Nightshade – Gekkamaru ~ Plot & Character Analysis

Well, after nearly two and a half years, I have finally finished Nightshade.

I saved Gekkamaru for last, knowing that he was a character I would likely enjoy, and that hunch proved correct! I did love Gekkamaru as a character and as a love interest for Enju.

But his route?

I just don’t know.

This is NOT a bad route! I have very few problems with the narrative, pacing, or character development and arcs. I thought the progression between Gekkamaru and Enju’s changing relationship dynamics was natural and well done, and I thought the final climax fit the narrative well.

But, like Shungen’s route from Birushana, by the time I finished this route, I just felt tired. Gekkamaru’s route is heavy, y’all, and I know this had an impact on my overall enjoyment.

So, I’m going to focus on what I consider one of the main themes of the route.

As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut!

One of the driving themes of the route, which I think the writers did a great job with, is the responsibility and the reality of “choice.”

After Enju gets framed for the murder of the emperor, all the main characters in the route had a decision to make: Help Enju, OR Hunt to the Death Enju, OR Hunt to Recover Enju, OR Observe Enju.

In the Help Enju Camp: Gekkamaru and Kuroyuki

In the Hunt to the Death Enju Camp: Chojiro, Ennosuke, Kyara, and Kasumi

In the Hunt to Recover Camp: Goemon (though he quickly decides to give up the chase and promptly disappears from the story)

In the Observe Enju Camp: Hanzo (though he helps Enju survive whenever he can). In my humble opinion, Hanzo was the MVP of the route! LOVE, LOVE, LOVED HIM!

The battlelines are drawn very early in the route.

Now.

Gekkamaru’s route had the plot twist that to prove Koga’s “innocence” in the murder of the emperor, Enju’s father had to select five of his own shinobi to act as representatives for the Five Elders. And whichever shinobi won, the elder, represented by that shinobi, would be the emperor’s son’s guardian. This clearly pits the Koga shinobi against Enju, their “shinobi princess” and friend, who were all at the whims of the emperor and his little succession “game.”

And to be perfectly honest, I really appreciated this plot twist after reading four routes with the same narrative device! I mean, yes, the emperor is human sewage, and the suffering everyone goes through is immense, but at least the drama was different…hmmm…does thinking like this make me a bad person?

Anyways.

The theme of “choice” was the backbone of this route.

Goemon’s choice to ignore the order of the emperor’s wife and her assistant, lover, personal secretary (I’m really not sure), and abandon the chase for Enju was very “in character” and quickly wrapped up; I’m not going to spend time writing about it. Basically, he wanted nothing to do with the bloodshed, so he quickly abandoned the “game” and used his freedom from the prison cell to escape into obscurity.

Hanzo had a much more interesting role. As a highly respected Shinobi, he and his men were assigned to observe the situation and declare the winner of the “game.” Yet, in this route, Hanzo’s reason and humanity came through. He knew what was happening was ridiculous, and he hated the absurdity of it all. Yet, he was bound by his orders not to interfere with the “game.”

So, to me, it was interesting to watch him walk the fine line between duty and what is reasonable. From nonchalantly giving Enju pep talks about fighting for her life to quickly declaring her the winner at the end, so his men could give Gekkamaru life-saving medical care as quickly as possible, demonstrated that, while objective, Hanzo still had a sense of humanity.

There is even a scene near the end of the route where Hanzo is torn between what his duty is and getting involved to protect Enju. And for a moment, it’s his men who have to remind Hanzo what his assignment is.

As a character, Hanzo was interesting because he was trying to find the wiggle room within his orders. He wanted to help Enju as much as he could, yet still not violate his assignment in an egregious way. And I just liked that character dynamic.

The Koga Shinobi.

Sigh.

I’ve made it quite clear in the other Nightshade articles that I believe Chojiro, Ennosuke, Kyara, and Kasumi are brainwashed, radicalized murderers.

And this route is no different.

From the minute they heard that Enju was being blamed for the murder of the emperor, they KNEW it wasn’t true. Yet, like the good little shinobi puppets that they are, they follow orders and go home, not daring to disobey Enju’s father, their “master.”

But, you see, in that moment, they had a choice.

Before they went home and were tasked with hunting down Enju or risk the death of their families and community, the Koga shinobi could have hunted for the truth.

The Koga shinobi could have come together and said, “To hell with this. Enju murdering the emperor is stupid. Let’s use our skills, band together, and as a cohesive unit figure out what is going on. Let’s save our ‘princess’ and friend.”

But they didn’t.

The Koga shinobi chose duty over connection. They chose orders over their hearts. They chose tradition over flexibility. They chose lies over truth.  

And they all died because of it…like good little shinobi puppets.

So, I guess they got what they wanted? Dying like a shinobi over breaking their duty vows to save their friend…I mean, this does follow what they valued.

I know this sounds harsh, but, as you can tell, it’s very hard for me to feel sympathetic for the Koga Shinobi. They got what they wanted…they followed their orders until their deaths. They finished their lives in the “shinobi way.”

But…for the sake of the article, let’s dig a little deeper.

Okay. So.

The Koga are tasked with proving their innocence in the emperor’s murder by hunting down Enju and murdering her. And if the Koga refuse to do their duty, their friends, family, and community would be in peril.

But, you see, in that moment, they had a choice.

They could have, again, said, “To hell with this. Enju murdering the emperor is stupid. Let’s use our skills, band together, and as a cohesive unit figure out what is going on. Let’s save our ‘princess’ and friend. And in the process, let’s murder the conniving bastard (Enju’s father) responsible for this bullshit order.”

But they didn’t.  

Because Chojiro is their leader, and he is the most brainwashed and radicalized of them all. So, he makes the choice to order his disciples to fulfill their mission and seek Enju on behalf of whatever elder was assigned to them. So, rather than…well, I don’t know…unionizing…all four shinobi went off on their merry little way, to hunt down Enju.

Ennosuke was the first to die, bitching and moaning the entire way. The writers really went out of their way to let the reader know how much Ennosuke didn’t want to hunt down Enju.

Like we get it, Ennosuke, you don’t want to kill Enju…well…but…apparently not enough to make the choice not do it! So, stop bitching!

Ennosuke buries his feelings, pursues Enju as she runs, and as he’s about to fatally stab her, Gekkamaru gets him first.

Kyara finds Ennosuke’s grave and mourns. Then she vengefully swears to kill Enju for killing her lover, coworker, and friend. Instead of rationally understanding that Ennosuke died because he was “fulfilling his duty,” she chooses to blame Enju instead and goes after her with renewed vigor.

Kyara finds Enju and is ready to kill her, but gets injured, and a spell is put on her by another Shinobi clan. And rather than abandon her friend (Enju, darling, I wish you would understand you deserve better friends), Enju “saves” Kyara’s life and nurses her back to health.

Yet, even though Kyara has a change of heart about killing Enju after Enju “saves” her life, Kyara’s life is already forfeit. The spell essentially makes Kyara a corpse, a zombie-like puppet, to the will of the spellcaster. It was already too late for her to make a different choice; her fate had been sealed. She is already dead, and when the spellcaster is killed by Enju, Kyara immediately dies because her puppet master is gone.  

Chojiro finds Enju and is fighting with Gekkamaru to the death when a different shinobi clan shows up and interferes. Chojiro finally decides to make the choice for himself and takes out the remaining shinobi, dying in the process.

Chojiro’s final words are self-aware. He acknowledges this is the first and last choice he’s ever made for himself…deciding to protect his disciples. He then tells Gekkamaru not to give up what’s important to him, which Chojiro acknowledges is something he could not do.

If only Chojiro could have had this epiphany before he sent his disciples to murder Enju in senseless violence…sigh…what could have been.  

Poor, sweet, pathetic Kasumi

Kasumi stumbles upon the hidden shinobi village where Enju and Gekkamaru are in hiding and tells them she has given up her orders. Enju and Gekkamaru happily take Kasumi in and make her a part of their found family, and Kasumi seems to be fitting in quite nicely.

Yet, Kasumi makes the choice to follow through with orders, which includes drugging Enju and herself to fulfill her job because she is scared her family will be murdered if she doesn’t complete her mission.

Now.

The Koga Shinobi kept using the excuse of: oh no! Enju’s father or other people in power will go after our family, friends, and community if we don’t do it! So, we have to pursue and kill Enju!

…Okay?

So, Apple Tags hadn’t been invented yet, so how would Enju’s father know if his shinobi died or just ran away to the hidden shinobi village?

With their line of thinking, even if they died in the line of duty, their family, friends, and community would be in danger anyway…because how would Enju’s father know the difference?

How would Enju’s father know that Kasumi was in hiding versus dead?

Is the reality that the Koga Shinobi’s family, friends, and community are in danger no matter what? Is dying for the mission the same as blatantly disobeying and running away from the mission?

If so, Enju’s father’s threat is extremely hollow.

But logically, the threat can’t be hollow. It has to mean something; otherwise, why would the Koga Shinobi risk their lives for a mission they despise? The Koga Shinobi know that they have to kill Enju or die trying. Death, according to the shinobi way of life, is an acceptable outcome. It’s disobeying orders and running away from their duty that’s unacceptable.  

So, if one is as extremely conflicted as Kasumi, why not fake death? Why not choose to live your best life in hiding and exile yourself? It’s the same as being as good as dead to your shinobi community, anyway.

Instead, poor, sweet, pathetic Kasumi hypes herself up, saying she can’t handle having her family die after Ennosuke and everyone else are already dead.

HUH?

Kasumi, Enju, and Gekkamaru are still alive! Why not choose to live with them? Do they not matter as much?

Apparently not.

So, Kasumi takes a drug that makes her lose her mind, so she can blindly fulfill her mission, and then, after a period of time, it kills her…because she refused to drink the antidote, because she couldn’t live with herself for what she did.  

Sigh.

And maybe this is what exhausted me in this route…watching characters self-destruct because of their beliefs. I mean, there were four of them! And I can’t even complain that this happened! It all tracks for these characters! But, damn, it was exhausting to read!

So, let’s move on…thank heavens!

Next, we have Kuroyuki. And I think out of all the characters, his utilization in the route was the weakest. It was never in question that Kuroyuki was on Enju’s side and would protect her with his life, so he popped in and out of the story at the writers’ convenience. Which didn’t always work with his established character…like how the hell is Kuroyuki leaving Enju alone with Kyara when she shows up to kill Enju?

The time his absence was utilized well was when he left Enju in Gekkamaru’s care and went out to gather reconnaissance. Talking with Enju’s rat bastard father, Kuroyuki finally puts two and two together and rushes off to tell Enju not to break the spell on Gekkamaru. Kuroyuki arrives too late and is swiftly defeated by Gekkamaru, but the boy’s heart was in the right place.

In the end, he makes the choice to leave Enju and Gekkamaru, who have become a couple. If anything, this made me feel bad for Kuroyuki. All he ever wanted was Enju, so what the hell was he going to do now that Enju was with his older brother? I feel like self-destruction and hopelessness are his future, which just makes me sad.

Enju’s choice hinged on whether she truly wanted to live after she was framed for the murder. After the death of Ennosuke, she doubts the value of her life to the point that she almost commits suicide. Hanzo stops her and talks about what she has to live for, which is valuing the life Gekkamaru is fighting for.

This redirects Enju’s choice to how she can protect Gekkamaru after she has relied on his protection for so long. And she comes to the solution that she can value her life the way he does. Then later, she decides that she wants him to be free from the curse her mother put on him, so he can, as she believes, make his own decisions. She wants Gekkamaru to live his best life, and while she also wants him with her, in the end, his happiness is what means the most to her.

Which leaves us with Gekkamaru (VA: Wataru Hatano). His happiness is being with Enju, even with the curse put on him by Enju’s mother to protect Enju at all costs. So, from the start, there was no question that he was going to help her and protect her.

Gekkamaru’s first choice that really seemed to matter was that he went after Enju. Which the Koga Shinobi held this against him as the reason they had to come after Enju to prove their “innocence” in the murder.

But that was a lie to cover up the truth.  

Enju’s rat bastard father made the deal with the emperor to send the Koga Shinobi after Enju for the succession “game.” He couldn’t tell the shinobi the truth, so he pinned it on Gekkamaru instead. Which, of course, is shitty because it forced Gekkamaru to have to deal with the guilt of his friends being ordered to come after them.

Okay. So.

As a child, Gekkamaru was put under two curses.

The first one came from his heartbroken, bitter mother who wanted her son to avenge his shinobi group for their persecution by Enju’s father. So, she created a curse that Gekkamaru would murder Enju, who, at the time, was still in her mother’s womb. In response, Enju’s mother created a counter-curse that Gekkamaru would always protect Enju.

Fast forward sixteen years, and these are the curses Gekkamaru has been living under.

Because Enju’s father is a rat bastard, he essentially baits and manipulates Enju into ending her mother’s curse by having Enju recite the words that end her mother’s curse.

Remember Enju’s choices, which involve her putting Gekkamaru’s happiness above her own?

Enju wants Gekkamaru to love freely, even if that means he forgets the love he has for her. So, not having all the information, Enju falls for her father’s trap. Which ends the protection curse and leaves the murder curse.

And this is where Gekkamaru’s loyal, brave, and true heart truly shines.

I love Gekkamaru! He’s the knight in shining armor. He’s the dependable, Prince Charming (without actually being a prince, but you get what I mean). He’s the pure soul.

After Enju’s mother’s curse is broken, I really love that the writers allowed the reader into Gekkamuru’s head. We can see him warring with these two competing voices in his head. But what matters is that there is also a third voice…it’s his.

That is the voice he chooses to listen to…it’s his heart.  

And rather than killing Enju, he stabs himself, which stops the warring in his mind.

Remember, Hanzo’s men give Gekkamaru life-saving medical care, so he doesn’t die!

In the end, it was all the years they spent together that created his love for her. It was the deep knowing they had built together over the years that ultimately moved his heart.

Yes, the protection curse was there, but ultimately, he was protecting her because he loved her. Because their time together and Enju’s love etched something deeper within him, and that was what meant the most to him.

In the end, Enju and Gekkamaru love each other with a love that puts the other first. And while putting someone’s wants and needs instead of your own is unhealthy, putting someone’s wants and needs ahead of your own can be beautiful.

And Enju and Gekkamaru have that kind of love for each other.  

-Final Thoughts-

Whew! Okay! That was a lot!

Gekkamaru is great! If someday my daughter brings home a boyfriend like him, I’d be one happy Mama! He’s kind, loyal, respectful, gentle, brave, dependable…the list could go on, so I will spare you! With all the drama of the secondary characters, Gekkamaru was what the route needed him to be. He’s loyal, brave, and true. He’s the steady one in the world of chaos. He’s the rock that, while banged up, is still unmovable in his conviction to protect and save the woman he loves. And I adore him for it.  

The route was unbelievably heavy, and that tempered my enjoyment of it. And, while I still categorize it as a “good route,” I won’t ever replay it in its entirety. It’s just that heavy.

That said…

Overall, I enjoyed Nightshade! I got it at a discount on the Nintendo Eshop and it was worth it! Definitely one of the heavier localized otome titles out there, but I did find some new otome loves, and there are certainly moments in the game I will revisit!