#and imo would rob them of deeper development

[purrincess-chat]

Ironically, "Marinette is dumped by Adrien, then gets into romantic relationship with Chat Noir" is more or less beginning of "Chat Blanc"

It's basically as if (some) MariChat shippers want first half of "Chat Blanc" (where Chat Noir has "happy romantic relationship with Marinette" after finding out that she is Ladybug and deciding to don't tell her about it) to happen, but without "second half" (where Gabriel finds out that "Adrien = Chat Noir" and exploits it to akumatize Chat Noir into Chat Blanc)

There's a really weird double standard in the fandom, and a lot of people infantalize Adrien and are weirdly protective of him. So, I think a lot of people are taking the secret keeping personally, but the thing about it is, it shouldn't fall on Marinette to reveal all of the dirt on his family. Nathalie tried to have Gabriel tell him two seasons ago, but they never did and never pushed it again. I think if anyone should tell him, it should be Nathalie. Ya know, an actual adult in the situation who knows more than Marinette does.

Marinette has had her own share of trauma the past few seasons and has had to deal with way more than she should have. I think one telling moment to me that a lot are overlooking throughout this whole discourse is in Migration when Adrien is talking to the blue boy about Marinette keeping secrets from him back then. He wasn't pressed about knowing the secret; he just didn't want her to feel guilty about it. Because he has secrets too. I can maybe see a similar situation happening in s6 where she feels guilty about it, and maybe it does cause some contention in their relationship, but it doesn't necessarily mean they have to break up over it. They could and probably will work through it. I doubt she will ever tell him, at least not as Marinette bc that would mean a reveal, and we know the writers are milking that for all it's worth, so I doubt the secret is going to break them up necessarily.

The main and most plausible threat I could see is Lila/Cerise/Iris/whoever the fuck. But we will have to see.

[glassesandswords]

Hi, Ness! Do you think Hange and Levi were more than friends? I think there were some deeper feelings, however, unfortunately, there was no correct time for them 😭

Dear anon, I suggest you take a good look at my blog and then look at me in the eye and ask this again lmao 😂

Okay but objectively speaking- well, as objectively as my shipper heart could- I think that they got off on a little rocky start as comrades in the beginning (with their clashing personalities and all), and later turned into bffs who complemented and trusted each other perfectly.

After the retaking of Wall Maria, however, I think they did develop deeper feelings, which is pretty natural since they were literally the only two left of the old guard. There are so many instances of the two of them being protective over the other post Shiganshina.

Also, there's a symbolic parallel of the two of them retaining the opposite eyes- which I personally think is no mere coincidence in a story so heavy on symbolism. It's almost as if they are halves of a whole, but in a way where the two of them are their own person first. This is peak soulmate symbolism if you ask me.

People can choose to view Levihan platonically or romantically, but either way, their bond ran deep and no one can deny that. I read a post recently with a person saying that levihan are like two bffs with a pact similar to "Well, if we stay single till 40, let's just marry each other" and I kinda think it suits them well? Because they have almost never been overtly, directly romantic (well, except the forest confession/blush scene ofc, but some people somehow manage to read that platonically too so, eh well, whatever floats your boat ig) but the way they show love and care to each other is through acts of service, unshakable trust, and absolute loyalty.

To those who go 'can you stop shipping them, you're ruining a good 🌟friendship🌟', here's a news flash- best friends can develop feelings for each other. Levihan are the perfect material for the bffs-to-lovers trope imo, but even if they were only bffs, that still wouldn't reduce their bond or their dynamic to something any less in my eyes.

In canonverse, both of them put their duty towards humanity first and their own feelings aside, which is exactly why they did not run away in that forest to live low-key, knowing that the rest of the world would get destroyed if they did as their heart desired. All said and done, there's more than enough canon proof that they loved each other selflessly and I 100% believe that had Hange been alive, the two of them would have lived together post-rumbling. We (and they) were robbed of their domestic cottagecore life.

Dammit Yams. 😭

[joshneku]

post-NTWEWY shipping chart, updated w/ commentary

JoshNeku: Post-TWEWY (before AND), I prefer JoshNeku from the original universe, only my own timeline, where Neku gets 3 years not FRIDGED in Shinjuku, but actually alive and gets to finish school before he chooses to stay by Josh’s side in the UG while alive, without sacrificing his RG friendships. So, kind of like Signal to Noise, but different in parts.

Sho/Rindo: I love the imagery of Sho chaotically waltzing Rindo off rooftops as he flies them around in elegant golden circles, maniacally laughing here and there about math. I like the idea that he dispelled of the bird noise on purpose so they wouldn’t over-accumulate on the last day, and that Sho is not pure selfishness and I wanted actual character development for him should he ever succeed the Composer. He will never be suitable if he remains selfish, imo. I want Rindo to have a theme a bit deeper than just dealing with responsibility, as well. But as Rin is in canon, they’re not very suitable for each other, hunh. Regrettable. Maybe if NTWEWY went deeper on themes of apathy and mere self-interest...? But that’s like... the opposite of his very “in-group before all the rest” theme lol...

EriShiki: NTWEWY robbed us. where tf is our confirmation that Gatto Nero is both Eri and Shiki’s brands, huh?! | EriShiki used to be my ideal relationship bc I used to be a fashion major and wanted a Shiki to my Eri :’) 

Eijiru: lol kimchi pizza shipping

Hane←Neku: Idol-crush, admiration, deep respect, and some leftover bitterness but ultimately forgiveness. I like things subtle and lovely, and very tactful on both ends. I like it w/ Neku still being most of all head-over-heels over Josh (regrettably for him). Doting Hanekoma would be lovely. I would love for them to have each other as a muse. I want Hanekoma to see Neku as a light of hope for the UG.

Hane/Hazuki: I just want Hazuki to learn how to give a shit like Neku and Rindo do, yo. imo he needs Hanekoma’s expertise if he’s to ever unfuck Shinjuku lmao lend him out for a deal with the Upper Plane xD

HazRin: I’m eeehh about the ship (not negative, just don’t care that much), but I like the art ppl draw for it. My gripe is that their character designs don’t match for me, that’s it, lol. I’ll only ship it in a specific instance, and maaaybe if a Swallow AU but don’t count on it. I don’t like that Hazuki’s interpretation is so limited/skewed to “he must be evil/weird/--it’s so biased. What, because we were against him at one point, he must be evil? We don’t know anything about him, and I’d rather people not make assumptions. I’d be fine if it didn’t seem like 90%+ of the content lol and some of the art is still nice for that interpretation but yeah, more open-minded takes on Hazuki would be appreciated, thanks. Like. Why is he a social pariah? Dude’s pretty normal? Lots of people don’t feel like they have something they feel that strongly for. It’s normal????? Sure, he scoured a city, but from the viewpoint of an angel...? For all we know the angels were right and Shinjuku really would have poisoned the other grounds. Dude was just following policy, no? If some angels have such a different view of the world, I don’t see the need to judge him for it rather than make him understand. imo people should be more willing to understand before judging others.

Cocogumi: Coco gives me that vibe, lol. and my dream relationship is w/ someone I can do couple cosplays with and go to South Italy in Matera (OTP related...) with for our honeymoon... if we can share hobbies, that’s extra cute. These two are visually appealing, but there isn’t much there either hunh, besides that Coco is doting. And shot Neku (partially) for her lmao...

Rindoka: Acceptable for a het ship for this kind of game, but that’s a low bar lol. Wow, Shouka has an actual personality!! But other than that, they’re a bit boring. Some of the art is cute. That’s it. I mostly dislike it because of ppl who ppl who act like the ship is more than it is, and people who go around bullying/ostracizing others for liking “problematic” ships.

Bret: They’re too similar tbh lol. two dumbasses in an idiot pod

Frin/do: pretty much every frin/do shipper I’ve met besides like 2 are antis. Turned me WAY off of it, but yeah, that Rindo doesn’t seem to care about him as much as like, Shouka for instance, doesn’t help. There just isn’t much there in canon imo, sorry. I don’t care for friends to lovers unless the pining is good personally

I don’t think HT Masuoka knows how old Neku is lol

Ayaka and Uzuki look good together visually, but haaaa.... nothing there obvi lol. You can tell I’m thirsty for good wlw. See, Saika/Ayaka in StN was good... yummy...

I really don’t like ships I find to be heterotypical lol... like if I wouldn’t ship it if they were mlm, I wouldn’t ship it as het, visa versa.

please give Rhyme a girlfriend i’m begging

[mc-critical]

hey, hope you're doing well! i was re-watching mc:k ep60 the other day and one comment had asked why was kosem murdered with a purple cloth. people gave random answers in the replies. but i thought that the reason why she was murdered with a purple cloth was to signify the end of it all, the end of the show... i mean, if we go back to ep1, we have hurrem dancing for suleyman and suleyman dropping a purple handkerchief in front of her to summon her to his bed. this was the start of it all. hurrem first just impressed suleyman but then from here, she just went on and on until she reached the highest position possible. it was the purple handkerchief which started this whole show, this whole era and tbh i thought that kosem being strangled with a purple cloth just signifies the end of the show, the end of the era of women. it could be because turhan wanted to humiliate kosem by not strangling her with the traditional white rope used for the dynasty (& important state officials too). but then i thought about this theory and well, if turhan wanted to humiliate kosem even more, she could've strangled her with her own hair. it's even more humiliating imo and even kind of historically accurate. i just thought of it in the start and end symbolization and i thought that this was intentionally and explicitly done but i guess others didn't perceive it this way? well, i wonder what you think of the theory? is it obvious & intentional and definitely what the purple cloth meant or is this just a cool theory? excited to read your opinion, thanks <3

Hey! I'm fine, thank you. :)

I agree that Kösem getting killed with a purple cloth is clearly intentional, because the show loves telling a story through the costuming in general and choosing a certain attire to symbolize something for such an important moment in a character's life that is their death... of course the way they would get killed is something the show crew would consider. (and again, death is big in this franchise.)

I don't think there is only one definite right interpretation on the symbolism of the purple cloth. There are many things you can associate with this purple cloth both in the franchise, the show, the themes and the episode itself and the meaning of the color purple, hence you can view this symbol in many different ways, look at it in many different angles and there would still be a high chance for you to be correct. I think the writers themselves also left this to people's imagination, for them to figure it all out by themselves. Of course they had a certain intended meaning for this cloth, but I don't feel they showed that meaning clearly. That's why so many people have so many different interpretations of it.

I absolutely love your theory and it indeed makes so much sense for the show to end the cycle this way. But I think it is tied more into Hürrem and Kösem as the respective  protagonists of both shows rather than the Sultanate of Women as a whole. After all, the cycle of the SOW isn't over, as Kösem's death happened along with the massacre Turhan started and she is the next and last member of the SOW. Yes, Turhan is the most extreme display of the application of the concept of power in the show SOW and her actions would normally be the logical peak, but it was never implied that the massacre would be the end of it all. The purple handkerchief and the purple cloth could truly represent the start of Hürrem and the end of Kösem, connecting the two characters and their protagonist character arcs in an interesting visual way, despite of them being so different. And it started with something more personal and normal (the concubines dancing and SS choosing Hürrem) and ended with something more massive (the devastating execution of Kösem). The little handkerchief and the little purple cloth could showcase the gradual development of the franchise's ruthlessness through Hürrem and Kösem. I love the theory and I wouldn't mind at all if that were the intention.

Personally, I have two theories of my own regarding the symbolism of Kösem's purple cloth:

The first one is connected more with Kösem's death itself. When I watch the scene, I always see a contrast between the brutality of her execution and the way she views this execution from start to finish. After the execution of Ibrahim, conscience spoke to her and she finally lost her innocence completely. She was capable of anything on the outside, acting like an entirely different person who strives to stop Turhan any way she knew how, but on the inside, she has lost a part of her being which made her stop caring deep down. She didn't care about the death itself, she faced it regardless, leaving everything behind after her moral downfall. But she would die bravely, wouldn't show weakness. The color purple is a symbol of regality, as well, showing that even though they took her crown and jewels and everything away, she would still die a Valide, still die as the representative of the state, the one who fought the Fatih law. (hence her screaming that she's Valide Kösem when the men entered in her chambers which also corresponds to the official name of the episode: the martyred mother/Valide.) And on a deeper level: they robbed her of everything material, but she still preserved who she is spiritually. The purple cloth is a symbol of Kösem's soul in this scene, the only thing she has left and they left her with after the massacre. She may be killed and strangled, but her own being shines through the color. She died in the most brutal way possible, but the purple in the cloth gives some regality to this death.

The second one is connected with the way her relationship with Ibrahim connects to her own death. After Murat immediately went to declare Ibrahim's execution after Kasim's death in E54, Kösem immediately rushed in to save him. This was a very pivotal scene both for her and her relationship with Ibrahim - Kösem officially lets go of Murat as her own son and begs for Allah's help to get out of the situation and that massively impacts how Ibrahim views her as a mother. And guess what? In both this scene and her death scene she has something purple. When she saved Ibrahim, she wore a purple dress and coat and when she died, she got killed with the purple cloth. The purple cloth may represent the turnaround in Kösem and Ibrahim's relationship - she saved him once, but then she was ready to end his life. In the night she killed him he cursed her to die a horrible death and to never have one good day again and the cloth may be a way of connecting that, her saving him and the death, connecting the cause and effect of her character arc. The purple cloth may symbolize her own life values getting back to her after she did the deed, which made her lose them to begin with. Of course the color purple would tie this all together. And it brings in Turhan, too. She was behind the massacre as well as she played a big part in convincing Kösem to go for killing Ibrahim. I don't think she would think of a harsher punishment for Kösem, she caused enough of a ruckus with what she already did. Kösem's death was already devastating enough in its own right, I don't think she would need to do more, as long as Kösem died. It would also be useless brutality just for brutality's sake. The coath did enough to deliver a message to the audience.

These theories are more strictly "inside the show" than they're franchise-wide, but yeah, these are my thoughts on the purple coath and again, all the interpretations have the chance to be correct.

[sugarandspice-games]

Spicy take time (costarring Sugar): The Bros rated by how well I think their arcs/character development/relationship with MC was written and how much it makes sense. (Disclaimer: Our affection for these characters and how interesting, compelling, and lovable we find them has ZERO bearing on this list. ALSO, beware, here there be salt, IE, this is critical of the writing. It’s also long as fuck, so if you just wanna skim and read the bold parts, that’s okay too. You are also free to disagree with us as this is just an opinion, and keep in mind that we have only read to chapter 24 so if there are elements of the story we are unaware of... please be understanding of that and don’t spoil it.) Let’s get started, shall we?

1) Starting at the top is BEST BOI IMO: Beelzebub. So, yeah, in terms of character development and growth, he really doesn’t change all that much, aside from starting off not trusting MC to slowly opening up to them about his trauma. But putting that to the side, his relationship with them makes the most sense. After sharing a bedroom and helping him open up, as well as having the mutual goal of protecting Luke, and then even later going on to save his beloved little brother, it follows that he absolutely adores you afterward. Also, he doesn’t start off disliking you like some of the others. So, all around, he makes the most sense. He’s also one of the deeper characters with his backstory, even if I wish they’d give him other flaws than just being hongry (and playing his unhealthy eating habits/coping mechanism as a joke. Disordered eating should be taken more seriously, especially binge eating but that’s a can of worms for another day)

2) Second best is probably going to shock you, but Satan takes this spot. Why? Well, strictly in terms of arc progression, his relationship with MC starting out as one of manipulation and growing into something more genuine when they go on a heartwarming and wacky adventure together with his hated older brother which causes him to open up makes a lot of sense, at least more so than some of the others. While I wish they gave him more meat characterization wise, I think his arc was pretty well done in terms of story structure.

Okay, so, Sugar here. While I agree with Spice that Satan could use some more meat (and that we should be able to have some more information on Baby Satan because we all need that in our lives), I think that the progression of him and LUCI’S bond (not MC’s) could have done with more subtlety. While I appreciate him softening up, and see that progress, we don’t really get to see the tension of the newfound change and how he settles into letting things go/mellow out and I get it-- it’s a dating sim and the secondary relationships are well, secondary, but it would be interesting to see him and MC bond more through time.

3) Third place probably won’t be all that shocking, because this is where I’m placing Lucifer. He’s arguably one of the characters in the series who’s gotten the most love from the writers, having the most screentime, the most affectionate scenes with MC, and the most fleshed out backstory and characterization as well as fleshed out relationships with each of the characters. His relationship progression with MC also takes a nice, even pace, with him slowly learning to trust them and respect them, culminating in an almost-confession (I THINK. Unless I’m reading that part wrong) and then being shattered at MC’s betrayal, and then earned back in true Pixar-movie fashion by them teaming up for a common goal. HOWEVER. And this is a big however. I would love to see his unhealthy tendencies addressed and NOT fetishized. (Don’t come at me with that “BUT THEY’RE DEMONS THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE EVILLLLL” dude. If a demon being in a healthy relationship is where you draw the line in terms of believability, then why are you playing a fantasy demon dating sim anyway?) I love him, I stan him, I simp for him, but I wish he had at least apologized for his not-subtle threats of physical violence toward MC rather than jumping straight into the ALSO kinda violent “You’re mine and nobody else’s” gimmick.

Unlike some men (SPICE), I am actually not a Luci stan and while I do have a soft spot, and understanding of his place as an eldest sibling... I would also like to see the writer’s unravel the unhealthiness/coping Lucifer has in place and why/how it came to be. I feel like we get a sense that Luci has thawed since coming to the Devildom but we don’t really see how Lucifer in the Celestial Realm (and how his friendship with Simeon) has progressed. Luci has a lot of love from the writers but from a story stand-point, he is never really allowed to be weak and own up to his own flaws and how that has impacted/hurt MC.

4) Sharing fourth place is Leviathan and Mammon! I’m putting them in the same spot because the issues I have with them are the same, though I plan on addressing their good points individually. But since my beef is simpler, I’m going to start off with the bad. IMO, a good rivals to friends to lovers romance happens in STEPS. You start off from not getting along, to then finding some things in common, and gradually coming to respect each other, and then like each other, and finally love each other. This... doesn’t really happen with these two, and while we see the change from both tsundere boys starting off disliking you and eventually coming to love you, we don’t really get that inbetween that makes the payoff so much worth it. And if those inbetweens are there, the story doesn’t really tell us that, and it doesn’t show us their thought processes. Like, how much would it suck if in pokemon, your charmander evolved immediately into Charizard upon beating your first few gyms? It’s like that.

But as for the good, Levi’s arc makes sense because you’re the first person to really let him be himself and not shame him for the things he loves. You let him ramble about his interests and show interest in them yourself (AT LEAST IF YOU’RE NOT A FUCKING MONSTER. I’ll let Sugar talk more on him, that’s their boy.)

Whoo, boy. Here we go! For whatever reason, the otaku became my favorite and I love him, but as far as arcs go... He could have gotten a bit more screentime and progress. It makes sense that he would become attached to MC as his brothers are very, very... critical and patronizing about his interests. He is also by far the most skittish and introverted of the bunch, coupled with his sin and seeing all the ways he falls short (in his eyes) is a recipe for loneliness and desire for companionship/friendship. While I am not happy with the progression, for me, it makes sense and I would also have loved to see some breaking/softening of how much his Sin influences him when it comes to MC. I’m not saying erase it because demons are meant to give in to temptation but some reassurance and acceptance of that would be good.

(I also know that there is some disk horse about him guilt-tripping you about spending time with his brothers and while I agree it can be hard... It definitely isn’t on a painful level. Like, say... Ray’s in Jihyun’s route in Mystic Messenger. This also is a difference for players who are interested in one love route versus the many route and different strokes, but I digress.)

As far as Mammon goes, well, you’re his first. And he’s not only glad that there’s someone who’s kind to him instead of making fun of him, but also takes pride in having someone to protect. His puppy crush going to full blown love is adorable.

This blog is all about spicy takes, yeah? Well, here’s mine (Sugar): Mammon is lovable but not as lovable as he could be and before all the Mammon stans, come for me- let it be known I like Mammon but his introduction and how he comes to be soft is NOT an easy, or believable transition. There are ways to write a good tsundere and the writers just missed the mark by having Mammon be too callous and then slipping to lovable without that sweet slide into the other end. I will not deny he is very cute, and a good character, and a good brother (and also the most human, according to Satan’s home screen interaction) but... The progression and endearment factor is lacking because of the structure of the narrative.

5) Is another unsurprising one, but this spot is Belphegor’s. Solmare. My dude. Why did you do this. We could have had it ALL. It could have been great. But you screwed the pooch. You took anything good about this relationship out behind the shed and shot it like a lame horse. Let it be known that I LIKED Belphie and MC’s alliance to get him out of gay baby jail, and I adored that love he still holds for Beel... I thought he was going to be a fav of mine, in fact. But how they handled the... uhm... murder ruined it for me. I’m sorry, I just cannot believe that I’m supposed to suddenly be besties with the man who manipulated me and crushed me to death like, a week after it happened. What if I have PTSD from that??? Also... he claims that he loves MC for who they are and not because of Lilith, but that’s not believable when his whole turning point is finding out that they’re Lilith’s descendant. The change needed to be more gradual, and having a subtle, gradual forgiveness arc would have been AWESOME but we were robbed. ROBBED I TELL YOU!!!!!

Annnd... Belphie is actually one of my favorites FOR SOME REASON. I DON’T KNOW MAN. I agree that we could have had it and I’m like (Insert Hades red flaming hair gif here). The decision to not have a redemption arc ruined it for me and while I love Belphie and his softness/brattiness mixture with handling MC... It is underscored by a lack of believable affection and the payoff of struggle on both Belphie’s part and MC’s. Also, there is a lot of ‘You are not who I want you to be, but it’s good enough’ with MC regarding their lineage and connections to the brothers and how that plays out/color the relationships with maybe the exception of Satan and surprisingly, Mammon that irks me but again, another thought for another time.

6) Aaaaand last and also the least... Asmodeus. “YOU GET NOTHING!!! YOU LOSE! GOOD DAY SIR.” --Solmare to Asmo. The writers neglected him SO much, I like him but what the hell are they doing? There’s so much that could be explored here, and with anything involving Asmo they’re like “I do not see it”. His love for MC also isn’t really that believable when his turning point is realizing that they’re powerful. It doesn’t even fit with any of his potential conflicts. The Diavolo’s castle arc set us up to think that Asmo would have some deep seated insecurities with not being able to be loved or desired by everyone, or maybe some insecurities about not being an angel anymore, or some vulnerability issues or something, and they were just like NOPE. It doesn’t make any gotdamn sense! I just... Grrr. Asmo, I’m so sorry, sweetie. You deserve better.

Asmodeus definitely deserves better and I will stand by that until the day I stop playing this damn game. While I, personally, think that his intrigue with MC makes sense (because he is lusty-- probably not just for sex but in general), it makes sense he would want someone with power but while the set up is there, his character falls flat because there is no bonding moment, or turning point for him at all. His affection for MC is still that playful, carefree, flirty persona he carries and I would love to see it dropped and how his fall from the Celestial Realm really weighs on him and an arc where he and MC talk about vulnerability and the power behind being seen as someone attractive and the way it dehumanizes you at the same time. It could be good-- hell, it could be great-- but it was killed before it started and I will never not think that Asmo could have had some KILLER growth. As it stands, he has more connection/romantic potential with Solomon than MC.

Anyway, that’s all for now folks! Feel free to yell at us in the replies, you know you want to. If this post blows up enough, maybe we can rate the undatables (though they don’t have any story arcs so... that would be a challenge.)

[carinareviews]

PS VITA: Norn9: Vars Common Review

(My personal creeper that has the best ending)

Final Grade: B+ TL;DR: Character design was fantastic; Character interactions with each other were amazing; Music was great; Story was a bit dry and rushed at times; Some “good” endings are very, very disappointing; Wish you could pair off other guys with other girls instead of limiting 1 girl to 3 guys.

(The Final grade and TL;DR was written after I just completed the game. However, this review was written a couple months after I finished the game so not much is fresh and a lot of it is relying on my memories/impression of the game.)

This game and Code Realize came out for the VITA around the same time, and I had to decide between the two. After looking around I decided that Code Realize was the better game. However, I picked up this game about half a year later from release date, due the price dropping and finding it during a time where I did not have a huge backlog. I’m quite happy about picking up this game but I think Code Realize>Norn9. However, by no means does this mean that Norn9 is not a good game. Let’s jump into it. As usual, I will try to keep it spoiler free as possible.

Route Order: I don’t remember the exact route I proceed with, but I do remember I played all routes of each Main Character in succession. Koharu (all)>> Nanami (all) >> Mikoto (all)

But Carina, who was your favorite character(s)? oh god… This was hard…. Favorite MC was Mikoto…. As for guys I had 4 pretty close to each other and 1 runnerup to the 4.

1-4. Ron, Itsuki, Heishi, and Natsuhiko. Short reason for each of them:

Ron- Okay, to be fair I understand how people think he’s creepy/not likeable…. But I love older guys that are the “bad guy” but eventually loves makes them into a different person CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. And to be fair, I honestly thought his ending/extra was the best. His character develops the most imo… so I love him to pieces. Itsuki- My poorrrr babbyy…. Omg hes the playboy type but he also just wants to protect Mikoto >__< my heart. Hes the guy that will always take the hit for you but you’ll never know about him Heishi- SWEET CINNAMON FUCKING ROLL!!! I can’t begin to explain how adorable this dude is… he’s got the sweet shota playful-ness without the whiny attitude that many shotas have and hes just a little PUPPY <3 Natsuhiko- BEST CHARACTER IN TERMS OF PERSONALITY BUT ALSO CHEMISTRY. Honestly, I think he was the best written character and he has a “cool”/tsundere personality which led to really freaking adorable shit with Mikoto who is also tsun….I wouldn’t call him my favorite since I can’t see myself with him… but holy shit did I love his route.

Runnerup: Masamune. I loved what his character was suppose to be but I felt that him and Koharu had no chemistry so it was really hard to get into his romantic side….

Who did I think had the most chemistry?

KoharuXKakeru (of course he had to…. Hes poster boy.) NanamiXAkito (though he was not my favorite in Nanamis bois) MikotoXSakuya (childhood frieenndddsss though this was hard to argue since I love the other two so much. Natsuhiko is a really close competitor buttttt I think Sakuya has more chemistry since they had more history together)

The Pros:

Abundance of Characters/Character choices- The coolest part of Norn9 and what makes it different from all the big localized console otome games, (I’m not too sure about Android as I do not play otome mobile games), is that there are 3 main characters (MCs). Each girl possesses their own personality/quirks, as well as 3 bachelors they can go after.

Character depth/interactions -There is a lot of depth added to the MCs since they each personally have 3 routes to proceed. In addition, all the characters look different and I really feel there’s a character for everyone in this game. In fact, I loved so many of them that it’s difficult for me to choose just 1 best man. However, this pro is also somewhat where Norn9 had a flaw (see in Cons section for Character choices).

Certain endings/couples-Some of the endings are amazing and the couples had some much chemistry

Music- Though some songs did get a little repetitive after a while, but what do you expect from otome games they always have to recycle the songs they used. I absolutely loved the OST regardless. Every song is so beautiful and even if you don’t play the game, go look up the OST on youtube and give it a listen. Some songs still give me goosebumps today. 

(Nightcore version of my favorite song)

The Cons:

Abundance of Characters/Character choices- Though there was a lot of characters and quite a bit of character choices, since each MC was limited to only 3 guys, totaling 9 separate routes, this caused some of the guys to be not as detailed as they should’ve been. Along with this, I wished that the characters weren’t limited to each other, aka not 3 guys per 1 girl. I wish that you could’ve cross shipped some people, mainly to see the male’s interactions with other girls. This would’ve allowed the males to be deeper in character. Not all the characters were underdeveloped, just some felt boring and I wished there was a bit more for these characters. In particular, I felt Senri and Akito were pretty boring characters. Even though, I loved Akito’s character I couldn’t get into his route, which was partially due to the chemistry between him and Nanami.

The General “story”- I’m not sure if this was because I just played all the characters based on the MC choice, but holy shit the story was just kinda mind boggling at times. I remember I had to digest parts of it after certain routes because they would just info dump near the end of each route on certain routes. Onboard the ship, the story was light and very cute, but when shit hit the fan, it hit really freaking hard on some routes. THEN, you had some routes where it was just kinda like…eh what main story… have more cute interactions between the people you chose. I’m like cool… but what about that one detail…. And the game is like shhhhh.

Bottom line:

The game is not a bad game, but it’s not an amazing otome game. It’s unique where it has 3 MCs and 3 guys for each MC. However, this is both a strength and weakness for the game. It adds a lot of depth of the MC but the quality of the story suffers as well as some of the guys. The fact that this game had a lasting impression on me and how the OST can still make me feel emotional gave this game a grade up from average. I just wish there was MORE to the game some characters really got robbed and I want to see more development. Would I recommend to buy? Yes, but you should determine what price you’re willing to pay for this game.