Moshimo ashita ga harenaraba Review

もしも明日が晴れならば, if it’s clear weather tomorrow, is an eroge made by Palette in 2006. And it’s not just an eroge, it’s a nakige.

10 years ago, Hatoba Kazuki’s mother died, his father adopted 2 of his cousins who had lost their parents. The 3 of them bonded instantly, and Kazuki began to fall in love with his older adoptive sister, Akiho. After his other sister, Tsubasa, gave him a good push on the back, he finally worked up the courage to confess to her, but it wasn’t to be, as Akiho died in a sudden illness a few short days later.

But just what will happen, as Kazuki discovers that Akiho had come back as a ghost that no one else can see?

Characters:

Nonosaki Akiho (voiced by Komugi Nishida) is smart, athletic, outgoing, and loves to take care of others. She’s so close to Kazuki that they’re practically husband and wife, even before he confessed to her. She is very much in love with Kazuki and can be like a chatty middle ages woman sometimes. Besides taking care of her siblings, Akiho is also the president of the gardening club and one of the most popular girls in the school.

Nonosaki Tsubasa (voiced by Miru) is your other sister, who has always been in her older sister’s shadows. She is also in love with you, but by the beginning of the game, the two of you haven’t progressed past the siblings stage. She is cheerful and hard working despite being clumsy and a fantastic actress, being a member of the drama club. However, acting is pretty much her ONLY talent.

Minatogawa Tamami (voiced by Aya)  is your resident Miko and tsundere. Apparently, she hates men and is in love with Tsubasa. Because of her duties of the exorcist of the town, she had to be separated from her parents. She can also be frequently seen carrying a sword around, chasing after wandering spirits.

Chihaya (voiced by Izumi Maki) is a god of misfortune who lives near the school, taking care of the school greenhouse after Akiho died. She is very timid and constantly apologizes, and very unfamiliar with the modern life, having been sealed in a tree for the past 500 years. Yes, in case you’re wondering, she IS in love with you.

Detailed and spoiler filled character posts can be found here.

Story:

The story is split into 6 chapters. The first 4 chapters deal with a story of each girl (think Clannad or Kanon), there is some really random h-scenes in chapter 4.5, you decide on the story in chapter 5, and chapter 6 is dedicated to each girl, longer than the chapters before it.

The story is quite light hearted at first (despite the fact that the main character dies within minutes). But as I mentioned before, this is a Nakige. There is some tragedy surrounding each girl, and I will be very surprised if you didn’t tear at all while reading the story.  The drama and tension created in each situation is good enough to rival most shoujo manga, and of course, there is some lovey dovey fluffy fanservice for those who want it.

I really have to praise the writers for writing an amazing amount of build up for the later drama in the early happy days. There were little things that I thought was only a joke, but then proved to be a source of tears later on. Each story ends with a twist, and although they are a bit predictable in parts the overall effect is still very dramatic.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the epilogues. They left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I wish that they were used more efficiently. If the hints were more subtle in Tsubasa’s story, if the ending had been tweaked a bit more in Chihaya’s story, the whole thing would have been a lot better. It won’t make you cry like air, the drama isn’t exactly Sharin no Kuni, but overall I’d say this is one of the best I’ve read.

An interesting thing to note is that every story, some how, makes a reference to the title, if it’s clear weather tomorrow. You’d be shocked at how it’s weaved into the story.

Music:

This one’s a little more problematic. Overall, it’s an excellent mix of orchestral and your usual more techno game music. The problem is that many songs sound radically different in the first half and the second half. Take the opening song for instance, the chorus is perfectly fine, it’s nice, it’s mellow, it’s a little sorrowful, but when you transition into the higher parts the transition is really awkward. Same thing happened with the insert song 凪, it’s a good song until the White-lips tried to sing “EEEEEE” where it’s really quite horrendous to listen to.  It’s like the first composer didn’t quite finish the music before he died suddenly and the second composer had a completely different idea of what the music should be so it’s a clashing of different sounds. And White-Lips is one of those artists who shouldn’t try to sing fast paced or loud songs, her voice isn’t made for it. Other than those few problem parts, though, the music is great.

I thought that the voice acting was also fantastic, except Chihaya’s voice was a little TOO high and sweet.

Graphics:

Everyone’s tastes are different, but I’m sure that you’d agree with me on the fact that this game had fantastic art. The artist combined a mix of soft but eye catching colors, and balanced out the cooler shadows with warm lines. The backgrounds are also nice and the two components blend in seamlessly.The characters are adorable, there are many, many poses and event CGs (not like Ef, but I think 400 event CGs, variations included, is pretty decent). The one complaint I have is that the paperdolls have weird looking skinny little chicken legs.

System:

Excellent. Besides the usual save load look at CG and Music, there’s message speed (it’s a person pet peeve of mine when I can’t change message speed), read skip or all skip, special effects, warnings, and save/load checks, all adjustable. You can change the volume each character’s voices as you like, there are good, useful buttons at the bottom of the speechbox, and there’s even a personal favorite of mine, the go back to the last choice function. The game could have used a bit more in terms of special effects and it skips really slowly, but considering the fact that there are these adorable character bubbles and that the story’s really good I don’t think you need to worry about them. And, as an added plus, the menu’s really pretty.

Story:8.5×5=42.5/50

Art: 9.5×3=28.5/30

Music: 8/10

Programming: 9.5/10

Total:88.5/100 A

Recommended for those who like drama, slice of life, and a good cry.