I x SHE Tell

I x SHE Tell is a recently released Visual Novel published by NekoNyan Ltd. and developed by Hooksoft. NekoNyan is one of my personal go-to VN companies as they have many different ones that cover a wide range of content. I had actually heard about this VN during my time playing Sankaku Renai: Love Triangle Trouble and Sabbat of the Witch. I did have to wait a few weeks before I purchased this VN though due to budget restraints but it was well worth the price I paid and then some.

So unlike most of my reviews where I kind of just cover the basics of the game and not go into any great depth because I want people to experience the game on their own, this one has inspired me to do a more in-depth review that will be long. So set back, get a drink, and let us start this at the beginning.

So before we get into the meat of the game and discuss the things that you really want to know, let me make sure you fully understand something here. Despite the fact that due to international law and of course Federal Law within the west the common person knows that those shown in this game vary in age. So let us just cut through the red tape and state what we already know. The people in this VN (despite being told they are all 18 or older) are actually a varying of ages between 2nd year Middle School to 3rd-year High school. Now in Japan High School only lasts 3 years so we can assume that those in their last year are either 17 to 18 years of age.

Now that we have established that let me also remind you that unlike the west primarily the United States, Japan has its own code of ethics, rules, and regulations that are viewed by most western nations as a bit...awkward and unique. So before playing this game or reading further please keep an open mind and understand that the social and cultural differences play a great deal in this VN. So if you can not accept the difference of ideology, sociology, or culture I will tell you that you mostly will not enjoy this VN. Consider this your only warning on these issues. 

Furthermore please also understand that as an 'Adult Oriented' based gaming blog that I not only purchased the game from Steam but went through NykoNyan to get the 18+ DLC for this game. So that means a lot of H-Scenes.

In I x SHE Tell you play as the protagonist named Ninomiya Hajime (simply called Hajime), who attends Kenseikan Academy. Kenseikan while based in Japan was greatly designed around European influence and holds many European rules, regulations, and traditions. One such tradition is the tradition of not allowing any romantic relationships between students. However, Hajime runs for student council president on the grounds that he would abolish this rule and allow the school to allow relationships between students.

And so the story begins after you are made President of the Student Council and you have successfully had the school remove the over 100-year tradition of not allowing romance. This single action has earned Hajime not only support but an almost movie star-like status among the students and even some teachers of the academy. 

The one thing the academy does seem to allow though is coed dorms, in his dorm, all male students live on the first floor and all-female students live on the second floor with a common kitchen and lounge area. This goes to play a large role as it allows him to communicate and spend time with one of several romantic interests. 

Hajime is a smart and knowledgeable student as well as very dedicated to his job of being the Student President and helping the academy to do whatever it takes to make things easier for other students. This is also one of his downfalls as he can get hung up on protocol at times and tends to take on way more than he should. Yet he always seems to get things done.

Soon after the ban on romance is lifted a series of events happen that throw Hajime's life into unknown territory and one that will lead him down a path of irony, temptation, funny, and sometimes scary moments. Within days of the announcement of the romance ban being lifted a new transfer, student transfers into the school and she is placed into the same dorm as Hajime.

The transfer student makes a sudden declaration that she knew Hajime from when he was a child and that she was always bedridden and that Hajime was one of the first and only friends she made during her time as a child. Growing up and becoming stronger she decided to find him and seek him out. Once arriving she makes her intent very clear...she's there to catch his heart and confess her love for him. This single confession is the spark that causes a rapid succession of different ones coming to him and confessing their love to him.

First the transfer student, then the school's idol, then the President of the student council of the middle school which is the sister school of Kenseikan called Misakihama Academy, then his long-time childhood friend. Finally, the Vice President of the student council joins in and makes her own confession that she has feelings for Hajime even if it is a bit insincere at that time. By the end of the day, 5 lovely and very different maidens have confessed to Hajime and it is now up to him to decide who will be the one that will win his heart.

In a turn of events of course the school students find out about this turn of events and each takes their own sides and has their own guesses as to who he will choose. For a month Hajime attempts to spend time with each girl and at the end of that month makes the decision that will affect the rest of his life. 

During that month a lot of interesting and funny things happen and it really makes the story progress at an even and very nice rate. Each in-game day allows you to spread a total of 10 points between the girls with the one having the most points becoming the better option your leaning to. This will all lead to an event in the game where you have to text one of the girls to meet you at which point you will let them know your feelings and become a couple. There is also an instance where you can completely turn them all down...but I can't say I enjoy the thought of that so I haven't played that line yet. 

So to cover all the girls from here on out I will go down in the order that I finished their routes and who I found to be my favorite characters in the end. On that note...don't hate me for my choices here.

Yui is the counterpart to Hajime but for the Middle School. She is the President of the student council at Misakihama Academy and one of the girls that confess to Hajime. That's right...the first girl I choose to follow her route is the youngest one of them. Kozuka Yui is a sophisticated young lady who comes from a wealthy family with a longstanding reputation and connections to the school and the surrounding township. Yui is both mature and childlike at the same time which is a weird combination. She confesses her love to Hajime and as one of the 'lovers' paths I choose to go down this path first. 

The relationship between Hajime and Yui is one filled with the understanding that as they are both members of the Student Council and work alongside each other in many projects, they keep their love life out of the eye of most students. For the most part, the relationship between Hajime and Yui is pretty civil and grows very fast and expansive quickly. The only trial that is shown in her path is the fact that she is a brilliant student and inventor. This leads to her creating a career plan that places her going to one of the most advanced and prestigious engineering schools in the nation. However, after spending time with Hajime she decides that instead of going to that particular school she will instead decide on a new career path, one that involves Hajime in it. 

I found the storyline and plot between these two characters to be wholesome and quite nice compared to other VN's. It focuses on their growing love and their continued friendship between the other girls that Hajime didn't choose. I think the story was also pretty long, but I would have liked to have seen more than the ending they currently have where she starts High School and he's in his 3rd Year. Overall though I think her path is one of the best ones in this VN and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

Shiori the Childhood Friend was the second path that I chose. She has known Hajime the longest and has for some time been in love with him though she had decided not to push the subject, at least not until Kasumi showed up and confessed. Shiori is a unique girl in the fact that despite her very otaku like personality and inability to really deal with people other than Hajime and their close group of friends, she also has a surprising almost sadist personality trait.

Shiori is a member of the photography club and is very good at her craft, she also created and maintains a tourist information site for the town and community that has helped the community draw in even more tourist. Her contributions have not gone unnoticed and despite her reserved nature, she finds that she genuinely wants to help the community and Hajime.

The relationship between Shiori and Hajime has the most effect on Shiori, as their love and relationship expand so does her ability to accept others, and slowly she begins to come out of her shell and becomes somewhat popular with the other students. The relationship itself is a slow and steady pace between them with Shiori towards wanting to push things slightly faster than Hajime but she respects Hajime and understands him better than most. 

While I did enjoy the storyline and romance they shared there were a couple of things that didn't quite settle well with me. The first being the fact that the 'after story' of sorts that I couldn't quite understand if Hajime was naturally slow or just plain dumb. I won't give away all the details but lets just saying that waiting as long as she did for him to take the next step makes her a Saint in my book. The second thing was the fact that the 'after story' covered a large amount of time in a short about of time, it felt rushed and it wasn't as long as some of the others. While it did drive home the point of their relationship I felt almost rushed to conclude their story arch.

Yoshino is the Student Council Vice President and the largest opponent to the removal of the Relationship Rule of the school. She campaigned against Hajime in an attempt to get support to stop Hajime from getting a long time traditional rule removed but soon after she lost she ended up joining as his Vice. 

Yoshino is a girl based on principle and finds it hard to lose the more serious side of herself. She is dedicated to her position and to those that have supported her even after the defeat to Hajime. She has a hard time coming out and saying what she really wants and tries to hide her emotions by putting on a facade to mask how she feels. All that said though, once she accepts how she feels and begins to show her true emotions she a very capable and dependable young woman that has a heart of gold.

Of the five girls, her ending I feel was the worse of them all. I don't mean that in that the ending itself was bad, but more so that the time spent on her and Hajime's ending seemed to be rushed even more than Shiori's. I also feel that they didn't go far enough with the 'after story'. The after story touches on hardly anything as it takes place only 10 months after they had started dating. I feel like this ending and after story are actually unfinished but due to time constraints they had to push it to bring the game out on time and that really there is more story and after story here.

I'd like to see this ending get an updated with a better after story
or at the very least an expansion of it to cover more than just 10 months after they started dating.

Kasumi is the first of the girls to confess her love to Hajime not long after she transfers into the school and starts living in the same dorm as Hajime. She made this confession after stating that as a young child she was sickly and spent most of her time bedridden and was unable to do much outside of her home. Hajime ended up going to her house in elementary school to bring her homework from class to do. Soon after they became friends until the day she moved away.

She never forgot about the kindness shown to her by Hajime and how of the very few people she knew outside her family he was the only one that had tried to engage her. Because of this, she spent a great deal of time getting better and determined to find him one day and confess to him. 

Kasumi is a bit of an airhead, very sexually motivated and driven shows little in the way of shame at least for the most part, and yet despite that has a shy side that is adorable and cute all at the same time. She is however a bit mysterious too at times and acts almost as if there are two personalities held within her. She holds a slight childish side as well that in itself lends itself well to her overall character development and adds some extra things to the relationship between her and Hajime.

So there are two parts to this ending much like the others, but this one I felt had the most work put into it in the sense that it was quite long and drawn out. But it also held the most information which was good as she had done a good job of maintaining secrets from Hajime for quite some time. 

I won't tell you exactly what the secret was but I will say that it came completely out of left field and at first, I felt a slight tinge of betrayal by her lack of trust towards Hajime after everything that happened. But as she told her story I started to understand her position on the subject and it became more of a 'forgive and forget' thought. The 'after story' was also well done and is one of the only endings that discuss children. It is also the only one that has them married. It also takes place several years after their time in High School.

I felt the after story fit Kasumi well and was well laid out. I can't say much in the way of bad or contrary to the ending as I don't feel it was quite rushed as some of the others were. I also think it wraps things up well between these two without the feeling that there is anything left unsaid or unseen for the person participating in the VN itself.

Finally, the last girl I chose to proceed down her path was Ayaka. The primary reason why I waited and done her path last wasn't that I found her the best girl of the story...as I stated earlier I found Yui to be my personal choice for best girl...but in the way of Meta either Kasumi or Shiori would be classified as best girl. Honestly, though I couldn't get past her personality traits and it didn't sit right with me. Now that said as the story progressed and you learn more about her I can say I started to soften up towards her antics and realized her bravado wasn't because of an inert sense of self-glorification but a way to cope with other things. 

Ayaka from the beginning is portrayed as a self-promoting beauty that has won the previous 2 years school talent and beauty contest with flawless numbers. She is classified as the school idol and all the girls want to be her and the boys want to be with her. So when she takes an interest is Hajime he can't help but be both happy but nervous as well. Why would she be interested in him of all guys? He finds out that she sees him as one of the only guys in school that could be with her, mostly due to his almost star-like status within the school, she sees them as a power couple. 

Hajime and Ayaka's relationship has some ups and downs and seems to be molded after what people expect from a relationship, there are moments where both become jealous due to the other's fame, moments of the feeling of inadequate for the other, and fear that they are not doing enough for the other. Ayaka is easily made jealous, very emotional, and while she attempts to hide her emotions she doesn't always do a good job. She relies heavily on her little sister to keep her in line and her little sister Moka is a bit more mature than she is.

Through the ups and downs, however, their love becomes stronger after an incident that involves Ayaka's mom getting hurt. Ayaka seeing this makes a decision to not go after her dream of working in the financial field, instead to not go to college and work at her family restaurant to help her parents. Hajime doesn't agree with this but accepts that it is her choice, that said he acts by forcing her to explain her choice to her parents and to listen to what they think and to consider their words.

After the discussion with her parents to which they would accept her staying around and helping with the restaurant but only if it was her dream to do so. After consideration and thinking about what her dream was, she chose to continue with her plan on going to college and becoming a Financial Consultant and use that knowledge to help her family restaurant grow and expand. She wanted to be able to one day take over and maybe branch out and make a second-place that she and Hajime could run together. 

The 'after story' was another one of those I felt they rushed and didn't really go far enough with. Ayaka being a year older than Hajime graduates and leaves highschool a year before he does and soon after he graduates, he ends up getting into the same college that she is in. They end up moving in together and both of them attend classes during the day and work jobs at night. It ends with them being in her apartment with him running behind for class. While this isn't a bad ending by any means, I was expecting more from it and with the short time-lapse it felt rushed. 

All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this VN to anyone, it has the right balance of romance, comedy, and with multiple endings based on the girl, you choose it is worth getting just for the replay value. It is a little more expensive than most VN's with a price tag of $29.99 but after putting in 32 hours into it you are almost paying $1 an hour for it so I don't think that is bad at all. I find this one to have a good story, cotext, graphics, sound, and music. This isn't one that you will dislike. I do hope to see some updates at some point but that is something we'll just have to wait and see what they will do.