G-senjou no Maou (The Devil on G-String) Review
by
, 01-01-2015 at 08:56 PM (12563 Views)
G-senjou no Maou, or The Devil on G-String, is a visual novel developed by AKABEi SOFT2. It is one of the most well-known and well-received visual novels of all time.
G-senjou no Maou greets you with a calming Air on G-String on the title screen.
Overview
The main character of G-senjou no Maou is a twenty-year-old young adult by the name Azai Kyousuke. He is the adopted son of Azai Gonzou, boss of the yakuza group "Azai Corporation", and is deeply involved in his father's work. Kyousuke is influential and well-respected in his work and can easily coerce important people and corporations. At school however he leaves all of that behind him as to him, it is the one place where he can stop being the son of Azai Gonzou and just relax.
One day, a girl named Usami Haru transfers to Kyousuke's school, an eccentric girl with really long hair calling herself "Hero". As it turns out, the girl is on a mission; to catch and defeat the phantom gang leader known only as 'Maou' (lit. "Demon King, Devil") for he is her mother's murderer. Soon enough, 'Maou' contacts Usami, and because he likes playing with his prey he allows her to try and catch him. Their deadly game soon involves not only the lives of Usami and Kyousuke, but their acquaintances at school as well...
"Is my hair too long?"
Structure
G-senjou no Maou has four main heroines: Usami Haru, Miwa Tsubaki, Azai Kanon and Shiratori Mizuha. Each of the girls has their own unique story path to go through where Kyousuke inevitably becomes romantically involved with one of them.
The structure is as follows:
Chapter 5 and onwards serve as Usami Haru's storyline path and ultimately conclude the story. As you can see, G-senjou no Maou is structurally very simple. The choices involved to get into the side paths are obvious and can't really be missed. The visual novel is really VERY nice about this, as every decisive branching choice is given twice in a row, and only if you answer accordingly twice in a row will you actually enter the side path. Otherwise, you will remain on the main path.
Every heroine besides Usami Haru also has a BAD END side route. Finding them is pretty simple and just involve choices during their respective paths, except for Tsubaki in whose case you have to be a total jerk to her throughout Chapter 2, at which point the game will automatically shift to Tsubaki's Bad End.
Completing the Epilogue unlocks Chapter Jump which allows you to start off at Chapter 2/3/4/5. You might want to keep an extra save file for the side paths and the epilogue, though.
Characters
Top-left, Top-right, Bottom-left, Bottom-right
Usami Haru, Miwa Tsubaki, Azai Kanon, Shiratori Mizuha
The characters were quite good. While all the heroines besides Haru end up playing a rather negligible role in the main plot they worked really well in their own separate arcs. The side characters were pretty loveable and managed to not be too insignificant to be forgettable.
Azai Kyousuke is a pretty good protagonist. His character development differs depending on what route you go through which is a nice touch. He can betray your expectations quite a few times, but is a good-hearted fellow enough to fill the main hero role well...
But the real show-stealer is 'Maou'. The enigma who always seems to be one step ahead of Haru, who creates ridiculously intricate plans which just happen to work out perfectly despite being seemingly impossible. His schemes are well executed and although sometimes you feel like they might be going too far, it still ends up being satisfying once you see through them, even if it's only when the novel spells it out for you.
"Entertain me, Usami Haru."
Story
This is where this visual novel shines. While the side routes are about average and nothing too special - albeit with a few great moments - the main route more than makes up for that. The plot is thrilling to the end, especially from Chapter 4 onwards.
In a lot of ways, G-senjou no Maou is the Death Note of visual novels. The story shines in its brilliant writing. Plot twists are set up and executed excellently in such a way that even if you do see them coming you still don't feel an ounce of disappointment at their predictableness. And don't worry, even if you do see through some twists, the plot will still manage to surprise you with the many that still follow.
But before you get the idea that the appeal of this visual novel is naught but being a thriller, I can assure you that that is a wrong impression. The plot can be quite humorous, hilarious even, and also quite touching at times. I feel no shame in saying that I was moved to tears to a degree I hadn't been in a long time.
This scene was the first real heart-wrencher.
I must add, however, that this visual novel is rated 18+ and has H Scenes. Sometimes they are annoyingly shoved into a point where they really didn't need to be. Nonetheless they are nowhere near as bad as in some other visual novels, and some I dare say even add to the story. If you are absolutely opposed to the idea of reading through H Scenes, don't worry, there is a non-nudity-patch floating around somewhere on the internet. I did not use it, so I cannot attest to its quality.
Soundtrack
(Any of the following YouTube links may contain spoilers in its video, video description or comments)
One of this visual novel's doubtless strengths lies in its soundtrack. The soundtrack is mainly composed of remixes of classical music pieces. Yes, seriously. Besides the obvious Air on G-String, there's also remixes of Für Elise, Oh Fortuna, Ride of the Valkyries and many many more.
The few original tracks are great as well, specifically ANSWER and any of its remixes, and Close Your Eyes, the ending theme, are songs I will not soon forget.
As great as the soundtrack stands on its own, it's just as well implemented in the storyline and never fails to deliver the proper mood for any given scene. Many of the tracks on the OST only really grew on me thanks to the association with parts of the storyline they play in.
One of the absolute best soundtracks out of any visual novel, and one I will continue to listen to for a while.
Summary
Overall, G-senjou no Maou is a masterpiece. It's not the best of the best, but it's definitely one of the best and easily worth a read. It's not all that long either and can be read through in a week or two depending on your dedication. I was hooked to the point of reading this visual novel in no less than four days.
Finally, I think everyone who's read this visual novel knows what part is doubtlessly the best and the main reason why this novel gets such exceedingly high ratings. It was no different for me, I had not thought I would be this impressed with G-senjou no Maou before I got to that particular part. The buildup and execution of it were phenomenal and are what ultimately pushed up my rating from an 8 to a grand
9.5 / 10
It's most certainly worth your time. Go check it out if you can.
The KK-Kami orders you to read this visual novel!