Saturday, May 23, 2020

Shinigami to shoujo - review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/publisher: TAKUYO
Platform: PSP, PSV.
Official Site:
Release date: 2019-07-25

I finally decided to get started on this while getting into the otome mood again
after a hiatus, this was also the last vita otome game that I had ordered.
I've always wanted to check this one out and am glad I got it before i couldn't like with psp ver
unfortunately the otome game part of this game while its there is rather disappointing.
The seiyuu are unknowns except for Suzuki, Nojima and Kanna though the latter you
don't hear often anymore either. That aside the play order is kind of
forced on you there's not much free choice but to listen to Takuyo.
The heroine was voiced but only in the prologue, ending and Touya/Ao route
which was jarring but I guess budget? so I can't complain for doing it that way.
 I personally love the art style, the music is also amazing so there's that.

Pro's
- Interesting char's/story which is what kept me going tbh.
- Beautiful art and music was really good.
- No annoying minigames like in Himehibi.

Con's
- Length, slight copy pasta and takes too long to get to the heart of the matter.
- The otome part of the game is lacking.

Our heroine Sayo loves stories especially her brothers who's an author. Sayo's bro
tells her about one of his works shinigami to shoujo which was pretty sad.
Sayo is a pretty rich girl, loves books especially her bro's and has an ojou-sama air about her
and she has only one friend Kaho, whom is Sayo's only friend cuz no one puts up with her.
Sayo lives with her bro due to family issues  and not only does her brother like her
Sayo also has a brocon for him......

Every chapter so far basically deals with someone having a problem, chapter two was
Louis claiming to be the protag of one of Toya's stories... as if the Tomoe's episode
in ch1 wasn't enough now we have a fanboy? oh well at this point it was kind of
hard to see how all this was important to the story in the long run
but apparently these stories run paralel to those in the books and did foreshadow
a little about another problem regarding the protagonist Sayo.
Chapter 4 is where it gets messy, the first route that you're recommended
to do, wasn't even resolved properly till you continue ch4 common.
:Pikachuface:
TBH the common route was pretty boring, just slice of life and dealing with
random peoples problems that untill you do the latter two routes
don't really seem to amount to anything or make sense.
The writer is the same as taishou x alice but even that managed to be a lil better
in the otome game department, atleast the story was still good so it evens out a little.

If you enjoy a good story and char's then I can recommend Shinigami to Shoujo
but if not and just want an otome with a some-what decent story and romance
then I suggest to pass on this game, as its just not going to pass for one.
I didn't have much expectations for this but as an otome? a let down.
Not having much else to do lately I was able to enjoy it either way
cuz the story was pretty interesting to keep playing even if otome/romance was lacking a lot.
While I don't mind Sayo's constant uwu'ing over Toya at the early hours, it doesn't make it much better as some could find it annoying even. Atleast all the chara's were likeable in someway.
Trying not to spoil but while the strong points are that its overall story and characters
are still very well written the otome game part can be disappointing/confusing
especially the first route it felt like there was only a route because it is an otome game afterall.
I don't want to discourage anyone from trying it out as the story was enjoyable/interesting
but it is quite messy as an otome game and confusing till you get to the bottom of it
and even then... unless you like thought provoking psychological stories I suggest to pass on this
I think the writer definitely improved or had better direction with the recent Taishou x Alice.
 
 7/10
This is a good visual novel if you enjoy thought-provoking stories with romance second.

That ends the spoiler-free section.