yukimura – Otome Reviews

SLBP: Sanada Yukimura Act Two Divine Destiny Review [SPOILERS]

“Without a doubt…he was the greatest samurai in all Japan.”

I love me a good tragedy. Many a mediocre plotline can be redeemed via main character death (see: a good fraction of the Final Fantasy series). So, knowing Yukimura was pretty screwed after the events of his Act 1 arc, I entered Act 2 with very high expectations. Maybe too high…

I’ll give credit where credit’s due. The scene setting in the beginning few chapters of Yuki’s route is fantastic. Amidst MC and Yuki’s adorable romance, we very quickly learn that the political/military landscape has gone haywire since the end of Act 1. Shingen is dead. Nobunaga is dead. Pretty much all prior alliances and enmities have been thrown into question. And to take advantage of the chaos, Masayuki, aka Yukimura’s father, has made overtures to both the Tokugawa and the Uesugi clans for alliances. Both clans have demands that are far too costly, and to complicate matters even further, MC discovers that she’s pregnant…!

So you could say tensions are high. There’s a lot of discussion of Yukimura acting as a hostage, of MC fleeing to Kyoto to hide, etc., but eventually, the Uesugi come to the Sanada clan without any crazy demands at all. They want to face off against Ieyasu, and are seeking any allies they can get. In the end, the Sanadas decide to hedge their bets: Yuki and his father fight for Kenhsin, and Nobuyuki and MC (alongside Momo, their newborn child!) head over to Ieyasu’s territory. I’m no military expert, but the whole thing struck me as rather strange? MC’s masquerading as Nobuyuki’s wife, but still, Yuki’s at massive risk of being compromised with MC under Tokugawa’s domain. All it’d take to force him to turn would be to threaten to kill MC, right?!

Good thing I’m not the one writing this story, because apart from threatening MC (she horrifies Ieyasu with her idealism) and trying/failing to kill her and Momo in their sleep once, Ieyasu doesn’t actually pull any shenanigans. He doesn’t need to: his side wins, anyways. Yukimura’s forced to flee to a village in the mountainside and give up his spear for provisions (despite def. being strong enough to earn his keep, but let’s ignore the plot holes for now or we’ll be here all day). And although Momo had been barely born when MC and Yuki separated, by the time MC rejoins Yuki for a bittersweet reunion, Momo’s already a crawling, smiling little toddler. In what is probably the single most heartbreaking scene in the entire route, Yuki asks cautiously to hold his own child, after revealing that he’s been practicing with a doll… </3

It feels like MC and Yuki have barely any time to get settled into life as peaceful villagers before war comes knocking on their doorstep again. To my surprise, Ieyasu isn’t the provocateur. In fact, when he visits, he explicitly asks Yuki not to fight, after witnessing how domestic their little family is. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi’s been gathering up men for a last stand against the Tokugawa menace – but they know full well that they have no chance of winning. So… literally the very day after Yuki decides to get married to MC, the friggin’ idiot takes back his spear (from Saizo, who got it…somehow), and leaves to fight against Ieyasu once final, fatal time. And I’m definitely not using idiot in an endearing way here.

Seriously. The guy’s been given a chance to live a peaceful life protecting and enjoying the company of his wife and young child, and what does he decide to do instead? Run off on a suicide mission. And…for what? To avenge Shingen’s death? Hideyoshi was as much Nobunaga’s goon as Ieyasu was. To live and die as a samurai? That’s unbelievably idiotic, given the fact that now his child’s gonna grow up without ever knowing her own dad.

Given the character development that Yukimura was supposed to experience in his first Act (namely dropping the suicidal samurai tendencies), I have no clue what possessed Yukimura to think this was a good idea. The guy says he’s okay with dying because MC’s sworn to love him in the next life, but wtf kind of crap reasoning is that?! And even in the heat of battle, after Yuki’s been repeatedly given the opportunity to flee, he does the very opposite, demanding his own death from Ieyasu. I don’t get it. Like…does Yukimura understand what priorities are?! Is he really, truly, only good at fighting and dying?

Surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of this godforsaken route was Ieyasu. I dislike him as a romantic prospect and still do, but he definitely wasn’t the evil cartoon villain/murderer I was expecting him to be. As a character, he was nuanced, interesting, and experienced evolution – the same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Yuki. Honestly, it’s sad to think about how much potential this route had. Because the pacing and interleaving of tragedy with comedy was fantastic. The side characters were generally great. The writing was pretty solid, and the post-story epilogue was suitably hilarious.

But… I just can’t get past Yukimura’s selfish actions. IMHO, it’s the struggle for survival, the tenacity of human will, that brings beauty to a tragedy. And there was none of that here, what with Yukimura actively chasing after his own death. So by the end, I was just left with a hollow, angry feeling towards this route. 😦

Choice quotes:

“You could have been set upon by a band of evil bandits, set upon taking you to their sex-crazed leader, filled with lust at your beauty!”

“No, I’m not dying here. Because…I did not come here as a samurai. I came here as a father.” *proceeds to die*

“I fondled her! I had her…her…in my hands and I squeezed…!!” 

Personality: 4/10. WTF happened to all of this kid’s character development?! All the cuteness in the world doesn’t make Yukimura’s actions any less selfish.

MC: 10/10. You can’t fault MC for not trying. From facing Ieyasu head on to cleverly using food as a diplomatic device, we really got a good look at how strong and badass MC can be. Fighting isn’t everything.

Plot/Payoff: 5/10. Excellent pacing, interesting characters, interesting side arcs (e.g. baby). Pointless main character arc.

Personal enjoyment: 4/10. Reading this was extra disappointing, after Yukimura’s incredible Act One. 😦

Masterlist

IkeSen: Yukimura’s Birthday Event Review

Confession time: I don’t really pay too much attention to IkeSen events. It’s not that they’re not great, mind you. But trying to finish an IkeSen event when half your friends list has gone missing after hitting 6k points is pure torture! Ahhhhhh

Anyways. The following is my ranking of Yuki’s three birthday routes, from least favorite to favorite, and why. How about you? Please do share – I’m really curious to see how much consensus there is!

#3: Yukimura’s Scouting Mission

Several things are going on in this route: 1) MC’s upset because Yuki has trouble verbalizing his feelings, 2) he gets scouted by a visiting daimyo after said daimyo’s son challenges Yuki to a play fight, and 3) MC and Sasuke throw an awesome bday banquet for him. Of these three subplots, I enjoyed only the third one. The first subplot is boring. And the second one seemed rather random? Route highlight: MC and Sasuke enacting all their contingency plans during the banquet, to stop Shingen from flirting and Kenshin from fighting.

One redeeming feature of this route was the premium route, in which Y finally confesses his feelings to MC and they get it on. Did he go down on MC, or did I completely misread the situation?! Good boy. 🙂

#2: The Chase to Kasugayama

Yuki invites MC to Kasugayama for his birthday, and to make sure the kid actually gets something good out of his day, Sasuke, Kenshin, and Shingen become giant trolls. From holding his present to MC hostage (yep, you read that right) to stealing the couple’s horses to forcing MC to confess her love at swordpoint, this route was stupid yet hilarious from beginning to end. Route highlight: The three warlords spying on MC and Y sharing a cute moment post-banquet while providing helpful commentary (“Ohh, look at Yuki going for the hand hold!” “Whoo-whoo!”).

#1: The Pursuit Through Azuchi

Yuki requests a “normal” birthday from MC. Meanwhile, a series of suspicious events lead the Azuchi warlords to conclude that MC’s recently acquired a secret boyfriend (they’re not wrong…)! Cue a full day of total non-normalcy, as MC and Yuki try their damnedest to hide from the overly curious Azuchi warlords while wandering about town. This route features, among other things:

MC siccing the local fangirls on Mitsun in order to escape
Nobunaga applying his military genius to the pursuit, using a dango stick as a map pointer while hanging out in a teashop
Mitsuhide being Mitsuhide (“You’ve been running from us all day, MC.” “Because you’ve been chasing me.” “Because you’ve been running”). What’s not to love?

TBH, I really don’t find Yuki to be all that attractive, so overall, I didn’t love this event. But nonetheless it was nicely done – definitely appreciated the the diversity of birthday possibilities that IkeSen portrayed!

SLBP: Sanada Yukimura Part 1 Divine Route Review [SPOILERS]

“Compared to the thought of losing you…facing death was nothing.”

You know, I’d been wondering why Yukimura was such a fan fave. I mean, he’s shy and cute and nice and all, but so are a good quarter of the other SLBP boys, right? Not to mention the sheer idiocy of some of his event stories. But after finally reading through his first story…okay, yeah. I get the hype now, my friends. You were right. 🙂

Yukimura’s main story is cavity-inducing rom-com meets…horrifying military drama? When MC initially arrives at Shingen’s castle, Yukimura welcomes her into his ranks of men with enthusiasm. Maybe a little bit too much enthusiasm, judging by the reaction of his vassals (“Lord Yukimura, I didn’t know you were doing that kind of recruiting, too”). In any case, Y’s fondness of (and confusing attraction towards) MC becomes all the funnier after he rescues her from falling off the roof one evening, accidentally grabs her chest along the way, and realizes MC’s been a woman all along (“In death I’ll find forgiveness!”). Appalled, the lovable idiot vows to help protect MC and help with her disguise.

But MC’s disguise becomes unnecessary after Shingen learns (from Saizo, perhaps?) that MC is a secret woman – and thus, a potential spy for Ieyasu. Just as Saizo’s about to behead MC, Yukimura dramatically saves the day…by announcing his marriage to MC (“Before I am a samurai…I am a man! And there are things that a man must do! Let me take responsibility for you.”) …!! His stupid plan works, somehow. And this is how Y and MC end up traveling through the forest to the Sanada clan to meet his family.

This is probably my favorite part of the entire route. Y is incredibly bullish about having to marry MC to protect her honor, and MC’s having none of it. At some point, she even tries to run away, only to fall off a cliff and get intercepted by Masamune and Kojuro! But after realizing how much Yukimura is sacrificing for her sake, MC eventually agrees to play along, and ends up getting introduced to Yuki’s extremely attractive older brother (“Mmn, you are a doll, aren’t you?”), as well as his stern, high expectations Asian father.

Said high expectations Asians father has expectations for Yuki to die in battle for Shingen. Yikes. And this is when our lovely, happy rom-com of a story segues into a darker and sadder tale about warfare. Y is sent off to fight increasingly risky battles, and while there’s still plenty of opportunity for him and MC to be cute and get to know each other (their visit to MC’s hometown in Kyoto is a highlight), there’s always that tension about Yukimura’s inevitable fate hanging over them. I adore how fierce MC is in this route: unwilling to let the guy just up and kill himself, she makes him take her prized hairpin from her father into each battle, because then he’ll have to live to return it to her. ❤

To be honest, the final few episodes of this route were really stressful to read. SLBP’s always been pretty good at maintaining some semblance of historical accuracy, and we all know how well the Shingen clan fared against the Oda. MC isn’t just sitting pretty in the sidelines either – she finds herself in near-death danger at least twice, and through no fault of her own. And though Yukimura lives to spend another day with MC by the end of the route (not a spoiler, considering part 2 is out, after all), I do not have high hopes that the guy will survive his sequel. The Sanada clan isn’t in great shape by the end of the story, and I am really impressed with the writers’ ability to create such a beautiful love story amidst all the sadness and warfare.

This route was an excellent combination of humor, angst, and suspense. Yukimura was charming and endearing (seriously…his ES is a pale caricature in comparison), and MC was amazing. I don’t usually pay attention to dialogue options in routes, but I absolutely loved how the “correct” dialogue for MC each time was the feisty/sassy choice. Also, the side characters in Yukimura’s route were simply outstanding. TBH, Sasuke’s always just been there, and I never really paid attention to him, but he really shined as a kid ninja in this route! And although Saizo was even more confusing than he usually is, he was interesting. And then you have Yukimura’s father, brother, rivals, and frenemies, all of whom were portrayed wonderfully.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading through this route. Although it lacks the crazy smut and sense of completion that Shingen’s route has (that guy’s MS serves as my ideal baseline for all SLBP routes, haha), I think it was extremely well done. Can’t wait to get started on the sequel!

Choice quotes:
“A-anyway, you’re going to become my wife! Period! Discussion over!” - b/c Yukimura is literally the only guy who could get away with saying something like this in the SLBP world and still be lovable
“I have finally found a reason to live. As long as MC remains in this world, I cannot resign myself to the next.”
“Am I really good enough for you? The moment you nod, I’m never letting you go again.”

Personality: 10/10 Yukimura is the best boy. I’d fall in love with him so fast IRL you have no idea. Such a lovable, charming idiot. ❤

Appearance: 9/10. That hair/eye combo is killer!

MC: 10/10. MC was OUTSTANDING!

Plot/Payoff: 9/10. There were a few small side plots that I feel didn’t really contribute to the plot or MC/Yuki’s romance (example: the local girls flirting with Yukimura the waiter??), but overall, the plot was super engaging and interesting! The segue from hilarious to suspenseful was very well done.

Personal enjoyment: 9.8/10. It’s only not a 10 because Shingen sets a very high bar. But overall, I really loved this route!

Masterlist

SLBP: “Insatiable Summer” Yukimura+Mitsunari Event Review [SPOILERS]

OMFG. This event right here is why I love this app so much. Voltage took all our favorite shy boys, and showed us what they’d be like if they were less shy. I am dying. This event is the best.

Yukimura’s ES is pretty much dictionary definition “be careful what you wish for”, featuring Saizo as our resident asshole genie. MC makes an offhand comment about not minding if Y were a little aggressive, and that night, Saizo pulls some ninja voodoo on Yukimura at an impromptu talent show. He hypnotizes Yukimura into doing a soul swap with Shingen or someone for days, because almost the entire rest of the route, Y’s thirst for MC reaches truly epic proportions. He comes on to her first thing in the morning. And tries to get it on in an onsen with his retainers nearby. Saizo thinks the whole thing is hilarious (“Other than the fact that he acts like he’s actually seen a woman at some point in his life, nothing else is bothering you, is it?”). When Yukimura realizes MC is freaked out about this whole thing, he intelligently decides the best course of action is to hit himself on the head repeatedly with a branch. And it works. I shit you not. His “virgin heart” is returned, and everyone is happy again. 😂

…I have to say, MC might be freaked out, but I definitely wouldn’t say no to uninhibited Yukimura 😉 My favorite scene: his hands tug at my hair as he presses close, tilting my chin to claim me from every angle as if he is hell-bent on making me pass out – and then MC actually does pass out. Lmfao.

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

“If I only lose myself in regard to you, it’s fine.”

I don’t get to say this often, but I have no idea how Masamune’s route (coming in like four days) can possibly top Mitsunari’s epic ES. Long story short, MC accidentally drugs Mitsunari with an aphrodisiac in his manju (she thought it was medicine to quell a fever. Oh MC). The next day, MC learns that the medicine actually leads to a “loss of self-control,” which I guess means that the handsy, horny, clothes unbuttoning Mitsunari we get for the rest of the route is what the guy’s really like once his stick is taken out of his ass. In one of my favorite scenes in the event, Mitsunari gives MC a private show, in the form of a sexy rain dance (“This is only for you, am I clear?” …This…this is downright pornographic...). But they’re in an alleyway, and the local girls see and fall in love, to his horror and MC’s jealousy. And when the medicine fades, we learn that Mitsunari doesn’t have quite as many regrets about the whole thing as I expected him to: “Losing yourself sometimes…isn’t entirely…disagreeable”. Couldn’t agree more, M.

At the end of the day, this event was stupidly cute. TBH, it’s probably cos Mitsunari wasn’t himself almost the entire time. Also, MC’s constant thirst for Mitsunari was hilarious and a joy to read. I highly recommend reading this event ASAP if you haven’t yet 🙂

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

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: “Falling for You, Always and Forever” Event Nobunaga+Masamune+Yukimura Review [SPOILERS]

Okay, friends. Take the most dramatic kdrama you know. Shorten it and change its setting to feudal Japan. Congratulations, you’ve created SLBP’s latest event in a nutshell. Seriously though, between all the angsty forced separations and second lead syndrome, I don’t really know how else to describe this event…!

“It’s too dangerous for us to be seen in Kyoto right now.” “…Says the one who marched right into the city screaming for me.” “…Want me to kill you first?” 

Nobunaga’s route is one heck of an emotional roller coaster. Long story short, Buddhist monks have been levying road tolls and such in the area, threatening N’s power. N invites some monks over to his castle to negotiate, but it’s all a front to provoke them into a fight before cutting them down. Among the casualties: a Yahiko lookalike who N had wanted to spare. MC’s naturally kind of traumatized. Nobunaga doesn’t want MC to have to witness the other atrocities he must commit in the name of unification (tl;dr monastary burning), so he tells MC to “go home to Kyoto,” and escorts her personally. MC and Nobunaga proceed to have the most drawn-out and angsty parting sequence ever, featuring, among other things, a meddling Hideyoshi, MC writing down all of N’s favorite recipes Ignis style, and N bowing to MC’s mom (!!) (“I am only losing her because I am not worthy of her”). But after a brief separation, Nobunaga realizes that he can’t live without MC, and they kiss dramatically in the rain like Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in that one movie before reaffirming their love for one another again. Aww.

So I actually really enjoyed Nobunaga’s portrayal here, probably because he kept his more psycopathic rapey tendencies on the down-low without getting out of character. For all the horrible things he had to do in this route, he was surprisingly romantic with MC. Also, MC was a total snarky blast, and really kept up with N (maybe SLBP and IkeSen’s writers temporarily swapped?).

Personal enjoyment: 8/10. If only MS Nobunaga were more like this one.

“Given the chance to do everything again…I still fell in love with you.” 

Masamune’s route features AMNESIA. One of my favorite kdrama tropes! TL;DR, after getting attacked while out in town with MC, Masamune forgets everything involving MC, for plot reasons. ~~McDreamy~~ Doctor Douzan, a famous doctor who happens to be in town, warns his retainers against forcing M’s memories back prematurely. So MC’s forced to resume her page duties, while watching Masamune revert to his former cold and shitty self. Some highlights during his period of amnesia include:

Masamune yelling at MC when she walks in on him sans eyepatch. And then getting upset because MC’s upset. And then apologizing cutely the following day after being instructed by Kojuro.
(After hearing some mean gossip) “Do not let fools bother you.” Lord Kojuro’s brows furrow as he gently brushes my hair back in place. “He’s right, doll. The words of people like that don’t deserve to be heard by your ears.” (Shigezane) ❤ ❤ ❤
Kojuro and Shigezane unsubtly ditching M and MC in town so that the awkward turtle couple can hang out together.
M turning down an offer of engagement to his uncle’s family, for reasons he cannot fathom. And then informing MC, “because [he] wanted to.”
M defending MC against attacking ninjas again, before Kojuro and Shigezane also step in to save the day!

In the end, we learn that Masamune’s marriage-minded uncle was behind all the attacks, that were targeted towards MC. M gets all his memories back, and he and MC proceed to share the cutest scene ever on the cliffs overlooking the town (“I want to make sure that I bury all your sad memories in glad ones”)!

So I thought this route was unequivocally amazing, esp. because none of the angsty happenings were M’s fault, but can we please discuss how unfairly sexy the Oshu triumvirate is?! Masamune, Kojuro, Shigezane… all of them really shined in this route. ❤

Personal enjoyment: 10/10.

“MC. Release me from our vows.”

A tale of two idiots: Yukimura’s route features a stiff competition between MC and Y to decide who can be the worse communicator. The night Y’s put in charge of an important military expedition, MC gets hit by a needle out of nowhere. But instead of panicking to everyone around her like a normal person, she keeps silent, for some bizarre and stupid reason. News flash: it was poison. Surprise! The culprit? Kotarou, a krazy ninja who’s determined to take out MC to demoralize Yuki (not that Y needs any more demoralization, since his army gets wrecked by Nobunaga and his guns…). At some point, the dude fights Y and MC on the rooftop before dramatically flinging her off the rooftop. Fearing for MC’s safety (I think…?), Yuki pushes MC away, telling her to go back to Kyoto. MC agrees, because she thinks she’s a burden to him. They angst. A lot. And then they part, for all of about half an hour before Kotarou attacks MC again, and Y arrives to save the day.

This may have been Yuki’s route in name, but in reality, it was Saizo’s route. Homeboy was the one who ID’d the poison. And the one who hunted down the cure. And caught MC in his ~~strong, sexy, muscular~~ arms after the whole rooftop thing. And discovered that MC was still in danger. And Yukimura? Yeah, he just flailed around like a useless angsty chicken, for the most part. I mean, there were cute moments, such as when MC and Y holding hands like middle schoolers at the start of the route. But the highlight was probably Saizo calling Yuki out on his shyness despite having banged MC countless times (“What, been away from her so long you got your virginity back, dear?”).

Personal enjoyment: 3/10. It’s not a 1, because Saizo’s super sexy here. And the plot, for all its wtf-ness, was fairly coherent.

TL;DR Masamune > Nobunaga >>> Yukimura, imho!

SLBP: “Riot of the Heart” Shingen+Inuchiyo+Mitsunari Reviews [SPOILERS]

This is Part 2 of my review of SLBP’s crazy Riot of the Heart event, where pairs of warlords encounter each other in unexpected situations! Part 1 here.

This event featured the reunion of Shingen and Kojuro, my two favorite smut lords! Tragically, there were no Shingen/Kojuro/MC threesomes in this route. 😉 So the story begins with a chance encounter between Shingen and Kojuro at the onsen. ~~It’s not sexually charged at all~~. (Shingen laughs pleasantly, raking his gaze over Kojuro. … With his gloriously naked body on full display, Shingen climbs out of the bath and leaves Kojuro to his own devices.) After Kojuro helps MC with her sandal strap the next day, Shingen ~~strong-arms~~ politely invites Kojuro to stay at Tsutsujigasaki Castle for a while, to the temporary shock of his clan (since he’s the enemy and all). Kojuro settles in nicely, getting along with everyone and even helping out with some day-to-day minutiae. He’s bemused by the…differences in leadership style, shall we say, between the mega-charismatic, slightly micromanage-y Shingen and his own antisocial boss, Masamune. In any case, this whole saga turns out to be a long-shot recruitment pitch (on Shingen’s end), and an opportunity to observe the enemy (on Kojuro’s end). It’s also a bit of a reunion, because the two met long ago, as children. Ultimately, Kojuro’s loyalty to Masamune unsurprisingly prevails, and the pair part on good terms (after Kojuro makes a half-hearted attempt to advertise Masamune to MC, lol).

Given how unabashedly smutty my impression of Shingen is, I was honestly a little surprised by how PG this story was! But regardless, I enjoyed it. Shingen and Kojuro make an awesome duo, and this route honestly made me a little sad that we can’t just have all the warlords getting along all the time in SLBP, haha. I could listen to the warlords praise each other forever. (“There is something about that man that makes you want to follow him to the ends of the earth…of that I have no doubt.” – K)

The brawny men pair up in the next route, featuring Inuchiyo and Yukimura! This story takes place in Kyoto. Yukimura’s in town to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC?). MC first meets him when he scares away the perpetually annoying magistrate. Later that night, Inuchiyo runs into him randomly at a bar. Several hours and tons of sake later, and they’re lifelong buddies. Their differing life philosophies cause tension though: Yukimura has a suicidal dream of dying gloriously in battle, while Inuchiyo fights for survival. They duke it out over MC’s Absolute Victory Bowls, as well as in a symbolic fight at the UFC (“I want you to live!”). The fight ends in a draw, but in the end, it’s implied that while Yukimura remains battle-hungry as ever, he’ll be a little more keen on survival from now on. After hilariously mistaking MC to be Inuchiyo’s sister, Yukimura heads back to Kai, and MC and Inuchiyo share a brief and wholesome moment that ends…in a kiss. Scandalous. 😉

Both these guys seems super nice and relatively normal, so this was overall a pleasant read! I can’t blame Yukimura too much for mischaracterizing MC and Inuchiyo’s relationship though. After all, aside from MC’s internal monologuing about his manly good looks/strength, their relationship doesn’t appear to be super sexual. And Inuchiyo, like Shang from Mulan, isn’t exactly the slickest with words: “When I think about my own death, I worry what would happen to you so much I feel sick. You’d probably sob like an idiot…” It’s endearing – especially since he clearly cares for MC a lot. 🙂 Overall, I enjoyed the slice-of-life, apolitical feel of this particular story!

To counter the overly charismatic Shingen-Kojuro matchup, the final event pairing features the two grumps Mitsunari and Masamune. Long story short, Mitsunari’s been sent by Hideyoshi to visit Oshu for a few days. M1 and M2 hilariously get off on the wrong foot after a tense nonverbal fight over the same book in an antique bookstore, but they quickly (yet silently) bond over their antisocial nerdery – at Mitsunari’s welcoming feast, while everyone else is happily getting drunk and chatting away, might I add. Over the next few days, they teamwork to convince the antique bookstore owners not to close shop, eat MC’s food, and exchange books with each other, multiple times, like schoolchildren (“Only because I finished reading it already.” -Mitsunari). In the end, a strong bond of introversion is formed, and the visit concludes happily.

So…here’s the thing. I think Masamune’s antisocialness is endearing, esp. since he seems to be such a misunderstood sweetheart (just started his route). But Mitsunari? Mitsunari comes across as a socially stunted asshole who behaves like a dick just because he’s allowed to. And while he’s grumpily kind to MC at times, he mostly seems to just drag her from place to place, and he and MC don’t seem to have much chemistry, physical or otherwise (“What are you standing there grinning for? We’re going to sleep.”). Also, I don’t like his outfit. I have no idea if Mitsunari has more endearing qualities in his main route, but in any case, I personally think this route would’ve been much more enjoyable from Masamune’s perspective, since the storyline itself was pretty cute! PS Kojuro really needs to stop seducing me in routes that aren’t his… it’s becoming a problem. :’D

Overall Shingen rating: 9/10. No smut (which is shocking b/c Shingen), but still very good!

Overall Inuchiyo rating: 8/10. Inuchiyo and Yukimura are freaking adorable!

Overall Mitsunari rating: 6/10. Super cute storyline, terrible romance.

So if you’re short on time/total love points, here is my personal event route ranking!
1) Kenshin/Mitsuhide, 2) Shingen/Kojuro, 3) Inuchiyo/Yukimura, 4) Hideyoshi/Saizo, 5) Mitsunari/Masamune, 6) Ieyasu/Nobunaga