As an introvert, I do feel a love and a fondness for a good kuudere. Heroes like Akaza from Olympia Soiree, Dante from Piofiore, Axel from OZMAFIA!!, and Yoritomo from Birushana are some of my top favorite otome love interests.
But I am coming to begrudgingly recognize that there is a subset of kuuderes who take their stoicism to a higher level. And when this higher level of stoicism is combined with a lack of people skills, these heroes cross the line from being endearing kuuderes to just plain…boring.
Now let me say, Kagura isn’t a bad character. He just didn’t appeal to me.
And that’s okay.
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!
Otoko Yuukaku is the PSVita version of the mobile/Steam/Switch version of The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya. And while the setting and plot are the same, there are some differences between the PSVita and mobile/Steam/Switch versions.
First the Vita version has voice acting, which is fantastic! There is Vita exclusive route, which I’ve heard explains some of the fantasy elements of the story (though, I have not read this route yet, so I can’t confirm). And the Vita version is also censored, compared to the mobile and Steam versions which are more sexually explicit during the intimate scenes.
Kagura is a quiet, highly intelligent, studious man. When he’s not seducing women, he spends his time learning about different academic disciplines and training his body in swordplay. His favorite topic of study is Western “Dutch” studies, and his face brightens and he excitedly talks about this topic whenever it’s brought up, which isn’t very often, because most women who come to see him are not interested in what he has to say about his studies. So, Kagura has learned to keep to himself and not share himself or his intellectual passions with the women he services.
And while Kagura’s intellect and studious nature are being wasted in Yoshiwara, he’s stuck being a courtesan until he can pay off his contract to Kikuya. Once he pays off his contract, he’s welcome to pursue any career he wants. Until that time, all he can do is continue to take on clients and pursue his academic studies, which are his passion.
Kagura is sweet and, underneath the quiet exterior, is very kind. BUT. He is SO stoic! I mean it is sweet to see him blush as he talks about his Dutch studies or when he gives Misao a daffodil, but he’s so subtle that it was hard for me to maintain interest.
And trying to bring our stoic Kagura to life is voice actor, Ryoutaro Okiayu. And while his voice is lovely, this was one SUBTLE voice acting performance. Which like, okay, I understand. Kagura is supposed to be stoic and understated. But man. It wasn’t a bad voice performance, but I just felt that Okiayu’s subtleness made it hard to relate to Kagura as a character. No matter what Kagura is feeling, he just doesn’t have a lot to say and when he does speak, he has the same calm tone. I guess I just prefer characters that don’t always sound the same, no matter what they are feeling in that moment.
And it doesn’t help that the rival courtesan being dangled in front of the reader in this route, is Takao… and Takao is my favorite. Poor Kagura didn’t stand a chance.
While in Takao’s route, the rival courtesan crosses a line that makes him unlikeable, Takao doesn’t do something like that in Kagura’s route. Which helps ensure that he’s still likeable to the reader. And when he’s his charming, flirtatious, magnetic self, Kagura just seems dull, to me, in comparison.
And I found my attention being stolen by Takao whenever he was in the scene, and it didn’t help that Takao is constantly pointing out how boring Kagura is. It’s like even the writers knew they were writing an extremely stoic character, that could border on boring, that they felt the need to have another character comment on that.
And poor Kagura suffered from stoic-man-mistake syndrome in this route. In Chapter 6, when Takao challenges Kagura over his non-physical relationship with Misao and Takao says he wants a chance to seduce her, Kagura says he won’t stop him from trying!
WHAT THE HECK, KAGURA?
Takao is playing by the rules of Kikuya. Since Misao has not slept with Kagura, she’s still fair game for another courtesan to try to seduce.
Now, Kagura hasn’t slept with Misao because he’s respecting her wishes and boundaries, which is great! But instead of sticking up for his relationship with Misao (as unconventional as it is for Kikuya), he essentially gives Takao permission to seduce the woman he cares about.
And of course, Tokiwa continues being his manipulative self, and has Misao listen in on the conversation between Takao and Kagura, which completely confuses Misao on how Kagura sees her. Is she special to him or simply another client?
Tokiwa doesn’t have Misao listen in for Takao’s benefit. Oh no. Tokiwa makes a pass at Misao, too. He even mutters at how Kagura is stoic and emotionless to a fault, and he doesn’t see what Misao finds attractive about Kagura. And yet again, the writers have another courtesan commenting on the stoicism of Kagura, and how he crosses the line into dullness.
Everyone knows what the rules of the brothel are. Yet, Kagura for some reason, doesn’t defend his relationship with Misao, all the while knowing that the other courtesans will take his silence as permission to pursue Misao. And honestly, having to stave off persistent courtesans, puts Misao in a really bad spot. Which is kind of a crappy thing for Kagura to do to Misao. And while this lack of an emotional response falls in line with Kagura’s personality, I still found it rather exasperating! This man is too stoic for his own good!
I kind of have to wonder how he’s such a popular courtesan. The manager, Iroha, isn’t a fan of when Kagura talks about his academic interest (which is like the one thing he lights up about), and Kagura doesn’t talk much about himself anyways. So, what is he doing to seduce these women? Is he just pouring sake? Is it all about physical intimacy? Like what is the appeal of Kagura if the woman isn’t also interested in academic topics?
I, myself, would enjoy talking about academic topics, and I can see the appeal of him when he’s open about his interests. A smart, intellectual hero is a great thing! But Kagura doesn’t volunteer that information and getting it out of him is rather difficult. And the average woman isn’t going to ask about his interests, so she wouldn’t know this about him. So, in that case, what are they doing? What is the appeal?
On their second night together, Misao and Kagura are sitting in a room together drinking sake. With neither of them speaking, Misao internally monologues to herself how awkward she feels. And then Kagura picking up on Misao’s restlessness asks if she is bored. But, I get the feeling he’s fairly comfortable with the silence because he asks her, in a fairly vulnerable voice (I mean vulnerable for Kagura), if she’s bored. It’s like he’s content just sitting in a room, not speaking with Misao. He doesn’t need much more than this to be happy.
BUT MISAO DOES FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE! She feels awkward with the silence, and I believe a lot of women would feel the same.
Once again, let me reiterate. Kagura isn’t a bad character. He’s kind, intelligent, and sweet. He is working as hard as he can to develop his mind, in spite of the life he is forced to live. But I do believe that the writers did him a disservice by making him as stoic as they did. This hurt his character and his relationship with Misao.
Misao is a soft-spoken, polite, and kind young woman. She works at her family’s wholesale store, that deals in items from the mainland. She’s not wealthy, but her and her mom live comfortably. Now I’ve detailed Misao’s character extensively in another article. I’m not going dive into her character again, so if you’re interested in Misao please consider reading her article.
I would say, overall, Misao’s character is consistent in the two routes. The one change I did notice is that Misao seems more self-aware in this route, a change that I believe the writers used somewhat effectively (it’s still not great).
Misao arrives at Kikuya with a delivery from her family’s store and the brothel manager Iroha mistakes Misao as the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Iroha assumes she is a wealthy young woman and rolls out the red carpet for her. A couple of times, Misao tries to tell Iroha that she’s not wealthy, but Iroha brushes her comments aside as “humility.” Iroha steam rolls ahead and asks her to pick a courtesan for the evening. Misao timidly picks Kagura.
From the first night, Misao and Kagura are attracted to each other. She finds Kagura handsome and fascinating. And, of course, Kagura is attracted to Misao’s innocence. She’s unlike any other woman he’s ever met, and he’s intrigued by her unassuming kindness.
However, Misao realizes she’s not comfortable in Kikuya and attempts to leave, only to have her departure delayed by the closed gate. This means she is stuck in Yoshiwara until morning. She goes back and spends the night in Kagura’s room. She knows she doesn’t belong in the world of Yoshiwara, and she’s pretty much convinced herself she won’t go back until she’s “grown up a bit.” Misao holds off for a week from going back to Kikuya, but the moment she receives a letter from Kagura, Misao gives in to her curiosity and immediately goes back to see him. Of course, Misao is still not interested in sex. She simply wants to be with him, and “get to know him.”
She is more self-aware in this route. However, this self-awareness doesn’t last any longer than a bit of interest in her from Kagura.
Oh well.
This increased self-awareness also plays into the relationship between Misao and Kagura. Both of them recognize that neither of them fit into the world of Yoshiwara and Kikuya. And from the beginning of their relationship, this awareness gives them something in common.
Misao asks Kagura to talk about his studies, and even though she doesn’t understand everything, she doesn’t judge him for his interests. She wants him to share about himself and be excited about his academic passions.
For his part, Kagura is very respectful and doesn’t push Misao’s boundaries (except for when he kissed her out of jealousy over Takao). He knows she isn’t there for sex and he respects that.
And I think this understanding of each other was meant to carry the route. And basing their entire relationship on the recognition of how they both don’t belong in Yoshiwara and Kikuya, kind of messed with the pacing of their relationship. I know the chapters are short and this isn’t meant to be the deepest story in the world, but I felt like Misao and Kagura were into each other really fast without much relationship development between them.
They spend their first night together and they are both already attracted to each other. They don’t speak much and there is awkwardness. In fact, Misao tries to leave and only stays because she can’t get home. In the morning, Kagura leaves Misao in his room to go to the nearby Inari Shrine to practice his swordsmanship. And Misao ends up speaking with Kagerou instead. On their second night together, they have more silence and awkwardness. Later in the route, Kagura can’t defend his relationship to the other courtesans and puts Misao in a position to be propositioned by said advantageous courtesans.
Misao does not even hear about Kagura’s dreams from Kagura. It’s Kagura’s apprentice Kagerou who tells Misao about Kagura’s dream to go to the mainland and find a job that utilizes his knowledge of Western “Dutch” studies. In fact, I felt like Misao spent a lot of time talking with Kagerou in Kagura’s route. The writers used Kagerou as a resource for Misao to learn about Kagura. Yes, this helped keep Kagura “stoic” to the reader.
HOWEVER
The writers sacrificed building the relationship between Misao and Kagura to maintain Kagura’s stoicism. The route and relationship development between our hero and heroine would have been better if Kagura was the one sharing about his life with Misao. Instead, we get Kagura’s moody, really-needs-to-learn-some-people skills apprentice filling Misao (and by extension the reader) in on who Kagura is, why he’s such a great guy, and what his dreams are.
I feel the writers used this shared we-don’t-belong-in-Yoshiwara connection to short cut building an actual relationship. Because I’ll be honest. It’s hard to build a relationship with a person who doesn’t talk much and when he does talk, he doesn’t say much. To me, this just doesn’t work. Though, I will admit that the plot decisions made by the writers did not help matters.
After the writers solve the drama of Kagura nearly allowing Misao to be seduced by a different courtesan, they had to create a new conflict. So, the focus moved to Misao trying to give Kagura academic books because she knew how much he would love them. Which is sweet! Unfortunately, these chapters did nothing to move the story along. The only thing that was accomplished was Misao using up her money so she had to stop seeing Kagura. But the conflict of Misao using up her money, does not serve any purpose to the primary conflict of the story, which is Kagura escaping Kikuya and his life as a courtesan. Because how Kagura gets out of Kikuya has very little to do with the academic books and nothing to do with Misao running out of money to see him.
The merchant, Gen’emon, is the key to saving Kagura from Kikuya, and nothing in most of Chapter 9 through most of Chapter 13 has anything to do with Gen’emon. The whole story arc of the academic books is pure fluff that does nothing to move the story forward. It only exists to help soften Kagura’s stoic nature. But if the writers had made Kagura less stoic from the beginning, they wouldn’t have need to soften him up in the first place.
Gen’emon is looking for someone with very specific skills and knowledge in Western “Dutch” studies, swordplay, and who is educated in multiple academic disciplines (and wouldn’t you know it, Kagura possesses every needed qualification…well, what did you expect? This is an otome game!) to recommend for a high-level government job. Well, Gen’emon did some researching around the island and discovered that Kagura is perfect for this job. So, he is the one who pays off Kagura’s contract to Kikuya, which allows Kagura to take the job. Now, Misao buying the books did tip Gen’emon off to the existence of Kagura on the island, but Misao herself had no direct impact on helping Kagura leave Kikuya. Gen’emon researched Kagura’s existence and came up with his plan all on his own.
Look.
This ending isn’t bad, per se. It’s just very contrived. The reader reaches this ending without any real involvement from the hero and heroine of the story. A third-party character just shows up and solves our two leads’ problems. It’s not inconceivable. Everything does make sense and I’m not having to do mental gymnastics to make the story work. Because it does work. It’s just a weak resolution.
I’m honestly trying to come up with more to say, but I kind of feel that how poorly this route was written and paced is pretty self-explanatory. I guess in the end, as with everything else in the route…it’s not my favorite.
And that’s okay.
-Final Thoughts-
Okay. So, Kagura is an average hero for me. I don’t love him; I don’t dislike him either. Honestly, he’s really sweet and has some cute moments, but these moments are the exception to the rule. Because to make these heart melting moments really pay off, the writers made Kagura mind-numbingly stoic for the majority of the route. And then the scenes that were meant to open up and soften Kagura had no real impact on the plot as a whole, so they felt disconnected to the flow of the story.
Misao is fine, though I would say I liked her better in Takao’s route. I did appreciate how she was more self-aware of her surroundings and how she fit into Yoshiwara and Kikuya. She recognizes that she is uncomfortable at Kikuya and she does take steps to leave the situation. She makes the decision that she doesn’t need to go back to Kikuya for awhile and to wait until she felt she was emotionally and mentally ready for what Kikuya had to offer. And all this self-awareness and self-reflection is really good! However, it only lasts as long until she gets a letter from Kagura. Then all her self-awareness and boundaries go out the window. Which is disappointing to say the least.
I honestly didn’t enjoy this route. I didn’t dislike it, but I certainly didn’t like it. So, I’m not really sure where this route fits in my ranking system. The pacing and plot structure were really poorly done. And neither Misao or Kagura’s characters emotionally hooked me and kept me engaged in the story. In all honesty, I couldn’t wait for the route to end. And because of that, this is an annoying route for me. I don’t dislike the characters or anything. I just didn’t enjoy this story.
And that’s okay.
Otomes as Novels 