sex; Ryota has no drive in life because he can’t figure out what he wants in life until Atsushi’s magical poop chute shows him the light.
Nonetheless, there is some genuinely sweet and poignant moments in this act, and the whole thing ends on a perfect note. No saccharine epilogue or corny marriage scene—just perfect. I nearly forget how annoying Ryota is during that act!
Anyway, this one has some problems. It’s not a “game”, for one, so people have best understand what they are buying to avoid having their expectations dashed.
I understand this thing is also on the pricey side, although I can’t complain about that as I’m given this thing as a gift!
Another issue is the unintentionally hilarious English translations of the main text. I wonder if machine translation is involved, because there are only so many “My penis is erected!” moments I can take before I burst out laughing. Some lines are supposed to be erotic but they end up being comical instead. Now that I think of it, I don’t think the localization is a problem when it amuses me so much, heh.
On the other hand, things can veer into boring-but-bizarre territory when Atsushi launches into detailed explanations on how the scores are spread out across several different subjects in the entrance exam, blah blah blah. It is as if the people behind this game wanted to sneak in some “educational” moments to ensure that it still has some cultural value.
At any rate, folks that want what they know they will be getting in this one may have a good time with it. After all, the guys are hot, the pornographic artwork is hot, so maybe the annoying personality of Ryota may not be an issue for some folks, heh.
Everyone else, well, just be clear that this one is all about the art rather than the culture, if you know what I mean, and nobody will get hurt—sprained wrists and whatever notwithstanding.
