Kin'iro Loveriche - Ria was the best heroine, but Ayaka was the most fun!

Kiniro Loveriche (金色ラブリッチェ) is a visual novel developed by SAGA PLANETS and released in 2017. A fandisk subtitled Golden Time was released shortly after in 2019, adding routes for two additional heroines. I played this in Japanese back when it was released, and it is probably my overall favorite visual novel that I have read to date.

The story follows a high school student named Ichimatsu Ouro, a high school dropout who played baseball in the past. One day, while walking, he sees a girl named Sylvia escaping from a group of suspicious people. He decides to help her in her escape and ends up getting cornered after a long chase.

It turns out the girl was the princess of a fictional European country called Sortilège, and the people chasing her were her SP trying to take her back home. Sylvia takes a liking to Ouro and invites him to study at the boarding school Noble Private Academy and live in the girls' dormitory.

From there, Ouro starts to get involved with various other heroines, begins remembering more of his past, and maybe ends up with one of them in typical visual novel fashion. There is a lot more than meets the eye regarding the link between the main heroines and Ouro.

The visual novel theme is (as you can see also from the hair color of most heroines) is "gold", there are various thematic references to it throughout the game. You'll hear them very often mention the "Golden Time" which is the last hour of solar light before sunset. It's important to the story.

It is hard to define the visual novel with a particular genre tag. Most of the game fits the typical romantic comedy genre, but there are specific moments where it makes you go, "Oh, this is a nakige, isn't it?" And believe me, it hits you hard and heavy with its bat when those moments come.

The heroines are:

Sylvia le Cruzcrown Sortilège Sisua (nicknamed Sylvi), the main heroine of the story. She is an overly bright and optimistic princess. She is extremely interested in Japanese culture and is enough of an airhead to often end up in misunderstandings about even very simple things. She is an extremely caring person toward anyone and always tries to find a middle ground whenever there are clashes.

Heroina di Caballero Istaa (nicknamed Elle), a female knight serving Sylvia as her guard. She has an extremely serious personality and boasts unnatural strength. She hates dirty jokes, but in her route, she ends up quite interested in a particular sub-genre of visual novels. (The hint is that she is a "female knight")

Kisaki Reina, a "gal" in the same class as Ouro. She is cheerful and friendly to pretty much everyone. She is very interested in fashion and dreams of becoming a designer. After entering her route, she doesn't really change much in her "buddy" behavior, making her the "feel at home" type of girl.

Kuryuu Akane, an underclassman and part of the Track Club. She is seen in the dormitory as some sort of mascot because of how cute and adorable she is. She is enthusiastic about training and tries very hard to become a stronger athlete. She pulls Ouro into her world if you choose to progress into her route.

Jougasaki Ayaka, the committee chairman of Ouro's class. She initially hates Ouro's guts for being allowed to live in the female dormitory. She is cynical and has a sharp tongue, but that is mostly a facade she puts up to look strong. In reality, she is a closet pervert and transforms into a deredere heroine should you pursue her route.

Caminal le Pultaia Sortilège Sisua (nicknamed Mina), Sylvia's little sister. She is a very smart girl who only evaluates people based on their actions. She starts training Ouro to become someone worthy of standing by Sylvia's side and is seen very often in his room cleaning or training him in cleaning.

Souma Ria, a delinquent girl in a different class from Ouro. She is a smoker and has been suspended multiple times. They met on the rooftop, and she becomes Ouro's confidant for many of the events revolving around the heroines, giving him support and guiding him whenever needed. She is the last heroine of the main game, and her route only unlocks after you complete all the others. She is the only heroine to have a second route in the fandisk.

It is pointless to even ask who my favorite heroine is because there is simply no way I could not say Ria after all the events that happened in the series surrounding her. I am usually weak to emotional scenes, and the crescendo of emotions as I was playing the game and putting together all the hints from the various routes was...

At the same time, if I had to choose purely based on how much fun I got out of the series, then Ayaka would win hands down. Her route in the fandisk provided the most laughs I have ever had in a single route. My friend and I even came up with a nickname for her based on the exact scene that I attached to this post as a video.

The game has one ending for each heroine, plus a second ending for Ria only available in the fandisk. Don't be fooled by the ending of the main game, which seems final; there is more, and honestly, they managed to crack the thing that every player wanted to see in it. Remember Sylvia's words at the beginning of the fandisk: "Believe me, this time there won't be need for tears".

Do yourself a favor and go read Kiniro Loveriche, and don't stop until you finish the entire fandisk because it is worth your time. The length should be around 33 hours for the main game and 20 hours for the fandisk (this is the time it took me to complete it).