General discussion topic for When The Game Ends, aka Renai Harem Game Shuuryou no Oshirase ga Kuru Koro ni. Feel free to discuss the entirety of the series here, but you may use spoiler tags at your own discretion.
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I can’t read the Japanese, but from what little I’ve skimmed over, this manga series is pretty screwed up! Definitely closer to the Higanbana side of Ryukishi’s creepiness spectrum.
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I don’t know how to feel about this.
While I trust Ryukishi with my life, his “manga-only,” or “manga-first” projects tend to turn out pretty bad/poor as evidenced by Higanbana. And the genre isn’t exactly helping matters.
I just don’t want this to be Mirai Nikki tier. But I know it likely won’t.
I don’t think Higanbana is a good example- Most of his manga-first stuff is actually pretty great. Onisarashi, for example, is actually better than the Alchemist Visual Novel adaptations based on it, and Hotarubi is fantastic. (And beautiful to boot.)
I think Higanbana was a one time thing, and it had a really troubled production history… started off as a light novel, then the light novel was cancelled and turned into a manga, and then THAT manga was cancelled… Then we got the manga most of us know and loathe. (Which was also, incidentally, adapted into a light novel and cancelled.) I think the Higanbana manga probably doesn’t resemble Ryukishi’s original idea very much at all. I don’t think the VN does either- but it’s probably much closer. (And a bajillion times better than the manga, too.)
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This sounds interesting if a bit more mindless than I normally associate with Ryukishi. I would like to read it, but shipping on import books is so ridiculous. I wonder if any of the US Kinokuniya’s carry it.
I wouldn’t be too dismissive of it. Sounds like a setup for some really interesting writing if done right.
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This looks really cool! I’ve been itching for new R07 stories while waiting for the next WTC. I’ll have to wait until it is licensed in English/translated before I can read any of it. Unfortunately, I cannot understand any Japanese. Of course, it’d also have to be sold over here in the good ol’ US of A, since importing stuff is really expensive.
That said, from what I’ve seen of it (which is very little) it reminds me a lot of Madoka Magica!
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So, I’ve been reading this (to the best of my abilities) and it’s been quite interesting so far (currently going through chapter 2.) While I’ve been doing so, I’ve also been noting down my translation. I imagine scanlations aren’t allowed to be posted up here under Rule 14, but would posting my translation as a word document or something for those who might want it be fine, I wonder? I’m not the most fluent or anything, but I imagine it’s probably better than google translate, probably, and it could serve to be a rather useful reference until an official or generally better translation is done.
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Well, then! Here’s what I have for Chapters 0 and 1!
I’m sure it could do with some touch ups here and there, but ah well. It should be serviceable.
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Also, apologies if the formatting looks funky. Pages frequently screws up when saving as a docx. Nothing that affects the content, I’m sure, but it might not look 100% perfect.
Thanks for this!
Oh man I’m liking this. All of this chuuni stuff in such a super mundane setting is fun. Sounds like it’ll turn quite vicious though!
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Yeah this is about as fucked up as I expected. I wonder if this is meant to be Ryukishi’s meta commentary on eroge culture, a way of making perverts feel bad for putting real girls through these situations.
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I definitely think that can be read into it. A sort of placing the meta “will of the author and reader/player” into the in-universe world, and representing the contriving of ero situations through a being who literally forces the “heroines” into these situations for the “protagonists” pleasure, even if they go against their “characters.”
Don’t get me wrong I’m quite interested in this series, but it’s very creepy and unsettling 
I guess a point of discussion we could open is, where do you guys think the series will go? It seems like the heroines are in a pretty dead-end situation; there’s no apparent loophole in the rules, so what, is it all going to play out as Zepfur intended?
I think the story might require the protagonist to realise the error of his ways on his own and ask the demon to stop. But even then, that’s not a very interesting story. Is this just a fucked up hentai or is there something else here to keep things interesting? haha
I’m hoping that it’s not as simple as the protag noticing what the heroines are being put through but rather the story breaking away from dating and more to him building up genuine relationships with them and realizing their plight out of actually caring about them and not just about dating them.
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