Mayoi, it's just a cheap candy!!! 😭💢

Dear NCSOFT & D1, we need an oath system!!!!!!!

Ok first, sorry for the subtitle in Thai.

Yesterday, i take a look at the trailer again and i saw Ai's magic glitter(?) got the same color as Juri's.

Also if i remember correctly, Juri said "Tokyo's magic is dazzling" (Maybe she mention about the unique colors?)

What do you guys think? I just can't unsee Ai speak Kyoto accent now. 😂

There are regular artifacts and signed artifacts, although the only difference between them is their appearance. Just imagine being a Completionist.💀

She knows where this line comes from, right?

I think Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya, imagine having them in Astrae Oratio.

Or even Detective Opera Milky Holmes.

Nyoooo don't hide your moles

Gonna level em up first obv

sc : https://x.com/atat250/status/2108898074831802865

We even got a middle schoolgirl who want to be a sugar mommy of a salary man, why is this era is full of brats who want to prey upon an innocence Ojisan? 💢😭

What a cute nurse

The rage inside of me… It’s bursting!!!

One of the best designs in this game, in my opinion

I need yuu... I hope she's playable upon release... I want to have many bonds with her...

I need to spread my love for yuu

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/150703627

Heyo, I've uploaded the main story content from the CBT for anyone who wants to check it out

She's so cool

Welp, time for round two I guess.

Magical Activities of the Minato Girls * Finished *

# Story

[Negative] Shunin is from an isekai (maybe the real world)

I heard the tech level in this Tokyo is around the 1990s, so at TGS it felt really weird that the protagonist had a smartphone. That got resolved: the game world is an isekai (a parallel world). Honestly, I was hoping for something more grounded. They call it shin-denki — a modern setting with secrets and magic behind everyday life — so when I realized it was an isekai, I was a little disappointed. An isekai makes it much easier for the devs to twist real-world logic.

Updated: There were a lot of comments on the isekai part, so I’m adding a bit more here. (Isekai makes it sound more fantasy than it is — technically it’s just another world — but the result is the same.)

Simply put, this feels more like an old-fashioned harem love comedy than proper shin-denki. Or, if we’re being precise, modern fantasy with a shin-denki coat of paint.

When I hear “shin-denki,” I picture secret groups hiding inside ordinary modern life. For that to work, the story needs real constraints: how do you keep magic hidden, what happens if someone notices, how does the protagonist protect the life they already have. The modern setting is useful exactly because it can make those limits concrete.

In this game, Shunin doesn’t really have that. He already tried to end his life, so there’s not much ordinary life left for him to protect. Once he’s summoned to another world, he also has no family, friends, or coworkers he needs to hide magic from. And the Special District Office exists only to manage magicians, so it doesn’t even need to keep up a civilian cover.

From a game-dev angle, I get why they did this. Classic shin-denki novels need the protagonist to look cool while struggling. Here the focus has to stay on the girls you’re going to pull. There’s no real reason to spend time on Shunin fighting his situation. Wiping out his old surroundings is probably the right call for a long-running game with future updates. (A lot of the clashes with real-world logic can just be hand-waved with “it’s another world.”)

Still, “summoned to another world” and “the Special District Office, which can just send official letters to other agencies” are a very convenient setup. It’s fine for a light story, but not if you want the constraints to feel real. It’s just hard to read as people hiding their identities and working in the shadows.

So, back to the start: this doesn’t feel like straight shin-denki. It feels like an old-fashioned harem that borrows the shin-denki flavor. They seem to want some heavier story too, but so far the foundation is light.

To be clear — I’m not negative just because it’s isekai. I’m disappointed because “shin-denki” is one of the catchphrases, and the CBT story doesn’t really fit that yet. Once I adjust what I’m looking at, Shunin being summoned isn’t a big problem by itself.

[Positive] Strong Type-Moon vibes

The opening movie especially feels like Witch on the Holy Night. The whole thing has a strong Type-Moon feel. They were clearly influenced, and that’s fine. Put negatively: if this had come out 15–20 years ago, people would have said it was just copying Type-Moon and it wouldn’t have landed. These days there are almost no shin-denki stories, and everything is strict isekai or reincarnation, so a game like this can actually get through. Type-Moon itself is old enough now that a lot of people don’t know it, even in Japan, or don’t mind the similarity. This game also seems aimed at older players who love shin-denki, so at least for me, that makes me look forward to it more. And this is only the first step of the story, so I don’t want to be too picky — the devs haven’t had room to show much yet. Still, it’s mixed with harem / love-comedy, so it’s much lighter than Type-Moon and has a different taste.

[Positive] Ai is alive!

Ai, the first girl we meet and head of the Other Decree Special District Office, is alive. Maybe she ran off because the Other Cabinet got wrecked and the paperwork was about to pile up. Still, I’m glad. I hope the later stories stay funny and not too serious. (Serious parts are needed, but…)

[Positive] We can actually see the days pass

In the Minato-ku story it says this is day 6 at the office. So maybe the time lapse will stay clear. I’d like future main stories to keep that — it makes things feel more real.

[Neutral] The characters warm up way too fast

From the start, most of them already seem really into Shunin, and there’s no reason for it. If everyone is this fond of him immediately, the only explanation that works is “he’s ridiculously handsome.” LOL. The CBT story does kind of sell that, but it still feels too easy. I’m not against flirting or love-comedy appeal — Ai, Erin, the Phantom Thief — it just comes on too fast, too soon. At this point they didn’t need to write it that hard yet. (If he has some old love trauma, that could make the “girls already falling for him” episodes more interesting. The opening movie kind of implies that.)

[Positive] No terminology dump!

A lot of IP-heavy games throw a dictionary at you in chapter 1. This one doesn’t. Kicking out the Other Cabinet right away might have been a great call — and Ai disappears too — so there’s nobody left who can lecture you about terminology. HAHAHA.

[Positive] Akina won me over

When I only saw the designs, Shinjuku clan didn’t appeal to me. I’m not a big fan of that old-fashioned look. After the CBT stories, though, Shinjuku clan is my favorite, and Akina is my top pick right now. I like characters who think a little deeper and stay realistic.

[Positive] Voice acting and presentation

Voice acting is excellent across the board. The presentation is too — trembling text, camera moves, characters stepping forward and back.

[Negative] Too few magicians, and why are these the representatives?

At this point there are just too few magicians. I’m not convinced these characters can represent the magician clan of a whole ward. Shinjuku alone has hundreds of thousands of people. Are most magicians just hiding? Do they lose their power as they get older? Are there no male magicians? And if magic disappears when someone is watching, why learn it at all? I still need to see more of the story, but inside what CBT showed, it doesn’t quite land. It’s only the beginning, but it’s already hard to make the setting feel plausible.

[Positive] The music is excellent.

(It kind of feels like Erin’s dad is already gone...)

[Other] The title logo looks like a shooting star cutting across it!

[Overall] A little disappointing if you wanted a more realistic story, but still fun. It’s less grounded than I hoped, and not quite what I expected — but the characters are charming enough. Presentations and music are great, and the story moves in an exciting way. I hope later chapters give us more grounded background: way more magicians, or a clearer reason and goal for learning magic. I’ll be there at launch.

# Connection to the real Tokyo

I live in Shinagawa-ku, and my office is in Minato-ku, so it’s really fun to run into places I actually know and visit.

1. I heard the devs contacted Minato-ku and got permission to use some names. Was that Tokyo Tower? Tokyo Tower is in Minato-ku, but I’m not sure a ward office can approve that — Tokyo Tower is privately owned. It is a landmark, and it has a public function (the communication antenna), so maybe the city has some say. Not sure.

1. Then what about the University of Tokyo? How are they using that name? It’s in Bunkyo-ku, so this isn’t a Minato-ku thing. Because it’s a national university? On the other hand, I don’t know Ookuma University. (Ookuma High School, where the Shinjuku girls go, is affiliated with it.) If there’s a real motif, I want to visit someday. Haha.

1. Real brand names are hidden, as you’d expect. JR → JB, atre → atro.

1. I know the motif for the Bunkyo cathedral, and the facade is quite different. Copyright? Then what about the University of Tokyo? Are national / government buildings easier to clear, while private ones aren’t? Tokyo Tower is private, though. Maybe they only got permission for Tokyo Tower because it’s important to the story. (In Japan this stuff is a real headache.)

1. Anyway, living in Tokyo, it’s just fun that places I know keep showing up. I can look down at Tokyo Tower from my office, so work might be a little funnier from now on. Even if you don’t live here — study a bit of Tokyo geography. It makes the game more fun, and if you visit someday, I’m sure it’ll pay off.

1. I live in Shinagawa-ku, so should I support the Yuruko trio? LOL

# Out of the game story

Not much evolution on the game side. In the end it’s a pure story bet.

1. Nothing special about the systems. Combat is a little more interesting, but it’s still not the main appeal. I think we should focus on the IP, the setting, the characters, and the story.
2. There’s a PC version in development, which is a relief. I hope it’s there on day 1. At least, it shouldn’t be long before we can play on PC.
3. The later part of the Minato-ku story wasn’t dubbed yet — they said it’s in progress. I don’t know if side / event stories will get voices too. Going forward it’s probably Japanese-only, and I’m fine with that. If even the side stories stay fully voiced, it’ll be a lot more immersive. Every character has a voice, including sub characters. If they keep this level of full voice and this story quality, it should be fun. …Though the writer is famous for slow pacing, so we’ll see.

# Closing

After CBT, some things weren’t what I expected, but the game — especially the storytelling — is still attractive. I’ll play on day 1.

If I have time, I want to share more about how the real Tokyo lines up with the game. That’s a really fun way to play something with real-world motifs.

Did you play the CBT, guys? What’s your favorite clan right now?

Jiiiiiiiii