An intense Wuxia VN brought by Nitroplus!
I had this VN for some time ago and on a whim i decided to give this VN a try, i was first introduced to the series from Nitro Royale plus which is the Doujin Fighting game which features Nitroplus Heroines as the casts. The Kinetic VN is as short as Saya no Uta since it only take 3 hours to complete the story. Compared to Saya no Uta, Kikokugai's story is not beautifully written but it redeems itself by packing some really intense actions throughout the story.
Kikokugai takes place in GiTS-esque Dystopian futuristic Shanghai where Cybernetics technology thrives . Thus Cyborgs are commonly seen as people are more than eager to swap their flesh with metals and the best creation of the technology are Gynoids which are human androids mostly taking in the form of female and highly sought in Shangha. In the story there are 2 kinds of martial art practitioner one is Waijia（外家） which rely on external raw power and the other one is Neijia（内家） which focus on inner strength from cultivation of qi. In the past Waijia was never able to compete against Neijia due to the overwhelming difference in power level. However the table was turned when Cyborg Technology emerges, capable of enhancing the physical strength of a human beyond its limit which render the Neijia obsolete.
Kikokugai contains many elements that are seen from your typical Hongkong action and wuxia flicks. Where Kungfu, Confucian Value along with Betrayal and Revenge blended together with some good measure of Heroic Bloodshed thrown into the mix. Thus you can expect some good actions in the VN
Kikokugai Main Plots pretty much revolves around 3 Characters;Protagonist, Protagonist Sister and Protagonist's best friend and the tragedy results from their relationships which basically sets up the the story.
The main protagonist of Kikokugai is Kong Taoluo(The first Chinese Electric Batman) , an assassin with code of honor in Chinese underworld who is a Neijia practitioner until a year before the story takes where he was thought to be dead. Now he travels back to Shanghai once again along with a little girl to settle things.
Kong Ruili is Taoluo's little sister and the most precious person to him. A flawless refined lady by Chinese standard and always concerned with his brother due to the nature of his work. Yet beneath her innocent beauty, Ruili harbors some forbidden passion toward her Taoluo. Her Death pretty much sets the tragedy into the motion
And then Taoluo's former best friend Liu Haojun who becomes the main villain, the vice leader of the greatest mafia syndicate in Shanghai where Taoluo used to serve. Haojun trains in Martial Arts together with Taoluo since Childhood and he was the Fiancee of Ruili before her Death.
Kikokugai tells the story of Tauluo's quest of vengeance upon his 5 of the former syndicate members who were responsible for raping and killing his precious little sister Kong Ruili when Taoluo was away on mission. He learned the truth after he was almost dead when attacked by his best friend and totally shocked as he finds out Haojun himself is the mastermind of the trageday and now becomes the head of the syndicate. Now returning to Shanghai with a little girl on his side brimming with fury, Taoluo returns to Shanghai hunting down those 5 members with another reason as well. Apparently he still got a chance to resurrect her sister again prior to Ruili's death. her soul was split into 5 pieces contained by the Gynoids possessed by Tauluo's targets and the little girl he took with him is a gynoid that will be used as the Vessel for Ruili's soul once all of the 5 pieces gathered. As the story unfold you will find out that thing doesn't seem it looks
Despite by the time the story start Neijia practitioners are at severe disadvantage as they had to face Waijia practitioners with Cybernetics which renders Neijia techniques ineffective. However Taoluo possess Neijia technique which are bane for Cyborgs known as the Lightning Palm, where Taoluo discharge electromagnetic wave from his palm which fries the internal circuit of cyborg that are effectively a death sentence for them. Taoluo is also a very talented swordman which made him the best in his line of work. With Long Coat, Sword and Electric power, Tauluo is pretty much the predecessor of Hei from Darker than Black.
I think Kikokugai is the only Nitroplus VN with wuxia theme but neverthless it is done well in regard to the genre. In the VN you will see how Taoluo fight other Cyborgs with the limitations of a human which would have easily pulverized an average guy with a single blow yet managed to kick their rear relying on his martial arts only. Even if the VN is really short, it is tightly packed with actions especially the final battle which is just plain awesome. Definitely i can see that Darker than Black had some inspiration from this VN especially Hei who is probably based on Taoluo.
Kikokugai is good VN to go if you need a quick fix of VN and like some intense actions. Taoluo is one of the more badass character from Nitroplus(unlike the betamax protag in Chaos;Head) and he also has kickass theme. This VN also had some neat Cyberpunk themes and you will get to see some fireworks during the story. I think if i have spare time maybe i should read Demonbane which got recent translation
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