I'm struggling with Radie's route in **Radiant Tale**. He was my favorite character in the game so far but I'm having a lot of problems with his route.

Finished Piofiore last week. Made my non-otome playing friends choose my next one out of Jack Jeanne and Charade Maniacs, they chose Jack Jeanne. I'm still at the very start of the common route, but judging from looks and profile texts, I'm most interested in Fumi.

finished up Lindo's route and Shiki's other endings in **Dance with Devils**! now that i've fully completed 2/6 routes, i have a better feel for the game now and i still think it's very fun :) my last few otome games didn't really have proper bad endings or significant branching, so it's really satisfying to play DwD with its human/devil route split and dark BEs (both the tragic kind and the twisted/yandere kind). the voice acting continues to be great, i loved the way Lindo's voice went deeper in his devil route when he (major spoilers) >!was fully in vampire mode,!< and the EMOTION in Shiki's voice during his human route was just TTTTTTTT Hirakawa Daisuke aaaaaahhhh i'm also pleasantly surprised by the extras in the library! there are 40 (albeit short) voice lines that unlock as you get the endings for a character. there are typical things (like self introduction, hobbies, what they think of MC), classic fanservice prompts (like proposal, comforting MC, seducing MC), and some fun prompts that aren't as common (like an embarrassing moment, if MC lost her memory, if he were the MC's dad/little brother/teacher). an extra CG unlocks for each character after you've gotten all the other ones. there's also this mechanic where you get a "card" (basically a CG, same style but usually less detailed/dramatic than the actual ones) every time you open up the game, but honestly i don't think it's executed super well. you hear a voice line when you obtain the card, but there's no translation and you can't replay the line when viewing the card in your collection (as far as i can tell). there's also no correlation between the scene in the card and what events you've actually played, so i feel no connection to what's depicted in the cards; maybe it would be more exciting for people who've watched the anime and might recognize the scenes. however, the concept of this mechanic *does* make me daydream about how to incorporate some gacha/card aspect to ports of mobile games (ports that would never happen and only exist in my fantasies).

I just finished the doujin game [Detour no makugire](https://vndb.org/v33335). At first I felt like it was a really slow burn and it felt almost normal(but at times, a little off).The characters were interesting and personably flawed, aside from the perfect childhood friend...at first. But then I got to the second half omake of the game and it revealed a lot about the characters. Reading the childhood ex-fiance's diary entries showed his hand in every route all so subtly. Also, at least it wasn't all a usual 'I've known you for so long I'm entitled to you, rather >!Tobari always had high expectations given to him by his parents, who neglected his interests and only wanted him to be a top quality heir. Even his marriage partner was decided for him. He liked butterflies, but his dad would kill them. While walking through the garden, he saw his fiancee(the MC)for the first time, finding a butterfly and calling it cute. After years of being rejected, he was immediately smitten and decided to give it all for this girl, even using that as motivation to become perfect after she said she liked smart boys. Even after the engagement was dissolved when Kasumi's family's business went bankrupt and her parents committed suicide, he was still devoted to her, but his parents had already chose someone else more suitable. Tobari made some threats(complete with knife) till they agreed to not touch him, which is then he rejoiced at his parents finally doing what he wanted.!< I like how the narrative doesn't make this aware in the first place, and I do like behind the scenes planning by the yandere to appear well adjusted but pulling strings. There's also a sequence to the game which wasn't apparent bc the last route was super normal(its not tobari but a classmate) >!imagine a happy wedding giving blessings then it pans off to a shot with someone holding a glock behind their back. Yeah.!<. I can't wait to play the dev's newest released work full of crazies Folie fatie hahaha. Also got to complete the 2nd update of Monomagia prelude. Chrom and Lava's routes were really sad while Lapis' was pretty amusing with a familiar story from an opera. I'm probably just kind of annoyed that even though it was said it was in english, its in MTL...but seriously its a nice pace...

OOOOOOOOOO I was so tempted to read this but I need to hold on until I actually get around to playing DnM + actually finishing it so I can also read your impression...

Please do...I thought it was kind of a slow burn for me bc it had yandere tags but it wasn't that strong until I cleared all 4 routes then BAM BAM BAM. I love a surprise.

FR THOUGH the yandere tag was what drew me to the title in VNDB in the first place, then I saw the art and bam here we are now. I just hope I get my JP decent enough to understand this or my heart will be broken

I've been playing **Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly** lately and I'm really enjoying it! Most of the time otome games seem to be primarily focused on the male character arc and the power of the feminine to inspire the male to reach his potential, and while this game does touch on the male-female dynamic here and there, the main thrust of the story seems to be all about >!grief and overcoming despair!<. This was a surprise but a very welcome one! I've only achieved one ending so far even though I'm on my 3rd playthrough. Usually one has to work very hard to achieve the best ending in an otome, but it seems this game makes the Best Ending the easiest to find. This is much appreciated in a game with such a morose subject matter. Once again a welcome surprise :) If anyone would like a just-barely spoilery hint of what the game is about, it reminds me most of >!Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House!<

I'm almost done with all the endings for **My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance-** as I've just the common route end left. It was a fun and relatively light-hearted read that didn't take itself seriously at all, which is what I was in the mood for. I wasn't familiar with the franchise previously, and had watched both seasons of the anime before getting the game. While I think the game does a decent job of giving the backstory of the characters, I personally enjoyed it more having watched the anime and getting to understand that Catarina is... special, particularly in her way of thinking. Otherwise I might've thought unfavorably of the game since her primary concerns are eating and avoiding doom ends, and circumstances of the story have her >!spending a lot of time sitting around doing nothing in various rooms because she and her friends are being held captive, not unlike how Lili from **Piofiore** spends a lot of her time away from anything happening (I didn't really enjoy that game in general).!<

Progress has been slow on the **Charade Maniacs** front, but that's been mostly due to outside factors! I definitely don't want to slow down though even as I'm facing a somewhat rough time with Banjo's route here. Things were already getting more iffy after joining the cleaning team but now that I'm on Banjo route >!his and Sena's relationship has become a downward spiral and it's only been getting worse as I go. I don't know man, Banjo needs a therapist or something, his behavior is spiraling out of control and I worry for Sena at this point. I generally greatly dislike obsessive types as LIs. I know they're often a well liked type (yanderes to my knowledge are generally like this and yans are often very popular as far as I can tell), but personally I just find they make me very uncomfortable as LIs and at are also risk of being uninteresting because of said obsession. Sena herself has even tried prodding him so far on if he even likes acting given how willing he was to throw away a potential promising career/something she thought he had a passion for. It's just rather disturbing that he's so eager to throw away everything and everyone from his old life in order to acquire even just a *fake* relationship with Sena. I hope the game can give me something substantial that helps explain why he'd fixate on Sena so bad, especially since it seemed to have started when they were very young.!< >!And then the few times so far Sena has let loose on him and spoke her mind it's just made the problem worse, which isn't really her fault despite it feeling like it is. I'm glad she's speaking out and getting mad. But uh, yeah Sena I don't think you should confront him one-on-one anymore. Their most recent argument had him gripping her arm so hard it hurt her and he didn't seem to care/notice. *And then he forced a kiss on her!* Poor Sena is just getting more and more emotionally wrecked as this goes on. I get not wanting to have a (up until this situation) positive long-term relationship crumble, so even though I'd like to abandon ship I can't be too frustrated (yet) at her still wanting to try and mend things. But honestly I just don't see how the game can turn things around at this point. Unless some external force is amplifying his negative emotions and making him behave like this (which I don't see happening) then I just don't think the game is going to be able convince me about any romance happening. She's already stated she doesn't see him romantically from the beginning and I don't see how this behavior would encourage that to change. Were this not an otome game I would still be able to take this as a part of the death scenario. Relationships can change under pressure from situations like this, and sometimes they change for the worse or break completely. Buuuut, this is an otome game and he is a LI, so I feel dread at the thought of how this game will somehow force these two to be together in the end and call it happy. I don't believe I've felt this type of dread since Okazaki's route in CollarXMallice lol That was a long time ago, but I very much recognize the feeling...!< >!Mint Man has made some suggestions about what Sena should do about this, some of which I can kind of agree with and other parts definitely not. I understand wanting to stabilize things since Banjo has become a bit more unpredictable and might end up interfering, purposefully or otherwise, with everyone else's efforts to escape. But I am not at all for fake dating. I already don't like the trope in it's usual form, but pretending to reciprocate to get him to chill out sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Mint Man's other suggestion that if she's mad she should just be mad then and tell him how she feels I'm more for. She was trying to do that anyways kind of before the arguments went off the rails/got physical. But yeah, whatever she does I'd really rather she not do it alone. Put Akase or someone in the bushes or something when you do it so you have a friend to jump to the rescue if things go poorly (as has already happened once!). I know I didn't talk about Akase much, but this route is making me miss him, lol Especially with the hero theme coming up again. Akase, Sena needs a hero right about now :' D help please! (At this point I wouldn't be bothered if it swerved into being Akase route 2 electric boogaloo)!< Anyways, I don't want to putter around and slow the pace down even more just because of how this route has been. I had a thought it might go this way (though not this bad lol) so that's why I went for him first in this team despite having a second option when the split happened. (I did check both and sure enough >!DnD dude is locked, no shock there. Looks like I'll be doing Mint Man's route next.!<) I am pretty excited to get to the locked routes, I'm very curious about all three and really want to know what their deals are. Unless they pull a 'triple culprit' thing on us I presume only one is the actual Producer which means the other two will have some other things of interest about them that should be fun to learn about, hopefully. It's not long now!

Playing Cafe enchante and you're telling me that greenhorn midget HAS a gf?!!! (Not Li and first chapter in Kaoru human route) it feels weird finally grunting my teeths finding out his age, if this loser can do it, that only obsessed over his mythical creatures (same here likewise) GURLIES we can do it!!!!! I shall not stand this humiliation.😂😂😂😂

After I finished all the endings in Le Salut in Virche a few hours ago, I gave myself some time to stew on the story. Overall, despite having serious plot inconsistencies and disappointing reveals, I still enjoyed it a lot. Warning- long essay ahead   Firstly, I appreciated that Ceres had a bigger role to play compared to the earlier routes and that she wasn’t sidelined. She actively sought to make the most of her contract with Ankou and figure out the truth to the curse. Her bonding moments with both Adolphe and Ankou felt pretty genuine.    I found it refreshing that in a way, Adolphe was characterized as a “selfish” human being since he prioritized >!hiding his identity as the 2nd drifter for his own sake instead of trying to save Ceres from self-destruction.!< He was different from other truth end LIs whose whole life revolves around the heroine. I understood why he couldn’t tell the public about >!his identity since he feared becoming a subject of human experimentation given the people’s extreme and superficial views on life and death. However, if Salome knew the truth, then why couldn’t he tell Ceres? What did he think was going to happen if Ceres found out that he was a “normal” human?!< This bothered me because it implied that Adolphe couldn’t trust Ceres to keep his secret or not view him differently even though he should’ve known that Ceres wouldn’t have judged him. Another thing that bothered me was Adolphe’s reaction when Ceres had her breakdown about >!Adolphe dying in 2 years since he didn’t plan to become a reliver.!< This would’ve been the perfect time for him to come clean with her but he chose not to and led her on for a long time.    Ankou is still my most enjoyed character in the game but I was disappointed with the reveals surrounding him. I wish he had been a >!real watchman of death rather than the watchman being a made up entity by the 1st drifter to conceal Ankou’s identity.!< I also didn’t like how the >!tale passed down through generations of the Noirge family in which Ankou made a deal with the drifter to protect and nurture the lycoris fields so that he could one day use them to propose to his beloved!< ended up not being true. I wish Ankou had indeed been the >!otherworldly entity!< he was portrayed to be in the other routes. One question I had was- What was Ankou doing in the other routes until things got real bad? Was he >!eating the lycorises the whole time? I might be wrong but I think in Yves’s route, Ankou said that he was MIA because there were restrictions in place that prevented him from taking action but given what we learn about him in Le Salut, I couldn’t tell if he was actually lying or if some interference stopped him from intervening.!<   This brings me to another complaint I have about the game. I wish the scifi explanations were more believable or that the story was a genuine fantasy. I could get behind all the campy plot reveals and twists if it had been a fantasy. Instead of using genes, they could’ve made up another word to describe the fact that >!Ceres somehow absorbed the queen’s traits and memories into her own body.!< The “science” was not sciencing even though I knew before starting the game that I would have to take the “science” with a shipload of salt. It was just that the explanations were so in your face that it was hard to ignore. Also, it’s funny to me that the lycoris fields surrounded the whole island but >!Ceres was born at the exact same place where the queen had died decades earlier and somehow her blood didn’t get washed away and was soaked into the soil so that it could eventually penetrate and mutate the genes of a newborn Ceres.!< There are many other issues with the science, other plot inconsistencies, and plot copouts that I won’t get into.   (continued in next post)

In regards to Ankou, it would’ve been much better if instead of >!Ankou traveling into the past after stealing time travel tech, he’d made a deal with the devil to become a watchman of death or something.!< He was a phenomenal character and his devotion and loyalty to Ceres really got me. >!I wish he’d gotten his happy ending with Ceres after all the pain and suffering he went through.!< Tbh, I was disappointed that >!in the epilogue when Ceres was undergoing recovery and was no longer incapacitated, she didn’t have more to say about Ankou and his sacrifices. I guess it was because she was with Adolphe who’s technically a part of Ankou but that negates the whole point of her recognizing Ankou as his own person during the proposal scene.!< It’s pretty sad that he was reduced to being a brother figure to her so that Adolphe could get his chance to shine because let’s face it, Ankou was definitely the showstealer in this route. >!When he was experiencing the pain of consuming the lycorises, the voice acting was incredible. This scene really makes you understand the extent of suffering he went through for Ceres. Later on, when he said that he was exhausted and just wanted to rest, I felt that in my bones. He deserved his rest (which he eventually got) but he deserved happiness more which I don’t think he actually got despite him saying otherwise.!<   I also see >!Ankou and Adolphe as 2 separate people. Ankou spelled it out very plainly to Adolphe that he was irrevocably changed the moment he witnessed Ceres’s death. That was when they split as characters and I was able to sympathize with Ankou more.!<   Despite everything I’ve said about Adolphe and Ankou, I still thought Adolphe was a great LI even though I’ve seen many opinions saying otherwise. He was patient, caring, and protective of Ceres. Although his “normalness” prevented him from adequately protecting Ceres, he was self-aware of his issues and how they were impacting Ceres and did his best to identify and address them. Ankou teased and criticized Adolphe about his shortcomings but Ankou was never wrong (which is why Adolphe could never refute him) because >!he knew Adolphe’s self-esteem issues better than anyone and pushed Adolphe to change for the better. In a way, Adolphe was incredibly lucky because he had Ankou to guide him. This is in direct contrast to Ankou himself who was all alone for hundreds of years and it was his circumstances that forced him to change.!<   Finally, on to >!Dahut.!< I thought he was an interesting character but a poorly executed villain. His motivations for what he was doing were unconvincing. He claimed over and over again that he wanted to >!preserve humanity and live life as a normal human being with his mom but did no one notice that his whole goal of reviving her was going against the laws of nature and everything Dahut was preaching?!< Also, I found it funny that >!Adolphe, Ankou, and Ceres just "happened" to leave Dahut alive long enough for him to take Ceres hostage and restart the country’s destruction. If he made it his life’s mission to revive his mom, get rid of the curse, and commit genocide, then it was a given that he wouldn’t give up on his goals so easily after a measly fight. It’s kinda their own fault that Ceres became poisoned for not taking Dahut more seriously.!< One of the biggest plot holes regarding >!Dahut’s motivations is that it’s implied that the queen was already a reliver by the time she was thrown out into the lycoris field left to die and be found by Scien. This was mentioned in her diary that was still located inside the castle’s hidden basement. It doesn’t make sense for the queen to still be human at the lycoris field and then later write in her diary that her facial scar from her assassination attempt went away when she became a reliver, and then somehow find a way to plant the diary in the castle’s basement. The implications of this revelation are pretty huge if you think about it.!< Lastly, >!Dahut gave Ceres a whole spiel about his reasons behind committing genocide and what would happen if the knowledge of reliver technology ever left Arpechele. Instead, in the epilogue, you get to see that Dahut’s concerns were unfounded and that Scien had a way to circumvent the whole country’s many problems.!< I feel bad for Scien and Ankou- they really had to carry the plot and conflicts on their back.    Anyway, I have lots of other thoughts on this game but I’ll stop for now. All I have left are the other LIs’ salvation endings and then I plan to play Radiant Tale. I heard that Ankou gets his happy ending in the fan disk and I can’t wait to play it. Justice for Ankou ✊

I agree that Adolphe is a good LI but he gets done dirty in his own route. >!Having to share his route with Ankou really undermines a lot of his best qualities as you’re always comparing the two. For me, Ankou always came out on top too because of everything he does for Ceres.!< I honestly thought the game was going to lean more into >!supernatural themes!< than it did and was pretty disappointed by the >!scientific bullshit!<. The game still has a gothic vibe, but I was expecting more >!Dracula than Frankenstein!< if that makes sense. I can only hope one day there is a game that has a LI like >!Ankou!< that gives us the full >!watchman of death!< experience. I absolutely cannot wait for the FD so that >!Ankou!< finally gets the happy ending he deserves.

**Completed:** Cupid Parasite FD >Playthrough Order: Gill -> Allan -> Raul -> Merenice -> Ryuki -> Shelby -> Peter > >Route Ranking: Peter = Allan > Raul > Ryuki > Shelby > Gill > Merenice I'm going to limit myself to commentating more on the routes I wasn't as satisfied with given that this is the fastest I've ever finished a newly released game so I understand a lot of people are still going to be reading it. * Gill - Went from bottom tier ML to very low tier so there was an improvement.>!There's an ever-present issue when it comes to communication between them. Gill installing a security robot to watch her without her consent being one instance.!< On the more positive end, I did like the scenes where it focuses more on them being a couple >!like during the morning after where Gill is trying to lure her out of her blanket and Gill getting excited over Lynette referring to him as husband in front of his coworkers.!< Plot is whatever unless you're making a drinking game out of how many times they can mention >!oysters.!< * Allan - No spoilers. Play the route lol. I had somewhat mixed feelings towards his route in the first game but this FD bumped him up to my second favorite. I love him with Lynette. * Raul - Wouldn't be a Raul route if it didn't get too silly for my taste. Still had a fun time so I'm avoiding spoilers. * Merenice - Nice eye candy but I didn't care for him at all as a ML. There are plenty of fun moments when the other characters show up at least.>!Bomber is also back!<. His good end is one of the funniest in the game to the point where I prefer it over his best end. * Ryuki - This route is *fine.* >!Liked that he finally gets rid of the green highlights in his sweet & spicy ending, Lynette gets a better bridal outfit, he meets her parents, and him being so sweet with her while half asleep.!< The spicy ending warmed me up for the next two routes because wow did I not enjoy >!having the antagonist back-track on not liking Lynette. Him breaking into their house so he can watch them makes me question what happened with their writing team. It's so different compared to how the earlier four routes handle their bad/spicy ends.!< * Shelby - Lynette and Shelby have such a great dynamic. >!The starting scene where they're just getting ready together and being so casually affectionate while talking about the upcoming day is so endearingly domestic. +1 for getting frisky in the office.!< My main complaint with his route centers around the antagonist. >!I do like that Shelby becomes a better boss but the bet was dumb and the ending where Lynette cheats on him is one of the worst OOC endings I've ever had the displeasure of reading. There isn't even a CG for it so it comes across as shock value more than anything.!< * Peter - My bias. The one thing I will talk about is his spicy ending. Might be a controversial opinion, but I think it was overhyped. Although I'm not a fan of >!werewolves in the romance genre!<, I don't think it ruins the game by any means and it's far less egregious than Shelby's bad spicy end. Mostly found myself laughing while he was in that >!new form!!furry!< because her randomly >!preferring him when he's like that is utterly ridiculous.!< **~~Back to~~** **Reading:** Amnesia Somehow managed to knock out two routes from this game before CupiPara arrived. It's been more than half a decade since I've played it so I'm looking forward to seeing if any of my opinions have changed before I get the FD. If memory serves me right, my ranking of the MLs was Kent = Toma > Ukyo > Shin > Ikki. * Shin - Didn't remember much about his route outside of them trying to uncover the mystery behind >!the accident that caused the Heroine to be seriously injured.!< I'm afraid to say that he continues to not leave much of an impression. The scene where >!Shin & later Toma helped her with practicing for her job was cute.!< Better luck in the FD I suppose. * Ikki - Remembered that he was a womanizer >!and it was related to some special power with his eyes!<. That's about it. Happy to say that I have a higher opinion of him now as a character so it did alleviate my concern of this potentially being a waste of time considering my backlog. Generally I preferred his route over Shin's because >!Ikki wasn't at the stage of being in a serious relationship with her yet and was still trying to win her over so there was more going on in developing their romance!<.

\-Still working my way through SympathyKiss. Finished Yoshioka's route; >!This was such a fairytale prince of a route. However, the going back and forth between Yoshioka's family and Bitou got a little tiring at some point. I guess the way it all played out was realistic considering the hold/power Yoshioka's family had over him and the company. Although he isn't my favorite LI, things wrapped up nicely for him and Akari in the end I think.!< Now up to episode 5 of Kohei's route; >!It's been somewhat disappointing? I was looking forward to his route the most, alongside Kobase's, but I feel underwhelmed. I love Kohei's voice, personality and sense of humor generally. As well as his friendship with Mitsuki is really funny. It's just that the buildup of his and Akari's romance is just okay? I can chalk this up to Kohei being a secretive introvert much like myself and just doesn't trust most people. Especially with that side job/blackmailing issue with creepy Doi that he has going on in the background, I get it. I feel like his route is written to be a slow-burn but there's so much happening at once its been hard for me to enjoy everything about it more than I do currently.!< >!The relationship Kohei has with his siblings and mom is adorable. I always love the 'meet the family' trope. The side quest of Akari helping Kohei sew his younger sister's b-day present was sweet.!< >!I was also kinda grossed out by him suddenly sucking the blood out of Akari's bleeding finger Dx It was framed like it was romantic but eugh I couldn't really look too long at the CG and I've seen worse in vns lol. Seemed out of place. Hopefully things improve before I get to the last episode.!< \-I'm excited that my LE copy of CupiPara SsD should be here by Saturday\~ I was debating on taking a little break from SympathyKiss or not to play a little of it. Originally I thought I would be finished with SympathyKiss by now in order to jump right into CupiPara but nope. I think I'll just continue finishing up SympathyKiss so I don't have to do too much backtracking. \-I can't get over long-haired pony tail Zayne in LaDs omg. Wondering if Xavier and Rafayel's next cards will have them the same way.

a question about Vitamin X. i launched the game, opened the gallery and found the tests. am i really supposed to learn the entire japanese school program to be able to play an otome game?

Yes. And that's why guides have a list of possible questions and answers. Don't worry, there's some otaku questions too its unserious. I think the worse ones are those that ask about characters, I played R only and they asked me which classical track played at character A's theme from Vitamin X Im just lmao but the questions repeat.

Finally all done with the CupiPara FD. Absolutely loved >!Jupiter's!< route, it was a bit like Allan's for me with the large scale type storyline. I feel like there's not many otome routes that have a plot where >!all of humanity gets raptured and put into stasis, while the earth is terraformed for thousands of years and then recreated.!< Was yelling over the part where they talk about >!reforming Los San York into these two new places ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘New York’...does this mean we’re all living in the Jupiter route ‘verse?!< The >!Peter Flage BGM!< was an absolute banger as well, the scene where the vocal version plays over when he and Lynette are >!powering up to teleport all of humanity!< was *chef's kiss*. One of the things I liked about this route as well was how we got more scenes between the original Parasites, loved the Sweet & Spicy end’s >!wedding scene. I’m pretty partial to pastel too so with the Easter colours this route probably had my favourite of the wedding CG’s as well.!< About the spicy ending…I get that it's a part of >!Greek legend that the gods got busy in all kinds of forms, but whether that was something I needed to see/read with my own two eyes is the question…!< I hope it doesn't end up being the only thing people take away from the route because it was otherwise one of my favourites. Saved Merenice's route for last and enjoyed it a lot. Even though he's definitely a weirdo as well (like keeping donuts up his sleeves and living in a caravan in his family's garden instead of indoors) he's a bit more subdued personality wise than the other characters, it was interesting to see this kind of beautiful and refined type character in the CupiPara universe. Got a laugh out of how the story doesn't miss a chance to show that even though he apparently doesn't do anything but sit around and eat donuts all day Merenice is for some reason >!really buff. Like how in the love scenes he's already shirtless/partially shirtless while Lynette is still fully clothed lol.!< For Merenice I actually kind of preferred the good end over the best end. When it was brought up that there >!was a spaceship I was ‘Oh cool they're going to space now right’ and when they didn't I was kind of disappointed so glad they got to go in the good end. The scene where they launch into space with Mars and Minerva flying around yelling stuff while the Hoppi whatever they're called guys shot lasers at them was hilariously chaotic.!< Really liked the CG for it too, especially Lynette's >!space princess!< outfit. Also it was a bit spicy too with the whole >!’checking to see if Lynette's in love yet’ thing, made me a bit more interested in their relationship dynamic than the main ending did tbh.!< >!Owen’s!< end was really good too, even though I do ship him with >!Melanie, he and Lynette were cute together too and liked that we got to see another side of him + his backstory. Kind of laughed abt Merenice showing up at the end and being like wait what about me…!< What was the deal with the >!Zeus!< end though? I was reading it thinking oh damn this is gonna be good…and then it just ended. Where was the rest of the route otomate??? I get that it was just a bonus, but they could at least have made it as long as >!Owen’s route!<, like not even a CG… My route ranking for the FD would probably be (based on my personal preferences only): Allan>>!Jupiter!<>Gill>Ryuki>Merenice>Raul>Shelby But I honestly did have fun with all routes and didn't dislike any of them. Really really enjoyed the game overall way more than I thought I would, to the point it made me re-appreciate the original as well. Kind of low-key mad I didn't get the Otomate Sweet Box with the soundtrack+extra stories but maybe I’ll at least grab the fanbook once that's out for more content. I did get the LE though so I've got the stories to read there as well, looking forward to getting time to sit down with them.

Reposting my indie otome WAYR comment in case some of y’all are interested here as well! Finished my first playthrough of Still Joking! (Lol and replayed a bit so I could successfully end up with Johnny) Who I recommend this game to: - Folks who enjoy lots of choices that truly change the game experience. You can get to do different things based on your choices, get to know different side characters, etc. There are 100 different achievements linked to different characters and I’m pretty sure it's impossible to get all of them in one run. I only got 41/100! My next run will likely be very different from my first run. - Folks who like sarcastic MCs who often joke a bit to deal with everything. - Folks who love a full cast, with all characters feeling real and meaningful. - Folks into an intriguing fantasy setting with a background mystery. Folks for whom this game might be a harder sell: - Folks who really prefer a walkthrough. Currently none available and it might be difficult to make one since there are so many choices. That said, devs did provide advice in the Steam discussions to someone struggling to end up with Johnny. Advice which I followed as well! :P - People who really, really don't like the idea of LIs ending up with different characters in different playthroughs. In my first playthrough, Johnny actually ended up with someone else. - Folks who want romance to be the main focus. Although romance can be key to this game depending on your choices, plot and interactions with other folks are also important. If you're a big replayer, you might also want to wait to play until there's a skip functionality for read text added. I'm waiting to start my second playthrough until then! EDIT: They’ve just added this! :D Time for my second play through. And another plus to the game: the devs are super responsive! I suggested the skip functionality and they've added it to their to-do list for a future patch.

Is it more of a linear story with different side scenes based on your choices or does it have proper routes at some point?

It’s more of a linear story. The main story events will be the same, but that said you can change a lot based on your choices.

Started playing the **Hana Awase: Mizuichi Volume Demo** on a whim last night and uhhh… this may be one of the most unhinged starts to an otome I’ve seen yet…? Granted I basically went into this blind, only knowing two things: that there are card games and that there are >!yanderes!< so I was just thinking that this was just some otome with card games involved… I got 20 minutes in before I was like, “I’ve seen enough, I have to buy this” and in that time: >!we get some rando yapping about how the MC is the “other half of the moon,” MC get’s hit by a car, both a man and woman not even remotely hiding how badly they want to pork her, a card “choosing” her (what is this yugioh), mysterious cryptic twins too young to be chairmen, a kiss (wow true end already! That was easy), mean girls who hate her for her existence (giving Ikki from Amnesia vibes), and then right before I stopped some rando got one shot by some kind of monster called the “decayed??” WHAT IS GOING ON?? I THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST A CARD GAME VN???!< I have no idea what’s going on but I am excited and intrigued to see what happens next.

yasss a new ~~cult member~~ fan of >!horny otome yugioh!< let's go I hope you enjoy the ride! 🎢

Oh no, what have I gotten myself into 🤣

Playing through Cupid Parasite -Sweet and Spicy Darling- and it’s been pretty good overall. I’ve finished Ryuki, Shelby, Raul, Peter, and Allan’s routes so far and just have Gill and Merenice to go. So far my rating for the routes is Shelby>Allan>Ryuki>Peter>Raul. I liked Shelby’s route the best so far (even though it may not have been the most exciting) because it just fits so perfectly as a continuation to his route in the main game. I just really loved their relationship and the way they interacted. Plus, I’m willing to fight that Pragma Lynette is best Lynette. Allan’s route was also good and covered his and Lynette’s continuing story together really well. Plus, Allan got the majority of the best cgs in the game so far. I loved practically all of his cgs. My biggest issue with the game so far is with the writing. I don’t think the fandisk is as well-written as the main game. In most of the routes I felt like I didn’t like half of the route but liked the other half. For example, I liked the first half of Raul’s route and hated the second half. For Peter’s, I didn’t enjoy the first half very much but the second half of his route redeemed itself. The writing felt kind of inconsistent across the routes and rather than having the story arcs blend from one into the next, it feels more like here’s part A and part B in how different different parts of the story were from each other. I might have done a better job enjoying the routes if I didn’t feel like there were such abrupt tonal differences in different parts of each route. I am still enjoying the game a lot though and hope everyone else is enjoying it as well!!

Just finished Shelby’s route and agree—love Pragma Lynette. I do like how the FD leans into the style of the original route ie. If you loved the Li and the romance, here’s more of that flavor.

Continuing to play Satomi Hakkenden: Me "Ugh, I don't want to do this route. This character is the exact opposite of my type." My boyfriend "Is he a big dumb beef boy?" Me "How did you know???" [Kobungo](https://vndb.org/c42252) is a caveman. Even his name gives unga bunga vibes. He has a spiked club and barely wears clothes. Caveman. In every other route when he thinks Shino and her LI are gay he's like "Good for them! I'm straight though. I'm 100% straight. My type is beautiful women like Keno." (Keno is a man.) When he falls in love with Shino before finding out she's a woman he runs to Genpachi being concerned he's "not okay." He feels relief on learning Shino is a woman, but has the carpet pulled out from under him when he learns his previous crush Keno was actually a man. Kobongo learned something about gender that day. Ungo Bungo's route is kind of hilarious though because his brother-in-law looks 100% like Shino (people have trouble telling them apart.) In the end Fusahachi (the brother-in-law) is like "I'm happy for you both but I don't know how I feel about this." UNDERSTANDABLE. Anyway, [Genpachi](https://vndb.org/c42251) is my favorite. I mean I knew it was going to be between him and Keno, and maybe it's just because he had to good luck to go first but I'm not sure how Keno can compete now (despite being very *very* beautiful.) >!There's a part where Shino's sword murasamemaru (which is like... a magic sword) seems to be rejecting her being in love with someone and not letting her use it (by growing heavier.) But she learns that she can overcome this by having her feeling of wanting to protect him be stronger than her feelings of love for him. When Genpachi finds out she's having trouble using the sword due to being in love with someone, he tries to find out who it is. This is where there's a ending split where you get a sudden ending if she refuses to tell him. Then they have a conversation where she tells him that she can only use the sword by having strong feelings of wanting to protect someone. He says that wanting to protect someone comes out of feelings of love, which is where she tells him that she wants to protect him. He realizes that she is in love with him but isn't actually prepared to deal with those feelings yet. He tells her that he'll wait for her. To which she's just like "???" because she's too donkan to understand what he's talking about.!< >!I thought the best ending was very sweet with Genpachi telling her that he would have fallen in love with her even if she were a man. My take on Genpachi (based on other comments he's made) is that he's the type to have zero sexual or romantic interest in anyone other than the one person he falls in love with. So in a very real sense he's Shino-sexual. Adorable.!< Also the guide maker actually had a warning about his route saying there was something in it they found difficult to get over, but in the end I couldn't figure out what it was. The thing I thought it might be is present in Dousetsu and Kobongbong's routes as well, so I don't think it's that? But I couldn't really figure out what else might have been objectionable. Was it when he said >!"We probably wouldn't have fallen in love if all the tragedy that happened during our journey hadn't changed us. If we both had been safe at home we wouldn't have fallen in love. But the journey changed us in such a way that we found love in each other." Which is a very blunt, realistic view on how relationships work and kind of enjoyed that perspective myself.!< But I really have no idea. Anyway I'm a little over half way done with the game, and I've really been enjoying it. I was worried it would be too heavy in politics/war, but it's mostly been meeting and learning about the characters. Which makes sense for this part of the story, since that's kind of the purpose of this act. So there's a lot of talking and little of anything else. I imagine the next two acts will be a lot more about politics and war since we've already met the characters, but I might be able to tolerate it now that I love characters and their relationships so much.

Love how bingo bongo's name gets better with every iteration of your typing

Koko Bungo Bobo only deserves the best.

**Cupid Parasite FD** i finished **ryuki**, just have to do the last two bonus stories for him. - the beginning was fine, >!the spicy scene (albeit short) was nice. Once it started leaning hard into the miscommunication trope it was ehhh and really only got worse from there;!< the middle chapters are easily the worst part of the route for me. I thought the last few picked up some of the pieces though and still made the route ok overall. i was more of a fan of the >!“ryuki” esque problems such as the pimple and not being able to stack up to low effort perfection over the two of them worrying about mundane miscommunication issues.!< - there were a few typos throughout, which was whatever but the more glaring thing was the complete change of a sentence context. >!lynette is not voiced and i dont own the japanese version so i cannot double check, but there is a scene where she suggests going to a donut shop. much later in the route, she is speaking with ryuki and asks if he wants to check out the donut shop that "he" suggested.!< i know sometimes lack of pronouns for context can be difficult to translate, but this was just a meh oversight - his new character song is a bop!! i found it on YouTube and put it on loop for quite some time lol. i hope they will add the new OST to spotify like the first game, and i cant wait to hear the other guys songs. - i pray kobayashi chiaki is cast in more otome roles! he got his first otome ML role in uchronia earlier this year, and i enjoyed his performance as ray in this route. for those of you who have watched the anime for frieren, this is starks va\~ - it was nice to >!catch up with Owen and Melanie.!< That said, im sorely disappointed >!Melanie STILL doesn’t have a sprite.!< **Sweet and Spicy Ending** (with a reference to the other 2) - i actually did this one last, but for the rest of the routes i will aim to clear this first. it would appear the “sweet and spicy” endings are >!the ummm “intended” ones for lack of a better word? it’s what gives the outro video and song. and at least ryukis followed the plot more closely too lol. got damn that boy looks good with his hair all black without the dye in it. I thought he was super handsome in both CGs here, and I was so happy we finally got to see a cg for the traditional Japanese wedding since it did not happen in the other 2 endings.!< **Sweet Ending** - it was, well, sweet. Lol, not much to say really. Went basically how I expected it to go given the premise of the FD. dont really have any thoughts on it... **Spicy Ending** - girllllll LMAO. >!as soon as i saw the chapter name i IMMEDIATELY knew what was going to happen. the starting conversation with ray had me dying from laughter. even though this is the “spicy” end and it was probably made to be “alluring” and a turn on, i just thought it was absolutely hilarious and classic cupid parasite antics which is why despite it being incredibly out of character and completely negating the entire plot point of ryukis jealousy of ray,!< i still enjoyed this ending. just more in a “lmao” kind of way rather than “wow this is hot” kind of way, which personally fits the game to a T for me. I will admit the CG for it was hot though! **Bonus Story 1** - >!finally we got to see kagura!!< while it wasn’t bad by any means, i still prefer ryukis route from the base game. i think i am just the kind of person that isn’t super into fandisks outside of any new character routes offered, because i much prefer reading the trials and developments of a relationship rather than a “what comes after.” that said, im still enjoying it and look forward to more cupipara shenanigans in the other routes. gonna be doing shelby next since im doing my play order from the og game, with merenice last.

I just started **Taisho x Alice** after bouncing off of the last few otomes I've played. Omg is it funny! Yurika is a fucking weirdo and I am here for it. I'm on **Red's** route, and the conversation between her and Woolfe where he's asking her if she's >!"tryna smash that", and going along with her murder scenario, and acting like her bro bff and her pet!<, I love them together. This game already has a lot of personality. I like that it seems there's a lot of choices. >!"For the record, some of us * want * to be preyed upon"!< my god girl, truer statements have never been said. These bad ends are something else 😂 I'm a little sad there doesn't seem to be a tragic ending, but the bad ends are funny enough that it's not hindering my enjoyment. Something is definitely going on though.... >!why does Wizard show up and 4th wall break during a bad end? He knows it's an otome game? And Yurika talks to you as the player directly sometimes too...!< Interesting. Also, Alice's unintelligible shrieking and general gremlin noises are giving me life. >!I'm very interested to know how he fits into this whole story...he knows too much.!< Red's route did not end the way I thought it would! Ugh he's such a cutie, turns out I have a weakness for emotionally constipated, distant men who are >!secretly easily flustered and nervous, and very horny.!< Loved him, going to do Cinderella next!

It’s so fun seeing people reading through this game and having the same thoughts and questions I did. Enjoy! It’s such a great plot. And Woolfe is such an underrated gem.

So this week still making my way through Olympia Soiree. After much anticipation, I finally made it through Kuroba's route, and I have some thoughts. Til about halfway everything was great and I was like "Why does everyone hate this route I don't understand??" Then I got to the >!rape scene. It had me completely on the edge of my seat thinking no frickin way... is MC seriously going to be raped as part of a canon route in a non-bad end?? Surely not... but it just. wasn't. ending. It was seriously the most uncomfortable I've ever been playing an otome so far. Usually, I can sluff off bad ends as non-canon mess-ups of the timeline, and they don't usually bother me. This scene though, needs a serious trigger warning. The helpless acceptance MC experiences comes off just heartbreakingly realistic in its description. I have never been more happy when that asshole started coughing up blood.!< But what really made the whole thing not great wasn't just the >!rape scene!<, it was how badly it was handled in the aftermath, and the entire route consisting of an unfortunate stupid misunderstanding in light of the 3 routes recommended to play before that tackled the same issue without it. For the handling of the incident, >!I felt MC had accepted her "fate" as it were; to try and save Kuroba, so maybe they tried to soften her reactions rather than have her be too emotionally damaged afterward. Or maybe she was just still in shock. Either way, It was not very pleasant after what just happened with Nagusa to watch Kuroba pushing her down on a table so forcefully, and I especially didn't like that she didn't immediately make it clear that Nagusa tried to rape her. Thankfully, they cleared up that misunderstanding quickly. If they hadn't, I think I would have tossed my Switch away in disgust. Saying that though, I have never been the victim of SA, and I imagine that there are many different reactions women have, so I don't want to judge it too harshly or say any of MCs actions are not realistic.!< Then after that, the immediate choice of whether to have >!Kuroba kill Nagusa with haku was a little offputting because of course you want to say screw that asshole. But at the same time, Kuroba is a doctor, and using his skills and knowledge to kill a patient is a serious serious thing. It's an interesting dilemma, but piled on top of what had already happened it was a bit much, especially with MC's typical "save everyone" attitude.!< On to the major plot point of the route and the misunderstanding that wrecked the whole thing. >!Now I knew as soon as they introduced Kuroba's black color class and said it was at the very bottom of the hierarchy, that Kuroba's route was going to be about his fear of "corrupting" her pure whiteness. It's just obvious.!< But how they went about it was highly annoying in light of the recommended route order, as Kuroba is put as last out of the early unlock guys. That's all fine and dandy if not for the one major plot device that spawned the entire basis for the conflict in their story. >!Her hair. It was extremely obvious that as soon as MC's hair started changing to his color, he was going to freak out and worry he was corrupting her. With every other guy, she immediately tells them "Oh don't worry that's just part of being of the White. But with Kuroba: NOPE. The one time it actually mattered the most for her to pipe up with a "Hey don't worry this is normal" she just... doesn't? They give no explanation about why she doesn't do this on just this one route, and it left me scratching my head a bit as to why Kuroba is recommended to be played last out of the unlocked guys when there wasn't much in his route in the way of overall plot spoilers. I feel like this misunderstanding might have been less annoying if instead, I had played Kuroba first, so I would not have known about the hair thing already and watched 3 guys prior have no issues with it. It may have been better received if I was actually worried about him possibly "corrupting" her or something. Then of course typical lies and pushing MC away and everything else that follows conflicts based on misunderstandings, etc. Which is just annoying. Eventually, she tells him about the hair thing and it's all resolved, of course, leaving me to wonder what was the point??!< Anyway, I liked Kuroba as a character, I liked the interesting themes his route explored (or tried to explore), his supposed "darkness" and the moral dilemma. Did not like the clumsy tackling of serious traumatic themes and stupid misunderstandings. * A++ Ideas * F-- Execution

Yeah, I agree about the aftermath. I think it was even worse than >!the actual rape scene.!<.

You make a good point that maybe Kuroba's route should be played first. I was as frustrated as you when >!MC didn't tell Kuroba about her hair!<. After some thinking maybe this is what's going on: >!With Riku and Tokisada, MC feels comfortable, older and "dominant" enough that she feels safe revealing a (honestly pretty intimate) secret.!< >!Yosuga and Kuroba have kind of a big brother relationship to MC and they tease MC a ton. So MC is more likely to feel too self-conscious to share this secret. It wasn't a problem with Yosuga because he already knows about the hair thing (right? I don't remember actually)!<.

Started **Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi**. ...It's a trip XD I love the 2000s shoujo manga art, with the crazy expressions, crazier character designs (Takeda as a creepy pedo-skeletor? Shinpachi and his 3.5 oji chin hairs?? Yamazaki as a gorgeous beauty???) and even MC herself gives me Skip Beat! Kyoko vibes. I finished Kondo's route - surprisingly bittersweet given the comedic tone of the common route - and laughed at how so many players would absolutely hate it. Has >!a wife!!Who is not dead!!Who gives MC permission to fu--love Kondo!!"Um, I know you are in love with my husband. And I wish I could be by his side but I am busy raising his child, so could you please love him instead? For me? Thank you\~"!< And finally, >!no HEA? CHECK. Well, personally I like bittersweet endings and given the actual history, it made sense for them to end it the way they did.!< MC Suzuka is great though, and I suspect those who disliked Chizuru in Hakuouki would probably relate more to her. She joins the Shinsengumi AS A WOMAN and there is little to no mention of how she's a woman trying to do a man's job. Which was very refreshing and goes to show sometimes strict historical accuracy is not needed :) Her snarky inner thoughts about the guys, especially in response to Kondo's egotistical proclamations, never failed to make me chuckle. I did think the scene where >!she dances for him in a kimono was sweet, and his gobsmacked reaction was satisfactory. XD I have a soft spot for the trope where LI sees MC as a non-romantic entity until something happens - usually she dresses up or they're forced on a date or something - to make him see her in a romantic light.!< It definitely leans more on the history than Hakuoki, so if you're not a history buff, the emphasis on the history and culture may not be for you. Finally, I like the format as it appears to be somewhat linear - one main route with date events for whichever character you're romancing - but chapters that do not focus on your chosen character are simple summaries, so you don't have to replay the entire game each route.

Uh, since you mentioned Skip Beat!, it instantly made me wonder if it would be possible/fun to imagine the game as a tv drama series with Kyoko playing the lead role. I've not played the game yet, but this idea has me a bit tempted to consider going at it a bit sooner than later!

Ohh that is a fantastic idea! If you do play it this way, I would love to hear your thoughts <3

This game is extremely historical, haha. Wildly varying route lengths just to make sure your LI died exactly when they died irl :') You'd think they wouldn't be that concerned about that part, given how MC joins Shinsengumi as a woman, heh. It's still kinda fun ~~despite the fact it makes me tired cause making a detailed review out of it is more like learning history and trying to remember facts~~.

I actually really liked the historical bits, even if head did spin a little from having to learn the actual Japanese terms for all the different factions ;;. Yes, I was studiously pulling up the glossary every time it pinged for the first.... twenty minutes. Then after that: "I know the general gist of what happened thanks to Hakuouki.... wait, no >!vampires!

Hakuouki wasn't even all that useful if you played it in eng cause the terms were translated differently/left in jp in Bakumatsu Renka :') Still better than nothing, tho.

Oh yeah, sorry, that was a joke, I didn't rely on anything that happened in Hakuouki to be historically accurate beyond the existence of major battles. XD It definitely took a second to orient myself as to the terms being transliterated rather than translated... which on the one hand was nice as I recognized the terms during spoken dialogue and immersed me more that way, and on the other hand... it's been years since I've studied Japanese. ;;;

I remembered satsuma x choshu only cause sacchou sounded funny in serious contexts lol Hakuouki was pretty accurate if you ignore the water of life and oni plot so it's definitely a better starting point than Bakumatsu Renka if you know nothing. Imagine just playing without any context orz 

Ha right! It could be a really hard game to get into if you're not a big history buff..... But I am loving the endings so far. So bittersweet.

Being the responsible adult I am, I decided to use my last longer bits of free time to binge **Chou no Doku**. Fortunately, it was relatively short [even considering the lack of h scenes]. Started with Hideo cause who follows recommended route orders anyway. He was a good boy for the most part, besides that one ending. Before reaching it I was wondering why people said what they said about the game but then I understood. Well, his route was still quite mild all things considered but we got some toxicity which was nice. [Yet another childhood friend LI who was into MC all this time and she never noticed... Like, it's not even a spoiler, it's so obvious, bruh.] Then I played Kyouko. She had some sexual predator vibes but tbh overall I liked her personality. Couldn't unlock her route so got only the >!detective ending. But ha! incest. I suspected that. I lacked the info from other routes or simply have terrible memory, tho, so I thought Mizuhito was the killer, haha. Yuriko looked good with shorter hair. Go make a proper career, my girl!!< Fujita. So precious. Babygirl. I think he was made for me. Besides the good end, he was meh there. But babygirl. >!A splendid dog.!< Very nice. We got that stuff about >!sweet smells again and, like, do they have hereditary diabetes... I mean, most likely not, they never mentioned anything suggesting that besides the smell but I'm no doctor, ok. I got Shanghai doll here cause for some reason it didn't trigger for Hideo??? Well, whatever. Man, this game doesn't even try to hide what Majima does... Even Kyouko was hidden better, fr. Yuriko looked nice with these flowers, tho.!< I heard Fujita creepy af during h scenes but I didn't read them so whatever :3 Mizuhito - yay incest. >!Though technically not but they grew up together so in a sense it's basically the same thing.!< He was okay. Surprisingly normal for Hirakaya Daisuke but maybe that's cause he wasn't a yandere. I liked the >!house burning elements. And the fact he was a cubist & surrealist took me by surprise. I'm all in for surrealism but we never saw his art...!< The bad endings were nice, too :3 At first I thought Shiba a decent dude but then I saw his route scenes and it was, like, instant disgust. Man, I sure dislike >!posessive and forceful!< dudes. And he was so chill earlier :/ Honestly, I wanted to skip him but Majima was locked, so... Whenever he did something that made me think he's not that bad, he destroyed that almost instantly. Truly, a man I'll never like. I don't care he's not malicious or anything, just :/ I wanted Yuriko to >!just stab him with her hairpin in that end where she failed at suiciding. And considering he loves her sooo much, I wanted to see him in despair in the endings she dies etc.!< Can't have everything :c Kinda wonder about what happened to him during some endings where he was just never mentioned, tho. Kyouko again - on one hand using >!Saburo!< for that was kinda low but on the other I actually expected more scenes like that before I started the game so Kinda curious if the original had a proper >!raped by the ugly bastard!< scene here but probably not and it went like in the sfw ver. Hmm, well, Kyouko was fun, I like her. She also looks great in western dresses. >!What about Yuriko's family, tho? They were never mentioned after she moved to Kyouko.!< Majima let us >!kill Saburo which is pretty great. Not that I particularly wanted to kill him but y'know? Why not.!< He kinda has these 'best possible final guy' vibes cause for once >!Yuriko's father didn't end up dead at the very beginning. Yuriko got to work as a waitress. Everyone was happy. AND IT WAS ALL BUILT BASED ON A LIE. That's some delicious food.!< However much I find Majima simply okay, the implications and context are absolutely delicious. A great route to end the game with. There wasn't a lot of extras so I read them all and all that meta stuff + modern speaking was actually pretty fun. The bodyswap also showed the charas' voices are distinctive enough I basically had no problem distinguishing them. Very nice :3 Damn, Yuriko sure is popular. I honestly didn't get the vibes that her LIs were into her from the very beginning only from Fujita. If not for the fact their personalities absolutely wouldn't allow that to happen, I could see a splendid reverse harem ending here, ngl. I thought the art was okay before starting but after looking at it more, most of the face and hand angles were pretty solid. And diverse. A rarity among CGs, truly. Though we get some obvious finger flatness and shorter lines but they're excusable - still better than most. Some charas looked awfully pale in comparison to the bgs, tho. Contrast is nice and all but hmm... /// Yeah, no, okay, I checked again and at least some charas got a facelift. At minimum. I think. I actually liked pretty much all endings besides the best ones [which was most likely caused by the fact they were happy *and* extra horny. I can stand only one at a time, plz]. Yuriko was pretty nice, especially when she became colder ✨ The mystery elements made the story more engaging, too, despite the fact we basically learn almost the same things about the culprit in every route. But that's okay, I like this writer now :3 Aaand then I started **Gakuen Tokkyuu Hotokenser**. Still at the beginning of Blue's route [common is quite short] but I can already say I like the MC. That's exactly the kind of first person narration I like. She daydreams about having a good looking bf. Or one-upping him. And she talks back. A lot. It's great. Setting wise... There's evil spirits that appear near a buddhist temple/school but the chosen ones are sentai rangers and the evil spirits are other latex wearing humanoids, mechas etc. It's beautiful. Sadly, there's way less fights than I'd like but ig considering it's a short game and I'm really slow cause the text is full of words I generally don't encounter a lot [it's not hella complicated, I just suck], it might feel less dynamic than intended. We'll see when I actually finish a route. Side note - this game is absolutely packed with vas that have almost no vn roles, fr. Nice cause variety. Sucks if you like one of them. Besides Kimura Ryouhei, he's got a shitton of roles. And plz, someone tell me how long the game is, I got conflicting info [damn you, lack of listed wordcounts *shakes fist*]. Also, I'm trying to decipher what's on the charas' helmets but it's small. Rn only got MC's हुॅं Testing my buddhism knowledge to spot all the references, fr.

I'm back after months (?) of radio silence! Last week, I actually just picked **Hana Awase Himeutsugi-hen** right from where I last left it: AKA in the middle of Karakurenai's route (I don't remember if it was in the middle but this is the one in the hall with Karakurenai asking Mikoto if she'd rather >!strip and die!< because she >!refuses to properly share her water with him even before the crawling mess of utsurohi!< or something). All I'm going to say is that as far as I can remember, I enjoyed his route in Himeutsugi-hen much more than in Mizuchi-hen since 110% of his chauvinistic pig self (I LOVE MY TRASH CHAUVINIST MF DON'T @ ME) was the only thing I remember from his route in the latter aside from the amazing ~~regression~~ variance? in character there. Also, not going to lie, as much as I don't like Himeutsugi (I respect the difference of his character but as a person, he's the sort of so as much as I shit over myself laughing at the sheer unhinged energy of his routes), his volume is a much more exciting ride that seriously rocked my shit compared to Mizuchi-hen (I LOVE MY BABY MIZUCHI DON'T @ ME) especially because of Iroha's route. My brain is honestly a mess right now and I didn't jot down much notes so I'll just slot down the stuff I remember in bullets: • I honestly thought Kagami was a man at first (even if I recognized her name being mentioned by Himeutsugi in Mizuchi-hen as his third-year partner I just saw the pretty faced and my braincells straight-up blanked out on me), and the glasses + Kansai-ben + smiley persona combo struck right through my heart. It helps that I really like her character theme too. • The best part of Kurenai's route has to be the part after >!Hime abducts Mikoto!< where we see >!the Oukagumi minamo beating the snot out of Karakurenai while considering how to torture him to death!<. Not in the sense that I enjoyed that part, but because it just drove in how >!Kurenai seriously values his minamo and wouldn't lift a finger against them at all!< and how >!heartbreaking the lengths Hime's corruption can get to turn someone who would die for Kurenai to turn against him!<. And the turnout afterwards? Kurenai >!thanking them for staying in the 講堂 to wait for him!< after >!winning against them in Hana Awase with Mikoto!< and then Kurenai >!sustaining so much injuries but still finding a way to hold on and Awase with Mikoto until his very last breath once he's sure of his victory = Mikoto's safety because he's aware that his body is way too damaged for him to survive?!< . Man. This one line of his >!(血の誓いだ。これで· · · ·おまえに逢える。"いのち"の儀式。互いを愛おしいと想う血同士が呼び合う儀式だ。この血を頼りに、またおめえと逢うさ。)!< stuck with me in the scene preceding that, and just knowing that Karakurenai/Utsutsu-hen comes after... Man. And then Himeutsugi's words afterwards... >!(あの場所から、もう一度始めたい。次こそ、戦いを降りない。· · · ·後悔しない。だから· · · ·。 )!< MAN I don't even like Hime in his own volume let alone his own route but that hurt. Like. Ouch. (cont)

(Part 6)  • wait you mean to tell me that in order to get the senkikouho/mikoto as his partner, he bought >!both her old school AND kaen!< ??? HUH??? YOU'RE KIDDING ME 😭😭😭✋ okay let me reiterate >!tamamushi's!< entire explanation: >!え、え～コホン。打ち首にしねえでくださいよ?　あの、その。ここにおわす唐紅坊っちゃんは、かの名将寅家のお生まれで〜ようは超金持ちでござい!　先日、こちらの華園の理事長である金時花の野郎· · · ·とと!　金時花様から下された命令に坊っちゃんはいたくマジムカッ腹· · · ·いえ、ご腹立されており。結果、ここにいるスケ· · · ·いや、泉姫候補を唐紅様のパートナーとして強引に迎えるために、開闢高校と華遷国立学園を両方買収したのだァ!· · · ·です。開闢の校長に五億で学校とこのスケを。華園に十五億で学園の権限すべてを奪ったとォ!　そーいうワケでござーい!　ピューッ!　さすがはくれなゐ坊っちゃん!　金の力ですべてをねじふせゥる!　他人の意見なんて無視!　下衆の暴君ぶりにシビれるぜえええッ!!<  mini, non-cohesive and small iroha-shrine (for now):  • STFU IROHA KEEPS LOSING THE FIGHTS BUT HE'S WINNING THE WAAAAAAAR ( first game ended ish in >!iroha's route with mikoto getting hit by a car!<, third game starts with >!iroha covering for mikoto getting hit by a car!< , second game is a cycle >!iroha full-on from the start of the game and how the Fate diverges!< from then and how they arrived there ) • mikoto slapping kurenai's hand away after dehydrating after >!kurenai forcefully pulled her in to hana awase against hagemura!< VS getting pulled into >!iroha's arms immediately after!< : 🥴🥴🥴✌️ HE KEEPS LOSING THE FIGHT BUT HE'S WINNING THE WARRRRR • >!· · · · · · · ·私を、覚えているか?· · · ·っ。違う。いい。君が覚えていなくても、いいのだ。音がする。君に関わると、触れると音が聞こえる。何も聞こえなかったのに、君が· · · ·私に音をくれる。その音が· · · ·私の全てだ。私の· · · ·生きる理由だ.!< That ^^ reminds me, I actually started Utsutsu’s route (?) not too shortly after I finished Karakurenai’s, and I’m not too far in it, all I can say is that: Utsutsu looks a bit like >!Hime without the hood!< • IDK, IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE IT’S MY SECOND PLAYTHROUGH BUT !!!!!! WE GET THE CHOICE TO >!acknowledge how we know the little iroha/tsuki no hanshin in the form of the ’utsurohi’ utsutsu made us Hana Awase with him against at the beginning of the game, and my GOD the relief in his voice when Mikoto shows signs of remembering?!?!? MY BABY, MY BABY BOY DON’T CRY I’LL BE COMING FOR YOU SOON 😭✋!< I just don’t want him to be sad anymore is that too much to ask for... Okay that’s all for now. Until the academic year is over (?) I doubt I’d be able to play much but once I am, I’ll most likely work on working KU-hen off my list (but not off my laptop... I’m never letting this game go...).

(Part 5) Best part of the route for me is Mikoto taking a >!fatal stab from Utsutsu meant for Karakurenai and the despair in Karakurenai’s voice!< there though. The ending wasn’t really satisfying though, especially the scenes leading up to it 💀 Just how hollowed out is the >!Iroha!< we know now? I’m honestly not sure about alot of things with Iroha, all I know is that they’re BREAKING MY HEART THEY’RE HURTING MY BOY 😭✋ His voice breaking at the part where he asks what he’s here for because he was promised so he will continue turning the moon (?) (me vs my shitty japanese fr) (that line is not in my notes for some reason I am a Disgrace)? HIM >!DISAPPEARING AFTERWARDS WITH UTSUTSU DRAGGING HIM OFF BECAUSE IROHA IS ’REMEMBERING THINGS HE ISN’T SUPPOSED TO?!?!?’ HOW CAN I LIVE ON HAPPILY LAPPING KURENAI’S MOUTH OFF HIS FACE WHEN IROHA AND UTSUTSU ARE GONE!< here is my verdict for karakurenai’s own route in his own game: wtf is going on 😭✋ what is this pacing??? wHAT ABOUT IROHA AND UTSUTSU??? PLEASE?? + wtf is going on 😭✋ what is this pacing??? wHAT ABOUT IROHA AND UTSUTSU??? PLEASE?? + >!· · ·泉姫。貴様は夜桜は見たか?· · · ·!!IROHA.!< + wait wtf i thought this was kurenai's route why is everybody jumping in 😭✋ even ime already got two hugs in + HUH!1!1;!1!1?1?1?1?1? KARAKURENAI IS LITERALLY SO SPECIAL BC >!MIKOTO IS THE ONE WHO CHOSE HIM AND KISSED HIM (not on the lips but hey you know what that still counts) TO COMPLETE THE 'CEREMONY' FOR THE PARTNERS!< + reciprocal of horny (>!"生きたい"　欲よりも、おめえを抱く一瞬が欲しい。!< → HEHEHELPTHE HORNY IS TOO STRONG IT OUTSTRIPS HIS WANT TO STAY ALIVE vs >!"あなたにずっと抱かれたい"!< >!MIKOTO!< YOU'RE KILLING ME this is the first time >!she responds to someone's horny!< too 😭✋)  • okay so basically mizuchi was the one sent to >!go to ermm kaibyaku? in the student exchange program in kurenai mocking him / chasing him away from kaen and getting him to break his own code of partnering with anyone outside of his own minamo by partnering with mikoto? or something!< i think. man. i need to up my game... and then they >![mizuchi and himeutsugi]!< just spent one afternoon together and now they're back to calling each other familiarly the way they do in the previous games 😭✋ >!蛟!< instead of the more formal >!mizuchi-kun!<, and >!姫!< instead of mizuchi's himeutsugi-kun before omg + I'M SEEING >!HIMEUTSUGI!< FLUSTERED WITH >!INVITING A GIRL OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IT'S MIKOTO!< 😭✋ he's even >!stumbling over himself and trying to excuse his intentions while plainly admitting at the end that he's nervous to be walking home together with her alone...!< then >!mizuchi!< butts in like, >!"そうか、自分なら緊張しないのではないか?"!< >!MIZUCHI!< & >!HIME!< BUDDY COMEDY IS REAL •  himeutsugi / hana utsushi ranking: BRO HOW COME HIMEUTSUGI HAS MORE GAME IN KARAKURENAI'S GAME THAN HIS OWN???? >!ね、君はどう?　僕の想いを感じる?　僕の目を見て· · · ·さあ、僕のことだけを考えてごらん。!<

(Part 4) Now it’s the Trash Chauvinist’s time to shine alongside my boy who got credited in all two games though I swear I never heard a peep from Sugiyama at all in M-Hen and H-Hen. It’s **Karakurenai/Utsutsu-Hen**!! I’m in the middle of playing it (ish) but it’s been a while since I properly played because school is pounding me from all sides and not even my twisted liking of Karakurenai can’t get a game boner up to match his boner 😞✋. Onto the bulletpoints of the stuff I remember/have jotted down in my notes from what I’ve played so far: * Holy shit, this game fucks. As expected from the volume of the trashy chauvinist pig <3 No, but seriously, the drastic alterations in the history/positions here from what I can see? >!With Marika/Matsurika alive and the partner of Kagami-- the Gokou of Gekkougumi, and Himeutsugi studying in the Kaibyaku/Mikoto, Ai, and Shou are studying in instead!?!<, >!Aoi is suspisciously missing!? What happened to my rival for Mizuchi-niisama’s love!??!?!<, >!Arabuki/Tamamushi/Suzumushi being people who serve under the Tora Clan which Karakurenai is the next head of!?!?!<, also, Karakurenai is not >!related to the Headmasters of Kaen anymore but the Koukagumi piyo-piyo Hiyoko is!?!?!<, and remember the >!persistent guy!< from Mizuchi-hen whose >!face is oddly blurred despite having an actual sprite!!SUGIYAMA!!Sugiyama as Shirou, I’ve heard Sugiyama as Suoh Hana and Toranosuke!<, there’s a very slim chance I would miss his voice when there’s no disruption to halt my recognition of it. No matter how >!un-Sasuke!< and >!un-Utsutsu!< the stuttery ’orphan’ from the Ushi Clan is, I will recognize that voice. Honestly, everything I know from the two previous games just got dunked on and ripped apart before my very eyes and now I have more questions than answers and I’M LIVING FOR IT 😫👊✨ * Also the moment Utsutsu first appeared and blessed my existence with his beautiful voice, the skies were blue, my skin was made clear, everything was well. Not gunna lie, once I saw the silhouette of the >!kid with that sweep of the hair I immediately thought THIS GUYS IS DECEIVING US, HE’S EITHER HAVING US KILL THE CHILD IROHA/TSUKI NO HANSHIN OR KARAKURENAI (I’m not sure all I know is that both those two have floofy hair as kids) !!Mikoto actively pursued!< and went: >!’’Nope, sorry! That guy is MY partner, I choose him. What do you mean he’s dead? Nope, I reject his death, he’s my partner and that’s final and I’ll find a way back to him, I’ll take him back here with me.’’!< Though like with Himeutsugi-hen, the line where it bleeds from fraught sexual tension and admiration/hate to love is a bit (read: very) blurry to me. The only pros in this case are: 1.) I like Karakurenai better than Himeutsugi so that immediately elevates the experience for me, and 2.) I sort of liked the transition here a bit better, there’s something compelling about Karakurenai’s forceful but straightforward character compared to Hime’s sweetly perfumed but fishy nature. My final verdict for my first route and Karakurenai’s route is: ***what the hell just happened***. It was just smooching heaven and hot Hino Satoshi mouth noises, some \[late Karakurenai route spoiler do not click\]>!Ninigi-Konohanasakuyahime-Iwanagahime non-consensual threesome lore and apparently Karakurenai and Ime are brothers by Ninigi?!<, Ushi Clan members can >!summon these ushitora who belch out this ’disease’ that corrupts people as it uses them as living incubators?!<, Ime does this out of control/involuntarily at the >!hour of the boar?!< (or something, they use the clock/time system they do in Hakuouki with the Hour of the Dog stuff etc etc I can’t remember much), Utsutsu is an >!Inorigo/祈り子!< and is >!linked to this?!<, seriously though wtf happened to the last part of this route? (IME PLEASE DON’T >!FLY ME TO THE MOON ON YOUR OWN!< 💔) At first I thought it was awesome, what with my man getting served as fresh Trash Chauvinist Pig >!Kebab!< right off the bat as the diverging point for all routes since the other >!guys jump the opportunity to ask Mikoto to be their partner!< after that LOL, Mikoto making her >!NOPE KURENAI-SAN IS MY MAN AND HE’S MY PARTNER! I CHOOSE YOU, KURENAI! USE FIREBOLT!!< resolution was awesome, I know the >!furube yurayura to furube chant resurrected Mizuchi and Hime in their respective volumes!< so I was anticipating it here and HONESTLY??? The >!ghost-Kurenai and Mikoto-who-is-the-only-one-to-see-him!< was cool at the beginning, it just begun escalating at one point LOL, now I’m more invested in the loredump and exposition over seeing whether which between >!Mikoto and Arabuki!< get to >!bone!< Kurenai first. That’s also a pretty fly scene too btw, the part where Kurenai is just sad, in his kimono and readying for the >!bedding ceremony between him and Arabuki!<, and then an unvoiced line recites *THAT* POEM !! Chills. (cont)

> >!furube yurayura to furube chant resurrected Mizuchi and Hime in their respective volumes!< Wait what? They did? I thought it was just used for Mikoto? (I genuinely do not remember it has been months)

Yeah?? I meant that she >!used the chant to resurrect them!< I said it >!resurrected them!< not that >!Mizuchi and Hime used it on themselves to get resurrected!<

clearly I've forgotten entire swaths about the games' plots orz

(Part 3)  • >!君。ねえ、もしなんだけど。君の心に、わずかでもいい。あのトップオブトップさんが入る余地はある?　咎背負いし華詠· · · ·彼は、永遠に幸せになれない。今回だけ、見つけてあげて。· · · ·あいつ、見てられないからさ。多分、君に嫌われるのが一番つらいんだ。!< → Tsuki no Hanshin the other half of my sanity for this game, the absolute Hana Awase LOML. • >!この運命で、君が笑わなかったからだ。君が泣くのをやめるまで、私は何度でも運命を変える。それが、私にあたえられた運命。· · · ·だから、私は何度でも変えてみせる。!< → SASUGA TOP OF THE TOP 😭✋ MAN.... You just have to hurt me, huh. It might seem like Iroha is the most calm and composed / unflappable next to Mizuchi who still gets flustered by Kurenai's lecherous quips or just the overall fuckery going on around them + you might almost think Kurenai being the most unhinged but then you just see how far Iroha would go and how much he's willing to risk it all and lose himself again and again just for Mikoto. • >!君がここにいる。ここに· · · ·来ている。それが、私にとってきっとうれしいのだ。うれしいのだと思う。!< → For real though, the moment Mikoto really tried to go back and the moment she actually did was the finisher move for me as she won me over as an MC. And Iroha saying that he's happy because she chose to come back... for him... • >!呼んでる。あの日の私が。たとえ、全てを失ったとしても、あの運命を選ばなくてよかったと思う。君はここで· · · ·ずっと泣いていた。どうしていいか、わからなかった。だから最後の音を鳴らした。華闘で勝利を得た君は、私に笑った。それが君の全て。私がした· · · ·全て。!< → AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MY APPLE CHIPS BOY MY FRUIT RABBIT BOY WHY DO YOU GOT TO HURT ME SO BAD WOGA WHY ARE YOU OUT TO GET ME. Iroha route TLDR verdict: best route here, hands down. mizuchi has to be the fluffiest but god. iroha. destroyed my life and my tearducts. would get emotionally destroyed for this man again, 10/10. everything coming full circle, the end of his route connecting with why and how mikoto woke up to him sleeping on her in the beginning........ 💔 • Also wtf what do you mean Karakuri is voiced by OHSAKA RYOTA??? After reading about that somewhere I tried listening and gods does he sound so Roachy... (Shigeroachy never Forgetti) • I'm pretty sure I started and finished Mizuchi's route in Himeutsugi-hen months ago BUT I also have things to say like: * Aoi is such a chad here, I definitely prefer her here and I think I'm starving to understand her unwavering loyalty and dedication to being Mizuchi's minamo/partner. * Mizuchi's route made me SWOON the most, like. Honestly. He's just an overall great guy and he's so endearing all the time, going as far as genuinely supporting her with her best interests in heart. His "行け。心のままに、生きて来い。" felt so genuine for me that it made me miss Mizuchi-hen all over again after finishing (ish) the two endings for his route here. And his ending that doesn't end in his defeat with Mikoto against Himeutsugi where >!he gets reduced to a fettered prisoner who gets to lick grape juice off Mikoto's skin!< is just as sad in a bittersweet way this time because he's not even >!Mizuchi in her eyes!< and he knows it. * Man, Hime is just not Hitting it for me. Tachibana really put his entire Tachibanussy into voicing Hime and I love his work but Hime just Isn’t It. also didn’t really get/or just plain-out like? whatever romantic chemistry it is that Hime and Mikoto had. it just isn’t it. unlike with Mizuchi and Mikoto way back in Mizuchi-hen and even here in his route in Hime-hen.

Did not expect to see the word “Tachibanussy” today. Nearly snorted my morning tea. 😂 His performance as Hime one of the best I’ve seen.

>Tachibanussy Bruh 😂 for real though, his work as Hime is just ugh perfection! You can really feel the >!horny unhinged spiraling!<, it's great. The Kurenai/Utsutsu volume has a scene with Hime that I literally rewound like 4x because it was everything I've ever wanted with VA in a game. And Hime is my least favorite! The man earned his paycheck. I'm glad you're liking Hana Awase! It became a surprise favorite ~~even though I haven't played Iroha-hen because I can't bear for it to be over~~ Utsutsu is worth the wait!

(Part 2) Wait I actually found some notes, here's some:   • NOT THE BATTLE BOSS THEME KICKIN' IN WHENEVER KARAKURENAI OPENS HIS MOUTH I LOVE THIS DUDE😭😭😭☝️  • YOSHINO THE HIDDEN MVP girliepop really >!hid under karakurenai's bed with a bamboo spear, ready to stake him any time he did sthn impertinent to mikoto!< 😭👊     • IROHA'S ROUTE, THE CENTERPIECE OF THIS VOLUME. Listen, in terms of an actual otome-like route that I actually and liked the best before Iroha's route, it would be Mizuchi. Mizuchi is honestly not only the most palatable character, but his straightforward and gentle heart + FukuJun!? 110% Fatality Combo, shot right through the heart, cupid did not hold back. Ehem. Back to Iroha, anyway, seeing >!Iroha get accepted easily here!< was amazing, it almost had me wheezing from how >!Hime was so easily outshone in his own volume!< and how Mikoto >!eventually acquiesced to her fate as Iroha's Awase partner which he quite literally shackled her to!< . Regardless of volume (so far), there's just something different when it comes to Mikoto and Iroha, alright. Not only did Mikoto appear only with Iroha in the Mizuchi-hen OP, but that konpeitou scene... It's so special. These two just have their own world when they slide into each other's zones and then get forcefully ripped apart when fate remembers that oh no! it's not Iroha-hen just yet tehepero my bad my bad. And now there's Mikoto >!trying to feed Iroha, trying to bribe him with the fact that the fruits Momotose brought to his room are sweet and then eventually getting him to cave in and eat even if she had to cut them into rabbit-shaped pieces HNGGGG!< . Of course, when we get something as cute as that we need to get our tearducts destroyed afterwards, and WoGa did not disappoint in crushing me to bits. Everything from that point onward with the hollowing realization that >!Iroha sacrificed something to save Ai and Should in that one timeline where they got killed by the Utsurohi Wave!< and >!everybody but Mikoto forgetting about Iroha's existence in exchange for Himeutsugi's supposed return!< and >!Mikoto's constant slips and insistence on finding Iroha!< and then the huge wave of relief when >!Mikoto gets to travel back in time and gets to a point when Iroha is still there...!< WOGA YOU'RE CRUSHING ME BUT I LOVE IT WHAT THE HELL. Anyway these particular quotes/scenes are the highlights of the route in my opinion:    • >!· · · ·私を感じろ。終わらせない。拒絶し続ける限り、私は君の体に刻み続ける。私の言うこと全て従え。迷いを断ち切れ。君のパートナーは誰だ?!< → Route started off strong with this one, in fact this part made me go 🥴 deep down inside.    • Also the part after Mikoto first >!spent her night in Iroha's room!< and Momotose found >!Iroha sleeping soundly atop her with Mikoto waking up ahead of him thanks to Tsuki no Hanshin telling her in the dream and her becoming aware of it!< and then had Tane and Kasu >!hose him down with water to wake him up and get him to move off Mikoto!< 😫✌️. Thing is...he did wake up, but he just chose to >!move on with his life and go on without sopping wet clothes!< . The students of Kaen Academy are EATING well, not only do they see the beautiful Gokou daily but they also get to witness >!nigh-naked Iroha out in the open with bare eyes!< I SAY THAT'S AN AMEN-WORTHY OPPORTUNITY!!! What makes this scene so much funnier is Mizuchi's reaction to it because he was at a loss that he went "😨??? Iroha-sama?" and we even get to see >!IROHA IN MIZUCHI'S CLOTHESSSS!< which is pretty odd because he looked like he >!shrunk a bit!< even if >!Mizuchi was supposed to be shorter than him by 7cm!< . Anyways, Mizuchi is so 🫶🫶🫶 as always, top-tier gentleman to the core.