View RSS Feed

Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

Imouto Paradise Review

Rate this Entry
Imouto Paradise is a visual novel created by Moonstone Cherry, published in English by MangaGamer. It is considered one of the best and most thought-provoking visual novels of all time.

To prevent spoilers, I won't directly show many screenshots of this game in this post.



Overview

Imouto Paradise, or Imopara for short, follows the story of a nameable protagonist whose parents are overseas on a work trip, so he spends the summer vacation at home with his five lovely little sisters.

What starts off as little more than a harem romcom turns into a thought-provoking, thrilling ride very quickly, where even the options menu has you making tough decisions.



Characters

Imopara has a superb cast of heroines. You get to explore their depth in great detail and their dialogue is truly stellar. The novel is beautifully subtle in how it lets you gradually get closer to them and eventually see them as they truly are.

And the main character is just as great. His narration is amazing in how it conveys the kind of person he is in as few lines as necessary. Also, while the fact that you can rename him to your liking may seem like a device to let the reader self-insert them into the story, it actually brings up very interesting points about how important a name really is; aren't we humans defined by our personalities rather than our names?

Story

Imopara tackles some very controversial themes such as the morality and societal view on incest, and does so with all the respect such a delicate subject deserves. The writing in particular does wonders to immerse you in the setting and make you seriously question your own perspective on the matter.

The warning upfront that all characters in this story are 18 or older is also very thought-provoking in and of itself; it makes you question your own readiness to judge a person's maturity simply by their look. Because Imopara really exemplifies that how young or childish someone might appear on the outside doesn't matter.

I need to call special attention to one narrative device: the periodic use of countdowns. Whenever one appears, the story heats up dramatically and becomes an extraordinary thrill right until the climax when the countdown reaches zero, which is one of the most releasing and satisfying experiences you'll ever have.

Soundtrack

I can't say much other than it's simply brilliant. When even the track names make you double-take and leave you stunned at the creativity of the creators you know you've hit something outstanding.

Summary

Overall, Imopara is a masterpiece of modern literature. There's something to be said about a story which not only manages to bring the reader an indescribeable rush of happiness not just once, but several dozen times.

I give this novel a

4 / 1

and the highest recommendation I can give. Make sure to have a box of tissues nearby when reading it though, it can be quite... moving.

Updated 04-01-2016 at 11:53 PM by Karifean

Tags: april 1st Add / Edit Tags
Categories
Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Pumpkin's Avatar
    OH MY GOSH
  2. Fynn's Avatar
    Wow this looks just up my alley!