January 2026 Impressions

アザナエル / Axanael
Great comedy, characters, voice acting, art, and enshutsu come together to feel like you're watching an anime instead of reading a novel. Plus it's 95% voiced, so I'd honestly recommend just putting it on auto and enjoying the ride. My only complaint was with the kagome asobi mechanic - you can't choose which ending you get to see next (though you can kind of point the game in the general direction) and auto-save only means you're locked into a route until you finish it. This meant that instead of getting to end the game on a high-note with the true route, I saw it somewhere in the middle and had to spend the rest of my time collecting bad ends, which soured the mood a little.


あにめショップへいこう!/ Anime Shop e Ikou!
I like it when old games go off the rails and add absurd secret routes to their otherwise normal stories. This one has zombies, living dolls and a true route that takes up half the game and touches on illness, death, revenge... and a religion that farms human clones for body parts and biological weapons. Did I mention this is a game about working part-time at an anime store?