The original Kana game was released back in 1999, and then translated into English by G-collections in 2002 under the name Kana – Little Sister. A port for the Xbox was planned but was ultimately scrapped. Those plans were retained, and the developer, D.O. used them in a Windows remake in 2004. Which brings us to this game, Kana: Okaeri. It might be almost 16 years since the original, and 11 for the remake. But Kana: Okaeri is a story worth looking into for any visual novel fan, warts and all.

   The story is about a boy named Takamichi(Taka) and his relationship with Kana over the years. Kana has always been sick, as she suffers from Chronic Renal Insufficiency. It starts with the early parts of their lives, and details Taka's growth from brat to overprotective guardian of Kana. As he matures, he gradually develops feelings for Kana. Feelings he believes he shouldn't have, as Kana is supposed to be his sister. The imperative word here is 'supposed', as the player learns through various means that Kana isn't blood related to Taka. Although the concept of him wrestling with incestuous thoughts are still brought to the table. There are supporting characters like Taka's aunt Sumako and her daughter Cana, who also are dealing with illnesses of their own. They serve as parallels to Kana.

   While the game does deal with a pseudo-incest theme, it's actually pretty light on sexual content. The PSP release of the original game has these excised. Although it also has improved artwork even over Okaeri, it retains the look and style of the original's artwork. In this remake, the artwork has been redrawn. Even though it's not the assets from the PSP version, they do look good. And a few of the sexy bits are partially animated now. Although the game seems to look a bit more moe and generic. One noticeable change is the color of Kana's hair. It's gone from brown to black, and seems more like a subtle hint that Kana isn't Taka's blood relative. By comparison, Taka, his aunt and cousin, all have brown hair. There are about thirty decisions you can make to alter the ending for a total of six ending. Going for all of the endings should take about 5-10 hours. Other improvements to the game are the addition of voice-acting and a redone GUI. The voice acting is fully-voiced, with the exception of Taka himself, as that seems to be a tradition in many visual novels. 

   The game is pretty great, but of course I can understand if the incest theme would turn players away. There were also some typos and the 'skip previously read text' option didn't work as intended, but those will get fixed in an update. I do want to voice a complaint that I had with the original though. If Taka and Kana weren't blood related, why did his parents not tell him? Seems like they could have avoided a lot of inner turmoil. But then I guess there wouldn't be any kind of conflict. It just seems like a bit of a stretch. The story is still pretty decent, and it will make you both cry and smile at times. But be prepared to hear 'Oniichan' a lot.    

P.S. - Here are some details on Chronic Renal Insufficiency 

The Bottom Line: A nice remake of a heartwarming and heartrending visual novel, but maybe they could have touched up the artwork even more. 

Acquisition Method: Digital code provided by JASTUSA.