ニル・アドミラリの天秤 帝都幻惑綺譚

Completion date: September 19, 2025

I started this game and finished Hisui route last year, but for some reason I just abandoned it? Wasn’t even a full drop; I think work just got busy. I have known of this game pretty much since its release on PSV in 2016 – I never had a PSV because my parents would not let me get “gaming consoles”. Then in 2018 NS version released but I couldn’t read Japanese. I was so sad that I could not play such a beautiful game and remember searching for the CGs online many times. When the Chinese localization came out in 2022, I was learning Japanese. So it really feels good to finally experience the original game from beginning to end; makes me slightly emotional even writing about it.

PROS:

• The art. The cast. The OP ↓

• This scenario writer (Katagiri) is very good at writing confessions/feelings/romance. At least it matches my wavelength.
• Rui my love

CONS:

• Slow-burn/Boring common route. I fell asleep twice during it. This is my first and second time falling asleep playing an otome game and I’ve played near 50 titles, so that’s quite a feat.
• Tsugumi’s personality fluctuates in different routes. She and Fukurou are useless in general.
• Shizuru route sucked
• Hayato route sucked even more
• Recycling of the same plot device in different route aka this gets old

Navigation links:

Shougo/Shizuru/Hisui/Akira/Rui/Hayato/Hidden* (also my play order. Rui is route locked second last. Hayato is route locked last. Hayato route also branches into hidden route)
* Clicking on “hidden” link will spoil who he is in the title!

Nil Ado: The Predecessor of Olympia Soiree

Final Thoughts

Nil admirari is a latin phrase for “be astonished by nothing”, suggesting a state of calm, composure, and detachment. Tenbin means scales. So the translated title is The Unwavering Scale: Bewitching Tales of the Imperial Capital. The game certainly contains its own bewitching tales, and does take place in the imperial capital. We will find out what “scale” they are referring to. The law? Justice? Morality? Love?

Finally, an interesting tidbit is that the game took place in “25th year of Taisho era” which does not exist – the Taisho era only lasted from 1912 – 1926.

**All my reviews contain spoilers**

Common Route

Kuze Tsugumi is a sheltered kazoku (Japanese aristocrat) young woman who attends an all-girls’ school. Despite her royal lineage, her family is on the brink of bankruptcy. Her mother left the family when Tsugumi was little. All she has is her father, younger brother Hitaki, and elderly butler “Jiiya”.

The game starts with Hitaki learning the news that Tsugumi is betrothed to the son of the Yashiro family, whom she has never met before. The Yashiro family is rich, but not royal. Marrying into them will save Kuze family from financial ruin. Hitaki, growing up believing royals should only marry other royals, accuses his sister of abandoning her lineage to “mix with the commoners”, and throws a tantrum.

Tsugumi runs some errands and sees reporters rushing down the road mumbling about how the current prime minister’s son committed suicide, and how they need to get photos. She returns home to find Hitaki acting weird and later attempting suicide by setting his room on fire, with him holding a book in the middle of the room muttering “I need to go home” (the text box says unintelligible but he said うちに帰らないと).

Hitaki is resuscitated in the hospital but remains in critical condition. At one in the morning, Jiiya and Tsugumi receive two unlikely visitors: Hayato and Akira, who introduce themselves as agents of “Fukurou” (owls). They are a branch of the government and are essentially, book police. Before you associate them with the Nazi book police (especially with how similar the eras are), they explain that they believe Hitaki, and earlier the prime minister’s son, both acted oddly and committed suicide because they came into contact with “maremono” (rare things). Maremono are books, usually written by hand (not printed) and hence do not have many if any existing copies in this world. They contain strong emotions of the writer and have the ability to influence the reader into doing often destructive things such as suicide.

Tsugumi recalls that Hitaki was holding a book, so she brings it to her visitors to show them. However, the book is on fire. Tsugumi screams, but nobody else in the room sees anything wrong with the book. Hayato concludes that Tsugumi has the special ability to identify books as maremono by seeing their “aura”. To the rest of the population, maremono look like plain regular books. Hayato invites Tsugumi to join Fukurou to aid in their operations, and prevent others from joining Hitaki’s fate.

Tsugumi hesitates, but eventually resolves to join, partially because she will be on government employee payroll, earn a salary, have room and board, and help alleviate the financial pressures of her family. She moves into the employee apartment and meets the following characters (there’s a lot of them and even then I’m only introducing ones that have at least a moderate role in the plot):

• Tokimiya Shiori: a red-haired, working woman who introduces Tsugumi to the operations of Fukurou. Her late husband died because of maremono.

• Migiwa Shizuru: a best-selling romance novel author. Hitaki was a big fan of him. He is flirty and likes to pick up women.
• Hoshikawa Hisui: an exotic appearing, “beautiful” boy who seems to hate his own appearance. He is an operative of Fukurou.
• Mashiko Motofumi: the boss of Fukurou. He has never shown his face to anyone, instead wearing tribal masks. He is voiced by Okitsu, btw.
• Nabari Yutaka: an acquaintance to the Kuze family who has the same ability as Tsugumi. He has a collection of maremono in his room. He has heart disease, so cannot go outside often to patrol for maremono so is thankful that Tsugumi can help with that. Voiced by Midorikawa.

• Kuina: a bookshop owner. He also likes picking up women like Tsugumi. He has empathy for the working class.
• Sasagoi Touichirou: another bookshop owner. Unlike Kuina, Sasagoi makes it very clear he does not welcome Fukurou and acts kind of shady. He sold the book that turned out to be maremono to Shougo.

• Sagisawa Rui: A medical student at the Teito University who fell in love at first sight with Tsugumi. He is later attacked by some thugs and saved by Fukurou. The thugs are not caught. He then takes Tsugumi out on a cafe date.

• Ukai Shougo: the son of the prime minister who attempted suicide. He was a law student at the Teito University. He seems to know Shiori. The prime minister himself apparently asked Shiori to have Shougo live with other people to learn adulting and functioning like a normal human in society. However, he is a spoiled brat who acts rude to everyone. He brings his servant, Kijitani Arata.
• Tsubameno Tarou: A keen and green policeman sent to monitor the Fukurou’s actions, even though he denies it.

After the first week at Fukurou, we arrive at the route selection interface.

Ukai Shougo (CV: Kimura Ryouhei)

There is no other way to describe Shougo other than “annoying little shit” in the common and beginning of his route. He moves in with his butler, gets Kijitani to do his share of cleaning duty, blasts music in the apartment and refuses to turn down (as someone experiencing college kids living next door, I wanted to bash his skull in reading that scene). He is rude, inconsiderate, and entitled. In the common route, he also scolds Tsugumi for being unladylike and exposing herself in the open by working commoner jobs, to which she replies:

Upon entering Shougo route, all the Fukurou people discuss how much of a brat he is. Tsugumi expresses that even though she doesn’t need to be friends with him, she wishes to achieve a relationship “where we at least say hi”. The next day, she greets Shougo and Kijitani in front of the apartment. Shougo blatantly ignores her. Tsugumi lectures him a little about basic etiquette. Shougo continues to be rude and says mean things to Tsugumi, telling her to mind her own business. Tsugumi appears visible hurt. Shougo starts backpedaling. However, his ride arrives so Kijitani tells him to depart. Even on the ride, he glances back at Tsugumi apologetically.

While patrolling with Hayato, Kuina tells them a prominent politician Kamoike jumped out of a building under the influence of maremono. Hayato then introduces Tsugumi to the underground crime ring Karasu (crows), which periodically auctions maremono and humans. Hayato suspects it is operated from Nightingale (an exclusive clubhouse) owned by Shiginuma Takashi, aka richest person in Japan, but he has no proof or basis to fight against such an influential man.

Kuina and later Shiori agree on a theory that maremono can also be mass produced by feeding the writer drugs for example, to induce a trancelike state and heighten their emotions. Their logic being: if maremono are so rare, how come Karasu keep getting their hands on these things – there must be a way to supply it. However, Shiori warns Tsugumi to be very cautious when poking her nose into Shiginuma/Nightingale’s business as those who tried, including the police, have turned out murdered. Despite this, Tsugumi replies she wants to get to the bottom of this and is committed to the cause.

Shiori also tells Tsugumi that a military official by the name Owase is holding a party at Nightingale in the near future. Someone as important as Shougo is of course invited. Shiori asks Tsugumi to investigate the inner workings of Nightingale by posing as Shougo’s dance partner. On her way back to her room, she hears very faint jazz music coming from Shougo’s room. He has learned to be mindful of his neighbours.

Tarou, who has still not officially met Shougo yet, brings some salty pancakes that his grandma made for everyone. Shougo passes by the kitchen so Tarou offers him a pancake too. However, Shougo replies rudely that he doesn’t eat “commoner food” and shames Tarou, who becomes confused and hurt. Hayato had enough of this rich brat and gets into a fight into him. Shougo arrogantly replies that he’s just better than everyone else, and that he’s “chosen” to rule. An angry Hayato asks him if there’s anything in this world that he earned for himself that was not a result of being born into the right family. Kijitani arrives and breaks up the fight.

One day during patrolling at Kuina’s store, Tsugumi runs into Shougo, who is apparently a regular and often buys jazz music records. Tsugumi tries to strike a conversation. Shougo becomes very upset and runs out of the store declaring he will never come to this store again because Kuina let “un-classy” people like Tsugumi in. A surprised Kuina tells Tsugumi this is the most he’s seen Shougo talk in his life; usually he is quiet and polite. He also tells her Shougo was buying volume controller for his record player so it makes less noise at night.

Tsugumi returns home late at night, only to find Shougo doing cleaning duty himself. Tsugumi praises him, but he says he is only doing it because “I don’t like the place too dirty”. Hayato arrives too and teases Shougo a bit, causing Shougo to throw the broom at him in anger and storming out again.

On a separate night, Shiori notifies everyone that Kamoike’s death is finally reported to the public. However, the details are altered greatly to suggest it is not related to maremono, or any books at all, despite multiple eye witnesses. After the meeting, Tsugumi goes to the greenhouse and runs into Shougo burning books…?

Tsugumi quietly watched from afar, afraid to let him notice her. She comments to herself that Shougo appears sad and bitter. She runs back to her apartment without telling anyone. (Does nobody’s window face the backyard?)

The next morning, Shougo says good morning to Tsugumi. He asks how Tsugumi is adapting to and enjoying her new life so much, despite coming from an aristocratic family like him with better conditions. Tsugumi replies while she is now on her own, she is thankful of this because she is now able to make every decision for herself. She admits that initially she felt lonely and is concerned for Shougo. Shougo tells Tsugumi that if she “insists” on being his friend, he wouldn’t mind “exchanging a few words once in a while”.

In the interim, Tsugumi meets Professor Mozuyama, a psychiatrist from Teito University. He doesn’t have a large role in this route. Hisui fills Tsugumi in that Mozuyama has an unhealthy obsession with people who have special abilities like them, and does unethical human experiments.

After another day of patrolling, Tsugumi enters the women’s bathroom, undressing to take a shower. Shougo accidentally busts in the wrong bathroom. The two scream with Shougo running to his room. He later passes a note under Tsugumi’s door saying “Sorry. I promise I didn’t see anything. Please forget this happened.” (We will learn what he saw at the end hehehe)

Tsugumi meets Shougo in the backyard and finds him fixing a birdhouse. He gets flustered when Tsugumi praises him. At the evening meeting, Tsugumi is introduced to Yoshikiri Takuma, who is a teacher figure to Hayato. He is a reporter and confirms that he was under pressure to alter the report of Kamoike’s suicide. He mentions there’s another politician who died in a similar fashion a while ago by the name of Abi; Abi frequented Nightingale.

Remember Owase’s party at Nightingale? It’s finally time. Tsugumi changes into a dress prepared for her by Fukurou, earning lots of praise. Shougo initially says she’s not pretty at all, prompting a sad Tsugumi replying she can change into her uniform instead if that suits him better. He then finally says what’s on his mind, kinda.

Tsugumi’s family is not that well-off so she hasn’t been invited to this calibre of event. She finally meets Shiginuma and his wife Shouko. Shiginuma literally has a black feather in his pocket like a crow’s, what!! They start making small talk with Tsugumi. Shougo answers on her behalf knowing she is not comfortable at navigating situations like this.

Tsugumi meets Owase, who clearly has a vendetta against Ukai family. He also instantly takes an interest in Tsugumi and asks her for her first dance. Shougo declines with Tsugumi in agreement; the two hit the dance floor. They share a dance, and many more.

Tsugumi notices a suspicious figure scuttling into a corner room. She excuses herself and follows them and sees Sasagoi! However, she remembers Shiori’s warnings and does not follow him into his room. However, she is seen by Shouko, who advises her to return to the ball room. She returns to the ball room and unable to find Shougo. Owase approaches her again and starts getting forceful with her. She agrees to a dance to placate him. Shougo appears and tells Owase that they’re going home, appearing upset at Tsugumi for agreeing to dance with Owase.

Tsugumi finds Shougo in the greenhouse. He asks her if she and everyone else thinks he’s a joke and a coward for attempting suicide and running away to hide here. He asks if Tsugumi thinks he is weak. Tsugumi of course does not think of Shougo that way. She also clears up the misunderstanding around Owase. He then huffily replies he will pick her dress at the next ball. He then asks Tsugumi to stop acting so formal and distant around him and call him “Shougo” instead of “Ukai san”.

Tsugumi tells Hayato that Shougo has been going to Nightingale on his own to attend an event called the “Salon” – a place where young men from powerful families meet and make connections to rule future Japan. (She learned about this at the ball.). The two follow Shougo there worried something’s going to happen to him, nothing does.

During day patrol, Tsugumi collides with Shougo who walks out of… Kuina’s store? Didn’t he say he was never going there again? The vibe started getting awkward, so after some debate about whether this is ladylike, Tsugumi asks Shougo out to have lunch together. She then becomes flustered worrying about how Shougo would view her. Shougo gets flustered too and starts making excuses like how she is a “MODERN GIRL”, independent working woman, and hence, do not need to abide by the outdated etiquette rules, and that he doesn’t think she’s being boorish at all… The two go to the cafe together and have some commoner food. Shougo reveals he likes beef stew, but ended up choosing something else on the menu after deliberation.

Tsugumi sleuths around Nightingale and is caught this time by Shiginuma himself, in her uniform. She chooses to come clean and say she works for Fukurou and is on duty. Shiginuma basically politely threatens her to stay clear of his business, to which Tsugumi shows some spice and tells him “a place without fire does not have smoke”. Shiginuma laughs and lets her go, but not before making a creepy comment about how he loves feisty women like her.

The next morning, Shougo passes by Tsugumi in the kitchen. He asks how she is not ashamed of cooking for herself like a commoner, to which Tsugumi cheerfully replies she is not ashamed at all and proud of herself. He asks her what she is cooking. She tells him beef stew, because he likes it and she wants to cook for him. This forward answer catches Shougo off guard.

Tsugumi tells him no, this is the first time she’s cooked for someone (discounting a “by the way” effort aka Shizuru’s miso soup). Shougo then declares he will join, but of course under the guise of “proving I’m better than you at cooking”. He then effortlessly peels a potato with a knife for the first time in his life, while chatting Tsugumi up, asking about her family, hobbies, and making an effort to learn about Tsugumi. He compliments that Tsugumi has a beautiful voice when she sings.

I’m sorry I can’t be the only one thinking Tsugumi is making this gesture especially with her posture, so I just burst out laughing when this CG was shown:

This is a romantic scene. I was feeling cute and fuzzy until the crew turned up. Hisui: I SMELLL FOOOD

The two share the stew with everyone, who thanks Tsugumi, and Shougo for the delicious food. Shougo says to Tsugumi that it’s not bad to cook once in a while and that he should cook again, with her.

Shougo asks Tsugumi to go to a concert with him. (Argh they really made her wear the same dress I wanna see more designs) Tsugumi finds Sasagoi and Mozuyama having a private conversation. It appears Mozuyama is giving Sasagoi drugs, so the latter can write maremono. Mozuyama also knows Tsugumi saw Sasagoi last time, proving a connection between him and Shouko – but not important in this route.

Owase approaches Tsugumi again and asks her hand in marriage. He promises to fix Kuze family’s financial troubles if she marries him. Tsugumi declines. However, Shougo is shocked that Tsugumi never told him about her family’s troubles. Tsugumi explains that it’s best to keep family troubles within the family and not tell “others”… The word “other party” triggers Shougo. He becomes hurt that she didn’t trust him enough to confide and starts reverting to his old self again. He starts sarcastically telling Tsugumi to marry Owase, or any rich man she fancies at Nightingale, as he has no business in her life anyway. He even mocks Tsugumi for approaching him to either get his family’s wealth, or to have a gateway to Nightingale so she can marry any rich person.

Tsugumi asks Shizuru what “love” is. Shizuru replies that’s a difficult question because everyone has a different definition of love and it is not necessarily universal; if it were, he’d be out of a job already. Some like to watch over their lover from afar, while others are possessive and love fiercely. However, he believes a common trait people in love share is that they lose their calm and believe the other party to be “special”. Tsugumi asks herself and decides that Shougo is that special someone to her.

While patrolling at Sasagoi’s store, Tsugumi finds a maremono. However, Sasagoi doesn’t even attempt to hide it and admits he is the author. He then talks about how much money and recognition he gets, how many clients are after his work. He finally laughs in her face, “I wrote a book, so what? You don’t have evidence to arrest me. The books are innocent.”

Tsugumi runs into Shougo burning books again but this time it’s a maremono. Shougo initially appears calm so Tsugumi lets him go. He even tries to gaslight Tsugumi for “seeing things” and assures her he is fine. Narrator: he is not fine. While Fukurou gather in the kitchen, they see Shougo walk in a trance and point a gun to his head, muttering he needs to kill Shiori, then himself.

He fires and injures Shiori, but not causing lethal damage. He then attempts to shoot himself, but Tsugumi yells at him and he regains his senses. He collapses and is taken to his room. Yoshikiri also arrives and tells Fukurou that both Kamoike and Abi were supporters of Shougo’s father, hence he suspects it’s one of Ukai’s political opponents orchestrating this.

Tsugumi comes to see him and takes over from Hisui. And we have our confession!!! I wish I can screenshot every single line. It is so well-written. You will need to experience it yourself unfortunately. My words pale in description.

Shougo says he is brainwashed by Mozuyama at one of the Salon meetings. He then talks about birdhouses, how his father forbid him from doing “meaningless activity” that does not help him become a successful politician. His father told him “this gentleness in your heart will hurt you one day. You must get rid of it now.” He was just a child oh my god!! Talk about tiger dads.

Shougo wants to make his father proud so he tries to hide his emotions and become a “red-pilled” go getter, enrolling in law school. However, everything is ruined with his attempted suicide. No one thinks a man who tried to kill himself is fit to rule a country. He starts thinking people are laughing and mocking him at home, so decides to run away. He breaks down after learning maremono does not affect everyone equally, it especially affects people who are emotionally sensitive… he failed his father. He asks Tsugumi and himself, what am I good for, where do I belong.

He then blames Tsugumi?? For being so beautiful. For having such pale skin (so you did see after all that day…), for being so kind towards him, for having such a pretty voice… It’s all her fault for making him fall in love with her.

Reminder that this is a 17+ game~

We get another kissing scene in the kitchen after the two set off some fireworks with the rest of the crew (are you not afraid someone’s going to come in)

Kijitani tells Shougo that his father wishes to see him at the estate. He adds that Tsugumi is also invited. The two get on the car. Everything appears fine until Kijitani starts driving in the opposite direction… He tells them that he needs money and this is the fastest way to get it.

Bad end: Owase shows up and shoots Shougo dead. A drugged and tied up Tsugumi wakes up in Owase’s bed. However, Owase is killed in front of her by Mozuyama, who is excited to get his hands on his next test subject.

Happy end:

A common complaint of the happy ending is how much the antagonists yapped until they inevitably failed. I agree it got too long and annoying.

So Sasagoi appears first and yaps about how little recognition he got when he was actually putting his heart and soul into his work as a writer. He explains that his maremono can brainwash people (along with Mozuyama I guess), and for those he deem annoying, maremono will tell them to kill themselves. He then mocks Shougo and asks him how it felt reading his book then attempting suicide. Shougo instead recites a verse from the book, which was Sasagoi’s first title…

Owase then appears and yaps about how much he hates Shougo’s father for taking away military funding. Keep in mind “Taisho era year 25” would translate to 1937 – WWII. He talks about the situation in Europe, and how foolish it is for Ukai to look away from the military, and how this is his way of achieving change. He yaps and yaps and yaps and Tsugumi asks him if she can share one last embrace with Shougo. He laughs and gives permission. Tsugumi then quietly cuts the rope around Shougo’s arms with the knife she hid under her skirt. Shougo then kicks this military guy’s ass by surprise, but not for long because Owase draws his sword.

Fukurou arrive to save the day. The real Ukai fortuitously called the apartment asking how his son is doing, so they learned that what Kijitani said was a lie. Because they drove in a luxury car, every passerby in the street can point out where Kijitani drove them to. Owase yells at Kijitani to shoot Shougo but he does not obey. Shougo asks him why he’s showing mercy all in a sudden, or why he never tried to kill him in his sleep. Kijitani replies that “maybe the pancake you split in half with me that day just tasted too good.”

The bad guys are caught. Shiginuma is under investigation. Nightingale shuts down. We arrive at the finale where Shougo lies Tsugumi’s lap and asks her to be his wife.

THOUGHTS:

1. Wow what a slow burn route but well worth the wait. I never knew Kimura was this good at voicing tsundere characters too! In the first half of the route, I was like there’s no way I could turn around and like this character. In the second half especially after that cooking scene I was like 🤡
2. Shougo is a soft boy who had too many responsibilities and expectations pushed onto him. He grew up under an “elite” mindset that he has to be the best, and that the “chosen” can disrespect and step on the commoners and those “below” them. I’m also glad that Tsugumi believed in the good part of him and finally awakened his inner, gentle self.
3. Are there minor plot complaints? Yes. If Tsugumi was going to snitch on Shougo for going to the Salon, why did she keep quiet about the book burning? Why was Shougo burning books in the back yard knowing Tsugumi goes to the greenhouse all the time? I also thought there was more to the book burning but it’s just emo PTSD boy coping lol. How come Shougo just believed Kijitani when he made up that visit to his father? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Ukai to call his son.
4. Overall, a good first route to start learning about the different power players in this game, without getting to committed/invested in the conflict.
5. 7/10

Migiwa Shizuru (CV: Suzumura Kenichi)

When I heard Shizuru’s voice, I immediately knew this was the same seiyuu who voiced Alvaro from Wand of Fortune. The two share the same trope of flirty, playboy type of LI. Unfortunately, similar to Alvaro I was not able to enjoy this route, which someone manages to be even worse than Alvaro’s.

Shizuru meets Tsugumi in the main route when he was selling goldfish in the street. He enjoys flirting with women and often teases Tsugumi and makes her flustered. However, his main occupation is a famous romance novel writer. Hitaki is a huge fan of his. Shizuru often writes sensational love stories that often end with 心中 or two lovers committing suicide for each other, Romeo and Juliet style. Tsugumi has not read his works before. When she does in this route, she feels this type of writing is too “heavy” or “sad”. She discusses this with Shizuru, who tells her that he thinks this is the highest form of love.

The main event of the route is the serial killings of young women in Ueno Park. The victims, exclusively young women, are discovered in the early morning to be strangled, with a branch of lilac placed in their mouth, and a novel by Shizuru left at the scene of crime. Any fan of Shizuru knows that his favourite flower is the lilac. Shizuru attracts a lot of suspicion. However, it would seem way too obvious that he purposely plants evidence pointing toward himself. Shizuru tells Tsugumi that he doesn’t have anything to do with this and asks her to stay safe and always have someone accompany her at night near Ueno Park.

Tsugumi continues her daily patrols for maremono and sees Sasagoi get on an expensive car. He is doing some kind of shady deal with the upper class. Shizuru continues to flirt with Tsugumi and invites her to attend a ball with him in the name of helping him find inspiration for his next novel.

Shizuru shares with Tsugumi that the society is changing. Back in the day, women and men are forbidden to appear together if they are not married or family, to avoid rumours and being viewed as improper. Nowadays, women can hold a job, go to various places without needing male approval, become a politician, and the suffrage movement is beginning overseas in America. He mentions a friend who is a famous female novelist.

Tsugumi at this point still thinks he asked her out for “Inspo” so he laughs and tells her that was an excuse. He likes her and wants her to view him romantically.

Tsugumi goes to Kuina’s store the next day and tries to find matching perfume to Shizuru’s lilac scent. That flavour has sold out, so she picks the scent of nadeshiko or pink carnation. Read more about the symbolism behind yamato nadeshiko here.

Tsugumi starts realizing her feelings for Shizuru. She sees him chatting up women in the street, even if it’s to sell goldfish. She becomes jealous of him flirting with other women. Shizuru tells her that he started selling goldfish for the breeder when he initially did it as a one-time thing, but found he was so popular with women with his looks and words, that he sold the goldfish out quickly, so now he does it as favour.

Sasagoi has not been opening his shop as often. His store is closed many days. Kuina tells Fukurou that many important people are after Sasagoi’s “work”…

Tsugumi spends time after work at the cafe and overhears people talking about the suicide of Shizuru’s writing teacher Moritsune Saichou. Moritsune was a famous mystery writer – in fact, Shizuru started out writing detective fiction as well, but switched genres later on. The group of men discuss what Shizuru’s motives are for murdering the women in Ueno Park, convinced he is the killer. Tsugumi becomes angry and interjects telling the men to stop spreading such rumours about Shizuru.

She leaves the cafe, but it is late, and she has to pass through Ueno Park. She runs into Rui, who asks her to accompany him. He tells her the latest victim is the girlfriend of his friend. He wants to investigate the murder too but is afraid of going alone. He tells Tsugumi that he is also a fan of Shizuru and how lilacs are his favourite flower.

Tsugumi reports to Shiori and asks her if she knows the name Moritsune. She tells Tsugumi that Moritsune committed suicide by drinking poison as a way of “rebelling against the government”, who banned his books due to the content of his novels being too explicit. To a writer, this is effectively a death sentence. However, Shizuru had a clear alibi and was cleared from suspicion. Shiori also tells Tsugumi that Shizuru may possess maremono, or Moritsune’s notes. The police have records of Shizuru telling them that when going through Moritsune’s notes after his death, Shizuru “heard Moritsune’s voice” telling Shizuru to kill. Moritsune’s works always involved grotesque murder, and he wrote his notes with such emotional fervour, before his death. Finally, Moritsune’s last work features serial killing of women and placing higanbana in their mouths. Sound familiar?’

Tsugumi runs into Shizuru who invites her to go to his room at night to have some dessert. He forces a kiss on her and tells that he didn’t know Shizuru is a women who can play with two men’s feelings at the same time… He saw her at Ueno park with Rui. He starts reaching for Tsugumi’s thigh, saying he wonders how many times she has seduced other men with her nadeshiko scent and innocent facade… Tsugumi finally has enough and slaps him in the face. Shizuru isn’t angry, yet continues to mock her why she would enter another man’s room if she isn’t expecting this kind of thing to happen.

The two’s relationship cools down after that night. Tsugumi wants to apologize to Shizuru for slapping him. (….) Tsugumi goes patrolling with Hisui and Hayato. Hisui tells Tsugumi that he saw Shizuru buying human-sized dolls, and that he looked very sad as if something is on his chest. Tsugumi becomes sad too and wants to know what is going on, but convinces herself that this is no longer her business.

After work, Tsugumi runs into her friend Koruri who is a journalist. The two catch up at the cafe. Shizuru happens to also be there with a beautiful woman. Koruri asks Tsugumi about her love life, to which Tsugumi confides that she kissed someone, and looks at Shizuru. Koruri is thrilled and asks what happened next, Tsugumi replies “I slapped him in the face…” Koruri asks if they are official lovers. Tsugumi reacts strongly and stands up in the middle of the cafe going like kyaaaa and making a scene. Koruri tells Tsugumi that the woman sitting with Shizuru is a famous female novelist called Hiratsuka Atori. Hiratsuka leaves the cafe by herself.

Tsugumi makes her way home, only to find Shizuru waiting for her asking if he can escort her home. He doesn’t explicitly explain his relationship with Hiratsuka – but we know she is the female friend he spoke of earlier. He tells Tsugumi that Hiratsuka already left and teases Tsugumi for being jealous of her. Tsugumi admits that she is jealous, which surprises Shizuru. Shizuru walks Tsugumi home and tells her that he will not lay a finger on her until she wants him herself. Tsugumi asks for a signed book from Shizuru, for Hitaki, who is returning home from the hospital soon having recovered.

Another murder occurs the next day. The police come to the apartment and start questioning Shizuru and the others. To protect Tsugumi and not attract police attention, he tells them that he and Tsugumi are “only friends” which hurts Tsugumi’s feelings. He then tells the police he has a perfect alibi because he was with Hiratsuka. The police then continues to hound Shizuru because “the suspect was described to be very tall…” Wow is he the only tall person in Tokyo or what. Absolutely useless.

Tsugumi goes to the library and meets Rui again, who tells her that Moritsune’s students consisted of Shizuru, Hiratsuka, and Sasagoi. While Shizuru and Hiratsuka became successful writers and activists, Sasagoi did not find his success. Sasagoi at one point was thought to be “the next Moritsune” but he fell off quickly for some reason and the style of his writing changed drastically.

Tsugumi goes to Sasagoi’s store the next day. Sasagoi tells Tsugumi that the serial killer is Shizuru, and repeats that Shizuru has Moritsune’s notes and is under the influence of maremono. Tsugumi starts monitoring Shizuru’s movements at night only to be caught by him. He asks if she is doubting him, to which she almost cries and says of course she doesn’t, but she wants to watch over him (and maybe provide an alibi).

The next victim is Hiratsuka.

Sasagoi tells Tsugumi that this happened because she and Fukurou did not listen to him. He tells Tsugumi that Shizuru was the one who discovered Moritsune’s body, and that he wonders if Moritsune didn’t actually commit suicide… Moritsune was strict to all his students. When Shizuru published his first novel, which was a mystery novel, Moritsune publicly humiliated him and said it was garbage. He had motive to kill. Tsugumi breaks down and screams at Sasagoi to stop. Sasagoi laughs at her “if you don’t want to hear the truth, then why are you here, acting all innocent”. He grabs Tsugumi and tells her that now many people are excited for his “works” and pay lots of money for… his maremono.

Tsugumi returns home exhausted. She finds that the goldfish Shizuru gave her has died. She goes to Shizuru, who comforts her and tells her it’s not her fault. They bury the goldfish in the backyard. Shizuru tells Tsugumi that beautiful creatures are said to be adored by God, and thus God often calls them to return to His side earlier than the others… Beautiful things always break easier and are more vulnerable. Surprisingly, those goldfish live longer when they find a mate. He adds that no matter how small the creatures are, they are always driven to find “their other half”. [Olympia Soiree flashbacks anyone?] Tsugumi finds the courage to ask Shizuru whether he indeed has Moritsune’s notes, to which he replies he already burnt them a long time ago. However, he cannot prove it because the notes were… burnt, so he finds it pointless to report this to Shiori, who keeps him in this apartment to monitor his actions. He states he understands Tsugumi and Fukurou have their doubts, so he invites Tsugumi to his place to search wherever she likes, whenever she wants, which makes Tsugumi feel guilty.

At the next Fukurou meeting, everyone discusses how there are so few clues. Tarou, who is from the police btw, is attached to this group so he implies that if Fukurou wants to do their investigations around Ueno Park, he will not report it to his superiors.

Fukurou run into Rui again, who tells them that Sasagoi peaked after Moritsune’s death. Sasagoi published a series of novels that were extremely similar to Moritsune’s style… until he flopped. Hayato wonders if Sasagoi plagiarized Moritsune’s work. Tsugumi continues to be vague when Shizuru asks if she’s watching his actions.

The next night she sees Shizuru with an escort. She becomes jealous and sad, runs away into the rain, into Ueno Park, at night… and sees the escort’s lifeless body, and Shizuru coming … only for Sasagoi to jump out with a knife stabbing both Shizuru and Tsugumi. Sasagoi is the serial killer. He is frustrated with his life that he did not make it as a novelist, did not have as much talent as Shizuru/Hiratsuka. He was also jealous that Shizuru and Hiratsuka became such good friends yet he was left out alone. Sasagoi also stole and plagiarized Moritsune’s unpublished works and ideas as his own, hence his brief rise to fame but eventually became a nobody because he couldn’t come up with these plots on his own.

Anyways Sasagoi is arrested. Shizuru hugs Tsugumi and scolds her for running into Ueno Park alone and operating as a decoy (with the rest of Fukurou hiding to see if they can catch the killer). He tells Tsugumi to forget about escort and the hurtful things she said to Tsugumi, and to start anew with him…

She goes into his room and her eyes wander to the ceiling. Shizuru asks what she’s finding in the ceiling, before blindfolding her and … you know the rest. CERO D baby!

The next day Tsugumi cooks miso soup as usual for Shizuru. He tells her that she looks really sexy and can see her as “a wife”.

Tsugumi finds burnt parts of human-sized dolls in the burner but don’t know where they come from.

Kuina comments that Tsugumi has the scent of lilacs.

The next night Tsugumi passes by Shizuru’s room, which is not closed. She hears a noise so goes in and finds Shizuru… stabbing lifeless human-sized dolls. He appears possessed. She looks at his desk and finds maremono, or Moritsune’s notes. Shizuru never got rid of them. Shizuru notices Tsugumi, but he is under the influence and all he knows is to kill.

Happy end:

Shizuru grabs the maremono and dashes to the burner, burning it before Shizuru can catch up to and kill her. Shizuru returns to normal. He confesses he never gathered the willpower to dispose of his beloved teacher’s notes, and tried to distract himself from the influence and the urge to kill by stabbing these dolls. He blindfolded Tsugumi because her eyes started wandering to the ceiling that day, where he hid the notes. In a way he is jealous of Moritsune because the latter produced such moving work that could literally propel people to kill, yet he could never produce maremono, which is said to harbour intense emotions and sometimes the soul of the writer. He then tells Tsugumi after all that has happened, the highest form of love may not be realized in death. He muses about the plot of his next novel, where two young people fall in love at a ball. Instead of killing them off with poisonous wine in the end, he will now make the lovers elope to a foreign country and live happily ever after.

Shizuru finally meets Hitaki, who tells him that “if it’s Migiwa sensei, then I will allow you to take my sister from my side”.

The route ends in Shizuru proposing to Tsugumi under the full-moon.

Bad end: Tsugumi also becomes affected by Moritsune’s notes and stabs Shizuru in the chest, killing him. He dies in his lover’s arms, the “highest form of love”, as he calls it.

Hitaki End: Occurs in the middle of the route. Hitaki recovers and Jiiya asks her to return to the Kuze estate to nurse Hitaki. He cries and demands his sister stay with him forever, just like the old days.

THOUGHTS:

I see what the writer was trying to achieve in this route. The two had undeniable chemistry. The two never really explicitly confessed yet both knew they loved each other. Or do they…? Until the end I cannot convince myself that Shizuru loved Tsugumi as someone special. There is nothing signalling to me that Tsugumi is not just another girl toy for Shizuru, and he can hop onto the next target anytime he is tired with her. The two kept secrets from each other. The sex scene supposedly happened with Shizuru needing to distract Tsugumi from staring at the ceiling (where the maremono was). He was literally screwing with other escorts right before the finale. I can’t see this being a healthy relationship. However, I don’t think the writer intended to or care to portray one regardless. The fragile yet beautiful goldfish allude to those two and their vulnerable yet intense romance. Maybe someone will find this romantic (e.g. the JP girlies), but not me.

I also found the transition to proposal and prospect of marriage very forced because I cannot see Shizuru in his current state wanting to be tied down by a marriage or commitment to anyone. The happy ending felt very forced. I would have liked it a bit more if they just decide to live on as lovers. I do think this pair is destined to fail because unless Tsugumi completely parts ways with her upbringing and kazoku pride, she cannot be seen with a womanizer who cannot and will not commit to her.

Also, Tsugumi annoyed me a lot in this route, because the flaws of her being an innocent, sheltered lady from kazoku really showed. Why would she make a scene at the cafe just because Koruri suggested she is lovers with someone? I get she is sheltered but this is childish and annoying. Her first instinct, after being kissed against her will by Shizuru, is the APOLOGIZE, for self-defence? Finally, why is it her business what the men at the cafe say? And she kept screaming at Sasagoi to stop. Like just walk out if you don’t want to hear it. Overall, very childish and annoying. I liked her a lot more in Shougo route.

2/10

Hoshikawa Hisui (CV: Oosaka Ryouta)

Based on appearance, Hisui plays the “cute boy” of this game. However, appearance wise he is described more pretty/doll-like/foreign instead of cute. In his personal introduction (short story) he actually shares the same birthday as me (September 19) as well as obsession for Granny Smith apples!! Maybe this is why I found him so special and loved his route so much.

Hisui is serious, calm, and polite. As a member of Fukurou, he is not as tall or physically built for combat like Hayato/Akira, but has the power to summon fire. Despite people around him including Tsugumi thinking and describing him as beautiful, it is hinted in the prologue that he hates his own appearance.

In this route, Tsugumi is assigned to be Hisui’s patrolling partner. They learn from Kuina that someone was selling a handwritten book that is suspicious to be maremono. Kuina unfortunately doesn’t have all the details, but describes it as “some book written by a Yokohama courtesan”. Tsugumi immediately notices Hisui’s expressions tense up. In the meantime, Hisui builds a birdhouse for the visiting birds but is too shy to let everyone know. He also has a hobby of collecting jade and feathers from kingfishers (as the kanji for both characters are 翡翠 matching his name).

The two find a maremono at Sasagoi’s store. Sasagoi doesn’t even hide it that he’s producing these maremono. The two return to Fukurou base and learn Hayato/Akira also had a run-in with someone possessed by maremono.

Shiori/Mashiko lock onto Sasagoi as a person of interest, asking Hisui/Tsubameno to keep an eye on him. Tsugumi offers to join in and help but Hisui vehemently declines. Tsugumi feels hurt; Hisui explains he doesn’t mean to discriminate against women, but he isn’t “used to/good at dealing with them”.

The next day, Shizuru/Kuina plan to go out and spend night with courtesans. They invite Hisui “as a fellow man”. Hisui declines saying he’s not interested in buying women’s bodies with money. The two tease him a little, only for Hisui to blow up and exclaim that “he hates women”. The two then ask if he is into men instead. Hisui states he’s not interested in women or men, and that he’s better off alone. Tsugumi returns to her room noting that even though Hisui says he dislikes women, his actions and kindness towards Tsugumi and Shiori suggests otherwise.

Despite being told that she cannot join combat lessons (because she is a woman… welcome to Taisho era), Tsugumi wants to be able to defend herself. Hisui catches her exercising and practicing in the backyard. Tsugumi tells him that she wishes she was as strong as a man. Hisui asks if Tsugumi likes strong men, to which she replies “while strong men are viewed as more reliable, nothing beats training and becoming strong myself“.

Kuina updates Tsugumi and Hisui that the person who bought the book was no other than “madame of white roses” or Shiginuma Shouko. Tsugumi fixes Hisui’s loose button for him. She invites Hisui to wait in her room while she fixes his button and starts sharing with him details of her life and Hitaki, because she trusts him. Hisui in return asks if Tsugumi knows the fairy tale of “the little kingfisher who delivers letters”. He is looking for the book of this fairy tale but has not had any luck. Tsugumi says she will help him find it. She wonders if this fairy tale book would be the same “Yokohama courtesan” book that Kuina mentioned.

Shiori devises a bold plan for Fukurou to infiltrate Nightingale, with Hayato posing as “Shougo”, who is the person actually invited to the exclusive club. Posing as “Shougo”‘s dance partner (to the disappointment of Hisui), Tsugumi is approached by Shouko, who abruptly proposes to be friends. Tsugumi probes around the book. Shouko sharply asks if Tsugumi is asking for “personal” reasons or as a member of Fukurou. Tsugumi answers that she’s asking for personal reasons as she knows someone who is desperately after this book. Shouko tells Tsugumi if she wants to learn more about this book, she is welcome to visit her and have tea at Nightingale at anytime; on the condition she comes alone and does not tell anyone at Fukurou.

On the way out, Hayato and Tsugumi run into Professor Mozuyama who is also at Nightingale, but why?

Tsugumi visits the library to read the first novel that Sasagoi wrote. She sits with Hisui, who is learning Dutch.

Tsugumi asks why he is learning Dutch and other languages. Hisui doesn’t disclose the real reason here, instead he replies “I just want to be useful in my own way and have my own strength that others cannot match.”

He then talks about the fairy tale of the kingfisher again. He says that his mother told him the story when he was little; he has never actually seen it written in any book. Naturally, Tsugumi asks where his mother is now. He says she “has gone to somewhere very far away.”

The library closes. The two walk in the underground tunnels back to the apartment. Tsugumi trips and almost falls onto Hisui, who catches her and seems mesmerized by her hair.

They have a near-confession scene. Hisui says, “Don’t worry… I will not taint you. I won’t do anything… Please stay still like this just for a bit longer.” and

Hisui runs away after this and doesn’t commit to his feelings. Tsugumi is left confused but she clearly also likes him back. The next day when Tsugumi is cooking breakfast, Hisui blushes but asks to join her for today, to which an overjoyed Tsugumi replies 大歓迎 or basically an all-caps YES!

The two go out and run into Rui who inadvertently starts complimenting Hisui on his appearance and eye colours. Hisui starts to withdraw and become offended. Rui also notes that Hisui is hafu. Tsugumi chimes in and states she thinks Hisui has really pretty eyes and he should be more confident of his appearance. Hisui replies that if Tsugumi says so, then maybe he detests his own appearance a little less.

Tsugumi talks to Kuina, who postulates that Hisui’s mother was a courtesan from Yokohama, who are known to be frequented by foreign men who land in Japan. One of these foreign men could have been Hisui’s father, giving him his exotic appearance.

Tsugumi visits Shouko in secret. Shouko blindfolds Tsugumi and leads her to a room before taking the blindfold off and offering her some tea and treats. Shouko tells Tsugumi that she’s read a bit of the book. She claims to not know who the author is, but it appears to be a diary, with a jotted down “fairy tale” that happens to be about a kingfisher who delivers mail. Tsugumi tells Shouko that Hisui may be the son of the book author and again asks if she can have the book. Shouko replies that at this time, she is not interested in giving away the book. Shouko also holds a detached/nonchalant attitude about what her husband is doing. She says she knows Fukurou is working against Takashi, but she doesn’t appear to care, as this isn’t her business, nor did she “commit any crime” herself. She tells Tsugumi that she blindfolded her on the way in and out to protect her, as this room is often used by nobility to have affairs outside of marriage. If Tsugumi knows more than she should, she could be a target and silenced.

The next day, Tsugumi is scheduled to patrol with Hayato. However, Hayato comes and makes up a lame excuse blatantly setting her up with Hisui to have alone time. She and Hisui run into Mozuyama, who asks Hisui to be his experiment subject again. Tsugumi is debriefed in route as well by Hisui about his past with Mozuyama.

Tsugumi notices Hisui’s cap is off to the side. She wants to adjust it for him but stops at the last minute realizing it may be too intimate of an act. She makes an excuse that Hisui is like Hitaki. Hisui becomes upset and asks if he is a little brother to Tsugumi. Tsugumi apologizes and says they are of course two different people.

Tsugumi goes home and realizes her hair ribbon is missing. She asks around but nobody knows where it went, including Hisui. Shiori/Hashiko start putting the pieces together and wonder if Mozuyama is putting people like Sasagoi under the influence of drugs and extreme emotional stress to produce maremono.

Hisui and Tsugumi visit Kuina’s store for a new hair ribbon. Kuina acts very intimate with Tsugumi, touching her hair, tying her hair with a ribbon. Hisui is upset and jealous and tells Kuina to stop harassing Tsugumi. Kuina laughs at him and tells him to be honest with his feelings instead of being salty at him.

Hisui continues to deny his feelings. He yells that he would never have such “dirty thoughts” towards Tsugumi and runs away. Tsugumi finds him in the greenhouse. Talking to him, Tsugumi realizes he harbours a strong antagonistic feeling towards sex, intimacy, and love. Hisui continues to be cryptic, asking Tsugumi to not fall in love with anyone. He mentions that those are dirty, ugly feelings, and that he is the “product”…

Tsugumi has enough and tells Hisui that she never for a moment thinks he is ugly or detestable. Despite this, Hisui continues to ask Tsugumi to “never fall in love with anyone”. Tsugumi replies “even you?” Hisui says yes, even me. He continues to almost worship Tsugumi, telling her that she is beautiful and pure, and too good to be tainted by “filthy” feelings of love, lust, and infatuation.

They still have to patrol Kuina’s store despite this dispute. Kuina continues to act close to Tsugumi. Finally, Hisui pulls her out of the store and admits that he picked up her ribbon but for one reason or another kept it to herself. He then ties her hair gently with it.

He then kisses Tsugumi under the street light, saying he cannot bear it anymore, that he cannot see Tsugumi with any other men, that he will not allow another male to touch her…

After the kiss, he apologizes, saying after all he is just like his mother, and that he is “the worst, the ugliest, the filthiest”. Tsugumi tries to tell him she didn’t mind, but he runs away. Kuina appears having witnessed it all, and tells Tsugumi to face her feelings for him.

Hisui sends word that he is going to be living outside the apartment complex with someone else. He isn’t able to face Tsugumi after this.

Tsugumi pays another visit to Shouko. She seems to take a special interest in Hisui and his wellbeing. She says she might be able to reconsider and give Tsugumi the book. She then comments with a melancholy tone that the fairy tale in the book was a fantastic read. She then asks Tsugumi if she’s looked through a kaleidoscope before. When Shouko was still a teenage girl, she loved and collected kaleidoscopes. However, she now hates them.

Shouko shows Tsugumi her scars and disfigurement that she has been hiding under long clothing and gloves, but does not go into how she got those injuries (nor do we learn about it in this route). She and Tsugumi run into Mozuyama, who takes an interest in Tsugumi’s ability. Shouko becomes emotional and yells at Mozuyama to take his filthy hands off of her friend. She asks Tsugumi to give her a little more time to think about whether she can give the book.

Tsugumi returns home and finds Hisui who is back at the apartment complex because of Shiori’s orders. He continues to ignore her but faints from anemia due to overworking himself.

Tsugumi talks to Tsubameno outside, who suddenly pulls her into a corner. The two see Sasagoi being threatened then beaten by a rich and influential person. Tsugumi runs outside to defend Saragoi. The abuser hears that Tsugumi is from the police and backs off. Sasagoi doesn’t thank Tsugumi; he mocks her and leaves.

Tsugumi returns home to Shiori asking to “talk”. Fukurou knows she’s been going to Nightingale. Tsugumi chooses to stay silent so that she doesn’t bring Hisui into this. However, he picks up quickly that Tsugumi has been searching for his book. He angrily shouts at Tsugumi for being so reckless. He confirms Kuina’s theory that his mother was a Yokohama courtesan and his father an unnamed foreigner. He tells Tsugumi that she does not need to lie on his behalf anymore.

Tsugumi finds Hisui in the greenhouse. Hisui asks if Tsugumi wants to hear his story from beginning to end, since she’s had his interests at heart all along. He shares with her his childhood growing up at one of the courtesan houses, and almost got molested by one of the customers there. Out of a strong desire to defend himself, he awakened the ability to use fire and almost killed that man. One of his eyes turned red. Even though he tried to cover it up as an accident, people started suspecting him and viewing him as a monster. After this incident, Mozuyama caught wind of his ability and offered a hefty price to have Hisui… as a test subject. His mother “abandoned” him after this, leaving behind a note saying “I have left for somewhere far, far away; don’t come looking for me.” Hisui wonders if even she thought he was a monster and ran away from her son. He then tells Tsugumi this is why he thinks he is an ugly and unwanted existence in this world until she tells him he is not ugly, and kisses him.

For those who read Japanese I strongly recommend you read Tsugumi’s confession. Usually I feature guys’ confessions but Tsugumi’s was one of the highlights of this game.

Who I love is my decision. So, will you give me a chance to love you…?

Will you believe my words of love and confession…?

Are you going to continue living without trusting me… and continuing hating yourself…?

Hisui finally tells her that he reciprocates her feelings, that he couldn’t bear to see her with other men. He feels insecure because Hayato, Akira, Shizuru, even Kuina appear taller and manlier than him, and wonders if she would choose them instead of him…

Tsugumi… will you allow my hands to make you impure?

If you make me impure, then you will never be alone again. Right? So do as you wish, Hisui…

After the … scene, Hisui recounts how he and Shiori met. Shiori was not intimidated by his powers, but instead joked she liked smoking so much his ability can come in handy so she doesn’t need to bring a lighter anymore. No matter how difficult it appears, he tries to learn those foreign languages, in the hopes of embarking on a journey abroad and meeting his father. However, he has decided: the girl in front of him is more important.

The two are now a couple and share some cute moments together. This section is getting awfully long so I gotta move on though. Tsugumi sees Sasagoi burning books outside his shop. He is shutting it down and leaving this business never to write again. Tsugumi tells Sasagoi that he should continue writing, because someone out there is looking forward to his work… without the influences of Karasu.

However, Sasagoi didn’t go home quietly. He runs into a public area and starts slashing random people with a knife. He then wants to kill himself, saying it’s time for his story to end. Tsugumi continues to believe in his humanity and asks him to put down the knife and starting writing his own work, not maremono under the influence. Sasagoi surrenders himself and tells Tsugumi about Karasu’s secret auction and the way to get in – their password is actually a dress code.

Fukurou plan and infiltrate Nightingale and then the auction. While the rest of the crew deals with Shiginuma’s crew, Hisui and Tsugumi run into Shouko. Shouko does not run, but instead appears excited? She utters a name “Hiwako”… Hisui’s mother’s name.

Mozuyama shows up again. He tells Hisui that his mother did not abandon him, but rather died on his behalf. Hiwako begged Mozuyama to take her as his experiment subject instead, in exchange he leaves Hisui alone. Hiwako quickly died from Mozuyama’s experiments; though Mozuyama mentions she already has an incurable disease so wasn’t long anyway – we never know if this was an excuse.

Hisui loses his composure and says he will kill Mozuyama. Tsugumi tries to stop him.

We can also enter Hitaki end halfway but it has already been covered in Shizuru route.

Bad ending:

Hisui burns Mozuyama to death. He confesses his love to Tsugumi, but states he is too ugly to be by her side. He disappears into the fire. Tsugumi waits for his return to Fukurou, and hears the rumour that an exotic looking young man with different-coloured eyes boarded a ship to the Netherlands.

Happy ending:

Hisui stops himself. Shouko has poisoned Mozuyama anyway so he dies.

Shouko and Hiwako were classmates – Hiwako was a noblewoman. Similar to Kuze family, Hiwako’s family ran out of their fortune and she had no choice at the time but to sell her body and become a courtesan. The two remained friends and exchanged letters. One day, Hiwako told Shouko that she gave birth to a child, and the name she decided on was Hisui… The baby boy had light hair and eyes that looked like diamonds, just like his father…

Shouko finally hands Hisui and Tsugumi Hiwako’s diary and storybook. The book emanates an aura from it. The last breath of Hiwako’s soul meets Hisui and tells him how much she loves him before dissipating into air.

The story ends with the two beside Tokyo Bay. Tsugumi asks Hisui when he will go search for his father. Hisui replies not anytime soon.

THOUGHTS:

Hisui doesn’t have an edgy personality but he managed to move my heart the most out of the roster so far. Because of how people around him misunderstood him, he began to misunderstand the world, including his mother for abandoning him. He was surrounded in love all along, but didn’t realize it or was pushing it away thinking he didn’t deserve it. Tsugumi really took an initiate in this route and stood up for their relationship and did not back down. This was a beautiful story of 両思い where they didn’t give up on each other.

It was still bummer that the bad ending gets triggered by Hisui killing Mozuyama – from what I see so far the guy had every reason to deserve to be killed. But this is an otome game so. For this reason I cannot give above 8.5/10.

Kougami Akira (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiro)

Akira is the kuudere of the group. He is a man of few words and even less emotion. The first half of the route consists of Tsugumi awkwardly trying to make small talk with him only for him to shut it down completely. It wasn’t in vain, though; she notes his love for movies.

While on patrol, the two quickly encounter a man possessed by maremono which emits a black aura. We get a lore dump of Karasu, Tobita, Nightingale, and the theory that maremono can be created by people under tremendous emotional stress (e.g. induced by drugs) at the Fukurou meeting that ensures. Shougo again gets invited to Nightingale but has no intention of attending, so Shiori asks Akira to go with Tsugumi.

The suspicious man that Tsugumi/Akira meets gets sent to the Capital Hospital, but dies mysteriously anyway – likely due to the dealings of Karasu. The Nightingale party happens early on this route, with everyone praising Tsugumi’s dress. Akira looks damn good in that suit too, but he gives Tsugumi a nonchalant compliment after Shizuru scolds him. The writer mentions that Tsugumi is hurt at how “callous” he is.

The two arrive at Nightingale. Akira makes some interesting comments about the newly rising affluent class, kazoku, and the commoners.

Once the two got inside the masquerade party, Akira immediately ditches Tsugumi to do his own “investigations”. He tells Tsugumi to not drink anything offered. This creates an opening for the owner of Nightingale (and rumoured owner of Karasu) Shiginuma Takashi to approach her. For a kazoku woman from a lower ranking family, it is odd for someone as influential as Takashi to spend so much time on her. He points her to some politician’s wife, who is cheating with multiple male escorts. He calls this “the adult’s game”. Tsugumi gets uncomfortable and tells him that she isn’t accustomed to nor interested in this topic. He offers her a cocktail. Tsugumi declines. Takashi begins to get pushy and almost forceful.

At the moment Takashi almost forces Tsugumi into a private room, Tsugumi runs away and runs into Akira. Being the sheltered princess she is, she asks Akira what Takashi’s “other kind of celebration” meant. Akira goes like bruh, you have definitely not slept with any guys haven’t you. He then goes into a rant about how he dislikes kazoku. Tsugumi retorts back that her upbringing or naiveté around men don’t have anything to do with her job, and what he is saying is offensive. She asks him why he has such a grudge against kazoku. He clarifies that he respects Tsugumi as a person and colleague, but dislikes people who act like they’re better or above others.

A couple interluding events happen. Tsugumi and Nabari notice there is more than one book with the black aura seen at the beginning of the route. Akira apologizes to Tsugumi for offending her at the party.

One day during patrolling, Tsugumi asks Hisui if Akira hates her (because he is still cold towards her and doesn’t want to chat); Hisui states that while Akira isn’t the most social person, he never goes out of his way to hurt anyone, so he doesn’t think so. Hisui also shares that Akira has a phobia of blood.

When the day ends, Tsugumi tells Hisui to go home and ends up at the theatre, possibly with the hopes of meeting Akira here. She bumps into Akira head on. Tsugumi has not watched movies for a long time. A few years ago, men and women were strictly separated in different sections at the theatre. The two try to purchase their own tickets, but are told that the individual “men” and “women” tickets have sold out, so if they want to watch the movie they have to buy a “couples” ticket and sit next to each other. To Tsugumi’s surprise, Akira asks her if she will sit with him.

It is a sad romantic movie. Tsugumi catches Akira becoming immersed in the story and even shedding a tear as the female protagonist lost her life in the movie. After the movie, an embarrassed Akira asks Tsugumi to “forget the whole thing”, to which she replies that it isn’t a bad thing for him to cry.

The next day, Tsugumi visits Kuina who provides some information on the Shiginuma family and Takashi himself, who seems to have motivations beyond wealth and political power – he seems to want to change this country completely. He then offers some insightful advice that will echo through the rest of this route:

He then gives Tsugumi an umbrella because it’s raining outside. Tsugumi goes out and sees Akira standing in the rain. They share an umbrella together and we get the CG that is posted at the beginning of his chapter. Tsugumi asks him why he joined Fukurou. He says he likes books and that he’d rather join Fukurou (special police) instead of the army. He then suddenly asks if Tsugumi cut her hair, as he remembers her hair was longer when they first met. Tsugumi replies that she doesn’t want to be anyone’s burden, and cutting the hair was a show of her resolve to bid her old life goodbye. She is determined to not let more people fall into Hitaki’s fate. However, despite this, she does not hate books. Akira says her current hairstyle suits her.

The two return to Hisui announcing a politician (Kamoike) seemed to jump out of a building to his death. There was a book. The police is covering this up.

Akira starts greeting Tsugumi first during their morning patrols together. Sasagoi starts being MIA during the daytime. Despite him being mean to Tsugumi and Fukurou, she tells Akira that she is concerned for his wellbeing and hope nothing bad has happened to him. Akira says she is very kind for saying that. The two meet Hayato/Yoshikiri, who share that Kamoike’s wife is the same “queen bee” that Takashi showed Tsugumi at Nightingale, and the one who brought what is thought to be a maremono to Kamoike, causing him to become deranged and commit suicide.

After work one day, Tsugumi is walking alone at night, and of course that is the night she gets attacked and kidnapped. Akira comes to her rescue, holding her in his arms and telling her that everything will be ok.

Tsugumi immediately thinks of a certain powerful person who said he was “very interested” in her. Shiori tells Tsugumi to always be with someone and to not patrol independently anymore. To Shiori’s surprise, Akira volunteers to be her “buddy”.

Shiori teases him a little, but Akira replies it’s because he feels guilty that he let the perps get away. However, Tsugumi starts realizing her feelings for Akira. She can no longer stay calm around him.

Akira asks if Tsugumi had just cried instead.

The two pass by the theatre. The movie tonight is called Travelling on the Moon. Tsugumi musters up the courage and asks Akira to watch the movie with her. Akira agrees and says he is surprised she asked him, because he thought she didn’t like watching movies, as she acted all tense and tried to keep a distance from him the whole time last movie. Tsugumi explains that in her upbringing, men and women are not supposed to be seen together in public, much less sit next to each other at a movie, unless they are married. Akira basically replies, wow I can’t imagine being brought up like that; we really come from two worlds.

After the movie, the two go to the cafe. Akira asks if Tsugumi is comfortable watching a movie then going to eat with a male outside her family. Tsugumi cheerily replies she is doing all of this because she wants to and that she gets to decide how she wants to live. They bump into Koruri who teases the couple a bit.

Koruri leaves. Tsugumi accidentally breaks a glass and tries to clean the mess up, but breaks her fingers in the process. Akira becomes visibly uncomfortable. What Hisui said is true. He explains that a long time ago, someone he knows suffered a big injury in front of him. Since then, he has been afraid of the sight of blood.

A few plot-related events happen. They run into Misago, an escort who has a situationship going on with Shizuru, and find another maremono that she fortunately did not open. They also run into Owase, who mocks Tsugumi and Akira, stating Fukurou is a useless organization that only serves to steal government funding from the military. The group starts doubting there is a traitor that is leaking info to their enemies. The meeting ends with Shiori asking the crew to ask Kuina to secretly take Misago away into hiding (so she doesn’t “accidentally die” like the previous people involved with maremono from the workings of Karasu). Shiori then turns to Tsugumi and tells the latter that what they do in preserving books has meaning because “stories written tonight will be read by someone a hundred years later; our job is to ensure these stories survive.”

Tsugumi encounters Akira in the backyard again. He pokes fun at her (shared) interest in movies calling her monozuki which is a cute way of calling her “weird” (in a flirty way in this context).. because he is exactly the same. They revisit the travelling to the moon movie, with Akira saying this was the very first movie he saw; that if Tsugumi wants to go to the moon one day, he will accompany her.

Tsugumi continues to overwork herself including putting herself in danger by trying to go solo at night when the streets are not safe. Akira scolds her then shyly asks her to watch the new movie that is playing in the theatres.

This time, it’s a romantic movie. A prostitute operated under the double identity of a spy. She got close to the enemy general, but in the end let him go. Tsugumi thinks to herself that perhaps the woman fell in love with him, and wonders what she would have done if she were the woman. She drops her handkerchief on the ground. As she leans down to pick it up, someone has moved faster than her.

Tsugumi returns home with the superintendent notifying her that she received a letter from an admirer. Who would that be? She opens the letter, only to have raven-coloured feathers fly out of the envelope with a message “I can’t wait to see you again.” It was Takashi. He has his eyes set on her, but curiously does not do anything destructive (yet) to her and Fukurou.

Akira almost recklessly offers to infiltrate Nightingale himself; no backup needed. Shiori asks if he’s crazy because this is a suicide mission. Akira says things like he doesn’t have special abilities like Tsugumi or Hisui, so he is dispensable… For the first time in the route, Tsugumi becomes upset and yells at Akira to “stop saying such stupid things”! Akira doesn’t stop there and says that he would happily exchange his own life in order to take down Karasu. Shiori feels something is off because in her memory, while Akira was never the most social guy, he isn’t so “self-destructive”…

Akira and Tsugumi go on patrol. They encounter a man Tabuchi that seem to know Akira from the past, yet Akira does not respond with enthusiasm. Tsugumi kindly offers to leave some space for the two old friends to catch up. However, this proved to be a trap with Tsugumi being drugged and kidnapped by Tabuchi’s accomplice.

She wakes up in a bed at Nightingale. Takashi acts all creepy and playfully scolds her for “being a cold woman” and ignoring his “confessions of love” in the mail. He asks Tsugumi if she has the ability to see maremono’s aura. Then something completely unexpected happens:

Shouko runs inside and becomes upset at Takashi for treating a young girl so roughly. However, she does not seem angry at all that Takashi is cheating on her. She tells Takashi to release Tsugumi, to which Takashi actually listens, but remarks that Tsugumi “is who he is looking for”.

Akira finds Tsugumi back home safe and sound, but roughed up. He asks Tsugumi what happened, but Tsugumi hesitates. He mockingly asks if she doesn’t trust him. Tsugumi has two options which will determine the ending: “I have something to tell you” vs. “this is none of your business”. Either way, it results in Akira coming clean that he is the traitor inside Fukurou.

A pin-down and kissing scene ensues with Akira cruelly mocking Tsugumi for being a “sheltered little princess” who does not know anything and that he will teach her “about men”… Some of the negative reviews about this route/this game in general takes place here; and I can see why. However, this is just another Katagiri game so I’m not too sensitive to it. To each their own. He even tells Tsugumi to open her legs but does not go through with having sex with her. He instead tells her that since a long time ago his body has been “tattooed with the blackness of the raven feathers” and that neither he, nor Tsugumi has anywhere to run. All they can do is to accept their fate and do Takashi’s bidding.

Akira continues to carry out Takashi’s missions, including killing the spy that Fukurou planted inside Nightingale. Tsugumi listens in, knowing no one else other than Akira did it, but just like the prostitute in the movie, she wavers on whether she should speak up or protect Akira. She meets Koruri at the cafe, who notes her looking pale and asks if she broke up with Akira. Koruri shares that she does not think Akira is inherently a bad person, because he actually helped her get home safely one night when she got drunk.

Misago also dies. This pushes Tsugumi to finally tell Shiori that Akira is the traitor. Shiori is so yasashii here and doesn’t blame Tsugumi. She reassures Tsugumi that “people in the eye of the whirlpool cannot appreciate the water as a whole”. She states that Tsugumi has a gentle heart and is very kind; however, this is an advantage and disadvantage. She leaves Tsugumi with one final question: if Akira’s loyalty is so completely aligned with Karasu, knowing Takashi desires Tsugumi, why didn’t he just kidnap her to him directly all this time? Deep down, Akira knows how evil Karasu is as an organization, hence why he takes on self-destructive tasks recently. This is his way to repent.

Unfortunately the situation does not get better. Tsugumi goes outside the next day only to find the ground being completely covered in crow feathers. This is now a threat. Sasagoi basically admits what he has been doing and Mozuyama makes an appearance – however, I don’t particularly care about either of them in this route so we will skip. Owase also orchestrates an event where someone “possessed” by a suspicious book (that Tsugumi did not see any aura on) and starts indiscriminately attack random people in the open. This sways public opinion that Fukurou is not doing its job properly and we get “defund the police” 1930s style. Before the police could actually be defunded, Tsubameno is assaulted. Basically, everything that can go wrong is going wrong.

Bad ending: Tsugumi goes to Nightingale and begs Takashi to stop targeting her friends and newfound family. She will be his lover in exchange of leaving everyone alone.

Takashi agrees to the deal and calls Akira back to Nightingale. We get an NTR ending where he is forced to serve them both and witness them getting it on a daily basis… Tsugumi caresses his head and tells him that it’s ok and the sacrifice she made is worth it.

Happy ending:

Instead of heading to Nightingale alone, Tsugumi talks to Akira and tells him her plan. Akira reveals that Shouko is unable to bear a child, but he doesn’t know why. Hence, she turns a blind eye to Takashi seeking other lovers. He also does not know why Takashi is so obsessed with Tsugumi and her ability. He asks Tsugumi if she really made up her mind to live an unhappy life his mother once did. He becomes emotional at Tsugumi for not caring about her safety more and even entertaining such a thought.

Tsugumi retorts that shouldn’t Akira’s loyalty lie with Karasu; why is he stopping her? He says fine, if you want to be “crow feed” so bad then I will take you there myself. However, upon arriving at the door he changes his mind and drags Tsugumi on a runaway.

They get apprehended by Shiori and taken back to headquarters. Akira tells his upbringing in full length so that we finally learn why he became the traitor. He and Takashi are half brothers, sharing the same father. Only Takashi was showered with the best things growing up because his mother was the wife; and Akira was merely the product after one night’s passion with a maid. He talks about Takashi’s ambitions being neither purely money nor power as he would easily have these things by living the life planned for him. No, he wants to make some kind of fundamental change in this country.

After the two leave the meeting, both of them want to talk to each other more. Tsugumi is confused and asks Akira if he is her friend or foe. Aaaand we get our sex scene because how “careless” was Tsugumi to allow a grown man into her chambers at night… The CG and voice acting was hot so I’ll let Katagiri have her seiheki… more on this in the final thoughts.

We learn more about Akira and Takashi’s childhood. Takashi is Akira’s “childhood acquaintance” who got hurt and shed blood. Akira, who was still a young child, was scolded by his mother for not protecting or even taking Takashi’s place in getting hurt. The same night, his mother committed suicide (by slitting her wrist in a bathtub) with an apology letter left to Shiginuma family.

Akira has carried out Takashi’s orders, until he wanted to have Tsugumi. He does not want anyone else to have her. How he wish he could take Takashi’s place… The confession between the two was again so well-written:

Tsugumi: Even if your body carries the mark of the crow feather… I do not care. The man I love, his name is “Kougami Akira”… Will you love me for “me”?

Akira: You love … me? You love a man like me?

Tsugumi: Yes, I do.

The climax comes when Akira brings the Fukurou crew and infiltrates Nightingale/Karasu’s auction at night. The two brothers have a face-off: katana vs. gun. In other routes (such as Shougo’s) Takashi always talks about “the chosen ones” who are meant to rule and rise above others he deems unworthy. He has the same ability as Tsugumi to view aura. Hence, he is obsessed with creating the perfect child. Takashi played all his pawns – Mozuyama, Sasagoi, Owase… because they cannot see aura. He wants to incite change in Japan: “Because I love this country so deeply, hence I need to destroy it.” He is upset that kazoku no longer has an absolute hold on this country and that newer ruling classes are appearing. And to “cleanse” the country, he wants to incite a world war (reminder, the year is 1937… yep)

Including a gun-holding Takashi for no reason:

The two have an epic battle. Akira literally gets shot 3 times but because of the power of rabu he overpowers Takashi. Okay lol.

Akira stays in hospital for a while after but makes a full recovery. He returns to the apartment where he and Tsugumi shares a passionate kiss in her room with her telling him “welcome home”.

THOUGHTS: What a rollercoaster of a ride! Definitely leave this route for last out of the four unlocked routes. Katagiri created an interesting, conflicting, and conflicted character in Akira with an elaborate backstory. I cannot help but empathize with him. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t… Similarly, I did not feel out of place at all that Tsugumi chose to initially hide the fact that Akira was the traitor from Shiori. The last movie they shared together, as well as Kuina’s early relationship advice about “self sacrifice sometimes isn’t romantic but just a means of virtual signalling to yourself” foreshadows both endings so well. Bravo!

This is the first Okamoto character that I really enjoyed. He did a fantastic job!

Overall, I give this route a 7/10. While I don’t mind the typical way Katagiri writes her romance with a guy always saying some stuff like “ohoho why did you invite a grown man into your chambers late at night you’re attracted to me aren’t you” after like 5 of the same characters this is getting old… we will need some variety. Also I am bothered how Akira defeated Takashi in the end. He shouldn’t have had any hesitancy in shooting him to death lol. Power of love I guess… for those reasons I cannot rank it as high as Hisui.

Sagisawa Rui (CV: Sakurai Takahiro)

Rui is a medical student at Teito/Capital University who meets Fukurou due to being the victim of an attack. He clearly has a crush on Tsugumi from the prologue and asks her out on a day in zurui way (a very nice guy tactic of “I guess you just hate me, so you won’t go out with me” but because he’s hot and fictional so…). He is quite good at (even till the end I cannot tell if he is intentional or actually has no idea what he is doing) flirting and saying things to make Tsugumi blush; yet completely different from the nanpa characters like Shizuru. This is my favourite route out of the entire game, with not only lots of romance but also lore reveal.

Tsugumi visits Kuina and takes a liking to the beautiful handcrafted kaleidoscopes in his store. Kuina says a Teito University student makes these to earn some income. He then tells Tsugumi that last night, someone came and handed in a book “that weeps at night”. The book in question is a maremono with a sakura pink aura.

The author of the maremono was a chronically ill young woman who eventually succumbed to her illness. Tsugumi takes the book back to Nabari, who laments the author was a princess trapped in a bird cage, saying her prayers in the book for someone to save her or liberate her from it all.

Another store owner tells Tsugumi that a group of people are burning books, but not necessarily handwritten ones; they don’t discriminate. Before Tsugumi gets lost in thought, Rui calls out her name and runs towards her. The two go to the cafe.

From Rui’s university connections, he knows that Tsugumi is Hitaki’s sister. Tsugumi tells him her motive behind joining Fukurou, as well as her ability to view maremono. Rui becomes very interested in it and wants her to tell more. Tsugumi then goes onto say the books do not have any crime inherently. This is Fukurou’s policy. They can only confiscate maremono but cannot arrest people who wrote them (as it’s not a crime to write books) or destroy these books (because of their belief in preserving stories and history for future generations – can see a glimpse in Akira route). This sends Rui into deeper thought. To support her viewpoint that even not all maremono are harmful, Tsugumi talks about the book with pink aura and how it only conveyed strong emotions of a dying young girl. Rui doesn’t directly responds to Tsugumi’s example, but instead tells her he respects her a lot and wants to be her friend.

When patrolling with Hisui, Tsugumi later finds more students being assaulted in the same fashion Rui was. The student says a gang that dressed and looked as students came and confiscated his book, destroyed it, and told him to not buy books. The two run into Mozuyama – their history is already discussed in other routes so will not elaborate.

Days pass. Tsugumi has her first day off. She goes to the library. Rui notices her. He immediately greets her and asks her to sit with him. He asks her to go on another cafe date with him. Their topic again drifts to the book burnings, Hitaki, and maremono, with Tsugumi commenting that Hitaki’s incident made her so scared to the point she can somewhat understand why certain people became so afraid of books they want to destroy all of them. Rui says Tsugumi has the freedom to decide what she believes in, before stopping himself because his senpai all told him to not talk about such “boring” topics with girls, and that girls dislike guys who talk like him.

Shizuru happens to be at the cafe. He comes over and starts hitting on Tsugumi. Rui is a big fan of Shizuru’s work. Shizuru plays it cool (as he doesn’t like male fans) and asks if Rui is Tsugumi’s boyfriend. Rui replies no, Tsugumi is a friend of mine that I really respect (wow someone is drinking respect women juice). Before leaving, Shizuru stops to stare at Rui. He notices Rui looks like someone.. but cannot pinpoint who. After Shizuru leaves, Rui asks if Tsugumi is dating Shizuru or “cohabiting”. Tsugumi is like well.. we live in the same building so not actually… but can you keep it a secret. To which Rui playfully replies he will keep quiet if Tsugumi goes to the park with him.

They see some girls in school uniforms play. Rui says he wants to see Tsugumi in a uniform. He asks Tsugumi to call him by his name “Rui” given that they’ve spent so much time with each other and are good friends. Tsugumi notices some nadeshiko flowers growing at the side. He cuts some fresh flowers and gives them to Tsugumi. He hints that he is making a gift for Tsugumi, and until the gift is finished, she can wear these flowers.

Tsugumi goes back and finds Shizuru in the kitchen. Shizruru finally remembers who Rui looks like – Shiginuma Shouko from Nightingale. Tsugumi asks Kuina about information on Shouko. Kuina says her maiden name was Higashishouji and she was born from nobility. However, her betrothal to Takashi surprised everyone because there was no sign of them in love or even dating, nor did Shouko’s family need financial support by marrying off their daughter. Kuina wonders if there was some kind of scandal, for example Rui is related to some relative of Shouko (she has a brother – could he be his bastard son?).

Tsugumi returns home with this information. Unfortunately, Tsubameno got beat up while he was on duty by the same ?student group that is going around assaulting people and burning books. They told Tsubameno their name is “Kagutsuchi“, and that they will “cleanse the injustices in the capital with fire”. The group does not appear to know maremono thus far have only been handwritten books; they burn books indiscriminately.

Tsugumi and Hisui go patrolling again. Hisui has a dentist appointment (LOL) and dips early. Rui swoops in and takes her to the cafe again (ok I know if you don’t have time to draw another background but go somewhere else man). He gifts her a nadeshiko brooch. If you haven’t guessed by now he is also Kuina’s supplier of kaleidoscopes. Tsugumi is in awe at how good Rui is at with his hands (I mean, he did say he wants to be a surgeon) and basically was like omg sugoiiiiiii.

Rui blushes but so does Tsugumi, because she realizes this is the first time she receives a gift from a male who is not her family. Rui promises Tsugumi that he will make a kaleidoscope for her to. The topic then changes to Rui’s family. He reveals his parents have passed away; they are his inspiration for studying medicine.

The date ends with Rui inviting Tsugumi to his home so he can share his workplace with him. I was so worried that we were going to see the cliche theme of him kabedoning Tsugumi because “ohoho how could you enter a man’s quarters” but Rui is a good boy.

Even though Rui doesn’t physically make the moves on her, the tension in the air is palpable. He initially teases her a little but confesses to her formally in the end. He has been infatuated with Tsugumi since their first encounter and wanted to find a quiet place like this to tell her his feelings. He tells Tsugumi that the decision is hers: whether she wants to see him again. Of course we say yes!

Tsugumi returns home, heart pounding. We are shown some scenes where Tsugumi introduces Rui to Akira and Hayato. Rui tells them that he is romantically pursuing Tsugumi openly, but she has not yet decided. In the meantime, the wife of the politician who was killed by maremono (in other routes) is forcibly hospitalized for mental health issues. Karasu’s deeds do not stop here simply because Tsugumi is tangled in a side quest of romance. She retires to her chambers and thinks about her priorities…

However, it’s movie date time! Big brother Rui takes the lead and holds Tsugumi’s hand during the movie ^^ He recognizes the female lead. Tsugumi wonders if the movie star is his type and wonders if she is feminine and beautiful enough, and has a mini jealous/insecure moment.

After the movie, he asks Tsugumi if he is the first guy she’s ever dated. Tsugumi apologizes for her lack of experience, but of course this makes Rui even happier that he is her first and finds her even more adorable.

Before the two could ichaicha, a traffic accident happens in the middle of the road. Dr. Sagisawa to the rescue! And we get our first CG. I remember there was a quote somewhere saying that a focused man is the most attractive, Tsugumi can certainly appreciate that in this moment…

This is some other date they go to, where Rui continues to make Tsugumi blush. He really is a natural at this.

They talk about maremono and Fukuro’s job again. Tsugumi explains that Fukurou can confiscate maremono but otherwise hands are tied because they work for the government/prime minister, who does not want to ban people’s creativity and for the act of creating books in itself. Rui stops acting flirty and becomes serious. He is not impressed with the lukewarm approach from the government or Fukurou. “So you’re saying that in the name of freedom of speech, we will just let this danger continue running wild.” He advocates for a radical blanket ban of buying and even writing of works (dude aren’t you a university student…). Tsugumi brings up the sick girl’s maremono in the beginning of this route to defend her point, saying there are innocent people out there who want to express themselves and should be given the opportunity. Tsugumi discloses to Rui that she is looking for Kagutsuchi and want to bring this book-burning group to justice.

Tsugumi is torn between her duty and feelings for Rui. When Rui walks her to her apartment, Tsugumi asks him to allow her to walk the last part of the trip alone. Rui becomes hurt and asks if Tsugumi doesn’t want others to see them together or dating. Tsugumi says it’s not Rui’s fault or that she doesn’t like him, but she needs some space and is feeling like a mess between her job and love. Rui smiles and tells Tsugumi he loves her hardworking and focused side and would never want to get in the way of her job and believes (oh we will see about that), before pecking on her forehead and disappearing into the night.

The ball at Nightingale takes place, with Tsugumi and Hayato (“Shougo”) attending undercover. Tsugumi meets Shouko, who offers her a spiked drink as the hostess. Tsugumi cannot decline that out of manners and drinks it. Hayato returns and finds Tsugumi unwell. He entrusts her with Rui who is also here somehow and continues his infiltration. Rui takes Tsugumi back to his apartment. Maybe it’s seeing a defenceless Tsugumi or not able to hold his feelings in any longer. He kisses Tsugumi and tells her that he is the leader of Kagutsuchi. Rui too wants to destroy Karasu. He is sick of Fukurou’s lukewarm method and wants to do it more radically.

Rui does not take the act to the next step because Tsugumi after all, is not ready. He tells her that Karasu could be the people behind his parents’ death. He wants his parents’ killer to pay the price. He admits that the first time he met Tsugumi as the “victim” of Kagutsuchi he was obviously acting with the goal of getting to know people from Fukurou. However, he fell in love with Tsugumi who rushed to his side and was so concerned for him. He asks Tsugumi to trust him.

He then tells Tsugumi about how Mozuyama drugs people to make them write maremono under the influence, and Mozuyama’s deal with Sasagoi.

However, this information does not come for free. He asks Tsugumi to leave Fukurou and join his side as his partner in crime.

Tsugumi declines. Disappointed, Rui sends her back home. He tells her that staying with Fukurou means she will never get anything done and a waste of time, but it is her decision.

Tsugumi returns to her routine of patrolling bookstores. Kuina tells Tsugumi a piece of information: Shiginuma Shouko gave birth to a boy right before she married Takashi. We all know who this boy was. He is obviously not Takashi’s son. What’s more, the midwife who attended that childbirth was named… Sagisawa Miyako. This is the truth that Rui has been searching for, but oblivious to.

At the same time, news of university students suddenly going berserk and stabbing innocent bystanders start to circulate. Their common link, Mozuyama. They all start acting strange after leaving Mozuyama’s place.

On a night patrol with Tsubameno, Tsugumi smells something burning. Tracing the smell and wondering if someone is burning books, she runs into…

Now she has absolutely zero doubt that Rui was telling her the truth. He is the leader of Kagutsuchi.

Tsugumi replies she is looking for him. He tells her that he knows Mozuyama is behind the students going berserk, but not through maremono, but rather a series of inhumane experiments and some kind of hypnosis method. He tells her it’s time to join the right side and put a stop to all of this. He feels guilty too because he is a scholar and loves books; but this is for the greater good.

He goes on to tell Tsugumi that on the day that his parents’ died (which was also their wedding anniversary), his father seemingly drove the car as if he was drunk. However, his father would never do such a thing. At the funeral, Rui hears his father’s colleague mention that on that day, his father got into a heated argument with another colleague, Mozuyama Shirou…

To make things worse, Mozuyama is tied to the suicide of his best friend, right after his friend left Mozuyama’s lab. He knows Mozuyama is Shiginuma Takashi’s lapdog, and Takashi seems to have some ulterior motive beyond money and power.

Tsugumi says she understands where Rui is coming from, but still hopes he can collaborate with Shiori/Fukurou/the police and find some middle ground. Rui replies the police is corrupt and also work for Shiginuma so there is no point. He also has no reason to trust and involve more outsiders like Tokimiya Shiori. He concludes there is no point further negotiating at this time, and says when Tsugumi is ready to join Kagutsuchi he will always welcome her with open arms.

Owase is taken out of the plot by attempting to murder Shougo’s dad under the influence of either hypnosis or maremono, then committed suicide. Before we could catch a breather, both Rui and Tsugumi are kidnapped to Nightingale. When they wake up, they see…

Mozuyama says Rui and his little gang has been giving him a bit too much annoyance lately so wants to settle things down. He knows every detail about Rui, including his student number, his outstanding intelligence and grades, and how he went to the same university as the late Dr. Sagisawa… Fate is a fickle mistress.

But is Sagisawa really his father? After all, he had orchitis and had been infertile since high school, so was physically unable to sire children.

Rui is offended that Mozuyama talks about his deceased parents like that, and tells Mozuyama that this is none of his business. Mozuyama continues to say at the same time, a certain unmarried noblewoman was unexpectedly pregnant. Her name was Higashishouji Shouko, now known as Mrs. Shiginuma… The man she “loved” and created the life that is Rui, was Mozuyama.

Mozuyama tells Rui that he has his mother’s beauty, and his father’s brains, to stop fooling around with his gang and join him in his “research” to create the perfect human by inducing their full potential; “weaklings” cannot handle this power so they go insane in the process, but that’s a necessary sacrifice as only the most genetically superior people are fit to lead…

Shiginuma Takashi comes in the middle of the argument and gives Rui a good beating because he called Shouko a prostitute who would sleep with anyone. Somehow Tsugumi and Rui escape all of this and run back to Rui’s apartment. (Not going to even ask how this was feasible but plot’s gotta move forward) Rui is still in disbelief that his parents were not his real parents and that he is the son of the man he hates most. He starts slitting his wrist because he detests Mozuyama’s blood flowing in him.

However, Rui will not end himself. It all started with Mozuyama, then it will end with Mozuyama… He will take Mozuyama’s life… However, Tsugumi doesn’t want to join him, so she is now merely a distraction and needs to exit his life and plans.

He tells Tsugumi to get out. Tsugumi is heartbroken. As she leaves, Rui embraces her from behind because he knew he couldn’t let her go…

Tsugumi replies that she doesn’t want Rui to disappear from this world or her life. She wants his happiness and not just her own. She does not think Rui did anything wrong. No matter what Rui is like or does, she loves him no matter what…

The confession was so beautiful. I will leave it to you to enjoy it in game… I cried…

Sex is good and what not but the next morning, Rui still needs an answer from Tsugumi. She also can’t be MIA from Fukurou forever. She must choose a side.

Kagutsuchi Ending:

Rui initially wants Tsugumi to stay at home and not be on missions with him, as really Tsugumi is the source of his sanity and he couldn’t care less about her ability; Tsugumi won’t have any of that. He takes her on Kagutsuchi missions so she can tell them which book are maremono. Figured I’d include a screenshot with Tsugumi’s Kagutsuchi outfit, with Rui’s gift to her pinned on it.

At one point Rui even runs into Hayato and Fukurou. However, she has decided and apologetically tells them she can no longer go back. All she has and needs right now is Rui…

This route was doomed to fail the moment Tsugumi cut her ties with Fukurou. Rui isn’t honest with his intentions of what he plans to do with Nightingale, because he knows Tsugumi would never agree. By the time Tsugumi realizes that Rui hasn’t returned home one night, she follows her intuition and it was too late…

Fukurou Ending:

If Tsugumi sticks to her guns and turns the tables on Rui, she will tell Rui that she wears the pants in this relationship and that she is not going anywhere. In fact, she is going to watch over Rui and Kagutsuchi’s actions as a member of Fukurou. She calls Shiori with a payphone to tell everyone she is safe and report what she decided on.

Rui and Tsugumi start living as lovers

AND WE GET THE BATHTUB SCENE CG THAT ATTRACTED SO MANY GIRLIES TO THIS GAME I’M NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT I’M ONE OF THEM

Tsugumi is outside one day when she is called by the most unexpected person.

Shouko knows Tsugumi is living with Rui and asks her to run away with Rui, away from Takashi and Mozuyama’s zone of control. She is ashamed that she did not live up to her expectations of a mother, and tells Tsugumi she never wants to meet Rui because she doesn’t deserve to face him.

Remember in Hisui’s route, Shouko likes collecting kaleidoscopes…? Rui took on a part-time job washing dishes at Nightingale in order to get close to his target. However, he is vaguer and vaguer about his whereabouts and plans. Tsugumi this whole time just sits home I guess??? because she doesn’t need to patrol anymore?

Bad Ending:

Anyhow, Rui says he is going to work one day, and even playfully kisses Tsugumi goodbye. Just like in the movies, her lover goes to the battlefield and never returns.

By the time Tsugumi realizes, similar to Kagutsuchi ending, Rui burns down Nightingale. However, this time, no body is identified as Rui. In the background, an amnesiac Rui assists Mozuyama with his experiments.

Happy Ending:

Similarly, Rui kisses Tsugumi goodbye in bed so we get a CG. He injects Tsugumi with a sedative so she will not chase after him. He tells a horrified Tsugumi that he’s going to “end it all” (aka do something stupid) because his friend and accomplice in Kagutsuchi was hurt by Karasu. He tells Tsugumi that he enjoyed this fleeting period of “lover’s game” but it’s gotta come to an end.

Using her last bit of consciousness, Tsugumi pulls out the knife that Shiori gifted her in the prologue and stabs her leg to keep awake. She calls Shiori and Fukurou and tells them that Rui is probably headed for Nightingale to kill Mozuyama.

Tsubameno finds Tsugumi in Rui’s apartment and takes her to Nightingale. Shiginuma Takashi is shot in the stomach and critically wounded. He talks about how Shouko never got over the fact she was separated from her child, getting up at night to sew baby clothes even till today.

We have the final showdown among Rui, Mozuyama, and Shouko.

Basically Mozuyama is an obsessed stalker of Shouko and raped her – Rui being their child. Mozuyama still believes Shouko and him had something, but Shouko was forever scarred by this event and hates him – now the sequence in Hisui ending makes sense.

In a predictable fashion, Tsugumi convinces Rui that killing Mozuyama will not find him true happiness and instead the people of Karasu are turned to authorities.

The camera pans to a young, beautiful, loving student couple sharing a special moment in the grass. The end.

THOUGHTS:

1. By far my favourite route this entire game even though the plot is not new and even cliche. I think what won me over was Katagiri’s writing of Tsugumi and Rui’s confessions. Rui is someone who is easy to get along with, understanding, passionate about his cause, but gives enough respect to Tsugumi and her own values. Sakurai’s voice acting along with Katagiri’s writing made me melt…
2. Book burning in general coupled with the time period is a reference to the Nazi book burnings. Even though the plot was cliche, Rui was not crazy for proposing what he did because.. Fukurou really was useless and running around like a bunch of headless chickens and not really preventing people from getting harmed, and on public dime. So it was hard to take a side in this issue where there probably wasn’t a good solution.
3. I wanted to pay respect to the genius behind the naming “Kagutsuchi” who is an actual figure in Japanese mythology – the fire god. In the myths, Kagutsuchi was the youngest child of the goddess Izanami, and his birth caused her death, paralleling the destruction his birth (moreso the act of Mozuyama’s raping) on Shouko’s life; Kagutsuchi was killed by his grieving father, symbolizing Rui’s antagonistic relationship with Mozuyama. I also wonder if this was the beginning of Katagiri’s inspiration for Olympia Soiree.
4. I want to end this section with Shouko’s after story as it was so tragically beautiful and well written. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to capture the beauty of the writing with my translation, but will do my best. Knowing the backstory, we all know what and who Shouko is talking about.

… It all started that rainy night.

My sacred garden was ravaged by a despicable demon.

The seed planted into my womb eventually sprouted and grew day by day.

Trembling in fear, I thought so many times to burn and destroy my garden.

I carried the seed of the demon. The flower that grew from this seed was probably terrifying and ugly too.

When this flower blooms, it may also turn into a demon, and go on to harm someone else.

However, for some reason I was never able to pick away this bud.

Finally, my flower bloomed on a snowy morning.

It was that year’s first snow.

The garden shimmered in a silvery glow with the morning sunlight.

All I saw was a pure and white flower.

It was not terrifying nor ugly. It just existed innocently and helplessly.

This brings me a sense of serenity, as well as shame.

How stupid I was. The flower did not commit any crime.

I decided to love this flower more than anyone else in this world.

However, this flower was whisked away and hidden when I was in my slumber.

They told me. “This is not the place for a flower to grow.”

How many times would I have important things taken away from me?

What crime did I commit to deserve such a punishment?

Hence, I made a vow.

To never wish for anything else

and to never love anyone in this world.

Ozaki Hayato (CV: Kaji Yuuki)

Me and so many other otome girlies were excited for this route but unfortunately it was not it. What is with otome companies hiring big name seiyuu then giving them the shittiest writing possible?

Anyway, Hayato is the poster boy and associated with every positive quality under the sun. He is outgoing, cheerful, positive, gets ahead of himself at times, and good at everything he does. It gets spoiled in the end that he is actually the heir of Yashiro family aka the one Tsugumi was betrothed to but never met. A lot of reviews said they saw it coming but honestly I didn’t, nor did I really care? But with that in mind, now this question in the prologue becomes a bit more interesting:

The theme of this route returns to “fire” and the book, or series of books with a fiery aura. The same one that made Hitaki want to self-immolate. Tsugumi and Hayato confiscate one of these books. It is rare for books to have the same aura. This is certainly one Tsugumi will never forget till her death.

They give the book to Nabari for examination. The person who wrote the book is likely operating under a pen name, as it’s a different author from Hitaki’s book. Of course this brings up unpleasant memories and trauma. Hayato asks Tsugumi about her feelings for the person who is writing these maremono. At this point we don’t even know if this person knows they are producing maremono or is all unintentional.

Hayato becomes friendly and close to Tsugumi quickly, inviting her to watch him play pool after work.

Hayato kicks everyone’s ass and gets to show off his kakkoii side to Tsugumi.

Then before we know it he confesses to Tsugumi! The same old “you’re so beautiful, you were the princess of the park, you said no to all those guys, I’ve fallen in love with you since you were a student but then I had to go to Murica and my Engrish is still bad”. This was like the first 20% of the route and I’m sorry I don’t have the capacity to go over it again because this literally just happened in Rui’s route.

Similarly to Rui route, Tsugumi isn’t ready for this at all and is too preoccupied with Hitaki and her duties at Fukurou. Home girl is not in the mood for ichaicha.

Tsugumi goes to the cafe and runs into Koruri/Yoshikiri. Remember how Yoshikiri is Hayato’s senpai? He spills the tea that Hayato is really popular with women, and even dated a famous actress at some point, but dumped her because he told everyone that he had a crush… who was obviously Tsugumi. There was also a gag where Yoshikiri says upon returning from America, Hayato tells him about the large … racks … that girls from land of the free have, so Koruri started sending Tsugumi newspaper tips and recipes on increasing her breast size lmao.

Nabari concludes that the two maremono (Hitaki’s and the one confiscated) are written by two different people despite the same aura. However, Shiori asks to have both copies so she can examine herself to be sure.

Hitaki’s condition starts to improve. Tsugumi shares this great news with Hayato who congratulates her. He also shares that he had a sister who read maremono and eventually died from it. She survived the initial burn injuries but could not stand her face being disfigured so took her life. In a way they are one and the same. Tsugumi starts noticing she is closer and closer to this man and starts catching the feelings for him – I guess that makes one of us.

Meanwhile, we get more snippets of how Hayato saw and fell in love with Tsugumi, but honestly it was just because of how beautiful and pure of a nadeshiko she was so…

Similar to Rui route (yeah you can see I’m tired of even typing this out) he doesn’t give up and asks if Tsugumi likes him more as days pass by [does this remind you of a certain poster boy in a later Satoi/Katagiri game?? Red hair?? Hmmm??]

Meanwhile, we are being fed exposition about Shiori’s deceased husband Yasuhiko, how he, Mashiko, and Nabari were the OG. Tsugumi runs into Nabari’s room one day and finds him having a nightmare and saying things in his sleep but cannot make out what. Nabari wakes up and yells at Tsugumi to get out.

In fact, Nabari acts very sus in this route in general. He accidentally “got rid” of the book Tsugumi confiscated so he won’t have both copies for Shiori’s examination. However, Tsugumi doesn’t blame him and says he did what he needed to do (Nabari stated the maremono’s influence was too large) to protect himself, and she’d rather see him safe.

Tsugumi runs into Mozuyama who straight up harasses her and wants to force her into being his test subject. Rui swoops in the to save the day by making up he has a date with Tsugumi so she can excuse herself from the situation (we love a supportive man like Rui, honestly I’d much rather just have a second Rui route than whatever this is).

Tsugumi has a girls’ moment with with Shiori who tells her that Yasuhiko died of self immolation as well, but she did not want to discuss more.

Aaaaand Hayato is jealous and hugs Tsugumi because she made marmalade for her ex-neighbour Nabari and is “getting to close to him”. What happened to respecting her wishes and letting things run their course? Okay, man…

All the clues point towards Nabari being the author behind the flame maremono. Yoshikiri, who had a brief meeting with Nabari/Tsugumi earlier at the cafe and declared his hatred for the authors of maremono, is the next victim and nearly burns himself to death. Koruri loses it and declares her love for Yoshikiri, but again I am too exhausted by the crappy pacing of this route to care.

But our mother Theresa I mean Tsugumi refuses to believe it’s Nabari-san and instead she wails helplessly in Hayato’s arms. He loves you for being so yasashii and innocent ~~~ (eye roll) while my finger is spasming from hitting next~~

Nabari acts more and more unhinged every day saying blatantly arsonist shit but nobody is doing anything about it because “our hands are tied by the prime minister” “what if he’s actually innocent, we can’t call the police” and Tsugumi saying nothing but そんな (“oh no!”) I’m actually getting triggered by this word.

Anyways Yoshikiri wakes up in the hospital so Koruri is like fuck being a career woman I’m going to confess to him and be his good little ~waifu~ and encourages Tsugumi to do the same. So Tsugumi goes to Hayato’s room all emo and like “don’t die on me my love” and the two confess kiss and make love I guess.

…More kiss scenes! Thank you Satoi I’m only here for CG collection at this point.

Mozuyama also dies from burning. The group finally connect the dots 300 years later and realize it’s Nabari behind all those killings as all his pen names have the same initials “N.Y.” However, because Fukurou is absolutely useless Nabari runs off with Hitaki.

He and Tsugumi have a final showdown. He says some stuff like his family died in a fire, so he never recovered from that and wants the world to burn down and finds flames really beautiful, that he views Tsugumi and Hitaki family and want them to join the flames with the rest of his family…

Bad ending: Tsugumi and Hitaki become consumed by the flames. Tsugumi continues to be in a coma in the hospital where she lives an ordinary family life with Hayato and Hitaki.

Happy ending: Because she talks it out with Hayato he swoops in to save the day and protect everyone from harm.

Nabari gets thrown in jail because god forbid someone dish justice without the police even if he’s killed so many people. Hayato does the big reveal in a nice suit that he is Yashiro Hayato and the one who is supposed to marry Tsugumi in the beginning, giving us a “fated” feel.

And they live happily ever after, receiving congratulations even from Kuina.

THOUGHTS:

What a hot mess of a route. The authors clearly tried to use this route to tie up “loose ends” and answer some buried questions from the common route by assigning Hayato as Tsugumi’s fiance and giving a conclusion to Hitaki’s murder. One can argue that Otomate wouldn’t just hire Midorikawa to voice anyone and he clearly was a big character but then what did Okitsu do? I still have zero idea how it changes anything with Hayato being Yashiro’s heir other than to give him an identity “befitting” for a beauty like Tsugumi, nor do I have history between how he became to be Yoshikiri’s kouhai. There is a Chinese meme called “for this bit of leftover vinegar I had to make a fresh batch of dumplings” and this is Hayato route in a nutshell. He shares the same route with the hidden character Nabari and as a result less screen time was given to him to develop his character and relationships around him. It just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth to end the game on this… Also if anything the biggest plot point should be Karasu/Shiginuma Takashi story aka Akira route. They instead chose to end on Hitaki’s story but we barely know anything about Hitaki.

There’s also way too much recycling of plot devices. The marmalade/food thing with Shougo/Kijitani’s route and Rui literally just pulled the love at first sight schtick with Tsugumi last route. Does the author expect us to wipe our memories when playing another route? You can’t keep using the same three tropes and expect us to fall for it. But hey at least she didn’t use the “ohoho you came to my room alone at night/all men are wolves” trope so bravo.

Nabari Yutaka (CV: Midorikawa Hikari)

Nabari aka the hidden character shares the exact same route with Hayato. He used to live at the Kuze household and pay them rent, so witnessed the childhoods of the two siblings. However, he left to work for Fukurou when he discovered his ability to write as well as the entity of maremono itself.

His whole character revolves around the sob story that his father died in a war, and his mother couldn’t take it anymore so burned herself alive to chase his footsteps, in front of a young Nabari. This broke him and he became obsessed with flames and wanting to end the entire world in it.

In Hayato’s route, Tsugumi moms him a little bit and tells him to stop eating only hardened bread and made him some marmalade. Nabari tests his boundaries around her by saying emo things like “I am so sorry for not preventing Hitaki’s accident, when I work for Fukurou” “I am so sorry for accidentally destroying the maremono you confiscated so we will never know if the writing on it is similar to Hitaki’s” and asks for Tsugumi’s forgiveness. Of course she does because my man you are acting so weird right now and she just wants to tell you off.

This causes him to be obsessed with her and think she is different from everyone else, that she would understand where she is coming from. And she probably is the only person who is willing to learn who he is because she always wanted to meet the perpetrator instead of simply seeking for punishment.

Nabari meets Yoshikiri who basically dunks on him without knowing the criminal is in front of him. Yoshikiri pays the price deeply because Nabari burns his ass after.

Given this is now Nabari’s route, I will start sharing some of the blatantly unhinged shit he says to Tsugumi before declaring himself as the criminal. And the whole group just sits and watches lol.

When Tsugumi and Fukurou finally come to their senses Nabari pulls the uno reverse card and gets mad at her for not being crazy like him??? lol

The negotiation fails. The whole group knows he is the criminal but again chooses to do nothing. Nobody calls the cops even if they have Tsubameno with them. Tsugumi decides to read one of his maremono to understand him and Shiori agrees?? So Tsugumi steps into Nabari’s world for a second and nearly kills herself taking everyone’s effort to stop her. I hope that was worth it.

The ending is similar where Hitaki gets kidnapped but not in a random place like in Hayato route but in the underground tunnel of Fukurou.

Bad Ending: I’ve been fast forwarding at this point but Hitaki steps up and protects his big sister for once, pushing Nabari into the fire and ending it all.

So one, I had no idea Hitaki was this tall?! Two, pretty sure Hitaki would walk away free because Nabari literally tried to kill them both. So how is this a bad ending again?

Happy ending: Tsugumi uses talk no jutsu and “aw let me hold your hand/ruffle your hair” and appeals to Nabari’s mommy issues.

Nabari goes to jail and we have the ?true ending and a CG of everyone.

The Predecessor of Olympia Soiree

This is the spiritual predecessor of Olympia Soiree, which improves a lot of the flaws in Nil Ado.

• The tsundere: Shougo/Rikuu
• The flirt: Shizuru/Kuroba
• The cute boy: Hisui/Tokisada
• The guy who doesn’t talk much/isn’t actually part of MC’s gang: Akira/Himuka
• The romantic (the flirt but more subtle and less cringe): Rui/Yosuga [both ended up being my fav in respective games, I guess I do have a type]
• The poster boy who chases MC but because he’s hot we allow it, voiced by some god tier CV: Hayato/Akaza
• The pet: Kuina’s pet/Byakuya’s rat (lol)

Olympia Soiree makes their character more likeable. I think we can all argue Kuroba was a better LI than Shizuru (even though both routes SUCKED) and Akaza was more of a fan favourite than Hayato. Byakuya is a more likeable character than Tsugumi.

They also stopped doing that hidden route thing in Akaza route, could you imagine? Now I wonder what Tengoku Struggle is like but that’s probably a 2026 or even 2027 question.

Final Thoughts

What a polarizing game. The highs are very high and the lows are … really low. I applaud the scenario writer for writing their own story and really letting their personality shine. I do love Katagiri’s writing of character internal monologue and building the setting for romance. I can see early hints of it which gets improved significantly in Olympia Soiree – that I’ve ordered the Otomate Sweet Box for its FD, “set to” arrive on Christmas Day – so I’m praying it will actually arrive on Chinese New Year lmao given how long FromJapan took for my Uchronia FD to arrive after me writing to them like a Karen one month after the game release.

Overall, it was a game worth playing but I probably wouldn’t replay.

Character ranking: Rui > Hisui > Shougo > Akira >>>>>>>>>> Shizuru = Hayato

Final rating: 7/10