#collar x malice unlimited spoilers

[onyourowndaisymae]

if there's one thing that okazaki's gonna do every route, it's start shit

[lafiaso]

"I will change your despair into hope"

[otometrashqueen]

I wasn’t ready for all feels I felt at the end of Shiraishi’s route 😭 I am a sucker for LI that is secretly with the bad guys but risks it all for me. Also, the LI that will kill for me *chef’s kiss* I didn’t think Shiraishi would top Kei’s route, but prove me wrong again!

I also adored the tragic ending for Shiraishi, I love me a dystopian apocalypse. The master and pet dynamic for them is so tragic but also so delicious, that CG is a contender to be my favorite Tragic Love one, but I haven’t done all the tragic ends yet bc my heart is weak 😆

[wildflower-otome]

Collar x Malice Unlimited | Mineo Enomoto Route

[otome-mondays]

Collar x Malice: Unlimited Review 🐈‍⬛

Ok I know I recently posted a Collar x Malice review, but I’m going in order I played these games. Who’s ready to jump back into the world of Collar x Malice! So some background info to start: this is the first fandisc I have ever played, and as of writing is the only one I’ve played. Because of this, I’m not generally sure what the standards are for fandiscs. I also played this back in 2021, so it has been a while. Please go back to my previous review on Collar x Malice for trigger warnings (use the otome mondays tag)

Spoilers Ahead

Prologue

So to start off this game, we have a separate prologue. You do have to play the prologue because it unlocks all the after stories. So let’s see how this game starts out! Well, for starters we have one of my least favorite things: retroactively adding characters and events that would’ve DEFINITELY been mentioned in the original if it happened. Yeah, needless to say I was not please at this start and quickly became frustrated having to unlock routes. Oh, right if you want to play anything else you have to unlock each boy’s route separately with their prologue choices. So fun! Let’s actually move on to what I bought the game for, 3/10.

Sasazuka Takeru 🍩

So for the after stories, I started with Sasazuka. I saw a recommendation to just pick one that you enjoyed but wasn’t your favorite or pick your favorite to start the game since there’s no need for a route order. I did originally place Sasazuka’s route as solid middle ground in terms of my favorite love interest and also route itself, so it seemed like a safe bet. And thank god it was! This one starts up after the events of his best ending and him rejoining the cyber crimes division. The main conflict here is that Sasazuka and Ichika are learning how to balance work and life and being in a relationship together. The pacing was pretty solid and even though it’s short, it’s enjoyable! If you liked Sasazuka’s route, you’ll enjoy this after story. 8/10.

Yanagi Aiji 🚬

I decided after Sasazuka’s route, I was going to get Yanagi’s out of the way. I do enjoy all the characters, but Yanagi is my least favorite out of the LIs here. After the events of Yanagi’s best ending, we have the start of the after story. Yanagi’s started his private detective agency and everybody’s getting back to normal life. That is until Yanagi’s older brother randomly shows up and threatens him to rejoin the police. So this story mostly focuses on that conflict. This is another cute and short story, so if you liked Yanagi’s route you will like his after story. 8/10.

Enomoto Mineo 🪭

I honestly picked this route next on a whim, and I’m glad I did! This story picks up after he’s been reinstated into Field Ops 2 and now the couple work in the same building. Enomoto’s route definitely focuses on him maturing and developing his relationship with Ichika, and it’s so refreshing to have a portrayal of a healthy relationship in a game (which is rich coming from me tbh). Thanks to his after story, he moved up spots on my favorite LIs list. Honestly I don’t see how anybody would dislike this route. 10/10.

Shiraishi Kageyuki 🐱

Shiraishi yet again stealing the show for some of the best writing…it’s a shame he has this weird extra character. I feel like it’s obvious, but this story has a lot of angst. Because of Shiraishi turning himself in and all of his crimes he committed, he’s under arrest and contained in a special cell. Unfortunately, random extra dude is the main issue in Shiraishi’s story. It is nice to see his growth though as a character. I feel like they did him dirty by making a third of his route flashbacks to the og game. 7/10, Shiraishi fans will probably enjoy but it could’ve been way better.

Okazaki Kei 🏃‍♂️

So I saved my favorite for last, and I’m glad I did! After the X-Day events have wrapped up, Okazaki returns to HQ and Ichika stays with SRCPO. This story also focuses on the two of them trying to navigate being in a relationship and work and life. I was a bit disappointed to see that Okazaki kind of regressed and goes through the same growth all over again but speed run edition. Even though it ends good, this story is kind of meaningless because of this. It isn’t a bad story, just disappointing. Sorry for all us Okazaki fans, 7.5/10.

Other Routes 🐈‍⬛

So let’s talk about the additional bonus routes. To play any of these extra stories, you do need to play through all the after stories. First, let’s go over the Adonis route. This takes place after Yanagi’s tragic end. Ichika joins Adonis after everybody she has cared for is murdered and Zero convinces her to join. It was nice to see Ichika interacting with the Adonis members and how they showed Ichika and Zero have a horridly toxic relationship. If you do want to see all this route has to offer, you do have to replay it a couple of times. Due to this, it’s a little more repetitive than enjoyable at points. Still nice additional content, 8/10. We also have some extended short stories, one from Kazuki’s perspective during X-Day, a semi-Minegishi route, and a semi-Yoshinari route. Kazuki gets an 8/10, Minegishi gets a 4/10, and Yoshinari gets a 7/10.

Overall Thoughts 🐈‍⬛

I like the idea of a fandisc and I think some elements were executed very nicely! Unfortunately, I do have a few issues with some of the content here (mainly the random dude being added and prologue entirely), but I still would recommend it for anybody who enjoyed Collar x Malice! 8/10

Since characters stay the same here, I’m not adding an LI ranking. I will add my route ranking though!

Route: Enomoto > Sasazuka > Yanagi > Adonis > Kazuki > Okazaki > Shiraishi > Yoshinari > Minegishi > Prologue

Resources 📝

I once again used CGs and screenshots from the game and I relied on Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs.

[missysotomeworld]

Collar x Malice Review (Non-Spoilers)

After a year of playing this game and after hearing so many things about it, I finally managed to play the game. Buying ten Otome games on the switch to get me started, since up until now all I’ve played were mobile games which I still play but I wanted to expand my horizons. I knew Collar x Malice is a “Big” Otome game which is a lot of people’s first Otome and I thought; let’s start with this classic game. Let’s see what I thought about this game.  

Plot  

Set-in modern-day Shinjuku, which once was a bustling city known for its nightlife, but that’s not the case anymore because of a terrorist group calling themselves Adonis. This group deeming themselves the true fighters of justice have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of its sorrows and for people that are suffering every second. So they've taken it upon themselves to kill those that are the very reason before they can cause the people's sorrows. Now it's December and the "Rebirth" of Japan is supposed to happen. On January 1st the day Adonis deems to be X-Day has caused Shinjuku to be under lockdown and no one can leave or enter the city and under strict protocols the police set up everyone on a curfew, those 18 and under must have a chaperon with them when going to school and home. The government redacted laws that had banned anyone from carrying a weapon, so now everyone over the age of 20 can carry a gun as a means to protect themselves. Now it’s December, the police are panicking as they try to crack down on these crimes and are having no luck. Sitting in the middle of all this chaos is 21-year-old rookie police officer Ichika Hoshino. One night Ichika is heading home when she gets a call from her superior that there's a disturbance and is told she needs to put a stop to it until he can come as backup.  She goes to Shinjuku Garden and gets knocked out and wakes up in a church with a poisonous collar attached to her neck and a voice comes from within the collar. Turns out the very organization that the police are trying to catch (Adonis) have given this collar as a way to experiment on her for them to see her "justice" and find out the truth of the crimes. She is told she must never tell anyone about the collar, especially not the police. Thankfully Adonis had the common decency to send assistance in the form of three ex-cops to rescue her. These men were tipped off when a letter from Adonis letting them know a "sympathizer" of theirs is at the church and to go get her. So now Ichika must work with these men along with two more allies.  

Company  

Collar x Malice is created by Idea Factory under the Otomate brand and is localized by Aksys games. It's rated M for its dark themes because we've got ourselves very detailed death scenes, violence, drug references, strong language, and mild sexual content. The game was originally released on the PS Vita in Japan in 2016 and later to the West in 2017 and became re-released for the switch in 2020 followed by its 2018 fandisk "Collar x Malice: Unlimited" only on the switch. I played on the switch and from what I understand there were a lot of grammar errors in the initial release that seems to be fixed for the  Switch re-release but then again, I'm not a huge stickler for these types of problems unless it's broken English and that is where I draw the line. 

Mechanics  

It's pretty rare for an Otome game to have gameplay mechanics so it's refreshing to take a reading break and do activities related to the task at hand and makes you feel like you are a real cop on the case.  There's three different mechanics in the game that will come up sometimes.  

Investigations: This happens when Ichika is investigating a crime scene to find clues to whatever month of Adonis' crimes, she ends up pursuing. You just click around the room when the red and black arrow turns into a target symbol and if you ponder too long Ichika will nudge you to move on.  

[Go to] Elevator: This happens when Ichika is traveling through the police station in the elevator to different departments to talk to someone on that floor.  

Trigger Mode: There’ll be times where Ichika will draw her gun, and this will make or break if you get a bad ending, if you make the shot or not. You cannot save during these events either save when you kind of see lines like "Ichika touches her gun" or if you don't make it you can rewind the conversation. The objective is to aim for the first inner circle of the bigger circle. If you are unsure, that's normal at first.  (Believe me I was confused sometimes if I did it right. I was told if you see a red outline, it means you did it if it's gray you missed or look at the log and it'll say so) If you aren't confident in your skills, you can always go to the shooting range in the police station, and it will show you how to do it without the tension.  

Extras  

There are two collectables you get within the game: there's the Dictionary explaining the police terms and other topics related to the characters and the Materials that you collect the evidence of the X-Day cases within the routes.  

After each Good Ending for each of the LIs you get a short story after the events of the route and once you collect all the CGs you get an extra CG of the guy. And at the end when everything is completed you get to read Episode 0 which tells how the members of Adonis were selected. 

Ichika Hoshino 

I liked Ichika. She's definitely one-of-a-kind type of Mc. She's one of those rare Mc who can think for herself. She's really not the type of Mc you can self-insert like other Mcs, more or less that you can simply put yourself in their shoes because they are more like a Lego piece and you can put yourself into the story, but the Mc usually doesn't have much personality. Ichika is her own character sure you are making the decisions, but they feel like her own thoughts rather than your input. She sticks with her justice and will stubbornly stand by it. She's a skilled marksman and is a smart lady. Of course, she isn't perfect (none of us are) and she's aware of her shortcomings. She's very realistic and when she's in a scary situation she knows much more is at stake, so she stays as calm as possible. That is a strength I don't think a lot of us could pull; most of us would be freaking out if we had a poisonous collar and we were told to follow whatever it says or our lives would end. She's also aware she's a rookie and naturally her department she works in the Special Regions Crime Prevention Office (SRCPO) isn't really in the field like the rest of the police station. The SRCPO handles the public's complaints and checks out disturbances they are called to. So naturally Ichika doesn't have the skills as one may have hoped for since her conclusions, she draws at are probably anyone else could come up with in the grand scheme of things if you want to ponder it. But that doesn't matter much to me since the game kind of makes you think as you play along and it's cool to think (even if I had a walkthrough but I did wonder about stuff). I will say it's thanks to her job she can communicate when the need arises and can gain some information that could be important. Though there's also a nitpick that kind of bothers me and that lies with her younger brother Kazuki, and her communication/listening skills go out the window when it comes to him. Like we get it Ichika it's a scary world out there right now but lecturing him isn't going anywhere and it'd help to just ask him and LISTEN to what he has to say. Now it's not just her fault Kazuki doesn't make it easier for her either like dude its a blessing you get to stay with her you could show some appreciation. Like she cooks for him, pays the rent, and he gets his own room, and he gives her attitude because he's in his "Teenage Rebellion" phase that's not an excuse! Kazuki's behavior depends on the route he's fine. In some other times he's just too cruel to Ichika. I mean eventually they come to some kind of understanding at the end. But these are just minor flaws. I had to sit back and think, and it didn't deter me from liking Ichika. I'd befriend her in real life. She's a breath of fresh air as someone who has her fair share of normal Mcs. Do I call her my favorite Mc? I don't think so, I feel like there'll be better Mcs better than her the more I get my feet wet in my journey of my switch journey. I feel she kind of blends into the crowd especially with the generic appearance, heck she and I could be twins because I have brown hair and hazel eyes as well.  

The Love Interests  

So how the routes split off is that Ichika will team up with one of the guys and investigate one or two cases with them. This game has an affection meter feature that is broken into two parts: Trust and Affection.  It makes sense for it to be like this since Ichika and LI are complete strangers and they need to learn how to work together. The first part is Trust which Ichika needs to build trust with her partner in a way that they can work as a unit. After the Trust meter is full it will restart and start the second part the Affection where the love grows between them. Fill the Affection all the way up you got yourself the Good Ending! There is a recommended order for this game since this game builds overtime and gets spoiler heavy the more you read it so it's nice slowly chipping away at this iceberg of a game in a way that has a natural flow to it. The route order I did was: Mineo Enomoto, Takeru Sasazuka, Kei Okazaki,  Kageyuki Shiraishi, and Aiji Yanagi. Mineo, Takeru, and Kei are the only three unlockable in the beginning. Shiraishi's route is locked until you play at least one of those three and Yanagi unlocks when all the other four boys have been completed since he's the "true" route that reveals all. I don't regret my order choices. I felt it built up nicely over time! But you can kind of choose however you like between the first three and that can probably be done in any order. With that said let's talk about my thoughts on our boys!

  

Mineo Enomoto (23): Mineo was a great first route to me since when I was deciding which way to play since the walkthroughs around said different route orders for the first three, but I ultimately saw someone say choose between him or Takeru. So I went with Mineo since he seemed nice enough since Takeru intimidated me a little. To me, Mineo's route seemed less about Adonis as a whole and more about his problems surrounding the particular case we were investigating because it was a personal thing for him. The whole route was basically him overcoming his problems with Ichika helping him through it. I did like his cute moments, and I chuckled at the banter with Ichika, and I feel because they were relatively close in age, they just got each other. I'm a big history buff myself so him liking Masamune Date (going as far as having an eye patch despite not needing it, now if that's not dedication I don't know what is) Though I've always been a Nobunaga Oda kind of girl (especially in Otome games some people have deemed me Lady Oda for my undying faithfulness to the Demon Lord regardless of game).  

Takeru Sasazuka (24): I feel like Takeru's route is a good explanation of Adonis' actions throughout the month of December since most of the crimes they do relate to the case Takeru and Ichika are investigating. We do get to learn a pretty decent sized spoiler in this route sure I was shocked but that didn't deter me at all but if someone is really sensitive then doing Kei's route is probably a good idea to do since I think Takeru and Kei's route are the most interchangeable out of the three. I did okay with Takeru himself who’s such a smartass and knows it (it helped to get used to the prickly genius because before I played this route, I was playing another character with a similar personality even down to the hair color and loving sweets). I feel he and Ichika really didn't fit well together since he never saw her as an equal and the whole Kazuki stuff was the worst here and Takeru didn't help things which probably made it worse. I know Ichika really did her hardest on this case, but he kept calling her a stupid cat, that doesn't sound encouraging. Like dude cut her some slack it's not her fault she works in a department where these skills are limited and so what if her thought processes are basic at least she is thinking and taking this seriously. I like tsunderes but there's a line that just shouldn't be crossed, like I don't get how they fell for each other. I guess if you buy him enough doughnuts, he'll fall for you. If this game were a visual novel it holds up pretty solid like his background and motives of why he wants to solve this particular case, make sense. But as a romance route I have to say no it's probably one of the weakest out of the routes here in terms of that it felt so thrown in for the sake of this needs to be an Otome game so romance needs to occur even between people that don't go well together. Like Ichika I feel wasn't at her finest like defend yourself I know you are capable of this as seen in other routes then this one. Once your mind is set you don't back down where was this in this route!?  

Kei Okazaki (25): The last of the initial trio definitely has some heavy weight compared to the other two which is why I thought Kei worked best for a third route for me. But I do see Takeru and Kei being interchangeable like I said before. Kei is the odd duck out of the love interests not just his airhead, liking weird snacks personality he displays but he actually works at the police station as an SP officer that's normally tasked with protecting VIPs at events but for some reason, he is tasked with watching Yanagi and the others to "protect" them. They don't know why as previously mentioned SP officers don't protect civilians like Yanagi and Co. so it's odd and it's dangerous since one of Adonis' demands was that police cannot know about the collar or her involvement in this investigation. And with Kei always showing up at random times to check on them it's frustrating and gets on their nerves especially Yanagi in particular. It's also hard since Ichika is a working police officer herself. It looks odd she always goes to the Detective Agency to consult with them on her findings. So, knowing this you may be asking yourselves how a romance would brew between these two and it's definitely an interesting one. Again, the same events that happened in Takeru's route, but they are just shown and kind of thrown away because it really didn't go anywhere for Kei's route. Maybe apart from one event but it was a minor part of the story. As for how I felt about Kei as a character, he really didn't appeal to my tastes. I'm aware he has quite the fanbase. His backstory had really given us some brain food for later when we started putting stuff together but once we figured out his motives throughout the route as to why he sticks by Ichika's side it really got so annoying. I was with Ichika through this. I just wish it was addressed earlier but at least she gave him a good grilling when she put together what he wanted to do. He's an amazing fighter, like he could whip my ass to the ground in a second. He may act like an airhead but that's such a trap that's how he gets you to reveal your secrets because he's way smarter than he appears to be. I guess he's cute with the liking weird snacks or sleeping wherever. But he just isn't my cup of tea. I was too busy frustrated at his antics, but other than those gripes it's an interesting route since it did give us something to chew on for the next two routes.  

Kageyuki Shiraishi (29): I beg of you please do this guy fourth before Yanagi is unlocked! You are free to choose whoever you want for the first three routes but PLEASE for the love of God DO NOT PLAY his route as soon as he unlocks. His route is spoiler heavy central! Everything you see in this route will change your outlook on everything you thought you knew about this game. This route is the perfect lead up to Yanagi's route after he's unlocked after this route! I won't say what this very important information is because it's best to find out for yourselves and just watch your jaws drop to the floor in shock once you learn what this key information is hehe. I absolutely loved this man and his route like Day 1 playing this game. As soon as his first scene happened, I was laughing and going "I'm in trouble". He had me at the teasing like ‘yes sign me up!’ As you can tell I love guys that tease! I love the fox, cunning type of character; the Kitsune in Ayakashi games are my favorite character/Ayakashi always! So, did he meet my expectations? YES! Oh my God Yes! It was pretty much a story of how their relationship changes over time, which I'm a sucker for (one thing to know about me is I love character development in my routes). Kotoho Sakuragawa and Eriko Mukai are Ichika's friends in all the routes and omg they were so funny in this route since they both hate this man with every fiber of their being! Ichika is at her finest in this route and it's exactly what someone like Shiraishi needs in a partner. This had my favorite case as well and sure I had my trusty walkthrough on hand, but I was actively trying to think of where the case was going to go with all its twists and turns! He is hands down my favorite route in the game and my husbando of the game without a shadow of a doubt! Love you my cat loving man hehe!

  

Aiji Yanagi (28): Ah the dad of the crew (though he won't admit it hehe) but he's literally husband/dad material he can clean, cook, and is a sweet guy. As for his role as the truth route we finally answer the undying question "What is the truth behind Adonis' actions?" Does it hold up as a route? Yeah, it does the job okay, but did I feel satisfied with it? No not really, I feel the writing lost momentum at the midway point and just rolled downhill from there. The plot twist they put to throw conflict for the sake of conflict because Yanagi is too damn perfect. Let's add this piece of information that came out of nowhere and make his only real weakness being a chain smoker. If you wanted this plot twist in this route it should have been implemented in passing in all routes it would have had a better effect of why Ichika and Yanagi are an OTP pairing not that they needed a reason they got along with each other from the get-go. The other downer was the ending showdown between the leader of Adonis and the good of the police to decide the fate of Japan! Who is going to win in the end? It was anticlimactic to say the least like it ended like that? I was expecting something more like we came all this way and we got this?  Other than those critiques I liked the relationship between these two like if this wasn't a final route, I may have liked it more. I teared up at the end of the good ending mostly because the music was swelling and the realization of my journey with this game is coming to an end! This route did a good job pulling together everything we learned including the other boys' pasts coming together beautifully! As for how I feel about Yanagi as a character he's just a nice/safe guy that is great to have around but that's just it he's kind of too plain for my tastes. Hehe he's the perfect guy for Ichika!  

Final Thoughts  

Overall I enjoyed my time with this classic Otome game and can proudly call it my first console game!  The story was compelling from beginning to end, always keeping you wondering what twists this game  will take you on. This game felt real looking at what’s been going on around me the past couple of years  like I feel if I played this game closer to its original release I don't think it'd hit as hard or make you think  like is Adonis wrong here? Their methods of showing the wrongs and killing those people isn't right but  what they say regarding the issues the game tackles is one for discussion. What's interesting is that this  game makes you question your own morals like who is really right here and which side should we be  siding with? And to rank the LI overall are: Shiraishi, Yanagi, Mineo, Kei, and Takeru. Out of five stars I  give CxM a 4.5/5. This game is flawless and the reason it's not a five is how the Good vs Evil showdown was a bit of a let down. This game is easily recommendable to anyone of any gender since there's  something about it that can draw anyone’s interests. The romance is low key and you kind of forget it's an Otome because of its level of crime drama aesthetics. So if you like crime dramas, strong female heroine, don't mind low key/slow burn romances, and like serious action packed, this is the game for  you! Thank you for reading this review! Maura out! 

[innocentignorance]

Otome Review: Collar x Malice - Unlimited

So in Collar x Malice - Unlimited, sequel to Collar x Malice ,you get learn what it’s like to actually have a relationship with the guy of your dreams without anyone trying to actively kill you or whatever. I think this is actually a really nice take. Usually in otome games there is this huge drama or life threatening situation going on during which the heroine meets and falls in love with the love interests. Then after the drama is over so is the story usually.  In this game it basically tells what happens in that “Happily Ever After” that comes after playing the first game. Although you can still get Normal or Bad endings. Which is nice because, you know, such is life. So the story in this one is generally not as complicated as the first one since you basically solved everything and I can’t really write an overall summary since all the routes are very different and there is no common route. Also warning: may contain spoilers for the first game but I tried to keep it spoiler free for this one since you can’t play this game without playing the first one anyway.

There are also many side stories where you get some insights into some side characters, get to know them a bit better. There is also a story that is kinda the continuation of a bad ending of one of the routes in the first game. Which was honestly quite interesting and also really bittersweet.

There isn’t a lot that I have to warn you about in this game since the traumas that the characters have are not mentioned as heavily as the first game and you should really have played the first game in order to know what’s going on here. One warning that I should maybe make is that there is a bit more sexual content in this one so if you are maybe a delicate person who blushes at the mere mention of “sex” or kissing, consider yourself warned. So yeah. Warning :Suggestive Themes (Maybe??). 

Because I guess some people consider it steamy when they see their 2D boyfriend shirtless and hear him very vaguely reference sex. I am sorry if anyone is offended by this, I am just extremely salty about the fact that otome games portray love as something super pure and beautiful, and in order for love to be this way sex cannot happen, or it cannot be enjoyed. Like the heroine can never come out and say that she enjoys sex with her partner. Ugh. (I just want some R rated otome games. Usually I can go get my fill of smut between my beloved characters but this game surprisingly has very little fanfiction. I am so disappointed, I have no words.)

Anyway. Onto the routes!

Love Interests

Mineo Enomoto

This guy’s after story was really funny and sweet. Although it’s not my cup of tea, since he’s a bit too innocent and oblivious. But he actually got a bit smarter in this game AND he took off that eyepatch. Like, thank fuck, man. You use guns n shit and depth perception is a thing. So even though Mineo is a bit innocent for me, I think he actually makes good match for the heroine since she’s very much the same. They are both young and quite inexperienced but they are figuring it all out together which I think is beautiful. 

Takeru Sasazuka

God I love him so fucking much. Ehem. So Takeru’s route was very entertaining. In the first game he always had the “I couldn’t care less” attitude towards everyone especially in the beginning. He still has that harsh exterior going on but damn if it isn’t sweet inside. I honestly may be a little biased on this one since I love his character trope. But he goes through a genuine character development that was, I think, quite well-written since you don’t actually realize it all that much until a character points it out. His route was honestly a bit more realistic compared to the others in regards to how relationships work. They aren’t all sunshine and giggles. Overall, I love him. Could’ve been more “steamy” scenes or sexual interactions in general even if it was just implying . Still not too unhappy with the fanservice in this route. At least got to see him shirtless. Which is more than what we got in some other routes sobs

Kei Okazaki

So after going through even more trauma in the first game, my man’s honestly on his way to fixing his fucked up mentality. However, he’s not quite there yet. In Kei’s route you get to see how it is to have your work can kinda get in the way of your relationship. They’re trying to have a relationship between their jobs and Kei’s lingering issues and of course with some misunderstandings along the way but they manage to tackle it in the end. Of course nothing is perfect which is, in my opinion, a good thing since perfect relationships do not exist. There was also a lot of implications of sexual activity in this one because our boi here is one horny bastard. Honestly, I love him. If only he wasn’t trying to sugar coat his mental issues and stuff with that adorable but sometimes annoying smile of his. like no Kei this much jealousy is not normal stfu

Kageyuki Shiraishi

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This bitch After going through so much fucking shit in the first game, here we are going through even more shit in this wonderful fandisk! Honestly if you were thirsting after him at any point, you’re out of luck cause our poor boi is in no condition to fuck. Dw he’s not injured or anything. Kageyuki’s route is the one with least fanservice of them all because he committed war crimes or some shit and no one trusts him now (understandably), except of course our protagonist, even though he turned himself in. Which is great and all but this only leads to a lot of yearning and heartbreak for both sides for the entire route. This route was also the most eventful route of them all, with life threatening situations and psychopaths from the past. Story wise, I think it was great. It just was not what you would expect from a fandisk content where you would expect to be witnessing the happily ever after of your OTPs. But in real life your actions have consequences and the power of love doesn’t fix shit. So yeah. Realism wins. Kind of.

Aiji Yanagi

Daddy? Sorry I can honestly say I really loved Aiji’s route. There wasn’t any drama between him and the protagonist and overall the route had a relatively mature take on relationships. They also addressed some things that weren’t really addressed in the other route like the LI’s and the protagonist’s families. It was quite satisfying which is not very surprising since Aiji has always been the most mature among the LIs in this game. But damn, my boi definitely lacks xp in the romance department like don’t give me all that shy shit bro you’re almost thirty fuckin act like it but it wasn’t exaggerated so not really an issue. The parts with his family were also really wholesome in the end although at first you’re like “throw these bitches out the airlock they are not touching my baby.” This is also the route with most fanservice, I think. In the other routes you could pretend that they weren’t doing anything *looks left and right and whispers* ‘sexual’ even with all the implications if you chose to be real ignorant but in this one I think it was a bit more obvious like we get a glimpse of inner boob y’all that’s like seeing an entire dick in a regular game but not too obvious. Overall, I recommend :D

[koladelight]

Cafe Enchante and Collar x Malice spoilers ahead:

HELP! I have just started Misyr's route in Cafe Enchante and got accidentally partially spoiled of his good ending. And after finding out what happens, I'm now scared to play the rest!

Reminds me of seeing what happens to Shiraishi in his route in CxM. But at least we had Unlimited to help me heal afterwards. I love Misyr and want them to have a happy ending. I'm just so angry and now I don't want to play it at all. This was my first proper depression caused by an otome game and it huuuuuurts.

Should I finish the game? Is there any happiness in the end at all? Or is it all depressing?

[hellcatinnc]

Five Men That Should Be Dateable In CxM

Spoilers Possibly

Every game has at least 1 guy that should be dateable but damn it Collar x Malice has 5 sighs. So let me tell you the 5 guys.... (technically 6)

So if these guys are romanceable in unlimited tell me now because i have not started it yet. however i know Saeki has a route in unlimited but not technically a love interest which is boo...

Yuzuru Saeki

So I liked Saeki the moment I first saw this man smile at the MC he had such a lovely feel to him. I also thought him and the MC could have been something of course after playing Yanagi's route I see thats not true. However I think he would have better as a good guy all the way through... sighs. but you know what bad guys deserve love to please.

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Hideaki Yoshinari

I swear the moment I first saw this guy I wanted to date him he is absolutely adorable. I mean come on he is the one who talked sense into Kei when it came to love. I feel like he would be such a cinnamon roll...He is always talking about how he can't get a girl but I would date the hell out of him :D

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Hajime Morioka 

I don't get it but this man is sexy as fuck to me. His deep voice, the way he looks I swear he can be my daddy!! He even looks like the type that would be so damn dominant... my answer at seeing him the first time was.... "Yes Please"

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Akito Sera

I feel like you get past he was in the wrong side for a bit that he is a sweetie I think he could be a real cute guy to get to know. Definitely a bean I'm sure of it.

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Yasuhiro Isshiki 

This man is beautiful like why is he not a love interest.... I want him! He literally kinda reminds me of a male version of Jem

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Extra

Kazuki Hoshino 

I know this character wouldn't happen since its the main characters brother which sucks because after seeing how he is in Yanagi's route I think he would be worth seeing where it could go.

[kumaonna]

💥💳💥💳 HE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS 💥💳💥💳💥💳

[onyourowndaisymae]

ichika is braver than me because if i was in her place when okazaki rejected her proposal i would have skipped town and taken a new identity

[otomegamesandme]

I'm crying I'm finally getting to Collar x Malice Unlimited and

The sound Kei made when Ichika asked him to marry her 😂

[xtaibhse]

Saeki’s True Ending…

[wildflower-otome]

[fangirls-existencial-problems]

WARNING CXM CG SPOILERS

Honesty Kageyuki has the best CG!♡♡♡

He is too handsome !

[otome-mondays]

What are your in depth feelings about Okazaki's route?

Hi Anon, thanks for asking! Since you asked for in depth feelings, this post contains spoilers for all of Okazaki’s route in Collar x Malice and Collar x Malice Unlimited! There are also a ton of CG spoilers here too! I’ll keep this post under a read more because of said spoilers :)

Content warnings (for game and post): guns, police, terrorism, suicide, ptsd, depression, death. Please be mindful of your triggers and skip this post if you feel the need, your mental health is worth more than a silly analysis post :)

I am going to start this off with the huge disclaimer that I played Okazaki’s route in my senior year of high school and his route was the first proper Otomate route I played, so I probably have some huge nostalgia blinders on! Okazaki is also my favorite from CxM, so that, again, will make this post very biased.

I bought Collar x Malice not realizing it was an otome game, but after looking it up I was pretty excited! One of my friends can vouch that Okazaki was one of two characters I was most hyped for, and originally I only wanted to play his route first. This was also the first time I realized otome games can have route orders and some routes would be locked. Otome is a very niche genre, and back then it was even more niche with only like 10-15 Otomate titles officially localized and I generally only had access to the NTT Solmare, Voltage, and other mobile-focused company games. After trying to search for people saying I could confidently play Okazaki’s route first, I just went for it and I’m glad I did! Okazaki’s route is very introductory to the game, similarly to Mineo’s. Speaking of introductions, let’s start specifically with the common route.

So Okazaki’s introduction as this more aloof, kinda silly guy made me even more invested in picking his route first. I usually play otome titles with guides, and this guide telling me I couldn’t pick the character but had to choose the correct options made me so relieved I looked up a guide first. Okazaki’s introduction of climbing through a window was so funny to me, I was instantly attached. I was kind of indifferent and even skeptical towards every other love interest at this point too. Okazaki, oddly enough, seemed the most normal and carefree of the options, which further solidified my stance on him being my favorite before the route even started. I liked that even though he doesn’t really know what’s going on and is obviously keeping tabs on Yanagi and Friends, he’s willing to be a friend to Ichika and help her look into these X-Day cases.

Before Okazaki discovers she’s stuck with the collar because of Adonis, he’s really kind and helpful. He’s looking out for her safety, helping her conduct investigations, and being a friend to her. But once it’s revealed that she has connections to Adonis, we start to see another side of Okazaki. Okazaki is somebody who is very dedicated to his job as as this route goes on we see and learn more about why he is the way he is. Okazaki’s route covers PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation very well in my opinion. It’s very obvious that watching his first SP partner die by saving Okazaki from dying has effected him deeply, which is exactly what would happen in real life. Seeing Okazaki slowly change from wanting to die for the sake of somebody he deems a good person because he thinks so low of himself to being ok with the mistakes he’s made and learning to cope with his trauma and move on was a great experience for me. I was also in the depths of a depression episode around the time I played his route, so it was nice to be able to relate to a character who was going through similar problems. I think his character arc was really something amazing.

So his tragic ending was something that really hit me. I played all the bad endings before the good ending, and I was actually in tears over this ending. I understand why he was ready to end it all. It was really nice to see that he did grow and change enough to listen to the part of him that wanted to keep living for Ichika since that’s what she wanted, even if he was killed right after she was.

As for his good ending, I liked how cute it was and that they do get a happy ending together. I don’t really have much thoughts beyond that other than it was a suiting good ending lol.

After I finished playing his route, I realized Okazaki was a fairly polarizing character which I didn’t really expect but I can kinda see why. He’s got some toxic behaviors, but so do all of these characters. I can see why some people don’t like his flaws though because they can be considered more “clingy” than some others. I think this is ok for me though because it transforms from putting her on this perfect angel pedestal to more of oh people care for me perspective. He still definitely has more to work on through some therapy though, I’m not going to deny that.

Now for the fandisc…man I was disappointed with this. It’s a nice story, don’t get me wrong, but it basically has all his growth undone and we go through it all over again but shorter and now he’s more jealous than before (to me at least). This is the only fandisc I’ve played through as of writing, and I know not all after stories aren’t as disappointing as his but man I’m going to be sad if more of my favs get this treatment.

I think Okazaki still ends up being a very well written character overall, in both the CxM universe and otome games in general, but the fandisc definitely ruins some of his writing for me. His route is also always going to be one I treasure, considering it fully pushed me into enjoying more of these games and wanting to play more.