Tengoku Stuggle rambling. AKA Takamura carried
No lie if Takamura did not exist I don't think I'd've enjoyed this game even half as much. I am devastated to finish this game because I'll never see him again π (ok not really i love everyone in the cast they're all great characters but Takamura is my fave by a margin so wide it is incomprehensible to the human mind). I was just about ready to drop the game after Sharaku route (but of course my completionist self would never allow that) but I am so glad i stayed because Goemon's route was so much better. I noticed the quality really pick up in JacK's route and Goemon's was just so good as well so I guess I know where all the writing effort went LMAO (poster boy bias strikes again!!). Sharaku route was genuinely kinda just beating my ass so bad I forgot Takamura even existed in my devastation, so when he appeared on screen again i was like HOLY CRAP I NEED TO KEEP GOING FOR YOU. That being said, Sharaku is actually my second fave character wise (THANK YOU SMART PERSON FOR EXISTING) and even though there were moments where I was like 'wow this guy is srsly fucking scum' (quite a few times! honestly i kinda hated him after some of the shit he was saying for a bit but it's cool now) (The Forgiving Man) (it's really rare for me to hate any character entirely lmao) overall he was pretty funny and I like funny people so the verdict was clear.
Initially I was kinda hesitant about playing a Katagiri game but honestly Takamura was so freaking good and the vn itself was considerably tame compared to what I was expecting so it was totally fine.
Also, it took me an embarrassingly long time to put two and two together and recall Akutagawa's short story The Spider's Thread. Sob.
Random tangent but I love mcs with whips. I've only encountered Koyomi and Rin so far,, i wonder if I'm missing out on anyone
ALSO I REALLY WISH I KNEW WHO VOICED KING TAIZEN. i didnt see anything in the end credits but i really liked his va,,,, uwagh. A mystery
ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME UP π IT'S TOTALLY FINE IF ANYONE DISAGREES
Fair warning a lot of these are just like surface level comments and stuff so don't expect anything super deep unless it has the 'serious note' attached.
General random rambling: BROOOOOO. Goemon's route genuinely had me miserable as hell re:Rin bruh. Basically,
Anyway most of my Rin thoughts will be spread out throughout the other chara routes so I'll leave it to there.
I really did not like the opening song and I had to skip it immediately upon loading up (sorry producers ;; no hard feelings) but the ending songs were awesome, i really liked the bad end song. I also really like Oshichi (honestly, I'm not sure if I should say like or liked. After Goemon route I was like uhhh but also I've never been in love and I'm fairly certain I'm aro so idk if love does make people do insane shit like that but to me i was like HELLO? but I'm veering off into unrelated territory again so I'll stop). One of the funniest things i said early on was 'i hope she gets a happy ending or else im gutting everyone i love her'. And . well. I guess she did?!!? kind of. I was really impressed with how they tied Kamuro and Oshichi into the story and Kamuro's reasons for becoming like that.
TAMA IS SO CUTEEE sometimes he was getting on my nerves for reasons I can no longer remember. Also that mini lecture he puts on at the start of the game gave me mad re:birthday song flashbacks (I should finish that someday... i think it's been half a decade now....). King Enma was amazing, his VA was so good I had to make separate save files for some of his voice lines (same with Yona, insane performance). Reading back on my liveplay, I apparently hated him really bad when I first saw him LMAO but i think it's because he was so intense I was cringing to death but by the end I got used to it and he's great now. I love that the fingers on the skeleton rattle when he finishes talking. I was so impressed by the art and sprites and everything omg there was so much cool extra art throughout the game and the sprites were so animated with like extra emotion motifs i LOVED that. Also how their faces stick in when they're talking but not included on screen. Just small stuff like that added so much to the atmosphere for me
I was so excited to see that for the first time LMAO
Speaking of the art, the fucking battle cards were sooo cool I NEED THIS TO HAVE A FIGHTING GAME SPIN OFF??? Having flashbacks to when I wanted a ninkoi fighting game so bad I started writing up an entire.. no.. I shan't say (it's too cringe). Anyway I would fucking kill to see an otome game where you can actually fight fighting-game style (did they do that in kenka banchou? I don't know actually) and it would be so fucking sick if the ending outcome changed based on whether you won or lost. Ah I should go play some blazblue again. I got really excited when i saw the battle cards because I thought we'd get to fight and I got a bit too excited π
I have a few gripes with how they presented the whole Rin hates men thing. Like, this issue was mainly prevalent in the first three routes (esp Yona's) but what do you Mean she hates guys because she was rejected and not because she works as a hell guardian and has seen the worst of them.... hello... also Yona's reason for hating women could've easily been as a result of his guilt for not being able to save his mum and that twisting into something like, his mum wasn't able to protect herself -> girls are weak -> turns into hatred for women because they're weak (trying to shift the blame/guilt kind of thing) kinda pattern of thinking but instead his reason is just so shallow (boohoo enemy woman tricked me)?? Man, I'll come back to that when I start talking about his route. The first 3 routes left me pretty disappointed, overall I think they were fine but some things were left unclear (Sharaku's mum cmon. I was literally waiting for more elaboration and there was nothing). I love all the characters though, Yona and Kiku's friendship is awesome, everyone's banter is great, I love Sharaku's snarky dialogue etc. but the routes themselves OTZ brooo idk man. I just wasn't the biggest fan from what I can recall overall (it'll become a bit clearer in the individual route sections).
Also, and this is a huge thing, I'm actually not great with romance (even tho I've been playing otome games for god knows how long) so for me the routes weren't that great bcos the romance in them didn't really do it for me either,,, I'm sure the romance itself is a huge factor for others liking the routes (Rin is one of the most proactive heroines I've seen LMAOOO good for her) but I'm usually more into the character interactions and stuff. If I was more into romance I probably would've been able to overlook a lot of the stuff that annoyed me bcos there was a very clear focus on the romance part (aughghhh the curse. the curse of never understanding romance continues to plague me) so i just feel like i missed out on that emotional aspect, but this is just a totally personal thing. Thought I'd make that clear before continuing LOL. (This isn't to say I dislike romance bcos then obviously I wouldnt spend most of my free time playing otome games LMAO but I just dont resonate with it in the same way most people do unfortunately)
The Takamura corporate slave running gag was great (especially for me, I did a business degree and i detest business but somehow all of my fave charas end up having to do something with business and its become a running gag between my friends and I that business will haunt me forever) and I just really like 'twisted' characters in general LOL. He's also really fucking funny and super cool I love Takamura. I cannot emphasis enough how great he is and how he is easily the best character in my eyes OTZ. Tengoku isnt even on my list of particularly memorable otome is what I would normally say- if it weren't for Takamura bcos he's genuinely gotta be in my top 10 characters across every game I've played LMAO he single-handedly saved Tengoku for me (I loved the chara interactions between the lis and other charas but it wasn't enough to save the game from how shallow it was feeling to me at times π). I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe a combination of some of the explanations they used for charas + the difference in quality between routes due to plot reasons + idk if it was just me but some of the routes felt kinda rushed? Sometimes they'd bring things up and then just never really elaborate on them again.... Sharaku's mum is going to haunt my dreams.... there were other examples but I was the most invested in Sharaku so that's all I can think about right now
Initially in the common route, I hated the lis (as expected and intended) but I still laugh at how one of the first things I said re:Sharaku was 'its fine. there will be character development.' and then right after that 'fuck character development im going to kill this one immediately' LMAO. Now he's my second fave (to no one's surprise) (I don't log most of my games here solely bcos it takes up so much of my energy and time bcos i cant stop talking and so there is little evidence of it here, but a lot of the time the charas I hate the most end up among my faves)
HAYAI THE TAXI GUY!! OH MYGODD I LOVE THIS GUY HE'S LITERALLY JUST A SKELETON IN UNIFORM. I'm so sad they only show his art once in the common route I was so excited to see more of him later on in the game but alas!!
Anyway i need to condense my thoughts into dot points before i start rambling out of control yet again:
Kiku and Yona turn the house into a beach. Sharaku is livid. Hilarious scene i loved this one
Every scene with Takamura and his facial expressions
Not a fave scene. I cannot stand Kamuro!! (I did think he was funny at first to be fair) I knew this guy was up to some heinous shit I felt so vindicated in Goemon's route LMAO
SHIN RELAX BRO π CHILL OUT WITH THE SELF DEPRECATION (hes kinda real though) (Goemon route was so fire :) everyone's happy!! yay)
Sharaku threatening to kill people over the floor being wet or finding dishes in the sink He's So Real
RIN WEARS GLASSES!! i barely ever see heroines with glasses she's so cute
Sharaku's snarky one-liners are too good
Me wishing Okuni had a route until her husband appeared. I'm sorry bro I didn't realise π
My first thought upon seeing Hari was 'they made digimon real in this game' (I love Hari)
YONA'S VA IS SOOOO FUCKING GOOD
Takamura business dudebro (hellnet takamura) LMAOOO I died when an ad popped up. In the wise words of old me,
Kiku and Yona are so real for not caring about expiration dates
I wish we got to see Rin's full swimsuit!!! Actually there might have been a cg with some more of it pictured in there i cant remeber right now
WHY DID THEY SWITCH FROM LORD HELL GUARDIAN TO MY LADY AUHGH goodbye super cool nickname... I was genuinely so sad over that LOL
I'm gonna have to keep the dot points going bcos otherwise this is gonna get out of hand real quick OTZ
IKARI SATOU IM KILLING YOU. oh mygoddd dont even get me started on this guy esp in the following routes. To be fair after reading his memoir I felt kind of bad but still . hate his ass
Kiku's plotline was so disturbing man. Anyway, I can't remember if they ended up providing an explanation as to why Kiku has wolf ears and Azami has cat ears? I might have just forgotten but i just remembered that while typing this out and now this will haunt me too. All I have is Kiku saying 'We're siblings, but I'm a wolf and she's a cat. Sure is weird.' and then nothing. I'm crying bro they just moved the hell on
I REALLY WISH THEY HAD A PLAYABLE MINIGAME FOR HELL MACABRE PARTY. The way the opening graphic was presented got my hopes super high OTZ
The Friends π₯i loved seeing Shin and Kiku hang out together. Goemon route made me so happy for Shin
During his route i questioned whether Kamuro was evil which is really funny bcos I can no longer remember the context. The answer turned out to be Kinda i guess. Idk if I'd call him entirely evil bcos he obviously had his own reasons even if he was absolute batshit insane but he was an antagonist at least. I do not like Kamuro πbut the rest of this conversation is for Goemon's route
King Enma just dropping by and then opening the Anywhere Hell Gate when leaving killed me π it was so much funnier in jp omfg
omg some parts with Azami ... I know shes just a kid + went thru all that trauma so she acts out but it was killing me OTZ esp where she was just attacking Shin for no reason like man the hell did he do
DO WE EVER FIND OUT ANYTHING MORE ABOUT MEOWSTER GOKU? I cant tell who was in the suit. I feel like I was waiting for some kind of explanation on that so I'm a bit disappointed I didn't see anything else even after finishing the game. Azami can control cats and men so I really wonder if there was a man in that suit or something. Mysterious
Also re:Meowster, he hands out candy at the Hell Mansion. Is he part of Shinobikuni's ring?? Idk i just think back to Ikari's candy in Goemon's route which he used to control Shin. Is that how they managed to get everyone to ingest Shinobikuni's blood??? Through Meowster's free candies? But he didn't seem like a malicious person unless he was also tricked by Shinobikuni, assuming it's a guy in that suit and obvs the whole 'Shinobikuni's job is deceiving men'
This isn't related to his route but after finding out i could change the chara on the home screen I was so hyped. Obviously I had to put Sharaku in cleaning clothes on there. go sweep the floors boy
(if only they had Takamura....)
Bad end: Ikari you absolute fucking bastard. I'm not as nice as everyone else in this game so I was super happy to see Azami rip everyone up LOL. Azami CG was soooo fire I loved her in the bad end
FUCKKKK probably one of the cutest routes . I really like Yona i think he's hilarious and I think him and Rin are great together. Initially tho I was like why the hell is Rin falling for him so fast LOL. Also Rin was SO CUTE in this route. Probably my fave of the initial 3
HIS VA IS SO GOOD I CANNOT EMPHASIS THIS ENOUGH. BUT THE DELIVERY WAS AMAZING
Yona real for rejecting technology. Complete tangent but I actually wanna go back to a flip phone and obliterate all socmed usage because it just makes me super self conscious about everything i say and whether i'm 'picking the right dialogue options' etc etc (don't even talk about how much time I used to waste on socmed omg there's so many other things I want to do and I'm using up my time on useless crap). anyway Yona Real for that
I like his belt LOL the lifebuoy and steering wheel. also his room is fucking sick I want that nook bed so bad
OKUNI'S DESIRE IS SO FREAKING COOL BRUH OMG
Sometimes his deflection was really pissing me off like girl!!! Why are you bringing up how it's Rin's fault for trying to be a woman hell guardian I'll peel you. We got crying Yona after that tho so W π₯more crying lis please. Rin's 'i want to see more of it' was so real
Yona's NTR book ππaight man (severely out of context)
That one scene with Rin saying 'Maybe I should hit him with my whip' while it's just Yona's smiling sprite standing there was so funny. Bro isn't even doing anything!!
King Enma's dialogue "There was a slogan for an otome game that said, 'work hard at work and love!'." I initially thought of Sympathy Kiss (or maybe Angelique buy I doubt) but i dunno,, i tried looking for it for a while but didn't find anything. I'll just pretend it was from symkiss for my own peace of mind LMAO.
The 'I'm already dead' running gags were pretty funny
Once again scenes with Sharaku being a little shit were great 10/10 also impeccable performance from his VA
Rin's 'maybe i dislike men because of a brutal rejection' BROOOO come ON you are a hell guardian who's seen the worst of the worst surely you have a better reason than that
Yona talking about how authors can become famous just by sitting at a desk. If only it were that easy!!
To be for real, i don't really get the logic gymnastics of killing people to leave your name and be of value being your interpretation righteousness but sure man
Yona's 'stop hanging out on the internet' to Shin was too real. Taking that personally thanks Yona. I totally get Shin's side too (bro is literally me) but at one point you realise none of this really matters. Once you turn off the screen and look around nothing on there mattered at all. But that's a topic for another time
The extra Sansaburo sprites were really cool. I love how much effort went into the sprites, special effects and art
I'm gonna go more into this in Goemon's route, but re: Okuni's conversation with Shin looking familiar and relation to Goemon. I really wish we got more info on Okuni and Goemon's history
On a serious note, I can't get over Yona hating women because the enemy women poured him sake laced with anesthesia and killed him like that. Dude? Enemies do tend to do that (deceive) yes, regardless of gender. i dunno it just felt so cheap esp when they already mentioned stuff about his mum dying and him not being able to save her (i don't have any screenshots specifically from that scene so I can't go into the nuance [I've forgotten a lot]) but like I mentioned earlier his hatred for women could've easily been from a twisted thought pattern of shifting the blame - he wasn't able to protect his mum as a kid, his mum died because she was too weak, self hatred turns into deflection and he starts to put the blame not on himself anymore but on women for being too weak to protect themselves, which turns into hatred for women fueled by his self loathing and guilt that he doesn't want to face. Especially since he's already shown a pattern of deflecting shit like when he told Rin it was her fault for being a woman hell guardian after the fight where he cheated (and is made clear he doesn't hate Rin he just wants her to stay safe), and how he mentions several times he hates women because they're so weak, among other times I'm forgetting lol. Or something along those lines. I dunno I feel like the set up was right there and I was fully expecting that so when they pulled out the 'enemy woman killed me' i was like Huh. Definitely underwhelming and not what i expected at all
In the extra stage one of his classmates saying 'Murakami was an orange in his past life' because he eats so many hassaku oranges was incredibly funny to me for some reason LMAO
Also, didn't Rin's soul get erased from existence in the bad end? How did she reincarnate in the extra stage... idk if i missed something but whatever. I've learnt not to question things anymore OTZ it's not like I'll get answers
Actually another thing that felt kinda shallow or at least not fleshed out/rushed was how he doesn't like the internet because it misrepresents things and how his hometown and stuff wasn't recorded anywhere (something along those lines) which makes sense but also, it was mentioned so briefly and so quickly and kinda offhandedly it didn't really have much of an impact. Tbh i added this part in after finishing and posting this because i was lying awake trying to remember why Yona doesn't like the Internet LOL and then it came back to me
Initially, I was kinda annoyed (read: way too invested) about the Oshichi subplot not being wrapped up but after doing Goemon route I Understand Now
MANNNN. I love Sharaku as a character but his ROUTE?? Overall, not a fan .... I was expecting this though. Before I went into his route i was joking about how I'll probably detest him after I'm done LOL. It wasn't all bad but it wasn't great either
I wanted to kill him many times in this route . As expected from Sharaku. But there were also many times where he was really fucking funny
I feel like his dice quirk was extremely underutilised. It felt like towards the end they suddenly remembered about it and brought it back but i dunno. Another one of those moments where it just felt kinda shallow. It comes back in chapter 8 of his route which felt so far away...
A lot of his route was like 'heartbreaking: person makes a point you agree with but is super fucking annoying about it' like i agree with him but holy shit this guy pisses me off so bad LMAO. His smug sprite was really funny but sometimes i just wanted to beat his ass when that sprite appeared
Also many instances of me saying 'god i hate this guy. his voice lines are really funny though'
The VA performance in Tengoku was just really fucking solid man I cannot say this enough
HIM SELLING THE ONSEN WATER LMAO not the business dudebro 2.0... the curse prevails. Anyway it's great how that came back later to save the day unintentional Sharaku W
Sharaku and Kamuros conversation was great. I love that he has no filter and is absolutely ruthless LMAO
NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN!!! 'Rin hates men bcos she was turned down' STOPPP
Some parts I was like Sharaku what the hell man re:'salvation is part of the antics of a lowlife who wants to be something but cant/there's nothing more arrogant than getting happy over being able to help others' but after finishing the route it's pretty obvious that's directed at himself. I was like where is this coming from. I feel so bad for him
This is random but when this game first came out, I thought Sharaku was 25 and was super shocked when I found out his real age. Fast forward 2 years and I think he's 25 again and when he does the reveal im like 'lmao yeah no he's just fucking with Rin again he always does this' HE WAS NOT !! I was so shocked but finding that message of mine from 2024 made it even funnier πexact same thought process two years apart. Rin's 'younger... with all that attitude' was my exact same thought process
I was SO SURE he was just making shit up again im dying man.
Sharaku backstory was insane man. I can't even blame him for doing what he did in that moment because his intentions were good. It was probably the most confronting of the initial 3 routes. The description of the lady with syphilis was just so damn depressing.
Rin's 'Sharaku! Stop saying random nonsense!' I felt that in my soul
ALSO . SHARAKU'S MUM. I REALLYYY WISH WE GOT MORE INFO ON THIS. All they say on the matter is like, Sharaku going pale at Rin talking about a mother who 'loved him' after hearing his past through the threads (and honestly the way his mum was talking about him and his father disappearing was really uncanny, I totally expected something more). But after that they just kinda drop the topic entirely and they never elaborate on what kind of person his mum was and why he was in so much despair when Rin brought up that topic. I was waiting for anymore elaboration but it never came :,) it's still haunting me (i guess unless you count the one line where he later talks about his mum always crying and collapsing from illness,, I do wish we got more than just that). That almost made me drop the game ALMOST,, but then Takamura finally reappeared and I remembered who I was playing for again LOL
TAKAMURA'S FIGHITNG STANCE SPRITE HWAGHHH HES SOOOO COOOOOLL
Ikari stepping on Rin's phone. OH my god man i freaking hate this guy. He's a great character though
Hearing about how the prostitutes were treated from Otsuta :( mannn. Sharaku route was rough to read. 'They say life is precious, but I wonder if there was any value in ours' and the flashback with the courtesan just made me so so sad.
Sharaku's bad end cg where he bites off Rin's pinky before she disappears was so fire I honestly think I prefer the bad end. Also I didn't know u could do that. The pinky didnt disappear
Sharaku's 'They say riches come to those with a clean, shiny sink' is so unnecessarily funny. Do they?!?!
Takamura calling Asaemon Asa-chan LOL
Another thing I wish we got more elaboration on is Sharaku's past with Asaemon ugh.
I flip-flopped between 'lol this guy fucking sucks' 'wait hes kinda funny' 'nvm i cant stand him' 'eh he's alright' 'nvm this guy is great' so I don't really know if i like him or not. Probably?? I definitely don't hate him LOL there was a point where JacK was my fave chara. Also spoilers from here on I'm just gonna call him Imai
I like how he talks so chuuni initially LMAO. Actually my first impression of him was literally 'hes so chuuni but in a really lame way' but after starting his route it was more funny than lame. i really liked him at the start because of that
Rin's 'Why is everyone around me just men who don't bother to listen to what anyone else is saying?' was hilarious but even funnier when at the end of Goemon route nobody is listening to Imai either and just talking over him LMAOOO
I WISH RIN HAD A VA SOOOOO BAD FOR THIS ROUTE YOU HAVE NO IDEA OMG. HER ACTING LIKE SHE DOESNT KNOW WHO JACK IS WAS SO GOOD BUT IT WOULD'VE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER WITH A VA anguish!! I will forever mourn non-voiced heroines...
It's so funny how they both thought they were fooling each other. I actually had a lot of fun in Imai's route lmao
Once again tremendous VA performance 10/10 re:Tama NYAOful scene
When Imai was talking about the special ingredient in the tea i was 100% expecting him to reveal he drugged it or something LOL. Many such cases...
Rin: how did you get rid of him? (re:Ikari)
Sharaku: I told him if he showed his face again I'd kill him
Rin: I'll be sure to say that to him next time I see him then
There's an awful lot of school uniforms in here but Imai's route felt the most shoehorned.
THE HELL MANSION SCENE WITH EVERYONE ATTACKING HIM WAS SO GOOD i loved that. The friends :,)) esp:
Sharaku accusing Rin Fujiko of cheating and having no choice but to kill Imai
Yona's 'whoops my hand slipped' and 'Now go to Hell! Wait, don't come to us!' voice lines were so good LMAO (and then immediately making things 10 times worse)
Takamura is hilarious for putting that curse on him. Common Takamura W
King Enma: Nono, you really are messed up
Takamura: That's my one redeeming feature
The scene where Sharaku tells Yona to blow up the apartment and the cut to Rin outside the apartment 'please tell me you aren't actually thinking of blowing up the apartment', and Yona saying he'll only blow Imai up bcos he doesn't wanna get uninvolved people caught up in it LMAO man i love the cast
THE ICHISE SNAKE TRANSFORMATION CG WAS SOOOO FREAKING SICK
OKUNI IS SO COOL. THAT FAN SPREAD OUT SPRITE WAS SO FREAKING COOL
King Enma's 'But those who hang their heads down don't notice the hands reaching out to help them' was soo fire what the hell
Why was Rin so shocked about Imai being alive?? Takamura literally told her about the curse and how can't die. I was like bro what we already know everything. That part was a bit strange tbh. She later has a flashback and is like 'so this is what he meant by living forever' but what else would it mean π
The scenes where Imai joins the house were some of the funniest, I was laughing out loud LOL. I can't even talk about it because I don't need this to be any longer than it already is
Seeing Rin's sprite on screen was so awesome man. I'm even happier with how we got a full Rin CG in Goemon's route too
Imai's desire reveal was so fucking sick man. Also Takamura forcing him into a position where he has to use it 10/10 ploy
TAKAMURA CANDLE MAKER IS SOOO COOL MAN HOLY SHIT i love Takamura. Coolest guy ever!!!!!
Sharaku's switch up whenever he hears anyone has money is one of my favourite running gags. His interactions with Imai were so good
In that one CG where Imai's purple eye starts glowing i thought he wasn't faking the chuuni shit after all,,, but it ended up being a contact lens in the epilogue alas
Also they make an offhand comment about Goemon's fight with Takamura lasting 24 minutes and 43 seconds- i was really looking forward to any further details on that but that was kinda it. Sad
Bad end: that was kinda wild. Also wow they agreed to cancelling root jodo pretty fast under the condition Rin marries Ichise. It felt kinda anticlimactic, like after all that they're just agreeing to delete it so fast? A lot of the decisions/reasonings made across the routes just felt shallow
I really liked memory 25 in the archives tho LMAO
THE BEST ROUTE. Poster boy and plot bias strikes again but seriously the quality upgrade was diabolical. I'm really glad i held out though because I liked Goemon's route a lot in the end and i feel like I ended the game on good terms, compared to if I'd just abandoned it after Sharaku
Rin with the 'Art is an innate talent, only those gifted can draw' nuh uh βοΈanyone can draw its just a matter of learning. Speaking of I havent practiced in a very long time...
Shin's 'the only time people talk to me is when they want to steal my money' was so funny
SHARAKU'S REVEAL OF HIS SHONOSUKE DRAWING WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE I COULD NOT TELL WHO THAT WAS π SATOIS CHARAS LOOK SO SIMILAR TO ME LMAOOO i didn't realise until they said who it was out loud.
Serious note: I am really impressed with how they wrapped up the Oshichi Shonosuke plot. I would not have guessed Kamuro was Shonosuke, but it makes so much sense. His obsession with muro and removing all human desire from everyone because he was so horrified at Oshichi's arson as a result of desire -> wanting to prevent any tragedy like that from ever occurring again was pretty well done imo. Him taking matters into his own hands because he never heard anyone beyond the doors where Buddha is meant to be etc. Rare time where i was satisfied with the explanation! Or rather, rare time where we got an explanation LOL. I like that he convinced Oshichi to burn down Kumonoi temple as well- I feel like everything in that part of the route fit together really well. I found his little pukyu kyupupu guy pretty annoying i forgot to mention that LOL but hey at least it gets to stick around with his soul. I think Kamuro was a pretty good/well written chara comparatively, I completely fell for his stupid act (minus my suspicions in Kiku route, but I can't remember which scene exactly made me suspicious). I also didn't expect him to actually like Oshichi lol. Somehow, the final reasoning and scenes with the escapees still felt kinda shallow for reasons I can't really pinpoint. Like for example, what did Okuni and Sansaburo personally have to gain from any of this? I dunno man maybe they explained it and I just forgot or something but the ending defeintely did feel very anticlimactic. Also we didn't get much of Okuni and Goemon backstory which was a bit sad, I wanted to know more about their past and how they knew each other better.
When I first started the game, I was like 'wow this video game style of ui and theming feels so out of place' but during the final fight i was like ahhh I get it now LMAO. I like how they tied Hell Macabre Party into everything, even if it did feel kinda forced and out of place. I'll take whatever I can get after being burned so many times LOL. I wont question anything anymore ...
Goemon's route. MANNN shit was just sad. The scene with Goemon crying over the grilled miso onigiri just made me so sad and miserable poor guy. I feel like if i was more into romance this route would've hit so much harder which AUGHHH the curse prevails... i cant experience the emotional stuff to its full potential :( I was so glad when he eventually just came out and said the girl of winter daphnes is Rin to her face.
The 'lets kill Kamuro' running gag was my fave in this route. Everyone is so real for that
This route made me really sad for Rin. Her past is so fucked up (ALSO I KNEW SHIROKU WAS FUCKED UP. WHEN SHARAKU SAID THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE BAD GUYS I WAS LIKE THANK YOOUUUU ANOTHER SHARAKU W I LOVE SMART PEOPLE). Also it is interesting that her eyesight was pretty well restored (just needing glasses/contacts) even though she was blinded in her original life.
I'm glad they didn't go super in-depth into the SA scenes bcos tahts one of the main reasons im hesistant to read Katagiri's stuff, I don't usually do well with that subject matter
Shin moving in with everyone was awesome I love when everyone's just hanging out and being friends :D I wish we got to see some more of Imai but I guess it's Goemon's route and we already saw some in Imai's route so I can't be too greedy,, i just like seeing everyone's interactions lmao
The CG parallels with Goemon carrying Rin out from the river and then again in present time after the final battle with the same framing was a nice touch
The abuse she faced in the mountains and the rumours everyone spread about her adds a bit more depth than just the 'she hates men becuase she got rejected' so that was much appreciated. Although her going on about how shes not damaged goods was super upsetting :( man
Props again to the Kamuro hate train running gag re:Oshichi meeting scene LOL. Oshichi getting so upset made me super upset bcos her va did a great job at capturing the emotion. Man, the VAs were just so fucking good in Tengoku it's insane
OSHICHI IS SOOO CUTEEE re:THE NIGHT SHE WAS STAYING OVER SCENE
Sharaku 'Money just loves me because I'm so handsome. It came to me on its own' LMAO
i REALLY wish i did a write up for Nightshade because I've pretty much forgotten most of Goemon's route from Nightshade and I wanted to compare the two lmao
I hate Ikari but this guy's resilience is srsly on a whole new level. I gotta respect him for that
Yona had some really great moments in this route (many such cases across most of the routes tbh) but that scene where he's like 'Who gives a shit!?' to Shinobikuni's monologue was so unnecessarlly funny to me. I love Yona
Frankly I don't even have it in me to hate Shinobikuni for what she's done and how she ended up because of everything she had to endure. Also her desire is super OP i forgot to bring that up in Sharaku route
Kamuro looked pretty fucking cool in the final battle scene tbh. It did feel kinda rushed though, like Shiroku comes in out of nowhere and drops that bombshell and then Shinobikuni kinda does nothing. The Hell Macabre Party integration was cool but I dunno, it kinda felt like a cop out almost? Esp with the candy soma. How did they get that to work in real life and stuff,,, Might just be me. I'm probably just looking too much into things. Hari's physical form is super cute tho i love Hari so much
KAMURO GETTING CUT UP INTO A MILLION PIECES WAS SOO INSANE MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN . I WAS SO SHOCKED. He still fell for Shinobikuni's ploy so I guess he was stupid till the end after all
RIN CG FUCK YEAHHH she's so cool
Everything at the end kinda felt super rushed and super fast so that might be why it didn't really leave as much of an impression on me tbh. I'm not really sure how to put it into words but the pacing just felt off during so many moments
King Enma referring to Ichise as 'the awkward human standing in the shadows all weird' was also really funny lmao. I do like Ichise quite a bit I think he's pretty entertaining
OKAY. WHY DID ENMA CUT OFF SHINOBIKUNI WHEN SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW THE ROOM BEYOND THE GREAT DOORS IN HEAVEN IS EMPTY. WHY WOULD YOU STOP THERE ON SUCH A HUGE CLIFFHANGER THAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO HAUNT MY DREAMS πI NEED TO KNOW!! Guess I'll just have to make up my own theories...
Imai joining everyone scene :,)) yahoo,,, the friends. Power of friendship wins yet again!! I love the final cg. I wish we got some more context ni the extra stage where Goemon and Rin's reincarnations meet each other again and the rest of the gang is watching them but then it just ends- do Goemon and Rin recognise them too!??! I wanted to know :(
KAMUROS MEMOIR WAS SO FUCKING FUNNY LMAOOOO everyone hates his ass
In King Enma's memoir, he mentions something about secret commands hidden everywhere in the world, which makes me curious- are there any easter eggs in Tengoku? I might never know :(
Overall, I'd say i enjoyed it thanks to the characters and their personalities. I think the cast was a really strong one and I enjoyed seeing the character development. There's a lot of loose ends that I'm still not too pleased about (I need to know everything please tell me) but ah well, I went into this not expecting a whole lot so it's fine (I'm just coping).
It really delivered on the comedy front imo, and comedy is my fave genre so I'm satisfied with how things were done in that regard LOL. The interactions between charas are super well done, Takamura is the best character to ever exist thank you for existing Takamura, and I like how every character ties into the main story some way or another to a fairly large degree and it works. None of the character story ties felt forced imo (despite some scenes themselves feeling like they were) so I have no complaints on that end.
I'm still not a huge fan of how they handled Yona's backstory and where his hatred for women stem from but it's whatever. I think I'm just hung up on that because the set up was right there and I was fully expecting that to be the reason lmao. Not just Yona though, there was just way too much that was left unexplained imo. I wuold've liked it if they went more into that (I already mentioned everything throught the routes parts so I won't repeat myself here) but what can you do. I think all those unresolved points just kept piling up in the back of my mind and as a result I was kinda disappointed.
I LOVE THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP AND TENGOKU DELIVERS UNBELIEVABLY WELL ON THAT FRONT. I'm really gonna miss everyone and their banter and Sharaku's blunt snarky remarks and Takamura's rebuttals to the lis and Enma - I think everyone's personalities were really strong (espeically King Enma π) and well thought-out. There was definitely a huge focus on the romance over plot and I tend to be a plot over romance kinda person so I feel like I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as others would be able to, but despite that and despite all my gripes plot and pacing wise, I defintely did enjoy it. I've said this a million times and I sound like a broken record, but the VAs were so unbelievably good. I still need to know who voiced King Taizen!! It's gonna keep me up at night.
Takamura- I wasnted to do a paragraph on him but I feel like i wouldn't be able to do him justice. His quips are so good, hes so ruthless and sadistic and his personality is so warped that it makes for great character interactions between him and Enma/the lis/Oshichi. He's a really good straightman type character. I don't even know man it's just something that needs to be experienced firsthand. Also my brain is tired now and not working properly anymore. Myabe I'll come back to this section later (which is to say, I will never be coming back to this section probably). TLDR Takamura is the best character in Tengoku and I would not have enjoyed it this much if it weren't for him.
There's honeslty a lot more I want to go on about which is generally a good sign and a sign that I did in fact enjoy the game, but this is already super long, my laptop is lagging real bad, and I'm really tired now so I'll leave it at that. There's defintely some interesting commentary to be had with religion, righteousness, and the impact on a wider community from peer pressure/herd mentality and how social media and public figures can be used to influence people and determine what is right and wrong etc. but that would require me to be serious and that makes me feel vulnerable so maybe another day!! If you made it here, wow!! I thought I was the only person who reads through this stuff (I like reading my own recaps so I revisit them semi regularly LOL). Here's some random Takamura moments for you:
One day I will make Takamura fanart... it's been too long since I've drawn anything
