Cherry Tree High I! My! Girls!

I have a soft spot for small doujin works that never expected to leave Japan, and Cherry Tree High I! My! Girls! is about as intimate as that world gets. Released in late 2014 by solo developer 773 and localized by the now-defunct Nyu Media, it is a kinetic visual novel sequel to the slice-of-life adventure Cherry Tree High Comedy Club. And the word "kinetic" here is load-bearing: there are no choices, no branching paths, no stat management, nothing to press except the advance key. You are reading, full stop. The story picks up right where Comedy Club left off. Mairu's comedy club exists now, but running a club is harder than founding one. Rival Chitose is still circling, a competing entertainment club is angling for supremacy, and a mysterious transfer student named Ai turns out to be an undercover pop idol who dreams of being a comedian. That central premise is deliberately light, more concerned with the texture of everyday high school life than with plot momentum. The twelve episodes play out like a short anime season, including several that exist purely for character comedy and relationship colour. The three new additions, particularly the theatrical and delightfully unhinged teacher Utena, inject real energy into scenes that might otherwise drift. Here is the honest tension at the heart of this release. The original Comedy Club had genuine mechanics: time management, stat-building through conversation topics, a deadline that gave recruiting its stakes. Coming to I! My! Girls! expecting any of that will leave you cold. Critics who found it thin were not wrong on that count. The soundtrack drew pointed criticism too, with a small pool of looping tracks built around horns and synthesizers that wear out their welcome well before the roughly three-hour runtime ends. The presentation moves character portraits frame by frame, which gives dialogue scenes a bit of life, but it never reaches the visual craft the premise deserves. What holds the piece together, when it holds together, is the writing. 773 understood that a kinetic format lives or dies on its prose, and the comedy club setting genuinely lends itself to skits and ensemble banter. Fans of the original who want to watch Mairu and Hoemi and the rest carry on with something like warmth and forward motion will find those beats delivered. That goodwill evaporates quickly for newcomers though, because character context is everything here and almost no effort is made to rebuild it. You will care about these scenes in direct proportion to how much you cared about Cherry Tree High Comedy Club. One important practical note: the Western release was delisted from Steam in July 2022 when Nyu Media ceased operations, so acquiring it now means sourcing a key from a third-party reseller. That adds friction. For a short, niche kinetic novel with a divided critical reception, that friction is worth weighing carefully before committing. If you are a returning fan of the series, the closure is real and the comedy has genuine moments. If you are coming in fresh, play Cherry Tree High Comedy Club first, and decide from there whether you want more.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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