Thursday, August 3, 2017

Kyoukai no Shirayuki Review

I got this game solely for Kinako's art, and damn was her art worth it. Anyways being the optimistic person I am, seeing the trailers I was excited for a mysterious dark otoge! What I got was, a decent cute vanilla otoge. It's a solid game, and I liked it! However it's definitely not perfect.

(I wrote this review when I first played the game in 2016 and only published it now for some reason)

biting fetish: the game





PLOT

The story revolves around the theme of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", and the protagonist, Akagami Mashiro, is clearly supposed to be Snow White! The game repeatedly mentions how white her skin is for one thing, and she also has really black hair for another but that's besides the point. When Mashiro was a little girl, she played with some strange other little girl whose face isn't shown in any flashbacks. Mashiro was convinced to climb a tree to snag some pomegranates and managed to slip and slam her little loli scalp right into the curb. On her way to the afterlife, her little friend tries to coax her in deeper and is all like "promise me you'll be my friend forever! Stay with me forever!" And Mashiro being like 5 is just like "sure!". However she soon hears her mom in the real world screaming for her to open her eyes and stop dying, so Mashiro is just like "Oh dude mom's calling g2g" and ditches her new friend to go wake up instead. Ofc her lil galpal is beyonod pissed. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU" she screeches into the void. Too bad Mashiro's gonna forget all about this near death experience and grow up to be a normal girl!

Now Mashiro is a happy go lucky positive 20 year old. This year she's turning 21! She lives in a small apartment by herself and goes to a nearby college with her bff forever Ataru! Anyways after visiting a "mirrors of the world" exhibit, she gets seperated from Ataru and gets drawn in by a particular mirror... There's a mirror representing each dude, and whichever you pick lets you run into the dude of your mirror choice at the exhibit, and also will limit your final dude choice to a select few!

GAMEPLAY

It's a pretty straight up otoge, and after the initially mirror choice, it branches off into meeting the sensei's office trio, meeting the police box trio, or hanging out with Maki and Utsuro too much. You then choose between those guys to activate the route of your choice, and then you just go from there! Throughout the story, the heroine is at times dragged forcibly into the mirror world, where she sees the mirror version of the dudes, each in their own mirror domain which reflects the complex which is tormenting the dude. He'll try to bite you to like idk taste your sweet supple pomegranate flavored skin and like 'gain some of ur essence' or some shit but you can choose to reject the dude every time if you so wish. Just fyi refusing to let yourself get chomped on most of the time ends in premature abrupt endings so just let the dudes sample your skin.

Spoiler full summaries of the guys routes:

Saji


Saji likes his tiddy pillows

Mashiro finds a wallet and turns it into a nearby police box, soon becoming buddy buddy with the 2 dudes and actual police officer who are just there snacking constantly. Mashiro warms up to Saji, who works at a 'baby's first host club' club for younger girls featuring younger hosts (he's just 19), and insists that she come see him at his workplace!!

Something about Mashiro is just so welcoming and warm that Saji warms up to her in like 4 seconds. She eventually hits the club up and he lends her a handkerchief, so she's now forced to come back the next day to give it back. Falling asleep while waiting for him, he takes the opportunity to carry her back to his house so that he can sleep with her (no lewd context just straight up cuddling and snoozing away). Apparently Saji has a hard time sleeping without using a human body pillow, and Mashiro's just so warm and comfortable that he's addicted to her <3333 Mashiro is kind of flustered by all this but well she just kinda goes with it. She starts to like him anyhow sooo it can't be that bad righttt.

Wrong. As she grows to like him more and more, she even becomes buddy buddy with Saji's older brother, Umeno or something. However Saji is such a dipshit that he can't tell the difference between romantic love and platonic love, and thinks sleeping with Mashiro almost every day and monopolizing her time is just what friends do. He also gets extremely jealous when spotting her with an old classmate who's eyeing her, yet then turns around and cuddles with his customers after hours because he's lonely when Mashiro's too preoccupied with her own life to come keep him company. As this progresses he starts getting a bad taste in his mouth when hanging out with other girls, and he's just like "what is this weird feeling.. I only want Mashiro.."

Anyways, from the beginning his mirror world self had always been kind of excessively clingy and all like "Love me love me!!", but he'd started getting along with Mashiro pretty swell lately. However he's also going through some emotional confusion since even though he's 19, since he's never been in a proper relationship he keeps fucking up since he can't tell he's in love. We also learn from his nii-chan that their parents were divorced when they were kids, and since dad took Saji, whenever Saji came to see mom she'd ignore him all like 'oh Saji was a bad boi who left with daddy only Ume's a good boy!!! Only Ume deserves food Saji who dat :)' and Saji cries all day and is scarred for life and that's what he's so emotionally dependent on being validated by others I guess.

Anyways this and that happens and they finally confess and start going out, putting drama behind them. With the reassurance of her love, Saji stops feeling so much anxiety when by himself, and starts thinking about his future beyond just being a host etc etc. This is all just great except Mashiro starts getting pulled into the mirror world again, straight into the queen's hall. The queen tells her straight up lies like 'oh Saji can only truly be cured if you stay in the mirror world forever. The real you will be replaced with a different you lol." Mashiro's just like 'omg!! that's crazy!! But I believe it!"

Being a dumbass, she agrees to stay here forever since it'd cure Saji (even tho Saji's already getting over his issues pretty well??) and the mirror queen basically successfully snags Mashiro's body to use as her own. Saji can tell it's a fake right away and freaks out. Luckily Maki is feeling merciful and tells Saji that if he gathers the pieces of the mirror queen's mirror which she'd shattered, then he can piece it back together, since that mirror acts as a gate to the mirror world. He can drag Mashiro back out! And so, desperate to see his gf again, Saji goes shard hunting.

Bad End
He gets all the shards, but Saji apparentyl had never truly come to terms with who he really is--with the him in the mirror world. Mirror him drags Mashiro down and tells her to stay with him forever. The time limit is reached and the queen permanently owns Mashiro's body now!! Mashiro lives for the rest of eternity in mirror!Saji's embrace.

Good End
Piecing the mirror together works and he pulls out Mashiro. Mirror!Saji is just like oh he and I are the same so even if I disappear we're together blablablba. The Queen is banished back into the mirror world and she's really upset but who gives a shit about her. Saji and Mashiro live happily ever after.



Okizawa Maki

swexy

Secret characters time! (I ain't got time to trudge through the other guys I have my priorities)Though it ain't that secret since they're plastered over the OP and everything but anyways, Maki comes across as really shady and loopy and he's also in league with the mirror queen so we're bound to have an exciting time romancing him, right???? Not really. Anyways this time Mashiro decides to loiter in this nifty antiques shop she finds, and becomes fond of the owner, Maki~! She also meets Utsuro selling pomegranates out wherever but this is Maki's route so forget him.

Maki's just so gentlemanly and is also obsessed with getting everything in pomegrante theme or flavor! Is this... destiny? Two pomegranate obsessers...together? Mashiro quickly becomes very fond of him and just lies around in his shop after hours just the two of them since she trusts him so much!! Too bad unlike all the other guys, Maki's mirror self is literally his real self, kinda like how it is with the heroine. He chooses to act like his real self, aka talking very childishly and being very impulsive, in the mirror world, while being more subdued and well-mannered irl. Mashiro's just like damn the mirror Maki is soo touchy feely and gross he's just a fake the real Maki's better!!! Anyways you spend forever just having mild times with Maki, and one point he even stalks you home and scares the shit outta you before you figure out oh it's just Maki!! ! !! haha oh you!! Anyways he loves seeing all the diff expressions or whatever on her face and I'm like oh that's kinda spicy I guess? If this goes anywhere.

Eventually he accidentally slips something that only mirror Maki would know, and Mashiro's like O_O o fuck are you .. . omg ... and he drags her into the mirror world all like yeahhh I was mirror Maki all along since yea that's just another side of my personality lol. However he still loves her n shit and in 5 minutes she comes to realize that he does care about her!! He drags her around the other dudes' mirror worlds for shits n giggles and whenever they try to touch her he's just like "hands off the girl dudes she is under my protection" or whatever and it's like ohh he really does like her wao.

Anyways the mirror queen had been cooperating with Maki this whole time and she's like dude when are you gonna hand that girl's body over I need it and Maki's just like uhh whatever I'm going at my own pace don't rush me. He then continues to frolic and just flirt outrageously with Mashiro constantly. One day he bites her in the mirror world and she starts to die! Apparently since Maki isn't properly one of 'the 7 dwarves' or whatever his biting on her has poisoned her!! Maki was the poisonous apple all along wow maybe that's why he has hot pink hair. Anyways the queen is pissed since if you die she doesn't get to steal ur body.

Dead End

You just die if you pick certain choices. Also if you avoided letting Maki bite you all along he suddenly is just like 'you won't accept me then I won't accept you' and just vanishes from your life and you're just alone irl?? he's gone?? but at least you're alive so whatever.

Bad End


u might be stuck in the mirror world 4ever but at least ur stuck in STYLE


Mashiro's just like true love will conquer all!! I'm sure Maki will save me from this sudden poison or whatever the fuck and y'know what I've suddenly remembered that the mirror queen is actually... my childhood imaginary friend!! That near death experience made me forget about her and that's why she is so angsty and angry now!!" We learn that Mashiro's fave chara from Snow White was the queen cuz of her fashion style, and since no one agreed with her she made up Queen!Mashiro as her imaginary friend. Anyways Mashiro's like ok girl i'ma bust u outta there and we're leaving together!!' and the queen's like no fuck u for 4 seconds but soon is like uwu;; >_> okay i guesssss.

Except SURPRISE. Maki appears all like 'u don't need anything except me. You don't need her and I don't either." He drags you with him deeper into the mirror world and while you probably die irl you just waste away together eternally in the mirror world good for you.

Good End


coffins r so romantic

Maki doesn't do that and you force your way into the mirror queen's room to give her a big ol' hug!! She drops all her ambitions and decides to fuse with you just like before good job. IRL you wake up and Maki is sooooooo oo o oo  relieved you're alive!! You spend the rest of your lives being lovey dovey and he buys you two gifts for your birthday one for queen!you too because he's so thoughtful!!

Arima Utsuro

i love my son

Utsuro is a listless boy who barely even knows who he is or how old he is and all he does is loiter around Maki's shop (where he also lives apparently) and sell pomegranates!! No life ambitions, but he's cute so it's fine.

Anyways being addicted to pomegranates and also enjoying cute boys, when Mashiro discovers Utsuro selling the juiciest, most succulent pomegranates she ever tasted on the road side ofc she's gonna become a regular customer!! She just talks to him while buying 30 pomegranates at a time (all which she ravenously consumes within the span of days) and she soon learns that Utsuro is completely devoid of a soul!! He feels nothing. His favorite phrase is 'if you say so...' and he says that every time she tells him anything. Oh festivals are fun come with me!! 'if you say so' okay date successfully planned.

first date with the bae
You go on a date with him and he finds candied apples delicious! He's surprised to 'like' something fr once in his life, amazing. Anyways his whole route is just Mashiro obsessively visiting him and trying to make him feel again while consuming tons upon tons of pomegranates which she keeps buying from him. She also learns that he lives with Maki, and that his room is just a big empty space with a single pomegranate tree in it where he grows all the pomegranates he sells every day.

Of course there's also the mirror!Utsuro whom Mashiro must meet on occassion... and surprise surprise he is also completely devoid of a personality. He feels nothing. Sometimes however, he flips into yankee mode and cusses her out! What does this mean? It means that he has split personalities.

Apparently Utsuro's personalities are split into 'boku', 'watashi', and 'ore'. boku is default him who is dead inside. Watashi is a prick with a stick shoved deep up his ass and he takes every opportunity to call you a braindead idiot. Ore is just a yankee. He's also tsundere. Anyways they're great and while Boku doesn't remember anything from the mirror world, Watashi and Ore do! How convenient. Anyways on occasion they become the dominant personality irl, like one time some flirts try to hit on Mashiro and Utsuro (thinking he's a chick) and won't take no for an answer. Ore kicks in and is just like 「はあぁぁぁあああ!???!??なにっすんだよてめぇ!」or something like that my nihongo's not perfect but that's the gist of it. Anyways yeah Mashiro at first was intimidated by these other Utsuro's but comes to love them too!!

god i love my multiple personalities son
The route revolves around how main  Utsuro is obedient to the mirror queen who wants to catch Mashiro, while the other two just want her to fuck off. There's also the running theme of 'finding the real Utsuro' and it seems to do this, they need to have Utsuro bite her and absorb her essence or whatever which will bring him closer to finding the 'real him'. But doing this also makes her more vulnerable to the mirror queen's wanting to steal her body!! ! !! What do!?!? ?

Eventually you confront her and you learn some fun trivia. First off, it seems when Mashiro smashed her head and lost the mirror queen, when leaving Mashiro into the dreamscape or wtvr she passed through shota Utsuro who just happened to be in the area for some reason, accidentally messing up his insides and making him the empty 3 personality'd person he is today!! ! !!  That totally makes sense. And the queen will fix him if you fork over your flesh vessel!

Bad end




Mashiro agrees even though this whole time Watashi and Ore were like hell no don't do that but you do it anyways. Congrats you're trapped for the rest of your life in the mirror world, the queen didn't go through with her promise since she never does, and you live in Utsuro's embrace while his three personalities repeatedly tell you how this is all your fault over and over again forever.

Good End


is this gl
You don't agree cuz that's a horrible idea and instead you use the power of love to force yourself onto the mirror queen! "I'm sry for being a bitch come home with me" Mashiro insists, and ofc the queen melts in like a minute and decides to just go with you and fix Utsuro. Utsuro is 'fixed' and leaks black tears for a few minutes but eventually regains control of himself! Hooray! In the epilogue we see them being a happy couple together, and Utsuro is basically just his Boku personality except capable of long term emotions and also being a little more assertive. What happened to his asshole side personalities? They're fucking dead. Utsuro's 'fixed' now so he totally absorbed them back into himself except those personalities are completely not visible in the current him so they're as good as dead. Also Utsuro confesses to you that when he randomly was in the area when you smashed your fucking head he fell in love at first sight since Mashiro's nice and shes' actually his first love!! A match made in heaven!! Destiny!! !! !  ! Honestly I'm a little disgusted and I wasn't happy finishing this route. Bring back Ore and Watashi I loved th e m.

i love my fashionable son


END RESULTS
Okay this game was pretty mediocre. Sure I didn't finish everyone maybe I'll get back to that someday, but from what I've done I'd say the writing is sub par. I feel like each guys didn't really meet their full potential??? Y'know?? But Kinako's art was so damn good I forgive it. I rec this game solely because I love Kinako.

STORY 5/10
WRITING 5/10
ART 100/10
SATISFACTION 6/10

OVERALL: I give this game a B.

I would rec this game to anyone because of the art. It's a fun run through if you don't expect anything that'll blow your mind.

Bonus:
belly button

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