BL + Otome Games: Another Interesting Part of Being a Fujoshi

I never thought I’d ever play Boys Love games or Otome games the moment I found out I liked yaoi.  When I first got into yaoi, I only thought it encompassed just manga and anime–I had no idea about the games that were catered to the female audience in Japan!  And for some strange reason, they tickle my fancy just right.

I’ll start with the BL games.

I had no idea about visual novels and all that, but I got into BL games due to curiosity.  What followed was a snowball effect where I ended up getting interested in games to play, haha.  Anyway, BL games are often called “visual novels” since all you have are pictures and dialogue.  The only thing that progresses the story are your choices.

I haven’t completed any fully, but I have finished off at least one route in thiese games:

Sweet Pool

Kichiku Megane

Lucky Dog 1

Though.. I haven’t played the “legendary” Lamento or Togainu no Chi, but I do plan on playing them, one day!  Ironically enough, the very first one I did play was Sweet Pool by Nitro+ Chiral (the same company that did Lamento and Togainu), and that one was very gory.  If you can’t take gore, then you probably won’t like that game.  Kichiku Megane is a pretty hardcore title that’s made a name for itself on its own, and is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of one (or more) of the seiyuu that are cast.  Lucky Dog 1 is a doujin game by Tennenouji, and even though it’s fairly new, it’s really entertaining. XD

I usually post picspams of the routes  that I play on my yaoi-centric Tumblr (which may not have BL content posted daily, btw), along with my own thoughts on the game itself.  So far, I’ve posted thought pieces for:

• The “Diving Deep” route in Sweet Pool.
• The “Mido (Megane)” route in Kichiku Megane.
• The “Ivan” and “Giulio” routes in Lucky Dog 1.

And yes, these are very time-consuming.  Thank goodness for sites like Half-Adder, or else I’d end up getting bad endings all up the wazoo.  So if you’re curious on BL games, do take a look at the thought pieces I linked to above.

Now onto the Otome games.

I’ve only played one series of otome (maiden) games, and that is the Starry Sky series of games.  Divvied up into four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter), you play the heroine at an all-boys private school, called “Seigatsu Academy.”  In each game, you have three love interests, so in all you’ve 12 guys to choose as your “target.”  Here’s a breakdown of all four games:

1. Starry Sky ~in Spring~

You, the heroine, enroll in Seigatsu Gakuen, and meet up with three of your childhood friends: Yoh Tomoe, Kanata Nanami, and Suzuya Tohzuki.  Yoh had moved away to France and came back to go to school, and Kanata and Suzuya have always been there to keep an eye on  you since you entered the institution.  Yoh represents the Capricorn sign, Kanata represents the Pisces sign, and Suzuya represents the Cancer sign.

2. Starry Sky ~in Summer~

You, the heroine, are part of the Archery Club.  The captain of the club is Homare Kanakubo, a soft-spoken character who represents the sign of Taurus.  The sub-captain is a tsundere character named Ryunosuke Miyaji who secretly likes sweets of all kinds.  Azusa Kinose is a newcomer to the Archery Club, who often flirts with the heroine and likes to tease Ryunosuke.  His sign is Sagittarius.

3. Starry Sky ~in Autumn~

You, the heroine, meet three various teachers in the school: Iku Mizushima( Gemini), Naoshi Haruki (Leo), and Kotarou Hoshizuki (Libra).  [I really need to play this one more.]

4. Starry Sky ~in Winter~

You, the heroine, are part of the Student Council.  It is here that you meet the other members of the Student Council–Tsubasa Amaha (Aquarius), Kazuki Shiranui (Aries), and Hayato Aozora (Virgo).  I’ve played Hayato’s route once, and I’m playing it again, hehe.  But basically the plot’s centered around Kazuki’s graduation, wherein he would be leaving the school (and the Student Council).  This one was almost heartbreaking, especially since they were all wondering what would happen between ‘em.

If you like sweet stories with a bit of drama mixed in, then by all means check out Starry Sky.   The games are starting to get their own PSP ports, so you don’t have to worry about regions in games and all that.   I’m waiting for Winter to come out on the PSP, and then I’ll work my way backwards.

Anywho, I think that’s it for the introductory BL + Otome game post.  I think once I’m completely done with one (or all) of the games listed above I’ll post about it here. =Db