Eroge Review

Just off the coast of mainland Japan is the island of Chisakura, home to a city of the same name, where the heralds of darkness are slowly gathering. Host to a prosperous economy, with a nationally renowned academic institution for young women and an equally upstanding medical research facility, the community has unwittingly attracted the attentions of dreaded supernatural creatures with few equals: vampires. Yet even these immortal predators have daring individuals who hunt them, and a secret war between the two powers is quickly racing to an apocalyptic conclusion. At the center of this nightmarish struggle is a man who has the potential to tip the scales in favor of one side or the other. His choice of allies - the hunters, the vampires, or none at all - may very well determine the fate of humanity and the undead.
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MinDeaD BlooD DVD Special Edition (マインデッド・ブラッド 支配者の為の狂死曲 DVD Special Edition) is a violent thriller eroge published by Black Cyc in 2006. The title is an improved replacement of the original MinDeaD BlooD released in 2004: incorporating full voice acting for all characters, increased graphical quality, and expanded music. An optional standalone expansion - MinDeaD BlooD: Mayu to Mana no Yuketso Hako - provides additional background and stories that are not addressed in the original.
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In the gothic genre, MinDeaD BlooD ranks among the best to ever grace the industry. Superficially the eroge might appear to be little more than a cliché vampire story that incorporates tasteless rape, bloody beatings, tentacle brutality, necrophilia, and twincest - all of which can occur in the first hours of playing. However this “shock show” merely underscores the depths that the title explores: the taint of savagery and corruption that exists in every person’s soul. One element that makes the plot to this game so incredible - and at the same time so horrific - is the lack of an attempt to avoid the exploration of evil. Each rape, each murder, each act of immoral activity has a mood driven purpose. Thus when these individual events are interwoven as one whole, a masterpiece of storytelling is revealed. Although moments might seem obvious and predictable, therein lays the beauty of presentation. The maid is demure and obedient, but the unanswered question is WHY? The vampire twin sisters love each other beyond all reasonable rational, sexing one another as readily as they do any male lover, but closer inspection of their companionship reveals unlikely rifts and differences. Elements such as these are what make everything truly come alive.
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The central role of MinDeaD BlooD belongs to Shizuru Nanase: a rebellious individual who awakens in rebirth as a powerful vampire without memories of his past or an understanding of his inborn abilities as an elite undead. Yet even in this state of temporary weakness, Shizuru proves himself capable of unleashing lethal destruction with ease, knowing exactly what he wants when he sees it, with a supreme confidence and breakable willpower: what many would call a total badass. Suddenly finding himself caught within an everlasting war between vampires and humanity, Shizuru is forced to quickly determine which side of the shattered battlefield he stands, learning that no decision made in this regard is without dire repercussions. All paths are equally dangerous, each bringing a different yet no less deadly risk. To complicate matters further, even the closest of would be allies have their own secret agendas, and though many are quick to extend a hand in friendship, immoral self-preservation marred with twisted ideology easily brings about treacherous betrayals at the slightest provocation. Byzantine as these factors might be, they fundamentally remain secondary to the introspection of Shizuru defining his own existence: who he once was, what he has become, and which future he chooses to follow.
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One of the memorable and most enjoyable aspects of MinDeaD BlooD, is the scheme of how events are presented: with tension and action. The narrative is not a slow moving drama, but a fast pace struggle where Shizuru is in a race against time. Whether the player chooses to challenge or embrace the primal evil that seethes within him, Shizuru must prove his strength to survive against equally powerful opponents who only seek his death or enslavement. At the beginning your sole allies are the mysterious Mana and Mayu, and although the twins are wholly truthful and genuine in their friendship, such trust is a double edge sword. Like it or not, their schemes and enemies immediately become Shizuru’s schemes and enemies: with all the implications that go with it. Factors such as Yuka’s zeal in hunting vampires preserves an urgency of uncertainly, the malicious curiosity of Mana and Mayu instigate evils are that best left alone, and taking heed to Arisa reveals twisted secrets of the past. Sadly not everyone in the cast is as engaging and multidimensional, but the secondary characters are quite diverse, leading to highly unique interactions. In morbid cause and effect, each action taken inevitably comes full circle, resulting in the enjoyment of vindicated rewards or the infliction of terrible consequences… sometimes simultaneously.
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Obviously important as they are, characters and plot are not the only areas where MinDeaD BlooD excels. The music is a tour de force of gothic excellence, reminiscent of the techniques utilized in other media such as Castlevania and Devil May Cry. Each background song is a standard in of itself: while they do not entirely use live instruments (only the intro and outro), no melody is boring or poorly composed. The somber selections are haunting, and the fast pace beats drive the accompanying scenes like an action movie. Each tune perfectly fits the mood, further shinning an already polished moment. On top of this, everyone is voice acted: the player’s character, all the males, all the females, insignificant nobodies who are never named or shown, and even the computerized Pile Driver on Yuka’s forearm. Not merely voice acted either: voice acted with character matched precision and genuine quality. Shizuru sounds so damn awesome you’ll wish you spoke like him, and I found myself repeating “Setup. Ready. Charge.” whenever Yuka’s Pile Driver was going to kill me. Rarely is such audio magnificence achieved, let alone matched, and this is an area of production where MinDeaD BlooD defines the standards competitors are compared against.
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Just as impressive are the visual assets. The main map is a beautiful mural of gothic imagery and morbid poetry. Backgrounds - usually something regulated as second class in importance - are highly detailed and were given noticed attention. Those which take place outdoors even have moving clouds in the sky, and there’s gradual lighting that accentuates the passing of sunrise and sunset. The variety of paper dolls is numerous, and while positioning is not always as dynamic as it should be, each is drawn crisp and clean. The quality of the event illustrations have to be seen to believe: while the lead artist is not flawless with paper dolls, he is an eroge god incarnate with full scene images. Not to mention there are literally hundreds of them. Granted many are just slight modifications to the “original” illustration (more wounds and blood), but you seriously won’t care. Yet this list of eye candy goodness doesn’t end there. There’s a massive selection and liberal use of bling-bling special effects for the dozens of fight scenes: you don’t just read what happens in the battles, you see the slashes, gunshots, and punches being thrown. It’s practically being there.
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Last but certainly not least we come to the sex, which is appropriately dark and violent, perhaps too much so for the mainstream, but this is dark ero, so your baby shoes should have been left at the door. Worried about the quantity? You have no reason to be: over sixty scenes cover an entirety of sinister fetishes for your darkest pleasures - bukkake, dick-girl, gang bang, girl on girl, guro, incest, necrophilia, rape, tentacle, twincest… all these and so much more. Wondering what kind of quality you should expect? Absolute divine perfection. Elevating the measure of excellence beyond the status quo, unlike the vast majority of eroge which have sex limited to the “Rule of Three” (one image at the start, one image at the middle, and one image at the end), your typical MinDeaD BlooD scene clocks at 7 to 14 frames, with the longest running at a grand total of 59 orgy-tastic illustrations. Been looking for that 800 pound gorilla to provide a wealth of dark sex substance and sustenance? Rejoice my friend, for you’ve finally found it.
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Inevitably I could go on and on about why I absolutely worship MinDeaD BlooD, but think my overall assessment is best summarized by saying, “get this damn game and get it now.” However I would be lying if I claimed the title did not have flaws. The first is that everything is too reliant on the disturbing and violent sex. When I say you must have an open mind, it must also include a willingness to see and hear others suffer for almost no reason at all, save for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Occasionally someone even dies from the incredible abuse. The second and perhaps more pressing matter, is the original MinDeaD BlooD was evidently rushed to the shelves – a matter even the DVD remake did not correct: there’s the severe lack of an appropriately evil ending, because everything available is geared towards the player seeking redemption and salvation. There’s also the disappointment of not being able to “win” several of the charismatic secondary characters. Fortunately this was fixed by Black Cyc. Unfortunately it requires purchasing the standalone expansion pack, which disapprovingly was not integrated with the DVD remaster. Just owning MinDeaD BlooD leaves an empty feeling; conversely just owning the expansion leaves nothing but confusing and unsolvable questions.
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— Central Characters —
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	Shizuru Nanase . Height: 185 cm . Blood Type: O . Birthdate: August 15 . Although reborn into undeath as an incredible vampire with phenomenal fighting prowess, Shizuru suffers from amnesia due to the trauma of his unnatural rebirth. Fortunately he finds himself in the company of vampiric twin sisters who immediately take a liking to his personality and physical stamina, promising to provide shelter and friendship in return for protection and occasional sex.
	Yuka Sakaki . Height: 164 cm . Blood Type: A . Birthdate: April 4 . Measurements: 80 - 58 - 83 . Yuka is a highly skilled vampire hunter, training since the day she learned her mother was murdered by the supernatural creatures. Ordinarily a calm and composed individual, Yuka becomes furious engine of destruction when facing creatures of the night. Few vampires would dare challenge her; fewer still would survive.
	Mayu Sonohara . Height: 145 cm . Blood Type: B . Birthdate: July 8 . Measurements: 78 - 60 - 80 . Elder half of the Sonohara twins, Mayu is best described as a sadistic, spoiled, murdering bitch. There are few individuals Mayu truly cares for, but among those rarities she treasures, her twin sister is valued above all. Mayu also takes a strong liking to Shizuru, finding his qualities genuinely excite her.
	Mana Sonohara . Height: 147 cm . Blood Type: B . Birthdate: July 8 . Measurements: 85 - 58 - 82 . Younger half of the Sonohara twins, Mana is a difficult individual to read, possessing an eerie trait of expressing little emotion. She obediently follows her identical sister without fail, never refusing or challenging what Mayu seeks to do, yet one often wonders what thoughts wander through Mana’s head.
	Arisa Saeki . Height: 158 cm . Blood Type: A . Birthdate: April 21 . Measurements: 80 - 59 - 82 . Arisa is the rightful owner of the mansion that Mayu and Mana have taken as their own, reduced to little more than a mistreated servant and helpless sex toy by the twins. Why she hasn’t ran away or been murdered is almost as much a mystery as how much she truly knows about the dark events that are rampaging across the island.
	Kyoko Kasai . Height: 157 cm . Blood Type: O . Birthdate: June 4 . Measurements: 79 - 59 - 80 . Kyoko is a student of the Chisakura Girls Academy, oftentimes perceived as arrogant and antisocial by fellow classmates, due to her strong independence. While she excels at sporting events, and her performance has earned a great deal of athletic achievements, she has little enjoyment of the attention and media spotlight.
	Marika Ichinose . Height: 152 cm . Blood Type: B . Birthdate: November 24 . Measurements: 77 - 60 - 78 . Self-appointed moral booster of her graduating class, Marika is a student of the Chisakura Girls Academy who annoys the living hell out of anyone she believes lacks school spirit. Marika is an obsessive fan of strange anime series and has a wide number of unusual otaku habits others find unsettling.
	Hitomi Orihara . Height: 154 cm . Blood Type: A . Birthdate: October 4 . Measurements: 79 - 62 - 81 . The only daughter of middle class parents who spend a significant sum of their income to support her tuition, Hitomi is a recent transfer to student to Chisakura Girls Academy. While devoted to academic excellence, Hitomi harbors unrequited feelings for her math teacher and selfishly hopes that exceptional performance might capture his attention.
	Eri Kotofuki . Height: 160 cm . Blood Type: AB . Birthdate: September 17 . Measurements: 86 - 61 - 83 . Eri is lead singer of the band Cerberus Guard 69, a popular group that exclusively performs at the PAIN & KILL nightclub while in Chisakura. The private establishment is a cesspit of questionable activities, and rumors of missing persons, rapes, and murders surround the nightspot. Regardless of these tales, Eri’s popularity and talent draws massive crowds to the location.
	Natsumi Saito . Height: 167 cm . Blood Type: A . Birthdate: May 4 . Measurements: 86 - 62 - 88 . Natsumi is a newlywed wife without a husband, his recent promotion at the company causing long distance separation and hardships. Despite her longing urges and growing loneliness, Natsumi is ever devoted to her spouse, hoping that each night which passes is the night he finally returns home to her.
	Yoshie Shinohara . Height: 168 cm . Blood Type: O . Birthdate: January 1 . Measurements: 93 - 62 - 82 . Yoshie is an energetic head nurse of Chisakura Metropolitan Hospital. Despite her youth, Yoshie is dearly loved by patients and the medical staff, as her sincerity and cheerfulness are a medicine no one can prescribe. In addition to her normal duties she serves as a personal assistant to the hospital’s research director.
	Annabella Keaton . Height: 170 cm . Blood Type: AB . Birthdate: July 30 . Measurements: 87 - 63 - 84 . Annabella is Research Director of Chisakura Metropolitan Hospital. Her rude and gruff nature have earned more enemies than friends, but the results of Annabella’s work are unquestionably efficient and effective. As of late she has devoted long hours into the nights and weekends, on a quarantined medical patient restricted from public exposure.

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— Scored Summary —
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Scenario: 25 out of 30. Thirteen possible endings; including the unwanted bad ends. I cannot over stress how enrapturing and well coordinated the plots are. Replaying the game over and over to get another ending becomes more and more entertaining with each restart because you learn something more about the characters’ past. The true negative of each scenario is the lack of attention secondary characters receive or their sudden removal from significance (usually through death). I should also add that some girls have no “good ending” - even if you want them to be attainable. This problem is alleviated to an extent in the expansion, but it’s rather disappointing that everything is not “under the same hood” like it should be.
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Visual: 18 out of 20. Extraordinarily detailed backgrounds, hundreds of masterpiece event illustrations, judicious use of dark colors, and the perfect interface menu decorations (that upside down bleeding cross is hands down perfection) makes an overwhelming feast for the eyes. The only serious faults are nitpicky but noticeable: first the paper dolls tend to be a bit “stiff” (lack of dynamic motion as an art teacher might say), secondly most of the characters never change clothes. Vampires don’t sweat I suppose, but what about all those bodily fluids?
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Audio: 20 out of 20. Catchy intro/outro theme songs? Check. Total complete voice acting? Double check. Done well? Triple check. Masterwork soundtrack? Quadruple check. Well damn… they go it all covered, don’t they?
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Erotica: 30 out of 30. Play it right and you’ll get sex at least once every 15 minutes or so. With sixty plus possible chances, the title is the embodiment of a sexfest; only it really isn’t a sexfest because the character development and plot are so detailed. Sure everything is dark and violent, but you want it dark and violent.
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Mechanics: 0 point neutrality. Along with the traditional “choose your response” menu system that most eroge share, the title uses a “choose where you’ll spend the day” system. You select where Shizuru and the twins will hangout (not together if you wish it) on a map of the island, which causes them to meet and interact with people who they can fight, help, rape, etc. Depending on how often you’ve interacted with these individuals, more events become possible and advance the story further. On top of this there’s a time limit of sorts, since Yuka is looking for undead creatures to kill: namely you. Phases of the moon, as well as how much blood you’ve sucked, can alter the outcome of these battles. If you’re well prepared, then everything is fine. If not, prepare to taste a hydraulic powered titanium stake. The concept works beyond great and keeps you on the edge of your seat… if you have a walk-thru guide. Truth of the matter is: there’s little within the game that actually tells you where to go next or in what order. Most of the time you’re merely guessing and forced to restart over and over again. So is it challenging? Hell yes. Is that really a negative? Depends on your level of patience… or ability to use Japanese GOOGLE.
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Final Score: 93 out of 100. If you haven’t noticed by now, I consider MinDeaD BlooD DVD Special Edition to be one of the best games ever made: eroge or not. Everyone should have it in their personal collection and experience a pinnacle achievement of darkness and violence. Once 100% completeion has been reached, immediate acquisition of the aforementioned expansion is practically mandatory. Strongly recommended for purchase.

1. Zeroblade Says:
   December 27th, 2007 at 2:59 am

   Wow, really in-depth reviews you have here… Keep up the good work!



2. anime_otaku Says:
   December 27th, 2007 at 3:49 pm

   man nice review!! i think i’ll check this game. keep up the reviews!!!



3. Kresnik Says:
   December 27th, 2007 at 10:52 pm

   Hmm.. I don’t think I’ll be able to endure this game if it was so dark, gore and violent. It might have good story, but more than 60 scenes..? Count me out.

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   ‘Read the rest’ link should be put on the upper-side, as not to make the main page too long. Nice review nonetheless, keep it up. Where’s ayyo anyway?



4. BonnieBear Says:
   December 29th, 2007 at 3:02 am

   I’ve also played this game. For me, the biggest selling point was the main character being cool rather than the typical cookie cutter dude. That alone sets this title apart from the 9999 other generic titles featuring the same crap over and over.

   Not all the scenes are gory. Most of them are just sinister. Only a few (I can count 2 from the top of my head) scenes are actually somewhat light and romantic. There are many ways to branch off the story. You can definitely play through the game without hardcore violence.

   I recommend this game for interested people even if you don’t understand japanese. The audio is super. Personally I think playing eroge while armed with a dictionary is one of the best ways for more advanced students to learn japanese.



5. anime_otaku Says:
   December 30th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

   @bonniebear i completly agree im actually studying japanese in japan to fulfill my university and the best way i use to learn new kanji is to paly Galge/Eroge (whatever the real name is ) with a dictonary its an awsome way to improve oneself’s japanese!!!



6. EK Says:
   January 24th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

   I’ve been poking around this game and failing miserably to make much progress. As far as I can tell it is everything the review says. If anyone is aware of any walkthroughs for those of us that can’t read japanese, it’d be awesome.



7. Nargrakhan Says:
   January 24th, 2008 at 10:37 pm

   @EK: Here’s a MinDeaD BlooD Walkthru - although its in Japanese. Nevertheless, it isn’t too difficult to compare the characters in the guide, to the characters in the game, to determine the order of where to go. Good luck!