[Unboxing] Jakou no Lyla Vol.1 (Limited Edition)

What a good way to start off a year with a good ol’ unboxing. The last time I did an unboxing of an otome game was back in 2017, so it’s been a while.

I’m actually quite excited for this game, to the point that I would put Cendrillon palikA on hold just to play this. Heck, I even have a rule for myself that I must start a new month with a monthly overview or if its January I gotta write up a post overviewing games that will release this year. But this time I’m breaking those rules just for this one post bc that’s how hyped I am.

I just hope my expectations aren’t crushed. /Cut to my expectations being crushed/

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Ok, for starters I bought the limited edition (though hopefully I don’t buy limited editions for all the volumes bc it would cost me a lot more than a full game limited ver in total) and I got it from Amiami. I got the Amiami bonus version which included two badges.

This would have to be my first PC game from Otomate, but also my third Japanese PC game. The package is quite interesting though and because I like dissecting and reviewing packages Imma gonna bore you all with my small observations.

As you know, I’m not much of a PC otome gamer (I prefer playing on consoles) so I have no idea what normal packaging of PC games are like in Japan. It’s interesting to see that the limited version cover is landscape rather than portrait, which I kinda like because it gives more space for the artwork. My copy of Tsumikui ~Sen no Noroi, Sen no Inori~ also has a landscape slip/dust cover, so it got me wondering if that’s the norm in Japan because I’ve yet to see that kind of orientation done to covers for PC in the West. Either way I can dig it.

I’m really falling in love with this limited edition lol

The contents of the limited edition cover just slips right out which is neat. No need for having a little wrestle with some paper hook tabs to open it up like a book. Inside the cover there is the regular CD cover that contains the game, a drama CD sleeve that comes with the limited edition and a booklet that also comes with the limited edition.

Interesting part of this is that the drama CD cover is made out of cardboard. At first I mistook it as some kind of card (I know, I’m dumb) but it’s actually a pretty neat cover. I’m pretty bored of finding jewel cases for the drama CD in my limited editions so I’m glad they did a little something different. You’d kinda expect for everything in the limited edition to have something unique in it because you’re paying more than a regular edition. Though the most intricate limited edition drama CD cover still goes to Reine des Fleurs (I still don’t know why they made it so different):

The booklet that comes with limited editions is one of the big reasons to pay a bit more (that and the gorgeous limited edition cover illustrations). Though sometimes these booklets have a bit of spoilery stuff so I just gotta close my eyes real quick if I spot something that might be a spoiler lol. Though it’s a bit unfortunate that Jakou no Lyla’s booklet has the illustration like this…

Poor Shirien doesn’t deserve this treatment…

Jakou no Lyla Vol.1’s booklet is alright, it’s got promotional illustrations, character profiles for the two main dudes as well as our heroine, a small handful of CGs (some of which I could unsee so I can go into this game blindly) and character rough illustrations and draft CGs (some of which I hope to see after I play the game).

I love looking at the sketches and drafts of any artwork. I particularly like the costume choices for the characters, while they try to stay true to period clothing the artist gives it a little personal flair for each character. I really like Vince’s (not pictured above) costume, particularly the slightly puffy sleeves and the excessive belts lmao. I like how Shirien looks a bit mature, especially compared to other Otomate heroines who sometimes look like they’re in high school when they’re supposed to be in their 20s or 30s. It’s nice to have mature looking heroines, especially outside of R18 games lol. Though I chuckled a bit at the artist’s notes kinda describes Shirien’s hair horse-like.

I am also thankful to Yuuya for adding in a sketch of Vince with his hair down. Thank you for this meal 🙏. Never forget that Yuuya also drew this masterpiece in celebration for Vol.1 of Jakou no Lyla releasing:

【祝・発売！】
『蛇香のライラ ～Allure of MUSK～ 第一夜 ヨーロピアン・ナイト』が
本日12月21日に発売となりました！
発売記念としてキャラクターデザインのユウヤ氏よりロラン・クライデル（CV：立花慎之介）のイラストが到着！
魅惑的な姿をご堪能くださいませ～♪#トライP #ライラ pic.twitter.com/pwuWl6lwc3

— 【公式】triAngle PROJECT (@triP_OTOMATE) December 21, 2018

Thank you based Yuuya for inventing nips on anime guys

Onto the actual product we’re after… the game! Not gonna lie though, it kinda feels like I’m holding up a DVD for an obscure anime.

Though technically the disc that the game is on is a DVD-ROM so I guess describing it as a DVD would be accurate. Inside there’s an installation manual which has an activation key in it, which is interesting because I don’t think Tsumikui had one… But I think Anata Nikki -Euforia- had an activation key (or maybe I’m just not remembering right). But its pretty understandable considering piracy is an everyday thing, though people always makes cracks to bypass this stuff so it’s a losing battle really (which is a shame bc piracy may lead to company bankruptcy but enough guilt tripping). It was a pretty easy install, I remember I had trouble with both Anata Nikki and Tsumikui because my anti-virus software kept flagging it as malware or something lol. I still need to fix my locale to Japanese because it’s still giving me jibberish for the execution file shortcut and installation wizard 😆

I’m not gonna do a quick look for this post because I’m guessing everything at the start of the story was covered in the trial version so I’ll just link to my review of the trial/demo of it. Though one thing’s for sure, they still got a bad UI. The gallery menu reminds me of those internet flash games with the way some illustration looks like it was animated with the most basic animation tools you can find in flash. I could post a gif or video but I can’t be bothered figuring out how to video capture my computer screen, so just try to imagine:

But it is pretty cute how the chibi characters have things to say at random times, sometimes talking to other chibi characters. I just wished it didn’t seem so childish lol. Seriously, the art direction in terms of UI/GUI is all over the place I swear…

Last but no least, the badges. Now these types of badges I haven’t come across until now. When I was purchasing this I didn’t even look closely at the specs, I honestly thought they were tin badges until I opened up the package.

These are acrylic badges and they’re semi-transparent. They’ve got a clip on the back but for some reason a safety pin too? I guess so if you wanna pin it instead, which makes it look a bit weird. One down side to acrylic badges and stuff is that they can scratch easily (though I guess that’s from my experience), but there’s also a neat thing to these badges and that thing is that because it’s semi-transparent you can shine a bit of light through it. I dunno if this is intentional or not but I found out this out accidentally that the design of the badge looks better when held near my monitor that has light illuminating from it. Looks pretty cool.

It’s a shame you can also see the clips on the back when you do this, kinda takes away the allure of it. *Edit: I forgot to mention that the edges of these badges are sticky for some reason so maybe try not to rub the edgesor anything (maybe give it a good rub with a wet cloth or something to get rid of the sticky substance).

Anyway, that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed this post. Kinda broke my house rules for this blog but who cares! (Actually I care lol). I might just dive into the game as soon as I post this. I’m really hoping Vince is the gap moe that I think he is. Rolan is prolly gonna be creepy 24/7. I’ll listen to the drama CDs after I completed the game, maybe I’ll talk about it in the review that I may (or may not) write.

Thanks for reading!