One of my favorite historical romance novels is Devil in Winter, written by Lisa Kleypas. It tells the story of Sebastian the debauched Lord St. Vincent, and Evie the shy, stuttering, sheltered young heiress. Sebastian desperately needs to marry into money, and Evie needs to escape the control of her selfish relatives who want Evie to marry her cousin so the money stays in the family. So, Evie goes to Sebastian with the proposition of an eloped marriage of convenience. Sebastian has no other options, and he does find Evie physically attractive, so he agrees and they immediate set out for Gretna Green.
Evie has standards for the man who will win her heart and Sebastian rises to the occasion and becomes a better man in the process. This growth isn’t easy for Sebastian who has to earn the trust of his wife that he will be a faithful husband and not continue his lifestyle of womanizing. And, over the course of the novel, Sebastian comes to love and respect Evie for everything she is: emotionally, mentally, and physically. And Sebastian becomes the faithful husband Evie deserves.
And for Evie’s part, she has to learn to trust her husband’s love as genuine and real. She watches him grow as a person, and she has to have the strength to take the leap and believe that he is becoming a better man. She cautiously gives him the opportunity to grow and encourages him on his journey. And by the end of the book, she knows their shared physical intimacy is a demonstration of his all-consuming love for her.
There is a give and take to this relationship. They both grow individually and that makes them stronger together as a couple.
I say all this, because this is the set-up, I saw for Shizuru and Tsugumi. The sheltered, young miss who catches the attention of the educated, worldly, sexual, older man. And no matter how much I tried to separate the stories, I just couldn’t stop judging and comparing Shizuru and Tsugumi to Sebastian and Evie.
And I just couldn’t get into the relationship dynamic between Tsugumi and Shizuru. There wasn’t a give and take between our two leads and the trust Tsugumi held for Shizuru wasn’t earned.
And, to me, something about their relationship simply felt…icky.
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!
Tsugumi was born into an aristocratic, noble family on the verge of financial ruin. And in true noble fashion, at that time, the answer to their financial woes wasn’t to get a job, it was to marry their only daughter off to a man of “new money” aka the nouveau riche. By marrying off their daughter for money, her family is able to keep their “noble” lifestyle.
While Tsugumi wasn’t too keen on the arranged marriage to man she’d never met, she knew what her duty was to the family. So, she made her peace with the decision.
Her little brother, Hitaki, did not and nearly committed suicide with a maremono (cursed book). Obviously, her brother’s near-death experience greatly impacted Tusgumi and she gained the ability to see the auras of the maremono books.
With this new ability, Tsugumi is scouted by the Fukurou to search the city for the maremono.
Now, I can’t emphasize how brave Tsugumi’s decision to buck tradition and get a job is. This would have been unthinkable for a young, noble’s daughter to “work,” and Tsugumi was not raised to work. She was raised and educated to be an elegant, classically-trained wife for a man of her social class. The fact that she is willing to step outside what her social class deemed as “appropriate” behavior for a lady is commendable.
Now, while working at Fukurou, Tsugumi meets author, Shizuru Migiwa (VA: Kenichi Suzumura).
Shizuru is a modern author who writes tragic, erotic romance novels (that for some reason Tsugumi’s young teenage brother is into to…um, okay). Shizuru comes across as a libertine, who lives life at his own pace. He’s a flirt and womanizer, and he gets a side job as a goldfish salesman because he can sell goldfish to the ladies. This man is charming, to say the least. And the writers to go great lengths to make him as mysterious as possible.
All in all, this set-up is very similar to Kleypas’s set-up for Devil in Winter. However, the direction that Nil Admirari’s writers handled Tsugumi’s development is very different from how Kleypas handed Evie’s development. And that difference between the two characters, determined how much I liked Tsugumi as a character.
And, honestly, I think Tsugumi could have been written better.
Tsugumi is attracted to Shizuru from the beginning of his character route. In their few times together, she becomes flustered and when they are not together, she always hopes to see him in the Fukurou dormitory. She thinks about him, enjoys his company, and finds him charming.
And when early in the route there is a murder at a nearby park with a female victim that has lilacs stuffed in her mouth and a printed copy of Shizuru’s book, Tsugumi was one of the firsts to jump to Shizuru’s defense. And by chapter 4, she wants to actively work to prove his innocence by questioning witnesses.
And I have to ask…Why?
At most, they have had tea together a couple of times. Tsugumi made miso soup for breakfast and shared it with Shizuru. While Tsugumi likes to read, she doesn’t like Shizuru’s books, so they don’t have that in common. They don’t spend a lot of time together and they never talk about their pasts or what they want in the future.
For his part, Shizuru guilted took Tsugumi to a fancy society ball. He put her in a sexy, mature dress and proceeded to make sexual innuendo jokes at her expense that go completely over her head and make her feel uncomfortable (I was a little uncomfortable, too). Shizuru searched Tsugumi out in a crowd and gave her a free goldfish. He bought her an éclair and they had tea together.
What about this time together, gives Tsugumi the confidence that Shizuru has nothing to do with the murders? When during their limited time together, did Shizuru earn and deserve Tsugumi’s trust?
Why is Tsugumi so sure that Shizuru is innocent? Why does she care so much? She literally knows nothing about his past until about mid-way through the route when Shiori explains a lot about Shizuru’s history (Notice Shiori explains, not Shizuru…he has literally told her NOTHING!). They do have a love of books in common, but they haven’t spent enough time together to truly learn about each other.
And I think this is what my problems are with this route. How do Shizuru and Tsugumi have feelings for each other and why does Tsugumi have faith and trust in Shizuru? They’ve had very few conversations, and don’t spend a lot of time together. Yes, they have chemistry when they are together, but lust is not love. And by mid-route they are definitely in lust, not love. Lust.
But what other reason does Tsugumi have, besides lust “love,” to defend her blind faith in Shizuru? The writers have given her no other logical reason to trust him.
Yes, the man is pretty. Yes, the man is seductive. Yes, the man is intelligent. Yes, this man is a writer. Yes, the smoothness of the Suzumura’s voice is criminal.
But what do you actually know about him? At this point in the story, he has done nothing to earn and deserve her trust.
This route was about Tsugumi exploring the ideas of lust. She was physically attracted to this man, and attracted to his seductive mysteriousness. And that is what draws her to him. It certainly wasn’t their riveting conversation or the time they spent together talking about literature.
Shizuru is sexual, there is no doubt about it. He takes her to a “ball” in a mature, sexy gown and dances with her. He makes innuendo jokes that go over her head, and seems to find her “entertaining.” To me, this scene does nothing but highlight the difference of sexual maturity between them. Now, Tsugumi was raised to move around in this world. She is of this social class. I think that being with Shizuru, who brims with sexuality, speeds up Tsugumi’s sexual maturity.
And while that, in and of itself is not bad, the fact that Tsugumi doesn’t use her discernment in determining Shizuru’s character is concerning.
This is what separates Evie from Tsugumi.
Evie IS attracted to her husband. She knows he is good looking and that women all over London want his attention. For Heaven’s sake! Kleypas describes Sebastian as a male Adonis, with the sexual vigor to match. Sebastian is highly attractive, highly sensual, and highly intelligent to match. And Evie recognizes this about her husband.
BUT.
She has her eyes wide open. She knows the kind of man she married. She isn’t under any false illusions about Sebastian. She knows he doesn’t deserve her trust, because she has never seen him do something that would be worthy of trust.
You can be attracted to someone AND not ignore their problematic behavior. You can be attracted to someone AND learn more about them before you give them your trust.
This is something that Evie understood. Evie was a young, innocent society miss (like Tsugumi), yet she understood this concept about human nature (unlike Tsugumi). And this is what made Evie such a strong heroine, even though she was sheltered by her family and society. Evie had a will of iron and she knew when to “stick-to-her-guns” when dealing with Sebastian.
I feel Tsugumi had to stop using her brain in this route and she was at the complete mercy of her emotions and hormones. For her, attraction to him meant that she couldn’t imagine Shizuru being involved with a murder.
THAT DOESN’T FOLLOW!
Tsugumi’s reasoning is flawed. So, she doesn’t come across as very smart in the route. Which I think is a disservice to a young woman as brave as Tsugumi.
Now, from the very beginning in Devil in Winter, Sebastian takes care of Evie with his cavalier kindness. And to his credit, he does his best to care for his wife. But, at the beginning, a lot of his continued care and interest is because he PHYSICALLY desires his wife and wants her is his bed.
And in Devil in Winter, this connection made sense because they become husband and wife to help fix the problems in their lives. Their marriage was a means to an end, and it simply benefited the situation that they were physically attracted to each other.
In Nil Admirari, Shizuru and Tsugumi’s relationship starts with physical attraction. In all honesty, Shizuru’s interest in Tsugumi felt icky to me.
Shizuru is a charming, naughty man. He is trouble. And I think, at the beginning he truly sees Tsugumi as a conquest? I’m not sure. He flirts with her and makes passes at her. I think this is just how he is with any woman he is physically attracted to. He finds her innocence and naivety entertaining and humorous and maybe(?) attractive. He teases her with innuendo that goes completely over her head. He is curious about why she doesn’t like his tragic romance books.
I kind of question Shizuru’s interest in Tsugumi. She’s an innocent and he’s a debauched womanizer. What interest is there for him in her, besides having his fun? His interest in her, would ruin the life of a young society miss, who would be ostracized by polite society, if it became known she had premarital sex with a man who would not become her husband. And Tsugumi’s arranged “society” marriage was put on hold after the near suicide of her brother. For all intents and purposes, it was assumed that Tsugumi was going to enter high society in the future.
Shizuru is selfish and he doesn’t care. This attitude fits into his libertine lifestyle that he is not interested in changing for anyone…including Tsugumi. He lives his life to his own set of morals and social rules. In his mind, if Tsugumi was willing to dabble with him, he was willing to indulge her with no thought to her future.
And I found Shizuru’s lack of respect for Tsugumi as a person, concerning. Over half-way through the route, Shizuru sees Tsugumi walking through the park at night with Rui. And apparently, that makes him jealous? I’m not quite sure why he feels so possessive over Tsugumi when they’ve never discussed having that kind of relationship. Like giving her a free goldfish and buying her an éclair and having tea doesn’t make Tsugumi your property.
THERE IS NO ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP WITH TSUGUMI TO BE JEALOUS OVER!
Anyways, after Tsugumi returns to the dormitory, she runs into Shizuru who invites Tsugumi into his room for a late-night cup of tea. The writers don’t bother to tell us what they talked about (must not have been that important), but, according to the writers, Shizuru and Tsugumi talked about various things. Finally, Shizuru confronts Tsugumi about walking in the park at night with Rui.
And what does our “hero” do?
Shizuru forcibly kisses Tsugumi. Because from his point of view, if Tsugumi comes into his room for a late-night cup of tea and walks with a different man in the park at night near a place where men rent rooms to be with women, she must be ready for it. He provokingly asks if the perfume she wore was to attract the man she was walking with. Apparently, he’s misunderstood her being a “good” girl this whole time. She’s really a naughty girl, who can lead on two men at the same time. He promises to show her an even greater pleasure.
Um…No…
So, two things, either: 1) Shizuru is completely unobservant about human nature (which isn’t likely because he is a successful author) and has not bothered to actually see her as a person; 2) Shizuru does know what kind of girl she is (an innocent “good” girl), but doesn’t care because he wants to kiss her because he is jealous and he wants her.
Option #1 makes Shizuru a self-involved narcissist, who never takes the time to see Tsugumi as a person. He’s only focused on himself during their few times together, which makes him completely unaware of Tsugumi’s true character. Option #2 makes Shizuru a selfish ass.
Shizuru doesn’t bother to ask Tsugumi why she was in the park with Rui at night. She wasn’t there for a lover’s rendezvous. She was trying to look for clues to help prove Shizuru’s innocence (um, what?) Rui was apparently doing the same (once again…um, what?). Shizuru let his emotions and hormones take over his brain, and he didn’t bother thinking logically. And he hurt Tsugumi the process.
Tsugumi finally frees herself from Shizuru’s embrace and runs out of his room in tears. She laments how he’s an idiot and what she has done is stupid, too.
Well, Tsugumi, you haven’t been using your brain in this entire route. What the hell where you thinking going to the park where the murders have been happening after dark? What clues did you expect to find? It’s been days since the murders, and I’m pretty sure any possible clues have already been collected by the authorities. There would be nothing there for you to find! This plot point was so stupid! I think the only reason it exists is to make Shizuru jealous. There is no other logical reason for it.
And then, what were you thinking going to Shizuru’s room late at night? You know he is a libertine womanizer. What evidence have you seen from his actions to assume that he wouldn’t put the moves on you?
WHAT HAS HE DONE TO EARN YOUR TRUST?
I have to ask how Tsugumi can trust this man with her heart and body? What has he done to deserve her trust in any way? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Now, that doesn’t absolve Shizuru from his actions. He’s a sleazy ass. This is who he is. He doesn’t care about what Tsugumi feels or wants. He mistreats her, and that isn’t right. Tsugumi didn’t deserve to be kiss against her will. He should have practiced self-control and respected her.
Okay. So, after the, NOT SEXY, forced kissed scene, I just couldn’t with all this melodrama. I completely checked out of Tsugumi and Shizuru’s hormonal relationship. Tsugumi and Shizuru simply exist as characters, stewing in their ill-considered lust. The character development was non-existent.
But I couldn’t deny, that I was curious about whether they would reconcile. So, I read on.
And in the next chapter, Tsugumi thinks she needs to apologize to Shizuru for acting childish (Girl, please…he needs to apologize to you!) about this whole kissing thing. She also speaks with her friend about everything, and her friend kind of ignores the fact that Tsugumi wasn’t thrilled with what happened the night before. I mean, “Tsugumi, has a lover now! Yay!” That’s all her friend could think about. She completely missed the point, about how the experience made Tsugumi feel.
Shizuru comes up to her and offers to walk her home from the restaurant, and the whole time, he acts as if nothing’s wrong between them. He doesn’t apologize for the previous evening, nor does he inquire to how she is doing. All he does is mention that she’s reading his book, that he noticed peeping out of her bag. Narcissist much?
Tsugumi once again thinks that she should apologize (Grrrr!), but she’s too embarrassed to say anything. And she refuses Shizuru’s offer. So, he leaves the restaurant without her. And a short time later, Tsugumi heads home on her own. Well, she is accosted by a drunk man, who is trying to get her to join him for drinks.
Shizuru isn’t a completely horrible person, and comes to her aid and scares the drunk ass off. After helping Tsugumi, Shizuru begins walking away again, but his time Tsugumi stops him. Tsugumi stammers around a bit, not being able to figure out what she wants to say. So, Shizuru teases her that maybe she is waiting for a different guy or maybe he made the mistake of scaring off the guy accosting Tsugumi. Tsugumi stalwartly denies that. So, Shizuru again teases her that she is jealous of the woman he was with at the restaurant (He never stops, does he?).
And Tsugumi admits that she was jealous of the woman he was with (Oh, why, Tsugumi?). And what does Shizuru do? He touches and strokes Tsugumi’s hair. He says he is happy that she was jealous, and he wants her to become even more jealous. He wants her to think of only him and fill herself with him. He tells her that when she stares at him with her eyes, it turns him on. So, he needs her to stop. (Gosh, Shizuru is so sleazy…your self-control is not her responsibility). And what makes this worse, is that Tsugumi doesn’t even understand what Shizuru means when he says, “It turns him on.” Yet she doesn’t have the courage to ask what he means.
Well, that’s not good for a relationship…
To finish off the chapter, Shizuru walks Tsugumi back to the dormitory. And, of course, she apologizes for the previous night.
FACEPALM
Shizuru brushes off the apology, saying its fine. Then he “admits” that it was his fault for doing “that” in the first place (Um, this isn’t an apology for hurting her feelings or kissing her without her consent). He then promises he won’t do it again…until she wants him. And then, he’ll do what she wants.
And this is all it took. Apparently, they are okay now. They have reconciled.
Well, actually what happened, was that Tsugumi shouldered all the blame and let Shizuru off the hook for his behavior towards her. She still can’t trust Shizuru to care for her body or heart, but she’s going to trust him anyway, because you know… emotions and hormones. She gives him trust that he has does nothing to deserve. But if Tsugumi doesn’t hold Shizuru accountable for his actions towards her, who will? This man will continue to string her along, until she puts an end to it. But apparently, she is okay with that.
I mean, Shizuru isn’t repentant at all. He treats this whole situation as a joke, and just continues with his innuendos, flirtatious comments and touching her body.
So, that’s it. I’m done. Route Dropped.
Will their relationship improve and get healthier? I don’t know. And I don’t care to find out.
Life is too short!
-Final Thoughts-
Honestly, at the very beginning, I didn’t think Shizuru was terrible. Yet as the story continued, Shizuru became just plain sleazy. I guess he’s supposed to come off as seductive and sexy, but he’s just gross. He says things to Tsugumi that go over her head, and is amused by her confusion “innocence.” That, to me, isn’t cute. He doesn’t treat her with respect and treats their relationship as a “game of seduction,” which isn’t fair to Tsugumi because she doesn’t know the “rules of the game.” I think for this kind of hero to work for me, he has to be paired with a strong heroine who calls him out for his crap and requires him to be a better person.
Shizuru wasn’t the sole reason I strongly disliked this route, though he was a large part of it. I don’t hate the premise of the playboy, libertine hero, I just hated the writers’ execution of Shizuru’s character. I’m going to say he was an aggravating hero. He had potential to be great, but this potential was wasted by the writers.
Oh poor, sweet Tsugumi. I didn’t enjoy watching Tsugumi trail after Shizuru like a lovesick puppy. I felt like she was led along on a string the entire time. Shizuru set the entire tone for the relationship and she just went along with it. WHY? How does a smart, brave young woman become someone who doesn’t have any standards for how she is treated? How does she have such passionate trust in his innocence, when she barely knows him? This isn’t sexy. It’s sad. Tsugumi’s character and her development were ignored by the writers, and I just find this so disappointing.
Now maybe the writers squeeze in some character development for Shizuru and Tsugumi before the route ends. And if so, I’m sorry, but the character development simply comes much too late in the story. Characters aren’t something you just check off a list, like it’s a condition that must be met to make a book (or in this case, a route). Characters MAKE the story and are the foundation that everything else should rest upon. Shizuru and Tsugumi’s character journeys should be the focal point of the story, not something you throw in at the end to “check it off the list.”
Since this is an otome game, I’m assuming at some point there is a reveal of Shizuru’s character. But, even if this reveal actually comes, the end of the route is far too late. Holding back all the important character information until some big reveal moment late in the story, doesn’t make for a compelling hero. It’s a detriment. For over half his route, we don’t know what Shizuru needs, wants, or what his goals are. We don’t know his motivations. We don’t know why he is doing, what he is doing. Why does Shizuru want Tsugumi? What does he want from life at all? We know nothing about him.
All we know is that Shizuru and Tsugumi are horny, and this sexual tension was meant to carry the route. But the sexual tension in this route is gross, because Shizuru is sleazy and Tsugumi stopped using her brain and let him treat her anyway he chose. Their relationship is completely unbalanced.
I strongly disliked this route. Now, granted I didn’t finish it. But that, in and of itself, is telling. I rarely get so disgusted at a route that I don’t finish it. For over half the route, there was no visible character development for either of our two leads. Shizuru was in complete control of the relationship, leaving Tsugumi to follow along at his pace. They did not become equals in their relationship. There was no give and take. To me, this relationship is not charming, sexy, or romantic. To me, this relationship is…icky.
Up until the point I quit, this route was badly written, especially in terms of character development. I didn’t finish it, but I’m going to give it an aggravating rating because it bothered me enough that I quit.
I will stick with Sebastian and Evie and Devil in Winter. A wonderful book, with fantastic characters that grow as individuals before coming together to share a passionate, romantic relationship.
Otomes as Novels 