I haven’t been moved to tears in an otome game for a while.
And Mozu’s route did just that.
Ya’ll. This route made me want to go wake up my family in the middle of the night and give them a hug.
This route is bittersweet…beautiful, but bittersweet.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Character and plot analysis and light spoilers after the cut! Per the game developer’s request, I will keep this article focused on my thoughts of this route.
The production value of the game and my love of Teuta and all the main characters totally holds over into Mozu’s route! Please read the first half of Shu’s article if you are interested in my thoughts about these elements of the game!
Once again, outstanding voice acting helped make the route! The voice performance of Jun Fukuyama was superb!
The romance of the Side A portion of the story was carried by Fukuyama’s voice performance. It was his subtle change of tone when speaking with Teuta that demonstrated how much Mozu was coming to care for her. From the beginning of the route, our seemingly detached, logical hero spoke with a calm, quiet voice, never displaying much emotion. Which made it all the more swoon worthy, the first time you heard the gentleness towards Teuta from Mozu. It made it all the more impactful, when you heard the fear, and then anger, from Mozu towards Teuta’s impetuous actions. And Fukuyama’s performance made this all possible. The Side A script itself was not all that romantic. It was how Fukuyama delivered the lines that demonstrated the growing bond between the two characters. Such wonderful voice acting!
I thought Side B was beautiful, and once again Fukuyama’s voice acting made it all the more poignant. Yes, this part of the route was focused on the sweetest, most wholesome romance, yet it was the change in Fukuyama’s voice from the Common Route and Side A that sold how vulnerable and in love Mozu was with Teuta.
And, in spite of Side A being essentially a friendship route, I was totally engaged and invested in the story!
I found the setting, which is essentially an exclusive, rich kid prep school covering up crimes, indulgently interesting.
I mean, why are the trials and tribulations of rich, powerful people so interesting?
I think in fiction we like to see the rich and powerful get their comeuppance because we know this happens so rarely in real life.
I thought the route and the antagonist were really well written! Looking back, I realized there were little hints peppered throughout that gave clues to who was behind everything. And the antagonist was a fascinating mix of sane and mentally disturbed.
In the grand antagonist confession scene, it took me a moment to really figure out what this person’s motive was. The antagonist was multifaceted and it was a combination of past traumas, fears, and emotions that led this person to behave the way they did. And calm, collected, logical Mozu was a good foil to the irrational emotion of the antagonist. I thought this scene, where Mozu talked down the antagonist, was very well written. I certainly did not see this kind of confrontation happening, and I thought it was the perfect hero/antagonist type confrontation for Mozu’s character.
I also really enjoyed the slow unveiling of Mozu’s compassionate, passionate nature. Yes, this man is logical, and can seem cold at times, but deep down he is a very loving man.
And maybe because of his job as coroner, Mozu values life. So, even though Mozu’s job is to work close to death, Mozu doesn’t enjoy death. I thought it was very poignant, that Mozu speaks to the corpses he examines. Like, even though their life is gone, Mozu still treats them as human. And when Mozu experiences the death of something, he mourns. He allows himself to feel the pain of loss.
Mozu isn’t heartless, cold or detached. He is extremely loving and values the beauty of life. And I felt that vibrant, proactive Teuta was a good match for him.
Teuta was FANTASTIC in this route!
Like I said in Shu’s article, Teuta wants to understand others. And it’s this desire to understand others that changes the lives of the people around her. Teuta is able to build connection with people and this is what, in turn, allows people to open up to her. I loved how supportive she was in this route! Her compassion and integrity really shined and I thought she handled everything this route threw at her with aplomb!
And I will say, that as a mom, I totally understood her seemingly reckless actions in this route. I know Mozu got mad at her for endangering her own safety to protect someone else, but I get it. There are just people you are willing to take that risk for and I found Teuta’s actions admirable. And thankfully our problem solving Mozu came to help with a quick-thinking, logical plan, so everyone was able to survive! HAHA!
I thought Mozu and Teuta’s confession scene was so darn sweet! I, myself, am surprised to say that this is one of my favorite otome confession scenes of all time! I don’t know if it’s just that the confession felt so human. I mean, it wasn’t the picture-perfect-end-of-a-Hollywood-rom-com kind of confession. There was just a sincerity and earnest nature to what Mozu and Teuta said to each other that just felt so meaningful to me.
They don’t explicitly say this in the text, but I think Mozu is a closet romantic. He might not intentionally say things to be romantic, but he just had a way with words that touched my heart!
There was an acknowledgement of the pain caused, but also the fact that they just felt right when they were together. And in many relationships, not just romantic, these two feelings go hand-in-hand. I loved how Mozu did not try to gloss past the pain caused to Teuta. He validated her feelings and took accountability for what he said and did. And, in turn, Teuta was honest about her insecurities and Mozu listened with no excuses or rebuttals.
Taking accountability and honest communication are two of the foundations of healthy relationships, and I loved seeing this for Mozu and Teuta!
I do feel like the route ended with some unanswered questions. Like it was a pretty big bombshell Mozu dropped on Teuta at the end of Side A. Yet, by the end of the route, there was no closure.
Like. What’s the truth? Did this twist of fate actually happen?
Are, we the reader, ever going to know?
I would really like to know.
And narratively, it was a bit jarring considering how Mozu promised to learn the truth and give Teuta time to process the information before he asked for a response to his love confession. Now, Teuta immediately responded to his confession positively, but I still expected Mozu to try to discover the truth. Because he’s just responsible and reliable like that.
But nothing ever came of it.
The route ends about a month-and-a-half later (in game time), and no mention of the result of Mozu’s investigation. In fact, Mozu and Teuta are very happy together and seem to be at peace about everything. Which is fine (I want them to be happy!), but what happened to Mozu’s promise to discover the actual truth and give Teuta time to process it?
Was this an intentional loose end that will be explored in the finale routes? Or did the Bustafellows writers save this revelation for a potential sequel game?
Or will we never know?
This is a pretty large plot point to keep in the dark and I hope sometime we learn the truth!
-Final Thoughts-
Mozu is a great hero for me! I LOVED him! And I will say, that for me, he initially blended in to the background in the common route. So, I honestly had very little expectations for him going into his route. But I was blown away! Mozu is such a passionate, loving person and I loved how his relationship with Teuta drew that side out of him! He is logical to a fault but he doesn’t dismiss his feelings, even if he doesn’t understand them at the time! He is the one I would want with me in a myriad of life-threatening situations. He’s brilliant, logical, and trustworthy! And most importantly, Mozu values life and protecting the ones he cares about! A wonderful hero!
This was a good route for me! Now, it’s not something I want to play very often, but I could appreciate the bittersweet tone of the route. It fits with Mozu’s character and all the loss he has experienced in his life. So, I really loved the feeling at the end of the route, of him beginning anew with Teuta! Overall, I thought it was well written and it certainly kept me engaged!
Mozu and his route took me by surprise! And I’m so thankful they did!
Otomes as Novels 