Visual Novel Review: ツユチル・レター～海と栞に雨音を～

I finished this visual novel 2 days ago!

It was my first ever visual novel I finished! I had played some Danganronpa before but it wasn't voiced at all.

Tsuyuchiru Letter ~Umi to Shiori ni Amaoto o~

The prestigious private girls’ school, Kikyou Academy, educates young ladies from elementary age to university. With cell phones forbidden on school grounds, letter writing is a pastime for many of the girls. One day, Shiori Minato is asked out by an older girl she doesn’t know--Mikoto Kurahashi. Shiori: “She’s confessing to me... But why does she look so angry?” Still, she says yes, thinking of it as an opportunity to build something between them. One day, popular student Mikoto Kurahashi receives a blackmail letter, threatening to harm her sister, Yumi Kurahashi, unless she asks out a first-year student named Shiori Minato. At first, Mikoto thinks it’s a prank--until Yumi gets hurt. So, she asks Shiori out in order to protect her sister. Mikoto: “Was so she desperate to date me that she’d resort to blackmail?” Mikoto starts dating Shiori believing her to be the blackmailer. At the same time, Shiori struggles to get Mikoto to engage with her. It’s June in Kamakura, and the hydrangeas are blooming. Two girls are brought together, their relationship manipulated by blackmail. And so begins their bittersweet story... [From Steam]

The Visual Novel Database

In terms of learning:

• They use small / simple sentences
• They often repeat themselves. An example dialogue in English would be:

You like apple pies?
Yeah, I like apple pies!
Wow! I like apple pies too

Very quickly you learn a bunch of words since it's repeated over and over again. I don't think I will ever forget 恋人同士 or 告白.

• Because it's slice of life, the vocab used is simple
• There is some crafting specific vocab / placenames, but you quickly pick it up

How long did it take me?

it took me around 130 hours to read this visual novel. This was my first time reading, so of course it'd take a while. I was averaging about 2000 characters an hour by the time I finished.

Story

The story revolves around a private girls school, all the girls write hand-written letters for each other.

One day a letter comes in that says something like "date this girl or your sister will die"

The visual novel is yuri slice of life, they are super gay and I love it.

They live/travel to Kamakura a lot, and they frequently go to streets / shops that kinda exist IRL. The girls eat Apple Pie a lot and this is in fact something that is popular in Kamakura.

Also, it ends on a cliffhanger. No, there is not a sequel.

The bad

The visual novel is voiced, but...

Only when they're speaking. Which isn't very often.

They will often think in their heads for ages, and then say something like えええー and then go back to thinking. That えええー is voiced, but the thinking isn't.

I kind of wish it was more voiced.