Introduction
Developed by StarlightTree Games, this visual novel is the follow up to Would You Like To Run An Idol Café. It was released on Stream in September of 2021, and was ported to consoles and published by Gamuzumi in March of 2022.
*Disclaimer: A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. That does not affect my opinion, as my thoughts are mine and mine alone.
Review
The Seaside Café is in the red. If it doesn’t make some money soon, it will shut down. Naoya and his girlfriend (or Harem if you prefer) are out on a mission to become idols so that they can pull in more customers and save the café that they consider a home. Except this time, they have many hurdles to overcome. From a set of mean rival idols, to feelings of self confidence, they’re in for a ride! The story this time around is literally all about the team trying to film a music video, to try to break into the idol scene. From piecing together their dance, and then getting the video together.
Everyone is still here this time around. Ichigo, Mayuki, and Kuu. But there have been a few added characters, who are introduced that honestly, I did not like one bit. They are Rina and Hasaki. Though I don’t believe they are meant to be liked, as throughout the games, they come off as the villains, who try to stop all the hard work of your group. From telling you that you aren’t cut out for the Idol world, to trying to convince you to delete everything! It kind of showed how some people truly don’t like to have competition in their lives. But every time they happened to be on screen and I was reading their dialogue, I just wanted to skip it all, as it’s just so cringe. Mainly because Hasaki speaks like a medieval lord. “Thou shouldeth bow in thee presence of thine lord, peasants!”, is the perfect example, and it happens every single time! It’s not even funny!
The three main girls are very much expanded on in this instalment. You see them go through phases ranging from self doubt, to not caring about themselves enough medically. If anything it makes me love them more than I did after the first one. Especially during some scenes, like when they get drunk at a karaoke club, or when you all go to a water park and they all end up relaxing for a day, even though none of them wanted to do it. It honestly ends up being some funny dialogue out because of the situations sometimes.
The game still doesn’t have a flowchart to see what endings you have and stuff, but at the same time, you get the same ending unless you choose a small handful of specific dialogue choices, which then gets you the “bad” ending. The only thing that changes is the very end scene, and it’s all based on your very first choice. Whether you choose to have one girlfriend or a harem. It was nice to see the possibility of Naoya with just one character, but even the harem ending was funny. I will say though, that the game is a whole lot more lewd than the first instalment. With the characters in bikinis for most of the game. But the CGs images that were meant to be “lewd” have clearly been censored by Sony in the PS4 version, which is the one I played. Suddenly the characters would have shirts on, then when it ended, they’d be back in a bikini or their swimsuits, depending on the scene. It was really weird, and a bit jarring if I’m being honest.
Rating
Pros:
- Fleshed Out Characters
- Enjoyable Story
- Sexier Than The Last Instalment!
Cons:
- Only A Few Choices Matter
- Rina And Hasaki
- Censorship Of Some Versions
Summary
This entry was a lot more enjoyable than the last. The characters are more fleshed out so they’re starting to feel like proper people, as opposed to eye candy. I got invested in their journey, and I love that it sets up a third instalment! Definitely worth a read for a smaller VN.
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Game & Developer Information
Developer Website: StarlightTree Games
Publisher Website: Gamuzumi
Publisher Socials: Twitter
PSN Store Links: £6.49/€7.99 Europe / $7.99 North America
Trophy Information: 15. 
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Images – https://www.igdb.com/
NODE Gamers 
Good review. After reading this — it reminds me of Beauty Bounce on the Switch. It should since the same developers made this game too. Still it sounds like a fun visual novel I would like to play.
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Dharker Studios made the Bounce games. StarLightTree did the Idol Cafe series
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