Visual novels are popular on Kickstarter, but the most interesting ones are those that don’t focus too much on romance. In the case of Bunka no Kenkyū – Revival of Queen Leyak, there’s a heavy supernatural bent to the story. Being able to get together with either a native or your childhood friend seem to be side stories.
In Bunka no Kenkyū, the protagonist has moved to Bali with his father and discovers an expedition to uncover the Necronomicon of some legendary sorceress or something. A bunch of teens meddling in the dark arts just won’t end well, no matter how you look at it. Frankly, this is the most confusing part of the story. I can get behind a bunch of high school students shacking up, but meddling in affairs man was not meant to know just sounds like a recipe for literal disaster.
If I’m sounding too harsh towards Bunka no Kenkyū, I’m not. I honestly do like the premise, even if it sounds absurd to mess around with Lovecraftian black magicks. It’s just weird to see a high school club searching for said tome. It feels like the Scooby gang unmasking Cthulhu as Old Man Jenkins.
If I did have to nitpick the pitch itself, it would have to be because of two major missing things. I would have loved to have seen a demo, but the most glaring omission is the lack of stretch goals. With Bunka no Kenkyū already funded, I don’t see any goals listed on the main page. It would be nice to know where any extra funds are going.
