I cannot express my love for this game in definite words at all, as it has influenced me so much in amazing ways and will always have a place in my heart, however I can still say some things about it that will hopefully let others enjoy this masterpiece like I did. I understand that this visual novel has one or two plot holes within it and that the word 'masterpiece' is subjective; but once you play through the entire game and feel the emotions that the stories hit you with, then it really becomes something which, in my heart, is a masterpiece. I will be keeping this spoiler free as I want everyone to have their own experience themselves, however I will describe some aspects of Island.

One of my favourite aspects of this Visual Novel is the characters, whether it be design, writing or impact to the story, Island had me entranced with all the different ways that characters were created and how well they conveyed their messages. Karen is the perfect iteration of somebody who runs away from their problems while being ignorant to their surroundings, however she also demonstrates the message of ‘turning over a new leaf’ which is something that takes courage and plenty of strength. Rinne is the epitome of somebody who clings to the past, and lives life in ignorance, denial and harsh regret. Sara is a shrine maiden that really pushes the aspect of religion playing a large role within somebody's life, and how it can influence you to do the best or worst things for you or the people around you. Sara is my personal favourite out of these three girls, as I like to hold true to my values and beliefs like she does, and her overall attitude is very interesting in my opinion... just like the next character I'll talk about.

Finally Setsuna, the main character that is by far the most relatable main character I have seen yet, and although that may be like an exaggeration I can assure you that he was. His thought process during harsh events, the way he theorized about life’s questions, his journey of immediate highs being crashed down into pessimistic lows of his life… all of this equates to a character that is charismatic and genuinely fun to play as during the story of Island. His beliefs power him throughout the story and really create unique and specific character that, if the right person is playing this game like me, can be connected to flawlessly. The melancholic yet strangely peaceful adventure of Setsuna establishes him as my favourite character undoubtedly, and sets in stone the massive impact he has had on my life. Although these are only a fraction of the important characters that come into play within this Visual Novel, I will stop at these four as the experience with Sara, Karen, Rinne and Setsuna becomes even better once they make decisions based on other characters in the story, something I would like the players to see themselves.

The title ‘Island’ may make you think of an island resort getaway, some place where everything seems of clarity and beauty. This Visual Novel offers such beauty in the scenery that is shown while playing, and the way the environment is described, what the locals do within it and how they live there all is explained so nicely that it makes you want to be there. However, because the Island has it's fair amounts of secrets and dark stories, as the viewer we get the feeling that no other problems in the world around the cast and residents are impacting them, only the Island’s problems and past are etched into the lives of those who stay there. Plenty of questionable events happen within this story, and many people may be turned away once they hear about them or see them... however in my eyes, even if these events are disgusting and gut wrenching, they help emphasise the true struggle that characters are facing and how bad the world is that they live in. Every beautiful tragedy has scenes where the word 'beauty' is far from the truth.

Island has primary focuses on two themes that are incredibly hard to pull off successfully, let alone with originality. These themes are Love and Time. Firstly, love has been explored over the years within stories and usually has the same base plot, however with Island I feel that regardless of the routes you take, you will be left feeling tense and anxious with what will happen if the main character messes up, or saddened and heart broken if he does such a thing. Once there is a connection of true love, this game allows you to feel happy and satisfied that things turned out for the better… but also knows how to completely destroy the happiness and leave you feeling like you have been shot. It can unexpectedly happen, but it gives a very odd feeling of satisfaction when the events unfold. It is very hard to explain, but that is how I felt. Since posting this review I've made some edits, and I can confirm that the feeling I had was the level of beauty that can be seen in a tragic event. The lengths that the characters go to when searching for something or achieving a goal, just to have it destroyed in front of them... fills the reader with admiration and sadness that ends up being swallowed up by the beauty of it all.

Finally, I will address Time. This theme gets butchered so much within fiction that when I first saw it in Island, I was put off and honestly would have dropped it probably if it weren't for the other factors I have previously mentioned. With this story, they nailed time travel and time related subjects alone, and once you understand all the events that are unfolding then it becomes very satisfying. The characters teach you about time, theorize it and use probable methods of explaining it… then proceed to shut down a theory on time because of certain events, and explain it in a whole new way that really shows the universality of the topic.

So, regarding this game I give it a legit 10/10 from me because of the level of emotion that I felt within it, however I think a reasonable score from a standpoint of reviewing without bias would be 9/10 because of the small plot holes that are found, but of course nothing is perfect. I totally recommend this game to those who enjoy mind bending, story rich adventures that have characters who can be relatable and make you feel very strong emotions when tied to the entire story. We see struggle, love, and disgust within this story... but as long as you can understand the true reasons why certain scenes were made, and that you are accepting of themes and beliefs in this tale that may not suit your own... then it becomes a great psychological adventure of true magnitude. I would be able to ramble about this game forever, however character counts exist and I want it to be readable. I know this is a lot of writing but I very strongly encourage you to buy this game and support the creators… and so you can have an experience that I would call a masterpiece.

Memories. No matter who you are, you will always gain plenty of them over the course of your life, be they joyful or full of pain and regret. There are always times where all of us want to forget that one embarrassing moment from years ago, or that terrible event that guts you every time it resurfaces in your mind… but what about the good memories, the ones that shape our very being that we live as now? We cling onto the people and objects that allow us to escape from the stress of everything else, and wonderful memories serve as just the same… until they are ripped away from us, slowly turning us and the people we know and love into shells of utter lifelessness.

This fear of losing memories is shown in great detail within the visual novel Himawari, and effectively at that. This review will state three things in a matter that is mostly spoiler free, as I want to entice new readers to experience such a fantastic story from a practically blind perspective, albeit while knowing the themes that I will dive into in a moment. I will talk about some characters briefly, alongside the story ISLAND, another outstanding visual novel written by G.O and other similar people who worked on Himawari.

The way I felt with Himawari was that all the characters felt like they had their place in the story, none of them were created just to fill some gaps where the writers just wanted to extend the story. Through slice of life arcs there are humble and playful characters that you may initially see as just regular fodder, however as the story moves on deeper and the tone gets more serious, these characters turn into crucial pieces and play their own roles in making the reader feel a specific emotion. Majority of the characters in Himawari ended up making me feel the same level of connection to them, however there are some that took my expectations and threw them out the window, even when I’ve come from reading ISLAND first. The three characters that were the most impactful to me were Daigo, Akira and Souichirou, characters that appear quite later within the story but all brilliantly convey the theme that ties this story together; the lengths a human mind will go in order to retain memory.

Souichirou demonstrates the level of regret felt once your life has been kidnapped by the never ending chase of preserving remembrance, the implications that he caused due to research he conducted ultimately destroyed the significance of the memories he was trying to control in the first place. Daigo’s mental struggle and search for memories long since forgotten is a visual representation of the fear we all have, that sense of anxiety felt when you realize that your memories will cease to exist one day are all manifested in the gut wrenching and honestly pitiful downfall that we witness of this character. Akira is one of the utmost key parts of this story, as he reminds us across this journey that we usually come to love and appreciate the things that we initially despise tremendously, with terrible memories linking to that same philosophy. The burning rage you feel, the passion you emit in an effort to scorn Akira slowly but surely turns into a connection to him that is nothing short of taking a bite from the same apple… the vulnerability that is seen once this connection happens radiates the same energy as accepting a terrible moment you want to forget, in turn positioning Akira as one of the best characters in this novel. All of these views upon these characters will definitely change depending on the person reading this story, however I hope that this collection of traits and emotions can help those wanting to read Himawari understand the universality of the character pool that is given.

The void. A phrase that makes most people who read or hear it experience at least a sliver of anxiety, a level of uncertainty and confusion arises once a word is said. What counts as the void? Loneliness, death, forgetfulness; all of these are general fears that we can have as humans, and when we read a story or hear a song that emphasizes these very things, a strong connection or force of emotion is born. Himawari advertises itself as an adventure posed in a galactic, space influenced environment being clashed against initially what seems as the opposite spectrum; a Japanese town littered with an abundance of sunflowers. I cannot stress enough how well this environmental contrast works with the rest of the themes shown, considering that two things that seem so distant from each other makes us feel a sense of nausea, which turns into unease… which turns into fear. This spacious setting intermingles with the thought of losing everything, the anxious feeling that we usually associate with something akin to a void; so what better way to represent a story about losing the people and memories you love, than by positioning the audience in a place so confusing, so dark, and so drastically fear inducing?

Finally I just want to touch on the connection that can be made to G.O’s work, ISLAND. Once I finished ISLAND and found out about Himawari through a friend, I was honestly in absolute joy that I could have yet another experience that rivals the authentic masterpiece of writing that I had just experienced, however I had read somewhere that if you come from ISLAND, Himawari may not be for you… and I say yes and no to that. Himawari has had an odd history in terms of the explicit content in it being removed in the definitive edition, (which only cuts out fodder that this story does not need at all) however this story still absolutely destroys the reader’s expectations and allows the audience to feel a level of emotion that instantly makes the story become all the more worthwhile. Once you read both of these stories, you can begin to understand the aspects that truly define one piece from another. (By the way, Himawari and ISLAND are actually in the same universe but just never mention each other, so if you’re interested then research the story SILENTWORLD also written by G.O, which elaborates on this connection.)

I completely understand that people read these stories for different reasons, such as instead of my reason being that the writing of G.O is practically modern poetry and I want to feel the heartbreak and mind shatter that his stories offer, somebody else may just want to read Himawari or ISLAND for the slice of life, which is perfectly fine and justifiable. So, to somebody that came from ISLAND who solely prefers a visual novel on the beach with a more quiet setting instead of a widespread town connected to space, then saying Himawari isn’t for you is a plausible claim. But for the readers who want passion, who want utter heartbreak and true speeches and emotion from characters that make you want to experience the same turmoil and beautiful tragedy that ISLAND offers so professionally… then Himawari is definitely for you.

To conclude this review, I want you to leave knowing that regardless of whether you’re a reader who wants a gut wrenching story, a tale to pass the time with cute and interesting characters, or just another visual novel to play in a VN binging spree; I can 100% say that Himawari is worth the read. It’s easy to connect to characters who may go through the same trouble as you, and it’s even easier to like a character purely because of their design or personality. In the end, it’s a story that I would give probably a 10/10 out of my own bias, however looking at it from a critics standpoint I would say 8-9/10, but once again like my ISLAND review, nothing is perfect. If you decide to read Himawari one day and experience this wonderful, worrying and even sometimes crazy universe of G.O; I really hope that you have the time of your life… and that you’ll be able to remember the experience forever.

TL;DR; Play the game for Ginga, you will fall in love with him.