Well, this route was a pleasant surprise!
I’ll be honest. Nothing about Shu struck me as “my” type. He’s a young-looking, bratty, immature hero, who arrogantly looks down on those around him for seemingly no good reason.
I had actually planned on never playing his route, but since I dropped a couple of English localized otome games, I’m down to very few options to play in English. And since I like the world of Dairoku, I decided to give this route a shot.
And I’m so glad I did!
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!
I enjoyed Shu as a character in the story, not as a love interest. There were so many moments where Shu reminded me of my six-year-old daughter who needs careful managing, so her emotions are not continuously set off. So, if anything, Shu triggered my “mom” instincts. I spent his entire route seeing him as a young man who needed help growing up and making life decisions.
But because of the efforts of voice actor Ryota Osaka, and how he chose to voice Shu, I did not see Shu as a literal child. Osaka gave Shu a deeper, more mature voice, which really offset Shu’s immature behavior and design. And, overall, I have to say I really enjoyed Osaka’s performance!
Like many children and teenagers, Shu’s main goal in life is to be cool and respected. In essence, all he cares about, and everything he does, can be traced back to this main goal of his. He has a kind heart underneath, that he hides with bravado, arrogance, rudeness, and a bad attitude. Because he believes indifference and having “power” over others is what makes a person cool.
Now, Shu is a kind young man, but he hides his kindness and compassion, in order to portray the façade of what he thinks being cool is. And so ultimately, Shu feels alienated from others and himself. Because he is not being true to who he truly is.
And I am totally fighting the “power and control” battle right now with my six-year-old. She can be the sweetest person in the world, but she believes she is ruling our house and puts up a fight to any boundary she doesn’t like. My daughter gets defensive when she feels anxious and doesn’t feel like she has control of her surroundings. So, instead of getting my happy, fun times daughter, I regularly get my defensive, fighting-for-her-rights daughter, who is not nearly as pleasant.
I feel both Shu and my daughter do things that aren’t really them in order to assert their power and control. Both of them have kind, compassionate souls underneath all the bravado, but stripping all the bravado away to reveal the core of who they are is a difficult and time-consuming task. And honestly, this could have been an exhausting dynamic for a mom who deals with this kind of attitude on a regular basis.
However, what drew me into this story was how much I could relate to Shino managing this difficult young man. In this route, Shino was the perfect example of gentle, compassionate “parenting.” No joke! Someday, Shino will make an incredible mother! She has the patience and compassion of a saint!
There were so many moments when Shu was being a snarky, pain-in-ass and Shino rose above his attitude and calmly dealt with the situation. She didn’t get snarky back or condemn his bad attitude. She simply handled everything like a Queen and gently directed Shu the best way she could.
I could totally relate to the moments where outwardly Shino remained calm with Shu, but inwardly was exhausted from having to deal with this pain-in-ass attitude! This feeling is just so real when dealing with a child who thinks they are the second-coming of Napoleon.
Now, because of this dynamic, I could never really see Shino and Shu was a couple. If anything, she was like his life coach, helping him manage his emotions and how he communicated with people. Shino gently guided Shu into broadening his perspective of the world and helped him see that kindness is the best way to be cool, not becoming the unwanted dictator of Sakuratani.
This route read (to me) as a friendship route. Yes, Shu developed romantic feelings for Shino earlier in the route. But, the first time Shu confessed in the Romance End Epilogue, all Shino could respond with was she liked him as a friend and wanted to spend more time with him. And I thought that was completely believable. Because for a majority of the route, Shino kept mentally commenting to herself that Shu reminded her of a young boy. She didn’t even see him as a potential romantic partner for the majority of the route (probably because he spent most of the route acting like a child!).
It wasn’t until Shu dropped the bravado and rudeness and opened up his softer side (and stopped trying to take over Sakuratani), that Shino started to fall in love with him. They spent time together and got to know each other better as friends and equals. So, by the time Shu confesses again in the Romance End Epilogue, Shino was ready to return Shu’s romantic feelings.
I still couldn’t see Shu as a romantic love interest, but by the end of the route, I could see that Shu was a heck of a lot more fun to be around!
The conflict of the route centered around Shu arrogantly believing that he should be the top leader of Sakuratani. So, he and his right-hand man Orochi set out to lead a coup over Sakuratani’s leadership hierarchy.
Shu’s desire to lead all of Sakuratani was based upon him not being privy to all the facts of his past. Orochi, wanting to protect Shu’s sense of self and self-esteem, did not clarify that Shu was in fact a human who got caught up in the death of Yamata-no-Orochi and not the reincarnation of the blue dragon or any other type of spiritual being. But since Shu believed he was the reincarnation of the powerful blue dragon, he resolutely argued that he should be the one to lead Sakuratani.
Honestly, I felt bad for Shu in all of this. He had no idea that the person closest to him was hiding the truth about his past and origin. I’m not saying Shu’s desire to assert dominance and become an unwanted dictator was appropriate. But. No one likes to be lied to, and I did empathize with a young man who earnestly thought he was doing his best with the information he was given. To me, Shu just seemed like a lost young boy for a majority of the route and my heart hurt for him.
Rightly so, the ayakashimori were suspicious of Shu and Orochi and tasked Shino with gathering information on the plans of the Mitsuchi. However, due to Shino’s compassionate, wanting-to-believe-the-best-in-everyone nature, she brushes aside the warning signs of the nefarious plans of Shu and Orochi. She saw Shu and Orochi at their best and it made her reluctant to assume the worst about them. So, while she did complete her reports to Semi about her observations of Shu and Orochi, she did at times leave out information that could be incriminating, because she wasn’t 100% positive Shu and Orochi were planning something.
I thought Shino’s actions were reasonable given her character. It’s because of her compassion and kind nature that she had the patience to deal with Shu and slowly break down his walls. She got to know him when nobody else was willing to take the time to try. However, it was the exact same compassion that got her played by Shu and Orochi. Shino is simply not made for espionage. Orochi knew this about her and took complete advantage.
When backed into a corner by Semi, Orochi abducts Shino as a hostage to buy him and Shu some more time to discuss matters. Well, the truth about Shu’s past comes out, and Shu actually handles the truth surprisingly well. He decides that he doesn’t want an all-out war in Sakuratani if there is a chance Shino could get hurt (Aww! Our boy cares about Shino!). And following the wishes of Shu, Orochi calmly agrees to call off the coup.
Well, a group of well-meaning (but-not-helping-the-situation) ayakashimori breaks in to rescue Shino and tensions, unnecessarily, rise. Thankfully, before all hell breaks loose, Tokiwa and Semi show up to smooth everything over. Shu promises that he and Orochi no longer have an interest in staging a coup over Sakuratani. Tokiwa promises to let Shu and Orochi go free if they sign a document that they will never cause problems in Sakuratani again. Of course, Shu and Orochi gratefully sign the document, thankful they were able to avoid bloodshed.
This was a quick, neat and tidy ending that arrived gift wrapped with a bow. And it fit the overall slice-of-life, laid back tone of the game.
Ultimately, Shu had never really thought through what a violent coup would really look like. The results of the coup weren’t a part of his daydreams. He dreamed of power and control, not actual bloodshed. He’s like a teenager who thinks something sounds good, but hasn’t really thought through the consequences of such an action. So, all it took for Shu to change his mind was to gain some new information and have Tokiwa give Shu a respectable way out of the volatile situation. The ending didn’t need to be more than that. And I think the writers wisely chose to use some restraint with this ending.
With the conflict resolved, Shu can focus on trying to win over Shino!
Which he ultimately does! A lovely ending!
-Final Thoughts-
Surprisingly, Shu was a good hero for me! He’s definitely not a character I see as a love interest, but someone I simply enjoying reading about. I saw some of my daughter in Shu, which led me to understand his character and have compassion for what he was going through. It was satisfying to watch Shu’s personal growth and I was happy for him!
I loved Shino in this route! She was fantastic at handling Shu’s stubborn, pain-in-the-ass attitude. She clearly is not meant to be a spy. Yet, it is her honesty and sincerity that opened Shu’s heart and helped her to get close to him. In this route, Shino never gives up and is always trying to find solutions that work for everyone.
This route was good for me! It was a light, easy read that never took itself too seriously. Honestly, I was not expecting to enjoy this route as much as I did, and I’m so glad I gave it a shot! What a pleasant surprise!
Otomes as Novels 