hideyoshi – Otome Reviews

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 Ascension of the Divine Consort” Event Shingen+Ieyasu+Hideyoshi Review [SPOILERS]

Can I just say: best event ever?? Between the dramatic drama, cheesy romance, and silly hats, SLBP’s latest wedding-based event’s got all its otome bases covered. Not to mention, there are CG rewards for finishing each route. Definitely an event worth participating in!

“From today onward, you are my wife.”

All of the routes in this event feature some sort of military plot, and Shingen’s is no exception. MC and Shingen are in the midst of planning their wedding, but there are problems: the Oda forces are on the move, and Shingen’s got his illness to worry about. Everyone’s morale is shaken when someone fires a bullet into a Takeda crest from a distance in the dead of night – it isn’t until that moment that Shingen’s retainers realize how deadly Nobunaga and his guns can be. Things get a little awkward, but Shingen levels with them, revealing his illness, and his honesty in turn rallies the troops. They execute a clever and effective secret flanking strategy that renders Nobunaga’s riflemen useless, and Shingen returns, victorious, to MC, to get married. The story ends with feasting and Shingen whisking MC away bridal style, on a classic Shingen note (“Er, where are you taking me?” “I’m going to make love to you”).

…Sounds like a pretty great synopsis, doesn’t it? Believe it or not, this was actually my least favorite route out of the three that are currently out. The military and political intrigue (not to mention, the smut levels) only gets better.

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

“Don’t you dare find ways to hurt yourself when I am not here to stop you.”

Ieyasu’s story begins with a pilgrimage to Nobunaga’s castle, for the first time ever. Which is interesting, and really highlights how historically inaccurate IkeSen is, haha. In any case, the guy’s his usual charming self during the visit, and MC’s her usual deluded self (“If you have the incredible surplus of time it takes to stick your nose where it shouldn’t be, use it to see my cup is not empty again.” That’s his way of telling me not to worry about Lord Nobunaga and see to the others, isn’t it…). But Ieyasu shockingly reveals that he’s occasionally capable of not being a total asshole in this route, and makes plans to visit Kyoto on their return journey, all because MC wants to. Unfortunately, said plans are derailed when a band of soldiers bearing Mitsuhide’s war standard attacks the traveling party, and they are forced to flee into the forest/hide in a cave. Ieyasu’s retainers understandably panic. If Nobunaga has terminated their alliance, their future is uncertain. Stuck in a dangerous situation, Ieyasu sends MC away back to Kyoto, while he deals with the problem at hand. …Let’s just say that after a bit of drama and fighting, the situation gets resolved cleanly. Ieyasu makes his way to Kyoto, and the route ends with a “surprise” wedding!

…Look. I freaking loathe Ieyasu. I am unrepentantly biased about it. But his event route was undeniably great. I loved the drama. And his hilarious band of retainers (especially the masochistic Tadakatsu). And the fact that, all assholery aside, it was clear that Ieyasu secretly really cares for MC (in this route, at least). All in all, this route was a total blast!

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

“We’ve been through so much since the day I met you…but I’m happy we made it here…together.

Poor Hideyoshi’s story is probably the darkest of the lot. Things start on a fairly lighthearted note: H has been put in charge of a military offensive, but instead of ditching MC, he wants her to come along while he temporarily switches castles. They detour to Kyoto so that he can meet MC’s fam (it’s adorable), and they even manage to sneak some quality sexy time in (“His long, deft fingers waste no time in warming me to him until I can take no more”). As Hideyoshi+staff get settled into their new castle, we are re-introduced to Lord Bessho Nagaharu, a neighboring lord who’s happy to aid H with his offensive. But their alliance sours when Hideyoshi withdraws from a battle after receiving orders from Nobunaga, leaving a castle full of innocent people to die. Disgusted, Nagaharu betrays the Oda alliance and throws in his lot with the enemy. Nobunaga orders H to starve him into surrender…but everyone finds this to be horrifying. After some encouragement from MC and his retainers, Hideyoshi eventually decides to defy orders (!) and use an alternative, more peaceful strategy. But despite his best efforts, things still end on a tragic note (“You are a kind man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. …But, do not let my death be the thorn in your gentle heart”). In the end, Hideyoshi never does manage to come to peace with his and Nobunaga’s disagreements (“…Lord Nobunaga’s way is not the only one to Divine Rule”). But he and MC do get married in the end, in a touching and adorable scene.

This route was, imho, a tragic and angsty ball of perfection. Hideyoshi and MC had a amazing connection that clearly went past the superficial. There was so much backstory/banter between H and his retainers. And the whole thing with Nagaharu… wow. As a side note, I looked up Nagaharu’s history on Wikipedia, and this route couldn’t possibly be more historically inaccurate. Lol. But regardless, this was an amazing event route, with some Main Story-level storytelling. A+++ would read again.

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

SLBP: “Lover’s Arrows” Inuchiyo/Keiji + Hideyoshi/Kiyomasa Review [SPOILERS]

The current event has an interesting format! Similar to the main game, in each route you select there are two love interests to choose from after playing through a “common” route – the one catch here is that one of those love interests actually don’t have a main storyline! I’m impressed with Voltage’s creativity 🙂

The first pairing I went through was Inuchiyo and Keiji, his trusty retainer/sidekick/I don’t know??. The common route begins when Inuchiyo (grumpily) rescues MC from an angry man who’s mad that MC interrupted his child beating ways. After a snarky exchange, MC returns to her mom’s restaurant, where we learn that Keiji is a regular, and that Keiji and Inuchiyo are buddies, of some sort (“Call me Toshi again and you’re dead”). The next day, MC runs into the angry man and his thuggish sidekicks again; Inuchiyo helps her hide from the men by hugging her, and Keiji somehow manages to beat them all up off screen, before coming over to tease Inuchiyo (“Oh Toshi, you always were the kinky one~”). The three people return to MC’s restaurant, but when MC’s mom realizes she’s almost out of ingredients, MC is left with a choice to make.

If she selects Inuchiyo, she goes out shopping for ingredients with him. After they return, her mom sends the two of them out to have fun at a festival, which triggers fond memories that MC once had of attending said festival with a neighboring boy. Spoiler alert, Inuchiyo’s the boy. 😉 Unfortunately, MC doesn’t remember, which makes things awkward when she asks about a sword decoration that Inuchiyo has (“Someone who means the world to me gave me this.” “The woman you love?” “Yeah.” – cue self-jealousy). But at the last moment, MC remembers, and the two of them have an adorable reunion.

If MC picks Keiji instead, she stays with him and the two help out at her mom’s restaurant. Keiji’s a charmer but hopeless at the whole waitering thing, so MC sends him out to promote the restaurant instead. It goes swimmingly, until some local assholes get mad him and Keiji…beats them up off screen. I’m sensing a pattern here, haha. In the end, MC catches up with Keiji at a riverbank, and they almost share a kiss before being interrupted by Inuchiyo the cockblocker. Haha.

This may be my super heavy Inuchiyo bias talking, but to be honest, I thought this route would’ve been much stronger if it just featured Inuchiyo! I don’t know much about either character, but Inuchiyo’s story (lost childhood friendship) was so much more interesting than Keiji’s (happy drunk super samurai?). It doesn’t help that I don’t think Keiji’s an especially appealing romantic interest, haha. He’s a great side character, but…let’s be real. The guy’s kind of an idiot. ^^

Personal Inuchiyo enjoyment: 7/10
Personal Keiji enjoyment: 4/10

The second pairing that I encountered featured the always sexy Hideyoshi and his ~~brother?~~ ~~cousin?~~ retainer, Kiyomasa! The meat of this route starts with a war council: there is a security threat at an upcoming fair, and the duty of protecting everyone falls to H and his retainers. Small problem: everyone at the fair is required to be a couple! So Hideyoshi enlists the help of the women in the castle to help out with some fake relationships, including MC. H uses this hilarious premise to practice his flirty lines with MC prior to the fair (“I love you. … Something like that, maybe?”), while Kiyomasa takes a more….physical… approach. (He adjusts his hands, pressing me even closer with a sudden jerk, not even a breath of air between us. “This is nothing between lovers, is it?”)

On the day of the fair, if MC chooses Hideyoshi, H spends a good amount of time holding MC’s hand, and some point in time, buys her a hair clip and puts it in her hair seductively. I love this guy. Eventually, they hit up the dance floor, which is on a ship, for some reason, and are pressured by MC’s European friends into slow dancing. It’s awesome. Until the ship/dance floor is attacked…by angry warrior monks! They’ve rigged the ship to explode. H goes into cold ~~sexy~~ scary samurai mode when MC’s threatened, but when the monks set the signal to blow up the ship…nothing happens. Because H’s retainers took care of the problem already! In the end, MC and H share a romantic moment on the riverbank (“Say a word to me with that smile on your face and I’ll have no choice but to fall in love with you…you know that, right?”). I swooned. ❤

If MC chooses Kiyomasa instead, she is the sole woman to join K’s group! They scout out the monks’ temple together during the fair, where he, too, holds MC’s hands. The monks require proof that MC and K are lovers; K’s really good at pretending, but MC freezes up. K hilariously blames “performance issues” due to such things exciting her too much, and the monks buy it! Lmao. K even uses the monks as an excuse to make out with MC in a super hot way at some point (Just when I think he is going to break the kiss, he starts another, hand working into hair, grasping at it. Then, he tugs it back, tilting my chin several times to take my lips from every angle, each kiss deeper than the last. “D’you plan on letting me take you to school for the rest of this, too?”). In the end, K instigates a fight in a random room anyways, and H’s retainers show up at the last moment to save the day. Sadly, the two of them don’t quite get together by the end of the route ^^

…So look. I know nothing about the guy, but Hideyoshi has pretty much been perfection in every route he’s shown up in so far. He’s mad sexy. But Kiyomasa really holds his own! If MC and Kiyomasa had actually gotten together in some satisfying way by the end of their event, I probably would’ve enjoyed his event route just as much, to be honest!

Personal Hideyoshi enjoyment: 8/10
Personal Kiyomasa enjoyment: 7/10

Overall, neither the Inuchiyo/Keiji nor the Hideyoshi/Kiyomasa routes made much sense. But nonetheless, this event has been really fun. Looking forward to some Saizo/Kiyohiro goodness soon!

IkeSen: Hideyoshi Birthday Event Review [SPOILERS]

Okay. I’m feeling kind of salty about Hideyoshi’s birthday event because half my event friends list stopped being active after hitting 6k Glamour points. Ugh. That aside, this was such an amazing and fun birthday event!

In the first timeline, “Absolutely No Charming People,” Hideyoshi returns from a military campaign on his birthday to a throng of fans/well wishers, but above all, he’s delighted to spend some alone time with MC. MC tries to take him out to town to buy him some sweet dumplings, but alas, the dastardly Shingen sics H’s devoted fan club on him as a “trap”, and MC and H barely manage to run away into the forest, with the assistance of Masamune/Ieyasu/Mitsunari. Hideyoshi manages to calm the fan club eventually, by simply explaining that he wanted to spend some time with MC. In the end, the adorable pair return to the castle to (presumably) enjoy H’s birthday party and spend some quality alone time together (I haven’t finished the last 2 chapters yet).

Highlights include:

Nobunaba getting MC to ride on his shoulders while he clears a path past the fans to Hideyoshi (If Sasuke was jealous of me riding with Nobunaga, wait till he hears I rode on him! Wait, that sounds so wrong–)
Masamune stemming the tide of the fan horde by offering himself, Ieyasu, and Mitsunari up to the fans instead (“For today, only, you can get your hands on Azuchi Castle’s own cuties – Ieyasu and Mitsunari!” “Are you included in the deal, Lord Masamune?” “You bet I am. Bring it on.”)
MC and H being cute together in the forest

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

In the second timeline, “Absolutely No Mothering People,” things are slightly more peaceful. Slightly. In a secret nighttime meeting (arranged after MC spikes H’s tea with a blend that Mitsuhide stole from Ieyasu…), MC and the bros plot to minimize H’s mothering/worrying on his birthday so that he can enjoy himself: Masamune will be on time, Mitsuhide will hide his plotting from Hideyoshi (lol), Ieyasu will be nice to Mitsunari, and MC will try not to rely on H’s help. And Nobunaga? “I shall cease sneaking into the kitchen every night to steal candy. For a time.” Lmao. This guy…

The plan goes off, more or less, without a hitch. Just one small problem: H is sad that he can’t help MC, a point that MC is oblivious to until Kenshin, of all people, points it out to her: “Refusing his help and pushing him away at every turn? You’re punishing him for showing his love to you”. Realizing he’s right, MC apologies to Hideyoshi after he gives her a super sexy “interrogation,” because they have an amazingly healthy/communicative relationship, and they go off to enjoy H’s birthday party. And then that evening, Hideyoshi uses all the IOU coupons that MC gave him for the right to pamper her. In bed. 😉

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

So, if you somehow haven’t started any of the birthday routes yet, imho “Absolutely No Mothering People” is much better. It’s hilarious and wayyyy sexier. But that’s not to say that “Absolutely No Charming People” wasn’t great! Overall, I thought both event stories were awesome. And absolutely ridiculous. ❤

More quotes:

N: Hideyoshi, I congratulate you on your excellent work and present you with this reward.
MC: Hello, I’m MC. I’ll be your reward for this mission.
Sodoko?! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
(Who knew all it took was a life-threatening meet-and-greet to get these two to show camraderie?) – MC, observing Ieyasu and Mitsunari
H: Ieyasu, how many times have I told you to get along with–
I: …which is why I’d like to teach you about tea leaves, Mitsunari. Together. Over lunch. As a sign of our…friendship.
Sasuke: Lord Kenshin, the saying is “choose your battles.” Not “I choose battle.”
Kenshin: I understand that. I want to choose all of them.
I told [Kenshin] about our plan to keep my mother of a lover from always covering for others. “That sounds like a challenge. But I appreciate that it rhymes.”
“Listen, Mmitsunari, you don’t need to repay me for anything. Sure, your daily routine lacks a few things necessary for life, like eating–” I could’ve sworn Mitsunari cast off sparkles as he looked at Hideyoshi.

SLBP: “Riot of the Heart” Hideyoshi+Ieyasu+Kenshin Reviews [SPOILERS]

Riot of the Heart is basically a continuation of Lustrous Look of Love’s what-if-we-put-the-warlords-in-fanfic-situations premise, and it’s absolutely glorious. This time, instead of AU fanfic, we have different pairs of warlords encountering each other in all sorts of crazy situations 🙂

In what is hands down my favorite pairing so far, Kenshin and Mitsuhide meet when an amnesiac Mitsuhide falls out of a tree while Kenshin is out on a stroll. I could swear Kenshin the bisexual flirt activates for a second there (“Could it be…you fell from the heavens, perhaps?”). Over the next few days, MC and Mitsuhide connect over food/cooking, and Mitsuhide generally gets along super well with the entertaining cast of retainers in the castle (side note: it was refreshing/surprising to see how unjealous Kenshin was over the whole situation!). In the end, Kenshin helps Mitsuhide remember his identity after some late night bonding time, and ultimately, loyalty has Mitsuhide returning for Nobunaga, on good terms with House Kenshin.

There were so many things to love about Kenshin+Mitsuhide’s route. I loved the almost flirtatious interaction between the two (“…You are my little hyacinth.”). And speaking of flirtations, hot damn are MC and Kenshin good together! The Voltage writers are generous, and MC/Kenshin get it on 2.5 times in this event, by my count. And they have the cutest pillow talk ever (“If you ever did forget me…I may never be able to leave you alone until you remembered.”). And finally, since I haven’t done Kenshin’s main route yet, I enjoyed getting a sneak peak at the casual relationship he maintains with his retainers. The lecture-happy Kanetsugu, in particular, is my fave (“Lord Kenshin may not conduct himself as the Lord of the Clan should, but it is my job to support him so that he does not have to.”). ❤

As with Kenshin and Mitsuhide, I never imagined that Hideyoshi and Saizo might ever meet away from the battlefield. In this event, Hideyoshi and MC are helping Nobunaga with a multi-day long festival in town. And Saizo is skulking about town, on… I dunno, a reconnaissance mission? His motives are as ambiguous as his personality. In any case, both H and S are running around town incognito, so when MC and Saizo meet and bond over talk of Kyoto cuisine, she has no idea she’s interacting with an enemy ninja. In fact, MC explicitly notes that Saizo’s eyes “twinkle with kindness”, which, given the little I know about Saizo, is both hilarious and terrifying. But eventually, Hideyoshi confronts Saizo (who he knows shouldn’t be there), they have a bit of a showdown, and Saizo poofs away after getting a final word in, without harming anyone (“You did a good job of falling for my act, little lady.”).

I know even less about SLBP Hideyoshi than I do about SLBP Kenshin, but Hideyoshi came across as pretty damn likable in this event! I also appreciate the brief romantic moment that the writers threw in (“We’ll be busy until the festival starts, so tonight I want to have my fill of you.” “…Have it, then.”). Overall, this route was entertaining to read, if somewhat bizarre. 🙂

I’m currently finishing up Shingen’s divine route (!!), so reading anything involving ~~Ieyasshole~~ Ieyasu and Nobunaga is a little painful right now, to say the least. But, here goes. The event begins with Nobunaga tricking Ieyasu and MC’s relationship status out of MC. Capricious brat that he is, he challenges Ieyasu for MC’s companionship, in a best-out-of-three challenge. Team Ieyasu wins the first round when Toramatsu beats Inichiyo in a sword fight. Team Nobunaga wins the second, after Hideyoshi successfully seduces the masochistic (??) Tadakatsu in what is supposed to be a sumo match (“More, please…more! I beg of you…hurt me! Give me more of that divine pain…!”). And in the final showdown…Nobunaga bests Ieyasu in a shogi match. But fortunately, Nobunaga was pretty much trolling the whole time, so all’s well that ends well, I guess? I wasn’t the biggest fan of this route, but a lot of it is probably due to current personal bias and the fact that Ieyasu seems kind of mean and MC has no agency… there were definitely some hilarious moments though!

Tadakatsu: It’s so good to see those cold eyes of yours again…! Oh, it has been so long… Ieyasu: You disgust me. T: Please, don’t stop… I: Die horribly. T: Aaaaah, yes…!!

Overall Kenshin rating: 10/10. Do this route ASAP if you have’t started the event yet!

Overall Hideyoshi rating: 7.5/10. Confusing, but fun to read!

Overall Ieyasu rating: 5/10 (biased). The hilarious retainers made this route kind of bearable, I guess.