#A REALLY POPULAR OTOME GAME VA

[q1ngqve]

wriothesley please call me 3077 ૮꒰⸝⸝> <⸝⸝꒱

[istharoth]

In love with a 2-D Character?! Obscuary Edition!

Blurb: In which you are a character in a popular game the Tokyo debunker boys are coincidentally in love with.

Edward Hart

Granted his favourite character was not part of the selection when the game was first released, he chose Romeo's favourite character.

Why? Because he's seen one (1) fanart of you and Romeo's favourite character looked similar to you.

ABSOLUTELY LOVES YOU, you're so. You're hilarious, he absolutely gets everything you do.

Fandom-wise, he's pretty lax about everything, even in-game farming.

He cannot access the next chapter? Oh well, YouTube it is.

But he's a whale. Uses the Obscuary bar profits to pull on your banner

Gets you maxed out!!

He's the biggest fan of everything fandom. Fanfiction, videos, art, edits. Everything.

He even enjoys watching character discourse because it's amusing.

Isn't addicted to the game, just addicted to hearing your voice.

Has Rui and Lyca go to comic-cons to buy merch of you. Probably has used super-chats on your va if they stream.

He just wants to show his support

(Too much support that the va has made a specific message for him in your voice.)

Probably the biggest supporter of rps too, he enjoys all the headcanons

Rui Mizuki

Sweet sweet Rui, he doesn't usually play otome games. (he's going into this thinking it's an otome game.)

Is kinda disappointed he can't vr it out

Does not choose you as his first choice, chose the first character on screen because he accidentally pressed them

laments it after meeting you in Chapter 1! Your banners take way too long and he has horrendous luck

Your SR won't come home, it's one thing but why won't your R card come home either!? (This is me ranting. Rui come home :<)

Is the victim of many lost 50/50 + banner ending when he needed one more 10 pull for a guaranteed character.

Drinks made after you are an absolute must.

Is the kind of person who is very active in a fandom then just disappears for a while and becomes very active again.

YEAH during that activity, he's leaving kudos/comments on every fanfiction. Maybe he's even writing a few, but won't post them. They're for his own eyes + i feel he's very cautious about showing his art.

Because art essentially is a part of you, and even the drinks he creates are all carefully catered to someone's tastes. Similar to his writing and art, he's just not very keen on showing it.

Re-reads his own work though, just to giggle about it.

Lyca Colt

Omg, wait, he's a bit confused about the entire game, the rhythm game especially but he gets the hang of it.

Gets pouty when he can't do a mission, and that stops him from continuing to read the story.

But! Anyways, onto you.

Likes your design + thinks you're kinda cool.

(IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DEVASTATED WITH WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN THE STORY.)

Trad fanartist Lyca? Trad fanartist Lyca.

in cons, he's seeing them in the artist lane, he's getting sales made for your future banners. (Obscuary funds are an afterthought)

Also one of the "Pulls for everyone, doesn't really care who he gets but has a few characters he will avoid pulling.)

He's the type to get jealous when someone else likes you.

You know the "Please respect mine and Gojo's space, we're married and I don't like you shipping yourself with him," (Paraphrased) YEAH, that but not exactly like that. He's just keeping the jealously inside.

Probably really chill about the game. Doesn't really read fanfiction.

He just sees Rui or Ed read some, reads one passage, likes it and draws it out.

Prev [Hotarubi]

[yuikomorii]

Jeez I’m sorry you’re getting such asks, idk what’s happening to people like can we stop telling others what to defend, what to like and so on ???Reminds me of the time some random users started calling Dialovers fans problematic for enjoying the games and that was the most ‘touch some grass’ stuff I’ve seen in awhile 🤩

// Touching some grass is still not enough, bring them a whole lawn!

But yeah, people will always find a way to force their thinking onto others. Nobody stops you from having an opinion but 1) get your facts right, 2) don’t miss out important details and 3) be respectful.

As for shaming fans for enjoying DL… let me explain something:

If you can’t accept Japanese values, beliefs and culture without projecting your Western perspective onto them, then maybe you shouldn’t consume Japanese media to begin with.

Your culture is not the only existent one; what you might find bad and problematic, can be considered good or “no big deal” in Japan and you have no rights to judge it because you are not the target audience.

For example, the DO-S and DO-M terms were very popular way before DL. You can see idols, VAs and actors sometimes labelling themselves like that in interviews or TV shows. In the West, if you said something like “I’m a DO-S (extreme sadist)!”, people would be like “Eww, such a terrible person! Toxic!”, while in Japan they’d most likely react like this: “Oh, interesting~! Sexy!”. I have a Japanese friend who’s into those idol games and her favorite character had to act sadistic for some sort of event. He started threatening and being rude to the listener, while my friend was fangirling really bad about that.

What I’m trying to say is that such fantasies aren’t uncommon in Japan, which is why such otome games are made. If the actual Japanese audience had a problem with DL, it’d be changed by now but look at DL being one of the most successful otoge franchises instead. ;3

[chips-and-vodka]

Seiyuus and Variety Shows

Having watched videos of Seiyuus going on variety shows and performing in those had me thinking of how the entertainment industry in Japan considers as quality content. Someone I watched on youtube had noted, that the mistreatment and humiliation of programme guests- to some extent at an extreme level- is the observed as a norm within the industry. Thus starting these thoughts in relation to seiyuu contents I have consumed in past years. 

Variety show hosts tend to talk down to Seiyuus in a inferior manner, and their perception of entertainment is horrifyingly twisted in my point of view. Activities and planning that express lack of consideration for the source material itself , and its intended purpose of promotion really glares through these listed examples I can recall of this very moment.

1. A travel variety show that featured two famous male VAs in Hawaii doing travelling things, and then asking them to beg for food in a market location with just an empty bowl IN ENGLISH for the sake of expressing the kindness of the locals. I was enjoying the programme up till that point. This is pure insult by the looks of it, I could not continue after that at all. 

2. Shimono Hiro on multiple cases, and their motives are beyond me: 

#1 being told to perform a song recording for his album, where it was set up that a live monkey would be part of a scare plan. This is one way to make it memorable than just a regular recording, and while he was laughing it off, I do not appreciate that they’re committing to potentially give the artist a hard time with their job. 

#2 When Demon Slayer was at it’s peak the VAs themselves, including Shimono-san were to perform some exercises with Gurenge in the background, the movements corresponding to their characters. While this is no issue, the variety programmes are taking advantage of the popularity of the VAs themselves and the franchise, and instead chosen to do the most mundane sequences of movements ever. If this isn’t an act of cashing in on clout I don’t know what is. (and don’t get me started on the “Total concentration XXX” trend where they just reference EVERYTHING Demon Slayer just to seem hip- it gets tiring after a while)

3. While not exactly a purely Seiyuu case, but just pitting inexperienced entertainers against seasoned seiyuus in a fake voiceover audition. This performed as a scare (dokkiri) prank, That they find it pleasurable on inflicting psychological stress on others, as if life isn’t hard enough already. 

The only instance of Suwabe Junichi appearing on a variety programme, featuring him and Shimono Hiro and Midorikawa Hikaru is though, well executed in my opinion. They were treated with respect and the way it was arranged was well thought out and effective in relation to the franchise promoted. The programme “R’s corner” featured Utapri and otome games at it’s peak, and Suwabe-san actually appeared in person in video format analysing and explaining the tricks and tips behind conveying emotions with just voice delivery alone. Shimono-san would perform the same role too. While Suwabe-san would  also have done a small crossdressing role as a maid, with him just doing some dancing, it is fun and quirky, and extremely related to the intended promotional purpose (and does he look just amazing in it-1000% YES). 

Being a Seiyuu comes with a condition of possessing multiple talents and devising ways to make themselves to be more known within the industry. Variety shows and weekly talk programmes (often organised with mainly Seiyuu cast) such as “Say You to Asobi” entirely presented with V activities that had a welcoming and fun aura- That is not at all as uncomfortable as most variety shows would do. And just allowing them the freedom to come up with their own ideas and planning- that’s absolute gold.

One comment from the video stuck with me- that the Japanese view humiliation and the failure of others as a form of self satisfaction and a spectacle to be gazed at- all in it’s sickening and twisted ways. While negativity and shock factor would perform the best in retaining the impression of a celebrity, or the promotional matter in question- where do you draw the line- that are you able to distinguish humiliation and just a light casual laugh that is to a acceptable degree?

Seiyuus demand to be treated with respect too. And putting them in terrible situations is not the way to do it. 

END

[ibegofyoutostop]

Thoughts on ToT VAs

I was watching an edit on YouTube of Tears of Themis, and there was this snippet of Marius whining in Japanese (in the visit function) which ai was oddly focused on. As somebody who uses the original Simplified Chinese dub when playing the game, I found it strange how the Japanese dub kind of made Marius seem much more childish than he is as a person (I get the impression that he's more refined and keeps teasing to an extent that is enough to rouse Rosa but not enough for others to notice). The exaggerations that his VA employed made Marius seem like the soul of a 6 year old boy was in the body of a 21 year old. Yes, the reason why I stopped watching animes (or kept to a minimum in my life) was because of this tendency to over-act in roles. In most common and extreme examples, JP female VAs keep making innocent characters have a sexual undertone, and JP male VAs keep making the character feel bipolar.

My original post seemed like I was berating people who choose the Japanese dub, but I feel as though my wording was wrong and I intended to mean that there are things to appreciate from other dubs that do not have as many popular VAs. Since I usually like soft boys, I chose the simplified Chinese because they have what I call "normal voices" (it sounds like people comfortably speaking their mother tongue). I don't prefer the Korean VAs because they all have very similar deep voices which doesn't really suit their lanky mature stature. I also don't really like the Traditional Chinese VAs because they all sound like annoying people in my opinion. In real life, nobody would speak like the JP VAs in animes unless it's like a character that's relatively normal (doesn't get excited every two moments and exaggerates their reactions to everything).

I have watched animes and played visual novels/otome games before, so I am not oblivious to talented voice acting. I know there is a type of voice acting that is usually for flirty whiny boys, but definitely not this one. This is again, simply an opinion.

[ihatebnha]

that ask about pro heroes voice acting is actually really funny because bakugo’s sub va actually does a lot of voice acting for otome games irl (i’m in the middle of playing one as i type this lol)

LOL BRUH??? i'm actually not too familiar with his work but knowing that he's bakugo and nishinoya HQ.......... HUH??? gonna get yelled at trying to confess to him </3

no jk, what do i know? bakugo is quite popular with the ladies, after all....... and i hope ur having fun hee hee hoo hoo (kiss a cyoot boy for me)<3

[harblkun]

Just wanted to say that I adore your art and feel so blessed/happy to have found your wonderful content. Are there any visual novels/otomes you love and wish more people knew about? I'm personally feeling that way with Sweet Fuse lately and am always looking for more characters to simp over as well 😅

You are very kind, thank you! '//u//' As far as ones I've found but not a lot of people know about, hmmm.... I'm pretty new to the Visual Novel/Otome genre, so most the ones I've played are current, or experienced a flash of popularity (like Hatoful Boyfriend. You know, the little indie one about dating giant pigeons XD I still need to finish that one, actually....) The Exceptions are: Paradigm Paradox, which I imported in Japanese. My knowledge of the language is very small however, so progression is slow and my lazy brain likes to prioritize things it can actually read. So I am not very far even into the common route xD; But I'm gonna push myself to play more of that soon. But that one is also on Aksys's localization list, so it'll come out within the next year in English for anyone who wants to play it. And Nightshade, which is an older otome, but still on the Switch. That one I am three routes deep into and it's very good. I have some backlogged in my Steam account, but I haven't gotten around to playing them. Two are the Psychedelica games which many friends have informed me are very good. (Currently on sale for like, 7.50 each too, I think ) It's not an otome, and... maybe it's not even a true visual novel, since you run around in it and also have big strategy-gaming sections, but 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is really really good. It's currently PS4-only, but I believe a Switch release is also supposed to be in the near future? If you like big casts of characters, interweaving storylines, and nonlinear story-telling, then 13 Sentinels is really really good. It comes with both an English dub and the original Japanese audio and both are excellent. If you like cool story-and-character-driven games and want to experience dialogue that flows as close to seamless as possible as you choose your answers, I recommend Oxenfree. A good spooky game with clever writing and dialogue and multiple endings. Also a sequel is on the horizon I think, and I'm pumped for that. The same company also made Afterparty, which has a story involving going on a bar crawl to outdrink the devil himself, and it was fun, but less enchanting to my tastes. Stellar VA work though, and still fun. Both games are available for Mac, PC, Xbone, Switch.... prolly also PS4? Oxenfree is even old enough now that you can usually find it for like five bucks on a Steam sale with relative frequency, not sure about Afterparty though. Neither of them will really give you characters to "simp" over, but the story and characters might still be worth it to you. That's all that comes to mind at present though, other than a few games I know little about but would like to import after Paradigm Paradox, assuming my brain sponges up enough Japanese to keep going. xD

[kadythethief]

ok im posting some pics cause i wanna cope

was gonna rate the love interest maybe? eventually? but i can't even get into the game rn arghhhhhh

ok so of the five(?) love interests, i just....picked this one, i guess. idk. im a pit picky tbh but shove a chara with purple hair in front of me and i'll TAKE IT.

hello, yes, btw this might contain what you might consider spoilers. continue on your own risk

he's a vamp. and he's DUMBBBB. like eh. honestly regretted the route i took. he is kinda...distant. cold. kinda naggy sometimea. BIG old man energy. vamps, i guess.

i get that that's probably an otome-trope but like...BOO. not into it.

i know it probably won't happen in an otome named "magic! and the boys i like" but pls let me date amelie the catgirl. maybe it's bc her VA sounds the best? but she is just also rly cute 😤

mc meets the tanned werewolf who'd beat up the whole world up for you if you let him which is kinda funny tbh. didn't like him initially, especially cause he introduces himself to you by sneaking into your room through your window in the middle of the night

there's like an evil magic thing lurking around and you have to be guarded but the werewolf takes you to see a performance at a bar or something

when you return, the vamp's kinda mad at your recklessness but the werewolf says he was there to protect you or something and vamp gets kinda huffy and there's some jelly vibe tbh

which like

hahahah

yes. i wanna see more of that. i kinda wanna get under his skin a bit. i wanna vex the old man more. (his cards, contrary to his plot-personality seem very hot tbh looool)

but yeah the rest of the chapters were still locked at that point at like the last one ended literally at like a cliffhanger where they introduced the villain with major yandere vibes. it looked very interesting 👀👀👀👀👀. also he has purple hair.

(secret love interest route pls???????)

the game has very nice world building btw.

the love interests are of different races, all which attend the school. the werewolf LI owns the bar which formerly belonged to his father who's like a mafia boss and when he got into trouble with the school, they were all talking about his father's goons not just letting that stand and shit

there was some other stuff to illustrate the world building but again, im still currently locked out of the game via loading screen 😭

extra: the blonde love interest guides you around at school at first which totally bugs his chosen-by-their-families-fiancee who is also blonde, really popular, and tbh, per character design, really pretty tbh. she should be a love interest too.

unfortunately she seems to solely exist to be the jealous mean girl who will bully you (and your cat girl friend amelie (noooo leave my cat girl gf aloooone 😭😭)) for literally breathing around her husband-to-be

honestly the blonde love interest is so basic and such a trope...but idk, actually, right around when he tells you that actually, to the surprise of basically no one, he doesn't actually love his fiance and wants to break up with her, he also reveals actually you know each other from when you were children but unfortunately you don't seem to be able to remember due to what is implied to be a horrific, traumatic incident

.....it's not great. which is why i like to ignore it and imagine it never exists tbh.

things happen and you and your cat girl gf land in the hospital where you meet the doctor love interest, the resident loli. his introduction is funny.

blonde love interest visits you often in hospital until you get released.

but then it kinda feels like...they just...forgot about someone?

okay, listen, maybe i'm biased...but until the last cliffhanger chapter, not a word has then been mentioned about cat girl amelie

like...has she been released??? is she okay?????

and again......i might be biased...but bro, at the very least i'd like to know...cause i'm imagining cat girl amelie's still in the hospital, and up until this point, the two were friends...at the least, and until the last chapter she isn't really mentioned once and like, i'm thinking mc has not visited her once?

COLD, mc, COLD.

and like it's very basic but idk, it somehow rly works. he is kinda adorable in how genuine he feels

???? idk how to end this, i kinda rambled on hahah, i just wanna read the next chapters tbh 😥😥😥😥

[masterhandss]

Hamefura Idol AU! (part 2)

Here’s a completely unrelated Katarina idol art by @Sangotofura on twitter!

This is a continuation of my first post, the one that is more of an overview of the original FL game and the original descriptions of the characters. I don’t know if I want to write a story for this, since again this is just an excuse to draw, but I’m really having fun with expanding the alternate version of the world of hamefura.

It’s a lot of fun to rewrite hamefura’s story to fit in an idol setting, so I hope you guys don’t mind if I write a bit more for my dumb au dhjgfjs

More tidbits about the ‘Game’:

The game’s name, Fortune Lover: Cinderella Idol! or “Fortune Lover”, is read as “for-tune lover” by the fans (get it? tune?? pls laugh). The ‘F’ of the name is written as a fortissimo.

In the setting for Fortune Lover, the entertainment industry is the biggest industry of all time, with music being the most popular form. It has been like this for decades, and as time progressed, people’s tastes and expectations of music evolved, leading to the creation and popularity of idols.

Idol-Producers are a new project that is testing the capabilities of a idol teen, observing how their involvement in their own success can impact how they manage their time and how they can bring the absolute best out of themselves, on their own. Maria is the first idol who will be testing this new style. She is still a producer to herself, the boys, and even Sophia and Mary if you choose to have them join you. Despite being an idol, they still call Maria their “producer” and treats her like one. 

The characters in the game are in 3D CG, as the game includes the dance choreography or “MV Mode” if you perfect the score of the rhythm game. 

While Katarina’s bullying isn’t really death threatening, it’s more in line with the petty kind like verbal threats, sabotaging Maria’s idol clothes and stage equipment, paying someone to mess up her tracks during performances, badmouthing her infront of tv show producers and hosts, and stuff like that.

Katarina’s bullying isn’t as bad as it is in the original otome game, but she gets shunned by the public because behavior like that is only supposed to be done behind the curtains. The public has such a pure and honest perception of idols that they never think of the idea that the girls who smile and sing on stage actually try to stab each other in the back when the stage lights are off. Some people think that Katarina’s character is just a persona, so knowing that she is actually an ignorant and arrogant rich girl idol-wannabe, her fans lose respect for her. Katarina’s harassment of Maria is one of the few cases that are brought to light by the end of the game, and because of how much the public loves Maria by that point, they are enraged by Katarina’s behavior, making her lose support on all sides

Katarina had been in love with Gerald ever since they were children, and while Gerald has always been a popular boy among both his peers, when she found out Gerald was going to be an idol, she disliked the idea of sharing her beloved Gerald to a huge audience of people, so she became an idol to stand alongside him and to make herself worth of him by charming him as as an idol and gaining a large following herself. Despite this, Katarina didn’t strive too hard to be a talented idol, as she was too confident on herself due to the pampering of her parents.

Even if the player doesn’t desire to romance any of the four boys, given how the game is written and how it is programmed, the boy with the highest relationship points with Maria will confess to her by the end of the game. It would be impossible to not interact and gain points with the boys, as you gain relationship points in most areas of the games (when you “practice” your characters, when you “play” their songs, when you “give” them new clothes, when you “converse” with them in story mode, etc.). In the event that there are two characters with the exact same amount of points, the game will choose a boy for you.

Sorcier Pro.’s current president is Geoffrey Stuart (for reasons that will make sense someday) 

Katarina-Gerald and Mary-Alan aren’t engaged in this au, but are constantly in each other’s presence due to most powerful bussinessmen and celebrities being good friends with each other. 

Each girl has a specialty in a certain area: Katarina with dancing, Sophia with singing, Mary with acting/drama, and Maria (according to the official description of her in the box) with fashion coordination. Maria can be seen as more of a jack of all trades though, as she does represent the player. 

While any of the boys can trigger the condemnation event that will lead to Katarina’s social suicide, the event is specifically associated with Keith and Gerald due to the severity of her presence and bullying if you have high relationship points with the two. With Alan and Nicole, Katarina’s event only happens for a few lines, but for Keith and Gerald, it takes place in complete detail, with it’s own animated cutscene. 

Gerald’s route is also the most popular among the fans, with community surveys reporting that 53% of the game’s player base had Gerald as their final chosen love interest ( 25% with Keith, 12% with Nicol and 10% with Alan)

Monkey Girl/Past-Life Katarina

Since Maria’s name can’t be change in the game, but you can give her a “nickname” that represents the username of the player, Past-life Katarina’s name in the game is “SaruP” (or “Monkey producer” lol)

Saruchan (Monkey Girl) dies before she could finish her playthrough of the game, and all of her knowledge is based on her idol-expert best friend Acchan. She’s a bit tomboyish, and she loves to climb trees and move freely without a hint of poise or shyness, and is friendly to all genders. Her love for climbing, running, gardening with her grandma, and never ending amounts of energy gave her a pretty strong, flexible, agile and energetic body.

In Saruchan’s world, idols do exist, but aren’t portrayed in the cutesy and exaggerated manner that fiction does. Though it’s no surprise to know that in her world, almost every girl had dreamed to become an idol at one point, even herself. Acchan doesn’t find the idea interesting though, as she only lives for the idealized version of idols that exist in fiction. Acchan explains that girls their age are being brainwashed by the idealized version of idols that are presented in the media that they consume, and that they should wake up and learn to enjoy the fictional idols as they are. Despite Acchan’s realistic disapproval of idol fantasies, she does love playing idol rhythm games and gacha games, and spends her allowance on getting DLC costumes for Maria in FL. Acchan even pre-ordered tickets for herself and Saruchan for an idol concert featuring the VA of the characters, that they were supposed to attend to on the day that Saruchan dies. 

She dies the game way: on her way to school and being killed by a truck that runs her over. 

The last thing Saruchan sees before she loses consciousness forever is the wallpaper of the game’s boxart from her phone screen as it flies out of her hands. 

My Next Life as an ‘Idol’?? All Routes Lead to Doom!!!

As usual, Katarina ends up remembering her future as an 8 year old kid, and plans to prepare for her future “banishment” and humiliation. She learns to farm in order to provide for herself once she gets shunned and retreats to the countryside, and (unknowingly) meets all the characters in the game and gains their good favor before the events of the game begins. 

Her head bump still happens with Gerald, but their encounter happened in a party rather than an engagement meeting, with her tripping over a rock as she decides to run to the young man in order to introduce herself. Such introductions never got past beyond their names and few exchanges of dialogue, as the bump occurred and Katarina was immediately brought to the hospital after he called for help. 

Being a girl who wanted to be an idol at one point, Katarina wanted to use this chance to fulfill her dream of becoming one! But knowing the fate that will await her, (public humiliation, isolation, and banishment to some degree) she tries to figure out ways to avoid ruining her future.

While not as bad as death, Katarina is aware that the ending of the game implies that the blemished opinion that everyone will gain of her will lead to her leading a miserable life; one that will prevent her from gaining new allies and even studying in peace without being made fun of or called out for. It might even ruin her marriage prospects, for all she knows (it doesn’t but she’s too stupid to know that). The stakes of the bad ending aren’t life threatening, but it is personal, as Katarina always dreamed of becoming an idol as a teen and doesn’t like the idea of being able to enjoy it for a few months only to be dragged down to hell right afterwards.

The Claes is a wealthy family known for her father’s knowledge and skills when it comes to trades and business, and for her mother’s beautiful opera singing voice and celebrity presence. As usual, Katarina’s father adopts Keith for the purpose of gaining a direct heir for the business, in fear that Katarina’s future significant other might just to interested in her to gain it. 

Katarina’s plan is to learn how to farm in order to be able to support herself after her banishment, give Keith lots of love so he doesn’t end up becoming a playboy like in the game, and to train herself in dancing and singing in order to not embarrass herself like the original Katarina did. After meeting Gerald again and realizes his weakness, she eventually prepares (or buys, since the setting is modern) toy snakes that she can use to surprise him whenever the condemnation event occurs, using his shocked and panicked reaction as a way to distract the media from the claims that will surely fall upon her (since no one would have expected the calm and collected Gerald Stuart to scream like a girl at the sight of a toy snake, right? That would stay in the headlines for weeks! maybe).

As a kid, she has private singing tutors, and takes more general singing classes when she gets older. She doesn’t have dance training as a kid, but she does like to exercise and move her body around, so it slowly turned into the stamina-filled flexible body that she is used to. 

Katarina and Keith - Their meeting and impressions are mostly the same, which the difference being that Katarina used a display axe above a fireplace to break down the door, and Keith got her injured by accidentally pushing her off a pretty high cliff in the Claes grounds while they were both running and playing chase (rather than being isolated for dangerous Earth Magic, Keith as a child was a clutz who attracted danger to everyone around him, making his older brothers make fun of him for being “cursed”).

Katarina showers him with love, making him affectionate towards his step sister, in the same as he was in the original material.

When Keith finds out about Katarina’s desire to train to become an idol, he is very supportive of her, and decides to train with her in order to be able to stand by his sister on stage (as well as to generally gain the same interests as her in order to guarantee that they will stay close as they age). The contrast being that instead of becoming an idol to gain the adoration of millions of nameless faces, he now wants to become an idol to gain the love and attention of a single person, which is Katarina uwu. 

Katarina and Gerald - Gerald eventually attempts to visit Katarina to apologize for the incident, expecting her to blame him for what happened, given the personality she showed him. He was shocked to find a scar on her forehead, farming while wearing a farmer’s attire despite coming from a wealthy and esteemed family, singing and dancing to a song as she waters her vegetables. He watches for only a minute, unable to look away from the girl who danced like deflating balloon and sang off key while almost drowning her small vegetable in water. She looked weird, but she was having the time of her life, and he could see and hear it from where he stood.

 In a daze, thinking he might have entered the wrong house by accident or walked on the daughter of a maid doing chores. He walks out and leave the Claes estate without a word, and visits again after only a few days, as he couldn’t get his mind off of the oddity that he had witnessed. 

He eventually realizes that it was Katarina on his second visit, as he finds the scar of the odd farmer girl on the same girl who boasted about her family’s wealth in the party. After giving formal introductions, Gerald offers to walk around the garden to get to know each other better, in order to continue the conversation that she had originally forced on him back in the party (it was done to be polite and respectful, rather than any interest to continue). In the garden, they pass by the area that Katarina had planned to turn into her farm, and Gerald was in awe at how unorganized and messy everything looked (there was dirt everywhere, the tools were left on the floor because she had to prepare to meet him, there was more bags of manure than what was even needed etc! Katarina internally cursed at her 8 year old delicate rich girl body for not having the same arm strength as her 17 year old self). It was then that it sunk in that the adorable singing and dancing farming girl that he accidentally saw really was Katarina Claes. She wasn’t the very definition of abnormal, but she was nothing like the daughters of his father’s friends that cried when not attended to or complained when not given the best dresses and shoes. There was no shred of worry about her family’s expectations in her eyes, nor expectations of him to act like his perfect and matured self whenever they met in parties, movie premiers or social events, which made him yearn for her company. 

After finding out about Katarina’s desire to become an idol one day, Gerald secretly planned to do the same (and even have her recruited in his brother’s agency) in order to become closer to her through her love of entertainment and to have a chance to be constantly in her presence. When he found out about the charms that male idols have on their female fans, he also plans on using this as an opportunity to gain both her attention and romantic affection, by perfecting his (already maxed out) charms as male idol. 

Katarina and Mary - The two met during a part hosted by Mary’s mother in the Hunt Estate, inviting all of her mother’s old opera acquaintances, sponsors and co-workers for a formal reunion. Katarina and Keith accompanied their parents to the party, leading them to be introduced to the Hunt Family’s daughters. As usual, Katarina had the urge to “release the chocolate shark” during the party and takes an elegant leave. She eventually gets lost in the estate and finds herself in the garden. Katarina was in awe of the garden’s beauty, and stood still as she watched what seemed like beautiful siren sing by herself near a majestic fountain, with a single rose in hand. 

Mary was surprised to hear an aggressive applause after singing to herself. Katarina aggressively complimented Mary for her adorable yet elegant voice, and asked who she was seeing as a singing trainer. When Mary replied that she was not having any singing or vocal training, Katarina rains even more compliments down, claiming that “her voice was that of an angel!”. Mary denied it, so Katarina proceeded to sing the same song that she had sang, as a point of comparison to make her feel more confident in herself. Mary shyly and unexpectedly joins her, and they ended up having a small and quiet duet in the garden. Katarina’s voice sounded a bit rough and squeak-ish, but alongside Mary’s elegant and controlled singing, they didn’t sound bad at all. 

When Katarina finds out that Mary is also the one who tends to the flower garden, she proceeds to shower Mary with even more compliments, and asks her to visit and help with her own farm garden. Being complimented for having a beautiful voice and a green thumb made her feel validated and appreciated, so she often visits the Claes household in order to be in constant presence of her first and dearest friend. The rest is the same.

When Mary found out about Katarina’s dream of becoming an idol, she started taking intense vocal training as well as various exercises in order to be able to join her in her endeavor. She slowly built a more brazen and tough personality in order to be able to join and protect her friend from the rumored cold and intense reality of the idol world, as well as due to the antics of her friends. 

Katarina and Alan - From Mary, she eventually finds out that the event where Mary duets and falls in love with Alan occurred. Katarina realizes that duet must not have been that effective because she has done the same with Mary, but is confident that Mary is in love with him because Alan is a very talented and handsome individual. A few days later, the fourth Stuart son bursts into the doors of the Claes household, and demands to meet with Katarina. She learns that Alan had developed a small crush on Mary, and that he wants to challenge Katarina for her hand. Same shenanigans ensues, leading up to the piano duel where his talents in the piano was in full display to everyone in the manor. 

Katarina knew how to play the piano (just the basics though), so she was in awe listening to someone who almost sounded like a pro! Alan runs off after Gerald compliments him, Katarina chases after him, and they got to talk behind a bush. Alan wouldn’t take her compliments, but Katarina aggressively insisted that his talents are nothing to scoff at. 

When Alan says that he’s sure that his brother can play just as good, if not better than him, Katarina speculates that it wasn’t the case, because everyone had things that they are good and bad at. Not everyone is the same, no one learns at the same pace, and that she’s sure even if Gerald can play the piano better than him (and she doubts he can in the first place), no one can play the piano like Alan can. The scores in his heart are his alone, and that nothing is more beautiful than the melody that the heart enacts. Katarina knew that the score he played wasn’t an existing one, and knowing Alan’s character from the game, it’s probably either an impromptu score or one he had composed by himself. Her guess was correct, leading Alan to be caught off guard by her compliment, almost feeling emotional as no one had ever guessed and believed that the music he played was his own, until Katarina did. 

She shows off the power of the toy snake to Alan, making him laugh and see his brother in a different light. He still constantly visited Katarina for their duels, but as time progressed, he lost the affection for Mary (as he saw her as a little sister now after interacting with her in the Claes Household) that made him want to challenge Katarina. They still followed up on those challenges, for fun rather than for sport. 

When he finds out about Katarina’s dream to become an idol, he is determined to join her in order to be able to compose songs and melodies that she can sing, intending to bring out the absolute best of his muse’s voice with his own music. Someone his age might not be fit to compose songs for an idol, so he intends to become one as well in order to gain a reputation as a competent composer. 

Katarina and Sophia - The two meets at an afternoon party hosted by the Stuarts, as a celebration for the birthday of the twins. Katarina had to “powder her noes” after a few trips to the buffet table, and leaves Keith and Mary. She’s chased down by a dog, climbs up a tree, and accidentally watches a group of kids and older bully a small girl who sounded like she was about to cry. The same events occur, up to their second encounter in the party. Katarina accidentally quotes a line from a novel that she was reading, and after realizing that Sophia understood her reference, she asked for them to meet again in order to discuss their similar interests. 

Everything is pretty much the same, the difference being that somehow idols were brought as a topic of conversation, with Sophia revealing that she is actually a huge fan of idols. Katarina, feeling reminiscent of her idol-expert best friend Acchan, tells her that she actually wants to be an idol herself and insists that Sophia tell her about everything she loves about idols. Sophia, who is surprised to also find another idol fan who is as young as her, becomes even more excited and tells her all about her love for idols: how they are able to wear such adorable outfits onstage, how they sing songs that carry so much meaning, how they carry their fan’s dreams with them when they dance and sing, how amazing it is to be able to juggle so many occupations at once, and much more. 

With both love of novels and idols, Sophia constantly finds herself in the Claes Household in order to talk to Katarina about books, idols, song recommendations etc. 

When Sophia was first told that Katarina wanted to be an idol, she was very supportive of her and announced herself as Katarina’s number one fan. As time passed, she realized she wasn’t just satisfied with just watching Katarina from afar, she wanted to sing and dance alongside her! She wants to use her knowledge of romance novels and idols to help make herself and Katarina the best idols to ever exist! She wants to sing on stage about her feelings: about how much she loves Katarina, idols and their beloved novels!

Katarina and Nicol - When he found out that someone had invited his little sister to a small book club, he was very wary, thinking that she was one of the many other girls who tried to use Sophia in order to become closer with him. He was shocked to realize that that was not the case, and that Katarina had barely seen him at all, and had opened his timid little sister’s heart. When Sophia asked Katarina if she found her appearance creepy, Nicol proceeds to explain further, expecting to see a hint of guilt or displeasure from Katarina Claes, only for both of them to be met with unyielding determination to have Sophia as a close friend. Sophia went home that day in tears, thankful to have found a friend who truly wanted to stick by her side. 

The Claes siblings often visits their home so the girls can have their book club, even bringing Mary Hunt with them occasionally. Katarina, while looking a bit flustered, is capable of having a conversation with him without averting her eyes, which was a breath of fresh air to the countless camera crew, staff, visitors and even strangers who couldn’t look him in the eyes because how of how much of a beautiful child model he was. It all leads up to the moment where Katarina compliments him with how blessed he is to have such a beautiful and wonderful family, which contrasted against the ignorant adults who pitied him for having parents who refused to abuse the potential of his beautiful face and for not being as beautiful as their son, as well as for having a freakish looking sister. 

Nicol, just like his sister, desired to constantly be in Katarina’s positive presence, and visited her often, leading them to be acquainted and friends with the entire group that Katarina enraptured. 

When he found about his sister’s and Katarina’s desire to become idols, Nicol thought of doing the same, in order to be able to continue to watch over and protect both Sophia and Katarina, as well to be able to continue being close with Katarina (as their lack of similar interests and age gap might lead her away from him, but tbh that is never gonna be a problem with Katarina). He also plans to use his influence as a child model to propel Sophia and Katarina’s careers, as a way of supporting his two favorite girls. 

Notes

I’m not sure how I feel about Gerald’s backstory, I might rewrite that if anyone kindly wants to critique it.

Instead of Mary’s green thumb, it’s her voice that leads her to Katarina and Alan, but I still think Sophia would still have a better singing voice than her, so both her voice and green thumbs both play a part in her character. Mary’s high pitched voice gets a bit deeper as she ages, while Sophia’s voice stays very high.

I really like the idea that rather than the original ambitions and goals that leads the harem to become idols in Fortune Lover, now it’s the effect of Katarina’s constant insistence and declarations of becoming an idol that leads to everyone doing the same. In this timeline, the harem probably wouldn’t have thought of (or planned early) becoming an idol if Katarina never brought it up. 

I’m writing this at midnight again, lol, but yeah I’m not planning on writing a fanfiction for this, I guess, but I do want to have an established plot so rather than chapters, I’m just writing a full overview for fun haha

When I mentioned that Sophia loved idols, I didn’t realize that I might have accidentally implied that she was just as an idol fan as Acchan was, but with actual idols this time, so I went with :DD

I’ll touch up on Idol Katarina, Anne, Maria, Sirius/Raphael and Fortune Lover 2 in the next one.

I’m really happy that there are people who actually read my previous post and said that they liked it! Feedback and suggestions are appreciated! I still need a final name for the units so help me pls hahaha.

I’ll rewrite this post when I feel like adding/changing stuff.

[dialovers-translations]

Hi! This isn't really related to much I just saw you say in some posts that Kanato wasn't your favorite vampire and that he was also in like the lesser tier of favoritism, I just wanted to say that I've never seen anyone else agree with me that Kanato is creepy, like I appriciate his character but he scares me 👀 so it was just cool seeing someone else with a similar view for once. I hope you're doing well 😊💫

I feel like Kanato is hit or miss for a lot of people? He has a group of very dedicated fans who really dig his aesthetic, but at the flip side there’s those who just find him scary/creepy. xD I haven’t met a lot of people who are neutral on Kanato tbh. 

Granted, he is voiced by a very popular seiyuu in Kaji Yuki. Not that other VAs aren’t popular, but I feel like those are more active within the (otome) game voice industry, while Kaji has voiced a lot of main characters from general popular anime such as BNHA & SnK.

[costellos]

LOL A 401K IM DEAD but honestly...... tru

all that tax stuff, retirement plans.... nanami’s got it covered. and then there’s gojo, committing tax fraud 🤧 i’d compare gojo to salt as a seasoning but that’s kinda mean, he does have some flavor. like, sugar probably suits him better?? sweet, can be addicting, but bad for you if have too much of it 🙈 AND THEN NANAMI. man’s the whole spice rack, he wouldn’t have it anything less since he loves food so much 😤 he is, as we say, umami personified 🤌

yeah, it’s unfortunate lmfao but oh well. i do occasionally have them in a smoothie though, like you said!

alsjfhsha it’s def time consuming.... like i’d be sitting down w my family and when i’m finally done picking it all out, they’ve finished eating welp 😭 and yeah, the rational part of me knows that, but i’m that person someone has to go up the service worker for and be like “excuse me she asked for no pickles” (except i didn’t 🙈) i’m much better in restaurants bc the language barrier isn’t as intimidating so i will tell them to leave out an ingredient if it’s something i can’t easily take out

mmmmm i can see that! he’d be the guy who’d eat pizza with a fork and knife wouldn’t he lol. and dab all the excess oil off w a napkin. he probably only goes to the Legit pizza places too haha but i think if he likes you enough he can be convinced to eat almost anywhere

ofc!! ask games are more fun if it goes both ways 😌 and ooooo tsumu! interesting...... 👀 those are honestly such good date ideas w a guy like atsumu! that’d rly be smth he’d enjoy and ngl the moment i read ‘something physical’ i immediately imagined y’all racing LMAO. he’s a prime example of how competition can be good for you w the right person, so i can see you filling in the space osamu left after he decided to focus more on his food aspirations. like imagine making cute lil bets w him and the loser having to do what the winner wanted hehe. omg a double date w the miya twins would be sm fun tho??? from my impression of you so far, i definitely trust you to keep tsumu in line lmfao so catch me there. me and osamu are the ones spectating and judging your guys’ competitions and cheering you on to beat atsumu like we’re olympic commentators or smth LOL

aaaaa i’m honestly p shy but if anything can get me to come off anon, it’d be nanamin 😂 (it’s like we’re todo and yuji bonding over their shared type but w nanami skdjfjsjsjs) let me know if you prefer to keep it here or on discord and i’ll give you my account, whichever platform you like better! also congrats on 1k! much deserved!! 🎉

cut for length!

A;LDSKJ GOJO WOULD COMMIT TAX FRAUD. lmao salt is a lil mean!! sugar is more fitting <3 sugar is also used for more fun foods, and I feel like it matches him bc of his sweet tooth. but Nanami........ o lawd. definitely the whole spice rack yes. 100% agree. pls I would use him in everything. wait was that a weird thing to say?

ah I totally understand! well, u got this friend. the next time u go out for Mexican food, I’ll be there cheering for u in spirit!!

and yes.... ugh... I don’t think he’s particularly picky, he’ll try anything. he just doesn’t like foods that are excessive, if that makes sense? like what you were saying with the grease. I think he’s more the type to like subtle flavors. an obnoxious meat lover’s pizza from The Hut would be a no go, but he’s down for a, quote, Legit Pizza Place. the kind of Italian restaurant that’s authentic! but let’s admit it, by that point it wouldn’t even technically be “pizza.” authenticity comes with a price :’)

ty friend you’re far too kind 🥺 AND PLS YOU’RE MAKING ME BLUSH OVER MY LAPTOP HHHHHHH. I would love nothing more than to fill the Osamu-shaped hole in his heart once they both go into their separate careers. and god..... don’t encourage him. or me. I would definitely make bets w him. and I would win. but thank you sweet anon, I would do my best to keep him from annoying the shit out of you!! it would be an honor to have you and Osamu comment on our tomfoolery. 👉👈

MY GOD I WAS ABOUT TO KEYBOARD MASH AGAIN. we’re definitely Todo and Yuji.... u like Nanami and so now I’m obligated to imagine a whole life we coulda had together in high school together. even tho I graduated five years ago. and I’m assuming you did some time ago too since you mentioned you’re old...... lordt. anyway! thank you for the congrats!! I would love to discuss more headcanons and such w you over Discord! dm me and I’ll add you so that we can sob over Nanami’s absence in the anime <33

nanamin date anon said: me, rewatching eps 9-13 on replay until the new episode comes out: hahaha i love all the jjk characters equally! nanamin and *looks at smudged writing on hand* the extras

lol i love them all rly, it’s just super refreshing to have an adult like nanami in a shounen

haha yeah, i’m definitely glad i’m not the oldest (bc that’s way too much responsibility for me, idk how they do it) so being player 2 as a younger sibling isn’t too bad, especially since it’s the story that i’m usually more interested in rather than the gameplay itself. i don’t have to worry about remembering which buttons to press in a fight when i can just watch the plot play out lol. (it’s definitely a good game, i just suck at the controls 😅 my brother let me play a bit and i couldn’t get the web swinging down i was struggling so bad aslfjjfsjak) what sort of games are you into? 👀

even if it’s boring to some ppl, watching is a good way to experience the game for yourself as well, esp if it’s a single player game! ofc i do tend to prefer multiplayer games, but it’s not too dissimilar to watching someone play a sport tbh. AND NO KENMA IM PRO-SIDEQUEST LIVE OUT YOUR COMPLETIONIST DREAMS. if we gotta fetch that dude a super rare item to unlock his backstory we MUST do it ok

YEAH! mikorin is also voiced by noya’s va! it’s honestly a shame gsnk didn’t get a second season, it’s so good 😔

me: lol does that mean kuroo’s your tomoda

kenma: ok this date is over

LMFAOOOOO not my fault the popular choices are the ones that get you the good end 😤 and it’s all good, i’m also guilty of replaying to see how the other choices impact the story haha. if there’s no save system tho, i’d make him switch out w me every time we replay bc i’d zone out at all the repeat stuff (bless games that have a skip option 🙏)

UGH TELL ME ABOUT IT!!! ok so I love the other charas too but.... Nanami’s so good. so good. iono about you, anon, but I went back and rewatched his episodes from the dub and it made me Feel Things. and I agree, it is refreshing to see an adult like him in shounen. esp since he treats the kids like kids. and he makes it clear that their being kids is never a bad thing. I will reiterate: he’s so good.

ahhh friend that’s so nice!. your brother sounds really chill. plus it sounds like a good balance: you get to watch the story, and he gets to dick around!! win-win. and as for my fav games, I’m up for anything! I try to avoid co-op games like Overwatch bc I get too competitive and I’m a sore loser lmao (but they are fun!). the last games I played were the Last of Us 2 and Persona 5, two very different games, but stuff that’s a good time nonetheless. tbh as long as I can immerse myself in the story and there’s tons to explore, I’m down. what about you?? you’d kind of mentioned otome games and Animal Crossing, but I’m curious!

hm. interesting. that’s a nice way to look at it. I guess if it’s a really good game, it’s no different from an interactive movie! also Kenma would love that omg you’re going to save so many villages in the rpgs he plays w you.... gotta max out EVERYTHING. every side quest! every mundane task!! collect literally every feather!!! but I feel like he would pass the time by making idle conversation. like some dumb shit Lev had mentioned earlier that day. such a nice way to unwind at the end of the day, shit talking Lev w his fav person 😌

anyway! going back to completionist stuff: Kenma would have such a blast going back and replaying games w you! and yes bless games w a skip option hhh. thankfully he’d remember all your previous choices together, so he can help navigate where to go next. he has no qualms handing the controller over, I think he’d love to curl up next to you and analyze how you play! but I also feel like he’d be giving unwarranted suggestions....... thanks, Kenma.

also, about Mikorin’s va: WHAT. OH MY GOD. so many things to learn..... pls. indulge me w your trivia.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Aniplex Fugou Keiji Livestream | Fugou Keiji 2 | Kitsutsuki 2 - 4 | Arte 3 - 12 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 27 - 32

During the Millionaire Detective: Unmissable livestream (part of FunimationCon and Aniplex Online Fest), I watched and took notes, so you might find these handy upon retrospect. To be honest, this is how I do the posts for magicalgirlsandcerulean’s livestreams as well, but there hasn’t been one of those in a while...

Otherwise, these are all normal notes.

Aniplex Fugou Keiji Livestream

Look out for the dancer from the OP

Onuki was the model for the dancing for the anime – he was told to do it out of the blue

Episode 11 might have one of these^ be relevant

Daisuke’s cup ramen has shark fin in it and he made the packaging from scratch – that’s why it’s so expensive!

The director Tomohiko Ito omits important information, allowing people to decide for themselves what happened. (Miyano) – This might be why the series is stylish. (MC)

Attractiveness of character design is important! (for adapting Fugou Keiji to modern day)

I’ve never watched a livestream where the stars were so conscious of their English and Chinese audiences! This was interesting, especially because Onuki is not normally known as a VA!

“We still have a little bit of recording to do.”

Fugou Keiji 2

I keep misunderstanding my own instructions…this starts again in July after ep 2.

Todai = Tokyo Daigaku (Uni).

I believe this is the 2nd time I’ve seen a rich person like commoner’s instant noodles, although I forget where I saw the 1stinstance.

Kambe switched to the back seat now, huh?

Ah! Now I remember! The first time was seeing spoilers for this episode on Twitter! (LOL)

I see Suzue has a sensible naming scheme for her data.

Hmm…judging by the Google hits, the name visible in the background (Betbeto bin Abura) is the Arabic prince from last time.

SYN-ACK. I see these guys did their work – that’s the final stage of the 3 stage handshake required for things like internet sockets (used to send “packets” of data).

Way to crash a party, Kambe siblings…(LOL)

I really wanna see someone draw Kato slapping (Daisuke) Kambe in the face with a wad of cash…or a “shut up and take my money” meme with Kambe in it.

I like how “special cup ramen” is on the purchases list and it costs 100000 yen. I also like how the reporter Mita was bought out for 5000000 yen (bigger than all the other individual costs except for buying out the Tower)…that’s how he showed up.

Kitsutsuki 2

I gotta finish this show and then pause it…3 shows in my normal lineup are safe.

Did Kindaichi take the bones of the fish out for Ishikawa…? Like a child would have had done for them?

Why is Ishikawa being referred to as “Hajime”…?

Draw this prostitute like one of your French girls…(LOL?)

Ishikawa clearly dropped those coins into that book earlier.

Way to diss the potential asexuality/celibacy in the house. I mean, it’s the 1800s – early 1900s, so there was less LGBTIQ+ stuff then and certainly the further back you go, the more sexual prowess becomes a sign of masculinity, but still, if the guy doesn’t want to go through with it, don’t force him.

Notice how the borders were pink for Ishikawa’s version and blue for Kindaichi’s.

Notably, Otaki didn’t seem to have that hairpin…but maybe that’s because we saw things from Ishikawa’s perspective.

Ooh…who are these bois? Also, crab.

Kitsutsuki 3

…cat? Now there’s a new perspective. That’s like saying the butler did it.

Yay! Hagiwara is Ume!

Notice Hagiwara’s version has a purple frame, while Yoshii (?) has yellow and another person has dark blue.

I think “consumption” was tuberculosis, once upon a time.

I love how the crowd is fed up with Ishikawa’s bulls***.

Ooh, chuuni Akutagawa…

In a Grove is the Rashomon story.

Tarou Hirai = Rampo Edogawa.

You stalker, future Rampo!

I kinda suspected Otaki when I thought through the possibilities…Ishikawa, Kindaichi, an outsider, Otaki (and as of this ep, Rampo too).

Gaiheikan? Is that Ishikawa and co.’s lodging?

Did they have pencils back in that day?

Kitsutsuki 4

Humouresques.

Kabayaki.

I think it was in Detective Conan that I learnt (one of) the only way(s) a man can get his nails done is by his wife doing it for him, possibly as a prank or to indicate he’s “taken”. Note this was early Detective Conan, so it’s very much a 90s attitude…considering the widespread acceptance of drag queens and the LGBTIQ+ movement these days.

Kozukata.

Lace flower.

Maichou seems to be a hybrid of Asahi Shinbun and Mainichi Shinbun.

[Monkfish/dictionary/going home] - Is this how Ishikawa shows consideration…?

The purple letterrboxing is back but this time with Ishikawa…meaning that’s just an aesthetic thing for all flashbacks after all.

Just from vaguely hearing it (I’ve got the volume on low), the words are nodo tsuki/nodo zuki. “Throat moon/throat wound” works just as well, if not better.

Balsam flower.

Update: Since enough anime fulfilled the special COVID-19 criteria, Kitsutsuki was put on hold after this.

Fruits Basket 2 2 (27)

I’ve read Another, remember?…so I kind of know what happens.

Uo’s got purple nails…that’s surprisingly cute of her.

Aw, Kureno! Another Ume role!

Why is “shisho” (master) not translated…? A weird Tokyopop-era translation quirk?

Aw, Shisho cut his hair…? Bummer.

Who was that? Shigure…?(!) Update: We find out his name later in this ep.

“If you continue to change, I’ll continue to protect you.” – Another quote for the archive.

Great…I feel personally called out by this ep.

Fruits Basket 2 3 (28)

It seems all male designers wear their designs if they have no one else to wear them…at least, that’s what I’ve gathered from Hajime (Runway de Waratte) and Ayame.

I remember Ayame stood in for Yuki’s parents in the manga at one point. This must be it.

(Spoilers for later!) I also remember Mine and Ayame get married at the end…This is the prelude to that.

Dang, Ayame, you moment-ruiner!

Fruits Basket 2 4 (29)

Did anyone in the doorway hear about Hatsuharu turning into an ox?

To quote Sailor Mercury, “Douse yourself in water and repent!”

Ooh, window splitting Yuki and Haru. Nice cinematography going on here.

I bet all people think they only think about themselves, in one way or another.

Arashiyama tofu.

Yatsuhashi are great. They’re these sweet triangle things like samosas that come in various flavours. Mitarashi dango are sticky brown skewered balls of glutinous rice…which I’ve never had, but I’ve seen them in enough anime to know what they are.

I only just realised this, but Yuki’s hairstyle isn’t even on both sides, like Atsushi from BSD’s.

Huh…you can see a copy of Mogeta and Ari (as it turns out, “Ari” is the name of a character and not “ant” at all in this case) on Haru’s bed. There’s also an article in one of the magazines discussing how denim is the popular thing now and which types are in right now.

Fruits Basket 2 5 (30)

I realised Yuki isn’t calling Tohru by her first name – he’s going against Haru’s advice.

Hmm? Why should anyone ask a rabbit to hold their horses…? (LOL)

CGI cars…*sigh*

Tororo is grated yam, IIRC.

I learnt recently that nanban means “savage” or “uncivilised”…for a potato and chicken dish, the name and the contents don’t really match…Update: Nanban means “savage” (noun) or “barbarian”. Close enough.

17-26…age gap 9 years…yikes…

The words “(a happy, yet) caged bird” come to mind when Kureno describes himself. Also, Kureno is an Ume role! Yippee!

Ahh…young love…even if it has a bit of an awkward edge to it. Mind the (age) gap!

Me being the Ume stan, of course I want to hear those sweet nothings in his voice, even if it has to be via a proxy like Uotani…I wouldn’t be an Ume stan if I didn’t.

…Ah, I see. Uotani reminds me of Minare from Wave and vice versa.

Oh, I just remembered Akito is 20 or thereabouts. Kureno/Akito is only a bit more legal than Uotani and Kureno.

Arte 3

Notice Leo never once uses Arte’s name in the lady’s presence. Her name does have some infamy to it, after all.

“She’s got some guts.” – You say that at a live dissection…LOL.

Is this love~? What’s the age gap between Leo and Arte, anyway? Update: We know for sure Arte is older than 13…that’s it.

Make the things you want prominent with perspective and such. I thought that much was obvious, but for someone straightforward like Arte, I guess it ain’t so. (Maybe it’s because I’m self-taught to some degree when it comes to art.)

*sketching by candlelight* - You’re gonna ruin your eyes, Arte!

Arte, ma girl! You’re getting’ a raise! Good job!

Arte 4

Anime makes this courtesan stuff sound like a host club…(?)

I thought Leo was saying “Aria” for a second instead of Arte, LOL. I’m getting too used to that being my alias…

Arte 5

The speech bubble said “so annoying I could die”.

Arte 6

The video’s gone all pixelated…at least, the subs have…

I bet she’s going to fall over…Update: Nup, she didn’t.

Arte 7

I thought Yuri was a Russian name…or a Japanese one.

This is basically Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine all over again! (LOL)

I thought Yuri would be pushy…like, “Here’s an offer you can’t refuse.” That kind of thing. Likewise, I didn’t think Arte would refuse.

Leo? *dun-dun-DUN!*

Siena is apparently in Tuscany. Also, I did see the Silent Manga Audition page had a chapter on a pregnant woman, so this is ch. 17 or thereabouts.

Is Ruthanna not getting the money because she’s pregnant…?

Epidemic? The Black Death?...Speaking of which, Arte is very much of that ganbaru spirit. By being progressive for her time, she becomes ordinary in our time.

Ohhhhhhh! It’s a reverse harem in progress here!...This would be a good otome game, come to think of it. It’s framed the same way.

Leo can be surprisingly childish at times, don’t you think?

Arte 8

…Really? She fell overboard? *raises eyebrow*

Ooh, china (with and without capitalisation).

Is this another sarcastic child…? Oh, bother. Still, I can see why Hamefura crossed over with Arte now…Katarina vs. Catarina!

Arte 9

Bigoli is a type of pasta, as can be guessed from context.

The kanji for the episode title literally translate to “bad child”! Like the Tones and I song, LOL!

Mikata (ally).

Arte 10

This episode is giving off a Katarina x Gimo ship vibe…but with how young they are, I’m not sure I should ship it. They’re 6, aren’t they…?

Oh, you can see Katarina and Sofia’s hug in one of the ED frames.

Arte 11

Arte’s let her hair grow out…

An Italian man…bowed. In Renaissance Italy. Now I understand what all the ANN complaints are for.

What’s up with that kid’s face…? *grumbles*

Leo’s just being Leo, I see.

That’s right, Angelo and Leo never met.

Instead of a father or a brother overly cherishing his daughter, it’s the uncle…I never thought I’d see the day I saw something like that.

Arte 12 (FINAL)

Is this like Orientalism, but with gender…? (What would you call that?)

Lemme guess…Leo is working on the church mural and so he’s away?

Was that Leo, in the middle of the mural somewhere…?

Another Japanese bow in this anime, which is set in Italy.

But where is Arte herself in that mural?

Fine = end.

Fruits Basket 31

The word Momiji is using is “hisso” or something like that. Hissho is secretary, so the translator made it “secret getaway” to make it work.

That hat! *laser stare*

*one of the textbooks has “high school chemistry” on it* Tohru can do chemistry?! I suck at chemistry!

The episode title is translated as “Are you really this stupid?” It seems the real line for that was “Are you an idiot?”

Something about high school girls appeared in my head when Haru mentioned Shigure wanting to see Tohru in her tight swimsuit…*mumbles grumpily about pervs*

Kyo’s not wet, even though he got in the water! Amazing!

I think it’s sad that Tohru responds to “stupid girl” like it’s her own name.

“…that makes you suspect me?” seems better.

The Akito and Shigure age gap is somewhere between 6 and 8 years, IIRC.

Fruits Basket 32

Tohru switched from okaasan (mother) to okattekita (a formal past tense verb meaning either “bought”, “lent” or “won” based on the characters…which I don’t have a reference for). I assume because it was so off the mark, the subbers chose a similarly off the mark word.

“When I was a kid, I thought watermelons would sprout in my stomach if I ate the seeds.”

We only know about Kyo’s dad so far…hmm…what about the mother? Update: (TW: suicide) I think it was at this point we already knew that Kyo’s mother didn’t love him and committed suicide, but it’s not certain until later.

Why do doctors always use scalpels and syringes as weapons…? I mean, even Jakurai’s symbol in ARB is a syringe!

I’ve been wondering…how big is the Sohma family? Is it diluted enough that Haru and Rin can love each other without genetic problems for their child/ren? (From Another, I would say the answer is “yes”, but shoujo normally doesn’t care about this sort of thing, which is why I ask in the first place.)

Shigure seems like the type to say, “U mad, bro?”

The mansion looks like the one in Haruhi Suzumiya, if I remember the appearance of that one correctly.

[yuikomorii]

I wish for all non-Japanese people to stop acting like otome game experts when they know nothing about them to begin with. Main hero has always been an official term in Japan, that’s an official role for a character and it’s always the English or Spanish fandoms that keep denying it not only in Ayato’s case. That’s like saying that all heroines are self-inserts. As you said you can use them as self-insert but that doesn’t erase the fact they’re still their own character with their own confirmed role in the story. The other guys are still important but they’re just not connected to the story or heroine as the main hero is. The creator just has a preference regarding that character and couple, why would this affect the player in any way? And we still wonder why we don’t get a localisation hah.

// FACTS! Japanese fans will always know better than Western ones, because otome games are made for them. The West and Japan have very different mindsets when it comes to certain things, therefore what Japan finds good, can be seen as bad in the West and vice versa. However, I'd rather trust the word of Japanese fans because, after all, otome games are aimed at them, and if they truly dislike something, it means that thing failed; it couldn't meet their expectations or be to their liking, and their liking is considered the most important because they're the ✨target audience✨

Unfortunately, teaching an entire fandom about otoge pop-culture is impossible; nobody is popular or convincing enough to truly open everyone's eyes, but whatever.

Main hero is and will always be an official term. Those are facts, lol.

As for Ayato, he is seen as the main hero by Rejet and Japanese audience, that’s what matters the most. When he was asked if his opinion about Ayato changed before and after the anime, even his VA said “no”, because, according to him, Ayato is a character that can easily be the core of the story (主軸). In the least biased way, that's a true statement, given that he got that main character charisma and energy, plus background.

From my perspective, he got an amazing world building, and whoever thought of that is a very clever person (or people, if there were more)! I like how everything makes sense, it's a bit weird how they only released YB manga recently but at least it solved a "mystery".

We can see in the last YB chapter how he became addicted after eating that fig. "Addicted" is literally the name of his character song, and its lyrics perfectly describe the entire fig situation (translation by silvermoon249).

Last but not least, I have such a love-hate relationship with this official short story (translation by Koiiro) because 1. that’s the best confession Yui has ever made and 2. it sounds kinda creepy?? The atmosphere was quite disturbing; Yui didn't even seem embarrassed, which is unusual for her, and even Ayato found the situation strange. It has a strong "everything is always connected" vibe to it…?

Welp guys, don't be sad if you haven't found your soulmate yet. Ayato had to wait hundreds of years for it. xD

I truthfully agree with the part about localization. It's not like DL doesn't get one due to the themes presented there, because there are localized otome games with far darker themes, but I feel like the English fandom really doesn't deserve one (I'm not referring to everyone, there are some genuinely kind and calm people). They complain about everything Rejet releases, they are petty and too salty, they abet, and they have no idea how the otome game world works... To summarize, they aren’t able to appreciate anything. As a result, DL should be limited to the Japanese audience, who are far more understanding and supportive.

[drowningotometrash]

Because I’m currently obsessing over Love and Producer (Mr Love Queen’s Choice), I HAVE to rant all about it, and what better place than here lol. I never really thought I’d be this into it as I saw waaaaaay too many ads for it prerelease. I was actually like “mehhhhh I’ll think about it”, until my friend mentioned she liked it and I was bored.

Love and Producer is a Chinese game that has blown up quite a bit in the Chinese community. The taiwan ver was released late last year, approximately a year after the initial release in China, and is also the version I’m playing. You can choose VAs of all versions in the settings, currently there’s Mainland Chinese, Taiwan and Japanese. The Japanese release of the game is actually slated for 2019, but you can already choose the Japanese VA. And despite me usually liking Japanese voice acting, I SWEAR you’ve got to go with the mainland Chinese ver for this game. It simply is a lot more natural and flows a lot better. And note, the music is AMAZING in this game, I’m utterly obsessed. And the card illustrations and CGs are glorious.

Unlike quite a lot of otome games, the charm of Love and Producer for me is the plot. Like Mystic Messenger, L&P is quite plot heavy. In fact, there are 21 chapters released thus far in the Chinese ver (14 for the TW ver) and the first 10 still feels like the prologue, though I’ve heard it gets quite angsty later on.

The plot revolves around you as a producer of TV shows. You’re in charge of the production company that your father has left behind, and it’s steadily loosing viewership. Through various events you come to meet 4 men and they all seem to be interested or know you. You have dreams that you can’t explain and some parts of your memories are obviously suppressed. Eitherway you come to learn of Evolvers, humans with the Evol gene which makes them super human, and that an organisation is trying to capture and harm these people.

There are only four date-able characters, and they each play a significant role in the plot. Rather than say that the game is for you to “date” the 4 guys, occasionally it feels more like a story about people with super powers. In fact you learn more about the characters through side dates with them than the actual main plot line. Though I’ve heard later on you do get to choose whose route you want to play, but as of ch 14 you are still on the main route with all 4 guys. And it’s quite interesting because I do occasionally feel like the asshole that’s stringing 4 guys along as you jump from guy to guy in each chapter lol. But like previously mentioned, it’s because each guy actually does have a role to play in the plot and you need them to push it forward. Though you jump between guys, it is to let you have an initial grasp of these four people that are involved in the conspiracy around Evolvers. And for once I still haven’t managed to pick out my favourite character yet, I just love them all.

So now onto the guys:

First is 許墨 Xu Mo aka Lucien

He's a director and assistant professor of the local university. He's basically the mysterious guy. Very kind and gentle to MC but you know that he’s definitely not all he seems to be. He’s the kind guy you first meet when trying invite him onto the last episode to save your show. He always seems to know a bit too much and you some how end up as neighbours. Xu Mo is the warm but reasonable and the scientific person who helps you a lot with ideas and suggestions for your shows. He’s also the guy that will leave subtle hints for you even before events happen to you. He’s the kind that’s warm but you definitely feel he’s got a barrier between him and everyone. Though you are naturally much closer to him than others, there’s still a distance. Everything about him is mysterious and there’s an underlying sense of danger around him. Out of all characters, he is the only one who’s Evol is still unknown.

Next guy is 李澤言 Li Zeyan aka Victor

His japanase VA is Tomokazu Sugita, the same guy who voices Oda Nobunaga in IkeSen. And what can I say, he’s the typical rich CEO who basically is the guy who funds everything. He’s mean but always helping you, calls you an idiot, teases you and refuses to admit that he cares. You actually call him out on his tsundere attitude on dates lol. He’s basically the Han Jumin of the game, but not as competely out of the loop as Best HusbandTM is. He seems to have a fondness for animals, esp Chibas. He’s also a great cook, sharing memories in regards to pudding with you. He definitely knows you from before though details still aren’t exactly revealed yet (or I haven’t gotten there yet lol). His Evol is related to Time Control.

Side note: His assistant is the best.

Third is 白起 Bai Qi aka Gavin

Baiqi was your senior in high school. The rumoured bad boy who got into fights all the time and with atrocious grades. You were actually afraid of him during high school. However he suddenly transferred away and you never saw him again until the events started happening. Currently he's working as a police officer at the local Police station, though everyone thinks he doesn't care about his job. But he's actually a secret agent working against the organisation targeting Evolvers. He's the special forces guy that has always liked you but is not good at or used to expressing his emotions. Despite being the guy with the clearest and most direct connection with you, he never tries to push that on you. He also doesn't try to correct the assumptions you used to have of him. His Evol is Wind/Air related, as he straight up tells you "As long as you are in the wind, I will know where you are." He is also the one who clearly displays his protectiveness over you.

Side note: His self proclaimed sidekick and best friend is always trying to make you realise he's always liked you.

Extra side note: I was so shocked when I discovered who his Mainland Chinese voice actor was. As I hadn't looked up anything before the game, I was halfway through the released chapters before I found out. I was so shocked. With Japanese seiyuus you tend to be able to recognise them if you've watched one too many anime. But here? I even went back to listen through the story portions again and I couldn't (and still can't) link up the voices lol.

Lastly is 周棋洛 Zhou Qiluo aka Kiro

He's an idol superstar. Basically he can act, sing and model. He's the most popular celebrity and he can attract fans from all walks of life. He's the typical bright bubbly guy who lights up your life or tries his hardest fo cheer you up when you are down. He loves snacks and calls you Miss Chips as you met over a bag of chips at a convenience store I wish it actually were that easy meeting celebrities. You both love to eat and bond over food. You gradually discover more sides to him and he definitely knows more, but he's still a bright boy at heart (at least from where I've gotten so far). His Evol is Absolute Attraction.

Side note: If you thought I was shocked when I found out who voiced 白起 Bai Qi, I was utterly floored when I discovered who voiced this guy. The difference in characters of the roles the VA played in a previous show is too shocking. I still can't link up the two and was literally flabbergasted when I found out.

There's also a unique feature of this game called "By Your Side". It's basically an ASMR recording of the characters speaking to you softly as he lays beside you and lulls you to sleep. It's definitely very soothing though I haven't tried to fall asleep to it. However only one segment of one character, 許墨 Xu Mo, is free. You'd have to pay if you want to unlock the rest.

[otomeverything]

NIGHTSHADE

Release Date:  December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers:  Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher Platforms:  Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam) ESRB Rating: M (Mature) 17+

  Walkthroughs:

Goemon

Chojiro

Hanzo

Kuroyuki

Gekkamaru

Common Route

  PROLOGUE (from Nightshade’s official site) During the Sengoku Period the two main factions of ninja clans, Iga and Kōga, warred against each other for decades. In the year 1593, Nobunaga Oda started the Tenshō Iga war, decimating most of the Iga ninjas in the process. The very few that survived were absorbed into the Kōga clan, despite their past rivalries. After 17 years the Sengoku Period finally came to an end, and Japan was unified.

Enju (Protagonist), daughter of Kandō Ueno, the Head of the Kōga clan, spends her days training diligently in hope of becoming a full-fledged ninja like her peers. At long last, she is assigned to her first mission but finds herself caught in a dark conspiracy.

  ART AND MUSIC One of Nightshade’s prominent features that’ll easily make an impression among otome fans, is its art style. The game credits non-other than the famous illustrator, Teita who’s fairly popular for her other works such as Norn9, the Juuzaengi  Engetsu Sangokuden saga and the recently released visual novel, Charade Maniacs.

I wish I could say the same for the game’s musical score. The OP theme was nice but wasn’t memorable at all. The END theme (Good End) however, “Taezaru Hana”  by MIKOTO was pretty soothing that I ended up purchasing the track in iTunes. Listen to the full song below:

  Voice Acting Nightshade honestly has the best seiyuu lineup. The voice acting was, in fact, one of the major highlights of the game. The VAs really did an amazing job capturing your emotions. I was already expecting this much from their topnotch VA list, but they did more than stellar performances with this game! Every seiyuu involved were magnificent, even the side character, Ieyasu Tokugawa (voiced by Koki Miyata, who’s famous for his role as Ukyo in Amnesia), did an amazing job portraying his cunning personality.

  Hikaru Midorikawa ♥ “Goemon Ishikawa” – Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi Suzaku Ibun), Zenya (Sweet Pool), Ayato (Diabolik Lovers), Hanate (7’Scarlet), Yutaka Nabari (Nil Admirari)

Wataru Hatano “Gekkemaru” – Asato (Lamento Beyond the Void), Lindo (Dance with the Devils), Kotarou (Hakuoki), Sakiyama Youji (Sweet Pool), Yuuto (Storm Lover)

Hiro Shimono “Kuroyuki“ – Shou Kurusu (Utapri), Senri Ichinose (Norn9), Sou Kiryuu (Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 5), Ricchie (Black Wolves Saga), Ray Blackwell (Ikerev)

Kenjiro Tsuda “Hanzo Hattori” – Chikage Kazama (Hakuoki), Soshi Amazaki (The Charming Empire), Leonardo Da Vinci (Ikevamp), Nathan Seymour (Tiger & Bunny)

Kosuke Toriumi “Chojiro Momochi” – Hajime Saito (Hakuoki), Kagiha (Psychedelica BB), Poyo-Poyo (Period Cube), Hideyoshi (Ikesen), Lawrence (Psychedelica AH), John Watson (Code Realize)

  MAIN CHARACTERS (Spoiler Free)

I must say, I love all of the characters and their routes that it was hard for me to pick a favorite. If you’re concerned with plot spoilers in your first playthrough, my recommendation would be to play the routes in the following order (from least to greatest in spoiler content):  Goemon – Hanzo – Chojiro – Kuroyuki – Gekkamaru. For enjoyability, I’d recommend playing in the same order. Goemon and Hanzo were the lighter routes, Chojiro was angst from start to finish and the brothers (Kuroyuki and Gekkamaru) had more plot revelations than you’ve expected. I would also strongly recommend saving Gekkamaru’s route for last, trust me when I say, this makes your last playthrough more worthwhile. 😉

  GOEMON ISHIKAWA

The Japanese Robin Hood

ladykiller

True to his name in history books, Goemon Ishikawa is the legendary Japanese outlaw who stole gold and other valuables from the rich to give to the poor. He’s very popular among the townspeople due to his ingenious thieving schemes. He is known to send prior notices to his targets before he robs them off their treasures. Goemon is also a highly skilled ninja who has the wit of a brilliant tactician.

Playing Goemon’s route first was a good choice since his story was the lightest among the bachelors in the game, plus I haven’t fallen in love with Midorikawa’s voice in a while, so there’s also that ha! I find Goemon’s story really refreshing due to his carefree personality and charismatic nature. Because of this, it was so easy to like this character from the get-go. Going down his route will let you discover a few revelations regarding Goemon’s past, where he came from and how he ended up as the notorious thief he is now. His route also offers  a couple of plot twists and although it was a little predictable towards the end, it was executed really well where it didn’t feel awkward nor forced. As far as the romance goes, Goemon is a straight up, ladykiller. It was fun to see his relationship with Enju develop all throughout his route. His playful teasing and his easy-going personality will have you falling for him in no time.

  HANZO HATTORI

Mr. stoic ninja

kuudere

Besides, being Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa’s personal guard, Hanzo is also the Tokugawa clan’s shinobi leader. Because of his resounding title as the strongest ninja history has ever known, he is very popular among all the shinobi clans in Japan. He is normally calm and collected but will not hesitate to become ruthless for the success of his mission.

Hanzo is the oldest among the bachelors (and I absolutely love him!) He is, I believe 33 years old, making quite an age gap between him and the heroine Enju, but LOL this is Toyotomi-Tokugawa (Edo 1600’s – 1800’s) period we’re talking about, where huge age gaps among couples are very common… But age aside, let me tell you… Hanzo’s route completely took me by surprise! I have no words! *Breaths heavily* I guess, I was already eyeing this character from the start since Kenjiro Tsuda voiced him. But I wasn’t expecting his arc to be this good that it literally caught me off guard. He ended up becoming my favorite of the entire game!

At first, he started as the very straightforward stoic kind, who’s only doing his master, Lord Tokugawa’s bidding. But after a few encounters where he teams up with the heroine and helps her survive, he begins to slightly soften up, giving us a glimpse of his true adorable fluffy nature. Both Hanzo and Enju go through tremendous character development in this route, especially the heroine. I just love seeing Enju prove herself time and again how much she wanted to make it as a true shinobi while she constantly faces hardships every step of the way (she’s freakin’ cool!) I also love seeing Hanzo unexpectedly supporting her through her struggles. It’s as if, rather than saving her all the time, he wants her to learn to depend on herself instead; and to me, this relationship was truly very refreshing, not to mention absolutely heartwarming. Expect a lot of badass back to back action scenes in this route, where Hanzo and Enju kick some ninja ass!

  CHOJIRO MOMOCHI

Big Brother

Angst! Angst! Angst!

Chojiro is the son of the late leader of Iga, Tanba Momochi . After losing his family and clan in the Tensho Iga War at the age of five, he joined the Koga clan along with the other Iga survivors. Chojiro is also the heroine’s cousin as well as her mentor/trainer. He is a man of a few words and he completely devotes himself to his missions without questions.

I made a mistake playing Chojiro’s route earlier in the game as I wasn’t ready for a sudden whirlwind of angst! At the start, Chojiro’s personality was very closed off, its almost as if he has built a wall before him to keep others away. Because of his tragic past, he doesn’t want to get attached to anyone, afraid he’d lose them at the blink of an eye just like how he lost his parents when he was young. This makes his relationship with Enju a little less intimate from the beginning. As the heroine tries her best to get a closer reach of him, he waves his feelings off because he’s conflicted between succeeding his missions as a shinobi versus his own desire to help Enju and stay by her side.

Chojiro’s route was also the most tragic in the game!😭 Ya’ll better prepare those tissues! Romantic wise, his story was not my favorite. The drama just out-weights the romance on this one. I do love the writing in his route though. It seriously gave me an emotional breakdown I wasn’t prepared for. 😅I suggest playing his route in the middle to get the angst out of the way. This, also kinda gives you more room to recuperate from the heavy drama before jumping into an even more dramatic finish as you do Gekka’s route last.

  KUROYUKI

clever, cunning

soft yand

Kuroyuki is Gekkamaru’s younger brother. Right after he was born, both boys became orphans and were taken in by Enju’s family. He was sent away on an extended mission when he was eight, by the heroine’s father Kando Ueno, who’s also the leader and head chief of the Koga clan. Kuroyuki is also the same age as Enju (16).

Not much is revealed about this character other than he is Gekkamaru’s brother who was sent on a secret mission when he was eight years old. Where did he go? What was he doing for the last eight years he was gone? It was rather questionable how his character (in other routes) always comes and goes sporadically in the plot.

I couldn’t really expound more on Kuroyuki’s arc without entering spoiler territory but going down his route will let you discover one interesting revelation about him and the game’s overarching plot. It was quite satisfying to play Yuki’s route because finally! we get to fill in some plot holes. I fell in love with his story for the same reasons some people are calling it out for. It wasn’t light nor easy-going as Goemon’s or Hanzo’s, it wasn’t tragic as Chojiro’s or Gekkamaru’s. It was dark and I probably wouldn’t have it in any other way. Kudos to Hiro Shimono for breathing extra life to this character!

  GEKKAMARU

best boi

puppy eyes

true route ish?

After losing his family at the age of three, Gekkamaru was adopted by the heroine’s parents along with his younger brother Kuroyuki. Gekkamaru was assigned to be Enju’s trusted bodyguard when they were young and has proven his loyalty and devotion through time by sticking to his role as Enju’s protector. He is wholeheartedly committed to his master (Enju) to a point where he becomes too overprotective of her.

So after going through all kinds of heaps and hooplas of playing and suffering each of the character routes in the game, I was finally on my last one, Gekkamaru. I know you can just play his route whenever but I chose to do his story last for the experience. ohoho!

…and I have no regrets!😭 Gekkamaru’s route started with pure dramatic fluff as expected. It was just so precious and endearing to see how far this man would go for the sake of the heroine. His loyalty and dedication for Enju was such a pure bliss that it even pains me to see him doing too much😭. His route was a combination of action, romance, a side of humor and a whole lot of drama as he and the heroine struggled to survive by each other’s side. I thought to myself, “This story couldn’t get any better or worse, could it?” but then angst hits the fan through plot twists after plot twists (during the last chapters) and this was where the story really picked up. I was at lost for words. I felt really sad, angry and confused. His route put me through a tidal wave of emotions, I had to pause the game for a while, sit in a corner to get my head straight and my breathing in check! lmao! Gekkamaru’s route is like a slow burn, heart-rending gut punch and I absolutely loved it.

  ENJU UENO (Main Heroine)

Enju is a strong heroine and I adore her to bits. Unfortunately, her potentiality to become an even better shinobi was wasted in some routes because of the whole damsel in distress scenarios, with the exception on Hanzo’s and Gekkamaru’s route ~ these were the only story arcs where the heroine was able to hone her skills as a ninja and show us her true strengths.

Enju Ueno was literally, thrown to the wolves when she got caught up into this despicable game of survival, out of the blue. Not only that, but the ordeal she went through of betrayal, loss, and sorrow was absolutely too much to handle for someone her age. Still, despite all the hardships, she chose to live and survive. I was thoroughly impressed by her determination which I believe was one of her strongest points. YES, this is one badass heroine right here folks!

  Side Characters

Ennosuke (Left) – The fastest ninja in the Koga clan. He’s not romanceable, and I don’t think I’d want him as a dateable character either, heh. I ship him with Kyara though. I love the chemistry with both of their characters.

Kyara (Right) – Proud, graceful, responsible, and badass on the battlefield. Her weapon of choice is a “chigirigi” which is similar to the “morning star” in medieval age weaponry. I ship her with Ennosuke. Also, Saori Hayami voices her, so this to me was a plus!

Kasumi (Center) – the cutest, most adorable ninja…ever! She’s the youngest of Chojiro’s disciples. Looks up to Enju and Kyara as her older sisters. I love her so much! *must protecc*

  SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION I purchased the physical copy of Nightshade (proxy shipped) which lets you choose three language options to start the game with (English, Chinese, Japanese). I can say, that the localization was fairly decent. I didn’t play the PC version, but I asked a few people who owned both PC and Switch copy and as far as their answers go, D3Publisher did not change the English translations for Nightshade on the Switch. They changed the fonts though! D3Publisher is known to deliver decent game localizations. They’re not the best but they’re not disappointing either. I’ve spotted a couple of minor typos in the game, but it’s NOT something that would ruin the whole experience for you.

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The Switch system was very comfortable and very easy to navigate from the jump. They even offer a “rewind” option for you to backtrack scenarios, which to me, was a saving grace. This way, making the correct save files became a piece of cake. The Nintendo Switch version also contains the game’s DLC “Special Content”. These are extra fluff episodes that happened in the middle of a character’s story. They also come with a special CG (one for each story).

  TRAILER

  OVERALL THOUGHTS? (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ It took me a total of 30 hours to finish the game, and none of these 1800 minutes spent were wasted. Yes, I loved every bit of it.

Although the story was set in the Sengoku “Warring” period of Japan. Instead of the usual cliche battleground premise that’s normally used in Sengoku themed animes and VNs. Nightshade’s story focused more on the darker side of politics during the said period. The indirect “battle royale” theme, I admit, was quite bracing and very well paced. It was something I never expected to actually work in an otome game.

Besides the Nightshade’s gorgeous artwork, I wanted to compliment the game’s stunning special effects, such as the leaves falling in the BG, flower petals scattering about  (whenever Enju uses her ninjitsu), and the moving sprites (which played exceptionally well during fight scenes). The voice acting for Nightshade blew me away and I couldn’t have wished for a better seiyuu lineup. I guess my only gripe here was Enju’s inconsistency as the heroine. In some routes, she’s badass while in others, she’s weak and very dependent. Her characteristics as a whole seem to vary depending on who’s the guy she’s with. I still love her as the main protagonist though!

While I’ve enjoyed playing all the routes in Nightshade and their respective stories, the ones that made an impression on me were Hanzo’s, Goemon’s and Gekkamaru’s. Chojiro’s was good but it was too angsty for my taste and while Kuroyuki’s story drove me to the edge of my seat, this is the route where Enju is at her weakest.

Do I recommend this game? YES This is the first ever english otome game in the Switch that I would no doubt recommend to everyone at the drop of a hat. I’m so glad I’ve waited for this port, despite all the STEAM sales that have gone by the previous years 😂 (laughs). To be honest, I was even quite sad when I finished it 😅 and wished there was more content for me to delve into. If you’re having second thoughts whether or not it’s worth shelling out 48 bux to get this game in your Nintendo Switch Library. Here’s my advice: GET IT! This one’s definitely a gem and imo, almost up to par with the big titles (like Code Realize, Hakuoki, CxM). If you want an impressive storyline and characters you can’t ever get enough of, I can’t recommend Nightshade enough!

  CHLO’S RATING: 8/10

Nightshade Review (Nintendo Switch) NIGHTSHADE Release Date:  December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers:  Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher…

[god-damn-it-liz]

Tagged

We were tagged for questions, so here we are! Thank you @youkaiangel for thinking of us!

1. Favourite movie and why

    Alex: I can’t decide. The first one is Pleasantville! It’s super cool and has tons of themes that really make the viewer think. It’s amazing. The second is Catch Me if You Can because it’s based on a true story and it’s really thrilling! It really shows that if you’re smart enough and look confident, you can get away with just about anything.

   Lovie: ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ and ‘Clueless.’ I don’t care how campy and 90s they are, they make me laugh and make me feel good on bad days and I will stan them until the day I die. 

2. Give us a happy childhood memory

     Alex: When I was about 3 I took a big family photo. I remember everyone standing in place, getting ready for the picture. It was a long time ago, but it was the last time that we were all gathered in one place.

    Lovie: When I was 10, my Catholic grandmother told me that if I kept reading tarot cards that I’d go to hell and because I hated her I kept reading tarot cards just to spite her and my when my dad found out he couldn’t stop laughing because he thought it was hilarious that I was willing to go to hell just to spite a bitch. 

3. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

     Alex: Does fruit count as one thing? Delicious and nutritious!

     Lovie: Mozzarella sticks or Macaroni and Cheese. 

4. Have you ever done anything illegal?

     Alex: You a cop?

          Kidding. I’ve done plenty of illegal shit. Mostly with friends, since that makes it fun.

    Lovie: Nah, I’m too dumb to get away with illegal shit so I don’t even attempt it. 

5. Who are your top otome husbands? (I know y’all have ‘em)

     Alex: Conrad Schuyler. Yes, I know we can’t date him. But I can dream. Randy and Sigurd are up there too.

    Lovie: Elias Goldstein from Wizardess Heart, Nathaniel from MCL/MCLUL, and Ren from Destiny Ninja 2. 

6. What was the last thing to make you really laugh out loud?

     Alex: This

Lovie: Rick James 1 Rick James 2

7. What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning?

     Alex: I usually try and think about happy things so I can start my day off well. Then I think about how much I don’t want to leave my bed.

    Lovie: Check my phone for messages, phone calls, emails, notes, ect. I usually don’t wake up until the afternoon so I tend to miss a lot of shit in the morning and gotta catch up. 

8. Do you prefer rainy days or sunny days?

     Alex: Rainy! Sunny days are plentiful where I live so I don’t appreciate them as much.

    Lovie: Rainy days. Absolutely. I love the sound of rain.

9. Have you traveled? Do you want to travel?

    Alex: I’ve been to several states (CA, AZ, NM, NV, UT, TX, ID, MA, NH, VT, FL, VA, MD), Washington D.C., Mexico, and the Bahamas. I definitely want to travel more! It’s a dream of mine!

    Lovie: I have traveled to California, Florida, Jamaica and Cozumel. And I would absolutely love to travel more. If I could visit Scotland and/or Ireland, I will die happy. 

10. What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

     Alex:  I definitely want to live abroad! I think it would be super cool.

     Lovie: Ideally, I would like to write something that’s worth something and becomes popular and touches a wide audience but since that’s more wishful thinking so I’mma say become a librarian and start an educational youtube channel. 

We tag: Since this is a joint blog and not a personal one, we’re tagging out ‘biggest fans,’ or the people who have been in our notes a lot lately. 

@stephdaninja @donetorhasslichliebe @lunariabloodriver @swordsmanofsweets

Our questions: 

1. “Who’s your favorite dateable LI and why?”

2. “Do you speak more than one language and if you do, what are they?”

3. “How long have you been playing dating games?” 

4. “When playing an otome, what do you look for the most? The characters, the story or the aesthetic?”

5. “What are your favorite movie/tv show genre(s)?” 

6. “What are some of your favorite otome games?” 

7. “What’s your favorite myth, legend or conspiracy theory?” 

8. “What’s the best thing you’ve ever wasted your money on?” 

9. “When you’re having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?”

10. “What are some of your favorite fictional characters that aren’t in an otome game and why?”