Otome Reviews

SLBP “When Fate Brought Me To You” Ieyasu+Mitsunari+Masamune Review [SPOILERS]

…So I just found fairly detailed, ranty notes for this SLBP event from something like 2 or 3 weeks ago sitting on my desktop. Oops! Better late than never, right?

Oh, Ieyasu. His route featured an absolute shocking (to me, at least!) insight into his dark past as a hostage! Long story short, MC’s been hired by what she thinks is a kind and affable man, Yushimoto, to cook for the shogun. It doesn’t take long before she stumbles across the secret garden/adjacent room where Ieyasu’s essentially being held prisoner. We learn that Yushimoto is super abusive to Ieyasu: grabbing him painfully by the hair, setting an extremely restrictive schedule for him, and depriving him of delicious food that other are allowed to enjoy. And Ieyasu smiles creepily through it all – the origin/reason behind his “poison smile,” perhaps?! In any case, MC is Ieyasu’s sole champion, and in a surprising act of mercy, Yushimoto eventually allows MC to serve as Ieyasu’s personal maid and puts her in charge of his cooking, hopefully making the horror story that is his life just a little bit happier…

This route was upsetting, and Ieyasu was kind of creepy with his constant smiles and lack of talking…but I appreciated the insight into why Ieyasu might be the way it is. It does bother me, though, that Ieyasu is then romanticized as a character. He seems pretty verbally abusive to MC in other ES’s, so this ES suggests that he’s basically perpetuating the cycle of abuse? Ugh. 😦

Personal enjoyment: 7/10???

Have you ever encountered Mitsunari in previous routes and thought to yourself, “this guy has reached peak antisocial”? Well, think again. In this route, MC’s been hired by the ever attractive Hideyoshi to serve as a page in his castle after she physically fights off an overly friendly customer in her restaurant. One of her first tasks is to clean a room together with Mitsunari. But the dude is so not a team player: instead of helping MC understand what’s going on, he channels r/iamverysmart and bombards MC with a ton of Chinese philosopher quotes. My personal favorite: “Even an army of a hundred thousand cannot stop a single man’s righteousness.” Lmao. Other obnoxious things that he does: refuse the manju MC makes for him. Walks faster than MC when they’re sent to town. Judges MC’s purchases. Secretly cleans the entire room of crap himself because he thinks it’s faster for him to do it by himself?!

A big reason why I’m always hating on Mitsunari so much is because he reminds me of some insufferable people that I happen to know IRL. They think they’re smarter than everyone else, and have better hobbies than everyone else, and if you like fashion and listening to Taylor Swift and wearing makeup then you can’t be an intellectual because you are “shallow” and “fake.” Ughhhh. So yeah…given the fact that Mitsunari really amplified everything I already disliked about him in this ES, needless to say, I wasn’t a fan.

Personal enjoyment: 1/10

Look. I absolutely love Masamune, but this was almost as much Shigezane’s route as it was his. You won’t hear me complaining 😉 Anyways. The story begins with M and S working together to take care of some ruffians for MC (“All together now!”). She next encounters them when they happen to swing by her restaurant, but M is…extra untalkative, shall we say, and S is busy making excuses for the poor guy (“Not only is he a little bit of an idiot, he managed to drop all of his people skills out on the side of the road somewhere”). But M more than makes up for it later in the route after comforting MC during a thunderstorm (“It’s only passing through”) ❤ Anyways, at some point in time MC ends up making (inventing?) soybean mochi, which becomes a huge hit all across town. She ends up being invited to present her dessert at Yonezawa Castle…where Masamune’s been cooped up with his verbally abusive mom (and missing MC!!). The route ends with MC discovering to her shock just who exactly Masamune and Shigezane are, like in one of these awesomely cheesy teenage romance flicks. 🙂

Is my Date Clan bias showing? Sorry (not sorry). I loved practically everything about this route – and especially appreciated the insight into people’s perceptions of Masamune before his One-Eyed Dragon days, when he was merely viewed awkward and antisocial as opposed to terrifying!

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder: Soryu Oh Route Review [SPOILERS]

“Before I left for Hong Kong, I told you you were free. But I take that back now. Stay with me forever.”

I’ve heard quite a bit about KBTBB over the last few months, so imagine my delight when Voltage made Soryu’s route free on their Love365 app (until 11:59 6/30 JST, no less)! So did this guy live up to his hype? Absolutely yes.

…The truth is, this story and I definitely got off on the wrong foot. The premise of KBTBB is pretty stupid, and super problematic for a love story. TL;DR MC works as a maid at a fancy hotel. One day, a series of unfortunate events leads MC to accidentally break a vase that’s sitting in a storage room. She’s subsequently captured and sold off in a black market auction (!!) to a bunch of rich people at the hotel. And who “buys” her, you ask? The main love interests of this story, for a cool $20M. They literally run this freaking auction. And therefore didn’t actually lose out on any money buying MC…but that doesn’t stop them from making MC pick which guy “owns” her from now on! Yikes.

So MC picks Soryu, a scary-looking, grumpy Cantonese mobster whose first act is to shirtlessly threaten MC into compliance (“If you’re good, I won’t do anything bad to you”). His preferred form of communication is taking out his gun–not a euphemism–and waving it in people’s face, lmao. And like IkeSen Kenshin, he’s none too fond of women, and weirdly sexist all at once (“Wipe that stupid look off your face. I’d never point a gun at a little girl”).

The meat of the plot features MC masquerading as Mei Ling, an ally mob boss’ friendly daughter, as bait to draw out Soryu’s enemies. ML’s in town to find a husband, so guess who has the dubious pleasure of attending endless marriage meetings on her behalf? As MC fumbles her way through chaperoned dates with high profile criminals and various kidnappings/murder attempts, she gets to know Soryu better. Turns out the guy has a obsessive fondness for MC’s omelettes (not innuendo. again), and a fairly strong sense of honor for a mafia dude – tl;dr he doesn’t like harming innocents. He’s also hilariously unused to normal civilian things, like vegetables sitting out in the open at grocery stores (so poisonable! he says).

And perhaps most importantly, it becomes clear that despite his gruffness, Soryu cares about MC a lot. He gives her a piggyback ride when she injures her ankle. He relinquishes his bed when MC has to stay over at this apartment due to shenanigans. And he willing to take a literal bullet and beating – and ultimately, face execution – all for MC.

The climax of Soryu’s plot is exactly what one would expect and want from a cheesy mafia-based route, with all the arranged marriages and shifting alliances and threatened murder and whatnot. And it is glorious. Despite – or perhaps, because of – the extremely bumpy start MC and Soryu had to their relationship, the route’s ending definitely felt earned, and had me grinning like an idiot.

At the end of the day, I still think MC’s an idiot for getting involved with a mobster. And I cannot in good consciousness recommend Soryu’s route to just anyone. Dude sets off more red flags than IkeSen Kenshin (whom I also adore…oops), and it feels a bit weird to romanticize this level of crazy. But tbh, that’s also probably why this route never failed to entertain, from beginning to end. It reminded me of the crappy, unrealistic Cantonese gangster B-movies that I used to love watching as a kid. The side characters (especially Mei Ling and Ryosuke!) were fantastic. In short, Soryu’s evolution from scary mobster to only-slightly-less-intimidating mobster-in-love was truly a delight to witness!

Choice quotes
“Do you know the best way to overcome fear? You have to overcome something even more frightening than the thing you fear.”
“You’re still a mafia princess to me, MC! And I promise to serve you forever!” – Ryosuke
“…No. I don’t hate how you smell, MC.”

Personality: 10/10 in terms of otome entertainment value. Perfect combination of cool/stoic, and secretly kind. But would he be good IRL boyfriend material? Oh hell no. Mafia shenanigans aside, it’s probably not a good idea to date a dude who calls you nothing but “woman” for over a month?? 2/10 irl.

Appearance: 10/10. 11/10?? This guy is sex on legs. Total physical perfection.

MC: 7/10. MC was pretty all right. One could argue she was too passive, but what’s a girl to do when she’s thrown into the criminal underworld?

Plot/Payoff: 9/10. After the initial super questionable beginning, this route was a giant (extremely inaccurate) mobster cliche, and I absolutely loved it.

Personal enjoyment: 9/10. A very memorable route!

Masterlist

Ikemen Revolution: Ray Blackwell Route Review [SPOILERS]

“Being with you is bad for my heart. I need an extra. Maybe two.”

Don’t be fooled by that Nobunaga hair. Ray is nothing like everyone’s third favorite Sengoku warlord… 😂

MC’s Alice in Wonderland-inspired journey to love in the Cradle begins when she accidentally falls down a literal rabbit hole. Ray, ~~president~~ king of the Black Army, takes her in after a somewhat unpleasant encounter with the Red Army, aka 500 year old enemy of the Black Army. He cuts a deal with MC (protection for the next 30 days in exchange for her magic-zapping powers), but, as his buddies are quick to point out to him, it’s not like the Black Army really needs her powers. Ray’s just nice like that.

The bulk of Ray’s route features MC realizing just how amazing of a guy Ray is, while getting a nice introduction to the ins and outs of this world. Among other things, MC learns that Ray is a huge book nerd. She finds out (the hard way) that he can use magic – a bit of a surprise. And, most importantly, the guy loves cats! In what is one of my favorite scenes in this entire route, MC helps Ray fight off some bounty hunters (with a broom!!), and Ray makes fun of her for it (“You have to actually let us protect you. That generally means not running into a sword fight with a broom”). Lmao.

Given how affable Ray is, especially for a king, it really isn’t all that surprising when MC starts falling in love, and vice versa. But both she and Ray are in denial, given 1) she’s set to return to Muggle Earth in less than a month, and 2) MC’s been warned that falling in love in this world would be a curse. And then plot arrives in full force, in the form of an explosion right in the center of the country, which the Red Army swears wasn’t caused by them. It takes both MC’s and Ray’s powers combined to take down the (not very scary) big baddie, and of course, in the end, the adorable couple gets their happily ever after, after all.

…You may have noticed that my summarization of the actual plot was pretty short. That’s because even with the fate of Cradle on the line, this route just didn’t feel all that dramatic, and plot didn’t feel like the main focus at all! Ray’s route definitely strikes me as the starter route. There is tons of exposition and world building. Which is super helpful, but I definitely hope this doesn’t carry over into the other three routes currently available since it cuts into plot time!

Along similar lines, imho Ray’s story lacked a certain amount of depth/complexity that would’ve made it truly memorable. And although Ray definitely had his great moments (see: cats), and AMAZING CG’s, he fell a little flat as a character. It doesn’t help that I think his rationale behind banning magic use in the Black Army is phenomenally stupid. Hasn’t this dude ever heard the saying “you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”?!

Criticisms aside, I still have very high hopes for IkeRev (also, I nitpick because this is Cybird and IkeSen has taught me to have very high expectations, haha). The world is intriguing. Cybird has done a fantastic job mapping out all the main characters and their various relationships with each other. And, like a proper starter route, Ray’s route was great at selling me on many of other characters in the game (hellooooo Lancelot!!). And it’s not like Ray or his route was bad, either. He and MC share a ton of cute moments, and the banter between all the characters is super good. If you enjoy low-drama stories with a guy who’s as un-asshole as one can get, you’ll definitely really like Ray’s story!

Choice quotes (spoilers!)
“Wielding a sword, and fighting in battle—these are things that involve people’s lives. This isn’t just some kid’s game.”
“So long as you’re here, there’s no way I won’t come home.”
“I never said this, but—I didn’t just like you. I loved you.”

Personality: 7/10. Ray’s seems like a really awesome guy, but he’s not particularly memorable, and not a very good military strategist imho.

Appearance: 9/10. The Harry Potter series left me incredibly weak to green eyes and black hair. 11/10 every time the gloves show up.

MC: 8/10. I liked the MC! Spunky, but noticeably less cynical/sassy compared to IkeSen MC.

Plot/Payoff: 7/10. Ray’s and MC’s shenanigans were really cute to read, and I appreciated all the backstory. That said, imho this felt like a starter route and it lacked depth/plot tension.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10. A fun read!

Masterlist

Rate the Characters: Survey Results Part 1

Hello everyone!! First off: huge thanks to everyone who filled out/shared the survey I posted a little while back. There were nearly 200 responses (190 to be exact) – MUCH more than I initially expected! So, I really appreciate it 🙂

Without further ado, here is the first set of results from the survey! This post is a basic report of average character ratings. More analysis to come!

IkeSen

Cybird’s Ikemen Sengoku was the single most popular game in the survey (85% of you have played the game before!). Let’s take a look at the average warlord ratings. Ratings were given from 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.

It’s safe to say that most of IkeSen’s cast has been really well received by the fandom! Although meme-lord Sasuke leads the pack (by less than 0.01…), Team Nobunaga rates higher than Team Shingen+Kenshin by about 0.6 of a point on average (8.0 vs 7.4). …And then, there’s Kennyo. Poor guy. I’m not too surprised, though, tbh, given the monk’s self-imposed angsty villain status.

What’s funny is that neither of the top two warlords have main routes, at the moment. Seems like IkeSen fans have a lot to look forward to in future updates!

SLBP

Next up we have Voltage’s super popular Samurai Love Ballad: PARTY app (played by 74% of you)! Here are the average ratings:

Unlike with IkeSen, where a good half of warlords were all rated more or less equally highly, there is tons more variation in the SLBP ratings! The entire Date clan is almost universally adored, with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. People don’t seem to be quite as fond of Team Nobunaga – the Oda clan+allies have an average rating of 6.5 (the Takeda clan averages out at 6.9).

The three ninjas (Saizo, Sasuke, and Sakuya), haven’t been overly well received by the fandom either, with an average rating of 6.5. Voltage has been pushing the ninjas on us pretty hard, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how future ninjas are received by English-speaking fans!

Final SLBP thoughts: it’s the “gentle” warlords that lead the pack in terms of ratings! Takeaway? Nice guys don’t always finish last, after all. 😉

MysMe

Let’s move on to the super famous Mystic Messenger app, brought to us by the lovely Cheritz. A good 73% of you have played this game! It’s pretty time intensive; props to everyone who’a finished all the routes. Based on what little I know about the fandom, the resulting ranking probably won’t be all that shocking to you. 707 is an extremely popular fan favorite; I’m only surprised his average rating wasn’t higher, to be honest.

MidCin

Next up, we have Cybird’s Midnight Cinderella! All you Wysterian princess seem to really like your nobility, seeing as we have a duke, a king, and an archduke leading the pack. Those mysterious Stein boys (excluding the spoiler) are also slightly more well loved by the fandom overall, with an average rating of 7.5, compared to 7.1 for everyone else.

IkeRev

Last but certainly not least in our list of otome games, we have Ikemen Revolution, an exciting app from Cybird that’s less than one month old! Given how new the app is, it is truly hilarious how quickly opinions have already formed. Let’s take a look:

…Well then. The fandom seems to prefer the freedom-loving Muggles over the tyrannical wizards in general: Black Army ratings average 7.9, compared to 7.3 for the Red Army. To be fair, this survey was released two weeks ago, when the app was still pretty new, so I wonder if opinions will shift over time as more information about the armies and their conflict come to light!

Final observation: neither Oliver nor Yoosung from MysMe seem to have been all that well received by their respective fandoms. They are also both the most childish. Coincidence? I think not.

Bonus: MC ratings

Boys are cool and all, but if you’re anything like me, MC’s play can play a huge role in your enjoyment of a route. So which MC’s do folks like the best?

Turns out that while there are exceptions, IkeSen’s sass queen MC reigns supreme in most people’s hearts. Actually, if you think about it, the sass levels really start dropping the further down that MC ranking list you go.

So… the MC’s at the top of the list definitely strike me as much more Westernized, for lack of a better description, than the MC’s at the bottom. Which is fascinating, when you consider the fact that all of these games were developed in Asia. Just some food for thought.

That’s it, for now! I hope you found these results as interesting as I did. But wait! There’s more! Curious to see which characters are the most polarizing? Ever wondered how powerful character trope preferences actually are? Stay tuned for the next post in this series!

Pinging @akari-dangos @alternative27angel @alva-radio @aomarill @aromantic-misguide-to-romance @belxsar @blairextraordinaire @candidquip @chasingforgottendreams @cinderella-cass @cookieframby @dear-mrs-otome @dopeassjaqjack @dreamfar628 @emigotchi @eternallymitsunariishida @forallyourikemensengokuneeds @foxybread @fraeuleinfulltime @ieyasuslbp @ihavenotfallenyet @jaciinclays @jindalraekarkki @kanon-chii @kanookied @kay-otome @kindervenomtoo @kitsune-mana @kitty-kat-ty @laslilis2000 @lilster360 @lyra-ame @memiskypirate @mysticdaddies @mysticmessofcrap @ohsaizo @otohoe @otomeprincessstuff @perfectruffian2389 @pseudofaux @puppieee @randomchick29 @raspberrais @rose-of-yonezawa @rubyleeray @saizoswifey @saralilanimemanga @scrappingandyelling @sharksmirk @slbp-gamer @slbp-owns-ayame @soulfeather-universe @space-romantic @tardisgrl50 @the-divine-equalizer @thegreenfairy25 @twirlingintheabyss @uxoremmikael @valkryie-nyte @wrynnfall @yoolee @yuyuisakura-hime @zay5238 . Message me if you want on/off this list!

Class Trip Crush: Taketo Kanzaki Review [SPOILERS]

One thing I really appreciate about Voltage is that the titles they release cater to a wide range of ages. So even though the high school setting of Class Trip Crush means that I viewed this entire story through an extremely unromantic lens of “aww, how cute,” I’m really glad that this story exists. It’s free on Voltage’s Love365 app until 11:59PM June 13 Japan time!

Class Trip Crush spans five days, so don’t expect a whole lot of drama from this route. The premise: MC’s all-girls high school has partnered with its neighboring all-boys high school to send all the kids on a whirlwind tour across Honshu’s southern coast. Boys and girls alike haven’t had too much exposure to the opposite gender, so everyone’s excited (and hilariously awkward about it). For the trip, MC and her friends are matched with a small squad of boys, aka MC’s romantic options.

Taketo, the main star of this particular route, is a friendly, playful, and flirtatious star soccer player who takes an immediate shine to MC (after accidentally nailing her in the back with a soccer ball…). They don’t exactly get off on the best foot, but Taketo quickly wins MC over with his charm and spontaneity. He (illegally) rings a temple bell with MC before running off together. He gives her pretty gifts (from girls who tried to flirt with him, no less). He covers for MC repeatedly by claiming he’s been talking MC up (and thus getting himself in trouble). Before two days have even passed, MC’s developed a bona fide crush.

Complications arise in the form of Taketo’s twin brother Yasuto, with whom MC also shares a great connection. Yasuto’s definitely the nicer one; if this were a k-drama, second lead syndrome would be strong. Anyways, Taketo misinterprets MC’s friendship with Yasuto for a crush, and backs off – to MC’s chagrin. It’s very polite; brother complexes aside, both Taketo and Yasuto clearly have tons of love for each other. But since this is Taketo’s route, on the last night of their class trip, he and MC clarify their feelings for each other (his confession to MC is the most hilariously long-winded and awkward thing I’ve ever read), and the route ends happily with a tentative relationship formed!

Taketo’s story was a very short read. It took me just over an hour to read through everything. That said, there were so many things about this route that were utterly charming! For example:

The characterizations: this story captures more or less how I imagine (idealized) high schoolers in Japan might behave, flaws and all.
The friendships: MC’s female friends were great! I loved reading their nighttime chats/boy talk, and loved how they called out MC when she was making mistakes with Taketo. Spoiler alert MC faces some tensions with one of her friends, but I enjoyed how friendship won out anyways.
The cross-gender interactions: the awkwardness was hilarious and great! There was a fair amount of rule breaking with the girls sneaking into the boys’ room to play (innocent, g-rated) games, and it was amazing.
The setting! As a total Westerner, I loved the insight into how Japanese people might tour their own country. Petting zoos, temples and kimono photoshoots in Kyoto, okonomiyaki in Osaka, fishing on Shikoku island…these kids are so freaking lucky.

Basically, I loved this story. Despite the fact that I’m not Japanese and definitely didn’t grow up in Japan, it brought up so many happy feelings of childhood nostalgia. As a character, Taketo is definitely a believable candidate for childhood crush recipient, and the innocent missteps and mistakes that he and MC made only made the story better. So TL;DR while this route wasn’t a heart-poundingly sexy/romantic read, it was definitely a really cute one!

Choice quote
“Man, first a lion. Now you’re getting involved with drunks. I can’t believe how stupid you are. I can’t take my eyes off you for a second.”
“Yasuto. I can’t do it, man. I can’t give up MC for you.”

Personality: 8/10. Taketo is fairly blunt with this words. He’s also kind of a flirt, and has his impressively immature moments. I have trouble believing he and MC would last IRL. But as far as high school crushes go, he’s pretty great. I probably would’ve liked him in high school too, haha.

Appearance: …I’m not going to rate a high schooler, even if it’s an otome game. Lmao

MC: 9/10. MC has her flaws, esp. with communication, but is such a believable protagonist! She tries her best, and that’s what matters.

Plot/Payoff: 8/10. The plot spans just five days. This is both a pro and a con; the setting is charmingly low stakes, but also, by nature, not all that complex/impressive!

Personal enjoyment: 10/10. I was charmed. 🙂

Masterlist

SLBP “When Fate Brought Me To You” Hideyoshi+Yukimura+Mitsuhide Review [SPOILERS]

I’ve noticed something interesting about all these When Fate Brought Me To You routes, where MC meets her warlords years before she does in canon: there’s no romance in any of them! Pretty bold move for a visual romance app 🙂

Hideyoshi’s ES is freaking adorable. The story begins with MC getting hired to be a chef for a nearby lord. And for once, it’s a legitimate gig! Almost immediately, her fellow maids warn her about some young’uns (Hideyoshi+crew), who have a reputation in the castle for being unruly hooligans (!!). We learn, through some side scenes, that his posse are total teenagers to boot (“Just where the hell do you get off calling me ‘Master’, huh?” “Huh? You mean you’re not? Or maybe you want to be the one getting off?” “Our Ichimatsu was always such a greedy little thing, wasn’t he~”). It’s great. 🙂 The fact that MC thinks she spots H and his gang stealing from an old man doesn’t really help her impression of them either (spoiler: said geezer is the true thief). But as time passes, she realizes that these boys are just misunderstood, well-intentioned misfits, after all. In any case, at some point in time a drunk Masanori tries to attack MC, and she knocks him out…WITH A VASE (!!). Her new lord’s favorite vase, to be more precise! Hideyoshi thinks it’s hysterical, MC is horrified…in the end, the lord has MC work as a maid for H and friends (since nobody else can deal with them), and their journey really begins.

I just can’t stop giggling over the thought of Hideyoshi as a delinquent/troublemaker. That alone made this a fun read. Also THE VASE!! lmfao. MC and Hideyoshi butting heads is the perfect rom-com setup – too bad the story didn’t quite get there!

Personal enjoyment: 9.5/10

Poor lovable idiot Yukimura finds himself mortally wounded this time around in his ES. 😦 MC stumbles across the guy while he’s hiding out in a shrine that she’s visiting on behalf of a local elderly man. Y initially tries to reject MC’s offer to dress his wounds, because he isn’t “deserving of a woman’s silks,” but her tenacity eventually wins out. Cue adorkable shirtless scene. As time goes on, MC helps Yukimura recover, both physically as well as mentally (she feeds him onigiri!). Turns out Y was involved in a pretty intense battle, and it’s obvious that he’s fighting some pretty dark inner demons as a result. MC eventually coaxes him into town and into her mom’s restaurant, and it’s there that the same elderly man from the beginning of the story offers to take him in, claiming that he could due with a strong young man helping around the place.

So nothing much really happened in this route, but nonetheless, it was cute! Some highlights include Yuki awkwardly asking MC to grill a fish that he’d just caught, as well as this line from MC: If reminding him that there is always a meal waiting for him makes him resist the allure of Death for another day, I will feed him forever. Aww. ❤

Personal enjoyment: 7/10.

Mitsuhide’s route features subversive literature, of all things. Long story short, a thrilling book about revolution and adventure has been making its rounds in Kyoto, and MC gets her hands on a copy from a restaurant regular. She ends up talking about it with a young Mitsuhide, who’s been frequenting her restaurant recently. But trouble arises when Mitsuhide’s employer, ~~the magistrate~~ Lord Hidemasa, makes a creepy move on MC and is rejected. Insulted, he uses Mitsuhide to have MC arrested on trumped up charges of promoting anti-shogunate literature (aka the book), and promises her release…if and only if she’s willing to marry him. She refuses. Mitsuhide’s initially reluctant to help, but eventually he goes over his boss’s head and gets her out of jail…and into the kitchen as the new castle chef. The route ends with M requesting some onigiri from MC in a scene that I think is supposed to be cute but definitely comes across as more sinister than anything else…

So this route definitely wasn’t my cup of tea, for several reasons: 1) the creepy suitor trope, which I’m not super fond of, 2) MC’s repeated assumption that Mitsuhide should help her when she gets into trouble (learn from Hideyoshi MC, girl), and 3) MC getting conscripted into working for the castle that the creepy dude’s staying at. Her poor mother doesn’t even know if she’s still alive!

Personal enjoyment: 4/10

By the way, in case you haven’t been spammed by me about it enough yet, I’m running a survey on mobile otome games that I’d love you to fill out! Was going to post results this weekend, but I’ve been too busy to make the data look pretty. So, the survey runs for another week haha. Check it out here! 🙂

(UPDATE: the survey is closed, data is being crunched. Thanks for your interest!)

SLBP: “The Lover’s Guide of Iga” Kotaro Review [SPOILERS]

…This latest ES featuring everyone’s favorite batshit crazy villain ninja Kotaro is really something that has to be seen to be believed. The SLBP writers are definitely…creative…lmao. Looking forward to the inevitable magistrate ES, I guess…?!

Anyways. Kotaro’s route is a wild ride, that features MC willingly leaving Shingen’s employ so that she can live in a random cottage in the middle of the woods with Kotaro. Apparently MC’s presence keep Kotaro’s headaches at bay. MC’s rationale for joining him? “It’s true that Kotaro is a little…touched…but I don’t see him as a bad person.” Ok, MC. D: Some highlights:

K’s method of recruiting MC into his madhouse: by poofing to her side repeatedly until she agrees to join him. Cos nothing says true love like stalking your intended while she’s hanging underwear out to dry.
The romantic gifts that Kotaro bestows upon MC to demonstrate his affection: a broken hair comb, a cracked mirror. I don’t know what you’re talking about, this doesn’t sound like a red flag at all.
MC’s observations of Kotaro after he comes back all bloodied from an encounter with SAKUYA: When I look up at him, Kotaro is taking rapid, shallow breaths, in a state of undeniable and shattering…arousal. 😂
Kotaro going nuts when Sakuya nicks MC (after she takes a dagger to the shoulder for K): “I’ll never…EVER forgive you!!!”
When he LICKS a bloody wound that Sakuya leaves on MC, “just as a pet would do for his Mistress.” MC’s words, not mine. Omfg Kotaro.

So… yeah. I’m 70% certain Voltage is just trolling us with Kotaro’s route. …Okay. 60%?!?! In any case, it was hilarious and I appreciated the opportunity to witness MC embracing her inner crazy. 🙂

Personal enjoyment: 9/10 (but not for the usual reasons lmao)

PS if you have a spare second, I’m running a cross platform survey on otome game characters, and collecting data until the end of this work week! Would absolutely love it if you could fill it out 🙂 Link

(UPDATE: the survey is closed, data is being crunched. Thanks for your interest!)

SLBP: “The Lover’s Guide of Iga” Saizo+Kiyohiro Review [SPOILERS]

Confession bear time: I’m not a fan of SLBP ninja routes. It’s not that the ninjas themselves are necessarily bad (after all, they’re just as hot as the samurai warlord crew, if not hotter). But their routes tend to make less sense. And there tends to be more miscommunication/unnecessary angst. And on top of it all, I’m always left wondering why, if the ninjas in this universe are so powerful and magical, they don’t rule the world?? So… this latest event is no exception.

Let’s start with everyone’s favorite angst lord Saizo. Long story short, Saizo’s younger brother Hotaro (pictured above – take note of the emo nail polish) is in town. I’m really not sure, based on description, whether he’s 12 or 20. Anyways, MC thinks he’s adorable and wants to play, but Saizo’s having none of it (“That boy is not who you think he is, little lady”). Eventually, we learn that Hotaro’s goal… is to kill Saizo. Village orders. For whatever reason, the kid doesn’t use the full extent of his powers (S calls him out on this), and this whole drama between Saizo, his bro, and his ninja village is left unresolved. And in the meanwhile, Saizo assigns the temporary label of “lovers” between him and MC, but I suspect that’s just a ploy for him to get his daily dango fix from her.

…That’s it. That’s the story. I don’t get it. I mean, shitty ninja plots aside, there was seriously more (potentially pedophilic) chemistry between MC and Saizo’s little brother than there was between MC and Saizo!! Here’s approximately as good as it gets between the two: Saizo regards me with cold rejection, shards of icy resistance resting in his eyes. So… yeah. Not a fan of this route.

Personal enjoyment: 2/10.

Is it possible to love a character while simultaneously WTF-ing at his story? Kiyohiro (aka Hanzo #1) sure makes it easy. His is a tale of ninja intrigue: Masanari, aka Hanzo #2, aka snake face, has sent him/MC on a mission to assassinate some of Ieyasu’s political rivals. MC’s the unwitting intermediary: Kiyohiro’s supposed to slip poison into a meal that MC’s cooking, but after hearing MC passionately discuss her love of cooking for others, K falters, and the mission fails. Hanzo #2 chases after him and MC like a beautiful avenging demon, and fucks K up with a ton of needles as punishment. Then he THROWS A DAGGER at MC after she apologizes for her role in this whole mess and K takes it for her akdjfqljfsajdff. I guess all’s well that ends well: Kiyohiro makes his affection for MC pretty clear, Ieyasu sets them up in the most roundabout, insulting way possible, and Hanzo #2 slithers around unnecessarily.

I really didn’t know much about Kiyohiro before this ES, but he really comes across as shy and lovable. My one gripe: he should’ve clarified the mission parameters to MC better. Idk what’s up with ninjas and their crap communication skills. But Kiyohiro aside, this route really highlights just how royally screwed up the ninja world is (thank you, @eth-real, for taking the time to explain things to me 💕). 1) They aren’t supposed to love. 2) When they screw up, they apparently get NEEDLE FANNED. Why?! Ninjas are clearly OP in this universe with their unrivaled poofing abilities. I really don’t get why they have to take this bullshit lying down. Argh.

…In other news, Masanari is the very dictionary definition of uncomfortably attractive 😂

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

Kiss Me on Clover Hill: Yusuke Sakuraba Route Review [SPOILERS]

Look. I can always pretend that I’m an intellectual who’s capable of looking past what’s skin-deep, but the truth is… I’m shallow af. To an extent that I didn’t even realize, until playing through this latest free offering on Voltage’s Love365 app (free until maybe about 9PM PST today!).

…Put another way, perhaps the most important thing you should know about Kiss Me on Clover Hill is that the artistic style is decidedly… different… from that of the usual pretty boys that Voltage throws at us. So to each their own, but know that I spent most of the time actively covering poor Yu’s face with my hand while reading. 😂

…Anyways. Looks aside, this route features a relatively peaceful and drama-free slice-of-life love story between two students who attend the same art college. MC’s a freshman and aspiring graphic designer who, after getting kicked out of her original housing, ends up living in Clover Hill, a beautiful house full of single boys. Yusuke is a friendly, flirtatious, and super laid back senior/painter who’s been held back for two years. The two share an instant connection, one that’s tested when MC starts learning about just why Yu’s been held back for so long.

Long story short, rumors of plagiarism have hounded Yu ever since he submitted a senior project proposal that was a duplicate of someone else’s. And ever since, he’s been unable to find inspiration to paint anything. Which is a bit of a problem, considering his desired profession. As the story goes on, we learn that this whole time, Yu’s actually been covering for the true plagiarist: his ex-girlfriend (and the only pretty character in this entire route). Long story short, she stole his graduation proposal while they were dating, blaming Yu for her lack of inspiration, and because Yu’s a freaking pushover and an idiot, he let it (and her) go, putting his entire freaking career on the line.

I don’t know if this was supposed to make Yu seem like a more romantic character, because it didn’t. In any case, it’s a good thing MC moved in, because she becomes his new muse/painting inspiration. It wouldn’t be the first time; we learn that as children, an art piece that MC drew provided the impetus for Yu to pursue painting in the first place. Which is pretty adorable, I guess.

In between this whole art saga, MC and Yusuke spend a lot of time in this story just getting to know each other, which was cute. Yu is the main driver for most of it: he DJ’s for MC the first day she arrives, drags her to eat ice cream, takes her to a music concert on campus, and more. He’s generally cheerful and spontaneous; it’s easy to see why MC is drawn in so quickly. And in the end, of course he and MC become a couple. There’s very little drama about it; it’s a super natural progression.

At the end of the day, Yusuke is decidedly not my type. Physical looks aside, he lacks a certain level of drive/ambition that I like in my guys, and he’s just way too spontaneous/laid back. Also, the only-MC-can-be-my-artist-muse thing is such a stereotype, haha. That said, the slice-of-life nature of this story was on point. The other residents of Clover Hill felt like real people who weren’t just there to advertise their own routes, and I loved the fact that MC had her own friend circle away from these boys. So overall, this route rates super low on sex/romantic appeal, but I appreciated it, nonetheless!

Personality: 5/10. He’s a slacker and I question his ability to succeed in life, but he’s nice.

Appearance: 2/10. Hey, he’s prettier than the magistrate from SLBP… 😉 5/10 CG’s.

MC: 5/10. I liked MC’s professional determination, but she was a pretty passive participant in this love story.

Plot/Payoff: 5/10. I don’t like the main “drama” of the plot (aka plagiarism), but there were quite a few little moments that were great.

Personal enjoyment: 5/10. A decidedly all right read!

Masterlist

Midnight Cinderella: “Storybook Romance” Event Review

What happens when you mix Midnight Cinderella, an otome based off one of the most famous fairy tales of all time, with even more fairy tales? The answer: a shocking amount of foreign policy. I’m starting to suspect that each country in this universe is one city…

If I tell you Byron’s theme is Rapunzel, it shouldn’t surprise you to know that this story features a kidnapping. MC and Byron are on their way to a summit with a third country, when MC is grabbed and placed in a tower. Turns out the third country doesn’t want Wysteria involved. Conveniently, Byron had given MC a bird whistle earlier, which she uses to notify his (magical?) pet owl of her location. He arrives, and ends up walking her through the process of climbing partway down with bedsheets – and jumping the rest of the way into his arms (“I’ve got you, MC”). Swoon. 🙂 Overall, I enjoyed how proactive (relative to usual) MC was in Byron’s route. And Byron himself…who needs a knight in shining armor when you’ve got a king!? 💕

Personal enjoyment: 8/10. It’d be a 9 but there was no fallout for the third country from the kidnapping??

Little Red Riding Hood. Rayvis’ route features a bit of political corruption: they’re visiting a hospital that Rayvis suspects has been behind a rise in wolf attacks nearby (to up the patient count). So right after promising Rayvis not to do anything idiotic, MC stalks the shady hospital director into the woods… Turns out he’s been training/feeding the wolves. MC almost becomes a victim, but unsurprisingly, Rayvis swoops in to save the day, and then – for once – gets on MC’s case about running off to danger by herself when she doesn’t even have the fighting skills to take on a baby rabbit (“Why did you go after him by yourself? …You leave the danger to me. Understood?”). So yeah. MC was mind-bogglingly stupid in this route, and it was off-putting. But the route is responsible for one of the best/cheesiest lines ever: “Wild wolves aren’t the only danger around here, so be careful.” “Are you talking about Rook?” “No, I’m talking about me.” God bless whoever came up with Rayvis’ character. ❤

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

In this Beauty and the Beast-themed story, Leo accompanies MC as her security to the party of a foreign duke, who wants to marry MC. Said duke drugs MC and Leo with some extremely potent sleeping powder (seriously…they take one sip), and then tries to coerce MC into agreeing to marrying him, to spare Leo’s life (some hilarious intimidation via rose petals is involved). But at the last moment, Leo bursts in, having used rose thorns (of course) from the greenhouse in which he’d been locked to stay awake, and saves the day (“I’ll always be with you, no matter what”). So…MC’s security detail sucks, considering she’s a princess. And I don’t quite get the duke’s evil plot. After all, based off MidCin’s MS’s, I’ve been led to believe that marriage arrangements can be made and broken at a moment’s notice…!

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

The Snow Queen is the fairy tale for the icy Louis – it’s only fitting. Here, MC’s invited to visit a cold northern country with her bae. For once, there’s no political intrigue – but when MC chases after a report she’s written that a cat stole (yep, you read that right), she accidentally ends up stepping on a plant that gives her selective amnesia. Of her most precious memories…aka everything featuring Louis, because I guess MC never had a family or anything like that? L is amazingly nice about it (“It’s okay. Even if you never remember…I’ll do my best to make you fall in love with me again”). But in any case, true love’s kiss saves the day. So… this route was a total cheese fest, but I appreciated the lack of shitty political intrigue. Also, damn, Louis is smooth af.

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

Hansel and Gretel is MC’s fairy tale of choice for Nico, which imho is a very good choice, given how…unconvincing… I find him to be, as a romantic prospect. Anyways, N and MC hear rumors about a witch in a foreign country who’s been kidnapping children ~~to cook/eat them~~, and what would you know, they come across an old lady and scared little girl in a forest not too long afterwards. MC and Nico pulls the he’s-my-brother trick to convince the woman to let them stay the night, and the totally platonic pair manage to get the drop on the old woman…right before the local vigilante crew storms her home, anyways.

This route was a mess of contradictions. MC says “I don’t like being the one who always gets protected, Nico” – and then two chapters later, thanks N for protecting her anyways. Nico manages to subdue the old woman – and then acts all relieved when the vigilantes arrive. I just don’t get it. 😦

Personal enjoyment: 3/10

I whine a lot about the flaws here, but the truth is, as far as MidCin events go, this was one of the better ones! The usage of fairy tales as a framing device was pretty clever, and I liked that each route was wildly different. If for some reason you haven’t gotten started yet, def. go with Byron’s or Louis’ first. Both their routes are super solid!