>> | No.51237 File: kara-no-shoujo-2-02.jpg -(183.8 KB, 1286x749) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Kara no Shoujo - The Second Episode (https://vndb.org/v5922)
This is a direct sequel to Kara no Shoujo, and it takes place two years after the end of it. Reiji is still looking for... someone, but a new series of mystery murders crop up, in which women are killed and a clay doll is stuffed into their stomachs. Around the same time, Reiji's younger sister Yukari saves a guy who tried to commit suicide, and somehow the guy and these murders may be linked.
Let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Sugina Miki's art is beautiful, as you'd expect. Better yet, Kara no Shoujo 2nd has a decent resolution (i.e. larger than 800 x 600). It's a feast for the eyes. Additionally, the notebook has some cool new features like a correlation and relation chart, which shows relationships between the characters in handy form.
Interestingly, Kara no Shoujo 2nd tries to integrate events and people from Cartagra into the storyline. The story expounds on what happened to Senri after Cartagra, and Aoki Touji returns to have a moderately large role in Kara no Shoujo 2nd. While it's definitely better to have read Cartagra prior to Kara no Shoujo 2nd, I don't think it's a hard requirement.
Now on to the downers. The music, in my opinion, is not as memorable or good as Kara no Shoujo. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I feel that Kara no Shoujo 2nd's music felt... derivative. Some pieces felt simply like rearranged pieces from Kara no Shoujo. It didn't really have its own identity.
The new characters and overall story were not as engaging to me. I didn't care for the characters as much, and thus felt more indifferent about what happened to them. As for the major murder mystery aspect, it wasn't terribly difficult to figure out the truth behind it. I like what Innocent Grey tried to do, by having essentially two protagonists, but I feel it didn't work all that well. Ultimately, the story and characters simply did not measure up to its predecessor. I'm also mildly disappointed how some loose ends were tied up. I hoped to see more between Ayato and Ayako after they were finally reunited, but the resolution pushed more of a Yukari x Ayato angle.
It's worth noting that two playthroughs are necessary to get the full experience of Kara no Shoujo 2nd. One must see the "Memories of that Day" ending first, then start over from the very beginning. Several scenes are slightly modified, shown in a new light after the revelations from the first playthrough. There are also some completely new scenes (mainly h-scenes) that weren't accessible in the first reading. The true ending can only be gotten from a second or later playthrough.
At any rate, I suppose Kara no Shoujo 2nd is worth reading if you enjoyed Kara no Shoujo. At best, it follows in its predecessor's footsteps, but there's little innovation, and the execution may be worse. It does answer the question of Toko's fate, if you cared about that, and leaves one major plot point open so that there will clearly be a Kara no Shoujo 3 someday.
I'm not certain, but it probably took me around 20~25 hours total.
7.5/10 |