#however i think storytelling wise there's just no point in it. imo looking at how he interacts with the other 3

[ruporas]

I don't know if this is a heavy question to ask- it may be. Feel free to ignore it.

But I was questioning myself if it was even an okay thing to ship Tristamp! vash x tristamp! wolfwood due to the age gap???

In the manga it was proven ww was of age (since the treatments went over a course of years) but it wasn't so clear in tristamp, especially with the whole forced growth sequence being more cut short than the manga. He may be in the body of a man but, isn't he still a child? is what I mean to ask.

At the end of the day I know they are all fictional and to block if I don't like but it still has me wondering.

I've seen a lot of people simultaneously pull "dni pedos" (which is more than okay and I agree) but then also go and ship what they ship.

I'm just genuinely confused I think. Is there something I am missing? or is he still a child in a man's body?

I don't know who else to ask, because I also know at the end of the day you're just an artist on the other end of the line. I'm sorry 😭

yeah, it's confusing because stampede never states it directly, but i'm certain that wolfwood is an adult from the brief glimpses of time shown in stampede itself and in trusting the studio themselves.

as we saw with rollo, he was experimented on for 5 years before ending up like this

and then we see him again in this same state 20 years later in episode 5. we get concrete numbers for rollo who we can estimate to be in his 20s when he dies. see here too that elendira, 20 years ago, also still looks like that, the same in the present. i'm saying all of this to dissuade any arguments that might be like "wolfwood should look older and not the same as he did in the flashback of ep 6" because there are only so many 3d models orange studio can make and design. i also think that ep 5 itself is meant to exemplify the quick years that can go by when in reference to a flashback.

the mention of wolfwood aging "in just a few months" shouldn't be an indicator of his age because narrative-wise, they only brought that up to emphasize him being a s+ grade and unique and to highlight how much he's suffered in just a short period of time. wolfwood's flashback is put together in one(1) episode, much of it is used to highlight the bond between him and livio in their childhood because that's the point of his arc. because of that, any scenes that shows him working under the eye of michael are all cut because it isn't important at this time of the show. there's a huge time gap missing in wolfwood's history because studio orange chose specific years to give weight to the arc they wanted to present to us first.

this is like the only scene we get of him doing his job under the eom, at the beginning of ep 6

and him here is different from how he is here.

so from the show itself, i think those are the obvious points that suggests wolfwood is not Still 10 years old when he gets sent to retrieve vash.

in reference to my second point of believing in the studio -- because they heavily based stampede off of maximum, i find it Hard to believe they'd randomly make wolfwood a minor because it genuinely serves no benefit to his story to make that change. there would be less weight to his bond with vash because wolfwood has always been the character to challenge vash, they're meant to be equals. much of maximum and 98, Even Badlands Rumble, play up the significance of vash and wolfwood's relationship and how the two can argue and depend on each other as people with similar life experiences. orange studio pour love into stampede and respects nightow and his craft and as a result, i think they'd keep vash and wolfwood on the same level in this adaption too.

all and all, they're both adults in previous versions and they're both adults in this version. final phase will probably give room for more of wolfwood's past experiences now that we know most of vash's story, maybe that would resolve any confusion.

hope that helps!

[beyourownanchor6]

Oh Arrow's finale was abysmal. Itvwas ceritifably terrible. Absolute shit if you ask me.

Oh absolutely. Story wise the MCU is way better. My only beef with the mcu is that it follows the capitalist model of infinite growth, and say what you will about financial models, it is absolutely not sustainable from a storytelling perspective. Like it's intimidating. Compare that to Doctor Who, for example, which has over 60 years of history, but is constantly reintroducing it's returning characters and creating new jump-in points. Like i started doctor who with Series 01 (2005), my mom started on series 05 (2010), but a new viewer could jump in on series 14 / season 01 (2024) and it would make just as much sense. Doctor Who is constantly creating new entry points for fans. Meanwhile the MCU finished the Infinity Saga and i thought "great, now they'll create a new entry point for new fans" but nope, you gotta watch the whole infinity saga to understand the multiverse saga. A MULTIVERSE!! LIKE JUST START AGAIN IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE WITH NEW CHARACTERS??? But nice, nice. I didn't care for te character of black widow so i didn't bother with that one, and i couldn't get into hawkeye because I don't like Jeremy Renner.

It was unecessary and offensive tbh. They got Aids wrong, too. I didn't watch sons of anarchy, but that sounds fun. And vera farmiga is great! Have you seen The Conjuring? Max Thieriot is so hot. I'm gonna look for that show.

Oh i saw that video too. I'm hyped!

Oh that's good. Yeah aloe is great. I'm having a good week, yes. Did groceries and scheduled a blood test today. It's a routine blood test, i'm not sick. I hope you're having a good week too!

oh yea, hard agree there. felt like i wasted however many years of my life that show was on for, lmao.

i've never watched doctor who and had no idea there were that many series for it lol. but i do love shows like that that you can jump into at different points and understand without having to do a lot of backtracking if you don't want to. marvel is definitely a commitment in that way. what gets to me about marvel is all the comics, and people who complain when they don't line up or whatever. like props to them for keeping up with all those comics bc i'm overwhelmed at just the thought of thinking how many comics exist for marvel 😵‍💫 and sure you can watch some of the solo movies and understand for the most part, but there's a lot you'll miss/not understand if you haven't seen the mass majority of marvel stuff. even for me, i don't understand some of the after credit scenes bc i haven't read the comics. i remember being so confused when they did the after credit scene hinting at captain marvel bc i had no idea who that was prior lmao. yea the black widow movie came too late imo. i haven't seen jeremey renner in to much, but i think he's a good/enjoyable actor.

yea, i have no idea why they went with that storyline for him. completely unecessary for sure. sons of anarchy lives rent free in my mind ngl 😅 i think it's part of why i love the bikeriders so much lol. oh yea! i love the conjuring, and horror movies in general lol. i just saw they're doing another conjuring; hopefully it's better than the last one. lmk if you start fire country. such a good show!

hope all went well with your test! my sunburn has moved into the itchy stage but at least it's starting to heal lol. have a good weekend friend!

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Alright HERE WE GO...SOME PRESS!

By which I mean, Tom King was on ComicPop discussing Supergirl! So we have CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND INFO! WOO!

Gonna get into it below, but my recommendation, as always: the best way to have an informed opinion is to get the info firsthand, so don’t just take my word for it! Go forth! Watch the thing! (Language advisory, though. There is some swearing.)

Okay. With that out of the way, LET’S GO!

Gonna lead off with a summary of the Supergirl bits, as they discuss a variety of things, from Strange Adventures to Batman/Catwoman to the canned New Gods project:

How Tom King came to be the writer of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow:

King’s longtime editor, Jaime Rich, was moved from the Bat books to the Super books. 

King, historically, likes to take on characters that ‘need help.’ He cites the example of Kirby who, upon coming to DC, asked what their lowest-selling title was, which is how he ended up on Jimmy Olsen.

So, when King asks which character needs help, Rich, to King: Supergirl. We have trouble selling that book.

King, describing Supergirl: ‘She’s singular in a way Mr. Miracle and Vision are not.’ Says that if you ask any four year old who Supergirl is, they know.

Editors asked him, ‘what’s your take? what are you gonna do with her?’

King then discusses the difference between his approach to Bat people vs. Super people.

Bat people: It’s a deconstruction approach. King brings up Kite Man from his Batman run. You tear the character down and build them back up, a la Dark Knight Returns

Super people: It’s not about deconstruction. Let them be themselves. They’re wonderful, let them be wonderful. 

But he does mention sort of stripping down the character to their purest form; he describes it as chiseling off the barnacles that have built up on the character, over the years.

Additionally, he says ‘evil doesn’t work for the Super family of characters.’

He mentions Superman: Up in the Sky. He says that there’s deep stuff in Up in the Sky, but the theme of every page is simply: Superman is awesome.

King: “I don’t want to make Kara mean or sad. I want to test her.”

The host compares ‘angry Kara’ stories to ‘evil Superman’ stories in that there are many of them, such to the point that people think Kara is relatable because she’s miserable and angry all the time. 

The host: I don’t get that.

(Same dude, same.)

King talked to Steve Orlando

They discussed the fact that Supergirl knew her planet; the people who died were her friends, family, classmates.

King summarizes Kara’s original Silver Age origin: she witnessed three huge, traumatic losses of life. First, when Krypton exploded. Then again when the Kryptonite started killing Argo residents, and then again when the meteorites destroyed the lead shielding that was keeping Argo safe. 

King: “That’s some f-ing trauma! I don’t know if you’ve read my books, but I love the trauma in characters.”

King thus describes Kara as world-weary, she swears, ‘she has seen some sh*t’.

On the new character, Ruthye:

She’s a child on a vengeance quest.

She’s named after King’s niece, Ruthie.

The pronunciation for the comic character, though, is Ruth-Eye.

One of his sons told him to add the ‘e’ on the end to make it look cooler.

Further discussion of Kara herself:

King noted that there’s sometimes a tendency to be very precious with the character.

King: ‘Let’s not be precious with Supergirl.’

This is not the story of a sixteen-year-old girl discovering the world; King says that Supergirl has been that sixteen-year-old for a long time now.

He describes it more as a move from Supergirl to Superwoman.

Art and Influences:

Talking about the red sun planet that Kara visits for her twenty-first birthday, King says he was reading a lot of Conan, which influenced the look of that portion of the story.

The impetus for getting Evely on the book: King said his editor emailed him, ‘Hey, how about Bilquis?’ King: “And I did a happy dance!”

Evely sent King a mood board of the types of things she wanted to draw; Moebius, Kirby, Wally Wood, landscapes in particular. 

Also, King says Evely is fast! She’s already halfway through the book, art-wise, and King is confident the book will release on time.

The host asked him, following up on King’s description of the book as a fantasy/western, ‘Is this True Grit?’

King: “It’s True Grit inspired. The novel AND the movie.”

If asked to give the Hollywood pitch: ‘It’s True Grit in space with Supergirl as Rooster Cogburn.’

Details about this book, as compared to Other Tom King titles:

He’s using captions on this comic--he’d thrown out captions as a storytelling device after Batman, but he found a ‘good voice’ for this comic.

King was prepared to do his usual twelve issues, but they said no one buys Supergirl comics, so it’s eight issues.

King says that Strange Adventures, Rorschach, and to a lesser extent, Batman/Catwoman, were written at a time when the world felt very apocalyptic.

He considers them to be angrier books; they are about what happens when evil is in our life, and how we deal with that.

Supergirl is the start of the ‘next generation’ of titles. 

It was written during the pandemic, but King hoped that by the time it was released, the pandemic and this very dark time in our history would be past.

He says it’s a ‘roaring 20s’ book. Not about anger, or trauma, it’s about stepping into the future and kicking a**. 

THUS CONCLUDES the Supergirl portion of the interview. 

Okay, so! Now that we’ve been objective and presented the information in a straightforward, unbiased manner...SOME THOUGHTS AND OPINONS!

The thing I was most curious about was how King got the book, so I was EXTREMELY PLEASED to get the full story.

This wasn’t like. King desperately wanting to do a Supergirl book, nor was it DC coming to King like, ‘Take Supergirl!’

Sadly, it was, ‘which book needs the most help right now? In the Superman lineup?’

He even said that Supergirl was kind of just sitting around, no one was doing anything with her/there were no plans.

(So the idea that King stole this opportunity from a woman is not true. There were NO PLANS.)

(Also it’s not based on the FS stuff, I suspect they gave the FS team some ideas from his pitch to work with, as that entire event was sort of a stop-gap/fill-in as they hurried to relaunch their line.) 

Anyways!

My initial thought that this is DC’s attempt to sell some dang Supergirl books? Not that far off! XD

Boy, I hope it works.

(Important to note: This is not news. Supergirl has historically always sold poorly. I’ve heard from actual Supergirl writers that the trades do not sell, which is a huge problem.

So King, who is KNOWN for having really good trade sales, is as solid a gamble as they could probably hope for.

He said Superman: Up in the Sky is his third best-selling trade. A WAL-MART BOOK! Is just behind Vision and Mr. Miracle!

Basically: If this doesn’t work, I don’t know that anything will.) 

As for the specifics of King’s take in particular!

Again...I really want to see it, before I pass judgement on it.

I liked the Andreyko run! And that was pretty edgy! 

Also, we have never seen a twenty-something Kara, post-Crisis. She’s always been a teenager. Thus I’m pretty willing to go along with this approach because it’s entirely new territory.

And it does seem like King is enjoying leaning into the idea of a Super who swears and kicks butt and is just a little ‘done’ with it all.

It might not mesh with my ideal Kara but again. I need to see it, before I come to any firm conclusions. 

Honestly the thing that gives me the most pause? Is that King says this book really focuses on Supergirl, not Kara, which is a more recent identity for her.

(That is somewhat true! The ‘Kara Danvers’ identity is wholly new to the show; she’s always been Linda Lee, Linda Danvers, Kara Kent, or Linda Lang, when she has a secret identity. Sometimes she doesn’t.)

(Also of note: Tom pronounces it ‘Care-a’, like the cartoon.)

(PERSONALLY I like KAHr-a, like in the show, because it creates a phonetic consistency with ‘KAHl-el’ but that’s not really relevant to a comic book. You can mentally pronounce it however you choose! XD)

So, yeah, I like the Kara Danvers part of her identity, I like earth-bound Supergirl stories, but. This isn’t that. Which I’ll need to make peace with, I guess. XD

Otherwise? Tell me a story, Mr. King. Even if I hate it, Evely will draw it beautifully, Lopes will color it masterfully, and that’s half the battle, right there. 

I’m sad King didn’t mention the Gates/Igle run! But I also understand he’s probably been looking at more recent stuff; those Gates/Igle comics are fifteen years old, oh man, oh geez, how are they that old already.

King did confirm that this is 100% in-continuity, and will affect the character going into the future.

But, IDK, given the sort of. Grim beginnings of how this book came to be, what with the reminder that the Supergirl title doesn’t sell well...who knows what the future will look like, for Kara!

I stand by my guess that Kara will graduate to ‘Superwoman’ and the Supergirl mantle will pass to someone else, maybe Ruthye? She might be a bit young, though.

Mmm. What else, what else?

Oh, this is pretty funny, IMO: when King first teased the new character, Ruthye, a bunch of SG fans rushed to google to see if there was any clue as to like. What it could mean.

And they freaked out over some obscure connection where that name appears but hey, turns out! It’s just a made up name! Based on King’s niece!

It’s funny because SG fans never learn, man. Just chill out, read the dang book, then get all upset and huff and puff and blow your twitter house down.

They briefly mentioned the Peter David run; King said the PAD stuff was great.

He’s already teased that ‘treat’ and, okay. Time for some rumination on that specifically.

I’ve read the whole PAD run. It wasn’t my cup of tea, I don’t really like the DnD, angels and demons stuff. Also, it wasn’t Kara; it’s an entirely different character who uses the name ‘Supergirl.’

Also, stuff from that run didn’t age well.

And on top of that, PAD turned out to be...kind of a jerk! As so many folks in the comic industry are.

There’s also...an extremely weird, mean-spirited vibe through the whole back half of the run; I thought maybe I was imagining it at the time, but I recently went back to “Many Happy Returns”, the final story arc of the title, and David’s introduction in the trade...it doesn’t read like a guy who was in it for the love of the character, you know?

All of which to say! I’m not excited about connections to the PAD stuff. 

But I know a lot of fans who love that run, love that version of the character.

So like. Eh! Not for me, but to the folks who enjoy it, I hope it’s cool/fun, whatever it is.

(Still think it’ll be a variant or an easter egg or something, but we’ll see.)

(Oh, hmmm! Evely *did* post a WIP of like. Some creepy skull gate that they presumably encounter...hmmmmm.)

Okay, this is crazy long, and there’s no fun art or anything to go with it--OR IS THERE?!?!?!

BOOM. From Bilquis Evely’s twitter today. (GO. FOLLOW. HER. FOR THE GOOD ART.)

(LIKE!!! I look at this and I just! Can’t! Bring myself to not be hyped as all heck! LOOK AT THIS! AND iT’S JUST THE PENCILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

God, wish that Supergirl sold better, so we could get a full year of this. HNNNNGGGGGGG.

Oh! That was another thing King discussed in detail; that 8 is way different from his usual 12, in terms of pacing and story. The beats fall at different places (obviously) so it was a bit of a challenge for him.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it...maybe 8 will be good. Issue 10 just dropped for Strange Adventures, and wow, it has felt LONG. (I mean, the last four? Three? issues are also bi-monthly so that doesn’t help but. Still.)

(Superman: Up in the Sky was twelve issues but half the length, because it was a Wal-Mart book, so it was more like six.)

OKAY! For real, I’ve gone on long enough. XD 

SOON. Soon. June 15th, to be exact. Mark yer calendars!

[zdbztumble]

So - I’m not much of a gamer, but I am a huge Disney freak, and that means I’ve played and loved Kingdom Hearts. I’m going through III right now; I’m not sure how far I’m in yet, but it’s almost certainly before the halfway point, and I’ve mostly successfully avoided spoilers for the ending, so please bear that in mind for any responses to this.

The experience has been...interesting.

I played the first Kingdom Hearts for the first time in college with a friend, and we immediately jumped into Kingdom Hearts II once we finished. I, at least, wasn’t aware that Chain of Memories even existed. Consequently, there was a lot of stuff in KH II that I had no context for. And yet, this didn’t bother me. I was pleasantly surprised at the bittersweet ending to KH I, thinking that an audacious bit of storytelling for a game with no guarantee of success or sequels, and I felt that the sequel implying an entire middle chapter that would never be told in full was similarly daring and impressive. More importantly, I never felt lost. The story of KH II gives just enough information to understand the essentials of what happened since the end of KH I, while leaving a lot of interesting but superfluous details unspoken. With so much of that middle chapter unexplained (or so I thought at the time), it was left for the individual player to fill in the gaps - a storytelling concept I was mad for back in ‘09. When I found out the middle chapter was told in full, I was pretty disappointed, and while I ultimately enjoyed Chain of Memories (and did not enjoy Reverse/Rebirth, but that’s another story), I still felt there was something to be said for a play-through where the time between KH I and II was left to the imagination.

But key to that idea is the fact that KH II was still comprehensible as a story without CoM. I can’t say that Kingdom Hearts III is comprehensible in the slightest. Since KH II, the only game I’ve played is Birth by Sleep, which has fantastic gameplay but was absolutely appalling for what it did to the story IMO. Without having played 358/2 Days, Coded or Dream Drop Distance, so much of KH III has made me go “HUH!?” (often at the same time the characters) and throw my hands up in frustration. The videos included with the game and the various summaries on YouTube at least filled me in on what happened in those other games, but it’s still a mess to my mind. The sheer number of retcons, parallels, replicas, complications, and convolutions is overwhelming. With KH I being a (relatively) straightforward and manageable plot, and KH II pulling its own share of retcons and complications while still managing to be comprehensible and effective, it’s a sad sight to see the story of these games in the shape it is now.

But the sheer complexity of the story at this point isn’t enough to explain just how frustrated I am. What really gets me about what has been dubbed the Xehanort saga - and it took me until the last day or so to realize it - is that it effectively ended in KH II.

Look at the state of things at the end of that game. The Heartless Ansem and the Nobody Xemnas have both been defeated. Organization XIII is wiped out, as is their plan. Riku is restored to his own appearance. Axel and Ansem the Wise both make noble sacrifices. Roxas and Naime are sacrificed as well, lost as individuals but able to live on in some small way within Sora and Kairi, a bittersweet but very effective ending to their stories. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy return to their kingdom, and Sora, Kairi, and Riku return to their island. Unless I’ve forgotten a huge chunk of material from the original release of KH II, the only loose end left is the fate of Maleficent and Pete. Everything pertaining to Xehanort, his plans, his copies, and the things he put Sora and company through, is all wrapped up and capped in a neat bow. By logical reasoning through the events of the game, and by the emotional, intuitive instincts of a storyteller, that plot should be done.

Mickey’s letter at the every end of KH II could have been about anything, and I would argue should have been used as a launching point into an entirely new adventure for any games going forward. And while numerous elements that were used in the games between KH II and III - further complicating the connection between Sora and Roxas, re-conceiving the Keyblade as a weapon used by many warriors, giving Sora and his friends a connection to said warriors and so turning them into “chosen ones” - are things that I don’t care for very much (or at all), they are elements that were not dependent in any way on Xehanort. They could have been used in stories with new villains and new threats. Instead, a story that was effectively resolved was re-opened, pulled around in a circle, peppered with endless complications, and made completely incomprehensible. 

And yet...I can’t say that it isn’t effective. KH III has delightful gameplay, the most gorgeous worlds in any of the games to date, and however maddening the story is, I’m still invested in it. At less than halfway through, I’ve even picked up a terrible feeling of foreboding. Lingering fondness for the earlier games and their better simpler plotting has a lot to do with that, but there are elements of this continued Xehanort saga that I do like, and that keep me emotionally engaged.

[carinareviews]

PC/Steam Review: Nightshade

Overall: B+/A- Amazing tale of shinobi. I'm a sucker for men in kimonos so when I saw such high ratings on Steam I had to get it. OST is very well suited for the game and most CGs are passable in terms of quality. The VAs are amazing and bring each character to life. The localization is pretty decent, I think a couple parts could've been changed to be more consistent. My only gripe is the general story is pretty similar in all the routes even when each route branches out. I also wished there were a bit more CGs but thats just a personal preference. The character designs are so pretty though ;-;. Highly recommend this game for anyone into not all fluff and cute moment otome games but one with a dark touch on the story. However, the storyline can get pretty boring after 5 characters, but if you can get past that this otoge is great! One of my favorite otoges is Brothers Conflict and that had so much similar routes...I played almost all the routes too. Therefore the copy paste routes didn't bug me too much, except for the parts that were similar in other routes but since you were on a different character it didn't count as the same thing, now that was frustrating.

Regardless, really loved the game and like most people, Hanzo was bae.

Route reviews below!

Reviews might contain mild spoilers. Not going to add photos cause I don’t want to spoil it much. Enjoy the read.

Route I followed: Goemon > Chojiro > Kuroyuki >  Gekkamaru > Hanzo

Suggested route order: A: Goemon > Chojiro > Gekkamaru > Kuroyuki > Hanzo A is for best "story" progression. I think this order helps generally unfold the most story. However since the stories are slightly different in certain routes the main story can get a bit convoluted. Therefore I highly suggest B. to know which storyline is which. Hanzo should be played last imo, the ending is the best feel-good ending while feeling satisfies in multiple aspects.

B: Play one "timeline" then play the other "timeline". 1st timeline - Goemon  >> Kuroyuki 2nd timeline - Chojiro >> Gekkamaru 3rd timeline - Hanzo Choose a timeline and stick with it can help show what happened on each side. Thats the best way I can put it without spoiling much. Hanzo's route is a bit mix of both timelines due to the "game" taking a twist later. I originally had it in the 2nd timeline between Chojiro and Gekkamaru but decided that it deserved a different timeline entirely.

C: Fluff based Goemon > Gekkamaru > Kuroyuki > Chojiro > Hanzo** From most fluff to least fluff. If main story doesn't bug you and you just want more of your sweet sweet man. Follow this route suggestion. Go from right to left if you want least fluff to most. **Hanzo's route has fluff but since he doesn't particularly have feelings for you at all in the beginning I think it's the most fitting to play him last, as he has the most dramatic change in feelings. All the other characters are attracted to you/connect to you in some way prior to your "journey" but Hanzo isn't which makes his CGs during the journey the least romantic...don't mean it won't make your heart go dokidoki at the end.. in fact his route has the best fluff at the enddddddd <3 omfg

Personal Ratings of each route. I wrote these comments right after I played a route both good and bad ending. 

Goemon 8/10 CGs looked a bit weird sometimes (forced neck).... I love my playboy types in otome games so it's hard for me to not love this route... aaahhh this was so fluffy and the voice was so perf omg I'm dying. Little sad the story was a bit weak on this route. The one betrayal part was really good but since most of the story was just running away without "knowing"what you were running from made it very lackluster. I just loved his character so much though -1 for weird CGs -1 for weak story and rarely and development for other characters... but it makes sense since you're just running away with Goemon. But still left some obvious holes in the plot buttt thats the point of these games. Gotta play all the routes to get all the info. Man even the bad ending was so damn cute ffuuuuuuu <3 Onii-channnn next.

Chojiro 6/10 Depressing and uhhh sporadic. Not my type of route. Part of the route isnt even with Chojiro which was kinda meh. Goemon was the only saving grace of those parts. Chojiro's VA is one of my favorite VAs (Saito in Hakuoki <3) and it fit his character really well but the route didn't feel like it flowed well. I loved the serious storytelling but the romance aspect felt very forced. I'm usually all for pseudo-incest (Brothers Conflict is one of my favorite otome games), so I was super excited to play the Onii-chan route, but this felt...too depressing and it did not feel like he truly loved Enju. Overall it was a pretty underwhelming route since Chojiros character didn't really click with me... which is a shame since I love his VA and his character design. Felt like this route could've been better. Welp...speaking of depressing I'm going to the so called most depressing routes for the next two... yay.

Kuroyuki 5/10 OH GOD OH GOD YANDERE ROUTE >_> YANDERE SHOTA THIS IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE... People say this is one of the most depressing routes but I think this is the scariest route... I'm never into shota or yandere routes in otomes games (Touma from Amnesia scared the shit out of me) so this route was very uncomfortable for me. The only really redeeming factor is the other people in your clan....All I can say is Kyara knows whats up. Honestly I would've preferred just cute shota kuroyuki... the yandere part...no thanks. His shota cuteness is pretty bearable which is weird for me cause I don't like the shota types. The general story of this route is actually really good, but I feel this route should be played later to not "spoil" certain things in other routes. CGs were not that nice imo I would've preferred more intimate ones, but it's a pretty story driven route so I understand. Bad ending was tragic but kinda cute too I semi preferred it over the normal ending XD Next is kuroyuki's oniichan...which I'm actually looking forwards to play cause he's a knight-type.

Gekkamaru 7.5/10 WOAW This route is really depressing... but it was similar to Chojiros so it wasn't really that depressing since you kinda knew what was happening. That and since this is my second to last route, having seen this game play out so many times I was half expecting dark story. The ending though of the "main story" was so beautiful ENJU IS A BEAST YOU GO GIRL What doesn't kill you makes your stronger at its best in this route <3 Honestly it was a sad route but I liked this one the best story-wise/MC development-wise the most (so far)! I love the ending chemistry between these two too~ Goemon was my favorite romance-wise since he was my favorite type (so far) but I think these two make the most sense (lol since he is poster boy it makes even more sense XD) Anyways, I found him to be a little overbearing at first, momma gekka, but the route played out so well it made sense. Didn't score as high for the depressing story... but if you played Chojiros before this... it doesn't really phase you. lolol SAVING BEST FOR LAST NEXT KENJIRO TSUDA IS MY #1 FAVORITE VA <33333 AND I heard so much good things about this route so I'm super excited to play this.

Hanzo 9/10 Okay so first I was a bit skeptical how this route is best route... only at the beginning though. This route it isn't little Miss useless shinobi MC anymore. Hanzo is "cold" but he helps the MC grow as well as growing himself. I can see why this route is so loved by others. The two characters really bond together...honestly I wish Chojiro's route went somewhere around the lines of this since their character types are very similar... in terms of their morals of the shinobi way. "You will get stronger. I promise you that." -Hanzo This line is seriously defines their relationship so well and it's very empowering for the MC which makes the relationship an A++ relationship. Wet hair Hanzo though.... mmmmmm boiii. The CGs were a bit weak and awkward at times.... there's one in particular where Hanzo doesn't even look like Hanzo but... thats just me being nitpicky. Even the final CG looked terrible which was the serious downer...-1 for shitty CGS on such a great character.