Kara no Shojo was a great adult horror detective story that also had a prequel with Catagra. The last story ended with the disappearance of Toko, who became important to Reiji. While this game is technically a sequel, it has a story that's largely disconnected from resolving that plotline. It might possibly be due to the fact that answering that question wouldn't take long, and the writers needed a large enough story to draw readers in. Which is why the the story’s focus is on how awful traditions can turn people who devote themselves into monsters, and enchain those who are caught in the middle. Thankfully the story is still good enough on it's own to justify it's existence. Even if there are pacing issues.

     The story actually takes place from multiple perspectives, although Reiji is still largely the main character. Even though the visual novel is largely it's own story, I highly recommend checking out Catagra and the previous Kara no Shoujo, whose reviews can be found here and here, respectively. The story is good enough on it's own, but if you were expecting a resolution to the disappearance of Toko in the previous game, you'll have to wait to the very end of the True Route to find that answer. And once you do, it only ends up being a revelation that will throw some of you into despair, and provide yet another cliffhanger for the next game, which is still in development. The story also centers around a series of murders that resemble another series of murders from the past. Some wonder if it it has anything to do with the events of the previous game, but you'll get sidetracked by a man named Ayato and how he is involved in the case. There are some flashback sequences of his past in his old hometown. But the game also sometimes plays from the perspectives of Yukari or Yukiko, Yukari's new friend with a strange personality. 

     The only real issue with the game is that it's too long for it's own good. The story seems to be bloated with meaningless fluff to seemingly avoid answering the question of “Where's Toko”. It also dives into the past, which somewhat derails Reiji's story in the present. Although it does seem important to establish what happened in the past to give context to the present. But that task doesn't need to go for several hours more than necessary. One positive from all of this is learning more Japanese terms than I'd probably learn otherwise. There's also some unresolved issues regarding the backgrounds of Kotone and Yukiko. There's also less gore, and even adult content. It seems ancillary to the plot too, unlike the previous game. There aren't many of them this time, and two of them are entirely optional. Too bad two of the ones that aren't optional seem to pander toward kink fetishes that I personally don't care for. I really didn't need to see incest and sexual slavery in a game that hadn't been known to have that before. It's kind of a nasty surprise. If you ask me, that stuff should be in eroge that's build on that premise. But aside from these issues, the story is still good, and I found very little typos. Just don't expect to be a great resolution to the previous game.     

The Bottom Line: A good follow-up to Kara no Shoujo, but it's a bit hampered by it's meandering plot that has pacing issues. 

Acquisition Method: This game's review copy was a digital code provided by MangaGamer.