Tech Gian is the most widely circulated eroge magazine in Japan, and while its monthly popularity rankings are hardly a definitive measurement of product stature in the overall marketplace they can serve as a rough weather vane to determine sentiment among Japanese fans. From the past couple months of rankings it seems clear that times, they are a changing; the unshakable hold that Type-Moon’s Fate / stay night has had on the #1 position on the “most recommended games” chart has been broken, and as of the July ’07 issue just released, Saber has lost her throne as the most popular heroine. To what? None other than Sengoku Rance and Uesugi Kenshin respectively. While I’m personally happy with this development for a couple of reasons (I’ve actually played the latter title, for one), I think it’s more indicative of the aging of the Fate franchise than the inherent superiority of Rance. Type Moon should see this as a signal to get off their collective ass and make a new game, and Alice Soft should see this as a signal to… make Rance 8 as soon as possible. :3 Pictures of this month’s rankings (and bonus 2006 second half best game voting results) below: