#I had this thought about yanagi when I played collar x malice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

atopearth · 3 years

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Collar X Malice: Unlimited Part 7 - Adonis Route

Honestly, I find the way Ichika joined Zero's side to be pretty iffy even back then in the original game, so I kinda hoped something like Kazuki dying would have changed here but I guess not.. I feel sorry for Kazuki that they reconciled but she still ended up joining Adonis alongside Akito, it must be a pretty big shock having to deal with that. (EDIT: guess he is gone..) Ichika being at the top and training people in marksmanship and stuff is very interesting lol. She looks all right with short hair but yeah, I agree with Zero, I liked the long hair more. Anyway, Zero wants her to find out if there's a traitor amongst them before the next X-Day (since the one 2 years ago failed) in 30 days. Anyway, it seems like you go through each of the Adonis' executors' stories so that's interesting. I'm just going to go from the ones I least like to the ones I like the most haha, and then leave Mikuni for last I guess. Well, Hana's story first then~

Kobayashi Hana

I guess Hana is as bright as ever. I quite enjoy seeing her try and dress Ichika up and make her cuter lol. On the other hand, seeing her mercilessly cut through that panda cake was pretty hilarious. One thing I enjoyed insight into was hearing that Hana has been avoiding going to Isshiki's concerts to avoid causing any trouble to them with the police just in case they come to crash it because of her or something. Honestly, I was pretty impressed. Like, she's always been pretty selfish, and she's always prioritised her love for Isshiki above everything, but to see that she could stop herself to protect him was nice in its own way. Even though she's a pretty ruthless killer, and even though she's obsessed with Isshiki, I guess she does think things through a bit so that Isshiki won't ever have to suffer because of her. Hmm Ichika seemed to reminisce about Kazuki, does that mean he died? Anyway, these investigations are short? Are they really just segments of story for Ichika to become friends with each person? Lol. I mean, Ichika literally did nothing but talk about random stuff with Hana lol. I actually find it rather endearing that Hana and Ichika can fight so openly about their feelings and understand that they actually do want the best for each other, it's kinda nice how they became good friends under such circumstances.

Soda Manabu

Honestly, I kinda wish we could just pick one character and continue until the investigation completes because it's sooo annoying having to press on each one like 7 times just to get a couple of lines of story each time Zzz. Anyway, gotta admit Ichika is pretty judgmental towards Soda, and actively tries to "fix" him and thinks what he does is "wrong", which is pretty annoying tbh. Just because she doesn't understand games, she thinks it's useless to Adonis, and then judges him for his eating habits? Lol. Anyway, at least she tried playing his game though lol, and even got lessons from him haha. I see, I can understand why Ichika would go to Zero for "revenge" but not sure about the "sadness" thing if that's what she's going for tbh. Losing Yanagi, Enomoto, Shiraishi, Okazaki and Kazuki is a big hit and I can understand it shattering her world, but going to Adonis is basically breeding everything that killed everyone important to her. Anyway, Sasazuka's pained voice telling Ichika not to go to Adonis really hurt. I'm sure he's really hurting over the fact he didn't notice the weapons that ended up killing everyone, alongside survivor's guilt of being the only one who survived out of the group, and then now not even being able to stop Ichika from going over to the other side.. It's painful to see. Anyway, lmao, Soda is probably a tamer little brother than Kazuki. His words are harsh but you can tell he only talks like that to protect himself, so any time he swears, I don't bother taking him seriously, he's a hurt little kid. It's cute how Ichika mixed his hated eggplants into the gratin and he didn't even notice, but he ate the whole thing happily🤣 He's so adorable lmao, especially when his face went red and he told her he'd eat her stuff again (even though she shouldn't hear it), and then he ran off🤣

It seems like Soda regrets his actions much more than I initially thought. He was able to get revenge, but now he's even more scared of death because of what he had done, and now he's just in this never-ending cycle of fear, needing to have Zero's power to protect himself, doing his bidding so that he won't die, but at the same time being so scared of his life that the only time he probably feels "safe" is when he plays his games. I love how happy he was when Ichika gave him a SS tier rare item and he put it on, locked it and kept it in a special box🤣 That's so cuteee. Definitely enjoyed Soda's mini part more than I thought hahaha, he's such a cute little kid, which makes it kinda sad lol. Soda blowing up and getting mad at Ichika for playing solo and saying she didn't need connections when she made him realise he wanted to start building connections because of her was really...heartwarming. Soda gave up on people and a lot of things thinking that he could never have them because that's how it was considering how people are, but he changed his mind after Ichika so insistently barged into his life, and now to say that it's practically useless would be extremely hurtful to him. I was really impressed with Soda, and I'm happy that he even told Ichika that she can rely on him more, he's such a sweet boy🥲

Uno Suzune

Lmaooo poor Shion, the woes of a big brother. I found it hilarious how Suzune would give him the green peas she doesn't like even though Shion hates them too, definitely something siblings would do🥲 I superrrr agree with Suzune about handwriting diaries instead of writing a blog! I mean, I have both obviously, but I definitely have different feelings when I read my blog and when I read my writing in my diary. Through my blog, I can easily read my exact thoughts and get to the gist of what I'm talking about, but with my diary, I can see stuff like when I started getting tired of writing, when I felt like changing my pen, and a lot of other feelings that can't be seen or portrayed properly in a typed blog, and yes, the memories of me writing all this usually comes back better when I've written it, mainly because I either say it in the entry or because I can actually remember sitting there and putting time into writing about my life/day.

Guess Suzune's pretty yandere for her brother if any kind of possible romantic interest from Ichika gets her other self to come out and threaten her about it lol. Anyway, it's cute how she’s starting to kinda think of Ichika as a big sister. Suzune willingly taking Ichika to Shion and calling Ichika Chi-chan is probably the biggest improvement you can get considering she could stab you as the worst case hahha. Well, Suzune was definitely cuter than I thought and seeing her so vulnerable, shy but wanting to protect Shion and getting out of her shell for him was sweet. Are there endings for each executor? Well, anyway, Suzune saying she would be sad if anything happened to Ichika was really sweet.

Sugawara Rika

Lmao, I forgot Sugawara is obsessed with Zero, this is going to be fun I guess. It's kinda funny that getting a 50,000 yen strawberry entices her lol, I'm surprised Zero approved it as an expense, like dang, can I have one too, I'm curious lol. Lmao when Sugawara wanted to keep the strawberries as a memento instead of eating it😂 She should have been convinced when Ichika said it'll become a part of her hahahah. LOL when Sugawara started lecturing Ichika about dressing better in front of Zero, and then tried to get her makeup to make her look better, but then Ichika runs away😂

Okay, I loved the girls dress up night with Hana, Ichika and Sugawara. It was so funny how they started arguing about what Ichika should wear and then became fast enough friends to recommend each other stuff and then wear it for fun. I loveee that they had a CG for their new outfits because they're all so pretty, I love them! I think Hana's is my favourite because it's so simple but cute in a different way from her usual. I guess it's kinda cute how in Hana's investigation, Hana focuses on Ichika's clothing fashion, but Sugawara takes it further or I guess mainly focuses on skincare, makeup and haircare haha. I guess it's nice that Sugawara is definitely much more open about standing up for herself and other women when it comes to men who try to objectify them or think of them as "lesser". She's become stronger. I think it's kinda sad to see that amongst all the other happy mini endings with the other executors, Rika's one with Ichika is actually pretty sad because it was through them bonding that Rika noticed Ichika's true intentions of revenge, and that's why they can never truly see eye-to-eye and be friends.

Ogata Tomoki

I guess I didn't expect Ogata to be the type to go to batting cages, but I even more didn't expect him to reserve sweets to make sure he can get them hahaha! It's nice that he enjoys wagashi though, I definitely should have tried it when I went to Japan, but I completely forgot😭 Aww, Ogata had such a sweet daughter! Whenever his wife wasn't looking, she would eat his hated tomatoes for him! Such a kind kid😭 I've never heard of monaka before, so I googled it and they look nice!! Kinda like an ice cream sandwich but not with ice cream and has red bean paste and other stuff inside I guess? I would totally eat it. Lmaoo at Ichika's impression of the typical salaryman😂😂 It's true though, I can't imagine Ogata going home to watch comedy shows with a beer in his hand🤣 Aww it was so cute how Ogata did an impersonation of a character in a drama because he got so used to doing it for his daughter. But lmao at Ichika though, telling him what he can improve on since Adonis might have end of the year parties he could use it for, imagine a bunch of terrorists partying for something so normal like the end of the year hahah😂😂

It's actually really sad how Ogata feels like he can't be a father anymore because he knows that he prioritises his current ideals and dreams more than his daughter. And I guess considering how long they've been separated and how much he has changed, it would probably feel awkward to try and be a normal father, but I guess at least through Ichika's encouragement, he's willing to try and reply to his daughter's letter of wanting to meet him. I think the reason why I've always liked Ogata is because he doesn't regret his actions. Like, he knows that he's killed people and that's why he doesn't want to see his family and get them involved with what he's doing right now, because he knows the gravity of his actions. But at the same time, his hatred for Fujii, the police and the whole mistaken arrest that led to such injustice for him and changed his whole perspective on life is something he can't let go of, and that's why it led him to Adonis and to fulfill his "new" ideals. He knows it's a path that will not necessarily have a "good ending" but he's willing to sacrifice everything for it, and I think that's what makes me attracted to his character. Anyway, LMAO at how insistent Ichika was on seeing young Ogata with a buzzcut playing baseball, absolutely hilarious when she was ready to tie him up with a rope and search his room😂😂 It's pretty sad to see that Ogata wanted to be like Isshiki and save people with his justice without faltering in this cruel world but he just wasn't able to do it because hatred was what fuelled him to move forward and not forgiveness or hope. But I'm glad he encouraged Ichika to listen to Isshiki's song and hear Kazuki's guitar, because seeing Ichika show her emotions again, even if just a little bit was nice...

Uno Shion

Aww, it's cute how much Shion cares about Suzune, but also so cute how he's embarrassed to say he likes chocolate🤣 It's nice that he's more cooperative than Suzune I guess hahaha. I never expected Shion to like to paint though, that's interesting. Anyway, it's pretty sad to think that the "outside world" was much more unforgiving to the Uno siblings, and that it was only after they joined this terrorist organisation did they get to feel safe and secure that they have shelter and food without people going crazy on them. In that sense, it's understandable how much more comfortable Adonis would be for them. Aww Shion and Suzune getting excited over a chocolate cake is so adorable. Them saving up to buy a home for themselves is so heartwarming, it makes me really want to cheer for them. I'm dying from how cute they are trying to feed Ichika the chocolate cake too because they really like her and think she's really kind like their mother was before. Shion buying a cheese tart for both Ichika and Suzune was sweet, she's like a part of his thought process when buying stuff for his sister hahaha. Lol when he just shoved it into her mouth instead of giving it to her like a normal person🤣 Lmaoo when Shion drew a portrait of Ichika stuffing herself with cheese tart🤣 To think that Shion was so serious about drawing that he's actually thinking about a future with it after the X-Day stuff..it’s so endearing.

Sera Akito

It must be difficult for both Akito and Ichika to talk to each other. Just seeing each other's faces would make them remember the past and compare it to the present, making their whole encounter just...painful to watch. It's so like Akito to hide that he dislikes shiitake mushrooms so that it wouldn't inconvenience Ichika and make her remove it from the cooking menu. Lmaooo at Akito being so scared of bugs, enough that Ichika has to call cockroaches dark fairies to make him feel more at ease🤣 I'm sure Akito must be hurting too, but his consideration for Ichika above himself really makes my heart feel so warm. Awww, my heart swooned when Akito said his ideal type was Ichika! If only there was an Akito route~ Anyway, I didn't expect Akito and Soda to really interact but lmaoo at Soda having spent millions of yen on in-game stuff, Soda is right though, gacha rates are cruel😭😭 Aww, it was so cute how honest Soda was about wanting to have defeated the boss with Akito instead of dumping him and killing it himself, since what Soda values is playing together with other people. So, Kazuki was stabbed by a guy who was influenced by Adonis into taking revenge against his bullies or something, and I guess Kazuki was killed when he tried to step in? Honestly, I feel terrible for Akito. He was already feeling doubts and guilt over getting revenge for his sister, but after experiencing Kazuki's death, he must hate his choice for joining Adonis even more than before. It honestly broke my heart to see Akito break down like that not knowing how he could atone for his sins in causing Kazuki's death. His heartwrenching screams really cut me and made me tear up from all the pain Akito must have been bottling up all this time. Akito will always be my favourite side character, I think his pain, his feelings and his emotions were portrayed so well.

Sanjo Keisuke

Aww, Sanjo's favourite food being ramen is very him, kinda hahaha. I can't imagine a 7kg bowl of ramen and having to finish that in 30 minutes😱 On the other hand, Sanjo being into arcades is kinda unexpected, lmaooo at Ichika thinking he would play the crane games😂 I didn't think about the fact that Ichika is a former cop just like him now, I wonder how he feels about that or whether he even cares😅 Lmao at Sanjo seriously answering Ichika what his type of woman is and then even describing the body shape with sound effects😂 I can't believe Ichika just tickled Sanjo and made him laugh like crazy, I would have liked to see that😆😆 I think it would have been so nice if Ogata was Sanjo's boss, I feel like their values and ideals of justice back in the day would have matched well since Sanjo probably desired something "pure" back in the day and hoped to be a part of an organisation that helped people, and Ogata was always helping people already, so they would have worked well together. It's just sad that they both got betrayed by their ideals of what the police should have been to them and others.

The idea that you can't feel any fear because you don't value your life is a pretty interesting and saddening thought. Maybe because I get that feeling sometimes. I agree with Sanjo, Zero definitely doesn't truly care about those ideals of saving the weak that he keeps spouting, he's not like Mikuni, and that's also imo the reason why Zero believes that he and Mikuni will never truly understand each other. Ichika and Sanjo eating ramen together is so cute lol.

Mikuni Rei

Lmao at Zero calling Mikuni an old man for liking fish, disliking carbonated drinks and other junk food because they're not nutritional hahaha. Otherwise, nothing much to say tbh, Mikuni has always been a rather bland character to me? I like him, but at the same time I don't because even though it's interesting to see that he actually has "noble" goals compared to Zero, the fact is that Mikuni as he himself said has been told that he's a "saviour" of sorts, and I think that really exemplifies the type of person Mikuni is. Someone who believes that he can and wants to "save" people in his own way as if he is someone above them all, but at the same time, he is very apparently flawed exactly because he is like that. He's not someone who truly understands the people "below" him and he also doesn't seem to perceive that as something that can be helped, and that's why even though his goals are "noble", he's not really noble at all. But it doesn't really change the fact that Mikuni is kind in his own way though. Mikuni eating shrimp crackers is so cute😂

Saeki Yuzuru

To be honest, I've always liked the chill policeman Saeki, and I personally think Zero likes that version of himself too. I feel like he always enjoyed just talking about stuff with Ichika during their drinking charades, and had fun visiting her. But at the same time, I feel like because of the existence of Adonis and Mikuni, Zero never really allowed his negative emotions to be "accepted" in order for him to move on, so instead it just continued piling up inside to the point of indifference towards the world and others imo. Anyway, it's sad, seeing Zero and Mikuni happily play chess together. They really look like two brothers just having fun in their own way. Hearing them say that they've been doing this since they were kids makes it all the more saddening when they realised that despite how "close" they were to each other, they never really understood each other. In a sense, I feel like in the end, both Mikuni and Zero use Adonis as a way to get the things they want and feel like it's one of the only ways they can do it? I mean, I do feel like Mikuni treasures his relationship with Zero more than Adonis or anything else, because when it comes down to it, I feel like he tries really hard to understand Zero by trying to see things from his perspective and hanging out with Ichika, the one that Zero thinks understands him best and the one Zero likes the most. On the other hand, Zero seems to use Adonis as a way for revenge of his mother and as a way to vent those emotions and scars he got, but at the same time Adonis also granted him Mikuni (a brother), and it gave him opportunities and power.

Zero definitely loves Ichika in an obsessed way, probably the only way he thinks he can love someone, since he doesn't want to become "weak" like his mother was. So if he felt anything like love, he would prefer it to be a love that would destroy him, because in a sense I think I can understand that sentiment of wanting the person you love to solely focus on yourself and no one else, whether that is hatred or whatever emotion doesn't matter, because being the entire focus of someone else's is a sort of "love" to enjoy, so I don't blame Zero for his twisted "love" lol. Especially since you can tell how much he has always enjoyed his after work beers and just chatting with Ichika. I quite enjoyed their little date walking around reminiscing the past and discovering new things they missed out on, now I really want to eat crepes🥲 The ending where Ichika kills Saeki is pretty sad though. Seeing Saeki the most relieved and happy he has ever been is probably what made me kinda happy for him though. He still sucks, but like Ichika said, I can't hate him, because it was true that he did reduce the sadness of many (whilst creating sadness for many others too though) and at the core, he was like in a sense a guy who consumed so much sadness from everywhere around him, always in pain, always sad despite his appearance, and thinking that makes it difficult for me to truly hate him.

Overall, I like the Adonis route! Initially, I was a bit sceptical whether it was really necessary and whether it would be interesting at all but I really loved bonding with all the executors. Seeing more of the human and emotional sides, seeing them warm up to Ichika and become friends with her really made me enjoy the "what could never be" part of it all. I think I especially loved Akito's because of how emotional it was tying into Kazuki and everything. But I also really enjoyed seeing the different sides of all of them. It really makes me wish Ichika got an individual route with like Akito and Sanjo and Ogata because I loveee them🥲🥲

Overall Review

I definitely enjoyed CxM: Unlimited much more than I thought I would! In the beginning, Sasazuka and Okazaki's routes kinda made me wonder whether I really wanted to continue this, but I'm so glad I got through them because I enjoyed Enomoto's, Yanagi's and Shiraishi's routes a lot! If I ranked them, I probably liked Shiraishi's the most, then Yanagi, Enomoto, Okazaki and then Sasazuka. It's definitely what I wanted in a fandisk, which is more fluffy romance and just bonding with all the guys even more, and I absolutely loveeee the potential romances with Yoshinari and Minegishi, they were so unexpectedly nice. Definitely no plot but that's okay since it's a fandisc and I think it fulfilled really well what its goal was when it comes to more romance in the story haha. 8/10! I'm definitely going to miss the characters, I'm so attached to Enomoto and them lol.

#collar x malice unlimited

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kumaonna · 2 years

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thoughts on collar x malice no one asked for

(in order of play):

okazaki:

my ride or die (literally)

very sweet

lovely cgs

i still got genuinely mad on my second play through when ichika realizes he wants to die for her, even after i knew it was coming 😭

second play through made everything he said and did make way more sense, and the whole time i was like… this mf….. YOU CANT FOOL ME

and then he promptly did, because i am a simp and the writing makes him very lovable

the whole “do you even know how angry I am rn” in the park after ichika leaves still made me 😳… very sweet moment

he was my first route accidentally when i initially played, so i didn’t really notice, but on the second time through after playing everyone’s route, i realized how isolated his route felt. which makes sense given the mandates of the situation

probably my favorite route of all, so im glad he was my first :)

enomoto:

he is genuinely such a fun character

i love his contrast to the other members, and the fact that you just become one half of a whole idiot in his route is very refreshing

his ending was a little weird? some of the pacing felt off, but i liked his character so much i didn’t rlly care

love my fake eyepatch boy

sasazuka:

this bitch

i love him and i hate it

which i think is probably the general consensus on him

his dialogue is seriously so funny sometimes

he’s just frustrating in general, but i can’t bring myself to hate him bc i know he’s good at heart

i also know this mf would deep dive my online history and clown me for an eternity

when he does the smile and eyebrow raise thing…. Yeah…..

shiraishi:

was NOT looking forward to his route

found myself genuinely enjoying it, surprisingly

and then he ruins everything :|

but then he fixes it :)

then ruins it again :|

continues ruining it

and then fixes it for good :)

honestly started liking him when i found out he played with stray cats…. Like he can’t be ALL bad, right…..

partially correct. but even now, still unsure how much of his interaction was real and how much was fake

which i guess is kinda the point bc it doesn’t really matter. what’s important was that he was doing it, not why (or so yanagi says 🤨)

anyway came to enjoy him and really feel for him in the ending ♥️💔

yanagi:

ngl i bought this game solely for yanagi initially

saw him in the trailer, was like DAMN, and then pressed purchase. dilf detector was off the charts

come to find out i had to do the rest of the routes first😑

but it really did make for a better playing experience, so i can respect it. loved having all my boys in the ending

knew i would like him, and was correct

just a comforting presence through and through

optimal malewife

was srsly hurt when he said “🙂time to shut you down completely🙂”

but it was short-lived, so the dilf is forgiven

when he ROLLS HIS R’s at the BAR WHEN YOU GET DRUNK??????? good lord, man. i needed a minute

was also feeling super embarrassed during that whole interaction. mega awkward and made me scrunch up when ichika leans her head on his shoulder and he is like?? you’re THAT drunk??? i mega cringed, but not in a bad way. just in the extremely embarrassed way😭

was happy to finally learn about his tragic past and all

his patience and kindness towards ichika is just….. so sweet…. ;; and when the kid comes crying to him in the park i went 😔yeah

his ending was very sweet. definitely in my top two

overall i fell in love with the way ichika’s character shifts depending on the route, and i was very happy to see it created tangible difference in her interactions with others and her decisions

the way ichika reacts to sasazuka while in yanagi’s route is different than the way she reacts when in sasazuka’s route, same with enomoto, etc.

ngl…. the intro about outro are kinda misses for me, but i appreciate them nonetheless😭

cgs are just. fantastic

at first when buying i thought $40 seemed kinda high, and even after a few routes (upon returning to the game months later) i still sort of felt that way, but now after doing all the routes and with everything wrapped up i can say it was well worth the money :)

which is precisely why i bought and am going to start collar x malice unlimited exactly rn 💀

♥️💔

#collar x malice #collar x malice unlimited #kuma

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magioftheseas · 3 years

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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...

#Magi Blah #recommended #collar x malice #ended up upping yanagi's score because I felt bad lmao

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soobinuwuss · 4 years

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any member of txt with a s/o that spends their entire day watching anime?

✧*。hey !! I decided to make hc's of each member, I hope you don't mind !!

Besides, do you guys play otome games? I've started one named "collar x malice" and I'm loving it so far !! I'm on Yanagi's route and he's my man already. I love him.

✧*。Yeonjun

Jjunie would need to be completely head over heels to accept watching anime with you. He didn't hate them, he just thought they were a bit childish; but when you sat down and put on your favorite anime on a movie night and looked at him with bright eyes and a excited smile, he didn't have the heart to protest. He really had it bad, huh?

✧*。Soobin

It's no secret that Binnie had a soft spot for you and was willing to do anything you asked so if you wanted to show him your favorite anime, that's what you guys were gonna do. At the end, he was interested and kept asking questions about the plot and the characters so you knew he liked it.

✧*。Beomgyu

Of course Gyu would tease you and pretend to not like it when he saw you were watching anime. Waving you off when you asked if he wanted to watch it with you but still kept sneaking glances while doing his own thing. Softly smiling, he sat down and put his arm around your shoulder, knowing it would make you happy.

✧*。Taehyun

Taehyun couldn't deny that he was intrigued by the plot. You were watching an anime about a dystopian society and that alone sparked his interest.

Sneaking his arms around you, he nuzzled his head on your shoulder and kissed the top of your head. You spent the rest of the day talking about it while cuddling.

✧*。Hueningkai

10/10 would watch it with you. I feel like Hyuka would love animes related to schools or slices of life because he could empathize with the characters so yes, lots of animes sessions. You would choose a day in which you would lay in bed together and eat lots of snacks he brought from the dorm.

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muwi-translates · 4 years

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Otomate Party 2019 Collar x Malice Drama “Reverse reality”

Short drama featured in Otopa 2019, this was also shown in the 2020 Otomate New Title Party livestream.

HEAVY BASE GAME SPOILERS. There’s also some minor spoilers AND a CG spoiler for -Unlimited-. Either way, don’t read this if you have not finished the first game.

Highly recommend that you watch while you read, it will 100% enhance the experience. It’s also because there are some ad-libs that are better experienced while you can see the voice actors and be able to hear the crowd. Here is a timestamped link to the section (if it doesn’t jump there, it starts at 15:23)

**Please don’t move this translation or claim it as your own.**

---

Yanagi: 20XX, December. Vicious events that have been committed in succession have disrupted social order. Known as the X-Day Incidents, we, who were former police officers, have been investigating--

Okazaki: Aha, wait, Yanagi-san~

Yanagi: Okazaki…Don’t interrupt others when they’re starting their monologue.

Okazaki: Sorry, but this time it doesn’t look like we need a very serious atmosphere.

Yanagi: What did you say?

Okazaki: The title seems to be wrong, it’s actually this:

[Title: It was just a dream]

Yanagi: What?

Okazaki: Shall I give you a summary then?

Okazaki: On a day in 20XX, a party was being held in a corner of Shinjuku. Thanks to the magic of Otopa (Otomate Party), in a place where time and space become twisted, a group of people who normally cannot meet have gathered…

---

Yanagi: An izakaya… no, I really don’t understand what’s—

Shiraishi: If it were just Yanagi-kun, Okazaki-kun and I…

Saeki: I feel like I’m intruding, sorry about that.

Mikuni: There should be no need to apologise. We were also forcibly brought here when we were busy.

Okazaki: Soooo… I believe that one is Ichika-chan’s co-worker from the police station, Saeki-kun, right?

Saeki: Yup.

Okazaki: And that one is the politician Mikuni-san?

Mikuni: Yes. I also know who you are very well. You’re the people from the detective agency who are investigating the X-Day incidents by yourselves. Since you’ve also been investigating the identity of the mastermind of Adonis, you must have discovered our involvement by now.

Yanagi: Hmph. Not gonna bother to hide it? Should I treat this as your confession?

Shiraishi: Hey, Yanagi-kun, you don’t have to think that much this time. All that about the incidents, arrests, they all don’t exist~

Yanagi: Excuse me?

Saeki: Ah, they told me before I came here, Today, let’s just throw away all that messy stuff from the main story. We can’t go dropping spoilers, yeah?

Okazaki: Haha, yup, it’s Otomate Party, after all.

Saeki: Yup, hehe~

Okazaki: So that means that it’s Saeki-kun and Mikuni-san’s first time meeting us, isn’t it?

Saeki: Ah, I know Shiraishi-san since he’s pretty famous in the Shinjuku station… but that’s about it.

Shiraishi: Ahaha… Mikuni-san, this should be fine, yes?

Mikuni: Are you trying to say that I should pretend I don’t know you, Num—

Shiraishi: Waitwaitwait… If you say it then what’s the point?

Yanagi: …Not enough...

Okazaki: Hm? Yanagi-kun, what’s wrong?

Shiraishi: Is there something wrong with your account book?

Yanagi: ...Not enough of Enomoto’s complaints...

Okazaki: Ah…. mm…. We do have a serious shortage of complaining.

Yanagi: Whatever. I can call you Mikuni, right?

Mikuni: Yes, even though I didn’t allow you to call me by name. The only one who has permission to do so is--

Shiraishi: S-S-Stop, didn’t we just say not to talk about the personal identity of that person today?

Yanagi: I can’t believe it… that Shiraishi’s thinking of other people?

Okazaki: Wait a second, Saeki-kun’s being left behind. I’m sorry, making you feel uncomfortable.

Saeki: It’s no problem, but… maybe I’m not meant to be here? You’re all important characters in the main story. I’m probably the youngest character amongst everyone here. Plus I’m just the friend of the protagonist.

Okazaki: What’s up with the weird reaction from the audience?

Saeki: You must be mistaken!

Okazaki: I must be! Haha~

Saeki: Hahaha

Okazaki: Ah, now that I remember, I’m so jealous you’re Ichika-chan’s coworker. I heard you two go out drinking together a lot.

Yanagi: That’s right, Saeki’s the only one who knows Hoshino well here.

Shiraishi: She’s still cautious with us, so I’m very interested in what kind of person she is.

Saeki: He~eh, Hosino’s pretty popular. But all I know is that she’s a really normal person. She’s always doing her best, and straightforwardly. Sometimes she can be discouraged and be in low spirits, but when she’s angry, she can be really scary. Ah! And when she gets drunk, she laughs a lot and gets really passionate when she talks to me.

Mikuni: …Is that it?

Saeki: Hm?

Mikuni: If Ichika Hoshino is as normal as you say then I believe she should not have been chosen by Adonis.

Yanagi: Oi, Mikuni, what do you mean?

Saeki: Oh… I don’t know how Adonis thinks, but I think she’s strong because she’s normal.

Mikuni: I don’t understand, even if I do want to, since she holds the key to us.

Saeki: Ahaha, to a brilliant politician like you, our worlds are completely different.

Shiraishi: ...Sorry, I can’t stand this anymore.

Yanagi: I can’t believe it… that Shiraishi’s losing his cool!

Okazaki: Truly a rare sight to behold.

Okazaki: That said, we’re in front of a gathering of girls, we shouldn’t be this aggressive. If our goal is to become friends, why don’t we play a game?

Shiraishi: Do you mean the friendship games that Okazaki-kun and Mineo-kun always play?

Yanagi: Those? It’s going to get more chaotic if so many people start drinking tequila.

Okazaki: Then what about a ‘revelation game’? We’ll reveal our true thoughts on the subject written on the back of these cards. And you have to answer the question no matter what it is.

Saeki: Oh, I like it! I’d be happy to get to know everyone better.

Mikuni: It’s of no loss to me if I get information from you.

Shiraishi: Then let’s go clockwise from Yanagi-kun.

Yanagi: Why do I have to go first? Nothing I can do about it-- IT’S MY TURN.

[Card: What kind of gestures do you like in a woman?]

Yanagi: Gestures? I haven’t really thought about it, something like tying long hair into a bun, I guess?

Saeki: Ah, I get that! It looks really nice when they’re wearing a yukata.

Shiraishi: Really? Should I tie my hair like that?

Yanagi: I didn’t ask.

Mikuni: I see. I’ll add this to the data we have on Aiji Yanagi.

Yanagi: I. Didn’t. Ask.

Okazaki: Then it’s my turn next. What’ll it be~?

[Card: What’s something you want a woman to say to you?]

Yanagi: Is this really about friendship?

Okazaki: Hm… I can feel the coercive energy of Otopa… it’s like... a heavy pressure.

Saeki: Okazaki-san looks like he’s pretty popular. I wanna learn from you.

Okazaki: Haha, you sound like Mineo-kun. Words I want to hear from a woman… Yanagi-san, it’s better to give a more restrained answer, right?

Yanagi: Yeah, it might be bad if you’re too careless, ah, but there’s still a chance. I’d rather you say something that can be visualised, it’s okay if you say something that can’t. Anyway, I’m leaving it up to you.

Okazaki: I’m just going to follow what’s in the script, then.

Okazaki: The golden phrase “I don’t want to go back”. If she said it like that, it would be impossible not to want her.

Shiraishi: I don’t get it, what kind of situation wouldn’t let her go home? Does she work at a bad company?

Mikuni: Perhaps her family situation is complicated?

Saeki: Uh, are you two really fully-grown men?

Yanagi: ...Enomoto… come here quickly… I’ll even take Namikawa (Daisuke)!

Shiraishi: It’s my turn next, right?

[Card: What kind of food do you want a woman to make for you?]

Shiraishi: Hm. Nothing in particular. I could just make it myself.

Okazaki: So dreamless! Shiraishi-san, you always eat such dull things. Don’t you ever crave some homemade food?

Shiraishi: Then Yanagi-kun will make something for me, so no.

Yanagi: Oi, I’m not your mother.

Mikuni: So Aiji Yanagi has the ability to win people’s hearts with good food. This cannot be underestimated.

Shiraishi: No matter how you say it, home made food is--

Saeki: [Slams his cup down] No! There’s stuff like meat and potato stew! And karage! That’s romantic!

Okazaki: Oh… Saeki-kun’s drunk. When did he drink that much?

Saeki: Pfft- I ain’t drunk! The night’s still young~!

Yanagi: The alcohol’s gone to his head, here, drink some water.

Mikuni: It might be better to lie down, come over here…

Saeki: Nuh-uh. I wanna play… the revelation game!!!

[Card: What’s your type of woman?]

Saeki: Ooh! My type of woman… let me think. Of course, she’s gotta be cute… has style, she’s good at cooking. Someone who’s usually honest, but sticks to their beliefs… and responsible with work.

Shiraishi: So someone who’s similar to you? Or someone who has the same type of thinking as you?

Okazaki: Also… this… sounds similar to Ichika-chan.

Saeki: Hm? Nah, we’re not like that--

Mikuni: --Enough. I should be going back soon.

Yanagi: Oi, what’s with you all of a sudden--

Okazaki: Ah… my vision… it’s weird… Yanagi-san...

Yanagi: What’s going on… this sound…

Shiraishi: Ah, is it over already?

Mikuni: We have fully obtained the information required for analysis. You must be satisfied too?

Okazaki: What… it hurts…--

---

Okazaki: *gasps* Huh? ...A dream? My bad, did I wake you up? No, I’m okay. I just had a weird dream. Good morning. Is your body okay? Last night I went too-- ah! Hehe, so cute~

I didn’t forget. Our promise that we were going on a date today. But I just want to hold you all the time, because you’re too cute. So cute it’s trouble.

If I kissed you like this outside you’d get angry at me, right? So… can you let me keep you all to myself just for a little longer?

---

Shiraishi: Hm? Was I asleep? I was reading to the children… it looks like I fell asleep when we were together. Eh? You were looking at my sleeping face? What’s that about, so unfair. You know I wanted to see yours too. I’ll see it someday. That’s right, there’s still ‘someday’ after this…

I still think it’s strange even now. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t know that the sun was this warm, or that the breeze is so pleasant. Just holding hands with you makes my chest hurt. Even though I still have to make you feel lonely for a little while longer, don’t worry. Because we’re connected under the same sky.

---

Mikuni: Ah, it’s you. Are you reporting something for work? My complexion is bad? No… I just had a strange dream. How rare for you to worry about me. I know, this is just superficial rhetoric used by subordinates. However, after talking with you over these past few days, the way I deal with people seems to have changed.

I… quite clearly think that you are annoying, but I do not hate you. Even in a hell like this, the light in your eyes has not disappeared. It seems that I am drawn to your strength.

No… forget what I said. That was just a joke that will disappear one day like illusions.

---

Saeki: Ah, sorry, I was just a little dazed. ...Careful! Almost dropped the crepe. It’s already sunset, after we finish, we should go.

…! Don’t make that kind of expression. Hey, Hoshino. I know you’re at your wit’s end trying to figure out what path you want to take. You must have already decided in your heart, right?

I see… I’ll always support you no matter what decision you make. And… I’ll resist like you are until the very end, if this is the ‘justice’ you believe in.

It’s sad, but let’s finish our date here today. Hey, will you go on another with me?

Haha, how cold… I still want to be with you like this. That’s why, see you again.

---

Yanagi: ...It’s still night.... You’re awake? I sounded like I was in pain? ...I made you worry. It’s okay, it wasn’t the dream I usually have. ...It wasn’t the same, but I guess it was still a nightmare.

Can I hold you? It’s not that I feel uneasy. It’s just that I can feel peaceful when I can feel you next to me. As long as you’re smiling next to me, I can push away any nightmare no matter what it’s about. And I can believe that I can welcome the dawn the next day.

We have the day off today, don’t we? Let’s go somewhere. I want to walk with you, through the streets of the Shinjuku I love.

#otome #otome game #collar x malice #collar x malice unlimited #cxm #otomate #yanagi aiji #shiraishi kageyuki #okazaki kei #mytranslations

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advernia · 5 years

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i’m amazed that i’ve been active for at least a couple days straight??? is it the effect of lesser fe3h playtimes + the silly coworker writing challenge at the workplace??? oh well ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

since i remembered i was trying to make work commentary a thing here, more rambling / author’s notes under the cut!

jul 6th // ikerev

push your way through the cracks is the first edgar/mc i’ve written here and while i’ve mentioned there that edgar is my fav out of the cast, i fear that i’ll probably take me a very long time to write another one bc... he’s my favorite. i noticed i have the tendency not to write much (or have finished works) about ships i really, really like despite... you know, liking them. hopefully not - shipping aside, i like exploring the characterizations of enigmatic types like edgar.

about the fic, i pretty much like it save for the second part bc i think i could’ve done something more with it - not exactly change the setting, but expounded a little further on it. i don’t know, it feels lacking somehow in comparison to the first two.

there are a lot of flower-related descriptions tossed here and there, but i think i succeeded in not being so purple prose-y? hopefully! this was pretty descriptive, i guess.

with this edgar fic present, that means i have 2 more red army doods to write about, namely zero & jonah. i was really aiming to make edgar the last one tho haha.

jul 12th // ikerev

weave me into your web is canon based, specifically pt. 24 of sirius’ route where they say ‘goodbye’. note those quotation marks.

i think i wrote this after a discussion i had with a friend about sirius & his route - she read some posts commenting on the route and she wanted a nearby opinion. we got into an agreement: while we do find sirius to be indeed husbando material, his route would’ve risked nothing if they gave him more / emphasized his flaws. his flaws, not mc’s, gosh.

no, seriously. in my opinion, mc fretting so much about being immature sort of blinds her from the little things that prove sirius is not so composed as he appears to be. it gets even worse when she realizes she’s fallen in love with him, and while i enjoy the black army going kira-kira rabu support team + seth being hopeless suitor, i’m going 50/50 on mc. she’s written to be indeed very single-minded come the war phase and while that’s not necessarily bad since she gets to broaden her perspective as she always does, i think i would’ve appreciated it if she came to most of the realizations on her own by reflecting on them based on how the events around her are progressing; and not simply by sirius / someone else pointing it out for her. no wonder she’d think she’s immature in comparison - it also irks me a bit that she keeps on fretting about her feelings for sirius. this is what i’d be sad to see again in other routes: the romance overthrowing the potential / present character development.

side note: i understand that in relationships with a notable age gap, maturity / perceived maturity can be a problem - i just wished that the route downplayed on this bc honestly, there are other things more interesting to explore than that angle, like, say; isn’t she from another culture or world or something????????? will those differences affect our potential relationship??????????????

on sirius himself, i recall reading on reddit that one person didn’t pick up ikerev for the reason that the cast is too perfect. that’s a fair opinion. i think i can relate this to sirius himself: while throughout the route you do see some flaws in him, he’s still overall the dude you’d write home about + that dude you’d dream introducing to your parents complete with that suave voice (thank u junichi suwabe). no, i’m not saying that he has to have some unlikable or quirky trait / wangsty backstory, it’s just that in my opinion he’s desirable but not exactly relatable. let him struggle, let me see him rise up from it. show me his humanity. there’s the scene with him and lancelot, but i want more. tho him being afraid of being alone is what i find extremely relatable and endearing about him, very nice. otherwise... well, maybe i have to reread the route again or smth.

anyway. the fic emphasizes actually on his character trait of self-control / restraint. did u know too much is bad for u??? it can reflect that since you hold yourself back too much, it could mean that you’re masking your true feelings, for example. there are various psychological studies on that. *stares at sirius* hMMM.

i took care to be quite descriptive on that kiss scene and at the same time, not to be so emotional on it bc it’s still sirius lol - i believe he’s not one to lose himself completely to his emotions, but he’s not that afraid to succumb to some of it - especially if he actually wants to feel them.

... this turned out to be a rant portion rather than a fic commentary now didn’t it

aug 24 // ikerev (i’m seeing a pattern here)

a beginner’s guide to waltz was seriously just some formatting experiment, then it blew up to something larger. i actually like it tho, it’s cute.

writing oliver is actually fun, not bc of the reason that i can be rude. he is rude, but he’s not like that for just the sake of being so. as seen with blanc, it’s probably a result of habit. why exactly he chose to be verbally aggressive is something i’d like to know in his route.

i have no idea how the relationship shift is portrayed either, but i do hope it’s a mortifying revelation on mc’s part lol. like, lookie here, that little kid with his wee shorts and pretty hat that you hang out with all the time and don’t care about acting so ladylike around was that hot hunk who saved you before! oliver’s so amused and never letting her live it down.

for the line ‘i’m not interested in asking you about a decision you’ve made since you arrived here’: the decision mentioned is mc’s promise not to fall in love & to go home. i think oliver would be one of those routes where he falls for her but wants her to go home anyway, but the difference in his route is that he’s very adamant to make her leave. maybe thinking along the lines of ‘i don’t want you to end up like me’ or something. idk. idk what i’m trying to type at this point, lol.

just some random thought, but i do hope ikerev artist tcg someday draws mc in the game outfits / hairstyles bc she’s actually rly pretty. the description of mc’s outfits / fashion of part 4 of the fic was out of me just staring at the my closet portion of the game. don’t ask - i like the hc of oliver & mc having elegant wardrobes / fashion sense, and since i’m too lazy to check up 19th century london fashion trends...

sep 28 // collar x malice

haunted by something still alive was the result of me thinking about guns. don’t ask me either. maybe it’s also a result of me wanting to write something else that isn’t from my horrendous drafts folder lol.

these were actually nice drabble practices, and the first one i clearly had i mind was shiraishi’s. i honestly think it would be fitting, probably around the start of the route where they haven’t got to know each other so well.

from there on i tried to do the drabbles in the route order i did when i played the game, which was mineo - sasazuka - okazaki - shiraishi - yanagi. but tbh when i was writing it became shiraishi - mineo - yanagi - sasazuka - yanagi again - okazaki, lol. i rewrote yanagi’s and okazaki’s three times.

subtitles have their respective mathematical operations on it - i find it kind of cool and funny that those are their symbols (amnesia had the card suits), but when you do think of it properly, it does relate to their characters.

... never forget that hoshino ichika is canonically good with guns.

sep 28 // ikerev

in absence of glass slippers as stated was a part of one of my first ikerev drafts. still a draft until now, but the portion i posted is one of the ‘finished’ sections of the fic.

i don’t headcanon mc as a respectable lady from a equally respectable house or her being a well-off girl, but i like the concept of her being a self-taught lady of society aka she learned stuff like manners, dancing, and etc. out of curiosity or for more practical reasons like fitting in. 19th century london is still the victorian era, so social class and propriety was still a thing.

her taking off her shoes to practice dancing with ray is a sort of a challenge, actually... his measure of improvement will be based on the times that he steps on her feet / how many blisters her feet would gain by the end of the session, lolol - that’s why she says that stepping on a rock is the least of her problems. pretty hardcore, isn’t she?

thus the title actually - glass slippers (mary janes actually) are pretty delicate, but don’t you think a lady’s foot is much more delicate?

with ray’s fic up, i’ve officially written a piece for all of the black army men! nice.

sep 29 // ikerev

neither heaven or hell is holy shit, an mc-centered fic! hella rad - i was half thinking to classify it as a drabble, but since i decided that drabbles are pieces that i may get back on, i kept it as a full fic instead since i’m happy with how it turned out.

all of my screamings are in the tags, so i don’t have much to add besides that lol. however, the writing here is pretty different, and that’s because i was trying to do a three sentence fic challenge kind of thing. buuuuut it became three paragraphs with three lengthy sentences instead lol.

also, there’s some stuff highlighting mc’s london-er/english-ness. washing powder is the british term for laundry soap. 19th century roofs for royals were usually panels, and wooden beams for commoners. different as chalk and cheese is a british expression. i’m certainly not british but i just like emphasizing the fact that mc is of another culture/world, thus there should be differences in how she perceives things / her mannerisms & actions / her way of speech. i’ve been conscious of that in all of my fics involving her.

actually, i do make it a point to watch her way of speaking. i really like the polite way of speaking of 19th century britain (and also of today), so i try to integrate that despite the fact that i’m not british myself lol. it’s hard to fully convey it, but i try with hoping that it doesn’t seem too off. i should probably look for more references to practice it.

this was a very spontaneous piece with actually minor editing involved, and i’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

#rundown.txt #oh this is certainly longer than i intended it to be #oh well thank you to those who reads these ramblings of mine tho!

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head-cans · 6 years

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Collar x Malice Headcanon #1

I’m so sleep deprived that I think I’m dying - I haven’t gotten proper sleep in weeks send help.

This probably sucks because I’m so tired, but I love CxM so have these.

How they react to being called their first name:

Yanagi: Yanagi isn’t used to hearing ‘Aiji’ from anybody’s mouth. He hasn’t spoken to his family in so long that he can’t remember what it even sounded like. So when he hears that gentle, soft voice murmur from behind him in the cold winter air, his whole body starts with surprise as he turns around to find the girl he loves in just one of his oversized shirts, ‘are you coming back in soon?’ she asks, shivering from the breeze on her exposed skin. He smiles back at her and nods, making his way over to her and patting the top of her head and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, ‘yeah, let’s head in now. It’s too cold to go out in such light clothes.’

Sasazuka: Sasazuka tries to get his lover to call him by his given name often, but she says that it doesn’t feel right to do such a thing. Of course it aggravates him, he normally pulls the ‘I call you by your name! It’s not that difficult to say Takeru!’ card, but she still just won’t do it. It’s late one night when she thinks that he’s already asleep when she begins playing with his hair, ‘Takeru… Takeru… What if you don’t like the way it sounds when I say it…?’ she asks herself with worry, only for Sasazuka to smile, unable to suppress it, ‘you’re worried about that? Stupid cat, if it’s you of course I’ll love it,’ he kisses her sleepily before falling asleep for real.

Enomoto: Enomoto would call her by her first name all the time. He’s a massive hopeless romantic, so using given names is one of the things that he likes to do. At first it made her too nervous to just call him ‘Mineo’, it also felt like it was bad for her to be doing since she only ever called her family by their first names. When he says ‘I love you’ for the first time, it just seems to slip out of her mouth. ‘I love you too, Mineo!’ She gasps with tears welled in her eyes. He gets so excited that he can’t even talk, stammering out something that didn’t even resemble any kind of language.

Okazaki: Okazaki calls everybody by their given names, he’s a very chill person and it just comes naturally to him. He doesn’t mind when people don’t call him ‘Kei’, it’s unimportant to him whether or not his lover uses his first name or not. When she does, it’s completely unexpected. Getting hurt is Okazaki’s forté and when he gets shot (it was only in the thigh) on the job, the first one to come see him is her, rushing into his room as fast as she can, ‘Kei!’ she gasps as she grabs him and pulls him into a tight hug. His heart starts pounding at the sound of his name and he kisses her in attempt to expel the tight feeling he got in his chest from the sound of her voice.

Shiraishi: Shiraishi never thought he was attached to his name as he had been raised to believe he was ‘number 14’. He never knew how significant a name was until he heard her say that ‘name’, that’s when he realized that names are magical things, especially when she said that name. He was attempting to make her dinner while she showered after a very long shift at work when she entered the kitchen, ‘Kageyuki?’ her voice is soft and sleepy and when he turns around in surprise -his heart pounding from the sound of his name - and finds her in an oversized sweatshirt and incredibly baggy pants, it causes him to lose his senses and before he realizes it, he has he pressed to the wall, kissing her with his all and his dinner setting off the smoke alarm.

#headcanons #collarxmalice #collar x malice #collar x malice headcanons #cxm #aiji yanagi #kageyuki shiraishi #kai okazaki #mineo enomoto #takeru sasazuka #collar x malice otome #otome #otome headcanons #headcanon

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krys-does-otome · 6 years

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Week of Otome, Day 5: Favorite and Least Favorite Character Tropes

I haven’t gone wrong yet with a Kuudere character.

People might have heard of character tropes known as tsundere and yandere, but for me, if a game has a known kuudere, chances are that’s going to be my favorite character.

To define it, a kuudere character can come off as cold and standoffish at first. They tend to be the quieter and more serious type characters. In comparison to the first two, a tsundere will outwardly express their feelings, but often times feel embarrassed when expressing these feelings, so it more often than not comes off in a negative way. IE: “It’s not like I like you or anything, baka.” Meanwhile, the yandere typically loves their targets to the point of obsession. They likely know almost every subtle detail of their love interest and often insert themselves into the love interest’s lives in a way that pushes out any sort that could be considered ‘competing’ for love interest’s attention, anything from love rivals to even normal people in love interest’s life.

A kuudere won’t do this. They tend to stay on the edge of social circles, the quiet loner type that keep mostly to themselves and most seem to prefer it that way.

Not to be confused with the shy type that stutters and is flustered when confessing feelings (Dandere), a kuudere is more likely to assess the situation logically and tell you straight out if they like you or not.

Think of it being the difference between an introvert and being shy. An introvert tends to be (but not always) quieter, preferring their own company and quieter spaces to the company of others, because being around noisy people is mentally draining, yo. Someone who’s shy tends to stay away from others because of their fear of being rejected or being made fun of, but still wants to interact with others. This type is the dandere. A dandere wants to interact but can’t because of their fear. A kuudere can interact normally with others without that fear, they just find the interacting part exhausting.

Examples of kuuderes include: Hajime Saito from Hakuoki, Jieun from Dandelion, Kent from Amnesia: Memories, Aiji Yanagi from Collar x Malice, Yukiya Reizen from Wizardess Heart, Byron Wagner from Midnight Cinderella, and Mason from Hustle Cat.

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A special shoutout also goes to my second favorite type, The Obnoxious Flirt and/or the Womanizer.

Just like the kuudere, I’d prefer it in games if a potential love interest straight out tells me they like me instead of dancing around the issue with backhanded statements or mixed signals.

Guess what the Obnoxious Flirt does.

Makes it known, in no uncertain terms, that they wants to get in your pants. They always DTF.

Admittedly, this trope can go wrong in a lot of ways (can come off as creepy, especially if the love interest doesn’t take no for an answer), but when it’s done right, it can be a pretty magical route for me.

My Favorite Obnoxious Flirts include: Erik from Seduce Me the Otome, Yuri from Nameless, and Shingen Takeda from Ikemen Sengoku. (Technicality points also go to Impey Barbicane from Code: Realize and Rumple from Cinderella Phenomenon as they are both obnoxious flirts, but they are also complete dorks, so they don’t have the coolness/smoothness factor of the previously mentioned baes.)

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My least favorite trope is actually a pretty common one. I believe the trope can be done well, but there haven’t been many instances where I’ve seen the trope in a good light.

I know that the yandere trope can be done well. The trope exists for a reason. There is something to gained from it, but more often than not, it’s done at the expense of a lot of characters.

The yandere trope has two commonalities within it that I see too often and it’s the two things that piss me off about the trope that makes it a general turn off for me: ‘Surprise Yandere’ and ‘The Yandere’s Thoughts and Feelings Superseding Their Love Interest’s Thoughts And Feelings.’

I’ll break these down.

1) The Surprise Yandere

A character that had previously given little to no indication that they were such a character, but all of that changes like the flip of a switch once the player/MC starts on this character’s path. A previously kind older brother type soon becomes a obsessed maniac that puts his love in a cage or gets violently aggressive towards other people in MC’s life when he literally has no reason to be this aggressively jealous. A new colleague that was previously mostly emotionally distant from others suddenly is holding MC hostage, holding her prisoner while making excuse after excuse to try and keep her there longer.

It’s not like a surprise twist can’t be good or, well, a surprise. It can be done well, but not through a huge sticker that just suddenly appearing that says YANDERE that slaps you in the face.

From my experience, the best I’ve seen done with the Surprise Yandere trope was Saint Germain from Code: Realize.

Up until the official start of his route, he gave no indication of being the yandere of the group. He was the kind yet mysterious lord of the house, offering kind words and advice to Cardia and the others when prompted. He was funny, teased Impey quite frequently, and loved a quiet chat over tea.

When his route officially started, however, the heel-turn he does when he’s truly alone with Cardia, away from the protection of Lupin and the others, luring her into a false sense of security with the intention of killing her, is so great. What followed after that was a back and forth of Saint G fighting between his duty to Idea and his love for Cardia. He knows that he has to kill the her because she’s a homonculus abomination created by a man trying to become God, but he’s come to care for the girl that was under his wing, a girl he watched grow from an emotionless doll into someone so independent and strong in her own way that the thought of hurting such a lovely creature hurts him beyond words.

It’s not a traditionally yandere role, as he’s not obsessing over the MC in an overt way; he’s just upset that he has to destroy a person that has become dear to him because of what she is and not being thought of or acknowledged as the person she had become.

Saint G is also a special yandere to me because, unlike a lot of yanderes (and various other tropes), he also steers clear of the other reason that I don’t like yanderes, which is:

2) The Yandere’s Thoughts and Feelings Supersedes the Love Interest’s Thoughts and Feelings

If there’s something that pisses me off in otomes (and in RL in general), its when the MC loses control of the situation and is unwillingly forced to follow along with a bae’s wishes. This extends to all of the tropes, but the yandere trope has this the worst, in my opinion.

Note the ‘unwillingly’ mentioned above. If the MC was going to be treated fairly and competently, this wouldn’t be a problem. Always remember that consent in any situation is important.

It’s when an MC isn’t treated fairly and competently is when things start to get a little dicey.

This can be anything from MC being forced into a cage, under house arrest to keep from being kidnapped, drugged, chained up, being repeatedly told that she can’t hang out with other guys because ‘it makes him jealous’ even after repeated reassurance that there was nothing romantic going on between her and the other guys, etc. All against everything that’s sensible and fair to the MC.

It’s like the MC’s opinion stops mattering once the yandere is in control, and she can’t say ‘No,’ anymore.

What makes this even worse is when the MC just... starts going along with this. That’s she’s suddenly now okay with having all of these things happen her, doesn’t question it, doesn’t try to talk to her bae about how she feels about this kind of behavior, she just kind of... gives up.

This is probably the scariest part of a yandere for me, that free will is taken away from the MC, and the player is expected to sit there too while terrible things happen. What’s even worse is if there is an option for the player to make the MC speak up or fight back, it usually results in a bad ending. Like, if you want to progress any further, you have to sit there and take this abuse until the end.

It’s very, very much not cool.

I do have one glimmer of hope that this trend is starting to change.

Enter one Kenshin Uesugi of Ikemen Sengoku.

His official route barely released a month ago at the time of this posting, the Dragon of Echigo is quickly climbing up the ranks as one of my favorite characters (then again, all of the IkeSen guys are treasures, but that’s just me).

If there’s nothing more that Kenshin loves more, it’s a good fight. Given him even the slightest inch, and he will fight you to the death. He loves everything about it from highly technical battle tactics and strategy to light conversations about what a dictionary is and questioning if it can it be used as a weapon.

Admittedly, I have not played his route as of this posting, nor is it looking to be done in the near future (Nobunaga’s Bae in Review needs to be written and I need to finish both of Hideyoshi’s endings, not to mention LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE, AHHHHHH), but I have been mildly spoiled for the route, at least to get the basic gist without anything really major getting spoiled.

I’ll try to keep this as vague as I can so I can keep others from getting majorly spoiled.

From what I’ve seen, it does contain the inevitable kidnapping of the MC (because MC originally allied to the Enemy Oda Forces, and Kenshin is on the opposite side, so of course she needs to be kidnapped at some point).

But, the difference is what would normally happen in a yandere route... doesn’t happen.

Kenshin actually respects the MC. He never does anything to really mistreat her. While technically speaking she is a prisoner of war, the two had met before he knew she was with the Oda Forces, and he was intrigued by her. Rather than using her as a bargaining chip, however, he keeps her locked away so that he could protect her. Because she intrigues him.

Stay with me here.

While this might be considered typical of a yandere route, and though Kenshin is dramatic in just about everything he does, he never intended to intentionally hurt her. If @otome-obsessed‘s tweets are anything to go by, Kenshin is willing to listen to the MC as she tries to help him figure out his feelings. To let him know when he’s doing something that’s very much not okay, to put a stop to the bad behavior and helps him to better himself for it. (And thank God that it didn’t turn into a Stockholm Syndrome situation as I’m sure I would have vomited. IkeSen MC is too powerful to be Stockholm Syndromed).

This, this is something I want to see more of, not just in yandere routes, but probably in otomes in general. In life in general, really. That you can take no for an answer and no one is upset by it, maybe even learn something from it. Because consent is sexy as hell, y’all. And that you can work through your problems in a healthy, adult manner, such as talking to each other. Everyone has their flaws, but a willingness to grow and change is a great thing to have.

/end soapbox rant

#week of otome #wizardess heart #yukiya reizen #seduce me the otome #erik (incubus)#Uzaeris #code: realize #code: realize spoilers #Saint Germain (Code: Realize)#ikemen sengoku #ikemen sengoku spoilers #kenshin uesugi #spoilers for kenshin's route

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2-desu-4-u · 6 years

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I just finished Collar X Malice

So without going into too much depth these would be how I rate the routes

1. Sasazuka: I didn't think I was going to like his route at first tbh (the first cg you get of him is semi misleading) but all in all just his character and your interactions with everyone makes me so happy. Everything from your interactions with him and his interaction with other characters just makes me want to squeal so bad. I'm 100% going to play it again before I move on to the next otome game.

2. Yanagi and Enomoto: I put these in the same spot for a couple reasons. Enomoto will have a special place in my heart as the first boi in the game that i romanced. Since Yanagi is the main boy he is a lot more plot heavy and despite a fair amount of translation error/glitches the ending killed me so I'll forgive it. Their personalities are opposite but I really enjoyed both routes.

3. Okazaki: I played his route after Sasazuka so already I was still thinking about the other route when I was playing tbh. It didn't go how I thought it would (not in a bad way) and I liked the ending but it felt kinda meh especially with how much I liked other routes.

4. Shiraishi: I never liked him from the beginning character wise and personality wise and tbh I only played the route cause I had to. The ending was also pretty anticlimactic to me as well.

------- yup. This was a good game -------

#collar x malice #otome game #otome #yanagi aiji #takeru sasazuka #mineo enomoto #shiraishi kageyuki #ps vita #dead #i love them so much

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serenity-writes · 6 years

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Collar x Malice Spoiler-Free Review

My first review of a VITA game~ Thank you to @himiko-kaze for the suggestion :)! I’m a little late to the handheld since I just bought one a few months ago for all the gorgeous otome, so I’ve been playing catch-up. This one I picked up because I really love the art style, and I’m so glad I did. So, if you’re still on the fence, let me attempt to convince you to give it a try ;) *This review will contain details of the prologue/basic premise, and all CG’s are taken from the prologue/product page, so there will be no/very minor spoilers.

So, what is Collar X Malice?

Dystopian feelings run amok in a fictional creation of Shinjuku, Tokyo. You play as Ichika Hoshino (name changeable, will be referred to as MC from now on), a rookie cop. Currently, a series of terror attacks have been plaguing the city, all leading up to “X-Day”, a day that the terrorists Adonis promise will purge all sinners. One day, MC is captured by the mysterious Adonis; they lock a collar on her that will poison her if she doesn’t do as they wish. Our dear MC is rescued by the LI’s, and she begins to work with them to uncover the truth behind these attacks and to hopefully prevent them all.

OVERALL RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡

PRODUCTION QUALITY (ART/MUSIC/VOICES): ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

STORY: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡

STEAMINESS: ♥ ♥ ♡ ♡ ♡

SUSPENSE/DRAMA: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

MC LIKEABILITY: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡

DOES MC HAVE EYES: YES!

Let’s break it down.

If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know by now that the production quality of a game is very important to me. CxM really hits all the sweet spots in that aspect. I’ve never really seen a game with this much uniqueness and style. It’s really in a category all on its own. Don’t ask me why, but the words that spring to mind when I think of the art are ‘edgy’ and ‘sharp’. This is some of the promotional art:

The CG’s are drawn with a slightly softer tone, but it’s not nearly as romantic as, say, Code:Realize’s art style. It very much suits the themes of the game. The eyes of the characters are a smidge unsettling to me, especially Takeru’s with those snake-like ones, but I don’t mind it too much.

This background and many others are done in this vein to really perpetuate the dreariness that is Shinjuku under rein of terror.

The music does a fantastic job at contributing to the suspense and intensity of it all, as well as the voices. They all seem to fit with the characters, and the actors did a fantastic job with displaying emotion, especially during tough scenes or cute scenes (especially during Mineo’s route <3).

I also really love the way the text is stylized. Dialogue lines aren’t just in the text box on the bottom, they actually jump around depending on the speaker’s location and are color-coded, like this:

And sometimes characters come on the sides instead of having full sprites appear:

They’re such unique touches that I never thought I needed, but ended up really appreciating throughout. With Vita otomes from Aksys in general, I’ve come to expect a very high production quality regardless of story quality, and CxM definitely doesn’t disappoint.

This story is unlike any other otome I’ve ever played. It’s definitely more of a plot-driven story, with romance being more of a side dish rather than a main course, if you know what I mean. It definitely has its sweet, adorable moments full of team bonding and flirty flirting. But if you’re looking for a story that focuses fully on romance, better look elsewhere. Our characters got shit to do, like saving their city first haha. I feel that the main mystery of X-Day and Adonis is interesting on its own. I wouldn’t say it interested me enough that I would play a game strictly with the story and none of the romance, but it was definitely well-crafted and incredibly unique. I was genuinely baffled by the mystery sometimes. I really like that the game takes the time to force you to think about the case and draw your own conclusions.

Of course, I can’t not mention the love interests:

From left to right, it’s Takeru Sasazuka, Mineo Enomoto, Aiji Yanagi, Kei Okazaki, and Kageyuki Shiraishi. They’re all representatives of the typical tropes you can expect to find in an otome, but they didn’t feel overdone and they all had their unique quirks that really made them memorable in my mind. This game, like Code:Realize, forces the player to play through four routes before unlocking the final “true” route. I did the recommended route order of Mineo -> Takeru -> Kei -> Kageyuki first, then Aiji was unlocked. I think this order allows the story and mystery to be unlocked piece by piece, which was the intent. This progression felt much more natural than it did in Code:Realize, for it’s an actual mystery with cases.

There was little in terms of steaminess in the game. The furthest they really get is kissing, with some implications of something more. But it’s sweet all the same, and I don’t think more would have improved the game much in terms of enjoyment. The suspense was ramped up allll the way and I was really left guessing throughout the entire thing. Maybe I’m just bad at these games haha…

In terms of a main character, I really like Ichika. She’s rather outspoken and unafraid. She tries really hard to be a good sister and a police officer that helps the citizens. She has her own sense of justice. She even admits when she’s wrong, and makes efforts to repair things and apologize. I really like the proactive role she takes in these cases, and she actually tries to solve them instead of only relying on the expertise of those around her. Sometimes I felt she was a little naïve, but hey, nobody’s perfect. However, one thing that I could not get over was ICHIKA’S HAIR! It’s this random mix of short, cropped hair at the back, accompanied by scattered long strands at the side that seem to go on forever. It’s pretty much the epitome of anime hair and makes no sense whatsoever. I’d show you a picture but the CG’s that show it are spoilery, so I won’t. Play the game and you’ll know what I’m talking about, haha…

One more shot of some of the boys:

Overall, this game gets a solid four from me. If you can get it on sale, absolutely do it. There were definitely some routes I enjoyed more than others, but I think there’s something here for everyone, no matter what type you’re into. My favorite ended up being my first route, Mineo, though Yanagi is a close second. I know others really loved Kei and Shiraishi, but eh, they weren’t for me. I’ll hopefully be doing a route by route review as well, so look out for that ^_^. Thanks for reading~

#collar x malice #playstation vita #spoiler free review #otome #aksys games #serenity writes #mineo enomoto #aiji yanagi #takeru sasakuza #kageyuki shiraishi #kei okazaki #mineo is my precious cinnamon roll

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deathbyotoge · 7 years

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Collar x Malice Overview

It only took me about 3.5 months to complete, but I have officially completed Collar x Malice in its entirety! Life’s been pretty crazy busy ever since July when the game was released, what with vacations, work, attempts to be social (^▽^;), and all the other games I’ve been playing on the side, so my otome gaming kinda took a backseat for awhile. ごめん~!

Theme: Although it did take me awhile to get through the game, I definitely loved every moment. Of the otome games that have been localized in English, Collar x Malice is certainly up there in quality–definitely worth the time and money! If you’re anything like me and you love otome games that have depth in the overarching plot, but has a substantial romantic subplot for each route, then you’ll absolutely love Collar x Malice as much as I do. There’s ample mystery to compel your curiosity, there’s thrilling scenes that keep you immersed, and there’s a profound underlying theme that parallels our very own societies’ daily tragedies and injustices–more specifically the hatred that the public feels for the police due to “incompetence,” as well as the corruption that exists within the police itself. The overall theme really hit home for me at times because I have close ties with the police, as my boyfriend just finished the police academy not too long ago and I can personally attest to some of the dialogue and challenges police officers face daily. By that same token, there were parts of the plot that were comical and unrealistic to me, but when I looked passed that, I really could appreciate the nuances of the story.

Plot: The overaching main plot was beautifully woven throughout each route, and I love how each route added a significant piece to understanding the mysteries of the X Day cases. There wasn’t a route that felt like a random addition just for the sake of another romantic interest or insignificant fluff, which I really appreciated. I mean I love romance and angst as much as the next otoge lover, but I love substance to the plot with development of romance even more. Every character had a meaningful place in the plot that drove the story forward, and I was overall impressed by how well the story came together in the final route with Yanagi. The banter between main and side characters added to the overall charm of the game, and the dialogue between all the characters makes the reader really empathize and care for each one. I don’t want to give away anything just yet (I’ll save major details for the individual route reviews), but there were definitely backstories that were just so heart-wrenching and relatable that it was almost unfathomable. The more you can immerse yourself into the story, the more you’ll love it after all! I am a major sucker for character development, romance, and engaging plot lines, and although it’s not perfect, Collar x Malice is phenomenal in all three aspects.

Plot Twist Spoiler Review (Click Here): This segment of the review contains significant plot spoilers, but if you have already completed the game, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Overall Route Rankings: 1. Aiji Yanagi 2. Takeru Sasazuka 3. Kageyuki Shiraishi 4. Kei Okazaki 5. Mineo Enomoto (INDIVIDUAL ROUTE REVIEWS COMING SOON!)

Holistically considering the plot, character development, dialogue, and closure, Yanagi’s route definitely beats out the rest, which makes sense since he’s the canon poster boy for the game; however, I have a soft spot for Sasazuka as the big tsun tsun that he is, so I just had to make a separate ranking list for the quality of romance (♥ω♥*).

Romance Rankings: Takeru Sasazuka > Aiji Yanagi > Mineo Enomoto > Kei Okazaki > Kageyuki Shiraishi

It was tremendously difficult to order the five routes according to my most favorite to least favorite because I honestly loved them all in their own way. Each route had their pros/cons, which I will explain in more detail for each characters’ route review, but in the end I can settle with this ranking. The difference between routes is so minute that I could probably just group 1st place as Yanagi/Sasazuka, 2nd place as Shiraishi/Okazaki, and 3rd place as Enomoto. UGH BUT I JUST LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH! (⋟﹏⋞)

Stay tuned for more updates over the next few weeks! ♡

#collar x malice #collar x malice review #aiji yanagi #takeru sasazuka #otome game #review #ps vita

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atopearth · 3 years

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Collar X Malice Part 3 - Sasazuka Takeru Route

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm excited or anxious about starting Sasazuka's route because he's my least favourite in terms of looks and personality. I think the baka neko/idiot cat thing is pretty affectionate so I'm okay with it, but we'll see. Personally, he's investigating one of the cases I'm most interested in (serial killing of online gamers), and I also noticed that if I played this game blind, I would have ended up on Sasazuka's route haha, so I'm curious how this will go, especially considering how most people love Sasazuka. Personally, I feel like Sasazuka is a very blunt guy grounded in reality and wants Ichika to face that to better prepare her for the future, so I don't dislike him haha. Lmao at Sakuragawa's first words to Sasazuka, and she even said it in English!!🤣 She's so cool, I love her. I have such a soft spot for Minegishi though, I love his looks, how kind he is, but also how strict and logical he can be.

Omggg, Sasazuka doesn't like Japanese sweets?! I can understand matcha since he's obviously a sweet tooth fanatic but c'mon, red bean paste and stuff is so good! He's definitely missing out. Ooh, so the reason why Sasazuka is on the August case is because he wants to change the law that came about from it, which was the repeal of the Swords and Firearms Control Law. Honestly, considering the crazy impact, changes and possibilities that came about from this repeal, I guess I'm not too surprised that there's someone working to change that back, but I guess I'm curious about why Sasazuka supposedly only cares about that and not really the case in itself? Btw, lmao at Sasazuka's outright rejection towards her wanting to do this case too. To be fair, if I was Sasazuka, I probably wouldn't want to work with her either lol. Personally, restating the weapon ban is probably what I would want to focus on if I was a part of this whole thing, so it's kinda interesting to see how relatable this already is for me hahaha. Honestly, even though Sasazuka isn't the nicest guy, he's not exactly wrong to say Ichika is thoughtless lol. When she told Yanagi she was going to go talk to Sasazuka again, I honestly thought she was going to try and convince him to let her go on this case with him, but instead all she did was ask to be on it again and then was ready to leave when he refused to answer. In the end, Sasazuka was the one who had to ask her why she was so insistent about it, when really, if she really wanted to convince him, shouldn't she have thought about how she could convince him or tell him properly her reasons for wanting to be in on this case especially? Anyway, I found it funny how Ichika rejected Sasazuka's suggestion for being his pawn in the case, but is willing to cook and provide food for him lol, honestly I'd just roll with the pawn thing if it was me, just so there's at least an opportunity to show him my skills and resolve lol. But I guess it's important to start off this partnership properly or she'll always be under him haha.

Awww, I love how Mukai, Sakuragawa and Ichika are such fast lunch buddies loll. Guess homemade food gets to everyone's hearts haha. It was so cute when Mukai was looking at Ichika's Bento wanting to eat it hahaha. Anyway, is it just me or does Sasazuka's route have more typos, mistakes and everything??? Like they're not terrible but it does annoy me lol. I love how hard Ichika tried to pass Sasazuka's test and understand the X-Day incidents better. Considering that she's not part of investigations, she definitely tried really hard! Lmao at Sasazuka rewarding her with a donut, but considering how much he loves them, him giving her a donut is pretty good praise. Hahahaha, is he going to feed her with sweets every time he's proud of her and wants to reward her?😂 That's so cute lmao. Honestly, I feel like with Sasazuka doing stuff like randomly forcing her to choose a restaurant to eat and always doing stuff but not explaining things properly, it makes life pretty stressful for Ichika lol. But it's good in a sense that she can help Sasazuka explore more different foods and stuff he wouldn't usually choose I guess haha. Anyway, I'm glad she stood her ground and told him to explain before they entered Kazuki's room though, Sasazuka was being really forceful. On the other hand, Akito being a suspect for that school explosion case is interesting🤔 How long has Akito been associated with Adonis? Okay, Sasazuka letting her cry on his shoulder, him patting her and calming her down and letting her reorganise her thoughts on what she's going to do if Kazuki is involved with the X-Day cases really made me happy. Sasazuka is a really practical guy, but he was really kind about it all, and he even helped her find a new resolve to help her brother without being torn over the whole thing considering it was a lot for her to process (from learning that Kazuki is in a band to knowing all these people etc). Omg..so Akito's sister committed suicide because of bullying..so the class that got bombed was her class huh.. No wonder why Akito seems to care about Kazuki and Ichika's relationship so much. I always thought it was because he really cherished Kazuki as a friend (he still does of course) but it was also because he didn't want Kazuki and Ichika to regret how they handled their relationship and how they didn't communicate properly. I guess it's something Sasazuka could probably understand to an extent since he was discriminated in America and it ended up with him dropping out of school. It all worked out with his hacking skills but just because he's found another way in life doesn't mean it didn't hurt back in the day I guess.

HAHAHA, I died when Enomoto encouraged Ichika to visit Sasazuka's house (since he's not replying texts and calls once he holes himself up) and said she doesn't need to fear a mere seaweed😂😂 Hahahah, considering how much Enomoto and Sasazuka both "hate" yet care for each other, I find it hilarious how in both of their routes, they both kinda "attack" Ichika in their sleep lolll. I find it cute how she just ended up falling asleep too, and even though Sasazuka panicked when he woke up, he felt warm enough and happy about it that he just went back to sleep lmao. Hahahaha, it was so funny how he said people's heads are heavy even if they're empty😂 (because she fell asleep on his arm) Honestly though, someone sleeping on your arm is probably one of the most uncomfortable things ever, props to Sasazuka for actually staying in that position the whole time so she could sleep peacefully. Lmaooo when Enomoto said Sasazuka went from cyber Seaweed to a normal seaweed because Minegishi was constantly reinstating the security on the information they want, so even though Sasazuka could get through, it wasn't efficient in terms of time.

Hahahaha, I knew Sasazuka was going to introduce himself as Ichika's boyfriend to Kazuki so him having dinner with Kazuki and Akito wouldn't be surprising, but it was still hilarious to see their reactions😂 It's also pretty funny how similar Kazuki and Sasazuka are with how frank they are, and they're not afraid to hide their thoughts towards others lol. It was so funny when Sasazuka told Kazuki to call him big brother if he wanted to😂 I like Akito, he's really caring towards Kazuki, it just feels like he's strained by what happened to his sister... I didn't realise that Akito was good at composing music though, that's really cool. Anyway, I'm glad Kazuki and Ichika got to talk it out, and Ichika finally got to tell him properly that she does care about him and want him to follow his dreams. HAHAHA, it was so funny how Ichika said she wanted to see Sasazuka and he immediately called her thinking it was something more romantic but she just wanted to ask him about games to help out on the investigation with Souda😂😂 This is probably one of the only times I would feel sorry for Sasazuka lmao. I find it interesting that Ichika knows nothing about games, like it's normal to not play them I guess, but to know literally nothing about them when she's been looking at the X-Day cases etc is kinda surprising. I also find it surprising that Ichika finds it difficult to understand the mentality of gamers and the escape from reality aspect, since her work revolves around being quite empathetic and listening to people lol. Ooh noo, so what the people who revere Souda as a "god" is really them making fun of him for being a whale that spends crazy amounts of money on the game and is basically pay to win? That sounds bad... I honestly thought they called him that because he was really good at the game... I guess it's good that I take time to read the materials when they pop up lol.

I feel so terrible for Kazuki. I can't imagine how crappy it must feel to be so close to Akito but actually not know so many things about him. I'm glad that Sasazuka was there to be frank with Kazuki that this was serious and that he needed to be calm if he really wanted to help Akito. I think Ichika would have been too emotional and soft to do that to Kazuki. It's nice to see how reliable Sasazuka is and how much he's willing to go out of his way to help her. The kiss was sudden but I thought it was really sweet since it helped reassure her that even if she is at a lost and doesn't know what to do and how to handle things, she can always lean back on Sasazuka to help her and guide her. He also doesn't like to baby her unless she's really down so that's really helpful for her in the long run haha. Honestly, Sasazuka's plan in doing the same thing as what happened in the August incident (causing a bug that made people think some legitimate players like Souda were purposely trolls to others) is quite...terrible. I understand that it's necessary in the sense that they're running out of time and need Souda's interrogation to make some progress but at the same time, considering how mentally broken he already is and how reliant he is on this game, creating a similar incident will definitely shatter his world and I'm not sure if he can take that. I guess it just hits a bit close to home because it makes me think if I lost the only place I could find some kind of solace in, I might die. Has it been established that Souda is a murderer though? But yeah anyway, it's sad but I guess there's not much of a choice. Souda getting betrayed by the game and his guild members hurt me pretty hard tbh. I can imagine how crap it must feel, because I also know how it feels when people rely on you during an important team fight and you don't deliver. Except Souda's is worse since he was forcefully bugged and then basically framed for being a troll purposely not doing anything. The hatred for trolls run pretty deep, and trolls are considered one of the worst scums in gaming, so I can understand how bad it would feel to be called one when you aren't. It's actually kinda saddening that no one defended Souda though, kinda goes to show what kinda guild it was and how it was really built on a shaky foundation, but it's a mobile game so I can understand people just leaving the guild like that. I personally think when it comes to mobile games, people can be more heartless😅 Let's just say, when Sasazuka provoked Souda, his words cut me too lolll, I guess as Sasazuka said before, things become much too difficult when you empathise and resonate with the criminal. It's probably the most uncomfortable I've felt in a while just because Souda's situation brings back bad memories for myself. That feeling of being useless in real life, and then bring useless in your favourite game as well...is just so painful.

When Minegishi tried to give Sasazuka a gun and he rejected it, I knew Sasazuka couldn't use a gun, but the effect of a gunshot being so close to him seems to be worse than I thought. It's understandable though, since his mother died protecting him. It's pretty saddening to hear that his mother and him were "unlucky" to have been caught up in a turf war while shopping on holiday. Is that all we can really say when someone dies like that? That they were unlucky? It's just so terrible to think about how sometimes whether we live or not depends on something like luck... Totally agree with Sasazuka, I hate societies that permit guns especially with how they handled it in Shinjuku. You really can't blame all the people who are scared and call to complain every day to Ichika's team, because the moment the government decided to issue a gun to each person over 18, it already implied that your safety was your own problem. How ironic that Sasazuka came back to Japan because he hated guns, but in the end the law changed here. I can see why he would quit the police after that, it's like he lost his reason for being there after all. I'm glad Ichika reprimanded Sasazuka for taunting Souda way too much, it was definitely really reckless and dangerous of him to do that. Ah, I see, so Souda's "revenge" was against those players who died in the August case, so even though he didn't kill them, he was the one who wanted them to be killed and ended up killing the other developer guy later on as a "substitute". I guess I can feel less sorry for him then lol, but still.

Honestly, I didn't like how Sasazuka kept urging Ichika to drink just because he was too embarrassed or shy to share his feelings about how he understands Adonis to the point that they're kinda on the same wavelength in how they would both handle things. I guess it was cute how drunk Ichika pleaded to him telling him to not to go Adonis' side, but yeah even though Ichika and Sasazuka are cute sometimes, I find their relationship rather dubious. It's interesting that Sasazuka wanted to voice directly to the police chief the proposition to reinstate the firearm law considering it's not something easy to just do, and that there are more people than the police chief that need to be in on this, but I guess considering he's in the police, he's the highest that he can get haha. Although personally, I have to wonder why they would want to keep that law even after they solve the Adonis cases tbh. But I guess the cases haven't been solved yet so... No wonder why Akito felt awkward when Kazuki kept praising his skills in music composition...it's because he was so focused on this hobby of his that even when his sister tried to talk to him, he was too busy to really listen to her. It must have been a terrible shock to realise that what she wanted to talk about was much more important than he thought. Honestly, if I was Akito and I saw my sister's suicide note with names of the people she was bullied by, I would probably want revenge against them too. I can't imagine the agony she must have gone through by probably most of the people in her class. I agree with Ichika, seeing Kazuki constantly looking at his phone hoping Akito replies to him is really painful to watch. I think it's worse that you can obviously see how much pain Akito is in as well over it. I wonder what Akito wanted to really say though considering his cryptic words.

I know it got lost in translation but LMAO when Ichika was hoping Sasazuka was in the office and screamed his name really loudly when she went in, and Enomoto got woken up thinking "this was his Honno-ji" which basically implies he thought there was a fire and he was going to die like Nobunaga from the enemy attack lolll. It's just funny how Enomoto can relate everything to the Sengoku era🤣 I thought it was really sweet how when Sasazuka got the information Akito left for him to retrieve through the songs he gave Isshiki and Kazuki, his first priority was in finding the method to take off Ichika's collar. It was expected that the top people of Adonis wouldn't be captured, but I found it super saddening to hear that Akito had his memories erased and could barely remember Kazuki...at least he's not dead though I guess. Anyway, I found it rather interesting that the last chapter was mostly dedicated to the romance, which I didn't mind since I feel like they really needed to develop on that. Honestly though, it was cute but I still find their relationship and connection rather weak. I guess my biggest problem with their relationship is that Ichika is usually easy for Sasazuka to understand albeit there are moments where she takes him off guard, but otherwise she's easy for him to read, but that's not the same for her. Ichika is always wondering what Sasazuka is thinking and she would ask him sometimes, but his personality prevents him from being honest about it a lot of the time so they misunderstand things and get a bit lost. I think the funniest misunderstanding was Sasazuka thinking they were exclusive already but she didn't so she confessed to him lol. Definitely his fault since he wasn't clear lol, but he was probably teasing her anyway.

Sakuragawa and them teasing Ichika about Sasazuka was funny too. It's nice that in the end, she was able to be more forefront with her thoughts and feelings, even if they're silly lmao, I didn't think the office they're in now and the Metropolitan office Sasazuka will move to later is just 15 minutes away. Relax, Ichika, you can have lunch halfway or something, and Sasazuka's right that it's not like they were in the same department anyway so it's not much of a difference lol. But yeah, I do enjoy Ichika being able to get Sasazuka to express himself more and be more honest with his feelings. Oh, and I teared a bit at the scene where Kazuki visited Akito in prison. I found it really saddening that Akito tried to push him away and say maybe this was for the best anyway since he's a criminal and his music career will be affected if he plays a murderer's songs, so yeah, can totally understand why Kazuki got super mad and told him he will succeed playing Akito's songs, and that even if he doesn't remember, they can just become friends again. Honestly, if theirs was a love story, I think I would have liked it more than Sasazuka and Ichika's lmao. But anyway, it just goes to show that I don't think I could really get into the romance this time around. I find it so adorableeee how Okazaki and Kazuki became friends enough that Kazuki is invited to the office party loll, so cute. Anyway, my biggest surprise with this route was that Sasazuka wasn't as mean as I thought he would be. He pretty much mellowed out after he gave her donuts and every "insult" or mean stuff he said was much more affectionate than anything else. I'm just kinda sad that I thought Sasazuka was going to more guide Ichika into growth as a police officer and he kinda did with the Souda stuff, but then afterwards, she kinda just went back to being his gofer lol. Anyway, I feel bad for the Sasazuka in the bad ending when you fail trigger mode, since someone important to him decided to protect him from a gunshot once again and died, that's pretty terrible for him to have to go through again. I kinda would have liked to see a longer ending where he does something like go down the path with Adonis or kill Souda or something though haha. Even the tragic love ending was rather...meh lol.

Overall, considering how much hype Sasazuka gets, I'm actually surprised I'm pretty whatever about him. He's cute and stuff but not my type I guess. I also found him much nicer than people say hahaha! I don't know if I'm too used to rude people or I mainly hear the affection from his teasing rather than whatever else he says lol, I think my biggest problem with him instead of how he talked was actually how at times he wanted Ichika to "grow" as a person and helped guide her, but at the same time I feel like he also stunted her growth a bit such as stuff like when he told her to drink beer instead of that other thing she chose. I know it's relatively minor considering how she does make other choices, but I feel like the second half of the route was more of Ichika being relegated to that "support role" that gave Sasazuka the reason to stay as he was without giving in to his desire to kill his mother's murderer rather than as a..person? It just didn't really feel like Ichika was important as a person, and rather was just something to drive Sasazuka into doing what he did, which is good but yeah, it felt kinda hollow. Personally, similar to how I related to and liked Sanjou more than Okazaki in his route, for Sasazuka's route, I really liked Akito's story and situation. It was nice to finally understand why he was a part of Adonis and how much it hurt him to have not saved his sister, but also how much it hurt him to have actually joined Adonis itself. His regrets and his sadness over his relationship with Kazuki really hit me. Souda was pretty whatever as one of the Adonis guys, like he was relatable to me, but personally boring as a villain in the bigger picture, mainly because I think rather than making it understandable why he joined Adonis and did what he did (like Sugawara and Ogata), I feel like the route painted him as more of a crazy guy (like Hana I guess). Anyway, even though I wasn't especially fond of Sasazuka and Ichika's relationship, in terms of plot, I probably preferred this one more than Okazaki's and Enomoto's because of Akito, and also Sasazuka's motivations for reinstating the firearm control law. I also really liked how reliable Sasazuka was, and how caring he was towards Ichika when she needed it. To be fair, I do like Sasazuka as a character, just preferably not with Ichika I guess hahaha.

#collar x malice

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boredom-solved · 7 years

Text

Game Review – Collar X Malice

Game review for an otome game called Collar X Malice.

This is just my opinion and thoughts on it so if you have an issue with it then TOO BAD! IT’S MY BLOG.

Please note: I am not a gamer. I am just some person who somehow got into otome and visual novel-type games. Also note that I have an art background so I am a bit of a stickler of design and aesthetics and may talk more about that than I need to.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

“Oh em gee the art is so freaking pretty!” That’s why I got it. It’s my second otome/visual novel game and Code: Realize set the bar pretty high in terms of design and storyline. So I tried to go into with not too, too much expectation but it was hard. Code: Realize you did good!

STORYLINE (maybe spoilers)

The overall storyline follows a girl named Ichika Hoshino (and you can change her name to whatever you feel like). Ichicka is a newbie cop that has been on the force for half a year. One day while she responds to a call/complaint, she is knocked out and finds herself in an odd place with a collar on her. The point of the game is to find out who put the collar on you and why you were “chosen.”

The game takes place in Shinjuku, which is under quarantine for some reason, and you are a cop of this crime filled city in charge of hearing civilian complaints. You have to go around the police force to gather information regarding these crimes and to understand what’s going on and how you might be related to it. The storyline was far better than Code: Realize and a lot more interactive gameplay.

I took the path of Takeru Sasazuka > Mineo Enomoto > Kei Okazaki > Kageyuki Shiraishi > Aiji Yanagi and Yanagi was last because you had to unlock him.

Honestly, I did not like Enomoto because he did nothing for the overall storyline and flow of the game. I should have taken his route first because he really disconnected the story when played in the middle. Personally, I loved Kei Okazaki’s route and Takeru Sasazuka. Shiraishi’s was a bit sad so I’m not 100% for it, but I will say that it had the better storyline between all of the characters and possibly the most character development.

Mineo Enomoto - a route where you learn nothing and the dude is just effing annoying. He’s whiny and randomly eccentric. Legit he’s just comic relief, but he definitely answers some question regarding how this situation in Shinjuku started. Therefore, I recommend him first.

Takeru Sasazuka - tsundere boy with major computer skills and love of donuts.

Kei Okazaki - happy-go-lucky guy who’s got some deep issues underneath that smile. Also, he has one of the most confusing character development within the story.

Kageyuki Shiraishi - a mysterious man with even more mysteries as the story progresses. Spoiler: mysteries did not really get solved and you’ll be left with the most empty feeling ever.

Aiji Yanagi - route the explains EVERYTHING but the love interest could be more fleshed out. It probably wasn’t because it needed so much memory to make the story. So kinda get it...idk but it could be better.

OPINION (definite spoilers)

First of all, what is up with Aksys and not getting an effing proofreader or an editor? Why you skimping on getting your english reviewed?!?!? Dudes, all you’re doing is localizing a game that’s already been created! Just hire a fucking proofreader! It’s annoying and it ruins the flow of the story!!!!!!

Second thing that really annoyed me was the speech boxes. I was already pretty annoyed at all the poor english and bad sentence breaks, but the boxes just added to it. The speech boxes were never in the same place and it moved around a lot. The least the designers could have done is keep the boxes at a consistent y-axis height, but nope! Apparently that would have been too much work. I noticed that the names for the boxes would change too, but the thing is, you don’t need to change the location of the names according to the character on the screen. The color coding is enough! If it doesn’t add to it then just take it out!!! Goodness.

Otherwise, the game was AMAZING! I genuinely liked the storyline and liked the each character’s development overall. Depending on characters the story would be a bit bittersweet or just straight up sad. I may have teared up a little when the twins came out with their story and the asshole who ruined their life got away with it because he’s rich. I also enjoyed the fact that the main character had different personalities based on the route you choose, but don’t worry it’s not so different that the story wouldn’t make sense. The only thing that was odd is the little bro.

FOR SURE SPOILER - The most interesting and awesome part of the game was the gameplay. I really appreciated that there were opportunities to explore and “investigate” rather than just pressing X and choosing options that lead to different endings. This immersive aspect really stood out against Code: Realize and the current game I am playing, Amnesia.

As I mentioned before, the little bro was a bit weird. He played a big role in one of the route, but in the others he’s more of a hinderance and an unneeded character. Plus, I don’t understand how Ichika is the older sister that can’t handle her younger brother. I have a younger brother and I make him do whatever I need him to and make him listen to me. This girl just couldn’t understand how to handle him, so I annoyed me since the bro kept coming up.

I definitely liked Sasazuka and Okazaki best. The stories were sweeter and nicer with a bit of mystery. The story for Shiraishi was actually more fluid, but the ending was too bittersweet for me to like it. Not to mention, the outcome was a bit predictable (I blame all the K-Drama I watch).

Well all in all, this game was AMAZEBALLS! I really loved it and hope the fan disc comes to the states!! I need some closure for Shiraishi!!!!

#game review #Game Spoiler #otome games #collar x malice #Otome #gaming life #ps vita #personal review #what has otome games done to me

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