Right. I totally forgot this event existed and only really got around to doing 2 of the routes (the solo ones), haha. So here are my brief thoughts:
Edgar
Edgar’s route was fantastic. My heart went out to this poor guy and his difficulty with celebrating himself. 😦 My favorite parts:
“You were talking sadly with the ducks. Naturally I was concerned.”
“Nobody should be allowed to see your beautiful body without your express permission.” Good on you Edgar, flipping the trope and respecting women! 😍
Seriously, where is this awesome version of Ed in his main route?! I was completely charmed here. For a guy who claims he isn’t a gentleman, he sure is good at acting like one. So glad MC was able to save birthdays for him. 🙂
Luka
Poor Luka’s route was a little less stellar, imho (since he has no legitimate reason to dislike birthdays!), but still pretty cute. MC wants to make him happy. But what truly makes him happy is training to be stronk…and MC’s smile. Absolutely precious. Highlights:
Fenrir building a tower of cream puffs
Ray and Sirius playing poker to decide who’s gonna have to give Luka a bottle of liquor
HATTORI HANZO? CG’s for each ninja? Coins for the fair?! Let’s be real: even if you hated these characters and their ES’s, this ninja event was so worth. 😀
Confession time: I’ve been operating under the impression that Saizo’s younger bro FireflyHotaru is about 12. Which is obviously (hopefully) false given the fact that he has an ES, but there you have it 🙂 So long story short, MC gets strong-armed by Saizo into babysitting Hotaru, after she witnesses the kid post ninja-murder-mission. Hotaru, my friends, is a total weirdo. He doesn’t really talk. Heck, he doesn’t really know how to human. And after a fight with Kotaro in which MC gets injured, Hotaru LICKS her arm to disinfect it (sajfsajf seriously, is this kid supposed to be a less violent foil to Kotaro himself?!). We eventually learn that this cat-boy is is actually the “Soul of Language”, which I take to mean he’s the only wizard across all of Japan or something.
So yeah. This ES, like the guy himself, was weird. I didn’t especially like it. I’m interested to know more about Hotaru’s backstory, to be sure, but he is way wayyyy too bizarre in my books to be a particularly compelling love interest. He’s kind of adorable though, so my guess is he’s gonna be a fan fave.
Personal enjoyment: 5/10
When MC first meets Kyoichiro, he’s a merchant selling medicinal herbs to Kaede in a nearby town. When she meets him a second time, we learn that he’s actually Robin Hood Ishikawa Goemon, a thief famous for robbing the rich and corrupt and distributing the wealth to the poor. A neat twist, if it weren’t for the fact that Kyoichiro is a total fucking asshole. He’s rude af to MC, who has to stay with him a few days while the medicine’s being prepared (“Unlike a ninja, I am a kind human being”). He calls her a country bumpkin, repeatedly. He sics the local magistrate on MC (romantically), in order to blackmail MC into helping him as Goemon and becoming “complicit”. Which involves MC having to put herself in a dangerous situation so that Kyoichiro can rob said magistrate, but hey, he saves her from the situation he puts her in, so everything’s gonna be okay, right?! Ughhh salkdfjlsjldkfjdsf. And sure, post-robbery, he’s pretty suave and charming, ngl. But I didn’t like him in Sasuke’s route, and I didn’t like him here. Rudeness and condescension just isn’t sexy. ._.
Personal enjoyment: 4/10
And last but not least…
MC’s sense of stranger danger completely fails her after she runs into a snake stomachache-ridden HATTORI HANZO/Masanari in the forest and helps him out. It fails her even further when she agrees to stay at the guys’s manor for a few days, after spotting Genya, who’s been lurking about…! But MC’s idiocy is my gain, because Masanari turns out to be the world’s absolutely best/creepiest host (even if he doesn’t even actually own the manor, haha). He feeds MC tasty homemade desserts – and really terrible actual food, lmao. The two of them cook together, and it’s kind of a failure. And!! He insists on applying hair perfume to MC’s hair, seductively. Every night. This man is just too sexy for his shirt turtleneck. So MC does eventually realize Masanari’s a super shady ninja (more like, he lets her figure it out), but that doesn’t make all the thirsting she did along the way any less glorious.
TBH, if Masanari/Hanzo had just been portrayed as creepy and suspicious, I would’ve already loved this ES to bits. But he’s also SEDUCTIVE on top of all that!? Asdkfjs;idlf there is no way I’m ever going to be able to give this shady mofo an unbiased review, my friends. Ever. 💕
Personal enjoyment: 11/10
Side note: enjoyment of the dudes aside, ninja MC’s internal monologuing is some of the best I’ve ever read. She’s snarky and suspicious of everything! I love it. ^_^
To be really honest, after reading through the insanely creative events that SLBP puts on, sometimes the IkeSen events feel like predictable sitcom episodes to me. It’s a good thing the characters themselves are so great! Anyways, here’s my personal ranking of the the last IkeSen event (the one running last week), from least to most favorite:
Some little girl named Touka is in love with Ieyasu, and in an attempt to “help”, Masamune claims Ieyasu and MC are married. Girl’s skeptical, and demands proof by stalking Ieyasu and MC around all day. I don’t care if she’s approximately five and the daughter of some important daimyo – I just wanted to slap her. MC and Ieyasu totally should’ve just told her to scram. This ES’s only saving grace: Ieyasu is unexpectedly adorable ^_^
Shingen and MC conduct marriage therapy on a couple on the verge of divorce, by pretending to be married themselves and inviting said couple over for dinner! I don’t get the logic/reasoning at all, but hey, this is IkeSen, so it totally works. And then Shingen actually proposes to MC. This guy is so cheesy, I’m getting lactose intolerance 😂Choice quote:
“I love you too much, my angel. I don’t know if I can bear to wait any longer. I want to marry you right now—”
Nobunaga and MC enjoy a “romantic” getaway, cooking and cleaning in a little house in a remote village and pretending to be newlyweds (he invents a medieval washing machine!). Anyway, their presence turns out to be super convenient, when the corrupt daimyo of the village comes visiting after enacting an illegal tax hike! Choice quotes:
“It’s brave of you to point a sword at my wife. Brave, but foolish.”
“As your husband, I intend to give you plenty of love tonight.”
Kenshin and MC get roped into participating in a “Marital Melee” after they visit a village in search of fine sake. Said melee is an obstacle course, featuring rolling boulders and black powder bombs! Needless to say, Kenshin sweeps the competition. And relishes the chance to call MC his wife. What an amazing crazy guy. ❤ Choice quotes:
If bandits or bears or bandits and bears attack, I’ll protect you.
“…Mere words could never convey the depth of my feelings.” – after kissing MC in public like a boss!!
When I first encountered Jonah in his prologue, I hated him. He was such a little shit: rude af, unwilling to listen to MC, and the way the artists colored in his cheeks made him look like a little kid, to boot!
…That said, if you’re reading IkeRev and haven’t yet, try giving his route a chance. As MC puts it, “Jonah has a lot of good points – they’re just kind of hard to find!” 🙂
Let’s start from the beginning. Shortly into Jonah’s route, he comes up with a “foolproof” plan to ensure that MC will help advance the glorious Red Army’s cause. He’s so sure that the plan will work, in fact, that he discloses all of it to MC (the enemy): “I will capture your heart. And I will train you to follow me and the Red Army until that is what you yourself desire”. His strategy is to woo MC with a series of mandatory dates, because what’s more romantic than being bossed around by an arrogant jolly rancher?
Interestingly, the Black Army’s also a fan this development, if only because it buys them some time to deal with the inexorable Red Army and its magic. And so, Jonah and MC’s dates begin. At first he tries to ply MC with shopping and finery, but MC’s having none of it, to his utter bafflement (and my delight) (“You turned down all of my amazing presents. What is wrong with you? You’re not reacting the right way”). The two of them do ultimately find common ground… over food. Sweets, to be more specific. These are my kind of people.
Over the course of about five or six dates, Jonah’s wish comes true, and MC does indeed start falling for him. Even though he’s, in her words, “domineering, contrary, and selfish” (but never insulting). Even though he’s particular and kind of vain. Even though, in one super irksome scene, he half-heartedly announces his intention to assault MC (!!). Long story short, he didn’t want to, but thought he had to, to satisfy King Lancelot. I’m not happy about this scene, but Jonah’s only saving grace is that it was highly OOC and he broke character very quickly, I guess. Also, MC was suitably angry over the whole thing. Still, ugh.
In any case, unnecessary fake assault scenes aside, what MC does fall for: Jonah’s adorable and deeply caring personality, hidden poorly behind a paper thin mask of aloofness (he rushes to enemy Black Army quarters the second he hears she might be sick). His strong sense of justice: elitism aside, at least he believes that nobility/Red Army has a duty to protect the innocent. His sad backstory (see: Episode 20). I’m usually very meh over the internal monologues as various MC’s discover their feelings towards the LI, but MC’s self-revelation is pretty amazing:
It was actually some time ago that I first noticed—this feeling that the sweet batter of a cake had been placed in the oven of my heart. As heat was slowly applied, the cake had risen and begun to give off a delicious scent. It had been baked to a perfect golden brown and all that was left to do was take it out of the oven and eat it. But this was the one cake that I could not eat. No matter how delicious it would be, I couldn’t let myself indulge.
The writers don’t spend too much time having MC angst over her newfound secret feelings towards Jonah, thank goodness. Instead, unlike with Ray’s route, plot hits Jonah’s story bright and early, after she and Jonah are attacked en route to a Red-Black meeting by magic cultists! We learn that Lance has been working hand in hand with the evil mastermind behind all this (!!!), and after he Imperio’s MC, everything goes to hell in a handbasket almost instantly. Jonah and MC end up on the run from everyone, Red and Black alike, and this is when the route really starts to shine.
Because past this point, Jonah doesn’t really even bother hiding his own feelings for MC too well (“Even if the whole world turns against you, I will believe you until to bitter end. I promise I will save you”). We get to enjoy almost a third of a route’s worth of some A+ romance mixed in with (relatively low-stakes) adventure/tension, which is great cos I feel like it’s not all that common with Cybird! And when MC jumps the gun and actually confesses her feelings to him first, his reaction is pure gold (“I’ll never forgive you. Once this is all finished, I’ll get you back a million times over!”). I had no idea a kiss could be angry and cute at the same time, hahaha.
At the end of the day, excluding the crappy faux-rapey scene (which I really disliked, can you tell?), this route was super fun. Although Jonah’s fabulous/upbeat/snarky personality isn’t exactly ideal romance fodder for me, it makes for great reading. He and MC have excellent banter. I also enjoyed their interactions with the other characters. Highlight: poor Jonah, the loving big bro, getting rejected by Luka “rebellious” younger bro again and again. ^_^
Plot wise, this route does get really sad at one point, but otherwise, it’s a glorious fluff fest, even with all the drama/adventure. As with Ray’s route, I do feel like the final conflict resolved itself a little too simply (also there’s a plot-hole regarding why magic crystals need to be destroyed), but unlike with Ray’s route, at least MC and Jonah’s happy ending felt earned after all that went on beforehand! The pacing for this route was great, and, weird as this sounds, extremely well suited for the mobile 5-chapters-per-day freemium format. There wasn’t a single episode that was boring. Overall, if you like fun and fluff, you’ll probably enjoy Jonah’s route quite a bit!
Choice quotes
“Common opinion is that one should lay the mille-feuille on its side when eating it, but I disagree. Letting the strawberry or whipped cream touch the plate goes against all aesthetic sense.” “How could loving someone ever be wrong? Even if it is emotionally taxing.” “I didn’t know you were hiding that formidable elbow-strike up your sleeve. You’re the toughest woman I know!”
Personality: 9/10. This kid, is2g. He might not have much in terms of raw sex appeal, cute, fabulous, sweets-loving personality is a joy to read. And every time he tries to lie, it’s hilarious.
Appearance: 5.5/10. His face looks really young to me! Too young. The CG’s aren’t bad, though, and I definitely dig the fancy hair.
MC: 9/10. MC is proactive, sassy, and fun. Her dynamic with Jonah is great, and overall, I liked her a lot.
Plot/Payoff: 8/10. To set expectations, Jonah’s story is fairly simple and un-nuanced. But otome isn’t exactly the place to turn to for high literature, anyway. The pacing is great, and his story really suits the daily episodic format.
Personal enjoyment: 9/10. Generally speaking a fun, fluffy, and exciting read!
I was a little wary coming into the second half of this event, given how uniquely socially stunted each of these three warlords are. But imho all their routes were surprisingly great!
My favorite story of the bunch features the Mitsunari bot learning how to be human and socialize. In this route, he:
Demands that a retainer start “speaking bird” after coming across MC cooing at a bird herself (and presumably liking what he sees)
“Gifts” MC with a box of GIANT DEAD INSECTS, meant to feed birds (she freaks out! poor guy is sad)
Repeatedly dumps his food on other people’s plates, without explanation, after they mention they like said food
Asks MC if she’s ever had a first crush. And then immediately says: “No. It’s still too soon for the implementation phase. We must wait until we have gathered more intelligence…”
Also at some point, says: “I’ve been watching you all this time. I don’t know why. Do I…have feelings for you? Answer me.” 😂
So as you can see, Mitsun’s efforts, have…mixed results. But hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying. After how crappy he was in the prequel to this route, it really was nice (and hilarious!) seeing him at least try to be nice!
Personal enjoyment: 9/10
Mixed-signals Shigezane definitely makes Masamune’s route extra fun. Long story short, he plays wingman in this ES, coming up with contrived excuses for MC and the mega awkward Masamune to hang out together in the forest and pick vegetables together. And yet, he also says about MC, “I want her like nobody’s business.” Fake news, or fact?! The world will never know. Anyways, I have to give credit to pirate kid himself, because eventually, Masamune does, on his own, admit his shy feelings to MC, right before she sets out to return home to Kyoto. To be more specific, he grabs her hand and asks her to “don’t go”! D’awww. My heart. ❤
Needless to say, I really enjoyed reading this ES. It was cute, it was fluffy, and MC is definitely one lucky girl!
Personal enjoyment: 8.5/10
Ieyasu’s AU continues to be upsetting, picking up shortly after the events of his prequel, where MC is hired to be his personal maid. A good chunk of this route revolves around the kindly Sakai, who reveals to MC just how much the Tokugawa clan misses Ieyasu. We also learn that Ieyasu is actually a hostage under Lord Yoshimoto’s watchful eyes (but many of you probably already knew that). Which sucks, because aside from looking super creepy, we know Yoshimoto is also cruel and physically abusive. In fact, in this route, literally the only thing that saves MC and Ieyasu from getting in trouble after they fail to buy a copy of the next book in ASOIAF a popular novel for Yoshimoto is Ieyasu fake-pinning the blame on MC and claiming he wants to punish her himself…! Or, as Yoshimoto puts it, “So you have finally learned the appropriate treatment for those below you, I see.” …Yikes…
So…yeah. This route wasn’t exactly enjoyable, per se. But it was definitely good, in its own unsettling way. It’s a pity therapy wasn’t a thing in the Sengoku era, because if anyone could benefit from it, it’s definitely Ieyasu!
Personal enjoyment: 5/10 (but this route was good. Just stressful)
Voltage continues to blow me away with the quality of the event stories it puts out for SLBP. This time, we have a followup to the “When Fate Brought Me to You” event from several months ago, and it’s fantastic! I really like this AU 🙂
Shingen is my single favorite otome character of all time. And yet, I’ve generally found his ES’s to be weaker than they could be. But not this time! Here, MC has been settling nicely into life as a maid for young Shingen/Harunobu, who, if you recall, saved her from life as a member of Lord Nobutora‘s harem in the prequel to this route. Speaking of Nobutora, one super important thing we learn: he’s Shingen’s dad! And, from the sounds of it, not exactly the most caring clan leader around. Shingen’s MS doesn’t really touch upon why he deposed his father, so it was great to get some insight into potential motivations in this ES. The townsfolk definitely seem to like Shingen more, and with good reason. Case in point: when MC gets roped into helping the local townsfolk plant rice, Shingen rolls up his kimono sleeves up and joins in, no questions asked. Turns out he sucks at planting rice, but he takes criticism in stride and works hard. Seriously, could this man become even more perfect?!
So this route was wayyy more PG than what one might typically expect from smutlord Shingen (barring one EXTREMELY innuendo-laden rice planting scene, lmao), but it was absolutely amazing to get a glimpse of his excellent character from a young age. And MC was hilarious, with her constant thirsting over Shingen’s hot body. You and me both, MC.
Personal enjoyment: 10/10
In Nobunaga’s route, MC is “promoted” to Nobunaga’s page – not exactly a common role for a woman. This leads to some awkwardness, such as when N asks MC to towel him off (shirtless) after she causes them to tumble off a horse, haha. But MC’s relatively peaceful new life is cut short after Nobunaga discovers that MC’s mother is sick, and sends her home to take care of her mom in classic Nobunaga fashion, aka pretending he hates her konpeito (“I’ve had enough of you. Go back to Kyoto”). Their separation doesn’t last long – after only a few days, MC is shocked to see Yahiko bossing Nobunaga around her family restaurant! Amidst a romantic backdrop of cherry blossoms, Nobunaga hugs MC (!!), re-invites her back to his castle, and they ride off romantically back to Azuchi together on horseback (“Don’t fall off this time”).
Not gonna lie: this slightly arrogant, kind-of-crap-at-expressing-feelings, yet caring version of Nobunaga is super attractive to me. But, given Nobunaga’s tendencies to cross the line into utter douchebaggery (see here for trainwreck), I’m not so sure his attractiveness will carry through to part 3 of this AU tale. Between the love triangle with Mitsuhide and Nobunaga’s increasing responsibilities/power, there are just too many opportunities for him to turn to his usual asshole ways. But back to this ES: loved it. If Nobunaga always behaved like he did in this story, he’d be much higher up on my warlord list. ^_^
Personal enjoyment: 9/10
Poor Yukimura has the misfortune of starring in my least favorite ES of the three that are currently out, despite having a super solid story himself. The events of this story take place a little bit after the prequel, which ended with young Yuki living with/helping out an elderly man in Kyoto. Both MC and Yuki get roped into helping guard the local brewery – turns out the brewmaster makes some highly coveted secret sake that local thieves are after. And when the inevitable happens and the brewery is attacked (the brown haired villain dude strikes again!), Yukimura manages to beat up all all the perpetrators with a freaking door pole/bolt, like a badass! Poor guy is traumatized at having to resort to violence again (after spending an entire prequel running away from it), and MC ends up reassuring him that it was necessary. The story ends on a super adorable note, with Yukimura asking MC out as awkwardly as humanly possible (“…I want to be with you. Would you…be there…for me…like that?”).
This route was a little too slice-of-life-y for my own personal tastes, tbh. Yukimura angsting over being a killing machine wasn’t really the most compelling plot hook, either, imho. That said, the story itself was definitely really cute, and was a nice if not super memorable read!
“Without a doubt…he was the greatest samurai in all Japan.”
I love me a good tragedy. Many a mediocre plotline can be redeemed via main character death (see: a good fraction of the Final Fantasy series). So, knowing Yukimura was pretty screwed after the events of his Act 1 arc, I entered Act 2 with very high expectations. Maybe too high…
I’ll give credit where credit’s due. The scene setting in the beginning few chapters of Yuki’s route is fantastic. Amidst MC and Yuki’s adorable romance, we very quickly learn that the political/military landscape has gone haywire since the end of Act 1. Shingen is dead. Nobunaga is dead. Pretty much all prior alliances and enmities have been thrown into question. And to take advantage of the chaos, Masayuki, aka Yukimura’s father, has made overtures to both the Tokugawa and the Uesugi clans for alliances. Both clans have demands that are far too costly, and to complicate matters even further, MC discovers that she’s pregnant…!
So you could say tensions are high. There’s a lot of discussion of Yukimura acting as a hostage, of MC fleeing to Kyoto to hide, etc., but eventually, the Uesugi come to the Sanada clan without any crazy demands at all. They want to face off against Ieyasu, and are seeking any allies they can get. In the end, the Sanadas decide to hedge their bets: Yuki and his father fight for Kenhsin, and Nobuyuki and MC (alongside Momo, their newborn child!) head over to Ieyasu’s territory. I’m no military expert, but the whole thing struck me as rather strange? MC’s masquerading as Nobuyuki’s wife, but still, Yuki’s at massive risk of being compromised with MC under Tokugawa’s domain. All it’d take to force him to turn would be to threaten to kill MC, right?!
Good thing I’m not the one writing this story, because apart from threatening MC (she horrifies Ieyasu with her idealism) and trying/failing to kill her and Momo in their sleep once, Ieyasu doesn’t actually pull any shenanigans. He doesn’t need to: his side wins, anyways. Yukimura’s forced to flee to a village in the mountainside and give up his spear for provisions (despite def. being strong enough to earn his keep, but let’s ignore the plot holes for now or we’ll be here all day). And although Momo had been barely born when MC and Yuki separated, by the time MC rejoins Yuki for a bittersweet reunion, Momo’s already a crawling, smiling little toddler. In what is probably the single most heartbreaking scene in the entire route, Yuki asks cautiously to hold his own child, after revealing that he’s been practicing with a doll… </3
It feels like MC and Yuki have barely any time to get settled into life as peaceful villagers before war comes knocking on their doorstep again. To my surprise, Ieyasu isn’t the provocateur. In fact, when he visits, he explicitly asks Yuki not to fight, after witnessing how domestic their little family is. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi’s been gathering up men for a last stand against the Tokugawa menace – but they know full well that they have no chance of winning. So… literally the very day after Yuki decides to get married to MC, the friggin’ idiot takes back his spear (from Saizo, who got it…somehow), and leaves to fight against Ieyasu once final, fatal time. And I’m definitely not using idiot in an endearing way here.
Seriously. The guy’s been given a chance to live a peaceful life protecting and enjoying the company of his wife and young child, and what does he decide to do instead? Run off on a suicide mission. And…for what? To avenge Shingen’s death? Hideyoshi was as much Nobunaga’s goon as Ieyasu was. To live and die as a samurai? That’s unbelievably idiotic, given the fact that now his child’s gonna grow up without ever knowing her own dad.
Given the character development that Yukimura was supposed to experience in his first Act (namely dropping the suicidal samurai tendencies), I have no clue what possessed Yukimura to think this was a good idea. The guy says he’s okay with dying because MC’s sworn to love him in the next life, but wtf kind of crap reasoning is that?! And even in the heat of battle, after Yuki’s been repeatedly given the opportunity to flee, he does the very opposite, demanding his own death from Ieyasu. I don’t get it. Like…does Yukimura understand what priorities are?! Is he really, truly, only good at fighting and dying?
Surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of this godforsaken route was Ieyasu. I dislike him as a romantic prospect and still do, but he definitely wasn’t the evil cartoon villain/murderer I was expecting him to be. As a character, he was nuanced, interesting, and experienced evolution – the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Yuki. Honestly, it’s sad to think about how much potential this route had. Because the pacing and interleaving of tragedy with comedy was fantastic. The side characters were generally great. The writing was pretty solid, and the post-story epilogue was suitably hilarious.
But… I just can’t get past Yukimura’s selfish actions. IMHO, it’s the struggle for survival, the tenacity of human will, that brings beauty to a tragedy. And there was none of that here, what with Yukimura actively chasing after his own death. So by the end, I was just left with a hollow, angry feeling towards this route. 😦
Choice quotes:
“You could have been set upon by a band of evil bandits, set upon taking you to their sex-crazed leader, filled with lust at your beauty!”
“No, I’m not dying here. Because…I did not come here as a samurai. I came here as a father.” *proceeds to die*
“I fondled her! I had her…her…in my hands and I squeezed…!!”
Personality: 4/10. WTF happened to all of this kid’s character development?! All the cuteness in the world doesn’t make Yukimura’s actions any less selfish.
MC: 10/10. You can’t fault MC for not trying. From facing Ieyasu head on to cleverly using food as a diplomatic device, we really got a good look at how strong and badass MC can be. Fighting isn’t everything.
Plot/Payoff: 5/10. Excellent pacing, interesting characters, interesting side arcs (e.g. baby). Pointless main character arc.
Personal enjoyment: 4/10. Reading this was extra disappointing, after Yukimura’s incredible Act One. 😦
Holy side characters Batman!! Never thought this day would come. TBH, I’m really impressed with the variety of events that SLBP holds. Voltage uses the large cast of characters really well, and this is why, even if sometimes there are some real duds in the ES’s, I think SLBP has the best events, hands down. 🙂
Anyway, my personal ES ranking, from best to worst:
My one takeaway from Nobuyuki’s route: this man is dangerous. Not sure how any woman can possibly resist his charm <3. In this route, MC and N’s kind-of-flirtatious friendship gets (artificially) upped a notch when Nobuyuki declares that MC’s his betrothed, to ward off some lord who want to set him up with his daughter. It’s all fake news, sadly, but N certainly blurs the lines between fiction and reality quite thoroughly, helping MC with her chores and taking her out to town on dates throughout the route. And the things he says in public… “This woman is very important to me, and I cannot possibly marry anyone else.” Swoon! Although Nobuyuki and MC aren’t quite a couple by the end of the route, hope burns bright (“Perhaps I am the one who can no longer bear to be separated from you”).
I love this man so much, you have no idea. And I adored this route. It totally reads like one of those bad Dramione fics I used to obsess over back in the day…except actually good! So to reiterate: Nobuyuki is a dangerous man, and this route is brilliant.
Personal enjoyment: 10/10
There’s quite a bit more drama in Shigezane’s route, in the form of that brown haired male sprite that Voltage always uses to indicate a villain’s in town. This time, the villain’s a spy that’s masquerading as a food merchant. S recognizes the sprite is suspicious of the dude, but that doesn’t stop him from having fun with MC, sneaking out into town repeatedly to play with children, and getting scolded by Hiromasa for it, lol. Things kind of go south when MC gets chloroformed by the brown haired villain, after detecting his plot to poison the castle with hemlock. But have no fear: Shigezane saves the day (somehow, magically, despite having no idea where MC went!), and gallantly covers poor MC’s eyes so she doesn’t have to witness the bloody carnage as his men cut down the villain and his accomplices… And then the (thus far, platonic) pair shares a cute moment after S falls ill and MC takes care of him by his bedside (“You’ll stay here, won’t you doll?”)!
There’s also a side plot about Shigezane’s mother trauma thrown into the story somehow. So honest assessment: this plot, like Shigezane himself, is a bit of a hot mess. But…I’m Shigezane trash and enjoyed it anyways 🙂 #standards
Personal enjoyment: 8/10
Ah, Kageie. I didn’t know anything about this pretty boy before this ES! So imagine my surprise when I realized that Kageie is a total stoner stereotype: he naps in the sun, pets people on the head, and eats food, all day. Anyway, in this story there’s been a ghost woman reported wandering around the castle, and when MC grabs onto Kageie one night because she’s scared (she’s temporarily staying over), he brilliantly concludes she wants the D, and starts somewhat uneagerly seducing her…only to be interrupted by none other than Kenshin and Kanetsugu! Kenshin’s reaction to seeing MC on top is hilarious (“My, MC…I hadn’t seen that brazen streak in you”). As for Kageie? “Guess it’s my fault. ‘Cause I was trying to have sex with her.” This guy… 😂. In the end, we learn that Kenshin was the ghost woman all along (lmfao), and Kageie decides to “keep” MC, whatever that might mean.
There is some excellent commentary from @tinydadkanetsugu and @sharksmirk-reblogs regarding the sexual assaultish nature of Kageie’s actions. I totally respect where this is coming from, but to be very honest I personally still don’t get assaultish vibes from the whole thing! IMHO Kageie seemed so uninterested in the sex, and MC seemed more confused than unwilling. So under that lens, I thought the whole thing was hilarious, but it’s worth pointing out other valuable perspectives, esp. because people have raised some very valid points! In any case, Kageie…I enjoyed reading about his lazy and socially awkward ass, but this kid is way too bizarre to be sexy, haha.
Once upon a time, I naively thought that Eisuke’s route in Kissed by the Baddest Bidder was the worst I’d ever have the misfortune of reading. Well, my friends. I’m delighted (?) to inform you that we have a new winner, in the the form of Asahi and his blood pressure-raising route.
Let’s start from the top, shall we? MC works for Sanno Corp, a conglomerate run by an affable CEO (aka her unknown/secret grandfather), who passes away. In his final days, he arranges for MC’s future “happiness” on her behalf, by setting up a Marriage Program for MC to pick a husband and future CEO among six up-and-coming male employees (no women allowed??). Instead of, you know, giving MC leadership training while he was alive so she could try being CEO herself like a proper loving grandfather, or something…
Anyways, MC is conned into signing a contract agreeing to the Marriage Program, while being told it’s paperwork for the company’s MVP award, by the shady interim CEO. Long story short, if she fails to find a husband before a year is up, the company will be forced to dissolve without a CEO, and she’ll be forced to pay everyone’s severance pay. So… I don’t know what the rules and regulations surrounding contracts are in Japan, but I can’t imagine that this’d hold up in court? There was a whole auditorium’s worth of people who could testify that MC was pressured into signing, after all. And according to Google, severance pay isn’t required in Japan if a company can’t continue its business due to “unavoidable circumstances” – such as, say, an asshat ex-CEO who set up a terrible program for his granddaughter instead of getting to know her like a normal person?!
Anyways, because there is something seriously wrong with MC, she picks Asahi, aka very obviously the rudest of the bunch, to be her first marriage candidate during a month-long trial period. Asahi is a rich, privileged, and entitled douchebag who doesn’t understand poor/middle class people. He thinks he’s God’s gift to womankind because he’s handsome. And although MC is the one who holds all the cards as, you know, the person who picks the next CEO, he doesn’t hesitate to order MC around constantly (“Don’t do anything without my say-so!”), insults her, and regularly compares her to a pet dog. Ugh.
Oh, and he tries to have nonconsensual sex with her. TWICE. His rationale, after MC manages to ward him off? “This is the first time a girl has rejected my advances!” …That doesn’t excuse shit, you asshole. And to top it all off, unlike other characters under the douchey alpha male trope who stop insulting MC halfway through, Asahi doesn’t really ever quit (“Plain IS your specialty.” – Episode 10 out of 13).
( ^this would’ve been a lovely CG if it were consensual >( )
All that alone is already enough to make me hate Asahi, and his route, quite passionately. But it gets worse. Throughout the entire story, Asahi forces MC to help him with a project to revitalize a Japanese village by bringing European luxury brands into the village and turning it into a tourist destination (weird, but sure, let’s roll with it). MC is Asahi’s assistant, but in reality, she is the only reason why the project even manages to succeed:
When Asahi rudely rejects a petition containing the villagers’ concerns about the project, MC is the one who listens to their complaints. And then Asahi gets PISSED at her for acting independently, and rips up the petition (!!) (“You’ll understand someday. Money and power are all that matter”). Douche doesn’t even begin to cover it. Psychopath?!
After a deal with a French CEO falls through due to Asahi’s evil half-brother’s meddling, MC and Asahi encounter a lost crying kid. MC wants to help the kid, Asahi wants to get the police to deal with it and call it a day. He’s super rude about it. But surprise surprise, said kid turns out to be the French CEO’s son, and that is the only reason why the Frenchman even gives Sanno Corp a chance. Without MC’s kindness, the project would’ve failed. Utterly. Because Asahi is an incompetent little shit.
The townspeople are upset over traditions being thrown out the window, and because MC’s the only person who ever listened to their concerns, she’s the one who comes up with the idea of embracing these old traditions even as they introduce new Western elements to the town’s stores, and mixing old with new. There is no way entitled little rich kid Asahi would’ve been able to come up with this on his own.
So what happens at the end of the route, you ask? Surely MC gets rewarded professionally for her excellent people skills and business acumen? HAH…don’t make me laugh. Here’s what happens:
MC writes an excellent project proposal as a last ditch effort, which Asahi utterly ignores because he went off to do his own thing regarding the deal. He praises MC, but who gives a shit? Words are cheap. I want actual, tangible, career success for MC.
The Frenchman announces, in a news conference, that he’ll be making a deal with Sanno Corp, and demands to work, more specifically, with his good friend Asahi. Um, excuse me, but WTF?!?!? Who was the one who helped his kid, again? Who was the one who came up with the proposal in the first place? Way to devalue a woman’s work and let another man get all the credit, dude! This makes me so mad asdfhqkjdhqfqdjfsh
Most annoyingly, Asahi presumably gets to be the next CEO, since MC obviously chooses him. Despite the fact that he’s so bad with people it’s unfathomable how he even got to where he was before he met MC…
This whole saga, with MC’s efforts and kindness being brushed aside/unrecognized, and the useless Asahi reaping the rewards of all of MC’s hard work, really really boiled my blood. As a working woman with ambitions, the whole work subplot represents many of my greatest fears regarding sexism in the professional workplace. It was, in a way, even more infuriating than Asahi’s romantic shittiness, because despite being ridiculous and unrealistic, everything still felt allll too fucking real.
After my extended rant regarding Eisuke a while back, several people pointed out that Eisuke’s character evolution over the course of many stories is what makes him truly great. I’m a little dubious, to be very honest, but I can respect that. But as for Asahi? IMHO this little dipshit doesn’t deserve future character evolution. He’s already used MC for professional success! He doesn’t get to just waltz in and reap the rewards of “becoming a better man” due to MC’s hard work and effort. What does MC even get out of this whole deal?? A good, rich man who loves her!? Yeah, no thanks. She could’ve gotten that from one of the many other less douchey love interests, probably without all this wasted emotional labor.
At the end of the day, Asahi and his route embodies several tropes/fantasies that I understand are very popular (and maybe even more popular in Japan, I wouldn’t know), and I can’t blame Voltage for catering to their audience (and even, perhaps, to you, the reader). He’s rich, he’s an “alpha male,” yadda yadda…I get it. But it’s definitely not a trope for me, and even less so given that whole crappy work thing. So. To reiterate, this has been the single most infuriating route I’ve had the displeasure of reading, to date. And because I strongly believe Asahi does not deserve to improve at the cost of MC’s suffering and sacrifice, I have no plans to give any of his sequels a chance. >(
(If this review actually made you want to check out Asahi’s route, my apologies – the free promotion has long since ended. But you can still enjoy (?) the story on Voltage’s Love365 app using coins!)
Choice quotes: “Aren’t you going to say, ‘I’m leaving for work, master’ on your way out?” “I’m leaving for work… you naked fathead!” “If you’re waiting for the day I take orders from you, 100 years won’t be enough.”
Personality: 1/10 Asahi is a rude asshole who lacks empathy and doesn’t know his damn place. He is such a rich douchebag stereotype.
Appearance: 8/10. Unfortunately.
MC: 6/10. I liked MC’s sass and work ethic, but she has terrible taste in men and is way too happy about the tiny breadcrumbs of kindness Asahi occasionally throws at her.
Plot/Payoff: 0/10. Horrifying for a working woman. >(
“I won’t let you die. I’ll protect you. For all eternity.”
Kenshin is… a polarizing character. There’s a 90% chance you’re gonna either love him or hate him after reading his route. And which bucket do I fall into, you ask? Let’s just say, I have a new top IkeSen bias (sorry Nobunaga!)…
MC meets Kenshin under deceptively “normal” circumstances, after he rescues a restaurant owner and MC from some local bullies the usual way (“Come on! We just…nudged him a little.” “I see. Then I’ll nudge you a little with my sword and we’ll call it even?”). As he and MC get to know each other during his stay in Azuchi, she realizes that his woman-hating, evil reputation may have been overblown: in reality, while he’s indeed war-crazy and has a cold yet intense personality, he’s also noble to a fault.
But everything changes after Kenshin, who’s been under the impression that MC’s “just a village girl,” realizes she’s an Oda princess. He KIDNAPS her (!), as “spoils of this rotten war,” and locks her up in a cell in Kasugayama! But MC’s no ordinary prisoner: Kenshin has the finest furniture delivered to her cell, and among many other shenanigans, ends up visiting her WITH BUNNIES to try to make her happy (“I’ve heard women like animals. A good military tactic involves using your strengths while exploiting your opponent’s weakness”). We eventually learn that he’s been keeping MC locked up because he’s utterly insane terrified of falling in love/wants to keep her protected, Jumin style.
Things come to a head one drunken night, in MC’s cell (“What are you doing, MC? Why aren’t you fighting me? If you don’t fight me now, then I won’t ever let you go. Ever. You’ll be mine. I’ll keep you here forever. Don’t you see?”). MC and Kenshin confess their love to each other, and he takes her out of her cell and into his room for one steamy lovemaking session. And just like that, MC’s free. Kenshin reveals his (super tragic) backstory, MC reveals her time travel, Kenshin and Nobunaga strike up a temporary alliance for the sake of MC, and our happy fledgling couple eagerly basks in their happily ever after.
…Just kidding. It’s Chapter 9 at this point in the story, and things are never as simple as they appear, are they? It’s one step forward, two steps backwards with this guy. MC starts to get an idea of the true depths of his insanity when he has an entire flower garden removed because MC pricked her finger on one of them (“Are you happy, MC? The flowers won’t ever hurt you again”). And before too long, the God of War’s decided the best way to ensure her safety forever is to cancel his alliance with Nobunaga and live up to his name by conquering the entirety of Japan in battle…
I won’t go into detail about how Kenshin’s ending is resolved – TL;DR it’s a total cheese fest in the Romantic ending. Let’s just talk about plot quality for a second. The first 2/3 of Kenshin’s route is utter magic. It is, hands down, the best thing I have read in IkeSen thus far. And yes, this includes the kidnapping, because that is absolutely a level of crazy that I enjoy in my otome games. But the plot quality definitely starts to suffer after the second or third time Kenshin goes nuts (somewhere in between the flower removal and the decision to conquer Japan). It’s just too much, and I definitely don’t buy that Kenshin’s totally “cured” of his insanity, as MC seems to believe, by the end.
But that’s not really a knock on Kenshin himself. IMHO, Kenshin is a top notch otome character, and definitely definitely one of my new faves. His backstory is excellent, and let’s be real: his sexiness levels pre and post ultra-crazy episodes are simply off the charts. Also, all of the side characters in Kenshin’s route were simply amazing: Mitsunari and Shingen shined especially bright. Overall, if you’re willing to put up with some a metric fuckton of fictional insanity, I highly recommend taking Kenshin’s route out for a spin. You might just end up like me and find yourself a new top-tier otome love. ❤
Very long and spoilery list of favorite quotes/scenes:
“It’s almost time for dinner. I thought hunting bandits would help me work up an appetite.”
That time Kenshin walks slow to match MC’s pace ^_^
Sasuke and Yuki’s reaction to seeing Kenshin talk to MC
That time Kenshin RESCUES MC FROM THE BATTLEFIELD and they comfort each other by the fire when Sasuke goes missing
“You saved me tonight, MC. Don’t ever forget that. I’m grateful for you.”
When Shingen flirts his way into making sure Kenshin visits MC’s cell. “You want a surefire way to make sure he visits her cell? Then leave it to me.”
Shingen: “If you were my captive, I’d give you a real room and let you roam the castle while showering you with love from dawn until dusk.” MC: “…Thank god for cages.”
“I won’t be parted from you. If anything tries to separate us, even if it was time, I’d travel 500 years to get you back.”
Shingen’s imitation of Kenshin: “MC is mine now. If any of you touch her, I’ll kill you.” MC: “Come on! Kenshin wouldn’t—“ K: “that’s exactly right.”
“Tell me you’ll forget me, MC. Say it. Or I’ll continue.” “Continue to do what? Ruin a kimono?”
Poor Mitsun, learning what love is
“I want you with ferocious need, and I will for the rest of my life.” ❤
Personality: 10/10 otome entertainment value, 1/10 irl datability. Don’t let the loon in your poon, my friends.
Appearance: 10/10. Those heterochromatic eyes are just unfair.
MC: 8/10. TBH I ended up skipping over a lot of MC’s supportive monologuing, but she’s generally likable, intelligent, and shockingly sane for someone willing to put up with Kenshin 🙂
Plot/Payoff: 8/10. The first 2/3 of this route was absolute perfection. Things became a little less perfect in the final third.
Personal enjoyment: 9/10. But who cares about the flaws in Kenshin’s route? He’s my current top IkeSen bias, beating out even Nobunaga!
Otome Reviews 