I am writing this review right after completing Episodes 1 and 2 only, prior to starting 3.

9-nine- Episode 2 is an improvement over 1 as it benefits from all the setup and backstory from 1. This episode is more of a contained story so long as you ignore the clear hook left in the epilogue for future episodes.

I don't feel like there's a lot negative to say about this visual novel on its own. The story is perfectly fine and interesting, the characters are written decently, but just nothing struck me as extraordinary and it didn't hit home. Not even the drama really hit me very hard. Similar stories have hit me a lot harder. I think it is partially due to the way it is written surrounding the death of "mob characters". Maybe I'm just not into chuunige in general. To some extent it still feels like it is just a setup for episodes 3 and 4 and the payoff hasn't happened yet. That is why it only earned the "good" rating from me and not higher despite not having any obvious negatives.

With that all said, I'd recommend this to anyone who has read Episode 1 and is interested in possibly reading Episodes 3-5. This episode can stand on its own, but would definitely benefit from having read Episode 1 previously, and there will be a bit of an annoying cliffhanger in the epilogue if you don't plan on reading the further episodes.

I didn't write a review for the first game since I was lazy, but this one deserves it! Palette really stepped up their game with writing in this one, and had some great fight scenes, SoL, and awesome character interactions, explanations, and plenty of things that weren't in the first installment. I can confidently say that Sora is better than Miyako, even if she is his sister, the comedy in this one is excellent and had me laughing more than a few times, especially during the H scenes, which were easily some of the most memorable, well written ones I've had the pleasure of reading. (bag scene is too good) and not to mention Tanezaki Atsumi's Sora is soooo well voiced. I don't know if I've heard a better voice with plenty of variation and talent. Seriously hype to read ep 3, 9-nine has been nothing but a blast so far.