So, I was a little hesitant to buy a game that’s known for having emotionless love interests. I mean, I suppose emotionless characters could work for a sci-fi robot movie or a psychological thriller, but a romance story? I couldn’t quite see how a romance story with emotionless characters would do anything but annoy me.
But I was curious, and I am in an English game drought until Radiant Tale comes out, so my husband bought me Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo for my birthday.
Now the question is whether the writers could write a compelling romance story when one half of the couple doesn’t have emotions.
And I found that…
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!
…the writers can’t. They absolutely can’t.
When I hear the word “emotionless” I think of robots. Many women don’t want to date an emotionless robot. And many women would not find dating an emotionless robot appealing. And there lies the rub. Winter’s Wish’s writers had to create heroes that were appealing. And an emotionless man who hollowly followed directions would be a really hard sell to the general public.
So, our heroes have emotions.
Now, there are entire otome franchises built on women who, in fictional stories, feel safe enough to be treated like dirt or like nothing in general. Winter’s Wish is not written for these women.
From the very beginning in Winter’s Wish, these men have emotions. Their hearts are just “sealed” away. In fact, the seal itself in on the “feeling” of having a heart, rather than on the hearts themselves.
And in the case of Genjuro Kuga (VA: Takuya Sato), who is one of the kindest otome heroes you will ever meet, his kindness must be so strong that it radiates itself past the seal? Like how is he so kind if his heart and emotions are sealed away? All I can figure is that his kindness is such a powerful component of his character that the “seal” can’t contain it. I would say that his diligence and thoughtfulness are similarly powerful components of his character, as well. Unlike worry, concern, regret for past actions, and stress that are new emotions he “discovers” feeling, as his seal is weakening, and has to deal with for the first time with Suzuno’s help.
And so, I have this conundrum.
Kuga has emotions. He can’t “feel” them, but they are there. Cool. Like I’m glad he has emotions, albeit sealed away, but they are there. I’m glad he’s kind from the very beginning.
I won’t complain that these heroes are not emotionless. I prefer them to have emotions, and ultimately the story works better with them having emotions than being completely emotionless.
However.
I had to sit through seven chapters (there’s only eight in a route) of Suzuno, unknowingly (of course), chipping away at the seal of Kuga’s heart.
And as someone who found Kuga’s kindness fishy (for an emotionless person) from the very beginning, it was a long road to them finally figuring out that Kuga did have a heart and emotions. Like I knew from the common route:
NO ONE WITHOUT A HEART IS THIS KIND! NO ONE!
So, when Suzuno finally brings out her hypothesis about the heart seal in Chapter 5, I was like: YES! THAT’S WHAT IS GOING ON!
The scenes between Kuga and Suzuno are good. Cute even. I love how Suzuno listens to Kuga and does her best to help him process his feelings and concerns. I love how Kuga slowly opens up to Suzuno about wanting to find out about his past and family of origin. Kuga likes physical touch and I thought the scene where they hugged for the first time was adorable. The scenes in the Castle Town common route, where Kuga takes Suzuno’s hand and gives her a rice ball are adorable. The scene where they are in the litter was funny and cute. Kuga and Suzuno have SO MANY wonderful moments together. They really are cute together.
Like their relationship progression was healthy and they communicated well. I really have no complaints. These moments together are ultimately what help to break Kuga’s seal. This is what healthy couples do, and that’s beautiful!
But for some reason, all this cuteness and me just didn’t click. I do wish breaking the seal on Kuga didn’t take seven chapters of the route. But I don’t even know if the seal breaking sooner, would have been enough for me to invest in the story more.
Now, while you are waiting for Kuga’s seal to break, the villain, Hanzo, has been creating chaos throughout Edo.
Hanzo is a vindictive, bitter, angry Formfolk spirit who is not above destroying the lives of others to take his revenge on the man who destroyed his family: Gengoemon Akahori. Only he can’t take revenge on Akahori because he is dead. So, Hanzo, decides to focus all his hostility upon Kuga. Because Kuga looks like Akahori.
Yeah.
Okay, so Hanzo’s family’s story is rather tragic. I will give you that.
Akahori was a selfish man. He was an arrogant swordsman who challenged Hanzo’s father (Uemon) to a duel. Akahori lost the duel, was resentful, and murdered Uemon in cold blood.
After this, Hanzo’s family became devoured by revenge. Hanzo’s two older brothers tried to murder Akahori. Both failed and died. When Hanzo and his older brother, Genzo, grew up they decided to seek revenge on Akahori. Both failed and died.
And to add insult to injury, Akahori stole a sword Uemon made. The sword Akahori stole became the object Kuga was derived from. Akahori was driven out of his fief (because he is clearly a bad dude) and had to pawn off the sword. Somehow the government attained the sword, and Kuga became a Formfolk vessel.
And somehow Hanzo’s spirit survived? I’m not really sure. Either I missed it or I didn’t understand how his spirit survived and was now terrorizing Edo.
Hanzo starts mentally controlling the Formfolk community in Edo, and starting horrible rumors about Kuga to ruin his reputation in town. Well, the human civilians don’t know what to think and become distrustful of Kuga. This forces Kuga to stay in his manor under house arrest. Well, Hanzo is a slippery bastard and it’s hard for Kuga and his friends to get a handle on him. So, while evading Kuga, Hanzo continues to amass power and become more destructive.
Now imagine an emotionally out of control of 5-year-old.
Oh, and it gets worse…
Imagine this emotionally out-of-control 5-year-old has supernatural abilities that they love to use against you.
Have that mental image?
Good. You have perfectly envisioned the hell of a villain that is Hanzo.
Hanzo is horrible. He’s selfish, vindictive, defiant, childish, relishes the power he uses to hurt other, has no empathy or compassion, will use others to get what he wants, and doesn’t care how much he hurts others, as long as they give him what he wants.
He’s an out-of-control 5-year-old child.
And I should know. I’m raising a young child.
My child can be the sweetest person on earth. My child can also be horrible when she believes she is scorned.
And that’s okay.
It’s my job as her mom to help her learn emotional control. It’s the hardest part of parenting. Helping a wild hellion become a respectful member of society.
And I do this every day.
Now, by the time I get to my free time every evening (after my child and husband go to bed), my compassion and empathy I keep on reserve to raise my child is tapped out. I’m just tired.
So, imagine my disgust when I am greeted by this emotionally out of control ADULT MAN. He thinks he is entitled to ruin people’s lives because of what happened to him. He walks all over innocent Formfolk (and the Formfolk’s families) because he has the power to do so. He uses every dirty trick in the book to destroy Kuga’s life, this man who only LOOKS like the man that ruined Hanzo’s family and life.
I’m sorry, Hanzo, but my give a damn is busted.
I just couldn’t with this guy.
I DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR REASON IS. USING AND HURTING PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DO SO IS NEVER OKAY! THERE IS NEVER A JUSTIFICATION FOR TAKING YOUR ANGER OUT ON OTHERS.
And I sat through Hanzo’s temper tantrums for 4 chapters!
The entitlement oozing out of this man frustrated me to no end. And by the end of the route, he isn’t running on the grief of losing his family. All Hanzo’s actions are based off of pure anger and hatred. And a wish to erase ANY POSSIBLE reminder of Akahori. What is ridiculous is that Hanzo doesn’t even know how much of Akahori is in Kuga. It is all speculation on Hanzo’s part.
So, he is ruining countless innocent lives for speculation.
Sigh.
Hanzo knows he is doing horrible things to innocent people. He knows, and he doesn’t care. He knows Kuga is not Akahori, but this far in…he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anything except recklessly releasing his anger. And he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process.
So, he has become like the very person he hated: Gengoemon Akahori. Another man who did awful, selfish things with no regards to how it affected other people.
Hanzo went from being the victim to becoming the kind of villain he hated.
My favorite part of the route, wasn’t a romantic moment between Kuga and Suzuno. It was where Suzuno got angry enough to tell off Hanzo. She points out that what he is doing isn’t vengeance. He is taking his anger out on all the people around him. I was like, “YEAH, GIRL! PREACH!”
And of course, Hanzo reacts in the most childish way. Telling Suzuno to, “Shut up! How could you possibly know what I have suffered?”
Well, Hanzo, you are currently possessing the man she loves, and actively trying to destroy him for a asinine reason…I really think Suzuno can understand your pain, if only a little.
Thankfully, Suzuno is able to keep her wits and not give up. She stabs the Hanzo possessed Kuga in the stomach and with the strength of Kuga’s heart, he’s able to take his consciousness back from Hanzo. Then with some quick thinking from Yoichi, they are able to seal and destroy Hanzo forever.
Thank God.
The final scene takes place at Hanzo’s grave as Kuga offers flowers (I swear this man is a saint). He tells Suzuno about the family memories he saw while his consciousness was merged with Hanzo’s mind. Happy memories (you know, before revenge twisted their lives) of Uemon creating Kuga’s sword and Hanzo wanting a younger Formfolk brother.
While Hanzo had hated Kuga’s very existence (because Kuga looked like Akahori), Kuga thought of Hanzo as his family. And a long time ago, Hanzo wanted the same thing: to be family with a new Formfolk brother, who turned out to be Kuga.
Hanzo was just so lost to his hatred that he never saw what he could have: A younger brother, so kind, that a heart seal could not stop his kindness from shining through.
And to me, this was the real tragedy of the route.
-Final Thoughts-
For me, Kuga was an average hero. I liked him well enough, but he didn’t really leave much on an impression on me. I honestly can’t say anything bad about his man. He was a good hero. Once the seal broke, he became very sweet and his romance scenes with Suzuno were swoon worthy! I just didn’t click with him.
Suzuno was delightful. I liked her. Her inner monologues made me laugh, and I thought she had a good sense of humor. She’s a lonely girl, who finds a place to belong among the Oniwaban. And she uses her ability to make a positive difference. She has a tenacity that won’t allow her to quit, even when everything looks bleak. And I can respect that.
The route was average for me. And I’m not sure why. I liked Kuga. I liked Suzuno. I liked the setting, the folklore, and most of the side characters. The only things I really detested was the villain Hanzo, and that’s fair because he is the villain. The writers did their job. But for some reason, this route is not greater than the sums of its parts. I don’t know why I feel so apathetic to this route. I think to enjoy this route, you have to connect to and invest in the journey of breaking Kuga’s seal, and I just couldn’t. I didn’t really like the plot of the Castle Town common route. The whole blightfall attacking women and cutting their hair, just didn’t interest me. And Hanzo did nothing but viscerally frustrate me. This route just wasn’t written for me, and that is okay.
Not a horrible route. I will never replay the route in its entirety. But maybe I will revisit scenes with Kuga in the future.
Otomes as Novels 