#ended up upping yanagi's score because I felt bad lmao

[magioftheseas]

Review x Routes

Recently I finished Collar X Malice, an otome that is...really good! And also topical, lmao. Overall I super recommend it. Otomes in general are super underappreciated as a genre and that’s so sad! Especially when you have gems like this! There’s five routes, so I’ll give some (mostly) non-spoilery thoughts now!

General Synopsis

A terrorist organization named Adonis is in the works. After several months of horrific and seemingly random murders done in the name of injustice while counting down to an apparent X-Day at the end of the year, Shinjuku has been placed under severe quarantine, with the gun ban lifted in hopes that civilians can protect themselves where the police have failed. Ichika Hoshino is a young officer in the newly instated Special Regions Crime Prevention Office, which is a glorified customer service job and mostly has Ichika answering concerned calls. During a patrol, Ichika is captured and collared by Adonis, told that if she wishes to survive, she’ll have to investigate the X-Day cases. But she can’t alert her fellow officers. Instead, she has to recruit the help of a shady detective organization, each person with their own reason for investigating...

Mineo Enomoto

A very sweet and wholesome slowburn! Mineo is a himbo with a tragic backstory that relates to the events of the X-Day incident he’s (allegedly) investigating. Very simplistic and upfront about its themes and message, so it’s on the more basic side but I find Mineo’s likeability more than makes up for it. In addition to Mineo, there’s also more focus on Kazuki, Ichika’s rebellious teen bro, who is like...baby. Baby boy. Their previously estranged relationship is the most mended here, so if the romance isn’t enough, at least come for the family fluff! The side-characters are super likeable too, especially Isshiki. That said, while the first culprit is a fun albeit shallow character, I felt second/main villain of this route was more tell than show. That said. This is objectively the best route on a revisit (after completing all the others). 9/10.

Takeru Sasazuka

Maybe you’re a masochist who wants to be talken down to instead. But you don’t want a guy that’s super macho, more...soft and cute...but still with a sharp tongue and a bitchy streak. Takeru’s the guy for you. He’s also anti-guns. What more could you ask for, really? In all seriousness, while I can be fond of these types, I did like this one more for the plot and the understated-ness of the romance. I actually think it would’ve benefitted from more...smut. I think it would’ve benefitted from having smut. Unfortunately (or fortunately???), otomes are sexless (even if they’re not chaste), so while things get suggestive, it stays rated T. Despite the fact that the game is rated M. Anyway, this is a story about revenge without being super edgy and graphic, which I appreciate. Also there’s some stuff about gaming addiction. If not for the ending super dragging, I’d actually think pretty highly of it despite not completely jibing, but yeah. The ending super drags. Still. The culprits are good. 7/10.

Kei Okazaki

He actually doesn’t go here. Kei’s part of the Special Police (which are glorified bodyguards), assigned to look after Yanagi’s “detective agency” for monitoring purposes. Thus, he actually doesn’t know Ichika’s situation, but he’s still very much interested. That can only go well. (Note: It does not.) Anyway, Kei’s my absolute favorite and I think his route is more or less perfect despite Kei’s pushiness as a romantic lead. Said romance ties really well into the plot not by any connections in the backstory but through its themes. It’s so clever! It’s also deeply emotional with some truly astounding voice-acting! So great! Also includes a heartwrenching critique against how violence against women is overlooked and downplayed by police. Definitely one of the most heartbreaking cases in the game, and the main culprit as a villain is also just incredible as not only a tragic (but terrifying) character, but also-also a foil. He’s a vast improvement from the one in Mineo’s route. 10/10!!!

Kageyuki Shiraishi

He’s only avaliable after completing any of the three routes above. Shiraishi is...rather enigmatic and aloof, being someone that Ichika actually hates at first, lmao. He’s apathetic but good at reading people, which makes him uneasy to be around. He gets better. His route is definitely the most about growth, both for him as a character and his relationship with Ichika. It’s definitely impressive and ambitious, I feel, even if I think he’d be better suited for...uh. Like. Dangan Ronpa. Or something. Maybe Ace Attorney. Lmao. That said, he’s a good route...except for the literal last minute. Which sucks. Fucking ass. Holy shit. His route could’ve been a 9/10 or even 10/10 but that ending is so bad. It’s like a 1/10 ending at best. God, poor Shiraishi. Deserved Better/10.

Aiji Yanagi

The true route! The last......and least, imo. Rip. Sorry, Yanagi! As the final route, the romance has to actively compete for focus with the plot revelations and it comes across as not only unbalanced, but underwhelming. Despite Yanagi also being objectively perfect husband material, I personally had a hard time feeling engaged with his relationship with Ichika. Also Ichika isn’t as reliant by necessity on Yanagi as she is on the others. Which *would* be good, except it makes Ichika’s strong attachment to him off the bat feel more sudden and more...forced. I also wasn’t nearly as attached to the main-main villain as I was to the many side-villains we had met until that point. But, it had some interesting elements and I liked how other characters were used and characterized. Yanagi’s relationships to the other male characters are all good. One character, who’s introduced more in Kei’s route but we only get to know here, is actually pretty charismatic and interesting. There are good elements here, but it needed more fleshing out. Rather unfortunately, this *is* the longest route, too. I feel bad. The writers must have seriously struggled. 6/10.

Overall, please play this game. I didn’t even get a chance to talk about how great Ichika herself is. Or the other female characters for that matter.

Ichika more like Ichiban...ka...