Sousaku Kanojo no Ren'ai Koushiki Trial First Impressions

Based on the trial alone, I can tell that Sousaku Kanojo no Ren'ai Koushiki (which I will shorten to SouKano for the rest of the review) will be a story that is focused on what it means to create. The protagonist himself is stuck in a rut, constantly wondering what will become of himself if he is unable to do the thing he loves the most. Through his connections he makes with other similar minded people, does that answer become much more clearer. Of course in the trial, that is never solved in full, but sprouts of potential branches are starting to form, giving way to several possible conclusions. I’m definitely interested in which branch the story eventually unfolds into.

That is to say, SouKano is a story that will delve into some more interesting themes of the creative process, but by no means is it a heavy work. There are many moments of levity sprinkled throughout, with comedy usually intermittently placed in Toshiki’s narration as events are going on around him. The comedy works more effectively, as it does not break up the pacing as much as having scenes dedicated to comedy, though the story definitely has those moments where sometimes it feels a bit bogged down. Other times, it hits the mark right on the nose and I feel my letting loose and smiling along with the ensuing situation. Nonetheless, SouKano is a SoL story through and through, using both comedy and heavier moments to flesh out its main cast.

However, the pacing is definitely a little too fast for its own good. The first chapter is fine enough in terms of how events are structured in relation to each other. The second chapter takes place from spring all the way to Christmas Eve, without allowing much breathing space for the characters to grow into themselves. The pace of the story precludes the development of the characters, as it feels like the narrative is building up to a certain moment it wants to reach as opposed to letting the characters organically reach it themselves. A little more introspection and letting the characters figure themselves out would have done wonders in this type of story, one of discovering ourselves in our limited time on Earth.

The characters themselves are charming. Each one has their own quirks and there is enough interaction between each character where none of them feel isolated in their own world. It builds up a complex web of relations, with each interaction adding to its intricacies. Through this, the characters are made to be truly alive and not just vessels for the story, even if the pacing acts in ways that contradict that.

Aisa is a frank girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She’s a free spirit, but is able to keep herself grounded. She has a past with Toshiki, and their past romantic feelings are sent off in the emotional conclusion to Chapter 1, where both Toshiki and Aisa admit that they used to love each other and are ready to move on. Aisa gives off true heroine vibes if I ever felt any, so I’ll see if SouKano will have a ture route of sorts. Given that the original planner and background artist for Koikake, Shimizu Masatoshi, is working on the art in SouKano as well, that makes me curious as to what kind of elements could be sprinkled in here as well.

Kiriha is the shining angel though she has a sharp edge that is obscured from most people. Just like Toshiki, she took my breath away when I first saw her. Even when her pretending and more cold-hearted nature came out, I still myself attracted to that beauty, its imbued harshness radiating outwards, flashing signals of its greatness into my mind. While I swear I am not an M in that regard, something about the contrast between her sweett exterior and harsher interior makes for a much more complex character. With her confession to Toshiki coming as a great surprise, seeing its true nature was also interesting. Her rejection of Toshiki’s true confession at the end of Chapter 2 will serve as the spark to kick the events into action and potentially could be the impetus that dulls her biting nature.

Yumemi is the more reserved one. She is shy and prefers to be alone, but becomes really absorbed into whatever her passions are, the two clear ones being that of drawing and blond girls. While she has the least interactions with the rest of the cast, she will definitely join the rest of the cast as their junior in the upcoming school year. Through that, maybe her eyes will open even more and allow her to come out of her shell.

Erena is the most eccentric one of the bunch. She reads erotic alone on the school roof. Her way of processing information is on a different wavelength from every other character. Likewise, she doesn’t possess a lot of normal conventions that most other people have. She is the most mysterious heroine out of all of them. However, it is heavily hinted that she is “Colorless”, the author that affected Toshiki’s mindset enough to put him in a slump.

And the protagonist Toshiki, while having his idiosyncrasies, is an honest and kind individual. He cares a lot and is always willing to lend a hand. Toshiki has definitely accomplished a lot, his magnum opus. Create Number Girls, being quite popular around the block, even with most of the heroines. However, because of his slump and maybe other reasons that haven’t been revealed yet, he feels smaller than that. SouKano really delves into his mindset and the worthlessness he feels within himself. It really makes me want to root for him, in both his stories and his love life.

The side characters have their own charms too, whether it be Shidou twins bouncing off each other or Himeko acting as a helpful mentor to her students. They round out the main cast and compliment them well as contrasting foils. They also help to serve to flesh out the world, not leaving the main cast purely isolated in their own world.

The writing itself is quite simple, which allows the story to be more digestible. The dialogue feels very human, with lots of the conversations feeling realistic without drawing on too many theatrics. The narration is more focused on getting right into Toshiki’s headspace, for better or worse. SouKano isn’t a work that shies away from going into detail on the inner workings of the creative process; however, at times, these aspects can become a bit too technical and bog itself down in the minute explanations.

SouKano is a personal, intimate story. There’s no grand setpieces or dramatic happenings, it’s a coming-of-age story of a boy who is trying his damndest to rediscover the passion that has all but escaped him. Sometimes things do indeed go South, but in turn, it becomes an opportunity for Toshiki to better understand himself as a person. SouKano will be a story about Toshiki better understanding himself and using that as an outlet for his stories. No matter what direction his life takes, Toshiki will learn from it and better himself from his achievements as well as his failures.

By the end of the trial, I could feel that the story could be going in a few directions. One is of a similar ilk to White Album 2, where there is a passage of time and Toshiki becomes more hardened to his surroundings, his heart closed even more and his abilities damaged even more. Or it could take a more optimistic route, his rejection by Kiriha allowing Toshiki to open his mind to write, though his new stories take on a more darker shade than his previous ones. Nonetheless, the pain of rejection by the hands of Kiriha will cause some sort of change in Toshiki, its exact nature will remain as pure speculation until the game’s full release date.

That being said, I won't let my hopes get too high and let them get utterly destroyed when my expectations are not met in the slightest. It happened with Einstein and KnS3 and I will not let myself become fooled. Still, there’s a part of me that clings to hope that SouKano can deliver on what it set out to do and paint its canvas in a spectacular fashion. In the end, I’ll definitely be reading SouKano’s full release to see what is in store for me. Hopefully, it will be a journey filled with the creative spark, allowing its characters to reach satisfaction in full.