I can honestly say that I’ve rarely read a route more tailored to my interests! I love the slice-of-life vibe, the characters, the story troupes, the voice acting, and how flowers feature within the story!
But most of all,
I love how our hero and heroine have weaknesses and faults!
Yes, really!
Weaknesses and faults are the fertile soil in which well-written character development and character arcs can flourish! And my favorite part of this route is how Hokuto and Fuuka are written as good people, who are still allowed to have flaws that lead them to do questionable and selfish things.
No unattainable perfection…and I am here for it!
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!
Fuuka has been in love with her best friend Hokuto for most of her life.
Literally.
Ever since Fuuka was a young child, she has loved and admired her next-door neighbor. And to Hokuto’s credit, even though he was four years older than Fuuka, he always spent time with and cared for the little girl next door…almost as if he was her big brother.
Ya’ll see where this is going…
Now twenty-three years old, Fuuka desperately wants Hokuto to notice her as a dateable adult woman and not as a younger sister or a childhood friend. Yet, she is hesitant to truly speak up and say anything because she’s scared of losing the relationship they currently have.
Because, let’s be honest, these two already act like they are in a romantic relationship.
At the start of the new year, Fuuka is always the first customer at the flower shop where Hokuto is the manager. On their New Years shrine visit they decide that they will share each other’s luck.
They regularly make plans together. They live next door to each other and regularly walk home from work together. They text and communicate often. They are supportive and complimentary towards each other. They know each other inside and out. AS ADULTS, they hold hands as they walk down the street.
You know, normal childhood friends troupe stuff…
Hokuto, in particular, sends mixed signals. He is well-known by everyone to always put Fuuka first. He’s not afraid to brush Fuuka’s hair from of her face. In general, he touches her without hesitation, whether it’s her hand, her head, her hair, her arm…you get the picture. Hokuto states that he is happy, if Fuuka is happy. When together, he confidently escorts and leads Fuuka, while being very conscious of asking her what she wants and needs.
Hokuto, also, finds (on his own…she did not ask him to do this) the restaurant where Fuuka has a work dinner and rather overbearingly protectively insists on escorting her home (she was drunk), leaving behind Fuuka’s bewildered male coworker (who from all knowledge is a good guy). And he becomes dismayed and jealous when he thinks that Fuuka had a boyfriend he didn’t know about or when she’s spending time with the male coworker mentioned above.
He does all this and at the same time says things to Fuuka, like:
1) Why don’t you find yourself a boyfriend?
2) That when she does find a boyfriend, she needs to come tell him. Because he is mentally prepared for it
3) That he’s prepared for her to disappear from his world.
You sure about that, Hokuto?
Hokuto then goes on to say that even though he is prepared for her to leave his world, it would be difficult because a world without her would be boring.
Umhmm… well, maybe I was so inclined to give Hokuto a break because I simply adore his voice actor, Makoto Furukawa! He’s one of my favorites and I really enjoyed his vocal performance in this game as well!
Poor Fuuka doesn’t know what to do.
Fuuka doesn’t want to disappear from Hokuto’s world. She loves Hokuto so much that even if she couldn’t be with him romantically, she would be willing to put up with being his “little sister.”
Because, let’s be honest, being his “little sister” is an awful lot like being his girlfriend, which does feel nice to Fuuka.
Yet she’s in a really tough spot. Hokuto treats her like his girlfriend without the security of actually being his girlfriend. And she knows that if she or Hokuto ever got a significant other that their relationship would have to change.
And, to make matters worse, Hokuto’s mixed signals, in part, make Fuuka feel like she’s the problem.
She feels like an idiot, because she feels, she is being childish and not the mature adult that she ‘should” be. She believes, she’s not good enough, for him to consider her a worthy girlfriend.
Which is obviously, patently ridiculous. Hokuto does love Fuuka, just the way she is. He simply won’t admit that the love he has for her is of the romantic type, not the brotherly type.
And rather than talking to Hokuto about her feelings, because she fears completely losing the relationship, Fuuka buries everything deep within her.
Which, is childish in a way. Rather than directly address the type of relationship she wants with Hokuto and let the chips fall where they may, Fuuka chooses to hide behind her fear and insecurity and get by with the status quo, even though it isn’t fulfilling for her.
She wants him to figure out she’s a woman and that he wants to date her, without using verbal communication. By doing this, and not using her words to tell Hokuto how she feels, Fuuka is evading responsibility for their relationship and putting it squarely on Hokuto’s shoulders to realize that she’s a dateable woman from how she dresses and acts. She is absolving herself of the responsibility, and risk, of speaking up.
So, yes, she is acting childish in terms of communicating how she feels to Hokuto.
But this is also very human.
So. Okay.
One thing I really liked about this route, was that EVERYONE (as in friends and coworkers) could see how Hokuto’s overbearing tendencies towards Fuuka were inappropriate in terms of a brother and sister relationship.
This fact alone kept the route from becoming annoying. I’m thankful the writers didn’t create a scenario where we the reader could see how much Hokuto acted like a boyfriend to Fuuka, yet everyone in the story acted like their relationship was normal. That would have felt like the writers trying to gaslight the readers into thinking that Hokuto’s actions were normal for the sake of the story.
One of my favorite scenes in the route was where Hokuto’s boss (Rei) and coworker (Gin) take Hokuto out for drinks and try to get him to talk about his feelings for Fuuka. Of course, Fuuka and her friend, Kozue, are listening in to the conversation! This series of events were just so darn cute! And I loved how, everyone around Fuuka and Hokuto cared about them so much! Such wonderful friends and coworkers!
And while one could argue that having Fuuka eavesdropping on Hokuto isn’t fair to him, in my opinion, this man needed some reality checks!
I don’t even feel bad about it!
Hokuto is completely oblivious that he treats Fuuka like a girlfriend because he has it stuck in his head that they are “close like family” and he would never be more than a big brother to Fuuka.
And part of his mental block goes back to when thirteen-year-old Fuuka confessed her feelings to Hokuto and the poor dude didn’t know what to say. She said she loved him and our awkward seventeen-year-old boy played off her confession by saying that he loved her as any brother would.
Now.
Even as a seventeen-year-old, Hokuto knew he never wanted to be separated from Fuuka. And in his immature teenage thinking, as someone who did not have a lot of romantic experiences, the safest, most secure connection he could have to Fuuka, to his mind, was as brother and sister. And that is why he played off her confession.
And honestly, I don’t hate Hokuto for awkwardly playing off Fuuka’s confession. I mean, the boy is seventeen years old and his best friend, who is a thirteen-year-old girl, is saying she loves him. It arguably would have been unbelievable for him to have the self-possession to handle this situation in an adultlike way.
In no way is Hokuto trying to be malicious…but…he’s being unfair to Fuuka all the same.
He didn’t just play off her confession, he treated her feelings as if they didn’t exist…and he kept on doing this for TEN YEARS!
This hurt Fuuka…and Hokuto knows it.
Hokuto also let Fuuka feel guilty that, as a teenager, she acted selfishly to get between Hokuto and the girls he dated throughout high school.
Instead of admitting to himself and Fuuka that he would truly rather spend his time with Fuuka over other girls, he pretended to humor Fuuka’s “little sister selfishness” to spend more time with him. That unfairly put the weight and responsibility of Hokuto breaking up with different girlfriends on Fuuka’s younger shoulders.
Now.
Obviously, with Fuuka and Hokuto in their twenties, this state of relationship limbo was not sustainable. And what finally breaks their relationship stalemate is Fuuka finding out she’s being sent overseas to New York City for one month for work.
She knows this will be hard for Hokuto, who has never gone a day without seeing her. Instead of being up front and honest about her plans, Fuuka delays saying anything because she’s scared of having this difficult conversation with Hokuto.
With only a week until she leaves, Fuuka realizes that she’s been found out…in a way. Tenya, one of Hokuto’s coworkers, knew that Fuuka was going overseas for one month and told Hokuto.
Well, Hokuto didn’t get all the information from Tenya and when Fuuka finally confesses to all her plans…well, let’s just say Hokuto doesn’t take it well.
Out of concern, jealousy, fear, and overprotective man-syndrome Hokuto totally overreacts and takes all these emotions out on Fuuka. Which, of course, makes Fuuka angry and defensive.
All of the hidden fears, refusals to communicate, and selfishness comes to a head when Hokuto impulsively kisses Fuuka. The moment Fuuka breaks off the kiss by shoving him away, Hokuto immediately apologizes for kissing her. But by this point the damage was done and Fuuka confronts Hokuto about the kiss and then runs off.
Whew, the drama!
So, I think it is fair to say, that throughout their relationship, Fuuka and Hokuto knowingly and inadvertently hurt each other out of their fear, insecurity, and selfishness.
Yet, as stated before, some of their refusal to communicate was born out of not wanting to hurt each other’s feelings and out of fear of losing one another.
I mean, these two are GREAT together! When talking about anything other than the state of their relationship, the conversations flow smoothly and organically. They have fun spending time together. They both respect each other’s passion for their work. They both look out for each other. I mean, the list could go on!
They obviously love and care about each other immensely but they have ALSO made a mess of their relationship.
Which is very human behavior.
And what I really liked about this route, was before they could move forward with a romantic relationship, they honestly had to address all their problems.
Which means, these two had to learn to communicate and be honest with each other. The writers didn’t just gloss over all of Fuuka and Hokuto’s weaknesses and faults to give these two their happy ending.
The confrontation over Fuuka’s overseas work trip happened in Chapter 6. Which gave Fuuka and Hokuto eight chapters to honestly work through all their fears, insecurities, faults, and weaknesses (both individually and as a couple)!
Yay! Eight chapters of character development for Fuuka and Hokuto!
And, in those 8 chapters, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the two of them.
Instead of trying to not “rock the boat” and keep the peace, these eight chapters had two instances of Fuuka getting mad at Hokuto. And twice the solution to these fights was for them not to communicate for an extended period of time and give themselves space to sort through their thoughts and feelings. Which meant that Hokuto had to experience not having access to Fuuka whenever he wanted it.
Which, I personally, don’t find to be a bad thing. Sometimes the best solution is to give yourself plenty of time to think about what you truly want before you have to also contemplate the wants of the other person.
And honestly, this was good for Hokuto, who needed to realize how he took always being with Fuuka for granted. He, also, had to come to grips with his feelings for Fuuka AND accept the fact that she was a grown woman who could handle an overseas trip without him.
This made it, all the more poignant when, after Hokuto confesses that he romantically loves Fuuka, he says that he is prepared to wait for her during her work trip to New York. And, of course, Fuuka confessed (again) her love for Hokuto. The two of them worked through all the barriers to their relationship. And, in the end, embraced the opportunity that Fuuka had to further her career, even if that meant time with them being halfway around the world from each other! That is huge character growth for them both!
By the end, Fuuka and Hokuto completed their character arcs in a very healthy and satisfying way.
This route felt very human to me.
And I know it’s an otome game and I read the “Perfect” ending. I know in life the best solution is not always the “romantic” choice. Sometimes breaking up is the best solution for both people involved.
But sometimes it’s just nice to read the idealized journey that two people can take towards one another.
This route made me happy…and I love it for that reason alone!
-Final Thoughts-
What can I say?
Yes, I know Hokuto’s faults, weaknesses, and that he avoided confessing and accepting the feelings of the girl he loved for TEN YEARS! But I can’t help it! I still adore this man! He’s a great hero for me! Even with all the problems he caused for himself and Fuuka, I still think he’s a good guy! And honestly, I LOVE that he is a good guy with faults and weaknesses! He’s not perfect and this is what makes him compelling!
This is a great route for me! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it! Sometimes I just want to read something that is light and easy and Him, the Smile & Bloom fits this need brilliantly!
Otomes as Novels 