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narwool · 1 month ago

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Review: Ooe Complete Edition + ending names explained

I finished the second part of Ooe which was finally released last week! I have so many things I want to talk about as I loved the game, so I think it's going to be impossible without mentioning any spoilers. If you want to read a completely spoiler-free post about the game, I've summarized most of the common route in my review of part 1. I also made a general post about the plot of the game and the characters which you can find here, though I wrote it some time ago, so some of the speculations might be a bit outdated now (I do try to keep it up to date, but I don't want to change everything as it's fun to look back at later).

I'll of course put a warning when I'll be talking about any big spoilers, but I will mention the route order and which characters have 18+ content, so if you want to avoid that, it's better to read this later.

The update + recommended route order

After the update on the 19th, all versions of the game were updated to the "complete edition", so if you already own the game, you can just redownload this for free. It's possible to transfer save files to skip the first routes (a guide how to do this is included in the game files), but it also doesn't take too long to just skip through the first 3 routes. Just like part 1, most of the routes only unlock after playing some other routes first, so usually you can just start a new game after finishing one ending and see if a new choice pops up somewhere in the game. The route order for the first 3 routes is Ariake (who has two endings) > Shimbashi > Aomi, and afterwards you can either play Shiodome ending B or Takeshiba's route. After this the route order is Shijoumae > Shiodome ending A > Toyosu > Hinode > Funeno > Daiba. If you want to enter a route, you should select the choice on the right side of the screen. Some choices don't have a silhouette of the character, but the choice to enter their route will still be on the right side. Just like part 1, you might get some other choices in some routes, but most of these don't matter and you can try out all dialogue options.

The story of part 2

While part 1 seemed to focus more on the mystery who committed the murders on the island and Oosaki's own backstory, part 2 focuses on the characters who didn't have their own routes in part 1. In most of the new routes you don't really try to find the culprit for any new crimes anymore, as we already saw that in part 1, but I think it's more about trying to understand the characters better, and of course finding out the real reason why they gathered on the island. Almost all of the new routes have 18+ scenes, though Hinode and Toyosu don’t have one. Like mentioned in the initial setting & data collection book, Shiodome has 2 separate routes, which is why the new update mentions it added 8 routes rather than 7 (no secret Shinkiba or Shinagawa route lol). Part 2 also has a new ending song which is really good, so I can’t wait for it to be officially released on Adelta’s Booth page (which is soon I think!). I really liked Takeshiba's route and also Daiba, who does in fact have a route (he used to be promoted as a side-character, though I think this was done on purpose to mess with us lol). There is some information in the game that you'll only learn about through the letters you unlock in-game after finishing every route, but generally I think the plot and the mysteries of the game are not too difficult to understand. One of the latest blog updates also mentions that this isn't a difficult game in which you have to guess the culprit, but a game in which you can find ''various forms of love'' which you definitely do...

Takeshiba's route ended up becoming one of my favorites as he's ??? so cute ???. The extra pamplet that comes with the game doesn't rate his appearance very high but I disagree! One of the reasons I was pretty surprised by this route is that he was very violent in most of the first routes, but this doesn't really happen in the new routes. He does try though... but he's not strong enough to attack Oosaki and he gives up... What a clown, I love him. His backstory (the circus, and his mother being a snake lady) reminded me of Suehiro Maruo's Shoujo Tsubaki, which is a reference many other fans have noticed as well, and one of the new illustrations also shows him wearing a shirt which matches the pattern of the dress protagonist Midori wears, so I'm sure that's all on purpose. It also references Dazai's No Longer Human too, as his first name Youzou is the same as the main character in the novel, but he also has a (non blood related) daughter called Shigeko who he tried to care for. I think his character profile mentions that she was eventually adopted by another family, but I hope they'll meet again, as he even learned sign language to communicate with her. I'm not sure if he would be a great father, but it's really sweet to see him try... I loved his scenes with Oosaki in the ending too and I'd love to see more of this pairing!

Review of each route (beware of spoilers!)

From now on I'll be talking about spoilers for each route! I'm not going to describe everything that happens of course, but it will include some pretty important plot elements. The first route I played was Shiodome's B route, but I didn't know that his other ending was locked, so maybe starting with Takeshiba is a better option!? I really liked how the color green was used in the CGs in this route, and how even the main menu screen temporarily changed after finishing it. The theme of cannibalism returns, as Shiodome ends up eating one of Oosaki's eyes and ears... and Shinagawa and Shinkiba aren't happy at all that Oosaki decides to stay with someone like this. There are a few Kotou no Oni references in this route too which I liked, such as Oosaki's hair partially turning white. Ending A is locked until you finish Takeshiba's and Shijoumae's routes, but ending A is the complete opposite and actually has a much happier ending. I liked how cute Shiodome was in this, wanting to be Oosaki's wife... Two completely different sides of one character.

I was very curious about Shijoumae's route as he usually pairs up with the murderers in other routes and will immediately betray others and lie, which... doesn't stop in his own route! And I love that for him. This route sometimes references a short story called Kaika no Satsujin where Shijoumae's first name also comes from. Shijoumae has a wife called Akiko who is also mentioned in this short story, though in the original story he never marries her and she ends up with another guy called Mitsumura (whose name also returns in the game, but in Ooe he's the psychologist Shijoumae talked to). Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's novel Kappa is also referenced in this route by Shijoumae himself. I really like the dynamic between Shijoumae and his wife Akiko... I think they go long periods without seeing each other and I don't think their marriage is anything romantic, but she still cares about him and sends assassins after those who wish him harm lol. I wonder if that's how he survived all this time because he's such a bad liar. She used to be a war painter, which back then were used by the Japanese government to spread propaganda, so I think she's a good match for Shijoumae, who has also done countless of bad things during the war. This route branches off where you'd normally already be in Ariake's route, so Shijoumae kills him and Oosaki's in despair once again. By the way, Shijoumae's character profile mentions that he will outlive Oosaki and will even watch his final moments, so I'm not sure if he will truly get his justice lol.

The next route is Toyosu's route, which doesn't have an 18+ scene liked I mentioned before, but the writing of this route was really good and it helped me understand the motives he had! This is also the first route in which Oosaki smiles... his smile is beautiful. It's confirmed that Toyosu passes away shortly after his ending so I don't think Oosaki will be spending a lot of time with him anymore, but the moments they had were beautiful. In this route Oosaki's first name "Hiiro" is also revealed, which literally translates to scarlet and has actually been in the first ending song dying breath all this time.

Toyosu's route unlocks Hinode's route, which explains that it was Hinode who kind of hijacked Toyosu's plan to make everyone come to the island, as he's looking for the person who killed Ooe An, who used to work together with his mother. Even thought there's not really any romance in this route, his character profile mentions that he develops feelings for Oosaki later when he's an adult, so I would love to see that some day. I think Hinode never learned who the real killer of Ooe An was, so I wonder if they will tell him the truth one day. The final letter you receive in-game is his mother's letter, which implies she killed An, and then ended her own life afterwards. In a previous blog post I discussed the first names and their references, but I honestly have no idea if Hinode's name ''Riichi'' and his mother's name ''Riko'' are references to anything yet, as they are both pretty common names. I will add this information if I ever find it!

Funeno's route was definitely very different than all the previous routes lol. Some extra information about his was posted on Bluesky, but I also thought it was intentionally designed to make the player a bit uncomfortable and confused. Funeno gets humiliated a lot, and it's also kind of a harem ending which could be a reference to the Anatahan Incident in which all men fight over one woman, though in this case they're not really fighting and they all just share Oosaki lol. Oosaki does get an 18+ scene with Funeno later at least! This route also kind of felt like a comedy route to me because some things that happened were so absurd. I've seen a lot of mixed reactions to this route specifically, but I did enjoy parts of it. Both Funeno's first name and the way he brutally killed his fiance Momoko are references to Dogra Magra, which I've written a bit about in my previous blog post about the character names and their references which I also linked above.

After every ending you finish, you unlock a new letter, of which most seem to be written by Ooe An. I don't really want to spoil every detail of the letters and Daiba's route, but I did enjoy the twist how you shouldn't just believe everything characters say in this game. The final letter also reveals some more information about Hinode's mother (who was the person who turned Ooe An into an actress), and that she tried to do what's best for Hinode. An is usually described in the game as a girl who manipulates men and who lies, so I also don't know which of her letters in the game are true, but Shijoumae wasn't lying (for once) when he said her death was never a suicide at all. Daiba as a route character was really good too and I liked seeing his interactions with Oosaki. I remember reading that everyone in this game was a virgin or at least hasn't slept with a man before, but the 18+ scene with Daiba made it look like this was not his first time with a man at all lol, he was covered in hickeys. I do love it when Oosaki gets jealous though, so this scene was really great.

The title of the game also changes when you finish this route. Normally it's written with the kanji for impurity/filth (穢), but when you finish it, it changes to ''江'' again which means bay and a common kanji used in names for islands. I wonder if it's supposed to symbolize something like Oosaki moving on from his past, or perhaps because the characters admitted their own sins. In the end, most of the characters are still murderers and they might never change, but I did enjoy seeing the different types of relationships Oosaki had with all of these characters, and I'd love to see what kind of content Adelta releases in the future. The after-stories are already confirmed, so I can't wait until these get uploaded.

Ariake's B ending which you unlock first is called 送火 Okuribi, which literally translates to the ''farewell fire''. This is a ceremony held on the last day of Obon to send the returning spirits of ancestors off to the afterlife. I think this could also be a reference to Oosaki killing some of the other attendees before someone burns down the inn. Ariake's other ending, ending A is called 迎火 Mukaebi, which is the complete opposite and translates to ‘’welcome fire’’. This is the ceremony that is held on the first day of Obon to welcome the spirits.

List of ending names and their meanings

This isn't about the titles of the songs which I've discussed in the part 1 review, but about the titles you can see in the status menu in-game (the little movie scroll icon). I had to look up some of these terms as I’m not familiar with all of them, but I thought it would be fun to write a little bit about this too and I'm curious how this will be translated in the English version.

Shimbashi's ending is called 冥界 Meikai which literally translates to ''underworld'', but I think it's also a reference to Shimbashi himself, as the kanji for his first name ''Mei'' is in it. ''Pluto'', the name which he uses for his theater company, is also the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. Aomi's ending is called 挽歌 Banka which is a song or poem written to mourn the death of a person, which might be referencing the death of Aomi's father and his occupation as a music teacher.

Shiodome also has two endings, with the B ending being called 抱擁 Houyou, which means ''embrace''. I'm not sure if this references anything specific, but it is the only ending in which Shiodome tells Oosaki what his grandmother really thought about him (of course we don't know if this was really true, but it is something Oosaki has been looking for). The title for his A ending is 大祓 Ooharai, a Shinto ritual to cleanse people of their sins and impurities. In Shiodome’s case he paid for his sins by going to prison, so I think it could possibly be a reference to that too.

Takeshiba's ending is called 福音 Fukuin which translates to gospel, or the teachings of Christ. This of course references that he at some point turned to Christianity. Shijoumae's ending name on the other hand was a bit more difficult to analyze, as it's called 彼岸 Higan, which can refer to multiple things. The literal meaning is ''the opposite side of a shore of a river or ocean'', so it could be referencing how different Oosaki and Shijoumae's ideologies are, though it can also mean ''reaching nirvana''.

The title of Toyosu's ending is 正体 Shoutai which means ''one's true identity'', of course referencing Toyosu's role in the story, as he is the one who made the plan to gather all of them on the island. Hinode's ending is called 蠱毒 Kodoku which I did have to look up, but it's really interesting! This seems to be some type of ritual in which a large number of venomous insects are put into a jar and made to cannibalize each other, which in some way, is what Hinode has been doing on the island. In almost all of the routes he doesn't directly try to attack anyone, and instead he waits for the other attendees to kill each other.

Funeno's ending is called 習合 Shuugou, another term I had to look up because I haven't seen it before. It seems to be the fusion of different things such as religion, culture etc. and is also used to refer to the fusion of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs. I don't know if I should look too much into this, as Funeno's route is not the most serious, but I'm wondering if could mean that he still stays with Oosaki despite everything Oosaki has been doing with the other attendees (?). Lastly, Daiba's (or Shizuma')s ending is called 椿事 Chinji, which translates to ''an important, yet unexpected event''. This route is of course a lot different than the other routes because Oosaki never ends up going to Ooejima, as he notices Daiba is lying to him and doesn't accept his request, unlike all of the other routes.

I might add some more information later but like always, this post is getting long, so I hoped it was interesting to read!

#reblog #ooe #大穢

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