Riddle Joker: Mayu Story

This blog is going to cover Mayu's route in the Visual Novel Riddle Joker. I highly recommend before reading further that you take a moment and read the overall review of the Visual Novel which you can find at this link: Riddle Joker Overview

Mayu's route is an interesting one and one that could be close to being called 'best girl route' that said though I almost feel wrong saying that as I truly believe that in this particular case the actual 'best girl route' would be the Ayase's route. I will cover that in a later blog.

To do a quick recap though in Riddle Joker you play as the MC named Satoru which on the outside may seem like your normal highschool student in reality he is part of a secret organization that is tasked with different types of espionage, spy, and other covert operations. He has currently been tasked with infiltrating an Academy that is full of Astrals, (people that have unique special powers that range from 'magic' based to almost sci-fi based powers). Satoru is also an Astral and like those in his group each is using their powers in the hopes of making the world accepting of Astrals. 

 On his first day, he is introduced to a third-year student that also acts as a researcher and is given special permission by the principal to maintain a lab in the main building. Her name is Mayu and she has a unique history with the Satoru.

Mayu is a couple of years older than Satoru and despite that, she is only a year ahead of him in school. You later find out this is due to her being held back twice, while this may make you think she is not very bright, the truth is she has a reason for remaining in the school as a student even though she could easily graduate and get a job in Astral Research.

Mayu is a bit headstrong, extremely smart, and able to deduce down any situation and information within seconds. She however has a bad habit of taking everything as a personal attack against her age. She feels that those around her are so youthful and beautiful she tends not to see herself as either youthful or beautiful. She ends up being the one that Satoru and his partner end up using her signature to help them in their mission.

Satoru and Mayu both grew up in the same orphanage and while Satoru came out about his astral abilities Mayu hid the fact she was also astral. Because of this, she watched as Satoru took the brunt of the ill will and feelings of the other children and some adults while she was treated like a normal girl. It was only after Satoru was adopted by his father (who would later become his boss), that she realized that she felt guilt towards not standing up for him as the older child to protect him from his peers. It is this regret that leads her to start taking an interest in him when she realizes who he is as he enters the daily grind of school life.

Their relationship continues to grow until they both come to terms with the fact that they are in fact in love with one another. It isn't until they start working together with their group of friends for a school festival do things take a leap forward. It isn't too long after this event that the two begin spending time with one another as well as a few nights, (insert H-Scene here). The two's relationship grows quite quickly and things seem to be going well until one day Mayu finds out that someone has been going through her files and computer both at her lab and in her room.

She sets up a trap and of course, Satoru falls for it thinking that she wouldn't catch him. However, she does and it puts them at odds, and Satoru is forced to tell his boss that he was found out. When he tells him how he was caught his father only asks what it is she wants in return to remain silent. With that said it is here when you find out the reason why she is still at the school as a student and not as a teacher or researcher. 

Two years prior she witnessed a friend of hers and the daughter of the principal go into a state never before seen by Astral Researchers. In this 'frenzied' state she was unable to control her astral powers and as such began to destroy the surrounding area. They were able to eventually put her into a medically induced coma and for the past two years, they have been keeping her in the coma until they can find a way to help control her powers. 

It is after Mayu found out about Satoru that she also found out how he was able to use multiple abilities by using an artificial cloth that is able to collect and imprint astral powers. His uniform allows him to go invisible to the naked eye, and how he got into her lab was using a card that was made with the same material that imprinted her astral id on it. With this in mind, she makes a deal with Satoru, 'give me access to that material and I won't tell the school'. Despite that Satoru and Mayu both know she wasn't going to tell anyone. 

She loves and cares for Satoru and she can see how much it hurt him to do what he was doing around her back. While he can't tell her all the details of his job or who he's working for he is able to tell her enough that she understands that he can help her with her research into finding a way to deal with her friend's issues.

Over time they are able to use the special material to create a patch that using Satoru's true astral power of 'mental manipulation' and using his ability to lower his astral numbers to a point where her over-saturation of astral energy is able to be greatly reduced they are able to cure her friend.

The Visual Novel ends with Mayu finally graduating with her friend, she sticks around the school as a researcher and also to stay close to Satoru who still has one year left in school before he is able to graduate. The two stay together and it is left to assume that once he graduates that they are able to eventually live a happy-ish life together. 

 Riddle Joker

Riddle Joker is a new Visual Novel that just came out in the past month. I was very excited to see this one come out as I had read over its project data and kept up with its development for a few months. Riddle Joker like most Visual novels I have been playing is deep-rooted in path creation in which the decisions of the main characters will lead you down a path that will result in you ending up with one of the multitudes of girls and endings.

In Riddle Joker, you play as Satoru, a second-year student in a normal school. He of course is the lazy type when it comes to his home life, but that said there is something different about Satoru. Satoru is an 'Astral' which is a person that has a unique power caused by a reaction in the brain caused 'Astur Energy'. While it isn't well known what caused the sudden appearance of this energy it affects every single human on earth. However, not everyone gains or is able to use powers, those that can are referred to as 'Astrals' and they are treated poorly by the rest of society.

Because of the social stigma that is acquainted with being an Astral many at a young age attempt to hide their powers in the hopes of being seen as just 'normal' however not all of them are that lucky. Those that are unable to control their power or are found out by those around them usually end up either on a path of crime, ostracized from society, or disappear. Satoru being an Astral meant that he was treated poorly as a child. Being an orphan he lived in an orphanage and the other children there teased him, treated him poorly, and pushed him to become hostile to others. 

It was during this time that he started to get into trouble and fights on a regular basis. After some time a man that he didn't know decided to adopt him after seeing him fight a group of grown adults to protect a small girl that had been pegged as an Astral. As Satoru grew up he decided to join his dad's line of work. His father works for a secret black op that is tasked to work with the government in the shadows as a means to an end. They are tasked with infiltrating, intel gathering, and 'clean up' of situations that could be seen as unfavorable to Astrals. 

Due to Satoru's Astral ability 'mental manipulation' and special devices and clothing provided to him by the ops group he has become a very effective operative. He has a support person that helps him in his missions as well named Nanami, who is also his adoptive sister. She is also an Astral with 'healing' powers which are rare among many Astral's. 

Satoru and Nanami are pulled from their normal school life and moved to a special school for Astrals and Astral Researchers. They are sent there to infiltrate and to find out information on an Astral that can use a manipulation power similar to that of Satoru but not as powerful. They are given new identities and Satoru is told to hide his power by stating his Astral Ability is simply 'physical enhancement' powers. 

Nanami is the adoptive sister to Satoru. She is a year younger than Satoru and like Satoru had a hard childhood. While Satoru had no parents and was bullied because he was an Astral, Nanami was tormented in a much different way. She was born to a family that despised her because she was an Astral. At an early age, she took an interest in technology and computers. Reading books her father had on programming, technology, computers, and many other technical books she was able to become pretty proficient in the field. 

When she showed her father the work she could do at a young, he acted very proudly of her. However soon she was forced to work day in and day out programming and other computer-based tasks that her father had normally done. Because she was able to do it quickly and with ease, she was making a great deal of money allowing her parents to live pretty much free to do what they want. 

However, that changed when she was finally found by the special ops group after being informed of her performing black market and espionage work that she had been contracted to do through her father. The man that adopted Satoru then decided to adopt her as well. She would later become an agent like Satoru but only as a 'support' personnel. 

Ayase is the Student President and mascot/poster child of the Academy that Satoru and Nanami have been sent to. She appears to be a very charming and helpful person that is willing to do whatever it takes to help others out. However, there is a side of her that no one sees, at least not until Satoru manages to get a glimpse of the true nature of this beautiful girl. And that is a terrifying thing in of itself. As an Astral, she has the unique power to change and redirect gravity.

Mayu is a researcher that has her own lab, that said she is also a student of the Academy. Despite her mature look and appearance which she is older than the rest of the girls shown because she has actually been held back a couple of years. The reason for this I will cover in her own blog post. She also has a history with Satoru that we will also see at that point. She is very smart and brilliant as a researcher and has a reason why she has not yet graduated. As an Astral, she is able to create invisible barriers and make them into any shape she desires. 

Hazuki is the dorm manager of the dorm that Satoru and Nanami both occupy. She is also a 2nd-year student and is in the same class as Satoru. She is a very shy and self-conscience girl that has been brought up in a proper atmosphere. However, this also means she is a bit of a closet pervert and tends to become overly excited, though she is also very sheltered to an extent. As an Astral, she has the ability to use water abilities. She is able to condense water in the air and use them as projectiles or any water mass to create many other things.

Chisaki is in the same class as Satoru's sister and has become Nanami's best friend. Chisaki is very outspoken, outgoing, and all-around happy go lucky. She unlike the rest of the girls that Satoru associates with has no Astral abilities to speak of. She is very dedicated and very understanding and her reasoning for attending the school is one that Satoru looks at highly on. She can also be a bit of a sadist but not too often. 

This Visual Novel has great graphics, good music, and Japanese voice-overs. The game has H-scenes that you can get already installed if you buy direct from the producer and developer sites. Or if you are like me and you got it on Steam, you can go to the Developer's site and download a free 18+ patch that will add all the H-Scenes in. 

At the time of this post, I have finished only one girl's path and that was Mayu. Apparently each girl also has 1 to 2 After stories. I am playing through Nanami's and Chisaki's paths at the moment with me going to start on Ayase and Hazuki's soon.

 Saku Saku: Love blooms under the Cherry Blossoms (Tina)

This is technically the final path you can get as it requires you to play through Anna's story first. I guess technically you could play Ann's first and then Tina's but I think they wait to save it to last for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is of course is it tells a great deal of information about the MC Yuma and about other things dealing with Soul Reapers and Tina's story itself.

Let me make something very clear here as well, this story is extremely emotional and a heck of a rollercoaster ride. It focuses heavily on subjects that some may not be able to cope with or deal with. There is a great deal of discussion dealing with death, souls, afterlife, as well as discussion dealing with Lolicons. Even with that though the story told in Tina's path is one that I can say is one of the best ones in this VN. While I liked Kanomi's route too I think Tina's is also well done and well told.

Tina as you probably have already guessed from the other blogs and from the introduction here is a Soul Reaper. It is also stated that she is the younger sister of Rina, the Soul Reaper that gave her own life to save Yuma's. Tina is young in mind and appearances though per what Anna says she is technically the same age as Yuma and Mio. She lacks commonsense and a basic understanding of the world around her. She is extremely nice and kind and a bit of an airhead. 

Tina also has a familiar that keeps her company and acts as her guardian when she is away from the rest of the family. Kotoru in his hidden form is a dog like a plushie that she usually has to lay on her head. While in this form he tends to be very quiet and very still.  However, when it is just Yuma, Anna, or Tina around he will speak to them when he feels that is needed.

When Tina and Rina appeared or were 'born' into this world it was Anna and her Soul Reaper half Elenora that found them and took it upon themselves to teach them the way of the world and how to become Soul Reapers. Tina's older sister Rina grew to be very capable at being a Soul Reaper while learning under Elenora, Tina on the other hand realized she didn't have what it took to be a Soul Reaper. Rina then gave her life to Yuma and with her older sister gone she relied heavily on Anna. Anna knew however that Tina would have to start to reap souls or one day her life would also expire.

Over time with Tina leaving Anna's place and instead of staying at Yuma's due to not agreeing with Anna and Elenora it was Yuma and Tina that grew close. Tina of course tells Yuma and the others she's a Love Fairy. Though Yuma knows the truth that she is in fact a soul reaper. It isn't until Yuma begins to have strong feelings for her that he is told the truth about Tina's past and how it was her older sister that not only saved Yuma but was the one that reaped the soul of his mother upon her death. 

It is explained that a Soul Reaper has two jobs and a unique way to sustain their lives which is how they live as immortals. The first job is to reap the souls of the dead. When a person dies a Soul Reaper will come and take their soul and hold on to it. It is during this stage in the process that a Soul Reaper will be able to have full access to the memories of the person whose soul they have taken. These memories become a part of the Soul Reaper and the emotions, thoughts, feelings, and everything associated with that soul ingrains itself into the Soul Reaper. Regret, Hatred, Loneliness, Love, Happiness, and the like are transmitted to the Reaper. 

Soul Reapers live off the memories they obtain. They are able to consume them which erases them from their memory as well. The second job a Soul Reaper is to do is to take that soul it has reaped and place it into a new body, so souls are reincarnated from one living being to another when one dies, it will later find its way into a newborn. The Soul Reapers refer to this as 'Ferrying a soul'. Anna and Yuma have at times referred to this process as the more 'angelic' side of the Soul Reapers work, though Elenora tells them that Soul Reapers are not angels. 

After finding out about Tina's past and her connection to Yuma from the time he was a child, he becomes aware of the fact that Tina who has shown him a great deal of love may not be doing it for the reasons he thought. Is she showing him, love, because she really loves him, or is she showing him love because she believes that he is the incarnation of her sister. It is this thinking that pushes him to ask her directly and to confess his own feelings to her. 

Upon his confession, at first, she hesitates and tells him she isn't sure how she really feels, that she hasn't really thought about it. Taking that in a way to believe that she has rejected him, he decides to take some time away. It is during this time that Kotaro who has for the most part stayed out of their affairs takes a stand with Tina. "You need to decide if you are in love with the man Yuma, or if you are in love with the thought of him being your incarnated sister...but if it's the latter...I won't help you." In his own way, Kotaro knew how she really felt but knew she most likely needed a push. 

After some time Yuma and Tina begin dating and they are found out first by Yuri and her sister Hanako who catches the two kissing at school when Tina came to visit Yuma after she had rejected him. Of course, Hanako told Anna, and eventually, that leads to the rest of the Student Council knows.

Time progresses and the two become even closer and eventually, Tina and Yuma have their first sexual act followed by going all the way, (yes that means H-scenes). It is during this time that Tina begins to sleep a lot and this leads to Yuma asking Anna about it. Elenora however answers that because she isn't reaping souls she is losing her own life force. Yuma pleads with Tina to do something about it by reaping a soul. He tells her that he couldn't imagine life without her and he wants her to stay with him.

She agrees to do that, and days later Elenora picks her up and takes her to reap a soul of a young girl who is soon to pass. Tina asks to see her prior to her taking her soul and Elenora agrees. And thus the very next day Tina reaps the soul and returns home with the girl's memories become her own. It is the following day that the reality of what Tina did and what dark secrets has been hidden from Yuma and others. 

Tina comes to school unannounced and finding Sou, Yuma's friend and Vice President of the Student Council, and proceeds to deliver a hard slap. After slapping him she leaves by saying that, 'you're the worst, your scum'. Afterwords Sou plays it off that he probably deserved it for something though he didn't know what. It is later that he talks about a family member passing and how he would be out of school but would rather go chasing skirts than attend the funeral. 

With Yuma aware from speaking with Tina after she left the school he knew that the girl whose soul she had taken was Sou's cousin and his former 'lover'. Knowing this and seeing how he acted pissed Yuma off and they got into a verbal argument. Soon after that things sped up and eventually Yuma and Sou with the help of Tina were able to reconcile and Sou admitted that he was the worst. Soon after they confessed, she fell ill with a disease that she had for a bit. But instead of getting better, she started to get worse. After months in the hospital, Sou broke up with her. A few days later she fell into a coma and remained that way until she finally passed.

Tina was then tasked with taking the girl's soul and placing it into a new baby, which she did, and with great skill, even Elenora was impressed. However soon she would start to sleep again and longer than before. It is then that Kotaru admits he hadn't paid much attention to her condition and now he knew that she hadn't consumed any of the memories of the girl she had reaped and in doing so she had reached a point where she could no longer be saved. 

With this Anna, Elenora, the Pansy Reaper, Kotaru, and Yuma could only watch as Tina used the last of her energy to stay in the world she was in. At that time she and Yuma said their goodbyes and with a final kiss, Tina disappeared and vanished from the world. 

A year would pass, Anna graduated and stayed close by to help Yuma who had became the next Student Council President. She also imparted some unusual words to him saying that he should go back to where it all began. Coupled with a strange feeling he made his way to the spot where he had died, been saved, and met Tina. Tina upon her death reached into another world where she was reunited with her sister Rita, it was there that they spoke of Tina's lover. With that discussion, Tina was told she would be sent back by God.

Yuma and Tina were reunited and the rest of their story is left untold but it is safe to say that the story ended on a better note than it looked like it was going to. I am not going to lie here, I honestly told myself that if they killed her off I'd have a bone to pick with the writer of this VN...of course, he brought her back so I guess I'll let this person slide. 

All in all this Visual Novel was a pretty long novel and that makes it all the better. The characters are done well and their development proceeds in a nice fashion. I find that the longer a VN draws out the easier a transition there is for the characters, compared to shorter VN's where they rush you into seeing a transformation that is almost impossible that quickly. Music was done well, but honestly, I turned it off and played other music. Voice overs are all in Japanese which is fine and they do a good job so no complaints on that either. 

A part of me wants to see some after stories much like Sabbat of the Witch had. Though I don't see many VN's doing that, the fact is that there are some that do. I would have liked to see how each one ended up after some time. But I guess we can leave that to the imagination as well. In the end, I highly recommend this VN to anyone and would love to see more people get interested in this VN.

 Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms (Anna)

This is the fourth installment of the Saku Saku series I am doing and this particular one will be geared towards the protags love interest, Anna. Anna's story I think was one of the better ones of the set that I have played thus far, but I need to also state that I have yet to finish Tina's path yet. The main reason why I think this particular character's story is interesting is it ties together a lot of loose ends and really helps in understanding the basics of what led to what has happened to Yuma up to this point.

If you are interested in reading up prior to reading this one, please check out the other three by following the links below:

Saku Saku: Konami

Saku Saku: Yuri

Saku Saku: Mio

Anna is the current Student Council President and is a bit of an eccentric. She is unpredictable and tends to do things on the spur of the moment. She has an overactive yet very friendly attitude. Despite how it appears at times, however, she is very considerate of others and while to some she can seem a bit selfish, the reality is that she does things that ultimately help others and makes others happy. Anna takes an interest in Yuma from the start of his school year and is seen taking down one of the 'Wanted' Posters that got posted up about Yuma.

Eventually, through the course of several weeks and months, Yuma is drawn into the Student Council by Anna and becomes a member to assist the PMC and the Student Council. At first, he's hesitant about it but soon finds that it is something he can do and it helps everyone else out as well. A couple of choices has to be made to end up with Anna with the most powerful choice made at the swimming party that the Student Council has. You have to choose to listen to Anna and this will put you down the right path. Anna for the record is also a bit of a pervert and tries to get Yuma into some compromising positions, though the truth is she just does it to get a rise out of him, when he actually starts to try and push it back on her she tends to cave quickly.

You will later find out that Anna isn't a normal person, in truth, she isn't really even human by most standards. Her mother was a human and her father was a Soul Reaper. Upon her mother's death, her father left her to her own care. While it never actually states how old she is it is safe to say by some comments made she is well over 100 years of age. Because she is half Soul Reaper she is immortal. However she, herself does not participate in the job of a Soul Reaper, which is left to her other half and other personality Elenora. In essence, Anna has a split personality, but it is more as if two separate souls inhabit the same body. 

Elenora, unlike Anna, is direct, brash, harsh, and a bit of an exhibitionist. She is the personification of what a Soul Reaper should be. She does her job efficiently, quickly, and with little regard to what it is, she is actually doing. Elenora also has the best understanding of what it is that a Soul Reaper actually does and is able to explain that to Yuma.

Despite this type of personality, however, she is timid around Yuma and a bit of a Tsundere, though she will not admit to it like most won't. Elenora is also the Soul Reaper that is in charge of training Tina to be a Soul Reaper. You later find out that Elenora was also responsible for teaching Tina's older sister Rina how to become a Soul Reaper. Elenora despite doing her job the way she is expected still has times that she feels sorry for Anna who is forced to participate in the Soul Reaper task, but also because of her being Immortal which makes Anna the same, she has tried to force Anna to not get involved with anyone because in the end, they will die and she will live on meaning that one day the one she loved will leave her behind.

Yuma knowing this however decides that his love for Anna is more important and through their time together he eventually gets Anna to become his girlfriend, albeit against the wishes of Elenora. Despite this at first though eventually Elenora accepts him to some extent and allows Anna to finally express her feelings towards Yuma and for him to return those feelings through the usual things that couples do, including sex. Yep multiple H-Scenes.

It is during this time that Anna makes several remarks that she doesn't care if Yuma releases himself into her that she (in a way) wants to have his child. Now note that this is never actually shown or indicated that she ends up pregnant though, even though I think that would have been a great addition to the story but eh). It is also at this time that Yuma realizes that Elenora can see everything going on between him and Anna and that of course the body that belongs to Anna also belongs to Elenora. 

Anna and Elenor's story is a cluster of regret, desire, love, and the desire to make the other half happy. Anna helps Elenora in her work by providing support to those that are left behind from when Elenora reaps a soul. She also is able to see the memories of those that Elenora reaps and through these, she is able to help their families either directly or indirectly. In exchange, Elenora helps Anna by providing her advice and doing what she can to allow Anna to be happy. Despite this though both also hold deep regret over the fact that because the other is in the body, the other can never have the life they really want. In a way, they feel as though they are a bother to the other and if they were gone then the one that remains would be able to be fully happy.

During this time of romance, sex, and dating Yuma finds out that Rina, Tina's older sister was the Soul Reaper that gave her life to save Yuma when he was a child. This takes an emotional toll on Yuma at first but soon he is able to recoup from this and use it as a means to push forward to not only support Tina but to become closer to both Anna and Elenora. The next thing that happens is a bit unusual to an extent and one that I figured would eventually happen but it did kind of come in out of nowhere.

During an intimate moment between Anna and Yuma, Anna forces Elenora to take control of the body and she enters a slumber. It is then that Yuma realizes that not only does Anna love him, but Elenora has fallen in love with him as well. It is during this realization that Elenora and he perform a sexual act with one another (not actually sex though which honestly was a bit of a let down). After they are done when Elenora decides to let Anna have her body back she becomes frightened. It seems that Anna has sealed herself off from Elenora within her mind and so Elenora is unable to speak to Anna or bring her back.

Yuma and Elenora seek help from Tina at first but being a young Soul Reaper that has no real experience with things like this she is unable to really provide advice, but she suggests one that can. The Soul Reaper they call 'Pansy' is older than even Elenora and has hundreds of years of experience. With this in mind, they find him out one night and ask him what they can do to help Anna. While discussing the issue he makes a comment that cuts both Yuma and Elenora deep. He makes the comment that it sounded as though Anna didn't want to come back and instead was looking for a way to end her own life and that the reason why was because she saw what Yuma and Elenora did and felt like she had been cheated on. 

Yuma and Elenora feel guilty for what they did but then Pansy said he would help them at the very least find her and discuss the matter but to do so Yuma would have to enter an 'almost death' state. So with that in mind and knowing time is limited Elenora summons her scythe and swipes Yuma with it removing his soul from his body. It is at that moment he enters into the dreams that belong to Anna and soon he is able to meet with her.

During their talk soon Elenora joins them and finally Anna and Elenora come to terms with their situation and realize that they are happiest when they are with one another and that neither one needs to leave or die off for the other to be happy. They also realize that both of them have strong feelings for Yuma and because of that he has become a part of their world and their happiness. Though they know in the end he will die, and they will remain. They then return to the real world. 

A few days pass and on a particular night while taking Anna home after school and after spending a very...sexual and hot time with one another Yuma makes the decision to go ahead and ask Anna something. With his courage and mind made up, he takes her hand before she can leave and places a ring upon her finger. No words were really needed but they have spoken anyway and in the end, even though they were in high school they were done committed to being married. 

This story was one of the better ones, I would go as far as to say that it was really developmental of the primary story and it unlocks Tina's path. I enjoyed how Anna and Elenora's characters were developed and think that they were very well done. I still think that Elenora should have gotten a bit more time with Yuma and should have had some proper intercourse with him, I also think that additional storytelling of Anna actually getting pregnant would have made the story more interesting, I mean have a full dialogue set of her finding out, telling Yuma and then both of them telling Aoi (Yuma's stepmother) and Konami (Yuma's sister) as well as the rest of their friends that she is going to have a child.

All that said though I highly recommend this game and this route.

Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms (Mio)

This is the third installment of Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms and in this one we are going to talk about the path and third playthrough I did with Mio. I want to take a moment to state that I actually learned a few things from this route and was pleasantly surprised by the thought that went into this particular path. While I feel that it was a bit short in story, it did at least make up for it in content. That said it I have to agree with a fellow blogger and reviewer when they stated that it did have times that it felt forced.

If you wish to read about the previous installments please follow the two links below:

Saku Saku (Konami)

Saku Saku (Yuri)

Mio is Yuma's childhood friend and they have always been together. Mio's characteristics are her overly positive attitude, seemingly always nice demeanor, and her strong sense of loyalty to her friends and strangers alike.

Growing up with grandparents and parents that took care of the local shrine, she and her older sister are the current caretakers of the shrine. Mio also has a strange obsession and overly active imagination when it comes to BL (Boy Love) Manga which despite her innocent appearance and attitude, she is in the words of Yuma a, 'closet perv'. 

Mio also has a mental disorder that causes her a great deal of grief, that being her androphobia. Now I actually had to do some research on this one and honestly, I hadn't even guessed this was a thing though in a way I guess I should have considered but it isn't something that you will run into often. 

Androphobia is the fear of men, and in Mio's case, the fear causes a physical reaction. When any male touch her she will automatically begin to cry regardless if she wants to or not. Because of this Yuma has tried to help her out by putting her through a sort of rehab by holding her hand first thing in the morning for a short period of time in the hopes to help her cure the disorder or at the least help minimize it.

Now if you read the previous content you already know slightly how she and Yuma become members of the student council. With this being a straightforward story with a few choices here and there first of the primary choices is when Yuma is at the pool with the rest of the Student Council. This is the first of the key choices you make. Once you make this choice it puts you on your path with Mio if you choose her. The second decision later of who you are thinking about is the second crucial decision. Once those choices are made you will start down the path to dating Mio.

As the two become closer than they already are it is finally become closer a set of new circumstances surfaces. Due to Mio's condition and the circumstances around that condition that Yuma has never been made aware of, Yuma attempts to keep his distance from Mio within reason as to not trigger her conditional response. Because of this however and the fact he is doing it on his own accord eventually Mio understandably becomes upset over the situation as a whole.

Yuma comes to the realization that Mio just wants a normal relationship with the one person she loves and by him keeping her at arm's length that isn't going to happen. However, the two finally break through that barrier by having sex for the first time with one another. It is during this time that Yuma realizes that as long as he is focused on something else (you know sexually) her condition doesn't kick in. Eventually, however even the sexual contact reminds both of them that other things such as hugging, holding hands, and kissing are extremely hard for them and this causes a bit of a problem between them.

After several times having sexual relations, Yuma and Mio end up in a pretty good fight. After the fight, Mio is instructed to not speak and ignore Yuma until his birthday to build upon their relationship, (let me be clear, that is not a way to build up a relationship this advice was given by Tina so yeah obviously don't do this.) This causes Yuma a great deal of pain and in some circumstances a great deal of anguish as he feels he has caused Mio to hate him.

While this is of course not true, it is obvious to him that she is still mad at him. The day of his birthday finally comes and as he gets up he is met with several messages from Mio to meet her on the road to school. Getting dressed he runs out of the house and heads to see Mio. Upon getting there she explains to him what caused her condition. The day of his accident that should have killed him, he had spoken with Mio and her older sister, Mio had asked him to go with them to play at the park but being a boy and going through that stage where he didn't want to be 'seen' playing with girls. She had a chance to take him by his hand and lead him anyway because she knew he would go with her if she did. But she chose not to. He left and soon after was involved in the accident. 

Soon after that, her guilt took the form of the mental condition Androphobia. Yuma never knew that in a way it was because of him that she had started have these problems in the first place. Though he wasn't able to fully understand everything as a truck being driven by someone not paying attention comes towards them. Mio throws herself at Yuma and pushes him out of the way and also manages to land on him. Soon the driver leaves and Mio passes out. Yuma realizes that she is bleeding from her head and that he needs to get her to the hospital.

After a while, she awakens and the two are reunited and spend time with one another. While they embrace Yuma realizes that she no longer shows any signs of her condition. 

He continues to do things to her to see if her condition will return but after days with one another holding hands and hugging and kissing like a normal couple her condition never comes back.

Mio's story was a little bit of a rollercoaster ride and at some points also felt a bit forced but otherwise, it was a good one. Not sure if it was my favorite yet as I have 2 more playthroughs to make, but so far it is one of the better ones of the ones I have played. Stay tuned for the next installment where I will be going through Anna's route.

 Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms (Yuri)

This is my 2nd installment of this Visual Novel known as Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms. You can find the first blog here.

In this post I will be going over the ending and playthrough for the PMC (Public Morals Committee) Chairwoman Yuri. Yuri was part of the committee until an incident involving the members of the PMC and Student Council ended with several resigning or being removed for a time. This let Yuri become the President of the Committee. Between being the school's PMC Chairwoman she is also an employee of the in-school private restaurant in which many of the out-of-town students work to make money for their expenses. These students including Yuri and her sister Hanako live in the school's dorm.

Yuri is very committed to her work and at the beginning of the novel, she and Yuma share their thoughts on how they believe love to be 'unneeded' and neither one has a positive outlook on a love life with anyone else. However what kind of VN would this bee if that didn't change at some point right? Well, that is exactly what happens.

Yuri and Mio (a childhood friend of Yuma) are pretty close friends and Mio hangs out quite a bit with Yuri's sister Hanako. Hanako also provides Mio her contraband of BL manga, which gets confiscated by Yuma and Yuri on a regular basis. Through different events, Yuma is forced to join the Student Council, and later due to the increased workload between the Student Council and the PMC, the members split into two groups. Anna, Konami, and Sou make up the Student Council, and Yuri, Mio, and Yuma make up the PMC.

It is through this that Yuri and Yuma begin to get closer and closer to one another. Hanako who really doesn't care for Yuma (for some odd reason) tries to cause issues by planting fears into Yuri's mind that because of her 'moral' approach to things and due to a past incident she tries to make Yuri not think about Yuma so much. However, as time goes by this fails and Yuma and Yuri soon find themselves getting closer and closer.

It is during this time that we come to a unique situation, Yuri knows that Mio has strong feelings for Yuma and has been supporting her in her attempts to get with Yuma. However, after finding out her own feelings for Yuma she battles with the emotions of confessing to Yuma but also telling Mio how she feels. Yuri asks for Yuma and Mio to come with her to a place to speak, and after some time she confesses to Yuma which Mio hears as well. It is at that moment that Mio gives them both her blessing, however she then goes home and you see how devastated she really is to see Yuma and Yuri together. She does get over of course but the heart-breaking moment does make you question your own desire to go down that path. 

As the two begin to get closer they eventually start a more physical relationship (you know those things called H-scenes yeah enter those), that said I want to be upfront here, there is one scene that to be quite frank is blown way out of proportion. At some point Yuri, knowing that Yuma wanted her sexually, decided to take some initiative and bought a box of condoms. If nothing else at least you can say they practiced safe sex, (at least the first time) and it didn't exactly say how many were in the box and there are multiple boxes with many different amounts, but in this particular scene, he basically goes through a whole box. Now, I'm not an expert or anything but I know for a fact that such a thing is next to impossible. 

Regardless though their relationship continues to grow and they go through trials and tribulation of a relationship. It is during this time that something starts to happen. Tina the soul reaper is informed that another soul reaper has a target close to Yuma and Yuri and that he will be setting up the events that will lead to their death. Tina is unable to figure out who it is, and she can only wait and see what happens next. It is during this time that the soul reaper shows himself to Hanako, she is his target. 

Once he shows himself to her he informs her of her impending death. Though he doesn't tell her exactly when or how she will die he speaks with her and tells her he's willing to prolong her life if she does him a favor. He informs her that to prolong her life she will need to break up Yuma and Yuri. Hanako is taken aback by this revelation and despite the fact that she's been trying to do that to some extent now she has a better motive to do it.

As the story progresses Yuma and Yuri come to a dark realization about their relationship. Yuri also comes clean about her past and why she became the way she was. She was a model for a short time and enjoyed it greatly, but because of her exposure, she also became exposed to a few other male students that used that as a pretext to try to force her to go with them. Eventually, she dropped out of the industry and focused heavily on her PMC work. 

In a strange turn of events, the two realized that they had spent a great deal of time with one another, but in doing so they were spending less time with others such as their friends and family. This fact was brought up by Hanako during an argument with Yuri when she made the statement that they had always been together but since she got with Yuma that she was distant. Because of this Yuri confronts Yuma and they mutual break up.

With this event, the soul reaper out to kill Hanako keeps his end of the bargain, and decides not to take her life. Yuma and Yuri however do not stay broken up for long before they finally decide to get back together. With their relationship back on Yuma convinces Yuri to do what makes her happy, and that includes going back to modeling. 

I ain't going to lie, of the two stories I have played through thus far this one was the weakest in the end. I feel there is a great deal of more potential on this one that could have been done at the end that I feel they left a lot unsaid and done. The story itself wasn't bad and I did enjoy her route. Compared to Konami however it did leave a bit to be desired. Overall I still enjoyed this playthrough and plan on doing Mio's next.

 Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms (Konami)

Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms is a Visual Novel that focuses on a couple of unique aspects and has some nice story plots pending on what love interest you decide to go with. In this Visual Novel, you plan as Yuma a second-year student in high school that has had a rough past. A year after he was born his sister was born, their mother sadly passed soon after the birth of his sister Konami. Yuma's and Konami's father who was a teacher would later marry a younger woman who was once one of his students. Several years later however their father would also pass due to an illness. 

Prior to his passing, there was an accident in which Yuma was hit by a car and in all right should have died but due to a spiritual event (a Soul Reaper who didn't want to reap souls) sacrifice her spirit in order to give him another chance at life. She told him to make everyone smile and that was what he decided to do. This event of course left him with a bit of a warped perspective on life. Yuma now spends his time helping others and helping them through different things, including love trouble. Though he himself finds himself not really the kind of person to fall in love.

In this Visual Novel, there are a total of 5 girls you can romance: Mio the Childhood Friend, Anna the Student Council President, Yuri the Chairwoman of the PMC, Konami the biological sister, and then later you can unlock Tina the Soul Reaper/ Love Fairy. This Visual Novel also has two versions, the normal one that anyone can play for the most part, and the Adult 18+ version in which shows H-Scenes. The Standard Version can be purchased on Steam, sadly Steam does not offer the Adult Patch like other games for some reason. You can get the Adult Version off the Denpasoft Online Store.

So let's get this party started by saying that now you know the basics of this Visual Novel it's time to discuss the first path I decided to go down. That path is one that I am sure you already know but if you don't then the first girl's route I decided to go down was none other than Konami the Blood-related Sister.

Konami is a first-year student at the same High School that Yuma goes to. She is also a childhood friend to Mio, she's smart, cute, and very down to earth. She is quiet and tends to be like her brother when it comes to showing emotions. She is a Shogi player as well and has Yuma play her every night after dinner. Their father used to play Shogi and got her into it, she was never able to beat her father, and currently, she's not been able to beat her brother either. 

Konami teases Yuma often and he, of course, gets her back and the back and forth is just part of how they do things. They are seen to be very close to one another and the picture-perfect version of siblings. As time goes on and certain choices lead to Konami having to make a deal with Anna of the Student Council. Due to an unforeseen event, the Student Council and PMC are low on members and so Anna has decided to enlist the help of some others. She launches a plan to get Yuma to join the Student Council and to do so she makes Konami a proposal. Konami was wanting to make a Shogi Club and Anna said she'd sign off on it if Konami beat her in a game of Shogi. If Konami lost she would still get her Shogi Club but it would be in cooperation with the Student Council meaning that Anna would be club President of the Shogi Club as well.

As you can imagine Konami lost, later Anna would get Yuri to join as well as integrating the PMC with the Council. With all this happening she then pulls some strings to get Yuma out of his other spot working in the school infirmary, causing him to finally join the Student Council. It is during his time in the Student Council that he eventually meets a young girl on the side of the road inside a box next to his home. Later he would find out that she is a Soul Reaper even though she says she's a Love Fairy. Her name Tina is a young-looking girl with a plushy she keeps on her head that is actually her familiar. She tells Yuma she is going to help him find love and smile in actual happiness.

 Over time Tina figures out that Konami has feelings other than that of being siblings and she begins to make plans to make Konami confront them. Tina takes Yuma and picks up a horror movie and while Yuma finds it interesting his sister isn't much on them but she wanted to spend time with him so she bared it. Because of this, she asks Yuma to let her sleep in his bed, to which he does. This event among others leads Konami to finally coming to terms with her feelings. Konami realizes that she loves Yuma for more than just her brother and she decides to confess to him.

One night while playing Shogi she confesses her feelings for him, that she loves him more than just as siblings. He of course rejects her confession and tells her that he's not going to hold it against her or anything but that because of them being siblings they couldn't be together. Despite this event, however, Tina was not deterred and pushed Konami to do more things to try and persuade Yuma to fall in love with her. This leads to a few...sexually-oriented incidents that push the boundaries of their sibling status. These events plus their continued relations leads to Yuma realizing that he has strong feelings for Konami as well. 

In no time their relationship goes just being siblings to being boyfriend and girlfriend but in the shadows as they can't openly show their feelings for one another. Despite their best efforts though the nurse of the infirmary which is also a close friend of Yuma's mother and a former student of his father figures it out and speaks to Konami about it. She tells Konami to end it and that if she does then she'll forget that it happened. Later Anna sees Yuma and Konami kissing and decides to make Konami jealous to push to see if they could make it or not.

As their relationship grows and they begin to think that they need to let their mother know...things go downhill. While being a bit loving to one another their mother walks in and catches them messing.

Konami and Yuma knew they would have to tell her eventually however she found out before they could tell her themselves. When confronted with the fact that Yuma and Konami were having incestual relations their mother brokedown blaming herself for not providing them with the home environment to help them to grow up better. Yuma and Konami tell her that it wasn't her fault.

This is where the discussion gets a little deep in discussing how they can't have a normal life if they continue their relationship. They can't legally get married, having children would have their own possible issues, that their friends and others in society would never accept them and they would eventually become socially removed. She asks Yuma and Konami to break up and gives them a time limit to decide if they want to continue their relationship.

It is during this time that Yuma and Konami decide to come clean with their friends. One day they meet everyone in the Student Council room and explains the situation to the group. Everyone has different thoughts, but because of the rule that no one in the Council is supposed to be in a relationship, they are breaking the rules. So when it appears that no one will accept them they hand in their resignation letters. Anna says the only way she will accept them is if Konami can beat her in a game of Shogi. Konami finally beats Anna and after this defeat, she rips up the letters and then removes the rule about not having relationships. 

Soon all of them accept their relationship with one another, however, when they tell their mother she makes a decision. One child will remain there and continue school, the other will go to another school and move out and live on their own, after three years if their feelings still haven't changed...she will accept it.

 Three years pass and finally Konami who chooses to leave the house in the hopes of becoming more independent finally returns home. She has just graduated High School and has decided it's time to move back home. Yuma who had graduated a year sooner is working odd jobs and working towards getting money to support themselves. 

Upon her return, they again confirm they have no desire to break up and will continue to live with one another as boyfriend and girlfriend even if the world is against them.

Konami's route discusses a lot of things dealing with relationships, social issues, social perspective, and morality. Personally, I have little in the way of morality, I find that more often than not 'morality' is a construct of society in a manner to establish control by creating a form of 'mob rule'. Sadly I am but one person and many do not see it that way. However, that said this Visual Novel is visually appealing, the music is good, and the H-Scenes are pretty good as well. I recommend it to anyone willing to take a chance. Though if you want the Adult version remember to get it from Denpasoft.