The Language of Love

The Language of Love

Steam Review

At the time of this review, I have not posted a Steam review.

Review

The Language of Love is a VN that takes a unique look at a culture norm inside Japan and creates a unique story. Graphically it is appealing and nice, the soundtrack is not as varied but isn't bad either. The plot is unique and fresh, despite the fact that it has no choices, no 'paths', and no multiple endings. Usually, those are what I look for in a VN but I went out of my comfort zone a bit and decided to give this one a chance, and I am glad I did. 

What makes this VN unique in my mind is the situation placed on the characters from the beginning, it shows the depth of Japanese society and how even today the nation has the same internal struggles that most nations do, the fight between traditional values and modern values. 

The Language of Love starts out with you playing the protag named Mitsuki who is 23 and is at cram school to get into a university. Now for those that know Japanese culture that well, it is unheard of someone that old, (yes I said it...old) to be in cram school and in their culture is looked down upon. Most students take entrance exams when they are 17 to 18 with the oldest being 19. So to see a 23-year-old in a cram school is unheard of. 

Mitsuki was born and raised in the country, and the reason why he waited so late to try and get into University is explained, but the short version is he stayed in his small village to help his parents run their store. This of course meant right after high school he was too busy to try and go through the entrance exam and or go to cram school to get in. Despite his circumstances, he is shunned by his fellow classmates. 

He lives alone in a rundown apartment complex and despite him moving to the city to go to school he feels alone and depressed and loses his interest in studying to get into university. Then one day on his way home from cram school he hears a girl crying on a playground close to his apartment complex and decides to see what is going on. That is where he meets a 6-year-old girl named Tama who lives in the same apartment complex as he does with her mother. 

Tama is a furious force of nature and a bundle of energy that allows her to cause all kinds of problems and mischief. She is for the most part fearless and has no filter when it comes to telling the truth, she says what is on her mind regardless of what it might mean for the person on the other side. Mitsuki finds her on the local playground crying when she lost the key to her apartment. Her mother had left her at the apartment while she made a quick trip to the store only for Tama to leave the apartment. 

Mitsuki helps her look for her lost key but soon a rainstorm moves in and he decides to take her to his apartment to keep her from getting sick out in the rain. Mitsuki leaves a note under the door of Tama's apartment to let her mother know he was keeping an eye on her till she got back. As time goes by he becomes concerned that her mother has left her even though Tama says that isn't the case. Eventually, however, a knock on the door of his apartment and a woman's voice lets him know she has returned. 

Her name is Kyouko and she is the mother of Tama. As Mitsuki finds out she is only a year older then he is. After doing the math he realizes that she had to have Tama during or right out of high school for her to only be 24-years-old. He finds out that she works in a local restaurant as a waitress and spends most of her time either working or taking care of her daughter as a single mother.

Kyouko is a well-spoken, quiet, reserved, and dedicated mother. She is a single mother who has been cut off by her family due to her pregnancy and the father Tama was a fellow student in her high school days that broke up with her after hearing she was pregnant. In Japanese society it is still taboo to become pregnant before marriage and to become pregnant in high school is even more so. 

Because of her situation and being a single mother she has been looked down on by those in the apartment complex and at the school that Tama goes to. That said though she does have at least one friend in the mothers of the school.

Mitsuki starts helping Kyouko by taking care of Tama while she picks up more shifts to provide more income for them and in return Kyouko who is extremely smart decides to help Mitsuki study for his cram school and entrance exam. The two eventually as you would think fall in love with one another.

Through the ups and downs of life and learning to take things as they come Mitsuki decides one day that his love for Kyouko is too strong to deny it any further and when he confesses to her she is a bit apprehensive. But she also confesses that she can't deny the fact she has fallen for him as well. She worries of course what that means for him as he would be entering into a dynamic where he would go from single man to having a family. Despite that Mitsuki reminds her that over the months they have been together helping each other that Tama has already stated she sees him as a father figure in her life. 

Kyouko is reluctant at first due to her past history with her ex-boyfriend, but she knows that Mitsuki isn't the same as he is so she finally agrees to them dating, but only after he finishes his entrance exam. 

The VN ends with Mitsuki leaving to take his entrance exam...what happens after that is left to your imagination. I think that based on the overwhelming support of this VN from the ones that have already played it and made reviews of their own and comments, many enjoy this unique view and perspective that you do not see in most VN's. Even the creator and writer of the VN stated in his notes of the game he wanted to do something unique and different than what we expect from VN's at this time, and I can say they delivered.

I recommend this VN to anyone, there is a patch that allows you to see the H-scene at the end of the VN but that is the only one. The VN itself lasts around 6hrs of playtime, which is not bad for this VN. I won't deny I hope there will be an addition to this game or maybe a new patch that will add an After Story so we know more about Mitsuki and Kyouko's relationship. But you can never tell if such a thing will happen or not. 

(Note: As I stated before this VN touches on some subject matter dealing with the traditional views of Japanese society. The idea of marriage before having children and not having children while in school is something that is seen as taboo or bad in many nations and cultures. 

The social response varies and in many cases, it can lead to depression, child abuse, child neglect, suicide, and other issues with the single parent in question.

In Japan, there are cases where children are simply left at home when a parent simply 'walks away' unable to deal with the stress of raising a child on their own. Regardless of your views on this subject matter, social unacceptance of a single parent regardless if it is a single father or single mother is not something I condone or think any society should condone.

The good part of this story is that Mitsuki mans up and is willing to be a father to a child that isn't his and in Japanese society, some men are looked down upon for it and others are simply mocked because people think they are taking pity on the mother. In this VN the fact that he is willing to take Kyouko and Tama regardless of the consequences I think speaks volumes about his character.)