Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru: Part 2 (PC) Review

By Sandy Kirchner-Wilson 20.05.2016

Review for Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru: Part 2 on PC

Having reviewed the first part, it's time to delve into the second half of this anime-style visual novel. As a bit of background, this game is a spin-off of the popular Fruits of Grisaia series. It's a kinetic visual novel that follows a set story from start to end, akin to reading a book. It features all the characters from the Grisaia series so fans of it may want to delve into this Michiru character building narrative.

Part 2 starts off with a bang. In light of a looming threat, Michiru and her acquaintances are in a hospital room when one of them starts dramatizing the terrible booming before there is a sudden downpour of rain and... nothing bad happens at all. Herein lies the main problem - yet also the best part - of the series: the humour. The whole story is a typical "magical girl" story but, instead of going with the usual dark twist, the writers opted for humour. It gives the game its own unique feeling.

The writing is very stand out at times; there are some real heart-warming, tense, sad, and laughable moments. It's a rollercoaster of emotion but often the flow is messed with on purpose. There is one chapter where nothing happens except silence... followed by a fart. It begs the question as to why this was included but the answer is non-existent. That short chapter felt hilarious as it played the full opening and closing fanfares, used up a numbered entry, and was unbelievably pointless.

Screenshot for Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru: Part 2 on PC

The story moved on at a reasonably quick pace, managing to tie up some loose ends, developing the characters a little, and genuinely being quite fun. As it came to a conclusion the more serious moments in the story gained more weight so it was easier to feel involved. That said, it does come to a reasonable, and in character, ending that feels satisfactory; never taking itself too seriously and by using its dunce of a main character to provide some comic relief no matter the circumstance paid off in the end.

The art is as beautiful and colourful as last time, with some nice art stills for key moments, but unfortunately there are less little chibi animated moments than were in the first part. The music, both vocal and instrumental, is memorable and serves to help set up the atmosphere well and when combined with the voice acting the story moments become much easier to invest in.

Again it's a shame there weren't any dialogue trees to partake in as it would have livened it up a little more. Without much interaction, and a short play time of about twenty minutes per chapter minus the fart chapter, it comes in at about an hour and forty five minutes, not exactly a good gameplay to cost ratio.

Screenshot for Idol Magical Girl Chiru Chiru Michiru: Part 2 on PC

Cubed3 Rating

7/10
Rated 7 out of 10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Rated 7 out of 10

Short and fairly sweet, the second half of Michiru's story hits way more than it misses. It provides an enjoyable experience and a story that can hold attention for its entire duration with well written humour and just enough plot development to allow investment. It only loses a few points for not quite balancing its tone that well, which leads to a couple of weird pacing issues in the middle.

Developer

Frontwing

Publisher

Sekai Project

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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