slbp – Otome Reviews

SLBP “Lovers of Kai” Pt 2 Event Review [SPOILERS]

Okay I am admittedly having a little trouble writing this given my excitement over YAHIKO UNEXPECTEDLY SHOWING UP in Ninja!MC’s story, but here are my quick thoughts on the second pair of karacters from Kai!

Let’s start off with Saizo. Boy starts out sleeping the days away Genya-style, but after getting badgered by Yuki and little Sasuke for training, he sets up a challenge for them: find and read a “book of secrets” that he and MC safeguards, and he’ll agree to training them. Except, of course, said challenge itself is a training session. Very sneaky! Some of my favorite bits:

Kiyohiro getting roped into this nonsense
Saizo “teaching MC some ninja moves” (it’s just an excuse for him to get all up close and personal, lol)
Yuki and Sasuke getting flummoxed after MC shoves the book down her chest, and a cameo by Shingen (“What is with you two? If you’re afraid of touching a woman’s breasts, you’re going to run into problems later on”).

I’m not generally a huge fan of Saizo and I wasn’t really expecting much out of this route, but overall I thought the story was surprisingly good! It’s not every day we get to enjoy a totally angst-free Saizo route, after all. I really wish we got to see this side of Saizo more often (although I guess he’d be overlapping with Gen a little too much, haha).

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

And then, there’s Nobuyuki. His ES features a classic instance of the Mistaken for Cheating trope – not one that I’m super fond of, tbh. You can’t blame MC though, because the signs are strong: he 1) drops a woman’s handkerchief, 2) is hard to find at odd moments, and 3) gets followed by a beautiful woman into a secret house. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I did not see the true reveal coming at all! I actually thought N might be secretly meeting (and rejecting) women that his dad was trying to set him up with, given the pressures of being the eldest son of the Sanada clan at all, but, nope. Nobuyuki the “unsung domestic hero,” as MC puts it, is so much cooler, haha.

So yes, I did like the final reveal, trope-y-ness and all. But I have to admit, I was hoping for more of his personality to be displayed/revealed! We already know that this guy is nice and a little flirty. What craziness is he secretly hiding behind that handsome smile of his? Is this actually the extent of his personality?! Here’s to hoping future ES’s will shed more light. ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 6.5/10

What did y’all think? And whose main route are you all doing first: sassy thief, or teenage firefly? Lmk!! 🙂

PS. did any of you run into this hilarious bit of text midway through? 😂

SLBP “Lovers of Kai” Pt 1 Event Review [SPOILERS]

Shingen and Yukimura…can anyone say best event pairing ever?!

In Yukimura’s ES, he and MC haven’t been a couple for all that long, and they’re still adorably shy around each other ^_^ The bulk of this story revolves around some old letters from Yuki to a penpal that MC finds. She and Yuki embark on the cutest quest ever to find out who the penpal might have been! They travel all across the castle and all across town, and eventually, MC convinces Yuki to leave one more letter for his penpal. The response is just too sweet: “…I will be watching over you, Lord Yukimura, forever proud of the fine man you have become. Yours, Sanada Nobuyuki.” 💕

So not only was this ES an incredibly charming tale of new love, it was also a touching story about a protective older brother trying to cheer up his lonely younger bro! I loved how the writing itself was innocent and happy, just like our lovely couple. Overall, this is probably my favorite Yukimura ES to date! Really shows how a slice-of-life type event story can be just as amazing as an epic wartime adventure. 🙂

Personal enjoyment: 11/10

Shingen’s ES is a lesson in communication and understanding. Here, MC and Shingen are also still in the getting-to-know-you phase, and it turns out, they’re both super eager to get to know each other (and not just physically ;))! In an effort to better understand how MC’s mind works, Shingen heroically goes through many efforts, on the advice of others:

He helps her cook (and promptly destroys all the eggs in the process with his epic strength, lol)
He helps her hang laundry (he sucks at it)
He takes her on a tour of the town at a frenetic pace (she gets over-exhausted)

See a pattern? I was totally swooning over this guy’s willingness to try things even when he’s not good at them. But my absolute favorite part of this route comes at the end: when Shingen finally learns why MC was so happy over an old fan he gave her (tl;dr b/c she cares about him), he immediately asks for something of hers without skipping a beat. Like a boss.

This is pure personal bias speaking, but imho after reading through countless different otome characters, there’s simply nobody quite like Shingen: at once magnetic/larger-than-life, yet somehow down-to-earth. There’s a reason why Shingen is my absolutely favorite otome character of all time, and routes like this really highlight why. 💕

Personal enjoyment: 11/10

Saizo and Nobuyuki are out. Haven’t read their ES’s yet, but I am wildly excited to read about Yuki’s sexy older brother! 😀 Anyway, what did you all think about the first part of this event?

SLBP Vows of the Divine Suitor Event Review [SPOILERS]

Is it just me or was the timeline of this event super short?! I was barely able to finish all six events, but maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention ^_^ Anyway here are my quick thoughts on this batch of warlords, and what we learned about them:

In Kojuro’s event, we get to “enjoy” his one-sentence negotiation with the Oda clan from his perspective. With the added context, things make way more sense: Mitsuhide had many run-ins with Kojuro before their official negotiation meeting, and that’s why Kojuro was able to confidently his equal-footing alliance thing. He trusted that Mitsuhide wouldn’t backstab the Date’s. …Okay. Not the most fantastic explanation, imho, but I’ll take it! SLBP’s certainly thrown less plausible things at us, haha.

So what did we learn about Kojuro himself? Not much, imho. It was kind of disappointing to learn that Kojuro’s inner monologue is so boring. He comes across as kind of immature, which ruins the whole sexy older man thing he’s got going for him, yanno? Also, I can’t believe that this guy, who’s supposed to be a monster in the sack, slept through his wedding night! Lmao. 😂And finally, why weren’t Kojuro’s awesome siblings shown on screen?! I generally really like Kojuro, so I’m honestly kind of sad that this ES didn’t live up to my personal hype. It wasn’t an absolutely terrible read, don’t get me wrong, but I’m just gonna go ahead and ignore this specific characterization of the guy. ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 4/10

If Kojuro failed to live up to my personal expectations, boy did Inuchiyo and his route surpass them! My personal enjoyment of these routes might kind of work like the stock market, lol. Anyway, maybe it’s because I’ve yet to do his ES, but I was completely shocked to learn just how much self-doubt this dude has. It’s not something I’d been able to pick up on thus far at all!

In terms of plot, I absolutely adored the additional insight on not only Inuchiyo’s complicated relationship with his older brother (aka his dad’s favored son), but also the origin story behind how Inuchiyo grew to become MC’s family friend. This event from MC’s perspective touched on the dude’s status as prodigal son, and I think this version expanded on that beautifully. Overall, I think Inuchiyo’s ES was absolutely fantastic. Even if you might not like him as a romantic partner, you can’t deny that this route shed a ton of light on him as a character!

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

Last but not least, we have Ieyasu. This route provides a unique look into an abuser’s mind, and boy is it a doozy! There are no surprises with Ieyasu’s internal monologue. He’s just as much of a douche talking to himself as he is out loud! His thoughts on MC after she witnesses (and enjoys) some good ol’ Western PDA, for example: Gods, you are mind-numbingly stupid. What is interesting is that he’s just as hard on himself as he is on others! This guy doesn’t really have delusions of self superiority, the way one might assume just looking from the outside in.

I should’ve seen it coming, but Ieyasu’s hatred of (and resulting monologuing against) Nobunaga et al. was strangely satisfying to read. As for the rest of the plot, it was honestly kind of fun comparing Ieyasu’s pessimistic narration to MC’s idealistic one from several months back! So overall, I thought Ieyasu’s POV event was pretty terrible from a romantic/datability perspective (as usual), but it certainly was an interesting read!

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

What did the rest of you think? Let me know! 🙂

SLBP Ishida Mitsunari Divine Route Review [SPOILERS]

“You really are…the most insufferable little dullard, aren’t you…”

What better way to celebrate IkeSen Mitsunari’s route release, than by talking about his SLBP counterpart? Honestly, I think it’s kind of hilarious how different the two Mitsun’s are. To date, SLBP Mitsunari has consistently been one of my least favorite characters given his verbal asshole-ness and r/iamverysmart vibe, so I was really curious how the SLBP folks were going to sell him as a romantic character in his MS.

Anyway, the first time MC (disguised as Yahiko, Ieyasu’s poison tester) meets Mitsunari in his story, he’s exactly as rude and abrasive as his ES’s suggest he’d be. Unlike his sister, Saki, who is kind and gentle (and pretty). After MC helps Saki out with a manju emergency (no you didn’t read that wrong), her bro does feel obligated to help MC get away from a murderous Ieyasu (long story, lol), and that is how MC ends up temporarily crashing at Hideyoshi’s castle for a few weeks.

MC spends her days helping out with the cooking, and getting to know Saki and Mitsun’s retainer Sakon better. And then one day, Mitsunari walks in on MC changing as a woman, and they both freak out (“S-stop screaming like you have something to scream about! They’re not even impressive…”). Seriously though – even though nobody else really minds, Mitsun is pissed (“Vile succubus…to put on the guise of masculinity in order to get close to Hideyoshi without suspicion…”). It’s kind of hilarious.

And kind of hypocritical. Because remember Saki? That kind, beautiful, gentle woman who MC’s been befriending!? Saki is Mitsunari in disguise. I can’t even imagine how physically painful it must’ve been for Mitsunari to be polite while masquerading as his sister 😂. Anyways, the reason why M dresses up as a girl is pretty sad (TL;DR he’s the child of a rape and his dying mother has trouble dealing with men). Doesn’t explain why Mitsunari’s such an ass, though. He never does drop the “dullard” nickname for MC as the rest of the route progresses, seems super eager to get rid of her until around Episode 10, and even yanks her violently onto a horse at some point (her poor shoulder sockets!). Blehhh not attractive.

That said, Mitsunari definitely has his moments. Route highlight: this dude ruthlessly cutting down new retainers from Nobunaga after they try to rape MC, and shrugging off the consequences/fallout. Also, towards the end of the route, Mitsunari shows amazing strength in the face of tragedy with MC’s help, and the final war/conflict ends up being pretty satisfying to read. Mitsunari is definitely at his best in war genius/military mode. …Not that he ever really softens up as a character, mind you. Even his final love confession to MC is unique, to say the least (“I’m glad that I met you! I’m TRYING to tell you that I want you to stay with me!! There!! Get something in your head for once, you…you insufferable little manju-girl!!”).

So, did Mitsunari’s route change my impression of him as a character and romantic interest? To be honest, this route only cemented my utter lack of attraction to the guy. Socially stunted rudeness just isn’t sexy. But did I end up liking/respecting him a little more as a character after reading the route? Absolutely. Mitsunari’s willingness to crossdress/murder/etc for those he loves is commendable, and overall, he comes across as an earnest and loyal dude.

Objectively speaking, I thought Mitsunari’s route was nicely done. He turned out to be a surprisingly nuanced character, and the plot was decently interesting. If you’re someone who’s actually reading SLBP for the ~~articles~~ plot and not just the sexy smut, you might end up enjoying this route! (…But prepare to feel not very romanced ^_^)

Choice quotes:
“What are you grinning at? Hideous…”
“Relax. I would never make the mistake of making you think I wanted you. By heaven, earth and Hideyoshi, I swear it.”
“It was blooming…around.” – Mitsunari’s attempt to give MC flowers

Personality: 5/10. I feel for poor Mitsunari after reading his backstory, but that certainly doesn’t make him more dateable! Even if he’s a sympathetic character, he’s still rude af. Bonus points for surprise murderous/protective tendencies.

Appearance: 2/10 he looks like a Q-tip cosplaying as a monk. (Ok but when his sprite doesn’t look like he has a giant stick shoved up his ass he’s a solid 6 or 7)

MC: 9/10. Although the sassy dialogue choices didn’t always lead to the best result, I appreciate Voltage giving us the option to respond to Mitsun’s rudeness in kind (and yes. I always went for the sass option, lol)

Plot/Payoff: 7/10. The romance did feel a little rushed, but the plot itself was solid enough – especially the war stuff. Also, Sakon and Hideyoshi were great side characters!

Personal enjoyment: 7/10. No, still don’t want to date Mitsunari. But nonetheless, I enjoyed reading his ridiculous route! 🙂

Masterlist

SLBP Wedding Event from Guy’s perspective Pt 1 Thoughts

It’s election night, I’m trying to queue up a post for tomorrow on this blog, those projections are all over the fucking place, and we are all abut to find out how coherent I can be while drunk as drunk can be!!! Let’s goooo 😀

This batch of ESs from the dude’s perspective has my top three favorite routes from the original non-dude’s perspective so there’s no point in revisiting that. Instead! Lets talk about what we learned about the boys themselves.

In Nobunaga’s route we learn that this guy is basically constantly horny. When he’s not dreaming about raking over the whole world, he’s lusting over MC’s body while calling her brazen both in his head and out loud. This route has two sex scenes, and they are amazing. N might be an asshole like 50% of the time, but he’s definitely a hot one who knows how to please his girl (“I watch her as my fingers tease what waits for me, her expression changing subtlye with every stroke”). You go, Nobunaga 🙂

I also love love lovedddd how this story focused more on Nobunaga’s warships! We learn that he actuall repurposes a ship that he wanted to use as a tour bus for him and MC into the ironclad used to defeat the Mori clan. Damn, son. I can’t get enough of pirate!Nobunaga. With all that swagger and arrogance, he actually fits the bill better than eyepatch Masamune, lol.

Anyway, this ES made me really wish they wouldn’t fuck up Nobunaga’s character every so often. Because in stories like this one he is 100% amazing and swoon worthy and in a different world this little asshole was my top bias.

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

We learn in Masamune’s route that this guy is low key constantly thinking about MC. Even when he’s in the middle of battle, lmao. I also noticed that he seems way less hung up about his bitch mom than MC seems to think he is in the ES from her perspective. Which is good because I fucking hate that woman. I’m in the middle of reading M’s MS route right now and hoo boy does she need to go (too bad MC is too much of an idiot to push for it).

Anyway, back to the ES. IMO the ES from Masamune’s perspective was weaker than the one from MC’s perspective, because it didn’t really give us too much new information and was less dramatic. But it’s still very good, and I really like the bits with Kojuro and Sigezane (“Once…you asked me if you would ever be able to surpass me, as a man. You have become a far greater man than I have ever been, Lord Masamune”). Bromance for the ages ❤

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

One of my favorite things about Hideyoshi’s wedding story from MC’s perspective was how they tease at Hideyoshi’s wavering loyalties to ~~Ghengis Khan~~ Nobunaga. this ES takes it to a whole new level by introducing a new subplot: Nobunaga gives him a fancy wedding tea set…and so does MC’s mom. Which tea set will H choose in the end?! I loved . it.

In terms of actual plot I think Hideyoshi had probably the single best story out of all the wedding stories, and it’s still the case, even from his perspective. Ever scene with Nagaharu was extra gut wrenching since we the reader know what comes next. And we learned so many little facts about Hideyoshi’s entourage. Kanbei is ex Mori?! Damnn. Also, Mitsunari’s giant man crush on Hideyoshi is truly a spectacle to behold. ~~I ship it~~

Overall, I’m not sure if I learned anything about Hideyoshi that I didn’t know before, but still, this was such an amazing perfect read.

Personal enjoyment: 100/10

What did you all think?1 Did you love this event as much as I did?

I will never get sick of wedding events lol

SLBP “Flirtatious Fascinations” Pt. 2 Review [SPOILERS]

I like the meta surrounding this latest event. Don’t have much time? The self-checkpoint for each story is only 4k points. Really want that frowning Ieyasu doll? It’s a bit of a grind, but not too difficult to pull off! Voltage is really generous 🙂 Anyway, here were my quick thoughts on the ES contents themselves, from least to most favorite:

Shingen gets possessed by a lust bunny one evening. Literally: the dude finds it very very difficult to keep his TB-infested hands off of MC. But this isn’t a problem that’s limited to just Shingen. Nearly the entire male population of the castle develops a hankering for carrots, and Yukimura ends up doing strange things like bunny hops and sword exercises to stave off his frustration! But the ninja population is immune, and eventually, Kansuke and MC work together to find the solution: they find and get a holy rock reinstalled, and all is well.

I don’t blame Shingen for what happened to him, but tbh I didn’t love this route! The nature of the curse was kind of disturbing. Lust-addled Shingen said some things which might be sexy under different circumstances, but ended up just being unsettling here (“With you right next to me, I can barely keep from bending your ankles behind your head”). Not to mention, he also said some things that were just straight up unpleasant to read (“I don’t want to break you with these hands of mine”). Again, I don’t blame him since he was cursed, but this story just wasn’t fun to read imho! Which is sad, because this guy is legit my favorite SLBP guy ever and I was looking forward to some great Shingen content. I guess there’s always next time. ^_^

(This route’s saving grace: Kansuke. 😍)

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

MC drags Mitsunari to a shrine (after bribing him with manju, lol), and after meeting a boy who tells them about a wish-granting kitsune, prays for Mitsunari to be more honest. Fair. Over the next day or so, every time Mitsunari lies, a tail pops out! His tails wag when he’s happy, and droop when he’s sad. To nobody’s shock, it turns out this contrarian is almost always saying things he doesn’t mean! Thankfully, the tails disappear after his ninth and final lie, because he was altruistic about it (tl;dr he wanted to hide the kitsune’s death from the boy), and everything returns to normal.

I love it so much when the characters with… more personality flaws, shall we say… get called out on it! So from that perspective, I totally loved this route! What made me a little sad is that unlike Ieyasu, who at least tried, Mitsunari didn’t seem to want to put in any effort into being more honest with MC by the end of the story (not including epilogue). Also, Mitsunari doesn’t like Sakon?! 😦 Still, overall, this was still a really fun route to read! Route highlights: M’s tail wagging over the prospect of eating MC’s manju, and MC bemoaning the fact that she never got to pet the tails after they disappear 😂

Personal enjoyment: 7/10

Kenshin touches a pretty white snake while on a forest stroll with MC one afternoon, and the next day, he’s…different. He’s uncharacteristically cold towards Tiny Dad/Kanetsugu (“Are we quite done? I’ll just be going then”). He’s possessive and jealous of MC, to an utterly insane degree. And when a retainer catches MC one day so she doesn’t slip, he tries to hide her away in his treasury (“Nobody will be able to find you in here, now will they”)…! But MC’s a stubborn cookie, and she drags his weird ass back to the snake, who, it turns out, just wanted a friend, and cursed Kenshin for fun. Of course.

So Kenshin was creepy as all fuck in this route, and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it at all, if it weren’t for one comment Kenshin makes after he’s all better: “Forced awareness of your nature is a very frightening thing, isn’t it.” Hooooly shit. So under all that fairy fluff, Kenshin really is secretly a super dark soul, eh? Love it. From a romantic/relationships perspective his behavior is terrible in this route, but his interestingness just shot wayyy up in my books. 😀

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

So those were my thoughts. What did y’all think of this event? I have a feeling opinions fall all over the place. ^_^ (PS Happy Halloween! 🎃)

SLBP “Flirtatious Fascinations” Pt. 1 Review [SPOILERS]

You think you’ve seen a dozen SLBP events and you’ve seen them all…not true, my friends. Not true at all. This latest myth-based event is cray, haha. Here are some of my thoughts on the first batch of stories, from least to most favorite. What were your thoughts? I’m curious to know! 🙂

Inuchiyo’s route features a malicious mermaid who’s in love with Inuchiyo (tl;dr he saved her from collapsing). She stalks Inuchiyo to Hideyoshi’s castle, steals his freaking voice, and, uh, doesn’t exactly make her intentions a secret. Girl sabotages MC and Inuchiyo’s date plans/schedules, and manages to worm her way into hanging out with Inuchiyo pretty much all the time. So voiceless Inuchiyo sucks at telling the mermaid no, but at the last moment he rejects her request to leave MC for him, and the mermaid gives up, returning his voice.

Yooo what the fuck! I’m still not sure if Inuchiyo developed a crush on the mermaid or not!? They did say that mermaids only steal the voices of those charmed by them, after all. In any case, I appreciate that the guy held strong at the end against the hot mermaid seduction but ffs Inuchiyo/the boys should’ve just kicked the mermaid out the second it became clear that a) Inuchiyo didn’t really know her, and b) she was there to cause trouble for our couple. asdfjkl;

Personal enjoyment: 3/10

Hideyoshi buys MC a pretty cloak from a mysterious^tm trader in his ES. Just one small problem: it’s a swan maiden’s feather cloak, and every guy who sees MC in her new cloak react as if they’ve taken a love potion. Mitsuhide, Mitsunari, Inuchiyo, Nobunaga, Sakon, Katsuiie… all of them fall victim to the power of the cloak. Eventually, the pretty swan maiden finds requests her garment back, and everything returns to normal, to MC and Hideyoshi’s relief.

I know that at least one of you was creeped out by the guys’ behavior in this route (looking at you, @casual-romantic!). I don’t necessarily disagree, per se, but here’s a slightly different perspective. This cloak makes dudes act like they’re in love with MC, right? So yeah, a lot of the retainers are super creepy/predatory about it, and that doesn’t bode so well for the women of the Sengoku era. On the other hand, the cloak showcases some really awesome behavior from some of the bros. Sakon and Mitsu are helpful sweethearts when they fall in love with MC, for example. And Hideyoshi? Homeboy doesn’t act any different, because he’s already utterly captivated by MC. Awww. ^_^ I think H’s love for MC was supposed to be the main takeaway from this event, and that’s the reason why, character stupidity aside, I enjoyed reading this story.

Personal enjoyment: 7/10

In Ieyasu’s ES, an injured tanuki who MC helps out causes all sorts of trouble among the resident retainers/MC, after he shows up in disguise as Ieyasu himself. Tanuki!Ieyasu praises everyone, gives them leaves (lol), and is adorably charmed by MC’s daifuku. And normal!Ieyasu is as bad with people as usual, which definitely confuses the heck out of people like MC, who bounce between each Ieyasu in quick succession. In the end, it turns out the tanuki has one simple, AWESOME reason for impersonating Ieyasu: he thinks the guy is too mean (“There is nothing kind about him!”). And calls him out on it to his face!

…Can we just kick out the real Ieyasu and replace him with tanuki!Ieyasu forever? I’m only half kidding, lmao #totallynotbiased. But seriously, this ES was super fun to read and definitely my favorite of the lot. And even if I’d take the tanuki over Ieyasu every day, props to the warlord for attempting to channel the tanuki’s sweetness in the end, haha. You tried, kiddo. You tried.

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

(PS fun fact: Tanukis are apparently known in folklore for…their giant testicles. You’re welcome. 😂)

SLBP “The Ascension of the Divine Bride” Event: Mitsuhide, Saizo, Kojuro Review

Between SLBP and IkeRev, wedding bells are in the air, and I am loving it! Haha. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the second batch of SLBP wedding stories, from least to most favorite:

#3: Mitsuhide

Mitsuhide’s ES in a sentence: it’s been three ZERO events since Nobunaga was an asshole! Days before Mitsuhide and MC are gonna get married, N decides that M has to marry some other chick to appease a rebellion. Either that, or kill literally the entire province where the rebellion is located – men, woman, children alike. Nice guy, that Nobunaga. Anyway, after the world’s shortest breakup, Mitsuhides ends up using a loophole in Nobunaga’s orders to burn all the villages w/o actually killing anyone, and our happy couple finally gets married to each other with Nobunaga’s blessing.

It was really hard to empathize with this story tbh because I’m a selfish bitch who, if I were in MC’s place, would let the whole world province burn before ever agreeing to be replaced as a wife, haha. What I did enjoy reading: Hideyoshi and Inuchiyo being absolute bros to MC during the “breakup.”

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

#2: Saizo

There are two big things going on in Saizo’s ES: 1) Everyone wants MC and Saizo to get married, but ninjas aren’t really allowed to do that. 2) Saizo’s been assigned an impossible mission to kill Nobunaga (spoiler alert: it’s a trap). Despite our ninja boy trying to pull away from MC as the date of his suicide mission approaches, it’s MC’s strong desire to have him survive that saves him in the end. That, and Kiyohiro of all people (!!) showing him a secret route to run away from Ieyasu’s deadly trap. The route ends with all the bells/whistles of a wedding but no visit to the courthouse (or whatever the Sengoku equivalent is).

Overall, I didn’t love the whole angst part of the event (MC self monologues a lot), but it was so fun reading Saizo’s action packed ninja mission and subsequent escape! I really wish that took up a larger part of the story ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 6.5/10

#1: Kojuro

There are a lot of things going on in Kojuro’s event. First, Masamune has him and MC, his fiancée, move into a new castle to help bolster the Date clan defenses. Second (and most importantly), the Oda clan’s been sniffing around for an alliance, which has the Date’s on edge b/c Nobunaga’s not exactly known to be a team player. When Mitsuhide arrives demanding an answer to the alliance request (alongside a small army – very peaceful), Kojuro diffuses the situation temporarily with some clever diplomacy, and his and MC’s wedding proceeds no problem, if somewhat delayed.

It’s kind of hilarious how Kojuro was able to calm down the situation with just one sentence, lol. But I did like this ES’ political setup. Also, this quote: “I vow here to give you the life you deserve, and to protect all of our future children.” Is everyone’s favorite SLBP daddy thinking of actually becoming a father!??! 🙂

Personal enjoyment: 8/10

I swear, Voltage always releases the best stories of an event in the first batch on purpose! But I can’t complain when they gave us so many amazing Samurai Street Fair stories for free ^_^. Anyway, what did y’all think of this event? 🙂

SLBP “The Ascension of the Divine Bride” Event: Nobunaga, Yukimura, Masamune Review

OMG. TIME TO PACK UP, FRIENDS. WE HAVE REACHED PEAK SLBP. Don’t think it can get better than this latest trio of stories from Voltage 😍

Nobunaga’s ES is basically an extremely creative interpretation of the Battles of Kizugawaguchi, with a wedding thrown in! MC and Nobunaga are literally seconds away from getting married when an emergency battle gets in the way! The Oda clan faces off against Kennyo, the Mori Clan, and some other enemies…and faces a crushing defeat. And to make things worse, the Mori clan wants an Oda bride (aka MC) as hostage in exchange for standing down! Nobunaga unsurprisingly tries to call off the wedding to protect MC in classic Nobunaga fashion (lol), but MC is a true badass who finds things out for herself and convinces N that the sacrifice would be worth it. At the last second, an offhand comment allows Nobunaga to invent the world’s first ironclad, defeat his enemies definitively, and marry his love in a super cute scene. ❤️

There were just too many things about this route that were awesome:

“You shall have a kitchen that not even the Gods have seen.” 😂
Nobunaga’s extremely Genghis Khan-like imperialistic ambitions. Didn’t see that one coming, haha.
“Once I am finally done wedding you, my bedding you will make it difficult for you to make it to the kitchen for quite some time.”
“And so the brazen girl has become an exceedingly ambitious woman.”

But most awesome of all: MC, who became certain in her ability to be a brave and badass “Peerless Lady.” I loved her growth, and her willingness to make plans for Nobunaga’s sake! Even at his best, Nobunaga has his flaws, but this ES’ MC seems uniquely suited for the guy and the story was a fantastic read.

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

Nobunaga’s route is just one more in a long series of routes with hostage talk but no actual hostages. …And then there’s Yukimura’s ES. In this route, the Sanada clan has decided to break off its longstanding alliance with Shingen in lieu of an alliance with Kenshin (💔!!), and Yuki’s the designated hostage. He’s pissed, but he does it anyway, after MC insists on joining him. And they actually become hostages!! The Uesugi clan isn’t exactly super welcoming to the guy they view as a betrayer (esp. Kageie – wonder what’s the story there?!), but as time passes, both MC and Yukimura prove their worth. In the end, with a push from MC, Yukimura decides to help Kenshin in a battle, proving the Sanada clan’s loyalty, and Kenshin releases them from their hostage duties, allowing them to finally get properly married. ^_^

So the hostage situation already had my jaw dropping in shock and awe because that literally never happens in these stories! That alone was amazing, but this event also brings us:

Yuki’s glorious if temporary reaction to the alliance change (“I will no longer stand under the name Sanada!”)
Horny Yuki (He takes me again and again, seeking me out as if he could devour all of me and never want for it ever again)
Embarrassed Yuki, after seeing MC in her wedding outfit ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

Poor Masamune’s ES is super heartbreaking! The story starts out happily, with MC and Masamune in the midst of prepping for their wedding (together ^_^). But Masamune’s mega-bitch of a mom is busy causing trouble. After refusing to attend their wedding (or allow M’s little brother Kojirou to attend), she arranges for young Kojirou to be adopted by the Ashina, a frenemy clan, so that Kojirou can become heir of that clan. And Masamune’s future enemy, basically. Ugh. But all her scheming is for naught, because the two-timing Ashina also adopt another rival clan’s son (he’s an arrogant prick), with the intention of having Kojirou and this other dude to duke it out. Masamune’s stuck between a rock and a hard place: avoiding war on two fronts, or saving his little bro. MC convinces him that Kojirou’s worth it, the Date clan wins the battle, and Masamune finally earns his horrible mom’s gratitude (and gets married)!

I’m a little sad that Masamune’s mom never got her comeuppance, but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly loving this story! The Ashina clan’s plots were fun to read, ridiculous as they were. Kojirou was adorable. But my absolute #1 favorite part of this story was MC and Masamune working together, as a team. First to master their complicated wedding rituals, and then to decide what to do about the whole Ashina situation. MC and shy boy are #relationshipgoals and I can’t freaking wait to go back and finally finish up Masa’s MS for good 💕Favorite quote: “Whatever happens, I want us to face it together.”

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

… Yeah that’s right. I LOVED ALL THESE ES’s. What really made them stand out, imho, was MC, who was consistently amazing. Also, the samurai era military plots. Can’t wait for the second batch of stories!

SLBP “Memories of my Summer Love” Event Review

With all those AU events that’ve been flying around, getting an event that could plausibly take place within the canon SLBP universe has been interesting in and of itself! My quick thoughts on the three characters’ stories, from least to most favorite:

Mitsuhide’s event is a bit of a hot mess. MC’s been getting irritated that Mitsuhide always puts her wishes first on dates instead of proposing things he’d also like to do. But that whole plot line kind of fizzles after M’s sent to investigate a fishing town for tax evasion by masquerading as a rough-talking fisherman (ROUTE HIGHLIGHT: “If you’re gonna bitch about it, we can go right here and now, asshole”). Turns out the fishermen have been bickering over conflicting fishing methods, and Mitsuhide saves the day by proposing a new, teamwork driven hybrid method (am I reading a kid’s TV show script or an otome game, Voltage?!). MC thirsts over his new manly tan, he propositions her Biblically (“I wish to know more of you. And I wish to have you know more of me…”), and that’s that.

So what happened to that whole dating subplot in the beginning of the ES? Why is there a random Sakuya cameo!? Overall, this route definitely had some great moments, but I didn’t love it.

Personal enjoyment: 5/10

In Kojuro’s route, the guy’s sent to a fishing town to help make sure it can be converted into a thriving foreign trading port. Just one slight problem: said town’s been overrun by vagabonds, who stifle fishing and refuse to answer to their Oshu overlords. In fact, they’re pretty rude to Kojuro, especially when it comes to MC. But instead of running the vagabonds out of town like a normal person, Kojoro decides to try negotiating. After defeating them (shirtlessly) in a “Festival of Grievances” that decides who runs the town for the following year, he gains their respect, and the vagabonds magically turn a new leaf. He and MC are able to return to Yonezawa in time to catch the tail end of an actual festival, where they proceed to scandalously make out in front of a shrine, haha.

I don’t get it. …I really don’t think vagabonds work this way! Ridiculous plot premise aside, I did enjoy a) the shirtlessness, b) the Genya-Shigezene comedy duo (“Genya, you don’t have any idea how much of a pain in the ass this is.” “That grin on your face suggests you like a little pain in the ass, Shigezane.”), and c) Kojuro’s thirst. 🙂

Personal enjoyment: 6/10

Yukimura is always kind of an idiot in his ES’s, and this one’s no exception. Here, Shingen’s turned the annual Takeda training camp into a multi-day beach party on a whim, and poor Yuki’s having none of it (he wants to train to protect MC, he says). But a brief speech from Shingen-lite old Sasuke sets our boy straight, and almost instantly, Yuki decides to enjoy his time with MC instead! …By themselves, thus derailing group activity plans that’d been made well in advance, lol. But never mind that. Our couple enjoys themselves by stealing mandarins from someone else’s tree, selling picking seashells by the seashore…and getting themselves stranded overnight on an island that only forms when the tides are high, lmao (I Googled it, my friends, and it’s a thing).

…If you said that literally nothing happened in this ES, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But at least our cutie-pie Yukimura learned something (“I guess I learned that…physical strength isn’t the only thing that makes a man”), and for that alone this ES was worth the read! ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 7/10

Overall, this certainly wasn’t my favorite SLBP event by a long shot, but it isn’t absolutely terrible, either! IMHO it’s a chill event, nice for people who like these characters. What did you think? 🙂