Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love

Asa Project does a wonderful job with the banter between the cast. The music and art are also fantastic!

Not as "wild" as the usual ASa Project titles, the premise is pretty simple with just the MC going around his childhood firends' houses due his own house being in ruins. (what great parents he has, lol)

Despite that I had a good amount of fun with it. The girls are great, except Maru, she is a waste of a human being and her route was just awful and I need to question why it exists the way it does. That time could have been spent extending Nanako's sub route or even have a Miyori route for real. Alas, not all routes are created equal but I am sure you will find your favorite pick regardless.

My ranking: Maru > Ayaka > Kyou > Rito > Nanako > Hiyori

I would have put Ayaka higher but her family is genuinely super annoying.

What was unusual story wise that apart from Maru's route there was no drama or any serious conflict, now for most people that would be probably a negative but I liked how chill that was.

On the technical front Kagami Games did a great job delivering, their translation is also excellent. I think I can count on one hand the mistakes I found. There is one text display bug where if you are in windowed mode and it is too long then it will go behind some of the buttons but that is easily forgiven in my book.

Overall, a good read and definitely get the free patch, there will be a nice surprise in it that is unusual regarding uncensor patches. When you hit the first H-scene you will see what I mean.

Asa project has had exactly one notable release in Sankaku Renai. Every other release, somehow, someway, has managed to be bland and poorly written, with little to no narrative value outside of being funny once an hour.

Every time you buy the newest game, because maybe they'll break the mold after such a long series of disappointing releases, and come out with something entertaining. Instead, they just release another slop title that carries itself confidently throughout the common route, and falls flat on its face the second the character routes start. I can understand that its a comedy game, and its an eroge, and that you probably shouldn't expect a masterpiece out of a publisher like this, but after reading a certain number of games you get to the point where you just have to roll the dice with new releases and hope for the best.

This time, we rolled a three. That leans toward 6(or seven) during certain scenes. You're better off saving your money for doordash, gacha rolls, or cosmetics in whatever other game you're playing right now. Genuinely a surface level title that collapses as soon as you get halfway through. Perhaps the worst side character cast in visual novel history, barely passable main heroines with little to no agency, and jokes that hardly ever land.

If you're itching to play a comedy visual novel, just go read something from SMEE and save yourself the time.

5/10 personally, maybe 6/10 if you're willing to turn your brain off and ignore the awful writing and cast. It's got an interesting premise with a decent opening couple hours, but it devolves into something that feels like it was written by a middle schooler who just discovered curse words and spends too much time on ticktock. The Art is alright, with several CGs looking stilted and incomplete. Music and UI are unremarkable. Story could be considered barely acceptable if you're reading drunk, sleep deprived, and probably high.

Hiyori is kinda cute though, I guess. Her stupid face is funny to look at.

New review:

Finished the game and got all the achievements. I'll keep it brief as no one will be reading this.
Another good Asa project title, I had a good time with it.
Would recommend if you like romcom visual novels and other Asa project titles.

Best main Heroines:
Ayaka>Rito>Hiyori>Kyou(she's too lazy)

Best side heroines:
Nanako>Meru(Stop getting in my way.)

And that's all folks.

Old Review:
Pretty fun romcom visual novel. I have only done one route(Ayaka) + the loner route(bad end).

Probably gonna take a break from the game now, I sometimes like to take a break after completing a route because I need time to heal. It's such a sad thing when your favorite heroines route comes to an end. I guess this is why some VN players/readers decide to finish their favorite heroines route last. Anyway gonna revisit this game at a later point.

Anyway would recommend if you like asa project titles.

Su Casa Mi Casa.
Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love is a fantastic comedy VN where the jokes hit just right to get a lot of laughs outta me. While the whole story is more comedy focused than romance focused I still love the unique personalities of all the heroines even if some of them are just irredeemable at points. The music is great and the art style is beautiful, but the backgrounds themselves arent the best. I did really love the fashion sense for the heroines though, they all killed it in casual wear.

The common route does an amazing job at setting up the story and showing off all the heroines as the MC couch surfs his way into everyones hearts. While I am a tad disappointed in how short the actual routes are they still deliver great comedy and touching moments with the girls, though the side characters routes really were just side lined. Each individual route is rougly 2-4 hours long ( I didnt check to thorougly) while the side routes are 30 minutes at best.

Best girl by far is Hiyori who had a super sweet route that actually felt like a romance. I especially liked how the little goofball was always having a good time and really just had her life put together. Hiyori was a vibe always joking around and her stupid face is just peak nonsense. The other girls all had their moments and I enjoyed their stories, but man do these nut cases need help. Kyou was just a mess straight up and even during her route It just felt like being a baby sitter. Ayaka's route just felt like walking through a mine field with how overly hostile her whole family was towards the MC. Rito was my least favorite girl even though her route was super sweet and endearing. Like really the introduction to Rito was just straight up hostile and awful and even with a sweet route she was my least favorite heroine til the end especially with how she never let up and constantly tried to steal the MC from every other girl.

The only bad part of Living on Borrowed Love for me was the constant teasing of a MILF route. The writer definitely knew what they were doing when they made Miyori and they teased the hell out of me all game. Even though she was like Rito and constantly trying to steal the MC away she at least was not overly hostile for no good reason. The game even has an achievement making fun of all the peeps who wanted the one true best girl.

Even after completeing Living on Borrowed Love, It is stuck in my head on an endless loop and for me that marks a fantastic game. Just the amount of time I wish for more of the Hiyori route speaks volumes for how much I enjoyed her character, and how well written her route was. Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love is a fantastic read and I havent had a laugh like that in forever. I do highly recommend getting the patch from Asa Projects site because it adds up to about half of the games hours. This VN was more than worth it for me, and now I am really looking forward to reading more Asa Project novels.