Witch's Garden - Eclair's voice was just way too good. The truth was harsh to accept...

Witch's Garden (ウィッチズガーデン) is a fantasy visual novel developed and published by Windmill Oasis. It was released in 2012 as part of the company's 10th anniversary. I played this much later, in 2022, while trying to catch up on my backlog of series.

The story follows Arima Yousuke as he moves to the tourist city of Kazashiro to attend school. He lives together with his aunt Yuuko at a boarding house called Oasis. There, he meets a girl named Hinomiya Ayari, who is one of the "Witches" of this city, and reunites with his childhood friend Hatano Ririko, who works as a "Knight."

The Witches in Kazashiro, along with the Knights and other characters, play a role in the city's tourism industry and participate in a series of events as actors of sorts. They fight against fake monsters in front of the public, which is part of what makes the city unique.

It is clear from the beginning, however, that something is off. Yousuke notices that some of the magic supposed to be just "for show" turns out to be real. He slowly gets involved in a mystery that spans multiple routes as he tries to understand the true nature of Kazashiro and the people around him.

The story often contrasts the cheerful, easygoing atmosphere of the tourist city, full of smiles and comedy, with the darker background the city is built on. Some of the revelations were truly heart-wrenching and made me hate the city's system as a whole.

The story follows a partially enforced playing order, revealing more of the mystery with each route leading to a grand finale with a True Ending. I say partially enforced because the order is as follows: complete any one route of the four heroines, then you can play the Ayari route. After all five routes are done, you unlock the Ayari True Route.

The main heroines are:

Hinomiya Ayari

The main heroine of the story. She lives together with the protagonist in the boarding house and is the first Witch he meets. She is quite easygoing and a bit weird in the way she behaves toward others. There is a reason for this, however, which gets explained later in the story.

Saimon Misumi

An oneesan-type character and the most mature-looking of the girls. She is one year older than the protagonist, is interested in engineering, and works as a Witch. She always tries to help anyone in need regardless of circumstances. She is basically a walking angel.

Saimon Eclair

She is always seen near Misumi, claiming to be her "magic wand". She is quite energetic around Misumi but is usually taciturn and blunt toward anyone else. Inside her head, however, there is a lot more brewing; her mind sometimes creates entire internal discussions to decide what to do in an extremely cute and comedic manner.

Hatano Ririko

The childhood friend of the protagonist, she is two years older than him. She is supposedly an "older sister" character just like Misumi, but she is way too small to feel like one. She is one of the high rank Knights of the city and is originally from England.

Yukimura Suzuno

An ojou-sama character, she is a Witch related to the family running the city. She is serious and usually unapproachable, but she becomes extremely sweet if you manage to get through that wall of ice. She appears to know more about the city right from the beginning.

All the heroines were very cute, but my favorite was definitely Eclair. Even if her looks are not my favorite (that would be Suzuno), her voice is quite unique, and I honestly fell in love with it. Plus, she is the source of many of the funny scenes in the visual novel.

The game features an animation system called the "E-Mote sprite system" that keeps all the characters animated at all times, even in normal scenes. Think of it as similar to the Live2D technology that is very popular nowadays. That, together with lots of special effects, makes this visual novel an outlier in the genre.

I really suggest giving Witch's Garden a chance. It has a solid story, and I think it is a great experience. However, be aware that it is quite a long one; it took me 43 hours to complete.