Asa Project. Once my favorite brand. I used to think Asa Project was the Wong Jing and Stephen Chow of the visual novel world, especially after my first encounter with their games. For a while it seemed like they’d found their lane: exaggerated faces plus comedy. They put out some decent stuff, and by the time Kara Kurashi Renai… no, by the time Hitotsu Tobashi Renai (ひとつ飛ばし恋愛) came around, the meme game and the parody had hit its absolute peak. First time I played it, it honestly kind of “scared me” — felt like they were trying way too hard. Years later, going back to it, I realized that was Asa Project’s actual peak. And when you say peak, you’re also saying everything after it is downhill… Pura Main Wars (プラマイウォーズ) just barely held the rhythm together. Then came that baffling Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Renai (スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛), and I felt it deep: Asa Project had lost the plot. They seemed to be dropping the parody angle and pivoting to pure romance, leaning harder into making the girls bashful and cute — without fully giving up the old “parody skit” stuff. The result is a mess. If you want pure romance, commit to it. Stop having the girls spew dirty jokes every other line. If you want parody, then set up a proper straight man and funny man, let the characters actually play off each other. Sadly, Asa Project trimmed the game’s “plot engine” down to one character — or half of one — and slowly pushed her to the margins, turning her into a mascot whose only job is reminding the player “this is an Asa Project game.” Nothing else. The games started cramming in more and more tsundere bashful cuties, and, well, you know how it is — Asa Project’s artists are what they are. Not exactly boner-inducing. So the games got weirder and more boring: no comedy, no romance either. Funny thing is, under the same HOOKSOFT umbrella, Asa Project is getting outclassed by smee. smee’s skits keep getting sharper, the atmosphere keeps getting cozier, and the romance is still there. Asa Project, meanwhile, became a neither-here-nor-there mess. Painfully awkward. So with that awkward feeling, we arrive at Asa Project’s new release: Karigurashi Renai.